Page 228 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XII.] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 189

have a saying that a traveller may proceed
the whole distance without ever losing their

shade. Dates form the principal export from
Oman, large quantities being taken to India,

where a considerable share is consumed in
making the government arrack. The middle
classes of the Mussulman and Hindoo popu­

lation are very partial to them. The best
are brought from Basrah and Bahrein, those

from Oman being classed next in excellence.
There are several methods of preserving

them; some are simply dried, and then
strung on lines ; others, which is the usual

plan, are packed in baskets. Notwithstand­
ing their great number, every tree has its
separate owner, and disputes between the

relations of those who die intestate are, in
consequence, very frequent. Towards noon

we left our encampment, and continued
along the beach, passing numerous hamlets
and villages. Firewood seems very plentiful

here; it is packed in large stacks, ranged

along the beach, so that boats in passing run
in, purchase, and load at once. From thence
we passed the skeleton of a whale, a large

quantity of roots of trees, and other drift­