the gems and pearls, which gave Arabia its ancient celebrity in the marts of commerce, were nearly all brought originally either from Eastern Africa or from India, and conveyed by caravans across the interior deserts to the towns of Syria and Asia Minor, or else by way of the Red Sea to the ports of Egypt. With the opening of other lines of communication, this commerce ceased; but (after the lapse of centuries) it is partially revived in the present day by the establishment of the overland route to India, which crosses the desert between the banks of the Nile and the town of Suez, whence steamers proceed down the Red Sea and across the Indian Ocean, calling at the town of Aden on their way. The greater part of the interior commerce of Arabia takes place on the occasion of the haj, or great annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which town-as the birth-place of Mohammed, the Arabian prophet- all his followers are enjoined to visit at least once in their lives. Caravans of pilgrims from all the various countries in which the Mohammedan religion is followed (including the most eastern parts of Asia, and the most distant provinces of northern Africa,) resort each year to Mecca, and with the objects of devotion for which the pilgrimage is mainly undertaken is combined the pursuit of trade to a very considerable extent. The caravans bring with them the respective productions of the countries from which they come, and, on the completion of the religious duties of the journey, engage in a great scene of barter.

The pilgrims and other travellers who cross the Arabian deserts are under the necessity of hiring the protection of the tribes through whose territories they have to pass, as the only means of securing themselves from robbery or loss of life. There are regular haltingplaces in the desert, at which the camels rest after their day's journey, and at which the tents of the travellers are pitched. The ordinary length of a day's journey is from twelve to fourteen miles.

(479.) Provinces and Towns.-The ancients divided Arabia into three parts-Arabia Petræa (or the Rocky), the north-western part of the country,-Arabia Felix (or the Happy), in the south-west, and Arabia Deserta (or the Desert), embracing the greater portion of the remainder. But the native division of the country is into the seven provinces of El-tour Sinai (or the mountain-district of Sinai, that is, the peninsula at the head of the Red Sea, between the Gulfs of Suez and Akaba),— ElHejaz, along the north-western coasts, Yemen, in the south-west,-Hadramaut, along the southern coast,- Omaun, in the south-cast,-El-Hassa, or Lahsa, along the shores of the Persian Gulf,-and Nejd, or Nedjed, in the interior. Throughout Arabia the towns are few in number; the principal of them occur in the provinces of Hejaz, Yemen, and Omaun.

The Sinai Peninsula.-The town of Suez, at the head of the Gulf of that name, belongs to Egypt: Akaba, at the head of the eastern gulf of the Red Sea, is only a small fortress, and serves as a station for the haj (or pilgrim-caravan). In the heart of the peninsula is the group of the Sinai Mountains, among which—in a high valley at the foot of the summit called Jebel Mousa (or Mount Moses)—is a small Greek convent, inhabited by from 20 to 30 monks. The whole population of the peninsula is very scanty, and does not exceed from 4000 to 5000, nearly all of whom are Bedouins, or wandering Arabs.

A long narrow valley (the continuation of that in which the river Jordan flows) extends from the head of the Gulf of Akaba to

southern termination of the Dead Sea: the chain of hills which bounds this valley on the east is the Mount Seir of Scripture. About the middle of this range is the summit of Mount Hor, upon which the highpriest Aaron died. Adjacent to Mount Hor, on the east, is the secluded valley of Wady Mousa, in which are the wonderful and beautiful remains of the ancient city of Petra, consisting almost wholly of tombs excavated in the solid rocks around.

The province of El-Hejaz (the Holy Land of the Arabs) includes the cities of Mecca and Medina, the former the birth-place of the prophet Mohammed, and the latter the seat of his interment. Mecca has about 30,000 fixed inhabitants, but these are increased to a vastly greater number during the occasion of the annual haj: Jiddah, a small town on the Red Sea, is the port of Mecca. Medina is situated to the north

ward of Mecca, and has about 20,000 inhabitants: Yembo is its port. The chief town in the interior of Yemen is Sana, with about 40,000 inhabitants: Mocha, on the coast of the Red Sea, near its southern extremity, is a place of some trade, but Aden, now in the hands of the English, is at present of much greater importance.

Muscat (in the province of Omaun), on the south-east coast of Arabia, is the largest town in the country, and has about 60,000 inhabitants, who embrace a mixed population, of Arabs, Persians, Hindoos, Syrians, and Jews, and carry on a considerable commerce. Muscat constitutes the chief emporium of the trade between Persia, Arabia, and India.— Derayeh, in the interior of Nejd, is a considerable town, the chief seat of the Wahabites, as the followers of Wahab, a Mohammedan reformer of the last century, are styled.

