wide drawers, and a shirt; they have a cap, or handkerchief, tied round their heads, and, sometimes, they are covered with as many as fifteen handkerchiefs or pieces of cloth. In the hotter parts of the country, they go almost naked. The dress of the women consists of a cloak, a very wide shift, and pantaloons in proportion, and also veils. Many wear a gold ring, through the gristle of the as bracelets, and other jewels. indelible characters on the skin, Jids black, their teeth yellow, their lips, feet, and hands of a tile colour, which are all liable to alteration, according to rank and situation. Some of them paint a small flower upon their cheek, their forehead, or their chin, with the ́smoke of galls, or saffron, which makes a fine black colour.

nose, as well They engrave stain the eye

These are the people so frequently dangerous to travellers; and it is a strong proof, that au idle, unsettled mode of life, such as theirs, has a natural tendency to make men rapacious and dishonest. They are the descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham; and it is remarkable, that so long ago as 3700 years, it was foretold, "that they would be wild men, that their hand would be raised against every man, and every man's hand against them.* They, therefore, wage a kind of warfare against all, except those who belong to their own tribe; • Genesis, chap. 16, verse 12.

*

unless, indeed, the travelling merchants take care, previous to setting out, to purchase their favour by presents. In this respect, they deserve praise, for never is an Arab known to violate his word, or to do injury to one of his own tribe. The person of a stranger, who is once sheltered in the tent or the house of an Arab, is respected as sacred; he is protected from every injury, and often conducted to a place of safety; and it is but a few years since the assassination of the Pacha of Bagdad, by au Arab chief, exposed him to the detestation of his whole tribe.

When our caravan left Mecca, said the traveller, in answer to a question of Captain Blisset, we had procured one of each of the more powerful tribes to accompany us; for, as every Arab represents his tribe, the engagement into which these entered with us, secured us from the attacks of that tribe, to which he belonged. 1 recollect, on the eighth day of our journey, we discovered an encampment of Bedouins, and immediately drew up in form of battle; our camels and merchandize in the rere, and the soldiers in advance; this, however, was but a precaution against surprize, for our scouts soon returned, with the information, that it was the tribe of Ben Halet, or the Children of Halet, one of whom was in our company. They, also, were prepared to attack, but as soon as they found we were under the protection of one of

their companions, their hostile intentions were immediately laid aside, and their friendship secured. This, however, according to custom, was granted under all the formalities of war; and, therefore, a party of Arabian warriors rushed instantly from them, and ran full speed towards us; our soldiers also dismounted from their dromedaries, and proceeded with equal swiftness to meet them, when both sides mingJing, with much apparent rage, each holding his lance pointed against the breast of his opponent, they exhibited a mock fight, accom panied with loud shouts, on both sides.

In the course of our journey, we came across several distinct tribes, as well as several separate families, belonging to the same tribe; for they do not consider themselves obliged to live together, longer than mutual interest requires; each family is governed by its own sheik or chief; but all the sheiks who belong to the same tribe, acknowledge a com. mon chief, who is called sheik of sheiks. This dignity is limited to a certain family, in which it is hereditary, but the inferior sheiks, upon the death of a grand sheik, chuse the successor out of his family, without regard to age, or any other consideration, except superiority of abilities.

This mode of life, said Captain Blisset, must make them both hardy and fearless. It does, replied the traveller, but the most remarkable

effect of their living so much in the open air is, to sharpen, to a wonderful degree, their sense of smelling. They dislike cities, on account of the fetid vapours, that are produced about them; nor can they understand, how people who regard cleanliness, can bear to breathe such impure air. The Bedouins who accompanied our caravan, if carried to the spot from which a camel had wandered astray, will follow the animal, by smelling its track, and distinguish the marks of its footsteps by, the same means, from those of any other beast, that may have travelled the same way.

"It is worth your observation, William," said Captain Blisset, when he had heard all that their countryman had to relate, "how the Almighty provides for the wants of his creatures; for the extent of the deserts which separate the habitable parts of the east from those on the west, is so great, that no communication could be kept up by land were it not for the camel, which has been expressively called the ship of the desert. This animal is docile, capable of fatigue, and of enduring uncommon abstinence. Its feet are adapted, by their struc ture, for the day burning sands over which it is obliged to travel, their toughness and sponginess preventing them from cracking, and their great breadth from sinking in the sand (for they spread very much) in walking; and the forma tion of its body enables it to travel, without

inconvenience, over extensive parts of the most sterile country, where no water is to be found. It is furnished with a fifth stomach, in addition to the four it has, in common with all animals that chew the cud. In this additional stomach the water remains untainted, till the animal requires to make use of it, and in such a large quantity, that it is not unusual for travellers, when they want water, to kill a camel for the sake of what he contains. There is a kind of camel so fleet as to be called the camel of the wind, but its value is so great that 200 of the ordinary kind are often given in exchange for it. The pace of the common camel, which is employed in caravans, is so slow, that it does not make more than two or three miles hourly, for seven or eight hours in the day.

Providence has, also, bestowed on this coun try another animal, for which, indeed, Arabia is remarkable. This is the horse, which, there, excels the same animal of all other parts of the world. The best horses are distinguished by the qualities of strength, courage, and the capacity of enduring long abstinence from food. The best kind are chiefly reared by the Bedouins, or wandering Arabs, and often fetch the price of five hundred sovereigns; their pedigree is kept with the greatest care, and it is considered to detract from the value, if a single link of this chain is wanting: indeed, they pretend that some of them have proceeded from the stalls of King Solomon.