y had their hopes of
plunder been stimulated by the rumours of English wealth. This
daring attempt (which the Pasha of Egypt was by some suspected
to have had some share in instigating) at once placed the occupants
of Aden in a state of open warfare with all their Arab neighbours;
and the subsidies hitherto paid to the Futhali chief and the old
Sultan of Lahedj were consequently stopped--while L.100,000 were
voted by the Bombay government for repairing the fortifications,
and engineers were sent from India to put the place in an efficient
state of defence. These regular ramparts, however, even when
completed, can never be relied on as a security against the guerilla
attacks of these daring marauders, who can wade through the sea at
low water round the flanks of the Turkish wall, and scramble over
precipices to get in the rear of the outposts--and accordingly,
during 1840, the garrison had to withstand two more desperate
attempts (May 20, and July 4,) to surprise the place, both of which
were beaten off after some hard fighting, though in one instance the
attacking party succeeded in carrying off a considerable amount of
plunder from the encampment near the Turkish wall. Since that period,
it has been found necessary gradually to raise the strength of the
garrison from 800 to 4000 men, one-fourth of whom are always European
soldiers--and though no attack in force has lately been made by the
Arabs, the necessity of being constantly on the alert against their
covert approaches, renders the duties of the garrison harassing to
the last degree. Though a considerable trade now exists with the
African coast, scarcely any commercial intercourse has yet been
established with the interior of Arabia, (notwithstanding the
friendly dispositions evinced by the Iman of Sana,) the road being
barred by the hostile tribes--and a further impediment to
improvement is found in the dissensions of the civil and military
authorities of the place itself, who, pent up in a narrow space
under a broiling sun, seem to employ their energies in endless
squabbles with each other. Whatever may be the ultimate fate of this
colony, it must be allowed, to quote the candid admission of a
writer in the _United Service Journal_, that "at present we are not
occupying a very proud position in Arabia"--though considering the
means by which we obtained our footing in that peninsula, our
position is perhaps as good as we deserve.
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