the Red Sea. It was no doubt a relic of the trade, which from the remotest ages had been conducted from the Egyptian ports in the Gulf of Suez to the Indian Ocean—to the coast of East Africa on the one hand and to India and Malaya on the other. At this juncture there seems to have been little left of the once mighty commerce. As much may be gathered from Downton's gloomy vaticinations about the hopelessness of the trade, a fact which was illustrated by the curiosity with which a "piece of eight," given in exchange for commodities, was passed from hand to hand at Aden, as if nothing like it had ever been seen previously.
As the season wore on the prospects of the release of the captives by the voluntary action of the authorities grew more remote, but all the time Middleton was awaiting his opportunity, and it came at last on May 15. On that day he and a number of others made a bold bid for freedom. They had carefully prepared the way for their flight by lavishly plying their guards with aqua vitæ, supplies of which had been sent ashore for the purpose by Pemberton. When the men were sufficiently under the influence of the liquor, Middleton, who had explained his plan in advance to all whom he felt he could trust, gave the signal for the flight. One by one the captives left the house in which they were confined and proceeded to a point on the shore where a boat from the Darling was waiting to take them off. Middleton was too well known to make it safe for him to proceed openly through the streets. He therefore concealed himself in a cask, and this was carried to the rendezvous on the beach by some men whose services had been obtained for the purpose.
As quickly as possible the commander and sixteen of his
