xxx BOTANY OF SOCOTRA. 



times on the island. Wellsted observed some ruins, believed to be of a church. 

 There are, however, still evident the ruined forts of the Portuguese. The 

 largest of these is at Feraigey. No written records have been found ; possibly 

 such would disappear along with the churches. Wellsted speaks of inscrip- 

 tions on the rocks being visible. None of these were seen by us. But on 

 the Kadhab plain there occurs a broad slab of limestone, about 50 yards long 

 by 25 to 30 yards broad, whereon numerous hieroglyphics are cut. The 

 figures are not in line, and they lie at all angles to one another and at varying 

 distances. Some resemble foot-imprints, others distinctly represent a camel, 

 or are like St Andrew's cross; Schweinfurth traced in some of them combina- 

 tions of Greek characters. 



Zoology. 



Of zoological features one of the most striking is the paucity of indigenous 

 mammals. The antelopes and rodents of the adjacent continents are absent 

 from Socotra, and there are but two mammals indigenous : a bat — of which, 

 unfortunately, we did not obtain a specimen — and a civet cat, a type widely 

 dispersed in south Asia and tropical Africa. Eats and mice occur in the 

 villages, but are probably introduced. Birds are plentiful, so are lizards, and 

 there are some snakes. The rivers are stocked with fish, and in them crabs 

 are also found in abundance. Land-mollusca are, as might be expected, 

 frequent, and the whole island teems with insect life. 



Considerable interest attached to an investigation of the avifauna of 

 Socotra. It is well known that in several Indian Ocean islands, large so-called 

 wingless birds formerly existed, several of which have become extinct within 

 recent historical time. The Epiornis of Madagascar, the Dodo of Mauritius, 

 the Solitaire of Rodriguez are examples. Vague rumours credited Socotra 

 with the possession of a didine bird of like character ; Wellsted in his account 

 of the island speaks of it as a cassowari. Of such a bird no traces exist at 

 present, nor could any legendary reference to such a bird be discovered. 



As at present known, the avifauna includes forty-three species. On the 

 shores we find gulls and herons, on the streams wild-duck and plovers ; the 

 date-groves are tenanted by doves and pigeons ; whilst all over the island 

 weaver birds, chats, shrikes, sunbirds, and sparrows abound. Cuckoos and 

 falcons are occasionally met with, whilst in the vicinity of habitations the 

 scavenger-hawk of the East and a carrion crow are ready to perform their 

 ollices. A few quail occur on the plains. All the birds except the Passeres, 

 1'icarieso, and Columbse, are of wide distribution. The Passeres are the most 

 numerous of all, and include seven species not known from other regions, and 

 two of these belong to a new type of sparrow — Rhynchostruthus — characterised 

 by the massive form of its bill. The sunbird, as might be expected, is new, 



