FROM NAPLES TO THE RED SEA 23 



nightly saengerfest that lasted until one o'clock, 

 and then the men who wash down the decks ap- 

 peared at four. Between one and four it was too 

 hot to sleep, so that there wasn't much restful repose 

 on the ship until we got out of the Red Sea. 



Down at the end of the Red Sea are the straits 



We Slept on Deck in the Red Sea 



of Bab-el-Mandeb. In the middle of the straits is 

 the island of Perim, a sun-baked, bare and unin- 

 viting chunk of land that has great strategic value 

 and little else. It absolutely commands the en- 

 trance to the Red Sea, and, naturally, is British. 

 Nearly all strategic points in the East are British, 

 from Gibraltar to Singapore. A lighthouse, a sig- 



