This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1792 edition. Excerpt: ... great tribe. Lastly, when the two contending parties are subjects of the fame Schiech, and * are, of consequence, held to be of the same family, the Schiech and the principal subjects join to reconcile the parties, and to punish the murderer. The tribes upon the consines of Oman, and the shores of the Persian gulph, are also acquainted with these family wars, and more harrassed even than the Arabians by them. A great part of these tribes earn their subsistence by carrying cosfee from Yemen to the Persian gulph, and by the pearl fishery; and, from this circumstance, parties at variance have more frequent opportunities of meeting and fighting at sea. Weak tribes are thus often obliged to quit their way of life, and fall into obscurity and misery (p). . CHAP. V. " Of the Arabian Nobility. The Arabs are accused of being vain, full of prejudices with respect to birth, and ridiculously attentive to records of genealogy, which they keep even for their horses. This reproach cannot affect the great body of the nation, who know know not their family names, and take not the trouble of keeping a register of births. Most of those, even in the middle station of life, know not who were their grandfathers, and would often be as much at a loss to know their fathers, if it were not regulated by custom, that the son shall join his father's name with his own. All those petty princes who govern in Arabia are, undoubtedly, very proud of their birth, and with some reason, since their families have, from time immemorial, enjoyed independence and sovereign power. The nobility, who are free, or dependent only on the chiefs of their tribes, are equally so. They enjoy privileges which the traditional history of the nation represents as having always belonged to...