The incursion into the Red Sea stunned the Islamic world. After the attack on Aden its sheik had despatched fast racing camels with the news up the Arabian peninsula to Jeddah and Mecca. The Mecca garrison marched to Jeddah ready for a last-ditch defence. Another camel hurried the news from Mecca to Cairo in just nine days. By 23 May it was common knowledge there. In the city, panic. The sultan was in consternation; there were special invocations at Friday prayers.
