'Telegraph and travel. A narrative of the formation and development of telegraphic communication between England and India, under the orders of Her Majesty's Government, with incidental notices of the countries traversed by the lines.' [‎138] (171/782)

138
TELEGRAPH AND TRAVEL.
[chap.
sunset when the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. uiirly reiiclu*! Ins
camping-ground. The villagers flocked to see their
unexpected guest, stared at him to their hearts content,
and left him for the night. Habalain was about 150
paces from the tents, but ofiered few attractions to the
European stranger or any of the outer world. I nless
rain fell, its water was brackish and undrinkable. Lxeii
the thirsty horse rejected the supply first brought,
although the Arab inhabitants gave testimony in its
favour in continued personal experience. Fortunately
there was rain that night, and no inconvenience resulted
on the score of drought.
Colonel Disbrowe was visited, early on the following
morning, by the Chief ot Habalain, a stranger from
Sohar, the Mulla of the village, and a group of followers.
Accustomed to the indispensable local ceremonies of
reception, he treated his visitors to coffee and compli
ments, and entered into conversation with them on
ordinary topics. He was not prepossessed by the strange
assemblage. Seldom had he beheld a more unsightly
set. " Eyes small; noses elongated ; teeth of all shapes,
very bad and in no grown-up person complete ; ears
protruding ; faces grinning : ' such is his own descrip
tion, in hurried pencil notes, of the men of Habalain;
and only two of the thirty-four counted had seen an
Englishman before the opportunity then offered.
After vain attempts to discover a practicable pass for
horse and rider across the rocky ranges to the western
coast of the Peninsula, so as to reach Khasab, a village
which it was proposed to constitute a main emporium
for the necessaries of life to the dwellers on the Maklab
isthmus. Colonel Disbrowe obtained, on the third day
of his sojourn at Habalain, a boat ; and in this he