Page 399 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

372
BERKERA. [«h.

cucuits, alternately attacking and retreating,
until one side was defeated and driven into
the town, when hostilities ceased. A detach­
ment pursued by their adversaries was occa­

sionally seen to take the water, where they
frequently fought with much obstinacy up to
their middles. After these encounters, several
boat loads of wounded were brought alongside
for surgical assistance. They were usually
cut and gashed in a most terrific manner, and
bore the necessary operations and dressings
with astonishing firmness ; not a sigh or groan

escaping them. At the commencement, the
women were observed mingled in the fray,
throwing dust among the combatants, and
beating them with boughs. They carry off
the dead and wounded as they fall; washing,
and then burying the bodies in the sand im­
mediately, without any funeral ceremony.
When they meditate an attack on an hos­
tile tribe, or contemplate any other measure
of importance, a meeting of the various chiefs
is called. These, attended by large bodies of
their followers, form a circle, where all are

seated with their chins resting on their knees,
holding in their hands their spears, with the