Page 375 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

336 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [ell.

marked here than in other settled and civil­
ized parts of Arabia. Both classes have mixed

with their Khuwarijite conquerors, whose
faith they embraced, and all distinction is

now lost between them ; but they have pre­
served another, which is forgotten, as far as I

know, in other provinces. The Arabian his­
torians derive the present population of Oman

*
,
from two stocks; Jactan the son of Eber
and Adnan I-, the descendant of Ishmael|. In
Oman, the posterity of the former are styled

Ummarf, and that of the latter Gaafiri; but
these terms seem peculiar to the province, for

by other writers the first are called Arab el
Arabi, or pure Arabs, and the latter El Arab

el Mustarab ||, or mixed Arabs.
These two classes in Oman regard each

other with mutual hatred. The town Arabs,
independent of this distinction, are also di­
vided into tribes, who engage as fiercely in

quarrel with each other as their brethen of

the Desert; and the detestable laws of blood

* Jactan the son of Hebra.
f The Arabs trace their descent as far as Adnan, but not to
Ishmael.
J Robinson’s Calmet> Boston Ed. p. 5 70. Ante, a.d. 1817.
|| Mos-Arabes, or Mostse-Arabes.