Page 167 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

128 TRAVELS IN OMAN.

back to Neswah, and bring the Sheikh with
me. After we had fairly started, a few dollars

to those who were to accompany us acted
like magic in removing objections, and at

130 we commenced our ascent, about a mile
from the village. The mountain asses with

which we were furnished are of a large size;
and by constantly traversing these acclivities,

acquire a firmness of step equal to that of
mules. They proceed at a very quick pace

for about sixty or eighty yards, and then halt
to obtain breath and push on again. At this

rate we ascended very rapidly along the
southern ridge, in some places approaching

to within a few paces of a ravine, which
sunk down perpendicularly to a tremen­

dous depth. On our left, in one part, where
the dangers of a smooth narrow track were

further increased by a slight slope towards
the precipice, our off feet were swinging

over it, and I then became conscious that
the representations we had received from the

natives below were not so much exaggerated
as we were at first inclined to believe. At

two hours we quitted the ridge to ascend the
face of the mountain, and our track then lay