ARABIA. 25 



Climate, soil, and produce.. ..As a considerable part of this 

 country lies under the torrid zone, and the tropic of Cancer passes 

 over Arabia Felix, the air is excessively dry and hot, and the country 

 is subject to hot poisonous winds, like those on the opposite shores 

 of Persia, which often prove fatal, especially to strangers. The soil, 

 in some parts, is nothing more than immense sands, which, when 

 agitated by the winds, roll like the troubled ocean, and sometimes 

 form mountains, by which whole caravans have been buried or lost. 

 In these deserts, the caravans, having no tracks, are guided, as at sea, 

 by a compass, or by the stars, for they travel chiefly in the night. 

 Here (says Dr. Shaw) are no pastures clothed with flocks, norvallies 

 standing thick with corn ; here are no vine-yards or olive-yards ; but 

 the whole is a lonesome, desolate wilderness, no other ways diversi- 

 fied than by plains covered with sand, and mountains that are made 

 up of naked rocks and precipices. Neitner is this country ever, 

 unless sometimes at the equinoxes, refreshed with rain ; and the 

 intenseness of the cold in the night is almost equal to that of the heat 

 in the day-time. But the southern part of Arabia, deservedly called 

 the Happy, is blessed with an excellent soil, and, in general, is very 

 fertile. There the cultivated lands, which are chiefly about the towns 

 near the sea-coast, produce balm of Gilead, manna, myrrh, cassia, 

 aloes, frankincense, spikenard, and other valuable gums ; cinnamon, 

 peeper, cardamom, orange?, lemons, pomegranates, figs, , and other 

 fruits ; honey and wax in plenty, with a small quantity of corn and 

 wine. This country is famous for its coffee and its dates, which last 

 are found scarcely any where in such perfection as here and in Persia. 

 There aie few trees fit for timber in Arabia, and little wood of any 

 kind. 



Animals. ...The most useful animals in Arabia are camels, and 

 dromedaries ; they are amazingly fitted by Providence for traversing 

 the dry and parched deserts of this country ; for they are so formed 

 that they can throw up the liquor from their stomachs into their 

 throats, by which means they can travel six or eight days without 

 water. The cameis usually carry 8 "JO ibs. weight upon their backs, 

 which is not taken off during the whole journey, for they naturally 

 kneel down to rest, and in due time rise with their load. The dro- 

 medary is a small camel, with two bunches on its back, and remarka- 

 bly swift. It is an observation among tlie Arabs, that wherever there 

 are trees the water is not far off; and when they draw near a pool, 

 their camels will smell at a distance and set up their great trot till 

 they come to it. The Arabian horses are well known in Europe, and 

 have contributed to improve the breed of those in England. They 

 are only fit for the saddle, and are admired for their make as much as 

 f )r their swiftness and high mettie. The finest breed is in the kingdom 

 of Yemen, in which Mocha is situated. 



Nail kal curiosities. ...The deserts, mountains, and places men- 

 tioned in Scripture may be considered as the principal of these. What 

 is called the Desert of Sinai is a beautiful plain near nine miles long, 

 and above three in breadth ; it lies open to the north-east, but to the 

 southward is closed by some of the lower eminences of Mount Sinai ; 

 and other parts of that mountain make such encroachments upon the 

 plain as to divide it into two parts, each so capacious as to be sufficient 

 to receive the whole camp of the Israelites. 



From Mount Sinai may be seen Mount Horeb, where Moses kept 

 the flocks of Jethio, his father-in-law, when he saw the burning buih. 

 Vol. II. E 



