Page 152 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

( DISTRICTS 25.3

(i. Suweiq, about 22 miles ESE. of Khabiirah, is a compact town
of some 000 huts, with a fort. It is one of the ports of the Wacli
Beni Ghfifir, and possesses 15 boats (baqarahs and buttons) trading
with Muscat and the Persian Gulf, and some fishing-boats ; the
rest of the town is occupied with date cultivation and the keeping
of live stock. The inhabitants are Suwalih, Baluchis, and Persians,
and there are a few families of Khojahs. The Vali has a garrison
of twenty-five men.
7. Masna‘ah, a small town of about 300 houses, at the mouth of
the Wadi Fara*, or Wadi Rostaq, some 17 miles ESE. of Suweiq.
It is the port of the Rostaq district and of the Wadi Beni Kharus,
trading with Trucial Oman and Muscat. The fort is occupied by
the Vali, with a garrison of 70 men, and about $4,000 are remitted
annually to Muscat from the customs duties. A little less than
a third of the population are Baluchis ; the most numerous Arab
tribes represented in the town are the Yal Jarad and the Yal Sa'ad,
the latter a numerous tribe of eastern Batinah (see above). There is
an Arab bazaar of about 50 shops, and within the fort aro 10 shops
kept by Hindus ; there are also a few Ivhojah traders in the town.
The date-groves extend 4 or 5 miles along the sea and 2 or 3 miles
inland. The wadi separates tho town from the adjoining village
of Shirs.
S. Barkah, a scattered town on the E. side of the Wadi Ma'awal
at its mouth, about IS miles ESE. of Masna'ah and some 43 miles
(crow-fly) W. by N. of Muscat. The town consists mostly of huts,
scattered among date plantations, and extends along the shore for
about 3 miles ; population 5,000. In the centre is a large and
lofty fort, very conspicuous from the sea ; it is surrounded by
a turreted wall within which are some substantial houses. There
is a well-stocked bazaar where almost every article procurable at
Muscat may be obtained. The date-groves, for which Barkah is
celebrated, extend from Wadi Manumah, C miles E. of the town, to
Wadi el-QasIm, some 10 miles to the W. of it. Fishing is also con­
ducted on a great scale, quantities of fish being salted and carried
into the interior ; but the anchorage is an open roadstead, affording
no protection from the prevailing winds. The Arab population,
which consists in great part of Bedouins who have settled and
acquired date plantations in addition to their cattle, sheep, and
camels, is exceeded by the Baluchis and Jadgals (Arabic ZidjCil),
a tribe of Persian Mekran said originally to have come from Sincl
and Sunnis by religion. There are a few Khojah families, and some
Hindu merchants, who enjoy British protection, In the date
season the population is swelled by harvesters from Muscat, and
*