10 



side towards the sea the mountains are cut up by several deep 

 gorges full of vegetation, and all the hills around, up to their 

 summits, are covered with grass and clusters of trees, with here 

 and there isolated groups of fig trees, their thick foliage being 

 full of birds. He describes the aspect of the country in similar 

 terms to Mr. Smith, designating it park-like, and mentions the 

 presence of numerous herds of camt'la, goats, and oxen grazing 

 over its pasture. He found the Garaa living in caves on the 

 hillsides. From the summit of the range, Mr. Bent saw the 

 mountains sloping down towards the north and gradually 

 becoming more and more arid until they merged in the yellow 

 desert, which stretched as far as the eye could see, ending in the 

 horizon in a straight blue line, as if it were a sea. 



E,as Marbat, which forms the eastern limit of the plain of 

 Dhofar, has at its base a granite plain four miles square and 

 about 30 feet above the sea-level, with a group of low granite 

 hills immediately below the headland itself, which consists of 

 sandstone and limestone in the form of a precipitous tableland, 

 3400 ft. high, ascended by Carter, who has described its physical 

 characters and geology. 



Between the headlands Ras Marbat and Has Nus there is a 

 plain of dark igneous rock backed by an enormous cliff 3000 to 

 4000 ft. high, the seaward scarp of the tableland of the Subhan 

 range of mountains. It descends in one step to the plain ; but, 

 when the granite headland of Ras Nus, 1200 ft. high, is rounded, 

 the range is continued more or less to the north as a serrated 

 ridge of at least four great peaks known as the Jebel Habareed, 

 one of the most remarkable mountain-masses of this coast. 

 Beyond this, to the east, the land suddenly sinks from 4000 ft. 

 to 800 ft. in elevation, marking the termination, in this direction, 

 of the wooded mountains, and of the fertile and populous region 

 to the west, rich in flocks of goats, sheep, and camels, and in 

 frankincense trees. 



Has Shirbetdt, about 800 feet high, closes in the eastern side 

 of the Bay of Khurya Murya. Here the coast is extremely 

 desolate and almost devoid of vegetation, with the exception 

 of a few date-palms, and brushwood in the ravines and dry 

 watercourses giving cover to antelopes and hares. The largest 

 ravine in the tableland of this bay is known as Wadi Eekot. 

 It is also said to lead into the Hadramut, and, as far as it 

 was examined by the officers of the ' Palinurus,' it appeared to be 



