almost, keeps an Abyssinian mistress, whom it is reckoned | warfare is carried on at a less cost of human life than in most other countries. (Burckhardt's Notes on Bed., pp. 76--84. 165–177. The The Bedouin attends his chief much in the fashion that the feudal vassal attended his liege lord during the middle ages in Europe. He arms, equips, and clothes himself; and trusts for pay to his share of booty. The Wahabee chief, who is essentially a Bedouin, has indeed kept on foot a large body of mercenary troops; but this system is in its infancy in the desert, and it is doubtful whether it will survive the present generation. The Wahabee power, since 1815, has evidently been on the decline. In the settled states, on the contrary, the soldiers are all mercenaries, their pay being, in general, 24 dollars per month, in addition to food, arms, and clothing. This accounts for the different appearance made by an army of Bedouins, and one belonging to the states of Yemen, Muscat, Hedjaz, &c. former present a motley appearance as to arms and equipment; the latter have the same arms and uniform. The Bedouins use long lances, sabres, and short crooked knives; and shorter lances, for the footmen. Clubs are very common, where lances (which are never of home manufacture) cannot be procured; and the Bedouins have several kinds, some wholly of wood, some laden with iron, and others wholly composed of the latter material. Matchlocks are in great request, but not very plentiful; though, when possessed of one, the Bedouin is an almost unerring marksman. He has not yet learned to use the musket, and if he get one, he converts it into a matchlock. The pistol is a favourite weapon. The soldiers of the settled states are armed with matchlocks, and the long crooked knife, called jambea. The horsemen carry the long lance, but the shorter one is almost unknown out of the desert. The Arabs have no skill in working heavy artillery; cannon are never used in the field, and the few pieces mounted in the citadels are served by Turks. A shield, 18 in. in diameter, covered with ox or hippopotamus hide, is a very common piece of defensive armour; in addition to which, coats of mail are worn whenever they can be procured. An iron cap, without a feather, iron gloves, and sometimes greaves for the legs, complete the costume of the mailed Arab. This mode of equipment is, however, chiefly confined to the Bedouins. Of all the arms in use, only the jambea, the clubs, and the target, are of home manufacture; the lances come from Syria and Persia, the sabres professedly from Damascus, the matchlock from Egypt, Turkey, and Europe, and the coats of mail, principally, from Syria. 338, 339.; Ali Bey, ii. pp. 109-115.; Lord Valentia, ¡¡. p. 348., iii. p. 329.) Agriculture. The nature of the soil restricts the pursuits of the agriculturist to particular localities, and his return varies materially in different parts of the peninsula. In Oman, the better sort of wheat, even when the season has been peculiarly rainy, will not return more than 10 for 1; nor the dhourrah (a coarse kind of barley) more than 12 for 1; while in the most fertile parts of Yemen, wheat is said to yield sometimes as much as 50 times the seed, and the return for the dhourrah, it is affirmed, amounts to 150, 200, and sometimes even 400 for 1. But statements like these, being liable to extreme exaggeration, must be received with considerable scepticism; though, as the dhourrah yields, in this district, 2 and even 3 crops in the year, the accounts of its extreme productiveness are not so very extravagant as, at first sight, they seem to be. (Nicbuhr, Des. de l'Ar., par. i, 135.) Arabia, if united under one, or even a few govern. ments, would possess many of the elements of political power. The nature of its soil and climate has always proved a formidable obstruction to foreign invaders, while the conquests of the immediate successors of Mohammed bear witness to the effect that the combined operation of its military energies is capable of producing. Split as the country is into some hundreds of petty sovereignties, this effect is little likely to be repeated. Though every Bedouin is by birth a soldier, dreams of conquest, beyond the plunder of a camp or caravan, rarely disturb his imagination; and though the princes It is a common practice for all Arabs, except merchants of the settled districts surround themselves with regular and learned professors, to go armed. The jambea is the troops, they employ them rather to avert in.ernal usual weapon. (Niebuhr, par. ii. pp. 184-190.; Burcktreachery than to make any attempt at foreign aggran-hardt's Notes, 30-32. 134, 135. 248.; Travels, vol. i. pp. disement. Still, however, the military power of the Arabs is considerable. In 1815, the princes opposed Mehemet Ali with an army of 25,000 men; and in 1803, the Wahabee chief marched against the same potentate at the head of 45,000. (Burckhardt's Notes, p. 248. ; Ali Bey, Travels, vol. ii. p. 115.); and though unable to prevent the establishment of the Egyptian power in the Hedjaz, they delayed it for some years, during which they more than once defeated the troops of the Pacha, and failed at last; more, as it would appear, from want of concert in their operations than from want of force. It should be remarked, too, that Mehemet Ali seems fully satisfied with the possession of the sea ports of the Hedjaz, and the holy cities. During 24 years he has made no attempt to extend his conquests; but has sought to conciliate his neighbours, and his new subjects, by enacting laws equally favourable to both. The sultan sheriff of the Hedjaz, previously to the Egyptian conquest, maintained a guard of 1,000 men at Djidda, and probably 3,000 or 4,000 more in the other towns of the Hedjaz this army is still maintained. The iman of Yemen has an army of 4,000 or 5,000 men, and the iman of Muscat, one of about 1,000. The smaller settled states have also their military forces, but no return of their amounts can be obtained. As before observed, every Bedouin is bred a soldier; but a very great difference exists between his sense of duty to his sheikh when called upon to attend him