PREFACE. XI 



" The Committee consider that the best thanks of the Association are due to Prof. Balfour 

 for having undertaken this expedition, and for the zeal and industry with which he has carried 

 it through. 



" The Committee consider that the best thanks of the Association are also due to Brigadier- 

 General Loch, C.B., Resident at Aden, Major Goodfellow, Assistant Political Agent, and 

 Captain Heron, of H.M.S. ' Seagull,' for the great assistance they have rendered to Prof. 

 Balfour on this occasion. The success of the expedition is, as Prof. Balfour informs us, mainly 

 due to the cordial co-operation of these gentlemen. 



" Referring to the report of Prof. Balfour, the Committee feel no doubt that in every 

 branch of science considerable results are yet to be obtained by further investigations in 

 Socotra, and are of opinion that a second expedition should be sent out as soon as the necessary 

 facilities can be obtained." 



" Report to the Socotra Committee of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 

 of the Proceedings of the Expedition to the Island of Socotra. By Bayley Balfour, Sc.D., 

 M.B., Regius Professor of Botany, University of Glasgow, in charge of the Expedition. 



" Having undertaken at the request of the Committee the work of an expedition to the 

 Island of Socotra, for the purpose of investigating its Natural History, I left England on 

 January 9, and joining the French mail steamer ' Ava ' at Marseilles, reached Aden on the 24th 

 of that month. I was accompanied by Alexander Scott, a gardener from the Royal Botanic 

 Garden, Edinburgh. 



" On arrival at Aden, I met my friend Dr Hay, the Port Surgeon, to whose kindness I am 

 much indebted, and with his aid I was enabled to make a fair collection of the plants of Aden. 

 Captain F. M. Hunter, Junior Assistant Political Resident, a member of your Committee, was 

 not at Aden at this time, having gone to the interior a few days previously, and as he had no 

 prospect of returning to Aden before the expedition left for Socotra, he had left for me a letter 

 of instruction, giving valuable information and hints, the outcome of his personal experiences 

 on the island. In his absence Major Goodfellow, Senior Assistant Political Resident, gave me 

 every assistance, and the attainment of the object of the expedition is in great part due 

 to him. 



" The official letters of recommendation to the authorities at Aden from the Home Govern- 

 ment, for which the Committee applied, had not reached Aden at the date of our arrival, but 

 having a private letter of introduction from General Strachey to Brigadier- General Loch, C.B., 

 Political Resident, I presented it. General Loch very cordially sympathised with the object 

 of the expedition, and promoted most materially the carrying out of the work of the expedition. 

 In default of instructions from the Home Government he telegraphed to the Bombay Council 

 asking for authority to aid the expedition, and received a very gratifying affirmative reply. 

 He then at once placed the despatch boat ' Dagmar,' of the Bombay Marine, at our disposal to 

 convey us to Socotra, and we were enabled to obtain from the arsenal tents and camp 

 implements. He also very kindly granted leave to Lieutenant Cockburn, 6th Royal Regiment, 

 that he might go with us to Socotra. Lieutenant Cockburn then joined the expedition, and 

 apart from the advantage and pleasure I derived from having him as a companion, the 

 excellent sketches he made will enable the Committee to judge of how great an acquisition he 

 was to the staff of the expedition and of the valuable services he rendered. 



" The P. & O. mail steamer arriving on January 26, brought the promised official letters, 

 one from the India Office to the Resident, and another from the Admiralty to the Senior 

 Naval Officer at Aden. As a result of the latter letter, Captain Heron, of H.M.S. ' Seagull,' 

 called upon me on the 27th, and offered to take the expedition to Socotra in his ship. It was 



