The
possession of Aden was eagerly contended for by the two great powers,
the Turks and the Portuguese, struggling for mastery in the East, and
when they were no longer able to maintain their rivalry, it reverted
into the hands of its ancient masters, the Arabs. The security
afforded by its natural defences, aided by the fortifications, the
work of former times, rendered it a suitable retreat for the piratical
hordes of the desert. The lawless sons of Ishmael could, from this
stronghold, rush out upon the adjacent waters, and make themselves
masters of the wealth of those adventurers who dared to encounter the
dangers of the Red Sea.
With the loss of every thing approaching to good government, Aden lost
its trade. The system of monopoly, which enriches the sovereign at the
expense of the subject, speedily ends in ruin. The superior classes of
the inhabitants were either driven away, in consequence of the tyranny
which they endured, or, reduced to a state of destitution, perished
miserably upon the soil, until at length the traces of former
magnificence became few and faint, the once flourishing city falling
into one wide waste of desolation. The remains of a splendid aqueduct,
which was at the first survey mistaken for a Roman road; a solitary
watch-tower, and a series of broken walls, alone attest the ancient
glories of the place.
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