_ CHAPTER XXXIII. A DISAPPOINTMENT TO CAPTAIN SCOTT
Captain Ringgold knew something about Aden before he decided to make a stopping-place of it, and it was certainly a more agreeable location than Perim. The town--or towns, for there appear to be several of them--is described by a former resident as a sort of crater like that of a volcano, formed by a circular chain of steep hills, the highest of which is 1,775 feet above the sea level. The slope outside of them reaching to the waters of the Arabian Gulf, or the Gulf of Aden as it is now called, has several strings of hills in that direction, with valleys between them, radiating from the group to the shore.
Aden is a peninsula connected with Hadramaut, the southern section of Arabia, by a narrow isthmus, covered at the spring tides by the surrounding waters. Over it is a causeway conveying an aqueduct which is always above the sea level. The region looks as though it might have been subject to volcanic convulsions at some remote period. Within the circle of hills are the town and a portion of the military works. In its natural location, as well as in the strength of its defences, it bears some resemblance to Gibraltar.
This was the substance of what the commander told his passengers before they landed, and proceeded to give points in the history of the peninsula, which he had studied up, as he always did when approaching a new locality; and though he was a walking encyclopaedia, he had not obtained this reputation without much study and labor in addition to his extensive voyages and travels "all over the world."
"A learned biblical scholar of the last century, who studied Oriental history in connection with the sacred record, identifies Aden as the Eden mentioned by Ezekiel in describing the wealth of Tyrus," continued the commander.
"But who was Tyrus, Captain?" asked Mrs. Blossom, who was wide awake when any scriptural name was used.
"He wasn't anybody, Mrs. Blossom; and when Ezekiel and some other of the prophets used the word Tyrus, they meant Tyre; and doubtless you have read about Tyre and Sidon."
"I never heard it called by that name before," added the worthy lady with a blush.
"Read Ezekiel xxvii. and you will find it. This place was known before the time of Christ, and was the centre of an extensive commerce with India, though it was also carried on by the Indus and the Oxus, the latter formerly flowing into the Caspian Sea. In the fourth century after Christ, the son of the Emperor Constantine established a Christian church here. In more modern history Aden has been a part of Yemen, along whose shores we sailed for more than a day on the Red Sea. The lines from Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' partly quoted before,
"'As when to them who sail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past
Mozambic, off at sea north-east winds blow
Sabaean odors from the spicy shore
Of Arabie the blest,'
alludes to this country. The Sabaeans were the ancient people of Yemen, called Sheba in the Book of Genesis. They were a wealthy and powerful people, and it was probably the queen of this region who made a celebrated visit to King Solomon. But we cannot follow them now.
"Yemen changed hands several times, belonging to Abyssinia, Persia, and the caliphs of Arabia, and has been fought for by Portuguese, Turks, and Egyptians; but now it is a Turkish province. England had reason to demand satisfaction from the Arab authorities for injuries done to her Indian subjects. The negotiations failed, and there was evident treachery. England does her work thoroughly in such cases; and Aden was promptly bombarded, and then seized by a naval and military force in 1839. This is said to be the first territory acquired during the reign of Queen Victoria; and the nation's record is not so bad as sometimes stated.
"Aden was made a free port in 1850; and it has since had a large trade, increasing it from half a million dollars to sixteen millions. It is governed by English civil officers, and the military is in command of a brigadier-general. The troops are British and East Indian, and are of all arms of the service, including a troop of native cavalry, to which Arabs mounted on camels are attached. Now we are ready to go on shore," the commander concluded.
"How are we to go on shore, sir?" asked Scott.
"We have plenty of boats,--the barge, the first and second cutters, and the dingy," replied Captain Ringgold with a pleasant smile; for he understood what the captain of the Maud was driving at.
"Are you not going to put the little steamer into the water again, sir?" inquired the young captain. "She would be very convenient in going about this place, which is nearly surrounded by water."
"She would be indeed; but we shall probably leave Aden by to-morrow afternoon, and it would hardly pay to lower her into the water, for you know that it requires a great deal of hard work to do so," said the commander, who was really very sorry to disoblige the young man, and he kept more than his usual smile on his face all the time.
"I think we could make the voyage very comfortably in her from here to Bombay, or wherever you are going," suggested Captain Scott.
"I do not consider a voyage of that length in such a small craft quite prudent, even if there were no other question to be considered. But it would take us at least half a day to put the Maud into the water, and as long to coal and water her, and otherwise fit her out. Then it is ordinarily a seven days' voyage from Aden to Bombay, and the Maud would get out of coal in half that time."
"But for the next five hundred miles the voyage is along the coast of Arabia."
"There are no coal stations except at Aden and Perim, so far as I know, unless you run up to Muscat, and I am not sure that there is any there," answered the captain of the ship. "I learned from Mr. Gaskill, the Parsee agent here, after I told him who and what we were, that he had heard of us before. Stories exaggerated beyond all decent limits have been told about us. Louis's million and a half have been stretched to hundreds of millions, and the Guardian-Mother has been regarded as a floating mine of wealth. I suspect that Mazagan spread such stories in Egypt, and they have travelled to this port."
"What have these stories to do with a voyage to Bombay by the Maud?" asked Scott, with something like a laugh; for he could see no connection.
