Bedouins

“ The Bedouins, those children of the desert, enticed by vain promises from their native plains, to them still dear, though neglected by nature, are to be pitied indeed; for they have but slight hopes of ever being able to return to their homes; receive a miserable pay after waiting for it for a long time, like the rest of the troops; and are expected to find themselves in clothing, horses, and accoutrements out of their own pockets. ”

“ Around you, too near sometimes to be pleasant, are the black tents of the Bedouin, true sons of the desert, whose wild life has a zest unknown to the courts of kings: greedy of bakshish, arrant thieves, and utterly reckless of human life, the Bedouins can be very unpleasant neighbours; and Captain Warren conceived, probably with truth, that the Bedouin encamped near him had all the will to be troublesome, but fortunately lacked the power. ”

“ Here they rest beside their Arab masters, whose long camel-hair robes, falling in large folds of heavy drapery, are always so attractive to the artistic eye. These are real Bedouins—men whose glory it is to have no certain dwelling-place—to whom a halt thus near a city savours of danger, so that they long to be up and away, back in their own free desert, where the black tents fie and the homely home-welcome awaits them; where at daybreak they hear their sheik call the solemn hour of prayer, and every man kneels at the door of his tent, with his face towards Mecca ”

“ The Bedouins knew by the description that the stranger must be their guest, and feared some evil was intended him. "Such a youth," said they, "has indeed sojourned among us; but he has gone, with some of our young men, to a distant valley, to hunt the lion." The emissaries inquired the way to the place, and hastened on to surprise their expected prey.
The Bedouins repaired to Abderahman, who was still sleeping. "If thou hast aught to fear from man in power," said they, "arise and fly; for the horsemen of the Wali are in quest of thee! ”

“ The South was jealous of the North; the Bedouins of the desert scorned the population settled in towns and villages; every tribe had some cause of rivalry with its neighbour; new feuds were ever arising out of the law of blood. Even in Medîna, the cradle of the faith, the Beni Aus were impatient of the Beni Khazraj, and both were jealous of the Refugees from Mecca. The only authority recognised by a Bedouin is the authority of his tribal chief, and even that sits lightly. To him freedom is life; and dependence on a central power most hateful. ”

“ Though war is unknown, the Bedouins live in a chronic state of feud, no one knowing whether his encampment may not be assailed by another clan, all his little property—dress included—torn from him, if he submits, and his throat very probably cut if he resists. No one ever thinks of giving notice of attack, or of fighting anything like equal numbers. ”

“ Shortly there was a bustle and stir therein, and many small energetic men of the Bedouin tribe came running toward the central tent, into which El Sareuk had vanished. The Bedouins were a cheerful and healthy lot, inured to hardship, habituated to a rough nomadic life. ”

“ This answer proves conclusively that, to the majority of these people, God is only an earthly king, somewhat more powerful than the rest, and living in a remote desert. The Bedouins formerly were shepherds, who formed, as it were, numerous colonies around the sedentary population, but, little by little, their wandering life has deteriorated their character and brought them down in the social scale. ”

“ They differ in nothing from other Bedouins, excepting, as it is said, that they cannot marry a white Bedouin; for the offspring of slaves, I was told, are free among the Bedouins, although not among the Turks.
The women, then, having rolled up their carpets, packed their kitchen utensils, and struck their tents, load the pack-camels, and prepare those intended for mounting. For this purpose, the rich families are provided with a machine, rude in its construction but not altogether devoid of beauty in its appearance. ”

“ A great deal of nonsense has been written about the noble character of the Bedouin Arabs, their bravery, scrupulous honor, and other commendable qualities. Of course there are exceptions, and it would be strange indeed if a people numbering many thousands should all be rascals. But, taken as a whole, the Bedouins are a race of thieves, and their few redeeming traits are not sufficient to offset their bad qualities. ”

