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5 November 1905 — En route to India | |
Sunday. 5th [November 1905]. We left the Red sea today & the great heat abated. There was morning service at 10.45. A clergyman who happened to be on board conducted the service. Directly after lunch we arrived at Aden—a barren looking rock– Mr Cox invited 2 of us to land in a steam launch wh was at our disposal—so Corise & I gladly accepted. Nela was afraid of the movement as we took 20 mins: to reach the landing place. It must be a dreary place for those who are doomed to live there in garrison—sand—nothing but sand & rock. Detached kind of hovels scattered about had the name of various officers—one base sandy place was the croquet ground—another the golf links– The Barracks, the hospital &c were rather grander edifices– The Protestant Church was built in stone. The natives were very black—& scantily clothed, but well built lithe & tall. The small children have not a stitch of clothes & I suppose their woolly heads preserve them from the sun. They sat about on the road in all attitudes—asleep—smoking—talking &c. When every now & then one saw a native clothed in white one thought them very overdressed. The natives offered us ostrich feathers for sale—but we did not care to buy; there was also a report that it wd be unsafe as there was small pox amongst the natives. At 4.30 we were back on the “Egypt” but she did not start till later when she had taken all the mails on board. The ships are surrounded with brownish gulls & a big brown kite who fought for the refuse thrown over board. We started off about 6—with a pleasant breeze & a perfectly blue calm sea. | |
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