Roanoke Rapids herald., 1923-12-21

Nothing could be lovelier than the
sight Of slender Socotran cattle graz
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 dappiing 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 Mountaina
| II one would see the frankincense
tree-and to the Westerner that is the
most interesting thing that Socotra
hods-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 torrenti II rains.
Is narrow. rocky and exceedingly
steep. In places II Is scarcely wider
than the width Of ones beast, and the
great thorn bushes beside 1t tear with
Unsuitable claws at flesh and cloth
ing. Flowers-yellow, blue, and Grim
|
strange. and creeping vines over low
trees give the whole jungle the ap-
pearance of lovely, unkempt garden
like woman with disheveled hair.
| Occasionally one encounters the hid
eous cucumber tree. with its swollen
and whltsh stems, looking like enor-
nous candles which had guttered hor-
rbly This tree grows nowhere else.
! and the rest Of the world is none the
worse for It. Its proper foliage con-
sists of a few tufts of leaves, with lit
tie yellow flowers at the top of its
knobby branches; but one sees vul-
lures roosting in nearly every tree
and they seem Its fitting fruit.
After nghtfall 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 folk
so timid that only occasional glimpses
may be caught of them
On the higher hills and mountain
slopes are much larger trees than low
er down, many Of them strange and
curious. Most interesting of all are
three species Of the famed dragons
blood-vhose ruby-red fluid was used
to dye the robes OF olden queens
which are all about on the slopes, Ike
battalions of sklrmishers half hid In
ambush. 1
The natives call these trees A'ara-
eeb and their resin Msoilo. In an
Client times Socotra was known as the
only home OF the dragon's-blood tree,
but nowadays Sumatra and South
America furnish the worlds supply.
1t Is rarely used as 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 its odor will see with surprise
his first tree in It's native setting. 1t
is undoubtedly a tree, but 1t looks
nearly as much like an enormous sea-
serpent in the act of shedding Its skin.
so awkwardly contorted and alive 1t
seems. Tiny. whitish peels cling loose
ly about stems and bole of a peculiarly
livid, blotchy hue. The woody fiber
Of. the tree, distended with its viscous
sap is like nothing so much as decom-
posing animal flesh, and even the few
bright red, geran;um-like flowers can
not soften Its repulsive aspect. But 1t is
indeed the frankincense tree. the tee
lee-ah of the Socoteri. the o'ibanum.
or al-luban OF the Arab, and the Bos-
wellia socotrana of science. The fra
GRANGE hanging all about and the par
TALLY dried. resinous tears" exuding
from wounds in the bark made by in
sects, testify to Its nature.
Gathering the Frankineense.
The process employed by the natives
In gathering the luban is simplicity
itself. About 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 ipherit-
ance. Each tree Is given ten or
dozen deep. oblique slashes two or
three inches in length, and a wrench
of the knife tears the lower end Of the
wound open to form 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 month until the end Of Sep
tember.
As soon as the luban tears are hard
they are ready for the market. and
they rre 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
Scmaliland tree will produce twice as
much and of a quality twice as valu-
able.
Aside from its strangely varied and
odd vegetation and Its bizarre scenic
beauties. there is not much. perhaps.
in this fertile, almost forgotten island
of Socotra to attract the tourist un-
less he be student of ethnology.
There are still to be found in the ruins
Of Zoko, the ancient capital tSuk, the
Arabs call ~. traces of a very early
civilization.