NOTES ON OMAN 



91 



ANCIENT WLLL ON THE ROAD FROM MUSCAT INLAND 



Showing the primitive method of drawing water by bullocks or donkeys in large skins for 



purposes of irrigation 



life and property when the tribes are at 

 war. In recent years trade has greatly 

 increased, and there has been considera- 

 ble agricultural development. The min- 

 eral resources of the province are not 

 well known, and a great portion of it is 

 still largely unexplored. 



Some years ago it was my privilege to 

 cross from Abu Dhabi, on the Pirate 

 Coast, through Bereima to Sohar, and 

 also from Sharkah, on the Pirate Coast, 

 to Shinas, in both cases traveling along 

 the coast from Sohar to Muscat. 



The Pirate Coast was formerly noted 

 for the savage ferocity and fanaticism of 

 its inhabitants. Sir John Malcolm wrote 

 fifty years ago concerning the people : 

 "Their occupation is piracy and their 

 delight murder; they are monsters." 



Thanks to English commerce and gun- 

 boats, these fanatic Arabs have become 

 tamed. Most of them have given up 

 piracy and turned to pearl-diving for a 



livelihood. Their black tents and rude 

 dwellings have made room for four im- 

 portant towns. As the slave trade has 

 always flourished until recent years, a 

 large part of the population of Oman is 

 of negro descent, and at least four dis- 

 tinct African languages are spoken in 

 the bazaars of Muscat and among the 

 slaves in the interior. I quote a para- 

 graph from the account of my journey: 

 "We heard on every side that travel- 

 ing in the interior of Oman was safe, 

 so, after bargaining with camel-drivers, 

 we secured two companions and five 

 camels to take us to Sohar for the sum 

 of twenty rials, or Arabian dollars. At 

 9 p. m. on May 20 we left, and, after a 

 short rest at midnight to water the 

 camels, marched until 9 o'clock the next 

 day. By going as much as possible by 

 star-light to avoid the heat, and resting 

 during the day under some scraggy 

 acacia tree or in the shadow of a Bedouin 



