Page 79 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

you see through an opening, between two islands, the
town of Muscat. The mode I took of running into the cove was
by keeping along in shore, until reaching the most northern
island. Round the north of it, the ship was hauled so close as to
be able to chuck a biscuit on to the rocks. Then, all at once, sail
was shortened, and the ship was shut into the harbour in water as
smooth as glass.’
As the ship moved in closer to the shore, the town could be
seen more clearly. ‘At the head of the inlet, on a low, white
sandy beach, stands the town, having a beautiful appearance from
the bay. It is built of white stone, or whitewashed. On the
commanding rocks above the harbour, there arc forts with square
or round towers, connected, where they can be, by walls, all in
the Moorish style with embrasures and loopholes for musketry.
On one of the islands is a strong castle in which the present
Imam’s uncle is confined, a close prisoner, in consequence of his
attempting to wrest the government out of the hands of his
nephew. The white buildings and the coal black rocks form a
strange contrast, which is most painful to the eyes when the sun
is shining on the former.’
The front of the town was open to the sea, on the land side it
was defended by a wall with towers at intervals and a dry ditch.
Outside the walls was a large suburb, inhabited by the poorer
people who lived in palm branch huts. Many of the Gull Arabs
still inhabit these ‘barastis’, as they arc called, which arc cooler
than mud or stone houses in the summer and warm in winter
when the walls arc lined with fmely woven matting. The ground
inside the barastis is covered with masses of tiny shells, which
make a good floor covering and over this arc spread matting and
carpets. At the back of the town is a narrow defile, hemmed in
by towering barren cliff's, which leads towards the distant high
inland country, where in fertile mountain valleys, vines, crops
and fruit trees grew luxuriantly. About a mile beyond the walls,
there were two or three wells with little gardens around them
protected by a fort. A few miles from Muscat, on the shore of
another bay, is the town of Matra, shut in by mountains. It
used to be accessible only by sea, but it is now connected to
Muscat by a road over the cliffs, and is a busy, thriving port.
During the 19th century, and during the first decade of this
century, sheets of scenes and characters were sold for ‘Thejuvenile
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