Chapter IX. IN WHICH THE RED SEA AND THE INDIAN OCEAN PROVE PROPITIOUS TO THE DESIGNS OF PHILEAS FOGG

The distance between Suez and Aden is precisely thirteen hundred and ten miles, and the regulations of the company allow the steamers one hundred and thirty-eight hours in which to traverse it. The Mongolia, thanks to the vigorous exertions of the engineer, seemed likely, so rapid was her speed, to reach her destination considerably within that time. The greater part of the passengers from Brindisi were bound for India some for Bombay, others for Calcutta 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 generals of divisions, 4,000 pounds. What with the military men, a number of rich young Englishmen on their travels, and the hospitable efforts of the purser, the time passed quickly on the Mongolia. The best of fare was spread upon the cabin tables at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the eight o'clock supper, and the ladies scrupulously changed their toilets twice a day; and the hours were whirled away, when the sea was tranquil, with music, dancing, and games.

But the Red Sea is full of caprice, and often boisterous, like most long and narrow gulfs. When the wind came from the African or Asian coast the Mongolia, with her long hull, rolled fearfully. Then the ladies speedily disappeared below; the pianos were silent; 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 the changes of the wind, the disorderly raging of the billows—every chance, in short, which might force the Mongolia to slacken her speed, and thus interrupt his journey. But, if he thought of these possibilities, he did not betray the fact by any outward sign.

Always the same impassible member of the Reform Club, whom no incident could surprise, as unvarying as the ship's chronometers, and seldom having the curiosity even to go upon the deck, he passed through the memorable scenes of the Red Sea with cold indifference; did not care to recognise the historic towns and villages which, along its borders, raised their picturesque outlines against the sky; 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 steamer; and he played whist indefatigably, for he had found partners as enthusiastic in the game as himself. A tax-collector, on the way to his post at Goa; the Rev. Decimus Smith, returning to his parish at Bombay; and a brigadier-general of the English army, who was about to rejoin his brigade at Benares, made up the party, and, with Mr. Fogg, played whist by the hour together in absorbing silence.

As for Passepartout, he, too, had escaped sea-sickness, and took his meals conscientiously in the forward cabin. He rather enjoyed the voyage, for he was 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 whim would end at Bombay. He was pleased, on the day after leaving Suez, to find on deck the obliging person with whom he had walked and chatted on the quays.

"If I am not mistaken," said he, approaching this person, with his most amiable smile, "you are the gentleman who so kindly volunteered to guide me at Suez?"

"Ah! I quite recognise you. You are the servant of the strange Englishman—"

"Just so, monsieur—"

"Fix."

"Monsieur Fix," resumed Passepartout, "I'm charmed to find you on board. 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 the sights."

"I hope so, Monsieur Fix. You see, a man of sound sense ought not to spend his life jumping from a steamer upon a railway train, and from a railway train upon a steamer again, pretending to make the tour of the world in eighty days! No; all these gymnastics, you may be sure, will cease at Bombay."

"And Mr. Fogg is getting on well?" asked Fix, in the most natural tone in 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 days may conceal some secret errand—perhaps a diplomatic mission?"

"Faith, Monsieur Fix, I assure you I know nothing about it, nor would I give half a crown to find out."

After this meeting, Passepartout and Fix got into the habit of chatting together, the latter making it a point to gain the worthy man's confidence. He frequently offered him a glass of whiskey or pale ale in the steamer bar-room, which Passepartout never failed to accept with graceful 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, was sighted, and on the mountains beyond were espied vast coffee-fields. Passepartout was ravished to behold this celebrated place, and thought 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-west of Aden harbour, to take in coal. This matter of fuelling steamers is a serious one at such distances from the coal-mines; it costs the Peninsular Company some eight hundred thousand pounds a year. In these distant seas, coal is worth three or four pounds sterling a ton.

The Mongolia had still sixteen hundred and fifty miles to traverse before reaching Bombay, and was obliged to remain four hours at Steamer Point to coal up. But this delay, as it was foreseen, did not affect Phileas Fogg's programme; besides, the Mongolia, instead of reaching Aden on the morning of the 15th, when she was due, arrived there on the evening of the 14th, a gain of fifteen hours.

Mr. Fogg and his servant went ashore at Aden to have the passport again visaed; Fix, unobserved, followed them. The visa procured, Mr. Fogg returned on board to resume his former habits; while Passepartout, 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 wonder upon the fortifications which make this place the Gibraltar of the Indian Ocean, and the vast cisterns where the English engineers were still at work, two thousand years after the engineers of Solomon.

