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white stirrups and splendid vestments on our gala-days! Look at them now, flying, and even abandoning their women! O Jews! sons of Jews! Dismount; we will get on your horses, and from this day you shall not be reckoned as men. O cowards! May Allah send you his curse!' Stung to the quick, the receding party made another desperate effort, and supported by the fire of the infantry forming the reserve, they regained their ground, and drove back the enemy in turn on the women of the opposite side, who now of course reviled those whom they had so lately applauded. The battle became concentrated in the space which lay between the females; the fight was a bloody one; and, by and by, the party that had suffered most severely began rapidly to retreat, in spite of the exhortations and entreaties of a few valiant spirits, who flew from left to right endeavouring to rally them. Are there any men here or not?' they cried. yourselves; if you fly, they will carry off your women, and leave you nothing but dishonour. Die rather! Let it not be said that you fled! Die, and you will still live!' And now occurred a touching scene. The highest of the chiefs, in desperation at finding the battle against him, was throwing himself into the mêlée, to find death rather than endure defeat; but he was held back by the younger men, who surrounded him, and implored him to withdraw. Thou art our father, what will become of us if we lose thee? It is our part to die for thee; we would not be left as sheep without a shepherd.'

'Mind

When the rout became general, and it was obvious that all was lost, every one tried to save what he held most valuable, and then fled as rapidly as possible, turning round, however, from time to time to face the pursuing enemy. On another occasion, an act of desperate valour turned the scale of victory. Aissa-ben-el-Shereef, a boy of fourteen, had mounted his horse with his tribe to repel an attack conducted by the redoubted Sy-el-Jedid. The people of Arba took to their heels, when the boy threw himself before them, and endeavoured to stay their flight. What! you are men, and you are afraid! You have been brought up in the midst of powder, and know not how to use it! Have you, then, bred your horses only to run away with you?' The only reply was: Jedid! Jedid! there is Jedid!' Jedid,' replied the lad, 'what is he but a man? Now shall you see this dreadful warrior, before whom hundreds of men flee in terror, stopped in his career by a child!' and Aissa spurred on both sides. He came up to the warrior; Jedid was off his guard; what had he to fear from a child? But the boy sprang on his neck, locked himself there, and, quitting his horse, hung by him with one arm, while with the other he endeavoured to stab him. Jedid, stupified with the audacity of the action, and fettered in his own movements, sought in vain to shake off the boy; but he found enough to do with all his skill to parry the thrusts of the stripling. At length, he had no resource but to throw himself from his horse, in order to crush Aissa

beneath him; but Aissa evaded him, and leaping himself on the chieftain's horse, he rejoined his tribe, and shewed them a trophy which made the oldest among them blush for the trepidation they had displayed. The young conqueror might have made an end of his adversary had not a bridge of gold lain in the way; but the rage for pillage carried away his companions: they scattered themselves here and there, caring only for the spoil; one stripped an infantryman, another, an unhorsed cavalier; this one seized a horse, that one a negro. In consequence of this disorderly proceeding, the bravest men of the tribe succeeded in saving their wives, and in many instances their tents.

After the spoliation which follows a battle, the victors deem it prudent to retire, lest the enemy should obtain reinforcements and renew the conflict. They place all the baggage in front, while a strong reserve forms the rear-guard, and for several days they travel from morning till nightfall. In this kind of warfare, the greatest respect is shewn for the female captives. Men of low birth may strip them of their jewels, but with the chiefs it is a point of honour to send them home to their husbands, with their camels, and all their paraphernalia. They are even zealous in bedecking and compensating those that have been robbed. Among the Arabs, no prisoners of war are made; no heads are cut off: they entertain a horror of killing or mutilating the wounded, who after the battle are left to die, or get away as they can; no notice is taken of them. If a few rare instances of cruelty do occur, it is when a man has recognised in the hostile band the murderer of some of his near kindred.

