Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/654

 618 ARABIA land country, of precipitous though fertile hills, and a healthy climate. Its extent is about 30 000 sq. m., and it is governed by several petty sovereigns or chiefs. Its principal towns are Sana, Mocha, and Loheia, and it is in this province that the celebrated Mocha coffee is raised. The stronghold and port of Aden, an Asiatic Gibraltar, now belonging to Great Britain, is in this district. The Tehama is a sandy belt extending along the Red sea nearly from Akaba to Aden, and stretching backward to the mountains, varying in breadth from 30 to 60 miles. It bears many marks of having anciently formed part of the bed of the sea, and various marine fossils are to be found in the soil. As the sea gradually recedes and leaves the coral banks exposed, these are soon filled up by the sands. This tract is of no service to man; it contains vast strata of salt, and the sandy soil is wholly incapable of cultivation. 4. Hadramaut, forming the great southern por- tion of Arabia. It extends along the Indian ocean from Ion. 45 to 54 30', and stretches far into the interior. The mountains on the coast, brown and bare, rise in several ranges behind each other to the height of 1,000 or 1,500 feet, intersected by well watered and fruitful vales. Beyond is the Dahna or great sandy desert, which covers the greater portion of central Arabia. Hadramaut contains about 20 towns; its harbors are Mnkalla, Dafar, Merbat, and ll:iM-k. The inhabitants are a thriving and commercial people, and the country was for- merly famous for producing frankincense. 6. Oman, occupying the tract lying between the Persian gulf and the Indian ocean, and having for its western boundaries the district of Ha- dramaut and the great central desert. It is a very mountainous region, and toward the sea presents the same appearance as Hadramaut. It is divided among several petty chiefs, the most powerful and enlightened of whom is the imam of Muscat, as he is called by English and Americans, but whose proper title is sultan of Oman. His efforts to extend the commerce of his country with foreign nations have given him considerable reputation. He claims the greater part of the seacoast. Be- j tween Oman and Hasa is a tract called Me- ; nasir and the cape of Katar. This portion is | dreary, sun-scorched, and nearly destitute of vegetation. The bay of Bahr el-Banat, on which it borders, contains the best and most copious pearl fisheries in the Persian gulf, and is a source of considerable wealth to the inhab- itants. 6. El-Hasa or Ahsa, extending along the W. coast of the Persian gulf, between Ka- tar and Irak Arab, and the Euphrates. It is partly mountainous and partly level. This dis- trict is subject to occasional shocks of earth- quake, and almost all the springs are warm with a slightly sulphurous taste, and the rocks are of tufa and basalt. A bath was built at one of these hot sulphur springs and frequented ', by invalids for many years; but. when the , country fell into the hands of the Wahabees, I they destroyed it from superstitious motives. The products of Hasa are fine wool, cotton, rice, wheat, dates, sugar cane, and almost all the leguminous plants. Cloaks, shawls, gold lace, swords, and daggers are manufactured here. The chief towns are Hof huf and Katif. The Wahabee chieftains have greatly reduced the commerce and manufactures of Hasa by drafting merchants and artisans into their army. 7. Nedjed or Nejd, the central and largest of the divisions of Arabia, is traversed from N. E. to S. W. by a range of mountains, forming a plateau about 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. This plateau is intersected by numer- ous fertile valleys, bordered by steep and often precipitous banks ; in these are built the villages and towns. In the E. part of this region iron ore is found in considerable quantities ; and in the west, in Jebel Toweik, are both iron and cop- per. The best breed of Arabian horses is pro- duced in Nedjed. Riyad is the capital of the Wahabee monarch. Nedjed is separated from Hasa by a tongue of the Dahna, the great desert. The monarch or chief of Nedjed has 'subjected Hasa on the east, lower Kasim on the northwest, and the surrounding Bedouin tribes. The pop- ulation of Nedjed and Hasa, including the Be- douin tribes, is computed at about 1,300,000. 8. Shomer, consisting of three mountain ranges running N. E. and S. W. nearly parallel to each other, Jebel Adja, Jebel Solma, and upper Ka- sim. These, with lower Kasim, which belongs to the chief of the Wahabees, are separated from Nedjed by a strip of desert. Between these mountain ranges extend broad plains covered with grass and shrubbery, which afford excellent pasturage for cattle. Grain, dates, and other fruits are raised in the mountains, and water can be found almost everywhere by digging a few feet beneath the surface. Hayel, the capital, is a walled and fortified town of about 20,000 inhabitants, situated almost in the heart of the province. It has of late years dis- tinguished itself by encouraging commerce, sub- duing the marauding Bedouin tribes around, and rendering travel more secure. Another wide expanse of sand lies between Shomer and Wady Jowf and Wady Serhan on the north, the former a fertile valley and the latter a barren sandy depression. Both are under the jurisdiction of the prince of Shomer. Be- yond this commences the Syro-Arabian desert. West of Nedjed and Shomer is another expanse of desert that separates these two districts from Hedjaz and Yemen. The more habitable parts of the Syro-Arabian desert are occupied by various Bedouin tribes the Beni Lam on the east, and the Howeitat, Sherarat, and the Ed wan (once a very powerful tribe, but now greatly reduced in numbers) on the west. Von Hammer adds to these two other divisions : Esh-Shehr, or Mahra, E. of Hadramaut proper, a dreary region, but containing some well cul- tivated and well inhabited districts, and occu- pied by a people whose language differs mate- rially from the modern Arabic ; and El-Yama-