Sachal. and especially frankincense and aloes. From Kane the Arabian vessels, and afterwards some of the Egyptian traders in the time of Arrian, proceeded along the coast to the north-east until they reached Sachal, on the shores of Hadramaut, their chief trade being incense, which, according to Arrian, was there "collected by the king's slaves, or by malefactors condemned to this service as a punishment." Most of the incense, however, was sent through Thomæra, the capital of the Gebanites, to Gaza, on the coast of Palestine, by way of Petra, by the important caravan route already noticed, and continued in a great measure to find its way to Egypt by this inland route even after the merchants of Alexandria had established a regular maritime commerce with the East.
Moshka.
Maskat.
Omana.
From Sachal the traders on the coast proceeded to
Moskha, where vessels from Baroach and Larike, on
the Gulf of Cambay, if too late for the favourable
monsoons, usually endeavoured to exchange their
Indian muslins for the frankincense of the place.
From this place, also, native vessels made a coasting
voyage till they reached Maskat and Kalaiso. Near
these ports they were able to cross the gulf at
its narrowest parts, and steered nearly due north,
or about N.N.E. for the port of Omana, which evidently
takes its name from Oman in Arabia, and was,
doubtless, a colony of Arabs, established on the coast
opposite to their own, for the purpose of approaching
nearer to Western India. From Omana they steered
almost due east along the coast of Beloochistan until
they reached their destination at the mouth of the
Indus or in the Gulf of Cambay.
