Page 391 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

352 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

as simple, but the materials are silk of Indian
manufacture; and over the gown, when abroad,

they wear a large wrapper. They display
their love of finery in the gold ornaments with

which they decorate their heads. A singular
custom also prevails of staining the entire

person with henna. Shenna, a moss collected
from the granite mountains in the Island of

Socotra, is also used for a similar purpose.
In addition to this, the lower classes aim at
further enhancing their claims to personal

beauty by exhibiting on their arms and faces
various tattoo devices of a blue colour.

In their persons the females are tall and
well made, with a roundness and fulness of

figure, not, however, approaching to corpu­
lency. Their complexion is not darker than

that of a Spanish brunette, and we may infer
that this is their natural colour, since, except­

ing in the morning and evening, those who
reside in the oases rarely leave their date

groves, and in the towns they preserve their
complexions with the same care. On the

other hand, the Bedowin women, who are
constantly exposed to the rays of the sun, are

very swarthy; and the same is observed of
the men, although the children are equally