400 



BE DO UI"NS. 



Bedouins, der those whom they rob, unless travellers, in their de- 

 fence, should chance to kill a Bedouin ; and then they 

 are eager enough to revenge his death, and will not be 

 satisfied without blood for blood. On many occasions, 

 the caravans which pass at stated intervals through 

 the territory of a scheik, pay a stipulated sum as a 

 ransom, or safeguard ; and an agreement of this kind 

 is always religiously kept by the Arabs. The differ- 

 ent tribes of Bedouins have frequent hostilities with 

 each other ; but their contest* are seldom protracted 

 or bloody. When the cause of offence is made known 

 to a tribe, they immediately mount their horses, and 

 seek the enemy ; when the'y meet, they enter into a 

 parley, and the dispute is frequently compromised ; if 

 not, they attack either in small bodies, or mail to 

 man. They encounter each other at full speed with 

 fixed lances, which they sometimes dart, notwithstand- 

 ing their length, at the flying enemy. The victory 

 is generally decided at the first shock, and the van- 

 quished fly off at full gallop, over the naked plains of 

 the desert. The tribe which has been defeated strikes 

 his tents, removes by forced marches to a distance, 

 and seeks an asylum among its allies. Dissensions, 

 however, are sometimes perpetuated by the slaughter 

 that is made on these occasions ; it being an esta- 

 blished principle among the Bedouins, that the blood 

 of every man who is slain must he avenged by that of 

 his murderer. This vengeance is called tar, or reta- 

 liation ; and the right of exacting it devolves on the 

 nearest of kin to the deceased. If any one neglects 

 to seek his retaliation, he is for ever disgraced ; he 

 therefore watches every opportunity of revenge ; and 

 if his enemy perishes in any other way, he seeks sa- 

 tisfaction by inflicting vengeance on the nearest rela- 

 tion. These animosities are transmitted from father 

 to children, and never cease but by the extinction of 

 ne of the families, unless they agree to sacrifice the 

 criminal, or purchase the blood, at a stated price, in 

 money or flocks. 



The authority of the scheik, or chieftain of a tribe, 

 is undefined, and therefore, in some measure, arbitrary; 

 the people, however, are consulted in all affairs of 

 moment, and every thing is decided upon by the voice 

 of the majority. The dignity of scheik is hereditary, 

 but not confined to the order of primogeniture ; the 

 petty scheiks, who form the hereditary nobility, chuse 

 the grand scheik out of the reigning family, without 

 considering his immediate relationship to his prede- 

 cessors. Little or no revenue is paid to the grand 

 Scheik ; in fact, his dignity subjects him to a very 

 great expense ; for he defrays the charges of all who 

 arrive at or leave the camp. Adjoining to his tent is 

 a large pavilion for the reception of all strangers and 

 passengers ; and in which are held the assemblies of 

 the principal men to determine upon all important af- 

 fairs. Here he entertains his guests with coffee, bread 

 baked on the ashes, rice, and sometimes roasted kid or 

 camel ; the females of his family performing with their 

 own hands the office of preparing the repast. On his 



fenerosity and hospitality, depend, in a great measure, 

 is credit and his power ; for hospitality is a virtue in 

 the highest degree prized by the necessitous Bedouin. 

 So rapacious without his camp, he no sooner arrives 

 there, than he becomes liberal and generous. The little 

 ke possesses, he is ever ready to divide. When he takes 



his repasts, he seats himself at the door of his tent, in Bedouifls. 

 order to invite passengers ; a generosity which he 

 does not consider as a merit, but merely as a duty ; 

 and he, therefore, readily takes the same liberty with 

 others. The rights of hospitality with the Bedouin, 

 include also the rights of asylum, and of friendship. 

 If the Bedouin has consented to eat bread and salt 

 with his guest, nothing in the world can induce him 

 to betray him. Nay, should a stranger, or even an 

 enemy, but touch the tent of a Bedouin, from that in- 

 stant his person becomes inviolable. It would be reckon- 

 ed a disgraceful meanness, an indelible shame, to satis- 

 fy even a just vengeance at the expense of hospitality. 



In this sacred regard to the rights of hospitality, 

 and in various other particulars, the character of the 

 Bedouin nearly resembles that of the savages of 

 North America. The Bedouin, however, has no- 

 thing of the ferocity of the native American ; for 

 though frequently experiencing the extremity of 

 hunger, the practice of devouring human flesh is ut- 

 terly repugnant to his nature ; and he neither tor- 

 tures, nor puts to death the captives that fall into his 

 power. The occupations of the Bedouin, who is by 

 necessity a shepherd, as he dwells in regions where 

 there is no employment for the hunter or fisherman, 

 tend to foster in him this superior degree of humani- 

 ty ; while those of the American, who busies himself 

 entirely in the pursuit and destruction of game, en- 

 courage rather an unfeeling and sanguinary disposi- 

 tion of mind. 



In many particulars there is a singular resemblance 

 between the character and manners of the Bedouins, 

 and those of the Scottish Highlanders, at the period 

 when the feudal authority of their chieftains existed in 

 full vigour ; and the clans chiefly occupied themselves 

 in a predatory warfare upon one another, or upon the 

 more peaceful inhabitants of the low country. We 

 happen to have access to some interesting reports re- 

 specting the state of the Highlands, made in the 

 years 1724-, 1725, and 1727, by the celebrated Gene- 

 ral Wade, which we believe have never yet been pub- 

 lished, although they contain much curious observa- 

 tion. It will, doubtless, gratify our readers to be fur- 

 nished with an extract from these reports, by which 

 they may estimate the justness of the parallel which 

 we have drawn between the character of the wild 

 Highlander and that of the wild Arab. 



" The Highlanders," says General Wade, " are 

 divided into tribes or clans, under lairds or chieftains, 

 (as they are called in the laws of Scotland ;) each 

 tribe or clan is subdivided into little branches sprung 

 from the main stock, who have also chieftains over 

 them ; and from these are still smaller brandies of 

 fifty or sixty men, who deduce their original from 

 them, and on whom they rely as their protectors and 

 defenders. The arms they make use of in war are, a 

 musket, a broad sword and target, a pistol, and a 

 durk or dagger hanging by their side, with a powder- 

 horn, and pouch for their ammunition. They form 

 themselves into bodies of unequal numbers, according 

 to the strength of their clan or tribe, which is com- 

 manded by their respective superior or chieftain. 

 When in sight of the enemy, they endeavour to pos- 

 sess themselves of the highest ground, believing they 

 descend on them with greater force. They general- 



