Coll 17/34 ‘Iraq. Tour in the Persian Gulf of H.M. Ambassador in Iraq’ [‎18r] (35/98)

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he guye u» the usual Arab aeiil, the great feature of which
consist* of sheep stuffed with riee and raisins cooked whole
on a bed of rloe. In his youth the fall had accompanied i^ir
Percy Cox on his above-mentioned expedition from Abu i/habi to
the • oast of Oican*
10* The population of Muscat ia only about 5,000 and that
of k&trah 10 # 000. These two figures include about 1,500
British Indians who are under the jurisdiction of the i olitlcal
Agent. The luropecm and American community numbers less than
ten ineluding women and children. X understood that neither
here nor elsewhere on the Arab side of t;.e i ersian Gulf was
there any racial animosity between the various minorities,
although the Kojae at Auecat and f^atr&h were generally unpopular
on account of certain characteristics. In uacat and i atrah
there is a great mixture of races including many Baluchis and
Africans from Zanzibar and the coaat of Africa, but in the
country districts the population la mainly Arab with a Baluch
admixture. The Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. radical Officer at Muscat, Dr. 0.t. Hynes,
told me that the general physique and health of the inhabitants
were poor and that they suffered from inbreeding and certain
debilitating diseases. Neverthsleas the general aspect of
Muscat and ^atrah and of the batinah coast was one of
contentment ,and seclusion. Absorbed in their own small affairs
the Inhabitants are remote from a troubled world and doubtless
glad to be so. So long as British policy and strength can
prevent undue intrusion they can remain happily aloof.
11. Owing to the development of communication by air and also
to the establishment of a through railway route from laris to
;>Agdad the l^ereien Gulf is now on • direct line of communication
connecting Surope with Asia, Australia and New Zealand, its
importance in this respect is likely to grow but Muscat and Omen
remain off the beaten track. This territory is/isolated from
the Saudi Arabian peninsula^by a range of arid and unexplored
mountains/