Page 84 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

IV.] SHERM TO SINAI. 65

as it is given us, in the light of a miracle.
Several of our Bedowins appear to have suf­
fered from the ravages of the small-pox, a dis­
ease more prevalent here than in any part of
the coast which I have visited. This appears

to be owing to the constant intercourse the
Toward Bedowins have with Cairo, the grand
nursery of this scourge, as of the plague.
Inoculation and vaccination are here un­
known, and such is the aversion which the
Bedowins entertain of this horrible pest,
that though on ordinary occasions they are
not inattentive to their sick, and take but
comparatively few precautions against the
plague, yet, as soon as an individual is at­
tacked by the small-pox, by common consent

he is abandoned to his fate. A lone hut may
often be observed at a short distance from the
towns, both on the Red Sea and Persian Gulf,
which is tenanted by a sufferer thus affected.
The person who conveys their daily food and
water observes the utmost caution whilst ap­
proaching to deposit them: the social affec­
tions are nevertheless more warmly cherished

amidst the Arabs than with other orientals;
and even in this scourge, several instances

VOL. II. F