in a predatory expedition, and when called out for the purposes of national warfaresuch, for instance, as a contest between two hostile and powerful tribes. On the latter occasions, the hostile sheikhs have sometimes marched each at the head of 5,000 men, while in the desultory plundering expeditions 50 or 60 men frequently compose the whole force. There is a great difference, too, in the conduct of the Bedouin in these cases. Those who have encountered him in his robber character, stigmatise him as cowardly; and it appears that if he fail to effect his purpose by surprise, he generally declines attacking even a far inferior force; but in his open contests with the foe of his tribe, no soldier is braver; though, even here, The Tehama of Yemen, whenever its arid soil is naturally, or can be artificially irrigated, is plentifully sown with dhourrah. The plough is dragged in every direction over the field, till the earth is well broken and completely mixed. The sower follows the plough, and casts the seed into the furrow, as it is formed, the return of the plough covering the grain. In about 8 weeks the dhourrah is fit for the reaper; but as the farmer wishes the corn to be extremely ripe and dry before it is gathered, it remains standing a week or two longer, and then is pulled up by the roots. As, by this process, a considerable quantity of the dry seed is shed, the plough is again passed over the ground, and, in about 10 weeks, a second crop is produced, which, being gathered in the same way as the first, is, as before stated, not unfrequently followed by a third. The plough is of the rudest description, and even this cannot be used on the mountain side; the latter being tilled by means of an iron hoe, or rather pickaxe. These, with tools of primitive construction for cutting channels in the fields and gardens, and for forming banks or dikes to preserve the water, complete the scanty list of agri cultural implements. When the corn is to be thrashed the Arabs place it in two rows, ear to ear: a large stone is then drawn over it by two oxen, so that the grain is rather crushed than beaten out of the husks. A watermill would be an anomaly in a country where there are hardly any streams; but, with the exception of one or two, lately introduced into the Hedjaz by the Egyptians, there are no windmills in Arabia. The corn, when ready to be ground, is placed between two stones, of which the uppermost, if small, is turned by the hand; if large, it is worked by an ox or ass. (Niebuhr, par.ii. p. 189.) But, notwithstanding this rude state of agriculture, such is the fertility of the S. parts of Arabia, that they not only supply corn for their own consumption, but for that of the greater part of the other districts, and of the wandering tribes of the desert. The Hedjaz is, however, almost wholly dependant on supplies from Egypt. (Ld. Valentia, iii. 325. et seq.; Ali Bey, ii. 46. 101, &c.; Niebuhr, par. ii. 302-307.) ture is much less extensive than the former. There is, or was, a glass-house at Mocha. (Niebuhr, par. ii. pp. 188-190.) In Djidda, out of 224 shops, Burckhardt enumerates only twelve in which any thing is made: the others are all places of sale, and chiefly for articles of food or luxury. The 12 manufacturers are, 4 tailors, 5 sandal-makers (all Egyptians), 2 turners, and 1 watchmaker; who, like his fellow craftsmen, formerly residing in Yemen, is a Turk. These, with a few blacksmiths, silversmiths, and carpenters (mostly Egyptians), constitute all the artisans of Djidda. (Burckhardt's Travels, vol. i. pp. 47-84.) In the holiest of the holy cities, Mecca, not a man can be found capable of forging a lock or key. The slippers and sandals in common use, are brought from Egypt and Constantinople; and the only attempts at manufactures are confined to the construction of rude matchlocks, jambeas, and lance-heads, together with vessels of copper and tin, in which the pilgrims carry away the water of the holy well, zemzoni. (Burckhardt's Travels, i. 343.; Ali Bey, ii. 99, 100.) In Oman, the only manufactures are sashes and turbans of silk or cotton, the abba, or Arab cloak of wool or camel's hair, a coarse kind of cotton canvass, arms of a very rude description, earthen jars, called murtaban, and gunpowder. (Frazer's Journey into Khorasan, p. 18.) At Suez, Hodeida, Mocha, and Muscat, some of the vessels are constructed in which the Arabs carry on their coasting and Indian trade. Till within these few years, ship-building was carried on at Djidda also (Ali Bey, ii. 45.); but though it be still a very important shipping-station, no vessels of any kind are now built at it, and it is with difficulty that means are found of even repairing a ship or boat. (Burckhardt's Travels, i. 43.) The want of wood, in Arabia, lays the shipwright under peculiar disadvantages. The timber used in Suez is felled in the woods of Asia Minor, conveyed up the Nile to Cairo, and thence, overland, to its place of destination. When ships were built at Djidda, the timber came by the same route; and it may be presumed that its further transit, by the Red Sea, from Suez rendered it too costly. In Mocha and Hodeida a part of the timber is procured from the mountain-sides of Yemen, but the greater portion is imported from the coast of Africa. (Burckhardt's Travels, i. 42—49.) With the exception of the Modan tribes, none of the Bedouins meddie with tillage; while the business of the dairy and pasturage are almost equally unknown among the settled population. The Bedouin depends upon the Arab of the towns and villages for his corn and clothing; the latter upon the former for his cattle and part of his butter. In the division of rural labour, the pastoral portion thus falls to the Bedouin. He is shepherd, though a warlike one; and now, as in the days of Abraham, he counts his wealth, not by his silver or gold (though of them he is by no means negligent), but by the number of his flocks and herds, and especially his camels. The same number of these animals, which would in one part of the desert constitute their proprietor a rich man, in another would mark him as comparatively poor. The tribes of poor Bedouins