Page 70 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

ASIR
130

is described in modern days as fertile par excellence ; and Wadi
Shahran, a tributary of Wadi Bishah, is called byTamisier ‘ a jewel
coveted by all conquerors The seaward slopes of the main ridge,
and the escarpments which lead down to the Tihamah, are in the
north of Asir barren and forbidding, except in the valleys ; in the
south they are covered in many places with dense woods and tra­
versed by many rivulets. The intervening plateau, though hotter
than the main ridge, is nevertheless productive and well watered
and supports a large population.

While the highlands are the most productive part of Asir, the j
Tihamah or seaboard country, though throughout sandy and salty,
is less barren than in Hejaz, and indeed in the Qunfudah, Hali, and
Sabia districts yields a fair amount of produce. In the southern and
central Tihamah, light and local rains occasionally fall in February
and March, and there is a heavier precipitation in June during the
season of the Kharlf. Farther north, both in the Tihamah and
inland, the rainfall is irregular. The most favoured localities are
the ‘Aqabah and main ridge, which receive a copious precipitation
during the autumnal monsoon and occasional showers in June and
July. Tamisier speaks from experience of very violent thunder and
rain in the neighbourhood of Khamis Musheit in the month of July.
The climate of the Tihamah, which is subject to strong SW. winds,
is as hot as in Hejaz ; but the water-supply is both more abundant
and of better quality. The inner country is cooler on the whole
than in Hejaz, the ‘Aqabah and plateau being better favoured than
the corresponding Hejaz zones; the climate of this hill country is
described by the Arabian Gazetteer as temperate. On the inland
slopes of the ridge, which has a general north-eastward aspect, the
winter is comparatively severe: night frosts are regular and
frequent.

Population

The total population of Asir, if calculated from the numbers
of fighting men, mentioned later in the description of tribes, would
be 1,500,000. These numbers, however, are based entirely on native
information and are probably much too high ; but they are given in
the absence of any more positive and reliable data. The main con­
stituent is a highland farmer element, warlike and tenacious of libert}q
living in the upper wadis on both flanks of the main ridge, but only
m a few places collected into urban settlements of any considerable
size. Qunfudah on the coast, Muha’il, Rijal, Khamis Musheit, Ibha,
babia inland, may be called towns, and there are many large