The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-12-20
THE ARABS OF THE DESERT.

Much has been said of late concerning
the Bedouins and their share in the
Anglo-Egyptian war, and yet no class
of people is less known to the outer
world, for the reason, perhaps, that no
other class so persistently keeps aloof
from civilizations When Asis and Afri-
ca were joined by the Isthmus of Suez
the Bedouins roamed freely from Mo-
, rocco through Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli,
Egypt, Arabia, and Syria, often trading
~ ION their way, besides keeping up their
fiocks. BY the cutting OF the land, how
. ever, those who were in Syria and Ara
5 : bia became separated from their African
friends. The tribes, which had hitherto
been united, have divided into two sep
~ arate bodies, one of which is now called
Anadollou, or Asiatic. and the other
q N MyssirlDu, or African. This separation
of the Bedouins has been of advantage
TO the Anadollou, as the desert in Asia
2 Is interspersed with fertile spots, which
are at no great distance from the mar
J kets, where their horses, sheep and
: AZ camels can be Sold It has been detri-
mental to the Myssirlou, who have been
FTsa confined to one enormous desert, with
small oases here and there, and have
always been obliged to defend them
selves against the attacks of wild tribes
inhabiting the interior of Africa. Many
of these Myssirlou tribes have confined
themselves within certain limits, where
they breed -high-class horses exclusively.
These tribes are called ssAhal Hader,"
or inhabitants of fixed places, while
their roaming brethren are denominated
ssAhal Bedw,n or dwellers of unlimited
space. Very little can be said in favor of
the latter class of Bedouins, as they are
known to be bloodthirsty, cruel, and
cowardly, their chief occupation being
81 robbery, cattle lifting, and kidnapping,
or slaTe-hunting, in which thev excel.
- The only virtue they seem TO possess is
their great love for their horses. The
Ahal Hader Bedouin, however, although
retaining much of his savage nature, is
noble, generous, kind, and hospitable,
and win, in many respects, serve as a
good example to civilized nations.
The Bedouin considers the desert his
Il personal property. He says that the sun
gave it to him as legacy, ordering him
E to keep it intact and free from intruding
strangers. He believes if he fails to do
this that the sun will cease to shine on
it, and It will be covered with water.
For this reason the Bedouins are very
jealous of foreigners passing through
the desert without their permission,
and they will rob, and even murder,
travellers, who have not taken the pre-
canton to provide themselves with a
permit from some Bedouin Sheik or
Ameer. This permit is sometimes in
the shape of body guard, which &C
companies the travellers to the next
tribe, and confides them to another
guard, which in turn does the same
thing; or it is in writing, bearing the
seal of some chief; else it is a ring, a
handkerchief, piece of wood, or leath-
er- In any case, permission obtained
from one chief is sufficient to insure
the traveller safe passage through the
L u L..
enough 10 fall into the hands of hostile
tribes, of which there are few who are
always at war with the more peaceable
of their own kind. This right of the
Bedouin to the desert is acknowledged
they say, by the Sultan of Turkey and
the Khediye of Egypt, who pay them an
annual tribute for allowing the caravan
of holy camels to march over the sand
on its way to Mecca. The truth, how
ever, is that the holy caravan was sc
often robbed by the. Bedouins that the
Turkish and Egyptian rulers thought i
policy to pay a little black-mail rather
than send large bodies of troops to pro
tect it. The great difficulty experienced
by stranger is in obtaining the neces
sary permission, for this IS not readily
granted, the Bedouin chiefs resorting tC
all kinds of subterfuge, and very otter
to deception.
No experienced Oriental traveller con
siders himself safe until he has not onl,
slept IN the chiefs tent, but has alsC
> smoked the narghilleh of friendship
broken bread and divided salt with him
formalities withoutwhose observance Nc
Bedouin Is to be relied upon. Th'
friendship, however, once obtained, car
be depended upon. Many cases ar
known where Bedouins have risked anG
sacrificed their lives in protecting o.
y avenging those to whom they hay,
pledged themselves. The most recen
instance Is that of the Emeer Abou- Said
who last year marched at the head of /
thousand lances, from Nubia to Tripoli
journey of two months, where h
fought and destroyed the whole of tn
Yzamy tribe, for having robbed a cara
van of Greek gentlemen, who were col
lecting specimens of natural history, ant
to whom the Emeer Abou-Said ha,
granted pass The most curious Incl
dent of this expedition was that tn
Emeer had to pass through three tribe
with which he was at war at the time
but they, knowing that he was bent ol
defending Bedouin honor, not only al
lowed him to cross their territory un
molested, but also entertained him hos
pitably. The Bedouins always cam
near well, and within few minute
after their arrival at one they are com
fortably settled. All their property
shaped saddle-bags, which are easil
packed and unpacked. Their tent
consist of pieces of cloth, or rather felt
made of camel's hair by the women, AN
thrown over bamboo poles. Some 9
the tents are very pretty, especial
those of the chiefs, which are inteI
woven with gold, silver, colored wool:
silk, etc. The majority of them, how
ever, have nothing to recommend then
The mems tents are open at both side:
but those of the women are closed u
with rolls of cane, not for protectio
from heat or cold but because a BED
ouin wife's face must never be see
by anybody but her husband. Wher
ever she leaves the tent she covers he
face with thick black muslin. The furn
cure in the tents consists of carpets an
little or nothing else. On these they S
and sleep. The tents are, howeve
decorated with the saddles of the me
and litters of the women, the majorit
of which are richly ornamented and I
great value A Bedouin will work m
steal for years to possess gold-mounte
saddle, bride, and stirrups, for the:
are the criterion of q mans wealth an
position.
All Bedouins are given to polygam