rabia are all of the desert-loving
type: antelopes and gazelles are found in small numbers throughout the
peninsula; the latter are similar to the _chikara_ or ravine deer of
India. The larger antelopes, so common on the African side of the Gulf
of Aden, are not found, except one variety, the _Oryx beatrix_ (called
by the Arabs, wild cow), which is an inhabitant of the Nafud between
Tema and Hail; it is about the size of a donkey, white, and with long
straight horns. Hares are numerous both in the desert and in
cultivated tracts. In the Yemen mountains the _wal_, a wild goat with
massive horns, similar to the Kashmir ibex, is found; monkeys also
abound. Among smaller animals the jerboa and other descriptions of
rat, and the _wabar_ or cony are common; lizards and snakes are
numerous, most of the latter being venomous. Hyenas, wolves and
panthers are found in most parts of the country, and in the mountains
the leopard and wild cat. Of birds the ostrich is found in the Nafud
and in the W. Dawasir. Among game birds the bustard, guinea fowl, sand
grouse (_kata_), blue rock, green pigeon, partridge, including a large
chikor (_akb_) and a small species similar to the Punjab sisi; quail
and several kinds of duck and snipe are met with. In the cultivated
parts of Yemen and Tehama small birds are very numerous, so also are
birds of prey, vultures, kites and hawks.

Insects of all sorts abound; scorpions, centipedes, spiders, and an
ugly but harmless millipede known in Yemen as _hablub_ are very common
in summer. Ants and beetles too are very numerous, and anthills are
prominent features in many places. Locusts appear in great swarms and
do much damage; fires are lighted at night to attract them, and large
quantities are caught and eaten by the poorer people. Bees are kept,
and in Yemen and Hadramut the honey is exceptionally good.

Camel.

Of domesticated animals the camel is far the most useful to the Arab.
Owing to its endurance of thirst the long desert journeys which
separate the populous centres are made practicable, and in the spring
months, when green forage is plentiful in the desert, the Bedouins
pitch their camps for long periods far from any water, and not only
men but horses subsist on camel's milk. The Arabian camel belongs to
the one-humped species, though there are many varieties differing in
appearance as much as the thoroughbred race-h