TWO MONTHS IN SOKOTRA.

Otago Witness, Volume 11, Issue 2280, 11 November 1897, Page 56

TWO MONTHS IN SOKOTRA.

It is'certainly strange that so little attention has been paid by travellers, missionaries, or'coloniets to the island of Sokotra. It lies on the great ocean highway from Aden to all Asiatic and Australian ports, and ought, one would think, from its geographical position to have been utilised long ago as a depot for coal and provisions. T^he strategic importance of the island is considerable, yet, 6ince its first occupation by the Portuguese in the days of Albuquerque and Tristan d'Acunha, the maritime powers of Europe have paid scarcely any attention to its claims, and its acquisition by Great Britain is of quite recent date. •

.To the traveller who visits; Sokotra from thejieck of a passing steamer the island presents a picture of bleak and barren hills without a, vestige of vegetation ; but like many other volcanic inlands — St Helena.'for. instance — it reveals its inland beauties on closer acquaintance. During on.c journey fromGhalansyah in the west to Ras Momi in the eaat, and thence, after d long circuit to the south-west, back to ' Tamarida, we passed through -scenery of the most varied character. In some places along our route we camped on hills where every blade of grass was scorched and withered by the same drought wbich has made havoc of the Indian crops, and we found it difficult at night to keep our tents upright in face of the terrific blasts of the monsoon which swept over us from the sea. But when we turned towards the sonth-west the face of the country changed. Instead of arid hills and dried-up river beds we found ourselves amongst lofty mountains of red granite, thickly covered with trees and bushes, and valleys where numerous villages wera dotted among the streams which ran down from Jebel Haghier to the sea. Several- of our camps in this part of the island were especially beautiful. Hillside and mountain torrent, palm tree and tamarind, suddenly lit up by the fall moon as it rose above the crags of Jebel Xirieb, the air filled with the mysterious whisperings of a tropical night — pictures like this, occe seen, never to be seen again, impress themselves indelibly upon the memory. y The idea of using Sokotra as a sanatorium for Aden has been occasionally entertained. Certainly, as far as climate goes, no better selection could be made — that is, if one lived among the hillg. • The Bedawin' villagers and cave-dwellers who inhabit the uplands can vie with the Athenians of old in the clearness and freshness of the air "they breathe.

OnJthe plains, however, the climate is very relaxing. At Gbalan6yah and Taraarida it was difficult to resist the enervating effect of the warm and humid atmosphere, vitiated as it vws by the exhalations from several large lagoons. These shallow lakes, fringed by reeds, palms, and mangroves, are sometimes very beautiful, and amid the attractions they present as camping-sites one is apt to forget the danger of the miasma which rises at night from their waters. One of oar party had no less than four attacks of fever during two months ; and even if we escaped 1 actual lever, we invariably experienced in the proximity of these lagoons a miserable feeling of lassitude and debility. The cost of living in the island is very little. ' In fact, anyone wishing for peace and retrenchment might do worse than spend a winter amid \he delightful hills and valleys of Sokotra. Lambs can be purchased for Is 33, magnificent lobsters for 2d, excellent sea fish for almost nothing, and, if anyone is prepared to take some trouble and to shoot straight, duck, widgeon, and other wildfowl can be added to the larder. Apart, however, from wildfowl, Sokotra offers tew attractions to tthe sportsman. — Longman's Magazine.