Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/257

Rh COAST REGION.] ARABIA 237 nised desert alone, the most hopelessly sterile district in the whole Arabian peninsula. Yemen. Following the Red Sea coast down to its southernmost extremity at Aden, we have in view the third great geographical section, that of Yemen. It includes two regions, sea-shore and inland, the former of which is commonly called the &quot; Tehamah.&quot; This is a wide strip of coast left by the mountain chain, which, continuing on from the Hejaz, runs down as far as Aden, but hereabouts recedes somewhat to the east, thus forming an arc, in the curve of which lies the Tehamah. The mountainous district extends far inland, and gives out several minor branches, some of which reach about three hundred miles to the east. TV.iaraah. Tehamah is, as might be expected from its topical and geographical conditions, a very hot region ; it is one also of but moderate fertility, though the soil, an agglomeration principally of coral debris, is less absolutely barren than that of the Hejaz. The rains here are periodical, their fall coinciding with the epoch of the Indian monsoon ; they give rise to numerous torrents, that traverse the plains, and gome of which hardly dry up throughout the year. The coast -line is indented by several small harbours and road steads ; intricate coral reefs render the approach everywhere difficult, often dangerous. Yemen, under which name the whole south-western quarter of the peninsula is popularly included, possesses many advantages, both of climate and soil, denied to the greater portion of Arabia. It is a highland country, formed by a labyrinth of precipitous hills and fertile valleys. The air is pure and even cool ; the seasons are as regular as those of eastern India, and succeed each other in much the same order. No accurate survey has yet been made to determine the elevation of its mountains, some of which have been roughly, but perhaps incorrectly, estimated at five thousand feet in height ; their general direction is from north-west to south-east. The largest plains, or rather plateaus, inclosed by them are that of Nejran on the north, that of Sanad to the south, and that of Mareb to the east, on the frontier of the great desert. The oasis of the southern Jowf, a basin-like depression occurring in the sandy waste that reaches inland from the high grounds of Yemen up to Oman, on the other side of Arabia, may also be reckoned as belonging to Yemen. Geology. Though the mountains are well supplied with water, no considerable rivers or streams find their way from them to the Red Sea, tropical evaporation combining with the light and porous quality of the soil to diy up the torrent beds ; nor do any natural lakes exist, though artificial pools and tanks, in which water is preserved all the year round, have been constructed in plenty. Indications of volcanic action, long since extinct, abound throughout Yemen, where basalt formations compose a considerable and the most fertile portion of the coffee-bearing district ; in other places Jurassic rock predominates, while granite occurs in patches here and there. Spar, agate, onyx, and carnelian are exported from Yemen ; silver and gold are reported to have been found on its hills, but on doubtful authority. fosetation. I fc is i 1 this region that Arabian vegetation obtains its most varied, as also its most valuable development. North of Medinah the parched and niggard soil, chiefly composed of marl, flint, and sand, with a supply of rain alike scanty and uncertain, produces little more than varieties of acacia, euphorbias, and thorny shrubs, a valueless crop. But in the neighbourhood of Medinah Hie date- commences the great date-palm belt that crosses the peninsula, and extends southward as far as lat. 23 in fidl vigour. A hundred and more varieties of this tree are said to grow in the immediate vicinity of Medinah alone : the quality of the fruit varies for each kind, as also do its size, colour, and flavour. The poorest of all, the aim. &quot; sihanee &quot; date, a yellow, stringy fruit, is much eaten by the Bedouins ; the &quot; birnee &quot; is red and succulent ; the &quot; jebelee,&quot; an upland date, is a staple article of export. Nejd is, however, the favoured land of date-palms : every valley that intersects its vast plateaus waves with them ; and the fruit, which often attains a length of two inches, with a proportionate thickness, far surpasses the best products of Hejaz in lusciousness as in size. Eaten fresh or stewed with butter, they form the staff of Arab food ; and the pulp, after the kernels have been extracted, close- pressed and half dried, is exported under the name of ajweh to almost every part of the East. In general a latitude varying from 27 to 22 N., and a sufficient distance from the sea to preclude its atmospheric influences, seem to be the most favourable circumstances for bringing this fruit to perfection ; and hence it comes that the produce of the Jowf and of Hareek which, though inland, lie too far. the one to the north, the other to the south, of the Hejaz on the Red Sea, and of Rateef on the Persian Gulf coast, is decidedly inferior to that of the inland districts of Kaseem and Nejd. Yet an exception must be made in favour of the &quot; kholas&quot; date, as it is called, that grows in Hasa, an amber-coloured date of exquisite flavour, the king of dates : the tree itself that bears it is readily distinguished from every other species by the delicacy of its stem and foliage. But in the greater number of instances, whatever the variation in the fruit, the palm trees themselves are to an unpractised eye undistinguish- able the one from the other. Besides the date tree, the &quot; doom,&quot; a fan-leaved palm other fruit- bearing a large fibrous and sweetish fruit, is not of trees, uncommon growth in the central and southern districts ; while the cocoa-nut and betel are planted, though not to such an extent as to reckon among the articles of ordinary cultivation, along the southern and eastern coast. So are also the banana, the papay, and the Indian fig ; but all these are of recent importation from the opposite coast of India. Vines are cultivated throughout Arabia, and have Vines, been so from time immemorial ; and though since the well-known prohibition of the Koran the grapes are no longer pressed for wine, they are in great request as an article of consumption, both fresh and dried. The best fruit is that of Yemen ; Oman, where the heat is such that the vintage is gathered in April, comes next, both for the quantity and the quality of its produce. In peaches, other apricots, pomegranates, and oranges, the district of Taif, vegetal !e near Mecca, excels all others. Senna, an article much products. used by the Arabs in their rough medicine, grows in the southern Hejaz and the Tehamah ; so also does the balsam tree, the best of which is indigenous to the district of Safra, near Mecca; its gum is sold even within Arabia itself at a high price. The incense tree, said to be a native of Hadraniaut, in the extreme south, has, strange to say, never yet been exactly identified, though its gum is a constant article of export ; and the henna tree (Law- sonia inermis), used in dyeing, grows abundantly on the western coast. The cotton shrub springs up, seemingly wild, in the gullies of Nejd ; but owing to the dryness of the soil and climate, docs not repay extensive cultivation. Indigo is grown in many places, chiefly in the low districts bordering on the Persian Gulf. But although the Arabs themselves consider the date- CoS-e. palm the special pride and ornament of their country, a more general verdict would probably be given outside of Arabia itself in favour of the coffee plant. This shrub is by some supposed to be indigenous to Abyssinia ; it has, however, for several centuries attained its most extensive distribution and its highest standard of produce in Yemen, where it is cultivated throughout about half of the upland district, the best quality of berry being that which ripena