At present there does
not appear to be a blade of vegetation, and on the side we passed,
between the island and the coast of Arabia, nothing is to be seen but
the little white lighthouse and the path leading up to it. On the
southern side there is a very fair harbour and a moderate town. On the
shore all round the island turtles are caught at the season when they
land to deposit their eggs. To pass the island of Perim we sailed
through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, or 'Gate of Tears,' thus called
on account of the numerous wrecks which took place there in former
years. Once through the straits, we were fairly in the Red Sea. The
colour of the Red Sea is certainly the bluest of ultramarines. In the
afternoon the town of Mocha Yamen, celebrated alike for its breed of
Arab horses and its coffee, was visible from the masthead. It is a
large white town, full of cupolas and minarets, surrounded with green
as far as irrigation extends, and looking like a pearl set in emeralds
on the margin of the deep blue sea against a background of red and
yellow sand-mountains. Later in the afternoon we passed Great and
Little Hamish, where the P. and O. boat, 'Alma,' was wrecked some
fifteen years ago, and during the night sailed by Jebel Zibayar and
Tukar.
[Illustration: Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.
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