tertainment of those strangers whom he might think proper to invite. But it was now the heat of the day; Abraham, according to the custom of that country, had already dined, and there was time enough to kill meat for supper. Fresh meat is not preserved from one meal to another in the east, as in the colder latitudes, but is killed and dressed for each repast, the residue of the former meal being always consumed by the attendants and servants. One reason for this custom is, the impossibility of preserving fresh meat long in those burning climates. For the same reason, they bake their bread just as it is needed. These facts account for such a man as Abraham having neither meat nor bread to set before the angels, when they came to his tent on their way to Sodom.i

The modern Arabs still practise the ardent hospitality of their renowned ancestor, both in their encampments and in their villages. "When a stranger enters one of their stations, where he knows nobody, he inquires for the menzil, which is the place destined for the reception of travellers, and desires to speak with the sheik, the head man of the settlement, or at least his representative. After saluting him, he signifies his want of a dinner, or his wish to sup or lodge in the village. The sheik bids him welcome, and assures him that he could not do him and his people a greater pleasure. He then marches before the stranger to the menzil, where he takes up his abode, and is furnished with every accommodation the place can afford. But if the sheik happens to be absent, a stranger

i See Harmer's Observ. vol. ii, p. 84, 226. See also Forbes's Orient. Mem. vol. i, p. 215, et seq.-In ancient Grecce the shepherds were not less renowned for kindness to strangers and the poor, whom they considered as sent by Jupiter to their care:

προς γαρ Διος εισιν άπαντες

Ξεινοι τε, πλωκοι τε

Odyss. lib. xiv, 1. 57, 58.

may proceed at once to the menzil, and call for every thing he wants. A stranger, however, seldom has occasion for all this; for as soon as the villagers see a stranger coming, they inform the sheik of it, who goes to meet him, accompanied by some of his people, and having saluted him, asks if he would dine in the village, or whether he chose to stay the whole night there. If he answer that he would only eat a morsel and go forward, and that he chose to stay under some tree in the vicinity, the sheik goes, or sends his people into the village, to cause a collation to be brought; and in a little time they return with provisions of every kind, according to the season. When several strangers are to lodge for the night in the settlement, the preliminary ceremonies being observed, the women belonging to the sheik's house, having marked the number of the guests, never fail to provide a sufficient quantity of meat for the entertainment of the travellers, and of those who are to bear them company, and quickly make it into soup, or dress it in a variety of ways, according to their customs, which they send to the menzil by the sheik's servants, in wooden bowls, placed on a great round straw mat, which usually serves them for a table. These dishes being set in order, with many others, in which are eggs, cheese, fruit, sallad, sour-curdled milk, or leban, and all that they have to treat their friends with, which they set before them at once, that every one may eat as he likes; the sheik begs the strangers to sit round the mat, sitting down with them himself, with the other peasants of fashion belonging to the village, in order to do them honour; they make no use of knives at table, the meat being all cut into little bits." This picture of oriental hospitality, in modern times, will enable the reader

¿La Roque de la Palest. p. 124-129.

to form a clear and precise idea of the manner in which Abraham entertained his guests under the spreading oak at Mamre. The most remarkable difference is, that the sheik sat down with his guests; while, to express the extreme reverence with which the patriarch treated his visitants, he stood by them during the time of their repast. -The Arab chieftan who entertained lord Belmore and his party "sat by, and, out of respect for his guests, did not mean to partake of any thing till they were satisfied.” When they had finished their dinner, a servant came round with a pitcher full of water, part of which he poured upon their hands, the only instruments of feeding with which they were favoured; when the first had washed and dried his hands with the towel, which accompanied the basin, he went to the second, and so round the company.k

Abraham on that occasion, killed a calf for the entertainment of his guests, although they only proposed to stop for a short refreshment, in testimony of his munificence towards persons whom he seems to have regarded with uncommon reverence. The quantity of food prepared for the strangers, by the hospitable patriarch, is apt to excite our surprise; he dressed a whole calf, and three measures of meal made into cakes, which comes to more than two of our bushels, and nearly to fifty-six pounds of our weight. It is probable that, by this ample provision, Abraham meant at once to consult his own credit, to express the generous liberality which glowed in his bosom, and the profound respect which he felt for the strangers, in whose form and mein, perhaps, he discovered from the first, something which betokened more than mortal excellence.

Richardson's Trav. vol. ii, p. 229.

way

The patriarchal shepherds often am used themselves, or supplied their wants, by hunting. It seems to have been an exercise in which Esau excelled; and the familiar in which his father Isaac commanded him to take his weapons, his quiver and his bow, and go out to the field and take him some venison, clearly shews, that the patriarchs, and their descendants, frequently indulged in the pleasures of the chase. The snare and the trap, the quiver and the bow, were the first implements of the hunter. At this exercise the Arabs, and according to Dr. Shaw, the eastern nations in general, are very dexterous. "Their method of hunting the wild boar is this; after they have roused the beast from his hiding place, and pursued him into some adjacent field, their first endeavour is, by frequently overtaking and turning him, to tire and perplex him, and then watching an opportunity, they either throw their lances at him from a distance, or else coming close by his side, which is the most valiant way, they lodge their spears in his body."

"At the hunting of the lion, a whole district is summoned to appear, who, forming themselves first into a circle, inclose a space of four or five miles in compass, according to the number of the people, and the quality of the ground which is pitched upon for the scene of action. The footmen advance first, rushing into the thickets with their dogs and spears, to put up the game; while the horsemen, keeping a little behind, are always ready to charge upon the first sally of the wild beast. In this manner they proceed, still contracting their circle, till they all at last close in together, or meet with some other game to divert them. The accidental pastime on these occasions, is sometimes very entertaining; for the several different sorts of ani

mals that lie within this compass, being thus driven together, or frightened from their dens, they rarely fail of having a variety of agreeable chases after hares, jackalls, hyænas, and other wild beasts. The manner of hunting with the falcon is thus described by Hasselquist, who had an excellent opportunity of seeing the sport: "An Arab, mounting a swift courser, held a falcon in his hand, which he let loose when he saw the wild goat, of which he was in quest, on the top of a mountain. The falcon attacked it from time to time, fastening its talons on or near the throat, till the huntsman coming up, took it alive, and cut its throat; the falcon drinking the blood as a reward for his services."

"Those who delight in fowling, do not spring the game with dogs, as we do; but, shading themselves with an oblong piece of canvas, stretched over a couple of reeds or sticks, like a door, they walk with it through the several brakes and avenues, where they expect to find game. The canvas is usually spotted, or painted with the figure of a leopard, and perforated near the top in a few places, for the fowler to look through, and observe what passes before him. The partridge and other gregarious birds, when the canvas approaches, will covey together, although they were feeding before at some distance from one another. The woodcock, quail, and other birds, which do not commonly feed in flocks, will, at sight of the extended canvas, stand still and look with astonishment; which gives the sportsman an opportunity of coming very near them; and then resting the canvas upon the ground, and directing the muzzle of his piece through one of the holes, he will sometimes shoot a whole covey at a time. The Arabs have another, but a more laborious method of catching these