Page 358 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XX.] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 319

been in command of several of the Imam’s
largest ships, and has on more than one occa­
sion navigated the Liverpool (74) between

.
*
Zanzibar and Maskat
My instruments excited at first more atten­
tion than I desired ; but this feeling soon
died away when they were informed they
were not made of gold. I could not, during

my stay, obtain a book or manuscript on any
other subject than commentaries on the Ko­
ran and divinity in general: on these points,

together with reading and writing, their chil­
dren are alone instructed.
At some of the principal towns sugar is ma­

nufactured in large quantities; but although
the cane is of a very superior quality, the

material, owing to some difficulty which they
cannot get over in granulating it, has but an
indifferent appearance ; it forms, however, the

principal export from Maskat, where, as well
as at Neswah, and several of the other princi­

pal towns, they manufacture large quantities
* As a specimen of his proficiency in the English language, I
present the reader, in the Appendix, with letters addressed by
him to me. Besides exhibiting a considerable portion of natural
talent, they are curious in many other points of view. The polished
blade-bone of a camel serves them as a tablet to write on, and
they use a kind of ink easily obliterated.