Page 313 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

27G TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

lent herbs, which are nourished by the nightly
dews, and afford but indifferent grazing to

their scanty flocks, spring up here ; but the
large tracks occupied by the beds of the

streams have generally a layer of rounded
masses of limestone, brought from the moun­
tains, deposited on their surface, and are

wholly destitute of every species of vegeta­
tion, save some dwarfish bushes on which

the camel alone feeds. The soil in the Te­
hama, in some spots, is hard and of a bad

quality, but in others, whenever water can be
conveyed, it is in a high degree susceptible of

cultivation. In the narrow belt bordering on
the sea-shore, called Batna, large quantities
of grain and vegetables are reared, and a

continuous line of date-trees, often four or
five miles in breadth, extends from Sib to

Kh6rfak£n a distance of nearly two hundred
miles. Reference is repeatedly made in the

Arabian authors to the palms of Oman. Much
cultivation exists along the banks of the

streams, and also in the vicinity of the towns.
But the most remarkable feature in this
country are the oases, which extend from

Beni Abu ’Ali, in a continuous line, to the