516 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [1880- 



other times they are wandering parties of such powerful 

 tribes as the Harb and the Oteibe, whose depredations 

 are separated by a very indefinite line from the recognised 

 forms of Arabic warfare, and whose family connections 

 do not permit a weak Government to deal very severely 

 with them. Even the outlaws are treated with a certain 

 amount of consideration. It should not be difficult to 

 penetrate to their mountain lairs and arrest their wives 

 and children ; but, according to Arabic ways of thought, 

 this would be &quot; a great shame,&quot; an elastic expression 

 which comprises every form of impropriety, from a 

 trifling breach of etiquette to the most serious moral 

 turpitude. It is the law of Arabic warfare that the 

 women of the enemy must not be harmed, and this 

 privilege is extended to the robber bands, which are, 

 therefore, in some measure recognised as having the 

 status of belligerents. Before we returned, the roads 

 had become still more insecure, and people were all 

 travelling through the heat of the day rather than risk 

 the perils of the night. The patrols along the road were 

 increased, and by each station the horses were standing 

 ready saddled for pursuit. But by this time the thing 

 had developed into a regular Bedouin warfare. A Medina 

 caravan of 300 camels, under the protection of the Harb, 

 was attacked by the Oteibe, near Wady Fatima, and 

 several men were killed on either side. These disturbances, 

 it now appeared, were connected with the severe drought 

 in the uplands. Finding no pasture for their flocks in 

 their own district of the Nejd, the Oteibe had scattered 

 far and wide in quest of grass, and a party had descended 

 on the lands of the Harb, on which, as old friends, they 

 thought themselves entitled to graze in time of need. 

 The Harb objected, and the attack on the caravan 

 followed. At the present moment a number of Oteibe 

 are lying in prison in Jeddah, but I am told by Omar 

 Naseef that as they include influential chiefs, they will 

 not be severely punished. They will probably be held 



