"تقرير عسكري عن شواطئ الجزيرة العربية المطلة على الخليج الفارسي، البحرين، الأحساء، قطر، عُمان المتصالحة وعُمان" [‎٦‎٣] (٢٢٦/٧٧)

chap. ii. ge0g11aphy tuucial oman.
63
From a point between Khor Kalba and Murair the
Eastern frontier of Trucial Oman, which is essentially
fluid, turns inland westwards and then south, passing
north of the districts of Mahadhan and Jau to an uncei -
tain point in Khatam. From this point the inland
dary follows the edge of the Ruba'al-Khali and Jaturah
deserts running more or less parallel to the Gulf.
2. General. —Physically Trucial Oman consists of three
zones or divisions—a maritime belt and islands; inland
plains; and a. mountain system.
The Western coast is low and monotonous. In the north
there are occasional date groves but as the coast trend 8
away to the south and west trees die out, until at Abu
Dhabi they cease altogether. The shore is lined by shoals,
reefs and islands; creeks are numerous, uniting sometimes
inland to form backwaters and swamps, and quasi-isiands
are created in this manner. Navigation is extremely dith-
cult and dangerous even to local craft and the whole coast
is exposed to the strong Shamal (north-west) gales.
The Eastern coast {i.e., that washed by the Gulf of
Oman), is bold and steep, the hills in places coming down
to the water's edge.
The inland plains, which consist almost entirely of sandy
desert, commence from the coast and merge m the north
into the hilly tract and in the south into the desert. Mea
gre desert vegetation and some wells and water holes sup
port a scanty Bedouin population.
The mountain tract is in the East where a section ol
the spinal range of the Oman Promontory is included.
This tract is about 50 miles in extent from north to
south and its average breadth is about 20 miles. The
mountain ridges run from north to south. The tract is
bare and, for the most part, waterless.
3 The Principalities, (a) Abu Dhabi.-—This princi
pality is the largest in the area. It stretches along the
coast from the creek of Ghanadhah on the north to Khor
Odaid on the west. Towards the interior the boundaries
are ill-defined. They are said to extend on the east to the
Baraimi Oasis and on the south to the margin of the Great
Desert.