The Young Ones Are Caught And Tamed, And The Eggs May Be
Bought In The Madinah Bazar.
Throughout Arabia there is a belief that
the ostrich throws stones at the hunter.
The superstition may have
arisen from the pebbles being flung up behind by the bird’s large feet in
his rapid flight, or it may be a mere “foolery of fancy.” Even in lands
which have long given up animal-worship, wherever a beast is
conspicuous or terrible, it becomes the subject of some marvellous
tale. So the bear in Persia imitates a moolah’s dress; the wolf in France
is a human being transformed, and the beaver of North America, also a
metamorphosis, belts trees so as to fell them in the direction most
suitable to his after purpose.
[FN#44] Not that the “Agrebi” of Bir Hamid and other parts have much to
learn of us in vice. The land of Al-Yaman is, I believe, the most
demoralised country, and Sana’a the most depraved city in Arabia. The
fair sex distinguishes itself by a peculiar laxity of conduct, which is
looked upon with an indulgent eye. And the men drink and gamble, to say
nothing of other peccadilloes, with perfect impunity.
[FN#45] In Al-Yaman, it is believed, that if a man eat three heads of
garlic in good mountain-samn (or clarified butter) for forty days, his
blood will kill the snake that draws it.
[FN#46] Circumcisionis causa apud Arabos manifestissima, ulceratio enim
endemica, abrasionem glandis aut praeputii, maxima cum facilitate
insequitur. Mos autem quem vocant Arabes Al-Salkh ([Arabic] i.e.
scarificatio) virilitatem animumque ostendendi modus esse videtur.
Exeunt amici paterque, et juvenem sub dio sedentem circumstant. Capit
tunc pugionem tonsor et præputio abscisso detrahit pellem [Greek] ab
umbilico incipiens aut parum infra, ventremque usque ad femora nudat.
Juvenis autem dextra pugionem super tergum tonsoris vibrans magna
clamat voce [Arabic] i.e. caede sine timore. Vae si haesitet tonsor aut
si tremeat manus! Pater etiam filium si dolore ululet statim occidit.
Re confecta surgit juvenis et [Arabic] “Gloria Deo” intonans, ad tentoria
tendit, statim nefando oppressus dolore humi procumbit. Remedia Sal, et
[Arabic] (tumerica); cibus lac cameli. Nonnullos occidit ingens
suppuratio, decem autem excoriatis supersunt plerumque octo: hi pecten
habent nullum, ventremque pallida tegit cutis.
[FN#47] The Spanish dollar is most prized in Al-Hijaz; in Al-Yaman the
Maria Theresa. The Spanish Government has refused to perpetuate its
Pillar-dollar, which at one time was so great a favourite in the East.
The traveller wonders how “Maria Theresas” still supply both shores of the
Red Sea. The marvel is easily explained: the Austrians receive silver
at Milan, and stamp it for a certain percentage. This coin was
doubtless preferred by the Badawin for its superiority to the currency
of the day: they make from it ornaments for their women and decorations
for their weapons. The generic term for dollars is “Riyal Fransah.”
[FN#48] Torale, sicut est mos Judaicus et Persicus, non inspiciunt.
Novae nuptae tamen maritus mappam manu capit:
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