Aden, in its history and reverses, presents the type of many a mighty1 nation,—it flourished and has fallen. As it once stood, it was the maritime2 bulwark3 of Arabia Felix. So early as the reign4 of Constantine the Great, it was celebrated5 for its impregnable fortifications, its extended traffic, and its attractive ports. Here the camels of the Koreishites were laden6 with a precious cargo7 of aromatics8. Here commerce first dawned; and little more than two centuries and a half have rolled away since the decayed city ranked among the most opulent emporia of the East. Its decline is only dated from the close of the illustrious reign of Sule?man the Magnificent; but the spider has since “weaved her web in the imperial palace, and the owl9 has stood sentinel upon the watch-tower.”
In the eyes of the true believer, the Cape10 is hallowed by the tradition that it was honoured with the preaching in person of that arch impostor, “the last of all the prophets,” who, with the sword in one hand and the Korán in the other, became the lawgiver of the Arabians, and the founder11 of an empire which in less than a century had spread itself from the Pyrenees to the Indus. Three hundred and sixty mosques12 once reared their proud heads, and eighty thousand inhabitants poured into the field, an army which accomplished14 the subjugation15 of El Yemen. This latter, famous from all antiquity16 for the happiness of its climate, its fertility and surpassing riches, became an independent kingdom at the period that Constantinople fell into the hands of Mahomet the Second. Aden frequently cast off its allegiance; and when the Turks, by means of their fleet built at Suez, rendered themselves masters of the northern coast of the Red Sea, they found the peninsula independent, under the Sultan of Foudthli. Turkey and Portugal, struggling for supremacy17 in the East, hotly contested its possession; but, being unable longer to maintain their rivalry18, it finally reverted20 into the grasp of its ancient masters.
Great natural strength, improved by the substantial fortifications which had been carried by Sultán Selim completely round the zone of hills that engirds the town, now rendered it the fittest of all retreats for the piratical hordes21 of the desert; and the lawless sons of Ishma?l, scouring22 the adjacent waters, loaded their stronghold with booty. But after the loss of government, Aden could not be expected to retain its opulence23. Its trade passed into the rival port of Mocha, and grinding oppression caused the removal of the wealthy. At the period of the British occupation, ninety dilapidated houses, giving shelter to six hundred impoverished24 souls, were all that remained to attest25 its ancient glories. The town lay spread out in ruin and desolation, and heaps of stone, mingled26 with bricks and rubbish, sternly pointed27 to the grave of the mosque13 and tall minaret28.
Few fragments now survive the general decay, to record the high estate of the once populous29 metropolis30, or reveal the magnificence it could formerly31 boast in works of public utility. The chief buildings are believed to have been situated32 ten miles inland, and to have been swallowed up by the ever rising, never ebbing33, tide of the desert. The red brick conduit of Abd el Waháb can still be traced from the Durab el Hora?bi, whence it stretches to Bir Omheit, upwards34 of eight miles, across a now dilapidated bridge. Here are numerous wells, which supplied the reservoirs; but, “like the baseless fabric35 of a vision,” every vestige36 of an edifice37 has vanished.
Among the most perfect and conspicuous38 relics39 of the past are the laborious40 and costly41 means adopted to insure in so arid42 and burning a climate, a plentiful43 supply of water. In addition to the wells, three hundred in number, the remains44 of basins of great magnitude are found in various directions; and in the Valley of Tanks are a succession of hanging cisterns45, formed by excavations46 in the limestone47 rock. These are lined with flights of steps, and supported by lofty buttresses48 of imperishable masonry49, forming deep reservoirs of semi-elliptical form, which still blockade every channel in the mountain side, and once served to collect the precious drops from heaven, when showers doubtless fell more abundantly than at the present day.
In the extensive repositories for the dead, too, may be found assurances of the former population of Aden. Many of the countless50 tombs in the Turkish cemetery51 were of white marble, and bore on jasper tablets elaborately-sculptured inscriptions52 surmounted53 by the cap and turban; but the greater number of these pillared monuments have either disappeared or been overthrown54. Of the evidences of Mohammadanism that once graced the city, nearly all lie buried from sight beneath heaps of accumulated rubbish and débris, the removal of portions of which has disclosed many curious coins of remote date. The minaret of Menáleh, and a tottering55 octagon of red brick, attached to the Jama el Musjid, lone56 survivors57 of the wreck58, still point to the sky; and of the few mosques that have been spared by the destroying hand of time, the principal is that of the tutelar saint of the city, beneath the cupola of which, invested with a pall59 of crimson60 silk, and enshrined in the odour of sanctity, repose61 the venerated62 remains of She?kh Hydroos.
