Page 126 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)
P. 126
VII.J TRAVELS IN OMAN. 87
their course had been arrested by the barrier
on which I stood. Upon inquiry I could not
learn that this was progressing-, and my own
observation induced me to think it was not,
for, upon examination, I found that the hil
locks which formed such an impediment to
their encroachments, were covered with rak
*
and other Desert bushes, the roots of which
sink deep into the sand, and there become
matted, producing the same effects as the
bent star in England. A single bush, from
this peculiarity, arrests the progress of the
sand, and collects it into a mound : other
bushes spring forth on its surface, and they
thus continue receiving alternately separate
layers of sand and increased vegetation, until
they attain considerable magnitude. Was it
not for this happy provision, a flood of sand
must long ago have overwhelmed the country
to the very base of the seaward range of
mountains. As there is but little water be
yond this barrier, the wells being many days
apart, the Bedowins rarely venture to cross
* Cissus Arborea of Forskal. The smaller branches of this
tree are used in Arabia for tooth brushes. It was held in such
high estimation among the ancient Arabs and Egyptians as to be
celebrated by their poets.