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the angels was now pictured on our minds in far more brilliant colors than it had ever been before. [See Gen. xviii. 1-8.]

"I have often heard it said that the Arab women are generally plain in features. I cannot by any means agree with this statement. I have now seen many of them in different places, and in general I have found their features regular, and even handsome. Their bodies are finely proportioned, and their carriage and walk graceful and easy. All of them have that rich, black, lustrous eye that is only seen in perfection in the East. The forehead is open and high, and the eyebrows beautifully arched. The mouth is well formed, with proudly curved lines; but this feature is universally disfigured by the custom of staining the under lip dark blue. The braided hair is almost quite covered by a black veil that hangs gracefully over the shoulders, the corner of which is frequently brought forward to cover the lower part of the face. The whole dress consists of a long, loose blue robe of coarse calico. It is drawn closely round the throat, has wide hanging sleeves, and sweeps the ground like a train when they walk. A profusion of bracelets of gold or silver adorn the arms, and large rings and drops hang from the ears; but only a few of them wear the nosejewel. This simple costume is admirably adapted to display the symmetry of their form and gracefulness of their movements; it causes no restraint or stiffuess, but allowing full play to nature, leaves all the beautiful proportions of the body to be fully developed. The gay votaries of fashion in the more polished nations of the West might imitate to some

and even the smell of the skin, comes out rather strong. Milk is of two kinds: fresh, called halib; and curdled, called leben. The latter is a common kind of refreshment. It is evidently the n hemah which Abraham gave to the angels, and which Jael gave to Sisera (Judges v. 25).

extent, and with great advantage, the simple attire of these daughters of the desert."

To these examples of Arab hospitality may be properly added another experienced by Mr. Porter in a visit to that most interesting region lying to the southward from Damascus-the Haurán, the Bashan of early times. He was now among the Druzes, who live in the ancient stone houses of that country, but yet take many of their characteristics from the dwellers in tents. In his journey he came to Hît,' on arriving at which they were taken immediately to the house of Sheikh Ass'ad 'Amer; and he says,

"Next to bravery in battle, to be reckoned hospitable is the proudest distinction an Arab chief can obtain. A plentiful repast of honey, dibs, butter and various kinds of sweetmeats was served up soon after our entrance, and at sunset a feast was prepared for us which far surpassed anything of the kind I had before seen. A whole sheep, roasted and stuffed with rice, graced the centre; beside it was a huge dish of pillau, some three feet in diameter. Round these were ranged nearly twenty other dishes of various kinds of dainties, including fowls, soups, kibbeh, burghul and a host of others. Round these again were ranged the thin cakes of bread in little piles, on the top of each of which was placed a wooden spoon, the only instrument used in this primitive land in taking food, and even this is a recent importation. All the dishes were of copper tinned, and they were placed on a large circular mat in the middle of the floor. The guests squatted round the dainties, each one stretching forward hand or spoon and helping himself to whatever he preferred. We were first invited to dine, and having finished, the other guests with the servants advanced. Then a por

tion was set aside on a separate mat for the sheikh; and

1 See map in Chapter xlviii.

2 Wine boiled down to a jelly-like consistency.

3 Rice, with a lake of butter on its centre.

members of his household, retainers, and such of the villagers as were present, afterward fell on the remainder. Before this third relay the pyramid of rice soon disappeared; the bones of sheep and fowls were stripped of every vestige of flesh; and the soup, burghul and pillau were thrown into one huge dish and speedily devoured.

