Page 238 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XIII.] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 199

Their loose, gay dresses, and splendid steeds
of the purest Nejd breed, as they scoured at

full gallop across the plain from various di­
rections, were exhibited to great advantage.
They have, on these occasions, a favourite

manoeuvre by which individuals clasp each
other by the thigh, and thus, side by side, urge

their steeds to the utmost fleetness. Accom­
panied by this gay party, all in the highest

degree animated and excited, we pursued our
course for five or six miles. Sayyid Hila],
who rode a beautiful horse, the value of which

was estimated at three thousand dollars, and
who had been foremost, in every exercise,

then dismounted, and with many cautions as
to our future line of action amidst his unruly
neighbours, bid us a very kind farewell. We

shook hands with all his followers, and then,
as John Bunyan says, “ went on our way.”

The groves and cultivated ground extend
about three miles from the beach. Beyond
that, the plains are crossed by many shallow

streams, which have originated amidst the
hills during the late rains. Very large gaff

and surer trees dot the surface of the land­
scape; and seated beneath their scanty and