Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1866-01-10
Arabia.

Shomer and Neied. These provinces with
their dependencies, occupy very nearly
the central region of the peninsula. and
are absolutely surrounded by wastes
They form, in fact, great oasis, as large,
perhaps, as France or Germany. On the
south of them is the Great Sandy Desert,
said to contain within its solitudes other
provinces OF settled inhabitants not known
at al! to Europeans, and only by vague
reports TO the other Arabs. As a general
description it may be said that Arabia con-
sists of central circle, or bulls eye, OF
permanently inhabited country; second
circle OF desert; and a third or outer coast
circle of partially cultivated country
The natural obstacles to interc0mmunica
tons between these parts are 50 great, that
the inhabitants cannot be combined under
one government, and no great monarchy
has ever existed in that part of the world.
According 10 Mr.. Paiarave (who per
haps was little deceived by the contrast
t h e presented TO the desert regions
through which he passed) Nejrd, Kas-
seem aud Djebel Shomer constitute one
of the most delightful and fertile regions
of Asia. They occupy wide plateau,
raised to considerable hight above the
ordinary level of the desert, and enjoying
a cool and invigorating climate on the
very verge of The tropic. They are wa
tered by most abundant supply of per
ennlal wells and by streams which furnish
ample means for irrigation during a great
part of the year. The leading physical
peculiarly Of these upIandS seems to be
that the moisture which they receive and
collect never finds its way to the sea. All
the springs of Nrjed are lost in the sur.
r)urding desert. 1t seems, indeed, doubt
tul whether the whole of Arabia furnishes
single perennial stream which reaches
the sea. But the moisture thu, absorbed
Is by 10 means lost. The many consider
ahle towns and villages of which TINS cen>
trail oasis i, composed are surrounded by
gardens and cultivated fields, atforGirg
,ustenance to the finest breed of horses in
the world. OF the natural FEATURES of
Nrj-d Mr.. Palgrave remarks
The great mass OF upland term t d
'Toweyk' or 'Nejrd' is for the most Of cal
careouS formation white table
land, and long parallel lines like >tars.-
The extreme verge i : almost always
abrupt, and takes bold rise of about five
or six hundred feet sheer in chaIky cliffs
from the adjoining plain. Then succeed,
a table land, various in extent, and nearly
level throughout, then another step Of three
or four hundred feet, followed by second
and higher tabIe-la land and occasionally a
third and yet Iottier plateau crowns tho
SECOND uUJ the summit is invariably fiat.
excepting the few granite crests on the
further side of Sideyr and towards Ye-
mamah. These high grounds are for the
most clothed on their upper surface with
fine and sufficient pastors. which lasts
throughout the year; bot the greater the
elevation the less is the fertility and the
drier the soil. Trees, solitary or in little
groups, are here common. Little water is
TO be found, at any rare in autumn, though
| saw some spots that appeared to have
pools in spring; we met with one, and one
only, perennial source. The entire pla>
teau is intersected by maze of valleys
some broad, some narrow, some long and
winding, some of little length, but almost
all bordered with steep and at times pre-
cipitous banks, and looking as though they
had been artifciaIy cut out in the lime
stone mountain. In these countless hoI-
lows is concentrated the fertility and the
population of Nejed gardens and houses.
cultivation and villages, hidden from view
among the depths while one journeys over
the dry flats above, till one comes sudden
Iy on the mass of emerald green beneath
One would think that two different lands
and climates had been interviewer into one,
yet remained unblended."
The horses raised in this region are con-
sidered no less superior to all others in
Arabia. than is the Arabian breed collec-
lively to the Persian, Cape of Good Hope
or Indian.
Mr.. Palgravs does not share the COM
mon belief that the Bedouins represent
the original, pure, unadulterated Arab
stock, from which the :illers of the ground
and the jewellers in the cities have degen-
Grated. In fact be completely reverses
the picture which travellers. romancers
and poets, have hitherto drawn of these
two divisions of the Arab family. The
Bedouins are the objects of his utmost con-
tempt and aversion. They are in general
cutter barbarians, in appearance no less
than character, wild, tickle, reckless, and
the capacity of whose intellect is as scanty
as its cultivation" They only amount in
numbers to a sixth or seventh of the set
tied population. They are inferior not
only in intellect and cultivation, but in
physical characteristics, to their agricuI.
tural neighbors. Their religion is the
grossest materslism, vanished over.
through fear only, with an outward SEM
blance of Mahometanism. The Bedouin's
servant, the camel, meets with as little
favor, and is described as san undomesti-
Gated and savage animal, rendered SER
viceable by stupidity alone. Neither at
tachment nor even habit impress him -
never tame, though not wide awake enough
to be exactly wild. One passion alone
he ossesses-namely, that of revenge. of
w ieh he furnishes roanv h;la...-