,162 SOCIAL STATE OF THE ARABS. 



cattle and handle the distaff, without regarding these 

 effeminate duties as in the least derogatory to their 

 masculine dignity. The loom, called nutou, is ex- 

 tremely simple, being merely two sticks fixed into 

 the ground with a third placed across them. 



The Arabs practise polygamy in common with 

 most other Eastern nations; but in general they 

 are content with one wife, and rarely avail them- 

 selves of the legal privilege of marrying four. The 

 rich espouse as many wives and keep as many con- 

 cubines as they can maintain ; though this luxury is 

 too expensive to be generally adopted. But those who 

 restrict themselves to one wife make amends for this 

 self-denial by indulging in variety, or entertaining 

 at the same time a number of female slaves. 



In courtship the Arabs often display a great deal 

 of gallantry ; for the constraint to which their women 

 are subjected does not altogether prevent intrigues. 

 But the opportunities of the lover's meeting or see- 

 ing his mistress are more rare ; and the youth who 

 is bold enough to trespass on the sanctuary of 

 the meharrem finds his path encompassed with 

 perils, battles, and death. The desert is the ge- 

 nuine theatre of those keen passions depicted in the 

 Arabian tales, and perhaps the Bedouins are the 

 only people in the East that can with justice be 

 entitled true lovers. While Europeans merely 

 languish and sigh, and while the townsmen com- 

 pose amorous verses, the Bedouins sometimes cut 

 and slash their arms with knives to show the vio- 

 lence of their affections. The pastoral life is fa- 

 vourable to forming acquaintances ; and there are 

 occasions when the youth of both sexes mingle in 

 parties to sing and dance in the open space before 

 or behind the tents. 



