Page 240 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XIII.J TRAVELS IN OMAN. 20!

approach private feuds are forgotten, and the
several tribes forthwith unite together for

mutual protection. These inroads are not,
therefore, without their use; they frequently

prove, as in this case, the means of bringing
together two tribes who for many years before
had been at feud. Intermarriages then take

place, and they become fixed in permanent
alliance.

El abu Sheid, El Sad, and El Hilal, are
the principal tribes now confederated to­
gether, whose aggregate number is estimated

at three thousand men. They have numerous
date groves, fields of grain, and plantations

of sugar, cotton, and indigo. Within their
groves are several forts, for they are an un-

tractable race, caring nothing for Sayyid
S’aid, or the Sheikh of Sohar. Although

they formerly paid the zireat or tithe to the
Sheikh of Suweik, they now are frequently at

feud with him.
It being anticipated that something at issue

at this period would lead to a disturbance,
our party fetched a long circuit to avoid their
encampment: this was settled before my re­

turn, for we then passed without molestation