respect, it is necessary to keep them at a proper distance; and they easily submit to this treatment, because they are not accustomed to any other. But, in living with a Bedouin, his feelings must not be wounded; he must be treated with friendliness; and in return he will seek for an opportunity of proving to you, that in his own desert he is a greater man than yourself. And why not treat kindly a man, who, if you were in the most abject and forlorn condition, would certainly treat you as a brother?

As a hint to travellers, I must here add, that letters of recommendation to independent Bedouin sheikhs are of very little use. If one of these sheikhs once promise to conduct a person in safety, he will keep his word, without considering how the traveller comes recommended to him; and a letter of the strongest recommendation, even if it were written by a Pasha (provided that the latter have no direct influence over the tribe), is but little regarded. The more a stranger is recommended, the more he must pay, and the more insatiable becomes the sheikh. Therefore, a traveller will do well to go amongst Bedouins as a poor man, or else to pay for his passage through their country by dint of money, without foreign aid.

Many tribes have the national reputation of being generous; others are reckoned stingy. Among the latter is the Beni Harb, a considerable tribe in the Desert of Hedjaz. The great profits which they derive from the Hadj caravans have perhaps rendered them parsimonious in proportion as they became more desirous of wealth. The same reputation of stinginess is attached to the Bedouins about Mekka, especially to the Koreysh, now a full tribe of from two to three hundred matchlocks. In the mountains of Sinai, stinginess is the reproach of a tribe called Oulad Sayd, a branch of the Sowaleha Arabs; and their neighbours have a proverbial saying in rhyme, which advises a person thus- Sleep alone, rather than among the Oulad Sayd."

Generous men belonging to these stigmatized tribes, have at least the advantage of rendering themselves easily conspicuous and distinguished amongst the rest; and therefore it is said by the Arabs, that generosity is principally found among tribes reputed avaricious.

The guest, who enters an encampment of the Nedjd Bedouins usually alights at the first tent on the right side of the spot where he entered the dowar, or circle of tents. If he should pass that

tent and go to another, the owner of the slighted tent would think himself affronted.

After what has been related, it is scarcely necessary to say, that among the Aenezes a guest is regarded as sacred; his person is protected, and a violation of hospitality, by the betraying of a guest, has not occurred within the memory of man. He who has a single protector in any one tribe, becomes the friend of all the tribes connected in amity with that. Life and property may with perfect security be entrusted to an Aeneze; and wherever he goes, one may follow him; but his enemies become the enemies of the man whom he protects. The messengers between Aleppo, Baghdad, and Basrah, are always Aenezes. They formerly accompanied English gentlemen, returning from India or going there, through the desert; and although some few instances have occurred, of travellers being plundered on the road by strange tribes, it is certain that their Aeneze guides, however importunate in their demands for money, faithfully observed the engagement which they had made. I here may state a fact from my own experience.-In June 1810, I set out from Aleppo with a sheikh of the Fedhán: he had been plundered near Hamah by some Maualy Arabs, with whom the Aenezes were then at war. Most of his property, and the camels of his Arabs, having been restored through the influence of the mutsellim of Hamah, the sheikh continued his journey; but took fright on the Wahaby's approach to Damascus, near which city his family was encamped; he therefore refused to accompany me as far as Tedmor, but gave me a single guide to conduct me among the ruins, and proceeded on his way towards the south. I feared, at that time, that the sheikh had betrayed me; but it soon appeared that the single guide was a sufficient protector in every respect. All the Arabs whom we met received me with hospitality; and I returned with him across the desert to Jeroud, twelve hours distant from Damascus.

A guest, as well as the host himself, in an Arab tent, is liable to nocturnal depredation; certainly not from any individual of the host's family, but from harámys or netáls. Knowing, however, that such is the case, and jealous lest any circumstance should excite a suspicion of his own integrity, the host takes particular care of the stranger's mare or camel; and if rich and generous, should a robbery occur, he indemnifies the stranger

for whatever loss he may sustain while under the protection of his hospitality.

Strangers, who have not any friend or acquaintance in the camp, alight at the first tent that presents itself: whether the owner be at home or not, the wife or daughter immediately spreads a carpet, and prepares breakfast or dinner. If the stranger's business requires a protracted stay, as for instance, if he wishes to cross the desert under protection of the tribe, the host, after the lapse of three days and four hours from the time of his arrival, asks, whether he means to honour him longer with his company. If the stranger declares his intention of prolonging his visit, it is expected that he should assist his host in domestic matters, fetching water, milking the camel, feeding the horse, etc. Should he even decline this, he may remain, but will be censured by all the Arabs of the camp: he may, however, go to some other tent and declare himself there a guest. Thus every third or fourth day he may change hosts, until his business is finished, or he has reached his place of destination. The Arabs of a tribe in Nedjd welcome a guest by pouring on his head a cup of melted butter.

