bable that
they are one with the ancient Egyptians, who, at least, were no
barbarians, if Berbers. But all are agreed that some of the finest
stocks of southern and western Europe are of kindred origin, if not
identical with them, and even if this be uncertain, enough has been
said to show that they have played no unimportant part in European
history, though it has ever been their lot to play behind the
scenes--scene-shifters rather than actors.

[Illustration: _Photograph by Dr. Rudduck._

AN ARAB TENT IN MOROCCO.]

V

THE WANDERING ARAB

"I am loving, not lustful."

_Moorish Proverb._

Some strange fascination attaches itself to the simple nomad life of
the Arab, in whatever country he be found, and here, in the far west
of his peregrinations, he is encountered living almost in the same
style as on the other side of Suez; his only roof a cloth, his country
the wide world. Sometimes the tents are arranged as many as thirty
or more in a circle, and at other times they are grouped hap-hazard,
intermingled with round huts of thatch, and oblong ones of sun-dried
bricks, thatched also; but in the latter cases the occupants are
unlikely to be pure Arabs, for that race seldom so nearly approaches
to settling anywhere. When the tents are arranged in a circle, the
animals are generally picketed in the centre, but more often some are
to be found sharing the homes of their owners.

The tent itself is of an oval shape, with a wooden ridge on two poles
across the middle third of the centre, from front to back, with a
couple of strong bands of the same material as the tent fixed on
either side, whence cords lead to pegs in the ground, passing over two
low stakes leaning outwards. A rude camel's hair canvas is stretched
over this frame, being kept up at the edges by more leaning stakes,
and fastened by cords to pegs all round. The door space is left on
the side which faces the centre of the encampment, and the walls or
"curtains" are formed of high thistles lashed together in sheaves.
Surrounding the tent is a yard, a simple bog in winter, the boundary
of which is a ring formed by bundles of prickly branches, which
compose a really formidable barrier, being too much for a jump, and
too tenacious to one another and to visitors for penetration. The
break left for an entrance is stopped at night by another bundle which
makes the circle complete.

The interior of the tent is often more or less divided by the pole