[31] The Heat Forbade Egress, And Our Wigwam Was Crowded With Hungry Visitors. Raghe, Urged Thereto By His Tribe, Became Importunate, Now For Tobacco, Then For Rice, Now For Dates, Then For Provisions In General.

No wonder that the Prophet made his Paradise for the Poor a mere place of eating and drinking.

The half-famished Bedouins, Somal or Arab, think of nothing beyond the stomach,--their dreams know no higher vision of bliss than mere repletion. A single article of diet, milk or flesh, palling upon man's palate, they will greedily suck the stones of eaten dates: yet, Abyssinian like, they are squeamish and fastidious as regards food. They despise the excellent fish with which Nature has so plentifully stocked their seas. [32] "Speak not to me with that mouth which eateth fish!" is a favourite insult amongst the Bedouins. If you touch a bird or a fowl of any description, you will be despised even by the starving beggar. You must not eat marrow or the flesh about the sheep's thigh-bone, especially when travelling, and the kidneys are called a woman's dish. None but the Northern Somal will touch the hares which abound in the country, and many refuse the sand antelope and other kinds of game, not asserting that the meat is unlawful, but simply alleging a disgust. Those who chew coffee berries are careful not to place an even number in their mouths, and camel's milk is never heated, for fear of bewitching the animal.

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