“ Consequently, in spite of his shaking limbs and trembling body, he was seen to cross the open space which separated him from M. de Morin, hand him a cigar, take a match from the box supplied by M. Périères, light it, and present it with all respect to his master.
The Bedouins, like all semi-savage races, are regular children. The veriest trifle serves to amuse them, and they have a variableness of mood which is truly surprising. Enraged as they had been but a moment ago, they became quite good-tempered when they saw Joseph. To menace succeeded gaiety, and hearty laughter to dire threats. ”

“ Fatigue and a check of perspiration often produce slight fevers in the desert, which I generally cured by lying down near the fire, and drawing my mantle over my head, as the Bedouins always do at night. The Bedouins, before they go to rest, usually undress themselves entirely, and lie down quite naked upon a sheeps skin, which they carry for the purpose; they then cover themselves with every garment which they happen to have with them. ”

“ I use the word “dromedary” for a swift riding camel, the Deloul of the Arabs, and Hejin of the Turks: it is so applied generally, although incorrectly, by Europeans in the East.
[106] Burckhardt, the English traveller best acquainted with the Bedouin character, and admirably correct in describing it, makes the following remarks: “With all their faults, the Bedouins are one of the noblest nations with which I ever had an opportunity of becoming acquainted.... The sociable character of a Bedouin, when there is no question of profit or interest, may be described as truly amiable. ”

“ Here, where one would least expect to find human beings, the Bedouins have begun to show themselves in great numbers, and to attack the flanks and the rear of the column. Perhaps they53 have been retreating before us all this time, and now that we draw near the lesser desert they are determined to retreat no further. ”

“ The Bedouins, the real desert Arabs, are among the bravest and most courageous people in all the world. The "Black Tents," the habitations of [4] the Bedouins, are so called because they are made of a material very sombre and dark in colour.
"Could we not ride farther out to meet our friends?" asked Hamid, for both he and Zuleika were becoming more and more restless. ”

“ In their forays the Bedouins never kill an unresisting foe unless tempted by blood-revenge.”
The real Bedouin is not a large personage. He is rarely taller than five feet and seven or eight inches, and is not inclined to corpulence. ”

“ The locks are dyed dun, frizzled, and greased; the Widads or learned men remove them, and none but paupers leave them in their natural state; the mustachios are clipped close, the straggling whisker is carefully plucked, and the pile—erroneously considered impure—is removed either by vellication, or by passing the limbs through the fire. The eyes of the Bedouins, also, are less prominent than those of the citizens: the brow projects in pent-house fashion, and the organ, exposed to bright light, and accustomed to gaze at distant objects, acquires more concentration and power. ”

“ The Bedouins are greedy and audacious; they will seize your goods, and, if you offer the least resistance, will put you to death. You are people of honour and delicacy; you could never put up with their grossness ”

“ I do not mind Bedouins,—I am not afraid of them; because neither Bedouins nor ordinary Arabs have shown any disposition to harm us, but I do feel afraid of my own comrades. ”

“ The present inhabitants are a motley crowd of Bedouins from all quarters, Arabians, Syrians, Egyptians, Moggrebyns, united at present in three tribes, who are called masters of Sina, and who live like true Bedouins. They are in possession of several fruitful valleys where date trees grow, and where agriculture is practised by a minor set of Arabs, the descendants of Christian families, servants of the convents, who turned Mussulmans in the sixteenth century, and are no longer to be distinguished from their neighbours. ”

“ Professionally, the Bedouins are shepherds and herdsmen; their raids on each other or their robbery of travellers and caravans are but occasional exceptions to the common routine. Their intertribal wars (they very rarely venture on a conflict with the better-armed and better-organized sedentary population) are rarely bloody; cattle-lifting being the usual object. ”

“ The Bedouins usually draw near to the towns and cultivated districts soon after the harvest, to lay in their stock of grain. A party of men and women, chosen by their companions, then take with them money, or objects for sale or exchange, and drive the camels to the villages, where they load them and return to their tents.
Nearly the whole revenue of an Arab Sheikh, whatever it may be, is laid out in corn, rice and other provisions. The quantity of food consumed in the tents of [Pg 241] some of the great chiefs of the Bedouins is very considerable. The common Bedouin can rarely get meat. ”

