A STORY OF ADEN HARBOUR.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1003, 18 February 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

A STORY OF ADEN HARBOUR.

It is ; coYiihion prhctico : 6n vends; mote eapebially on bbard the large " overland" sfeuritSrs voyaging to and'ftbiO India, for certam of the iiiale passengers tj> Weqiblc, after dark : in, tho. pmokihg-foom or other snug retreat, and there spend, tiie long evenings in singing songs or.telling "yarns, On one of these occasions it had come round to the turn of an Indian officer either to. sing a song or to toll a 'story for tho benefit of his companions; sb : after thinking for a fe'iV minutes,! and urged on by repeated calls of go I pn,B.—-p," he at length ■tho lattpr alternative,' and commenced aa'fol'lowi:— " Manyi years ago, duringtho lastpliinawar, •Inwas attaohed ; to a regiment bound for ,tho Peiho and Pekin; but most unfortunately, just as we were on thepoint of leaving Hongkong for the; north; my health, which had ,been. ailitig fot. 'sdtrib' little while,'suddenly to 'toy chagrin, after 'appearing'before a medical board, I was pr|pred,J(o,tt!p,,tp England by the first mailsteamer,.. .Natur,ally,: t!(p disappointment of •taking leayerof my .companions-al.Up high spirits at- tho prospect of seeing a little fieldservice—was rt• severe: trial. to me; and undoubtedly my being sent away from China to a Jiealthier'clinlate 'was till 'for the best, fori ■daiily'! gres w, We'afeer," and the disease I suffered from appeirel'toliet stronger me, so much the : homewafd-bbund sfeatper.; anchored. in the. harbour .of Hongkong,.and the .time„oa!ne for passengers to embark, 11 was iso .ill a% to be quit© unable tq - walk, 1 ibnd*-! was carried on board-as helpless • as 1 a child. Soon, however, when tho vcfssel 1 • jgot''iitider"weigh' and faced' the broad'ocean, tho gloriotis sea-air worked (i gradual change'fbr the better, arid by.slow degrees .1' lieg(ra ( to, pick' up, strfength'. and spirits.!' at Singapore to take iii a. supply of coal, and made;ii cpupk run .to Geylon,- and on ; the evening jof the sixth day came to an anchor in the beautiful harbour; 6f;Poifat do Gallo.. ■ Tho Calcutta boat arrived some few hotirs later j'and early the following 1 morning T found myself and baggage 6'ri board ora'crowded 1 "overland" steamer, ...After, the .usual, bustle and'con* in a sutsided, and I .had mado.' the : pf the purseif: and doctor,.of,the. byttheirr r assistance, ;'a,good .airy cabin.in. the forepart of thp;Vessel) away from the noise and heat of the and lOccupied by one other passenger only—a weather-beaten, old General in the Madras .army, returning to England at this; tatoinatioh of his service.

''Our'femer was 'named' the' Nemesis, a weMnowa, Peninsular and Oriental-vessel of former days, She was a fine large boat, splendidly.fittedup and-equipped, like the generality "of "her class, but was nevertheless, for more reasons than one,_ exceedingly unpopular: anlqng,oyprlar4 ipasscng'ers in gereral, and ; d&ervedly sd,'lor the'following reasons. She was builtahnost exclusively of iron throughout,.and was op,strongly framed that she, bore to all outward appearance a greater Resemblance, to an' armour-plated frigate thah;to a. steamer intended to carry the government mails, a ; heavy'cargo, and a largo''number of. passongera,. 'Slie. w,as ill adapted for ''si, mail-steamer on account of her Very'moderate jijte.of spebd—still less so fora passenger-boat; for when loaded up with mail-boxes am} .merctjandise! .she lay so low Id the' wjater 1 cQul'd seldom 1 be opened with safety,' even in.fine weather and without, little motion. ,on'. the'vessel' This fault in, herfcuild to,'.the Nemesis; for. often,during the hot.weather. of the Red Sea ,was. something terrible and overpoweringj her cabins'were filledwith. poor invalids, returning frorn India to their native land, to whom a;breath,of.fresh air between 'the , decks of 'the;steamer was'almost a m'attetof life',and death. .' ■..', ',■'; •.''' ■'.'..