The Rafik, Under Different Names, Exists Throughout
This Part Of The World; At Sinai He Was Called A Ghafir, A
Rabia in
Eastern Arabia, amongst the Somal an Abban, and by the Gallas a Mogasa.
I have called the tax
“Black-mail”; it deserves a better name, being
clearly the rudest form of those transit-dues and octrois which are in
nowise improved by “progress.” The Ahl Bayt,[FN#51] or dwellers in the
Black Tents, levy the tax from the Ahl Hayt, or the People of Walls;
that is to say, townsmen and villagers who have forfeited right to be
held Badawin. It is demanded from bastard Arabs, and from tribes who,
like the Hutaym and the Khalawiyah, have been born basely or have
become “nidering.” And these people are obliged to pay it at home as well
as abroad. Then it becomes a sign of disgrace, and the pure clans, like
the Benu Harb, will not give their damsels in marriage to “brothers.”
Besides this Akhawat-tax and the pensions by the Porte to chiefs of
clans, the wealth of the Badawi consists in his flocks and herds, his
mare, and his weapons. Some clans are rich in horses; others are
celebrated for camels; and not a few for sheep, asses, or greyhounds.
The Ahamidah tribe, as has been mentioned, possesses few animals; it
subsists by plunder and by presents from
[p.115] pilgrims. The principal wants of the country are sulphur, lead,
cloths of all kinds, sugar, spices, coffee, corn, and rice. Arms are
valued by the men, and it is advisable to carry a stock of Birmingham
jewellery for the purpose of conciliating womankind. In exchange the
Badawin give sheep,[FN#52] cattle, clarified butter, milk, wool, and
hides, which they use for water-bags, as the Egyptians and other
Easterns do potteries. But as there is now a fair store of dollars in
the country, it is rarely necessary to barter.
The Arab’s dress marks his simplicity; it gives him a nationality, as,
according to John Evelyn, “prodigious breeches” did to the Swiss. It is
remarkably picturesque, and with sorrow we see it now confined to the
wildest Badawin and a few Sharifs. To the practised eye, a Hijazi in
Tarbush and Caftan is ridiculous as a Basque or a Catalonian girl in a
cachemire and a little chip. The necessary dress of a man is his Saub
(Tobe), a blue calico shirt, reaching from neck to ankles, tight or
loose-sleeved, opening at the chest in front, and rather narrow below;
so that the wearer, when running, must either hold it up or tuck it
into his belt. The latter article, called Hakw, is a plaited leathern
thong, twisted round the waist very tightly, so as to support the back.
The trousers and the Futah, or loin-cloth of cities, are looked upon as
signs of effeminacy. In cold weather the chiefs wear over the shirt an
Aba, or cloak. These garments are made in Nijd and the Eastern
districts; they are of four colours, white, black, red, and
brown-striped. The best are of camels’ hair, and may cost fifteen
dollars; the worst, of sheep’s wool, are worth only three; both are
cheap, as they last for years. The Mahramah (head-cloth) comes from
Syria; which, with Nijd, supplies also the Kufiyah or headkerchief. The
Ukal,[FN#53] fillets bound over
[p.116] the kerchief, are of many kinds; the Bishr tribe near Meccah
make a kind of crown like the gloria round a saint’s head, with bits of
wood, in which are set pieces of mother-o’-pearl. Sandals, too, are of
every description, from the simple sole of leather tied on with thongs,
to the handsome and elaborate chaussure of Meccah; the price varies
from a piastre to a dollar, and the very poor walk barefooted. A
leathern bandoleer, called Majdal, passed over the left shoulder, and
reaching to the right hip, supports a line of brass cylinders for
cartridges.[FN#54] The other cross-belt (Al-Masdar), made of leather
ornamented with brass rings, hangs down at the left side, and carries a
Kharizah, or hide-case for bullets. And finally, the Hizam, or
waist-belt, holds the dagger and extra cartridge cases. A Badawi never
appears in public unarmed.
Women wear, like their masters, dark blue cotton Tobes, but larger and
looser. When abroad they cover the head with a Yashmak of black stuff,
or a poppy-coloured Burka (nose-gay) of the Egyptian shape. They wear
no pantaloons, and they rarely affect slippers or sandals. The hair is
twisted into Majdul, little pig-tails, and copiously anointed with
clarified butter. The rich perfume the skin with rose and
cinnamon-scented oils, and adorn the hair with Al-Shayh (Absinthium),
sweetest herb of the Desert; their ornaments are bracelets, collars,
ear and nose-rings of gold, silver, or silver-gilt. The poorer classes
have strings of silver coins hung round the neck.
The true Badawi is an abstemious man, capable of living for six months
on ten ounces of food per diem; the milk of a single camel, and a
handful of dates, dry or fried in clarified butter, suffice for his
wants. He despises the obese and all who require regular and plentiful
meals, sleeps on a mat, and knows neither luxury nor comfort, freezing
during one quarter and frying for three quarters of the year. But
though he can endure hunger, like all
[p.117] savages, he will gorge when an opportunity offers. I never saw
the man who could refrain from water upon the line of march; and in
this point they contrast disadvantageously with the hardy Wahhabis of
the East, and the rugged mountaineers of Jabal Shammar. They are still
“acridophagi,” and even the citizens far prefer a dish of locusts to the
Fasikh, which act as anchovies, sardines, and herrings in Egypt. They
light a fire at night, and as the insects fall dead they quote this
couplet to justify their being eaten—
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