[182] The Amazonian dame is a favourite in folk-lore and is an ornament to poetry from the Iliad to our modern day. Such heroines，apparently unknown to the Pagan Arabs，were common in the early ages of Al-Islam as Ockley and Gibbon prove，and that the race is not extinct may be seen in my Pilgrimage （iii. 55） where the sister of Ibn Rumi resolved to take blood revenge for her brother.
[183] And Solomon said，'O nobles，which of you will bring me her throne ？'A terrible genius （i.e. an If rit of the Jinn named Dhakwan or the notorious Sakhr） said，'I will bring it unto thee before thou arise from thy seat （of justice）；for I am able to perform it，and may be trusted'（Koran，xxvii. 38-39）. Balkis or Bilkis （says the Durrat al-Ghawwas） daughter of Hozad bin Sharhabil，twenty-second in the list of the rulers of Al- Yaman，according to some murdered her husband，and became，by Moslem ignorance，the Biblical'Queen of Sheba.'The Abyssinians transfer her from Arabian Saba to Ethiopia and make her the mother by Solomon of Menelek，their proto-monarch；thus claiming for their royalties an antiquity compared with which all reigning houses in the world are of yesterday. The dates of the Tababi'ah or Tobbas prove that the Bilkis of history ruled Al-Yaman in the early Christian era.
[184] Arab.'Fass，'fiss or fuss；the gem set in a ring；also applied to a hillock rounded en cabochon. In The Nights it is used to signify'a fine gem.'
[185] This prominence of the glutaei muscles is always insisted upon，because it is supposed to promise well in a bed-fellow. In Somali land where the people are sub-steatopygous，a rich young man，who can afford such luxury，will have the girls drawn up in line and choose her to wife who projects furthest behind[186] The'bull'is only half mine.
[187] A favourite Arab phrase，the'hot eye'is one full of tears.
[188] i.e.，'Coral，'coral branch，a favourite name for a slave-girl，especially a negress. It is the older'Morgiana.'I do not see why Preston in Al-Harini's'Makamah （Seance） of Singar'renders it pearls，because Golius gives'small pearls，'when it is evidently'coral.'Richardson （Dissert. xlviii.） seems to me justified in finding the Pari （fairy） Marjan of heroic Persian history reflected in the Fairy Morgain who earned off King Arthur after the battle of Camelon.
[189] Arab.''Ud Jalaki'=Jalak or Jalik being a poetical and almost obsolete name of Damascus.
[190] The fountain in Paradise whose water shall be drunk with'pure'wine mixed and sealed with musk （for clay）. It is so called because it comes from the'Sanam'（Sanima，to be high） boss or highest ridge of the Moslem Heaven （Koran lv. 78 and lxxxiii. 27）.
Mr. Rodwell says'it is conveyed to the highest apartments in the Pavilions of Paradise.'（？）
[191] This'hysterical'temperament is not rare even amongst the bravest Arabs.
[192] An idea evidently derived from the Aeolipyla （olla animatoria） the invention of Hero Alexandrinus，which showed that the ancient Egyptians could apply the motive force of steam.
[193] Kuthayyir ibn Abi Jumah，a poet and far-famed Rawi or Tale-reciter，mentioned by Ibn Khallikan he lived at Al-Medinah and sang the attractions of one Azzah，hence his soubriquet Sahib （lover of） Azzah. As he died in A. H. 105 （=726），his presence here is a gross anachronism the imaginary Sharrkan flourished before the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik bin Marwan A. H. 65-86.
[194] Jamil bin Ma'amar，a poet and lover contemporary with Al-Kuthayrir.
[195] Arab.'Tafazzal，'a word of frequent use in conversation='favour me，'etc.
[196] The word has a long history. From the Gr. or is the Lat. stibium；while the Low Latin'antimonium'and the Span.
Althimod are by metathesis for Al-Ithmid. The dictionaries define the substance as a stone from which antimony is prepared，but the Arabs understand a semi-mythical mineral of yellow colour which enters into the veins of the eyes and gives them Iynx-like vision.
The famous Anz nicknamed Zarka （the blue eyed） of Yamamah （Province） used it；and，according to some，invented Kohl. When her （protohistoric） tribe Jadis had destroyed all the rival race of Tasm，except Ribah ibn Murrah；the sole survivor fled to the Tobba of Al-Yaman，who sent a host to avenge him. The king commanded his Himyarites to cut tree-boughs and use them as screens （again Birnam wood）. Zarka from her Utum，or peel-tower，saw the army three marches off and cried，'O folk，either trees or Himyar are coming upon you！'adding，in Rajaz verse：--I swear by Allah that trees creep onward，or that Himyar beareth somewhat which he draweth along！
She then saw a man mending his sandal. But Jadis disbelieved；Cassandra was slain and，when her eyes were cut out the vessels were found full of Ithmid. Hence Al-Mutanabbi sang：
'Sharper-sighted than Zarka of Jau'（Yamamah）.
See C. de Perceval i. 101；Arab. Prov. i. 192；and Chenery p. 381.
（The Assemblies of Al-Hariri；London，Williams and Norgate，1867）.
I have made many enquiries into the true nature of Ithmid and failed to learn anything： on the Upper Nile the word is=Kohl.
[197] The general colour of chessmen in the East，where the game is played on a cloth more often than a board.
[198] Arab.'Al-fil，'the elephant=the French fol or fou and our bishop. I have derived'elephant'from Pil （old Persian，Sansk.
Pilu） and Arab. Fil，with the article Al-Fil，whence the Greek {Greek letters} the suffix--as being devoted to barbarous words as Obod-as （Al Ubayd），Aretas （Al-Haris），etc. Mr. Isaac Taylor （The Alphabet i. 169），preserves the old absurdity of'eleph-ant or ox-like （！） beast of Africa.'Prof. Sayce finds the word al-ab （two distinct characters） in line 3，above the figure of an （Indian）
elephant，on the black obelisk of Nimrod Mound，and suggests an Assyrian derivation.
[199] Arab.'Shaukat'which may also mean the'pride'or'mainstay'（of the army）.
