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.
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