H< ill
■ If
1
I l f
About 90 miles from the western extremity of the territory
is the modern town of Aden, built on the site of the capital
of this once celebrated commercial kingdom, which is supposed
to have been founded by Aden-ben-Senán, and up to the
time of Edrisi1 it had extensive trade with China, India,
Sinde, &c. Aden, now a dependency of Great Britain, contains
one good mosque, several others more or less dilapidated,
about 200 houses, several large tanks excavated in the rock ;
and, towards the plain, about 300 wells, many of them in the
solid rock, and from 60 feet to 125 feet deep.2
On the eastern side, the rocky fortified island of Sirah
forms a bay opposite to the town, from which, including the
low neck connecting it with the mainland, the peninsula
extends upwards of three miles westward, and thus forms a
second bay, the anchorage of which is good.
A little way west of the town the rocky tongue in question
has a width of upwards of two miles with elevations of 1776
feet and 1600 feet respectively, at the two principal peaks of
Jebel Shamshan ; and an extensive zigzag road leads to the
summit of the mountain.
Except that it fronts the west instead of south, the elevation,
natural strength and position, at the entrance of an
extensive sea, give Aden a striking resemblance to Gibraltar.
Even in deficiency of good water and the use of extensive
tanks, the fortresses are alike ; but the restoration of the
ancient aqueduct, constructed by Soleümán the Magnificent,
which passes along the sandy neck after coming a distance of
eight miles from the interior, would remedy the evil at Aden.
There is, besides, a small river, which reaches the sea about
five miles westward of the town. In the rainy season a
stream reaches the sea at Sughrá,3 and the excellent harbours
of Aden afford easy access to the rich provinces of Yemen
and Hadramaut.
Of these portions of Arabia, especially the former, we have
detailed and accurate accounts from the pen of the faithful
1 Tome V., p. 5, Recueil de Voyages et Mémoires, &c.
2 Vol. VIII., pp. 134, 135, of the Royal Geographical Journal.
s Lieutenant Wellsted’s Travels in ’Omán, &c., vol. II., p. 408.