BED 



to fatisfy even a juft vcnj^eancc at the expenccof liofpitality. 

 Has the Bedoween coiifcnted to cat br-ad and fait with his 

 gucft, nothing can induce him to betray him. The power 

 of the fukan himfelf would not be able to force a refugee 

 from the pro^eAion of a tribe but by its total extcrniination. 

 The Bedoween, fo rapacious without his camp, has no foon- 

 er fet his foot within it, than he becomes liberal and gene- 

 rous. What little he polTefTes he is even ready to divide ; 

 and when he takes his repafl, he feats himfelf at the door of 



BED 



been fubdued by any conqueror ; but thofe who have fettled 

 near towns, and fertile provinces, are reduced, in fome mea- 

 fure, to a Hate of dependence on the fovereigns of thofe pro- 

 vinces. Such are the Arabs, in the different parts of the 

 Ottoman empire ; fome of whom pay a rent or tribute for 

 the towns or pafhirages which they occupy ; and others 

 frequent the banks of the Euphrates only in one feafon of 

 the year and in wir.ter return to the defert. Thefe laft 

 acknowledge no dependence on the Porte, neither are. 



his tent, in order to invite paffengers ; and this aft of gene- properly fpcaking, fubjee\ to the Turks ; but the po i<^e "l 

 rous hofpitality he regards as a matter of duty; and of the latter occalions frequent, but neither long nor bioody, 

 courfe he himfelf takes the fame liberty with others. So far wars among the Bedov. cens. W heiiever the i urks mteriere 

 does this reciprocal generofity prevail, that one would ima- 

 gine the Arabs poITcired all their goods in common. Never- 

 thelcfs, they are no Ilrangers to property ; but without that 

 felfiftinefs which the increafe of the imaginary wants of lux- 

 ury has given it among polilhed nations. Among the Arabs 

 there exift a kind of equality in the partition of property, 

 ind a variety of conditions, which have appeared, fays Vol- 

 oey, to the wifell legiflators as the perfeclion of human po- 

 licy. From this Hate of things, it becomes diiScult ior 

 their fcheiks to form a faction for enflaving and impoveridiing 

 the body of the nation. Each individual, capable of (v.p- 

 plying all his wants, is better able to preferve his character 

 and independence ; and private property becomes at once 

 the foundation and bulwark of public liberty. This liberty 

 extends even to matters of religion. WhiHl the Arabs of 

 the towns crouch under the double yoke of political and re- 

 ligious defpotifm, thofe of the defert, or the Bedoweens, 

 live in a flate of perfeft freedom from both. On the fron- 

 tiers of the Turks, indeed, the Bedoweens from policy preferve 

 the appearance of Mahometanifm ; but fo relaxed is their ob- 

 fervance of its ceremonies, and fo little fervour has their devo- 

 tion, that they are generally confidered as infidels, who have 

 neither law nor prophets. They fcruple not to fay, tliat the 

 religion of Mahomet was not made for them ; for, they add, 

 " how (hall we make ablutions, who have no water ? How 

 can we bellow alms, who are not rich ? Why (hould we fall 

 in the Ramadan, fince the whole year with us is one continued 

 fall? And what necefilty is there for us to make the pilgrimage 

 to Mecca, if God be prefent every where ?" In (hort, every 

 man afts and thiyk^ as he pleafes ; and the moil perfedl to- 

 leration is eilablifiicd among them. Volney obferves, that 

 there are few poli{hed nations, whofe morality is, in general, 

 fomueh tobtelleemed as that of the Bedoween Arabs. If this 

 be the faifl, we may reafonably afcribe it to a variety ofcircum- 

 llances altogether independent of that fingularity which he 

 mentions in conncclion with it, and which lerve to eoiintcraft 

 its etfeAs. Among thefe B;doweens, as well as the Turk- 

 mans and Curds, religion is the freefl from exterior forms, 

 infomuch that no man has ever feen among thcle claffes 

 of people either priefts, temples, or regukr worlhip. We 

 can fcarcely imagine, that even M. Volney himfelf, though 

 we are not unapprised of his mode of thinking on the 

 fubjeft of religion, would prefume to afcribe the excellence 

 of the morality of thefe tribes to their total want or dif- 

 ufe of all the outward means of producing and maintain- 

 ing it ; but he would probably fuggefl the inefTicacy, 

 in a moral view, of thole forms and modes of worlhip 

 which are eftablifhed and prailifed among the Mahometans. 