are those who inhabit the mountainous country, where the camels find little food, and are not very prolific. Among these, the possessor of 10 camels is reckoned wealthy, while in the plains of Nedsjed, some sheikhs have as many as 300, and no one with less than 30 or 40 is reckoned in easy circumstances. In the fertile parts of Nedsjed, are some of the best pastures in the world, and the camels bred there are preferred by the town Arabs. These plains also produce the finest horses, and with them the town population is supplied. The wealth of the Bedouin depends, however, upon many contingencies: not only is he liable to be stripped by some more powerful tribe, but disease among his herds, or profuse hospitality, frequently reduce him to poverty. His finest pastures also sometimes fail, depending as they do upon the rainy season, and being unprovided with independent means of irrigation. Should the rain fail, herbage also fails, and the Bedouin never looks for more than three or four successive years of plenty, and considers himself fortunate if he pass ten without encountering absolute famine. (Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, pp. 39–42. 138-141.jured; so that ships are always being built or repaired, Travels, vol. ii. pp. 400-402.) Manufactures. These are at a lower ebb in Arabia than in perhaps any other semi-civilised country. Among the Bedouins, two or three blacksmiths, and a few saddlers, are the only artists: they are not members of the tribe for which they labour, but natives of the neighbouring towns and villages. The Bedouins regard them as an inferior race, and would feel degraded were any individual of their tribe to give his daughter in marriage to one of them. It is curious, however, that while they thus regard the service of their horses (their greatest pride) as a menial occupation, they should themselves unscrupulously perform other works, which appear to us quite of as low a character. The businesses of dyeing and tanning are performed wholly by the men. The Bedouin women weave the coverings of tents and the bags for holding provisions, of the hair of goats and camels, but the manufacture of tent-covers is confined to the mountainous regions, where goats abound, their hair being exclusively used for that purpose. (Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. vi. cap. 28. p. 142.) The Arab loom is a very primitive machine. Spinning is performed by the men, being the only domestic occupation which they do not spurn. (Burckhardt's Notes on Bed., pp. 37-39. 138.) The ships of the Arabs, excepting those of Muscat, which are of a very super lor description, are extremely rude and simple. Those called dows are the largest, and are the only ones that perform the voyage to India. (Burckhardt's Travels, i. 43.) The unskilfulness of the Arab seamen, with the clumsy nature of their dows, render shipwrecks of very frequent occurrence. Ali Bey was wrecked on his voyage from Suez to Djidda. and again on his return from Djidda to Suez (Travels, ii. 34. 164.); and he affirms, that not a year passes without several vessels being totally lost, and many niore, more or less inwithout increasing the actual number employed in the coasting trade (ii. 45.) That number is, however, considerable; the ships belonging to Djidda only amount to 250; and it is estimated that about as many belong respectively to Suez, Hodeida, and Mocha. (Burckhardt's Travels, i. 42.; Ali Bey, ii. 45.) Many of these ships are purchased at Bombay and Muscat; the vessels of the latter being very superior to those of the Red Sea, and their navigators much before the sailors of Yemen in energy and skill. (See MUSCAT.) The best houses of the Arabs are built of stone, or, if upon the coast, of madrepore and coral. This latter material is of such a nature that it rapidly decomposes when exposed to the weather. In other parts they use a sun-burnt brick with little or no lime, so that constant care is necessary to prevent the introduction of moisture, the tropical rains bringing with them sure destruction to the neglected buildings of an Arab town, quickly reducing them to a heap of rubbish; and as the wooden materials very soon vanish in a country where wood is extremely scarce, the very ruins of many cities, formerly celebrated for their magnificence and grandeur, may now be sought for in vain. Even in towns that are populous, and stirring with activity, many houses are falling rapidly to decay; and while no part is old, many These are all the arts or manufactures practised among parts are dilapidated and ruinous: yet an Arab town, the Bedouins; and the standard seems scarcely higher on the first approach to it, appears handsome_and in the towns. It is true that gold and silver ornaments picturesque; the houses, like those all over the East, are manufactured in Yemen ; but by Jews and Banian are flat-roofed, and among them rise, here and there, Indians. Even the money which is coined in that dis- the doine-covered tombs, called kobas, which, with the trict (and there is none coined in any other), is the work tapering minarets of the mosques, give to the whole of the former; and the only watchmaker who ever set- outline an air of variety and elegance. Every good tled in the country, was a Turk. Of machinery, there is house exhibits a series of gaudy lattices to its windows; next to none. Some rude sorts of arms are made in and many of them are ornamented with fanciful designs Yemen, as the crooked knife, jambea, and a very inferior in white stucco. Most of the gateways have pointed matchlock. There are also, in Yemen, several looms arches; and the general character of the ornamental for the manufacture of coarse linen; and this, like the architecture is not very dissimilar to the Gothic. The hair and wool-weaving among the Bedouins, forms by mosques are square buildings, or rather parallelograms, far the most important of all their industrial occupations. without much external beauty, except their tall and Some woollen cloths are also woven; but this manufac-slender minarets, which always appear light and grace. ful; but their interior frequently displays much skilful, be