Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/64

 Femtoahy, 1875.] WEDDING SONGS OF THE MTJSDAH-KOLHS. 51 old days. The only building- that has hitherto escaped the general ruin around is a small domed tomb, about fifteen feet square, standing in the highest part of the town. It contained an inscription in Ncskh characters in coloured stucco, fragments of which bestrew the ground ; and the walls were lined with coloured tiles, — similar, probably, to those ornamenting the great mosque of this city, as described by Ibu Batuta. The dome is constructed in a somewhat primitive fashion, with bracketing work or pendentives. It is built entirely of unshaped stones and coral, as indeed were all the buildings in the city apparently, no hewn or shaped stones being visible anywhere. Near the tomb is a rectangular tank or reservoir, now filled with rubbish, with a broad arch over it, and probably intended as a storage tank for water. The Hue of fortifications by which the town was enclosed can still bo traced without- difficulty. On the south side the wall, flanked by three towers or bastions, run with a slight bend from the sea to the abruptly rising hills, which formed a suf- ficient protection on that side. To the north- west the town was protected by two towers on a small eminence called El Sheikh, com- manding that part of the town, and on this hill the governor of the city is said to have had his residence. Under this lies the present Tillage of K a 1 h ii t, inhabited by the E 1 Sb a a h a l n, a petty tribe of about two hundred sonls, who live by fishing and doing a small trade in dates. The Wady Issir, which seems the natural pass into the interior from Kalhut, is, however, . bo blocked up by huge boulders and fragments of limestone washed down from the lofty, preripi- tous walls above, that it is impassable for laden camels, and their place is here taken, by asses; and I imagine, therefore, that the route by winch the bulk of the produce and merchandize was carried to and fro between the town aud the interior was round by Sur, which is easily reached by sea and land, and which lit s open to the inland districts of El Sharkiyeh and J a a 1 a n. About two miles up the wady is S u - k h e r a t, where there is Toom for a little cultiva- tion, and where a small but perennial mountain stream, bounding and cascading among the rocks and stones, once fed an aqueduct that supplied the city with pure water, and the traces of which are still visible along the right bank of the wady, though generally destroyed by the hand of time and the action of the torrent. The beginning of the aqueduct is marked by a square chunainmed cistern, which, with part of the canal leading from it, is still in proud preserva- tion. Meida, also alluded to by Ibn El Mojawir, is merely a deep pool in the bed of the ravine about half a mile from the town, and was at best a precarious source of supply. There are said bo have been one hundred and one wells within the walls of the city, but none of them now contain water. In former times vessels are traditioned to have ascended the creeks and anchored abreast of the town half a mile from the sea, where they would of course find perfect shelter from every wind; but these creeks, ap- parently by the scour of the torrent, have now become filled up with detritns and sand from above, and are too shallow for any but the smallest boats to enter them. This fact is alone sufficient to account for the total eclipse of Kalliu t as a commercial port, and its place is now to some extent taken by the neighbour- ing and flourishing town of S ii r, which, with its deep and capacious creek, has become next to M a s k a t and ii u 1 1 r a h the greatest rendezvous for native shipping on the Oman coast. SPECIMENS OF THE WEDDING SONGS OF THE MU.VDA-KOLHS, FROM THE GERMAN OF THE REV. TH. JELLING I LADS. [Mr. Jelltnghnus mentions that his transit Eaon is literal, and therefore but poorly represents the harmony of tli.-orii.HMLd. The following is a literal rendering! lingbaus's German, madr l.y a friend and rapidly glanced over by me — J, M. Mitchell.] Speech •////.- brid her brother. other's womb we were sister and bro Drinking we have drunk a whole cask of milk, Drinking we hive drunk a whole cask of milk: Thy lot, brother, is the father's wood-house ; My lot, brother, is the distant land. The mother weeps her whole lite long, The father weeps six months, The brother weeps during the (marriage) talking and eati The sister-in-law weeps a moment, The fowls, calling out for me, already begin to smooth their combs again. 5780