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and drying-grounds. There is here a well said 

 to he 100 fathoms deep, which gives water only 

 in the rainy seasons ; most of the upland planta- 

 tions must draw the element from the little 

 streams. The Arab care-takers, after refreshing 

 us with cocoa-nut milk, led us out to inspect the 

 grounds. These Semites, satiated with verdure, 

 despise the idea of assisting nature, and yet at 

 Maskat they will gaze delighted upon a dusty, 

 ragged plot of sand-veiled rock, dotted with con- 

 sumptive trees, and dignified by the name of a 

 garden. Some years ago Lieut.-Colonel Hamerton 

 taught the late Sayyid to plant rose-trees, which 

 gave a crop as abundant as those of ancient Syria : 

 during their owners' absence the slaves uprooted 

 the young growth in very wantonness. The nut- 

 meg fared as badly. The Consul also succeeded in 

 producing wall-flowers, lavender, and the apple- 

 scented as well as the common geranium : im- 

 ported from Europe with abundant trouble, they 

 met the fate of all the roses. The Eavenala, or 

 Travellers' tree, was brought from the Seychelles 

 by the Sayyid with the same unsuccess. Several 

 kinds of jasmines were transported from Cutch 

 to Zanzibar: the Arabs objected to them, that 

 the scent depresses the male sex and unduly 

 excites the feminine. Many flowers — for instance, 



