368 SOCIAL STATE OP THE ARABS. 



monious expressions current in the towns. They 

 simply wish a good morning when they meet their 

 friends upon the road, or a farewell when they de- 

 part. When an Egyptian hails an acquaintance, 

 he says " May your day be white ;" and there is 

 absolutely no other reply but " May yours be like 

 milk." These studied and superfluous compliments 

 a Bedouin would consider at once ridiculous and 

 ill-bred. They attach no indelicacy to the disgusting 

 practice of eructation after meals ; but they are shock- 

 ed beyond measure at an involuntary accident which 

 is the natural consequence of indigestion or certain 

 articles of diet. An habitual offender in this way 

 is deemed unworthy of being admitted as a witness 

 before the cadi ; and some for this reason have been 

 obliged to betake themselves to voluntary banish- 

 ment. In towns there is a greater ostentation of 

 politeness : " Welcome !" says the obsequious shop- 

 keeper of Mecca to his foreign customer, " a thou- 

 sand times welcome ! you are the guest of the holy 

 city ; my whole property is at your disposal !" In 

 Yemen, persons who value themselves on their good 

 breeding use many compliments. In ordinary visits 

 pipes and coffee are always presented. Sometimes 

 the beards and clothes of the guests are sprinkled 

 with rose-water and perfumes. Men salute each 

 other by kissing the beard or hand, and women by 

 kissing the forehead, chin, and both cheeks. Even 

 in quarrelling among themselves the Arabs do not use 

 the ill names and scurrilous language so frequently 

 heard in the mouths of more polished nations. 



Hospitality, the ancient and hereditary virtue of 

 the nation, is still exercised in all its primitive 

 cordiality. A hungry Bedouin always divides his 

 scanty meal with a still more hungry wanderer. If a 



