a body of fresb water, and even salt lakes are almost equally
rare, the Bahr-el-Merj, eastward of Damascus, the lake near
Palmyra, and one or two elsewhere, being all that are known
to us at present.
Except the Euphrates, which washes Arabia for about 977
miles, and a stream rising eastward of San’á, which is said to
pass through Hadramaút to the sea at Kaijah, also the Sayl
or Bicheh, which flows from the province of Asir eastward
through the valley of Dawasir, and onward into lake Salomé,
it may be said that there is no other considerable river within
its limits, and there are comparatively few rivulets. It is
true that the valleys now and then have large streams which
are fed by the mountain dews, but for the most part these
exist only in the winter season, and they are confined chiefly to
the western side of the great range forming the watershed
which so unequally divides the territory. On the other side,
as at Nedjd, they are lost in plains, marshes, or lakes.1
The workings of such winter torrents produce valleys, and
these, whether dry or containing water, whether barren or
cultivated, the Arabs call either ghadirs or wádís; they are
very numerous, and are altogether the most remarkable features
of the country. The wádís have hills on both sides,
rising above the surface of the adjacent plain ; the ghadir, on
the contrary, is only a hollow in the plain.2
The distress occasioned in Arabia by a deficiency of water is
frequently increased by the tantalizing appearance presented
by the sirab or mirage in that country. The light refracted
in the rarified air immediately above the heated ground gives
rise to the resemblance of an extensive lake, and the thirsty
traveller, advancing towards it, finds the flattering delusion
recede before him. In the early part of the morning, while
some dew remains on the ground, the perception is remarkably
strong; every object is then also magnified, so that shrubs
appear as trees, and under them frequently appear their images
inverted, as if reflected from the surface of water.
With the exceptions of the mountains of Yemen those of
* Captain Sadleir’s Journey, vol. III., p. 464-469, Bombay Literary Society.
s Burckhardt’s Travels in Syria, p. 666.
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Nedjd and the ridges and shallow wadis which elsewhere intersect
the country, the surface of Arabia is nearly level. A
narrow strip of land forms its boundary on the eastern and
western sides, and on the southern coast a belt of rocks connects
the two preceding tracts. The eastern depression, or
that which forms one side of the basin of the Euphrates and
the western shore of the Persian Gulf, is comparatively narrow,
but in the upper part very fertile ; that of Tehameh on the
opposite side of the territory is wider; it extends almost the
whole way along the Arabian Gulf, and it is but partially
cultivated, although the soil is sufficiently good. The remainder
is an elevated plateau, containing probably five-sixths
of the superficies of the whole peninsula. It slopes gently
both northward and eastward, till, in the former direction, it
merges in the plains of Syria, and in the latter it joins the
range of hills which separates it from the plain running along
the basin of the Euphrates and the western shores of the Persian
Gulf. A clayey soil with an indurated burnt surface,
covered in many places with pebbles and flints, generally prevails,
and here, as in Persia, the apparent aridity of the
ground may well justify the opinion that it had never borne a
crop. Such is the statement of many writers, who, nevertheless,
have inconsistently admitted that the country supports
a numerous population, with, flocks of sheep and goats,
besides camels and horses. Della Valle, Captain Jenour,1 and
Colonel Capper3 have, however, given more favourable accounts.
Numerous flocks constitute the wealth of the Beda-
win, who wanders from pasture to pasture over a wilderness
which, as we shall presently see, produces a sufficiency for
the wants of its pastoral inhabitants.
The impression so generally prevails that the interior of
Arabia is covered with deep moving sands like those in the
deserts of Libya and Zahara, that it is with some hesitation
an account very different in this respect is now about to be
presented to the reader. It is true that, as in the case of the
extensive territory of Tran, the cultivated land is by far the
smaller proportion, and the remainder presents, in different.
1 Route to India in September, 1785. 8 Journey to India.