THE BEDOUINS.

THE Bedouin Arabs, in general, are small, meagre and tawney; more so, however, in the heart of the desert than on the frontiers of the cultivated country; but they are always of a darker hue than the neighboring peasants. They also differ among themselves in the same camp; and an author remarks, that the shaiks, that is, the rich, and their attendants, are always taller and more corpulent than the common class. He saw some of them above five feet and six inches high; though in general they do not (he says) exceed five feet two inches high. This difference can only be attributed to their food, with which the former are supplied more abundantly than the latter: and the effects of this are equally evident in the Arabian and Turkmen camels; for these latter, dwelling in countries rich in forage, are become a species more robust and fleshy than the former. It may likewise be affirmed, that the lower class of Bedouins live in a state of habitual wretchedness and famine. It will appear almost incredible to us, but it is an undoubted fact, that the quantity of food usually consumed by the greatest part of them does not exceed six ounces a day. This abstinence is most remarkable among the tribes of the Najd and the Hedjaz. Six or seven dates soaked in melted butter, a little sweet milk or curds, serve a man a whole day; and he esteems himself happy, when he can add a small quantity of coarse flour, or a little ball of rice. Meat is reserved for the greatest festivals; and they never kill a kid but for a marriage or a funeral. A few wealthy and generous shaiks alone can kill young camels, and eat baked rice with their victuals. In times of dearth, the vulgar, always half famished, do not disdain the most wretched kinds of food; and eat locusts, rats, lizards and serpents, broiled on briers. Hence are they such plunderers of the cultivated lands and robbers on the high roads: hence also their delicate constitution, and their diminutive and meagre bodies, which are rather active and vigorous. It may be worth while to remark, that their perspiration is extremely small; and their blood is so destitute of serosity that nothing but the greatest heat can preserve its fluidity. This, however, does not prevent them from being tolerably healthy

in other respects; for maladies are less frequent among them than among the inhabitants of the cultivated country.

The Bedouin Arabs are divided into tribes, which constitute so many distinct nations. Each of these tribes appropriates to itself a tract of land forming its domain; in this they do not differ from cultivating nations, except that their territory requires a greater extent, in order to furnish subsistence for their herds throughout the year. Each tribe is collected in one or more camps, which are dispersed through the country, and which make a successive progress over the whole, in proportion as it is exhausted by the cattle; hence, it is, that within a great extent, a few spots only are inhabited, which vary from one day to another; but as the entire space is necessary for the annual subsistance of the tribe, whoever encroaches on it is deemed a violator of property; this is with them the law of nations. If, therefore, a tribe, or any of its subjects, enter upon a foreign territory, they are treated as enemies and robbers, and a war breaks out. Now, as all the tribes have affinities with each other by alliances of blood or conventions, leagues are formed, which render these wars more or less general. The manner of proceeding on such occasions is very simple. The offence made known, they mount their horses and seek the enemy; when they meet, they enter into a parley, and the matter is frequently made up; if not, they attack either in small bodies, or man to man. They encounter each other at full speed with fixed lances, which they sometimes dart, notwithstanding their length, at the flying enemy: the victory is rarely contested; it is decided by the first shock. Night generally favors their escape from the conqueror. has lost the battle, strikes its tents, removes to a distance by forced marches, and seeks an asylum among its allies. The enemy, satisfied with their success, drive their herds farther on, and the fugitives soon after return to their former situation. But the slaughter made on these engagements frequently sows the seeds of hatred which perpetuate these dissensions. The interest of the common safety has for ages established a law among them, which decrees that the blood of every man who is slain, must be avenged by that of his murderer. This vengeance is called Tar, or retaliation; and the right of exacting it devolves on the nearest kin to the deceased. So nice are the Arabs on this

The tribe which

point of honor, that if any one neglects to seek his retaliation he is disgraced for ever. He therefore watches every opportunity of revenge; if his enemy perishes from any other cause, still he is not satisfied, and his vengeance is directed against the nearest relation. These animosities are transmitted as an inheritance from father to children, and never cease but by the extinction of one of the families, unless they agree to sacrifice the criminal, or purchase the blood for a stated price, in money or in flocks. Without this satisfaction, there is neither peace nor truce, nor alliances between them, nor sometimes even between whole tribes: "There is blood between us, say they on every occasion; and this expression is an insurmountable barrier. Such accidents being necessarily numerous in a long course of time, the greater part of the tribes have ancient quarrels, and live in a habitual state of war; which, added to their way of life, renders the Bedouins a military people, though they have made no great progress in war

as an art.

