ANCIENT KINGS OF ARABIA. 105 



it by artificial channels. In this mound were thirty 

 sluices at three different heights, each about a cubit 

 in diameter, through which the waters issued, and 

 Avere conducted with the aid of machinery through 

 smaller canals to the fields, gardens, and houses of 

 the inhabitants. Mareb thus became, as Pliny calls 

 it, the mistress of cities, and a diadem in the brow 

 of the universe. 



This golden age of Arabian antiquity is a favour- 

 ite theme with their poets and historians, who expa- 

 tiate on the extensive fields and forests of Saba, its 

 beautiful edifices, and numerous orchards. A good 

 horseman, says Masoudi, could scarcelj^ ride over 

 the length and breadth of this cultivated country in 

 less than a montli ; and the traveller might wander 

 from one extremity to the other without feeling the 

 heat of the sun ; for the thick foliage of the trees 

 aff'orded a continual shade. Its luxuries Avere pro- 

 verbial, — a pure air, a serene sky, Avealth without 

 its cares and inconveniences, all conspired to render 

 Mareb the retreat of every blessing that can make 

 life agreeable. The happy natives enjoyed among 

 their groves and vineyards a peaceful and palmy 

 security, clothed in embroidered garments of green 

 silk, and rewarded with a double increase of their 

 flocks and their fields. The kings were virtuous 

 like their subjects. Their dominion, mild and equi- 

 table at home, was acknowledged and respected by 

 the surrounding nations ; for no enemy assailed 

 them whom they had not defeated, and every region 

 which they invaded had submitted to their arms. 



The capital itself, we are gravely told by a Turk- 

 ish geographer, was distinguished by twelve pecu- 

 liarities, not less attractive than its abundant streams 

 and delicious fruits. Neither serpents, flies, nor 

 other troublesome insects were to be found in it : 

 strangers infested with vermin, particularly the 

 third plague of the Egyptians, no sooner entered it 

 than they were relieved : none of its citii^ens were 



