intervene with direct force we should find ourselves
defending an unpopular _protege_ against the united resentment of
Arabia.

I believe there is no one ruler or ruling clique in Arabia that could
wield such authority, and my reason for saying so is that the experiment
has been tried repeatedly on a small scale during the twenty years or so
that I have been connected with the country and has failed every time.
Toward the close of last century a sultan of Lahej who had always
claimed suzerainty over his turbulent neighbours, the Subaihi, had to
enter that vagabond tribeship to enforce one of his decrees, and got
held up with his "army" until extricated by Aden diplomacy at the price
of his suzerain sway. His successor still claimed a hold over an
adjacent clan of the Subaihi known as the Rigai, but when one of our
most promising political officers was murdered there, and the murderer
sheltered by the clan, he was unable to obtain redress or even assist us
adequately in attempting to do so. Early in this century Aden was
involved in a little expedition against Turks and Arabs because one of
her protected sultans (equipped with explosive and ammunition) could not
deal with a small Arab fort himself. This is the same sultanate which
let the Turks through against us in the summer of 1915 and whose ruler
was prominent in the sacking of Lahej. I have already alluded, in
Chapter II, to the inadequacy of the Lahej sultan on that occasion, yet
Aden had bolstered up his authority in every possible way and had relied
on him and his predecessor for years to act as semi-official suzerain
and go-between for other tribes--a withered stick which snapped the
first time it was leant upon. I could also point to the Imam of Yamen,
strong in opposition to the Turks as a rallying point of tribal revolt,
but weak and vacillating on the side of law and order. I might go on
giving instances _ad nauseam_, but here is one more to clinch the
argument, and it is typical of Arab politics. Aden had just cause of
offence against a certain reigning sultan of the Abd-ul-Wahid in her
eastern sphere of influence. He had intrigued with foreign States,
oppressed his subjects, persecuted native trade and played the dickens
generally. Therefore Aden rebuked him (by letter) and appointed a
relative of his to be sultan and receive his subsidy. The erring but
impenitent potentate reduced his relative to such submission that he
would sign monthly receipts for the