September i, 1884.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



213 



tracts of sand ; but it possesses several good harbours — that 

 of Aden in particular, now a Bristish coaling station about 

 100 miles east of Bab-el-Mandeb ; that of Dafar, further 

 up ; and that of Kcshum ; though the two last, owing to the 

 want of traffic with the interior, now serve a9 mere ports of 

 refuge. Alongthis shore lie several islands, the largest being 

 that of Mozeyrah, near Ras-el-Hadd, but they are only 

 the haunts of a few half-savage fishermen or are wholly 

 desert. 



Following the Red Sea coast down to its southern- 

 most extremity at Aden, we have in view the third great 

 geographical section, that of Yemen. It includes two 

 regions, sea-shore and inland, the former of which is 

 commonly called the " Tehamah." This is a wide strip of 

 coast left by the mountain chain, which continuing on from 

 the Hejaz, runs down as far as Aden, but hereabouts recedes 

 somewhat to the east, thus forming an arc, in the curve 

 of which lies the Tehamah. The mountainous district 

 extends far inland, and gives out several minor branches, 

 some of which reach about three hundred miles to the east. 



Yemen, under which name the whole south-western 

 quarter of the peninsula is popularly included, possesses 

 many advantages, both of climate and soil, denied to the 

 greater portion of Arabia. It is a highland country, formed 

 by a labyrinth of precipitous hills and fertile valleys. The 

 air is pure and even cool ; the seasons are as regular as 

 those of eastern India, and succeed each other in much 

 the same order. No accurate survey has yet been made 

 to determine the elevation of its mountains, some of which 

 have been roughly, but perhaps incorrectly, estimated at 

 five thousand feet in height ; their general direction is 

 from north-west to south-east. The largest plains, or rather 

 plateaus, inclosed by them are that ofNejranon the north, 

 that of Sanaa to the south, and that of Mareb to the east, 

 on the frontier of the great desert. The oasis of the southern 

 Jowf, a basin-like depression occurring in the sandy waste 

 that reaches inland from the high grounds of Yemen up 

 to Oman, on the other side of Arabia, may also be reckoned 

 as belonging to Yemen. 



Though the mountains are well supplied with water, no 

 considerable rivers or streams find their way from them 

 to the Red Sea, tropical evaporation combining with the 

 light and porous quality of the soil to dry up the torrent 

 beds ; nor do any natural lakes exist, though artificial 

 pools and tanks in which water is preserved all the year 

 round, have been constructed in plenty. Indications of 

 volcanic action, long since extinct, abound throughout 

 Yemen, where basalt formations compose a considerable 

 and the most fertile portion of the coffee-bearing district; 

 in other places Jurassic rock predominates, while granite 

 occurs in patches here and there. Spar, agate, onyx, and 

 caruelian are exported from Yemen ; silver and gold are 

 reported to have been found on its hills, but on doubtful 

 authority. 



It is in this region that Arabian vegetation obtains its 

 most varied, as also its most valuable development. North 

 of Medinah the parched and niggard soil, chiefly composed 

 of marl, flint, and sand, with a supply of rain alike scanty 

 and uncertain, produces little more than varieties of acacia, 

 euphorbias, and thorny shrubs, — a valueless crop. Rut in 

 the neighbourhood of Medinah commences the great 

 date-palm belt that crosses the peninsula, and extends 

 southward as far as lat. 23° in full vigour. A 

 hundred and more varieties of this tree are said to 

 grow in the immediate vicinity of Medinah alone: 

 the quality of the fruit varies for each kind as also 

 do its size, colour, and flavour. The poorest of all, the 

 " sihanee " date, a yellow, stringy fruit, is much eaten by 

 the Bedouins ; the " birnee " is red and succulent ; the 

 "jebelee," an upland date, is a staple article of export. 

