Page 404 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XXII.] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 365

of a descent from the Korish at Mekka.

The Gafari were originally from Nejd, where
the parent stem still remains. In the
seventeenth century one of their number

filled the throne of Oman, and their present
chief, Musalim Ibn Massu, still refuses to ac­

knowledge the sovereignty of Sayyid S’aid.
I have already noticed that he resides in a

castle near to Minau, from whence he occa­
sionally sallies and annoys the surrounding
country. The Beni Hasan amount to one

thousand men. They live in various towns,
but attend only to their camels, and, with the

Geneba, the Meyun, and the Beni Katub, are
the carriers of Oman. Their wives and
slaves occasionally till the ground, but the

men would consider it a disgrace to do so.
The Bedowins who occupy the great
Western Desert have neither houses nor

tents, but live under the shade of trees.
It is by no means held binding here that

the son should follow the occupation of his
father. The former may sometimes reside in

the town, and the latter on the Desert; but
however long they may be permanently
fixed, they never forget the tribe from which