THE ARABIAN RACE. 



251 



more readily recognised, from their wearing a distinctive dress. As 

 a class, tlie Turks are manifestly less inclined than the Armenians, 

 to assimilate with Europeans. 



Muslim Syrians, were said to be numerous at Cairo ; although I 

 was unable to distinguish them. I do not know whether Christian 

 Syrians are in the habit of visiting this city ; but I saw one of them 

 at Malta, a person who had acquired eminence by his learning. 



Among the most interesting visiters at Cairo, were a party of Be- 

 douins, from Petra, near Palestine ; who had accompanied some tra- 

 vellers, and who were making their journey subserve the additional 

 purpose of buying corn. They were six or eight in number, and 

 from their lineaments, it was evident that they belonged to one 

 family. The hair was straight, and the features were those of the 

 White race ; but the depth of hue surprised me, as it fully equalled 

 that of my Barabra servant, who chanced to be standing near. They 

 were warmly clothed, in which respect they differed from the south- 

 ern Bedouins. 



I once met with three or four Arabs of the Hedjaz, in the streets 

 of Cairo; and I was struck with their peculiarly dignified deportment. 

 Their complexion was not particularly dark, and the physical race 

 could not be mistaken. At Suez, however, where this class of Arabs 

 are frequent visiters, I observed signs of mixed descent ; and in an 

 instance already mentioned, a Negro was in company. 



In place of a turban, all wore a mantle striped with yellow ; an 

 article of dress perhaps general in the Hedjaz ; but which I have oc- 

 casionally seen in Southern Arabia, and among Arab visiters at Bom- 

 bay and Zanzibar. At the last-named place, a man wearing it, was 

 pointed out to me as a " Wahabi, who had fought against the Pasha 

 of Egypt :" and I have elsewhere heard this mantle termed, the badge 

 of the Wahabi. At Muscat, I saw it worn by Negroes, whose filed 

 teeth designated an African birthplace. 



c. Southern Arabs. 



On the 24th of March, I left Suez in the English steamboat, and 

 on the 30th, I landed at Aden; where I remained for three weeks, 



