Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/268

Rh 248 all, are not uncommon. ARABIA [ARAB HACK Some clans even omit the rite of J! oral 3. circumcision altogether; others, like the tribe of Hodeyl, south of Mecca, perform it after a fashion peculiar to them selves. NOT are the social and moral injunctions of Islam better observed. Marriages are contracted without any le&quot;-al intervention or guarantee; the consent of the parties, and the oral testimony of a couple of witnesses, should such be at hand, are all that are required; and divorce is equally facile. Nor is mutual constancy much expected or observed either by men or women; and the husband is rarely strict in exacting from the wife a fidelity that he himself has no idea of observing. Jealousy may indeed occasionally bring about tragic results, but this rarely occurs except where publicity, to which the Bedouins, like all other Arabs, are very sensitive, is involved. A maiden s honour is, on the other hand, severely guarded; and even too openly avowed a courtship, though with the most honourable intentions, is ill looked on. But marriage, if indeed so slight and temporary a connection as it is among Bedouins deserves the name, is often merely a passport for mutual licence. In other respects, Bedouin morality, like that of most half -savage races, depends on custom and public feeling rather than on any fixed code or trained conscience, and hence admits of the strangest contradic tions. Not only are lying and exaggeration no reproach in ordinary discourse, but even deliberate perjury and violation of the most solemn engagements are frequent occurrences. Not less frequent, however, are instances of prolonged fidelity and observance of promise carried to the limits of romance. &quot; The wind,&quot; &quot; the wood,&quot; and &quot; the honour of the Arabs,&quot; are the most ordinary oaths in serious matters ; but even these do not give absolute security, while a simple verbal engagement will at other times prove an inviolable guarantee. Thus, too, the extreme abstemi ousness of a Bedouin alternates with excessive gorgings; and, while the name and deeds of &quot;robber&quot; are hardly a reproach, those of &quot; thief&quot; are marked by abhorrence and contempt. Patience, or rather endurance, both physical and moral, few Bedouins are deficient in ; wariness is another quality universally developed by their mode of life. And in spite of an excessive coarseness of language, and often of action, gross vice, at least of the more debasing sorts that dishonour the East, is rare among them. Of their hospitality, as also of many other points common between them and the town Arabs, we shall speak further on. Personal In person most Bedouins, men or women, are rather appearance, undersized, the result probably of hardships endured through uncounted generations ; their complexion, especially in the south, is dark; their hair coarse, copious, and black; their eyes dark and oval; the nose is commonly aquiline, and the features well formed ; beard and moustache are apt to be somewhat scanty. The men are active, but not strong; the women, rarely otherwise than plain. I&amp;gt;ress. Their dress is simple enough; that of the men consist ing in a long cotton shirt, open at the breast, and often girt with a leathern girdle; a black or striped cloak of hair is sometimes thrown over the shoulders; a handkerchief, folded but once, and generally black, more seldom striped yellow and red, covers the head, round which it is kept in its place by a piece of twine or a twisted hairband. To this costume a pair of open sandals is sometimes added. No other article of dress is worn, neither trousers nor turban ; but under the shirt, round the naked waist, a thin strip of leather plait is wound several times, not for any special object, but merely out of custom. In his hand a Bedouin almost always carries a slight crooked wand, commonly of almond-wood; with this he guides his camel when on the road, and amuses himself by playing with it at other times. Among the Bedouins of the south a wrapper takes the place of the handkerchief on the head, and a loin-cloth that of the shirt. A woman s attire is hardly more complicated; wide loose Women s drawers, though these are sometimes dispensed with; next dress. a long shirt, and over it a wide piece of dark blue cloth nveloping the whole figure, the head included, and trail ing on the ground behind. Very rarely does a Bedouin woman wear a veil, or even cover her face with her over- Joak, contenting herself with narrowing the folds of the latter over her head on the approach of a stranger. Her wrists and ankles are generally adorned with bracelets and rings of blue glass or copper or iron, very rarely of silver; her neck with glass beads; earrings are rare, and nose rings rarer. A few comparatively rich women indulge in more elegant ornaments and fuller dress. Boys, till near puberty, usually go stark naked; girls up to six or seven. On a journey a Bedouin invariably bears with him a Weapons, light sharp-pointed lance, the stem of which is made of Persian or African cane ; the manner in which this is carried or trailed often indicates the tribe of the owner. The lance is the favourite and characteristic weapon of the Arab nomade, and the one in the use of which he shows the greatest skill, throwing it, at need, to a considerable distance with unerring aim. Frequently, too, he girds on, or rather suspends from a kind of shoulder-belt, a sword, straight or crooked as may be ; the blade is often of little value, rusty, and not over sharp; the scabbard of wood. The weapon which comes third in frequency is a gun; this is still in almost every instance a matchlock, clumsy and foul, taking from five to ten minutes to load and fire, when, indeed, it can be fired at all, which is not always the case. Yet with such wretched implements at his disposal, a Bedouin is seldom other than a good marks man. Flint-guns may here and there be met with now-a- days; but percussion or breech-loaders never. Nor are pistols any part of a Bedouin s war equipment. But whether in peace or war, he is seldom without a knife : this in the north is only a large clumsy clasp or sheath knife; but in Yemen, Oman, and the intervening regions it develops into a broad and crooked dagger, a truly formidable weapon, on the ornamentation of which the Bedouin of the south bestows what skill or wealth he may happen to possess. For defensive armour a Bedouin on a foray, or preparing Armour. for a serious engagement, sometimes puts on a coat of mail, the manufacture of Yemen or Baghdad; its links are thin, but closely plaited, and often are two or even three deep. To this he adds a helmet, a mere iron head-piece, without visor or crest. Pennons and banners are rarely used by the nomades, whose chief tactics consist in surprise, as their main object is plunder, both of which require, not display, but secrecy. For though the Bedouins are undoubtedly brave and reckless enough of life, their own as well as that of others, where a cause requires it, they have the good sense never to venture blood unnecessarily or on insufficient grounds. Indeed on all points and in all their dealings, shrewd, calm, good sense, joined with a humorous and sarcastic turn of mind, may be said to be the base of their character; their passions, strong and lasting, are kept in habitual control; and in these regards, as in a lively and poetical imagination, and a wonderful power of untaught eloquence, they resemble their more settled countrymen of the towns and villages. In their principal faults, too instability, restlessness, envy, rancour, untruth- fulness, and sensuality they resemble them also. Much has been said and written of the independence of Indepeml the Bedouins, and of their having never submitted them- ence. selves to a foreign yoke; and prophecy has been called in to explain a fact which a little reflection would have shown to imply nothing marvellous or exceptional what-