34 
THE WALED BOU SEIF. 
circumference. Of its wood are made the roofs of 
houses, the frames of camel-saddles, and bowls for 
holding- milk and other food. With the berries and 
a mixture of oil the people prepare their water- 
skins, as well as tan leather. The valley is strewed 
with huge branches, cut down for the purpose of 
extracting resin. The ethel and the batoum are 
the most interesting of desert-trees, and I shall 
regret to exchange them for the tholukh. I wrote 
down the names of fourteen shrubs found in the 
valley of Taghijah : two of them, the sidr and the 
katuf, are edible by man ; the rest, with the ex- 
ception of the Jiijatajelj afford food for the camels. 
In this valley, amongst the trees, we found the 
flocks and horses of the Waled Bou Seif feeding. 
This tribe — the children of the Father of the Sword 
— are wandering Arabs, who have never acknow- 
ledged the authority of the Tripoli Government. 
They possess flocks, camels, and horses, — every ele- 
ment, in fact, of desert wealth. All the mountains 
near and round about Mizdah are claimed by them 
as their country, which has never, perhaps, been re- 
duced by any power but the Roman. A young 
man of the tribe, who was tending some sheep in 
the valley, came to visit us. He was a fine, cheer- 
ful fellow, with an open countenance, well dressed, 
having, besides his barracan, red leather boots, trou- 
sers, and a shirt. All his tribe, according to his 
account, are so dressed. He boasted of the inde- 
pendence of his people, who number three thou- 
