light visible 20 m. off. Aden and Perim have a population of 55,000 (1921). A visit to the bazar, if the stay of the steamer will allow of this, will show wild Arabs from the interior of Arabian Yemen, Turks, Egyptians, hideous Swahilis from the coast of East Africa, untamed, shock-headed Somalis, Jews of various sects, inhabitants of India, Parsis, British soldiers, Bombay Mahrattas, and Jack-Tars. The Crater used in former days to be the fortress of Aden. Now modern science has converted "Steamer Point" into a seemingly impregnable position, the peninsula which the "Point" forms to the whole Crater being cut off by a fortified line which runs from N. to S. just to the eastward of the coal wharves. The port was visited in 192122 by 1000 steamers, with a tonnage of 3,000,000 tons: the value of the sea trade is very large, over £9,000,000.

Inside the Light Ship the water shallows to 4 fathoms, and a large steamer stirs up the mud with the keel and action of the screw. As soon as the vessel stops, scores of canoes, with one or two Somali boys in each, paddle off and surround the steamer, shouting, "Have a dive-have a dive," and "Good boy-good boy," all together, with a very strong accent on the first syllable, and dive for small coins flung to them. Owing to a number of fatalities from sharks, this is prohibited in the S.W. monsoon months.

Steamers seldom stop nowadays for more than a few hours at Aden. Notice is always posted on board as to the desirability or not of landing.

It takes from twelve to twenty minutes to land at the Post Office Pier, which is broad and sheltered. To the left of it are the hotels and shops.

The tanks under the Peak are worth a visit, but the distance to them is about 5 m. Their restoration was undertaken in 1856, and they are capable of holding 8,000,000 gallons of water. The ravines which intersect the plateau of the Crater converge into one valley, and a very moderate fall of rain suffices to send a considerable torrent down it. This water is partly retained in the tanks which were made to receive it, and which are so constructed that the overflow of the upper tank falls into a lower, and so on in succession. As the annual rainfall at Aden does not exceed 6 or 7 in. Malik al Mansur, King of Yemen, at the close of the 15th century built an aqueduct to bring the water of the Bir Hamid into Aden (see Playfair's History of Yaman).

The Salt Pans on the way to Sheikh Othman are curious. The sea-water is pumped into shallow pans cut out of the earth, and allowed to evaporate, and the salt which remains is collected. It belongs to an Italian company, who pay royalty on every ton of salt

procured. The Keith-Falconer Medical Mission at Sheikh Othman, as well as Steamer Point, was established by the Hon. Ion KeithFalconer, Arabic Professor, Cambridge, who died there on 11th May 1887. His tomb, of fine Carrara marble, is in the military cemetery of Aden. The Mission, under the care of the doctors of the Free Church of Scotland, is most popular. At Steamer Point there are three churches for the troops-Anglican, Scottish, and Roman. the Crater there are two churches.

In

After leaving Aden the only land usually approached by steamers bound for India is the island of Socotra,' which is about 150 m. E. of Cape Guardafui, the E. point of the African continent. The island is 71 m. long and 22 m. broad. Most of the surface is a tableland about 800 ft. above sea-level. The capital is Tamarida, or Hadibu, on the N. coast. It is politically a British possession subordinate to Aden, but administered in its internal affairs by its own chiefs.

Four days after passing Socotra the mainland will be sighted behind Bombay, which lies 6° N. of Aden in lat. 18° 58′ above the Equator and long. 72° 48' E. of Greenwich.

1 Known to the Greeks and Romans as the island of Dioscorides. This name and that by which the island is now known are (according to the Encycl. Brit.) usually traced back to a Sanskrit form Dvipa-Sakhadhara, of bliss."

'the island abode

(3) GENERAL INFORMATION, STATISTICAL, ETHNOLOGICAL, HISTORICAL, ARCHEOLOGICAL, AND MATERIAL

THE PEOPLE OF INDIA

The census of 1921 gave the population of British India and Burma as follows:

Of this total of 319,000,000 about 116,000 (in 1911 the number was 123,000) are British-born, of whom more than half are soldiers. The army of British India comprised on the 1st April 1923

British Troops (including Officers)

Indian do.

do.

64,669 187,432

252, 101

In addition, there were Indian Reserves, 11,883; Indian State Forces, 23,332; Auxiliary Force, India, British Troops, 34,874; and the Indian Territorial Force Troops, 14,025.

The census of 1921 gave the following religious statistics :—

MUHAMMAD ("the praised," from hamd, praise) was born at Mecca (Makka) on the 29th August 570 A.D. in the Koreish (Quraish) ruling tribe. His father, Abdulla, was a merchant, son of Abdul Muttalib, the patriarch of the House of Hashim ; his mother's name was Amina. His father died before his birth, his mother when he was barely five years old. He remained three years in the charge of his grandfather,

and on the latter's death passed to the care of his uncle, Abu Talib. When twenty-five years old he became manager or agent to a rich widow, named Khadija, who, although fifteen years his senior, offered him marriage. By her he had sons, who all died in infancy, and four daughters, of whom three survived, the youngest, Fatima, being married to Ali, the son of Abu Talib; from her are descended the nobility of Islam, the Saiyads and Sharifs.

