Around the World in Eighty Days
IGNS OF PH
by way of Bombay, the nearest route thither, now that a railway crosses the Indian peninsula. Among the passengers was a number of officials and military officers of various grades, the latter being either attached to the regular British forces or commanding the Sepoy troops, and receiving high salaries ever since the central government has assumed the powers of the East India Company: for the sub-lieutenants get 280 pounds, brigadiers, 2,400 pounds, and g
singing and dancing suddenly ceased. Yet the good ship ploughed straight on, unretarded by wind or wave, towards the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. What was Phileas Fogg doing all this time? It might be thought that, in his anxiety, he would be constantly watching
and betrayed no fear of the dangers of the Arabic Gulf, which the old historians always spoke of with horror, and upon which the ancient navigators never ventured without propitiating the gods by ample sacrifices. How did this eccentric personage pass his time on the Mongolia? He made his four hearty meals every day, regardless of the most persistent rolling and pitching on the part of the stea
well fed and well lodged, took a great interest in the scenes through which they were passing, and consoled himself with the delusion that his master's wh
rson, with his most amiable smile, "you are the gent
u. You are the servant of
so, mo
ix
rtout, "I'm charmed to find you
ou, to
Have you made t
ne of the agents of th
ou know
ied Fix, who sp
place, th
fakirs, pagodas, tigers, snakes, elephants! I h
steamer upon a railway train, and from a railway train upon a steamer again, pretending to make the
well?" asked Fix, in the mos
I eat like a famished
see your ma
sn't the leas
etended tour in eighty days may conceal some
I know nothing about it, nor woul
ain the worthy man's confidence. He frequently offered him a glass of whiskey or pale ale in the steamer bar-room,
hought that, with its circular walls and dismantled fort, it looked like an immense coffee-cup and saucer. The following night they passed through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, which means in Arabic The Bridge of Tears, and the next day they put in at Steamer Point, north-w
Steamer Point to coal up. But this delay, as it was foreseen, did not affect Phileas Fogg's programme; besides, the Mongolia, inste
ut, according to custom, sauntered about among the mixed population of Somalis, Banyans, Parsees, Jews, Arabs, and Europeans who comprise the twenty-five thousand inhabitants of Aden. He gazed with wonde
ble, the wind being in the north-west, and all sails aiding the engine. The steamer rolled but little, the ladies, in fresh toilets, reappeared on deck, and the singing and dancing were resumed. The trip was being accomplished most successfully, and Passepartout was enchanted with the congenial companion which chance had secured him in the person of the delightful Fi
age, and his partner and himself having, by a bold stroke, captured all thi
s was a gain to Phileas Fogg of two days since his departure from London