VIII. FEMALES.

Among people who assign to their women exclusively all the duties and menial offices of the tent, it cannot be supposed that the female sex meets with great respect. Women are regarded as beings much inferior to men, and, although seldom treated with neglect or indifference, they are always taught to consider that their sole business is cooking and working. While a girl remains unmarried, she enjoys, as a virgin, much more respect than a married women; for the fathers think it an honour, and a source of profit, to possess a virgin in the family. Once married, a Bedouin female becomes a mere servant, busily occupied the whole day, whilst her husband lies stretched out in his own apartment, comfortably smoking his pipe. This arrangement he justifies by saying, that his wife should work at home, as he undergoes so much fatigue on journies. Nothing distresses the Bedouin women so much as fetching water. The tents are but seldom pitched very close to a well; and if this be only at half an hour's distance from the camp, the Bedouins do not think it necessary that the water should be brought upon camels: and when asses are not to be procured, the women must carry the

water every evening on their backs in long water-skins; and they are sometimes obliged to seek a second supply at the well.1

Among the Arabs at Sinai and those of the Egyptian Sherkieh, it is an established rule, that neither men nor boys should ever drive the cattle to pasture. This is the exclusive duty of the unmarried girls of the camp, who perform it by turns.3 They set out before sunrise, three or four together, carrying some water and victuals with them, and they return late in the evening. Among other Bedouins, slaves or servants take the flocks to pasture.

Thus early accustomed to such fatiguing duties, the Sinai women are as hardy as the men. I have seen those females running barefooted over sharp rocks where I, well shod, could with difficulty step along. During the whole day they continue exposed to the sun, carefully watching the sheep; for they are sure of being severely beaten by their father, should any be lost. If a man of their tribe passes by the pasturing ground, they offer to him some sheep's milk, or share with him their scanty stock of water, as kindly as their parents would have treated him in their tent. On other occasions, the Bedouin women, seeing a man pass on the road, sit down and turn their backs towards him; nor will they ever receive any thing from the hands of a stranger (who is not a relation) into their own hands, unless some friends be present. I have frequently passed women on the road who asked for biscuit or flour to make bread; this was set near them upon the ground, while their backs were turned towards us; and they took it up when we had retired a few paces. It has always appeared to me, that the more a tribe is connected with the inhabitants of towns, the stricter they are with respect to the seclusion of women. In the Mekka and

Sinai mountains, a woman, if addressed by any stranger, will seldom return an answer: on the contrary, in the distant plains, I have freely conversed and joined in laugther with Aeneze, Harb, and Howeytat women. Their morals probably may be

1 Comp. Gen. 24: 13 sq.-ED.

2 Among the Sinai Arahs, a boy would feel himself insulted were any one to say, "Go and drive your father's sheep to pasture ;" these words, in his opinion, would signify, "You are no better than a girl."

3 Comp. Gen. 29: 6 sq. Ex. 2: 16 sq.—Ed.

rated in an inverse proportion to the pains taken for preserving them.

The respect which Bedouins bear to their mothers is much more exemplary, than that which they evince towards their fathers.

IX. SAGACITY IN TRACING FOOTSTEPS.

Here I must offer some observations on a talent which the Bedouins possess, in common with the free Indians of Americathe faculty of distinguishing footsteps, both of men and beasts, upon the ground. In the American woods the impression is made upon grass, in Arabia upon sand; and in the examination of these impressions, the Americans and the Arabs are, perhaps, equally skilful. Although it may be said, that almost every Bedouin acquires, by practice, some knowledge in this art, yet a few only of the most enterprising and active men excel in it. The Arab, who has applied himself diligently to the study of footsteps, can generally ascertain, from inspecting the impression, to what individual of his own, or of some neighbouring tribe, the footstep belongs; and therefore is able to judge whether it was a stranger who passed, or a friend. He likewise knows, from the slightness or depth of the impression, whether the man who made it carried a load or not. From the strength or faintness of the trace he can also tell whether the man passed on the same day, or one day or two days before. From a certain regularity of intervals between the steps, a Bedouin can judge whether the man whose feet left the impression was fatigued or not; as, after fatigue, the pace becomes more irregular, and the intervals unequal. Hence he can calculate the chance of overtaking a man.

Besides all this, every Arab knows the printed footsteps of his own camels, and of those belonging to his immediate neighbours. He knows by the depth or slightness of the impression whether a camel was pasturing, and therefore not carrying any load, or mounted by one person only, or heavily loaded. If the marks of the two fore feet appear to be deeper in the sand than those of the hind feet, he concludes that the camel had a weak breast, and this serves him as a clue to ascertain the owner. In fact, a Bedouin, from the impressions of a carnel's or of his driver's footsteps, draws so many conclusions, that he always learns something concerning the beast or its owner; and in some VOL. IV. No. 16.

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