railway train and the car of Juggernaut cannot in the nature of things long run on together; and from what we know of Bedouin, Thuggee, and other Eastern moralities, the reformation cannot take place too early.

Let us now direct our attention to the south-western extremity of Araby the Blest, where stands the fortress of Aden-the last great steppingstone on this high-sea route from England to Bombay, upon a little mountainous peninsula connected with the mainland by a spit of sand only. It was here, we are told, the ships of Solomon met those from India and the land of Ophir, and exchanged products. In the time of Constantine it was a great and populous city, and the seat of a Christian bishopric. Three centuries afterwards Mohammed preached there, planted on its towers the green banner of Islam, and it was, there can be no question, the chief mart of Arabia. Fatalism did its ruinous errand at Aden as elsewhere, and the Turkish conquest so thoroughly completed the work of desolation, that in 1836 it contained only ninety decaying houses, inhabited by about 600 meagre Arabs. There were, however, a very numerous race of long-tailed monkeys-the transformed remnant, according to Arab tradition, of the once mighty tribe of Ad, whose ancient seat is by the same authority declared still to exist somewhere in the unexplored wilderness. As a sufficient proof of the formerly-flourishing, or, at all events, populous condition of Aden, we need only mention its wells, about 300 in number, bored through the solid rock, many of them to the depth of nearly 200 feet; its numerous reservoirs and cisterns; and its immense burying - ground. Aden is surrounded by a black, briny desert of lava and volcanic sand, having neither water, tree, nor shrub-clusters of barren rocks, which might fitly be likened to heaps of fused coal out of a glass-house, and the sea. The necessity of the rockbored wells was consequently a vital one, and by their means Aden is plentifully supplied with that rare luxury of the East-pure, fresh water. Three years only after the English obtained possession of the place the population had increased to 20,000; and now, it is said thirty thousand Arabs, Hindoos, Nubians, Albanians, Copts, Jews, negroes, traffic and wrangle in its crowded bazaars. The fortifications have been repaired and strengthened, and it is garrisoned by a considerable British force. There are few incidents in Anglo-Indian history more curious and characteristic perhaps than

THE CAPTURE OF ADEN,

or more illustrative of the promptitude, sagacity, and resolution with which the active agents of British government in the East seize upon and turn fortunate accidents, unexpected chances, to swift account. This key of the Arabian Gulf and half-way stage between the Isthmus and India-it is as nearly as may be midway between Bombay and Suez-is situated at a few miles' distance only from Bab-el-Mandeb, and eager glances had long been turned in the direction of the coveted spot. Its precise condition, and the great uses to which in British hands it might be turned, had been clearly and elaborately set forth in numerous papers and pamphlets, duly labelled 'Aden,' among the archives of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, but it was not till 1837 that an opportunity occurred of turning that knowledge to account.

That opportunity was eagerly and audaciously seized. Previous to that year rumours had reached the Indian government that the sultan of Lahidge, a place about twenty miles north-west of Aden, was conducting himself very little better than a common plunderer and pirate towards Arab and other vessels that chanced to be wrecked on the coast. As this individual, whose name was Sultan Mhoussin ben-Fondtel ben-Abdul Kevonem ben-Abdallee, was the ruler of Aden, the intelligence was listened to with great interest by the Bombay authorities, and orders were given to the British naval officers on the station to keep a sharp look-out upon his actions. The sultan, however, was prudent enough to abstain from interfering with vessels and persons under the protection of the English flag till 1837, when a stronger temptation than usual fell in his way, and he found himself at once and irredeemably in the iron grasp of the Philistines. In that year the Deriah Dowlut, a vessel of 225 tons burden, the property of the titular Nawaub of Madras, sailed from that port for Juddah, laden with rice, sugar, flour, cloth, and preserves, and having on board several pilgrims of both sexes bound for Mecca. The cargo of the Deriah Dowlut had been insured for £20,000, a sum greatly above its value, and the supercargo, or agent of the owners, contrived to strand the ship in a bay about seven miles distant from Aden, on the morning of the 17th of February 1837. In conformity with sharp Arab practice the vessel was plundered of everything portable it contained, and the passengers stripped of every article they possessed, except the clothes actually on their backs. The females especially were brutally ill-treated, and but for the kindness of the Peer-Gadeh of the tomb of the Sheik Hydroos, the patron saint of Aden, they would have been utterly unable to continue their journey. All this was done by the treacherous connivance of the sultan of Lahidge, who of course obtained the lion's share of the plunder. Doubts, however, of the perfect prudence of his bold venture appear to have early dawned upon the sultan's mind, for the naquidah, or captain of the Deriah Dowlut, was obliged to sign a paper before he could leave Aden, exonerating the authorities there of all blame in the matter of the plunder of the ship. News of the affair soon reached the British agent at Mocha, and Captain Harris of the Indian navy, happening to arrive at that port shortly afterwards, and instantly perceiving the high account to which the opportunity might be turned, set off at once for Aden, to make personal and exact inquiries upon the subject. The sultan at first vehemently denied all cognisance or participation in the plunder of the ship, or the ill-treatment of the crew and passengers, although the stolen property was at the very time being publicly sold in the bazaar, and he exhibited the paper signed by the captain of the Deriah Dowlut as conclusive evidence that he, the sultan at least, was perfectly free from blame in the matter. At last, however, finding that Captain Harris was not to be deceived by lying assertions, however bold and vehement, he offered that gentleman one or two cables, and a few old stores, as all of the plunder he could discover. Captain Harris declined this very handsome offer, and immediately afterwards set out for Bombay. The intelligence he brought excited the liveliest interest in Sir Robert Grant and the other authorities there, and it was instantly, unanimously, and indignantly resolved that full compensation and redress for the outrage on the British flag ought to be at once peremptorily

