224 Extracts from an Arabic work relating to Aden. [Dec. 



replied, ' I am in fear of the Dai'. Then the master of the house said, ' I 

 consent, have no fear of oppressors, transport all you have to a certain 

 house'. So the Captain descended, and the merchants began to land their 

 property from the ship in boxes and transport them to the house until they 

 had lightened the ship of two-thirds of the cargo. When the morning 

 came the Captain found his host of the night before to be the Dai himself, 

 and he said to himself, " I sought shelter from the rain and sat clown 

 beneath the spout ;" and he was troubled in mind, and his face became 

 clouded. Then the Dai sent for him and said to him. ' I am your friend of 

 last night, and I am the Dai, the Governor of Aden at this time ; be com- 

 forted and set your mind at ease ; the customs duties on your ship are a 

 present from me to thee with the house in which you have alighted, and 

 these 1,000 dinars are for your expenses while you remain in our city. 

 God forbid I should take anything from you either in the way of present 

 or of trade'. The Captain then said, ' Wherefore is all this done to me' ? 

 The Dai said, ' On account of your entering upon me in my house at mid- 

 night'. Then he gave orders that the wall should be extended from Hisn 

 Akhdar to Jebel Hokat, but they constructed a very weak wall, and it fell 

 down bodily and was destroyed by the unceasing action of the waves on it, 

 and when it was ruined he built on it another wall of interlaced canes, and 

 this remains to the present day. Abu Othman Omar bin Othman ibn Ali 

 El Zangebili El Tukriti built a wall running along the height of Munzhir 

 to the end of Jebel El Izz, and erected on it the Hokat gate ; and he built 

 a second wall on Jebel Akhdar, the extent of which was from Hisu Akhdar 

 to El Takhar on the ridge of the hill. He also constructed a wall on the 

 shore from El Tabagha to Jebel Hokat, in which were six gates, viz., the Sa- 

 bagha and Juma gates ; the Sikka gate, which has two entrances or arches 

 through which the torrent rushes when it rains at Aden ; the Eurza or 

 customs gate for the merchandize to pass in and out ; Bab Musharif or 

 Musharij gate, which is continually open for the passage of people ; and 

 Bab Habak, that is always closed ; there also the gate to the interior that 

 has been mentioned before. The walls were built of stone and mortar, and 

 he also constructed the Custom House, placing in it two gates. Ibn 

 Zangibili besides constructed the old Kaisarea or covered bazars, and the 

 markets or shops, and houses of stone, and Aden returned to its former 

 state (of prosperity) ; but when Saif El Islam entered Aden, Ihn Zanjibili 

 devoted all his property for religious purposes at Mekka in the year 575 

 A. H. El Malik El Maiz Taghtagin ibn Eiyub built a block of houses, the 

 whole of which were shops at the gate, and he gave over the new Kaisarea to 

 the druggists. Then Motamid Razi-ul-din Muhammad bin Ali El Tukriti 

 erected buildings in the name of Malik El Mesaud Eusuf bin Muhammad 

 bin Ali Bekr, and the population increased in it ; and they built houses and 



