The Father Of The Young Man Who Had Eloped Had Come With Us From Kerek, For The Whole Family Had Been Obliged To Fly, The Bedouin Laws Entitling An Injured Husband To Kill Any Of The Offender’S Relations, In Retaliation For The Loss Of His Wife.

The husband began by demanding from the young man’s father two wives in return for the one carried

Off, and the greater part of the property which the emigrant family possessed in Tafyle. The father of the wife and her first cousin also made demands of compensation for the insult which their family had received by her elopement. Our Sheikh, however, by his eloquence and address, at last got the better of them all: indeed it must in justice be said that Youssef Medjaly was not more superior to the other mountaineers in the strength of his arm, and the excellence of his horsemanship, than he was by his natural talents. The affair was settled by the offender’s father placing his four infant daughters, the youngest of whom was not yet weaned, at the disposal of the husband and his father-in-law, who might betrothe them to whomsoever they chose, and receive themselves the money which is usually paid for girls. The four daughters were estimated at about three thousand piastres, and both parties seemed to be content. In testimony of peace being concluded between the two families, and of the price of blood being paid, the young man’s father, who had not yet shewn himself publickly, came to shake hands with the injured husband, a white flag was suspended at the top of the tent in which we sat, a sheep was killed, and we passed the whole night in feasting and conversation.

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