Although the present state of the territory of the Sultan of Lahej is one of tolerable peace and security, throughout all the history of Southern Arabia one finds it appearing and reappearing as the scene of battles and plots and assassinations. After the terrible massacre of its inhabitants by Ali ibn Mehdi in the twelfth century, it was several times taken and retaken, and the atrocious acts of cruelty of one, at least, of its conquerors, are recorded by historians. Omitting the many consequent attacks and wars which took place within its territory, we find it for five months of the year 1753 held by the rebel Abd er-Rabi, during which period Aden existed in a state of blockade. However, it was before this period that the present reigning family had obtained possession of the throne, their founder and first Sultan, ruling over Aden as well as the surrounding country, being Foudthel ibn Ali ibn Foudthel ibn Sáleh ibn Salem el-Abdali, who in A.D. 1728 threw off his allegiance to the Imam of Sanaa, and declared himself an independent ruler. Again, in 1771 Lahej was besieged, this time by the Azaiba tribe, who succeeded, however, in holding it only for the period of two days. Notwithstanding, in a history otherwise consisting almost entirely of massacres, wars, and murders, we have here and there a glimpse of a happier state of affairs, such as the sumptuous entertaining by the then Sultan of Aden and Lahej of the British troops after the evacuation of Perim in 1799. Mr Salt, in his work entitled ‘A Voyage to Abyssinia,’ and published in London in 1814, gives a most charming account of the then Sultan Ahmed, and Abou Bekr, his representative in Aden. Wellsted also refers to this Sultan as a remarkable instance of an Arab chief whose great desire seemed to be to further trade and receive foreign Mahammedan merchants as residents into his country. His friendship toward the British is attested in many works and accounts of his estimable policy and sagacity. He died in 1827. I have already described elsewhere the shipwreck of the Deria Dowlat in 1836, which ended in the taking of Aden in 1839 by the British troops. In 1849 a treaty was engaged upon between the Sultan of Lahej and the British Government (as to trade, &c.), and with several ratifications and alterations the treaty still exists. The Sultan receives a monthly stipend from the British, or rather the Indian, Government, for protecting the trade-routes which pass through his country, and also certain other payments in return for the ceding of Sheikh Othman and other spots nearer Aden. In all, the Sultan draws a very considerable sum from the Aden treasury _per mensem_. Having said all that is necessary, perhaps, in a work which has as little pretensions to being a history as this has, on the general history of Lahej, I will resume the narrative of my story at the spot where, under the guidance of the gorgeous and muchly-armed soldier, I was escorted to the palace.