At the age of forty Muhammad claimed to have received the first divine communication in the solitude of the mountain Hira, near Mecca, where the call came to him, and the angel Gabriel commanded him to preach the new religion. The Meccans persecuted him and his followers for his preachings; his wife and uncle died; and he became poverty - stricken. Threatened with death, Muhammad, accompanied by Abu Bakr, left Mecca on the 16th July 622. Escaping from the Koreish, they reached the rival city, Yathreb, some 270 m. to the N., where he was accepted as a Prophet. The city was henceforth called the city of the Prophet-Medînat-un-Nabi, or, shortly, Medîna. The Meccans pursued him and the Medînists with hostility, and he repelled their attacks. In the year 630 he, with 10,000 men, conquered Mecca. Returning to Medîna, he died on the 8th of June 632, and was there buried.

The chief tenet of the Muhammadan religion is Islam, which is generally held to mean, resignation, submission to God; but some describe it as "striving after righteousness." A Muslim, or Mussalman, is one who professes Islam. In its dogmatical form it is Iman (faith), in its practical Din (religion). The fundamental principle is, "There is no God but God; and Muhammad is the Prophet of God (Lá illáha illá 'lláh Muhammad Rasulu 'lláh). This is the Kalima, or creed, which is to be recited. There are also four principal duties : (1) Daily prayers (which should be said five times a day—at daybreak, noon, afternoon, sunset, nightfall); (2) the giving of alms (in certain proportions of property, to certain classes of persons); (3) the fast of Ramazan (from dawn to sunset for a month, from the appearance of the new moon); (4) a pilgrimage (Hajj, Hajji), once in a lifetime, to the ancient shrine of the Ka'ba, at Mecca. In the Koran (which embodies the teachings and precepts of Muhammad, and is believed to have been sent down by God to the seventh or lowest heaven and then revealed from time to time to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel) a holy war or jihad is enjoined as a religious duty; but the Muhammadan subjects of a government, under which the practices of the Muhammadan religion are freely permitted, are bound to obey the government. The Muhammadans believe in resurrection, heaven, and hell. The meaning of the description of a future existence as given in the Koran is much disputed. On the one hand large masses

of Muslims accept the statements of the Koran as to the sensuous delights of Paradise in their literal sense; on the other hand, they are regarded as word-paintings used in a figurative sense. In hell all who deny the unity of God will be tortured eternally. The idea of the exclusion of women from Paradise is at variance with the whole tenor of the Koran, and is contradicted by various passages. Muhammad enjoined care in ablution of the hands, mouth, and nose before eating or praying. The Koran expressly forbids the use of wine, including all inebriating liquors and any intoxicants. It forbids also the eating of the flesh of swine; and no animal is lawful food unless it be slaughtered by cutting the throat. Usury and games of chance are prohibited, and the laws against idolatry are very stringent. A Muslim is allowed to marry one, two, three, or four wives, provided, it is said, he can deal with all of them with equity; if not, he is limited to one. He can also cohabit with female slaves obtained by purchase or made captives in war (called "those whom your right hand hath acquired") in addition to the lawful wives. An absolute divorce consists of the mere repetition of the words, "Thou art divorced " three times. Slavery is said to have been limited to those who were taken in lawful warfare, and under certain circumstances they were emancipated. Besides the women above-mentioned, a man must not look upon the face of any other woman except a near relative. There is no priesthood in Islam, every man is his own priest and pleads for himself for forgiveness and mercy. Essentially a democratic creed, it recognises no distinction of race or colour among its followers. Hope and fear, reward and punishment, with a belief in predestination, form the system of faith. It is contrary to Islam to make any figure or representation of anything living.

There are two main divisions of Muhammadans-sometimes called Sects, sometimes Churches. The chief point of difference between them is the question of the title to the spiritual and temporal headship of Islam. The Sunnis advocate the principle of election, and recognise Abu Bakr, Omar, and Othman as the first three Khalifas (Khalifa, Caliph=Vicegerent), and Ali as the fourth; the Shias adhere to apostolical descent by appointment and succession, and regard Ali as the first Khalifa. In India about five-sevenths are Sunnis; they and almost all the Muhammadans in other nations acknowledge the spiritual headship of the Sultan of Turkey. They are again divided into four principal "persuasions"-the Hanafi, Shafei, Maliki, and Hanbali-so called after their founders. Hanafiism is generally prevalent in India and Arabia. The Shias are two'sevenths of the Indian Muhammadans. Shia-ism is the State religion of Persia. Of its several sub-sects, the Asna-aasharia is the principal, meaning that it recognises the spiritual headship of the twelve Apostles