are 



the 



Y E M 



probably mere fiaiona, which ftiould be excluded from 

 urn; maps, together with the river of Aftan, which, it it 

 exifted, would certainly be followed by the caravans from 

 Lahfa to Mecca, while they fcem to prefer a fandy delert. 

 Pinkerton's Geography. 



YEMBA. See Emba. 



YEMELLA, a town of Hindooftan, in Golconda 5 24 



miles E.N.E. of Rachore. , c a 



YEMEN, a pronnce of Arabia, comprehendmg the hnelt 

 and moll fertile part of Arabia, reprefenting, as Gibbon 

 has obferved, the Arabia Felix of antiquity, fun-ounded by 

 the Red fea, or Arabic gulf, and by the province of Ha- 

 draraaut, Nedsjed, and Hedsjas. Yemen is naturally divided 

 into two parts, differing greatly in foil and climate : that 

 bordering on the Red fea is a dry and fandy plain, nearly 

 two days' journey in breadth, and is fcorched by the molt 

 torrid heats ; the other, extending immediately beyond this, 

 is a high-lying country, full of precipitous yet fertile hills, 

 and enjoying a much more temperate air. Yemen is, like the 

 reft of Arabia, parcelled out among a number of different 

 fovereigns in unequal portions. Some of them are princes 

 of confiderable power ; but many are petty fchiecks, who 

 are, however, perfeftly independent : the moft confiderable 

 of thefe princes is the imam, who rcfides at Sana. There are 

 feveral other independent ftates, as Aden, Kaukeban, Ko- 

 bail or Hafchid-u-Bekil, Abu-Arifch, a large diftrift be- 

 tween Abu-Arifch and Hedsjas, inhabited by free Bedouins ; 

 Khaulan, Sahan, comprehending the principality of Saade ; 

 Nedsjeran, Kachtan, Nehhm, Eaft Khaufan, Dsjof or 

 Mareb, Jafa, and feveral others. The fame intermixture 

 of fertile and barren territory, and the fame produftions, 

 appear every where through the whole province : the imam, 

 however, feems to be matter of the richeft, the moft agree- 

 able, and the moft interefting part of this traft of country. 

 It would not be eafy to explain diftinftly the extents and 

 Lmits of this fovereign's territories, as they are fo inter- 

 fefted by the domains of a number of petty princes. The 

 general divifion of Yemen into Tehama the Lowlands, and 

 Djebal the Highlands, obtains in the imam's dominion as 

 well as elfewhere. Upon this grand divifion depends the 

 fubdivifion of the kingdom of Sana into thirty governments 

 or counties. Tehama contains fix of thefe governments, 

 and the Highland country twenty-four : the fmall govern- 

 ments are not all alike populous or remarkable. There are 

 in the territory of the imam many fchiecks difperfed among 

 the mountains, who acknowledge not his authority, and are 

 but in a very flight degree dependent upon him. From the 

 expulfion of the Turks in the year 1630, the reign of the 

 imams began ; their great anceftor KhafTem Abu Mahomed 

 was the chief author of that revolution. The throne of 

 Yemen is hereditary ; if generally approved of by the 

 fubjefts, the eldeft legitimate fon of an imam is his rightful 

 fucceffor. But in the defpotic governments of the Eaft, 

 indeed, no order can be clofely obferved, becaufe there are 

 no fundamental laws. The imam is an abfolute prince, 

 and the more fo by uniting in his own perfon fupreme 

 authority, both fpiritual and temporal, over his fubjefts. 

 His jurifdiclion in ecclefiaftical matters, however, extends 

 not over the dominions of other fovereigns of the fame feft : 

 thefe ftates have each a mufti, or cadi, for its fpiritual ufe. 

 Although the imam be abfolute, he is checked in the 

 exercife of his authority by the fupreme tribunal of Sana, 

 of which he is only prefident : this tribunal, confifting 

 of a certain number of cadis, poffefTes the fole power 

 of life and death. The imam may not order any of his 

 lubjcAs for execution, but fueh as have been condemned in 

 confequence of a criminal profecution before this court. 



