198 WRECK OF THE ALMA. 



existence. The most active of the younger men, in- 

 cluding a number of English officers on their way 

 home from India, took possession of the old muskets with 

 bayonets, which were rather for ornament than for real 

 use in the vessel, and proclaimed martial law. A recal- 

 citrant drunken sailor was knocked down, and on the 

 summit of the rocky eminence a gallows was erected as 

 a sign of our authority. Thither, too, all the recovered 

 provisions were taken, and a guard-tent was set up, 

 before which a sentinel patrolled. This had a calming 

 effect and reduced the crew to submission. 



It was above all things necessary to obtain 

 protection from the sun, which at this time of year 

 shone vertically down on the island at mid-day. 

 Accordingly a certain number began busily to occupy 

 themselves in erecting tents with the help of sails and 

 yards. Further a kitchen was contrived, and the pro- 

 visions , especially the water and the stock of beer 

 and wine, were stored safely. In these operations 

 Mr. Gisborne, the leading engineer of the cable-laying, 

 was especially prominent, and exercised a sort of 

 dictatorship on the island. Mr. Newall had at break 

 of day immediately gone with one of the three boats, 

 which were at our disposal, to Mokka, the nearest 

 place on the Arabian coast, to seek assistance. He 

 did not find any there however - perhaps because 

 the recent bombardment of Djedda by the English had 

 caused a very unfavourable feeling towards Europeans 

 - and therefore proceeded further towards the Straits 

 of Bab-el-Mandeb in the hope of falling in with a vessel. 



