310 A BEDOUIN FATHER. 



of the women belonging to the herd had staid behind, 

 and brought into our camp some skins of milk for 

 sale, receiving tobacco in exchange. An old man 

 also arrived early in the morning, having travelled 

 all night, hearing that we were in the neighbour- 

 hood, to obtain some information respecting his two 

 daughters, who, six months before, had gone with 

 a Kafilah down to Taj our ah. Not hearing 

 anything to his satisfaction from my companions, 

 he came to me, dragging with him a kid, which he 

 presented to me, begging that I would look into 

 my book, and give him some account of his missing 

 daughters. He had heard, he said, that they had 

 been very ill, and he only desired to know if they 

 were dead or had got better. The old man, savage 

 as he was, did credit to our nature, from the 

 anxiety and love he evinced for his offspring ; and 

 the sorrow he showed was an anomaly to me I 

 could not understand, for I had made up my mind, 

 that the Dankalli could not be charged with any 

 constitutional weakness, as regards the influence of 

 domestic attachments or family ties ; here was an 

 evidence to the contrary, and I record it for the 

 benefit of any one, who may be better able than 

 myself, to reconcile such differences of character 

 among these interesting people. 



Many of the Dankalli Bedouins do certainly sell 

 their female children. Garahmee, as I have before 

 observed, had thus disposed of three, and Moosa of 

 two daughters, and on- more than one occasion I 



