'35/149 I (A 67) Batineh date trade. Dowson's reports' [‎39r] (83/164)

man was encountered at Sib, vmo iiad two wnat looked like amalgam
fillings in the front surface of nis two, central, upper
incisors# He said there was no dentist in uman, that he had
never left the country, and that he had put the fillings in
himself* Perhaps the man was liar# Several people asked for
medicine for fever, SiJQTQNAfl, and for constipation; and so did
one small boy, who for four jsears had suffered from painful \
urination#
The Indian Oovernnent supports a hospital at Maskat;
and Dr# Harrison, of the American Mission, opened a temporary
one at Matrah recently# he hopes to make it permanent; and,
Judging "by the thronging crowds of sick, overfloY /ing even the
verandahs, a permanent hpppital would be of immense benefit to
the .community# But hospitals are expensive to maintain#
Character and Habits and Customs #
Iho shall attempt to describe tne character of a people
after a twelve days' stay among them? Still, despite the adage
of the fools and the angels, first impressions, "by force of
contrast with what one is used to, have a certain value#
The first thing that strides a tripper, and probably
also tne enduring impression of the old resident, is the
attractiveness of the people# What is the reason? Is it that,
as some men are supposed to love their wives as .much for tneir
faults as for their virtues, westerners find chords of aympathy
with traits in the Arab character, they do not find in many
other Orientals, not virtuous perhaps, but skin to their own?
Probably the dmani i&rab would be called lazy# The cultivator
works, of course, and works hard; but the garden owner does not.
Perhaps though these people are not more lazy than .English
people# Perhaps the difference one notices is that isngllsh
people are actively lazy, while these are passively lazy# If
they have not to w&rk, English people go the Riviera, play
tennis, hunt, go to meetings, read novels, or shop# but, here,
the richer sort like just to sit# as for mental laziness, one
is probably as bad as the otner# These shaikhs are not interest
-ed in golf# If one tries to talk economies to either, he is
apt to make himself a bore# The politemess of the Umanis is
remarkable# Their constant courtesy could not have been a
personal matter, but most have been typical# One of the two
Europeans employed by the state is the Minister of Finance#*
But, in Europe, if the tax collector were an Arab, would Arabs
be popular? This politeness is all the more surprising, when it
is considered what uncomfortable companions the American and
the Britisher must be to tne Arab# The two former are never
content# %o let things alone: they must always be digging for
reasons# In the matter of formal compliment, the Umani appears
less lengthy than the Iraqi; and he seems to come sooner to the
point of a converaatioii# ne says each wor^L with a pronounced
and even emphasisli. and^Ls speach is abrupt# he doe spot shout
so much when talking a's the Iraqi# v ^
Of the labors of the people mention has been made, of
the tillage, stock raising, and fishing# To speak of their
pleasures, those of the bed brobably take first place, as else
where# Prayer, as a relaxation and comfort, must take high place
with them; ana, thougn they turn to it without the rigid
fierceness of the ¥AHABIYAH, their constancy and regularity in
this respect shame their uneducated cousins of tne Iraq, the
majority of whom have never learnt to pray# Coffee, Q f AHWAH, is
tne only permitted tipple. Araq and all strong waters are taboo.
3o too is tobacco ,> TXTIJS"^ Xn the town of Matrah, the weed is
soM ppenly is the shpps; but, at Al Aliyah, one who had the
temerity to display it, a Baluchi, was fined and his stock
con!Iscatea# £>0, in Matrah, openly in the street persons may
be seen smoking# Away from this busy haunt of vice, he who
would smoke must do soji on the lonely mountain, or secure in
the privacy of his inner chamber# .Negroes, especially the
slaves, wiH generally smoke, if they can get hold of tobacco,
and will drink, if they can get hold of araq# indeed, these