monarch of a state, or sheikh of a Bedouin tribe, is workmanship. The great mosque at Mecca contains more than 500 columns and pilasters of very great beauty. The houses of the poorer classes are of the most wretched description. Hluts composed of wicker work or date-tree leaves, covered on the inside with mats, and, sometimes, on the outside with a little clay; huddled toget er, and hardly sufficient to afford a shelter from the weather. These circumstances, with the filth collected in the unpaved streets, and never removed, impress the mind of a European with a sense of utter desolation and misery. No remains of the fine Saracenic architecture of the middle ages are found in Arabia; singular as it may appear, that a people who have left the traces of their skill in this art in every land, from Mesopotamia to Spain, should possess no trace of it in their native country. The perishable nature of building materials in Arabia may account for this fact, for even the holy mosque at Mecca has undergone so many repairs that it may be regarded as a modern structure; but it is much more probable that, while the Arab conquerors caught the love of arts and sciences from the enervated, but refined, nations subdued by them in their headlong career of conquest, those arts and sciences did not find their way into the peninsula, and that architecture, like the rest, never flourished within its limits. The only president of the tribunal of justice; he cannot decide a case, either civil or criminal; every one must be referred to the proper tribunal; and the sovereign possesses no power of reversing its decision. But this protection from despotic power is, in the towns, merely apparent; for, as the sovereign names the cadis and dismisses them at pleasure, they regard themselves simply as his officers, and never dream of pronouncing a sentence of which he disapproves. Among the Bedouins, however, the office of cadi is elective, and the sheikh has no influence in the appointment. (Niebuhr, par. ii. pp. 180, &c.; Burckhardt, Notes on Bed., pp. 68, &c.) Capital punishments are very rare; being inflicted only for blasphemy, and conjugal infidelity in women. blasphemer is hanged; the unchaste wife, if her guilt be unequivocally proved, has her throat cut; and, by an unheard of refinement of atrocity, her father or brother is compelled to be her executioner. This detestable barbarity is, however, rarely perpetrated; for the marriage tie being, on the part of the husband, of very easy dissolution, he generally prefers sending his offending spouse back to her family, merely assigning as a reason that she does not suit him. (Niebuhr, par. i. p. 21. ; Burkhardt, Notes on Bed., p. 63.) Corporal punishments are almost unknown. The immemorial usage is to award a pecuniary fine, whatever may be the nature of the crime. Every offence has its ascertained mulct, even to not compelled to take the compensation, being, by the law of Thar, or blood revenge, allowed to take the life of the homicide, or that of any of his relations within the fourth degree. If, however, the fine be accepted, the Koran expressly provides for the safety of the murderer. (Koran, chap.ii. p. 21.; Niebuhr, par. i. pp. 28-31.; Burckhardt's Notes on Bed., pp. 84-89.) Insulting expressions, acts of violence, however slight, and the infliction of wounds, have each their respective tariff of fines; and it sometimes happens that, in the course of a quarrel, mutual offences having been committed, the cadi's sentence is a curious specimen of striking a balance. Burckhardt (Notes on Bed., p.71.) affords an instance of this. "Bokhyt called Djolan a dog. Djolan returned the insult by a blow upon Bokhyt's arm; then Bokhyt cut Djolan's shoulder with a knife. Bokhyt owes to Djolan, therefore, 1 sheep. 3 camels. The Arabs use no levels in their buildings, consequently their floors are very uneven; and, notwith-murder; but, in this case, the friends of the deceased are standing the heat of their climate, they have a very bad, or, rather, no idea of ventilation. The large ventilators, placed on the house-tops in Egypt, and which diffuse a current of air through all the lower apartments, are totally unknown. In many places the windows are composed of transparent stone, built into the walls, and, consequently, incapable of opening. (Burckhardt's Travels, 1. 17-22. 153-155. 185–242. ; ii. 150. 329. &c.; Ali Bey, ii. 30. 42. 94-104. 161-174.; Lord Valentia, ii. 345-348.; Fraser, 7, 8.) Commerce. - Owing to the situation of Arabia, nearly surrounded by the sea, and occupying, as it were, a central position between Europe, Asia, and Africa, it has always enjoyed a considerable trade, which, in later ages, has been materially promoted by the resort of pilgrims to the holy cities. The hadjis, indeed, are expressly authorised by the Prophet to combine commercial pursuits with the performance of a religious duty (Koran, chap. ii. Sale); and a great amount of business is, consequently, transacted at Mecca, during the period that the pilgrims remain in that city. With the exception of coffee, and a few other articles of inferior importance, Arabia has but little native produce to export. Its trade, therefore, is, and always has been, principally one of transit. Great quantities of commodities are annually brought to Djidda, Mecca, Muscat, and its other entrepôts, from Turkey, Persia, Africa, India, the Indian islands, Europe, &c., partly by caravans, but principally by ships: such parts of these as are not wanted for home consumption, being distributed among the pilgrims and merchants, are by them conveyed away by sea or land, as the case may be. The great centres of Arabian trade are Djidda, Mocha, and Muscat. The first is the port of Mecca, and also the principal channel through which the regular trade between the Hedjaz and Egypt is carried on; the former being principally dependent upon the latter for its supplies of corn. Since the zeal for pilgrimage has begun to abate in the Mohammedan world, the trade of Arabia has considerably decreased; but it is still carried on to a greater extent than would readily be supposed, considering the limited amount of