Outside, Towards The Camel's Tail, Are
Pockets Containing Gullehs, Or Earthenware Bottles, Of Cooled Water.
Inside, Attached To The Wickerwork, Are Large Provision Pouches,
Similar To Those Used In Old-Fashioned Travelling Chariots.
At the
bottom are spread the two beds.
The greatest disadvantage of the
Shugduf is the difficulty of keeping balance. Two men ride in it, and
their weights must be made to tally. Moreover, it is liable to be
caught and torn by thorn trees, to be blown off in a gale of wind; and
its awkwardness causes the camel repeated falls, which are most likely
to smash it. Yet it is not necessarily an uncomfortable machine. Those
for sale in the bazar are, of course, worthless, being made of badly
seasoned wood. But private litters are sometimes pleasant vehicles,
with turned and painted framework, silk cordage, and valuable carpets.
The often described "Mahmil" is nothing but a Syrian Shugduf, royally
ornamented.
[FN#18] " Exquisites."
[FN#19] It is the same rule with the Arab, on the road as at home; the
more he is dressed the greater is his respectability. For this reason,
you see Sharifs and other men of high family, riding or walking in
their warm camel's hair robes on the hottest days. Another superstition
of the Arabs is this, that thick clothes avert the evil effects of the
sun's beams, by keeping out heat. To the kindness of a friend-Thomas
Seddon-I owe the admirable sketch of an "Arab Shaykh in his Travelling
Dress."
[FN#20] Sharifs and other great men sometimes bind a white turband or a
Cashmere shawl round the kerchief, to keep it in its place. The Aakal
varies in every part of the country. Here it is a twist of dyed wool,
there a bit of common rope, three or four feet long. Some of the Arab
tribes use a circlet of wood, composed of little round pieces, the size
of a shilling, joined side by side, and inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
The Eastern Arabs wear a large circle of brown wool, almost a turband
in itself. In Barbary, they twist brightcoloured cloth round a rope,
and adorn it with thick golden thread.
[FN#21] Generally written "Thar," the blood-revenge right, acknowledged
by law and custom. (See Chapter xxiv. post.)
[FN#22] Gold, however, as well as silk, I may be excused for repeating,
is a forbidden article of ornament to the Moslem.
[FN#23] The silver-hilted dagger is a sign of dignity: "I would silver
my dagger," in idiomatic Hijazi, means, "I would raise myself in the
world."
[FN#24] Niebuhr has accurately described this article. It is still worn
in the Madras army, though long discarded from the other presidencies;
the main difference between the Indian and the Arab sandal is, that the
former has a ring, into which the big toe is inserted, and the latter a
thong, which is clasped between the big toe and its neighbour. Both of
them are equally uncomfortable, and equally injurious to soldiers,
whose legs fight as much as do their arms. They abrade the skin
wherever the straps touch, expose the feet to the sun, wind, and rain,
and admit thorns and flints to the toes and toe-nails. In Arabia, the
traveller may wear, if he pleases, slippers, but they are considered
townsman-like and effeminate. They must be of the usual colours, red or
yellow. Black shoes, though almost universally worn by the Turks at
Cairo and Constantinople, would most probably excite suspicion in
Al-Hijaz.
[FN#25] The Mizrak, as it is called, is peculiar to certain tribes, as
the Karashi and the Lahyami, and some, like the Hudayli near Meccah,
make very pretty as well as very useful darts. The head is 15 or 16
inches long, nowhere broader than an inch, and tapering gradually to a
fine point; its shape is two shallow prisms joined at their bases, and
its socket, round like that of all lances, measures a little less than
2 inches. The lower third of the blade only is adorned with bars,
lozenges, and cones of brass let into the iron in zig-zag and other
figures. The shaft is of hard pliant wood-I do not know of what
tree-well seasoned with grease and use; it is 23 inches long, and
strengthened and adorned at distances of half an inch apart by bands of
fine brass wire, about one inch and a half long. The heel of the weapon
is a blunt spike 14 inches long, used to stick it in the ground, and
this, as well as the lower third of the blade, is ornamented with brass
work. Being well balanced, the Mizrak is a highly efficient weapon for
throwing in hunting, and by its handsome appearance adds not a little
to the bearer's dignity. But the stranger must be careful how he so
arms himself. Unless he be undistinguishable from a Badawi, by carrying
a weapon peculiar to certain clans, he will expose himself to
suspicion, or to laughter. And to offend an Arab of Al-Hijaz mortally,
you have only to say bluntly, "Sell me thy spear." The proper style of
address to the man whose necessities compel him to break through one of
his "points d'honneur," is to say, "Give me that javelin, and I will
satisfy thee;" after which he will haggle for each copper piece as
though you were cheapening a sheep.
[FN#26] The Mas'hab is of almond, generally brought from Syria; at the
thick end is a kind of crook, formed by cutting off a bit of the larger
branch from which the stick grows. This crook is afterwards cut into
the shape useful to seize a camel's nose-ring, or a horse's bridle.
Arabs of all degrees are fond of carrying these sticks. [It is also
called Maghin.]
[FN#27] This article, the Silahlik of the Turks, is composed of
several oblong pieces of leather cut out to fit the front part of the
body; between each fold there is room enough to stick a weapon; a
substantial strap fastens it round the waist, and it serves to defend
the sash or the shirt from iron mould, and the stains of gunpowder.
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