Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Anatomy-Astronomy

360 A II A
Arabia, illustrious dynasty, and whose descendants still occupy the
, y throne. The interior of Oman was first visited by the late
Lieutenant Wellsted and his travelling companion, Lieutenant
Whitelock, in 1835 and 1836; and although two years after
them an enterprising French botanist, the late Aucher Eloi,
made a trip into the inland district, the account of the British
officers is still our main source of information. The north¬
eastern coast line against the narrow part of the Indian Ocean,
opposite Beloochistan, is a serpentine curve 360 to 400 geo¬
graphical m iles long, extending from Cape Ras-el-Hadd, in the
south-east, to Ras Musendom, in the north-west. The coast
along the main of the Indian Ocean, in the south-east, is about
90 miles long ; that along the Persian Gulf, in the north-west,
about 150 miles ; and the desert frontier, from sea to sea, in
the south-west, about 300 geographical miles. A long range of
mountains stretches from Ras-el-Hadd to Ras Musendom, al¬
most parallel with the coast, and of which the central knob,
the Djebel Akhdar, or Green Mountain, is the highest portion,
rising to nearly 7000 feet. The height of Djebel 1 ellali and
Djebel Hutah, in the south-east, is about 6000 feet; but the
hills in the north are of less elevation. West of this range
there is a barren plateau dotted with a great number of fertile
and well-cultivated oases; the western edge of which forms
another chain of mountains, less high than the main chain;
Divisions, and beyond this stretches the silent El Ahkaf. Beyond the
desert, but where exactly we do not know, rises the Nedjed of
El Yemamah, which is nearest to Oman in the north. The
tract nearest to Ras-el-Hadd is called Djallan ; west of it lies
Oman proper, at the southern foot of Djebel Akhdar; west of
Oman extends Dhorran, or the principal portion of the pla¬
teau. as far as the Persian Gulf, if the coast district is added
to it. The tract extending north-west of Muscat, between the
Indian Sea and the main range, is called Batra; it is inter¬
sected by numerous streams descending from that range; its
soil is fertile, and well-cultivated, and its population may be
called dense, as compared with the other provinces. The sea¬
shore is studded with towns and villages, but in the interior
there is only one, but considerable town, namely Rostak, which
was the residence of the reigning princes ere they took up their
residence at Muscat. The southern portions of Oman are, on
the contrary, very thinly populated, the soil being sandy ; and
as much may be said of the northern projection between the
Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. The country produces
wheat, maize, durra, and other grain, in great abundance; and
besides the common fruit of Arabia, it yields indigo, cotton,
sugar, and coffee. The latter article is not so good as the pro¬
duce of Yemen, because not only less care is bestowed upon
the plantations, but chiefly because its latitude is beyond the
isotherm of the coffee-tree in Arabia and Africa, so that its
growth would cease altogether, were it not for local causes.
- Irrigation is well understood: subterranean main conduits
(feledj) four feet wide, with a running stream two feet deep,
and from six to eight miles long, carry an abundance of water
from the mountains into the drier plains. The camels and
asses of Oman are justly celebrated. The breed of horses is
excellent, but not numerous; the export of native and Nedjed
horses from the port of Mascat, for the supply of the H.E.I.C.S.
cavalry has of late much abated, the stock in the interior being
almost exhausted. The same cause has affected the export of
horses from El Katif, on the coast of Bahrein. The imam has
several studs, the principal food being, next to barley, lucerne
and dates. The cattle are of the Indian species, but although
a large proportion of their food is said to consist of dried fish,
the beef is tender and delicious to eat. The natives keep vast
flocks of excellent sheep and goats ; and there is an abundance
of common fowl, but neither turkeys, guinea fowl, geese, nor
ducks.
Inhabi- The relations between the settled inhabitants and the Be-
tants. douins are nearly the same as in Hadhramaut; the latter are
a strong handsome race, and physically much superior to the
tiny Bedouin of Nedjed. Their pursuits are pastoral and agri¬
cultural in the interior; but those who are near the sea are
traders and mariners. The townspeople are much mixed with
Persian and African blood.
