the bedouins of arabia.

the deserts of arabia—sedentary arabs and bedouins—physical characteristics of the bedouins—remarkable acuteness of their senses—their manners—their intense patriotism and contempt of the dwellers in cities—the song of maysunah—their wars—their character softened by the influence of woman—their chivalrous sentiments—the arab horse—the camel—freedom of the arabs from a foreign and a domestic yoke—the bedouin robber—his hospitality—mode of encamping—death feuds—blood-money—amusements—throwing the jereed—dances—poetry—story-telling—language—the bedouin and the north american indian.

though arabia possesses some districts of remarkable fertility which enjoy a succession of almost perpetual verdure, yet the greater part of that vast peninsula consists of burning deserts lying under a sky almost perpetually without clouds, and stretching into immense and boundless plains where the eye meets nothing but the uniform horizon of a wild and dreary waste. these naked deserts are encircled or sometimes intersected by barren mountains, which run in almost continuous ridges and in different directions from the borders of palestine to the shores of the indian ocean. their summits105 tower up into rugged and insulated peaks, but their flinty bosoms supply no humidity to nourish the soil; they concentrate no clouds to screen the parched earth from the withering influence of a tropical sky. instead of the cooling breezes periodically enjoyed in other sultry climates, hot winds frequently diffuse their noxious breath, alike fatal to animal and vegetable life. the steppes of russia and the wilds of tartary are decked by the hand of nature with luxuriant herbage, but in the arabian deserts vegetation is nearly extinct. the sandy plains give birth to a straggling and hardy brushwood, while the tamarisk and the acacia strike their roots into the clefts of the rocks, and draw a precarious nourishment from the nightly dews.

were it not for the wadys, or verdant spots lying here and there among the hills, and the various wells or watering stations supplied by periodical rains, the greater portion of arabia must have remained unpeopled, and for ever impervious to man. in a country like this, where whole years occasionally pass away without a refreshing shower, the possession of a spring is not unfrequently the most valuable property of a tribe. there are large tracts, however, where the luxury of water, as it may well be called, is unknown, and where the desert extends for many a day’s journey without affording the traveller the welcome sight of a single well.

this extraordinary land is inhabited by a no less extraordinary people, divided into two great classes, widely different in their pursuits: the inhabitants of cities and towns, who live by tillage and commerce, and the natives of the desert, who follow a pastoral and predatory life, and consider the former as a separate and inferior race. through all antiquity this characteristic distinction has remained inviolate, and as it is founded in the nature of the soil is even now as strongly marked as it was in the times of abraham or isaac.

in personal appearance, the wandering arabs or bedouins are of the middle size, lean and athletic. the legs though fleshless are well made, the arms thin, with muscles like whipcords. deformity is checked among this nomadic race by the circumstance that no weakly infant can live through the hardships of a bedouin life. the complexion varies from the deepest spanish to a chocolate hue, and its varieties are106 attributed by the people to blood. the black hair is either closely shaved, or hanging down in ragged elf-locks to the breast. most popular writers describe the arab eye as large, ardent, and black, but, according to captain burton, who, on his adventurous pilgrimage to meccah, had full opportunity for observing many tribes, it is generally dark brown or green-brown, small, round, restless, deep-set, and fiery, denoting keen inspection, with an ardent temperament and an impassioned character. the habit of pursing up the skin below the orbits, and half-closing the lids to prevent dazzle, plants the outer angles with premature crow’s-feet. another peculiarity is the sudden way in which the eye opens, especially under excitement. this, combined with its fixity of glance, forms an expression now of lively fierceness, then of exceeding sternness. the look of a chief is dignified and grave even to pensiveness, yet there is not much difference in the expression of the eye between men of the same tribe, who have similar pursuits which engender similar passions. ‘expression,’ as captain burton well remarks, ‘is the grand diversifier of appearance among civilised people; in the desert it knows few varieties.’ the bushy black eyebrows are crooked and bent in sign of thoughtfulness. the forehead is high, broad, and retreating. the temples are deep, the cheek-bones salient, which combined with the lantern-jaw often gives a death’s-head appearance to the face. the nose is pronounced, generally aquiline, the ears small and well-cut, the mouth irregular, the teeth, as usual among orientals, white, even, short, and broad. according to chateaubriand, no sign would betray the savage in the arab’s countenance, if he constantly kept his mouth closed; it is when he shows his teeth, of a dazzling whiteness like those of the jackal, that his wild nature shows itself. in this he differs from the american indian, whose ferocity appears in the eye, while the mouth has a mild expression. some tribes trim their moustaches according to the practice derived from the prophet; others shave them, or allow them to hang, persian-like, over the lips. the beard is represented by two tangled tufts upon the chin, and where the whiskers should be, the place is either bare or thinly covered with straggling hair. the temperament of the bedouins is either nervous or bilious, rarely sanguine, never107 phlegmatic. they are not seldom subject to attacks of melancholy, which make them dislike the sound of the human voice and long for solitude.

