372 



SOCIAL STATE OF THE ARABS. 



wholly under the control of the agyd. This person 

 is esteemed as a kind of augur or saint ; he often 

 decides the operations of the war by his dreams, vi- 

 sions, or prognostications, and announces the lucky 

 or unlucky day for attack. His office is hereditary ; 

 but he possesses no more coercive power than the 

 sheik, and his authority ceases whenever the combat- 

 ants return to their homes. This curious institution 

 doubtless was intended to check any increase of 

 power in the person of the chief of the tribe, by ren- 

 dering it difficult for him to engage in feuds merely 

 from private motives. 



In the desert the character of the soldier passes by 

 an easy transition into that of the brigand. The Arabs 

 may be styled a nation of robbers (harami); but 

 they are far from attaching to this practice any ideas 

 of criminality or disgrace. They consider the profes- 

 sion as honourable, and one of the most flattering 

 titles that could be conferred on a youthful hero. 

 They rob, indiscriminately, enemies, friends, and 

 neighbours ; and these acts are daily committed in 

 their own tent without entailing any permanent 

 disgrace on the offender. The defenceless traveller 

 is waylaid, seized, and stript of every thing ; but his 

 life is not taken unless he resist, or shed the blood of 

 a Bedouin. There are many instances of their ex- 

 treme ignorance in appreciating the value of their 

 booty. A peasant has been known to boil a bag of 

 pearls, mistaking them for rice, and afterwards throw 

 them away as useless. 



The Bedouins have reduced robbery to a science, 

 and digested its various branches into a complete 

 and regular system. In distant excursions every 

 horseman chooses a companion (zammaT), and both 

 are mounted on a young and strong camel, carrying 



