'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.' [‎635] (732/905)

CHAP. XXIV.]
DISTRICT OF JAFA.
635
and towards the borders of'Oman a remarkable plain and a
quicksand, without a bottom at 60 feet. 1 Ahkaf was once the
seat of the Beni 'Aad, the tribe cursed by the Prophet.
Jafa, or Jaffea, lies between Aden, the territory of San'4, sit»ao„ of
Hadramaut and Belad-el-J6f. It is fertile, and abounds in Jafa -
coffee and cattle. It is now independent of the Imam of San a,
being governed by three princes, viz., the Sultan of Rasses, who
resides at Medjeba, the Sultan of Mosaka, who lives at a place
of the same name, and the Sultan of Kara, who resides in a
castle upon the mountain of Kara. Beldd Schafel, and Belad-
el-Dahla, belong to the two sheikhs of those places. Shugra, Sughra.
properly Sughra, the principal port, is now a village of 200
persons, with a roughly-built castle, which for some months
in the year is the residence of the sultan. 2 Thirty-six hours
N.W. of Sughra, Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Bahrein winds through the moun
tains. The numerous streams of this valley flow into an
extensive lake of the same name; and Mein, which has 1500
souls, is the largest village in the district. 3
About 65 miles to the eastward of Sughra is Kandha, near Kaudha.
Has Urlafah ; and about five miles inland is Kowaiyah, a town
of about 5000 inhabitants, situated in a wide plain, which pro
duces some spices. 4
About seven days towards the interior is Nasab,or Nassaub, Nassaub.
a populous town; and, in a secluded spot farther inland, ano
ther much smaller called Maghna. 5 Geographically this tract
belongs to Yemen; and the principal occupation of the inha
bitants is in cultivating coffee, senna, wheat, and other grain. 6
The next province, Hadramaut, probably the country of Bounds of
Hazarmaveth, the third son of Joktan, 7 is bounded on the • a ramaut
south-east by the Indian ocean, on the north-east by Mahrab,
on the north by the desert of Ahkaf, and on the west by
Yemen, or rather Jaffea, now a separate district.
1 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. XIV., p. 111.
2 Captain Haines; ibid., vol. IX., p. 139. 3 Ibid., p. 140.
4 Lieutenant Wellsted, vol. II., p. 419.
5 Captain Haines; Royal Geographical Journal, vol. IX.
6 Lieutenant Wellsted's Travels in 'Omdn, &c., vol. IL, p. 416.
"> Genesis, chap. X., v. 26.
4 M 2