'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎112] (131/622)

112 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
in an account of the shipwreck published in the Bombay papers,
it is said that " the madness of intoxication infected them; the
spirit stores had been rifled, and many were swept from the
ship, and others from the rafts, in a state of helpless drunken
ness'." In this lamentable disaster perished the captain, his
chief officer, surgeon, and seventeen of the crew, seven of the
passengers, and fifty-eight recruits, besides women and children.
A number of people on board the 'Lord Castlereagh' also
perished, including Captain Earle, 24th Native Infantry, com
manding the troops, and two officers, one alone escaping with
his life ; and the detachment of the Marine Battalion lost one
jemadar, and nineteen non-commissioned officers and men.
During the terrible scenes of this night " Captains Sanders and
Hayman,* I.N.," says the Bombay Times, " were conspicuous
for their exertions." Lieutenants Montriou and Webb also
rendered great assistance, and the 'Victoria' got up steam "in
a wonderfully short period," but was unable to approach the
wreck, and had to stand out to sea to avoid sharing the fate of
the ill-fated transports.
The first, and most important, military achievement of the
year 1839, was the capture of Aden, and, as it preceded the
capture of Kurrachee by a few days, it was the first conquest
of British arms—for the suppression of the Canadian revolt in
1837-38 was a civil conflict—in the reign of Queen Victoria, a
reign which has been illustrated on sea and land by such
glorious victories.
Before entering upon the narrative of the capture of Aden,t
* Captain Hayman was for many years in charge of the Lighthouse at Colalra.
f The most salient points of Aden are, the precipitous hills, of which the
highest, known as Jibhel Shumshum, has an altitude of 1,775 feet, the isthmus con-
necting it with, the main, about 1,350 yards in breadth, but which is nearly covered
by the sea at high spring-tides, and the wells and marvellous tanks or reservoirs.
The wells, ■which number about one hundred and fifty, of which only about fifty are
fit for drinking purposes, are mostly of recent construction, the oldest not datmg
further back than a.d . 1500. The reservoirs are about fifty in number, and nave
an aggregate capacity of nearly thirty millions of gallons. It is supposed tna
they were first commenced about a.d. 600, and certainly they existed before t e
Turkish conquest of the place in 1530, as they are mentioned by the Yenetian
officer who describes the expedition. Mr. Salt, who visited Aden in 1809, thus
describes the tanks as they existed at that period ;—
" Amongst the ruins, some fine remains of ancient splendour are to be me
with, but these only serve to cast a deeper shadow over the desolation ot e
scene. The most remarkable of these reservoirs consists of a line of cisterns
situated on the north-west side of the town, three of which, are fully eighty ee
wide, and proportionably deep, all excavated out of the solid rock, and line
with a thick coat of fine stucco, which externally bears a strong resemblance
marble. A broad aqueduct may still be traced, which formerly conducted ■ ie
water to these cisterns from a deep ravine in the mountain above; higher up is
another, still entire, which at the time we visited it was partly filled with ^ a er.
Some Arab children, who followed us in our excursions, were highly pleased w en
we arrived at the spot, and plunging headlong into the water, much amuse ns
with their sportive tricks."