Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/215

KEDJED 207 by the Dahna or great sandy desert ; pop. in 1862, according to Palgrave, 1,219,000. The country is divided into 11 provinces, and the population is distributed in 316 towns or vil- lages. Nedjed is traversed from N. E. to S. W. by a range of mountains called Jebel To- weik, whose general form is that of a crescent. It is a wide and flat chain, or rather plateau, with an elevation of from 1,000 to 2,000 ft. above the surrounding country, or about 3,000 ft. above the sea. The extreme verge is gen- erally abrupt, the chalky cliffs rising from the plain 500 or 600 ft. Then succeeds a table land, nearly level ; then another steppe of 300 or 400 ft., followed by a second table land; and occasionally a third and loftier one crowns the whole. The entire plateau is intersected by numerous valleys of various breadth and length, but nearly all of which are bordered with steep and sometimes precipitous banks. The plateaus are for the most part clothed with fine pasture, which lasts throughout the year ; but the greater the elevation, the less is the fertility and the drier the soil. Trees, solitary or in groups, are common. Little water is to be found, the torrents that pour down the cliffs in winter being soon absorbed. In the valleys the underground supply is con- stant and copious. Jebel Toweik is of cal- careous formation, and not granitic like the mountains of Shomer, although in the south- east peaks of granite are intermixed some- times with the limestone rock. Iron ore is found in the W. part of the range. The soil of the valleys is light, a combination of marl, $and, and little pebbles washed down from the heights. In these valleys are concentrated the fertility and the population of central Nedjed. The climate of the N". part of the range, where the mountains are the highest, particularly in the province of Sedeyr, is as healthy as any in the world, and the inhabitants are remarkable for their ruddy complexions and well developed forms. The principal towns of this province are Atalah and Toweym, the latter having 12,- 000 inhabitants. West of Sedeyr lies Woshem, the chief town of which is Shakra ; and S. of it are Aared and Yemamah, in the former of which is Riyad, the capital of Nedjed. Through- out this central region there is abundant pas- ture, and the sheep, camels, horses, and cattle excel those in other parts of Arabia. There is a broad-tailed breed of sheep, yielding good mutton and remarkably fine wool. Camels abound, and dromedaries are more frequently seen than in Shomer. Cows and oxen are com- mon, of a prevailing dun color, small-limbed, and having a hump like the cattle of India. The horses are the perfection of the Arab breed, but are not common, for none but chiefs or men of wealth and rank possess them. They are small, but of exquisite shape, and generally of chestnut or gray color. Wild boars and pigs are sometimes seen in the mountains, and gazelles are numerous. Game is abundant, es- pecially of the feathered kind, such as par- 591 VOL. xn. 14 tridges, quails, and pigeons, but is seldom hunt- ed. There are no venomous insects, and flies are almost unknown. On the N. boundary of Nedjed, on the borders of Shomer, is the prov- ince of Kasim, separated from central Nedjed by a nefood or sand pass, stretching from N. E. to S. W, and almost impassable in the hot months. Kasim is a large plain, about 60 m. in width and twice as much or more in length, studded with towns and villages, towers and groves. Besides four or five large towns and more than 50 villages, its surface is strewn with smaller hamlets and isolated wells and gardens, con- nected with each other by a maze of paths and tracks. From here to Jebel Toweik extends a series of high watch towers, that afford the means of discerning the approach of invasion. The soil, a red or yellow sand, gives little prom- ise to the eye, but wherever irrigated pro- duces a rich vegetation. Water is abundant. The date palm is the staple article of cultiva- tion, but the peach, apricot, fig, and grape are also raised. Cotton grows well, but none is raised for. export. An important commerce was once carried on between Kasim and Da- mascus, but it has ceased to exist under Wa- habee rule. The principal walled towns of Kasim are Bereydah (pop. 25,000), and Oneysa (30,000). Hasa, another province of Nedjed, lies on the Persian gulf. Its N. part consti- tutes the province of Katif, but the two are considered as one district by the government. The chief town is Hofhuf. Katif, the princi- pal seaport of Nedjed, about 80 m. N. by'E. of Hofhuf, was once a place of considerable commerce, but the neighboring island of Bah- rein, in the dominions of the sultan of Oman, has absorbed most of its trade. The vegetation of Hasa differs in many respects from that of central Nedjed. The date palm still predom- inates, but the nabalc, a mere bush inland, be- comes here a stately tree. Indigo is cultivated, and cotton is more widely grown than in Ye- mamah or Kasim ; rice fields abound, and the sugar cane is raised. Almost all the legumi- nous plants and the cereals, barley excepted, grow to perfection, and under a different gov- ernment could be raised with profit ; but heavy taxes and arbitrary contributions have ruined agriculture. Hasa was once noted for its man- ufactures. Its cloths of silk and wool mixture, of a delicacy of work and elegance of pattern unknown elsewhere save in Cashmere, and its embroidered cloaks of brilliant colors, bordered with gold and silver threads, were famed in the eastern world. Its artisans in the precious metals, copper, and brass were unrivalled. But Wahabee fanaticism and proscription of all luxuries has cut off these branches of labor, which once supplied an important commerce. The climate of the coast is not so healthy as that inland, and the people are more sallow in complexion, and have less physical activity. A large part of the remainder of Nedjed is a desert interspersed with occasional oases. The great pilgrim routes from Persia to the holy