Chapter IX
IN WHICH THE RED SEA AND THE INDIAN OCEAN PROVE PROPITIOUS TO THEDESIGNS OF PHILEAS FOGG
The distance between Suez and Aden is precisely thirteen hundred andten miles, and the regulations of the company allow the steamers onehundred and thirty-eight hours in which to traverse it. The Mongolia,thanks to the vigorous exertions of the engineer, seemed likely, sorapid was her speed, to reach her destination considerably within thattime. The greater part of the passengers from Brindisi were bound forIndia some for Bombay, others for Calcutta by way of Bombay, thenearest route thither, now that a railway crosses the Indian peninsula.Among the passengers was a number of officials and military officers ofvarious grades, the latter being either attached to the regular Britishforces or commanding the Sepoy troops, and receiving high salaries eversince the central government has assumed the powers of the East IndiaCompany: for the sub-lieutenants get 280 pounds, brigadiers, 2,400pounds, and generals of divisions, 4,000 pounds. What with themilitary men, a number of rich young Englishmen on their travels, andthe hospitable efforts of the purser, the time passed quickly on theMongolia. The best of fare was spread upon the cabin tables atbreakfast, lunch, dinner, and the eight o'clock supper, and the ladiesscrupulously changed their toilets twice a day; and the hours werewhirled away, when the sea was tranquil, with music, dancing, and games.
But the Red Sea is full of caprice, and often boisterous, like mostlong and narrow gulfs. When the wind came from the African or Asiancoast the Mongolia, with her long hull, rolled fearfully. Then theladies speedily disappeared below; the pianos were silent; singing anddancing suddenly ceased. Yet the good ship ploughed straight on,unretarded by wind or wave, towards the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. Whatwas Phileas Fogg doing all this time? It might be thought that, in hisanxiety, he would be constantly watching the changes of the wind, thedisorderly raging of the billows--every chance, in short, which mightforce the Mongolia to slacken her speed, and thus interrupt hisjourney. But, if he thought of these possibilities, he did not betraythe fact by any outward sign.
Always the same impassible member of the Reform Club, whom no incidentcould surprise, as unvarying as the ship's chronometers, and seldomhaving the curiosity even to go upon the deck, he passed through thememorable scenes of the Red Sea with cold indifference; did not care torecognise the historic towns and villages which, along its borders,raised their picturesque outlines against the sky; and betrayed no fearof the dangers of the Arabic Gulf, which the old historians alwaysspoke of with horror, and upon which the ancient navigators neverventured without propitiating the gods by ample sacrifices. How didthis eccentric personage pass his time on the Mongolia? He made hisfour hearty meals every day, regardless of the most persistent rollingand pitching on the part of the steamer; and he played whistindefatigably, for he had found partners as enthusiastic in the game ashimself. A tax-collector, on the way to his post at Goa; the Rev.Decimus Smith, returning to his parish at Bombay; and abrigadier-general of the English army, who was about to rejoin hisbrigade at Benares, made up the party, and, with Mr. Fogg, played whistby the hour together in absorbing silence.
As for Passepartout, he, too, had escaped sea-sickness, and took hismeals conscientiously in the forward cabin. He rather enjoyed thevoyage, for he was well fed and well lodged, took a great interest inthe scenes through which they were passing, and consoled himself withthe delusion that his master's whim would end at Bombay. He waspleased, on the day after leaving Suez, to find on deck the obligingperson with whom he had walked and chatted on the quays.
"If I am not mistaken," said he, approaching this person, with his mostamiable smile, "you are the gentleman who so kindly volunteered toguide me at Suez?"
"Ah! I quite recognise you. You are the servant of the strangeEnglishman--"
"Just so, monsieur--"
"Fix."
"Monsieur Fix," resumed Passepartout, "I'm charmed to find you onboard. Where are you bound?"
"Like you, to Bombay."
"That's capital! Have you made this trip before?"
"Several times. I am one of the agents of the Peninsular Company."
"Then you know India?"
"Why yes," replied Fix, who spoke cautiously.
"A curious place, this India?"
"Oh, very curious. Mosques, minarets, temples, fakirs, pagodas,tigers, snakes, elephants! I hope you will have ample time to see thesights."