from living constantly in the open air, the nomadic arabs acquire a remarkable acuteness in all their senses. their powers of vision and of hearing improve by continual exercise, and as their piercing eye sweeps over the desert it distinguishes objects at an incredible distance. their sense of smelling, too, is extremely nice. the true bedouin, when in the tainted atmosphere of towns, is always known by bits of cotton in his nostrils, or his kerchief tightly drawn over his nose, a heavy frown marking extreme disgust. declining the shelter of a house when business calls him to visit crowded cities, he passes the night in a garden or public square, rather than breathe the confined air of an apartment. one of his most singular faculties is the power of distinguishing the footsteps of men and beasts on the sand, in the same manner as the american indians discover impressions made upon the grass. from inspecting the footsteps, an arab can tell whether the individual belonged to his own or some neighbouring tribe, and is thus able to judge whether he be a stranger or a friend. he likewise knows from the faintness or depth of the impression whether the person carried a load or not, whether he passed the same day or several days before. from examining the intervals between the steps, he judges whether or not he was fatigued, as the pace becomes then more irregular and the intervals unequal, hence he calculates the chances of overtaking him. every arab can distinguish the footmarks of his own camels from those of his neighbours; he knows whether the animal was pasturing or loaded, or mounted by one or more persons; and can often discover from marks in the sand certain defects or peculiarities of formation that serve him as a clue to ascertain the owner. this sagacity, which enables the arab to read in the sands of the desert as in a printed volume, becomes extremely useful in the pursuit of fugitives, or in searching after stolen cattle. instances occur of camels being traced by their masters to the residence of the thief at the distance of five or six days’ journey; and, incredible as it may seen, a bedouin shepherd can track his own camel in a sandy valley, when108 thousands of other footsteps cross the road in all directions. thus the proverbially unstable and fugitive sands reveal many a secret to the practised glance of the arab; and every footstep becomes a witness recording the offender’s guilt.

of their wonderful acuteness in hearing, some well-attested anecdotes are told of those who act as pilots in the red sea. they know very nearly the time when ships from india may be expected, and going down to the water’s edge every night and morning, they lay their ear close to the surface for three or four minutes, and if the ship is not more than 120 miles distant, they can hear the report of the signal gun, or feel the ground shake, upon which they immediately set off in their pilot boat.

the manners of the bedouins are free and simple; vulgarity and affectation, awkwardness and embarrassment, are weeds of civilised growth, unknown to the people of the desert. yet their manners are sometimes dashed with a strange ceremoniousness. when two friends meet, they either embrace or both extend the right hands, clapping palm to palm; their foreheads are either pressed together, or their heads are moved from side to side, whilst for minutes together mutual inquiries are made and answered. it is a breach of decorum, even when eating, to turn the back upon a person; and when a bedouin does it, he intends an insult. when a friend approaches an encampment, those who catch sight of him shout out his name, and gallop up, saluting with their lances or firing matchlocks in the air.

