I 
CHAP. I. 
ARABS. 
43 
It is not their custom to have Negresses living with them, which 
may be accounted for by their disHke to being considered as the 
fathers of children of colour. The settled Arabs are not so scru- 
pulous ; but are, notwithstanding, more so than the Moors. The 
ceremony observed in conducting a bride to her husband is very 
singular ; and having myself been an eye-witness of it, I made a 
drawing representing the camel used on such occasions, with its 
gay trappings. 
A frame being fixed on the back of the animal, the bride is 
placed in it, and, while thus sitting, is housed over with carpets, 
shawls, and ostrich feathers. In travelling from place to place, or 
in searching for pasture ground, the people make use of these 
frames ; but they are in such cases generally uncovered, and 
have baskets, or other frame-work, attached to their sides, in 
which the young children are placed. An Arab family on its 
march presents a very extraordinary appearance, the camels being 
laden with tents, cooking utensils, women, and children. The 
men walk, driving their flocks before them, or ride their horses, 
frequently without bridle or saddle. Should the journey exceed 
one day, a temporary tent is erected at night ; and at the dawn of 
morning, all is again placed on the camels. The operation of 
erecting or taking down one of their hair houses does not occupy 
much time, as the women always assist the men on these occasions. 
The dogs guard the flocks during the night, and are very fierce. 
In colour they are white, resembling wolves in form, and having 
long bushy tails. They howl rather than bark, and with great 
apparent courage attack every stranger who approaches them, 
though when threatened with a stick or stone, they run yelping 
away. It frequently happens, that the spot fixed on as a tem- 
porary residence is far distant from any well, sometimes even 
three days of the ordinary march of flocks ; yet this does not dis- 
G 2 