its population and productions. Mocha is the principal seat of the coffee trade, though Loheia has of late years made some powerful attempts at rivalry; and Muscat has recently risen to very considerable eminence as a sea-port and seat of the carrying trade, particularly with India and the countries round the Persian Gulph. (Burckhardt's Travels, i. 29-81.; Ali Beu, ii. 101-107.; Fraser, 16.; Lord Valentia, ii. 370.; Niebuhr, par. ii. p. 193. See also, DJDDA, MOCHA, MUSCAT, &c.) Laws, Crimes, and Punishments. The laws of Arabia are those of a primitive people under a patriarchal government. The civil laws, founded upon the Koran, are administered by cadis, distinguished by their experience in the customs of the nation, but to whom a knowledge of the arts of reading and writing is not always indispensable. It should be observed, however, that the Arab judges are of two kinds; the Cadi-el-feriaa (judge of customary law), and the Cadi-el-sheryaa (judge of written law), the latter being more cominon in what are called the Turkish towns (that is, in towns governed by Turkish law), than in those where the unmixed customs of Arabia exist. Written pleadings are not, however, unknown, even in pure Arab towns; but precedents (in some cases, perhaps, reduced to a rude form of codification) seem to form the principal, if not the only guide, to an Arab judge's decision. The sovereign, whether he For the insulting expression For wounding him in the shoulder Djolan owes to Bokhyt, For the blow upon the arm 1 camel. Remain due to Djolan, 2 camels and 1 sheen." The killing of a watch-dog is paid for by placing in the earth a stick as long as the dog, from tail to snout, and this stick the offender is obliged to cover with wheat, as a satisfaction to the owner. The decisions of the cadis are generally founded upon the amount of testimony before them; but, if there be no witnesses, the defendant is called upon to expurgate himself by oath. The judicial oaths vary in sanctity and solemnity; and if the accused swear, by the one proposed, to his innocence, he is considered as acquitted. An ordeal, not very dissimilar to that formerly prevailing in Europe, exists in Arabia. It consists of heating an iron spoon red-hot, and calling on the accused party to lick it. If he escape without injury, he is accounted innocent; if otherwise, guilty. Burckhardt is orthodox enough to declare, that persons have been known to lick the beshaa (red-hot spoon) 20 times, with perfect impunity! (Not, on Bed., p. 69.) Though robbers be accounted any thing but infamous, those detected in the fact are very severely punished. In this case, the robber is kept in close confinement (among the Bedouins, in a hole dug in the earth,) and very scantily fed, till he fix the terms of ransom with his captor, or till he contrive to make his escape. This is a strictly legal method of proceeding; the right of detention being lodged, by custom, in the person of the captor; and even the mode of treatment is so well ascertained, that it is scarcely ever departed from. Among the Bedouins, the customs of Wasy and Dakheil have all the force of law in other countries; by the first, an Arab family binds itself to be the protector of another, and this obligation, once undertaken, descends through all the generations of both. There is no Arab, from the lowest to the highest, but has his wasy, or guardian; and the duty of protection inferred from this character, is among the most sacred recognised in Arabia. By the law of dakheil, a person in actual danger, who can touch another, or even any thing with which that other is in contact, or can hit him by spitting or throwing a stone at him, at the same time exclaiming, Ana dakheilak, “I am thy protected," acquires a right to the protection which he seeks, and which is always ac. corded to the fullest extent. Even a detected thief, if he can touch any one in his captor's tent (except the captor himself), becomes safe; for which reason he is bound hand and foot, and beaten, till he agrees to re- | nounce the dakheil for that day. It is for this reason, too, that he is subsequently buried alive, as it were; for should he become the dakheil of any one, his right to freedom is immediately allowed, and he is treated, in every respect, like a newly arrived guest in the tent of his late enemy. There is only one offender to whom the privilege of dakheil is refused, namely, the thief released upon the responsibility of some third party, if he should, when at liberty, refuse to satisfy his bail. Under such circumstances, he is proclaimed traitor, and loses all the privilege in question; in fact, becomes outlawed. The dakheil does not apply to a homicide under the thar. (Burckhardt, Notes on Bedouins, pp. 74, 75. 89-100. 182.) Though polygamy be allowed by the Mohammedan law, in practice it is by no means general. Few men, of moderate fortunes, have more than one wife; and many, even of the highest rank, similarly confine themselves. (Niebuhr, par. i. p.65.; Burckhardt, Not. on Bed., p. 61.) On the other hand, the nature of the marriage ceremony, and the facility of divorce, renders changes of wives of very common occurrence. In the towns, an agreement before the cadi, in the desert, the slaughter of a lamb in the tent of the bride's father, completes the contract, which is broken quite as readily as it is formed. The husband having said, before witnesses, ent talek (thou art divorced), and sent the woman back to her family, both parties are considered free; the husband from the maintenance of his wife, the wife to form a new connection. In these cases, the woman's portion is returned; and, among the Bedouins, the husband adds to it a she-camel. The custom of divorce is, however, much more prevalent in the tents than in the towns. In the latter, it is always considered indecorous, and implying dishonour in the woman; but, in the desert, a wife may have been divorced 3 or 4 times, and yet be free from any stain or imputation on her character. Polygamy, however, is much more common in the towns than among the Bedouins. If a man leave a widow, his brother generally offers to marry her; but this is