Page 255 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

236 COAST OF ARABIA. [CH.

l’ior, both in size and quality, to those ob­
tained from the extensive banks in the Persian
Gulf. Probably the most convincing proof
'which can be given of the insignificance of
this trade is, that it has escaped the notice,
or is deemed unworthy the attention, of the
Pasha’s officers. A few boats are occasion­

ally despatched by the Jiddah merchants to
search for pearls, but the precarious and ill-
paid task of collecting them is left mostly to
the Tuwal and Huteiml tribes. The former
have about forty boats engaged in the trade,
which are mostly employed on the Abyssinian
coast. Their mode of collecting pearls differs
entirely from that adopted in the Persian

Gulf, where they are found in nine or ten
fathoms water. The fishermen wait for a
calm day, when they pull along the outer
edge of a single reef, until they discover the
oysters from the boat in three and four fa­
thoms.
From Haramil Island to Sherm Ub-hur, or

Charles Inlet, the coast continues low and
sandy, intersected by numerous inlets and

creeks affording excellent anchorages, but
rendered so difficult of approach, from the