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proach the country inhabited by the plundering Curds and 

 Turkmans. The pachas of Syria are as much interetttd 

 in guarding againft the depredations of the wandering Arabs, 

 as the Turkiih governors on the Perfian frontier. As it is 

 of great confequence to tiie cities of Aleppo and Damafcus 

 (which fee) that their caravans travelling to Bagdad or Baf- 

 fora (hould be fuffered to pafs in fafety tlirough the defcrt, 

 the pachas, in order to protect them from infult and pillage, 

 artfullv venture to employ one tiibe of Arabs againft the 

 reft ; and with this view they give the title of Emir to the 

 inoft powerful fcheik in the neighbourhood. To him they 

 pay an annual fum, or the produce of a certain number of 

 villages, for guiding the caravans, for keeping the other 

 Arabs in awe, and for levying the dues from thofc' who feed 

 their cattle o\t the pacha's grounds. The moft powerful 

 tribe near Aleppo, is denominated " Mauali," befides 

 which, there are many other tribes, amounting to twenty, or 

 more, who pay a trifling fum to the Emir for liberty to hire 

 out or fell their camels, and to feed their cattle through 

 the country. Other tribes pay a tax for the privilege of 

 gathering fait in the " Defert of Salt." In the vicinity of 

 Damafcus there arc numerous tribes, one of which, named 

 " Abu Salibe," it is faid, confifts folely of Chrii^ians. The 

 greatcft tvibs in the defert of Syria is that calLd " Anrefe," 

 which is fpread into Nedsjed, and reckoned the moft nume- 

 rous tribe in the heart of Arabia. The caravans of Turk- 

 iili pil""rim3 pay the Bedoweens of this tribe a confiderable 

 duty for their free pailage through the country ; when dif- 

 fatisfled, tliev plunder the caravans, and they often make 

 war on the pacha of Damafcus. The Bedoweens, who 

 occupy thofe countries, that are ufually comprehended 

 under the appellation of " Arabia Petroea," or the defcrts 

 that lie between Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, properly fo 

 called, are diftributed into feveral tribes which wander 

 among drv fands and rocks, ieeking fome few interfperf- 

 ed fpots, that afford fcanty food tor their cattle. The 

 Arabs of Paleftine feem to be poor neglected hordes, who 

 inhabit that barren and difmal country ; and the pilgrims 

 that vifit the Holy Land have given exaggerated relations 

 of the moleftations and injury which they have fuffered from 

 thena. 



Of the Bedoweens, there are feveral tiibes, who arrive 

 every year in Egypt after the inundation, from the heart 

 of Africa, to profit by the fertility of the country, and 

 who in the fpring retire into the depths of the defert. 

 Others of thefe are ftationary in Egypt, where they farm 

 lands, which they fow, and annually change. All of them 

 obftrve among themfelvcs ftated limits, which they never pafs, 

 on pain of war. They all lead nearly the fame kind of life, 

 and havt the fame manners and cuftoms. Ignorant and 

 poor, they pveferve an original charafter diftinft from fur- 

 rounding nations. Pacific in their camp, they are cvery 

 where alfo in an habitual ftate of war. Some of thefe, dif- 

 perfed in families, inhabit the rocks, caverns, ruins, and fe- 

 queilcred places where there is water ; others, united in 

 tribes, encamp under low and fmoaky tents, and pafs their 

 lives in perpetual journeyings, fometimcs in the defert, fome- 

 times on the banks of rivers ; having no other attachment 

 to the foil, than v.-hat arifes from their own lafety, or the 

 fubiifteuce of their flocks. The huftiandmen, whom they 

 pillage, hate them ; the travellers whom they defpoil, fpeak 

 ill of them ; and the Turks, who dread them, endeavour to 

 divide and comipt them. It is calculated that the different 

 tribes of them in Egypt might form a body of 30,000 

 horfemen ; but thefe are fo difperfed and difunited, that 

 they are only confidcred as robbers and vagabonds. The 

 young women, among the Bedoweens 01 Egypt might be 



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reckoned not deftitute of beauty, fays Sonnini ; though 

 they have a tav.ny hue, and indelible compartments, not 

 eafily reconcilable to the eyes of an European, which they 

 painfully mark on the lower part of the face, with a needle 

 and a black dye. The men are, in general, very handfom.e. 

