i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 577 



long four-sided point at the other end. The Oteibe use 

 a broad-bladed lance, with which they can cut as well as 

 thrust. A similar weapon used in Yemen is the shilfe. 

 Other tribes use a pike (harb), with four-sided head. 

 In the Nejd the cavalry are armed with a huge spear, 

 tufted with ostrich feathers (qana), and this is the spear 

 borne by the Shereefs of Mecca when they ride out in 

 solemn religious procession. The Qoreish warrior adorns 

 his lance with a little tassel of silk called kuthle. Another 

 tassel of beaded work hangs on his breast. His fillet is 

 a leathern hoop, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. His gar 

 ments are dyed with native wood, salm or bashdm, and 

 are either a tawny yellow or a dark reddish brown. The 

 features are very dark, but sharply cut, and with a keen 

 aquiline aspect quite unlike the mixed bloods near the 

 coast. The women are veiled with the burko . Their 

 blue tunics, shawls, and drawers are coloured with foreign 

 dye. They are belted like the men, and their favourite 

 ornament is a golden plate hanging down on the breast. 

 The most extraordinary custom of the Qoreish and Hod- 

 heil in the mountains is their form of circumcision, a 

 fearful ordeal through which every lad must pass before 

 he can be married. It is performed in the presence of 

 the whole neighbourhood and of the bride, who would 

 reject her bridegroom if he uttered a single cry. The same 

 rite prevails among the Aseer, a singular circumstance, 

 since in other matters the Aseer are very unlike the 

 tribes of Hejaz. The most notable contrast is in the 

 place of the women, on which I shall make a few remarks, 

 though I ought to premise that this is a topic on which 

 it is not easy to get trustworthy information, as customs 

 that appear irregular or contrary to the Koran are not 

 willingly reported. 



Arabia generally passes for a typical example of the 

 patriarchal system of society. The Arabs themselves 

 have accommodated their genealogies and early history 

 to this theory ; and it is expressed in the laws of 



37 



