The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-11-30

Co., - 'aN IN NiAttN tt1
ing ~kneedeep among the grasses and
the palm branches that line the banks
OF these khors. Clouds massed above
and mountains near behind long
shadows dappling the water, and the
sun turning to gold the tawny TANKS
Of the cattle makes a picture Of pas
toral beauty rare to behold In this part
Of the East.
Hard Trip into the Mountains.
If one would see the frankincense
tree-and to the Westerner that is the
most interesting thing that SocOtra
holds-he must journey into the rough
mountains, a trip that is far from be-
ing a holiday jaunt. The trail up the
narrow gorge Of the Motaha, worn by
camels' feet and the torrential rains.
Is narrow, rocky and exceedingly
steep. In places it is scarcely wider
than the width Of ones beast, and the
great thorn bushes beside ii tear with
Unsuitable claws at flesh and cloth
ing. Flowers-yellow, blue, and Grim
sOn-some familiar, but most Of them
strange, and creeping vines over low
trees give the whole jungle the ap-
pearance Of a lovely, unkempt garden
like q with disheveled hair.
Occasionally one encounters the hid
| eous cucumber tree, with its swollen
| and whitish stems, looking like enor-
nous candles which had guttered hor-
ribly. This tree grows nowhere else,
! and the rest Of the wSrld is none the
worse for it. It's proper foliage con-
sIsts of a few tufts Of leaves, with lit
tie yellow flowers at the top Of its
knobby branches; but M sees vul-
| lures roosting in nearly every tree
and they seem it's fitting fruit.
After nightfall the traveller up this
trail will see lights appear on the
faces Of the cliffs. They are the bed
time fires Of the Bedouin cave-dwell-
ers, who live on nothing but the prod
ucts Of their herds. They are a folk
so timid that only occasional gllmpses
may be caught Of them.
On the higher hills and mountain
slopes are much larger trees than low
err down, many Of them strange and
curious. Most interesting Of all are
three species Of the famed dragons
blood-whose ruby-red fluid was used
TO dive the robes Of olden queens
which are all about on the slopes, like
battalions Of skirmishers half hid in
ambush.
The natives call these trees Aara-
-. - .los, rncip Nf,cnS1n In nm
cient times Socotra was known as the
only home of the dragOn's-blood tree,
but nowadays Sumatra- and South
America furnish the worlds supply.
It is rarely used as a dye now, but
chiefly in the preparation of varnishes.
The Socotrans themselves employ 1t
principally for ~streaking odd designs
on their earthen pots.
One who knows frankincense only
from it's odor will see with surprise
his first tree in it's native setting. IL
is undoubtedly a tree, but 1t looks
nearly as much like an enormous sea-
serpent in the act Of shedding It's SKIN,
so awkwardly contorted and alive 1t
seems. Tiny, whitish peels cling loose
" about stems and bole Of a peculiarly
liyid. blotchy hue. The woody hber
Of the tree, distended with It's viscous
sap, Is like nothing so much as decom-
posing animal flesh, and even the re"
bright red, geranium-like flowers can
not soften its repulsive aspect. Blu IL IS
indeed the frankincense tree, the tee
lee-ah of the SOcoteri, the olibanum,
or al-luban Of the Arab. and the Bos-
wellla socOtrana Of science. The IRA
GRANGE hanging all about and the par
tially dried, resinous tears" exuding
from wounds in the bark made by In
sects, testify to its nature.
Gathering the Frankincense.
The process employed by the natives
in gathering the luban Is simplicity
itself. About a month after the rains
begin. say in June, when the tree is
swollen with sap, the SOcotran gathers
his household about him and they go
among the wild trees which tradition
has allotted him as a family inherit
ance. Each tree Is given ten or a
dozen deep, oblique slashes two or
three inches in length, n q wrench
Of the knife tears the lower end OF the
wound open to form a kind OF pocket.
In these pockets the amber-colored or
whitish "tearS" Of resin collect, hard-
ening slowly. At the end OF a month
the collector returns, rips out the par
tally hardened resin with the point
of his knife, and makes more wounds
in the bark. He repeats the process
once a month until the end OF Sep
TENDER.
As soon Us the luban tears are hard
they are ready for the market. and
they are usually bartered to an Arab
trader for kerosene or cotton cloths
from America. A tree In SOcotra will
produce annually about eight pounds
OF luban, worth ten cents a pound; a
Somaliland tree will produce twice as
much and of a quality twice as ya!u-
able.
Aside from it's strangely varied and
odd vegetation and It's bizarre scenic
beauties, there Is not much, perhaps,
in this fertile. almost forgotten island
oP Socotra IN attract the tourist I'M