The Bedouins Settled In And Near The Suburbs, Use Exactly The Same
Costume As Those Of The Syrian Desert:
A shirt, abba, a kessye on the
head, a leathern girdle in which the knife is stuck, and sandals on the
feet.
Even those who have become settlers, form a distinct race, and do
not intermix with the rest of the town's-people. They preserve their
national dress, language, and customs, and live in their
[p.374] houses as they would under tents in the Desert. Of all Eastern
nations, the Arabian Bedouins perhaps are those who abandon their
national habits with most reluctance. In Syria, in Egypt, and in the
Hedjaz, settlements are seen, the members of which have become
cultivators for several centuries back; yet they have adopted only few
of the habits of peasants, and still pride themselves on their Bedouin
origin and manners.
The Medinans have not the same means of gaining a living, as the
Mekkans. Although this town is never free from foreign pilgrims, there
is never that immense influx of hadjys which renders Mekka so populous
for several months in the year, and which makes it a market for all
parts of the East. The hadjys who come to Medina are seldom merchants,
or at least do not go there for mercantile pursuits, and therefore leave
on the coast their heavy baggage. Even the Syrian merchants who pass
with the great caravan seldom engage in trade, unless it be for some
camel-loads of tobacco and dried fruits.
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