"Very curious, very curious," said Passepartout to himself, on returning to the steamer. "I see that it is by no means useless to travel, if a man wants to see something new." At six p.m. the Mongolia slowly moved out of the roadstead, and was soon once more on the Indian Ocean. She had a hundred and sixty-eight hours in which to reach Bombay, and the sea was favourable, 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 Fix. On Sunday, October 20th, towards noon, they came in sight of the Indian coast: two hours later the pilot came on board. A range of hills lay against the sky in the horizon, and soon the rows of palms which adorn Bombay came distinctly into view. The steamer entered the road formed by the islands in the bay, and at half-past four she hauled up at the quays of Bombay.

Phileas Fogg was in the act of finishing the thirty-third rubber of the voyage, and his partner and himself having, by a bold stroke, captured all thirteen of the tricks, concluded this fine campaign with a brilliant 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 from London, and he calmly entered the fact in the itinerary, in the column of gains.

Chapter X. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS ONLY TOO GLAD TO GET OFF WITH THE LOSS OF HIS SHOES
Chapter VIII: In Which Passepartout Talks Rather More, Perhaps, Than Is Prudent

Footnotes

  1. On the route from Suez to Bombay. The fueling stop at Aden is part of the Suez-Bombay route.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  2. To keep track accurately, the 15 hours gained by the time they arrived at Aden on the Suez-Bombay journey is part of the total Suez-Bombay gain of 2 days. In other words, from Suez to Aden, the gain in time advantage was 15 hours while from Aden to Bombay the gain was 33 hours for a total gain of 48 hours, or 2 days.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  3. Four-thirty. Since there are 60 minutes in a hour, when 30 minutes are past, the hour is half past.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  4. The "fortifications" of Aden were a series of different fortress building built along and upward from a long stretch of seacoast, and there was included a lighthouse for sailors' safety.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  5. This indicates the Mongolia stopped to fuel after successfully attempting the passage through the straits leading to the Arabic Gulf.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  6. Dates grow on date palms, so the "date-trees" seen are date palms; trees with top-fronds on tall branchless trunks.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  7. A beer that is on the bitter, crispy side of the taste range for beers because it is brewed using pale malts instead of darker, heavier tasting malts.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  8. This is an ironic comment by the narrator who is reminding us that Fix is feeling anything but "natural": Fix is in hot pursuit of a criminal who he fully intends to arrest.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  9. Detective Fix follows the standard procedure for introducing yourself to a new acquaintance when there is no one to make the introduction for you: he states his surname (last name) aloud for Passepartout's benefit.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  10. noun: an idea that is or seems erratic, sudden, controlled by unpredictable fancy

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  11. adjective: according to beliefs of what is right or wrong; according to moral standard; according to a correct sense of duty and right

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  12. The steamer is rolled and swayed by the motion of the sea: it rolls up and pitches downward with the action of the sea waves.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  13. adjective: (of a meal) substantial; nourishing; ample, i.e., meals that had plenty of food that was equally delicious and nourishing

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  14. Sailors of olden days; ancient Greek, Arab, Egyptian, Indian, Roman sailors.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  15. verb: to dare to go; to take a risk upon doing or going

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  16. Timing devices with special mechanisms that adjust for accuracy and precision and that are used for precisely measuring accurate longitude (north-south division lines that measure location on the globe east to west).

    [Longitude lines run from north to south parallel to the Greenwich Prime Meridian Longitude Line. As something, like a ship at sea, moves from one north-south running longitude line to another, it is moving either to the east or to the west of the previous longitudinal (longitude line) position.]

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  17. By any outward, deed, change in deportment, activity, tone of conversation, signs of anxiety, etc.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  18. To disrupt the carefully planned schedule of his journey by breaking the arrival times thus prohibiting his connection times to the next mode of transportation in the next phase of the journey.

    The narrator is speculating that Fogg might be expected to be worrying and fretting about whether or not he will make his expected arrival time and his subsequent departure time.

    Jules Verne is building the further characterization of Phileas Fogg so we have a full picture of his inner character qualities from which to judge his subsequent actions and decision on his trip round the world.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  19. verb (infinitive form): to reduce; to lessen the intensity of; to become less vigorous or less active

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  20. verb: to move quickly or speedily as though in a spin round and round (waltz metaphor)

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  21. adverbial phrase: the location for which the travelers are headed.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  22. adjective (following a linking verb and functioning as the Complement of the Subject): intended to head in a specific direction; heading in a specific direction; someone or something described as heading a certain way or intending to head a certain way

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  23. noun: the end point of a journey or of something being sent; the final place someone or something is going to

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  24. A person who is slightly odd or strange in the views, perspectives, actions or behaviors.

    eccentric, adjective form: unconventional; slightly odd or strange in ideas or behavior

    personage, noun: (formal) a person

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  25. noun: a travel document recording the plan of travel with route, destinations points and timetable

    Fogg's itinerary, you will remember, has a column for "gains" which are early arrivals giving his room in his timetable for travel difficulties [see Chapter VII "These dates were inscribed in an itinerary ..."].

