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AHA
rabia. vagrant habits, and live in houses. In these valleys, which
are frequently separated by intervals of barren rock, and the
passes or entrances into which, through the mountains, are
so narrow that they scarcely allow two camels to walk
abreast, the villages are embellished with gardens, palm-
groves, and date-trees, the fruit of which forms in many
districts the staple article of the agriculturist; and with ex¬
tensive plantations of coffee, which, when in flower, exhale
an exquisite perfume. In many parts of Yemen whole
mountains of basaltic columns are seen, which are rendered
subservient to many useful purposes. Being easily sepa¬
rated, and formed into steps, they facilitate the ascent of the
heights where it is difficult; and they supply materials for
walls to support the plantations of coffee-trees on the steep
declivities of the mountains.
The country between the mountains of the Hedjaz and
the Red Sea is part of that narrow belt of sand which en¬
circles Arabia. It is called Tehama, the appellation given
to all the low plains on the coast, which are generally bar¬
ren, having fewer fertile spots and more scanty pasturage
than the mountains, where rain is more common. Of the
regions which are washed by the Indian Ocean and the
Persian Gulf we have no full or accurate information. We
know, however, that they are skirted by sandy plains simi¬
lar to those on the western shore. The country which over¬
looks the Persian Gulf at Mascat has an extremely desolate
appearance, consisting merely of sands, and naked rocks
blackened by the scorching rays of the sun. It rises into
mountains, which may be seen from the sea, and probably
attain an elevation of from 1500 to 2000 feet.
Of the provinces of Hadhramaut, Shehr or Mahra, and
Oman, more will be said afterwards.
The large province of El Hassa or Bahrein extends along
the curve of the Persian Gulf, being in its narrowest part not
above 60 miles broad. The coast is a level Tehama, but ridges
of hills intersect the interior ; and towards Nedjed in the north,
and Yemamah in the south, rise the high ranges of Djebel Ared
and Djebel Athal, forming the eastern edge of the great table¬
land of central Arabia. Bahrein is distinguished by its abun¬
dance of fresh water, which, although often prevented by the
fierce rays of the sun from collecting on the surface, and form¬
ing permanent streams, is yet easily to be obtained, even in
sandy plains, by digging to the depth of a few feet. Wells
are consequently numerous, and enable the natives to cultivate
clover, with which they rear a breed of excellent horses. There
are many lakes. It appears that here, still more than in any
other part of Arabia, the water of the rivers and torrents,
flowing down from the higher parts towards the sea, is not en¬
tirely absorbed by the sand, but continues its course underneath
it, on a substratum of marly clay, the undulations of which it
follows according to the pressure it receives from the higher
level, giving rise to large bodies of subterranean water. Thence,
also, the phenomenon observed along the coast of this tract,
of powerful springs of fresh water bursting forth from the
bottom of the sea, and easily accessible when the tide is low.
At high tides they are sometimes covered with twelve feet of
sea water, but so great is their volume and power, that the
water remains quite sweet at several feet from the bottom;
and, as Captain Skeine relates, divers provided with skin bags
will plunge into the salt sea to fetch a supply of fresh water.
