"As I saw the plant in Playfair's garden at Aden ... in
young leaf and covered with bloom, I was much struck by its elegant
singularity. The long racemes of green star-like flowers, tipped with the
red anthers of the stamens (like aigrettes of little stars of emerald set
with minute rubies), droop gracefully over the clusters of glossy,
glaucous leaves; and every part of the plant (bark, leaves, and flowers)
gives out the most refreshing lemon-like fragrance." (Birdwood in
Linnaean Transactions for 1869, pp. 109 seqq.; Hanbury and Flueckiger's
Pharmacographia, pp. 120 seqq.; Ritter, xii. 356 seqq.; Niebuhr,
Desc. de l'Arabie, I. p. 202, II. pp. 125-132.)
[1] "Drogue franche: - Qui a les qualites requises sans melange"
(Littre). "Franc ... Vrai, veritable" (Raynouard).
The mediaeval Olibanum was probably the Arabic Al-luban, but was
popularly interpreted as Oleum Libani. Dr. Birdwood saw at the Paris
Exhibition of 1867 samples of frankincense solemnly labelled as the
produce of Mount Lebanon!
"Professor Duemichen, of Strasburg, has discovered at the Temple of
Dair-el-Bahri, in Upper Egypt, paintings illustrating the traffic
carried on between Egypt and Arabia, as early as the 17th century B.C.
In these paintings there are representations, not only of bags of
olibanum, but also of olibanum-trees planted in tubs or boxes, being
conveyed by ship from Arabia to Egypt." (Hanbury and Flueckiger,
Pharmacographia, p. 121.)
[2] Published in J.R.G.S., vol. XV. (for 1845).
[3] By courtesy of the publishers, Messrs. Cassell, Petter, & Galpin.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
CONCERNING THE GULF OF CALATU AND THE CITY SO CALLED.
Calatu is a great city, within a gulf which bears the name of the Gulf of
Calatu. It is a noble city, and lies 600 miles from Dufar towards the
north-west, upon the sea-shore. The people are Saracens, and are subject
to Hormos. And whenever the Melic of Hormos is at war with some prince
more potent than himself, he betakes himself to this city of Calatu,
because it is very strong, both from its position and its fortifications.
[NOTE 1]
They grow no corn here, but get it from abroad; for every merchant-vessel
that comes brings some. The haven is very large and good, and is
frequented by numerous ships with goods from India, and from this city the
spices and other merchandize are distributed among the cities and towns of
the interior. They also export many good Arab horses from this to India.
[NOTE 2] For, as I have told you before, the number of horses exported
from this and the other cities to India yearly is something astonishing.
One reason is that no horses are bred there, and another that they die as
soon as they get there, through ignorant handling; for the people there do
not know how to take care of them, and they feed their horses with cooked
victuals and all sorts of trash, as I have told you fully heretofore; and
besides all that they have no farriers.
This City of Calatu stands at the mouth of the Gulf, so that no ship can
enter or go forth without the will of the chief. And when the Melic of
Hormos, who is Melic of Calatu also, and is vassal to the Soldan of
Kerman, fears anything at the hand of the latter, he gets on board his
ships and comes from Hormos to Calatu. And then he prevents any ship from
entering the Gulf. This causes great injury to the Soldan of Kerman; for
he thus loses all the duties that he is wont to receive from merchants
frequenting his territories from India or elsewhere; for ships with
cargoes of merchandize come in great numbers, and a very large revenue is
derived from them. In this way he is constrained to give way to the
demands of the Melic of Hormos.
This Melic has also a castle which is still stronger than the city, and
has a better command of the entry to the Gulf.[NOTE 3]
The people of this country live on dates and salt fish, which they have in
great abundance; the nobles, however, have better fare.
There is no more to say on this subject. So now let us go on and speak of
the city of Hormos, of which we told you before.
NOTE 1. - Kalhat, the Calaiate of the old Portuguese writers, is about
500 m by shortest sea-line north-east of Dhafar. "The city of Kalhat,"
says Ibn Batuta, "stands on the shore; it has fine bazaars, and one of the
most beautiful mosques that you could see anywhere, the walls of which are
covered with enamelled tiles of Kashan.... The city is inhabited by
merchants, who draw their support from Indian import trade.... Although
they are Arabs, they don't speak correctly. After every phrase they have a
habit of adding the particle no. Thus they will say 'You are eating, -
no?' 'You are walking, - no?' 'You are doing this or that, - no?' Most of
them are schismatics, but they cannot openly practise their tenets, for
they are under the rule of Sultan Kutbuddin Tehemten Malik, of Hormuz, who
is orthodox" (II. 226).
Calaiate, when visited by d'Alboquerque, showed by its buildings and
ruins that it had been a noble city. Its destruction was ascribed to an
earthquake. (De Barros, II. ii. 1.) It seems to exist no longer.
Wellsted says its remains cover a wide space; but only one building, an
old mosque, has escaped destruction. Near the ruins is a small fishing
village, the people of which also dig for gold coins. (J.R.G.S. VII.
104.)
What is said about the Prince of Hormuz betaking himself to Kalhat in
times of trouble is quite in accordance with what we read in Teixeira's
abstract of the Hormuz history.
