or ALDRI, the most eminent of the geographers who have written in the Arabic language. There is no individual of equal eminence over whose life there hangs a deeper veil of mystery, the various parts of it affording rather subjects of controversy to the learned than of precise information to the biographer. The place, and even the country in which he was born, compose the first subject of disputation. Sionita and Hezronita, who published a Latin translation of his work at Paris, make him a Nubian, and gave to their work the title of *Geographia Nubiensis*, the Nubian Geography. They proceeded upon the expression there used, namely, "the Nile of Egypt, which cuts our land." Hartmann was at once led to suspect the correctness of this inference, by observing that Nubia was one of the countries of which Edrisi gives the most meagre and imperfect account; and his suspicions were confirmed by learning that Ockley, on examining two manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, had found in both "that land," instead of "our land." It seems now generally agreed, therefore, that there is no reason to suppose him of Nubian origin.
Others have assigned him an Egyptian one, which seems more probable, yet rests solely upon the erroneous reading above referred to. In 1663, Bochart stated that he had found in a manuscript of Leo Africanus, that Edrisi was born at Mazara, in Sicily, in 1093. Next year, however, the manuscript was edited by Hottinger, in an appendix to his work entitled *Bibliotheca Quadripartita*, when it appeared that the person supposed to be Edrisi was there named Esseriff Essacchalli. Esseriff, or Scheriff, is indeed an usual appellation of Edrisi, but it is common to many, and is rather a title than a name. The rest of the name, and the date of birth, are materially different, so that there seems very little reason to doubt that Bochart was here mistaken.
The most positive statement on the subject is that of Casiri, who says (*Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispanica*, ii. 9), that if Edrisi, as appeared probable, were the person designated by the Mohammedan writers under the long appellation of Abu Abdallah Mohammad Ben Mohammad Ben Abdallah Ben Edrisi, he was born at Septa, or Ceuta, on the coast of Morocco, in the year of the Hegira 493 (A.D. 1099). Casiri not only qualifies his statement with this condition, but he does not state the authorities from which it is derived; so that it rests only upon the confidence reposed in his learning and accuracy. Edrisi was long a mighty name in Northern Africa; but in 919 the dynasty was subverted by Mahedi Abdallah, and the proscribed wrecks of the fa-
**Number of acres in grass, roads, and woods.**
| Grass in rotation of farm | 33,373 | |--------------------------|--------| | Permanent pasture | 25,657 | | Irrigated meadows | 834 | | Sheep walks | 69,441 | | Houses, roads, fences | 3,598 | | Waste | 4,177 | | Woods | 7,321 |
**Average produce per imperial acre of following crops.**
| Crop | Bushels | Pecks | |---------------|---------|-------| | Wheat | 32 | 1 | | Barley | 40 | 2 | | Oats | 38 | 9 | | Bere or bigg | 31 | 2 | | Beans | 31 | 1 | | Turnips | 17 | 4 | | Potatoes | 4 | 15 |
**Gross produce of following crops.**
| Crop | Tons | Cwts | |---------------|------|------| | Wheat | 262,128 | | Barley | 454,116 | | Oats | 865,776 | | Bere or bigg | 1,582 | | Beans | 48,468 | | Turnips | 245,762 | | Potatoes | 28,212 |
**Total number of stock kept, 1854.**
| Stock Type | Number | |----------------|--------| | Horses | 4,582 | | Milk cows | 5,430 | | Other cattle | 7,784 | | Calves | 2,540 | | Ewes, gimmers, ewe hogs | 83,393 | | Tups, wethers, wether hogs | 26,148 | | Swine | 6,403 |
The above returns are taken from the report furnished to the Board of Trade by the Highland Society. The entire extent of the county is not accounted for, as many of the hill farmers do not know the number of acres they hold. The produce of wheat, as given, may be considered about two bushels per acre above an average, and that of oats and barley slightly above it. The number of farmers is said by the last census (1851) to amount to 534. mily, according to D'Herbelot, afterwards sought refuge in Sicily. This certainly tends to strengthen the Sicilian origin of our author, though it is not probable that many would seek refuge by concealment in their native country.
If we may trust the information of Casiri, Edrisi pursued his studies at Cordova, and from the accurate description he has given of Spain, it is probable that he had travelled through a great part of that country. Various circumstances prove that he removed to Sicily, and began to compose his great work under the patronage, and indeed at the express desire, of Roger II. king of that island. It was completed about the year of the Hegira 548, A.D. 1153.