“ They are tall, stately, with well-cut features, and have feet and hands that are proverbial for their beauty. Their demeanor in public is grave and haughty, and every man walks as if he were monarch of the world. While other Arab tribes have lost their distinctive manners by contact with civilization, the Bedouins alone have preserved them, and, even when they visit the cities which they hate so much, they can be at once distinguished by their demeanor. Lady Duff-Gordon was greatly struck with it. “To see a Bedawee and his wife walk through the streets of Cairo is superb. ”

“ Their blood has always been a perennial reservoir of biological vitality to the urban population, supplying it with fresh infusion either through conquest or by peaceful penetration. But normally bedouins resist the temptation to settle down and, in quest of pasture for their flocks, they roam the desert plains, living off the grass which blankets it after every shower of rain. Bedouin hospitality to guests does not imply any corresponding hospitality to innovations. ”

“ Among the Bedouin tribes, the Sherarat are unlike the rest in being divided and subdivided into countless bands which have no common chief; and they are described as being the most miserable of the Bedouins. ”

“ Deir, Sokhne, Tedmor, Djof, Maan, Ola, Khaibar, and Teyme, are all inhabited by Bedouins, who cultivate the soil, and form an intermediate class between Bedouins and peasants. These positions would be highly important to those who might wish to subdue, or at least to check the Bedouins; and they might become of still greater importance, in being rendered the means of inspiring the whole Bedouin nation with more amicable sentiments towards the Syrian and Hedjaz inhabitants. ”

“ Shift the scene from Scotland to Arabia, and no more appropriate words could have been put into the mouth of a dying Bedouin chief.
With characters so impatient of control, it is evident that there can be no government worthy of the name. Like the Son of the Mist, they acknowledge no lord, and there is no one who bears even by courtesy the title of King of the Bedouins. Each clan is governed by its own sheikh, and occasionally a few clans unite for some raid under the presidency of the eldest or most important sheikh, and remain united for some time. ”

“ He was come to instil his fanaticism into the Bedouins, and excite in them a great zeal for the religion of the Prophet, in order to attach them to the cause of the Turks. The Bedouins are of great simplicity of character, and remarkable for their frankness. They do not understand differences of religion, and do not willingly allow them to be spoken of. ”

“ Here was encamped a party of the tribe of the Hadýdy, whom Hassan immediately recognized by the number of asses grazing round the tents. They [105] were Bedouins, paying no tribute. They rode on asses, and used firearms, then chiefly matchlocks. Their riches consisted principally in sheep and goats; having few camels: and on this account they were considered as a degenerated tribe; the true Bedouin despising all animals but horses and camels. ”

“ Before leaving Bethlehem it was considered policy to employ a Bedouin sheik, as security against these barbarians, who inhabit the moun- tains through which we were to pass. These Bedouins chiefly live in tents, their flocks and herds constituting their principal means of support. ”

“ The first thing that struck one was the remarkable beauty of the inhabitants, men and women alike. Jews, Turks, Syrians, and Arabs were all in marked contrast to the ugly squat Egyptians amongst whom we had recently sojourned; and the Bedouins are a much finer race than those of either the Egyptian or Sinaitic Desert, whose acquaintance we had just made. ”

“ The Bedouins are so proud of their lineage that they wish to keep the tribal blood pure, and it 81leads to intermarriage. Cousins are frequently married, and often a whole tribe is related in some manner. I was told that the Bedouin settled an argument with a scolding or recalcitrant wife by giving her a good chastising with a stick. While in Cairo I met a most charming Bedouin who had left the sands for the gaieties of the city. ”

“ To dare to speak thus proudly, and to hesitate to accept the friendship apparently offered to them, the Europeans must be conscious of their superiority. Several of the Bedouins scanned the horizon to see if a second troop was following the first.
"Again I ask, what do you want?" said the chief, in a calm voice.
"I desire," replied M. Périères, "that two of my fellow countrymen, detained as prisoners in your camp, may be at once released."
"No one of your fellow countrymen is in our midst. What makes you suppose that they are here?" ”