4 
HISTORY OF THE BOTANICAL 
The ship not being likely to complete her stock of water in less than 
three days, Salt determined to take the opportunity of making a journey 
to Lahej. “The first part of our road,” he says, “ conducted us round 
the bottom of Back Bay, near which stands a small building called 
“ beit el mi,” or the “ water-house.” About half a mile further, a 
causeway built on seven arches connects to the continent the “ penin- 
sula” of Aden. Directly north from this causeway runs an ancient 
aqueduct, the ruins of which may be clearly traced for about eight miles 
into the country . 1 At the end of the plain over which the aqueduct 
is conducted stands a tomb and a caravanserai dedicated to Sheik 
Othman . 2 About half a mile from the tomb we entered a deep wood 
of large and spreading trees, of a species of mimosa, called by the Arabs 
Sa-muk . 3 This wood extends about eight miles across, and is said to 
occupy two days' march in length, lying in an east and west direction. 
Numbers of goats and camels are seen in every quarter wandering about 
it, which, at this season of the year, are chiefly fed on the leaves and 
tender branches of this tree. 
“ The road leading out of the wood opens upon a barren plain covered 
with hillocks composed of a fine loose sand, which, constantly drifting, 
from place to place, prevents the growth of a single blade of vegetation. 
The desolate scene, though only five miles across, conveyed to my mind 
a much stronger image of a f desert that might be fatal to man and 
beast/ than any I had before passed. When we had crossed it, the 
return to the gradual appearance of verdure was peculiarly grateful to 
the eyes, and soon afterwards we reached a highly rich and cultivated 
track of land bordering on the town of Lahadj. Here we found wheat, 
juwarry and cotton flourishing with great luxuriance, the ground being 
intersected by artificial dykes, supplied with water by means of those 
simple machines common throughout Arabia and Egypt. The whole 
country, besides, was interspersed with date trees . 4 
“ To the north of the town flourishes an extensive grove of date, 
mango, sycamore, and pomegranate trees, among which I observed seve- 
ral very lofty and fine trees, called by the Arabs bedan 5 ; the leaves of 
1 Salt, 1. c. p. 112. 
2 Salt,!, c. p. 113. 
8 Salt’s “ Sa-muck ” was probably Acacia spirocarpa Hochst. 
4 Salt, 1. c. p. 114. 
5 I have not been able to find the word “ bedan ” in any Arabic dictionary ; but judging 
from Salt’s description, which menti ms the shape and arrangement of the leaves and the 
form and size of the fruit, there can scarcely be a doubt, that he meant Terminalia Catappa 
Linn. This tree is indigenous in the beach forests of the Andamans and the Malay 
Peninsula and a widely spread littoral species within the tropics. The word “ bedan ” is 
probably only a form of the Indian “ badam,” which means “almond.” In India Terminalia 
at «Ppa is called u jangli-badam,” “ hindi-badam,” “ nat-vaddm,” “ vedam.” 
