ON  THE  DRUGS  OBSERVED  AT  ADEN,  ARABIA. 
149 
the  Arabs  do  not  appear  to  appreciate  the  shrub,  as  but  very  little 
gum  is  collected  by  them.  The  gum  forms,  however,  an  impor- 
tant ingredient  in  the  preparation  of  their  writing-ink,  to  which  it 
gives  that  glossy  appearance  so  much  admired  in  old  Arabian 
manuscripts.  They  also  use  it  occasionally  as  a  demulcent  and 
nutrient,  and  give  it  in  the  form  of  mucilage  to  invalids,  as  we  do 
arrowroot,  sago,  &c.  The  Somalis  resident  at  Aden  occasionally 
go  a  short  distance  into  the  interior  and  gather  small  quantities, 
which  they  immediately  sell  in  the  bazaar.  The  natives  on  the 
south-east  coast  of  Arabia  between  Aden  and  Maculla  also  collect 
a  little,  but  of  this  scarcely  any  is  exported.  During  the  past  year 
(1851)  250  tons  of  Gum  Arabic  passed  through  the  Aden  custom- 
house. The  selling  price  here  is  from  2|  to  3  rupees  the  maund 
of  twenty-eight  pounds. 
Myrrh- — This  gum-resin,  sometimes  called  Marr  by  the  Arabs, 
but  more  commonly  in  this  district  by  the  Indian  name  of  Heera 
Bdl,  is  collected  in  great  quantities  by  the  Somalis  in  the  north- 
east part  of  Africa  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hurrur  further 
south.  It  is  generally  brought  to  the  large  fair  held  at  Berbera, 
during  the  months  of  November,  December  and  January,  and  is 
there  bought  up  for  the  most  part  by  the  Banians  of  India,  and 
paid  for  principally  in  piece  goods  :  barter,  indeed,  is  the  system 
upon  which  most  commercial  transactions  are  carried  on  in  that 
district.  Occasionally,  the  articles  obtained  are  carried  thither  di- 
rect ;  but  more  frequently  they  are  first  brought  over  to  Aden,  and 
thence  shipped  for  Bombay.  Within  the  last  few  months,  small 
quantities  of  the  best  description  of  myrrh  have  been  collected  in  a 
district  forty  miles  to  the  east  of  Aden,  and  brought  hither  for 
sale.*  This  has  been  done  by  the  Somalis ;  but  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  as  soon  as  the  native  Arabs  become  acquainted 
with  this  valuable  product  of  their  country,  the  trade  therein  will 
considerably  increase. 
*  This  information  which  I  give  from  personal  knowledge,  may  serve  to 
correct  a  statement  made  by  Dr.  Malcolmson  and  reproduced  in  Royle's 
Manual  of  Materia  Medica,  that  "  there  is  no  myrrh  produced  in  Arabia." 
And  I  am  further  of  opinion,  notwithstanding  the  late  researches  of  Dr.  Car- 
ter, who  fixes  the  limit  of  the  Libanophorous  regions  of  Ptolemy  to  52°  47' 
east  longitude,  and  expresses  his  belief  that  the  myrrh-tree  does  not  exist 
there,  that  further  investigations  eastward  from  Aden  will  eventually  sub- 
stantiate the  fact  recorded  by  Theophrastus  in  his  Historia  Plantarum,  lib.  ix. 
cap.  4,  that  the  frankincense  and  myrrh  trees  were  seen  growing  together 
in  Southern  Arabia. 
