s province, and became
a trader and a slave-dealer. At the age of forty he assumed the _role_
of the Mahdi; and in that capacity he did a great deal of mischief. He
captured the chief city of Kordofan, and made it the capital; he
overwhelmed the army of Hicks Pacha, and finally shut up General Gordon
in Khartoom, as has been related before. He died in 1885, and was
succeeded by Abdallah. But he had deprived Egypt of even the nominal
possession of the Soudan."

"He was a terrible fighter," added Uncle Moses.

"Fanatics usually are."

The voyage continued without any unusual incident till the ship was
approaching the entrance to the sea. The shores on both sides became
more precipitous, and heights of two thousand feet were to be seen. The
commander pointed out Mocha, which has the reputation of sending out the
finest coffee in the world; but this is said to come from Hodeida, a
port north of it.

"Those hills on the left indicate the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, which was
written Babelmandel in the old geographies when I went to school. Bab
means a gate wherever you find it; and this is the 'Gate of Tears,' so
called from the perils it presented to the small craft of the Arabians;
and many of them were wrecked here," said the commander when the party
were gathered on the promenade as usual if anything was to be seen. "We
are now in latitude 12 deg. 30', and I notice that some of the ladies are
becoming tolerably diligent in the use of their fans."

"It is time for us to begin to reduce our clothing," suggested Mrs.
Belgrave.

"Be prudent about that, ladies; for I think we shall have some cool
weather again when we get out from the land, though it has been growing
warmer since yesterday," added the doctor.

"There is a strong current here, and some of the water comes up from the
region of the equator; and, as you have been informed before, the
temperature of it runs up to a hundred degrees," said the captain. "Here
is the Island of Perim, a barren rock, three miles and a half long by
two and a half wide, shaped like a crescent, with a good harbor between
the two horns. The English took possession of it and held it for a year
in 1799, and again occupied it in 1857, and later it was made into a
coaling-station.

"As you perceive, it is fortified, and it has a British garrison. It has
hardly any other population than coolie coal-heavers. It is a
desolate-looking place, and there does not appear to be even a blade of
g