[159] Travellers often prefer such sites because they are sheltered from the wind，and the ground is soft for pitching tents；
but many have come to grief from sudden torrents following rain.
[160] Arab'Ghabah'not a forest in our sense of the word，but a place where water sinks and the trees （mostly Mimosas），which elsewhere are widely scattered，form a comparatively dense growth and collect in thickets. These are favourite places for wild beasts during noon-heats.
[161] At various times in the East Jews and Christians were ordered to wear characteristic garments，especially the Zunnar or girdle.
[162] The deion is borrowed from the Coptic Convent，which invariably has an inner donjon or keep. The oldest monastery in the world is Mar Antonios （St. Anthony the Hermit） not far from Suez.（Gold Mines of Midian，p. 85.）
[163]'Dawahi，'plur. of Dahiyah = a mishap. The title means'Mistress of Misfortunes'or Queen of Calamities （to the enemy）；and the venerable lady，as will be seen，amply deserved her name，which is pronounced Zat al-Dawahi.
[164] Arab.'Kunfuz'=hedgehog or porcupine.
[165] These flowers of speech are mere familiarities，not insults. In societies where the sexes are separated speech becomes exceedingly free.'Etourdie que vous etes，'says M. Riche，toning down the text.
[166] Arab.'Zirt，'a low word. The superlative'Zarrat'（fartermost） or，'Abu Zirt'（Father of farts） is a facetious term among the bean-eating Fellahs and a deadly insult amongst the Badawin （Night ccccx.）. The latter prefer the word Taggaa （Pilgrimage iii. 84）. We did not disdain the word in farthingale=pet en air.
[167] Arab.'kicked'him，i.e. with the sharp corner of the shovel-stirrup. I avoid such expressions as'spurring'and'pricking over the plain，'because apt to give a wrong idea.
[168] Arab.'Allaho Akbar！'the classical Moslem slogan.
[169] Arab horses are never taught to leap，so she was quite safe on the other side of a brook nine feet broad.
[170]'Batrik'（vulg. Bitrik）=patricius，a title given to Christian knights who commanded ten thousand men；the Tarkhan （or Nobb） heading four thousand，and the Kaumas （Arab. Kaid） two hundred. It must not be confounded with Batrak （or Batrik）=patriarcha. （Lane's Lex.）
[171] Arab.'Kazi al-Kuzat，'a kind of Chief Justice or Chancellor. The office wag established under the rule of Harun al Rashid，who so entitled Abu Yusuf Ya'akab al-Ansari： therefore the allusion is anachronistic. The same Caliph also caused the Olema to dress as they do still.
[172] The allusion is Koranic：'O men，if ye be in doubt concerning the resurrection，consider that He first created you of the dust of the ground （Adam），afterwards of seed'（chaps. xxii.）.
But the physiological ideas of the Koran are curious. It supposes that the Mani or male semen is in the loins and that of women in the breast bone （chaps Ixxxvi.）；that the mingled seed of the two （chaps. Ixxvi.） fructifies the ovary and that the child is fed through the navel with menstruous blood，hence the cessation of the catamenia. Barzoi （Kalilah and Dimnah） says：--'Man's seed，falling into the woman's womb，is mixed with her seed and her blood： when it thickens and curdles the Spirit moves it and it turns about like liquid cheese；then it solidifies，its arteries are formed，its limbs constructed and its joints distinguished. If the babe is a male，his face is placed towards his mother's back；if a female，towards her belly.'（P. 262，Mr. L G.N. Keith- Falconer's translation.） But there is a curious prolepsis of the spermatozoa-theory. We read （Koran chaps. vii.），'Thy Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of Adam；'and the commentators say that Allah stroked Adam's back and extracted from his loins all his posterity，which shall ever be，in the shape of small ants；these confessed their dependence on God and were dismissed to return whence they came.'From this fiction it appears （says Sale） that the doctrine of pre-existence is not unknown to the Mohammedans，and there is some little conformity between it and the modern theory of generatio ex animalculis in semine marium. The poets call this Yaum-i-Alast = the Day of Am-I-not （-your Lord）？
which Sir William Jones most unhappily translated'Art thou not with thy Lord ？'（Alasta bi Rabbi- kum）；fand they produce a grand vision of unembodied spirits appearing in countless millions before their Creator.
[173] The usual preliminary of a wrestling bout.
[174] In Eastern wrestling this counts as a fair fail. So Ajax fell on his back with Ulysses on his breast. （Iliad xxxii.，700，etc.）
[175] So biting was allowed amongst the Greeks in the {Greek letters} he final struggle on the ground.
[176] Supposed to be names of noted wrestlers.'Kayim'（not El-Kim as Torrens has it） is a term now applied to a juggler or'professor'of legerdemain who amuses people in the streets with easy tricks. （Lane，M. E.，chaps. xx.）
[177] Lit.'laughed in his face'which has not the unpleasant meaning it bears in English.
[178] Arab.'Abu riyah'=a kind of child's toy. It is our'bull-roarer'well known in Australia and parts of Africa.
[179] The people of the region south of the Caspian which is called'Sea of Daylam.'It has a long history；for which see D'Herbelot，s.v.'Dilem.'
[180] Coptic convents in Egypt still affect these drawbridges over the keep-moat.
[181] Koran iv.，xxii. etc.，meaning it is lawful to marry women taken in war after the necessary purification although their husbands be still living. This is not permitted with a free woman who is a True Believer. I have noted that the only concubine slave-girl mentioned in the Koran are these'captives possessed by the right hand.'
