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Show IN DISTANT MUSCAT. LIFE GOES ON IN MEDIEVAL MANNER. Iloflng ll.Hl.f n In.tljntloa ! p.n.ltr ml lmrl.nl r ' '' linn Criminal. lonTlrl.il of loplt! tin.o.n. (Sprelal Utler ) Amerlmna hac lately been reading: read-ing: about an out-of-the-way plaee called MiiKat, hleh haa been broiiRht Into prominence lalel) b) the threat o( a llrlliah admiral to bombard the town It the aultaii n( Oman dUl not eanrel hla eoneraalon o( a i oolitic ata-tlon ata-tlon to the French Tho iieeonipanylnii Illustration of Mimcat ami Ita Inhab-Itanta Inhab-Itanta la from a pliotoRrnph brouRht by a rorrenmlent who haa recently vlaltei! tho illttrlct In queatlon. He rltM- "Quito n feature of natlo lit In Muacot la the ator) teller not of the American t)pe Thla more or le ahady customer la a rolnic spirit who travels from town to town narrating to tho frequcntera of tho eiiffee-houM tho most complicated arna of lute Intrlciies and harem plots As soon as tho llstenera become Intereatid, the A VIi:V OP Ml'BCAT. ipeaVer pauaes and thp bruss bowl Is pasted round As long: as the contribution! con-tribution! Don- In free!) tho story Is continued until, by frequent calls on the purw of tho nnthes, It becomes evident that all the pieces have been collected, then the story Is brought In a close, and the villain of the piece nets his deserts, much to the sntltfac-t'on sntltfac-t'on of the crowd These professional story-tellers have seeral ways of Retting Ret-ting money, and adopt the plans ot the dervishes In l'erslo They play the part of astrologers or of holy men They enter Into public discussions with other men of the same calllnic. The winner of the debate nominally take tho money collected, but, as a rule. the two are In lengue and sharo the plunder. At the entrance of the harbor Is a small flat rock, which rlsea only a few feet from tho water level. This used to be tho execution ground of the district The condemned were placed In chains, and left without clothes, food and water, ust beyond the reach of the sea, lo die ot prl alien, and of tho effects of the sun, which shines ln a cloudless sky and with tremendous tremen-dous vigor. It la said thai no prisoner ever stir ' it second day's exposure The rti, nj Muscat has among- his subjects urled collection of all creeds a. medans. Hindoos, (Ire worshippers, Jews and Armenians, and In spite of this fact good order It maintained The slate trade Is In decadence, de-cadence, but even now American and llrltlsh gunboats, used for patrolling purposes, occasionally capture slave galleys, and rescue the Kantlbarli. who nro taken to Muscat and set at liberty The llrltlah consul has a bodyguard of Indian troops, and on the whole the consulate has a better appearance ap-pearance than has tho sultan's palace. Muscat has three consulate, the American, Amer-ican, the llrltlsh nnd the Trench. |