334 
ON  THE  DRUGS  OBSERVED  AT  ADEN,  ARABIA. 
arrive  there  annually  from  the  Persian  Gulf  about  the  month  of 
February,  after  having  touched  at  the  principal  towns  on  the  coast 
of  Southern  Arabia,  bringing  with  them  dates  (which  are  the  staple 
commodity,)  small  parcels  of  cloth,  rice,  sugar  and  iron,  all  which 
they  barter  for  the  native  produce.  The  boats  next  proceed  to 
Zanzibar  where  they  dispose  of  the  articles  obtained  at  Socotra 
and  which  are  thence  transhipped  for  the  Indian  markets  ;  they 
then  return  laden  with  grain  and  other  merchandize  about  the 
month  of  April,  revisiting  for  the  usual  barter  trade  several  of  the 
towns  on  the  Arabian  coast,  and  reaching  the  Gulf  about  the  end 
of  May. 
A  naval  officer  of  great  experience  informs  me,  that  whilst  at 
anchor  in  the  Muscat  roads,  between  the  21st  November  and  10th 
December,  1835,  he  calculated  from  the  number  of  native  vessels 
which  passed  that  port  sailing  westward  and  varying  in  size  from 
50  to  252  tons,  that  the  freight  of  dates  amounted  to  at  least 
12,880  tons.  This  fact  alone  indicates  that  an  extensive  com- 
merce is  kept  up  between  the  Persian  Gulf,  Southern  Arabia, 
Socotra  and  Zanzibar. 
Hitherto  very  little  Dragon's  blood  has  been  imported  into  the 
Aden  market,  but  as  has  already  been  'remarked  with  regard  to 
other  drugs  common  in  this  region,  the  demand  only  seems  want- 
ing to  call  forth  a  plentiful  supply.* 
Dugga-boot  or  Dagaeoot,  a  medicinal  root  growing  on  the 
Somali  coast.  The  natives  of  that  part  of  Africa  make  use  of  it 
in  nearly  every  ailment  but  especially  for  pain  in  the  bowels, 
anorexia,  and  debility  after  fevers.  From  this  I  imagine  it  is  an 
alterative  tonic,  but  beyond  this  crude  information  I  am  unaware 
what  the  beneficial  properties  of  the  root  are.f 
*  Lieut.  Wellstead  speaks  of  having  observed  Dragon's  Blood  produced 
in  Southern  Arabia  as  well  as  in  Socotra.  The  tree  affording  it  he  states  to 
be  Draccena  draco,  and  from  his  description  it  would  appear  likely  that  such 
is  the  case.  See  Travels  in  Arabia,  by  Lieut.  J.  R.  Wellstead,  F.  R.  S., 
Lond.,  8vo,  1838,  vol.  ii.,  p.  449.  Mr.  Vaughan's  specimen  of  Socotrine 
Dragon's  Blood  I  have  not  yet  had  the  privilege  of  examining. — D.  H. 
\  Mr.  Vau$jhan  has  alluded  to  this  drug  in  the  Lancet,  Jan.  10,  1852,  p. 
41.  A  specimen  of  it  with  which  he  has  favored  me,  consists  of  straight, 
hard,  wiry  sticks,  six  to  eighteen  inches  in  length,  and  varying  in  thickness 
from  that  of  packthread  to  that  of  a  quill;  externally  covered  with  a  thin 
reddish  brown  bark,  internally  whitish.  The  drug  has  but  little  taste  or 
smell. — D.  H. 
