Page 225 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

186 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [cH.

buying;—that war of words has lasted now

nearly an hour, and yet appears no nearer a
conclusion than at first. Here there is a boy

with a basket of dates on his head, bawling
forth, as he totters under the weight of his
load, the superiority of his commodity and its

price. There, a man parading to and fro

with a turban and a pair of sandals. At a
distance are some butchers’ stalls, and beef
mutton, &c., are doled out to those who crowd

around it, by means of a very rude pair of
wooden scales, having stones as a substitute

for weights.
Monday, February 29th. Quitting Burka,

at eight hours, we passed in succession the
various villages and towns which appear on

the map. The fishery is here conducted on
a grand scale, by means of nets many hun­

dred fathoms in length, which are carried out
by boats. The upper part is supported by

small blocks of wood, formed from the light
and buoyant branches of the date palm, while
the lower part is loaded with lead. To either

extremity of this a rope is attached, by which,

when the whole of the net is laid out, about
thirty or forty men drag it towards the shore.