244 SPORT IN ABYSSINIA. 



I went to the French Company's house in the after- 

 noon ; it overlooked the sea, and observing a boat 

 coming up alongside, I hailed it. An Englishman 

 was sitting in the stern, who turned out to be Mr. 

 Cordock, the engineer of the S.S. Massozuah. I asked 

 him to come into the house and speak to me, told him 

 that I was going away by the steamer to Suez, and 

 that I had been very ill. The boat was to sail the 

 next day, so that evening he dined with me at the 

 French Company's, and we went off to the ship to- 

 gether. He gave up his cabin to me, and he was 

 altogether most kind and considerate. 



My only fellow-passenger was an ex-French naval 

 captain, who had been sent out by a mercantile 

 house in Paris to look for guano amongst the islands 

 in the Red Sea. He had been cruising about for ten 

 days in an open native boat, called a sambouk, from 

 island to island, but had not succeeded in finding 

 what he wanted, and was now returning to Paris. 

 He happened to have a servant who was an excellent 

 cook. This man was half a Syrian and half a 

 Frenchman, and on the voyage up to Suez he cooked 

 all our meals for us. 



March 28, Sunday. — The ship was to sail to-day, 

 but there was an additional quantity of hides to 

 take in. They were gradually crowding up the 

 deck with this stinking cargo, which had been accu- 



