DECEMBER 31, 1903] 
NATURE 
1Q9 
SOKOTRA. 
pe eH the island of Sokotra is often seen by 
passengers on the great ocean steamers which 
pass by the Sckotran Archipelago on their voyages to 
and from India, eastern Asia and Australia, the fauna 
had been very imperfectly investigated when, in 1898, 
a party was dispatched by the joint exertions of the 
British and Liverpool Museums for the purpose of 
collecting specimens of the animals, vertebrate and 
invertebrate. The botany of Sokotra itself had been 
previously studied by Prof. Bayley Balfour and by 
Dr. Schweinfurth in 1879-81, and 
some collections of the animals 
posal, and was able to visit the islet of Semha as well 
as Sokotra and Abd-el-Kuri. Amongst the members 
of the Austrian patty were Prof. Miiller, Dr. Kossmat 
the geologist, and Prof. Simony the naturalist. At 
| a time when Dr. Forbes’s party was suffering severely 
| from fever, and had almost been brought to a stand- 
still by illness, most valuable medical assistance was 
given to them by the Austrians. 
The finely illustrated volume now published contains 
the results of the expedition, and owes its appearance 
| to the Museums Committee of the Corporation of 
occurring had been made by them 
and by other visitors to the 
islands, but the zoology was still 
incompletely known. 
The party of 1898 consisted of 
Dr. H. O. Forbes himself, Mr. 
W. R. Ogilvie Grant, of the 
British Museum, and a taxider- 
mist. Native assistants and 
servants were engaged at Aden, 
and valuable aid was given by the 
Government of India, which sup- 
plied means of transport between 
Aden and the islands, and lent 
camp equipage for the use of the 
explorers. 
The Sokotran Archipelago con- 
sists of (1) the large island of 
Sokotra, about eighty-five miles 
in length, lying 150 miles to the 
eastward of Cape Gardafui in 
Africa and about 230 miles S.E. 
of Ras Fartalx in Arabia ; (2) Abd- 
el-Kuri, a much smaller island, 
lying about half way between 
Sokotra and Cape Gardafui; and 
(3 and 4) two islets, Semha and 
Darsi or Darzi, known as the 
Brothers, between Abd-el-Kuri 
and Sokotra. The two larger 
islands are separated by a sub- 
marine valley, 100 fathoms deep, 
whilst a channel several hundreds 
of fathoms in depth intervenes 
between Abd-el-Kuri and Cape 
Gardafui, and the sea between the 
islands and the Arabian coast is 
still deeper. 
Dr. Forbes’s party landed and 
made collections on Abd-el-Kuri, 
and they spent about two months 
in the hilly region of eastern 
Sokotra, but were unable to visit 
the smaller islets. The expedi- 
tion was much delayed, first by 
some trivial political difficulties 
with the Sultan of Sokotra, and 
secondly, and more seriously, by severe attacks of 
fever. 
Simultaneously with Dr. Forbes’s expedition, an 
Austrian scientific party which, under the direction of 
Count Lambert, was engaged in exploring the arche- 
ology, geology, and natural history of southern Arabia, 
visited the Sokotran Islands. This party was larger 
and better equipped than Dr. Forbes’s modest expe- 
dition, it had a steam vessel, the Gottfried, at its dis- 
1 “The Natural History of Sokotra and Abd-el-Kuri.” Edited by 
Henry O. Forbes, LL.D., Director of the Liverpool Museums, &c. Pp. 
xlvii+598; 30 plates and numerous figures in the text. (Liverpool: The 
Free Public Museums ; Hy. Young and Sons; London: R. H. Porter.) 
NO. 1783, VOL. 69] 
Fic. r.—Camp at Adho-Dimellus. (From ‘‘ The Natural History of Sokotra.”’) 
| Liverpool, which has provided the funds, and 
| authorised the publication of the work as a_ special 
bulletin of the Liverpool Museums. The book is 
| edited by Dr. Forbes, and comprises a narrative of 
the journey from his pen, and descriptions by various 
naturalists of the different groups of animals, verte- 
brate ‘and invertebrate, collected by the expedition. 
The list of authors is too long to quote in full, but it 
| comprises, besides Dr. Forbes and Mr. Grant, several 
eminent zoologists, amongst whom are Mr. Bou- 
| lenger, Mr. E. A. Smith, Mr. R. I. Pocock, Sir G. 
| Hampson, and Mr. W. F. Kirby, of the British: 
| Museum staff, besides Colonel Godwin Austen, Mr. 