 The manners of thefe people are preferved pure and tira- 

 ple, and fuch as are defcribed in their ancient hiftories, 

 as Sonnini obferves, by the abfcnce of luxury and fac- 

 titious pleafures, bringing immorality in their train, which 

 have made no attempt to fix their abode on the parched 

 .and barren fands occupied by the Bedoweens. 

 The Bedoweens, who live i» tents in the defert, have never 



in their quarrels, all the tribes combine to repuli'e the com- 

 mon enemy of the whole nation. Every grand fcheik con- 

 fiders himfelf as abfolute lord of his .whole tcnitory, and 

 accordingly exafts the fame duties upon goods carried 

 through his dominio-s as are levied by other princes. 

 The Europeans, therefore, are wrong in fuppofing the fumt 

 paid by travellers to the grand fcheiks to be merely a ran- 

 fom to redeem them from pillage. The Turks, who tend 

 caravans through the defert to Mecca, have fubmittcd to 

 the payment of thefe duties, paying a certain fum annually 

 to the tribes who live near the road to Mecca ; and thefe 

 in return keep the wells op^n, permit the palTage of mer- 

 chandife, and efcort the caravans. If the Bedoweens fome- 

 times pillage thefe caravans, the haughty perfidious conduti 

 of the Turkilh officers is always the firli caufe of fuch hof- 

 tilities. The tribes of Bedoweens on the confines of the 

 defert, are thofe who have preferved the national chara£ler 

 in its greatell purity, and who have maintained their liberty 

 unimpaired. Of thefe, that denominated " Beni Klialed" is 

 one of the mod powerful, on account of its conquells and 

 wealth, and the number of other tribes fubjeft to it. It has 

 advanced from the defert of Nedsjed to the fea, and con- 

 quered the countr)' of Lachfa. That of the tribe of " Kiab" 

 inhabits north from the Perfian gulf, and rarely encamps. 

 Thefe have poflellionsin the province of Chufillaii in Pertia, 

 in which province there are five different confiderable tribes 

 of independent Bedoweens. Thofe of the tribe " Beni Lam," 

 inhabiting between Koine and Bagdad, upon the banks of 

 tlie Tigris, receive duties upon goods carried from Bafibra 

 to Bagdad, and fometimes pillage caravans. The " Monte- 

 fidfi," or " Moutefik," are the mofl powerful tribe north 

 from the defert, with refpefi to extent of territory and nuin- 

 ber of fubaltern tribes, ackni;wledging their authority. 

 They polTefs all the country on both fides of the Euphrates, 

 from Korne to Ardje. The Arabs of this tribe often 

 plunder travellers paffing between Helle and Baflbra, and 

 are frequently challifed by the pacha of Bagdad, who de- 

 pofcs their fcheik, and fubllitutes another in his room. This 

 tribe derives its appellation from one Montefik, who came 

 from Hedjaz, and was defcended from a family, illullrious 

 bef(jre the days of Mahomet. All thefe tribes, that live on 

 the confines of the defert, are genuine Arabs, who breed 

 (heep and camels, and live in tents, Tliis, however, is the 

 cafe with rcfpedl to the reigning tribes ; though fome of 

 the fubaltern ones have loft their nobility, by intermixing 

 the praQice of agriculture with the habits of pailoral life. 



The rich plains of Mefopotamia and AfTyria, which were 

 once cultivated by a populous nation, and watertd by fur- 

 prifing efforts of human indullry, are now inhabited, or 

 rather ravaged, by wandering Arabs. The lands between 

 the Tigris and the Euphrates are occupied by tribes prac- 

 tifing agriculture, or " Mosedan." All travellers complain 

 of the robberies of the Bedoweens of Aifyria. The reftlefs 

 and thievilh difpolition of thefe people feems to increafe 

 the farther tliey recede ffona their native deferts, and to ap- 

 proach 