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  26. Fogg has gained another two days, so he is further ahead of schedule, that will be to his advantage in a delaying difficulty.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  27. literary device, metaphor: comparing the crossing to Bombay and the rubbers of whist to a military campaign in which Fogg won a major victory

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  28. idiom, figure of speech: meaning a daring action; a daring initiative

    Fogg and his whist partner made a daring whist play and took a major winning.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  29. nautical (related to ships and sailing, navigating on water) verb idiom: to change directions; to change the course (direction) of a ship, e.g., to change direction so as to come alongside a port quay and dock

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  30. This refers to the pilot of the pilot-boat that guides steamers into port at a safe harbor.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  31. verb: succeeded in obtaining

    Chance had obtained Passepartout a friendly companion for the journey.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  32. adjective: a person with similar interests, tastes, personality as one's own; a person pleasant and easy to be around

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  33. figure of speech, syecdoche (the part standing for the whole): meaning freshly groomed and in clean clothes

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  34. The Mongolia had sails as well as a steam engine. In a fair wind, the sails could assist the journey and speed of the vessel.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  35. The Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Ocean were said to be part of the larger Indian Ocean.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  36. The Queen of Sheba, who visited the Hebrew King Solomon who is alluded to in this phrase, built a dam in Saba that was still visible in part in the 1800s.

    It is possible that this allusion to Solomon's engineers should rightly be to Sheba's engineers since it was she who built the dam.

    The allusion comes up because British engineers were at work on waterworks projects in Southern Yemen just as Sheba's ancient engineers had been.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  37. noun: large tanks for storing water especially important for indoor plumbing

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  38. The fortifications (forts, artillery, armaments) of the Rock of Gibraltar at the Strait of Gibraltar protect ownership of the point that is the junction between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

    It has been fought over between North Africa and European powers habitually through history because whoever controls the Strait, controls the Mediterranean and commerce.

    Aden is metaphorically compared to Gibraltar because it too is fortified to protect the junction of two important waterways at the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  39. A large consortium of peoples from the European subcontinent, from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, that includes the isles of England, Ireland and Iceland and the larger continental Russian peoples; what we today call Western Civilization.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  40. Those who dwell in the Arabian Peninsula and who are a Semitic people (part of the Hebrew people) who worship Jehovah of the Pentateuch but who are most often Muslim by religion.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  41. Members of the culture and religion called Judaism who are descendants of the Hebrew people of the patriarch Abraham spoken of in the Pentateuch, or Old Testament.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  42. Persian descendants of Zoroastrians and adherents of Zoroastrianism who fled from Persia to India in the 600-700s to escape Muslim invasion. 

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  43. Hindu Indians of a merchant caste from west and north India.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  44. Muslims from Somalia in Africa, the country bordering the Gulf of Aden to the south, across the straits from Yemen to the north.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  45. verb: to stroll; to walk in a relaxed, casual manner without hurry

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  46. This, you recall, is to show as proof to the members of the Reform Club of the success of his eighty-day journey upon his return to London.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  47. This is Fogg's first time advantage on the journey: when they departed Suez, they were exactly 0 gained and 0 lost hours.

    Thus, pulling into Aden to refuel on the journey from Suez to Bombay, Fogg is fifteen hours ahead of his timetable. This gives him an additional advantage of fifteen hours should he encounter any difficulty in his journey.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  48. British spelling; "program" USA spelling.

    noun: planned series or sequence of events, occurrences or actions

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  49. The Gulf combined with the Arabian Sea are vast and extensive (1,650 miles across, west to east).

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  50. This makes coal very costly and a very valuable fossil fuel comparable to petroleum in our time, and a fuel upon which they, as we, were utterly dependent.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  51. In British pounds, the cost of transporting coal for refueling the steamships in the Peninsular line.

    Since there are no coal mines in the vicinity, the coal must be shipped in from places where there are coal mines by boat or by rail for steamship refueling.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  52. The steamship is powered by burning coal (a severe environmental pollutant, by the way).

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  53. The Arabic-to-English translation of the name of the strait.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  54. The strait at the town of Aden separating the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden (then called the Arabic Gulf) that will lead the Magnolia into the Arabian Sea. It's been a long time foreshadowed, but it seems they are entering the Gulf now.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  55. Humorous imagery to remind us that we are still in a satirical jaunt (trip) around the world lest we get too sentimental.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  56. noun phrase (adjective + noun): meaning a place that was famous, renowned; greatly admired

    The celebrated place is this case is the sea port of Mocha.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  57. A Red Sea port on the Suez Canal route, which had been a mighty fortress and celebrated castle.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  58. Passepartout has formed a firm opinion of mind, one not to be shaken.

    mentally, adverb
    in the mind; in the thoughts or opinion

    pronouncing, verb (present participle form)
    announcing or declaring; determining the opinion

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  59. noun phrase (adjective + noun): meaning an elegantly polite eagerness to join in

    graceful, adjective
    elegant politeness

    alacrity, noun
    readiness to agree; cheerful agreeableness

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  60. compound noun: British monetary unit no longer in circulation that equaled two shillings and sixpence

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  61. A secret government errand about international relations that involves the art of diplomacy (negotiations between nations to reach an agreed upon end result).

