The Portland daily press., 1882-12-06
The Arabs of the Desert.
New York Tribune.l


Much has. been said of late concerning the
Bedonins and their share in the Anglo-Egyp-
tian war, and yet no class of people is less
known to the outer world, for the reason; per-
haps, that no other class so persistently keeps
aloof from civilization. When Asia and
Africa were joined by the Isthmus of Suez,
the Bedouins roamed freely through Morocco,
through Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, Egypt, Arabia
and Syria often trading on their way, besides
keeping up their focks. By the cutting of the
land, however, those who were in Syria and
Arabia became separated from their African
friends. The tribes which had hitherto been
united have been divided into two separate
bodies, one of which is now called Anadollou,
or Asiatic, and the other Myssirlou, or African
This separation of the Bedouins has been of ad
vantage to the Anadollou, as the desert in
Asia is interspersed with fertile spots, which
are at no great distance from the markets,
where their horses, sheep and camels can be
sold. 1t has been detrimental to the Myssirlou,
who have been confined to one enormous des-
ert with small oases here and there, and have
always been obliged to defend themselves
against the attacks of wild tribes inhabiting the
| N~AAOA ia ]Aii4Oh' 4uduy VI tu6oo NJnHiIiOu
tribes have confined themselves within certain
limits, where they breed high-class horses ex-
clusively. These tribes are called "Ahal Hs-
der" or inhabitants of fixed places, while their
roaming brethren are denominated "Ahal
| Bedw," or dwellers of unlimited space. Very
little can be said in favor of the latter class of
| Bedoulns as they are known to be bloodthirs-
| ", cruel and cowardly, their chief occupations
| being robbery, cattle lifting, and kidnapping or
| slave hunting, in which they excel The only
| virtue they seem to possess is their great love
| for their holses. The Ahal Hader Bedouin
however, although retaining much of his saw
| age nature, is noble, generous, kind, and hos
| pltable, and will, in many respects serve as a
| good example to civilized nations.
Tne BedoUin considers the desert his person.
al property. He says that the sur gave it to
| him AS legacy, ordering him to keep it intact
and free from intruding strangers. He believes
If be fails to do this the sun will cease to shine
on 1t, and 1t will Re 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-
| Caution to provide themselves with a permit
| from some Bedouin sheik or emeer This per-
| NIT is sometimes in the shape of body guard ,
| winch accompanies the travellers to the next
| tribe, and confides them to another guard, i,
| which IN turn does the same thing; or it is in
| writing, bearing the seal of some chief: else il
| 30 -" A.bS3 d HdnuhtrCul0I, piece OF WOOD, or
| leather. In any case permission obtained from
| one chief is sufficient to insure the traveller a
| safe passage through the desert, unless he
| should be unfortunate enough to fall into the
| hands OF hostile tribes, of which there are a
| few who are always at war with the more peace
| able OF their own kind. This right of the Bed
oulns to the desert is acknowledged, they say,
by the sultan of Turkey and the khedive of
| Egypt, who pay them an annual tribute for al
| lowing the caravan of holy camels to march
over the sand on its way to Mecca. The truth,
| however, is that the holy caravan was SO often
| robbed by the Bedouins that the Turkish and
Egyptian rulers thought it policy to paw lit
tie black mail rather than send large bodies of
troops to protect it, The great difficulty expe-
rlenced by stranger is in obtaining the neces-
sary PERMISSION. for this is not readily granted.
| the Bedouln chiefs resorting to all kinds of
| subterfuge, and very often to deception. No
| experienced Oriental traveller considers him
| self safe until he has not only slept in the
| chiefs tent, but has also smoked the narebil-
leh OF friendship, broken bread and divided
| salt with him, formaliteS without whose obser-
vance 10 Bedouin is to be relied upon. The
friendship, however, once obtained, can be de-
| pended upon. Many cases are known where
Bedouins have risked and sacrificed their lives
IN protecting or avenging those to whom they
| have pledged themselves. The most recent in
stance is that of the Emeer Abou-Said, who
| last year marched at the head of 1000 lauces
| from Nubia to Tripoli, journey of two months,
where he fought and destroyed the whole of
the Yzaney tribe, for having robbed caravan
OF Greek gentlemen, who were collecting spec
| linens OF natural history, and to whom the
Emeer Abou-Said had granted a pass. The
| most curious incident of this expedition was
| that the emeer had to pass through three tribes
| with whom he was at war at the time but
| they, knowing that he was bent on defending
| Bedouin honor, not only allowed him to cross
their territory unmolested, but also entertained
him Hospitality.