 Nejd is, however, the favoured land of date-palms : every 

 valley that intersects its vast plateaus waves with them ; 

 and the fruit, which often attains a length of two inches 

 ■with a proportionate thickness, far surpasses the best pro- 

 ducts of Hejaz in lusciousness as in size. Eaten fresh or 

 stewed with butter, they form the staff of Arab food ; and 

 the pulp, after the kernels have been extracted, close- 

 pressed and half dried, is exported under theriai 

 to almost every part of the East. In general a latitude 

 Varying from -7° to 22° N., and a sufficient distance 

 from the sea to preclude its atmospheric influences, seem 

 to be the most favourable circumstances for bringing this fruit 



to perfection ; and hence it comes that the produce of the 

 Jowf and of Hareek — which, though inland, lie too far, 

 the one to the north, the other to the south,— of the Hejaz 

 on the Red Sea. and of Rateef on the Persian Gulf coast, 

 is decidedly inferior to that of the inland districts of 

 Kaseem and Nejd. Yet an exception must be made in 

 favour of the " kholas " date, as it is called, that grows 

 in Hasa, and an amber-coloured date of exquisite flavour, the 

 king of dates: the tree itself that hears it is readily dis- 

 tinguished from every other species by the delicacy of its 

 stem and foliage. But in the greater number of instances 

 whatever the variation in the fruit, the palm trees them- 

 selves are to an unpractised eye undistinguishable the one 

 from the other. 



Besides the date tree, the " doom," a fan-leaved palm 

 bearing a large fibrous and sweetish fruit, is not ol un- 

 common growth in the central and southern districts ; 

 , while the coconut and betol are planted, though not to 

 I 6uch an extent as to reckon among the articles of ordin- 

 ary cultivation, along the southern and eastern coast. So 

 are also the banana, the papay, and the Indian fig ; but 

 ! all these are of recent importation from the opposite 

 coast of India. Vines are cultivated throughout Arabia, 

 and have been so from time immemorial ; and though 

 since the well-known prohibition of the Koran the grapes 

 are no longer pressed for wine, they are in great re- 

 quest as an article of consumption, both fresh and dried. 

 The best fruit is that of Yemen ; Oman, where the heat 

 is such that the vintage is gathered in April, comes next 

 both for the quantity and the quality of its produce. In 

 peaches, apricots, pomegranates and oranges, the district 

 of Taif, near Mecca, excels all others. Senna, an article 

 much used by the Arabs in their rough medicine, grows 

 in the southern Hejaz and the Tehamah ; so also does 

 the balsam tree, the best of which is indigenous to the 

 district of Safra, near Mecca ; its gum is sold even within 

 Arabia itself at a high price. The incense tree, said to be 

 a native of Hadramaut, in the extreme south, has, strange 

 to say, never yet been exactly identified, though its gum 

 is a constant article of export ; and the henna tree (Law 

 sonia inermis), used in dyeing, grows abundantly on the 

 western coast. The cotton shrub springs up, seemingly 

 wild, in the gullies of Nejd; but owing to the dryness 

 of the soil and climate, does not repay extensive cultiv- 

 ation. Indigo is grown in many places, chiefly in the 

 low districts bordering on the Persian Gulf. 



But although the Arabs themselves consider the date- 

 palm the special pride and ornament of their country 

 a more general verdict woidd probably be given outside 

 of Arabia itself in favour of the coffee plant. This shrub 

 is by some supposed to be indigenous to Abyssinia ; it 

 has, however, for several centuries attained its most exten- 

 sive distribution and its highest standard of produce in 

 Yemen, where it is cultivated throughout about half of 

 the upland district, the best quality of berry being that 

 which ripens on the western slopes of the mountains in 

 the neighbourhood of Sanaa. 



The plant itself is too well known to require description ; 

 it is enough here to remark that its principal fioweriug 

 season in Yemen is in March. The first crop of the berries 

 ripens in May, a second and a third crop succeed in the 

 course of the year. The diffused atmospheric heat of an 

 equatorial region is requisite for the growth of the coffee 

 plant ; yet it needs also a large supply of moisture, and 

 even of shade, to protect it from the too direct action of 

 the sun. In order to obtain these conditions, large trees 

 are often planted here and there among the shrubs, which 

 are arranged on rock terraces one above another, amphithea- 

 tre-wise, along the slopes, and are densely crowded t getlu r. 

 The processes of gathering and drying the berries, ot separ- 

 ating the husks, and of picking the kernels, are all per- 

 formed by manual labour of the simplest kiud. How the 

 drink is prepared has been often and minutely des- 

 cribed by travellers ; the method employed is tedious, hut 

 lilt infinitely surpasses that obtained in any other 

 country or by any other method. A slightly acid and very 

 ing beverage is also made from an infusion of lb« 

 '• kishi " or outer busk. Its use is almost confiued to 

 Yemen ; it is esteemed a febrifuge. 



A small shrub, called •• kaat," is common throughout 

 the coffee plantations: it resembles verbena in scent and 

 grow Hi ; its leaves are chewed by the natives, much as 



