374 HANDSOME MEN 



holes cut at the bottom of the to-be-inverted bag for arms 

 and head, and a slit in front, from the neck down, for 

 ease of putting on. Much may be added to the bag in 

 the way of embroidery and other ornament, but the pat- 

 tern remains. The Bedouin does not generally wear nether 

 bags like the African, though the Syrian of the towns is 

 wont to do so ; his upper bags are long and various, and 

 he wears as many as the season demands, or liis purse 

 affords. 



The Bedouin has the same line pliysique that the no- 

 mad Arab ever^^where boasts. It might be said, with 

 slight fear of exaggeration, that, on the whole — bar those 

 who are ground down by misery — the Arab is the hand- 

 somest man on earth. In mere beauty most critics would 

 be apt to put the Hindoo first ; but he lacks the alert man- 

 liness of the Arab. Like his horse, the latter partakes of 

 the thorough-bred character. The standing, walking, run- 

 ning, lounging Arab is graceful, erect, alert, pleasing ; and 

 his brown skin, when 3^ou know him, becomes singularly 

 attractive. Even when sitting cross-legged, he is as pictu- 

 resque in figure as in costume. But when squatting on 

 his hams, in the way all semi-chairless nations sit — as the 

 poor whites sit in our Southern States — he loses his 

 flavor ; and yet it must be a most convenient position. 

 One can take it anywhere, at any time, be apparently 

 quite at ease, and have but the feet touching the ground. 

 It is a distinct loss to our comfort that we are not taught 

 this habit, as well as to sit cross-legged, in our youth. It 

 does not prevent one's using benches and chairs ; it merely 

 adds an additional and ubiquitous means of taking rest. 

 The dignity of tlic cross-legged seat is generally acknowl- 

 edged ; one might dispute that of tlie squat. 



We ought not to take leave of the Orient proper without 

 a word about the i)alan(juin rider. In a land wliere there 