the patriotism of the nomadic arab is intense. as the scottish highlander wherever he roams turns with fond regret to his heath-clad hills, or the exiled swiss pines for his snow-peaked alps, thus his sterile sands are dearer to the wandering son of the desert than the fairest regions of the earth. it is in the lonely wilderness that all his attachments centre, for there alone he can enjoy the independence which in all ages has been his cherished possession. the very wildness of this inhospitable scenery constitutes in his eyes its principal charm, and were these features destroyed, the spell would be broken that associates them in his mind with the romantic freedom of his condition. disdaining the peaceful and mechanical arts, he looks down with contempt upon all those who109 are fixed in local habitations, or engaged in the pursuits of industry, and proud of being a ‘dweller in tents,’ which he can pitch and transplant at pleasure, stigmatises them as ‘dwellers in houses made of clay.’ his tent he regards as the nursery of every noble quality, and the desert as the only residence worthy of a man who aspires to be the unfettered master of his actions. vain of his birth and freedom, he divides the world into two great bodies; first, the arabs, and secondly, ‘ajemi,’ all that are not arabs; and boasts of the four precious gifts that allah has bestowed on his nation: ‘turbans instead of diadems, tents in place of walls and bulwarks, swords instead of intrenchments, and poems instead of written laws.’

the deep attachment of the arab to his native wilds is well expressed in the celebrated song of maysunah, the beautiful wife of the caliph muawijah. the pomp and splendour of an imperial court could neither reconcile her to the luxuries of the harem nor make her forget the homely charms of her fatherland. her solitary hours were consumed in melancholy musings, and her greatest delight was in singing the simple pleasures she had enjoyed in the desert. the following translation gives of course but a faint idea of the beauties of the original song, the recital of which fills the bedouin with delight:

‘oh take these purple robes away, give back my cloak of camel’s hair, and bear me from this towering pile to where the black tents flap i’ the air. the camel’s colt with faltering tread, the dog that bays at all but me, delight me more than ambling mules, than every art of minstrelsy.’

tradition reports that muawijah overhearing the song, and perhaps tired of the singer, sent her back to her beloved wilds; but we are not told whether in the desert she did not after all sometimes regret the magnificence of damascus.

among the best traits of the bedouins’ character, we must cite their gentleness and generosity. usually they are a mixture of worldly cunning and great simplicity; fond of a jest, yet solemn and dignified; easily managed by a laugh and a soft word, and pliable after passion, though madly revengeful after injury. though reckless when their passions are thoroughly110 roused, their valour is tempered by cautiousness. their wars are a succession of skirmishes, in which 500 men will retreat after losing a dozen of their number. in this partisan fighting the first charge secures a victory, and the vanquished fly till covered by the shades of night. then passion or shame prompts them to reprisals, which will probably end in the flight of the former victor. gain and revenge draw the arab’s sword; yet, unlike the irishman who fights for the mere fun of fighting, he must have the all-powerful stimulants of honour and fanaticism to become desperate. the habit of danger in raids and blood feuds, the continual uncertainty of existence, the desert, the chase, his hard life, and the practice of martial exercises, habituate him to look death in the face like a man, and powerful motives will make him a hero.

the ferocity of bedouin life is softened by his intercourse with the ‘dwellers in houses made of clay,’ who frequently visit and entrust their children to the people of the black tents, that they may be hardened by the discipline of the desert. this laudable custom is generally followed by the sherifs or the descendants of the prophet residing in meccah, and even the late pacha of egypt gave one of his sons in charge of the anijah tribe near akhba, that he might receive a bedouin education and grow up into a man.

the mild influence of the fair sex likewise tends to soften the nomadic arab’s character, and to inspire him with chivalrous feelings. in pastoral life tribes often meet for a time, live together whilst pasturage lasts, and then separate perhaps for a generation. under such circumstances youths will become attached to maidens whom possibly by the laws of the clan they may not marry, and then the lovers have recourse to flight. the fugitives must brave every danger; for revenge, at all times the bedouin’s idol, now becomes the lode-star of his existence. but the arab lover will dare all consequences, and stake his life on the possession of her he loves.

women, indeed, are regarded as inferior beings by their lords and masters, and to them exclusively all the labour and menial offices in the tent are assigned; but in troublous times and in the hour of need, they raise themselves to the level of the stronger sex by physical as well as moral courage. in the early days of islam, if history be credible, arabia had111 many heroines, and within the last century ghalujah, the wife of a wahabi chief, opposed mohammed ali himself in many a bloody field. after a lost battle a retreating tribe has not unfrequently been again led on to victory by the taunts of its women, and arab poets praise not only female beauty, but also female faith, purity, and affection.

