342 SOCIAL STATE OF THE ARABS. 



as Niebuhr and Michaelis have done, that these 

 dialects differ as widely as the Spanish or Italian 

 does from the Latin. Burckhardt, who had the best 

 opportunity of judging, says, that notwithstanding 

 the vast extent of country in which the language 

 prevails, whoever has learned one dialect will easily 

 understand all the rest. A ccording to this traveller, 

 it is in the Desert where the purest Arabic is spoken. 

 The Bedouins, though they have different idioms, 

 are remarkable for the grammatical accuracy as 

 well as the elegance of their expressions. Next to 

 them are the Meccawees and natives of Hejaz, whose 

 language approaches nearer to the old written dialect 

 than that of any other district. The inhabitants of 

 Bagdad and Sanaa, and the Yemenees in general, 

 speak with purity, but have a harsh accent. At 

 Cairo the pronunciation is worse ; and it gradually 

 degenerates among the Libyan and Syrian Arabs. 

 After them come the tribes on the Barbary coast, — 

 at Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers ; and, lastly, the natives 

 of Fez and Morocco, whose rough articulation is 

 considered the extreme point from the pure Bedouin 

 standard ; yet this difference is not greater, perhaps, 

 than between the spoken language of England and 

 Scotland. All the Arabs pay much attention to pen- 

 manship, though there is great diversity in their style 

 of writing. The several countries have also their 

 peculiar method of folding letters. In Hejaz they 

 are sealed with gum-arabic, and a small vessel filled 

 for the purpose is suspended near the gate of every 

 khan or pubhc-house. Wax is never used, as the 

 heat prevents it from retaining the impression. 



In the mechanical arts the Arabs are extremely 

 deficient. The Bedouins know little else than the 

 tanning of leather and the weaving of coarse fabrics. 

 They have a few blacksmiths and saddlers ; but all 

 handicraft occupations are considered degrading. 

 There is only one watchmaker at Jidda, and not a 



