Classic work on the Gulf States - the scarce first edition. Wellsted, a surveyor, was appointed second lieutenant of the East India Company's ship Palinurus, then engaged under Captain Moresby, in making a detailed survey of the Gulf of Akaba and the northern part of the Red Sea. He was then sent in 1833 to survey the southern coast of Arabia and in 1834 the ship crossed to Socotra and anchored in the bay of Tamarida. Wellsted had obtained leave to travel in the island, and for the next two months wandered through it. He later had permission to travel in Oman and went to Muscat. Wellsted seems to have made another attempt to explore Oman in the following winter and arrived at Muscat in an acute stage of fever. He then retired from the service with his health shattered. This account of his travels is important for knowledge of Arabia at the time.

First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, xvi, 446; x, 472 pp., with lithographed frontispieces, 5 plates, 5 maps, 2 of which folding; publisher's dark green cloth stamped in blind, flat spines with gilt lettering; neat repairs to extremities, an excellent set.