Page:On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt.djvu/89

Rh condition, the only way, said the sheikh, is to make her husband's life so uncomfortable that he shall of his own motion give her a divorce and send her away.

"Then," said Dr. Post, "if the wife does not like her husband, and wants to get rid of him, she must torment his life out of him and make him so miserable that he will be glad to let her go." This hit the nail so squarely on the head that the old sheikh's eyes fairly snapped, and he chuckled as he answered "Yes, yes, that's it exactly — that's the way to do it." We thought we had heard of such things elsewhere than among the Bedaween — of many a young bride sacrificed for position or for money; for whom there was no help, except as she "tormented her husband's life out of him," till at last divorce or death brought her release.

To do the Arabs justice, it should be added that when the husband has put his wife away, he cannot claim her again. She may go to her family, or she may seek another protector in the tribe. If he accepts her and defends her, then the husband must give her a divorce.

I was curious to know about the form of Government, of which the sheikh could speak by authority. It is patriarchal, just as it has been from the earliest times, and passes from sire to son through many generations. Our friend who was sitting before us could trace his line for hundreds of years. His power had come down from former generations, and from him would pass to his descendants after him.

But how about the administration of justice in a country where there is no law, at least no written code, no lawyers or gentlemen of the jury, and even no prison or place of execution? Yet there must be some kind of rude justice, or society could not exist. The sheikh explained that in offences against property, one who steals from another