"I hope so, Monsieur Fix. You see, a man of sound sense ought not tospend his life jumping from a steamer upon a railway train, and from arailway train upon a steamer again, pretending to make the tour of theworld in eighty days! No; all these gymnastics, you may be sure, willcease at Bombay."
"And Mr. Fogg is getting on well?" asked Fix, in the most natural tonein the world.
"Quite well, and I too. I eat like a famished ogre; it's the sea air."
"But I never see your master on deck."
"Never; he hasn't the least curiosity."
"Do you know, Mr. Passepartout, that this pretended tour in eighty daysmay conceal some secret errand--perhaps a diplomatic mission?"
"Faith, Monsieur Fix, I assure you I know nothing about it, nor would Igive half a crown to find out."
After this meeting, Passepartout and Fix got into the habit of chattingtogether, the latter making it a point to gain the worthy man'sconfidence. He frequently offered him a glass of whiskey or pale alein the steamer bar-room, which Passepartout never failed to accept withgraceful alacrity, mentally pronouncing Fix the best of good fellows.
Meanwhile the Mongolia was pushing forward rapidly; on the 13th, Mocha,surrounded by its ruined walls whereon date-trees were growing, wassighted, and on the mountains beyond were espied vast coffee-fields.Passepartout was ravished to behold this celebrated place, and thoughtthat, with its circular walls and dismantled fort, it looked like animmense coffee-cup and saucer. The following night they passed throughthe Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, which means in Arabic The Bridge of Tears,and the next day they put in at Steamer Point, north-west of Adenharbour, to take in coal. This matter of fuelling steamers is aserious one at such distances from the coal-mines; it costs thePeninsular Company some eight hundred thousand pounds a year. In thesedistant seas, coal is worth three or four pounds sterling a ton.
The Mongolia had still sixteen hundred and fifty miles to traversebefore reaching Bombay, and was obliged to remain four hours at SteamerPoint to coal up. But this delay, as it was foreseen, did not affectPhileas Fogg's programme; besides, the Mongolia, instead of reachingAden on the morning of the 15th, when she was due, arrived there on theevening of the 14th, a gain of fifteen hours.
Mr. Fogg and his servant went ashore at Aden to have the passport againvisaed; Fix, unobserved, followed them. The visa procured, Mr. Foggreturned on board to resume his former habits; while Passepartout,according to custom, sauntered about among the mixed population ofSomalis, Banyans, Parsees, Jews, Arabs, and Europeans who comprise thetwenty-five thousand inhabitants of Aden. He gazed with wonder uponthe fortifications which make this place the Gibraltar of the IndianOcean, and the vast cisterns where the English engineers were still atwork, two thousand years after the engineers of Solomon.
"Very curious, very curious," said Passepartout to himself, onreturning to the steamer. "I see that it is by no means useless totravel, if a man wants to see something new." At six p.m. theMongolia slowly moved out of the roadstead, and was soon once more onthe Indian Ocean. She had a hundred and sixty-eight hours in which toreach Bombay, and the sea was favourable, the wind being in thenorth-west, and all sails aiding the engine. The steamer rolled butlittle, the ladies, in fresh toilets, reappeared on deck, and thesinging and dancing were resumed. The trip was being accomplished mostsuccessfully, and Passepartout was enchanted with the congenialcompanion which chance had secured him in the person of the delightfulFix. On Sunday, October 20th, towards noon, they came in sight of theIndian coast: two hours later the pilot came on board. A range ofhills
lay against the sky in the horizon, and soon the rows of palmswhich adorn Bombay came distinctly into view. The steamer entered theroad formed by the islands in the bay, and at half-past four she hauledup at the quays of Bombay.
Phileas Fogg was in the act of finishing the thirty-third rubber of thevoyage, and his partner and himself having, by a bold stroke, capturedall thirteen of the tricks, concluded this fine campaign with abrilliant victory.
The Mongolia was due at Bombay on the 22nd; she arrived on the 20th.This was a gain to Phileas Fogg of two days since his departure fromLondon, and he calmly entered the fact in the itinerary, in the columnof gains.