Page 236 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)
P. 236
XIII.J TRAVELS IN OMAN. 197
listen to the original, in a spot so congenial
and so remote.
Suwe'ik is a small walled town containing
about seven hundred houses. The fort, situ
ated nearly in the centre, and garrisoned by
the Sheikh’s household slaves, is a large
strong building, mounting a few guns on its
towers. The Arabs have a singular practice
of keeping two or three pieces of artillery
just without the entrance of their forts. As
I passed these one day with the Sheikh, I in
quired of him if it would not prove somewhat
awkward if the castle should be surprised,
and the attacking party get possession of
these, so that they could at once, by blowing
open the gates, obtain a fair entrance. He
laughed and said, “Our warfare differs some
what from yours, as I had reason to witness
at Beni Abu ’All. In the first place, the
Arabs, in all probability, would not think of
such an act, and even if they did, as you
know we do not carry guns when we go to
war, I question whether they could muster
sufficient powder, or if so, know how to load
them afterwards.”
The greater number of people belonging to
