The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism (Vol. 1-4). Frederick Whymper
Holy Writ informs us that “the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.”91 The effect of wind, in both raising large masses of water and in driving them back, is well known, while there are narrow parts of the Red Sea which have been forded. In the morning “the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.” We know the sequel. The waters returned, and covered the Egyptian hosts; “there remained not so much as one of them.” “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown in the sea. * * *
“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.
“The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.”
CATCHING PELICANS ON LAKE MENZALEH.
CHAPTER VIII.
Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued).
THE INDIA AND CHINA STATIONS.
The Red Sea and its Name—Its Ports—On to the India Station—Bombay: Island, City, Presidency—Calcutta—Ceylon, a Paradise—The China Station—Hong Kong—Macao—Canton—Capture of Commissioner Yeh—The Sea of Soup—Shanghai—“Jack”Ashore there—Luxuries in Market—Drawbacks: Earthquakes, and Sand Showers—Chinese Explanations of Earthquakes—The Roving Life of the Sailor—Compensating Advantages—Japan and its People—The Englishmen of the Pacific—Yokohama—Peculiarities of the Japanese—Off to the North.
The Red Sea separates Arabia from Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia. Its name is either derived from the animalculæ which sometimes cover parts of its surface, or, more probably, from the red and purple coral which abound in its waters. The Hebrew name signifies “the Weedy Sea,” because the corals have often plant-like forms. There are reefs of coral in the Red Sea which utterly prevent approach to certain parts of the coasts. Many of the islands which border it are of volcanic origin. On the Zeigar Islands there was an alarming eruption in 1846. England owns one of the most important of the islands, that of Perim, in the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. It is a barren, black rock, but possesses a fine harbour, and commands one entrance of the Red Sea. It was occupied by Great Britain in 1799, abandoned in 1801, and re-occupied on the 11th of February, 1857. Its fortifications possess guns of sufficient calibre and power to command the Straits.
JIDDAH, FROM THE SEA.
The entire circuit of the Red Sea is walled by grand mountain ranges. Some of its ports and harbours are most important places. There is Mocha, so dear to the coffee-drinker; Jiddah, the port for the holy city of Mecca, whither innumerable pilgrims repair; Hodeida, and Locheia. It was in Jiddah that, in 1858, the Moslem population rose against the Christians, and killed forty-five, including the English and French consuls. On the African side, besides Suez, there are the ports of Cosseir, Suakim, and Massuah. The Red Sea is deep for a partially inland sea; there is a recorded instance of soundings to 1,000 fathoms—considerably over a mile—and no bottom found.
After leaving the Red Sea, where shall we proceed? We have the choice of the India, China, or Australia Stations. Actually, to do the voyage systematically, Bombay would be the next point.
Bombay, in general terms, is three things: a city of three-quarters of a million souls; a presidency of 12,000,000 inhabitants; or an island—the island of Mambai, according to the natives, or Buon Bahia, the “good haven,” if we take the Portuguese version. The city is built on the island, which is not less than eight miles long by three broad, but the presidency extends to the mainland.
In 1509, the Portuguese visited it, and in 1530 it became theirs. In 1661, it was blindly ceded to our Charles II., as simply a part of the dowry of his bride, the Infanta Catherine. Seven years after Charles the Dissolute had obtained what is now the most valuable colonial possession of Great Britain, he ceded it to the Honourable East India Company—though, of course, for a handsome consideration.
Bombay has many advantages for the sailor. It is always accessible during the terrible south-west monsoons, and possesses an anchoring ground of fifty miles, sheltered by islands and a magnificent series of breakwaters, at the south end of which is a grand lighthouse. Its docks and dockyards cover fifty acres; ship-building is carried on extensively; and there is an immense trade in cotton, coffee, opium, spices, gums, ivory, and shawls. Of its 700,000 inhabitants, 50,000 are Parsees—Persians—descendants of the original Fire-worshippers. A large proportion of them are merchants. It may not be generally known to our readers that the late Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy—who left wealth untold, although all his days he had been a humane and charitable man, and who established in Bombay alone two fine hospitals—was a Parsee.
Calcutta, in 1700, was but a collection of petty villages, surrounding the factories or posts of the East India Company, and which were presented to that corporation by the Emperor of Delhi. They were fortified, and received the name of Fort William, in honour of the reigning king. It subsequently received the title of Calcutta, that being the name of one of the aforesaid villages. Seven years after that date, Calcutta was attacked suddenly by Surajah Dowlah, Nawab of Bengal. Abandoned by many who should have defended it, 146 English fell into the enemy’s hands, who put them into that confined and loathsome cell of which we have all read, the “Black Hole of Calcutta.” Next morning but twenty-three of the number were found alive. Lord Clive, eight months later, succeeded in recapturing Calcutta, and after the subsequently famous battle of Plassey, the possessions of the East India Company greatly extended. To-day Calcutta has a “Strand” longer than that of London, and the batteries of Fort William, which, with their outworks, cover an area half a mile in diameter, and have cost £2,000,000, form the strongest fortress in India.
Across the continent by railway, and we land easily in Calcutta. It has, with its suburbs, a larger population than Bombay, but can never rival it as a port, because it is a hundred miles up the Hooghly River, and navigation is risky, although ships of 2,000 tons can reach it. It derives its name from Kali Ghatta, the ghaut or landing-place of the goddess Kali. Terrible cyclones have often devastated it; that in 1867 destroyed 30,000 native houses, and a very large amount of human life.
CYCLONE AT CALCUTTA.
The sailor’s route would, however, take him, if bound to China or Australia, round the island of Ceylon, in which there are two harbours, Point de Galle, used as a stopping-place, a kind of “junction” for the great steamship lines, of which the splendid Peninsular and Oriental (the “P. & O.”) Company, is the principal. Point de Galle is the most convenient point, but it does not possess a first-class harbour. At Trincomalee, however, there is a magnificent harbour.
Ceylon is one of the most interesting islands in the world. It is the Serendib of the “Arabian Nights,” rich in glorious scenery, equable climate, tropical vegetation, unknown quantities of gems and pearls, and many minerals. The sapphire, ruby, topaz, garnet, and amethyst abound. A sapphire was found in 1853 worth £4,000. Its coffee plantations are a source of great wealth. Palms, flowering shrubs, tree ferns, rhododendrons, as big as timber trees, clothe the island in perennial verdure. The elephant, wild boar, leopard, bear, buffalo, humped ox, deer, palm-cat and civet are common, but there are few dangerous or venomous animals. The Singhalese population, really Hindoo colonists, are effeminate and cowardly. The Kandyans, Ceylonese Highlanders, who dwell in the mountains, are a more creditable race,