But If Mischief Be Intended, A Case Of Bloodshed Is
Brought About, And Then Nothing Can Arrest The Torrent Of
Popular
rage.[FN#38] The Egyptian, with all his good humour, merriment, and
nonchalance, is notorious for doggedness, when, as
The popular phrase
is, his "blood is up." And this, indeed, is his chief merit as a
soldier. He has a certain mechanical dexterity in the use of arms, and
an Egyptian regiment will fire a volley as correctly as a battalion at
Chobham. But when the head, and not the hands, is required, he notably
fails. The reason of his superiority in the field is his peculiar
stubborness, and this, together with his powers of digestion and of
enduring hardship on the line of march, is the quality that makes him
terrible to his old conqueror, the Turk.[FN#39]
[FN#1] When travelling, the Shushah is allowed to spread over the
greatest portion of the scalp, to act as a protection against the sun;
and the hair being shaved off about two inches all round the head,
leaves a large circular patch. Nothing can be uglier than such tonsure,
and it is contrary to the strict law of the Apostle, who ordered a
clean shave, or a general growth of the hair. The Arab, however, knows
by experience, that though habitual exposure of the scalp to a burning
sun may harden the skull, it seldom fails to damage its precious
contents. He, therefore, wears a Shushah during his wanderings, and
removes it on his return home.
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