Page 387 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

348 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

boasts no capitalists nor extensive landed
proprietors, it has also few in very low or

indigent circumstances. Their wealth con­
sists in a great measure in their date groves ;

every tree is registered, and marriage portions
and legacies often consist of them alone.

The dress of the lower classes consists of
a cloth bound round the waist, called lungi,

a turban made of chequered linen, manu­
factured on the Burka coast, and a coarse
cloak, or kamaline. That of the higher

orders is composed of a long shirt: over

this they wear a thin cloth cloak, usually
of a brown colour, and open at the front and
sleeves; and above all a white or dark­

coloured kamaline, of very fine texture,
usually brought from Nejd: a Cashmere

shawl wrapped round the head as a turban,
and a girdle for the jambir, completes their

costume. All classes use the same descrip­
tion of sandal. Their arms consist of a

matchlock of the same description as those
usually found throughout the East; the bar­

rel of great length, and ornamented with inlaid
gold and silver. Their sword is a straight,

double-edged, thin blade, about three feet in