"The sesquipedality of that word is trying to all of us, I fancy, and I am in the same box as the lady; for I am as sure as she is that I don't know the meaning of the word," added the professor.
"Of course you don't, for it is a technical term," replied the doctor. "It means an oxide in which two atoms of a metal combine with three atoms of oxygen. Please to remember it, Mrs. Blossom."
"I don't even know what an ox-hide is," returned the lady promptly; for the professor had vindicated her by not understanding a definition himself.
"We will settle that another time, if you please," interposed the commander. "These rocks are said to be so powerfully magnetic as to affect the compasses of ships passing them. The water is sometimes marked about here with patches of oil. Large sums were expended in this vicinity in boring for petroleum; but none of any account was found. Probably the red mountain has given its name to the sea, though that is not known."
"Possibly Sinbad the Sailor was in this strait when the loadstone drew out the bolts in his ship, though he does not give the latitude and longitude of the place in the story of his adventure," suggested Louis. In the evening the passengers looked at the lights, and retired at a seasonable hour.
CHAPTER XXX
SOME ACCOUNT OF MOHAMMED THE PROPHET
The passengers of the Guardian-Mother fell back into their former sea habits when there was nothing particular to be seen, and only the young men appeared on deck before seven o'clock. Mrs. Belgrave and Louis were the first to meet the commander on the second morning. He had been to the pilot-house several times during the night; but he was an early riser, and had already looked over the log slate, and visited every part of the ship.