46 DESCRIPTION OF ARABIA. 



the Red Sea, nearly from Akaba to Aden ; though 

 it is chiefly restricted to the maritime plains south- 

 ward of Hejaz. It stretches backwards to the 

 mountains, varying in breadth from thirty to eighty 

 miles. It bears every mark of having been anciently 

 a part of the bed of the sea, from Avhich it has grad- 

 ually emerged. The soil is interspersed with ma- 

 rine fossils and other exuvia?, and contains large 

 strata of salt, which in some places shoot up into 

 hills. As the sea continues to recede, the Tehama 

 extends its limits in proportion. The coral banks 

 gradually increasing, and the intermediate space 

 being filled with accumulating sands, new ground is 

 thus formed, 'and annexed to the continent. But 

 this conquest over the watery element is of little 

 advantage to man, as the land is altogether unsus- 

 ceptible of cultivation. Tehama is by some in- 

 cluded in the two adjoining provinces, and therefore 

 not reckoned a separate territory. Between it and 

 Hejaz lies the large district of Abu-Arish. 



Yemen corresponds nearly to the ancient Arabia 

 Felix, and still comprehends the finest and most 

 fertile portion of the peninsula. Hali, on the Red 

 Sea, divides it from Hejaz. It presents consider- 

 able diversity of soil and climate ; towards the coasts 

 it is scorched and barren, but the interior is a high- 

 land country, full of precipitous yet fertile hills, and 

 enjoying a healthy and temperate air. Its extent is 

 reckoned at 20,000 square miles. It is parcelled 

 out, in unequal portions, into a great number of 

 petty sovereignties, of which Niebuhr has enume- 

 rated fourteen; the principal being Aden, Kauke- 

 ban, Khaulan (supposed to be the Havilah of Scrip- 

 ture), Sahan, Nejeran, Kahtan, Heschid-u-Bekil, 

 Jof or Mareb, and Jafa. Some of these are subdi- 

 vided into three or four minor states, which are 

 often ruled by independent princes. Sanaa, Mocha, 

 Loheia, Taas, Hodeida, Zebid, and Damar are the 



