Page 328 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XIX.] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 291

jals (the egg plant), parsley, several kinds of
beans, peas, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, let­

tuces, and some greens, which, when boiled,
taste not unlike our garden spinach. Po­

tatoes have not been introduced; the sem-
sem, or Sesamum orientale, is grown in large
quantities; from the seed an oil is expressed,

which is much esteemed by the Arabs. They
sometimes toast the seed, and make it into

bread. To these we may add indigo, the
cotton bush (Gossypium herbareum), the castor­
oil tree, and extensive fields of sugar-cane.

Hemp is reared, but not manufactured; but
its seeds form one of their natural inebrients.

The wild animals of Oman nearly resemble
those common to other parts of Arabia. On

the plains, jackals, foxes, hares, antelopes,
and jerboas, the mus jaculus, are very nume­

rous ; hygenas are only found near the moun­
tains, where they shelter themselves in caves
and hollows. Wild hogs, goats, and a de­

scription of small panther, are met with on
the Jebel Akhdar.

Camels in all parts of Arabia are esteemed
a gift of inestimable value, and those of Oman
enjoy a deserved celebrity for strength and

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