Page 107 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

A GALLANT BUT UNFORTUNATE COMMANDER 107

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 vaticina­
tions 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 vitce, 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 Barling 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