Page 202 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

) i
THE SULTANATE OF OMAN

•lie Alternative Route, from Salalah to Adam, described under
e No. 69, vol. ii, p. 312); here water can be obtained by digging
3 low ground near the sea.
r the next 24 miles, from Ras Sauqirah to Has Sharbatat, there
:hes a table-land bounded by a limestone cliff, 600 ft. in height,
g precipitously into the sea. The character of the country
not change in the last section, from Ras Sharbatat to Ras Nus,
r forms a slight bay 82 miles long. Here the plateau is from !
o S00 ft. in height, generally ending in cliffs which are of pale i
n limestone ; about the middle of the bay, at Ras Shuwaniyah,
is an outcrop of igneous rock. Some 12 miles to the N. of Ras
is the Wadi Reikhut, a well-wooded valley, with a spring of
water and a brackish lake near its mouth, To the S. of it,
e mouth of a valley thickly wooded with small trees, is Hasik,
a miserable village, but once a thriving town. In the bay,
ng E. from a point opposite Reikhut, are the Kuria Muria
ds, now a British possession (see p. 282 f.).
e two principal islands off the coast, which are within the
liction of the Sultanate, are the following :—
Mahot, an island with village of the same name, in Ghubbah !
ish, some 3 or 4 miles from the mainland, to which it is pos-
to cross at low tide. The island is a mere sandbank, 2 miles
md 1 mile bfoad, devoid of vegetation with the exception of
roves, which grow on a mud-flat round two-thirds of itscircum- I
:e and screen it from the sea. The place possesses no regular
and few large boats, but it is constantly visited by caravans
Adam (see above^ p. 275, and cf. Route No. 70, vol. ii, p.311).
r is fetched daily by slaves, who carry it in earthen vessels
\
wells under a low hill on the mainland 4 miles to the N. The
!
itants are Hikman and a few Jannabah, and they maintain
petual feud with the Al Wahlbah of the mainland.
• v -
Masirah, the only large and important island now included in *:.
"Innate. It is 40 miles in length, opposite Barr el-Hikman ;
• -'ll), and runs parallel to the coast, from which it is 10 miles
l*u ^ t,raverse(I along its length by a chain of hills, of which
ghest summit, Jebel Madhrtib (620 ft-.), lies in the NE. corner. i
s and is almost destitute of vegetation; stunted trees and
s grow sparsely in the plains, and date-palms are few and
31 quality. The permanent population numbers about 600,
y of the Jannabah, but including a few Hikman. They subsist
h and an edible turtle, which is here abundant, on dates
ted from Batinah and Oman Proper, and on Indian rice
bur. Sheep and goats are few, owing to scarcity of pasture.