B o u s d a -
Populatioa.
The central part of Arabia is filled with the vaft province, or rather
defert, called Neged,' occupying ai'moft the whole country, except a few
fmafl portions towards the* ftibres, as Hejaz;on the Red Sea, which
hontidn? Mecca and Medina, Yemen on the S. towards the ftraits of.
Babelmandeb; Hadramaut on the fhorcs of the Indian ocean, and
Omonon the S. of the entrance loi the Perfian gulf ; with Lahfa, or
,yjajar. the Hejer of D’Anville, on the weftern ihore's o f the ‘ fame
guif-* - Ij ' s m T ’he population is original and indigenous, the Arabians being the
fame race with the Aflyrians -of remote antiquity,' the probable fathers
:Qf the Syrians; Egyptians, and Abyffinians, whofe langpages-hre intimately
allied, 4s is that of the Hebrews ; being totally .different in
form'and ftrufture, from that of the Perfiaiis, their powerful neighbours
an the E. By all accounts, facred and profane, - the I Aflyrians were the
moft ancient civilized and commercial people ; and when modern philosophy
is divefted of its prejudices, there will berio reafon to infer fu-
périor^pretenfions from China, and far lefs from Hindoftali; Nor will
good fenfe readHy admit that a nation more anciently civilized gxifted in
the centre or north of Alia, the relicsof . civilizàtioh bëhlg ïnümeroüs,
and almoft indelible. Situated in a country nearly' eentraf, .between
Afia Africa, and Europe- and in the wide ' É É ê t ê S t k ^ i î«Ptaj| ■ M e d
i t e r r a n e a n , and the Arabian and -Perfian gulfs ; it wàs natural tftdt the
•variety o f pfodudions and wants fhould occafio n Nhe riftFy^om-
merce in Syria ; and the merchants of Tyre had explored the fhores
of Britain, when the Chinefe feenx not to have difeovered thofe iff
japan, a' circumftance which of itfeEf declares a vaft fuperiority in navigation,
whence the like may be inferred of the other arts and Sciences;
The preteflfións óf the Hindoos have been already weighed, and confuted
* that feeble and indolent race, paffive in knowledge as in war,
appearing to have received their cóiifüfed ideas óf the fciences from thé
eaft and from the Weft : while,, according to the common rules of
hiftory, till China can produce one book as ancient as the feripture, her
* The curious reader, may compare the interefting defeription of Arabia by Abulfeda, of
which the beft tranllation is in the Voyage danrta Pdlefline of D ’Àrvieux, Éaris, 1.717, «ftói with
'Niebuhr’-s recent accouiits.- - ■ ! ■ M > ;
4 m «claim
claitn mull fell tn the groubch This ■ early -iiKilization > will e’xçife the
.thfcVeaMhe modern Arabians'-are
a moft fagacious and intelligent race of men, remarkable alfo for fpirit
and yalour,- whpf^cpu©tfcy •al'èfflfefïhas never h§eu fubdued -by'-any invader,
and who aions-yjtf all Afiaric.'nations,/have‘preferved the facred
flaire of freedom, which their progenitors kindled in their inaccellible
mountains.^ In .comparatively modern .times they have, vindicated'the
fame ■©£ their ancient preeminent^ by gmngteligiaa.and laW^ tohhlf of
Aliav and Africa, .and a-great part of Europe. The Arabian ehdM^ih '
Spaing Africa, and Egypt, as* wëil as at Bagdad,. cukivatê4*èhe arts and
femnees ; and lhewéd a ; p ê a t'fuperiority to th<& barbarous powers of
Europe at that period.- feoin Samâccahd to tkri.centre o f Africa the;
Arahian-language - and. manners, are- heldntfweneratiotiss > I This- diftinguiihed country is known in the edrlieft* ree'ords of hiftory
arid geography ; and'beihg celebrated foi* »produis-'which could, only be
procured -by navigation,: muft have been no Erangér «o -mercantile êti-
terprize on-its'-furtheft flieres-towards*thfe’ Indian oefeari.* Stiâhë, ^nd
even Eratofthenes, appear to have known thofe fouthern coatts, though
-not fo diftiri.aiy as thofe on the eaft of the Arabian gulf. Ptbfëmfis
defenption of Arabia evinpes a cbnfider-able portion o f aeènfete^hôw*
ledges and of the interior parts, as well^s thofe of Africa:, he probably,.
fesm his refidencc and opportunities in,Egypt, had acquired a knowledge’
far fuperioi- to any poflefled at theprefent moment. : He has however
greatly diminilhed the length of the Arabian gulf; and by increafing
the fize of the Perfian has cohfidcrably injured the juft form of the
country, as delineated by the accuracy of modern ©bfeivations. In the r
tenth century ©bn Haukal, though' an Arab,.gives, no account of-
-Arabia;, whence it may perhaps be inferred that his/wbrk is mutilated,
and only the part , relative to l'erfia, and the countries . beyond the Oxus*
preferved by his Perfian tranflator. But later/Arabian geographers'
particularly Abulfeda, in feme- degree compenfate for this deficiency!
et even, the juft geography of the fhores .is récent, and has bcénim-
proved fince the time.of D’Anville, a name for extenfiyp.feience, and
eSa<a lncfeftry, fo be held in perpetual veneration. Niebuhr,” ,to. whom •
* Hindoos, ,.or Bamans, arc .ftill numerous,in Arabia, .as appears from Niebuhr. ‘ |
IPoPülAProgreffive
Geography,
we;