SOCIAL STATE OP THE ARABS* 379 



all classes, notwithstanding the warmth of the cli- 

 mate and the natural dryness of their constitution. 

 Persons of opulence and fashion always carry with 

 them a box filled with odoriferous wood, a bit of 

 which, when put into the pipe, communicates to 

 the tobacco a fragrant smell and a very agreeable 

 taste. Throwing the jereed is a kind of rude 

 tournament which they frequently practise. This 

 is a blunt spear, made of heavy wood, about a 

 yard long and the thickness of a mopstick. The 

 object of the game, in which they evince the most 

 astonishing dexterity, is for one party to pursue 

 and the other to fly, and try to elude being struck 

 with the weapon. Sometimes they amuse them- 

 selves with sham-fights ; and nothing can be more 

 picturesque, than to see a group of wild men hud- 

 dled together in the greatest apparent confusion 

 with drawn swords and couched lances. The more 

 domestic pastimes are dancing, singing, and story- 

 telling, for which they have a singular passion, and 

 which fill up all -their leisure hours. There is a 

 species of song common all over the desert, in which 

 the youths of both sexes join in the chorus, accom- 

 panying it with clapping of hands and various mo- 

 tions of the body. It is called the mesamer, and is 

 the only opportunity which the lover has of serenad- 

 ing his mistress ; the verses are often composed extem- 

 pore, and relate to the beauty and qualities of the be- 

 loved object. They have war-songs, called hadou, in 

 praise of their chiefs, and chants to enliven their ca- 

 mels; for it is well known that that animal never 

 moves with so much ease as when he hears his master 

 sing.* When an Aeneze recites verses or ancient 



* Of the Asamer, or Camel-Driver's Song 1 , Burckhardt gives the 



