ON  THE  DRUGS  OBSERVED  AT  ADEN,  ARABIA. 
231 
for  exportation.  Latterly,  a  considerable  quantity  has  been,  brought 
into  Aden  from  the  interior.  Last  year,  thirty  tons  passed  through 
the  Custom-house.* 
Indigo,  called  by  the  Arabs  and  natives  of  India,  Keel.  A  large 
quantity  of  this  article,  much  inferior  to  the  Indian  indigo,  is 
manufactured  at  Mocha  and  other  towns  in  southern  Arabia.  It 
is  extensively  used  by  the  Arabs  in  dyeing  the  white  cotton  long- 
cloths  above  mentioned,  and  in  fact  it  pervades  almost  every  part 
of  theirdress.  Whether  unavoidably,  because  they  are  far  from  being 
adepts  in  dyeing  or  from  design,  the  color  generally  stains  their 
half-naked  bodies,  and  this  together  with  the  peculiar  smell  of  Indigo, 
they  seem  to  consider  highly  genteel,  thus  forming  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  females,  and  especially  to  the  Jewish  women,  who  prefer 
a  yellow  tinge,  and  to  that  end  dye  their  skins  with  a  decoction  of 
turmeric. 
The  indigo  above-mentioned  sells  in  the  Aden  market  for  eleven 
rupees  the  maund  of  28  lbs.  Sixteen  hundredweight  of  this  article 
were  entered  at  the  Custom-house  last  year.f 
Kelt,  the  name  of  a  drug  which  is  brought  into  Aden  from  the 
interior  and  largely  used,  especially  by  the  Arabs,  as  a  pleasurable 
excitant.  It  is  generally  imported  in  small  camel  loads,  consist- 
ing of  a  number  of  parcels  each  containing  about  forty  slender 
twigs  with  the  leaves  attached,  and  carefully  wrapped  so  as  to 
prevent  as  much  as  possible  exposure  to  the  atmosphere.  The 
leaves  form  the  edible  part,  and  these  when  chewed  are  said  to 
produce  great  hilarity  of  spirits  and  an  agreeable  state  of  wakeful- 
ness. Some  estimate  may  be  formed  of  the  strong  predilection 
which  the  Arabs  have  for  this  drug,  from  the  quantity  used  in 
Aden  alone,  which  averages  about  280  camel  loads  annually.  The 
market  price  is  \\  rupees  per  parcel,  and  the  exclusive  privilege 
of  selling  it,  is  farmed  by  the  government  for  1500  rupees  per 
year.  Forskal  found  the  plant  growing  on  the  mountains  of 
Yemen,  and  has  enumerated  it  as  a  new  genus  in  the  class  Pent- 
andria,  under  the  name  of  Catha.    He  notices  two  species  and 
*  The  author  has  transmitted  two  samples  of  Senna,  marked  respectively 
Aden  Senna  and  African  Senna.  They  would  be  known  in  the  London 
market  as  Inferior  East  Indian  Senna.  —  D.  H. 
t  An  excessively  impure  indigo,  leaving  after  ignition  no  less  than  94.4 
per  cent,  of  ashes.  Two  samples  of  fine  indigo  from  another  source,  afforded 
respectively  only  6.2  and  9.2  per  cent.— D.  H. 
