CURIOUS EGYPTIAN CUSTOMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13235, 21 July 1906, Page 5 (Supplement)

CURIOUS EGYPTIAN CUSTOMS.

Lord Ckomer's annual report on the ■finances, administration, and condition of Egypt ; and the Soudan is* full of, interesting .facts, dealing with every aspect of Egyptian life.

.;;.' Much that is curious and interesting regarding the customs and condition of the people of Egypt is to be found in the report. The peninsula of- Sinai, .which figures so prominently in Bible history, is one of the wildest portions of the Egyptian dominions. Among tire Bedouin tribes, which inhabit it, the system '.of: taking blood money 'arid hereditary''vendetta" is still in full force. '': ':■'-" If a man kills another in time of peace," says the report, "the relations of the murdered man,; beginning from the father to the fifth generation, have the right to revenge or. pardon against the receipt of blood money from the murderer or from his near relatives to the- fifth' generation.■'■■' "Should any one of the near relations of the murdered man. accept the blood money all tho other relations are obliged to accept, and revenge by shedding of blood becomes illegal." :■.'"-." Blood money, according to Sinai laws, is fixed at forty-one camels. : If the I murdered man; was of the same tribe as : the murderer the latter, or his near. relations, have.to give ','% girl marriage to one, of the inurdercd man's relations. When she; bears a child she is free to go back to her tribe or to remain with her husband.

'':[ In the latter case the husband has to pay the usual dowry, and. to ' renew the . marriage. " Five camels may be substituted for the girl. Another strange custom in Sinai is the testing by fire of suspected criminals. -, " The judge places an iron pan in the fire until it. is red-hot. He then wipes ib three times with his hand and gives it to the.accused to. touch three times with his tongue. ■•■■" If marks;■ of r burning are shown on' the tongue the accused is pronounced guilty, "It is thought that if the accused is guilty his ■■ tongue! dries up from fear of being discovered, and that it will be burnt; but that if he. is not guilty the moisture on, the tongue : prevents it from being burnt." ...■■ Occasionally the judge ; adopts ' a " dream test, : going ,to sleep and professing to see if the. accused person is guilty or not. Crime, the report states, is on the increase, but it is a singular ■ fact that many cages of alleged attempted murder are in reality accidents. Ab weddings loaded guns are iieelydischarged, and if anyone is shot a'• story '. of brigandage is invented. Recently a Bedouin, shooting at.a jackal, missed, and shot a sleeping guest. A complete story was subsequently concocted, attributing the act to robbers.