An excellent zig-zagged road, imperfectly paved, and raised in parts to the height of twenty feet, extends from the base to the summit of Jebel Shemshán, and, with some few of the disjointed watch-towers, has defied the ravages63 of centuries. Three enormous pieces of brass64 ordnance65, pierced for a sixty-eight pound shot, and covered with Turkish inscriptions, were the chief symbols of the former strength of this eastern Gibraltar. These were transmitted to England, when their capture, shortly after the present accession, avenged66 an insult offered to her flag, and wreathed the first laurels67 around the brow of her youthful Queen.
In general aspect the Cape is not dissimilar from the volcanic68 islands in the Grecian Archipelago, and viewed from a distance it appears separated altogether from the mainland. The long dead flat of sand by which it is connected with the Arabian continent, rising on either beach scarcely two feet above high water mark, induces the belief that the promontory69 must on its first production in early ages have been insulated. According to the evidence of the present generation the sea is still receding70, and the sand steadily71 accumulating, but the noble western bay will not be affected72 for many centuries. Though the glory of Aden may have fled, and her commerce become totally annihilated73, her ports will long remain as nature formed them, excellent, capacious, and secure.
Important commercial advantages cannot fail to accrue74 from the occupation of so secure an entrep?t, which at any season of the year may be entered and quitted with equal facility. The readiest access is afforded to the rich provinces of Hadramaut and Yemen, famous for their coffee, their frankincense, and the variety of their gums, and abounding75 in honey and wax, of a quality which may vie with the produce of the hives of the Mediterranean76. A lucrative77 market to the manufactures of India and Great Britain is also extended by the facilities attending communication with the African coast, south of Báb el Mandéb, where the high mountain ranges bordering upon the shore are clothed with trees producing myrrh, frankincense, and precious gums, whilst the valleys in the interior pour forth78 for export, sheep, ghee, drugs, dry hides, gold dust, civet, ivory, rhinoceros79 horns, peltries, and ostrich80 feathers, besides coffee of the choicest growth. A wide field is open for mercantile speculation81, and it is not a little pleasant to contemplate82 the approaching improvement of Christian83 Abyssinia, and the civilisation84 of portions of Africa even more benighted85 and remote, through the medium of intercourse86 with British Arabia.
Under the flag of old England, Aden has enjoyed a degree of happiness and security never previously87 experienced, even in the days of her greatest glory, when she ranked among the foremost of commercial marts in the East, and when vessels88 from all the known quarters of the globe thronged89 her boasted roadstead. Emigrants90 from the interior as well as from the exterior91 of Hadramaut and Yemen, and from both shores of the Red Sea, are daily crowding within the walls to seek refuge from grinding oppression, and to free themselves from the galling92 burthen beneath which they have long groaned93 at the hand of insatiate native despots. The amazing increase of population and the crowded state of the bazaars94 form subject for high admiration95. In the short space of three years the census96 has been augmented97 to twenty thousand souls; substantial dwellings98 are springing up in every direction, and at all the adjacent ports, hundreds of native merchants do but await the erection of permanent fortifications in earnest of intention to remain, to flock under the guns with their families and wealth. Emerging thus rapidly from ruin and degradation99, the tide of lucrative commerce, both from Africa and Arabia, may be confidently expected to revert19 to its former channel. Blessed by a mild but firm government, the decayed mart, rescued from Arab tyranny and misrule, will doubtless shortly attain100 a pinnacle101 far eclipsing even its ancient opulence and renown102; and Aden, as a free port, whilst she pours wealth into a now impoverished land, must ere long become the queen of the adjacent seas, and take rank among the most useful dependencies of the British crown.
