determined by actual survey are between 10,000
and 11,000 ft. above sea-level. J. Sabur, a conspicuous mass in the
extreme south, is 9900 ft., with a fall to the Taiz valley of 5000
ft.; farther north several points in the mountains above Ibb and Yarim
attain a height of 10,500 ft., and J. Hadur, near the Sana-Hodeda
road, exceeds 10,000 ft. From the crest of the range there is a short
drop of 2000 or 3000 ft. to the broad open valleys which form the
principal feature of the inner plateau. The town of Yarim lies near
its southern extremity at an altitude of about 8000 ft.; within a
short distance are the sources of the W. Yakla, W. Bana and W. Zubed,
running respectively east and south and west. The first named is a dry
watercourse ultimately joining the basin of the W. Hadramut; the two
others run for a long distance through fertile valleys and, like many
of the wadis on the seaward side of the range, have perennial streams
down to within a few miles of the sea. Sana, the capital of Yemen,
lies in a broad valley 7300 ft. above sea-level, sloping northwards to
the W. Kharid which, with the Ghail Hirran, the sources of which are
on the eastern slopes of J. Hadur, run north-eastward to the Jauf
depression. The Arhab district, through which these two great wadis
run, was formerly the centre of the Himyar kingdom; cultivation is now
only to be found in the lower parts on the borders of the
watercourses, all above being naked rock from which every particle of
soil has been denuded. In the higher parts there are fine plains where
Glaser found numerous Himyaritic remains, and which he considers were
undoubtedly cultivated formerly, but they have long fallen out of
cultivation owing to denudation and desiccation--the impoverishment of
the country from these causes is increasing. Eastward the plateau
becomes still more sterile, and its elevation probably falls more
rapidly till it reaches the level of the Jauf and Nejran valleys on
the borders of the desert. The water-parting between central and
southern Arabia seems to be somewhere to the south of Nejran, which,
according to Halevy, drains northward to the W. Dawasir, while the
Jauf is either an isolated depression, or perhaps forms part of the
Hadramut basin.

Asir.

Farther north, in Asir, the plateau is more mountainous and contains
many fertile valleys. Of these may be mentioned Khamis Mishet and