Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 7.djvu/245

 to her affecting history. She belonged, in fact, to the race which occupies the first rank among the natives. Several Parsee merchants have made large fortunes in India in the cotton trade. One of them, Sir James Jejeebhoy, was raised to the nobility by the English Government, and Aouda was a relative of this rich person, who lived in Bombay. It was indeed a cousin of Sir Jejeebhoy, the honorable Jejeeh, whom she counted on joining at Hong Kong. Would she find a refuge with him and assistance? She could not say so positively. To which Mr. Fogg replied that she should not be uneasy, and everything would be mathematically arranged. That was the phrase he used.

Did the young woman understand this horrible adverb? We do not know. However, her large eyes were fixed upon those of Mr. Fogg—her large eyes "clear as the sacred lakes of the Himalaya!" But the intractable Fogg, as reserved as ever, did not seem to be the man to throw himself into this lake.

The first part of the Rangoon's voyage was accomplished under excellent conditions. The weather was moderate. All the lower portion of the immense Bay of Bengal was favorable to the steamer's progress. The Rangoon soon sighted the great Andaman, the principal one of the group of islands, which is distinguished by navigators at a great distance by the picturesque Saddle Peak mountain, two thousand four hundred feet high.

The panoramic development of this island was superb. Immense forests of palm trees, arecas, bamboo, nutmeg trees, teak-wood, giant mimosas, and tree-like ferns covered the country in the foreground, and in the background there stood out in relief the graceful outline of the mountains. Along the shore there swarmed by thousands those precious swallows whose eatable nests form a dish much sought for in the celestial empire. But all this varied spectacle offered to the eyes by the Andaman group passed quickly, and the Rangoon swiftly pursued her way towards the straits of Malacca, which were to give her access to the Chinese seas.

During this trip what was detective Fix doing, so unluckily dragged into a voyage round the world? On leaving Calcutta, after having left instructions to forward the warrant to him at Hong Kong, if it should arrive, he succeeded in getting aboard the Rangoon without being perceived by