246 SPORT IN ABYSSINIA. 



during the day, but in the evening after dinner I was 

 taken dreadfully ill, in fact, I believed I was at the 

 point of death. The ship anchored for the night, as 

 is generally the custom with these steamers, the day 

 after leaving Massowah, for they are cruising about 

 amongst coral reefs, which are exceedingly dangerous. 

 Whenever we anchored, the sailors all set to work 

 fishing, catching numbers of peculiar-shaped and 

 strange-coloured monsters. 



March 31. — I am better to-day, and we all dined 

 on the upper deck as it was very hot below. We 

 had a most unusual fish for dinner ; he was like a 

 perch, only perfectly red, and the spiky fin on his 

 back was of a very beautiful scarlet colour. To-day 

 the French captain showed me the charts of his 

 voyages amongst the islands of the Red Sea, which 

 he had made in an Arab boat with a crew of three 

 men and his servant. There is a very heavy dew 

 at night here, but we all three sat talking till late, 

 Cordock, the engineer, produced some rum, which I 

 am sorry to say I am not allowed to drink, but the 

 French captain seemed to enjoy it very much. The 

 second officer of the ship, an Egyptian of the name of 

 Hassain, is a very intelligent man ; he has been with 

 ships several times to London, and he talks a little 

 English. 



April I. — We arrived at Souakim about 9 o'clock 



