Page 50 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

I.J TRAVELS IN OMAN. 11

With this view they fortified it with consider­

able labour and expense. When the latter
city, on the 26th April, 1622, was taken pos­

session of by the Persians, under the Em­
peror Shah Abbas, a great number of its

wealthiest inhabitants sought shelter in
Maskat: but, in 1658, the Arabs, having re­

taken the city from the Portuguese, put all
the garrison to the sword, and the only ves­

tiges of their settlement now remaining are
the forts and two churches, one of which has

fallen to ruins, and the other is converted
into a palace for the Imam. From this pe­

riod, until Sayyid S’aid obtained the govern­
ment, the reigning princes only visited

Maskat occasionally, and Rostak was con­
sidered the capital of Oman.

The town of Maskat is situated at the ex­
tremity of a small cove in the gorges of an

extensive pass, which widens from this point
as it advances into the interior. On either

side, the cove hills, to the height of from
three to five hundred feet, rise almost per­

pendicularly from the sea, and appear lined
with forts, which, considering they belong to

the vicinity of an Arab town, are in a toler-