ZAILA  , or ZEtLA; a

town on the African coast of the Gulf of Aden, 124 M . S.W. of Aden and 200 M . N.N.E. of Harrar . Zaila is the most western of the ports of the British Somaliland protectorate, being 170 M . N.W. of Berbera by the coast caravan track . The town is surrounded on three sides by the sea; land-ward the country is unbroken desert for some fifty miles . The principal buildings, which date from the days of Egyptian occupation (1875–1884) are of white (coral) stone; the Somali dwellings are made of grass . Zaila has a good sheltered anchorage much frequented by Arab sailing craft, but heavy draught steamers are obliged to anchor a mile and a half from the shore . Small coasting boats lie off the pier and there is no difficulty in loading or discharging cargo . The water supply of the town is drawn from the wells of Takosha, about three miles distant; every morning camels, in charge of old Somali women and bearing goatskins filled with water, come into the town in picturesque procession . The population varies from 3000 to 7000, the natives, who come in the cool season to barter their goods, retiring to the highlands in hot weather . The chief traders are Indians, the smaller dealers Arabs, Greeks and Jews .

The imports, which reach Zaila chiefly via Aden, are mainly

cotton goods, rice, jowaree, dates and silk; the exports —of which 90 per cent. are from Abyssinia—are principally coffee, skins, ivory, cattle, ghee and mother-of-pearl . Zaila owed its importance to its proximity to Harrar, the great entrep8t for the trade of southern Abyssinia . The trade of the port received, however, a severe check on the opening (1901–2) of the railway to Harrar from the French port of Jibuti, which is 35 M . N.W. of Zaila . A steamer from Aden to Zaila takes fifteen hours to accomplish the journey; caravans proceeding from Zaila to Harrar occupy from ten days to three weeks on the road . For history and trade statistics, see SOMALILAND, BRITISH .