Their camps are formed in a kind of irregular circle, composed of a single row of tents, with greater or less intervals. These tents, made of goat or camel's hair, are black or brown, in which they differ from those of the Turkmen, which are white. They are stretched on three or four pickets, only five or six feet high, which gives them a very flat appearance; at a distance, one of these camps seems only like a number of black spots; but the piercing eye of the Bedouin is not to be deceived. Each tent inhabited by a family is divided by a curtain into two apartments, one of which is appropriated to the women. The empty space within the large circle serves to fold their cattle every evening. They never have any intrenchments; their only advanced guards and patrols are dogs; their horses remain saddled and ready to mount on the first alarm; but, as there is neither order or regularity, these camps, always easy to surprise, afford no defence in case of an attack; accidents, therefore, very frequently happen, and cattle are carried off every day: a species of marauding war, in which the Arabs are very experienced.

The tribes which live in the vicinity of the Turks are more accustomed to attacks and alarms; for these strangers, arrogating to themselves, in right of conquest, the property of the whole country, treat the Arabs as rebel

vassals, or as turbulent and dangerous enemies. On this principle, they never cease to wage secret or open war against them. Sometimes they contest 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 shaiks be divided by interest or ambition, they alternately succor each party, and conclude by the destruction of both. Frequently, too, they poison or assassinate those chiefs, whose courage or abilities they dread, though they should even be their allies. The Arabs, on their side, regarding the Turks as usurpers and treacherous enemies, watch every opportunity to do them injury. Unfortunately, their vengeance, falls oftener on the innocent than the guilty. The harmless peasant generally suffers for the offences of the soldier. On the slightest alarm, the Arabs cut their harvests, carry off their flocks, and intercept their communication and commerce. The peasants call them thieves, and with reason; but the Bedouins claim the right of war, and perhaps they also are not in the wrong. However this may be, these depredations occasion a misunderstanding between the Bedouins and the inhabitants of the cultivated country, which renders them mutual enemies.

THE KOORDS.

THE habits of the Koords are those of other pastoral tribes in Asia. The mountains afford food for their flocks, in which their wealth mainly consists, and a secure abode for themselves and their families. They descend to the plains in early spaing to cultivate the land, and in summer to reap the harvest. The products of the soil are various; the valleys are highly fruitful, and besides grain of various sorts, yield large crops of flax, cotton, tobacco, and manna, which is here the substitute for sugar.

But the grand distinguishing characteristic of the Koords, is their inordinate and determined spirit of plunder. With them plundering is a natural occupation; and every unhappy stranger whom chance or curiosity throws in their way, they regard as their lawful prey. Should the unfortunate being happen to be poor and rag

ged, he is severely beaten for not having brought sufficient property to make him worth robbing. They are not only daring robbers but skilful theives; and their boldness is solely equalled by their address. Sir J. Malcolm, on his mission to the court of Persia in 1810, had scarcely set foot on their territory, when he was attacked, in spite of his imposing appearance, and his numerous attendants. Captain Keppel was closely watched for several miles, and narrowly escaped a similar visitation. Mr. Buckingham was less fortunate; a contribution of twenty-five hundred piastres was levied on the caravan with which he journeyed before it was allowed to proceed.

The authority of the chiefs of Koordistan is exercised with mildness, and obeyed with cheerfulness. Its enforcement is, in all cases, attended by an extreme regard to the national customs and prejudices. A remarkable instance of this occurred when Sir John Malcolm visited Persia in 1810. "I was encamped," he says, "at a village called Zagha, situated within twenty-five miles of Sennah, the capital of Ardelan. The officer who attended as mehmandar, or entertainer to the mission, on the part of the Waly, informed me, that a man of the tribe of Soorsoor (some families of which were encamped within a mile), had the day before murdered his father. He will, of course, be put to death,' I observed. 'I do not think he will,' said the Mehmandar; he is himself heir, and there is no one to demand his blood.' Will not the prince of the country take care that this parricide does not escape? The Waly,' he coolly replied, cannot interfere in a case like this, unless appealed to; and, after all,' said he, ‘if the affair be agitated, the murder will be compounded. Among Koords, who are always at war,' he added, the life of an active young man is much too valuable to be taken away on account of a dead old one!'" and thus the horrid deed escaped the severity of the law, on account of the prejudices of the nation.

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There are several cities in Koordistan, but the military tribes of that country seldom congregate in large encampments. The prince of Ardelan lives in great luxury and splendor in his capital, whose inhabitants appear mostly to enjoy affluence. Their condition presents a striking contrast with that of the neighboring rude population, who glory in their wild freedom; and while they rejoice in the