We Remained Therefore The Whole
Day With Him, And, In The Evening, Joined In The Dance And Songs Of The
MesáMer, Which Were Protracted Till Long After-Midnight, And Brought
Several Other Young Men From The Neighbouring Encampments.
The stranger
not accustomed to Bedouin life can seldom hope to enjoy quiet sleep in
these encampments.
After the songs and dances are ended he must lie down
in the tent of his host with a number of men, who think to honour him by
keeping him company; but who, if the tent is not very large,
WADY SEBAYE
[p.539] lie so close as to impart to him a share of the vermin with
which they are sure to be infested. To sleep in the open air before the
tent is difficult, on account of the fierce dogs of the encampment, who
have as great an aversion for townsmen as their masters have; the
Bedouins too dislike this practice, because a sight of the female
apartment may thus be obtained. I found the women here much more
reserved than among other Bedouins; I could not induce any of them to
converse with me, and soon perceived that both themselves and their
husbands disliked their being noticed; a fastidiousness of manners for
which they are no doubt indebted to the frequent visits of their
husbands to the capital of Egypt.
We had another shower in the night; flying showers are frequent during
the summer, but they are never sufficiently copious in that season to
produce torrents.
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