Page 405 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

366 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [cil,

they sprang; and during the sojourn of Be-
dowins in Maskat or other towns, they are
usually lodged with, and fed by such rela­

tives.
Such are the principal tribes in OmAn. I

made myself acquainted with the names,
number, &c., of upwards of a hundred others,

but as they only vary in these respects, it
would prove neither interesting nor amusing
to give the mere catalogue.

Each of these tribes being governed, in a
measure, by its own ruler, acts on ordinary

occasions as a civil community independent
of its neighbours; but the smaller are com­

monly under the influence of the larger
tribes. Yet this alliance hangs by so slight
a thread that the veriest trifle is sufficient to

sever it. If dissatisfied with their Sheikh, or
they think they can better themselves, they

quit his protection and obtain that of another,
very possibly a rival. Thus, their numbers

and strength are constantly changing, and
the mal-administration of a single individual

may reduce his rule' over a powerful tribe to
that over its mere skeleton. This is one of
the principal features in the Sheikh govern­