80 H. S. Jarrett — Customs among the Bedouins of the Haurdn. [ISTo. 2, 



have fifteen thousand piastres." Those present then address the 

 father of the bride, one by one beginning with the oldest, saying, " What 

 wilt thou deduct for my sake ? " The bride's father replies, " For thy sake 

 I abate of what is due to me, one thousand piastres." The next then 

 requests him to lessen the sum by 900, and in the same way he abates 

 800 for the third, and so on until he reaches the customary amount 

 according to the established usage among them. 1 When the confer- 

 ence is concluded, the bridegroom's father and the father of the bride 

 rise and kiss each other on the moustache and such of the relatives of 

 both families as may be present stand up and address the fathers of 

 the bride and bridegroom saying, " May their union be blessed ; may 

 it be life long." An animal is then slaughtered at the expense of the 

 bridegroom and a dish of burghul is prepared therewith and all the 

 relatives of the bride are invited to partake of it. The bridegroom's 

 party then rise to depart, inviting all the members of the bride's family to 

 accompany them to a feast at the tent of the bridegroom. Both 2 parties 

 then mount and proceed thither. The relatives of the bridegroom 

 welcome them with expressions of delight and pleasure and receive them 

 with all possible honour. Some wealthy man may also on such occa- 

 sions slaughter a camel worth perhaps twenty gold pieces (liras). 

 Both families continue to pay each other visits in this fashion till the 

 marriage contract is duly signed. 



Marriage. 

 The bridegroom's family first send word to the family of the bride 

 informing them of the day on which they require the bride. On the 

 appointed day a party of them mount their horses taking their spears 

 and swords, and some ten girls of the bridegroom's family or of his rela- 

 tives are decked out and dressed in their best apparel, wearing orna- 

 ments of silver or brass and having their hair dressed with camel's 

 urine which gives a bright gloss to its colour. 3 And they choose the 

 best of their camels and clothe them with silk trappings of red, green, 

 and yellow, and from both sides of each camel long tassels hang reach- 

 ing to the ground. Each camel likewise carries a seat accommodating 



1 According to Burton, this is usually about thirty Spanish dollars which were 

 most prized in El Hejaz, in Yemen, the Maria Theresa. The Spanish Government 

 refused to perpetuate its Pillar-dollars, at one time a great favourite in the East. 

 The dollar was called Riyal Fransah. Mecca— III. 82. Edit. 1856. 



2 The word in the text is *£{j-b, probably a clerical error for < ^jJJi-'| mean- 

 ing ii)\JJaJ\. 



8 Burton observes that the Bedouin hair becomes coarse from exposure, not a 

 little increased by the (Jj^I( (J^J or wash alluded to in the text. The only cosmetic 

 is clarified butter freely applied both to the body and the hair. 