On returning to their own territory, the victors are welcomed with singular festivities: the women draw up their camels in a single line, and raise shouts of joy at regular intervals; the young men execute a licentious fantasia before them; there are mutual salutations, embracings, inquiries; and a banquet is prepared, both for their own warriors and the allies. The chiefs now put together whatever sum is due to the latter. A private horseman never receives less than six dollars, or an article of this value; this recompense, called zebeun, is obligatory, and given over and above the booty which he has secured: if he has lost his horse in the fray, he is allowed three camels, or an equal compensation in money. The chiefs of the auxiliary tribes of course receive more, especially those whose influence has been critical; but it is sub rosá: they are publicly allotted the same as the rest, but presents of carpets, tents, arms, horses, are secretly made besides. The allies, having been hospitably feasted, return to their own tents on the following day, the chiefs escorting them part of the way. After riding together two or three hours, they mutually renew the oath, to raise but one cry; to make but one and the same gun; to come in the morning, if wanted in the morning; or at night, if called in the night. Antipathies are not more lively among these people than attachments are cordial. We have before us some verses

expressive of the delicacy and devotedness which is expected from friendship. They may be thus translated:

The friend that walks not blind at friendship's side;

That offers not his life a sacrifice;

That deems such suicide to be a crime-
Among our tents no place shall be for him.
The summons of my friend I will obey,
When gleaming sabres are the morning light;
When evening's shadows are the clouds of sand
Raised by the horses' feet-I'll go to die
Or gain the day. The least of all the things
I've vowed to give for friendship is my life;
A life not worth possessing if 'twere spent
In shame, far from the tents I hold so dear-

Far from the friends whose love has cheered the past.

DIVISION OF BOOTY.

Nothing more strikingly illustrates the proverb of 'honour among thieves,' than the even-handed justice with which the spoils of an enemy, whether taken in razzia or open warfare, are apportioned among the victors. In the former case, the whole is divided into equal shares corresponding with the number engaged; but in the latter, every man retains whatever he has taken in personal clothing and weapons; while tents, flocks, horses, asses, camels, webs, and cereals, form the general property for division; and the chief is entitled, over and above his share, to thirty or forty sheep, or three or four camels, as the case may be. There are also other special claims, which are met by special provisions. For instance, a horseman who kills another in battle, is entitled to the horse as well as the equipments of him he has slain; it is deemed a small enough compensation for the hazard he has encountered, and the responsibility he has incurred. 'He has risked a life,' say the Arabs, and taken a life; and he will have to answer to God for the death he has dealt, whether right or wrong.' If a warrior has been killed by several individuals who fired together, so that it cannot be ascertained whose was the fatal shot, the plunder is equally shared between them. In some tribes, it is given to the chief. If one has killed a man without observing his success and securing the spoil, he obtains compensation if the fact is afterwards attested by competent witnesses.

If an individual, not choosing to go against the enemy in person, lends his horse to another, he shares equally in what falls to him. If the animal perishes in a successful expedition, the owner is reimbursed from the general stock; but if there is none, he receives no compensation: he tried his luck, and lost.' He who lends a saddle with all its accessories, receives the half; and he who lends a gun, the fourth part of the share of him who borrowed it. An Arab whose tribe is going to war, finds a horse grazing far from his master's sight; he takes the loan of it, and borrows a

saddle. The saddle is not furnished; he finds stirrups in one place, a girth in another, a bridle and breast-leather somewhere else. When he returns with booty, the owner receives no share; he did not voluntarily lend his horse, he ran no risk, for had it been killed he would have been compensated. It is led back safe and sound. The animal,' say the Arabs,' has been but the instrument of Heaven to serve a brave man, who exposed himself for the general good.' The proprietors of the horse's equipments, however, must receive part of his share in proportion to the value of what they lent.

There is an apologue quite in Arab taste, setting forth these respective claims:

The saddle said to the horseman: "Hast thou the conscience to keep all the booty to thyself? Who furnished thee with a seat? What wouldst thou have done if thou hadst not found me there?"

“Very fine,” cried the girth. "Is it so very great a service thou hast done? Thou wouldst have done more harm than good, had I not kept thee on the horse's back."

