Page 146 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

136 Arabian Studies IV
French Consul so its Armenian inhabitant was summarily
ejected.
1791 JENOUR, Capt. Matthew, The Route to India, London,
1791, 35-6. Muscat is an ill-built town consisting wholly of
mud huts, but the people are ‘handsome, brave and perfectly
free from any mauvaisc hontc\ They trade mainly in locally-
grown coffee and pearls. They sail in vessels called ‘Dinggces’
with no deck except for a small part to cover the helmsman
and perishable goods. The Captain and crew know little of
navigation, and it takes a disagreeable 15 days from Bombay.
1792 SAUNDERS, Daniel, A Journal of the Travels and Sufferings
of Daniel Saunders, Salem, 1794. Arrived overland but gave
no description.
1793 DUBOIS, Capt. J-L., quoted in Malte-Brun, Annales des
voyages, Paris, 1808, 60-6. Stayed indoors for three days until
he had Arab clothes which were provided by a Jew who
looked after French interests. The population was 25,000 and
very depraved: everything was allowed except murder. Apart
from the Serai and two merchants’ houses, there are only
shacks. The wall is 34 feet high with massive towers. Two
leagues away is Castle Faley with fine gardens. The Arabs are
equipping six large ships to go to Bengal, exporting excellent
drugs.
1800 MALCOLM, Sir John, Sketches of Persia by a Traveller,
London, 1827, i, 10-26. First impressions were certainly bad,
the beach was covered with fly-ridden packages of dates,
rotten fish, and the town had vile narrow streets with strings
of slaves for sale. An officer told to write a report on the
manners and customs of the people, simply wrote ‘as to
manners they have none: and their customs are beastly’. The
local people talked of beautiful valleys inland but Malcolm
did not believe that they really existed. There are further
particulars of his visit in Kaye, John, Life of Sir John
Malcolm, London, 1856, i, 105-10. The Governor, Sayf b.
Muhammad, had made 16 voyages to Bombay, 1 to Calcutta
and 18 others. Malcolm met the Imam, who was simply
dressed with no jewels or even a dagger. The Imam was
kindly and courteous. Malcolm gave him a watch set with
diamonds, a silver ornamented clock, gold enamelled kris, a
double-barrelled gun, a pair of pistols and a telescope. He
gave the Imam’s sons, 10 and 8 years old, a model of a 50-gun
ship, hunting knives, tortoise-shell cases containing
instruments. Malcolm returned in 1808 (Kaye, i, 414-6) but
did not land.
HOLLINGBERY, William, A Journey of Observations,
London, 1814, 4-7. The town is two miles in circumference
with houses with terraces and generally of two storeys.
1803 CAVAIGNAC, quoted in Auzouz, op.cit., xxiv, 1910, 249-54.