■ ; ; ,TheNe'mesip ijad.met'jyith'.. soypfal 'advenjiu'res.anl.iDMqapsldnrjng her.cafeer., Once, when coining down a narrow' and' 'mdst dari ; gerous channel in the Hooglily,; she 1 met'with 1 passing,'up theyriver. ( ',' The' latter' should never. h'ave,been allowed to enter'the narrow passage .!till- ; .it. h was | ',clear of .veaaels, there being no room' for too large steamers to pass each otneri The' Nemesis' held Straight on her coursej and, presently struck' the Burm'ah flteamerso terrible a cut her alm'o3t in halves wthbut.receiving any'material in-' jury to, herself,' This occurrence; bad earned, for her thesobriquetof.!' thePehin-' B,ulmand-Oriental:'Ram.". oi> casion'the Nemesis ran on shore near .Point de Gallo.; but her powerful frame again stood her in' : gdod''stead, and; after scraping and bum'pmg about'for'sev'eralhours among reefs of rocks that would speedily' have' wrecked Shy Ordinary vessel,'" Theßam" Was got off little the worse for all she had gone through, But lam wandering from my story. '. | " |: .' Our twssajj'e'frbm Gallo to Aden \va's fdr'tnnately, for the'-tim'd of year; a remarkably good one. The'heat was; certainly very dis ; trcssing'; but the sea was so smooth that we 'Wer'eablc to keop.'th'e ports wide open night arid day'; and thiswas no slight boon to an invalid like myself, unable 1 to leave his bed br ti enjoy life on deck j for, althohgh there was : comparatively little breeze to speak of, yet the ,rriere rridtion of the'vessel'as" she ploughed Hercoufss through thedeep; caused a'slight current ; bf air' to. blow through;the stiflingcabiu.' T ';.', ']'.' ' ;'' :: •" ':' 'At length ] the- bare ; Arabian. cbast r was reported' to be In sight; 'and some'few hours later,we slowly .steamed into Adett'harbqu'r, and 'safely dropped'; our' anchor amidst a crowd of shipping." I .had so'improved in health {hiring'our! run between Galle anil Atlfeh that latterly, when the'pat heat of ih'e^lay,was over,' I had'been able occasioniliy't'o'spchil'a'few' hours oh deck.'recliniiig in'.dii' easy-chair; .'propped up 'with pillows,' and there enjoyedatalk with'my compaiiiohs; au'dtWdkys b'efbre reaching Aden,>l had made'sdfih' good progress''towards recovery as to' be able t» reach the deck without the assidtancebf the steward, 1 '.'Tfeltjb elated'at this'chahge; for the,'.better, that :a longing desire'camVbver me' to' accompany 1 spine Of a ramble on shore, flattering myself'at.'the same time that if I could not walk'far, 'I could at. a'nyrate hire a carriage of some kind, and drive about from one place ,to^anpther.., But my friend the doctor of the Nemesis very soon put an end to.my project, and.dissipated these illusioiisas soon as he heard of them, ! by peremptorily forbidding anything Of ,the kind; lat tho same; time earnestly advising me.:to keep quiet on board/ship,, for that the least exposure to the sun, I or .the slightest ov.crrexcrtion, would assuredly bring baok. a return of the illness frpm which : l was only then just recovering. Of course I .had Jo, give way and submit to my fate'^',though|it*Svas a sore disappointment to me; lito see my fellow-pas-sengers all going ashpreywhile I.was left behind alone. However,; itxdiild npt ( be helped, so I amused myself by'.lopkrog.overa bundle of fresh newspapers giving the latest intelligence frpm England, But I was not long to be thus left in peace. Soon some immense lighters,, deeply laden with bags'of v c'6al, and manned by.gangs.qf half-naked savage,.approached the. steamer;, and speedily the babel of/voices alongside, the clatter of the coal as it down'the,'iron buukors, and the cloudjpf black;dust over everything,'drove me away from'my

cbinfortabie i e'aay.-chair- op'dcck, and forced me .fytalsp. refuge in the.salpbn]below.'].'.',.' '■' The day ivoro pn.j, but t ßtiil'tho unceasing nojso ana.: uproar, of the coaling continued, till r abput ; sunset, whonj .hiiid.fi'to my'relief, .the din! and,,contusion outride tlio steamer suddenlyceasedj.and'tiip yessel 'onco niore becaino quiet,,,. Peeling tired, I made for my cabin]. The. sWard., presently came down, opened the port,'andligljtc'd a small lamp, to enablo me .to { read]V'lilo!. reclining in my' l;irth., :: AndhQals'6 i) brought me a bpttlopf iced lemona'dq. Then, quite In'pppositiqu to the.; rules of and ■Oriental, Company,J.smoked a cigarejitein mycabin,| ~, Gradually eye stolo' ou, .arid tho sun disappeared behind the toivering.jcrags. of'the' fprtrcss,! , Igofc, tyred of '.reading, so blew. the j lamp put,,' My.berth was,,exactly'opposite: to but considerably above the open port, so : that while reclining on my couch I obtained: a good view "Of the' harbour," shipping, and ; shore... .The air was calm and still., Lights ■ begantb glimmer among the : distant houses, : and I could see the. signal-lamp gliding up; thorigging of the vessels riding at. anchor,' Now and again I heard the tinkle of the shipbells marking;the hour* . 