AT SEA. 
At day light on the 16th we found no town was visible, and 
thought we had not got far enough; and that it lay beyond another 
head land, nearly W. accordingly we weighed anchor at six, and 
steered along shore. Cape Aden is a very lofty rock, on the top 
of which are several ruined towers. The bay we anchored in was 
a fine one, about six miles wide, and as many deep. On proceeding 
we found our mistake; that in which we anchored was Back Bay, 
and Aden itself was on the eastern side of the headl-and. The 
bottom of every bay was a sandy beach ; beyond that ran a chain 
of mountains at a distance. I never beheld a more dreary scene ; 
nor one that less accorded with the idea that might be formed of 
the country from the beautiful description of Milton: no " Sabaean 
odours" came off to gratify our senses, from the shore, nor did they 
ever exist there, but in the mind of the poet, as a more wretched 
country does not exist ; for the myrrh and frankincense come from 
the opposite coast, though the Arabs were, and are still, the medium 
r 
of conveyance to Europe. 
It would have been a serious loss of time to have beaten back, 
and therefore I determined to go on, though much vexed at a 
mistake, which would prevent our having excellent water, instead 
of that which is to be obtained higher up, and is invariably brack- 
ish. Back Bay is the best watering-place, though it is five miles from 
the town: the only expense is three dollars demanded by the Dola, 
as I learned from Lieutenant Powell of the Wasp, who was there 
in 1803. In East Bay it is purchaseable, but at a high price. On the 
western side is a range of rocks extending out nearly as far south 
as the hill of Aden itself. The tops of these are singularly broken, 
and rise into Gothic spires in several parts : two of these have got 
