Page 102 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

146 YEMEN

best known among the latter being Kamaran Island, which lies quite
near the mainland some twelve miles south of Loheia.
(2) The maritime ranges throw out low foot-hills toward the
coast; but here and there they culminate in massifs rising 5,000 ft.
or so above sea-level. Such are Jebel Bura‘ and J. Reimah, while the
town of Menakhah itself, which is situated in this zone, is 7,500 ft.
above sea-level, and the neighbouring peak of Shibam 9,000 ft. The
maritime ranges are much intersected by wadis and, although the
Hodeidah-San‘a road does pass through Menakhah, such gradients
as it encounters need not be climbed until the main ridge has to be
crossed, if these wadis are followed. There is, for example, a much
easier route to San'athan the Menakhah road running up the valley
of Siham (Saham) (see vol. ii, Route No. 55).
(3) The intramontane plains are much'intersected by foot-hills
and rugged kopjes, and have an average altitude of 4,000 ft.
(4) The ridge, or main watershed, has an average altitude of
9,000 ft. and is a jumbled agglomeration of mountain masses, spurs,
and neks cut up in places by sheer ravines of the most formidable
character and filled with boulders; and there are peaks rising occa­
sionally to over 10,000 ft.

(5) The central plateau has an altitude of 7,600 ft. at San‘a and
rises gradually southward, culminating between Yerim and Ibb,
where the mean altitude is 9,000 ft. Thence, southward, it dips
towards the Aden Protectorate border to a mean altitude of 5,000 ft.
Its general character is that of a steppe increasing in aridity towards
the E. The whole plateau is much broken by mountain ranges
and tall peaks (some of which rise 2,000 ft. above the general level),
especially towards the S. ; but northwards, towards Asir, it loses
much of its irregular character among low scattered ranges and
encroaching arms of the inland desert. It must be borne in mind
that the Yemen plateau is but the south-western and most tilted
corner of the great oblong plateau which forms the main physical
characteristic of the peninsula of Arabia.

(6) The plateau is not clearly defined eastwards, but dips gradually
and opens out into comparatively barren plains between low hills :
these merge eventually in the Great Red Desert, known locally as
Er-Raml, ‘The Sand5. The western scarp of the central plateau
drains into the Red Sea through such wadis as the Suleil, Sardud,
Bajil, Siham, Rema‘, and Zebld. None of them contain perennial
water-courses, for they only flow into the sea in spate, and
even then rarely ; but, the slope being steep, they carry ’down
much detritus to form not inconsiderable arable tracts in their
lower courses. Among the principal wadis that trend inland and