1883.] on the Island of Socotra and its Recent Revelations. 309 



and is very impure. It is in the form of small flat- sided masses, and 

 consists of fragments of gum-resin and refuse of the gatherings 

 melted together into a flat cake, and then broken up into smaller 

 portions. 



Of other gum-resin-producing trees on the island, the frankincense 

 and myrrh treos must be noticed. I have already referred to the dis- 

 cussion that has taken place regarding the incense country of the 

 ancients. The Hadramaut country is the incense region 'par excellence, 

 and to its kings Socotra is said to have been subject. But Socotra 

 is identified on ethnological grounds by Mariette as the " To Nuter " 

 of the Theban monuments, the " Sacred Island " of Pliny, and 

 the " Isles of the Sea " of the Old Testament. Now we find the 

 genus Boswellia, which yields frankincense (olibanum), represented in 

 Socotra by no less than three species, all of which are endemic, and 

 possibly there is a fourth, and as there are only three other known 

 species of the genus, all of which save one are Somali-land plants, the 

 proportion occurring in Socotra is very large. The commonest 

 frankincense in the island is the ameero, but it is not much exj)orted. 



Of myrrh plants Socotra possesses no less a share. Besides the 

 Balsamodendron Mukul which yields the " Indian bdellium " — the 

 googul or mukul of the Arabians, — there are probably five other sj)ecies 

 of the genus on the island. Possibly one of these is the Arabian 

 B. opohalsamum, the true myrrh plant. The myrrh collected is 

 termed leggelien, and is said to be exported. 



So far then as the occurrence of frankincense and myrrh pro- 

 ducing trees is evidence, Socotra may well be the To Nuter of Theban 

 monuments ; for probably no area of equal extent has so many 

 peculiar forms. 



Probably the most important plant of the island, so far as i^ro- 

 ducts are concerned, is the Aloe Perryi which yields the " Socotrine 

 aloes " of commerce. The gum is known as tdyef by the natives ; 

 the Arabs call it soh'. Although this kind of aloes has been so 

 long known, and has the reputation of being finer than either 

 Barbadoes or Cape aloes, it is only within the past few years that the 

 character of the plant has been made known. It grows abundantly 

 on the island, especially on the limestone plateaux. The collection 

 of the gum is a very simple process, and can be accomplished at any 

 season. The collector scrapes a slight hollow on the surface of the 

 ground in the vicinity of an aloe-plant, into which he depresses the 

 centre of a small portion of goat-skin spread over the ground. The 

 leaves of the aloe are then cut and laid in a circle on the skin, with 

 the cut ends projecting over the central hollow. Two or three layers 

 are arranged. The juice, which is of a pale amber colour with a 

 sweet, slightly mawkish odour and taste, flows from the leaves into 

 the goat-skin. After about three hours the leaves are exhausted ; 

 the skin is removed from beneath them, and the contained juice 

 transferred to a mussock. Only the older leaves are used. The 

 juice thus collected is of a thin watery character, and is known as 