enforced, and that the sultan could in no way afford that compensation and redress effectually except by the cession of Aden as a coal depôt for the steamers to and fro Suez and India, and its harbour as a port of refuge.

Before acting decisively, however, it was necessary to refer the matter to the supreme council at Calcutta. In the meantime Captain Harris could return to Aden, again formally demand redress, and at the same time impress upon the sultan that the cession of the fortress and port of Aden, merely in trust as a coal depôt and place of refuge, and at a reasonable rent, say about the amount levied at the time as duties on the date- boats which arrive there at one season of the year in great numbers, and other trading vessels from Mocha and the Egyptian ports on the Red Sea, would surprisingly smooth away the otherwise immense obstacles to an amicable arrangement. Captain Harris appears to have executed his mission with great skill and spirit. He left Bombay in the Suez steamer, but meeting with the sloop-of-war Coote on his way, he shifted to her, shrewdly concluding that she would intimate the serious aspect of the business more effectively than the pacific packet. The sultan of Lahidge was absent from Aden, and the negotiation was carried on with his son Hamed, and his son-in-law-an individual with a name as long as his father-in-law's, being Synd Mhoosin ben - Synd West ben - Haman ben - Ali Suffranin whom he, the sultan, appears to have reposed great confidence. The first thing Captain Harris did was to seek out the Peer-Gadeh who had shewn the pilgrims kindness, and present him with a gift of fifty crowns, and a handsome letter of thanks from the Bombay authorities. The next was to demand restoration of the stolen property. This was obtained to a considerable amount, and the sultan gave his bond for 4000 German crowns, payable a twelvemonth after date, for the balance. This effected, more important negotiations with respect to the coal depôt were commenced, and ultimately so successfully carried out, that the son and son-in-law agreed that for the yearly payment of 8700 German crowns the sultan should accede to the Honourable Company's wishes in that respect also. This convention was, however, merely a verbal one, and at last it was suddenly and rudely broken off, and a plan concocted for seizing the person of Captain Harris, and forcing him to deliver up all the papers connected with his mission-the bond of course included. This project was defeated by timely information conveyed to Captain Harris, who was on board the Coote, and he of course did not trust himself again in Aden. The sultan, on being remonstrated with on the folly of such conduct, denied that he had been in any way a party to the contemplated seizure of the British envoy's person, and Captain Harris again returned to Bombay for further instructions. The council at Calcutta had approved of what the Bombay government had hitherto done; but on being again referred to at this stage of the proceedings to sanction the immediate employment of force for the attainment of the desired object, they determined on first consulting the authorities in England. In the meantime, however, in order to keep the question astir, Captain Harris was once more despatched to Aden in the Coote, and furnished this time with a personal guard of thirty men and one officer. His instructions were in substance as follows:

:

1st. He was to assume for granted that the sultan could have no inten

tion of scandalously backing out of the cession, by his representatives, of the coal depôt and harbour of refuge; but if, contrary to all reasonable expectation, the sultan of Lahidge were to intimate a disposition to perpetrate so black an act of treachery, Captain Harris was to explain distinctly to him that the goods restored, and the bond given, even if duly honoured, would but satisfy the smallest, the most insignificant part of the demands of the Anglo-Indian government in the matter of the Deriah Dowlut. That compensation for the insult offered to the British flag had not been estimated in the indemnity, but had been waived in consideration only of the sultan's cession of Aden, as a coal depôt and harbour of refuge, for a consideration duly set forth and agreed upon.

2d. That the plot to seize the person of the English envoy was a second and grievous insult to the said flag, which the Anglo-Indian government were willing to believe, since he, the sultan, so solemnly asserted it, was entered into without his knowledge; but at the same time he must be made to comprehend perfectly that the great, the extreme respect which they felt disposed to attach to his word would be entirely destroyed by a refusal to yield Aden as a harbour of refuge and coal depôt; and the participation of the sultan in the proposed outrage would consequently be by such refusal held to be undeniably proved.

