22 2 Bedouin Tribes of the Eitphrates. [ch. xxvi. 



Of tlie past and of the future we thought little, but 

 of our immediate prospects of dinner much. As we 

 sat hour after hour in our saddles, watching the 

 horizon turn slowly round us, or marking the sun's 

 progress by the shadows of our camels' necks, we 

 acknowledged that we could not think. Our hopes 

 were bounded by the Avell which we might reach at 

 evening, our fears by the low line of hills which 

 might conceal an enemy. The interest of the 

 moment and the bare pleasure of living absorbed all 

 our fancy. A vivid present shut out past and future, 

 and even in moments of danger we had not time for 

 the thouo'ht of death. 



Thus it is with the Bedouins in youth ; but in 

 old aofe, even when health fails them and their 

 strength, they are no better circumstanced. A 

 Bedouin may perfectly well pass all his days from 

 the cradle to the grave and never have spent a single 

 one of them alone. His life is a life of society. 

 In the outer tent, if he be a rich man, no hour ot 

 the day nor any day in the year, will he find less 

 than half a dozen friends or dependents ; while in 

 the inner tent, women and children, slaves and 

 relations are constantly present. If he is a poor 

 man, he will sit all day in the tents of others. No 

 Bedouin rides, even for a few miles, alone ; and 

 like his mare, if he finds himself without his fellows, 

 the bravest is frightened. 



Another reason too why in Europe we so greatly 

 appreciate and fear death, is that all of us have at 



