of a guest. A defenceless traveller is waylaid, seized, and stripped; but his life is not taken, unless he resists or sheds the blood of a Bedoin. Instead of saying, I robbed a man of this or that article, they say, "I gained it." They even pretend to a sort of kindred relationship with the victim they plunder. "Undress thyself," says the Bedoin to the wayfaring stranger, "thy aunt (meaning his wife or mother) is without a garment." If they are reproved for their depredations, "you forget that I am an Arab," is the reply. This, too, is spoken with an air and gesture which show how little the impudent robber is affected by the opprobrium.*

If a Bedoin owes another, and refuses to pay, the creditor takes two or three men as witnesses of the refusal. He then seizes or steals, if he can, a camel or something else belonging to the debtor, and deposits it with a third person. This brings the case to trial before the judge; and the debtor forfeits the article seized. In their quarrels they avoid beating each other with the fist or with a stick. This they regard as disreputable, it being the mode of punishing slaves and children, and a great indignity to a man. If it takes place, the sufferer is entitled to very high damages. Their code of honor allows blows only to be given with a sword or a gun; and by these the sufferer feels himself far less aggrieved. In a quarrel of this kind, where swords have been used, if the case be brought to trial, a fine is imposed upon the party least wounded, large enough to counterbalance the injury received by the other party. Whatever the provocation for the quarrel may have

* Crichton.

been, is of no account in the trial. It is always taken for granted that nothing can justify such a quarrel.*

The Arab code regulates the revenge for blood, by the nicest distinctions. He who sheds blood, owes, on that account, blood to the family of the slain person. This debt may not only be claimed of the actual murderer, but from all his relations. In case of a slain parent, his lineal descendants, to the fifth generation, inherit the duty of avenging his death. If one death is simply avenged by another, the account is considered settled. But if two of the assassin's family be killed by the relatives of the deceased, the former are bound to retaliate. Though murder may be expiated by a fine imposed, it remains with the near relatives of the slain person, to accept or reject the penalty. If the offer is deemed satisfactory, the homicide and all his kin included in the law of vengeance, make their escape to some friendly tribe. A sacred custom allows the fugitives three days and four hours to accomplish this, during which time their enemies abstain from pursuit. But they may return again, if they choose, as soon as a reconciliation can be effected.

As the Bedoins are divided up into petty tribes, liable to frequent hostilities with each other, debts of blood are frequently incurred. When a slaughter occurs, accompanied with treachery or contrary to the law of nations, a debt of blood is always the consequence. When a tribe kills their enemies while they lay wounded on the field, the adversary retaliates by killing double the number with the same

* Robinson.

circumstances of cruelty. However revolting this policy may appear, an Arab would be censured were he not to follow the general practice.

We

The amusements of the Bedoins are few. They have few games, and these are mostly of the athletic kind. They have songs and dances; but the former are very harsh and unmusical, and the latter destitute of both dexterity and gracefulness. There is a species of song said to be common all over the desert, in which the youth of both sexes take part. This is accompanied by clapping of hands and various motions of the body. It is called the mesamer. had a specimen of this kind of singing in Tueileb's encampment, described in another chapter. The verses are often composed extempore, and may relate to any circumstance which may have called for the singing. They have also war-songs and wardances. One of these I shall describe in its proper place, as I saw it in the Holy Land. They have also chants to enliven their camels. These are loud, harsh, and to me very unmusical. They think at least their camels never move with so much ease as when they hear their masters sing. The most common entertainment among the Bedoins is, the reciting of stories or tales, after the manner of the Arabian Nights.

All the Bedoins, throughout Arabia, are entirely ignorant of letters. I saw but one Bedoin sheik who could read and write, and he lived near Bethlehem, in the Holy Land. He was one who accompanied us to the Dead Sea and the Jordan. Efforts have been made to introduce science among them; but still these warlike tribes remain a most illiterate race. Illiterate as they are, it may well be sup

posed that they are extremely superstitious. Astrology is cultivated among them, and held in high repute. They never conclude a weighty bargain, or enter upon an important undertaking, without first consulting the stars. Of the mechanical arts they are extremely ignorant. They know little else than tanning leather and weaving coarse fabrics. They have a few blacksmiths and saddlers; but all handicraft occupations are considered degrading.

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Although the Bedoins are professedly Mohammedans, the precepts of the Koran sit very loosely on them, and its ceremonies are but little practised by them. If Mohammedans pray at all, they are sure to pray to be seen of men. While at Akabah, I saw some of the Bedoins around that place occasionally engaged in their devotions; but I did not see one of the Arabs who accompanied us pray. Some of the Bedoins think the religion of Mohamet could never have been intended for them. "In the desert we have no water," say they; "how, then, could we make the prescribed ablutions? We have no money; and why should we bestow alms? Why should we fast in the Ramadan, since the whole year is one continual abstinence? And if God be present every where, why should we go to Mecca to adore him?" Finally, the whole of their social and moral economy strikingly illustrate prophetic truth: "Ishmael shall be a wild man, whose hand is against every man, and every man's hand against him." Enemies alike to industry and the arts, they dwell without bolts or bars, the free, wandering denizens of the desert. Opposed to the luxuries and refinement of civilized life, these rude barbarians present the phenomenon

of a people living in a state of nature, unsubdued and unchanged; and yet, in their acknowledgment of the true God, still preserving evidence of their lineage as the children of Abraham.

CHAPTER XII.

Arrival of Sheik Hassein and Company-Plain Dealing with a Governor -Land of Idumea-Prophecy concerning Idumea-Dreary SceneryMount Seir-Desert of Zin-Kadesh-A Waren-A Chase, but no Battle-Nights in Arabia-An Eclipse-Arab Notions-Ascent of Mount Hor-Aaron's Tomb-View from the Top of Mount Hor-Arrival at Waddy Mousa-Lodgings in a Tomb.

On the morning of the 24th, Sheik Hassein and his men came to our tent, prepared to convey us on our journey. They had encamped over night but a short distance from us. In all, they were twenty-five in number, and had twenty-seven camels and two horses. Hassein was a small, thin, wiry-looking man, of dark visage, aquiline nose, with a most restless and roguish pair of eyes. His countenance, upon the whole, was rather handsome for an Arab; and his age I should judge to be about fifty-five. He had on a striped silk dress, a well-arranged turban, red leggins, and yellow boots. A sword hung by his side, and a brace of Turkish pistols were adjusted in his belt. His countenance was grave, and his first look at us seemed inquisitive and searching. He had with him his son Mahomet, his brother Selim, and Sheik Magabel, the latter of the Waddy Mousa tribe. Mahomet was a fine, sprightly-looking lad, of about fifteen, of fairer complexion and more open