to the view taken of the subject as a whole by the translator, substantially correct. This remark applies also to the original works, and to the interpretation put upon words by natives of the country reading them in their mother-tongue. I have therefore retained the stories and anecdotes as originally translated by myself.
In spelling proper names and places, I have followed the plan adopted by Mr. Badger in his "Imâms and Seyyids of ʾOmân," and I cannot do better than quote his words upon this subject:—
"As a recognized transliteration of the Arabic into Roman characters is still a desideratum, I have eschewed any attempt at etymological exactness in that respect, and have simply endeavoured to convey the correct sound of the original as nearly as possible, without resorting to expedients unfamiliar to the general reader. I give to the consonants the same power as in English; to the vowels the same sound generally as in Italian; a as in far; e as in beg; i as in pit; o as in store; u as in lunar. The diphthongs ai and ei, like the ie in pie and the ei in vein respectively. The vocal sound of ow in how I express by au; when doubled in the same word, by aww, as in Tawwâm.
