THE EXPLORERS' CHRISTMAS 197 



hospitality. Those neighbours came in troops, mostly 

 on thoroughbred Arab horses ; the women and children 

 accompanied them on foot. As soon as they were 

 in sight of the Kasr and the colony of tents, they set 

 the horses at a gallop, and clouds of dust arose. A 

 single rider galloped forward, stopped suddenly in front 

 of the house, firing two shots. I had noticed a similar 

 proceeding when I assisted at bedouin festivals, and 

 was accustomed to the universal sign of approbation. 

 Our Christmas dinner consisted of two gazelles that 

 we had shot, over the carving of which Sheikh Sadaui 

 and Mansur presided. But before the feast came the 

 improvisation, a spectacle that could only occur in the 

 open desert. All available horses were beautifully 

 caparisoned ; the stirrups were of engraved silver, the 

 saddle-cloths of fine inlaid leather-work. The head 

 ornaments alone of the horses of wealthy Arabs on 

 such occasions represented a fortune. And the 

 enthusiasm, the fire in each glance, every movement 

 of the dignified bedouins in their flowing burnous, was 

 a joy to behold as they stepped forward. The horse- 

 men had loaded their guns and pushed up the ramrods 

 again, the flintlocks in order, and then they swung 

 themselves into the saddle. In a long row the field 

 awaits the signal, and then they gallop over the ancient 

 vineyards of the city of Menas and vanish in the desert. 

 The non-riders and the men who had been left behind 

 assemble, and form a large circle, just as European 

 children do in the open space, and then the actual 

 improvisation began. The men and lads clapped their 

 hands in time, and demonstrated in a monotonous 

 rhythm by the typical formula ' oo 'joy, pleasure, and 

 daring. 



