'Field notes: Aden Protectorate' [‎14v] (28/56)

12
near the brighter green tamarisk scrub, it is usually running
water, brackish, and may be dnnkable.
Purification of water. —The quality of the drinking water
in the parts visited by the Boundary Commission of 1903 was,
on the whole, good, and, though dysentery occurred, disease
due to water cannot be said to have borne a large part in the
general health of the troops.
For means for purifying water see " Medical, ' page 19.
Well Water Supply at Shaikh Othman and Lahej and between the
two.
The villages best off for wells are Fiyush (J. 38) and aht
(H. 68), Majhafa (B. 72) and Mahalla {4-7), (numbering refers to
Lahej Delta Map, 3rd Edition, S. D. O. 1806. 1917),
are large villages and probably have a fair supply. The wells
in other villages are small and few details are known. There
are possibly more wells in the Fiyush area than are gn en in
the attached table.
Waht has 5 wells, details unknown. There is ample well
water supply at Shaikh Othman both for its own population
(9,000 in time of peace) and for the aqueduct supply to Aden.
Wells at Lahej number 20 to 25 and the supply is said to be
ample and good.
The dimensions given in the subjoined table are not con
stant and none but recent measurements are reliable owing to
the rapidity with which w ells get choked by sand. Conversely
a disused and seemingly -dry well may possibly produce an
ample supply if cleaned out.