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A hulk was proposed and refused. It is now intended to increase the quantity, for the benefit of future companies, especially the 'Castle Line, which talks of sending their steamers to Sa Leone. I hope they will so do; more competition is much wanted. But the coal-depot may prove dangerous.
Nothing better illustrates the firmness with which England holds her purpose than the fate of Aden. This is the halfway station between England and her East Indian possessions. It commands the Red Sea. It is the best spot for a coal-depot in the East. Properly defended, it is almost impregnable. The wide-roving eye of mercantile England had long ago searched out and in fancy possessed it.
This clearly shows that Port Essington is, as I have before stated, the best place for a coal-depot; and that one there would suffice for the whole line of communication. As, moreover, it is necessary that such a station should have protection against the natives, it further enhances the value of the settlement at Port Essington.
A little farther out is the peninsula of Aden, another Gibraltar, as rocky, as sterile, as precipitous, connected with the mainland by a narrow strait, and having at its base a populous little town, a harbor safe in all winds, and a central coal-depot. This England bought, after her fashion of buying, in 1839.
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