ARABIA. 139 



rare. The general character of the central plateaus, and of the penmsula, 

 is that of vast uplands of gravel, as nearly destitute of vegetation as any in 

 the world, and incapable of retaining water, even at a great depth. It is 

 only in certain de^jressions of the plain, several hundred feet lower than the 

 general level, that wells as a rule are found, and wherever this occurs with 

 a sufficient supply of water, towns and villages, with gardens round them, 

 have sprung up. These, however, are often widely apart, showing in mere 

 spots on the map of Arabia, and unconnected with each other by any inter- 

 vening spots of agricultural land." * 



Mr. Blunt, in his " Notes on the Physical Geography of Northern Arabia," 

 appended to Lady Anne Blunt's book, speaks repeatedly of the depressions 

 in tlie desert, as having once been filled with water. For instance, in his 

 description of the Wady Sirhan he says : " In the days when it was an inland 

 sea, it must have received contributions from all sides." f Farther on, in 

 speaking of the same Wady, he remarks as follows : '• It is probable that in 

 the days when Arabia was more populous than now, villages existed in it at 

 intervals from Ezrak to Jof At present, the wells of these only remain, 

 if we except the twin oases of Kaf and Ithery, still preserved in life by the 

 salt lakes which supply them with an article of trade. These are but jjoor 

 places, and their population can hardly exceed 200 souls." 



It will not be necessary to make farther citations in regard to the desic- 

 cation of Arabia; that the population of that country has greatly dimin- 

 ished, seems evident ; but since the actual population is not known with 

 even an approximation to accuracy, no statistics can be given, t 



For the region north of Arabia, including Asia Minor, Sj-ria, and Mesopo- 

 tamia, fiicts of the kind stated above in reference to Arabia and Persia are 

 everywhere presented to the investigation of the traveller. A few only of 

 those lately published need be quoted. In a " Memorandum on the Eu- 

 phrates Valley Railway," Mr. W. Blunt — to whom reference has already 

 been made — notices repeatedly the depopulation of the region traversed by 

 that river. He remarks as follows : " I think it more than jirobable that 

 in the day of Bab^donian greatness the flooding of both rivers [the Tigris 

 and Euphrates] was more regular, and less subject to disastei's of drouth and 



* A Pilgrimage to Nejd. Bj- Lady Anne Blunt. London, ISSl. A'ol. I. p. 258. 



t 1. c, Vol. II. p. 237. 



t For some time 12,000,000 wa-s given, in the geographical text-books, as tlie population of Arabia ; this 

 number was, in 1S59, suddenly reduced by the best authorities to "about 5,000,000." (See Behm's geograph- 

 isches Jahrbuch, Band I. 1866, p. 59. ) Even this number may be considerably too high. 



