In the morning, we catch sight of the island Socotra and pass it at noon about 15 miles north from the east end of the island. The view of the island reminds me of the coastal region of the Red Sea. Noticeable are only the snow-white sand moraines that almost look like glaciers from a distance. This island, 7,770 km2 large with around 4,000 inhabitants, has been ruled by the sultan of Qishn. England entered into a subsidies treaty with it in 1876 and then turned it in 1886 a treaty into a British protectorate. Socotra has once been offered to our government for sale. But I think such a purchase would not have been a good investment, as one can see no vegetation apart from a few coconut palms and only as a coaling station and a prisoner colony could it have had any meaning for us.
The impressive sunset was followed by an enchanting night. It was balm for the soul to breathe in the fresh Monsoon on the bridge.
Links
- Location: near Socotra, in the Arabian Sea
- ANNO – on 30.12.1892 in Austria’s newspapers. The Neue Freie Presse informs about the approaching date next month of the wedding in Berlin of Princess Margarethe, the youngest sister of the German Kaiser. It also lists the prominent deceased of the year, separated into categories of nobles, priests, officers, diplomats and ministers, scientists, professionals (civil servants, teachers, doctors and lawyers), poets/writers/journalists, theater/music, painters/sculptors/architects, and technicians/manufacturers/merchants.