The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-17 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
ENGLAND AND WALES.
Chapman and Hall, London, 1844.
This is a translation from the German of Kohl, one
of the most indefatigable travellers of the day, and
forms the Nineteenth Part of the "Foreign Library."
It is an account of a recent tour made by the author
through England and Wales, and describes in vivid
language the impressions made on a foreigner by the
beauties of our scenery, the number and splendour of
our prinCipal cities and towns, and more especially,
the wealth, bustle, and population of our manufac-
turing districts. At Manchester, where M. Kohl
took up his residence for some time, he was asto-
nished at the wonderful and incessant activity per-
vading the place, and the decided marks of opulence
which met him at every turn. He visited most of the
rincipal factories, and speaks in animated terms of
the cleanliness, regularity, and subordination main-
tained in them ; and paid particular attention to the
Manchester Hospital, which he describes as an " in-
stitution offering a fund of most interesting medical,
statistical, and miscellaneous information." Of all the
English counties, Yorkshire seems to have been the
one which most struck our author's fancy—and we
do not w onder at his preference, for it is a noble dis-
trict, rich in old baronial mansions and parks, and
containing, more particularly in the North Riding,
some of the most magnificent and diversified scenery
in the kingdom. Alluding to the aristocratic feelings
of some of the Yorkshire Squirearchy, Al. Kohl
says :—" I am told that there are in. Yorkshire, as in
Westmoreland, Saxon families among the gentry who
date their grandeur back far beyond the Conquest,
and are far prouder than the less anciently descended
nobility of the country." M. Kohl is a pleasant,
sketchy writer, whose observations, however, are sel-
dom remarkable for their depth or acuteness.

ADEN. ----
The Courtier Francais publishes the following letter
rrom Aden :

" You ask me for some details relative to Aden,
which may be denominated the Gibraltar of the Red
Sea. I wish that this information may be useful to
my country, and for that reason I send it. Aden,
which was formerly called Portus Romanus,' is a
town of the Yemen, which, from its position and on
account of its recent occupation by the English, pro-
mises to become an important commercial and mili-
tary station, particularly now that Egypt is advancing
towards the period when she will become a British
colony. The town is built in the crater of an ex-
hausted volcano, and is situated at the extremity of a
small peninsula of volcano matter, and attached to
the continent solely by a low neck of land from
500 to 600 yards wide, and which might be easily
isolated by a canal. The harbour is a magnificent
basin, capable of containing an immense fleet, and
is entered by a narrow passage between two other
craters. It would be easy to establish defensive
works on the rocks surrounding these craters, which
would place the port in safety against any attack.
One redoubt has been already raised as a security
against the Arabs, ever ready to attack the English in
their position. From this point to the gate of the
town has been recently traced a road of about a
league in length, by which the defile is reached which
forms the entrance to Aden. This defile, which is
being fortified at this moment with a gate evidently
constructed to resist other attacks than those of the
Arabs, is about 100 yards long and four or five wide.
It is cut out of a rock which stands 150 yards above
the level of the sea. A formidable battery, command-
ing the entrance of the town, is in process of being
erected above the rock on the left of the defile. A
covered way, with an arch thrown from one rock
to another, unites the system of defence
which the batteries commenced on the summit of the
rocks on the left will complete. The other side is
absolutely unassailable. From the most remote pe-
riod these heights have been more or less fortified by
the different nations who have had possession of
Arabia. I ascended these heights, and I confess I
was astonished to find the harbour so easily defended,
and this impregnable position surrounded by a na-
tural girdle of bastions, which only wait to be armed
to be capable of annihilating the most formidable
fleets. I experienced the most painful emotions at
the idea of the consequences of these preparations. I
cannot comprehend. how France and Europe regard
with indifference England preparing a new Gibraltar
on this road, fruitful in riches, which extends from
the European Ocean to the.lndian Ocean by travers-
ing Egypt. We must not deceive ourselves, it is a
new Gibraltar already erected at Aden."