"ملف ٦/١١ ملاحظات العقيد مايلز عن البريمي" [و‎‎٨] (٦٠/١٥)

The Bedouins of our party having remained behind at a
watering place we had passed we found we had been jog
ging on some miles without them and the Sheikh professed
some apprehension lest ^e should encounter any of the
Awamir Bedouins who he said were constantly prowling
about. It is customary in Oman when moving from one part
to another to take a man or two as khafeer protector
from each of the more important tribes through whose
country one has to pass. This applies not only to stran
gers but also to any Arab passing through the territory
of another tribe with whom his own is not in H Suff H or
league, when it is of course unnecessary. Sheikh Rashid
had not been able to procure an Amiri at Sohar before
starting and hence his anxiety. ’7e had another thunder
storm this evening but not much rain. On arrival at
Bereymi I went to the house of Salim bin I<£ohamed whose
father the chief Sheikh of the Naim tribe resides at
Dhank. Our arrival was the signal for a general assembly
of visitors whom I soon tired of and I therefore beat
a retreat to another house outside which was cleared
for my reception.
ISarly the next morning I set out to visit the
fort which at present is in the hands of Sheikh Hamad.
I saw his house on the way and as he was laid up with a
dislocated shoulder from a fall off a camel he sent to
invite me in to take coffee. The house consists of two
lofty rooms separated by an arch and with no furniture
but a carpet or two and an array of coffee pots. Two or
three damsels bundled out as I entered but the fowls and
goats that seemed to make up the complement of the in
mates, being less bashful, remained. The walls of the
courtyard are loopholed for musketry and a rusty iron
gun lies half buried in the ground inside. It took some
little time to get coffee ready for the assembly that
had crowded into the house and filled both sides of the
room