Situation of Zones without Rain, and of Deserts. 89 
words plains and deserts are nearly synonymous, and ac- 
cording to whom, this plateau was formerly a terrestrial pa- 
radise, inhabited by impious giants named Aadites, who were 
exterminated by a deluge of sand ; but this mythological tra- 
dition, or a similar one, is to be met with in all the sandy 
portions of Asia, where, nevertheless, there are characteris- 
tic rains ; so that it is of no value in the question. 
Before quitting this region, it is proper to observe, that 
the inverse pluvial arrangement of the two coasts of Arabia 
exists also in India, round the chain of the Ghauts. There 
we find alternately the coast of Malabar, like the western 
coast of the Yemen, watered, during the prevalence of the 
south-west and south-east winds ; while the coast of Coro- 
mandel, like that of Oman, is subject to the rains of the 
north-east winds of winter; and if we wish to generalize 
still further, we find on the western coast of the Red Sea 
the island of Dahalac, and the chain of the Mokattam, inun- 
dated by the winter rains, although the monsoons there de- 
viate slightly from north-west to south-east, in consequence 
of the position of that basin. 
Persia, which is essentially continental, presents to us a 
structure and a geographical position, quite different from 
those of the Arabian peninsula; its south-eastern portion, 
which alone we have to consider, touches to the south the 
Indian Sea, while to the west, the Persian Gulf slightly en- 
croaches on it. It constitutes a plateau, having a height of 2200 
feet towards its centre, around Yezde and the lake of Zareh; 
but commanded, at its circumference, to the north by the 
prolongation of the Elbrouz and of the Paropamisus, whose 
known altitudes are at least 2600 feet ; to the west, by the 
region of Teheran, of Ispahan, and of Schiraz, rising to a 
height of from 3800 to 4400 feet ; to the south, by the litto- 
ral and imposing terrace of Beloochistan ; and, lastly, to the 
east, by the considerable heights of Affghanistan, which, 
near Candahar, Kwettah, and Khelat, attain successively the 
heights of 3400, 5500, and 5700 feet. Lastly, we must notice 
its being placed entirely to the north of the tropic, which, of 
itself, would be sufficient to make us presume with certainty 
that deserts without water must be excluded from it. 
