River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1924-07-17
ISLE OF CANNlBALS
AND FANKlNCENSE
Socotra Is Not Often Visited
by Westerners.

Washington, d. C-"SocOtra, isOlat-
ed island off the northeastern point of
Africa, where lighthouse keeper is
rumored to have been the victim of
cannibals, has always been associated
with much pleasanter thoughts than
man-eating savages," says a bulletin
from the Washington, D. c., headquar-
tiers of the National Geographic So
ciety
For it is the Isle of Frankincense'
from which once came most of the
pleasant, aromatic gum burned as in
cense in the churches and temples Of
both the West and East. 1t is even
possible that one of the gifts of the
Magi to the Infant Jesus came from
Socotra, for in the past the island was
almost the sole source of this highly
priced gum.
Socotrans Long Civilized.
''The suggestion that there are can
nibals on Socotra is somewhat surpris-
ing. The island people became at
least specifically civilized ages ago
through the influence of gum traders.
They were at one time Christians, but
since the Seventeenth century have
been MOhammedans. They are ruled
by a sultan under British protection.
Nor is the island small; 1t is nearly
half as large as Crete or Porto Rico.
"Socoura is not often visited by
Westerners, but this is rather because
of the religious jealousy of the sultan
than because of any danger from the
natives. The latter were described a
few years ago by visitor writing for
the National Geographic society as "a
kindly folk, hospitabie and quite harm
less
Continuing, he wrote: HadibO,
the capital, or Tamarida, as the Arabs
call it, from lamar, the date-fruit tree,
is a collection of flat-roofed white
houses scattered among the palms.
The sultan's palace" is a large mud
structure with flat towers, and the two
prayer houses are suggestive of the
graceful Arab mosques only by con-
trast. The poorer population, chiefly
of African descent and much older in
the history of the island than it's Arab
aristocracy lives in huts of thorn, and
plated grass invariably overrun with
luxuriant gOurd vines. Surrounded by
native tobacco, lentils, melons, and
vans grow abundantly, they are more
picturesque outside than inside.
"There is not much to be seen in
HadibO. The principal amusement af-
fOrded the visitor is that of being SEEN
Touches of Pastoral Beauty.
Nothing could be loyelier than the
sight of slender Socotran cattle graz
ing knee deep among the grasses and
the palm branches that line the banks
of the lagoOns near Hadibo. Clouds
massed above and mountains near be-
hind; long shadows dappling the wa
ter, and the sun turning to gold the
tawny TANKS of the cattle make a
picture of pastoral beauty rare to be-
hold in this part of the East.
To-day SOcotra exports practically
nothing except CHI, rancid butter,
made from goats milk and highly
priced in Zanzibar. The inhabitants
number about 5000, and the bulk of
them are of African descent, though
Bedouins live in the mountain caves,
and the ruling class is Arab. The
language is distinct in itself, though
possessing many Arabic and Mahri
words. 1t has a wondrOus wealth of
gurgles and impossible noises in the
throat. There are no words for horse
or dog, because these animals are not
found on the island. A fine breed of
camels, and dOnkeys, which are the
tanned sons of the wild asses roaming
In Thousands on the interior plains
are the beasts Of burden.
"Ihe Socotrans are for the most
part pastoral people, living upon
their flocks and herds. They have
neither inclination or skill for the in
dustrial arts. The baskets they weave
and their earthen pots, fashioned with
bit of cOcOnut rind in lieu of a pot
ter's wheel, are rude limitations of the
southern Arabs handiwork. Those
who live by the sea catch fish or dive
for mother-of-pearl. They have a
most ingenious telescope for spying
out the wonders that lie at the oceans
bottom. 1t is simply a kerosene oil
can, made in America, with a sheet
Of glass set into one side. Into the
opposite side the observer thrusts his
head. and with the glass bottom well
down in the water he is rowed slowly
back and forth, mouth and eyes well
protected from the salt water, which
further serves him as a magnifying
lens"