6 
RUBBER PLANTING IN CEYLON 
caught the first red glow of the crater, and two hours later we 
were near enough to dimly discern the outline of the cone shaped island 
mountain, and to see plainly the red lava torrents that tumbled down 
its sides and were quenched in the sea. We all staid up until the island 
was lost to sight, and left the deck only when a faint reflection on the 
gathering clouds was all there was left to us of one of the most impres- 
sive sights. 
We passed the straits of Mjycenae so early in the morning that none 
of us were up, and on Monday we saw Crete in the distance. By this time 
the boat had developed a pretty fair roll, but few were ill, and the deck 
games went on — that is, for the men. On Tuesday noon we were behind 
the breakwater at Port Said and surrounded by coaling scows, crowded 
by dirty Arabs who did the coaling with baskets. As the air was full 
TORT SAID WATER FRONT. 
of coal dust a half dozen of us secured a boat and went ashore, spending 
the afternoon in roaming the sandy streets, followed by a crowd of beg- 
gars, jugglers, pox-pitted street venders, sellers of indecorous photo- 
graphs, and all of the riffraff of the nastiest of all the cities of the Orient. 
Port Said is built on soil, chiefly sand, that was dumped there dur- 
ing the excavation of the canal. It is a busy, bustling place, due to the 
constant arrival and departure of steamers. It has a fair harbor made 