点击收听单词发音
1 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 maritime | |
adj.海的,海事的,航海的,近海的,沿海的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 bulwark | |
n.堡垒,保障,防御 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 aromatics | |
n.芳香植物( aromatic的名词复数 );芳香剂,芳香药物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 owl | |
n.猫头鹰,枭 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 mosques | |
清真寺; 伊斯兰教寺院,清真寺; 清真寺,伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 mosque | |
n.清真寺 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 subjugation | |
n.镇压,平息,征服 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 antiquity | |
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 supremacy | |
n.至上;至高权力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 rivalry | |
n.竞争,竞赛,对抗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 revert | |
v.恢复,复归,回到 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 reverted | |
恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 ); 重提; 回到…上; 归还 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 hordes | |
n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 );部落 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 scouring | |
擦[洗]净,冲刷,洗涤 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 opulence | |
n.财富,富裕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 impoverished | |
adj.穷困的,无力的,用尽了的v.使(某人)贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 );使(某物)贫瘠或恶化 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 attest | |
vt.证明,证实;表明 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 minaret | |
n.(回教寺院的)尖塔 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 populous | |
adj.人口稠密的,人口众多的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 metropolis | |
n.首府;大城市 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 ebbing | |
(指潮水)退( ebb的现在分词 ); 落; 减少; 衰落 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 upwards | |
adv.向上,在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 fabric | |
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 vestige | |
n.痕迹,遗迹,残余 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 relics | |
[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 laborious | |
adj.吃力的,努力的,不流畅 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 costly | |
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 arid | |
adj.干旱的;(土地)贫瘠的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 plentiful | |
adj.富裕的,丰富的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 cisterns | |
n.蓄水池,储水箱( cistern的名词复数 );地下储水池 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 excavations | |
n.挖掘( excavation的名词复数 );开凿;开凿的洞穴(或山路等);(发掘出来的)古迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 limestone | |
n.石灰石 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 buttresses | |
n.扶壁,扶垛( buttress的名词复数 )v.用扶壁支撑,加固( buttress的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 masonry | |
n.砖土建筑;砖石 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 cemetery | |
n.坟墓,墓地,坟场 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 inscriptions | |
(作者)题词( inscription的名词复数 ); 献词; 碑文; 证劵持有人的登记 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 surmounted | |
战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 overthrown | |
adj. 打翻的,推倒的,倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 tottering | |
adj.蹒跚的,动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 );踉跄;蹒跚;摇摇欲坠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 lone | |
adj.孤寂的,单独的;唯一的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 survivors | |
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 wreck | |
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 pall | |
v.覆盖,使平淡无味;n.柩衣,棺罩;棺材;帷幕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 venerated | |
敬重(某人或某事物),崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 ravages | |
劫掠后的残迹,破坏的结果,毁坏后的残迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 brass | |
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 ordnance | |
n.大炮,军械 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 avenged | |
v.为…复仇,报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 );为…报复 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 laurels | |
n.桂冠,荣誉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 volcanic | |
adj.火山的;象火山的;由火山引起的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 promontory | |
n.海角;岬 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 receding | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 annihilated | |
v.(彻底)消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 );使无效;废止;彻底击溃 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 accrue | |
v.(利息等)增大,增多 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 abounding | |
adj.丰富的,大量的v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 Mediterranean | |
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 lucrative | |
adj.赚钱的,可获利的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 rhinoceros | |
n.犀牛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 ostrich | |
n.鸵鸟 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 civilisation | |
n.文明,文化,开化,教化 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 benighted | |
adj.蒙昧的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
88 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
89 thronged | |
v.成群,挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
90 emigrants | |
n.(从本国移往他国的)移民( emigrant的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
91 exterior | |
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
92 galling | |
adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
93 groaned | |
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
94 bazaars | |
(东方国家的)市场( bazaar的名词复数 ); 义卖; 义卖市场; (出售花哨商品等的)小商品市场 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
95 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
96 census | |
n.(官方的)人口调查,人口普查 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
97 Augmented | |
adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
98 dwellings | |
n.住处,处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
99 degradation | |
n.降级;低落;退化;陵削;降解;衰变 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
100 attain | |
vt.达到,获得,完成 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
101 pinnacle | |
n.尖塔,尖顶,山峰;(喻)顶峰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
102 renown | |
n.声誉,名望 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |