and the living picture is a witness to the exactness
of the historical description. At the same time, there
is a light thrown upon many obscure passages m
the Old Testament by the experience of the present
customs and figures of speech of the Arabs; which
are precisely those that were practised at the periods
described. I do not attempt to enter upon a theological
treatise, therefore it is unnecessary to allude
specially to these particular points. The sudden and
desolating arrival of a flight of locusts, the plague, or
any other unforeseen calamity, is attributed to the
anger of God, and is believed to be an infliction of
punishment upon the people thus visited, precisely as
the plagues of Egypt were specially inflicted upon
Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
Should the present history of the country be written
by an Arab scribe, the style of the description would
be purely that of the Old Testament, and the various
calamities or the good fortunes that have in the course
of nature befallen both the tribes and individuals,
would be recounted either as special visitations of
Divine wrath, or blessings for good deeds performed.
If in a dream a particular course of action is suggested,
the Arab believes that God has spolcen and directed
him. The Arab scribe or historian would describe
the event as the “voice of the Lord” (“kallam el
Allah”), having spoken unto the person ; or, that
God appeared to him in a dream and “said,” &c.
Thus much allowance would be necessary on the part
of a European reader for the figurative ideas and
expressions of the people. As the Arabs are unchanged,
the theological opinions which they now
hold are the same as those which prevailed in remote
ages, with the simple addition of their belief in
Mahomet as the Prophet.
There is a fascination in the unchangeable features
of the Nile regions. There are the vast Pyramids
that have defied time; the river upon which Moses
was cradled in infancy; the same sandy deserts
through which he led his people; and the watering-
places where their flocks were led to drink. The wild
and wandering tribes of Arabs who thousands of years
ago dug out the wells in the wilderness, are represented
by their descendants unchanged, who now
draw water from the deep wells of their forefathers
with the skins that have never altered their fashion.
The Arabs, gathering with their goats and sbeep
around the wells to-day, recall the recollection of that
distant time when “ Jacob went on his journey,
and came into the land of the people of the east
And he looked, and behold a well in the field; and,
lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it, for
out of that well they watered the flocks ; and a great
stone was upon the well’s mouth. And thither were
nil the flocks gathered; and they rolled the stone from
the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the
stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.” The
picture of that scene would be an illustration of Arab
daily life in the Nubian deserts, where the present is
the mirror of the past.
K 2