'THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF DHUFAR PROVINCE, MUSCAT AND OMAN' [‎47v] (84/96)

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doubt that hay could be gathered in, as I saw for myself; and there
must be very cheap sardines procurable along the coast. There
thus seems to me evidence for improved dairy farming and possi
bilities for a fishery business also. These are, however, matters
outside my own professional knowledge, and I draw attention to ^
them only because the people seem poor and unprogressive.
105. From remarks by His Highness I gathered that cocoanut
oil was not a regular trade product from Dhufar, notwithstanding
the thousands of cocoanut palms along the coast. Bound up with
the subject of cocoanut is that of coir and of cocoanut shell, con
sidered as commerce, as prepared products, the former as woven goods
and the latter as converted into activated Carbon. Dr. Reginald
Child has been conducting a research on cocoanuts in Ceylon and has
demonstrated the superiority of cocoanut-shell charcoal as an
absorbing agent; he mentioned that it was a remarkable property,
used in the production of high vacua and was a main contribution in
the progress of modern physics. Activated Carbon is of considerable
value today, since it is in use for several purposes—purifying air,
purifying carbon dioxide from fermentation, recovery of gasoline
(from natural gas and benzine from coal gas), in vacuum work
(making of radio valves), in decolourizing and purifying edible oils
and glycerine, etc. to mention only a few items. The largest potential
application is in sugar-refining. It is hardly necessary to refer to
the trade in ‘frankincense’ and other gums and balm that is shipped
from Salalah in the crude, although higher priced products might be
prepared by skilful people.
106. Anyone who has had an opportunity of traversing the
Qara mountains will have noticed the herds of cattle, the grassy A1
Qutun and the camels moving slowly upwards with their ‘scented
loads of sardines. They will also see in the squalid huts at cave
entrances and the frequent use of the numerous overhanging L/ime-
stone beds (usually referred to as caves) a very primitive condition of
living. There is great scope for progress in many directions. From
the resemblance to the olive-growing areas of France I should think
olives could readily be grown in the hills of Dhufar, and perhaps
grapes and other fruits—oranges and lemons, etc. The tribesmen
however, are rough herdsmen, not agricultural farmers; nor are
they sea-farers. From the abundance of sardines and other fish
there is scope for fisheries and fish products. Sharks infest the bay
of Risut and the sea along the coast. I saw the huge bones of whales
lying bleached on the shore of Murbat bay, and I understand that it
is not unusua! to find pearls m oysters from the Dhufar sea bed.
Indeed I was constantly surprised at the potentialities on the one
hand and at the apparent lack of enterprise on the other.