2o6 Bedotdn Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xxv, 



the way of deciding them. The case was as 

 follows : — 



lu one of the Sebaa tribes, all mares of the 

 Maneghi breed taken in war are, by immemorial 

 custom, the right of a certain family, of which the 

 Sheykh is usually a member. Now it happened 

 that a fine Maneghieh mare had thus been taken in 

 a skirmish by a poor man of the tribe, who at the 

 same time had lost his own mare ; and the Sheykh 

 had seized her by virtue of his privilege. The poor 

 man protested, and the case was brought for deci- 

 sion before twelve elders, chosen for the purpose. 

 The poor man argued that the mare taken was in 

 fact his own mare, for in taking this one he had lost 

 her. The Sheykh pleaded immemorial custom. 

 After much consultation, the jury, admitting the 

 Sheykh's general right, nevertheless gave judgment 

 in favour of the plaintiff, and ordered the mare to 

 be given to the poor man. Another curious case 

 was the one we witnessed among the Welled Ali, 

 where the right to Jedaan's wife was in dispute. 



What is stransfe in these courts is that there is no 

 officer of any kind to enforce the decisions. Public 

 opinion alone compels obedience to the law. In 

 extreme cases, and as the utmost penalty of the law, 

 the offender is turned out of the tribe. In cases of 

 homicide, the law leaves it to the family of the 

 deceased to do itself justice, for revenge is a duty 

 with all his relations within the second degree. 

 The slayer himself may be slain, or, what is con- 



