354 



SOCIAL STATE OF THE ARABS. 



long black tresses, but cherish them from infancy 

 until they hang in twisted locks over their cheeks 

 down to the breast. Every body without exception 

 wears the beard of its natural length ; being consi- 

 dered as the ensign of honour and dignity, it is 

 reckoned disgraceful to appear without it. Shaving 

 is often prescribed as a penance for some fault, and 

 it is one of the severest punishments that can be 

 inflicted. By threatening this chastisement Saoud 

 kept in order many a rebellious sheik. A favourite 

 mare which he wished to purchase, belonging to a 

 chief of the Beni Shammar and valued at 2500 dol- 

 lars (546), was yielded up by the reluctant owner 

 the moment the barber produced his razor. Some 

 old men still dye their beards red ; but this practice 

 is generally disapproved. 



In personal appearance the Arabs are of the 

 middle size, lean and athletic. Their complexion is 

 brown, their eyes and hair dark. When young they 

 have a mild but expressive countenance ; in ad- 

 vanced age their aspect is truly venerable. The 

 Aenezes are rather diminutive in their stature, few 

 of them being above five feet two or three inches in 

 height; but their features are good, their persons 

 extremely well formed, and not so meagre or slight 

 as some travellers have represented. Their deep- 

 set but lively dark eyes sparkle from under their 

 bushy black eyebrows with a fire unknown in our 

 northern climes. 



From living constantly in the open air the Arabs 

 acquire a remarkable acuteness in all their senses. 

 Their powers of vision and of hearing improve by 

 continual exercise ; and on their vast plains they 

 can descry distant objects far beyond the ken of a 

 less practised eye. Their sense of smelling, too, is 



