'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.' [‎576] (667/905)

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TEMPERATURE.
[CHAP. XXII.
Journey of This journey continued for several months, during which
time the tribe, whose guest he was, continued moving from
one pasturage to another, making zigzag wanderings from
Hillah almost to the shores of the Red Sea; visiting those
tribes who were friendly, and avoiding the others, as is the
custom with the children of the East. No interruption was
experienced, nor did either water or pasture fail, which must
have been the case if the interior of Arabia were merely a
wilderness of sand.
Mr. Rassam was so young, and the period is now so distant,
that he can give but few details concerning the country. But
although he saw not the numerous cities of Arabia Felix
which are named by Ptolemy, 1 nor the palaces and temples
which may have existed in the five kingdoms into which that
region is said to have been divided, 2 still his account, as well
as that given by other individuals, make it clear that the
country is partially cultivated, and more thickly peopled than
is commonly supposed. 3 Numerous ruins show, however, that
many tracts now occupied by the Bedawins had at one time
fixed inhabitants; but it remains to be ascertained whether
beds and hills of moving sand, such as those in Baluchistan, 4
are very frequent in Arabia. 5
southwestern In a countr y 011 tile ver g e and partly within the tropics,
territory. deprived at the same time of shade as well as of a due supply
of water, a parched soil and extreme heat are naturally to be
expected. At Medina, for instance, the heat is very great, 6
and the climate of Mekkah 7 is both sultry and unwholesome
Mokha has a still higher temperature, averaging from 90° to
95° in July, and frequently reaching 98°. But owing to the
1 Lib. VI., cap. vii. « Strabo, lib. XVI., pp. 767, 782.
8 Speaking of Nedjd, a writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana says that
it is probably a vast sandy plain interspersed with naked rocks, and has a thin
population of wandering tribes; but is almost unknown.—Article ' Arabia.'
4 See above, p. 184.
8 A recent work (Crichton's Arabia), whose general fidelity has rendered it
deservedly popular, says that " over the face of this vast solitude the sand
sweeps along in dry billows, or is whirled into hills and columns, having the
appearance of water-spouts, and towering to a prodigious height."
6 Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. II., p. 290. 7 Ibid., vol. L, p. 444.