Y E M 



The'cadis are generally efteemed to be perfons of incor- 

 ruptible integrity, of blamelefs lives, and devoted to the 

 faithful difcharge of their duties : they are not changed 

 here fo often as in Turkey, but hold their offices ufually for 

 life. Every petty diftrift in the dominions of the imam 

 has its governor : if not a prince, or one of the higher nobi- 

 lity, this governor is called wali and dola, or fometimes 

 emir, when he happens to be a perfon of low birth. In 

 every little town, a fub-dola, with a fmall garrifon, confift- 

 ing fometimes of five or fix foldiers, refides to maintain 

 order. The chief of a large village is a fchieck ; he of a 

 fmall one a hakin. Every city in which a dola refides has 

 alfo a cadi, dependent on the chief cadi of Sana ; the cadi 

 is fole judge in civil and ecclefiaftical affairs, nor may the 

 dola interfere to contradift his fentences, or render them 

 inefficacious. The cadis in the provinces, no lefs than in the 

 capital, are in high reputation for wifdom and integrity. 

 The revenue of the imam is fludtuating and precarious ; 

 Niebuhr ftates it at about 500,000 crowns a month. This 

 revenue arifes from a land and poll tax, and from duties 

 payable upon articles of merchandize. The mihtary force 

 confifts ordinarily of 4000 infantry and 1000 cavalry. 

 Thefe armies ufe no artillery, nor do the Arabs know how 

 to manage cannon. As the imam has no dread of enemies* 

 or corfairs upon the Arabic gulf, he has no occafion for a 

 naval force ; and his fubjefts are therefore generally un- 

 llcilled in navigation. The fifhermen venture far to fea in 

 fmall canoes fcarcely furnifhed with oars. The manufac- 

 tures of a people of fo little induftry cannot but be very 

 trifling : no fabres are manufaftured in Yemen, nor any 

 edged weapon, except a kind of crooked knives, called 

 jembea. The making of match fire-locks has been attempted 

 here within thefe few years ; it fucceeds but indifferently. 

 It is only of late that glafs works have been eftablifhed 

 at Mocha ; fome coarfe cloth is manufaftured here, but not 

 fo much as is required for the ufe of the country : broad 

 cloths are neither made nor worn here. The Englifh 

 brought fome goods of this fort to Mocha, but were obhged 

 to carry them back to India unfold. A country which 

 affords fo few articles for fale cannot have a great trade. 

 Coffee is almoft the fole article exported from Yemen ; a 

 valuable commodity, in exchange for which many of thofe 

 things which this country needs from abroad may well be 

 obtained. All the commerce of Yemen is carried on by 

 Mocha, except only that fome fmall quantities of coffee are 

 exported by Loheia and Hodeida. Agriculture feems to be 

 farther advanced in Yemen than in the other parts of the Eaft. 

 Wheat, in the beft cultivated diftridls, is faid to yield an in. 

 creafe of fifty-fold ; durra,in the Highlands, 140 ; andinthe 

 Tehama from 200 to 400 : and the inhabitants of Tehama 

 reap three fucceffive crops from the fame field in the fame 

 year. In many parts of Yemen, whole fields are cultivated 

 like a garden, and watered in the rainy feafon by canals from 

 the hills. The inhabitants of the plain are obhged to en- 

 compafs their fields with dykes, that the water may remain 

 for fome time upon the furface of the ground. In the 

 upper parts of Yemen, the inhabitants colleft the vvater 

 neceffary for their fields in dams formed at the foot of the 

 hills. In fome diftrifts of Yemen, maize and durra are 

 planted with the hand. The hufbandry of Tull and 

 Du Hamel, fays Niebuhr, although novel in Europe, is 

 very old in Arabia. In order to guard their fields from 

 depredation of birds and other deftruftive animals, the 

 peafants watch them by turns. In the Highlands, he 

 who watches feats himfelf on a tree ; in the Tehama, on a 

 fort of fcaffold, with a roof raifed over it. Niebuhr's 

 Travels. 



YEN, 





