16 LN'TIIODUCTION. 



lived about 500 years before the flood, and was the first no- 

 madic shepherd. The example of the original shepherds af- 

 fords a correct picture of the present mode of life of the Ara- 

 bian and Tartarian shepherds. Abraham and Lot lived in 

 tents. " These Arabs," says D'Arvieux, " have no other 

 lodging but their tents, which they call their houses ; they are 

 all black, of goat's-hair canvass, and are stretched out in such 

 a manner that the rain easily runs off without ever going 

 through them. Their whole famihes, and all that they have 

 in the world, even to the stables, are there, particularly in 

 the winter. The tent of the Emir is of the same stufl', and 

 differs only from those of his subjects in bigness." 



Abram pitched his tent on a mountain. The same author 

 says that " the Arabs commonly encamp on the top of some 

 little hills, where there are no trees to hinder them from dis- 

 covering a great way off all that come and go, that they may 

 not be surprised, having nothing else to fear." 



Abram, it is recorded, often changed his place of resi- 

 dence. D'Arvieux continues, " The Arabs set themselves 

 down wherever they find springs of water, or rivulets in the 

 valleys, and pasture for the subsistence of their cattle, and 

 then decamp, as soon as that is gone, and go and post them- 

 selves in another place every fortnight, or at most every 

 month. They live all the summer upon these hills, always 

 advancing towards the north : and when winter begins to 

 come in, they go by degrees towards the south, as far as 

 Caesarea of Palestine, and on the outside of the mountains of 

 Carmel." 



Parsons, the traveller, refers to the peregrinations of the 

 Arabs. " It was entertaining enough to see the horde of 

 Arabs decamp. First went the sheep and goats in regular 

 divisions, then followed the camels and asses, loaded with 

 the tents, furniture, and kitchen utensils. These were fol- 

 lowed by the old men and the women, and the boys and girls 

 on foot. The children that could not walk were carried on 

 the backs of the young women, and the boys and girls : and 

 the smallest of the lambs and kids were carried under the 

 arms of the children. The procession was closed by the 

 chief of the tribe mounted on the very best horse." The 

 foregoing manifests the tenacity with which the Arabs ad- 

 here to the customs of their forefathers established thousands 

 of years ago. 



On the authority of the Scriptures, the flocks which abound- 



