s an excretion from the whale. "Ambergris
is a morbid secretion in the intestines of the cachalot, deriving its
origin either from the stomach or biliary ducts, and allied in its nature
to gall-stones, ... whilst the masses found floating on the sea are those
that have been voided by the whale, or liberated from the dead animal by
the process of putrefaction." (_Bennett, Whaling Voyage Round the Globe_,
1840, II. 326.)

["The _Pen ts'ao_, ch. xliii. fol. 5, mentions ambergris under the name
_lung sien hiang_ (dragon's saliva perfume), and describes it as a
sweet-scented product, which is obtained from the south-western sea. It is
greasy, and at first yellowish white; when dry, it forms pieces of a
yellowish black colour. In spring whole herds of dragons swim in that sea,
and vomit it out. Others say that it is found in the belly of a large fish.
This description also doubtless points to ambergris, which in reality is a
pathological secretion of the intestines of the spermaceti whale (_Physeter
macrocephalus_), a large cetaceous animal. The best ambergris is collected
on the Arabian coast. In the _Ming shi_ (ch. cccxxvi.) _lung sien hiang_ is
mentioned as a product of _Bu-la-wa_ (_Brava_ on the east coast of Africa),
and _an-ba-rh_ (evidently also ambergris) amongst the products of
_Dsu-fa-rh_ (_Dsahfar_, on the south coast of Arabia)." (_Bretschneider,
Med. Res._ I. p. 152, note.)--H.C.]

NOTE 2.--_Scotra_ probably represented the usual pronunciation of the name
SOCOTRA, which has been hypothetically traced to a Sanskrit original,
_Dvipa-Sukhadhara_, "the Island Abode of Bliss," from which (contracted
_Diuskadra_) the Greeks made "the island of _Dioscorides_."

So much painful interest attaches to the history of a people once
Christian, but now degenerated almost to savagery, that some detail maybe
permitted on this subject.

The _Periplus_ calls the island very large, but desolate; ... the
inhabitants were few, and dwelt on the north side. They were of foreign
origin, being a mixture of Arabs, Indians, and Greeks, who had come
thither in search of gain.... The island was under the king of the Incense
Country.... Traders came from _Muza_ (near Mocha) and sometimes from
_Limyrica_ and _Barygaza_ (Malabar and Guzerat), bringing rice, wheat, and
Indian muslins, with female slaves, which had a ready sale. Cosmas (6th
century) says there was in the island a bishop, appointed from Persia. The
inhabitants spoke Greek, havin