Page 164 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

154 Arabian Studies IV
girls fetch $60. Slaves seemed very contented, and difficult to
distinguish from free men.
FRERE, Sir Bartlc, in Martincau, John, Life and correspon­
dence of Sir Bartle Frere, London, 1895, i, 103-6. He visited
in April. The streets were ‘more like passages in a rambling
house than thoroughfares’. The suq was ‘a very thriving
labyrinth of fish, meat, cloth, grain and vegetable sellers,
shoe-makers, cutlers and hardware sellers and shops of beads
and ornaments’. The gateway, to the sea was a large guard­
house. The Khojas have their own quarter and their mosques
have dark blue flags with a star or scimitar in white or yellow
while the Arabs have a plain red flag, which occasionally has
a crescent or scimitar.
1874 FOGG, William Perry, Travels and Adventures in Arabistan,
London, 1875, 161-6, with several pictures. He put the
population at 60,000. He was taken ashore in an easily upset
canoe. He saw the palace where there was a lion in a cage and
about 100 soldiers with spears and shotguns but no uniforms.
The Sultan rarely goes out because of his fear of assas­
sination. The streets were about four feet across, full of
savage-looking Bedouins. In the suq he saw American goods
and found a man walking around auctioning a beautiful old
sword for which he hoped to get 100 rupees.
GOLDSMID, Col. Sir Frederick, Telegraphs and Travel,
London, 1874. This contains a photograph published by
Lindley and Warren of Bombay but no description.
1878 GEARY, Grattan, Through Asiatic Turkey, London, 1878,
11-30. Visited in March when the temperature was lovely. He
estimated the population at 40,000 including two Englishmen,
the Political Agent, Col. Miles, and Maguire of the British
India Co., a very skilled photographer. He visited the Sultan,
who was small, dignified, melancholy and extremely
interested in European politics, and in the progress of Japan.
He supported the Turks against the Russians. The palace was
plainly furnished with a carpet and a few cane-bottomed
chairs but the writer saw there a lion and some Arab mares.
The land-side wall has eight towers. The streets are so narrow
that one can touch both sides and no animal larger than a dog
can pass. The houses were of two or three storeys with
innumerable little windows. The suq was roofed over at the
height of 18-20 feet with matting which was plastered over
with mud. The smell was not too bad. Goods on display
included Manchester prints, Bombay padlocks at two annas
each and very good halwa. He saw men with two-handed
swords capable of cutting a man in half. The Arabs were tall
and muscular but the Baluch are the only reliable troops. He
reckoned imports at £300,000 a year and exports of dates,
cotton fabrics, fruits and fish at £1,100,000.