The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1927-02-24

V yEMEN, an Independent country
" of Arabia, across the lower end
OF the narrow Red sea from the
Italian colony of Eritrea, is the
latest land to enter into treaty rela-
tons with Italy. AS q result the likeli-
mood Is seen of the peaceful penetra-
ton of southwestern Arabia by Ital-
ian influence.
This reign, like all other parts of
Arabia. was under at least nominal
Turkish control before the great war !;
but since 1t has constituted an ina
mate, under the rule of the Arab Imam
Yahya ben Muhammad ben Hamid al
Din, who rules from Saba. Yemen
has the distinction and the good for
tune to be one of the few parts of
Arabia that are of agricultural impor-
lance. Under a stable government it
would have an important commercial
future. The British protectorate Of
Alden Is one of the chief outlets for its
produce
Yemen's American fame rests prin-
cipally upon the familiar name Of an
almost deserted city, Mocha. through
which coffee no longer comes, where
debris cutters the streets, where only
mosques remain intact.
Coffee still is a major crop of Ye-
men, but it Is exported largely through
Hodeida, and in even greater quantity
via Alden, port Of the British pro-
tectorate to the south, which today is
the commercial neck Of the Red sea
bottle.
Order coffee in Yemen, however, and
you will not repeat the experiment.
For the Arabians of coffee-land pre-
fer the husks to the berries, and the
brew therefrom has been compared to
hot barley water. To the occidental
mind this connection affords neither
flavor or stimulus. The Yemenite looks
elsewhere for a stlmulant-to khat.
The world knows almost nothing
about khat. Our scientific books are
nearly silent on the subject. Travel
ers who ought to have observed its
uses write from heresay and usually
with the most amazing ignorance.
There are even Europeans in the Ye-
men, whose servants have chewed khat
every day of their lives, with so little
knowledge of native life and customs
that after years Of residence they
ask: "Why, what is khat? We never
heard of it." Yet no Yemen event Is
complete without its presence, and no
Yemen Arab-man, woman or child
passes a day If he can help it without
the aid of at least a few leaves of the
precious khat.
When the European is weary he
calls for alcohol to revive him; when
he Is joyful he takes wine, that he
may have more joy. In like manner
the Chinese woos his "white lady"
the poppy flower, the Indian chews
bhang, and the West African
seeks surcease in kola. Khat Is
more to the Yemen Arab than any
of these to it's devotees. 1t is no mar
cotic, wooing sleep, but stimulant,
like alcohol. Unlike alcohol 1t con-
ceals no demon, but a fairy. The
khat eater will tell you that when he
follows this fairy 1t takes him into re-
gions overlooking paradise. He calls
the plant the "flower of paradise"
Catha edulis, as the plant is known
botanically, grows to some extent in
Abyssinia, but it is cultivated chiefly
in the mountains of the Yemen in
terror behind Alden. The word khat Is
said to be derived from another Arabic
word, kut, meaning sustenance or re-
viving principle, and refers to the
most salient property Of the plant,
that of exalting the spirits and sup
porting the bodily strength, under ex-
traordinary conditions, of one who
eats its leaves. The researches OF
Albert Better of the University OF
Strassburg, seem to show that its ac-
tive principle Is an alkaloid in the
form Of crystals, very bitter and odor.
less.
Along the steep, terraced slopes OF
the mountains between Taiz and
Yerim you will find the small planta.
lions OF the khat farmer. Not till you
have climbed nearly 1000 feet will
you see the first one, and when you
reach 5000 feet you will have passed
the last
Varieties and Cultivation.
Rokhar IL the gwee,est Of all lhal
and by far the most expensive. The