TWELVE THOUSAND MILES 19 



feared it would melt the bottom off the ship. This 

 wasn't hard to beheve, for the heat was Hke live steam, 

 and everybody was going aromid with a cold drink 

 in one hand and a towel in the other. 



The Red Sea is hemmed in by deserts, on both the 

 African and Arabian sides. It is only one hundred 

 miles across at the widest part, and during the summer 

 montlis there is a dead calm, the only movement being 

 the leaping of heat waves from one desert to the other. 

 . During the hottest period of the voyage somebody 

 had a bright idea and, so, one night we had a formal 

 dance. I thought my fat Enghsti friend would abso- 

 lutely melt away, and one of the wits came out with 

 a large mop and began following him about, but even 

 this failed to discourage him. After I had melted my 

 sixth collar I gave up, but he and several others carried 

 on, as befits true lovers of the dance. 



Like all things, good and bad, our five-day trip 

 through this inferno of heat came to an official end as we 

 passed tlirough the Strait of Bab el Mandeb. At Aden 

 a hotel with a high-sounding name advertises a 

 "Genuine Mermaid on Show." We were not the first 

 to pay our shilling to view this marvelous creature, and 

 it would really be a shame to give the secret away. 

 This combination hotel and curio shop also advertises 

 itself as being " the oldest estabhshed and best European 

 hotel in Aden." I can personally gusirantee it to be 

 the oldest, and after samphng one of its meals, 

 decided that as there couldn't possibly be any worse, 

 it must be the best. They handed us a leaflet Hsting 

 a great variety of articles and calling our special atten- 

 tion to "chemicals, Turkish delight. Mocha coffee, and 

 ostrich feathers," 



