Page 168 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

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DISTRICTS 261

3. Daghmar, a group of hut-villages on the coast, about 4 miles
SE. of Quryat, in a plain, bounded inland by steep and rugged
hills of limestone; the centre of the plain is crossed by a chain of
low, stony knolls, on one of which is a small ruined tower. The
drainage of Wadi Tayin reaches the sea here by several channels,
passing between and round the villages. The group of villages
extends for about 4 miles from NW. to SE. Water is good and
plentiful, from wells 15 to 20 ft. deep; dates, fruits, lucerne, and
cotton are cultivated; vegetables, fish, and live-stock are also
obtainable.
4. Tiwi, or Teiwi, a large village on the coast at the mouth of the
Wadi Tiwi, the chief port of the Beni Jabir country. It consists of
three separate quarters, Ramlah, Quff, and Jareif, all upon the
coast, the wadi entering the sea between QufE and Jareif. Ramlah
and Quff are both walled and contain mud houses and a few shops ;
Jareif is a fishing-hamlet. There are many weavers in Quff, the
rest of the inhabitants of Tiwi l>eing cultivators and fishermen.
Some 400 yards from the sea is a lagoon of fresh water, and date-
groves and fruit-trees grow in the gorge of Wadi Tiwi behind the
village.
5. Kelhat, or Qalhat, an unwalled fishing-village on the coast,
12 miles NW. of Sur, consisting of about 125 mud houses and
a small bazaar of a dozen shops ; there are a few wells, but no
dates nor cultivation. The hills of Eastern Hajar rise behind the
village at a distance of less than a mile, and the Wadi Hilam reaches
the sea on its E. side; the inhabitants possess 12 badans, which
trade with Muscat and Sur.
6. Sur, a town of great political and commercial importance, on
the coast, some 94 miles SE. of Muscat, and 17 miles W. of Ras
el-Hadd. It is the second largest town of the Oman Sultanate,
being only exceeded in size by Matrah (see p. 257); total population
aboutl2,000. It is built on both sides of a creek at its entrance, which
is 150 3rards wide, and, after running S. for half a mile, gives access
to an interior basin about 2 miles in extent from E. to W. At low
water there is only three-quarters of a fathom in the creek, and the
basin is practically dry ; consequently Sur can only serve as a port
for vessels of small draught. Behind the town and basin, at a
distance of about 2 miles from the sea, a stony ridge runs from SE.
to NW., and rises into shingly flats about 50 ft. high ; and behind
the ridge and parallel to it is a plain which contains the lower
course of Wadi Fuleij (or Falaij).
The town consists of two large quarters separated by the entrance
of the creek. That on the E. side is ‘Aiqa, consisting of about

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