"Mr. Gaskill asked me about the little steamer that was sailing with the ship; so that he had heard of her, for she came through the canal with us. I have thought of this matter before; and the little steamer would be a great temptation to the half-civilized Arabs that inhabit these shores, and they are sailors after their own fashion. I know you are not afraid of them, Captain Scott; but it would be easy enough for these pirates to fall upon you, capture the little steamer, and make an end of all on board of her."
"Where should we be while they were doing all this?" asked Scott with a smile of incredulity.
"You would be treated to some treachery at first probably; but even in a square, stand-up fight your chances against fifty or a hundred of these savages would be very small. In fact, I came to the conclusion, after your battle at Khrysoko, that the armament of the ship was not heavy enough for possible contingencies, though the saluting-guns on the top-gallant forecastle are well enough for ordinary occasions."
"As your mind seems to be made up, Captain Ringgold, I will say no more about the matter," added Scott; and it was plain enough that he was sorely disappointed.
"I am very confident that Mrs. Belgrave and Mrs. Woolridge, since the trouble in the Cyprus bay, and after all that has been said since that event, would not permit their sons to go to sea again in the Maud; and I must say that their prudence is perfectly justifiable."
"Then we are not likely to use the Maud again?" asked Scott.
"Certainly not in these localities, though we may put her in the water at Bombay, Calcutta, and perhaps some other ports," replied the commander. "If anything should happen to you, or to any of your ship's company, I should never forgive myself."
"I don't see that she will be of any use to us hereafter," suggested the discontented young navigator.
"I advised her purchase mainly for use in the Mediterranean; and she has certainly been very useful, adding very much to the pleasure of the party."
"If you cannot use her, I should think you would sell her," added Scott. "Of whatever service she may have been, she seems to be played out, and is of no use at all now."
"You are nearer right, Captain Scott, than perhaps you suppose; and to be candid with you, I regard the Maud as very like an elephant on our hands."
"Then I hope you will sell her," replied the young man, with something like desperation in his manner. "For my part, I am entirely willing you should do so, sir."
"It is plainly impracticable to make any use of her in the next six months, except in harbor service, and we hardly need her for that," continued the commander. "I know that Louis and Morris do not wish to go to sea in her again; and I suppose Felix would prefer to be where his crony is."
"Cruising in the Maud is then decidedly a thing of the past," said Scott, with a feeble attempt to laugh.
"Then, if I should find an opportunity to sell the Maud at Aden, you will not be disappointed?" asked the captain, point-blank, looking earnestly into the face of the young sailor.
"If we are not to use her as we did before"--
"That is utterly impracticable in the waters of the Indian Ocean; for the perils I have suggested, to say nothing of typhoons and hurricanes," interposed the commander.
"Then I shall be perfectly satisfied to have her go," answered Scott.
"In the first typhoon or hurricane, and I expect to see such, we might be obliged to cut her loose, and launch her into the boiling waters to save the ship; for I find that she is too great a load to carry on our promenade deck, and we have no other place for her. We have had no storm to test the matter; if we had, she might have gone before this time. I have already spoken to Uncle Moses and Mr. Woolridge about the matter, and they not only consent, but insist, that the Maud be sold."
"I have nothing more to say, Captain Ringgold," said Scott rather stiffly.
Then he told the young man about the terrors of the mothers, the grave fears of Mr. Woolridge, who was a yachtsman, and was so confident that the little steamer would have to be cast into the sea, that Scott was somewhat mollified. He had made his reputation as a sailor, a navigator, a brave fellow, on board of her, and to lose the Maud seemed like destroying the ark which had brought him out of the floods of evil, and made a man of him.
The wise commander had evidently saved him from a life of iniquity, and the little steamer had been an effective agency in his hands in doing the work. He was absolutely clear that it was not prudent for the young navigators to sail the Maud over the Indian Ocean, and his conscience would not permit it to be done. He was afraid his decision might have a bad effect upon the young man, that it might even turn him from the paths of rectitude in which he had trodden for many months; but he trusted to himself and the co-operation of the other three members of the "Big Four" to save him from any such disaster.
The barge and the first cutter were manned at the gangway, and the party went on shore, prepared by what the commander had said to them to understand what they were to see. Captain Ringgold was obliged to visit the Parsee merchants, while an army officer who had been presented to them showed them about the town. They found everything they could possibly desire at the shops (not stores on British territory). Louis procured the vehicles, and they all rode out to the fortifications, where they were greatly interested, especially in the water tanks, which have a capacity of nearly eight million gallons. The officer was exceedingly polite, not alone because the reputation of the wealth of the young millionaire had gone out before him, but because this is the rule with well-bred English people.
He was re-enforced by others, and the ladies had all the beaux they could manage; and Miss Blanche could have had all of them if she had not chosen to cling to Louis Belgrave. They were all invited to dinner in the cabin of the Guardian-Mother, and Mr. Sage was informed of the fact before he returned to the ship.
Before noon the Maud had been sold for four times the sum she had cost, to the Parsees, who wanted her very badly to ply between steamers and the shore in prosecuting their trade. Out of the price to be received was deducted that of the four guns and a liberal supply of ammunition of all descriptions. _