3d. That two such grievous insults to the flag of our Sovereign Lady, the Queen of Great Britain and India, could not be effaced by any moneypayments or apologies whatever, nor in any other manner atoned for than by the cession of the aforesaid harbour and coal depôt.

4th. That should the sultan of Lahidge remain obstinately blind and deaf to the cogency of this argumentation, he was to be informed that it was extremely probable a British force, capable of enforcing the fair and equitable execution of the agreement entered into for a perpetual lease of Aden, would appear very shortly before that place.

Neither the Sultan Mhoussin ben-Fondtel ben-Abdul Kevonem benAbdallee, nor Hamed, nor Synd Mhoosin ben-Synd West ben-Haman ben-Ali Suffran, aided by the learning of the gravest of Arabian counsellors, could contend with the irresistible logic of these triangular instructions, wound up and pointed as they were by so very sharp and conclusive a fourthly, and lastly, intimation. The perplexed Lord of Aden endeavoured to secure the services of a neighbouring chief, Hamed ben - Ali Abed, a warrior who could bring, it was said, 5000 men into the field. In addition to other gifts the sultan proffered his daughter in marriage to Hamed ben-Ali Abed, if he would range himself on his side. That sagacious soldier, however, after gravely and carefully surveying the situation, the lady, the Coote, and the expected reinforcements, declined the proposed alliance with the sultan, and most unpatriotically offered, on the contrary, to conclude a treaty, offensive and defensive, with the British. This liberal offer Captain Harris politely declined: he had no 'instructions' authorising him to do so, and Hamed ben-Ali Abed quitted Aden and its neighbourhood.

The first measure of coercion (1838) was to blockade the port. This, however, failed to subdue the sultan's obstinacy, and urgent representations were sent to Bombay of the necessity that existed for the adoption of more potent and decisive means to obtain possession of the town and

harbour. By this time a favourable answer had arrived from the Court of Directors in England, and a considerable military force was at once despatched in two transports, accompanied by the Volage frigate and Cruiser war-brig; which, on the 16th of January 1839, cast anchor before the astonished eyes of the 1200 or 1300 armed Arabs by that time assembled in Aden, at a short distance from the town. Rule Britannia, it was manifest, was now about to be played in serious earnest. On the morning of the 19th a renewed attempt at negotiation having proved abortive, the vessels of war approached the batteries of the place, anchored as closely as possible to them with springs on their cables; their fire opened; an enormous breach was effected before the Arabs had time or power to discharge more than five shots; the troops landed; and the decisive logic of the bayonet finally concluded the dispute. About 300 Arabs, less nimblelegged than their comrades, were made prisoners, and after being deprived of their matchlocks, were left in charge of a few soldiers only. The instant the captives perceived this, a quick mutual intelligence glanced along their ranks; they drew their concealed creeses simultaneously forth, overpowered the guard, and for the most part escaped. The loss of the Anglo-Indian force was eleven men killed and wounded; that of the Arabs was about ten times as great. Thus was this important post secured. Amongst other consequences of the change of rule has been the conversion of a decaying heap of ruins, the resort and refuge of thieves and plunderers, of pretty nearly every degree and nation of the East, into a populous, well-ordered, busy city. The Arabs have once endeavoured to repossess themselves of the place, but their failure was ludicrous, as of course it must ever be where they are opposed to the military science and bravery of Europe.

The only other place on the proposed route requiring notice is that of Suez, situated at the northern end of the Red Sea, at the head of the westernmost of the two arms or gulfs in which that sea terminates. It stands in 29° 57′ 30′′ north latitude, and 32° 31′ 33′′ of east longitude, on an angle of land between the broad head of the Gulf, the shore of which lies east and west, and the narrow arm which runs up northward from the eastern corner of the Gulf, and is distant about seventy miles east of Cairo. Although the transit of the merchandise of the East to the Nile and Egypt has been through Suez for nearly four centuries, and numerous pilgrims to and from the holy city of Mecca constantly pass through, it has remained till very lately a wretched, ill-conditioned place, containing only about a couple of thousand Moslems, a few hundred Christians of the Greek church, with a sprinkling of course of the ubiquitous Jew. It contains a bazaar or row of shops poorly supplied from Cairo, several caravanseras for the lodgment of pilgrims, and is walled in on three sides, but open to the sea on the north-east, in which quarter the harbour, an insufficient one, with a tolerable quay, is situated. The want of good water and the almost entire absence of herbage must necessarily long militate against the prosperity of this city; still, from the signs, quite visible though faint as yet, of improvement, since steam-navigation has popularised the passage to India by the Red Sea, it is sufficiently clear that Suez would speedily, like all other places along the route, put on a new aspect after the effectual breaking through of the desert between it and Europe had brought Manchester