from ancient periods of the arab’s history, we find him practising knight-errantry, the wildest but most exalted form of chivalry. the fourth caliph is fabled to have travelled far, redressing the injured, punishing the injurer, preaching to the infidel, and especially protecting women—the chief end and aim of knighthood. the caliph el mutasen heard, in the assembly of his courtiers, that a woman of the sayyid family had been taken prisoner by a ‘greek barbarian’ of ammoria. the man on one occasion struck her, when she cried, ‘help me, o mutasen!’ and the fellow said derisively, ‘wait till he cometh upon his pied steed.’ the chivalrous prince arose, sealed up the wine cup which he held in his hand, took oath to do his knightly duty, and on the morrow started for ammoria with 70,000 men, each mounted on a piebald charger. having taken the place he entered it, exclaiming, ‘here am i at thy call!’ he struck off the caitiff’s head, released the lady with his own hands, ordered the cup-bearer to bring the sealed bowl, and drank from it, exclaiming, ‘now, indeed, wine is good!’ a knight of the round table could have done no better.

it is the existence of this noble spirit which makes the society of bedouins so delightful to the traveller, who, after enjoying it, laments at finding himself in the ‘loathsome company’ of persians, or among arab townpeople, whose ‘filthy and cowardly minds’ he contrasts with the ‘high and chivalrous spirit of the true sons of the desert.’

while over the vast continent of america no effort has ever been made by the aboriginal tribes to establish a dominion over the useful animals, with the single exception of the llama in the peruvian highlands, we find the arab shepherd from time immemorial in the absolute possession of the horse and the camel—of a faithful friend, and a laborious slave. although the high steppes of central asia are probably the genuine and original country of the horse, yet in arabia that generous animal attains the highest degree of spirit and swiftness.112 such is the estimation in which it is held, that the honours and the memory of the purest race are preserved with superstitious care, the males are sold at a high price, but the females are seldom alienated, and the birth of a noble foal is esteemed among the tribes as a subject of joy and mutual congratulation. a colt at the moment of birth is never allowed to drop upon the ground; they receive it in their arms, washing and stretching its tender limbs, and caressing it as they would a baby. the tender familiarity with which the horses are treated, trains them in the habits of gentleness and attachment. when not employed in war or travelling they loiter about the tents, often going over heaps of children lying on the ground, and carefully picking their steps lest they should hurt them. they are accustomed only to walk and to gallop; their sensations are not blunted by the incessant abuse of the spur and the whip; their powers are reserved for the movement of flight and pursuit, but no sooner do they feel the touch of the hand and the stirrup, than they dart away with the swiftness of the wind, and if their friend be dismounted in the rapid career they instantly stop till he has recovered his seat.

the noble steed of the desert pines and languishes in the crowded town. its head droops mournfully, it seems the very image of despondency and sloth. and as the animal, so its master. he also appears, not as the bold energetic nomad, but as a listless apathetic wanderer; and, were it not for the glowing eye which restlessly rolls and flashes under its thick brow, you might be inclined to prefer the servile fellah to the sullen child of the desert. but now the bedouin mounts his horse, and, as if touched by an electric spark, they both of them raise their heads and stretch their sinewy limbs. slowly they leave the dusty streets, and reach the confines of the desert. now at length both are at home; now rider and horse melt into one like the fabled centaurs of old; now, first, the real bedouin and the real arabian horse stand before you. like an arrow ‘shot by an archer strong’ the steed flies towards his master’s tent, his light hoof scarcely leaves a print on the sand; the white burnous of the rider flies about in the wind; with a firm hand he guides the noble animal, and in a few minutes both are lost to sight in the desert.

though the arabs justly boast of their horses, it is a common113 error to suppose them very abundant in that country. in the sacred writings and down to the time of mohammed, they are seldom mentioned, camels being mostly used both in their predatory and warlike excursions. the breed is limited to the fertile pasture grounds, and it is there that they thrive, while the bedouins who occupy arid districts rarely have any.