The fact of powerful salt springs rushing up from the bed of
fresh-water rivers, as, for instance, near Kreuznach on the
Nahe, in Rhenish Prussia, stands in striking and convincing
contradistinction with these fresh-water springs in the Sea of
Bahrein. Nor is this phenomenon only of local importance,
as is the case with the fresh-water springs at the Giant’s Cause¬
way, in Ireland; it bears on, and helps to solve, one of the
most important questions relating to the physical geography of
Arabia. We allude to the positive statement of Edrisi and
other Arabic geographers, that a large river, El Aftan, origi¬
nating in the interior, traverses the coast, and flows into the
Gulf of Bahrein, h et, when Captain Sadleir crossed and re¬
crossed the supposed line of the Aftan, on his expedition to the
camp of Ibrahim Pasha, in 1819, he found no traces of any
B I A. 343
considerable river ; and as the existence of the El Aftan had Arabia,
already been previously denied as being too improbable, it was
now set down as a. fable altogether. But even suppose he did
cross that line, which is by no means certain, although he pene¬
trated as far as Es Sabeh, a village to the south of El Hofhuf,
the existence of so much subterranean water, which is of easy
access, according to the Captain s own statement-—the numerous
wells, pools, and even lakes—and last, but not least, the sub¬
marine springs of fresh water along the coast, principally about
the locality where the Aftan might be supposed to reach the sea,
—all these circumstances make it extremely probable that the
lower part of the Aftan having been overwhelmed and buried
by the sand, the water nevertheless continued to press on upon
the clayey substratum, and spreading about in various direc¬
tions, at last reaches the sea at a level considerably below its
surface ; wdien, bursting through the light and sandy bottom,
it produces those singular phenomena on the coast of Bahrein.
Wellsted entertained such views when he visited the country.
There are many other facts bearing upon the existence of a
large river in Central Arabia, of which more will be said in
the description of Assyr.
The coast of El Bahrein is indicated by a large gulf bearing
the same name, extending 80 miles inland, at the mouth of which
lies the large island of Bahrein, which is known for the pro¬
ductive pearl fisheries carried on in the gulf. It is a pleasant,
well-cultivated island, though once a den of pirates; its capital,
Awal or Bahrein, has 5000 inhabitants. On the opposite
coast lies the seaport El Katif, with 6000 inhabitants ; and in
the interior, at a very short distance from each other, are
Mubarruz and Hofhuf, said to be peopled, the former by
30,000, and the latter by 40,000 souls, which may have been
correct at the time when the Wahabys were powerful in these
parts. Quite in the north, not far from the embouchures of
the Shat-el-Arab, the united Tigris and Euphrates, lies the
small seaport El Kueit or Grane.
It has already been observed that, with the exception of^0^"^8
Arabia Petraea, the whole northern part of the peninsula is01 " ra m‘
a comparatively low plain, intersected by ridges of hills of
little elevation. It extends south as far as north latitude
28°. There the Djebel Shammar rises abruptly, a lofty
range traversing the interior in a direction from west to
east, and visible at a great distance. The Arabs say that its
central portion, or Djebel Shammar, properly speaking is as
high as Mount Lebanon, or about 9000 feet. The great
hadj and caravan roads from Damascus and Baghdad to the
holy cities and the inland of Nedjed traverse this vast and
arid district, but our knowledge of it is still very imperfect.
Dr Wallin, professor in the university of Helsingfors, in Finn-
land, explored the tract a few years ago, starting from the
Gulf of Akaba, and thence proceeding to the foot of Djebel
Shammar, whence he returned by the road to the Tigris. He
was the first known European who ever proceeded so far
in that direction, but his account in the Journal of the Royal
Geographical Society of London, is of more importance to
the linguist and antiquarian than the geographer. Along the
Derb Bereidha, or hadj road from Baghdad, there are nu¬
merous deep and very carefully constructed wells, among
which that of Wakiyeh, which was built by order of Melek
Shah, Sultan of the Seldjuks in Persia, is said to be 800 feet
deep by 10 wide. Several wells have been constructed by
Sobeidah, the wife of the great Khalif Harun-al-Rashid,
The entire extent of Arabia south of Djebel Shammar is
an elevated table-land, resembling a barren rocky crust
raised by subterranean power. Ridges of varying elevation
rise above it in a direction from west to east, and it is rent
asunder in all parts by deep gaps forming narrow wadis or
valleys flanked by bare, precipitous rocks. These are the
only localities containing a settled population, being watered
by temporary or permanent streams which render the soil
fit for cultivation. Nearly all the towns are situated in such
wadis, as far instance Derraiyeh, the once flourishing capi¬
tal of the Wahabys. Large tracts, however, are consider¬
ably lower than the general level of the table-land, and being