Red Sea

The Red Sea is both a physical test of the Mongolia’s passage and a measure of the transport system on which Phileas Fogg’s timetable depends. Its changeable weather disrupts life aboard, but the ship presses on; by reaching Aden ahead of schedule, it makes the sea crossing a source of time gained rather than lost.

Route and Scale

The route from Suez to Aden covers 1,310 miles, and the Peninsular and Oriental Company allows its steamers 138 hours to make the crossing. The Mongolia appears likely to complete it substantially faster, thanks to the exertions of its engineer. The Red Sea is thus presented not simply as a stretch of water but as a timed link in a tightly coordinated journey onward to India.

The passage continues through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, whose name is glossed in the narrative as the Bridge of Tears. After Mocha is sighted on the 13th, the Mongolia passes through the strait the following night and reaches Steamer Point, northwest of Aden harbour, the next day. Aden is a coal stop rather than the end of the sea journey: Bombay remains 1,650 miles away.

Weather and Life Aboard

The Red Sea is described as capricious and often boisterous, like other long, narrow gulfs. Winds blowing from either the African or Asian coast set the Mongolia’s long hull rolling severely. The effect is immediate among the passengers: the women go below, the pianos fall silent, and singing and dancing cease. Yet the ship continues toward the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb without being held back by wind or waves.

Phileas Fogg gives no outward sign of anxiety about the sea or its capacity to delay him. He rarely goes on deck, takes no apparent interest in the historic settlements along the shore, and continues his regular meals and indefatigable games of whist despite the pitching. The contrast between the ship’s motion and Fogg’s composure makes his measured routine resemble another instrument for keeping time, even as the crossing exposes the uncertain conditions beneath his schedule.

Coal, Time, and Narrative Significance

The stop at Steamer Point reveals the material cost of keeping steamships moving across distant seas. The Mongolia must remain there for four hours to take on coal; far from coal-mining centres, the fuel costs three or four pounds a ton, and the Peninsular and Oriental Company spends about £800,000 a year on it. The ship’s speed therefore depends not only on its engineer and machinery but also on a costly network of refuelling stops.

That stop does not undo the crossing’s gain. The Mongolia reaches Aden on the evening of the 14th instead of the morning of the 15th, arriving fifteen hours early; the four hours spent coaling do not disturb Fogg’s programme. The Red Sea passage accordingly establishes a recurring tension in the journey: weather and infrastructure can threaten punctuality, while speed and carefully placed services can preserve or even improve the timetable. At Suez, Fix has already reasoned that a suspected robber aboard the Mongolia might leave there to reach Asian colonies by another route, making the sea corridor important to the pursuit as well as to Fogg’s progress.