The climate of Arabia is very unequal and variable. In the high lands of Yemen, it approaches nearer to the mild atmosphere of the temperate zone, than the scorching influence of the tropics. The sky is gene rally serene, and even during the rainy seasons, is rare ly overcast twenty hours at a time ; water has been known to freeze at Lana ; and the cold, occasioned by the height of the country, sometimes compels the na tives to wrap themselves in furs ; showers of snow are also not infrequent in the highest mountains, though it seldom lies long upon the ground. But in the deserts of Neged, and the plains bordering upon the Arabic and Persian gulf, the droughts are excessive. All ve getables are burnt up, and the soil converted into sand by the parching rays of the vertical sun. In the Teha ma, rain has been unknown for a whole year, and in the months of July and August, the thermometer stands at 98°. So that while the inhabitants of the mountainous districts are refreshed by plenteous showers, and in vigorated by the coolness of the atmosphere, their neighbours on the plain are exposed to all the inconve niencies of the tropical heats.
The nature of the winds varies according to the tracts over which they pass ; consequently the same wind is different in different situations of the country. Those which blow over the deserts are of a dry and torrid qua lity, and sometimes so hot, that travellers are in dan ger of suffocation ; while those from the sea are moist, but more disagreeable. The most dangerous is the fa mous whirlwind called Smum, or Samiel, which prevails on the confines of the Great Desert. Instant suffoca tion, and immediate putrefaction, are the effects of its destructive career ; and the only means of preservation from its noxious influence is to lie flat, with the face upon the ground, until the blast is over, which moves at a certain height in the atmosphere. The beasts, from instinct, take the same precaution, by pushing their mouths into the sand. An unusual redness in the air foretells the approach of the Samiel, and the smell of sulphur is felt as it passes. These whirlwinds are most frequent on the banks of the Euphrates, and there have been instances of suffocation by them even in the streets of Mecca.
The rainy seasons, which are in general regular in the torrid zone, are diversified in Arabia. This diver sity of seasons, (according to Mr Forskal, the unfortu nate companion of Neibuhr) is occasioned by the pecu liar situation of the mountains in the middle of the pen insula ; and the same phenomena is observable in the peninsula formed by the Ganges. In Yemen the rains commence in June, and terminate in November ; to the eastward they last from the middle of November to the middle of February ; and to the south, in Hadramaut and Oman, they fall from the middle of February to the middle of April. During the remainder of the year the
sky is clear, and a cloud is scarcely to be seen. In the arid tracts, bordering upon the coast, copious dews fall during the night ; notwithstanding which, the atmos phere is so pure, that the inhabitants sleep in the open air without injury.
The soil in Arabia is in general sandy and ungrateful, except in Arabia Felix, and some districts bordering upon the sea. Yet agriculture seems to be farther ad vanced here than in other parts of the cast. There is, however, great room for improvement ; their instru ments of husbandry are coarse and ill made, the plough is of a very simple construction, and they use a kind of hoc instead of the spade. In preparing the ground, the plough is dragged over the field in every direction, till the soil is sufficiently broken and loosened for the re ception of the seed. The sower follows the ploughman, and casts the seed into the furrim, which is covered up by the return of the plough. This method of sowing, though exceedingly troublesome, produces most excel lent crops. They raise a great quantity of " durra," a sort of coarse millet, which constitutes their chief ar ticle of food. This grain is astonishingly fructiferous. In the well-cultivated districts of Yemen, it yields an increase of one hundred and forty fold ; and in Tehama, from two, even to four hundred. They also cultivate wheat, barley, beans, rape, and lentils ; oats are un known in Arabia, instead of which they feed their horses with barley. But the labours of agriculture are greatly increased and impeded by the scarcity of water. Where the rains are infrequent, the peasants are obliged to raise dykes along the heights, to direct the water into the fields, which arc encompassed with a bank to pre serve what is necessary for vegetation. In the high lands of Yemen, their fields are often formed into ter races, and watered in the rainy season by canals from the hills. In the plains of Damar, the water is drawn from deep wells, and sometimes carried a considerable distance to the fields. From this inconvenience of wa ter, the harvest varies greatly in different situations. At Maskat, barley is sown in December, and cut down about the end of March ; while at Sma it is sown in April, and reaped in July. The ripe corn is torn up by the roots, but grass, and green corn used for forage, are cut with the sickle.