Page 84 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

IV.J TRAVELS IN OMAN. 45

ing impracticable for horses, we procured

asses, which carried us at a brisk pace in

two hours and a half to the foot of the hills.
Here we dismounted, and commenced our

ascent on foot, by a rugged defile. After an
hour's fagging, climbing in many places ra­

ther than walking, we breathed for a short
space near to a small hamlet, and, after

quenching our thirst at a stream of pure
water, which rushes through the valley to

the plains below, again set forward. Four
hours more, during which we crossed several

deep ravines, also well watered, and inter­
spersed with date trees and patches of culti­

vation, brought us to the summit; but, be­
yond the view we obtained of the surround­

ing country, and the delightful coolness of
the atmosphere, there was little to repay

us for our trouble. Bare tabular patches
of limestone rock showed their bleak and

wasted surface in all directions. A few
sheep and numerous goats were browsing on

the scanty herbage the other parts afforded,
but, hitherto, we saw no human being to

break the solitude of the scene.
From this point, which forms the cape, or