'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎233] (248/1050)

A 1-AS1
233
at the head of a valley, (probably the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Shabrum) which trends northward. These
wells contain sweet and abundant water at from 6 to 18 feet, and are in the 'Ataibah
country.—
e ASIDAH (R as)—
A cape in Hadhramaut situated in latitude 13° 57 N. longtitude 48° 10' E., and
forming the eastern point of the Ghubbat 'Ain. A dark, rocky, conical hill not unlike
& haycock and 160 feet high, stands near its extremity. This cape has three projecting
Tocky points, with 40 fathoms of water within 2 or 3 cables of the shote and 100 fathoms
within a mfia— {Red Seto and GiMf A&en PUd, 1909),
^ASIMAH—
A village in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ham {q* v*)*
l AStR—
Area, —The term^Asir is understood nowadays to denote all that part of Western
Arabia which lies immediately south of Hejaz, between the latter and Yemen ; but it is
^of only quite modern use as a designation for anything more than the section of the Main
Ridge and the 'Aqabah occupied by the four tribes of Bani Mughaid, Bani Malik, Alqam-
al-Hul, and Rufaidhat-al-Yemen, all of whom live round the capital, Abha. Even
now it is not always understood by natives to denote the same or any clearly defined
region. It is convenient, however, to apply the term to all the area intervening between
Uhe southern limit of Hejaz (a line drawn inland from a little to the south of Lith) and
'the northern boundary of the jurisdiction of the Imam of Yemen (about latitude 17°
IS'' N.). To this must be added the seaboard and the maritime plain down to latitude
16°, where the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. 'Ain divides the Idrissi's territory from that of the Turks. Its ex-
^tnesion from the Red Sea to the east is difficult to define, since, as is the case with Hejaz,
its eastern districts are not separated by any exact boundary from the steppes and
deserts of Najd. A line drawn from the coast to Bishah measures about 180 miles. In
the southern part the boundary marches with that of the Yam tribes oi Najran.
ifeZie/.—Internally this region is still not sufficiently known for the details of its relief
to be described ; but, broadly, it may be said that the first Hejaz zone, the low sandy
maritime belt, is prolonged southwards with a breadth of twenty or thirty miles through
''Asir to meet the "Tihamah of Yemen, while the second, third, and fourth Hejaz zones
•are, in ' Asir, less sharply distinguished one from another. Instead of the low, rounded,
and dusty hills which form the second zone in Hejaz, we find a lofty escarpment ('Aqabah)
backed by a plateau region (third zone), which falls little, if at all, eastwards towards the
toot of the main ridge of the fourth Hejaz zone. This ridge is liere uniformly higher
than in Hejaz, ranging from 6,000 to 10,000 feetv From its crest-line, lying on an
•average about eighty miles from the coast (nearer in the north and farther in the south),
the land-level falls away gradually north-eastward towards Najd.
The maritime belt, or Tihamah, is narrowed to a mere strip between Hali and Itwad
where the high range of the Rijal-al-Ma' forms a distinct maritime range separated from
the main central range by the broad valley known as Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ahabash and its continuation
southward. The height of the main range probably equals, if it does not exceed, that
-of the Yemen range. In an account of the Shaiif's expedition to Abha in 1911 the
-elevation of the Tanumah valley is estimated at over 9,000 feet and it is stated that the
streams therein are frozen hard during the winter months. The mountains over
which that expedition marched are well wooded and the higher valleys appear to be at
least as fertile as those of Yemen. The climate is compared favouarably with that of
the Lebanon.
Physical character and climate. —Since ^Asir receives the fringe of the monsoon, which,
reaches Yemen in autumn, and since it provides a lofty, gradually inclined and broad
catchment area, the wide valleys which run from the main ridge, not only south-
westward down the short seaward slope, but north-eastward down the long slope towards
Central Arabia, are comparatively fertile. All this north-eastern slope is seamed with
watercourses—main valleys like Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ranyah, Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Bishah, and tributaries like Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Shahran and Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. 'Aqiq—divided by high hills or intervals of steppe.
C52(w)GSB 2a