1877.] 
53 
Sohcir and el-Bereymi in 'Oman. 
leys between Wadi el-Jezze and Wadi Hatta. There are about 20 villages in 
this district, the principal of which is el-Mahdheh, where the Sheikh ’Ali-bin- 
Seif resides. They are all irrigated by conduits drawn from the hills, 
and as the soil is the same, Mahdheh produces the same kinds and quality 
of grains and fruits as el-Bereymi. There is no direct pass through the 
range from el-Mahdheh to Sohar between Hatta and el-Jezze. Other 
Ghafiri tribes are the Beni Kattab and el-Daramikeh (&£/o|jo4|) • 
and Hinawi tribes are the Dhowahir, (j.& Ij-kJl) which occupies el-’Ain, el- 
Daudi, el-Kharais, el-Mareyjib, Sa’neh and Mo’taridh, 
^jcj£x +)|)j and rank next in power to the Beni Yas and the 
’Awamir. This last is a very large nomadic tribe, widely scattered over 
’Oman, but occupying chiefly the desert outskirts from Kooria Mooria Bay 
to the Sabkha, and roaming about with their flocks and herds in 
a state of semi-savagedom. The ’Awamir are genuine Bedouins, and no 
wilder or more predatory race exists, I believe, in Arabia. One of their 
clans, the ’Affar, (j^) are popularly supposed to feed upon the bodies of 
animals that have died naturally, but this is denied by the tribe who, how¬ 
ever, admit that they are not unfrequently reduced to devouring their skin 
clothing. A large portion of this tribe has settled down, particularly in the 
province of ’Oman, w T here they occupy a district of twelve villages called the 
( Buldan el-’Awamir’ and follow agricultural pursuits. The wandering ’Awa¬ 
mir do not even respect the members of other clans of their own tribe unless 
they are acquainted with them, but plunder indiscriminately all they meet. 
In August 1874, a party of this tribe arrived at Muscat from the neighbour¬ 
hood of Wadi Bekot in Kooria Mooria Bay to assist His Highness Seyyid 
Turki in an expedition he was engaged on, and returned afterwards, as 
they had come, by land. They professed to have no difficulty in making 
their way over the great desert. 
El-Bereymi is the appellation usually applied to a collection of seven 
villages or settlements, of which the one, specially bearing that name, is the 
largest and most important. The others are Su’areh to the N., Jemi, Katareh 
and Heyli to the N. W., and ’Ain and Mo’taridh to the S. E.; and the popula¬ 
tion of the whole may be estimated at 12,000 to 15,000. From the outside the 
appearance of these settlements is very pretty and refreshing, the date palms 
and orchards forming a green-setting to the low palm leaf huts, which are scat¬ 
tered throughout, and which just peep through the foliage. They have a 
striking similarity to the “ abadis” or settlements in Mekran. The general 
condition of the people is low, and there is a noticeable equality of property 
throughout, but this is owing probably more to the want of good government 
and the chronic state of warfare and insecurity they five in, than to the 
natural disadvantages of the land. Agriculture is in rather a mediocre state 
as regards cereals and vegetables, the principal object of culture being of 
