ve certainly no intention of doing it again. Hence we
had small danger of competitors, and found the market almost at our
absolute disposal.

But before a quarter of an hour has passed, and while blacky is
still roasting or pounding his coffee, a tall thin lad, Ghafil's
eldest son, appears, charged with a large circular dish,
grass-platted like the rest, and throws it with a graceful jerk on
the sandy floor close before us. He then produces a large wooden
bowl full of dates, bearing in the midst of the heap a cup full of
melted butter; all this he places on the circular mat, and says,
"_Semmoo_," literally, "pronounce the Name", of God, understood;
this means "set to work at it." Hereon the master of the house
quits his place by the fireside and seats himself on the sand
opposite to us; we draw nearer to the dish, and four or five
others, after some respectful coyness, join the circle. Every one
then picks out a date or two from the juicy half-amalgamated mass,
dips them into the butter, and thus goes on eating till he has had
enough, when he rises and washes his hands.

By this time the coffee is ready, and Soweylim begins his round,
the coffee-pot in one hand; the tray and cups on the other. The
first pouring out he must in etiquette drink himself, by way of a
practical assurance that there is no "death in the pot;" the guests
are next served, beginning with those next the honourable fireside;
the master of the house receives his cup last of all. To refuse
would be a positive and unpardonable insult; but one has not much
to swallow at a time, for the coffee-cups, or finjans, are about
the size of a large egg-shell at most, and are never more than
half-filled. This is considered essential to good breeding, and a
brimmer would here imply exactly the reverse of what it does in
Europe; why it should be so I hardly know, unless perhaps the
rareness of cup-stands or "zarfs" (see Lane's "Modern Egyptians")
in Arabia, though these implements are universal in Egypt and
Syria, might render an over-full cup inconveniently hot for the
fingers that must grasp it without medium. Be that as it may, "fill
the cup for your enemy" is an adage common to all, Bedouins or
townsmen, throughout the Peninsula. The beverage itself is
singularly aromatic and refresh