DAR-HAMMER. 145 are undertaken with the sanction or, more properly speaking, at the command of the government.

The chief sheikh, a very handsome man, is only to be distinguished from the rest of his tribe by his silver hilted sword. He is generally beloved by his subjects, and all his orders are executed with a punctuality on which but few governments can pride themselves. When out of doors he is always mounted, and his horse might have been the boast of the stud of an European court ; for during all my travels I never saw a more beautiful animal, or one of such pure breed.

The Dar-Hammer are very hospitable, and it requires but little trouble to win the affection of these simple children of nature, for they know but few wants, and are always satisfied with a trifle. The women are not handsome, but of very amiable disposition ; they attend to the household affairs, and to the children, and occupy their leisure hours, of which there are certainly many, with their simple adornment. Their dress resembles that of the other tribes ; not even their sheikh wears a covering to his head, nor do they indeed require it, for their bushy hair is so thick that the rays of the sun could not easily penetrate through it.

It is an axiom that where there is no water neither man nor animals can live. A great tract of the Dar-Hammer forms, however, an exception to this rule. This appears indeed incredible, but it is, nevertheless, true ; for when the rain-water which L