. Europe and other continents . f old are at present either barren desert or fever-breedingswamp ; and the nomad has replaced the farmer. Under such conditions there can be little commerce, thoughthe Tigris is navigable with steamboats as far up as city, situated on the caravan route to the east, was ofmuch importance in ancient times. There is still some tradebetween Europe and India along this route. Arabia. — This peninsula is a plateau several thousandfeet in elevation, with a fringe of mountains (Fig. 263),most prominent in the south and west. What waters ARABIA 373 border Ara
. Europe and other continents . f old are at present either barren desert or fever-breedingswamp ; and the nomad has replaced the farmer. Under such conditions there can be little commerce, thoughthe Tigris is navigable with steamboats as far up as city, situated on the caravan route to the east, was ofmuch importance in ancient times. There is still some tradebetween Europe and India along this route. Arabia. — This peninsula is a plateau several thousandfeet in elevation, with a fringe of mountains (Fig. 263),most prominent in the south and west. What waters ARABIA 373 border Arabia ? Since the coast line is wonderfully regu-lar, there are few harbors and therefore few coastal , the enclosed seas favored the early develop-ment of navigation here as in the Mediterranean. There-fore in very early times Arabian ships carried on commercewith Africa, India, and even with eastern Asia. The climate is hot along the coast, but cool on theplateau and among the mountains. A great part of the. Fig. view in Jerusalem. interior is desert, and almost everywhere the rainfall islight. Why? (p. 359). What about large rivers ? Coffeeis raised in the southwest, near Mocha ; the date palmflourishes in many places; and fruits and vegetables areproduced in many of the valleys. Myrrh and frankin-cense, mentioned in the Bible, are obtained from the gumsof shrubs that grow on the arid slopes of southern so unfavorable a climate the population is necessarilysparse and largely nomadic. Cattle, sheep, goats, horses, 374 ASIA donkeys, and dromedaries are raised in large numbers, thethree last being celebrated for their excellent qualities. Most of the Arabian peninsula is independent, though with-out a well-organized government. Turkey controls the westcoast and the Persian Gulf coast as far as Oman. Oman,whose capital is the seaport of Maskat, was formerly an im-portant kingdom; it still has extensive pearl fisheries. The Britishhave a foothol
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