Page 56 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

IE] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 17

of the Imam with the Princess of Shiraz,

that order, with several other restrictions, has

been rescinded. Indeed, an offence com­
mitted by a Persian, whether it be of a civil
or criminal nature, is permitted to go before

their own Cazi, and, according to his report,

they are punished or acquitted. The Per­
sians at Maskat are mostly merchants, who

deal in India piece-goods, coffee, hookahs or
raleans, and rose-water. Others, from Bun­

der, Abbas, Lar, and Menon, manufacture
swords and matchlocks, for which there is a

great demand in the interior.
From their mixed descent, and also from

the custom of intermarrying with their
Zansibar and Abyssinian slaves, the com­

plexion of this portion of the inhabitants

varies very considerably; but the higher
orders, who have preserved untainted the
purity of their Arabian descent, retain, in

a remarkable degree, the peculiar character­

istics of their race. In their persons they
are mostly spare, and their skins are of a

light, healthy brown colour. They rarely
suffer from fevers, although the climate of

Maskat is, in this respect especially, fatal to
vol. i. c