The manner of life of the Arabs is very simple. Most of the men have only a single cotton wrap about their middle, though some wear the ordinary galabia and cotton drawers. Their camps are rude tents of matting about two metres in diameter, but the men commonly sleep in the open, sheltering themselves from winds by their camel saddles, covered only with their cotton wrap, which they spread over their entire bodies, including their heads. They wear no head covering, having heavy “mops” of curled black hair plentifully supplied with mutton fat. Their food consists almost entirely of milk and meat, of which their flocks and herds give them a plentiful supply; they eat but little bread, but they are fond of a kind of gruel of flour and water, and of dates, which are imported from Arabia via Suakin. Only a few of them smoke tobacco, and that generally in soapstone pipes which they carve out for themselves. Intoxicants are unknown amongst true desert Arabs. For arms, they carry swords and knives, seldom fire-arms. Of their tribal customs, I saw but little; Linant de Bellefonds gives an interesting account of them in his “L’Etbaye.” On festive occasions, camel-racing and dancing are favourite amusements.
Slavery appears to be non-existent at present, for in the course of my twenty months’ wanderings I received no complaint under this head, as I should almost certainly have done had any oppressive servitude existed.
Languages.
My own study of the Ababda and Bishari tongues has been mainly confined to their geographical terms. The Ababda nowadays almost all speak Arabic, and most of their place-names are either Arabic or closely akin to it. A marked feature of their tongue is a fondness for diminutives. Thus we have Sellim and Seleim, Hafafit and Hefeifit, Faraid, and Fereyid, Wadi and Wadai, in each of which the second of the pair is a diminutive formed by vowel-change, generally accompanied by a change in the placing of the stress. The commonest special geographical terms in Ababda country are: erf, a ridge; rod, a tributary wadi; talet, a small tributary wadi; kab, a watershed or pass; hamrat, a (red) granite mountain; zergat, a black mountain; galt, a rock basin containing rain water; and megal, a small water hole. Thus we have such names as Hamrat Selma, Zergat Naam, and so on, the name often giving a clue to the nature of the rock.
As soon as one passes into Bisharin country the change in the nature of place-names is very striking. The definite article is no longer el, but o, u, ei, e (masc.), and to, tu, tei, ti (fem.). Many place-names end in ai and oi. The principal geographical terms are: kwan, a wadi; da-aiyob, a depression from which there is no drainage outlet; aweib and riba, a mountain; kulet, a hill; megwel, a water hole; adar, red; hadal, black; sotai, green; eire, white; sarara, deep; salala, rather deep (applied to wells). Hence we get such combinations as: Hadal Aweib Meisah, the black mountain near Wadi Meisah; Eir Arib, the white (granite) rock; Sarobi Kwan, the wadi where the Sarob plant (Capparis sodada) grows; Bir Sararat Seyet, the deep well in Wadi Seyet, and so on. A mountain called adar is generally of red granite, while one called hadal is usually diorite or serpentine. Asotriba, the green mountain south of Gebel Elba, receives its name from the vegetation on it.
Industries.
The principal industries carried on by the desert Arabs are the rearing of camels, sheep and goats, especially the first-named. The Bisharin devote much attention to camel-breeding, and supply many animals annually to the Coast Guard Administration. Their camels are very superior animals, and need to be hardy in order to negotiate the steep mountain passes of their country. Sheep and goats can be bought cheaply in the south, and are driven in to Aswân for sale at the higher rates there prevailing. It is common to find a flock of hundreds of sheep being watered at wells such as Bir Abu Hashim and Qoleib on the route to Kom Ombo; but many animals drop and die on the weary march from well to well.
Charcoal burning has been practised, especially in the Ababda country, but is not much carried on now; this industry deserves strong opposition, for it only impoverishes the country, and the seyal trees are few enough for the support of camels in years of drought.
In recent years some employment has been found for the Arabs by prospectors for mining companies, both as miners and for camel-transport, and they are occasionally, as in the present expedition, employed on Government work.
For the information of future travellers, it may be worth while to mention the prices paid for local labour on the survey expeditions. The men and animals were all the best obtainable of their particular class, and the prices include saddles and fodder for camels, their own provision of water and food for the men, and, in the case of sheikhs, postmen, and guides, their riding camels and fodder:—