OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 313 is destitute of navigable rivers, which fertilise the soil and convey its })roduce to the adjacent regions ; the torrents that fall from the hills are imbibed by the thirsty earth ; the rare and hardy plants, the tamarind or the acacia, that strike their roots into the clefts of the rocks, are nourished by the devils of the night ; a scanty supply ol rain is collected in cisterns and aqueducts ; the wells and springs are the secret treasure of the desert ; and the pilgrim of Mecca, after many a dry and sultry march, is disgusted by the taste of the waters, which have rolled over a bed of sulphur or salt. Such is the general and genuhie ))icture of the climate of Arabia. The experience of evil enhances the value of any local or partial enjoyments. A shady grove, a green pasture, a stream of fresh water, are suffi- cient to attract a colony of sedentary Arabs to the fortunate spots which can afford food and refreshment to themselves and their cattle, and which encourage their industry in the cultiva- tion of the })alm-tree and the vine. The high lands that border on the Indian ocean are distinguished by their supei'ior plenty (jf wood and water ; the air is more temperate, the fruits are more delicious, the animals and the human race more numerous ; the fertility of the soil invites and rewards the toil of the hus- l)andman ; and the peculiar gifts of frankincense ^ and coffee have attracted, in different ages, the merchants of the world. If it be compared with the rest of the peninsula, this seques- trated region may truly deserve the appellation of the happy ; and the splendid colouring of fancy and fiction has been sug- gested by contrast and countenanced by distance. It was for this earthly paradise that nature had reserved her choicest favours and her most curious workmanship ; the incompatible l)lessings of luxury and innocence were ascribed to the natives ; the soil was impregnated with gold ^ and gems, and both the land and sea were taught to exhale the odours of aromatic "In the thir y days, or stations, between Cairo and Mecca, there are fifteen dcstituie of gor i water. See the route of the Hadjees, in Shaw's Travels, p. 477. I L!p. Burton's work, cited below, n. 21.] ^The aroniatics, especially the thus or frankincense, of Arabia occupy the xiith book of Pliny. Our great poet (Paradise Lost, 1. iv.) introduces, in a simile, the spicy odours that are blown by the north-east wind from the Sabsean coast ; Many a league, Pleas'd with the grateful scent, old Ocean smiles. (Plin. Hist. Natur. .xii. 42.) " Agatharchides affirms that lumps of pure gold were found, from the size of an olive to that of a nut ; that iron was twice, and silver ten times, the value of gold (de Mari Kubro, p. 60). These real or imaginary treasures are vanished ; and no gold mines are at present known in Arabia (Niebuhr, Description, p. 124). [But see Appendix 17.]
