At nine o'clock we dropped our anchor in
the roads; a boat came off with a bag of newspapers and to ask for
orders in the morning. It was sent by the great Parsee merchants here,
who undertake to supply us with coals, provisions, water, and
everything we want, and spare us all trouble. For the last three or
four days we have had a nice little breeze astern, and if we had not
been in a hurry to cross the Indian Ocean before the south-west
monsoon set in, we should certainly have been contented with four or
five knots an hour under sail instead of eight and a half under steam.
We have averaged over 200 miles a day under steam alone, ever since we
left Penang, and have burnt only four tons of coal for every fifty
miles.
_Monday, April 16th_.--At 1.30 a.m. I heard the signal gun fired, and
shortly afterwards a great splash of boats and oars, and a vast
chattering and shouting of tongues announced the arrival of a P. and
O. steamer. She dropped her anchor just outside us, so we had the
benefit of the noise all night. I got up at daylight and found the
pilot just coming off. He took us to a buoy, a little closer in, and
soon the business of coaling and watering commenced.
[Illustration: Soumali Indian, Aden.]
We reached the shore about 7.30, and, landing at the pier, had our
first near view of the natives, who are most curious-looking
creatures.
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