Somaliland British 17 ] HEALTH ; RACE ; POPULATION in southern Arabia, but has become so differentiated that the two peoples can scarcely understand one another. Sokotri has been less influenced by Arabic than has Mahri. Apparently the coastal inhabitants use the Sokotri language, but some of them speak Arabic, which is unknown to the Bedous.

( 6) POPULATION Estimates of the population of Sokotra range from 4,000 to 12,000. The Bedous live in their villages only for the latter half of the year, while the coastal inhabitants live in theirs all the year round. All the villages are small, consisting of from 5 to 10 houses ; in many cases they are surrounded by groves of date-palms. They are much scattered in the more densely populated parts, those of the Bedous lying in the lower valleys of the eastern half of the island, and of the others along the northern and western coasts. One traveller was told that there were 400 villages in all, but this number is probably too high. There are three towns, two of which , Tamarida and Kadhup, are situated on the north coast between Ras Haulaf and Ras Taab , while the third , Kalansiya, is on the west coast. At . Tamarida, where the Sultan has a palace, the population is estimated at 400 ; at the other two towns it is said to be smaller.

Nothing whatever is known about the increase or decrease of the population, nor about the birth and death rates. There are signs of abandoned cultivation in parts of the island, and it may be inferred that the population used to be more numerous than it now is. Unquestionably the island could support more inhabitants.

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