I Have Heard Much Of Their
Excellent Marksmanship, But Saw Only Moderate Practice With A Long
Matchlock Rested And Fired At Standing Objects.
Double-barreled guns
are rare amongst them.[FN#41] Their principal weapons are matchlocks
and firelocks, pistols, javelins, spears, swords, and the dagger called
Jambiyah; the sling and the bow have long been given up.
The guns come
from Egypt, Syria, and Turkey; for the Badawi cannot make, although he
can repair, this arm. He particularly values a good old barrel seven
spans long, and would rather keep it than his coat; consequently, a
family often boasts of four or five guns, which descend from generation
to generation. Their price varies from two to sixty dollars. The
Badawin collect nitre in the country, make excellent charcoal, and
import sulphur from Egypt and India; their powder, however, is coarse
and weak. For hares and birds they cut up into slugs a bar of lead
hammered out to a convenient size, and they cast bullets in moulds.
They are fond of ball-practice, firing, as every sensible man does, at
short distances, and striving at extreme precision. They are ever
backing themselves with wagers, and will shoot for a sheep, the loser
inviting his friends to a feast: on festivals they boil the head, and
use it as mark and prize. Those who affect excellence are said to fire
at a bullet hanging by a thread; curious, however, to relate, the
Badawin of Al-Hijaz have but just learned the art, general in Persia
and Barbary, of shooting from horseback at speed.
Pistols have been lately introduced into the Hijaz, and are not common
amongst the Badawin. The citizens incline to this weapon, as it is
derived from Constantinople. In the Desert a tolerable pair with flint
locks may be worth thirty dollars, ten times their price in England.
[p.106]The spears[FN#42] called Kanat, or reeds, are made of male
bamboos imported from India. They are at least twelve feet long, iron
shod, with a tapering point, beneath which are one or two tufts of
black ostrich feathers.[FN#43] Besides the Mirzak, or javelin, they
have a spear called Shalfah, a bamboo or a palm stick garnished with a
head about the breadth of a man’s hand.
No good swords are fabricated in Al-Hijaz. The Khalawiyah and other
Desert clans have made some poor attempts at blades. They are brought
from Persia, India, and Egypt; but I never saw anything of value.
The Darakah, or shield, also comes from India. It is the common Cutch
article, supposed to be made of rhinoceros hide, and displaying as much
brass knob and gold wash as possible. The Badawin still use in the
remoter parts Diraa, or coats of mail, worn by horsemen over buff
jackets.
The dagger is made in Al-Yaman and other places: it has a vast variety
of shapes, each of which, as usual, has its proper names. Generally
they are but little curved (whereas the Gadaymi of Al-Yaman and
Hazramaut is almost a semicircle), with tapering blade, wooden handle,
and scabbard of the same material overlaid with brass.
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