ir fate.

The life of the desert is not confined to the beasts, however, for
many Bedawin tribes roam about them in search of water or fodder
for their animals, and of all the Eastern races I have met none are
more interesting than these desert nomads.

[Illustration: DESERT ARABS.]

The wandering life of the Bedawin makes it difficult for anyone to
become acquainted with them, while their reputation for lawlessness is
such that travellers on desert routes usually endeavour to avoid them.
In several parts of the desert near Egypt, however, important families
of them have settled so as to be near the farm-lands granted to them
by Ismail Pasha many years ago (nominally in return for military
services, but in reality to keep them quiet), and I have often visited
their camps at Beni Ayoub and Tel Bedawi, to find them courteous,
hospitable, and in the best sense of the word, gentlemen.

These camps are large, and the long lines of tents, pitched with
military precision, shelter probably more than 1,000 people, for
though the head sheykh may build a lodge of stone in which to
entertain his guests, the Arab is a gipsy who loves his tent.

The tents, which are often very large, are formed of heavy cloths of
goats'-hair woven in stripes of different colours, and supported by a
large number of poles; long tassels hang from the seams, and other
cloths are often attached to them so as to divide the tent into
different apartments. Clean sand forms the floor, on which at
nightfall a rug or carpet is spread to form a bed. Round the walls
are the gay saddle-bags and trappings of the camels and horses, as
well as many boxes ornamented with tinsel and painting, which contain
the wardrobes and other possessions of the inmates. At the tent-door,
stuck upright in the ground, is the long spear of its occupant, and
the large earthen pot which serves as fireplace, while in some shady
corner a row of zirs contain their supply of drinking water.
Turkeys and fowl give a homely look to the premises, where perhaps a
gentle-eyed gazelle is playmate to the rough-haired dogs few
Bedawin are without. Round about the tents children are playing,
while their mothers are working at the hand-loom, or preparing the
simple evening meal.

In character the Bedawin are dignified and reserved, and have a
great contempt for the noisiness so characteristic of the Egyptians,
but, like them, are passionately fond of their wives and children, and
so highly pri