Page 353 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

314 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

The general state of the atmosphere will be
best exhibited by a reference to the abstract

of the Meteorological Register which is sub­
joined. Rain falls from October to March,
but rarely more than three or four days in

each month, when the storms, though heavy,
are partial. The lofty summits of the Jebel
Akhdar arrest the clouds in their progress,

and copious showers give rise to numerous
streams, which flow down and cross the plains

on either side the chain. Snow and ice in
the winter months in those regions are not
unknown, and in that of March hail-storms

frequently pass over the plains below. The
dews at night are singularly copious, leaving

upon the trees and surface of the ground the
same effects as would be produced by smart

rain. On the Desert the atmosphere is usu­
ally clear and cloudless, and in the day the
sky is of the deepest blue. At night the stars

shine forthwith a brilliancy unknown in other
climes. The cold at that season, as in all other

sandy tracts, is proportionate to the heat of
the day; but fevers appear to be unknown

there; and the Bedowin who sleeps in the
sand receives additional vigour and vivacity