The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-02-25

CucoCr cCNSlCeraDle SOiQ ana OLlel IuSI-5
ais, but now it ships little but dates,
wool and coffee. and even these are
gradually falling off. Mocha coffee is
Arabian peninsula. in a province called
Yemen. and derives its name from the
little port it is shipped from. But the
people have no enterprise, the coffee
orchards have been injured by insects
and blight, and the trees have not been
renewed. This is accounted for by bad
government. As everywhere else IN
the dolninions Of the sultan Of Turkey.
for Arabia is noninally part Of the
Ottoman empire, the officials receive
no salaries, and live Off blacknail
Hence, whenever q, citizen gets a little
ahead, when he shows signs Of pros
perity. he Immediately becomes an
object of plunder and persecution by
the tax gatherer and by every other
representative Of the government
There is no incentive for the coffek
growers to extend their orchards or
to increase their product.
One does not realize, until he comes
face to face with the fact, that Arabia
is nearly half as large as the United
States. It's area is ALMOST as great as
that of India, and is nearly equal to
that Of our States east Of the Missls-
sippi river. The population is un-
known, because there has never been
a census. but it is supposed to be- be-
tween seven and twelve millions. The
distance from north TO south is more
than thousand miles, and from east
to west itSvaries from 500 to 300. Yet
in all this enormous territory there is
no centralized authority. Tie interior
is governed by petty shelks, each
HnS, o1,1%o %f,a hHr a.
his own tribe. Along a coast line Of
nearly. $500 miles are only six ports.
where the sultah of Turkey maintains
pasha governors and garrisons to pro-
tect the collectors Of customs, who are
required to pay him certain amount
Of tribute every year, and they wiring
it out Of the people any way they can.
The relationship between the gov
ernment at Constantinople and the
Bedouins of Arabia. is very slender,
and is due solely to the cohesive power
Of the Mohammedan religion. There is
no law in Arabia, but the Koran; there
are no courts but the priests; there are
no mails. no postofaces, no postage
stamps, and a person who wants to
communicate with a distant fried must
send his letter by a messenger, which
is expensive, or by a caravan, which Is
.
graph line, no newspaper, no railroad,
and, strange to say, not a river In all
that vast area except a few shallow,
rocky beds, which during the spring
bring down water from the melting
snow on the mountain tops to the sea,
but for. nine months in the year are
as dry as a crematory.
The captain tells me that they pre-
duce a curious phenomenon. The coast
Of the Red sea is lined with cora1
banks, built by those mysterious AR&
wonderful little masons who, like sene
men that I know Of, hate fresh water,
and wherever the spring floods fall into
the sea there is always wide break
in the coral reef.
he mountains Of Arabia reach an
aldtude Of 10000 feet, and In sDots
where borings have been made the sand
is more than 900 feet deep. It is the
prevailing impression that Arabia is q
vast expanse of desert, but that Is
mistake. There are wice strips OF har-
rem sand. which are irreclainnable Ter
cultivation only because they cannot
be reached by water, but two-thirds ct
the country is capable Of cultivation.
and. lying at an altitude Of 3,00e feet
above the sea, might produce cotton,
sugar and other seui-tropical staples
in unlimited quantities. Although
there are no streams plenty Of water
can be had for irrigation purposes by
digging 20 OF 80 feet, and the introduc-
ton Of windmills would simplify the
pumping problem. On the coast it is
intensely hot, and the humidity Of the
atmosphere during the s.llnnoer seq ssEza-
makes life almost .unendurable, but in
the Interior upon the table lands along
the mountain slopes and in the valleys,
the mercury seldom rises above S5 de-
grees, even. in midsummer. While
the direct rays Of the sun are intense,
it is cool in the shade, and at night the
mercury often falls below so.
More than two-thirds Of the popula-
ton are Bedouin nonads, without per
manent places Of abode, who live in
tents made Of can2eFs hair, just like
the patriarchs Of old They have encr-
nous hocks of sheep and goats, and
herds of catle and carnels. The follow
the grass and move from place to place
with all their possessions. There are,
however, several prosperous cities Of
considerable population and commerce.
Trade is conducted by camel caravans,
which cross the desert regularly, md.
transport enormous quantitieSaoSaStes
wool and other merchandise.
William E. Curtis.