From the bazaars to the town walls is but a step. Passing out of the fortified gates, of which there are several, one issued on to the large open space, the _sôk_ or market, which we had crossed when we entered the town. Here garden produce was offered for sale, generally exposed on the ground, though a number of little mat-and-reed huts contained small shops. The larger of these flimsy structures serve as _cafés_, and one or two as Parsee theatres. The largest of the _cafés_ was a constant resort of mine, and of an evening I would sit, accompanied by Saïd, who, in spite of his fever, had polished up his dress—what there was of it—and his raven locks. So beautiful had he become that little groups of the female sex would come and joke with him; and though he treated them with a certain amount of haughty indifference, he was by no means unappreciative of their attentions, and had a knack of being out after dark. There one would see the Turkish officers in gold-lace, with their glass hookahs in front of them, lounging away the afternoon hours. There, too, were the merchants, gorgeous in silk raiment and turbans, talking business over coffee and tobacco. The remaining streets and places of Hodaidah offer but little attractiveness. The streets are narrow and the houses high, and except now and again for a richly carved doorway, there is but little of interest to be seen. The greatest disadvantage to Hodaidah, after its feverish climate, is the exceedingly poor water-supply; for although there are some brackish wells in the neighbourhood, all pure water has to be brought from a distance of some miles. It is carried in skins and barrels on the backs of camels and donkeys. Near these wells, under the guidance of Dr Ahmed, I spent a pleasant afternoon in a beautiful garden belonging to a certain wealthy Arab, whose fortune was made, it is said, by purchasing the right of collecting taxes from the Ottoman Government. This, in the hands of an unscrupulous and hard man, means a very considerable income, and the garden in question was a proof that the old Arab evidently throve. The road from the town passes along sandy lanes and amongst palm-groves until the open desert is reached. Continuing over this for a mile or so, one reaches the wells, while green trees peeping over the high garden walls break the monotony of sand and scrub.