2 28 Bedotiin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xxvi. 



between rival wives. In such cases it is not unusual 

 to see a woman leave her husband for the reason that 

 she cannot agree with the elder wife, for the first 

 married generally retains her position as mistress of 

 the household, and often abuses it. It is, however, 

 remarkable how little jealousy is generally shown, 

 even where several wives have to live together. To 

 European ideas all this is of course ver}^ distasteful, 

 but custom sanctions their position to Ai^ab women, 

 and there is nothing in the least degrading to them 

 in the fact that they are not alone in the tent; 

 while their quarrels seem to have no deeper founda- 

 tion than those which divide the members of an 

 ordinary Enghsh household. 



Women, in the desert, have their rights, which 

 are respected ; and they do not complain that they 

 are ill-treated. It has not yet occurred to them 

 that they should be placed on an equal footing with 

 their husbands or their brothers. They are hard- 

 worked and happy. 



