The Oxford University Expedition to Socotra

Socotra lies in the Indian Ocean, roughly 150 miles east-north-east of Cape Guardafui and 400 miles from the nearest administrative centre, Mukalla, in the Eastern Aden Protectorate (of which Socotra is a part). It is mostly mountainous along its axis, the granite peaks of the Haggier Massif rising nearly 5000 feet out of an overall limestone plateau which averages about 1500 feet in height. Along 30 miles of the south coast runs a flat and barren plain of sand-dunes and lava rock, backed by the steep scarps of the plateau. To the north are two other coastal plains, the northern coastal plain, and Hadibo plain at the edge of which is situated the capital of the island. The mountains and plateaus are split by numerous gorges, which are normally dry but sometimes turn to raging torrents during the rainy months of the north-east monsoon between November and March. The largest wadi system?the wadi Gow-wadi Fahr?traverses the island east of the Hadibo plain, the most favourable part of the island for cultivation, for elsewhere it is mostly barren and waterless. The population of the island probably does not total more than 8000, of which half live in numerous small settlements along the north coast, engaged in fishing and trade, while the other half live in the mountains herding cattle and goats?these are the aboriginal bedouin, a small and primitive community about which little was known until quite recently. No Europeans live on Socotra and it is quite undeveloped. It seems at first glance surprising that Socotra Island should be so little known generally and so rarely visited, for it lies right on the main shipping route from Suez to India. Although often glimpsed from ships making their way east the island is only normally visited by an occasional officer of the Aden Protectorate Government during the course of his administrative duties. The reasons for this neglect are not far to find. Socotra has no natural harbours and during the period of the violent south-west monsoon it is impossible for ships to anchor off its coast, so that the island is cut off from the outside world. During the favourable season the only ships calling there are Indian and Arabian trading dhows, and the island possesses no natural resources likely to attract European trading companies or investors. Furthermore, having contrived to get himself on the island the visitor may experience difficulty in obtaining adequate food supplies, for the island is not self-supporting and there is barely enough food to go round the native inhabitants. The high incidence of a variety of diseases, particularly malaria during the periods of the changes of the monsoon (Socotra must be one of the most malarial countries in the world), may make a prolonged stay an uncomfortable one. Socotra was first explored by Lieutenants Wellsted and Cruttenden of the Indian Navy in 1834, anc* as a result of their preliminary reports on matters of extraordinary interest to science, the British Association and The Royal Society despatched Professor Bayley Balfour to carry out botanical investigations there in 1880. Afterwards he wrote

Ancient history · Climatology · Geography · Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity · Geology · History · Oceanography · Pharmacological Effects of Medicinal Plants

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