Why Desert People Follow the Nomadic Mode of Life.—Out side the oases the only thing upon which desert people can rely for a living is animals. Sheep, goats, donkeys, and especially camels can live on the scanty vegetation of almost all deserts, but they must be kept moving from one pasturage to another. Hence the desert people are nomadic. Their success depends upon their ability to find for their flocks sufficient vegetation and water. Accordingly it is not surprising that when one meets a Bedouin Arab in the Syrian desert, for example, he at once asks, "Has rain fallen anywhere?" If the traveler reports showers along his route, the Arab hastens back to camp, announces the good news to his family and gives orders to pre pare to move. Next morning the tents are taken down, the household goods are gathered up and with the children are put on the backs of camels. In an hour the trampled ground and the blackened stones where the fire has gone out are the only signs of the encampment.
It must not be thought that the Arab rashly, moves his camp with out knowing where he can get water. He is familiar with all the water holes, springs, and wells, and has special places to which he regularly migrates provided there is grass. Sometimes, to be sure, if the rain is especially abundant and the grass grows thick and green, as occurs at long intervals, he does not need to camp beside a source of drinking water. The animals eat so much green grass that they can get along without water and the people make milk serve for both food and drink. As for washing it is enough for the Arab to rub his hands in the sand. In spite of the fact that the Mohammedan religion especially teaches cleanliness, millions of Arabs have probably lived and died without ever taking a real bath.
The Property of Desert Nomads.—Among desert nomads there is nothing that can really be called wealth. Some, to be sure, have larger herds and flocks, better guns, and better clothing than their comrades, but none live in houses or have elaborate furniture. If a man tried to have such things he could not reach fresh pastures and new springs in time to keep his animals in good condition. Moreover, life is so hard that there is no chance to accumulate the surplus that would buy these things. Among the Arabs, for example, poverty is so nearly universal that there are few differences such as exist where some people live in great palaces and others in houses of one or two rooms, and where some perform hard, ill-paid manual labor, while others live in ease upon the accumulated wealth of their ancestors.
The chief thing that keeps the Arabs poor is that the rain may fail and the grass wither at any time. Then the animals begin to suffer from hunger; the mother camels and sheep give no milk, and their colts and lambs begin to die. Soon the Arabs have neither
young animals to exchange for rice, millet, and dates in the oases, nor milk to keep themselves from starvation. So long as anyone has food he shares it with his neighbors, but all alike suffer greatly. They dare not kill too many animals for then they would destroy their sole means of support.
How Poverty Leads to Desert Raids.—The hardships of the desert cause the nomad's ideas of right and wrong to differ from ours. What is an Arab to do when his camels, his sheep, his wife, his children, and himself are all suffering the pangs of hunger? The only thing that occurs to him is to plunder. Hence he goes on raids. A raid is an interesting event. A group of Arabs are sitting on the ground in a circle at sunset. Suddenly one of them rises and thrusts his spear into the ground. "I am going on a raid," he says. "Who will go with me?" One by one the others quietly but vigorously drive their spears into the sand as a sign that they too will go. Early the next morning a dozen or twenty keen-eyed Arabs ride off across the desert on their camels. A few are leading horses for the final swift dash. On long raids only those horses can be used that have been taught to drink camels' milk. After riding one or two hundred miles the raiders discover a nomad camp which they plan to plunder. Waiting until nightfall the horsemen silently and swiftly drive off the camels which are herded not far from the tents. If necessary the raiders shoot the camel-keeper, but they try to avoid such extreme measures, for if one member of a family or clan is killed, the rest are never satis fied until they take a life for a life.
How Raids Influence Arab Character.—We believe that a man should treat his neighbors as he would wish to be treated himself, but through thousands of years the hard conditions imposed by the desert climate have weeded out the Arabs who are not ready for violence. To succeed in the desert a man must be ready not only to engage in plundering expeditions, but to endure heat, thirst, and the weariness of long rides. Unfortunately, however, he has little need of steady industry. When he comes home from a raid or from an exhausting hunt for stray animals, he is so tired that he lies down and does noth ing for days. If he is able I() summon up his powers when his camels are driven off or his sheep have strayed, his laziness does little harm. The ordinary work of caring for the animals is so light that the women and children can easily do it and still have plenty of time to rest. Hence the Arab is not only dishonest according to our standards, but lazy. He thinks of raids as a part of the ordinary routine of life, and of steady work as something fit only for slaves.