78 THE DESERT NOMADS. 



against the disparagement of the Jewish maidens, those 

 swarthy lineaments on which the sun had set its seal, 

 and exclaiming: 



" I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as 

 the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not 

 upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked 

 upon me." * 



In all ages the east has been the region of romance, 

 and to this day the figurative language of the Arabs 

 gives expression to their ideas in the exact style of 

 the Old Testament, f There can be no doubt that 

 both this oriental cast of thought, and the primitive 

 habits of these nomadic tribes are entirely due to the 

 peculiar climatic influences which we have been dis- 

 cussing ; for as Sir Samuel Baker has clearly pointed 

 out 



"The Arabs are creatures of necessity, their nomadic life 

 is compulsory, as the existence of their flocks and herds 

 depends upon the pasturage. Thus with the seasons they 

 must change their localities precisely as the wild beasts of 

 the country are driven from place to place, either by the 

 arrival of the fly (the seroot), the lack of pasturage, or 

 by the want of water; even so must the flocks of the Arab 

 obey the law of necessity in a country where the burning 

 sun and total absence of rain, for nine months of the year, 

 convert the green pastures into a sandy desert. In the absence 

 of a fixed home, without even a village that is permanent, 

 there can be no change of custom. His wants must be few, 

 as the constant changes of encampment necessitate the trans- 

 port of all his household goods." 



It is in fact, as Lord Wolseley has expressed it, in 



* The Song of Solomon, Ch. i. Verses 5 and 6. 



f Sir Samuel Baker, The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia, 1867, p. 129. 



Ibid., pp. 128 9. 



