118 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



their own hardships and fatigue in the captivating narrative of 

 ideal adventures, and become for a time the happiest of men. 



Next to the practice of hospitality and expertness in the use 

 of arms, the Arabs value no accomplishments more highly than 

 eloquence and poetry, and in these the roving hordes of the 

 desert, living amidst the solitary grandeur of nature, excel 

 their more civilized brethren. Metrical orations are particu- 

 larly esteemed, for it is an old Arab saying that fine sentiments 

 delivered in prose are like gems scattered at random ; but when 

 confined in verse they resemble strings of pearls. 



In former times the poet ranked with the warrior among the 

 noblest possessions a tribe could boast of, and assemblies of 

 different kinds were held where rival bards and orators disputed 

 the palm of victory. In loud and impassioned strains the con- 

 tending poets addressed the multitude by turns, extolling the 

 superior glory of their own tribe, recounting the names of their 

 eminent warriors, and challenging their opponents to produce 

 their equals. As from the fierce spirit of the Bedouins, and the 

 well-known influence of songs over the martial virtues of a 

 barbarous people, these intellectual tournaments frequently 

 ended in good earnest battles, they were expressly abolished 

 by the Koran ; but the old spirit of poetry is still as alive as 

 ever among the Bedouins, who, though no longer equalling 

 them, are passionately fond of their ancient bards. Thus when 

 Burckhardt read portions of the famous romance of Antar to a 

 Bedouin auditory they were in ecstasies of delight, but at the 

 same time so enraged at his bad pronunciation, that they tore 

 the book out of his hands. 



To the advantages of a genius for poetry, and a lively fancy, 

 the Bedouins add the possession of a rich and harmonious 

 language capable of expressing every shade of meaning and every 

 variety in the aspects of nature. Its copiousness * may be in- 

 ferred from the fact that it can boast of no less than eighty 

 expressions for honey, two hundred for a serpent, five hundred 

 for a lion, and, characteristic of a warlike race, above a thousand 

 for a sword. Fastidious critics have admitted the remarkable 

 delicacy of the Arabic tongue, and its energetic sublimity, 



* Whoever has read Riiekert's wonderful translation of ' The Makamas of Hariri ' 

 will be able to form some opinion of the richness of the Arabic and at the same 

 time admire the exuberant treasures of the German tongue. 



