24 
II. PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF ADEN. 
1. Area and Position. — The area of which we are going to describe 
the vegetation, is indicated on the accompanying map. It comprises the 
whole British territory. This was formerly limited to the peninsula of 
Aden proper, extending to a creek named Khor Maksar about 2 miles 
to the northward of the defence works across the isthmus. The island 
of Sirah, which is now connected with the mainland by a masonry 
causeway, and the peninsula of Jebel Ihsan, or Little Aden, were 
acquired by purchase from the Sultan of Lahej in 1868. As the population 
of Aden town increased rapidly, Government purchased a (further small 
tract of territory beyond the Khor Maksar creek in 1882, extending to 
just beyond the village of Imad on the north and to Shaikh Othman 
on the north-west, about 10 miles from Bandar Tawayih, or Aden Back 
Bay. 1 The total area of the British territory is 7 5 square miles. Aden, 
which is almost the most southerly point on the south coast of the 
Province of Yemen in Arabia Felix, is situated in latitude 12° 47' N., 
and longitude 45° 10' E. 
2 . Geology. — The peninsula of Aden is about 15 miles in circum- 
ference, of an irregular oval form. The greater diameter is 5 miles, whilst 
the lesser measures only 3. The whole is connected with the continent 
by a low narrow neck of land, 1,350 yards broad, but which is in one 
place nearly covered by the sea at high spring-tides. As a matter of 
fact, it would be flooded, were it not for a causeway constructed for the 
convenience of the land traffic, and the passage of the Shaikh Othman 
aqueduct. 2 
The promontory of Aden consists of a bold cluster of volcanic rocks 
with lofty jagged peaks. The loftier portions of it are wholly volcanic 
and the lower are partly volcanic and partly consolidated sea-sand. The 
most interesting portion is an immense, nearly circular crater, situated 
at the eastern extremity of the promontory next the main land, and within 
which, upon a flat, little raised above the sea-level, stands the town of 
Aden. Although the crater appears at first sight almost perfect, it has 
been affected by some rede shocks which have cleft it entirely through 
from north to south, forming two rents, known as the northern and 
southern passes. The portion to the west of the fissures is called Jebel 
Shorn Shum. It stands entire and rises to a height of 1,775 feet. That 
to the east has evidently undergone a partial subsidence, attaining to 
not more than half the height of the western side. For the distance of 
about half a mile it has been broken down allowing the sea to come close 
1 Imperial Gazetteer of India, Vol. V, p. 9. 
Munter F. M. : An account of the British Settlement of Aden. Loudon, 1877, p. 1. 