in the sands of arabia the camel is a sacred and precious gift. that strong and patient beast of burthen not only supplies the wandering arab with the greater part of his simple wants: it serves also to secure his immemorial independence by placing the desert between the enemy and himself. thus the bedouin has ever been indomitable, and while in other parts of the world we find that the fatal possession of an animal—the sable, the sea-otter—has entailed the curse of slavery upon whole nations, the dromedary in arabia appears as the instrument of lasting freedom. with temporary or local exceptions, the body of the nation has escaped the yoke of the most powerful monarchies; the arms of sesostris and cyrus, of pompey and trajan, could never achieve the conquest of arabia, and while the false glory of the scourges of mankind that have so often thrown the east into bondage has passed away like a fleeting shadow, one century after another bears testimony to the noble independence of the arab. the manly spirit of this energetic race renders them worthy of the freedom they enjoy under the protection of their arid wastes. many ages before mohammed, who, stimulating their valour by fanaticism, made them one of the great conquering nations of the earth, their intrepidity had been severely felt by their neighbours. ‘the patient and active virtues of a soldier,’ says gibbon, ‘are insensibly nursed in the habits and discipline of pastoral life. the care of the sheep and camels is abandoned to the women of the tribe, but the martial youth, under the banner of the emir, is ever on horseback and in the field, to practise the exercise of the bow, the javelin, and the scymetar. the long memory of their independence is the firmest pledge of its perpetuity, and succeeding generations are animated to prove their descent and to maintain their inheritance. when they advance to battle, the hope of victory is in the front; in the rear, the assurance of a retreat. their horses and camels, who in eight or ten days can perform114 a march of 500 miles, disappear before the conqueror; the secret waters of the desert elude his search, and his victorious troops are consumed with thirst, hunger, and fatigue, in the pursuit of an invisible foe, who scorns his efforts, and safely reposes in the heart of the burning solitude.

‘the slaves of a despotic rule may vainly boast of their national independence; but the arab is as free from a domestic as from a foreign yoke. in every tribe superstition or gratitude or traditional respect has exalted a particular family above the heads of their equals. the dignities of sheik and emir invariably descend in this chosen race; but the order of succession is loose and precarious, and the most worthy or aged of the noble kinsmen are preferred to the simple though important office of composing disputes by their advice and guiding valour by their example. if an emir abuses his power he is quickly punished by the desertion of his subjects. their independent spirit disdains a base submission to the will of a master, their steps are unconfined, the desert is open and the tribes and families are held together by a mutual and voluntary compact. accustomed to a life of danger and distress, the breast of the wandering arab is fortified with the austere virtues of courage, patience, and sobriety; the love of liberty prompts him to exercise the habits of self-command, and the fear of dishonour guards him from the meaner apprehension of pain, of danger, and of death. the self-respect which independence inspires shows itself in the dignity of his outward demeanour: his speech is slow, weighty, and concise; he is seldom provoked to laughter; his only gesture is that of stroking his beard, the venerable symbol of manhood.’

unfortunately the bedouin too often tarnishes his liberty by crime, and, accustomed to confound the ideas of stranger and enemy, endeavours to justify by casuistry the base pursuits of a robber. he pretends that in the division of the earth the rich and fertile climates were assigned to the other branches of the human family, and that the posterity of the outlaw ismael is entitled to recover by fraud or force the portion of inheritance of which he has been unjustly deprived. equally addicted to theft and merchandise, he ransoms or pillages the caravans that traverse his native desert, and armed against mankind, makes the inoffensive traveller the victim of his rapacious115 spirit. and yet by one of those strange contradictions, belonging to the mysterious nature of man, this same arab, the terror of the desert, embraces without enquiry or hesitation, the stranger who dares to confide in his honour and enter his tent. his treatment is kind and respectful, he shares the wealth or the poverty of his host, and, after a needful repose, he is dismissed on his way with thanks, with blessings, and perhaps with gifts.

now here, now there, the bedouin’s home is as wide as the desert, and as movable as its drifting sands. the mode of encamping differs according to circumstances. when the tents are but few, they are pitched in a circle; if the number is considerable they extend in a straight line, in rows three or four deep. the sheik’s is always on the side where danger is apprehended, or where travellers are expected;—it being his particular business to oppose the former and to honour the latter. every chief sticks his lance into the ground in front of his tent, to which he ties his horse or camel; the pack-saddles forming the couch on which he and his guests recline. when wandering in search of water or pasture, they move in parties, slowly over the sandy plain. the armed horsemen ride foremost, the flocks with their young follow, and behind come the beasts of burden, loaded with the women and children, tents, baggage and provisions.

