Page 64 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

11.] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 2-5

They mostly arrive sealed at Maskat, and

very few are disposed of there. In Bombay
the Parsees are the principal purchasers, and

a great many are sent by them to China.
Maskat yields but few exports, and no

duty is now levied on them. The principal
are dates, taken to India, where large quan­

tities are required to make the government
arrack, or are sold at the different ports on

the southern coast of Arabia; ruinos, or red

dye, much valued in India; sharks’ fins,
shipped off to China, where they are used
for making soup, and a variety of other pur­

poses ; and salt fish, much esteemed by the

lower classes of natives in India. The re­
turns for these articles are made principally
in bullion and coffee. A number of mules

from Persia, and asses from the Island of

Bahrain, are annually sent to the Isle of
France.