'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.' [‎592] (683/905)

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VARIOUS PRODUCTIONS. [CHAP. XXII.
berry, resembling the gooseberry in taste, wbich grows on the
thorny shrub called Gharkad ; l and manna is obtained, chiefly
from the tamarisk. Arabia also produces truffles, spinach,
French beans, onions, brindjal, and other pot-herbs of different
kinds.
Plants. In addition to the coffee-bushes, nut and cotton trees already
mentioned, the odoriferous plants of Arabia are lavender, mar-
jorum, white lily, globe amaranth, the sea daffodil, several
kinds of pinks, elecampane, moscharia, oleanders, betel, bay,
cacalia, amarys, opo-balsamum, acacia arabica, and acacia vera,
which produces the gum, red berry, 2 and the cotton-bush 3 .
Sulphur, &c. The ordinary products of Arabia consist of saltpetre, which
is abundant in Nedjd, sulphur, furnished by a well between
this province and the Euphrates, 4 and dates, which are very
largely exported from the lower part of that river, also the
spices just noticed, and coffee ; the last of itself produces a
considerable revenue, the tax being eight or ten per cent, on
the value to Turks, Arabs, or Indians, and three per cent, to
Europeans.
Honey, &c. Wax and honey are plentiful; the Hijaz, in every part of
its mountains, abounds with the latter, but that from the south
of Taif is most esteemed. 5 Grapes of the best quality grow
in the mountains behind Mekkah f and in addition to these,
the dried apricot, reduced to a paste, is received all over Arabia
from Damascus. Mixed with water it makes a refreshing
drink, and being portable it constitutes a portion of the food
on a journey, especially for the Turkish troops. 7
The celebrated dyes of ancient Tyre, and the blue cloths
and broidered work, of which the last is said to have been car
ried from Babylon in chests made of cedar bound with cords, 8
have, like the cities themselves, passed away, and the commerce
of Arabia is only a feeble remnant of what it once was.
1 The Peganum retusum.—Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, p. 474.
a The Peganum.
8 Gossypium herbaceum.—Lieutenant Wellsted's Travels, vol. I., p. 291.
4 Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. II., pp. 402, 404.
5 Ibid., vol. I., p. 55. 6 Ibid., p. 54 7 Ibid., p. 61.
8 Ezekiel, chap. XXVIL, v. 24.