appearance, and seems to bar all ingress into the country ; but
on closer examination something like a bay is seen here and
there opening into wadis which are less or more fertile and
cultivated.
Other groups, forming portions of ranges, occur in the
interior : of these there is one on the borders of Hadramaut;
and there are others in Belad-el-Jof; there are, also, some in
the desert of Ahkaf and in ’Omán ; of all of which we know
little more than that they take an easterly direction, especially
those which skirt the latter district.1
Nearly in the centre of the territory there is a considerable
arm, which diverges from the main chain near Taif, and runs
east-north-eastward from thence, passing a little distance north
of I>er’ Ayyah, where the mountains have a barren appearance.
2 Onward the chain inclines more eastward in passing
through El Hassa, from whence it proceeds to the shores of
the Persian Gulf, which it meets in the neighbourhood of
Bahrein. Reinan, and subsequently Captain Sadleir, skirted
these mountains during their journeys, and found them to
be of moderate elevation, chiefly of sandstone rock, having
their sides furrowed in parallel lines by the numerous torrents
which exist in winter. Mountains again occur more northward,
which run into the interior from the neighbourhood of
Medina, passing through the districts of El Kassyn, El
Sedeir, and extending, it is presumed, to the Persian Gulf,;
near Grane, where they present a low range of crumbling sand-
rock. Towards the northern limits of Nedjd is El Jebel
Shammar, a district described by a Muslim traveller, Yusuph-
el-Miliky, as having mountains as high as those of Lebanon,
and covered with forests; but the hills decrease in height, and
become quite bare as they approach Mesopotamia. Between
Shammar and the borders of Syria other and lower ranges
are met with, which, on approaching the edge of the territory,
present masses of sand-rock much resembling those of Persia,
and having the appearance of huge crumbling walls. Again
a double chain commences in the desert beyond Damascus,
1 Lieutenant Wellsted’s Travels in ’Omán, &c.
s Captain Sadleir, vol. III., p. 412, of the Bombay Literary Society.
and runs east by north. One of its branches passes along the
western side of Palmyia, whilst the other, the present boundary
of Arabia on the north, skirts the eastern side of the
great valley plain in which that city stood : the plain continues
to be thus enclosed as far as the town of Zelebi. Here the
chain is broken by the river Euphrates; but, as we have seen,
it is renewed beyond the river, and takes the direction of
Sinjar.1 These mountains gradually, from their commencement,
become more elevated till they enclose Palmyra, when
they are apparently at the highest, having probably an eleva-
vation of 2000 feet above the plain; they present to the view
great masses of limestone and gypsum, and have a more regular
outline than is usual with such rocks.-
Of precious stones, Arabia has the topaz, the onyx, and a
stone which is not found any where else, and is called yemanior
akil.2 The agate is found near Mocha; emeralds, in the
Hijar; beryls and cornelians near Sana and Aden f malachite
in the cavern of Beni Salem; also jasper, amethysts, and
turquoises, in the environs of the village of Safwa, about three
days’ journey from Medina. Diamonds,4 the sardonyx,5 and
the topaz,6 were obtained from this country in former times.
Of metals, silver, iron, lead, and copper,7 are met with in different
parts of Arabia; and the last, recently in ’Oman.8 Gold
is mentioned by the ancient writers ; and in all probability it
will be found when the country is better explored, but it is
not known to exist in Arabia at present.9 Bitumen is obtained
in Arabia Petrsea; and in Arabia Deserta, lignite coal.19
At the northern extremity of -the Dead Sea is found the
stink-stone, whose combustible properties are ascribed by the
1 See above, p. 48.
9 Niehbuhr, Beschreibung des von Arabien, p. 142.
8 Niehbuhr, vol. I., p. 362. 4 Pliny, XXXVII., xxiii.
5 Pliny, XXXVII., xv. 6 Ibid., VI., cap. xxxiv.
i Niehbuhr, p. 142. 8 Lieut. Wellsted, vol. I., pp. 112,113.
9 Niehbuhr, p. 142.
10 It is understood that a gray coal is fouud a little way inwards from the
river, in the line between De'ir and Damascus. We did not, however, actually
find it ourselves; but a letter was received on the subject from Ibrahim Pashi,
and the Arabs described it particularly.