ing in through the open windows, and
although the thermometer registered 85 deg. in the dining-room, it did not
seem at all hot. The view over the bay is very pretty, and the scene
on shore thoroughly Arabian, with the donkeys and camels patiently
carrying their heavy loads, guided by the true Bedaween of the desert,
and people of all tinges of complexion, from jet black to pale copper
colour. A pair of tame ostriches, at least seven feet high, were
strolling about the roadway, and a gazelle, some monkeys, parrots, and
birds lived happily together beneath a broad verandah. After a little
while we went for a drive to see the camp and town of Aden, which is
four or five miles from the Point where everybody lands. On the way we
met trains of heavily laden camels bringing in wood, water, grain, and
fodder, for garrison consumption, and coffee and spices for
exportation. After driving for about four miles we reached a gallery
pierced through the rock, which admits you into the precincts of the
fort. The entrance is very narrow, the sides precipitous, and the
place apparently impregnable. We went all through the town, or rather
towns, past the Arab village, the Sepoy barracks, and the European
barracks, to the water tanks, stupendous works carved out of the solid
rock, but until lately comparatively neglected, the residents
depending entirely on distillation for their supply of water. There is
a pretty little garden at the foot of the lowest tank, but the heat
was intense in the bottom of the deep valley amongst the rocks, where
every sun-ray seemed to be collected and reflected from the white
glaring limestone, and every breath of air to be excluded. We saw a
little more of the town and the market crowded with camels, the shops
full of lion, leopard, and hyaena skins. We went to the officers'
mess-house, visited the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches and
the Mohammedan mosque, and then passing through two long tunnels,
bored and blasted in the solid rock, we looked over the
fortifications. Finally, we returned to the Point again by way of the
Isthmus, and went to Government House, which gets a fresh breeze from
every quarter. They say that to-day is hotter than usual, but it is
never really very oppressive here unless there is an exceptionally hot
wind blowing from the desert, but even that is partially cooled before
it arrives. To us it appears delightful after our sultry voyage and
the heat at Penang and Singapore.

W