i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 525 



though I fear that my lack of botanical knowledge will 

 make these indications somewhat hazy. 



The old Shereef Al Baz (the falcon) was one of the most 

 patriarchal figures I have seen in Arabia. He is of the 

 Abdely family that is, of the kin of Abd el Muntaleb, 

 the rival of Ibn Aun. He is not one of the greater 

 Shereefs, but having land at Wady Fatima, and possessing 

 a thorough knowledge of the Bedouins in the district, he 

 is much employed in local affairs by the Grand Shereef, 

 and is greatly respected in the neighbourhood. At the age 

 of sixty-five he is still hale and vigorous, with a clear 

 eye and erect figure. He was very plainly dressed in a 

 linen skull cap, and simple cotton tob, a little soiled ; 

 but his white beard, which was very carefully trimmed, 

 gave him an air of dignity, and his manner was that of 

 a gentleman of position, even while he was bustling about, 

 serving us with his own hands, and directing the whole 

 hospitalities in person like a modern Abraham. These 

 cares occupied him so much that I could not get nearly 

 so much talk from him as I should have wished, for he 

 knew the country better than any other man I met on 

 my journey, and was very willing to give information. 

 Arab etiquette demanded that he should kill a sheep for 

 us, and that we should stay to dine, so after a short 

 interval we were invited into the house to repose while 

 everything was got ready. The house was a plain 

 cottage of stone and clay, with a clay roof. Entering 

 from a little courtyard, through a doorway facing 

 eastward, we found ourselves in a sitting-room about 20 

 feet long by 12 broad. The walls were whitewashed, 

 the ceiling of mats, laid above beams of palm wood. The 

 floor, and the divan which ran along two sides of the room, 

 were well carpeted. The other appointments were very 

 simple. Two large trunks, secured by padlocks, occupied 

 the greater part of one end wall. In the walls were 

 several recesses with shelves, on which some pottery 

 was displayed. Above the divan hung a mirror, a small 



