184/.] Journal of a Steam Trip to the north of Bay he! ad. 



323 



inhabitants here generally appear sickly, and sore eyes seem to afflict 

 the greater part of the community. Some of the women were very 

 pretty and fair, and evinced no alarm at coming near the vessel. 



Having completed wooding by 7h. 45m. April 9th, we continued 

 our ascent. The river above this is new to us, the vessel not having 

 reached beyond Dur when we attempted the ascent in 1843. Indeed, 



This was however denied, and he was compelled to walk barefooted through the prickly 

 camel thorn from the encampment back to the raft. His gait and gestures under this 

 indignity were inimitably personified by his ruthless captors. I have since heard that 

 had it not been for the vaunting display of so many weapons by a single individual, 

 that he would have met with better treatment, and been allowed to retain his habiliments 

 instead of being forced to appear " in puris naturalibus." 



The display and injudicious use of arms in a case like this cannot be too strongly repro- 

 bated : a single pistol or a sword is sufficient to intimidate a few petty robbers, but with 

 the lawless tribes of the desert, who attack generally in overpowering numbers, the 

 exhibition of offensive weapons by a disparity of force, serves only to irritate and is likely 

 to lead to bloodshed which the Arab in most cases wishes to avoid. Blood however 

 being once drawn, the result is easily conceived. The fate of Messrs. Taylor, Asperiall 

 and Bowater, is fortunately I believe a solitary instance recorded of massacre having 

 followed the rash act of injudiciously using arms, amongst Europeans; but such occur- 

 rences are frequently heard of as happening to 'the natives of the country, and indeed 

 the " law of blood" universally admitted in the Arab code, in some measure sanctions 

 the indiscriminate taking of life as an indemnification for the loss of either friends or 

 relatives by strife or feud. This law, though possessing its disadvantages, is morally a 

 good one amongst the barbarous tribes of Arabia, for murders would become of more 

 frequent occurrence did not the fear of revenge tend to restrain the animal passions. 

 A family having what is termed " Durn" or " blood" on its hands, is generally shunned by 

 the rest of the tribe, who dread being involved in its consequences. The same rule 

 affects individuals. The penalty however of "blood for blood" can be commuted for 

 a sum of money paid by the offender to the tribe of the injured party, only a part of which 

 the latter shares. It is collected from the whole tribe to which the culprit belongs* 

 provided he is too poor to pay it himself, and the offence is not of a very aggravated 

 nature. The " price of blood" varies in different parts, and is moreover not at all times 

 accepted. In the towns, a small sum, according to the degree of the party, suffices, and 

 may be reckoned as about £20 to 30. Among the desert tribes it is much more, 

 amounting in some cases to nearly double these sums, paid partly in coin, and partly in 

 camels, oxen, or sheep. On settling these affairs a good deal of form is gone through. 

 The heads of the tribe and the relations of the parties concerned assemble at a fixed 

 spot, and after payment of the penalty, witnesses are called to swear on the Koran to (he 

 nature of the settlement ; a hole is then dug in the ground, in which the feud is considered 

 to be buried. It is then filled up and a curse pronounced on the head of any party who 

 might happen to revive the quarrel. The parties then separate. This contract is not 

 however at all times binding ; in a few cases a thirst for revenge predominates, and whole 

 tribes are then involved by the breach of faith of a single man. 



