34. A barbarous region which now belongs to Persia. The Arabian coast beyond the Kuria Muria Islands, being now recently conquered by the Parthian Empire, at war with Rome, was inaccessible to the author of the Periplus and is described by him briefly and apparently from hearsay. His own sailing-course carried him "well out at sea" from Kuria Muria to Masira, and thence direct to the mouth of the Indus.
34. Calaei Islands.—These are the Daimaniyat Islands N. W. of Muscat (23° 48′ N., 58° 0′ E.), the distance being calculated from Masira. The name is obviously the same as the modern Kalhat, just north of Sur (22° 35′ N., 59° 29′ E.) an ancient trading port, mentioned by Pliny (VI, 32) as Acila (not to be confused with Ocelis in Yemen), "a city of the Sabaei (Asabi) a nation of tent dwellers, with numerous islands. This is their mart, from which persons embark for India."
On this coast, between Ras el Had and Muscat, are the modern ports of Kuryat and Sur, which, in the words of General Miles (Journal of an Excursion in Oman, Geographical Journal, VII, 335–6 "are the Karteia and Tsor, the Carthage and Tyre, of the race whom we know as Phoenicians, and who, earlier than the time of Solomon, had trading-stations along the southern coast of Arabia. Their convenient and important position just opposite India must have led to their early occupation by the merchants of those times who were enaged in exchanging the productions of the East and West."
An eastern migration of this tribe-name is strongly suggested in Kalat, city and district, in eastern Beluchistan.
34. Very little civilized.—This follows Fabricius' reading of a doubtful passage in the text; that offered by Müller, "who do not see well in the daytime," while less probable, recalls the fact noted by numerous observers in Oman, that a good proportion of the inhabitants suffer from ophthalmia or total blindness, due, largely, to the terrific heat of this coast; which was picturesquely described by Abd-ar-Razzak, a 15th century Persian, as follows:
"The heat was so intense that it burned the marrow in the bones; the sword in its scabbard melted like wax, and the gems which adorned the handle of the dagger were reduced to coal. In thie plains the chase became a matter of perfect ease, for the desert was filled with roasted gazelles." (Quoted from Curzon: Persia and the Persian Question. See also Hakluyt Society's ed., XXII, 9.)
35. Calon mountain.—While the name has a Greek form, and was supposed to mean "fair," it is the same as that of the islands and is probably a tribal name: "mountain of the Kalhat."
