Page 425 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

386 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Habitations—Architecture—Interior of the Houses— The Hareem
—Slave-trade—The Imam's consent to its Abandonment—Re­
flections—Description and Amount of Slaves—How distin­
guished— Value —Kind Treatment—Punishment — Household
Slaves—Education of Slaves—Historical Account of Oman—
Our political Relations with its Prince—Russian Invasion of
India—By what Route—Importance of an intimate Alliance
with the Imam — His Navy—Port of Maskat—Ungenerous
Behaviour of the British Government—Conclusion.

With the exception of Maskat and Rostak,

where they are constructed of stone, the
houses throughout Oman are built either with

sun-dried bricks or loose stones cemented
with mud. They are, in consequence, far
from desirable edifices, and a smart shower of

some continuance scarcely fails to level many
of them. As some protection from these

accidents they use a cement composed of
mud, straw, and pebbles, which is smoothed

and consolidated by the hand alone. The
larger sort of houses are of a square form, and