ch. i.] Life Afloat. n 



tips ; it had a band of white just above the tail, and this- 

 gave the bird a characteristic appearance, especially 

 during its jerky red-cap like flight. 



"We went into Aden, and I never felt the heat so much 

 anywhere before or since. It is a huge Dutch oven of 

 sunburnt rocks without a sign of vegetation as seen from, 

 the harbour. It is astonishing how soon one begins to- 

 take a personal interest in a ship on which a long voyage 

 has to be made. The second mate was the skipper of a 

 China trader, and tells me of the palmy days before 

 the Canal was opened, and when freights were .£12. 

 a ton. One of the quartermasters was an ex-royal 

 yachtsman, a civil and obliging old fellow, with a sharp 

 eye for grog. One of the stewards has been a photo- 

 grapher, and another is a hairdresser — rather a luxury 

 to have aboard ship. The old Welsh stewardess was a 

 character, with nightly tendencies towards hot rum and 

 water and old superstitious stories of the sea. The 

 captain is a fat, red-whiskered old sea-dog, who 

 knows all about everything, but evidently never enjoyed 

 an introduction to Mr. Lindley Murray in his youth. 

 His politics are peculiar, and his motto appears to- 

 be that of the ultra radicals, " Down with everything 

 what's up." 



Penang was our next stopping-place, and we got 

 ashore for two days, and enjo}'ed a walk around the 

 town and a ride to the " Falls " and the " Hill." Two- 

 days afterwards we stepped on to the Pile wharf at 

 Tanjong Paggar or the " fenced cape " at Singapore, 

 and our experiences of the tropics really began. The 

 voyage for two days down the Straits of Malacca had 

 been very pleasant, and we thoroughly enjoyed the 

 smooth blue sea and clear sky, flecked now and then by 

 tin}- fleets of junks with their mat sails of a soft golden 



