EXPLORATION OF ADEN . 
5 
these trees grow in clusters, and in shape are somewhat similar to those 
of the laurel, the fruit, in form and size, resembling an almond, and being 
not unpleasant, though very astringent to the taste. The quantity of 
water required for cultivation in this place is astonishing, the soil round 
the trees is obliged to be kept constantly moist, which, during the dry 
season, is entirely supplied by the assistance of art. This season, for- 
tunately, does not last more than two months ; during the remaining ten, 
occasional showers intervene, and in December, the rains on the adjacent 
mountains fall so heavily, that the river which passes Lahadj, though 
at times nearly dry, swells into a prodigious torrent. ;J1 
M. P. Edgeworth, 1846. — For about 30 years following Salt's visit 
to Aden the political situation of the country was not very favourable 
to the more peaceful pursuits of scientific research. 
Ahmed's nephew and successor, Mohsin bin Fadhl, was an inhospi- 
table, deceitful, avaricious, and unscrupulous man. In 1829, the Court of 
Directors of the East India Company planned a coaling station at Aden, 
but the idea had to be abandoned owing to the difficulty of obtaining 
labour. In 1833, Turkchee Bilmas made an attempt to gain possession 
of Aden. In reply to his demands his emissaries were slain. In 1836, 
the Fadhlis attacked and sacked the town. When shortly after an 
outrage was committed on the passengers and crew of a bungalow 
wrecked near Aden, the Government of Bombay despatched an expedi- 
tion against the place, and in 1838, Captain Haines demanded and ob- 
tained reparation. The treacherous behaviour, however, of the Sultan's 
son led finally to the occupation of Aden by the British in January 1839. 
After this several futile attempts were made by the Sultan as well as by 
other neighbouring tribes, to attack and take Aden. 1 2 
It was about this time that Edgeworth 3 of the Bengal Civil 
Service arrived in Aden. He is well known by his valuable memoirs on 
1 Salt, 1. c. p. 116-117. 
2 Hunter. An account of the British Settlement of Aden, London, 1877, p. 165 — 166., 
8 Michael Pakenham Edgeworth was born on the 24fch May 1812. He entered the 
Charter House in 1823, whence he removed to Edinburgh in 1827. Here he studied 
oriental languages and acquired some knowledge of Botany under Professor Robert Graham. 
In 1831, he joined the Bengal Civil Service. He was appointed to Ambala and afterwards 
to Saharanpur. In 1842 he came home on leave and returned in 1846 to India. He was 
stationed at Banda until 1850, when he was chosen one of the five commissioners for the 
settlement of the Punjab, first at Multan, and afterwards at Jullundar, but his Indian 
career was finally cut short by sunstroke. He died suddenly in the Island of Eigg on the 
30th July 1881. His chief publications were on the Botany of India ia the * Transactions * 
and * Journal ’ of tfie Linnean Society. 
c/.* Proc. Linn. Soc. 1880-82, p. 63 ; Trimen’s Journ Bot. (1881), p. 288; Cat. Sc. Papers 
II, 444, VII, 594. 