among pastoral tribes the possession of a well, of a few date-palms, or of a piece of pasture ground, easily leads to quarrels, and, as rude nations generally prefer settling their disputes by the right of the stronger, to sanguinary feuds and wars. besides the causes of hostility arising from disputed property, the natural jealousy and fiery temperament of the arab have always proved a source of the most implacable enmity among themselves. they betray the quickest sensibility to any affront or injury, and instances might be multiplied where a contemptuous word, an indecent action, or even the most trifling violation of etiquette can only be expiated by the blood of the offender. if one sheik say to another, ‘thy bonnet is dirty,’ or ‘the wrong side of thy turban is out,’ it is considered a mortal offence. to spit on the beard of another, even accidentally, is an insult scarcely to be forgiven, and such is their patient inveteracy that they expect whole months and years the opportunity116 of revenge. a fine or compensation for murder is familiar to the barbarians of every age, but in arabia the kinsmen of the dead are at liberty to accept the atonement, or to exercise with their own hands the law of retaliation. if the offer is deemed unsatisfactory, the homicide and all his kin comprised within the law of vengeance, make their escape to some friendly tribe. a sacred custom allows the fugitives three days and four hours during which their enemies abstain from the pursuit; the exiles are permitted to return as soon as a reconciliation can be effected. the fine for a murdered man varies among the different tribes. among the beni-harb in hedjaz the price of blood is rated at 800 dollars, or rather that sum imperfectly expressed by live stock. all the blood relations of the slayer assist to make up the required amount, rating each animal at three or four times its proper value. on such occasions violent scenes arise from the conflict of the arab’s two darling passions, avarice and revenge. he longs to cut the foe’s throat, but on the other hand he is equally desirous to increase his own possessions. he has always a project of buying a new dromedary, or of investing capital in some promising colt. the consequence is that he is insatiable. still he receives blood money with a feeling of shame, as a man who has made some sacrifice of duty or fine feeling for the sake of filthy lucre. hence this mode of arrangement is not common among the more wealthy tribes, and most of the great sheiks would deem themselves dishonoured by compromising in any degree for the slaughter of their relations. the matter being finally settled, a she camel is brought to the tent of the adversary and there killed that blood may be expiated by blood. the parties now reconciled feed upon the flesh of the animal, and at parting the homicide flourishes a white handkerchief on his lance as a public notification that he is free from blood.

the simple unvaried life of the bedouin must often cause time to hang heavy on his hands. to relieve this weariness and want of novelty he has recourse to various amusements which serve to fill up his vacant hours. a rover or a warrior, his favourite sports are those that imitate war. throwing the jereed is a kind of rude tournament, which he frequently practises. this is a blunt spear, made of heavy wood, and about a yard long. the object of the game, in which the117 players evince the most astonishing dexterity, is for one party to pursue, and the other to fly, and try to elude being struck by the weapon. sometimes they amuse themselves with sham fights; and nothing can be more picturesque, than to see a group of these wild men huddled together in the greatest apparent confusion, with drawn swords and couched lances.

the more domestic pastimes are chess, draughts, dancing, singing, the reciting of poetry and story-telling, for which they have a singular passion. captain burton, who witnessed one of their war dances, describes it as wild in the extreme, resembling rather the hopping of bears than the inspirations of terpsichore. the dancers raised both arms high above their heads, brandishing a dagger or some other small weapon. they followed each other by hops on one or both feet; sometimes indulging in the most demented leaps, whilst the by-standers accompanied them with clapping of hands and various motions of the body. there is a species of song, common all over the desert, in which the youths of both sexes join in the chorus. it is called the mesamer, and is the only opportunity which the lover has of serenading his mistress; the verses are often composed extempore, and relate, of course, to the beauty and qualities of the beloved object, who is sometimes apostrophized in epithets that sound rather oddly to european ears: ‘o ghalia! if my father were a jackass, i would sell him to purchase ghalia.’

