358 SOCIAL STATE OF THE ARABS. 



earthen pots, and the paste spread over the outside. 

 In some districts they have abundance of poultry 

 and garden-stuffs. Butter is used to excess. It is an 

 ingredient in every dish ; all their food swims in it ; 

 and they frequently swallow a whole cupful before 

 breakfast. The operation of churning is performed 

 in a goat-skin bag, which is tied to the tent-pole 

 or the branch of a tree, and moved constantly back- 

 wards and forwards until coagulation takes place. 

 Animal food is less used than vegetable, as it is not 

 reckoned so wholesome in hot countries. Camels' 

 flesh is rarely eaten ; it is more esteemed in winter 

 than in summer, and that of the female is preferred. 

 If a man of rank happens to be a visiter, a kid or a 

 lamb is prepared : a guest of less distinction is treated 

 with coffee, or bread and melted butter. Sometimes 

 an entire sheep is roasted in a hole, dug in the sand 

 and lined with heated stones. Upon these the flesh is 

 laid, and then covered closely up with cinders and 

 the wet skin of the animal. In an hour and a half 

 the meat is cooked ; and as it loses none of its juices 

 it has an excellent flavour. It is customary in the 

 desert, when a sheep or goat is killed, to eat the liver 

 and kidneys raw, with the addition of a little salt. 

 The Arabs drink little during meals; but when ca- 

 mels' milk is plentiful it is handed round after din- 

 ner. In their style of eating they are slovenly and 

 disagreeable, if tested by the standard of Europeans. 

 They tear the meat with their fingers, if not cut into 

 small pieces before it is set down. A wooden bowl 

 containing the melted grease of the animal is placed 

 in the middle, into which every morsel is dipped. 

 They thrust the whole hand into the dish at once, 

 which is soon emptied of its contents, as they eat with 

 great avidity. The food being always very hot, it 



