February we at
last entered the Gulf of Aden, a perfect funnel introduced into the
neck of Bab-el-mandeb, through which the Indian waters entered the Red
Sea.

The 6th of February, the Nautilus floated in sight of Aden, perched
upon a promontory which a narrow isthmus joins to the mainland, a kind
of inaccessible Gibraltar, the fortifications of which were rebuilt by
the English after taking possession in 1839. I caught a glimpse of the
octagon minarets of this town, which was at one time the richest
commercial magazine on the coast.

I certainly thought that Captain Nemo, arrived at this point, would
back out again; but I was mistaken, for he did no such thing, much to
my surprise.

The next day, the 7th of February, we entered the Straits of
Bab-el-mandeb, the name of which, in the Arab tongue, means The Gate of
Tears.

To twenty miles in breadth, it is only thirty-two in length. And for
the Nautilus, starting at full speed, the crossing was scarcely the
work of an hour. But I saw nothing, not even the Island of Perim, with
which the British Government has fortified the position of Aden. There
were too many English or French steamers of the line of Suez to Bombay,
Calcutta to Melbourne, and from Bourbon to the Mauritius, furrowing
this narrow passage, for the Nautilus to venture to show itself. So it
remained prudently below. At last about noon, we were in the waters of
the Red Sea.

I would not even seek to understand the caprice which had decided
Captain Nemo upon entering the gulf. But I quite approved of the
Nautilus entering it. Its speed was lessened: sometimes it kept on
the surface, sometimes it dived to avoid a vessel, and thus I was able
to observe the upper and lower parts of this curious sea.

The 8th of February, from the first dawn of day, Mocha came in sight,
now a ruined town, whose walls would fall at a gunshot, yet which
shelters here and there some verdant date-trees; once an important
city, containing six public markets, and twenty-six mosques, and whose
walls, defended by fourteen forts, formed a girdle of two miles in
circumference.

The Nautilus then approached the African shore, where the depth of the
sea was greater. There, between two waters clear as crystal, through
the open panels we were allowed to contemplate the beautiful bushes of
brilliant coral and large blocks of rock clothed with a splendid fur of
green variety of sites and landscapes along these sandbanks and a