332 SOCIAL STATE OF THE ARABS. 



and neighbours ; and these acts are daily committed 

 in their own tent without entaiUng- any permanent 

 disgrace on the offender. The defenceless travel- 

 ler is waylaid, seized, and stripped of every thing ; 

 but his life is not taken unless he resist, or shed the 

 blood of a Bedouin. There are many instances of 

 their extreme ignorance in appreciating the value 

 of their booty. A peasant has been known to boil 

 a bag of pearls, mistaking them for rice, and after- 

 ward throw them away as useless. 



The Bedouins have reduced robbery to a science, 

 and digested its various branches into a complete 

 and regular system. In distant excursions every 

 horseman chooses a companion (zammal), and both 

 are mounted on a young and strong camel, carrying 

 a provision of food and water, that the mare may 

 be fresh and vigorous at the moment of attack. If 

 the expedition is to be on foot, each of the party 

 takes a small stock of flour, salt, and water. They 

 clothe themselves in rags, to make their ransom 

 easier if they should be taken. In this guise they 

 approach the devoted camp under cloud of night, 

 and when all are fast asleep. One of them endeav- 

 ours to irritate the watch-dogs ; when they attack 

 him, he flies and artfully draws them off, leaving 

 the premises unprotected. The harami then cuts 

 the cords that fasten the legs of the camels, when 

 they instantly rise from their kneeling posture, and 

 > walk away, as all unloaded camels do, without the 

 least noise. To quicken their pace, the tails of the 

 foremost or strongest are twisted, and the rest fol- 

 low at the same trot. The third actor in the rob- 

 bery keeps watch at the tent-door with a heavy 

 bludgeon, to knock down such of the inmates as may 

 venture to interfere. In this manner fifty camels 

 are often stolen, and driven by forced marches to a 

 safe distance during the night. An extra share of 

 the prey is always allowed to these three principal 

 adventurers. 



