DEPARTURE FROM THE RED SEA—CAPE ROSSELGATE—ARRIVAL AT MUSCAT—BLIND BEGGARS—FIN BACK WHALES—BEDOUIN ARABS—PEARL ISLANDERS—ARAB ROBBERS—CURRENCY OF MUSCAT—NAVAL FORCE OF MUSCAT.
We remained in Mocha roads only two days, and then sailed, on the evening of the first of September, for Muscat. Owing to light winds, we did not pass the “Lesser Bab,” or the narrow straits of Babel Mandel, till three o’clock in the morning of the third, having drifted through them by the help of the current, in a night resplendently beautiful, and “in silence” passed we “through the Gate of Tears.”
MUSCAT.
Nothing remarkable occurred on our passage through the gulf and sea of Arabia, till the thirteenth, when we made Ras el Had, or cape Rosselgate, being the extreme northeastern limit of Arabia, having had the winds, during the passage, very light, from the southward and westward. Ras el Had is a low sandy point. A range of high mountains form the background of the landscape, which have an altitude of nearly seven thousand feet; this is a link in a chain of mountains, which extend as far as the Devil’s Gap and Kuriat, and are known by the name of Jeebel Huthera, or the Green mountains. Off the cape, were a great number of small boats fishing, principally with spears and grains; the harpooner standing in the bow, who, immediately on striking a fish, sprung into the water, more effectually to secure his prey. Sharks appeared to be their object, which are dried and shipped to various places; and the fins reserved solely for the China market. The surface of the water was red with myriads of crabs, which were sent forth by the Great Provider of all things, to sustain the larger fish. The day previous to our arrival, as we lay at anchor, a few miles from Muscat, a boat was despatched, under the command of Acting-Lieutenant Brent, to the sultan, to inform him of our arrival, and the object of the visit. The boat returned laden with abundance of exquisite grapes, of four different kinds, and ripe dates, just plucked from the trees, and strung together like large golden beads, refreshing to the taste, and by no means too luscious or cloying to the appetite. There were other fruits also sent, such as the season afforded, with a number of goats and sheep, being presents from the sultan; bringing also complimentary messages, and congratulating us on our safe arrival, and expressing himself highly flattered, that, at length, United States’ ships-of-war should, for the first time, visit his ports, and more especially for the object of the mission. On the evening of the eighteenth, we anchored in Muscat cove, in company with the Boxer. The winds from the cape, were very light, from between southwest and southeast; and the current constantly against us, setting out of the Persian gulf. The coast appeared to be nearly as steril as that of Abyssinia or Somauli, being mountainous, barren, rocky, and sandy; but villages were much oftener to be seen, and frequently of a large size, in the midst of groves of the date-palm. Boats also were in great numbers, and well built, instead of the frail catamaran; they were provided with cotton sails, and the owners were, apparently, better fed than those about the Red sea, and wore most venerable long beards, quite outstripping any of the goat family. The waters were teeming with food—fish were in greater abundance, if it be possible, than about Mocha. In the morning, an interchange of salutes took place. The harbour, or rather cove of Muscat, is extremely limited in its dimensions; it does not exceed three fourths of a mile in depth, from its entrance at the small islet, called the Fishers’ Rock, lying off the northern part of the Muscat island, and its width, between the fort on the island, and another fort on the main, on the western shore, is scarcely one half its depth. It is open to the north, and during the prevalence of northerly and westerly gales, in the winter, a heavy sea is thrown in. The cove is bounded by very precipitous black rocks, running up to the height of three or four hundred feet, being much jagged or serrated; and on the higher parts are perched small circular towers, which are said to have been placed there by the Portuguese, in the “olden-time,” when they held possession of the place. They are, apparently, inaccessible to every thing, but hawks, gulls, and sea-swallows, which abound in its caverns and fissures. No place (excepting always a plain of sand) presents a more forbidding aspect than this; not a green thing is to be seen, whether tree, shrub, or plant, from the roadstead. The town and its two castles, which crown the tops of very high rocks, to the east and to the north, and which are evidently intended as much to overawe and defend the town, as the harbour, together with the two forts and its towers, are the only objects (if I may except a few white stone houses) which at all relieve the dreary prospect. Unless the wind blows from the northward, or a strong breeze from the southward and eastward, through the narrow gap, which separates Muscat island from the main land, the heat is excessive, for there is not the slightest degree of elasticity in the air; and the heated rocks are never cooled during three fourths of the year, and the sun seems to dart forth its rays with great malignity. During our stay, the night wind occasionally blew from the land, and then the heat was almost insupportable; every one complained of its suffocating effects, the perspiration poured from the body like rain, and the strength was at once prostrate. The town lies at the bottom of the cove, at the only level spot to be seen, between very high ridges of rocks in the southwestern quarter. It is walled, excepting the part fronting the harbour, having round towers at the principal angles. With the exception of the sultan’s palace, whose walls are bathed on the harbour side by “Oman’s green waters,” and on another side by the bazar, a narrow, dark covered street, and a few other decent looking houses, miserably built of stone, and coated with