Page 289 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

250 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

About this period the success of Mohammed
Ali’s army in Arabia, and eventually the fall

of their capital Der’yyah, compelled a great
number of Wahhabis to fly to the sea-coast,

where the several tribes had already embraced
the faith of their founder. To such restless,
turbulent, and daring spirits, the roving and

adventurous life of a pirate held forth every
charm. It was but transferring the scene of

a Bedowin’s individual hostility to the rest of
mankind, from a desert of sand to a waste
of waters ; and such numbers consequently

joined them that their force soon became
truly formidable.

Embarking from their ports in the southern
part of the Persian Gulf, in large and swift­

sailing vessels, of from two hundred to four
hundred tons, of which it is estimated they had
then more than a hundred, and sailing toge­

ther in large fleets, they kept the whole coast
of Arabia, the entrance to the Red Sea, and

the northern shores of India, in a state of
constant excitement and alarm. Many and

desperate were the conflicts which occurred
at different periods between them and the
vessels of the Indian navy, who now pursued