entirely a law of custom, and not binding on either party. A man has, however, an exclusive right to the hand of his cousin; and, although he cannot be compelled to marry her, his renunciation of his right is necessary to enable her to marry another. Marriages are consummated at a very early age; it being reckoned discreditable in a man, and almost infamous in a woman, to lead a life of celibacy. (Burckhardt's Notes on Bed., pp. 61-66.; Niebuhr, par. i. pp. 63 -67.) A curious custom, connected with the laws of marriage and divorce, prevails in the Hedjaz. No unmarried woman is, by the Mohammedan law, allowed to visit the holy temple; but as many rich old widows, or women whose husbands have died on the road, arrive with every hadj, a number of men are established at Djidda, and other frontier towns of the Beled cl-Harem, whose business it is to facilitate the progress of these widowed females through the sacred territory. The muhallil (as one of these men is called) marries the lady legally before the cadi, accompanies her to Mecca, Arrafat, and all the sacred places; and, on the termination of the pilgrimage, pronounces the ent talek, or sentence of divorce. Should he, however, refuse to do this, the law cannot compel him; but he would be prevented from any longer exercising his calling, which, though not very creditable, is so lucrative, that only two instances are recorded of such temporary marriages having become permanent. (Burckhardt's Travels, i. 359.) The law of inheritance is very simple as regards property. The effects of a deceased father are shared among his children, the portion of a male being double that of a female. The succession to power is less clearly ascertained. If a sheikh or sovereign die, his successor is usually taken from among his sons; but it does not seem that any one has a well established right in preference to the others. In Yemen, it would appear that the iman is succeeded by his eldest living son, even to the exclusion of the children of an elder one deceased. (Niebuhr, par. ii. p. 179.; Burckhardt, Notes on Bed., pp. 68. 75.; Lord Valentia, vol. ii. p. 380.) Religion.. - Antecedent to the earliest records, the city of Mecca had been sacred ground; and its holy temple, the kaaba, identified in the minds of the Arabs with every sacred feeling. The legends with respect to it, to which it is unnecessary more particularly to allude, show that the religion of the early Arabs was, to a considerable extent, mixed up with that of the He brews. They acknowledged one supreme God, regarding, however, the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as inferior and subordinate intelligences. This religion has been called SABIANISM, either from SABI, a supposed son of Seth, or, as is more probable, from the word SABA, signifying the Host of leaven. The supreme God was called Allah Taala (Most High God), the subordinate deities, Al-Slahat (the Powers). It was these titles (one par ticular, the other general) that led Herodotus to affirm that the Arabians worshipped only two gods, namely, Urotalt and Alilat; the former of whom he identifies with the Bacchus (Argos) of the Greeks, the latter with Urania, the muse of astronomy. (Herodotus, Thalia, 8.; Al-Firawz, Shahrestan et aliis in Pococke, pp. 110. 138. 143. 284.; D'Herbelot, pp. 725, 726, &c.) The Sabian religion can scarcely be deemed irrational, when professed by a rude people, inhabiting an open country, under a clear sky; who must have connected the changes of the seasons, and the returns of the periodic rains and droughts, that rendered their plains alternately fertile and sterile, with the revolutions of the heavenly bodies. But the Arabs also worshipped angels (Koran, chaps. liii. and lxxi); and their images, which last they believed to be inspired by the supreme divinity with life and intelligence. This sort of idolatry having been once introduced, gradually spread; and in the 6th century, and long before, the number of these deities was very great, each tribe having chosen one to be its peculiar intercessor with the Supreme Being; and 360 were enshrined in the kaaba, as tutelary guardians of the days of the Arab year. (Al-Janaub, Shahrestan et aliis in Pococke, 90, et seq.; Sale, Intro. Koran, 14—22.; Burckhardt's Travels, i. p. 299, &c.) The Arabs seem, indeed, to have admitted, without hesitation, all deities; and thus, in the 6th century, a figure of the Virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus, was sculptured on one of the principal pillars of the kaaba as an object of adoration. (El Arraky, quoted by Burckhardt, Travels, i. p. 300.) It is most probable that this indiscriminate adoption of the objects of veneration of all sects, was intended to render the sacred city sacred to all men, and thus to increase the resort of pilgrims. After the destruction of Jerusalem, by Titus, A. D. 70, many Jews fled into Arabia. These exiles made many proselytes among the natives, whole tribes embracing the Hebrew faith; so that, in a century or two, the Jewish Arabs became a very powerful section of the whole people. A similar cause, the persecution early in the third century of the Christian æra, drove many Christians to Arabia, whose zeal, unchecked by former sufferings, led them to preach their doctrines in their new homes, and that with such success that in a short time they had made a very great progress in the coun. try. The faith of the Persian Magi, or the religion of Zoroaster, had, at a very early period, found its way into the peninsula; had been embraced with avidity by many tribes; and thus, in the middle of the 6th century, the population of Arabia was divided, perhaps not very unequally, into Sabians, Jews, Christians, and Magians (Shahrestan et aliis in Pococke, 140. et seq.; Sale, Intro. Koran, 21-24.) Such was the state of religion in Arabia at the birth of Mohammed; an epoch which may be regarded as the commencement of one of the most extraordinary revolutions that history has to record. It occurred at Mecca in the month of May, A. D. 571, (Dr. Pri deaux, Hist. Moh. 6.) or 570 (Abul-Feda, Vit. Moh. 49.). This founder of a new religion, and of a political