'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎113] (132/622)

HISTORY OP THE INDIAN NAVY.
113
in which the Indian Navy bore so conspicuous a part, we will
give a brief sketch of the dealings of the Company's cruisers
When Commander Haines visited Aden in 1835, several of the reservoirs appear
still to have been in a tolerably perfect state; besides the hanging tanks, or those
built high upon the hills, several large ones were traceable round the town ; but
from the British occupation until very lately, no steps having been taken to repair
or preserve them from further destruction, they became entirely filled up with
stones and soil washed down from the hills by the rain ; the people of the town
had been permitted to carry away the stones for building purposes, and, with
the exception of a very few, which could not easily be destroyed or concealed, all
traces of them were lost, save where here and there a fragment of plaster, appear
ing above the ground, indicated the supposed position of a reservoir, believed to
be ruined beyond the possibility of repair. About 1855, the restoration of these
magnificent public works was undertaken, and has now been completed. Cap
tain Playfair. in his ' e History of Arabia Felix," describes the reservoirs, which
were constructed to collect and store the water descending from the precipitous
sides of the encircling hills, as extremely fantastic in their shapes. " Some are
formed by a dyke being built across the gorge of a valley; in others, the soil in
front of a re-entering angle in the hill has been removed, and a salient angle or
curve of masonry built in front of it, while every feature of the adjacent rocks has
been taken advantage of and connected by small aqueducts, to ensure no water
being lost. The overflow of one tank has been conducted into the succeeding one,
and thus a complete chain has been formed, reaching to the very heart of the
town. These reservoirs were filled for the first time on the 20th of October,
1857, when, though a very small proportion of the whole had then been repaired,
more water was collected from a single fall of rain than the whole of the wells
would yield during an entire year."
The annual fall of rain in Aden is very limited, seldom exceeding six or seven
inches ; it is manifest, therefore, that a large city could not entirely depend on
this precarious source of supply. To remedy this defect, the Sovereign of Yemen,
towards the close of the fifteenth century, constructed an aqueduct to convey
the water of Bir Ahmed into Aden. The remains of this work are still
visible, though it has long been ruined and disused; but a fair supply is
acquired for the use of the inhabitants by condensing apparatus in addition to
the wells.
Aden was anciently one of the most celebrated cities of Arabia, and owed its
riches and importance to being the general entrepot of the great carrying trade
which existed between India, Persia, Arabia, and Africa, and the various nations
of Europe, Egypt and Phsenicia. The author of the " Periplus of the Erythraean
Sea," informs us that shortly before his time, Arabia Eelix, as he calls Aden, had
been destroyed by the Romans ; and Dean Vincent is of opinion that the Caesar in
whose reign this event took place was Claudius. In the time of Constantine,
Aden had recovered its former splendour, and as a conquest of the Roman Empire
received the name of Romanum Emporium. The Yenetian officer who chronicles
the expedition of Suleiman Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. to Aden in 1530, and who compulsorily served
in that Admiral's fleet, says of the town :—
" It is very strong, and stands by the sea-side, surrounded by exceedingly high
mountains, on the tops of which are little castles or forts. It is encompassed also
with ravelins on every side, excepting a little opening, about three hundred paces
wide, for a road into the country and to the shore, with gates, towers, and good
walls. Besides this there lies a shoal (a) before the city, on which is built a fort,
and at the foot of it a tower (6) for the defence of the port, which lies to the
south, and has two fathoms of water; to the north there is another harbour,
with good anchorage, covered from all winds. There is plenty of good water
here; the soil is dry, producing no kind of things; they have none but rain
water, which is preserved in cisterns and pits one hundred fathoms deep."
Aden continued to monopolise the Indian trade till the sixteenth century,
(a) The Island of Seerah.
(h) Seerah mole.
YOL. II.
I