356 Camped on the Upper Deck [1900 



do not wash quite so high. Suliman had already established him- 

 self there, and it is pleasant to have our little camp with him altogether 

 as if we were in the desert. The sight of the waves breaking over the 

 reef is interesting, and there are seagulls to watch and floating sea- 

 weed, and one can mark the variations in strength of the wind ; the 

 centre of the ship, too, is free from the thumping of the stern, and 

 we have a feeling here that even if she breaks in two, the fore half 

 where we are would remain firm on the reef. Nor is it a small ad- 

 vantage to be free from the incessant prayers of the rich pilgrims in 

 the cabin, who shout in chorus all day long, and of the children who, 

 in imitation of them, make treble invocations of their own. In the 

 forecastle, which we overlook, the pilgrims, mostly Persians, confine 

 themselves to an ' Alahu Akbar,' when any specially big wave breaks 

 over them. There is one of them stationed on purpose to look out 

 for the big waves and announce their coming. Here we are settling our- 

 selves for the night. 



" nth March. — The sunset last night was less yellow than the day 

 had been, for there had been a thick haze, and the stars and the moon 

 came out, but the wind blew all night as hard as ever, the waves run- 

 ning up to within a couple of feet of our platform, making one wonder 

 whether the afterpart of the ship had not been carried away. We 

 made ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit under 

 our awning, and I took a little dose of morphia to keep me warm 

 through the night. I had got wet through in my European clothes, 

 and have now got on my Arab things, and so dozed through the 

 night, trying to fancy myself in Jendali or on Kalala. Miss Lawrence 

 and Cockerell too, none of us in much comfort, for Ave could not 

 lie down. Still things might mave been worse, and we were able to 

 keep dry, and the wind is not a cold one. The pilgrims, among whom 

 we are now established, began by being not quite friendly, one or 

 two thought I was masquerading as a pilgrim, and asked me why 

 I wore the akhram, and whether I had a passport from Constantinople, 

 nor could I altogether satisfy them, as they did not understand Arabic, 

 being mostly Turks or Bokharists. But the feeling amongst them 

 has quite changed now. This is owing to my having taken their side 

 against the captain, and decided him at last to send off a boat to the 

 shore. [The captain, since the ship had struck, had shut himself up 

 almost entirely in his cabin, refusing to do anything or take any 

 measures.] The pilgrims had insisted upon his sending off a boat, 

 and had come to the cabin door in a body, under the leadership of an 

 old sea-captain, a Moslem from the Caspian, a rugged fellow in an 

 Astrakhan cap, who declared he could easily steer a boat on shore at 

 high tide across the reef, and so carry the news of our shipwreck to 

 Tor. This seemed to me a sensible plan ; and I went with them to 



