Asiatic Breezes; Or, Students on The Wing Read online

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  "THE STERN OF THE FATIMA SUDDENLY WENT DOWN." Page 127.]

  _All-Over-the-World Library--Second Series_

  ASIATIC BREEZES

  OR

  STUDENTS ON THE WING

  BY

  OLIVER OPTIC

  AUTHOR OF "THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD FIRST ANDSECOND SERIES" "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES" "THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES" "THEWOODVILLE STORIES" "THE ONWARD AND UPWARD SERIES" "THE LAKE SHORESERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES" "THE RIVERDALE STORIES" "THE BOATBUILDER SERIES" "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY AFLOAT" "THE BLUE AND THE GRAY ONLAND" "STARRY FLAG SERIES" "ALL-OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY FIRST AND SECONDSERIES" "A MISSING MILLION" "A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN" "A YOUNGKNIGHT-ERRANT" "STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD" "AMERICAN BOYS AFLOAT" "THE YOUNGNAVIGATORS" "UP AND DOWN THE NILE" ETC.

  LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS

  10 MILK STREET

  BOSTON

  1895

  COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY LEE AND SHEPARD

  _All Rights Reserved_

  ASIATIC BREEZES

  ELECTROTYPING BY C. J. PETERS & SON, BOSTON U.S.A.

  PRESSWORK BY S. J. PARKHILL & CO.

  To

  MY APPRECIATIVE FRIEND AND BROTHER

  FOSTER A. WHITNEY Esq.

  OF SOUTHINGTON CONN.

  This Volume

  IS FRATERNALLY AND RESPECTFULLY

  DEDICATED

  PREFACE

  "ASIATIC BREEZES" is the fourth volume of the second series of the"All-Over-the-World Library." Starting out from Alexandria, Egypt, afterthe adventures and explorations of the Guardian-Mother party in thatinteresting country, which included an excursion up the Nile to theFirst Cataract, the steamer sails out upon the Mediterranean, closelyfollowed by her little consort. The enemy who had made a portion of thevoyage exceedingly disagreeable to the watchful commander has beenthwarted in all his schemes, and the threatened danger kept at adistance, even while those who are most deeply interested areunconscious of its existence.

  But the old enemy immediately appears on the coast, as was expected, andan attempt is made to carry out a plan to escape from further annoyance.The little steamer sails for the island of Cyprus, as arrangedbeforehand, and reaches her destination, though she encounters a smartgale on the voyage, through which the young navigators carry theirlively little craft. Plans do not always work as they have beenarranged; and by an accident the young people are left to fight theirown battle, as has happened several times before in the history of thecruise.

  A considerable portion of the volume is taken up with the record of somevery stirring events in a certain bay of the island of Cyprus, where thelittle steamer had made a harbor after the gale, and where theGuardian-Mother had failed to join her, as agreed upon. The storyrelates the manner in which the young captain, actively seconded by hisshipmates, extricates his little craft from a very perilous situation,though it involves a disaster to the piratical enemy and his steamer.The conduct of the boy-commander brings up several questions ofinterest, upon which everybody has a right to his own opinion.

  The steamer and her consort pass through the Suez Canal, which isminutely described, both in its construction and operation. Some ofthose on board of the steamer are interested in Scripture history,including the commander; and the residence of the Israelites in the"Land of Goshen," as well as their pilgrimage into Asia, pursued by"Pharaoh and his host," are considered at some length. Some of thedifferent views in regard to the passage of the Red Sea are given,though he who presents them clings to the narrative as he read it fromthe Bible in his childhood.

  Though the party for reasons given do not go to Mount Sinai, thepeninsula to which it now gives its name is not neglected. Mount Serbal,and what is generally regarded as the Holy Mountain, are seen from thedeck of the steamer, though some claim that the former is the scene ofthe delivery of the tablets of the Law to Moses. The captain of thesteamer does not regard himself as a mere shipmaster; for inrecommending the voyage for the young millionaire, he makes a great dealof its educational features, not alone for its opportunities forsight-seeing, but for study and receiving instruction. As earnest incarrying out his idea in the latter as well as the former, he has made alecture-room of the deck of the vessel.

  The physical geography of the regions passed through is considered, aswell as the history; and as the ship is in the vicinity of the kingdomsof the ancient world, the professor has something to say to his audienceabout Assyria, Babylonia, Arabia, the Caliphate, and gives an epitome ofthe life of Mohammed, and the rise and progress of Islamism.

  In the last chapters the story, which has been extended through severalvolumes, appears to be brought to a conclusion in a manner that mayastonish the reader. However that may be, the termination points to anenlarged field of operations in the future for the party as they visitthe vast empires where blow the Asiatic breezes.

  WILLIAM T. ADAMS.

  DORCHESTER, MASS., September 30, 1894.