2 50 SFOR T IN ABYSSINIA. 



April 8. — We had no chutney to eat with our curry 

 and rice, so I amused myself to-day by making some. 

 It resulted in a complete success, and proved very good. 

 The principal ingredients were some tomatos which the 

 cook had bought for nie at Souakim. At two o'clock 

 to-day we were abreast of the Brothers, two low coral 

 islands, and quite chief features of the Red Sea ; the 

 P & O. Company have put a flag-staff on the larger one. 

 A gale was blowing very hard, and Cordock hoped to 

 make Shadwan that night, which is a large island at 

 the mouth of the Gulf of Suez, with a high mountain 

 on it that can be seen for thirty miles. I hope to 

 arrive at Suez on the loth. It blew so hard, how- 

 ever, that we could not get on at all, so on the 

 morning of the 9th we anchored at Tur, after having 

 passed a very stormy night. When Cordock came to 

 me in the morning, he informed me that the ship 

 had very nearly been lost off the island of Shadwan ; 

 it was blowing tremendously hard at the time, and we 

 were on a lee-shore ; the steering-gear gave way, and 

 the ship went round before the wind. All the Arabs 

 lost their heads, but Cordock, with the help of his 

 assistant-engineer and the Syrian cook, put things 

 right. During all this commotion I was sleeping in 

 utter unconsciousness in my cabin, and in the morning 

 I was very glad they had not woke me up. Tur is a 

 little place on the east side of the Red Sea ; it is 



