1875.] Extracts from an Arabic work relating to Aden. 229 



present time they levy five taxes altogether, viz., the old tax which is the 

 customs, the showabi tax, the Dar El Wakalat tax of one carat in the 

 dinar, the Dar El Zakat, and brokerage. The Nakhoda Othman bin Omar 

 El Amdi arrived once from Egypt and was found to have with him two 

 maunds of aloes wood which they took from him, and when the time came 

 to settle accounts the maund of aloes was valued at 6 dinars, so 1|- dinars 

 were charged for the customs and half a dinar for the showabi tax. It was 

 then valued in the Wakalat at 25 dinars, and it was charged 8 dinars 

 and 2 daniJcs for Wakalat, It dinars for Zakat, and half a dinar for 

 brokerage, which altogether came to 15 dinars, so after deducting the pi'ice 

 of the aloes six dinars there remained a balance against him of 9 dinars. 

 The Nakhoda Othman bin Omar El Amdi protested, and said, " By God 

 Almighty, I gain nothing by it, not a single fids ; is it not enough that you 

 take from me the two maunds of wood for nothing, but you must demand 

 of me 9 dinars besides !" And the Amir Nasir-ul-din Nasir bin Farut and 

 his followers came upon them at that time, and he said — " This man is con- 

 stantl} r coming to Aden and should we take from him double !" and he 

 mediated between them until he squared the account. * * It is 



said that a ship once arrived on which the customs duties came to 80,000 

 dinars. There used to anchor every year under Jebel Sira 70 or 80 ships 

 or more perhaps, but not less. And they despatched from Aden every year 

 four treasure parties to the fort of Taiz, viz., the receipts on the ship arri- 

 vals from India, the receipts from tribes entering Aden, the export duty on 

 horses to India and the receipts from ships journeying to India. Each 

 of these treasure remittances amounted to 150,000 dinars, or more, but 

 not less, but this has ceased in our time, 625 A. H. The 'circulation of 

 Aden in the time of the Beni Zurria was gold of Sanaa on the Sultani stan- 

 dard, but less than it and the currency of the country was gold MaJiki, 

 whereof 4£ dinars, equalled one Egyptian dinar. The dinar was divided 

 into quarters, each quarter being equal to three joz, each jaiz to eight 

 fulus, and ea.chfuls to two beidhas, and it is said the first who struck the 

 Maliki dinar was Ahmed bin Ali El Sulehi at Sanaa. 



They sell rusi (a kind of cloth) by the Kasha, the length of which is 

 four cubits of iron, and they sell teak planks by the iron cubit, and every- 

 thing was sold by auction to the highest bidder, and similarly slaves and 

 slave girls. 



Some disappointment was felt at Mr. Wood- Mason's announcement 

 that the living specimen of Rhinoceros Sondaicus,* which was to have been 

 exhibited at the meeting, was indisposed, and could not attend ; Mr. Mason, 



* The animal died on the following day. Its skin will be exhibited at the next 

 meeting.— (J. W-M.) 



