y[\ PREFACE. 



Arabia in the second chapter, will be found much 

 more full and accurate than any that have yet been 

 laid before the British public. Besides the routes 

 of the pilgrim caravans as laid down by Burckhardt, 

 and the Itinerary of Captain Sadlier, who crossed 

 the desert from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, 

 much topographical information respecting the in- 

 terior has been obtained from the expedition of Mo- 

 hammed All against the Wahabees. The Chart 

 of Nejed, which was constructed to illustrate the 

 campaigns of the Egyptian army, and the treatise 

 of Jomard on the Central Geography of Arabia, ap- 

 pended to Mengin's History, have brought to light 

 much that was entirely new, and corrected various 

 errors with regard to the true position of several 

 places, as well as in the statistics of certain prov- 

 inces, which our geographers had either left totally 

 blank, or strown with towns and villages on no 

 better authority than the reports of the natives. 

 These improvements and discoveries have been 

 carefully transferred to the prefixed Map ; and their 

 value will readily be appreciated when compared 

 with the common geographical delineations of the 

 Arabian deserts. 



The chapter on Natural History, it may be 

 proper to remark, is merely intended as a popular 

 view of the subject. To the merit of a scientific 

 treatise it does not aspire ; the purpose of the 

 author being chiefly to illustrate the manners and 

 customs of the people, while describing the physical 

 structure and natural productions of the country. 

 Edinburgh, July, 1833. 



