_Lahej_ is described more fully elsewhere, so there is little further need to make mention of it here, except to roughly indicate its limits; for under this title are contained not only the tribe-lands of the Abdali Sultan, but also the Subaiha, Akrabi, Foudtheli, and Houshabi tribes. The country inhabited by these Arabs of the Plains may be said to extend from the Straits of Bab el-Mandeb to about eighty miles east of Aden. The country is poor, and boasts but one or two towns, but many large villages. The next province is _Kaukeban_, which, with _Beled el-Kabail_, _Abou Arish_, and _Beni Hallel_, may be taken altogether. The latter tribe inhabit a strip of plain country along the borders of the Red Sea, while the three former include that portion of the country lying to the north-east and east of Beni Hallel, and extending as far east as a line drawn from Sanaa due north. North again of Abou Arish, and between that country and the Hejaz, is the Asir, part of which is mountainous and part plains—the former inhabited by dwellers in fixed abodes, and the latter by wild Bedouins. North of Sanaa, and upon the road connecting that city with Mecca, the continuation of the pilgrim-road of Huseyn ibn Salaamah mentioned elsewhere, is the province of _Khaulán_, east of which again is _Sahán_, included in the province and former principality of Sadah. This forms one of the richest portions of the Yemen, being famous for fruits, honey, and cattle. It consists of large valleys well watered, and at such an elevation as to render them not only suitable for the growing of fruit-trees, but also exceedingly healthy. Niebuhr mentions these tribes as hospitable but inclined to robbery, and as speaking as pure Arabic as is anywhere in use. The next province is still more mountainous, and, on account of its inaccessibility, has remained almost unconquered. It is known as _Nejrán_, and consists of wide fertile valleys reaching nearly to the desert of Akhaf. Like Khaulán, it is renowned for its cattle and fruit, the breed of horses, too, being celebrated. They are said to be of the famous Nejed strain. The province of _Kahtan_, situated eleven days’ journey north of the valley of Nejrán, is another example of the difficulties of fixing any reliable frontier to the Yemen. Evidently it is inhabited by Yemeni people, as it takes its name from the founder of that stock, Kahtan, who is said to be no other than Joktan of the Jewish Scriptures. _Eastern Khaulán_ lies to the north-east of the capital Sanaa. It possessed formerly a celebrated city of the Jews, which is now said to be almost entirely deserted. Although generally known by the name of Eastern Khaulán, it in reality consists of a number of small principalities.