240 THE LION KILLER. 



I beg pardon of my readers ; but this was the way my com- 

 panion expressed himself. 



" With the Arabs, however, there is more joy over the 

 birth of a colt than a girl, but a male child never comes into 

 the world without the firing of guns in honor of his advent. 



" On him reposes the honor and hope of the family, of the 

 douar and the tribe, who expect from him great personal 

 bravery ; and if they do not find this quality early exhibited, 

 the child soon finds himself the subject of scorn and dislike, 

 even from his father. ■ • 



M The women, who with you look upon every man in the 

 light of a husband, particularly regard those who are hand- 

 some. With us the women compare a handsome man to a 

 female, and a brave man to a lion." 



Here I observed that these two qualities might be united 

 in the same person, particularly among the Arabs, who are 

 a fine-looking race ; and I asked my instructor if an Arab 

 woman would love a man who was infirm, lame, hump- 

 backed, or mutilated, and at the same time endowed with 

 great bravery. His answer seems to me to be full of good 

 sense and imbued with the true spirit of philosophy. 



"Deformity would never be an object of dislike to a 

 woman if it was the result of an encounter in which the man 

 had proved his valor. If it was a natural deformity, the 

 woman would despise him, because she would know that God 

 in creating him in that manner had not intended to create a 

 man." 



Under this generally received opinion, the unfortunate 



