"ملف ٦/١١ ملاحظات العقيد مايلز عن البريمي" [و‎‎٦] (٦٠/١١)

is on a peak some ^00 feet high on the right bank and
is joined to another tower below by a stone wall. It
was built for the especial purpose of barring the pro
gress of the v/ahabees. After another hour and a half v.e
pass Y/ady V/asit up which lies a to’"n of that name*
Sheikh Rashid was very anxious I should visit this place
as the Sheikh Suliman bin Said El Shamisi was a great
friend of his and a man of some importance. It lay .how
ever too much out of the road and time was of conse
quence. The next place we reached was El Koweyrej a
village of the same clan as ’Yasit. the Showamis, a sub
division of the Naim, and having the protection of a
fortlet and two towers. The cultivation here was exten
sive and very refreshing to the eye in contrast to the
drear and arid rocks around. The fields were neatly ar
ranged in terraces on the right bank, advantage being
taken ingeniously of every available spot of ground
capable of production. They were well kept and evidently
received nuch attention, irrigation being carried on by
means of channels leading from the copious stream above.
Contiguous to this is Hail, another large
village, the two formimg the most considerable settle
ment I met with between Bereymi and Sohar. Hail has
several towers and on the opposite bank is El Rale’ a
pinnacle rock about 200 feet high on which is perched
a tower surrounded by a low wall now criiiubling away. The
work is ascribed to the Persians and the position is well
chosen for the purpose for which it is said to have been
constructed, namely to serve as an outpost to protect the
maritime plain from the inroads of the Bedouins. This
outpost not improbably marks the limit of the grasp of
the Persians in the age immediately preceding the intro
duction of Islam when they are related to have held the
sea coast of Oman, the Arabs maintaining themselves in
the highlands and interior. The petty clans of the Naim,
the Rasheedat