SOCIAL STATE OF THL ARABS. 333 



It frequently happens tliat the robbers are sur- 

 rounded and seized ; and the mode of treating their^ 

 prisoners affords a curious iUustralion of the influ-* 

 ence which custom, handed down through many 

 generations, still exercises over the minds of these 

 fierce barbarians. It is an established usage in the 

 Desert, that if any person who is in actual danger 

 from another can touch a third person, or any in- 

 animate thing which he has in his hands, or with 

 which he is in contact ; or if he can touch him by 

 spitting, or throwing a stone at him, and at the same 

 time exclaim, " I am thy protected !'' the individual 

 is bound to grant him the protection he demands. 

 This law or point of honour is called the dakheil ; 

 and however absurd or capricious, it seems naturally 

 to arise out of those scenes of violence, the ferocity 

 of which it is calculated to soften. A robber de- 

 tected in the act of plundering is always anxious to 

 avail himself of the privileges of this artificial con- 

 vention ; while the inmates of the tent are equally 

 desirous to prevent him. The person who first 

 seizes the prisoner demands on what business he is 

 come. " I came to rob : God has overthrown me ;" 

 is the common answer. The captor {rabat) then 

 binds him hand and foot, and beats him w-ith a club, 

 mitil he exclaims, Yeneffa I " I renounce !" (namely, 

 the benefit of any protector). But this renunciation 

 being only valid for one day, the prisoner (rabiet) is 

 secured in a hole dug in the ground, Avith his feet 

 chained to the earth, his hands tied, and his twisted 

 hair fastened to tw-o stakes at both sides of his 

 head. This temporary grave is covered with tent- 

 poles, corn-sacks, and other heavy articles, — a 

 small aperture only being left through which he 

 may breathe. Here he is detained, and every en- 

 deavour used to extort from him the highest possible 

 ransom. 



Still the buried captive does not despair ; and cir- 

 eumst4j)ces sometimes favour his escape. If he 



