Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 68]
11
for their cheap goods, I'm afraid. The way they manouvre their light boats, jigging all the time and keeping up an incessant chatter, was very entertaining. They sold hoards of post-cards, cigars cigarettes, Turkish delight, mat's, silk handkerchieves and many other things. I managed to beat one chap down from 6/- to 2/- for 50 cigars. I have since lost some of my best friends through those cigars.
While we were anchored in Aden we saw a party of about 500 Ghurkas with a camel train of ammunition, passing through the town to reinforce a body of defeated English garrison, about 20 miles from the town. A few days before a body of 5000 Turks made an attack on a small observation station 20 miles from Aden. This they took with no difficulty. The garrison, some 500 in number we sent out to meet them and they too were defeated, and lost 50 men, several guns, and all their encoutrements. A proper licking. The result of the Ghurka's expedition I have not heard; perhaps you have not heard of this little episode? Our chaps would have given anything to have got off for a cut at the enemy, but had to content themselves with thinking what they would have done.
At 2 AM on the 7th we drew out of the bay and passing through Bab-el-mandeb, encountered the Red Sea. It was as smooth as a plate of glass, and as hot as blazes. We soon ran into a slight warm breeze – I think they call it the sorroco sirocco– which carried quite a quantity of dust and hoards of great red locusts. These are like our grasshoppers, about the size of a prawn, and just as red. If my memory serves