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CHAPTER VI

ADEN, THE SENTINEL OF THE RED SEA

ADEN, which is the next place of salient importance on the Imperial trade route to the East, was the first new territory added to the Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria, its acquisition in 1839, on a trivial excuse, being one of those opportune political strokes which have given geographical continuity to British possessions scattered over the world. Aden is an extinct volcano, five miles long by three miles broad, jutting out into the sea much as Gibraltar does, having a circumference of about fifteen miles, and connected with the mainland by a narrow isthmus of flat ground three-quarters of a mile wide. Barren and black, dreary and waterless, destitute of every natural gift, but possessing the priceless advantage of a magnificent harbour, the famous Arabian coast stronghold, situated just outside the entrance to the Red Sea, nearly midway between Port Said (1,475 miles) and Bombay (1,650 miles), at the junction where the trade route through the Suez Canal begins to bifurcate-one way leading to India, the other to the Pacific-has

a strategical importance second to that of no other place in the Empire.

It should be understood that Aden is not a naval base in the same sense as Gibraltar, Malta, and Hong-Kong, but a point d'appui, a rendezvous and striking-point for the fleet. It was seized in 1839 as a harbour of refuge for British ships, and from a strategist's point of view this is its primary purpose and the raison d'être of its forts and garrison. Ships can always coal in Aden Harbour under the protection of the guns, which command the approaches to the fortress. The natural strength of Aden makes it independent of the fleet. Until it was captured by a combined naval and military expedition sent from India, Aden was a maiden fortress, having never been delivered into an enemy's hand except by treachery. Geographically belonging to Arabia, it was for many years held by the rulers of the province of Yemen as an outlet for internal trade, the Romans, the Persians, the Portuguese, and the Turks having successively failed to gain permanent possession of the place. Albuquerque founded Portuguese settlements in East Africa, in the Persian Gulf, in India, and at Malacca, but he was repeatedly baffled in his efforts to capture Aden.

Under British rule Aden

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has retained its ancient impregnable strength, invulnerable by sea and by land, dominating the entrance to the Red Sea, and valuable to its owners as a commercial emporium, a port of call, and a cable centre.

Owing to causes for which no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming, Aden has not advanced with the same progressive strides which have marked the development of other British dependencies. Our object seems to have been to get all we can from the place, and give as little as possible in return. With unique opportunities for political and commercial expansion, little has been done during sixty-five years of British rule to extend the benefits of civilization and good government in the surrounding locality. The neighbouring tribes are subsidized to keep quiet, British initiative beginning and ending with doling out annual bribes in

order to purchase peace. Circumstances may have

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rendered this policy necessary, but it is not inspiring from the point of view of Imperial responsibility. We talk of the blight' of Moslem rule, but British rule under the conditions found at Aden is not much better. According to their lights and opportunities, our predecessors did their best for Aden. The Persians built those wonderful tanks, hewn by stupendous labour out of the solid rock, and the Arabs made an aqueduct, twenty miles long, and now in ruins, to bring water from the interior into their sea fortress; we have done nothing except to mount guns to protect our coal-yards. The activity of the Turks in the Hedjaz and of the French at Djibuti are in striking contrast with the slow development of English rule at Aden. Trade flourishes, as it cannot help doing, in this natural emporium of commerce; but it gets

little help from the Government. Life at Aden is melancholy beyond description. Restricted as is the liberty of the Chinese coolie on the Rand, it is not more so than that of the British soldier at Aden. Provided with a pass, the former can go in and out of his compound, enjoying the liberty of a free man. At Aden officers and men are alike forbidden to go beyond Shaikh Othman, a native settlement just outside the fortress gates. It is not suggested that this, and other necessary restrictions, could be removed under existing conditions, which require Aden to be shut off from intercourse with the surrounding tribal world, but none the less must garrison life be well-nigh unbearable to the active young Englishman in this mournful, God-forsaken region, which has been faithfully described by the Persian poet as 'giving to the panting sinner a lively anticipation of his future destiny.'

1

The first necessity is to transfer Aden from the Bombay Presidency to the Colonial Office. There is no more reason why Aden should belong to Bombay than Singapore to Madras. The Government of Bombay-itself subordinate to the Government of India-has enough to do at home without being saddled with the administration of a colony 1,700 miles away. What Aden wants is external development and political expansion, and this can only be accomplished by the strenuous five years'

1 Recognizing the depressing conditions of life at Aden, the military authorities only keep troops there for a limited period not usually exceeding one year.

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