Book I 



AGRICULTURE IN ASIA. 



143 



114 



886. The indigenous, or partially cultivated, plants and trees of Arabia are numerous, 

 and several of them furnish important articles of commerce. The vegetables of the dry 

 barr&r. districts, exposed to the vertical sun, and refreshed merely by nightly dews, belong 

 lor the most part to the genera of A'loe, Mesembryanthemum, .Euphorbia, Stapelta, and 

 Salsola. On the western side of the Arabian desert, numerous rivulets, descending into 

 the Red Sea, diffuse verdure ; and on the mountains from which they run vegetation is 

 more abundant. Hither many Indian and Persian plants, distinguished for their beauty 

 or use, have been transported in former ages, and are now found in a truly indigenous 

 state : such is the case probably with the tamarind, the cotton tree (inferior to the Indian), 

 the pomegranate, the banyan tree or Indian fig, the sugar-cane, and many species of 

 melons and gourds. Arabia Felix may peculiarly boast of two valuable trees, namely, 

 the coffee (Coffea arabica), found botli cultivated and wild ; and the 'Amfns Opobalsamiim, 

 which yields the balm of Mecca. Of the palms, Arabia possesses the date, the cocoa-nut, 

 and the great fan-palm. It has also the sycamore fig, the plantain, the almond, the apricot, 

 the peach, the papaw, the bead tree, the Mimosa nilotica and sensitiva, and the orange. 

 Among its shrubs and herbaceous plants may be enumerated the ricinus, the liquorice, 

 and the senna, used in medicine ; and the balsam, the globe amaranth, the white lily, 

 and the greater pancratium, distinguished for their beauty and fragrance. 



887. The lice stock of Arabia is what constitutes its principal riches, and the most 

 valuable are those species of animals that require only succulent herbs for their nourish- 

 ment. The cow here yields but little milk ; and the flesh of the ox is insipid and juice- 

 less. The wool and mutton of the sheep are coarse. The bezoar goat is found in the 

 mountains. The buffalo 

 is unknown ; but the 

 camel and dromedary 

 (Jig. 114.) are both in use 

 as beasts of burden. The 

 civet cat, musk rat, and 

 other mountain animals, 

 are valuable in commerce. 

 Pheasants,partridges,and 

 common poultry abound 

 in Yemen ; and there are 

 numerous ferocious animals, birds of prey, and pestiferous insects. 



888. But the horse is of all the animals of Arabia the most valuable. This animal is said 

 to be found wild in the extensive deserts on the north of Hadramant : this might have been 

 the case in ancient times, unless it should be thought more probable, that the wild horse 

 of Tatary has passed through Persia, and has been only perfected in Arabia. The horses 

 here are distributed into two classes, viz. the kadischi, or common kind, whose genealogy 

 has not been preserved, and the koc/dani, or noble horses, whose breed lias been ascertained 

 for 2000 years, proceeding, as their fables assert, from die stud of Solomon. They 

 are reared by the Bedouins, in the northern deserts between Bassora, Merdin, and the 

 frontiers of Syria ; and though they are neither large nor beautiful, their race and here- 

 ditary qualities being the only objects of estimation, the preservation of their breed is 

 carefully and authentically witnessed, and the offspring of a koch/ani stallion with an 

 ignoble race is reputed kadischi. These will bear the greatest fatigues, and pass whole- 

 days without food, living, according to the Arabian metaphor, on air. They are said to 

 rush on a foe with impetuosity ; and it is asserted that some of them, when wounded in 

 battle, will withdraw to a spot where their master may be secure ; and if he fall, they will 

 neigh for assistance ; accordingly, their value is derived from their singular agility. 

 extreme docility, and uncommon attachment to their master. The Arabian steeds are 

 sometimes bought at excessive rates by the English at Mocha. The Duke of Newcastle 

 asserts that theordinary price of an Arabian horse is 1000/., 2000/., or even 3000/. ; and 

 that the Arabs are as careful in preserving the genealogy of their horses, as princes in re- 

 cording that of their families. The grooms are very exact in registering the names of the 

 c ires and dams of these animals ; and some of these pedigrees are of very ancient date. 

 It is affirmed that Arabian colts are brought up with camels' milk. 



889. Ufthe agricultural implements and operations of Arabia almost nothing is known. 

 Their plough, as we have seen, is a poor implement, and instead of a spade they use the 

 pick. The principal exertion of the husbandman's industry is to water the lands from 

 the rivulets and wells, or by conducting the rains. Barley is reaped near Sana in the 

 middle of July ; but the season depends on the situation. At Maskat, wheat and barley 

 are sown in December, and reaped in March; but doura (the great millet) is sown in 

 August, and reaped in the end of November. The Arabians pull up their ripe corn by 

 the roots; but the green corn and grass, as forage for their cattle, are cut with the sickle. 

 In threshing their corn, they lav the sheaves down in a certain order, and then lead over 

 them two oxen dragging a large stone. 



