INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. xxvii 



lias power to inflict punishment. In each section the land is let out to the 

 various tribes of Bedouins, both for pasture and for the collection of gum, 

 payment therefor being made in ghi. The Sultan reserves for himself oue 

 portion of land for the collection of dragon's-blood. 



The trade of the island at present is small, ghi being the chief export. It 

 is carried on by buggalows from the Arabian coast. Major Hunter* says — 

 "These arrive in the first months of the year with coffee, rice, and other articles, 

 which they exchange for ghi, aloes, orchella weed, &c, which they take to 

 Zanzibar, and, on their return, they bring coco-nut, bombe, and American piece- 

 goods. They dispose of as many of these as possible, and take outwards ghi, 

 aloes, dragon's-blood, blankets, &c, and return to Arabia. Pearl-fishers from 

 the Persian Gulf at times visit the island and dispose of their pearls. The 

 Sultan takes tithe of all exports. From ghi his revenue is about 500$, aloes bring 

 him 250$, edah gives 80$, and other sources bring it up to 1000$ a year, which 

 with his stipend of 360$ from the British, makes him a comparatively rich man 

 in this region." 



The extent of the population it is impossible to estimate, as so many people 

 live in caves, and one only occasionally comes across the wandering inhabitants 

 of the hill region. The number has been set down as low as 4000 and as high 

 as 10,000. 



In speaking of the people, the dwellers on the shore must be distinguished 

 from those on the hills. The former, who are a mixed population of Arabs, 

 Indians, and Africans of various tribes, live in small villages. Of these the 

 chief one is Tamarida, on the extensive Hadibu plain at the base of the 

 Haghier range of hills. It is the capital of the island, and consists of a number 

 of stone-and-lime houses, of the ordinary construction seen in Arabia, all 

 plastered outside of a dazzling white, and surrounding a large one, which is the 

 Sultan's palace. Around the town is a dense date-grove. There is a mosque 

 and well-filled cemetery in the centre of the town. The number of inhabitants 

 is set down at about 400. Kadhab is another village, lying on a sandy spit 

 east from Tamarida. The houses here are of the same character as at Tamarida, 

 and there is a mosque. Gollonsir, at the west end, is a penal settlement, and 

 has but few houses. Formerly, the capital of the island was Suk, at the east 

 edge of the Hadibu plain, but it was destroyed. There are numerous small 

 villages all along the coast line, but the three mentioned are the chief. 



The chief occupation of the residents in these villages is fishing. They 

 cultivate small tracts of ground near their houses, but are, as a rule, idle. The 

 population too is somewhat changing, many going off in trading buggalows to 

 Zanzibar or the Arabian coast. 



* I am indebted to Major Hunter's Manuscript Journal, which he very kindly placed at my 

 disposal, for the information which is quoted from him. 



