Page 477 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

436 NAKAB EL HAJAR. rCH>

14° 2' north, and longitude 46° 30' east nearly.

It stands in the centre of a most extensive

valley, called by the natives Wadi Meifah,

which, whether we regard its fertility, po­

pulation, or extent, is the most interesting

geographical feature we have yet discovered

on the southern coast of Arabia. Taking its

length from where it opens out on the sea­

coast, to the town of ’Abban, it is four days’

journey, or seventy-five miles. Beyond this

point I could not exactly ascertain the extent

of its prolongation ; various native authorities

gave it from five to seven additional days

throughout the whole of this space. It is

thickly studded with villages, hamlets, and

cultivated grounds. In a journey of fifteen

miles, we counted more than thirty of the for­

mer, besides a great number of single houses.

The date-groves become more numerous as

we approach towards the sea-shore, while in

the same direction the number of cultivated

patches decrease. Few of the villages con­

tain more than from one to two hundred

houses, which are of the same form, and con­

structed of the same material (sun-baked

bricks) as those on the sea-coast. I saw no

huts, nor were there any stone houses, al­