Page 53 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

KHURFAKHAN---THE INTERIOR. 11

the whole of Batinah, or lowland region to the southward of Siuk, and
as the town is situated within a day’s journey of the entrance into
Dhahirah, it of necessity becomes a place of considerable trade, and
communication with that quarter. Within its environs, grapes are
procurable during five, and fresh dates for six months of the year; and
in their respective seasons mangoes and guavas, peaches and apricots,
melons and plantains, may be purchased through the year.
As the ground in Burka roads is loose, it becomes necessary that
ships should anchor in a position which will enable them to clear the
shore, under sail, in the event of parting from their cables. Six islands
north-westward of Burka are called Sawardi, and seven others, to the
eastward, are termed Damani ; on the easternmost of the Sawardi
islands, which are perfectly barren, there is a brackish well, cut deep in
the rock; it possesses, too, a good harbour; nor is the navigation
dangerous, except between the westernmost island and the shore.

Khurfakhan.
Leaving Burka, and passing a group of islets, bearing its name, the
coast hollows into a deep bay, Khurfakhan, in lat. 25° 20' N. It is
covered with date trees, has a sandy beach, and is free from danger.
The lowland continues several miles, to the foot of mountains, which rise
to a great height, on the tips of some of which snow has been seen in
the month of January. At various distances along the shore, of from
five to ten miles, are seen villages and towns, many of which are
defended by a solitary tower. The soundings on this coast are regular,
but it is nevertheless not advisable to approach the shore in the months
of November, December, and January, during the prevalence of the
strong south-east winds peculiar to this season of the year; indeed
this coast is without the regular track of ships passing between the
western side of India and the Persian Gulf.

The Interior.
We will now pass from this delineation of the line of coast to a de­
scription of the interior portions of the same extent of country. The
chain of elevated rocks which overhang the town, having nearly enclosed
the cove of Muskat, recedes from the sea, and from the boundary of the
sandy plain of Mattrah, to the extent of ten miles, as measured along
their semicircular base ; and at five miles from hence forms the narrow
pass of Riu, which, independent of occasional watch-towers erected
along the line of approach, over the rocks, is fortified by a mud wall
and ramparts, in which there is a gateway sufficiently commodious.
At this point, the chain separates into two ridges, one of which recedes
towards the Dhahirah, and the other, approaching the ocean during a