i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 531 



the Lexicons. The latter is an ape, the former a monkey 

 with a tail. The story of the Adites, who were changed 

 to nasnas for disobeying the prophet Hud, and the tradi 

 tion of the destruction of the Wabar, whose seats were 

 occupied by Jinn, are therefore monkey tales of inverted 

 Darwinianism. Except in this monkey story, I could 

 find no trace of the superstitious rejection of the flesh 

 of any animal. But some kinds of flesh have a magical 

 virtue attached to them. A very curious practice is to 

 eat the flesh of the hyaena. A man who suffers in any 

 member of his body seeks a cure by eating the correspond 

 ing part of a hyaena. The hyaena is also eaten in the 

 neighbourhood of Suez, for a friend of mine who shot one 

 near the wells of Moses was requested by the Bedouins 

 to give them a leg. A similar virtue attaches to the flesh 

 of the gemsbok (Wudheyhy), a rare species of antelope 

 found far in the interior. When eaten, it draws an obstin 

 ate bullet from a wound. The man in our company who 

 knew most about wild animals and their supposed 

 qualities was Mohsin, who was acquainted with the regions 

 east of the Hejaz, and these, I imagine, would yield an 

 interesting field for the naturalist. Besides the gemsbok, 

 two other large antelopes are known there the leucoryx 

 or reem, which is undoubtedly the unicorn of Scripture, 

 and a red species called Idmy. 



January 30. We broke up at six, and moved up the 

 Wady, passing one empty well and a little patch of ground 

 which in better seasons had been cultivated. The morn 

 ing was delightfully fresh, with a strong cool breeze from 

 the Eastern mountains, which continued for two days. 

 This wind is the saba or zephyr of the Arabic poets. It 

 is extremely dry, parching the lips, and chapping the 

 skin of the face. The Arabs, therefore, never expose 

 themselves to it, but swathe the mouth and lower part 

 of the face by bringing round a corner of the head-shawl, 

 and catching up the end in the ogal or fillet. In cold and 

 windy weather the face of a Bedouin is almost as com- 



