120 
THE ARABIANS. 
which was scattered along the place. We had the curiosity to ex- 
amine one of these planters of fire when he set off, and we saw him 
wrap up small sparks in dry grass, which when he had run a little 
way, having been fanned by the air that his motion produced, began 
to blaze ; he then laid it down in a place convenient for his purpose, 
enclosing a spark of it in another quantity of grass, and so continued 
his course.” 
It ought to be observed, that the preceding account chiefly relates 
to the dispositions and manners of the natives when they were first 
visited by the European nations. Since that period their cliaracters 
have been more fully developed, though not much to their advantage. 
Their improvement in useful knowledge is very slow, but they have 
given proofs that they are capable of moral culture, and of civil 
refinement. 
Manners and Customs of the Arabians. 
The settled natives of Arabia are of a middle stature, thin and 
sallow ; having black eyes and hair, and thin wity beards. They are 
very abstemious. Their common food consists of thin cakes ofwheaten 
or durrah bread, and pillau, which is made of fowl or mutton boiled 
in rice ; their beverage is water and coflfee, or kisher, a preparation 
from the husks of coffee-beans, which is almost the only luxury they 
indulge in. They seldom transgress the law^s of Mahomet by drink- 
ing any fermented liquors, and never do it in public. The use of 
tobacco is universal ; and they often make up for the want of intoxi- 
cating liquors, by smoking hemp-leaves freely. (See De Sacys 
Chrestonathie ArahCf ii. 120.) At dinner-time they sit round on the 
floor of the room, spread a cloth or piece of leather before them, 
place the dishes upon it, and helping themselves with their fingers, 
for they have no knives and forks, they finish their meal very quickly. 
This is the custom among the rich and great, as well as among the 
poor. 
Their religion requires frequent ablutions, and they are naturally 
cleanly, so that this use of their hands in eating is not so filthy as 
might be supposed. Their temperance is probably the chief cause of 
the constant health they usually enjoy. Tedious illnesses are uncom- 
mon among them, and the worst disorder to which they are liable is 
the leprosy, the prevalence of which is in a great measure owing to 
the ignorance of their physicians. They are extremely fond of anoint- 
ing themselves ; even the poorest people do it on holidays. Those 
who are in good circumstances are fond of burning incense, and 
sprinkling their clothes with sweet-scented waters ; and both are done 
when a stranger comes in, as is usual in most Mahometan countries. 
The Arabs are fond of society, and great frequenters of the coffee- 
houses. The women, as must always be the case w’here the laws of 
Mahomet are observed, are kept in great seclusion. They have the 
care of all the children in their earliest years ; but the boys, after a 
certain age, (five or six years,) are removed from the harem, and kept 
entirely with their male relations. In wealthy families they are 
placed under the care of a tutor. They are extremely careful, in mar- 
