Springs are very few, and in the cultivated parts of the country large numbers of wells, cisterns, and reservoirs are prepared for the reception of rain water.
Arabia has, on the whole. an African climate. Though surrounded on three sides by the sea, its chains of hills exclude in a great measure the modifying influence of air currents from the ocean. In several parts of Arabia hardly a refreshing shower falls in the course of the year, and vegetation is almost unknown; in other torrid districts the date-palm is almost the only sign of vegetable life. Over vast sterile tracts hangs a sky of almost eternal serenity. The time and duration of the rainy season varies in the different pares of the coun try. In Yemen it lasts from June to September, and is often followed by a shorter rainy season in the spring. In the coast regions of Hadra maut and Oman it lasts from February to April, while in the highlands of the former it takes place between April and September. Light frosts mark the winters in the centre and northeast. During the hot season the simoom (q.v.) blows, lint only in the northern part of the land. The districts which are not too arid for culture produce wheat, barley, millet, dates, tobacco. indigo, cotton, sugar, tamarinds, coffee, balsam, aloe, myrrh, frankincense, ete. Arabia. has but a small area of forests, but has vast stretches of desert grass, fragrant, with aromatic herbs, and furnishing admirable pasturage for the splendid breed of horses. Coffee, one of the most important exports, is an indigenous product both of Arabia and Africa, as are also the date-pa lin and banana. The trade in coffee, dates, figs, spices, end drugs, though still considerable, is said to be only a shadow of the old commerce which existed before the circumnavigation of Africa, or when Aden was in its prime and the lied Sea was the great commercial route to the East. Arabia has few manufaetures, but carries on a transit trade in foreign fabric's, besides im porting these to some extent for its own necessi ties.
In the animal kingdom. an African character prevails generally. Sheep, goats, and oxen sat isfy the immediate domestic and personal neces sities of the inhabitants, to whom the camel and horse are trusty companions in their far wan derings. Gazelles and ostriches frequent the
oases of the deserts. where the lion, panther, hyena, and jackal hunt their prey. Monkeys, pheasants, and doves are found in the fertile districts, where flights of locusts often make sad devastation. Fish and turtle abound on the coast. The noble breed of Arabian horses has teen cultivated for several thousand years; hut the most characteristic of all animals in the peninsula is the camel (q.v.) which has been both poetically and justly styled "the ship of the desert." The breed of Oman is celebrated for its beauty and swiftness. Among the min erals of Arabia may be mentioned iron, copper, lead, coal, basalt, and asphaltum, and the pre cious stones emerald. carnelian, egate, and onyx. Pearls are found in the Persian Gulf.
The population of Arabia is estimated at between 3,500,000 and 5,000,000, including about half it million Bedouins. The Arab is of medium stature, compactly built, and of brown complex him Earnestness and pride are distinctive char acteristics; by nature he is quick, sharp-witted, lively, and passionately fond of poetry. Cour age, temperance. hospitality, and good faith arc his leading virtues; but these arc often marred by a spirit of sanguinary revenge and rapacity. His wife keeps the house and edu cates the children. Education is widespread and illiteracy is unknown; even in the desert the children are taught to read, write, and calculate. The Arab cannot conceive a higher felicity than the birth of a camel or a foal, or that his verses should be honored with the ap plause of his tribe. The Arabs are generally monogamists, although frequently the wealthy chiefs have several wives. :Matrimonial ties are severed at will, and the ill-treated wife can always find refuge in her father's tent. The Arabs arc all Mohammedans.
Arabian life is either nomadic or settled. The wandering tribes, or Bedouins, are well known to entertain very loose notions of the rights of property. The located tribes, styled Hadesi and Fellahs, are despised by the Be douin. who scorns to be tied down to the soil, even where such bondage might make him wealthy.