The island of Bahrein, with two others of smaller size, near the eastern coasts of Arabia, is the centre of the extensive pearl-fishery of the Persian Gulf. In its neighbourhood are found numerous fresh-water springs which issue from the bottom of the sea, and which furnish the chief supply of water to the inhabitants both of the islands and the adjacent coasts. The divers descend to the bottom of the sea, and hold their open goatskins over the springs, which quickly become filled with fresh water.

(480.) Arabia does not constitute any single government, and has never been subject to any general rule. The most considerable of the native states are those of Omaun, governed by a sovereign styled the Imaum (or, more recently, the Sultan) of Muscat, and Yemen, the ruler over which is the Imaum of Sana. The province of El-Hejaz, and the Sinai peninsula, belong nominally to the Turkish power, and are partially subject to the authority of the Sultan. But the tribes through. out Arabia are really independent, and submit only to the patriarchal rule of their own sheikhs.

In religion, the Arabs are universally Mohammedans. In their social condition they exhibit a mixture of good and bad qualities, combining plundering and unsettled habits, a proneness to quarrel, and the most lawless practices towards those with whom they are at feud-with the exercise of hospitality, and the practice of a cordial and disinterested generosity, in the case of those with whom they are on terms of friendship. One of their most ordinary customs- common both to the inhabitants of the towns and the Bedouins- is the practice of story-telling, by means of which the most ancient traditions have been handed down from family to family through a series of generations.

(481.) The town and promontory of Aden, situated on the south coast of Arabia, at a distance of about 110 miles east of the entrance to the Red Sea, constitutes a British possession. The promontory of Aden forms a high and rocky peninsula, rising to 1776 feet above the sea, and connected with the mainland by a narrow isthmus: the town lies on the north-east side of the peninsula, in a deep hollow (which is really the crater of an extinct volcano), and surrounded by high masses of rock.

Aden is used as a dépôt for the supply of coals to the steamers engaged in the intercourse between Great Britain and India, for which purpose immense quantities of this mineral are sent thither from British ports; since the date of its possession by Britain (1839), considerable traffic with the adjacent parts of Arabia and the opposite coasts of Africa has sprung into existence. The position of Aden renders it important, and it possesses great natural strength : it is garrisoned by a detachment of British troops. The present population is about 40,000.

Aden is a town of great antiquity, and, during the period between the 11th and 13th centuries, was a flourishing emporium of commerce; it had, however, long since fallen into a state of complete decay, from which it is now in process of rapid recovery.

SECTION III. PERSIA.

(482.) Boundaries and Extent.-Persia is bounded on the north by Turkestan, the Caspian Sea, and Russian Armenia, on the west by Turkey, -on the south-west and south by the Persian Gulf,—and on the east by Beloochistan and Afghanistan. Its area is about 500,000 English square miles. The native name of Persia is Iran*, by which term it is always mentioned in Oriental writings.

(483.) Natural features, Climate, &c.-The interior of Persia is a high plateau, a large portion of which is desert. In the north and east is the extensive tract called the Great Salt Desert, and towards the south-east the Desert of Kerman. The north-western province (called Azerbijan), which lies between the Caspian Sea and the borders of Turkey, is an elevated mountain-region. High chains of mountains stretch through the northern, western, and southwestern parts of the country, separating the interior plateaus from the plains which border on the Caspian Sea upon the one side, and the Persian Gulf and banks of the Tigris upon the other. On these three sides the ascent from the surrounding plains to the interior lies everywhere through a series of high passes or defiles, by means of which the

* Pronounced Eeraun. In Oriental names (as written in English characters), the i is generally sounded like ee, and the u like oo.

various mountain-terraces are successively reached. Many of these passes are elevated several thousand feet above the level of the sea, and are so closed in by the surrounding mountains as to form defences of great natural strength.

The principal rivers of Persia are the Kerkhah (380 miles), and the Kuraun (260 miles), both tributaries of the Euphrates, below the junction of the Tigris,-together with the Sefeed-rood, or White River (400 miles), which flows into the Caspian Sea. The little stream of the Bend-emir- celebrated in Persian song-flows into the salt lake of Bakhtegaun, in the southern part of the country. In the north-west is the large lake of Urumiyah, which lies at an elevation of 4300 feet above the sea, and the water of which exceeds even that of the Dead Sea in saltness.