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  62. literary device, simile: "I eat like ..." compares Passepartout's appetite to a fairy-tale ogre.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  63. adjective, informal: very hungry; as though having been through a famine

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  64. Used metaphorically to mean all the physical and mental activity Fogg has undertaken to get himself and Passepartout to Suez and, soon, to Bombay.

    metaphor: comparing two things that are not alike so that one may be better understood or emphasized

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  65. Many-tiered Buddhist or Hindu towers for worship and prayer.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  66. A Muslim religious ascetic who punishes himself with the loss of all worldly possessions and lives on alms (charity) alone.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  67. Referring to the Great Indian Peninsular Railway [see above "railway crosses the Indian peninsula"].

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  68. This indicates a hesitant pause in passepartout's response that politely suggests he would like to know the other's name.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  69. adjective: showing or having a friendly demeanor; a pleasant manner

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  70. adjective: helpful; kindly natured; willing to do a favor

    Since this applies to Detective Fix, this is an ironic description since we know why Fix is being obliging while Passepartout does not know.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  71. noun: a fanciful belief; a misbelief; a misguided conception

    Passepartout was misguided in his belief that Fogg would go no further than Bombay.

    Textually, this "delusion" of Passepartout's provides foreshadowing of a continuing adventure and of his upcoming discomfort.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  72. verb: to have or be given sleeping accommodations and a place to stay

    Passepartout have a comfortable ship's cabin to stay and sleep in.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  73. adjective: tireless in persistence

    Fogg played whist with zeal and dedication at sea just as he did at the Reform Club [see Chapter 1 "whist" and Chapter III "Fogg's usual partners at whist"].

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  74. propitiate, verb
    an action taken to calm, appease, pay homage to "the gods" or fates overseeing life's pathways

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  75. Now called Gulf of Aden. That which adjoins the Arabian Sea en route from Suez to Aden to Bombay.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  76. adjective: as a description, meaning quaint, old-fashioned and charmingly pretty

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  77. adjective (used figuratively and metaphorically, not literally): someone incapable of showing or feeling suffering, like a god atop Olympus

    Fogg is described as "impassible" to emphasize his calm exterior and unworried demeanor, not to say he is heartless and unfeeling.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  78. noun: a large moving mass going up and down, in and out, in this case, ocean waves

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  79. noun phrase, proper name: the narrowing of land at Aden, Yemen, that leads to the connection between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which leads into the Arabian Ocean and is part of the Suez Canal route.

    straits, noun
    a narrow passage of water connecting two larger bodies of water, e.g., Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  80. verb: not held back or delayed by interference or difficulty

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  81. noun: body of a ship

    The Magnolia had a long slim ship body.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  82. adjective: something that can be unpredictably energetic; rowdy and noisy

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  83. noun: sudden change that is unaccounted for, unaccountable

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  84. noun: their grooming and their clothing (they "dressed" for dinner; changed from day wear into evening wear)

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  85. noun: head steward on a ship who is responsible for seeing that passengers are comfortable and have all they request

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  86. Originally an independently owned trading company in India, the British government nationalised it in 1874. One reason stated for nationalization was the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion (rebellion of native Indian men recruited into British military service).

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  87. compound noun: indigenous (native) Indian men recruited to serve in the British military in India (the Sepoy Rebellion is another story)

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  88. noun phrase (adjective + noun): meaning an assortment of different ranks and levels of government and military persons

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  89. The Great Indian Peninsula Railway was incorporated on August 1, 1849 by  British Parliament, then constructed and operated by the East India Company.

    A network of rail systems ending with the connection to the Allahabad-Jubbulpore branch line of the East Indian Railway, opened in June 1867, gave direct rail passage from Bombay to Calcutta beginning in 1870. The opening of this branch of the railway line inspired Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  90. archaic, adverb: meaning to go to or toward that place, to or toward a given place

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  91. The Magnolia was making such good time on crossing the Arabian Ocean that it looked like she ("it" in today's nongendered usage) would make the crossing in less than the time allotted for passage by the steamship company.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  92. noun: the qualified operator of an engine, e.g., a seamship engine

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  93. noun phrase (adjective + noun): meaning energetic physical effort

    — Karen P.L. Hardison

  94. Seaport of Yemen. Leading from the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea. Part of the Suez Canal route.

    — Karen P.L. Hardison