'General view of the ruins of Al Bilad from the fort, with Dahariz in the distance.' [‎50r] (1/2)

•uhe year and "bhe people generally appeared 1.0 be rather t.hin
and anaimlc.
At. atooivt 1 pvm. we returned "bo Tjhe sliip which prGceeded alone:
■uhe coast, "bo Lalala, a di^uance of ^56 miles. The ^amhan rane:e
of* hills ai> ^urba"0 is abou"U b miles from bhe coast, and, at, a
distance of seven or eight miles to the west it draws nearer to
the sea beiner in places not more than a mile from the shore.
'I'he hills, from beine; bare and rocky, gradually become covered
with patches of trees and what we subsequently found to be grass
withered by a hot sun and the absence of rain- 'The change was
very striking and it was difficult, after the rocks and cliffs
of Muscat and ^ur, to believe that it could be the same coast.
Eighteen miles from Murbat is the village of Taka ( (/U* ) which
consists of about r/J huts wiUa one stone building, and about 5
miles further on the hills drop back at the Eastern extremity
of the Lhufar plain and the cliff, 100 feet in hie-ht which lines
a
the shore between Taka and this pointy abruptly breaks off.
From here to the village of Dahariz ( ), 7 miles from
Lalala, at which point the hills are 10 miles from the coast,
■uhe shore is lined by a mangrove swamp half a mile deep.
..e reached ^.alala ax. about* ct* bO p.m. where Xihe ^.ultjan's streamer
the "Kur-ul-Bahar" was already at- anchor. dis jiehness hawing
■oaken up quarters in t,he fort, ashore our visit, to him was
deferred: until the following day.
■onday lath Eecember. At about 7. a.m. we landed, fhe t^t^ioh
here xs exposed, and there is a heavy surf on the beach all the
year round,which makes landing difficult and unpleasant,, the
services of a catamaran or masula boat have to be employed which
reminded us of landing on parts of the Madras coast.
Vfe found His highness the J.ultan comfortably housed in the fort
of £.alaj.a^which was built some years ago by his Wali Euiaiman
bin Luwailim to whom considerable praise is due for general
improvement in this district. It is a substantial 5 storied
building about 100 yards from the shore,with a compound covering
about an acre of ground and surrounded by the usual wall with a
large