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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Charles K. Moser 

 SHEIKS OE THB SOCOTERI : THE EARGE-B-EARDED MAN IS THE SUI/TAN's NEPHEW 



and their resin M'soilo. In ancient times 

 Socotra was known as the only home of 

 the dragon's-blood tree, but nowadays 

 Sumatra and South America furnish the 

 world's supply. It is rarely used as a dye 

 now, but chiefly in the preparation of 

 varnishes. The Socotrans themselves 

 employ it principally for streaking odd 

 designs on their earthen pots. 



HOW THE FRANKINCENSE RESIN IS 

 GATHERED 



The guide, ordinarily a taciturn man, 

 had been discharging a rapid fire of jar- 

 gon, more than Greek to me, for some 

 moments, when my nostrils suddenly 

 caught a thin but rich balsamic fragrance 

 in the air. We turned a few yards off 

 the path and the guide, who had been 

 frantically trying to prepare us for the 

 moment, waved a triumphant arm : 



"Tee-lee-ah!" he exclaimed. . . . 



We were in the presence of what was 

 undoubtedly a tree, but it looked nearly 

 as much like an enormous sea-serpent in 

 the act of shedding its skin, so awkwardly 



contorted and alive it seemed. Tiny, 

 whitish peels clung loosely about stems 

 and bole of a peculiarly livid, blotchy hue. 

 The woody fiber of the tree, distended 

 with its viscous sap, was like nothing so 

 much as decomposing animal flesh, and 

 even the few bright red, geranium-like 

 flowers on short spikes and the sparselv 

 scattered tufts of sumac-like leaves could 

 not soften its repulsive aspect. But it 

 was indeed the frankincense tree we had 

 come to seek, the tee-lee-ah of the Soco- 

 teri, the olibamim, or al-hiban of the 

 Arab, and the Boswellia socotrana of sci- 

 ence. The fragrance hanging all about 

 and the partially dried, resinous "tears," 

 exuding from wounds in the bark made 

 by insects, testified to its nature. 



The guide, proud at last in the virtue 

 of accomplishment, gathered us about 

 him to drink a bowl of goat's milk and 

 learn how the natives gathered luban. 

 The process is simplicity itself. About a 

 month after the rains begin, say in June, 

 when the tree is swollen with sap, the 

 Socotran gathers his household about him 



