— 107 — For this, crude as it may seem, is the lasting impression that is left upon all who have had the privilege of intercourse with him. A conquering Arab in a land of pagans he might have indulged his fanciful whim in a riot of cruel and heartless debauch. The heathen was the legitimate prey of the Mohammedan and his conversion, at the point of the sword, to the creed of Islam was the aim of every true follower of Mohammed, while his destruction, should he refuse the proselytising efforts of his victors, the inevitable and desirable consequence.

In a country where slavery is sanctioned both by religion and morals the ordinary relations of Arab and pagan are not to be judged by the more merciful canons that govern the rule of a civilised European people over a subject race. Impartial justice will hesitate to condemn Zubeir for not exercising a high morality of which he had never had any practical experience or conception, while it will not omit to approve the selfrestraint which he showed at the conclusion of a successful engagement.

In the hour of victory he may well have stood with Clive astounded at his own moderation. No specific charges of cruelty have ever been brought against Zubeir, who, be it remembered, was a warrior and not an evangelist. That he was responsible, directly or indirectly, for the death of many innocent human creatures cannot be denied, but, at the same time, he should be judged by the standard of his time