Page 281 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

262 COAST OF ARABIA. [CH.

laib, I one day strolled some distance from
the ship, along the sea-shore, and came un-
expectedly upon a group of the Huteuni, con­
9 sisting of an old man, a woman, and a young-
girl. The former was stark naked, and the
latter had no more clothes than barely served
the purposes of decency. At first they were

greatly alarmed, and threw themselves at my
feet, earnestly supplicating for their lives. On
being satisfied that no harm was intended
them, they were persuaded to accompany me
to the ship. I never witnessed misery more
strongly portrayed than in this group: their
boat had left the week before for the purpose
of catching turtles, and their only subsistence
for the last three days had been raw shell­
fish, gathered along the sea-coast. They de­
voured with the utmost voracity the provisions
we gave them, eating the rice without any

preparation of cooking. I observed that their
finger-nails, from constantly digging in the
sand, when in search of food, were almost
totally destroyed.
The effect of their ungrateful mode of
living displays itself at an early age. Many
of their boys are remarkably handsome; but
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