Page 262 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

XII.] COAST OF ARABIA. 243

that their rugged pointed outline led us to
conclude they were of granitic formation;
those near the fort at Wej-h (the only occa­

sion on which we could venture so far into the
interior) were observed to be of dark granite,
with veins of white quartz running horizontally
through them. Many of the hills nearer the
shore are of limestone, exhibiting an almost
entire mass of marine fossil remains, while
those forming its actual boundary consist of
light-coloured sandstone, fronted by and con­
taining large quantities of shells and masses

of coral. The extraordinary prevalence of the
latter in the Red Sea is well known; it is
found constituting reefs, probably as exten­
sive as in any other part of the world ; it also
enters largely into the composition of some of
the most elevated hills.
Between the bases of these and the shore
there runs a lowland border of irregular width,
which the Arabs call Tehamah, generally
desert and barren, some few spots only being
cultivated, yet bearing so trifling a proportion
to the whole as to be unworthy of notice in
these general remarks. The coast-line to the
northward of Yembo’ is of moderate elevation,

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