148 THE LION KILLER. 



falcons on their wrists. The whole of this cortege seems to 

 breathe of nobility, and strikes the European as Well as 

 natives by its peaceful beauty and courtly pride. 



The people when they meet an Arab chief travelling in 

 this manner, dismount and kiss his knee, without even know- 

 ing to whom they are doing honor. It is the simple homage 

 of the weak to the strong, of the poor to the rich, of the 

 serf to the noble, they bow to chief as do the feathered tribes 

 of the plain to the kingly bird that sits on his wrist. 



