In 1804, Osman Bardissy was the most influential of the Mameluke Beys,
and virtually governed Egypt. Mehemet Ali, then rising into power,
succeeded in embroiling this powerful old chief with Elfy Bey, another
of the Mamelukes. The latter escaped to England, where he was
favourably received, and promised assistance by our government against
Osman, who was in the French interests. At this time a Sheikh of Bedouin
stood high in Osman's confidence, and brought him intelligence that Elfy
had landed at Alexandria. "Go, then," said the old Bey, "surprise his
boat, and slay him on his way up the river; his spoil shall be your
reward." The Sheikh lay in wait upon the banks of the Delta, and slew
all the companions of the rival Bey: Elfy himself escaped in the
darkness, and made his way to an Arab encampment before sunrise. Going
straight to the Sheikh's tent, which is known by a spear standing in
front of it, he entered, and hastily devoured some bread that he found
there. The Sheikh was absent; but his wife exclaimed, on seeing the
fugitive, "I know you, Elfy Bey, and my husband's life, perhaps at his
moment, depends upon his taking yours. Rest now and refresh yourself,
then take the best horse you can find, and fly. The moment you are out
of our horizon, the tribe will be in pursuit of you." The Bey escaped
to the Thebaid, and the disappointed Sheikh presented himself to his
employer. Osman passionately demanded of him if it was true that his
wife had saved the life of his deadliest enemy, when in her power. "Most
true, praised be Allah!" replied the Sheikh, drawing himself proudly up,
and presenting a jewel-hilted dagger to the old Bey; "this weapon," he
continued, "was your gift to me in the hour of your favour; had I met
Elfy Bey, it should have freed you from your enemy. Had my wife betrayed
the hospitality of the tent, it should have drank her blood; and now,
you may use it against myself," he added, as he flung it at the
Mameluke's feet. This reverence for hospitality is one of the wild
virtues that has survived from the days of the patriarchs, and it is
singularly contrasted, yet interwoven with other and apparently opposite
tendencies. The Arab will rob you, if he is able; he will even murder
you, if it suits his purpose; but, once under the shelter of his tribe's
black tents, or having eaten of his salt by the wayside, you have as
much safety in his company as his heart's blood can purchase for you.
The Bedouins are extortionate to strangers, dishonest to each other, and
reckless of human life. On the other hand, they are faithful to their
trust, brave after their fashion, temperate, and patient of hardship and
privation beyond belief. Their sense of right and wrong is not founded
on the Decalogue, as may be well imagined, yet, from such principles as
they profess they rarely swerve. Though they will freely risk their
lives to steal, they will not contravene the wild rule of the desert. If
a wayfarer's camel sinks and dies beneath its burden, the owner draws a
circle round the animal in the sand, and follows the caravan. No Arab
will presume to touch that lading, however tempting. Dr. Robinson
mentions that he saw a tent hanging from a tree near Mount Sinai, which
his Arabs said had then been there a twelvemonth, and never would be
touched until its owner returned in search of it.