850 B E D O 
the property of the whole country, treat the Arabs as re¬ 
bel vaffals, or as turbulent and dangerous enemies. On 
this principle, they never ceafe to wage fecret or open war 
againft them. The pachas ftudy every occalion to harrafs 
them. Sometimes they conteft with them a territory which 
they had let them, and at others demand a tribute which 
they never agreed to pay. Should a family of ihaik.s be 
divided by intereft or ambition, they alternately fuccour 
each party, and conclude by the deftrucftion of both. Fre¬ 
quently too they poifon or affaffinate thole chiefs whole 
courage or abilities they dread, though they Ihould even 
be their allies. The Arabs, on their lide, regarding the 
Turks as ufurpers and treacherous enemies, vyatch every 
opportunity to do them injury. Unfortunately", their ven¬ 
geance falls oftener on the innocent than on the guilty. 
The harmlefs peafant generally fuffers for the offences of 
the foldier. On the flighted; al irm, the Arabs cut their 
harvells, carry off their flocks, nd intercept their com¬ 
munication and commerce. The pc (ant calls them thieves, 
and with reafon ; but the Bedouins ci urn the right of war, 
and. perhaps they alfo are not in the wrong. However this 
may be, thefe depredations occalion a mifunderftanding 
between the Bedouins and the inhabitants of the cultiva¬ 
ted country, which renders them mutual enemies. 
Such is the fituation of the wandering Arabs. They 
are fubjeft to great vicillitudes, according to the good or 
bad conduct of their chiefs. Sometimes a feeble tribe 
raifes and aggrandizes itfelf, whilffc another, which was 
powerful, falls into decay, or perhaps Is entirely annihi¬ 
lated ; not that all its members peri 111, but they incorpo¬ 
rate themfelves with fome other; and this is the conf'e- 
quence of the internal conlHtution of the tribes. Each 
tribe is compofed of one or more principal families, the 
members of which bear the title of Jhaihs, i.e. ‘chiefs or 
lords.’ Thefe families have a great refemblanee to the 
patricians of Rome, and the nobles of modern Europe. 
One of the (liaiks has the fupreme command over the o- 
thers. He is the general of their little army ; and lome- 
times afl'umes the title of emir , which fignifies command¬ 
er or prince. The more relations, children, and allies, he 
lias, the greater are his ftrength and power. To tliele he 
atfds particular adherents, whom he Ifudioully attaches to 
him, by (Applying. all their wants. But, befides this, a 
number of fmall families, who, not being Ifrong enough 
to live independent, Hand in need 0/ protection and allian¬ 
ces, range themfelves under the banners of this chief. 
Such an union is called kabila, or‘tribe.’ Thefe tribes 
are diitinguilbed from each other by the name of their re- 
fpeclive chiefs, or by that of the ruling family ; and, when 
they fpeak of any of the individuals who compofe them, 
they call them the children of fuch a chief, though they 
may not be all really of his blood, and he himfelf may 
have been long fince dead. Thus they fay, Beni Ternin, 
Oulad Tai, ‘the children of Temin and of Tai.’ This 
mode of expreflion is even applied, by metaphor, to the 
names of countries: the ufual phrafe for denoting its in¬ 
habitants being to call them the children of Inch a place. 
Thus the Arabs fay, Oulad Ma/r, the Egyptian's; Onlad 
Sham, the Syrians ; they would alfo lay, Oulad Franja, the 
French; Oulad Mo/kou, the Ruffians; a remark which is 
not unimportant to ancient hiftory. 
The government of this fociety is at once republican, 
ariftocratical, and even defpotic, without exactly corre- 
fponding with any of thele forms. It is republican, inaf- 
nmeh as the people have a great influence in all affairs, 
and as nothing can he tranfa&ed without the confent of a 
majority. It is ariflocratical, becaufe the families of the 
(huiks poffels fome of the prerogatives which every where 
accompany power; and, lalily, it is defpotic, becaufe the 
principal lhaik has an indefinite and almoft abfolnte autho¬ 
rity, which, when he happens to be a man of credit and 
influence, he may even abufe ; but the flute of thefe tribes 
confines even this abufe to very narrow limits: for if a 
chief (hould commit an a<ft of injuftice; if, for example, 
he Ihould kill an Arab, it would be almolt impollible for 
U I N S. 
