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SOUTHERN ARABIA. [cii.

used as bathing places, whilst others are kept
as reservoirs. The water procured from the
wells in the plains appeared very good, but
the natives say it is heavy, and if used for

any length of time, produces flatulence and
indigestion.

Abundant evidence is afforded of the for-
mer populousness of this city in the number
and extent of the burying places. These arc
situated in various quarters: the Turkish
cemetery, the largest, extends in a broad line
from the Shuma mosque to the tomb of
Sheikh Eidruse. Many turbaned pillars
of fine marble, very beautifully ornamented,

still remain; but the greater number are
broken down and destroyed, most probably
by the Arabs, who still cherish the most bitter
hatred against their former masters. In the
seventeenth century Aden contained thirty
thousand inhabitants; its port was filled with
ships freighted with the precious merchan-
dise of the East; and the city was adorned
with spacious and stately edifices, which were
well calculated to impress the mind of the
traveller with a just conception of its splen-