GOVERNMENT OF ARABIA. 117 



ous, but titles of honour are few. The first minister 

 is simply styled fakih — an appellation so vagiie as 

 to include all holding place or employment who are 

 in any degree above the vulgar. Every petty dis- 

 trict has its governor, who, if not of princely or 

 noble birth, is called waUh and doodah, or sometmies 

 emir, when he happens to be of low extraction. A 

 dowlah in Yemen resembles a pasha in Turkey, 

 only acting in a more restricted sphere. He com- 

 mands the forces in his province, regulates the po- 

 lice, and collects the taxes. They are all obliged 

 to render frequent account of their administration ; 

 and to prevent their accumulating too much wealth 

 where the governments are lucrative, they are re- 

 called every two or three years. When guilty of 

 high misdemeanors, or convicted of malversation, 

 they are punished by imprisonment or confiscation, 

 but seldom capitally. Every city in which a dowlah 

 resides has likewise a cadi, who is sole judge in 

 civil and ecclesiastical affairs. In large villages the 

 chief is a sheik ; and in every little town a sub-dow- 

 lah resides, with a small garrison of soldiers to pre- 

 serve order. The emir hahr is the inspector of sea- 

 ports ; and in the inland districts the sheik el helled 

 is the officer who levies taxes, and determines what 

 each individual must pay. Sales and markets are 

 regulated by their own emir ; the principal gates in 

 cities and fortresses are intrusted to similar officers; 

 even the post of chief jailer and watchman is hon- 

 ourable, and an object of ambition. Where the 

 governments are considerable, the dowlahs are at- 

 tended by a bas-kateb, or comptroller, whose business 

 it is to keep a strict eye upon their conduct, and 

 acquaint the imam with the general state of affairs. 

 This spy, by his misrepresentations, often supplants 

 the governor ; but he is himself placed at the mercy 

 of another bas-kateb, and shares in his turn the fate 

 of his predecessor. 



Tlie revenues of the imam arise both from a land 



