52 DESCRIPTION OF ARABIA. 



has been done, however, towards the elucidation of 

 this province, by the industry of Burckhardt, De 

 Sacy, Jomard, and Mengin, is enough to enhghten the 

 ignorance of Pinkerton, who confounded Yemama 

 with Yemen, and thought that Nejed (which signi- 

 fies the Highlands, as distinguished from Tehama, 

 or the Lowlands) was so named from a mountain, 

 and might be regarded as unknown to European 

 geography. 



The Peninsula of Sinai maybe considered a prov- 

 ince of Arabia, though not reckoned one of its polit- 

 ical divisions. No part of that country has been so 

 minutely explored or so elaborately described as 

 this interesting region. Its general aspect is singu- 

 larly wild, and well merited the name of Petraea. 

 A recent traveller describes it as " a sea of desola- 

 tion. It would seem," says he, " as if Arabia Pe- 

 trsea had once been an ocean of lava, and that while 

 its waves were literally running mountains high, it 

 was commanded suddenly to stand still."* The 

 whole of this wilderness is a collection of naked 

 rocks and craggy precipices, interspersed with nar- 

 row defiles and sandy valleys, which are seldom 

 refreshed with rain or adorned with vegetation. 

 Fountains or springs of water are extremely rare ; 

 and those that do exist are either brackish or sul- 

 phurous, but of a wholesome quality. Some of the 

 plains are covered v/ith loose flints and pebbles. 

 Few shrubs or plants are to be met with, and those 

 that are found are indebted to the clefts of some 

 barren rock, or a thin mixture of clay in the soil, for 

 their support. The ridge of mountains called Seir 

 and Hor in Scripture stretches from the borders of 

 the Dead Sea towards Ailah. On the western side 

 runs the long valley Wady Ghor and Wady Arabah, 



* Sir Frederick Henniker's Notes on Egypt, &c. See also 

 Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, Pococke's Description of the East, 

 Shaw's Travels, Fazakerly's Journey to Sinai, in Walpole's 

 Travels, &;c. 