Towns. Mascat, the capital, counts about 40,000 inhabitants, and
lies at the bottom of a small cove, in the gorges of an exten¬
sive pass which widens from this point as it advances into the
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interior. Its situation is picturesque, being surrounded by Arabia,
hills crowned with well-mounted fortifications, but its climate __
is sultry and unwholesome. It is next to Djidda the most im¬
portant commercial town in Arabia, and its navigation extends
over all the ports of Arabia, Persia, Africa, and India. The
houses, except those near the beach, are but mean, the so-
called palace of the imam not excepted. In its environs are
the famous hot springs of Imam Ali. Contiguous to Mascat,
lies Mattarah, or Mattrah, writh 20,000 inhabitants, a seaport
sharing in the commerce of the capital, with which it almost
forms a twin town. The combined trade of these two ports is
very important. Wellsted estimated the imports in 1836 at
L.900,000, but they now are considerably above a million.
They consist of manufactured goods from Great Britain and
India ; slaves, ivory, and other natural products from Africa;
coffee from Yemen ; salt, tobacco, and carpets from Persia,
&c. The exports are fish, horses, grain, and other native pro¬
ducts, and a large proportion of imported goods. Asses are
exported to Persia and Mauritius. A new branch of export
will open itself to Mascat, whenever it shall be thought fit to
substitute the camel, as a hardy beast of burden, for the clumsy,
easily-yielding draught-ox, in the colony at the Cape of Good
Hope. Other towns are, along the coast, Sohar, with 9000 in¬
habitants, Sib, Burka, Khaburah, Shinas, Khadrawein, &c.;
and in the interior, Rostak, a large town, Birket-el-Modj,
the El Mai of Niebuhr, at the southern foot of Djebel Akhdar,
said to be founded in the time of the great Nushirwan, king of .
Persia (a.d. 531-579), and remarkable for its lofty houses and
two square watch-towers, 16 feet wide, and 170 feet high, the
walls of which are only 2 feet thick at the base ; Neswa, with
a massive fortified tower, 140 feet high, surrounded by a like
wall 40 feet high; Shirasi, in Djebel Akhbar, 5800 feet above
the sea, in a lovely climate ; Birema, in the north-west, 6000
inhabitants, with a like climate; and Obri, a large town quite
in the west, and separated from Nedjed only by a narrow strip
of desert. The northern peninsula has no places of note ; but
is remarkable for the narrow gloomy strait, leading through
dark, perpendicular, and, in some places, overhanging rocks,
from the Indian Sea to the Persian Gulf, between Ras-el-Dje-
bel on the continent, and the island on which lies Ras Musen¬
dom, the north cape of Oman.
The most powerful prince in Oman is the imam of Mascat, The iman
Saiyid Said, who claims sovereignty over all Oman, but is of Mascat
only nominally obeyed by the settled population in the interior,
and not at all by the Bedouins. In fact, the sheiks of Obri,
Birema, and others, are quite independent. The title imam is
only given to him by strangers and courtiers, since, of the two
conditions necessary for obtaining that title, he has never ful¬
filled one, and has broken the other; that is, he has never
preached a sermon before his assembled chiefs, and he has not
only gone to sea, but is constantly sailing to and fro throughout
his dominions. Although the latter condition has been dispensed
with on previous occasions, the former is so imperative, that the
natives withhold the title of imam from this powerful king, and
only call him saiyid, or prince. Besides Oman, the imam pos¬
sesses the islands of Kishm and others in the Persian Gulf; a
large portion of the Persian coast which he farms from the shah
of Persia, and where much bay salt is manufactured on his ac¬
count ; and the island and town of Zanzibar, on the East Afri¬
can coast, where he generally resides; as well as the town of
Mombas and many others, with their respective territories,
along the African coast. The imam, an ally of the British
crown, is a sort of merchant prince, the principal part of the
commerce and navigation of his scattered dominions being in
his hands, and conducted on his account.
He is the mightiest potentate in those parts of the world.
For the better keeping his scattered dominions together, he
has a considerable number of men-of-war, of all sizes, which
also serve as merchant-men for the conveyance of his own
goods. In Wellsted’s time, there were from 70 to 80 carrying
from 4 to 74 guns, most of them small, but all built after Euro¬
pean models, chiefly on the wharfs at Bombay. Besides these,
there were from 60 to 80 armed bungalows, or one-masted Ara¬
bic vessels of from 200 to 300 tons, and balits, or smaller craft,
of from 100 to 200 tons, which serve in the double capacity of
convoy and transport vessels. To the late King William IV.
the imam presented a fine 74-gun vessel, completely fitted out;