The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-18 00:00:00

ADEN.

(From the Bombay Times of it"Y 'l3') d
By intellt.tence from Aden we leant ;.-hat on the `).
and 3d instant the garrison was put in reat:ine. Is t repel
an expected attack of the Arabs. Una Al' 8 (1 they
an all
were expected in great numbers. Various Vocliel
amounting to 2,000 or 3,000, are said to be hovhere-
ing about. The troops and shipping we ye n
talert to give them a warm reception, as o ur intern'
gence came away, but from the delay th were,
icit,hou;
making it was thought they would skulk off
making a rush.
of
Nothing can be more harassing than the d sties
the garrison of Aden, or of a more annoying or
cult force to guard against, than these Arab night
attacks. The whole Peninsula, separated frt the
mainland by a low neck of land 1,300 feet from PS rq
sea, is about two square miles in area, and forms
the summits and crater of a sub-marine v oleano.
The rocks are one mass of splintered p; .nnacles
of lava shooting up in some cases to the height
of nearly 1,800 feet—the whole bearing a zry close
resemblance to a slice cleft off the sui unlit •if Mount
!Etna, one-fourth from the top, and . set drawn in the
Arabian sea ; and in the very crater of 'thins stands the
town of Aden and the English cantonm ient.s.
a regular force Aden already is, or could easily be -mad'
impregnable. A slight field work wot ild defend the
isthmus, and a few guns placed opposite t .he only tyro or
three landing places the Peninsula contains, could, with-
out the least trouble or uncertainty, prevent thie de'
barkation of any regular force whatever. But against
the system of Arab incursions, from which Aden bas
suffered, batteries and bastions are in vain. Aa
at-
tack in force over the isthmus they never dream of ; 611i135
and barges they have none to offer a mark to arta-
lery, and they need them not. The ails, the disci-
pline, and the weapons of regular wan ire, are fur'
nished with no visible opponents ; but a night attack
having been agreed upon, these hardy and warlike
barbarians wade or swim from the neare% t shore till
they land on ledges of rock inaccessible or invisible t°
the garrison. Their only raiment is their turban and
the cummerbund; their only arms, the short, stroll,
formidable sword, which they carry in their teeth to
preserve from the sea water. To men who can swim
and dive like the seal, boats and barges would be sheer
interruptions, scaling ladders an incumbrance to tilt's°
nimble as the mountain goat when rocks and preci-
pices are in the way. Collecting in groups amidst tbc
rocks inaccessible to every foot but their own, cad
whose dark hues, harmonising with that of their swarthy/
invaders, serve well to conceal their presence, so soon'
as they ascertain that they are assembled in suffi'
cient strength, and that night conceals their movements,
they raise a wild shout, and rush on the outposts or,
camp of the garrison before the slightest warning al
their approach can be given, or precaution taken to meet
their attack. True it is that their wild and ferocious
onslaughts have hitherto always terminated in the,
slaughter and defeat of the assailants ; but this method
of assault seems much more promising, and is to regular
soldiers so much more annoying than anything else tba
can be attempted, that we may still look for those daric
jl
and reckless adventurers persisting in their practice t'
a further continued series of disasters shall have tangl
them their futility. To meet them, however, the gall 17
son are put en the severest and most perilous du!
The wildest heights and the most conspicuous pion ir
have nightly to be sentinelled, the sites of the sew °f
f
appearing in the light of day more like the stations °
hunters on the watch for the timid and cautious rou
tail game, than the posts of soldiers of a regular ars if
guarding the approach of human foes.