If the adversary for whom he calls be present, and not afraid to meet him in combat, he gallops forwards; if absent, his friends reply that he is not amongst them. The challenged horseman in his turn exclaims, "And you upon the grey mare, who are you?" the other answers, "I am *** the son of ***" Having thus become acquainted with each other, they begin to fight; none of the by-standers join in this combat; to do so would be reckoned a treacherous action; but if one of the combatants should turn back, and fly towards his friends, the latter hasten to his assistance, and drive back the pursuer, who is in turn protected by his friends. After several of these partial combats between the best men of both parties, the whole corps join in promiscuous combat. If an Arab in battle should meet with a personal friend among the enemy's ranks, he turns his mare to a different side, and cries out, "Keep away? let not thy blood be upon me!"

Should a horseman not be inclined to accept the challenge of an adversary, but choose to remain among the ranks of his friends, the challenger laughs at him with taunts and reproaches, and makes it known, as a boast, during the rest of his life, that such a one ** would not venture to meet such a one ** in

battle.

If the contest happen in a level country, the victorious party frequently pursue the fugitives for three, four, or five hours together at full gallop; and instances are mentioned of a close pursuit for a whole day. This would not be possible with any but the Bedouin breed of horses, and it is on this account that the Bedouin praises his mare, not so much for her swiftness as for her indefatigable strength.

It is an universal law among the Arabs, that if, in time of war or in suspicious districts, one party meet another in the desert, without knowing whether it be friendly or hostile, those who think themselves the stronger should attack the other; and sometimes blood is shed before they ascertain that the parties are friends; but this is not the case in the Wahaby dominions, where a strong party must pass a weak one without daring to molest it.

The Bedouin mode of fighting is most ancient. The battles described in the two best heroic romances (the History of Antar, and that of the tribe of Beni Helál) consisted principally in single combats, like those above mentioned. It is more congenial with the dispositions of Bedouins, who are al

ways anxious to know by whom a man has been killed—a circumstance which in a promiscuous attack cannot easily be ascertained.

VI. BLOOD-REVENGE, OR THAR.

The fundamental laws of blood-revenge are the same, and universal throughout the whole Arabian desert. The right to it exists every where within the khomse :* Arabian tribes residing in foreign parts have invariably carried this institution with them. We find it among the Libyan Bedouins, and all along the bank of the Nile, up to Sennar: wherever true Arabs are settled, there is a law, that for blood an atonement must be made by blood, or by a severe fine, if the family of the person slain or wounded will agree to such commutation. They have rendered this independent of the public administration of justice, and have given the blood-revenge into the hands of the sufferer's family or of his friends, persuaded that a judicial punishment would not satisfy a person who had been so seriously hurt and insulted in private, and to whom the law of nature gave the right of revenge. The system of the Arabs' political corporation would prevent the arising of any public disorder from the retaliation between individuals; every clan would stand forward in protection of any of its members unjustly persecuted; and it seems, that in a rude state of society, whenever the security of the whole is not affected, each person has full right to retaliate an injury upon his neighbour. The Arab regards this blood-revenge as one of his most sacred rights, as well as duties; no earthly consideration could induce him to relinquish it and even among the degenerate and enslaved race of Egyptian peasants, trembling under the iron rod of Mohammed Ali, a Fellah plunges his dagger into the breast of the man who has murdered his brother, although he knows, that his own life must be forfeited for the deed; for that Pasha has endeavoured, by all the means in his power, to suppress every remaining spark of independent feeling among his subjects.

The stronger and the more independent a tribe is, the more remote from cultivated provinces, and the wealthier its individuals, the less frequently are the rights of the Thar commuted into a fine. Great sheikhs, all over the Desert, regard it as a shame

* That is, within the fifth generation,

ful transaction to compromise in any degree for the blood of their relations; but when the tribe is poor, and infected by the paltry spirit of neighbouring settlers in cultivated districts, the fine (or dye) is frequently accepted. To give up the right of personal revenge as well as of this fine, is a matter of which they cannot even form any notion, and the Arabs have a proverbial saying, "Were hell-fire to be my lot, I would not relinquish the Thar."

The fine for blood varies in almost every tribe. Among the Beni Harb, in Hedjaz, it is eight hundred dollars. The same sum has been fixed by the Wahaby chief, following the rule prescribed in the time of Mohammed, when Abu Beker declared the price of a free man's blood to be one hundred shecamels. Saoud has estimated every she-camel at eight dollars, and thus made it a sum of eight hundred dollars. He has done all in his power, to induce the Arabs throughout his dominions to give up this long-established right of private revenge, and to accept the fine in its stead. But he has seldom been able to prevail over their ancient prejudices: and the Bedouins feel much ill-will towards him for his endeavours to abrogate a law, which they regard as sacred.