him to efcape pumfhment; the refentment of the offended 
party would pay no re.fpeiff to his dignity ; the law of re¬ 
taliation would, be put in force; and, Ihould he not pay 
the blood, he would be infallibly affaifinated ; which, from 
the fimple and private life the lhaiks lead in their camps, 
would be no difficult thing to efleiff. If he haraffes his 
fubjects by feverity, they abandon him and go over to ano¬ 
ther tribe. His own relations take advantage, of his mif- 
condudl to depofe him and advance themfelves to his Ra¬ 
tion. He can have no refource in foreign troops ; his fub- 
jefts communicate too ealily with each other to render it 
pollible for him to divide their interefts, and form a faction 
in his favour. Befides, how is lie to pay them, fince he 
receives no kind of taxes from the tribe; the wealth of 
the greater part of his fubjeiSls being limited to abfolnte 
neceliaries, and his own confined to very moderate polief- 
fions, and thofe too loaded with great expence ? 
The principal fliaik in every tribe, in faff, defrays the 
charges of all who arrive at or leave the camp. Fie re¬ 
ceives the vilits .of the allies, and of every perfon who 
has bufmefs with them. Adjoining to his tent is a large 
pavilion for the reception of all (hangers and paliengers. 
There are held frequent alfemblie.s of the flunks and prin¬ 
cipal men, to determine on encampments and removals;, 
on peaee and war ; on the differences with the Turkilh go¬ 
vernors and the villages; and the litigations and quarrels 
of individuals. To this crowd, which enters fucceffively, 
he mull: give coffee, bread baked on the allies, rice, and: 
fometimes roafted kid or camel ; in a word, he muff keep 
open table ; and it is the more important to him to be ge¬ 
nerous, as this generolity is clofely connected with matters 
of the greateft confequence. On the exercife of this de¬ 
pend his credit and his power. The famifhed Arab ranks 
the liberality which feeds him before every virtue : nor is- 
this prejudice without foundation ; for experience lias 
proved that covetous chiefs never were men of enlarged 
views : hence the proverb, as juft as it is brief, A clofefjl, 
a narrow heart. To provide for thefe expences, the (haik 
lias nothing but his herds, a few fpots of cultivated ground, 
the profits of his plunder, and the tribute he levies on the 
high roads ; the total of which is very inconfiderable. We 
nnift not, therefore, when we fpeak of the Bedouins, affix 
to the words prince and lord the ideas they ufually convey ; 
we Ihould come nearer the truth by comparing them to 
fubftantial farmers in mountainous countries, wliofe fim- 
plicity they refemble in their drefs as well as in their do- 
meftic life and manners. A ffiaik who has the command 
of 500 horf’e does not difdain to faddle and bridle his own, 
nor to give him barley and chopped ftravv. In his tent, his 
wife makes the coflee, kneads the dough, and fiiperintends 
the drelling of the vrdhtals. His daughters and kinfwo- 
men waffi the linen, and go with pitchers on their heads and 
veils over their faces to draw water from the fountain. 
Thefe manners agree precifely with the deferiptions in' 
Homer, and the hiftory of Abraham'in Genefis. 
The fimplicity, or perhaps more properly the poverty, 
of the_ lower clafs of the Bedouins, is proportionate to that 
of their chiefs. All the wealth of a family confifts of 
moveables, of which the following is a pretty exaSl ink 
ventory: A few male and female camels ; fome goats and 
poultry ; a mare and her bridle and faddle ; a tent; a lance 
fixteen feet long; a crooked fabre; a nifty nuifket with a 
flint or matchlock; a pipe; a portable mill; a pot for 
cooking ; a leathern bucket; a colfee roafter ; a mat; fome 
clothes ; a manile of black wool; and a few glafs or filver 
rings, which the women wear upon their legs and arms. 
If none of thefe are wanting, their furniture is complete. 
But what the poor man (lands molt in need of, and what 
lie lakes moft pleafure in, is his mare ; for this animal is 
his principal fupport. With his mare the Bedouin makes 
his excurfions againft hoftile tribes, or feeks plunder in the 
country and on the highways. The mare is preferred to 
the horfe, becaufe (he is more docile, and yields milk, 
which on occalion fatisfies the thirft and even the hunger 
of her mafter. 
Tints 