It has been a subject of pretty warm controversy among the learned whether Edrisi was a Mohammedan or a Christian. Sionita, who adopts the latter opinion, observes that he calls our Saviour the Lord, and also speaks with profound respect of the holy Virgin, and of various saints. These arguments are strenuously repelled by Hartmann, who lays much stress on the circumstance that Edrisi, amongst his numerous names, bears that of Mohammed; but though this may imply that he was a Mohammedan by birth, it does not authorize us to infer that he may not have become a convert to the opposite faith. Although he writes in a style from which no positive inference can be drawn, yet considering how high religious differences ran in that age, it does not appear very probable that he could have resided in Sicily, or been in such high favour with Roger, without adopting the religion of the monarch and country.
Bochart has fixed the date of his death in the year 1129; but this date clearly proves that he had some quite different person in view; since it appears by the preface to Edrisi's own work that its completion took place in the year 1153. No other notice, nor even conjecture, relative to the time or manner of his death, is to be found in any author.
His work has appeared under various titles. The first and fullest appears to have been, *The going out of a Curious Man to explore the Regions of the Globe, its Provinces, Islands, Cities, and their Dimensions and Situation*. This is sometimes abbreviated. Sionita published it under the name of *Relaxation of the Curious Mind*; but the title of *Nubian Geography*, which he and his companion imposed upon it, is altogether arbitrary.
The work contains a full description of the whole world, as far as it was known to the author, with its countries, cities, and all its features, physical and political. The world is divided into seven climates, commencing at the equinoctial line, and extending northwards to the limit at which the earth is supposed to be rendered uninhabitable by cold. Each climate is then divided by perpendicular lines into eleven equal parts, beginning with the western coast of Africa, and ending with the eastern coast of Asia. The whole world is thus formed into 77 equal square compartments, resembling those upon a chess-board, or those formed upon a plane map, by the intersecting lines of latitude and longitude. The geographer begins with the first part of the first climate, including the western part of Central Africa, and proceeds eastward through the different divisions of this climate, till he finds its termination in the Sea of China. He then returns to the first part of the second climate, and so proceeds till he reaches the eleventh part of the seventh climate, which terminates in the north-eastern extremity of Asia. The inconveniences of such an arrangement must be abundantly obvious.
The only valuable unpublished manuscripts of Edrisi which now exist in Europe are two which are preserved in the Bodleian Library. The first, which was brought over from Egypt by Greaves, is written in the Arabic character peculiar to Northern Africa. It is illustrated by a map of the known world, and by 33 other maps, containing each part of a climate, so that there are maps only for the first three climates. The second manuscript, brought by Pococke from Syria, is written in the Arabic character, as used in that country, and bears the date of 906 of the Hegira, or A.D. 1500. It consists of 320 leaves, and is illustrated by one general and 77 particular maps; the last consequently including all the parts of every climate. The general map has been published by Dr Vincent in his *Peripus of the Erythrean Sea*.
There is a manuscript (Cod. dlxxx) in the Royal Library at Paris, which professes to be the production of Edrisi; but D'Herbelot, it appears, has not made use of it as such; and De Guignes expresses positive disbelief on the subject. Hartmann, however, found it to coincide in many particulars with the geography of Edrisi. A copy of our author's work was contained at one time in the library of the Escorial, but it was destroyed by a great fire in 1671.
The geography of Edrisi, in the original Arabic, was printed at Rome in 1592, at the Medicean press, from a manuscript preserved in the grand-ducal library at Florence. Both the paper and printing are exceedingly neat, but the volume swarms with typographical errors, and forms only a clumsy epitome of the original work. The description of Mecca, which is unaccountably omitted, has been supplied by Pococke from his manuscript. Hartmann, D'Herbelot, and Casiri justly remark the imperfections of this edition. In most bibliographical works, this impression has been characterized as one of the rarest of books; but Adler, in a visit to Florence, found in the palace there 1129 copies, which were publicly exposed to sale at a moderate rate.
In 1619, two oriental scholars, Gabriel Sionita and John Hezonita, published at Paris a Latin translation of Edrisi's work, bearing the title of *Geographia Nubiensis*; but it is not executed with all that accuracy which might have been expected, particularly in regard to the proper names. George Hieronymus Velschius, an eminent German scholar, had prepared a copy of the Arabic original, with a Latin translation, which he intended to have illustrated with notes; but death prevented the execution of this design, and his manuscript remains deposited in the library of the university of Jena. Casiri (*Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispanica*, ii. 13) mentions that, at the request of many friends, he had determined to re-edit this work, but he appears never to have executed this intention. The part relating to Africa, prominent certainly in point of importance, has been very ably edited by Hartmann, who has collected together all the notices relating to each particular country, and has annexed the statements of the countrymen and contemporaries of Edrisi, so that his work forms nearly a complete body of Arabian geography, as far as relates to Africa.