402 



BEDOUIN 8. 



Bedouins. 6 kins. Their heauth consists of a hole in the ground, 

 \/~~- J laid with stones, and covered with an iron phUC, on 

 which they bake their bread, made into small cakes. 

 In their excursions thev Carry with them a supply 

 of mod ; and their other provisions u .nilk, 



cheese, and honey. Their whole commerce extends 

 only to the exchanging of camels, kids, stallions, and 

 milk, for aim-;, clothing, a little rice or cotton, and 

 pome money, which they burr. They are totally 

 ignorant of science, and nothing is more uncommon 

 among them than to know how to read. Their only 

 literature consists in singing love-songs, or in reciting 

 tales and histories, in the manner of the Arabian 

 .\i/,/.i Entertainments. For such stories they have 

 a peculiar passion ; and in the evening they seat 

 themselves on the ground, at the door of their tents, 

 or under cover, if it be cold ; and there, ranged in a 

 circle, round a small fire of dung, with their legs 

 crossed, and their pipes in their mouths, after indul- 

 ging for some time in silent meditation, they amuse 

 themselves with the recital of tales of this kind. 

 They profess the religion of Mahomet, but are far 

 from being strict in the observance of its ceremo- 

 nies, or fervid in their professions of devotion. They 

 excuse themselves for this laxity, by demanding, 

 " How shall we make ablutions, who have no water I 

 How can we bestow alms, who are not rich ? Why 

 should we fast in the Ramadan, since the whole year 

 with us is one continued fast ? And what necessity 

 is there for us to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, if 

 God be present every where?" 



We shall conclude this account of the Bedouins, 

 with extracting from the Travels of Sonini in Egypt, 

 a very lively and interesting detail of a rencounter 

 which that traveller had in the desert with a troop of 

 these marauders, in consequence of which he had an 

 opportunity of seeing the peculiarities of their cha- 

 racter in a very striking light. He was on his way 

 from Alexandria to Cairo, under the guidance and 

 safeguard of Hussein, who was scheik of a tribe of 

 half civilized Bedouins stationed not far from Alex- 

 andria, and had entered the desert which skirts the 

 famous lakes of natron. " I staid some days," says 

 our traveller, " near the lakes, the borders of which 

 I traversed ; at length we resumed our journey, con- 

 tinuing our course to the south-west. The sand over 

 which we travelled was completely covered with har- 

 dened natron, which rendered our progress toilsome 

 and fatiguing, both to us and our beasts. We arri- 

 ved within a short distance of a large square edifice, 

 in which a few Coptic monks live shut up from the 

 world. I do not think that there is upon earth a 

 more horrible or repulsive situation than this sort of 

 convent. Built in the midst of the desert, its walls, 

 though very lofty, are not distinguishable at any con- 

 siderable distance from the sand, of which they have 

 the reddish tinge, and bare aspect. There is no ap- 

 parent entrance ; no tree, no plant of any height, is 

 seen around it ; no path leads to it ; no trace of hu- 

 man footstep is observable in its vicinity ; and, if a 

 few be imprinted, they are soon covered by the sand, 

 or obliterated by the tread of wild and ferocious 

 beasts, the proper inhabitants of these frightful soli- 

 tudes. 



" We were about 500 or 600 paces from this dun- 



geon. Hussein had advanced before us, to obtain our Bedouins. 

 admission into the convent, which is to be procured r' 



with difficulty. 1 was some way from him, and the 

 rest of our company was at a considerable distance. 

 A troop of Bedouins, on horseback, suddenly issued 

 from behind the walls. At first I did not distinguish 

 them, amid the clouds of dust they raised ; but, a3 

 60on as they were discernible, I perceived both their 

 number, and what they were. Instantly I turned 

 about my horse's head, and, being mounted on an 

 excellent courser, which carried me with too much 

 speed for them to overtake me, soon joined my com- 

 panions, who had likewise perceived the troop from 

 the backs of their camels. I found them on foot, 

 drawn up in a close body ; leaped off my horse ; and 

 exhorted them to defend themselves with vigour. 

 We were six in all, but on three of the number little 

 dependence was to be placed. From two of the na- 

 tives of the country we could not expect much ; and 

 the draughtsman, young and inexperienced, scarcely 

 knew how to fire a gun. 



" The firmness of a handful of men, alone in the 

 midst of a sandy plain, and exposed on all sides, 

 checked a squadron of Bedouins amounting to near 

 a hundred. Though they came towards us at full 

 gallop, they stopped suddenly about a hundred paces 

 off, and cried out to us not to fire. I answered with 

 telling them not to advance. For some moments 

 they remained in a sort of hesitation, during which 

 we observed them consulting together ; at length 

 they separated into four bands, three of which set 

 off at full gallop, and stationed themselves on our 

 flanks and in our rear. This manoeuvre, which it 

 was impossible for us to prevent, disconcerted my 

 two soldiers ; and all that I could urge was incapable 

 of prevailing on them to resolve to stand on their de- 

 fence. We had good fusils, and a considerable quan- 

 tity of cartridges. I knew that the Bedouins would 

 take flight, as soon as they saw a few of their party 

 drop ; and I was certain, that our first fire must 

 bring down several. It is true, I did not consider 

 that we were in the midst of a vast solitude, and 

 that, if our enemies had fled, it would only have been: 

 to return again speedily by thousands, overpower us 

 by their numbers, and massacre us all, in revenge for 

 the death of their comrades. I flung down my fusil 

 with vexation at being forced to yield to such rob- 

 bers. 



" They were soon upon us, and, without taking 

 time to alight, pillaged us in the twinkling of an eye. 

 Money, arms, effects, garments, provisions, were all 

 taken. They left me my long under vest and my 

 breeches ; my companions were stripped of every 

 thing but their shirts. My turban had been taken ; 

 my head, shaved and bare, was scorched by the fer- 

 vency of the sun, and ached intolerably. 1 covered 

 it as well as I could with both my hands, but this 

 would not alleviate the pain. The spoil was spread 

 out upon the- sand ; a score of Arabs on foot, whom 

 we had not perceived, as they had concealed them- 

 selves behind a heap of stones, joined the others ; and 

 they all fell to dividing the plunder, not without ob- 

 streperous disputes. 



" Our different situations would have formed a 

 striking subject for a picture, under the hand of an 



