"Land from the mast-head!" "What does it look like?" "High land, sir, on the larboard bow, stretching away to the north-west." "Can you see land to starboard?" "No." "Then," says the captain, with some little swell, "we have just hit it; the watch is a good one; and three or four hours of this will bring us into Muscat." The prediction proved correct. Now, if I understood perspective and retrospective, how I would delight my readers by contrasting the barren rocky hills of Arabia, where not a trace of vegetable nature is to be found, with the shaded shores of Ceylon, and the dark forests that clothe the lofty mountains of Malabar! But I am not a picturesque traveller; suffice it therefore to say, the arid hills we were now contemplating protect, by almost encircling it, a cove, at the extremity of which is a small plain, crowded with high houses, which form the city of Muscat. This emporium to the trade of the Persian Gulf is defended by batteries which command its narrow entrance, as well as by fortifications that cover every part of the uneven and mis-shapen hills and crags around it. Muscat is governed by a prince whose title is Imâm, and whose authority, like that of many chiefs in Arabia, is more of a patriarchal than despotic character. Though he has large fleets, including some fine frigates, and a considerable army to garrison his possessions on the coast of Africa, the shores of Arabia, and the islands of the Persian Gulf, he must attend to the summons of any inhabitant of Muscat who calls him to a court of justice. Your sceptics who deny the existence of any just administration of power, except in the commonwealth of Europe, may call this a mere form. Be it so: yet the knowledge that such a form was observed went far, in my mind, to mark the character of this petty government. But it is the eye, the disposition, and the judgment of the observer, more than what is actually seen, that stamps the condition of distant nations with those who have to form their opinions at second-hand; and the generality of readers, who have their happiness grounded on a natural prejudice in favour of their own ways and usages, lean toward such as minister to their pride and patriotism, by throwing a dark shade on all they meet different from Old England, or some of those countries in its vicinity, for which their good climate, cheap viands, and well flavoured wines have created a predilection.