Page 191 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

172 COAST OF ARABIA. [cii.

permitted to roam over the country without
interruption. The Bedowins, none of whom
ever before had seen Europeans or a ship,
testified few symptoms of curiosity or surprise
when admitted on board. On the second
$
I night after our arrival 'Al&yftn with about a
dozen of his followers remained there all

night. Prior to retiring to rest, without its
f.
being solicited or hinted at, they gave up
their arms to be taken care of until the morn­
ing. Such a measure with their own tribes,
among whom it is well known the laws of
hospitality are preserved inviolate, would have
drawn no attention, but with us, who were
strangers, and whose visits, observations, and
proceedings on their coast were at the least
calculated to excite suspicion, it was a mark

of confidence as unexpected as it was pleas-
ing. On shore the behaviour of these Be­
dowins was veiy friendly, and they never
permitted us to pass their huts without an
invitation to partake of what they afforded;
for this they neither asked nor accepted any
remuneration, In their dwellings, which are

very small, and constructed of a few upright
sticks about six feet long, surrounded by