uncultivated portions being covered with an impenetrable
jungle. There are few animals on the islands. Fish, however, is very
abundant, so that all the inhabitants might exist on them.

The captain's business with the sultan was soon concluded. It was
interesting and curious to sail among the tree-covered islands, some of
the woods appearing to rise directly out of the water, while we threaded
our way out again from the group to the westward. Our passage across
the Arabian Sea was as smooth as the most timid of navigators could
desire. We made the mountainous, rocky, and somewhat barren, though
considerable island of Socotra, belonging to the Imaun of Muscat. Soon
after this we sighted the mountain mass of Jebel Shamshan, or Cape Aden
as it is called, rising 1776 feet above the sea, with the town of Aden
built on the eastern base of it.

The capture of Aden, in 1839, was one of the first naval exploits which
took place during the reign of Queen Victoria and most gallantly was it
accomplished by an expedition sent from India, under the command of
Captain H. Smith of the _Volage_. As we approached the lofty headland
of Cape Aden it looked like an island. Its position is very similar to
that of Gibraltar, as it is connected with the mainland by a piece of
low swampy ground. I was struck by its grand picturesque appearance,
though it is barren and wild, and utterly destitute of vegetation. We
ran in and anchored not far off the fortified island of Sirah, four or
five miles from the town.

Aden, when captured, consisted of little more than an assemblage of mud
huts with matting coverings, and contained scarcely six hundred
inhabitants. It is now a flourishing place containing twenty-two
thousand inhabitants, and is surrounded by orchards and gardens. This
change is owing to its occupation by British troops, and the constant
visits of steamers with numerous passengers to and from India.

I went on shore with Captain Armstrong to make more inquiries about
Alfred, or rather the vessel in which he sailed. She was, I found,
called the _Dragon_. The master, Captain Redman, was a very plausible
person, and my brother had undoubtedly thought him a very respectable
one; but things had come out after he had left Aden considerably to his
discredit, and I had reason to fear that he was utterly unprincipled and
reckless, and intimately connected with slavers--indeed, it was very
probable that he would without scruple ha