during their long marches through the desert, the bedouins likewise have recourse to singing, both to enliven their camels, for it is well known that that animal never moves with so much ease as when he hears his master sing, and to while away the tediousness of the road. monotonous and droning as it is, their song has yet an artless plaintiveness which admirably suits the singer and the scenery. if you listen to the words you will surely hear allusions to bright verdure, cool shades, bubbling rills, or something which the son of the desert hath not, and yet which his soul desires. a common entertainment among the bedouins, is the reciting of tales after the manner of the ‘arabian nights,’ those enchanting fictions which rival even ‘robinson crusoe’ in the affections of childhood. assembled after a tedious march round the blazing fire which cooks their simple meal of dhourra or sour camel’s milk and flour, and quaffing the soothing fumes of tobacco, they learn to forget118 their own hardships and fatigue in the captivating narrative of ideal adventures, and become for a time the happiest of men.

next to the practice of hospitality and expertness in the use of arms, the arabs value no accomplishments more highly than eloquence and poetry, and in these the roving hordes of the desert, living amidst the solitary grandeur of nature, excel their more civilized brethren. metrical orations are particularly esteemed, for it is an old arab saying that fine sentiments delivered in prose are like gems scattered at random; but when confined in verse they resemble strings of pearls.

in former times the poet ranked with the warrior among the noblest possessions a tribe could boast of, and assemblies of different kinds were held where rival bards and orators disputed the palm of victory. in loud and impassioned strains the contending poets addressed the multitude by turns, extolling the superior glory of their own tribe, recounting the names of their eminent warriors, and challenging their opponents to produce their equals. as from the fierce spirit of the bedouins, and the well-known influence of songs over the martial virtues of a barbarous people, these intellectual tournaments frequently ended in good earnest battles, they were expressly abolished by the koran; but the old spirit of poetry is still as alive as ever among the bedouins, who, though no longer equalling them, are passionately fond of their ancient bards. thus when burckhardt read portions of the famous romance of antar to a bedouin auditory they were in ecstasies of delight, but at the same time so enraged at his bad pronunciation, that they tore the book out of his hands.

to the advantages of a genius for poetry, and a lively fancy, the bedouins add the possession of a rich and harmonious language capable of expressing every shade of meaning and every variety in the aspects of nature. its copiousness10 may be inferred from the fact that it can boast of no less than eighty expressions for honey, two hundred for a serpent, five hundred for a lion, and, characteristic of a warlike race, above a thousand for a sword. fastidious critics have admitted the remarkable delicacy of the arabic tongue, and its energetic sublimity,119 equally adapted to the simple pathos of love and elegy, the piquancy of satire or the loftiest efforts of popular oratory.

in casting a retrospective view over the manners and habits of the bedouins we are struck with the strange contradictions they exhibit both in their social and moral character. the spirit of patriotism among them is strong and universal, yet they have no home but the pathless waste and wretched tent. they are a nation of brothers, yet live continually at war, jealous of their honour and yet stooping to the meanness of theft; fierce and sanguinary in their temper, and yet alive to the virtues of pity and gratitude; covetous and by no means of good faith in pecuniary transactions, yet true to their pledged word and charitable to the needy.

their religious character is marked by the same irreconcilable extremes. their fanaticism is coupled with a lax observance of the precepts and ceremonies of islam. in a pleasant indifference about the precepts of the koran, they remark that the religion of mohammed never could have been intended for them. ‘in the desert,’ say they, ‘we have no water; how, then, can we make the prescribed ablutions? we have no money, and how can we bestow alms? why should we fast in the rhamadan since the whole year with us is one continual abstinence; and if the world is the house of allah why should we go to meccah to adore him?’

the almost absolute independence of the arabs and of that noble race, the north american indians of a former generation, has produced many similarities between them. ‘both,’ says captain burton, ‘have the same wild chivalry, the same fiery sense of honour, and the same boundless hospitality; love elopements from tribe to tribe, the blood feud and the vendetta. both are grave and cautious in demeanour, and formal in manner—princes in rags or paint. the arabs plunder pilgrims, the indians backwood settlers; both glory in forays, raids, and cattle-lifting, and both rob according to certain rules. both are alternately brave to desperation and shy of danger. both are remarkable for nervous and powerful oratory, and for the use of figurative language. both, addicted to war and to the chase, despise all sedentary occupations. but the bedouin claims the superiority over the red indian by his treatment of women, his greater development of intellect, and the grand page of history which he has filled.’