'Presently a bright flash of ■■ flame momentarily illuminated: the: cabin, and then after a pause came the boom- : ing thunder of the:evening gun aoross the .water. I could hear the distant roll ,of the garrison drums beating: the. tattoo; then a profound • stillness, supervened, broken only by the gentle plash of.the waves against the! iron side of the-steamer,: I pulled my blanket! closer : round; me, ■ preparatory to taking: a nap; and gradually glided into, the land: of. forgetfulness. -1 must have i slept ifor some: time, when Igradually'becameawareof low muttered voices; I must tell you that it happened! had .fallen asleep directly: facing! the open port/so that on opening my eyes 1 could; without moving my position, see what was going on in the cabin. To my astonishment, the:first thing:!beheld was the halfnaked form of a-Soomalie-as the woolly headed inhabitants of Aden are called—balancing himself on the lower sill of the port, He was leaning forward and eagerly scanning the various articles of clothing, &0., scattered around, The moon was-shining brightly at the time, and rendered objeots on the floor and sides of the cabin clear to view; although my • berth, considerably ; higher up, was shrouded in darkness, I was very 'soon wide awake 1 on discovering this intruder, and eagerly watohed his movements. ;• The rascal kept up a low converse with 'some confederate apparently in a ; boat on the outside of the steamer; and as he glanced round the cabin, Ifancied that I could see the glitter of his black eyes. For aseoondhe loosed furtively up in my direction, and I imagined that he had discovered rhe. But no, I was well concealed by the darkness, and remained perfectly motionless, • At length/ my friend with the curly head seemed to have decided upon making a prize of a gay Cashmere dressing-gown, the property,of my fellowpassenger, the,old;.General, which,article of raiment hung suspended from a'peg on the door of the apartment, and as it happened was rendered fully oonspicuousby, tho light of the moon.' Presently a, long forked stick was handed up from the outside of the ship to tho would-oe thief, who. stretching out his arm,'by a dexterous' twitcVwith the tip of this weappnremoved the coveted garment from tho peg, and then turning the stick round and round, gradually wouritl the valuable article into a ball, preparatory to drawing it towards him andremovingitaltogether. Things had now reached a crisis. While this scene .was being enacted within a few yards of me, I had been rapidly revolving in my mind .what was tq.bodone to punish this' rascal, and at the same time to prevent him! from carrying off my comrade's property. A heavily knobbed stick, called a "Penang lawyer, 'was resting oh, two.pegs within easy reach of my hand;, but I felt certain that, long before I could possess my.! self of this weapon, the thief' wpuld.discpyer me, 1 and immediately escape, However, there was not a •moment to, be lost; sol slowly, raised myself on my' elbow, intending tpinako a sudden, clutch at the stick, when the knuckles, of iny hand touched something hard lying on the edge of .the berth, and. the next moment I had firmly grasped: the hepk of the empty lemonade bottle;: And'not a moment too"soon; for already the thief, who had been leaning forward while disengaging the dresßihg-gown; was'slowly recovering his former'position,'-'and' in'another moment would.doubtless have successfully accomplished I was well above him,and'he, was yet.witQin ea'ay' range. 1 "So raising myself on my .left, hand, I suddenly leaned forward .and 1 hurled, the/heavy g'ass 1 bottle full at the curly pat'e of the' cabin invader,' and with' a good aim,',for the conical end of tho missile struck .him'a tremendous blow,' apparently full,in the centre of his skulU ; With a yell, of pain' and fright lie dropped stick; dressing-gown, and all; 'and ih.spito of,the thump whioh lie had received on his cranium, which was sufficient to have ■ fractured the,skull of a European—though seemingly it niade little' impression on tho thick skull ; of this Soomalio-hb dropped down into the boat with the agility of a monkey, and quickly disappeared. By the time that my shouts brought one of the stewards of the'.ship to my'assistance, all trace of the thieves had disappeared;'though one of'the'watch on debt,' questioned; remembered noticing a boat baddfed by two nativesmakingbffat';speed, frohi.thesitleof the vessel, ; ~']','.,'.' '.',''.' ]'.'".','.' '. We'got'uhder weigh the following morning, at daylight; 'and when the hour to dress; came round,'it ,w'as discovered for 1 the first; time that 1 numerous, articles of clothing had! mysteriously 'disappeared.. Fortunately, how>; ever, nothing of any' great value had been taken; 'though a lady in the next cabin!had. to mourn,'the loss, 'of \'i ,waterproof■ cloak, which,'doubtless, 'like. toe]'.o.ther .'.'misting, articles)'had'fallen, aprey'to'the'' thieves'of] Aden' harbour,— Chambers's Journal, ' ~", j