"الملف 35/64 III المعادن في عُمان. أبحاث علماء جيولوجيا مدرساي" [و‎‎٥‎٢] (٢٧٦/١١٢)

■VWmBHIHH-r
* , L^dbreast. ,, » During ±zs course Timur sue:ges^ed our returning
witJn him t,o Muscat, overland, but. as we had no stores or t.ent,s
and t.he "journey would have been a lone; one, we were obliged zo
decline for t-he present, occasion..
The later portion of the day was occupied in exploring the coun
try west of Ealala* Up to a mile and a half inland where the
Lhufar plain may be said to commence, the land is cultivated
with cotton, maize, tobacco and sugarcane for the first mile,
after which the Uhufar plain comes down to the sea. Two miles
from Lalala and bt3.e from the sea is a spring of fresh water
from which a stream flows in a zig zag course to the sea with
a marshy land on either bams: abounding with wild fowl. Two
miles further on is the village of 'Aufead ( 3^^ )* one mile
from the sea. This also consists of two quarters about half a
mile apart inhabited respectively by the Bait 5adhil and Bait
Majfhun sections of the A iiathir. They contain about 6Q houses
apiece, but the eastern quarter is almost entirely in ruins,
and fifteen houses only are occupied. Wells of excellent water
exist here as at all the villages of the Lhufar plain. .ialf a
mile Uorth of 'Aukad on a ruined fort was
pointed out to us as having up to 4D years ago been the resort
of a small band of Jiura bedouins who plundered the neighbourhood
at will, until their numbers became so reduced by death that
the survivors were compelled to fly -50 the hills."But of course"
said our informant naively "this was before the establishment
of law and order by the Waliikulaiman'V
Wednesday Ifcth December. This was the most interesting day of
our visit. Starting soon after daybreak with an escort of S
African slaves and & Al Xathiris we set off across the plain
from Lalala to visit the Eamhan hills. The plain at this point
is about seven miles in breadth, it is covered with rough grass
which at this time of the year is brown and withered with dearth
Qf moisture. Gazelle, a hyena and several foxes, were seen
and fired at without success by our escort whose ideas of shoot
ing were poor and did not include the use of the back sights of
their rifles.
Leaching