power which, even in his lifetime, extended over his native country, and which, under his successors, threatened to embrace the empire of the world, traced his genealogy in a direct line through 11 descents from Koreish, the founder of the powerful tribe that bore his name. Koreish again, was affirmed to be the 10th in direct descent from Adnan; and Adnan, the 3d, 7th or 8th (which is doubtful) from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. (AbulFeda, Vit. Moh., cap. ii. pp. 6, 7.) The future Prophet sprung, therefore, from the noblest tribe of the Ishmaelitish Arabs, and his grandfather was, at the time of his birth, sovereign of Mecca, and guardian of the kaaba; consequently, from the sacredness of his territory, and the holiness of his office, a prince of great power and influence. (Abul-Feda, cap. vi. p. 13. Al-Firawz et al is in Pococke, p.51.; Ecchelensis Chron. or Hist. Ar., par. i. cap. iii. p. 139. et seq.) Yet, notwithstanding his high connections, Mohammed's early life was passed in comparative poverty. His father, a younger son of the sovereign of Mecca, dying before Mohammed was 2 years old, the latter, and his mother, were left with no other provision than 5 camels, and a female slave. To his grandfather, Abdol-Motalleb, in the first instance, and subsequently to his uncle, Abu-Taleb, the future Prophet was, therefore, indebted for his infant protection; and this guardianship was exercised with the greatest kindness, the uncle especially (for Abdol-Motalieb died when Mohammed was only 8 years old), continuing the firm friend of his ward, throughout his life, and protecting him in the dangers and difficulties which beset his first attempts to disseminate his doctrines. Under the auspices of his uncle, Mohammed began life as a mer chant, accompanying a trading caravan to Syria, in his 13th year. Subsequently, and at a very early age, (Abul-Feda, caps. Ix. x. xl., pp. 21-27.; Ebuol-Athir, Al-Firawz et aliis in Pococke, p. 177, et seq.). Abu-Taleb recommended him as a factor to Khadija, a | rich widow, to whom his skill in commerce, or his other accomplishments, so far endeared him, that, in a short time, he exchanged the name of servant for that of husband; raising himself by this alliance to an equality with the richest, if not the most powerful men of Mecca. At the time of his marriage, he was 25, and his wife 40 years of age. (Abul-Feda, caps. iv. and v. pp. 10. and 12.). It would be useless now to attempt to discover the proximate cause that led Mohammed to attack a system of idolatry, of which his own family were at the head. It was not, however, as some have surmised, a sudden outbreak of enthusiasm; for, after his marriage, he continued to live in all the privacy compatible with the station of a rich and highly connected individual for 13 years. At the termination of this period, he withdrew from society, resorted to a cave in the neighbourhood of Mecca, where, for 2 years, he gave out that he was in daily communication with the Divinity. At the end of this time, being then 40 years of age, he assumed the character of a Prophet, sent by the Almighty to establish a new religion; or, if we may take his own words, to restore the ancient one, professed by Adam, Noah, Abraham, the Prophets, and Jesus Christ; by destroying the gross idolatries of his countrymen, and weeding out the corruptions and superstitions by which, as he alleged, the Jews and Christians had deformed the beautiful simplicity of the true faith. (Abul-Feda, cap. vii., pp. 14-lytes-Mohammed, on the invitation of a deputation from 17.; Abul-Pharagius, p. 102. ; El-Macin. Hist Sar., lib. i. cap. i. p. 13., &c.) His first convert was his wife Khadija, of whose merits, in this and other instances, he always entertained the highest sense, uniformly speaking of her with an affection bordering upon reverence; and placing her, after her death, among the only four perfect women the world had ever seen. The other three were Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, the Virgin Mary, and his own daughter Fatima. (Abul-Feda, caps. vii. & viii., pp. 16, 17.) The progress of the new sect was at first very slow. It is usually stated, that 9 converts only were made in the first 3 years but this is scarcely consistent with the fact that, in the 4th, Mohammed felt himself strong enough to abandon his private preaching, and to proclaim his doctrines publicly. (Abul-Feda, cap. viii. p. 19.; Koran, cap. xxvi. & xxvii. ; Abul-Pharagius, p. 102, &c.) Nothing can well exceed the simplicity of the Mohammedan doctrines, as delivered by the founder and his immediate successors; and as they are embodied in the 114 chapters of the Koran: The unity of God; the divine mission of Mohammed; the stated observance of prayer; the giving of alms; the observance of an annual fast; and the pilgrimage to Mecca; comprise, under 5 heads, the principal points, whether doctrinal or practical, which were to be enforced. The resurrection of the body was proclaimed, and a future state, in which men will receive the reward of their good actions and obedience to the law of the Prophet, or be subjected to a purifying punishment for their evil deeds and infidelity. The final admission of all believers to a state of bliss, is an article of Mohammedan faith. (Koran, passim, especially chaps. ii. iii. iv. v. and exli.; Reland's Moham. Theol., P. 20., &c.) The supposed divine legation of Mohammed is the principal novelty introduced. The stated prayers were only adaptations of customs already existing among the Sabians, Jews, Christians, and Magians; the annual fast was a very ancient practice among the old Arabs; and the only change effected by Mohammed in its observance, was, by prohibiting the intercalation of a month in the lunar year, to make the sacred scason fixed instead of ambulatory. (Koran, chap. ix.). The pilgrimage to Mecca was, as has been shown, a practice followed from the very earliest times; and the rewards and punishments in another life were adopted, but with much adulteration, from the Christian doctrines. The grossly sensual character of Mohammed's paradise, is, in fact, the great blemish in his