 A fimple and uniform mode of life, uninjured by excefs, 

 prolongs their exiftence to the period fixed by nature. They 

 live to be very old, and at an advanced age, they are remark. 

 able for their truly venerable and patriarchal phvfiognomy. 

 Titofe, however, whoare wandering, predator), and wretch- 

 ed, arcfor the moft part of a flender make and m.ean appear- 

 ance. Some of the Egyptian Bedoweens have among them 

 a tradition, that their anceftors were Europeans and Chrif. 

 tians, one of whofe (hips having been wrecked on the coaft of 

 Egypt, the crew had been plundered, and reduced to the 

 neccffity of living in the defert. The only remnant they 

 have of the fuppofed Chriftianity of their forefathers is the 

 fign of the crofs, which they traced with their fingers upon 

 the fand. In the plans that have been adopted in Egvpt, 

 under Ah Bey, for preventing robbei^ and eftablilhing pub- 

 lic tranquillity, the extermination of the Bedoweens has 

 been a principal objcft. Several hordes fell viclims to the 

 poliey of the governor ; and whole tribes retired into the 

 defert. However, the people of Egypt, far from approving 

 thofe means of protefting their property, murmured aloud 

 at the fcarcity of camels, ftieep, and other animals, with 

 which the Bedoweens had been accuftomed to fupply them 

 in great abundance, though it was their practice to fteal the 

 property which they had fold. It has fince appeared, that 

 the profperity of Egypt is intimately connected with the 

 preftrvation of the Bedoweens. 



To the above accounts of the Bedoweens, extracted from 

 modern travellers, wc fliall fubjoin the defcription given of 

 their anceftors above 1 800 years ago by Diodorus Siculus, 

 1. xix. 



" The wandering Arabs dwell in the open coimtr)-, 

 without any roof. They themfelvcs call their country a 

 folitude. They do not chufc for their abode places abound- 

 ing in rivers and fountains, left that allurement alone ftiould 

 draw enemies into their neighbourhood. Their law or 

 their cuftom forbids them to fow corn, to plant fruit-trees, 

 to make ufe of wine, or to inhabit houfes. li; who fhould 

 violate thefe ufages would be puniftied infallibly with death, 

 becaufe they are perniaded, that whoever is capable of fub- 

 jedting himfelf to fiich conveniences, would foon fubmit to 

 mafters in order to prelerve th;m. Some lead their camels 

 to graze, fome their fhcep. The Iatt.:r are the wealthieft ; 

 for, befides the advantages they derive from their flocks, 

 they go to fell in the fea-ports frankincenfe, myirh, and 

 other precious aromatics, which they have received in ex- 

 change from the inhabitants of Arabia Felix. Extremely 

 jealous of their liberty, at the news of the approach of an 

 army, they take refuge in the depth of the deferts, the 

 extent of which fenes them as a rampart. The enemy, 

 in faft, perceiving no water, could not dare to traverfe 

 them, whilft the Arabs, being furniihed with it by means of 

 veffels concealed in the earth, with which they are ac- 

 quainted, are in no danger of this want. The whole foil 

 being compofed of clayey and foft earth, they find means 

 to dig deep and vail cifterns, of a fquare form, each fide 

 of which is the length of an acre. Having filled them 

 with rain-water, tiiey clofe up the entrance, which they 

 make uniform with the neighbouring ground, leaving fon:e 

 imperceptible token, known only to themfelves. They ac- 

 cullom their flocks to drmk only once in three days, fo 

 that when they are obliged to fly acrofs thefe parched 

 fands, they may be habitudt<.d to fupport thinl. As for 



them> 