"Softly, softly," said the stirrups. "You have both been useful, I agree; but pray tell me who supported the horseman when it was necessary for him to dash forward? And on what was he supported when he had to use his arm to overthrow the enemy about whose spoil you are disputing? Who gave him facilities for sinking to avoid a blow, and rising to inflict one?”

"It was you, to be sure," said the bridle: "none can dispute it; and nevertheless, my children, by God, the governor of the world, our horseman would have enriched himself but little had he only had your services; you seldom take the path that leads to booty, and you would have been far from it now had I not guided you. Cease, then, your disputes; the palm is mine, for I alone led to the attainment of the end."

"Ah! this is somewhat strong reasoning," ironically added the horse, which till now had listened in silence. "I know not why I had supposed the greater part to be mine; I thought you were forgotten in a corner, and were only collected because I was found. I was dreaming, no doubt; it was you, of course, that brought me here. I was mistaken, I confess lead me back quickly to my pasture; there at least I shall not hear your intriguing."

'To end all disputes, the cavalier divided his prize into six equal shares; he gave one to the saddle, one to the girth, one to the bridle, kept three to himself, and led back the horse to graze, saying: I give thee nothing, but there remains with thee the honour of having been serviceable to thy tribe."

A special lot is always allowed to the shuafin who have acted as spies before the battle; it is the just recompense of the danger they encountered. If a shuaf has lost his horse, they either give him another or compensate him with a hundred sheep or a hundred Spanish dollars. This is not too much; for they always choose their scouts from among the best mounted of the tribe. He

who supplies provisions also receives a share, for he has identified his interests with those of the expedition. A share is allotted to each of the farriers of the tribe; their labour and skill have contributed to the success of the enterprise. The handsome females who have animated the combat are entitled to a share; who can tell how much their presence contributed to the victory? A lot, too, is appointed for whatever woman of distinction sallied first out of her tent to welcome the returning conquerors.

To prevent disputes in the adjustment of these various claims, it is usual to institute a mekadim. Sometimes it is the chiefs who choose five or six men of repute for their wisdom and integrity, and let them divide the whole; sometimes the plunder is divided into four equal portions, and the warriors divide themselves into four companies, each of which chooses a mekadim, to carry on the subdivision. The first business of the mekadim is to set apart the camels which were vowed to the maraboots at the outset; and to seek out and restore all illicit spoil, as female garments and ornaments. When an Arab is suspected of a delinquency of this nature, and yet the articles cannot be found with him, the mekadim adjure him by Sidi-ben-Abd-Allah, and this exonerates him. This saint is in high veneration, and no one would dare to invoke him in a false assertion, for fear of dying, or at least seeing his flocks perish. The mekadim are handsomely remunerated, frequently receiving odd articles of value that cannot easily be divided.

We have met with a poem by the famous Abd-el-Kader, which so characteristically displays the feelings of the Arab about his nomadic life of independence, in contrast with that of the citizen, that we have endeavoured to render part of it into English blank

verse.

O thou whose song is all of city life,

Who scorn'st the Bedouin's love of boundless range,
Is it the lightness of our tents thou hatest?

Are all thy raptures kept for stone and mud?

Ah, if thou knew'st our desert! But thou know'st not;
And ignorance gives birth to every ill.

If e'er thine eyes had oped in Sahara,

If e'er thy foot had trod its beauteous sands,

Bedecked with flowers, as carpet strewn with pearls,
Thou must have praised their strangely varied tints,
Their graceful forms, their odours sweet; even thou
Hadst owned the fragrant air renewed thy life-
This air, which ne'er was wafted o'er a town.
If on a brilliant night refreshed with dew,

From merkeb* height thine eye had wandered round,
And seen on every side the numerous herds
Of cattle wild and free, cropping the herb,
Even thou hadst felt that sorrow fled away,
And happiness abundant filled thy soul.

Hadst thou at dawn hied to the chase with us,
Thou hadst confessed the charm of desert sports.
On rahil † day, when scarlet palanquins

Are strapped on every camel, thou wouldst swear

*Hillock of sand.

† Decampment of a tribe.

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