chunam, the larger portion are small, dark, and filthy, made of palm-branches only, or at best covered with mats, or coated with mud, so that the periodical rains frequently demolish a considerable portion of the city, and they are then seen floating in fragments through the streets, which are converted into so many canals, by the torrents of water which descend from the circumjacent mountains. A mat laid on the bare earth, is the bed of the occupants, and their hands pillow their heads; an earthen pot is their only cooking utensil, and dried camel’s dung and palm-branches their fuel. Dates and fish, in scanty quantities, twice a day, form generally their meals; and when they are so fortunate as to obtain a few ounces of goat-meat, it is cut into small pieces, and roasted on wooden skewers. The inhabitants are indolent, and those who are neither sailors nor soldiers, mechanics nor merchants, are miserably poor. Beggars are every where, and it is even a more remarkable place for blind people than Mocha; they are seen in groups at the corners of the streets, crying out in the most piteous manner, for the love of Allah, the holy prophet, and all the santons, to give them something to relieve their wretched condition. The lanes, or rather slits, between the buildings, are very irregular, encumbered with filth and rubbish; and the houses are similar in construction to those of Mocha. The city, within the walls, is reported to contain about twelve thousand inhabitants, and as every foot of ground is covered with buildings, (there being neither gardens nor open squares,) I suppose this number not to be exaggerated, notwithstanding the circumference of the walls does not exceed a mile. The larger part of the inhabitants are Arabs; the remainder are from various parts of Hindostan, Persians, Scindians, Abyssinians, and negro slaves from the coast of Zanzibar; all reposing in safety under the mild and equitable government of a very worthy prince. The population of the suburbs is estimated at five thousand. Here may be seen weavers manufacturing fine check cloth, with red and yellow silk ends, which form the turbans, universally worn by all who are born within the kingdom of Aman, whether the sultan or the subject. The weavers dig a hole in the ground, for their feet, and form a seat a step higher, to sit on; they use a very primitive loom, and the web is extended but a few inches above the ground, a light date-leaf shed serving to protect them against the rays of the sun. A few blacksmiths, coppersmiths, ropemakers, carpenters, and sandal-makers, are almost the only trades that are carried on to any extent. The mechanic arts are conducted in the streets, under open sheds. The bellows of the smiths are of a very primitive construction; two skins are so arranged, that while one is filling with air, they blow with the other; with a hand placed on each, they are alternately depressed and filled. A hole in the ground serves for a fireplace, and another for water; a stone serves for an anvil, and with clumsy hammers, and sitting on their hams, they carry on, in a very slow manner, their imperfect trade.
SLAVE-BAZARS—BARBERS.
Small fish being very abundant about the ship, the fishermen came in great numbers to throw their nets. They are of a circular form, and probably fifteen feet in diameter, loaded with small weights at the extremities, having a line fastened to the centre to draw it up; when thrown in it sinks gradually, the weights being light; when it has sunk to the depth of eight or ten feet, two divers jump overboard to drive the fish within the net; when they wish to draw it up, the weights close the bottom, and so secure all that are within its meshes.
Several divers were employed to find a sword which by an accident was lost overboard in eight fathoms, where the ship was anchored; two of them went down several times, and the greatest length of time either remained under water, was two minutes and five seconds. The ship’s bottom being very foul, two large gangs of divers were employed to cleanse it, which was thoroughly effected with scrapers and rubbers in the course of four hours, taking off oysters of the size nearly of the palm of the hand, and barnacles also of a very large size; this was done at an expense of twenty-five dollars. It had a very ludicrous effect to see so many venerable long beards, white, grizzled and black, thus employed, and constantly popping their bare heads and dripping beards out of the water.
MUSCAT TOM—BEDOUIN ARABS.
We were many times in the day amused to see two very large fin-back whales fishing alongside, and under the bows and stern of the ship. The male has been a daily visiter in this harbour for upward of twenty years, and goes by the name of “Muscat Tom.” Formerly the cove was much infested with sharks, so that no person would venture into the water; but after he took possession, it was freed entirely of these pests, these sea-manduleens, (mandarins,) as the Chinese fishermen call them, in derision of the all-grasping land mandarins. A few years since he was missing for many days; the sharks ascertained by some means that he was “not at home” to pay particular attention to his visiters and invite them in; they therefore intruded upon his quarters, and not only banqueted upon his larder, which was filled with a great variety of fine fish, but actually invited and sore pressed some of the land bipeds to follow them; as they are equally as well pleased with flesh as with fish, the consequence was, the natives refused to join any other jamb or crush of the usurpers, and took a great dislike to aquatic parties. Happily at length, bold Tom returned, and every thing was restored to its proper order; for he had been like “Celebs in search of a wife;” and if he did not bring her home under his arm, he brought her under his fin, and “she was a helpmeet unto him;” and together they made a clear sweep of all the pests and incumbrances of their household, to the great joy of the land-animals, who again paid them frequent visits.