The table-land of the interior exhibits great alternations of temperature-excessively hot and dry summers being succeeded by rigorously severe winters. The low plains bordering on the Caspian are hot, and the atmosphere humid; in the south and south-west, towards the Persian Gulf, the air is hot and dry, and the soil generally sterile. The table-land is destitute of trees, and the soil a hard clay, producing scarcely any vegetation but that of saline plants. But the valleys among the mountains, and indeed every spot where a perennial supply of water occurs, are exceedingly fertile.

Numerous small islands lie near the eastern shores of the Persian Gulf; the largest of these is Kishm, at the entrance of the gulf, adjacent to which is the small but more celebrated island of Ormuz, once the seat of a flourishing Portuguese settlement. Ormuz now belongs to the Sultan of Muscat.

(484.) Inhabitants.-The population of Persia is supposed to amount to between 9 and 10 millions. A large proportion of these (about 2 millions) consists of wandering tribes, called Iliyats, who are a distinct race from the more settled part of the population. The latter are most numerous in the north-western and some of the central provinces; Iliyat tribes occupy the high table-lands in the eastern part of the interior, and the mountainous tracts towards the western and north-eastern frontiers. The habits of the Iliyats resemble those of the Turkomauns of Asia Minor: some dwell throughout the year in tents, in winter keeping within the lower plains, and in summer seeking the cooler pasturage of the mountains; others are partially dwellers in towns, but shift their abodes with the recurrence of the opposite seasons. Their wealth consists in their cattle and sheep; they breed horses and camels for sale, while their sheep supply them with food and clothing. All the outskirts of Persia are infested by predatory

tribes, whose warlike habits are a constant source of injury to the more settled population; on the west are the Koords, on the south-west the Arabs, towards the east the Afghauns, and on the north the Tartars. Jews are found in all the towns, and in the north-western province there are numerous Turks and Armenians.

(485.) Industrial pursuits. In the interior of Iran agriculture is limited by the want of rivers, but in the provinces bordering on the Caspian, and those towards the western mountain-chains, fruits and various kinds of grain (including rice) are grown in great abundance. The mulberry is extensively grown in the north, and silk has always formed one of the staple products of the country. The cotton-plant is largely cultivated in the valley of the Sefeed rood, in the north-west; the vine comes to great perfection in the south-western provinces. Among the native productions of Persia, one of the most remarkable is the plant from which assafatida is obtained, and which also grows abundantly in the mountainous districts of Afghanistan. The poppy is cultivated all over the table-land, for the purpose of producing opium, and in many places saffron is raised.

The manufacturing industry of Persia is less now than formerly, but the people display great skill in the mechanical arts, and excel in the making of sabres, as well as in various silk and cotton fabrics—particularly embroidered silks, together with shawls, fire-arms, leather, jewellery, perfumery, and earthenware. The women of the wandering Iliyat tribes weave the fabrics which pass under the name of Turkey carpets the shawls made from the fine hair, or wool, of the Kerman goat are also highly valued.

The commerce is chiefly carried on by land, by means of caravans. The articles exported consist of native produce and manufactures, in exchange for Indian goods and European merchandise. Among the exports are dates and other dried fruits, carpets, shawls, silk (both raw and manufactured), horses, camels, skins, sal-ammoniac, assafoetida, naphtha, amber, sulphur, rice, madder, gall-nuts, and saffron. The imports are sugar, indigo, spices, rhubarb and various drugs, with diamonds and other precious stones, from India; and a variety of manufactured goods from Europe. The maritime traffic carried on by way of the Caspian Sea is entirely in the hands of Russia; that of the Persian Gulf belongs partly to the English, and is partly in the possession of the Sultan of Muscat.

(486.) Divisions.-The provinces of Persia are Azerbijan, in the north-west, Gilan and Mazanderan, on the south shores of the Caspian, -Irak-Ajemi, in the centre and west, Luristan and Khuzistan, in the south-west,- Fars, Laristan, and Kerman, in the south,—and Khorassan, in the east and north-east ;- together with a part of Kurdistan, lying in the west of Irak-Ajemi and on the frontier of Turkey. The province of Fars was the original seat of the Persian monarchy, but Irak is now the most important province, and contains Ispahaun and Tehraun, the two principal cities.

Tehraun (or Teheran), the modern capital of Persia and the residence of the sovereign, stands in a gravelly plain, at an elevation of 4000 fect