iron bit in his mouth.

One of the most interesting of all the Arab tribes is called _the
Suleibi_. They are despised by all the other Arabs and seem to be of a
different race. The women of this tribe are remarkable for their beauty
and the men for their skill as blacksmiths and tinkers. They are always
sought after to do the tinkering for the Arabs of all other tribes. They
have no camels or horses but ride little donkeys and dress in gazelle
skins. Some people think that this tribe is a remnant of the Christian
population of Arabia; they have many curious beliefs and their name means,
"Those-of-the-Cross." Perhaps some day a missionary will bring them back
to a true knowledge of the Crucified One.

The nomads of Arabia are happy in springtime when there is enough grass
for their flocks and the wells of the desert are full of water. But after
the long summer drought there is often a great scarcity of food and even
famine in many parts of Arabia. Then the nomads eat anything and drink the
brackish water from the bottom of a mud pool with relish. In no country in
the world is water so costly as in Arabia; nowhere is it so carefully
used; an Arab never wastes a drop of water and looks surprised and pained
when an European traveller rinses out a cup before drinking! The nomad
Arabs eat locusts and wild honey as did John the Baptist. But I have also
seen them eat the big lizards of the desert and the jerboas--a sort of
desert rat. An Arab once stood amidst a circle of jewellers at Busrah and
said: "On one occasion I had missed my way in the desert, and having no
road-provision left, I had given myself up for lost, when all at once I
found a bag of pearls. Never shall I forget that relish and delight so
long as I mistook them for parched wheat; nor that bitterness and
disappointment when I discovered that they were real pearls!" This story
is told by a Persian poet and although it may not be true yet it teaches a