THE PLATEAU OF IR-/N 
35 
still a recognized institution in the country, and negroes are brought 
irom East Africa for this purpose. The countries with which Arabia 
chiefly trades are Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and the United Kingdom. 
THE PLATEAU OF IRAN. 
THIS plateau is shut in by the Caspian" Sea, the plain of Turan, the plain of the 
[ndus, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the plain of Mesopotamia. From all 
these the interior of the plateau is separated by a mountainous girdle, which is so 
broad on the west as to occupy half of Persia. "The area falls, therefore, into the 
following natural regions : (1) The western highlands ; (2) the northern and eastern 
ranges ; (3) the interior plateau. To these may be added (4) the narrow coastal 
strips along the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. Politically the area is divided between 
Persia, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan. 
THE COASTAL STRIPS. 
The Persian Gulf Littoral.—This suffers from a dry, hot, 
unhealthy climate, and the soil produces only a few date-palms, save 
in the fertile strip round the head of the Persian Gulf. Here is the 
marshy delta of the Shat-el-Arab—the united Tigris and Euphrate:-— 
which, at the Persian port of Mohammera, receives the Karun through 
an artificial channel. The Karun is navigable for some distance, and 
is connected by a difficult caravan route with Ispahan. 
The chief Persian port is Bushire, which stands on a sandy ridge 
zut off by a saline swamp from the mainland. The harbour is little 
more than a roadstead accessible for sea-going vessels of moderate size, 
and the town is very unhealthy. Like all Persian ports, it is at a dis- 
advantage, owing to difficulties in communicating with the plateau, 
there being only an indifferent route from it to Shiraz, "The third Persian 
port—Bender Abbas—is a mere roadstead on the Strait of Ormuz, from 
which a caravan route leads to Kerman. It stands opposite the little 
island of Ormuz, which was formerly a great depöt for Eastern trade, 
but is now nearly deserted. Some pearl-fishing is carried on in the Gulf. 
The Southern Littoral from the Strait of Ormuz to the 
mouth of the Indus has a singularly regular coast-line, and is backed by 
parallel ranges which rise steeply to the plateau. Here and there the 
generally craggy coast is broken by the mouths of short rivers descending 
from the plateau, or by a strip of sand ; but there are no ports of any size, 
and little vegetation.