religious system; and has had a most debasing and degrading influence over the countries where it has acquired an ascendancy. The new religion being in most parts little more than an adaptation of various parts of the religions previously existing in Arabia, was well fitted to attract all by the respect it professed for the peculiar tenets of each, excepting the idolatrous worship of the Sabians. Accordingly, Mohammed was heard with patience by the people of Mecca, till he denounced the idols of the Kaaba. This, however, raised so strong a feeling against him, that his ruin was prevented, and his life preserved, only by the firm friendship of his uncle, Abu-Taleb. who, although unconvinced by the preaching of his nephew, protected him against his enemies. In the 6th year of his mission, the persecutions to which he was exposed became so severe, that many of his followers sought, by his permission, refuge in other lands, chiefly in Abyssinia; where they became the first instruments for planting the new faith in Africa. This event is called, by Eastern writers, THE FIRST HEJIRA or flight. | The protection of Abu-Taleb, though it preserved Mohammed from personal danger, could not prevent a very strong manifestation of hostility, in which AbuTaleb himself and all his family were sharers. The other Koreishites bound themselves to hold no communion with the family of Hashem, the great grandfather of Mohammed and to give, the greater force to their act, it was reduced to writing, and laid up in the Kaaba. At the end of 3 years, however, Mohammed, having, no doubt, previously concerted his measures. proclaimed, that God had sent a worm to eat out every word in the parchment except his own holy name; and the writing being, on inspection, found to be destroyed, the league was put an end to; and Mohammed's reputation considerably increased. In the same year, being the 10th of his mission, Abu-Taleb and Khadija died; and their deaths were by far the greatest blow which Mohammed experienced during his career. In the Mussulman calendar, this year is commemorated as the year of mourning. (Åbul-Feda, cap. x. xiv., pp. 26—29.; ElMacin, lib. i. cap. i. p. 4.). The death of Abu-Taleb removed the only check to the virulent enmity of the Koreishites; and a stranger having succeeded to the sovereignty of Mecca, after a troubled residence of 3 years marked, however, by the accession of many proseMedina, fled to that city; and instantly, as if by magie, the proscribed and condemned exile became a powerful, and, as it soon appeared, an all-but-invincible monarch. The flight from Mecca to Medina, the second Hejira, or HEGIRA, par excellence, is the epoch from which the Mussulmans date their æra. It occurred in the 53d year of Mohammed's age, and 13th of his mission; and coincides with the 16th July, A.D. 622. (Abul-Feda, cap. xxi. xxiii., p. 40-50.; Ebn Ishak, in Sale, p. 48.; El-Macin, lib. i. cap. i. p. 4.; D'Herbelot, pp. 444, 445.) Down to this point, Mohammed had propagated his religion by means of persuasion only: throughout 85 chapters of the Koran, published at Mecca, there is nothing said of a compulsory power being given to the Prophet; on the contrary, he exhorts his disciples to bear with patience the evils inflicted by unbelievers, declaring he has no authority to compel any one to embrace his religion. (See, in particular, chaps. vii. to xxiii.; xxv. to xxxii., &c.) But his doctrines breathe a very different spirit after his establishment in regal and sacerdotal power at Medina. The 18 chapters of the Koran, published at that city, declare, that since man had perversely rejected the missions of Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, Christ, and even the mild pleadings of Mohammed himself, God had now commanded him to extirpate idolatry from the earth, and to bring all mankind into submission to his will. (See, in particular, chaps. iii. iv. v. viii. ix., &c.). The sword, however, was first drawn against Mohammed, and not by him. Abu-Sophian, the new sovereign of Mecca, led an army, of 900 or 1,000 men, against the supposititious Prophet, who, with a force of only 319 enthusiasts, met his enemies in the valley of Beder, near Medina, and gained a complete victory, with the loss of only 40 men; who were immediately canonised, as the first martyrs in the cause of God and his Prophet. (Abul-Feda, cap. xxvii., pp. 56-60.; El-Macin, lib. i. cap. i. p. 5.) a From this time the progress of Mohammed was, if not continued triumph, -for he sustained some defeats,an example of the most rapid success upon record. During the next six years he fought 27 battles, exclusive of those fought by his generals, in which he was not personally present; and, at the end of that period, he entered Mecca in triumph, on the 20th Ramadan, in the 8th Hejira, or December 31., A. D. 629. The conquest of Mecca may be regarded as the final establishment of Mohammedanism in Arabia. The few contests that followed were merely the last struggles of an expiring opposition; and were mostly terminated by Mohammed's generals, while the Prophet himself was employed in destroying the idols in and round the Kaaba, and in sending embassies, inviting the Arabs to embrace his faith; which invitations were now attended with complete success. The following year, the 9th Hejira, is called, by Eastern writers, the year of embassies: missions from all parts of Arabia poured in, bringing the adhesion of the various tribes to the now triumphant faith; and the victorious founder of the new religion made a solemn pilgrimage to the temple of the Kaaba, to return thanks to Heaven for his success, and the final overthrow of idolatry. (Abul-Feda, caps. xxviii.-lx. pp. 61-132.; El-Macin, lib. i. pp. 5-10.) All Arabia was now united in one faith; but Mohammed did not live long to enjoy his triumph. Some years previously, or in the 7th Hejira, A.D. 628, he was poisoned by a Jewess of Chaibar, who, on his entering that town in triumph, offered him some eggs, previously drugged, professedly to test the reality of his divine knowledge. (Abul-Feda, cap. xlv. p. 92.) Henceforward his strength declined; but his death was caused by a |