The
village is larger and more populous than the town; containing 6,000
inhabitants, while the latter has only 4,000. It is impossible to
form any conception of the poverty, filth, and stench in this
village; the huts stand nearly one over the other, are very small,
and built only of reeds and palm-leaves; every kind of refuse was
thrown before the doors. It requires considerable self-denial to
pass through such a place, and I wonder that plague, or some other
contagion, does not continually rage there. Diseases of the eyes
and blindness are, however, very frequent.
From this valley I passed into a second, which contains the greatest
curiosity of Muscat, a rather extensive garden, which, with its
date-palms, flowers, vegetables, and plantations, constitutes a true
picture of an oasis in the desert. The vegetation is only kept up,
for the most part, by continual watering. The garden belongs to the
Arabian prince. My guide seemed to be very proud of this wonderful
garden, and asked me whether there were such beautiful gardens in my
country!
The women in Muscat wear a kind of mask of blue stuff over the face,
fastened upon springs or wires, which project some distance beyond
the face; a hole is cut in the mask between the forehead and nose,
which allows something more than the eyes to be seen.
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