Page 117 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

78 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

thousand five hundred men, the greater num­

ber of whom are found occupying the country

south from Beni-Abft-’Ali to Cape Isolette;
but there are several families who live inter­
mixed with other Bedowins on the interme­

diate wastes between the Great Desert to

the westward, as well as on the Oasis of
Oman, together with some few who reside
with their principal Sheikh at Sur. To this

individual all grave offences are referred,

and he is responsible to the Imam for the
general conduct of the tribe. The Beni
Geneba present some peculiarities which

render them, in a measure, distinct from

other Bedowins. Although, as I have no­
ticed, their numerical superiority is not great,

yet they spread over a large extent of coun­
try, and are divided into two distinct classes ;

those who subsist by fishing, and such as fol­
low pastoral pursuits. We will first consider

the former.
It is a remarkable fact that a race in many

respects similar is found in almost every part
of the coast of Arabia, and even along the

north-east shore of India and Macrau. In
some districts, as those, for instance, which