Page:The journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London. Volume 34, 1864. (IA s572id13663720).pdf/345

Rh dangerous predicament; in the other Wahhabee provinces a little more toleration can be had, at least in the case of a stranger like myself, for the persecuted Nicotian plant.

The inhabitants of Nejed in general, but more especially those of the upper highland provinces, or Nejed-el-’Aala, are a remarkably fine and intelligent race of men, of a tolerably fair complexion, though with dark eyes and hair, sinewy limbs, full stature (the average from 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10, or even upwards), their features are oval and regular, their deportment stately. Corpulence is rare among them; the old tyrant Feysul is perhaps stouter than any of his subjects, but this may be considered in keeping with his position. Their endurance of fatigue, their patient courage, their daring in war, the prudent reserve of their conversation, are well known, proverbial indeed throughout the East; and to these qualities in fact they mainly owe the authority which they exercise, too often in an arbitrary fashion, over their neighbours. Their generosity and hospitality have been often much celebrated, and deservedly so. Nor is it an exaggeration to say that in no part of the world, of Asia at least, does a stranger meet with a kinder, a more liberal, or even a politer reception than in Upper Nejed.

But these good qualities are counterbalanced by a great recklessness of bloodshed in war, by treachery in peace, by envy and hatred prevalent among them to an almost incredible degree at all times, and finally at the present day by a fanaticism exceeding that of the cotemporaries of Mahomet himself. Immorality, in the common acceptation of the term, is no characteristic of the Arab race; and the odious vices which disgrace their Persian neighbours are little known among them, or, if detected, are severely punished. Under the Wahhabite system morals seem, however, to have generally grown laxer than formerly; and fanatical bigotry tends to usurp the place of responsible feeling.

Dress is very uniform throughout Nejed. The cotton handkerchief, now black, now white, now in red and yellow stripes, or Kafeeyah, on the head supplies the place of the turban, here in ill repute; two long white shirts, of cotton or home-spun wool, often embroidered here and there with red and blue, and of which one at least is furnished with a breast-pocket destined for a small Coran, and lastly a long and very slender plaited leather girdle, going round the body five or six times, sometimes more, and worn not over but under the shirts, next to the skin, complete the ordinary and in-doors attire. On going out of doors, the Nejdean, if he be in tolerable circumstances, will put on a third and somewhat cleaner shirt over those worn at home, and throw over his shoulders a black cloak of woven wool or of camel’s hair (in this latter case the colour is reddish brown) embroidered with red about the neck