The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1911-11-18


this soft seat are safely deposited the
women and children, as many as each
beast can carry. camel can bear
on his back a whole family and all
their belongings AS the ship of the
desert" rocks his slow, plodding way
over the stony plain, the riders are
jolted vigorously back and forth, some
times being jerked suddenly forward
or backward, clinging to each other
while their goods dangle to and fro.
rafting and changing in musical dis.
cordance as accompaniment to the
low humming of lullabies by the
mother to little brown babies in their
arms.
The gospel statement of the earth
ly cares OF man would have to be
modified in the case of the Bedouins,
for 1t is not even a simple question
of What shall we eat and where
withal shall we be clothed?" for the
latter is of but slight concern to the
Bedouin. Having but one garment.
and never removing 1t day or night.
it's soiled or ragged condition being
no element of disqualifi cation, its tit
or style unchanging. this matter OF
clothes causes him not one moment
Of worry. The garments of the men
and women have great resemblance.
Both men and women are highly dis
figured by their hideous tattooing on
face and arms.
Bedouin laws of politeness forbid
the mention of the name woman.
There are three things unmention-
able-pig, dog and woman. II man
must speak of his wife, he calls her
"the thing" and begs your pardon for
mentioning her at all in your presence
When man II asked how many
children he has, he only gives the
number of his boys. never breathing
the fact that he has any girls. Hav.
| ing only daughters Is spoken of as
having no children" The Bedouin,
having no respect for his wife. does
not hesitate to divorce her for any
caprice of his own.
II one approaches an encampment
in courteous way speaking the Ian.
guage and understanding every detail
of Bedouin etiquette, one receives a
cordial invitation to enter and rest in
the shade, and coffee is at once of
fered one and sumptuous meal is
| prepared for the unknown visitor
The needs of horse or camel are also
attended to carefully
Outside the tent the men enjoy 9
smoke and chat. and their inevitable
coffee Squatting in a circle arounc
the camp fire, they flash their Ions
pipes and listen to the old-time "stor!
teller" His lengthy stories OF adven
ture or fables of weirdly imaginar!
plots hold the company spellbound
A Sleepless Night.
At length when night is far spen
and the last Pickering ember amoni
the ashes has died out and stillnes
prevails throughout the camp, tn
traveller also retires to his tent, hi
mind filled with variety of interest
ing pictures of the strange life he ha
entered upon. But alas! trivial az
compartments to night in a Bedouil
encampment which do not in the leas
disturb the native, to that life borr
, are a cause of great annoyance to tn
visitor and give him a seepless nigh
, Near by his tent are the interestin
noises of the continual movements c
the hundreds of camels around tn
camp, the bleating of sheep, the bari
! ing of dogs. the braying of donkey
: and the stamping of horses hoofs, a
, of which goes on all night long. Flu
! Their off are the chirping of cricket'
5 the croaking of frogs and the uncon
3 Portable sounds OF the shrieking {
jackals and hyenas. But these al
: minor troubles to those within tn
: tent Here flies, mosquitoes and san
. flies are his closest companions. an
9 tnickly inhabit his lodging. The hea
which to the Bedouin is source {
: comfort. grows insifferable to the poo
s stranger. These are the drawback
+ to an insight into Bedouin life
S Long ere daybreak he is awakene
: from a morning nap--at last attaine
r through sheer eyhaustion--by II
y screams of the children all around tt
o camp Life is astir, and the work
e the women has begun. And thus b
J. gins another day In the Bedouin can
r to be spent exactly like yesterday al
d and the day before, and so on for
e succession of days, weeks, months al
n years. While life shall last the B
n touin knows no change. nor does |
n aish for any.
n EvANGELIME BEN-oLlEL.