The reports of the insurrection in Yemen and the siege
of the capital, Sena, have been officially declared unfounded by the Sultan's Government. They have, however, been con- firmed in every detail by letters from Aden, which is virtually the seaport of Yemen; and it is added that even round Mecca disorder is spreading rapidly. No redress has been granted lay the Sultan for the attempt to murder the British Consul. Medina is inaccessible through local risings, and the Indian pilgrims, who will soon begin to move in vast numbers from Jeddah to Mecca, will not, it is said, be safe without an escort. Suppose, as a measure for the security of our fifty millions of Indian Mahommedan subjects, we acknowledge the independence of Arabia under the Grand Shereef, and prohibit the landing of Turkish troops in Arabia by sea. The Govern- ment of India could do the whole work, and the lesson to the Turk on the advantages of order would be a distinct and severe one.
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