ACCOUNT OF A WHIRLPOOL.
Suddenly the colour of the sea became changed to a whitish hue, and the sailors began to cry out. The cause of their alarm was what in the Indian Ocean is called a whirlpool, a thing very common about Gerdefoon on the Ethiopian coast, and in the bay of Chekd near Sind. It is stated in maritime works that ships getting into one of these must inevitably perish. Having sounded, and found they had only five fathoms water, they took in their sails. Towards morning the wind fell a little, and they sent up an able seaman to the mast-head, who descried a temple on the land. Soon after they passed Kormian, Mangalore, and Somnat, and came very near Div; but the latter place being in the hands of the infidels, they did not show their sail that day, but made the best of their way. Again the wind increased, and the helms became quite unmanageable: the boatswain’s whistle could not be distinguished from the whistling of the wind, and no one could walk the decks. They were also obliged to shut up most of the troops in the holds. In short, the horrors of this day were comparable only to those of the resurrection. At length they reached the coast of Guzerat, in India, when the sailors suddenly cried out that a hurricane was before them; upon which they dropped anchor; but the sea was so heavy that the ships were nearly upset. The galley-slaves broke their chains, and all the men, stripping themselves naked, began to provide themselves with barrels and leathern bottles for their escape. Some of the anchors, however, broke; and thus the vessels escaped the hurricane. This occurred at a place between Div and Daman. Towards afternoon the weather became somewhat fairer, which enabled them to proceed to the port of Daman in the district of Guzerat, where they anchored about two miles from the shore. For five days the hurricane continued to blow with great violence, and was accompanied with incessant rains. The vessels had now shipped much water; and three of them, losing their anchorage, drifted ashore; but all on board landed in safety. When the storm had somewhat abated, they succeeded in gaining the harbour of Daman, where they gave the guns and ammunition, of the wrecked vessels in charge to Malek Asad, governor of Daman, and one of the emirs of Sultan Ahmed, the king of Guzerat. Malek Asad then cautioned them not to go to the castle of Sert, as the fleet of the infidels was about to attack it. Hearing this, most of the men, who had already suffered such hardships, landed, and entered the service of Malek Asad; whilst others of them, after heaping reproaches on the capudan, seized the boats, in which they reached the shore, and proceeded overland to Sert. Seidi Ali, with the remaining vessels and men, directed his course to Sert, which, sometimes sailing, and sometimes availing himself of the assistance of the oars, he reached in five days: a period of three months, in which he underwent thousands of difficulties, having elapsed since he left Bassora. The Moslems at this place were rejoiced to see them, for the country of Guzerat was at this time in a very disturbed state. Here also several untoward events befell them: the supplies for the troops were exhausted; the ammunition and stores of the vessels were consumed; the vessels themselves were much injured; and their return to Egypt was considered quite impossible. Under these circumstances, most of the men entered the service of the king of Guzerat, and the ships were left empty. The capudan, having received from the governor of Sert, an undertaking that the value of the arms and other effects which were left with him should be sent to the Sublime Porte, set out by land for Constantinople on the first of Moharrem, A.H. 962 (A. D. 26th November, 1554), accompanied by fifty attendants. Having travelled through India and Persia, after an absence of four years, he arrived at Constantinople in the month of Rajab, 964 (A. D. May, 1557). Shortly afterwards he was admitted to the royal presence at Adrianople, and had an addition of eighty aspres made to his salary; whilst all his companions were promoted in Egypt; and the royal order was issued that they should be paid their four years salary which was in arrear. The capudan then wrote an account of his voyages and travels, which he entitled, “The Adventures of Seidi Ali.” From this work the foregoing particulars are extracted.
THE EXPEDITION OF SENAN PASHA.
In 959 the Capudan Senan Pasha went to sea with one hundred and twenty vessels, the command of which he held till the end of 960. He died in 961, and was buried at Scutari. The poet Sahari has thus commemorated the period of his death:
Fate at last gives up the body to decay, even should it be that of Noah the pilot.
Whenever the huge leviathan Death draws a breath, the ocean seems but a drop to him.
To his friends Senan was another Joseph; to his enemies he was a dart.
Come, Sahari, let us offer up a prayer for him; “May God make glad his pure spirit!”
The invisible Spirit has revealed the time of his death. “The capudan has joined the Divine Mercy.”