CH. XXI.] MohaniiuciTs Choice. 149 



lightly undertaken, or undertaken at all, except with 

 men of a certain distinction, and jSloliammcd's 

 position as a Tudmuri seemed at first to put him 

 altogether out of the category of eligible persons. 

 It is, however, a time-honoured practice, even with 

 the greatest desert sheykhs, to take the oath with 

 the sheykhs of towns, and Mohammed's Lirtli as 

 eldest son and heir apparent to the sheykhdom of 

 Tudmur has to be considered, while his descent 

 from the Beni Ldam and the prophet Taleb raise 

 him altoo'ether above the common herd of villao;e 

 felldhin. As a final test, and to prove whether he 

 was wholly worthy, ]\Ir. S, had been deputed to-day 

 to tempt him with money, a crucial test indeed 

 with Bedouin and citizen alike in Arabia, and he 

 had come out of it unscathed. The choice was 

 given him whether, in reward of his services, he 

 should be sent home to Tudmur with a handsome 

 Bum in mej idles, or as the friend and brother of the 

 Beg. Mohammed did not hesitate, but emphati- 

 cally exclaimed, " If the Beg were to fill my kefiyeh 

 with white pieces, yet I would hold it as nothing to 

 the honour of being his brother." So, then, it has 

 been settled, and the oath taken in our presence, 

 and to-night Mohammed for the first time will sit 

 down and eat with us in our tent. In taking 

 the oath, he added to the usual phrases one new to 

 us, " lei akliiv miii yomi " (" to the last of my 

 days "). He seems duly impressed with the solem- 

 nity of the occasion. 



