1 8 MALLET : ADEN AND VICINITY. 



The pebbles in the cong-lomerate are nearly all volcanic^ there benig" 

 however a few of metarnorphic rock. 



Ft. In. 

 In another well the depth to the water was ... ... 53 



Depth of water ... ... ,,, ... 2 



Ft. 



'In. 



54 







8 







55 

 The water here is perfectly sweet without the least trace ofbrack- 

 ishness. In common with, I believe, all the wells of the Lahej neighbour- 

 hood it comes from the well quite warm. I had no thermometer with 

 me and could not measure the exact temperature, but it appeared to be 

 certainly above the mean temperature of the place. The Banian well .in 

 Aden is according- to Captain Playfair 102° F. — 



In a well at Ifeihafa the depth to water is 

 Depth of water ... ... ... 



62 



The lower part of this well is lined. The 27 feet at the top, unlined, is 

 of silty soil, more or less sandy, very sandy in places. The lowest three 

 or four feet is moist at one side from the slow infiltration of water. 



In comparing the sections at Shaik Othman near the coast and at 

 Mahilla further inland and further up the course of the river, it will 

 be seen that at the latter there is a thick bed of conglomerate, in which 

 the well-rounded water-worn pebbles range up to six and eight inches in 

 diameter, while at Shaik Othman the largest do not exceed two inches, 

 thus giving us a very good clue as to the. direction from which the 

 pebbles have come. Captain Foster mentions that the low water line 

 at Aden has receded within the recollection of the present generation, 

 and Captain Playfair in his history of Arabia Felix states that ''''the 

 latter (the Tehamas or low country"^) varies in breadth from thirty 

 to eighty miles. The soil is poor and arid, covered in many places 



Of vvliich the plain iicith of Aden is n portion. 



( 274 ) 



