1062 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the national beverage, coffee, such as the 

 host tasting the coffee himself ere he 

 offers it to his guest, or the filling the 

 tiny cup more than a third full, or offer- 

 ing a third drink, which is equivalent to 

 asking your visitor to leave your house or 

 tent. 



As regards the great and almost un- 

 known interior little of any certainty can 

 be written. In the central region known 

 as Nejd are quite a number of large 

 cities, such as Hayil, Boreida, Anezea, 

 El Riath, Dooreayah, with numerous 

 smaller towns, villages, and settlements 

 within easy distances, to say nothing 

 about the extensive camps of the Bedouin, 

 who own allegiance to the Emir in the 

 capital. 



These latter are probably the more 

 numerous of the peoples of the penin- 

 sula, and by far the most interesting class 

 of the two. The Bedouin pities the 

 city dweller because fate has decreed that 

 he. must pass his days in the confinement 

 of a house or enclosed city, while the 

 city man congratulates himself on his 

 good fortune in being spared the dan- 

 gers, inconveniences, and exposures that 

 are the lot of the tent-dweller. 



The life of the latter is an uncertain 

 one. His tent is home made, spun and 

 woven by the women of his harem from 

 goats' hair, the accumulation of many 

 years. This tent cloth is waterproof and 

 a good protection against the fierce sun 

 of the desert. It is very portable and 

 serves for many generations. Each camp 

 has its chief, part of whose tent is set 

 apart as the guest room, in which visitors 

 are entitled to three days' hospitality. 

 The chief also gives the order to move 

 camp and decides on the new pitch. 

 Local disputes are referred to him for 

 settlement, and in the event of his being 

 unable to adjust the matter the disputants 

 must go to the capital and present their 

 case to the Emir. This they are slow to 

 ■do, as it means a long journey and ab- 

 sence from home for an uncertain time, 

 as well as some amount of expense. 

 The chief, too, is responsible for the 

 good behavior of the people in his dis- 



trict and for the return of the tax due 

 from his tribe. 



Throughout Arabia there are many 

 things in common among both classes of 

 the people, viz., the manner of clothing 

 among both sexes ; little distinction is 

 made between the rich and the poor, and 

 from a man's clothes no idea could be 

 gotten of his social standing. 



In all homes it is customary for the 

 host to assume the place of waiter during 

 the serving of food, taking his meals 

 after all the others have been served. 



As in other Mohammedan lands, the 

 women in the cities and towns of Arabia 

 are secluded, but in the village and camp 

 life they enjoy the same freedom as the 

 men ; the women, too, do a large share of 

 the work in cooperation with the male 

 members of their families. 



The great need of the Arabian penin- 

 sula is water, for without that all-impor- 

 tant factor of every-day life little can be 

 accomplished, and the entire absence of 

 running water in any shape or form ac- 

 counts largely for the lack of any for- 

 ward movement or attempt at industrial 

 or manufacturing achievements. 



Where water is obtainable it is gener- 

 ally from wells of great depth, causing 

 a large amount of labor to get it to the 

 surface. Some of these wells are evi- 

 dently ancient, as evidenced by the stones 

 of many courses near the mouth and the 

 deep grooves worn by the ropes of the 

 drawers during many centuries. Some 

 of these grooves are as much as nine 

 inches deep in stone as hard as marble. 



Enough has been told in these pages 

 to give an intelligent idea of the "desert 

 of the sea," and to demonstrate that 

 here remain fresh fields for exploration, 

 research, discovery, and possible adven- 

 ture. For any attempting such an expe- 

 dition it is hardly necessary to say that a 

 knowledge of Arabic is essential in order 

 to get at facts and a reliable record of 

 things past and present. 



The field is open to all. Any one who 

 can bring to the civilized world some 

 information on central and southern 

 Arabia will add valuable data to the 

 geography and literature of the day. 



