168 CIVIL HISTORY AND 



crown of Persia, Gombroon with its dependencies, in- 

 eluding a tract of coast of about ninety miles in ex- 

 tent. The inhabitants of Muscat, in point of manners, 

 cleanliness, and liberality to strangers, are reckoned 

 the most civilized of their countrymen; and, though 

 not addicted to war, they are esteemed the best ma- 

 riners in Arabia. They use small merchant-vessels 

 called trankis, the sails of which are not formed of 

 matting, as in Yemen, but of linen. The planks 

 are not nailed, but tied or sewed together. A little 

 to the north-west of Muscat, and seated at the bottom 

 of a cove nearly resembling its own, lies the town of 

 Muttra. Though a place of less business, it contains 

 a greater number of well-built houses, and affords a 

 cooler and more agreeable residence than the capital. 

 The province of Hajar, or El Hassa, belonged 

 to the sheiks of the Beni Khaled, one of the most 

 powerful tribes in Arabia, whose jurisdiction ex- 

 tended so far through the Desert as often to harass 

 the caravans passing between Bagdad and Aleppo. 

 Katif, or El Katif, is a port and a large trading 

 town, with a deep bay and the ruins of an old Por- 

 tuguese fortress. The inhabitants share with the 

 Bahrein islands in their pearl-fishery as well as in 

 their general commerce, though the governments are 

 independent of each other. Graine is a large and 

 populous town, seated on a fine bay ; though the 

 sandy desert presses close upon its walls, and not a 

 blade of vegetation enlivens the dreary scenery 

 around. It stands about fifty miles from the bar 

 of the Euphrates ; and is chiefly inhabited by mer- 

 cantile and trading people, who engage in all the 

 branches of commerce carried on throughout the 

 Gulf. Their principal employment is fishing, and 



