Page 68 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

RELIEF 129

0 t0 7,000 ft. or more. From its crest-line, lying on an average
"it 80 miles from the coast (nearer in the north and farther
•‘ the south), the land-level falls away gradually north-eastward
towards Nejd.

Physical Character and Climate

Since Asir receives the fringe of the monsoon, which reaches
Yemen in autumn, and since it provides a lofty, gradually inclined
uul broad catchment arda, the wide valleys which run from the
main ridge, not only south-westward down the short seaward
slope, but north-eastward down the long slope towards Central
Arabia, are comparatively fertile. All this north-eastern slope is i
4
seamed with valleys—mdin wadis like Wadi Ranyah, Wadi Bishah,
tributaries like Wadi Shahran (or Sahran) and Wadi ‘Aqiq—divided 0;
by high hills or dusty intervals of steppe.

The'larger valleys carry water throughout the year either on ii
or near the surface of their channels, and since large tracts of both n
harrah and nefud desert are absent, the aspect of the insiermost zone
T
of Asir is very different from the corresponding district in Hejaz.
Tamisier, who in 1834 traversed what we should now call the NE. *
and SE. boundaries of Asir, speaks even with enthusiasm of the
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smiling and fertile appearance of some of the valleys which he
visited ; but he left untouched some of the most productive districts.
The principal wadis run towards Wadi Dawasir, in Southern Nejd.
But what is their exact ultimate destination, and how far inland
t heir fertility is maintained, we do not at present know.
!
The inland edge of the main ridge is almost uniformly fertile, and
tlie country from Tanumah to Thimnlyah compares favourably with
Jluy in the central highlands of Yemen. To the east of the main ridge
lung and broad ribbons of oasis trending north occur frequently,
and serve to keep an agricultural and settled element preponderant
111 the population. The dusty intervals of steppe between wadis
>ro good for nothing except lean pasturage ; but the valleys them-
m V°h are We^ wa^ere(i and produce good crops of cereals and fruit
, abundance. While invaders — such as the Egyptian armies
traversed the region from time to time between 1832 and 1841
u\e doubtless suffered from insufficiency of supplies, this has
!
m. n d}le partly to the nature of country to be crossed between
fm- ,r? valleys> anc* partly to the fact that districts fertile enough ;
1
of I0°0on neec^s were unable or unwilling to support hostile forces
Blshib f °r *2,000 men. Such a force remained encamped in Wadi
nr a fortnight in 1834. The district round Khaims Musheit
AR.VUu
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