CHAP. I. 
ARABS. 
41 
hilt near the pommel. They generally procure their powder and 
lead from Tripoli, though some possess the art of making a kind 
of inferior powder amongst themselves. 
In the Tripoline dominions, and in Fezzan also, there are 
two kinds of Arabs, one wanderers, the other fixed residents in 
towns ; those in towns (as Benioleed for example) travel much 
about the country, but always return to what they consider as 
their home. The wanderers have no permanent place of abode, 
but remove their tents as pasturage or circumstances require. 
These tents are made of woollen, coarsely woven in long pieces and 
sewn together. They spread to a great breadth, but are not high ; 
the entrance being about six feet, and the top sloping gradually 
down till it is fastened to the ground. They are so divided by 
means of mats or carpets, that the women have a separate place 
from the men, and can be hidden from the gaze of strangers : they, 
however, so manage it, as to see without being themselves observed. 
These dwellings of the Arabs are called by their inhabitants, Beit 
el Shar, ^1^^ i^jo, or " liair houses," and Xejja also, Ey means 
of bushes, almost every tent has an inclosurc adjoining it, for 
securing sheep or goats at night ; and stakes are driven in the 
ground, to which the horses are fastened, though sometimes these 
animals are allowed a portion of the tents of their masters. The 
Arabs are generous to their own kinsmen; and should a stranger 
come amongst them, they never deny him the rights of hospitality, 
provided they are themselves eating ; but should that not be the 
case, they make no attempt to prepare food expressly for him : 
an acquaintance, however, is always sure of a good reception. 
The Bedouins of Barbary are not to be compared with those 
of Egypt, either for enterprise, ingenuity, or good qualities ; since 
whatever they may have been, they are now, by the tyranny of 
their masters, fallen from their once higli character, and are not in 
G 
