CHARACTER Ot^ THE APtAES. 
]59 
Assist at those of the morning and at ten in the evenin;^^ place 
themselves at the entrance of their tents, and remain with their 
faces turned towards the rising sun. It does not appear that 
thes'e people know the obligation of pilgrimages to Mecca; btit 
they observe with the utmost scrupulousness the rhamadan, or 
letit. 
The talbe is both the priiest ahd schoolmaster: his scholars 
assemble every evening before the tent, and by the light of 
a large fire he teaches them some sentences of the koran, and 
initiates them in the principles of their ireligion. His greatest 
anxiety, however, seems to be to inspire them with an insur- 
mountable aversion from strangers, and extreme horror at 
the name of a Christian. These principles, when once im- 
bibed, are never effaced from their minds, aiid throughout 
the whole of their life they think the murder of an European no 
greater crime than that of a dog. The scholars write their les- 
sons on small tablets^ as paper is too scarce for common use. 
While they are at their daily occupations, the boys carry these - 
tablets at their backs; and when they have learnt to read and 
write, and have acquired a few prayers by heart, they are con- 
sidered sufficiently informed, and above the rank of children: 
they then look with contempt upon the imlettered NegroeJ^, and 
€ven upon their own countrymen who have not made such pro- 
gress in science as themselves. 
All the Moors of the desert acknowledge the supremacy of the 
King of Morocco, but they pay him no tribute, and live in the 
greatest independence. Some of these people have abandoned 
the deserts, and taken up their residence in the towns, where 
they employ themselves in commerce, and carry on différent 
trades ; but they are looked upon by the others with contempt, 
and as having degenerated from the nobleness of their ancestors : 
others have established spots in the oases, or fields, where the^^ 
devote themselves to agrictdture; and even these are stigmatised 
as degenei ate, and unworthy of the name of Arabs. 
The real Arabs, indeed, are those who encamp in the desert, 
who live in complete liberty, and only acknowledge as their su- 
periors the chiefs of their tribes. Those likewise are real Arabs, 
who live habitually in a state of war, \jho kill for the sake of 
robbing their victims, and who steal whatever comes in their 
Way; so that the epithets of Arab and thief are synonimous. 
There is in the desert and on the banks of the Senegal a race 
named jJzounas, to whom the name of Arab properly belongs : 
they are neither herdsmen, merchants, nor cultivators; but are 
vagrants, thieves by profession, and consequently Moors or 
Arabs by acknowledged title. Their trade, w hicli renders them 
dreaded by and odious to all their neighbours, keeps them m 
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