Page 389 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

350 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

people use very little animal food, but they
have not the same aversion to beef as the in­
habitants of Hejas and Yemen. They are

also very fond of wheaten bread made into

thin cakes, and toasted on the embers of
their fire, or baked in ovens, built up in
the shape of a jar. These it requires but a

small quantity of fuel to heat, and the cakes
are placed against the sides: very little

dhurrah is eaten, as the natives say it produces
flatulence and indigestion. Their corn is re­

duced to meal by the hand-mill which is so
common in all parts of the East, and found

even in Scotland, where it is called a quern.
It probably may be considered the most pri­
mitive kind of mill in the world, consisting

simply of a couple of circular stones, about

two feet in diameter. The upper one is con­
vex, and has a handle, the lower concave.
The grist is supplied through an aperture in

the former, which is whirled briskly round by
the hand. Females are generally employed

in this duty: the operation is slow, and more
is not usually ground in a day than suffices

for consumption during that period: the usual
time for working it is in the morning, when