Page 181 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

142 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

CHAPTER X.

The Beni Riyam—Use of Wine—Description—Arms—Manners
—Author's disappointment—Women—Return to Neswah,—De­
sertion of the Guides—Ruined Town—Mountain Pass—Mag­
nificent Precipice — Perilous Descent—Anecdote—Geological
Structure — Birket el Moge—Salubrious Climate—Bedowin
Chief—Anecdote—Love of the Desert—Cheerful temperament
of the Bedowin—Robber Hordes—Domestic Manners and Cus­
toms-Contradictions of Character—Games—Talismans—Ne­
cromancy—Story-tellers.

The Beni Riyam, who inhabit this range of

mountains, occupied the principal share of
my attention during our stay. I think there

is every reason to believe their own assertion
that they have never known a master, and,

as they never venture below but in small
parties, for the purpose of disposing of their

various articles of merchandise, and do not
proceed beyond the foot of the mountains,

where regular markets are established, they
may be still regarded as an isolated race, re­