'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎564] (655/905)

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PRINCIPAL CHAIN OF ARABIA.
[CHAP. XXII.
Mekkah the range takes a south-soutli-easterly direction, or
is nearly parallel to the sea, until it meets the district of El
Zohran; around which, under the name of Jeb-el-Djara, it
makes nearly a semicircular sweep, and again another in the
opposite or eastern direction ; round the district of Schomran
a western sweep under the name of the Jeb-el-Beni Said forms,
afterwards, the limits of the district of Asir. It then curves
round the eastern side of the Kaulan district, and under the
general name of the mountains of Sana it inclines alternately
towards the Red Sea and the interior till it terminates at the
straits of Bab-el-Mandeb with the peak of Jeb-el-Manhali,
which rises to the height of 865 feet. 1 In the previous part
of its course the chain shows the peaks of Mount Rema, near
Bei't-el-Fakih, which rises to 8000 feet, and Jeb-el-Saber,
near Ta'ez, probably the highest point throughout the whole
line. This mountain was ascended in 1836 2 by Monsieur
Botta, who found an ancient castle on its crest. It is much
furrowed by deep valleys, which are usually watered by per
manent streams. The rest of the chain in these parts consists
of rugged insulated masses of flint much broken into valleys ;
on the artificial terraces of which the coffee plant is cultivated
with great industry and success. 3
Several groups diverge from the main ridge and form infe
rior chains less or more continuous; these cross Arabia in diffe
rent directions, but principally run eastward till they meet
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , or the river Euphrates. Other ridges fol
low the southern coast, presenting for the most part, in an
extent of nearly 1250 miles ^ that is, from the entrance of
the Red Sea to Ras-el-Hadd, innumerable hills of lime and
sandstone, and perpendicular cliffs of bare rock, intermixed
with shelving banks of white earth: they are without a tree,
or the appearance of verdure. From Ras-el-Hadd the chain
runs northward along the coast to Maskat and Cape Mus-
sendom, and afterwards along the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
1 Captain Haines, I.N., on the South Coast of Arabia: Royal Geographical
Journal, vol. IX., p. 125.
2 Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie, No. 72, December, 1838.
8 Niehbuhr's Travels, vol. I., p. 300.