Page 321 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

284 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

dicinal properties are attributed to the bark
of the .Acacia Arabica. The wood is also made

into agricultural implements, the stocks of
matchlocks, and other articles requiring ex­

cessive hardness. No timber fit for building
is found in Oman, the trunk of the date-
palm, commonly used in erecting their houses,

scarcely deserving that appellation, since it is
weak, and very soon decays.

Tarfa, or tamarisk bushes (Tamarin Ori-
entalis) are numerous. Camels feed greedily
on their tender branches and leaves, which

the Bedowins collect by beating the trees
with sticks, and receiving what falls upon a

cloth spread beneath them. On the Jebel
Akhdar there are, as I have noticed in the

course of the Narrative, many indigenous trees
not found in the plains. In some of the chan­

nels through which water has passed, lofty
tamarind, nebek {Lotus Nebea), and hithel

trees have taken root, notwithstanding the
rocky nature of their bed; but, generally

speaking, the summits and slopes of the
mountains are unwooded and barren. Ta­
marind trees also grow most luxuriantly on

some of the plains. They are large, wide-