Rough as these notes are, they will, I venture to think, help to illustrate the map. To attempt here the task of identifying the ancient sites with modern names would be not only a task of great difficulty, but also one unsuitable to the present book. Mr Kay, in his most able translation of Omarah’s History, has pointed out how extremely laborious and uncertain has been his attempt to do so, even with such maps as to-day exist of the country. The author, after consideration, thought it more advisable to avoid entering into discussions that bear but little relation to his work, and would, he fears, but prove uninteresting to the general reader. He has therefore confined his geographical notes to such portions of the country as he himself passed through, supplemented by a few remarks upon places that demand some notice, either from their importance to-day or from historical interest. In the chapter relating to the history of the country the same course has been pursued, a few pages of print being put aside for what would fill volumes were it taken in hand. Having now treated of the Yemen as it appears from a cursory glance at the map, it is intended to enter a little more fully into its description, unconnected with its natural formation of plains and highlands. Ibn Khaldun, in the preface to his Geography, states that the Yemen is divided into seven royal seats of Government;[7] but Niebuhr gives a larger list of provinces, which is again added to by Sir Lambert Playfair. These divisions of the country, it must be understood, are entirely Arab in origin, and to-day have been more or less altered to suit the Turks. However, on inquiry from the natives, the writer found that, although disregarded by the Osmanli conquerors, the names are still in common use amongst the indigenous peoples. The author gives the list of these provinces in the order in which they are printed in Playfair’s ‘Yemen’:— Aden. The Teháma. Sanaa. Lahej. Kaukeban. Beled el-Kabail (Hashid wa Bakil). Abou Arish. A district lying between Abou Arish and the Hejaz, inhabited by Bedouins, &c. Khaulán. Sahán (including Sadah). Nejrán. Nehm. East Khaulán (several small principalities). Beled el-Jehaf (or Mareb), and Yaffa. “These are,” says Playfair, “as nearly as they can be classified, the great political divisions of the country; but numerous smaller states and tribes exist which cannot be classed with propriety in any of the above districts, yet which are too insignificant to require a separate notice.”[8] The first two of these provinces, the _Teháma_ and _Aden_, are described elsewhere. The third is _Sanaa_, taking its name from the city, the capital of the Yemen. On account of continued wars and struggles, its boundaries have for ever been shifting. Within the province are situated the cities of Dhamar, Yerim, Rodaa, Ibb, Jiblah, Kátaba, Taiz, and Hais.