The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-05-15


ested Jebel Akdar or Green noun
tainS.
Famous old Maskat, once the haunt
If Sinbad the Sailor and later the
stronghold Of the Portuguese buc-
cancers, clings to the hot rocks inside
Maskat harbor, and is the romantic
capital of old Oman, an independent
principality with sultan all its own.
Oman has been practically under
British protection for many years, and,
though an integral part of the Arabian
peninsula can hardly be called q part
of Arabia.
Three important Provinces.
Along the Red sea coast lie three
provinces, the most important In
Arab. Yemen, the most southerIF and
most populous, has many arabic val
leys, producing coffee, figs, spices, hides,
and dates. 1t has two port cities,
Mocha and Hodeida. Aseer province
lies north Of Yemen, and north Of
Aseer and extending to the Suez canal
stretches the province of Hejaz, where
in lie the famous Moslem cities Of
Mecca, and Medina.
The ancients, for convenience, or
from lack of geographic knowledge.
divided Arabia into three parasitic
Stony, the Desert, and the Happy.
Our knowledge of its map shows most
Of its high interior plateau occupied
Except for Nejd province) by four
great deserts, the Syrian, the Nefud,
the Ahkaf, and the Roba ell Khali.
The Mahrah and Hadramaut prov.
inces, stretching for hundreds of miles
above Alden, are unmapped and prac-
tically unknown.
Nejd, the great interior provinces
north of Roba ell Khali, is declared by
Arabs TO be the birthplace Of their
most cherished institutions and ira
ditions. Nejd is isolated from the
outside world by a surrounding desert
girdle.
A confusion of plant life is spread
over Arabia's many rich wadis wal
leys) affording much unfinished bust
ness" for eager botanists. Besides the
friendly palm, such trees as the syca-
more, almond, chestnut, pomegranate,
the gum Arabic" the acacias, and q
long list Of bushes and shrubs are
scattered up and down the peninsula.
Then there is the "samh" or oatmeal
plant of the Arabs; from its small
grain they make a porridge called
samh. the national breakfast food or
Arabia.
But, with the exception Of dates,
Arabia produces few crops of any i'm
portance. Good coffee, In limited
quantities. comes from Yemen. Millet.
barley, and wheat are all grown. but
owing to drought the crop is small and
restricted to limited areas. Wherever
water and soil permit, such products
as rice, melons, gourds, cucumbers,
cabbage, garlic. and onions are raised.
Grapes are grown through the PEN
insula: but the Koran made Arabia
dry" long ago, and no wine is manu-
featured. UnorthOdox Bedouins and
many of the blithe and gay town
Arabs, however, find an amazing
kick in arrak, a drink made from
date juice.
The best dates come from the in
terror province of Nejd. the Arabs say,
and some Of the fruit there attains a
length of two inches. Arabs declare
that every wadi running into the great
Nejd plateau is a waving sea Of green
date palms.
The Indian fig, the banana, the
papaya Imported from India), the CO.
eonut. and the betel nut are also grown
in Nejd
Crude Agriculture
Agriculture is crude, like that Of our
old American Indians. A crooked
stick scratches the ground, and seed
is broadcast by hand. Such arts as
fertilizing, rotating crops, pruning, and
cultivating receive scant considera-
ton. Hand sickles are used for reap
ing; oxen tread out the grain, and It
is winnowed by being thrown into the
breeze. In brief. Arabia's agriculture
Is almost nfl-barely sufficient to fur
nish a meager supply Of food to the
sparse population.
A peculiarly drab-looking desert
grouse called "kata" lives on tha
edges of desert wastes. When fright
ened they alight on the sand and
sprawl out to hide, their color blend
ing with the sand so perfectly as to
render them unnoticeable to q man
standing a few yards away.
Eagles, vultures. bustards, and vari-
Gus hawks. to say nothing Of the
awkward old ostrich, are common
enough.
Except for the lizard family, reptiles
are rare, and no poisonous snakes. save
the "afai" and the ''rukta." both Of
the viper family. are found in all
Arabia. There are no scorpions. how
ever. and centipedes; and in old
houses on the west coast a very dan
gerous spider CABIN Hanekin'0 makes
life miserable for the Arab tired busi
ness man