Chapter concerning the City of Gezan [Gâzân], and of its fertility

H a v i n g discoursed of the places, cities, and customs o f the people of Arabia Deserta, as far as it was permitted me to see them, it appears to me that it will be proper, with brevity and more happily, to enter upon Arabia Felix. At the end o f six days we arrived at a city which is called Gezan, which city has a very fine port; and we found there fortyfive vessels belonging to different countries. This city is situated on the sea shore, and is subject to a Moorish lord, and is a district very fruitful and good, like Christian coun­ tries. Here there are very good grapes and peaches,

1 Jeez&u, or Gheez&n, is situated in a fertile district, but the town has fallen into decay. It has a few stone buildings, but the principal part consists o f grass huts, with pyramidal tops. It possesses a large fort, in a ruinous condition, and the small bazaar is now scantily supplied with such provisions as the natives use, the principal o f which is the dhwrah (Varthema’s “ dora” ), a species of millet, extensively culti­ vated throughout Yemen, where it is called tddm. There is a good inner anchorage for small boats off the town. The dress o f the male portion o f the population, like that o f the common Arabs o f the country generally, consists o f a cotton cloth, called a footah., worn round the loins. El-Edrisi states that the district o f Jeez&n was occupied by a family o f the famous tribe o f Ghassztn (the Ghassanides,) which proba­ bly became extinct, or was made subject by the Im&ms of Yemen, during the thirteenth century o f our era. N i e b u h r , Voyage enArabie, vol. iii. p . 232. See also M o r e s b y ’ s Sailing Directions fo r the Red Sea, pp. 27, 28.