Whenever an Arab has entered into a compromise with the family, to whom he owes blood, he addresses himself to his relations and friends, soliciting from them some contributions in sheep and lambs, that he may be enabled to make up the sum required. Among some tribes it is a custom, that contributions should be made, in proportionable shares, by all the individuals comprised within the khomse, and who are therefore liable themselves to suffer from the blood-debt, in case no payment of another kind be accepted. But this is not a general rule; and the dammawy or homicide in many tribes must make up the sum himself, with his brothers and father only.

But in those tribes where contributions are made, the Arabs evince great liberality, when the man who asks their assistance is liked by his people. Their gifts are so abundant from every quarter, that he is not only enabled to make up the sum required, but is often enriched by the surplus; which, the debt being paid, remains with him as his own property. On such occasions, they likewise go about among their friends of foreign tribes soliciting assistance. This is seldom refused. A similar kindness is expected in cases of emergency; and there is no circumstance in which the Bedouins more fully prove the af

fection which they entertain for each other, as members of one great nation, than when they are thus called upon for their contributions. They may indeed be considered, on such occasions, as partners belonging to one extensive company, in the gains and losses of which every individual is more or less interested.

The same demand for assistance is made, whenever the cattle of an Arab has been driven off by the enemy. His friends never hesitate to contribute towards the reparation of his loss, although not always so liberally as in the cases mentioned above; when, besides their friendship for the sufferer, they are impelled by a national feeling for a tribe esteems itself honoured by enumerating among its individuals, men who have slain enemies, and are therefore supposed to be persons of valour. If the sheikh of a tribe should happen to lose his property, by the attack of an enemy, all his Arabs voluntarily hasten to his relief; and if he be a favourite, they soon reinstate him to the full amount of the cattle, which he had lost.

When an atonement for blood is to be made among the Arabs of Sinai, the relations of the dammawy appoint a place of meeting with the family of the man who has been killed, that an arrangement may be settled; the killed man's friends having consented to the meeting. At the time fixed, both parties repair to the place appointed, with their wives, children, and all other relations there they pass several days in feasting, and every guest that arrives is treated with great hospitality. Those, to whom the blood is due, then make their claims. As there does not exist any certain fine, or dye, among these Sinai Arabs (nor indeed among several other tribes), the sum at first demanded is exorbitant; but all the persons in company immediately agree in soliciting a diminution. For instance, a woman presents herself before the nearest relation of the deceased, and conjures him, by the head of his own infant child, to grant, for her sake, an abatement of two or three dollars. A respectable sheikh then declares, that he will not eat any food, until an abatement of one camel shall have been made for his sake; and, in this manner, all who are present crowd about the man who claims the fine for blood, and who at first assumes a very lofty tone, but allows himself to be flattered into a display of generosity, gradually remitting dollar after dollar, until a sum is at last mentioned which all parties agree in thinking a fair equivalent: this is paid by instalments at monthly intervals, and always punctually discharged. Among those Arabs, twenty or

thirty camels generally suffice to settle the business. They likewise give, on such occasions, in payment, some of the date-trees which abound in the vallies of Sinai occupied by Bedouins.

It may be agreed perhaps to accept for the blood a fine comparatively small; but in this case the debtor (that is, he who killed the man) must acknowledge, that himself and his family are hhasnai (or persons in a state of obligation) to the other's representative: a declaration which gratifies the pride of one party, as much as it mortifies the other, and is therefore not often made, although it is not attended by any other consequence; in fact it is merely a nominal obligation. If adopted, it remains for ever in the two families. The Omran and Heywat Arabs observe this custom.

The Oulad Aly, a powerful Libyan tribe of Bedouins, inhabiting the desert between Fayoum and Alexandria, make it a rule never to receive the price of blood, unless the homicide, or one of his nearest kindred, should brave the danger of introducing himself into the tent of the person slain, and then say to the relations, "Here I am, kill me, or accept the ransom." The nearest relation may do as he pleases, without incurring any blame; for the stranger has voluntarily renounced the right of dakheil, which all the Libyan tribes hold as sacred as the Arabian. A man who gives himself up in this manner is called mestatheneb. If the enemy should meet him before he reaches his tent, an attack is almost always the result. If he enter the tent, a ransom is most commonly accepted; but instances to the contrary sometimes happen.

The two tribes of Omran and Heywat act upon a rule, which forms an exception to the general Bedouin system of bloodrevenge remaining within the "khomse." When one of their people is killed by an unknown hand of a known tribe, they think themselves justified in retaliating upon any individual of that tribe, either innocent or guilty; and if the affair be compromised, the whole tribe contribute to make up the dye, or fine, in proportion to the respective property of each tent. For this reason, the Arabs say, that "the Omran and Heywat strike sideways," a practice which is much dreaded by their neighbours.

Among several other tribes, the blood of those who fall by the unknown hand of a known tribe is demanded from the sheikh, who pays the fine, to which his Arabs contribute. This practice,