The Opelousas courier., 1884-11-22
y0YAGlNG ON THE RED SEA.
~=Fhernnonaae&er~ at $50 Degrees
Glorious Sunscts-A Ship OHa kAfes

VVA&EoAANV va
Fheraa10maeser~ at D Begrees-
Glorious surscts-A Snip ON &hfe'
An eight days voyage across the
Arabian Sea, says a Cairo letter to the
New Orleans Times, brought the steamer
to Alden, near the southern extremity
of the great Arabian peninsula. For
/ two DAYS before We had sighted in the
| dim distance the rocky, sterile coast
line; and Alden proved to be no more
inviting-in fact, one of the drearlest,
most desolate places conceivable. woe
be to the ship that is cast ashore on the
Arabian coast. Though the natives may
not make a barbecue of you, and dance
in real savage style around your bleach
ing bones, they are apt to take every
stitch of clothing you have on, torture
you, end ultimately starve you. Sad,
indeed, was the recent fate of some men
on board the steamers Arey and Knight
of the Bath, which went ashore some
ways out of Alden.
/ feel warranted in saying that the
days are hot. There is only n porta-
BILE thermometer. aboard. and l expert
ment some with that. First, | find the
coolest place in the ship, a passage-way
leading out OF the main saloon, where a
registerbrings up a(relatively(coo draught
from the lower regions of the ship. The
midday register for the passage varies
from eighty-fve degrees Fahrenheit to
ninety eight degrees. In the cabins the
temperature is very much higher. The
garments of those who sweat profusely
are wringing wet with perspiration,
while the hands and faces of those who
do not are so clammy that you would
think they had been smeared with
grease. Unfortunately, the thermometer
in question only registers as high as $50
degrees. I put it out on the hatchway
in the sun one day. The mercury trots
right up to $50 degrees in no time, and
hasten to bring the instrument in, lest it
shall explode.
And yet they tell me this is literally
ceokin comparison with the condition of
things that will prevail a month or two
hence. Every n on the ship says SO.
l wonder how high the temperature
would raise a thermometer in the sun.
1t is indeed hot, but one becomes in a
measure Injured to it after a day or two,
and frequent salt water baths serve to
make life more tolerable. In the hot
months there are always a number of
passengers and laborers, especially stok-
ers, who perish from excessive heat.
Even our hens ard ducks are unable 10
endure the warmth, and several of the
painting creatures expire, despite the fire.
quent drenchings with fresh water
which the steward gives them by means
of a sprinkling pot.
The sunsets are glorious and the moon
rises ven more so. Indeed, the even
,ngs are pleasant and We are tempted to
sleep out on the deck instead of in our
stuffy cabins. This, however, the cap
influences of the moon in this climate.
The rays ola tropical moon poisons
meat, and our supplies are tested with a
piece of silver in the boiling water.
Any diseeloratien of the silver indicates
that the meat has been exposed to the
moonshine. One indiscreet sailor sleeps
on deck, and in the morning his face is
wrenched out. of shape. After this we
are careful, and sit under the awning
While we spin our sea yarns. The dews
ut night are very heavy and leave a thick
saline deposit ON the ships rigging. Qc-
~casionaIly a mirage furnishes us with
diversion. The phosphorescent displays
of the Arabian and Red seas are not what
had expected after reading and hearing
SO much of them; but perhaps this is
owing to the supernatural brilliance of
the noon. The phosphorescence is, how
ever, SUI generis SO far as I have seen.
It floats about in apparent Chunks
which attach themselves to the sides of
the vessel and are impelled forward for
a time, only to become detached at
length, and quickly disappear -astern.
Here on the Red sea. for the first time
in my seventy-five days and nights Of sea
voyaging, / have a taste of what a fire on
shipboard implies. One hot, breathless
day the chief officer is having a large
kettle of a resinous liquid boiled, up for
ward on a deck stove, for application to
certain parts of the ship. It is left alone
for a moment, boils over into the fire, and
in a moment more the whole mass is
ablaze. The liquid flows over the deck,
and almost before we can take the fact in
great. sheets of fame are leaping half way
up to the square sails. The alarm is
sounaed, the sailors rush to the sand bar
rels, and by the time each man has
thrown a pailful of sand upon the deck
there is nothing 1eft burning but the ket-
tie. Over this a courageous fellow throws
a piece of sail-cloth, and two other men
lift it to the deck. In the meantime the
captain has ordered the donkey engines
to work, and there is an immense stream
ready to play upon the deck, were such a
measure necessary.
| confess that my heart is humping
away wildly, but none of the officers OF
men seem any more concerned than if
such a scene were of daily occurrence on
shipboard.
A few men have been wounded or
burned in the operation, while some
others have lost part of their clothing. I
suppose no more dangerous form of fire
could break out, and yet it is handled with
perfect ease and does not create a ripple
of excitement. In three minutes it has
ceased to be a subject of comment.