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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



SON OF THE SUI/TAN OF OMAN ON A FUFI.-BI.OOD ARAB HORSF UNDFR A NUBUK TRFF 



sandy plains are nearly all barren, but 

 from Muscat for 150 miles north date 

 plantations and gardens extend almost 

 to the ocean beach. Fresh water comes 

 down from the high mountain ranges of 

 Jebel Akhdar, and the Omanese Arabs 

 are most successful in their primitive 

 methods of irrigation. 



The chief authorities on the interior 

 of Oman were until recent date Niebuhr, 

 Wellsted (1835), Whitelock (1838), 

 Eloy (1843), and Palgrave (1863). Pal- 

 grave, however, only vicited the coast, 

 and his account of the interior ind its 

 history is pure romance. Later travel- 

 ers, especially Colonel Miles (whose re- 

 cent articles on Oman in the Geograph- 

 ical Journal are very valuable), my 

 brother, Peter J. Zwemer, and Dr. James 

 Cantine have visited the chief cities of 



Jebel Akhdar and corroborated the ac- 

 curacy of Lieutenant Wellsted in his 

 "Travels in Arabia." 



Although Colonel Miles reached the 

 edge of the Oman Desert, all the coun- 

 try beyond is still largely terra incognita. 

 No one has ever made the journey be- 

 yond the range of mountains or solved 

 the mystery of western Oman, which is 

 still a blank on the best maps ; nor do we 

 know anything of the land 100 miles 

 southwest of Muscat save by Arab hear- 

 say. 



The most populous and fertile district 

 of the highlands of Oman is Jebel Akh- 

 dar, which is also the best known. The 

 fertility of this region is wonderful and 

 in striking contrast with the barren rocks 

 of so large a part of the coast. With a 

 semi-tropical climate, an elevation of 



