DESCRIPTION OF THE FRANKINCENSE-TREE. 187 
ART. XLIV. — DESCRIPTION OF THE FRANKINCENSE- 
TREE, AS FOUND NEAR CAPE GARDUFOI, ON THE 
SOMAULI COAST. 
BY CAPTAIN G. B. KEMPTHORNE, 
Indian Navy, Commanding the Hon. Company's Sloop of War " Clive." 
At Bunder Cassim, about one hundred miles to the east- 
ward of Berbera, the mountains come close down to the 
coast ; there is a pass and road over them, and a few hours' 
walking will, it is said, lead to a fine climate, and to a beau- 
tifully fertile country, abounding in the elephant, the rhino- 
ceros, and the lion, and thickly populated by pastoral tribes. 
Several rivers take their source in the high land, and flow- 
ing to the southward and eastward, fall into the Indian 
ocean, four or five degrees north of the equator. 
The chief town of the Mijertheyn Somauli is at Bunder 
Maryah, which lies twenty miles south-west of Ras Feeluk. 
The range is here about 5000 feet in altitude, and three 
miles from the shore. Ascending 1000 feet, a wide plain 
presents itself, bounded on every side by precipitous moun- 
tains, studded with the dragon's blood, frankincense, and 
gum acacia-trees, but looking bare and naked from the to- 
tal absence of underwood. 
The luban or frankincense assumes the most singular 
aspect, from the fact of its invariably growing from the 
bare and smooth sides of the white marble rocks of which 
these hills are composed, without any soil whatever to 
nourish or the least fissure to support it. Many of the 
trees have even attached themselves to the huge masses 
that have rolled down into the valley, and now lie over 
the stony surface. From the base of the trunk, and about 
treble its diameter, a very round thick substance is protrud- 
ed, of a nature between bark and wood. This adheres 
