ADEN. 107 
inhabiting it, owing to the scorching heat of the climate and the 
total want of every convenience of life, excepting water, under 
which it labours. The natives themselves are squalid and un^ 
healthy in their appearance, and the lower classes are equally de- 
praved in their habits with those inhabiting most Arabian towns. 
Among the ruins some fine remains of ancient splendour 
are to be met with ; but these only serve to cast a darker shade 
over the general desolation of the scene. The most remarkable 
of these remains consists of a line of cisterns situated on the 
north-west side of the town, three of which are fall eighty feet 
square and proportionally deep, all excavated out of the solid 
rock, and lined with a thick coat of fine stucco, which exter- 
nally bears a strong resemblance to marble. A broad aqueduct 
may still be traced, which formerly conducted the water to these 
cisterns from a deep ravine in the mountain above. Higher up 
there is another still entire, which at the time we visited it was 
partly filled with water. In front of it extends a handsome 
terrace, formerly covered with stucco, and behind it rise some 
immense masses of granite, which being in some parts perpendi- 
cular and in others overhanging it, form during the hot weather 
a most delightful retreat. Some Arab children, who attended us 
in our excursions, were highly pleased when we arrived at this 
spot, and plunging headlong into the water much amused us with 
their sportive tricks. In most Mahomedan towns the insolence 
of the children is particularly annoying to strangers ; but here^ 
from their having been a good deal accustomed to Englishmen^ 
their behaviour had altered its character, and their playfulness 
was often exceedingly diverting; they ran about collecting 
P 
