Page 425 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

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•SOUTHERN ARABIA. [CH.

his situation under Sultan
Mahassan, the
chief of the territory to which Aden gives its
name. Although this chief occasionally re­

sides here for some weeks, he generally
remains for the greater part of the year at
Lahedsje.
Surrounded as Aden is by a semicircle of
hills, without any running water, and desti­

tute of vegetation or trees of any kind, the
heat would be very great, were it not tem­

pered by refreshing sea breezes.
The tomb of Sheikh Eidruse, though now
fallen to decay, must have been formerly a
fine building. It is of considerable size, sur­
mounted by a dome, and surrounded with a
colonnade. Between the columns and the
body of the building there are several graves,
to which little attention is now paid, the

whole space being filled with dirt and rubbish.
You enter the interior of the building by a
noble door, completely covered with sentences
from the Koran, tastefully cut in the wood
with much labour. Tradition says these were
executed at Surat, and being cast into the
sea, were drifted by the current to their desti-