i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 579 



over, as one passes eastward from the Hejaz into the 

 Nejd, one again finds a less strict law of female seclusion. 

 The burko was worn by the Oteibe women whom I have 

 seen ; but I believe that in many parts of this confedera 

 tion only the lower part of the face is slightly disguised 

 by bringing round a corner of the head shawl, in the 

 style very common even with men. The Oteibe women 

 ride camels like the men ; nay, even more than they. 

 In the Nejd, according to the account of Mohsin, the 

 man of the tribe who brings home a horse seized on a 

 foray brings it to the Sheikh s daughter and receives a 

 kiss. All these traits, slight as they may seem, appear 

 singular to the men of the Hejaz, and indicate a certain 

 difference in the position of women ; and they suggest 

 the question whether the social system of Islam is not 

 really the social system of the Hejaz, whether in his 

 social legislation Mohammed did not impress on all 

 Arabia a family system which properly belonged to the 

 central commercial cities of the country and the tribes 

 in their immediate vicinity. If this is so, there is another 

 reason why the Arabs were so reluctant to accept Islam 

 till they found their profit in following its victorious 

 arms. Another question arises in connection with the 

 seclusion of women. May it not be the case that the 

 origin of this seclusion lay in immediate contact with 

 polyandrous traditions and polyandrous neighbours, 

 producing a necessary reaction against the licence of 

 that system ? I ought to add that one of the tribes 

 named to me as allowing the women to appear with 

 uncovered faces is the Beni Malik. According to 

 Sprenger, the Qoreish are really a branch of this tribe, 

 which makes the divergence of their usage as to the 

 veiling of women somewhat singular. The Beni Malik 

 are now found settled in a cultivated land on the road 

 inland from Taif passing Leeya, Bissl, the salt mines 

 of Marran (ten hours from Taif), Nasera, and the Beni 

 Sad. They were once much more widely spread, and 



