DEATH IN THE DESERT

Evening Star, Issue 22086, 20 July 1935, Page 19

DEATH IN THE DESERT

THE FIGHTING BEDOUINS The Arab’s farewell to his steed ia - now becoming the Arab’s farewell to his motor car. To-day the more wealthy Arabs, when they go raiding, have exchanged the horse for the horse-power. One chief, says Mr Carl R. Raswan ia ‘The Black Tents of Arabia,’ had a fleet of 21 automobiles. The coming of the car, too, has caused changes in their. code of honour. Money (that is gold) does not mean much to the average Bedouin, though" it may mean “ everything ” to his Sheykh, the chief of the tribe. To sell a mare is considered to be “ dishonourably ” parting from her. An Arab may give her away. But times are changing; automobiles and modern arms can now be traded against the best of their mares.. Yet the Arab still holds the horse m high esteem. Though a Bedouin may bo poor, says Mr Raswan, if his mare has brought him honour his friends will rise when he enters the council—in tribute to her. “When they pass her they put their hands on her forehead and call her blessed.” ONLY MARES RIDDEN. But in a Bedouin camp the worstlooking mares are often the best. For the Bedouin rides only mares; and tha well-nourished ones are usually those left, behind, when the others are on a raid. A few stallions of different strains are kept in each tribe for breeding purposes only. They are not taken on raids because they would neigh in the vicinity of mares and betray tha raiders to their enemies. Most of the young stallions are bought up by Akheyls (camel-traders and horse-deal-ers of Central Arabia), and sold to Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. The nomad rides his horse without bit, whip, spurs, and without blinkers. This is Nortli African style, hut not Arabian. _ As a rule, too, the Bedouin rides without a saddle and reins, but with just a head-stall and single rope. ; ’ A small bead of blue grass is fastened in the mane or tail of a mare, or into the hair on the hump of his camel for “ good luck." “ Paris ” is an honoured name among the Arabs, and means the “ Cavalier, ’ ■ one wko ventures alone into tha enemy’s camp and brings home a captured mare. Henceforth he is allowed to sit in the “ Mejlis,” the council of men, around his chief’s camp fire* “ Aurans,” named after Colonel Lawrence, by his father, Tra’d ibn Sattam esh-Sha’lan, of the Ruala, is the youngest “ Paris ” I ever knew among tha Bedouins. He was only nine years old when he “took” his first mare, from the midst of his enemies. BATTLE PROM CARS. Mr Raswan himself took part in a' desert skirmish under the modern, Chicago conditions. It was a terrifying and tragic experience, Driving with a few friends, he was ambushed by three cars belonging to a hostile tribe. They had successfully dealt with one of them, but had to pull up owing to a damaged engine. They took cover and waited for the attack:— As I started to load a fresh clip I heard a dull thud behind me and a heavy body tumbled over me. I jerked my shoulder to let it slide off, and it collapsed limply on the ground. It was Sleyman. His wide-open eyes stared into emptiness. A bullet had pierced the right temple and come out under his left jaw. At the same moment I became conscious again of the oncoming car not 100yds off, and heard 4 voice cry half in terror, half in warning : “ Merciful one! O God of Graced It was Mr Raswan’s great friend, Paris, who had crept away from the car to get a clearer sight and now lay, wholly exposed on the sand. As the death-car thundered _past bullets clashed into the chassis of our. vehicle, but in spite of the feverish excitement and the clanging and clatter about me, my ears picked out repeatedly in the fury of noise those hollow thuds known only to those who hava taken part in pitched battles - the sound of bullets striking into living flesh. Then I also heard moaning ana groans. I straightened up a little to take a hasty look—and my blood ran cold. Paris lay writhing on the ground ahead of me. With one comrade Mr Raswan managed’ to beat off the enemy, and they got the mortally-wounded Paris back to their own camp. Here they related their adventures to the accompaniment of the free comments of the company. With incredible self-mastery, Paris, marked by death, sought to hide hia sufferings and take part in the general conversation, which ran on and on. Every little detail of the fighting was threshed out in cold blood, and Paris’a inevitable fate was discussed with (to anyone of the Western world) cruel disregard of his feelings. This discussion lasted two hours. Paris died shortly afterwards. WOLF-STICKING. Next to fighting the Bedouin lovea hunting. One of his sports is wolfsticking, which corresponds to the pigsticking of India. As in pig-sticking, the sportsman is mounted and armed with a lance—and the wolf is as subtle an adversary as the wild boar. Mr Raswan found this out. He overtook hia wolf and prepared to strike. The tip of my lance actually grazed" his pelt, but again the cunning old devil had the best of me, and slipped away from danger and loped off. Tha lance drove full force into the ground and jerked me, as on a vaulting pole, high into the air. The shaft split into four parts, and I landed head' over ’ heels on the hard gravel beside my mare, which had come down on to her knees. v Falconry is another popular diver, sion. The hawks will tackle almost anything, including gazelles and even snakes. Mr Raswan saw a fierce combat between 1 a" falcon and a viper. With his outspread tail propped on the ground the falcon was grappling a snake in his talons, and with his beak striking at its elusive head. The snak* writhed and coiled round the bird spasbut could get no purchasa on the plumage. At last the falcon seized the viper’s head and, with a few circular movements, twisted it off.

The Bedouin’s guest must never go hungry, even if everyone else suffered want. During a migration the tribe Mr Raswan was with came near to starvation. Yet, he tells us. it was touching to see a tribesman, himself halfstarved, bring to his Sheykh’s tent « hare or a gazelle, or other game, as an offering for the sustenance of his chieftain’? guest. Even the children and women came by every day, and from a clothes laid down a handful of truffles or a wild pigeon. Once a boy brought me a large, fat lizard which be had killed with a stone, and later a rock badger and a yellow-headed vulture.