The commentators of Genesis are unanimous in considering the Ishmaelites as the fathers of the northern Arabians. It i s my intention to show that this view is not correct. But before entering into the subject, I may be permitted to ventilate the arguments which may be adduced in support of it. The indigenous genealogists, it may be said, divide the Arabs into two races: the Ma'addites and the Qaḥṭânians; and derive the former from Ishmael. In the Talmud the Arabs are called the children of Kedar, the son of Ishmael, and the Arabic language Kedar's tongue, And, finally, the whole country once in possession of the Ishmaelites is now, and has been for more than a thousand years, occupied by Arabian tribes.

I venture to lay before the Society a brief notice of four Arabic MS. works on the History and Geography of Arabia, which appear to me sufficiently interesting from their rarity and the nature of their contents to merit attention.

In the year 1857 one of the travelling Llamas from Llassa came to Lahoul, in the Kûlû country on the Himalêh, and hearing of the mutiny was afraid to proceed. Major Hay, who was at that place in political employ, engaged this man to draw and describe for him many very interesting ceremonies in use in Llassa, amongst which was the method there employed in disposing of dead bodies. This so exactly confirms the accounts given by Straboand Cicero, and is, moreover, of itself so curious, that I have transcribed it, with as many passages relating to the subject as readily came to hand; and as the Llama was a very fair draughtsman, I have had facsimiles made of his drawings to illustrate this paper. I will first give the extracts, and then the account of the Llama.

An aerial city in the north is detrimental to the court priest; one in the east, is so to the sovereign; one in the south, to the commander of the troops; one in the west, to the prince royal. A white one is pernicious to Brahmans, a crimson one to Kshatriyas, a yellow one to Vaiçyas, and a dusky one to Çûdras.

Recently engaged in compiling a Map of Badakhshán and the adjoining regions, to illustrate a paper for the Geographical Society, I have naturally been led to consider the interesting geographical details which the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang gives of those countries, as well as the current interpretations of his routes and localities. In several instances those interpretations seem to me open to amendment. The most eminent of Hwen Thsang's geographical illustrators are Major-General Cunningham and M. Vivien de St.-Martin; both of whom have dealt ably with the whole series of the Chinese Traveller's wanderings. If, after the careful study of a small part of these, I venture to differ from both accomplished commentators in regard to some of the identifications which concern that part only, I trust that I shall be guilty of no presumption. Recent documents, in part as yet unpublished, afford advantages for this discussion which were not available to my predecessors.

In the year 18 B.C. Ælius Gallus, a Roman knight, then Governor of Egypt, undertook, by order of Augustus, a campaign into Arabia. Strabo, p. 780, says, “Observing that the Red Sea is extremely narrow, and forms an inconsiderable barrier between the Æthiopians and the Arabs, the Emperor ordered Gallus to ‘explore’ both countries, being determined either to make these nations his friends and allies, or to subdue them. As they had from time immemorial been selling the spices and precious stones of their countries for cash, and never imported goods from foreign parts, they were proverbial for their wealth; and this was the principal inducement for making an attempt to win them as friends, or to subdue them in case of resistance. The Emperor was, moreover, encouraged by the Nabatæans, who were allies of the Romans, and promised to further his views.”

On the 3rd of Ramazán, I left Ramlah, and went to a village called Khátún, and from thence to another, which they styled Kariatu-l-'Anab (Grape hamlet). On the road I observed plenty of wild rue growing spontaneously on hill and dale. I also noticed at this village a very delightful spring of water gushing out of a rock, where they had constructed reservoirs, and built edifices. From thence I proceeded up some rising ground, under the impression that I was ascending a hill, and that on going down the other side the city would lie before me. After I had climbed the ascent however for a short way, a vast wilderness lay in my front, partly stony, and partly showing merely the bare earth. At the summit of the hill stands the city of the “Baitu-l-Mukaddas” (Sacred Tabernacle, i.e. Jerusalem), between which and Tarábulis, whichis on the coast, are 56 parasangs, and from Balkh to Jerusalem 876.