LA GIGUE ANGLAISE." 335 



by the captain's " Et ' autremain, ' monsieur, vous habiiez 

 Smyrne, au ' rnouains.'" 



We got up a must successful dance after dinner, 

 although the different "steps" were as varied as the 

 nationalities. Every dance, from a valse to a cancan, 

 was tried in turns, and I won a fleeting fame by 

 inaugurating the "Barn-Door Polka." It was a o-reat 

 success, and everybody begged to be taught la gigue 

 Anglaise. The Highland Schottische was a failure, and 

 had to be changed into Sir Roger de Coverley, which 

 lasted until the ship's engines suddenly broke clown. A 

 "heated bearing" is the usual explanation for stoppao-es 

 at sea; but nobody seemed to know what had happened 

 now, so the Yorkshire engineer went below to investi- 

 gate. He returned in half an hour, very black and 

 grimy, to say that after what he had seen he was rather 

 inclined to feel surprised that we had got so far. At 2 a.m. 

 we made a start, but stopped again in a couple of hours. 

 This time it was a " heated bearing, " and the lower 

 decks were flooded with water. However we started 

 slowly in the afternoon, and arrived at Aden with only 

 one more breakdown. 



Here we changed into one of the new Australian 

 steamers — a magnificent boat of nearly 7,000 tons, and 

 most comfortably fitted. Dejeuner was served d la carte, 

 and at the hour you ordered it. Life at sea is so 



