Page 132 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

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PRODUCTS AND TRADE 243

tribesmen in 1913 (seep. 247), and their capture of the Sema’il
valley.
The British India Company, which lias the contract for mails
from and to India, provides a weekly fast mail service, and also
a wee kly slow coasting service, between Bombay and Basra, and
the vessels call at Muscat both ways. The vessels of the Arab
Steamers, Ltd., maintain an irregular service between Bombay and
Basra calling at Muscat; and during normal times vessels of the
Bucknall Steamship Co., the Strick Line, and the West Hartlepool
Steam Navigation Co. from London, the Compagnie Russe de
Navigation h Vapeur et de Commerce from Odessa, and the Ham-
burg-Amerika Line from'Hamburg, call at Muscat.

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Currency
i
The currency of Oman is the Maria Theresa dollar or riyal, and •-
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the debased copper coin minted in lS9o to the order of the Sultan.
The Indian rupee also circulates, and copper pice are imported from I'.
India, Zanzibar, and German East Africa. Sovereigns and British
coins are also current in Muscat and Matrah, but in the interior
these coins are exchanged at a discount.
The rate of exchange between the Maria Theresa dollar and the
rupee varied in the year 1912 from 141i?s. 8a. (£9 Is. 4d.) to 152i?s.
(£10 2s. 8cl.) per 100 dollars, the lowest being in April and the highest
in October ; in 1913 it varied from 145i?s. 8a. (£9 14s.) to 154i?s. 8a.
(£10 6s.). The instability of the silver exchange occasions many
shipments of specie between Muscat and Bombay, and is unfavour­
able for trade.
Trade accounts are kept in mohamadis and gaj—imaginary coins.
There are two kinds of mohamadis, black and white ; the black is i
used for fruits, vegetables, &c., the white in wholesale accounts : \

1 dol. = 201 black in., or 111 white m.
Most hundis (bills of exchange) from India show their face value
in mohamadis and not in rupees : !
20 Gaj = 1 Mohamadi.
111 Mohamadis = 1 dollar.
:•* * 100 Mohamadis = 1 Toman.
t ;
With regard to the use of hundis in foreign trade, Lorimer (Gazet­
teer of the Persian Gulf, 1908) writes : ‘ the usual means of payment
is by,Hundis, here called Ivundis, or bills of exchange at twenty-one
days’ sight, drawn against requirements ; these instruments are
practically accommodation bills, as possession is not given of the
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