"But enough of a Druze feast. Even so much I would not have inflicted on my reader but that it serves to show the primitive state of society in this country, and that in this ancient kingdom of Bashan the lapse of three thousand years has effected but little change in manners and customs. The hospitality of former days still remains; strangers could not then pass the house or tent of the patriarch without being constrained to go in and take food; and so it is even now. The wonderful expedition in the preparation of food, when the lamb or kid or fatted calf was brought and killed, and the bread was kneeded and baked, and the dainties thus hastily prepared were set before the stranger, all this is illustrated here, at the present time, and in the ordinary incidents of every-day life. It seemed to me, as I wandered among these hills of Bashan, as if time had retrograded many long centuries. The strange stories I used to read in boyhood beside a mother's knee, in that ponderous old Bible, were now realized. These surely are the tents of Abraham; or these are the dwellings of Israel. These are the very salutations with which the patriarchs were wont to address strangers; and these the prayers for their safety and welfare when they took their departure. At whatever house we lodged, a sheep or a lamb was killed for us and fresh bread baked. It was sometimes near sunset when we reached the house; but in due time the dainties appeared. To whatever village we went among the Druzes, pressing invitations were given to stay and eat. Once and again has one seized my horse's bridle and said, 'Will not my lord descend while his servants prepare a little food.' In one village our interces

sion saved a lamb which we saw hurried away to slaughter just as we entered the street, before even a word had been spoken. The chief had seen us approaching, and 'he made haste to kill the lamb;' fortunately we were in time to save it by assuring its hospitable master that we could not remain. At another village, where we took refuge from a passing shower, we observed the flour taken and water poured upon it to prepare unleavened cakes, and it was with difficulty that we could prevent the work from being prosecuted.”

The great traveller, Burckhardt, who had prepared himself for journeying among the Arabs by getting a practical knowledge of their language and by identifying himself with them till he could no longer be distinguished from a native Bedawy, and toward whom, owing to his poverty in appearance, there would be no possible motive except hospitality to a stranger, says of one of his stopping-places in the Sinai peninsula: "The Arabs had a long and fierce dispute among themselves to decide who should have the honor of furnishing us with a supper and a breakfast the next morning. He who first sees a stranger from afar, and exclaims There comes my guest,' has the right of entertaining him, whatever tent he may alight at. A lamb was killed for me, which was an act of great hospitality, for these Bedouins were poor. A Bedouin will praise the guest who departs from him without making any other remuneration than that of bestowing a blessing upon them and their encampment, much more than him who thinks to redeem all obligation by payment.'

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But very strangely combined with this is a habit of importunate begging, not, however, seemingly, through any fondness for possession, for after receiving, the Arab will the next moment give the object as freely away. Layard says of Mohammed Emin, sheikh of the Jebours, "a complete patriarch of his tribe:"

"During our intercourse I had every reason to be satisfied

with his hospitality and the cordial aid he afforded me. His chief fault was a habit of begging for everything. Always willing to give, he was equally ready to receive. In this respect, however, all Arabs are alike, and when the habit is understood, it is no longer a source of inconvenience, as on a refusal no offence is taken." He adds of him, "All he takes he divides among his friends, and he gladly risks his life to get that which is spent in an hour. An Arab will beg for a whole day for a shirt or a kerchief, and five minutes after he has obtained it he will give it to the first person who may happen to admire it."

Simple as children in these as well as in many other respects, theirs is still the very poetry of life, and their disposition has also very much of this character of poetry. Layard was travelling over the plains by the Euphrates with Suttum, an Arab sheikh, who as their horses dashed gaily along amid interminable beds of flowers, exclaimed in his excitement, "What kef (delight) has God given us equal to this? It is the only thing worth living for. Ya, Beg! what do dwellers in cities know of true happiness? They have never seen grass or flowers. May God have pity on them !" But that poetry of life had even to Suttum its counterpart of dark and gloomy prose; and this was in his own tent and connected with his household. His wife "Rathaiyah," says Layard, "was a sister of Suttum Meekh, chief of the powerful tribe of Abde, one of the principal divisions of the Shammar. Although no longer young, she still retained much of her early beauty. There was more than the usual Bedouin fire in her large, black eyes, and her hair fell in many ringlets on her shoulders. Her temper was haughty and imperious, and she evidently had more sway over Suttum than he liked to acknowledge, or was quite consistent with his character as a warrior. He had married her from motives of policy, as cementing a useful alliance with a powerful tribe. She appears to have soon carried matters

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