shore is considered the most unhealthy yet selected by
civilized man as a residence.

The town of Aden lies some distance from the shore where the landing is
made, in the very centre of an extinct volcano, the sides of which have
fallen in and form its foundation, affording, as may reasonably be
supposed, an opportunity for yet another calamity like that which so
lately visited Ischia, and which swallowed up Casamicciola. As we passed
in from the open sea to the harbor of Aden, the tall masts of a
steamship, wrecked here very lately, were still visible above the long,
heavy swell of the ocean. The name of these straits, Babelmandeb, given
to them by the Arabs, signifies the "Gate of Tears," because of the
number of vessels which have been wrecked in an attempt to pass through
them; and the title is no less applicable to our time than when they
were first named. There is a saying among seamen, that for six months of
the year no vessel under canvas can enter the Red Sea, and, for the
other six months, no sailing vessel can get out. This refers to the
regularity with which the winds blow here, for six months together. Aden
lies within the rainless zone, so that its inhabitants see no rain-fall
sometimes for two or three years together, depending for their water on
wells, tanks, and condensers. The remains of an ancient and magnificent
system of reservoirs, antedating the Christian era, and hewn out of the
solid rock, have been discovered, whereby the early inhabitants were
accustomed to lay in a supply of the aqueous fluid when it did rain,
which would last them for a long period of months. Following out the
original idea, these stone reservoirs have been thoroughly repaired, and
the present inhabitants now lay up water in large quantities when the
welcome rain visits them.

As we lay at anchor just off the shore at Aden, the ship was surrounded
by a score of small boats, dugout canoes, in which were boys as black as
Nubians, with shining white teeth and curly heads, watching us with
bright, expressive eyes. Such heads of hair we never chanced to meet
with before. Evidently dyed red by some means, the hair is twisted into
vertical curls of oddest appearance. The little fellows, each in his own
canoe, varied in age from ten to fifteen years. By eloquent gestures and
the use of a few English words, they begged the passengers on board the
Kashgar to throw small coin into the sea, for which they would dive in
water that was a