Page 458 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

XXII.] SOUTHERN ARABIA. 429

procured or repaired here, were considered
more trustworthy than those obtained in
India. They use charcoal for fuel. Two
inflated skins, with a handle at the upper
part, and a tube of iron projecting horizon­

tally from the lower, serve them as bellows.
These they work alternately in a vertical
direction, so as to produce an almost con­
stant current of air.
Following the sea-shore to the westward,
we pass an open space, where fish and vege­
tables are exposed for sale, and then arrive
at a line of huts, where butchers' meat, con­
sisting of mutton and goats’ flesh, but no
beef (for, with the exception of some few
belonging to the Banians, there are no bul­
locks at Makullah), is disposed of. Several

barbers reside in this quarter, who, like those
of a similar craft in England, until within the
last half century, also officiate as surgeons.
In the latter capacity their principal practice
is confined to the actual cautery, letting
blood, and cupping. Their mode of perform­
ing the latter operation is extremely simple
and curious. The part being first scarified
with a razor, they apply a cylindrical glass,