1834.] discovered near Aden, tn Arabia. 555 



period must have been covered by it. During this time we had been 

 looking- in vain for some path by which we might ascend to the summit, 

 but it appeared inaccessible on every side, and we had almost given 

 up our search, when one of the party suggested, that two towers, which 

 were standing by themselves, might possibly have commanded the ap- 

 proach and entrance to one ; scrambling accordingly over the ruins 

 formed by the falling of the upper part of these, we at length discovered 

 some faint traces of a track, which in order to facilitate the ascent had 

 been cut along the face of the hill in a zig-zag direction. But beyond 

 and above that the steep front of the cliff had been cut down so as to 

 form a sort of terrace, and even here the path at the widest part would 

 not admit more than two abreast ; there being a steep precipice above 

 and below us, we did not find it a very pleasant road ; on a rock to 

 the right, about one-third the ascent from the top, we discovered the 

 inscriptions, which I have subjoined. The characters were two and 

 a half inches in length, and it will be seen, are executed with much 

 care, order, and regularity. In order to avoid the possibility of omission 

 or error, three separate copies were taken by different individuals, 

 which have all been subsequently examined and compared. Continu- 

 ing our route from hence to the top of the hill, houses nearly as 

 numerous as below, walls, and other defensive edifices, were perceived 

 at various distances, scattered over its surface, and on the verge of the 

 precipice a square tower of massive masonry had been erected ; it has 

 probably served both as a watch-tower and light-house. Some of the 

 stones are of very large dimensions, the windows and doors are plain, 

 and no arches are to be seen ; about one hundred yards from the tower 

 the tanks are situated, they have been excavated with much labor out of 

 the solid rock and are cemented inside. 



Having now surveyed every part of the hill, we could not but 

 come to the conclusion that it had been formed both by nature and 

 art as a place of extraordinary strength : while the former had left it 

 inaccessible at but one point, the latter had so completely fortified it at 

 that quarter, that it would be impossible for courage or address, how- 

 ever consummate, to scale it. But what, independent of this advantage, 

 must have given it to foreigners its principal value, would have been its 

 insular position, which, when we consider the lawless and barbarous 

 character that the inhabitants of this coast have borne from the earliest 

 period, must to them, both as a retreat essential to their public safety, 

 and also as a magazine, have rendered it invaluable. 



The circumstances of its possessing two harbours affording anchorage 

 in either monsoon, on a coast remarkably destitute of any (as yet dis- 

 covered) so well sheltered, would appear to indicate a commercial 

 3 b 2 



