Page 69 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

30 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [cil.

A light breeze sprang up, and, as they
passed the forts on either side the entrance,

two guns were fired, and the effects, con­
trasted with the former silence, were ex­

tremely magnificent. The reverberations,
confined at first to the inner or nearer circle

of hills, exceeded, rather than fell short of,
the loudness of the original discharge; and

might, as they broke in quick succession on

the ear, be compared to the simultaneous
and rapid firing of several heavy batteries
of artillery. Nor was this diminished

when they mingled with the secondary

echoes, returned from more distant moun­
tains, until, at length, the sounds became
gradually more faint, and terminated in the

former absolute silence. The rising breeze

had wafted the smoke above the hills, and
a strong beam of light was thrown on the

shipping in the harbour, so that their masts,
rigging, and even the lazy pendant, became,

as it were, pencilled out upon the dark hills
which formed the cove; but, owing to the

peculiar nature of the scenery, the insignifi­
cance of works of art contrasted with those

of nature, never appeared to me so striking