DESCRIPTION OF ARABIA. 45 



The grand geographical divisions laid down by Nie- 

 buhr, and more minutely described by subsequent 

 travellers, are eight ; though considerable tracts of 

 country are not strictly or politically included in 

 these territorial departments. 



Hejaz, the Holy Land of the Moslems, lies on 

 the middle coast of the Red Sea; its chief city, 

 Mecca (the Macoraba of the Greeks), being the capi- 

 tal of the Mohammedan religion. It is a barren 

 district, consisting of sandy plains towards the 

 shore, and rocky hills in the interior ; and so desti- 

 tute of provisions as to depend even for the neces- 

 saries of life on the supplies of other countries. 

 Among its fertile spots is Wady Fat'ima, Avhich is 

 Avell watered, and produces grain and vegetables. 

 Safra abounds in date-trees. Taif, seventy-two 

 miles from Mecca, is celebrated for its gardens ; 

 and the neighbourhood of Medina has cultivated 

 fields. The towns on the coast are Jidda and Yem- 

 bo ; the former being considered the port of Mecca, 

 from which it is distant about fifty-five miles ; and 

 the latter that of Medina. Hejaz is bounded east- 

 ward by a lofty range of mountains, which, near 

 Taif, take the name of Gebel Kora. The scenery 

 there is occasional!}^ beautiful and picturesque ; the 

 small rivulets that descend from the rocks afford 

 nourishment to the plains below, which are clothed 

 with verdure and shady trees. The vicinity of 

 INIecca is bleak and bare ; for several miles it is sur- 

 rounded with thousands of hills, all nearly of one 

 height ; their dark and naked peaks rise one behind 

 another, appearing at a distance like cocks of hay. 

 The most celebrated of these are Safa, Arafat, and 

 Meroua, which have always been connected with 

 the religious rites of the Mohammedan pilgrimage. 

 The whole of this territory may be considered as 

 almost an absolute desert ; D'Anville assigns it an 

 extent of coast of about 750 miles. 



Tehama is the flat sandy belt that extends along 



