as well as by day. Now the account which a traveller has given us of the order observed in the journey of the caravan in which he was, from Mecca, exactly agrees with all these circumstances.

"The first day we set out," writes this gentleman, "it was without any order at all, all hurly-burly (the Israelites also went out at first in haste); but the next day, every one laboured to get forward; and in order to it, there was many times much quarrelling. But after every one had taken his place in the caravan, they orderly and peaceably kept the same place till they came to Grand Cairo. They travel four camels abreast, which are all tied one after the other, like as in teams. The whole body is called a caravan, which is divided in several companies, each of which has its

name, and consists, it may be, of several thousand camels; and they move, one company after another, like distinct troops. In the head of each company is some great gentleman, or officer, who is carried in a thing like a horse-litter. Were it not for this order, you may guess what confusion would prevail amongst such a vast multitude."

Here we find an officer over a company, as a prince was over a tribe, among the Israelites.

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Each company of the pilgrims had, moreover, a pole, upon which lights were carried during the night. These lights are somewhat like iron stoves, into which they put short dry wood, which some of the camels are loaded with. It is carried in great sacks, which have a hole near the bottom, where the servants take it out as they see the fires need a recruit. Every company has one of these poles belonging to it, some of which have ten, some twelve, of these lights on their tops, or more or less: and they are likewise of different figures, as well as numbers: one perhaps, oval-way, like a grate, another triangular, or like N or M, &c.; so that every one knows by them his respective company. They are carried in the front, and set up in the place where the caravan is to pitch, before that comes up, at some distance from one another. They are also carried by day, not lighted: but yet, by the figure and number of them the pilgrims are directed to what company they belong, and without such directions it would be impossible to preserve order."

Here we find the same arrangement as among the Israelites; and as they also travelled by night, their standards were probably of the same sort as those here described, which would serve them alike day or night. The traveller before alluded to gives us further particulars regarding the Mecca caravan. "Every morning," he says, they pitch their tents and rest When the camels are unloaded, the

several hours.

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MIGRATION OF TRIBE.

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owners drive them to water, and give them their provender. As soon as our tents were pitched, my business was to make a little fire and get a pot of coffee."... We "lay down to sleep. Between eleven and twelve we boiled something for dinner, and, having dined, lay down again till about four, when the trumpet was sounded, which gave notice to all to take down their tents, pack up their things, and load their camels, in order to proceed on their journey."

Thus we see that more than three thousand years have made no alteration in the signal used for decamping. The pilgrims to Mecca, and the Israelites of old, both moved at the sound of the trumpet.

The night is the chief time for performing these journeys, on account of the heat by day. But sometimes the mornings are cold before the sun is up, and likewise in the day there are often refreshing breezes.

God therefore most mercifully directed the march of His people according to the season or the temperature of the air; for sometimes He took up the cloud in the morning, and sometimes at night, as best might suit their comfort; for "He knew whereof they were made, and He remembered that they were but dust." -PITT'S Account of the Religion and Manners of the Mahometans; HARMER'S Observations, ii. 265, 268, 272, 273.

The migration of whole tribes in search of pasture or under the pressure of enemies, forms one of the most characteristic scenes of Eastern life. Jacob's journey from Mesopotamia to Canaan with his "oxen, and asses, flocks, and men-servants, and women-servants," as described in the 32nd and 33rd chapters of Genesis, was effected in a manner probably not unlike that which may still be witnessed among the Bedouins. Mr. Parsons, who travelled in the East a few years ago, thus described it :

"First went the shepherds and goatherds, with the sheep and goats in regular flocks. Then followed the

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MIGRATION OF TRIBE.

camels and asses, with the tents and furniture. Next came the old men and the women, with the boys and girls on foot. The little children were carried by the women, and the elder children carried the lambs and

kids. Last of all came the masters of the families. Between each family there was a space of a hundred yards, or more; so that they did not mix or get confused with each other."

Dr. Buckingham mentions observing "An Arab party, consisting of about a dozen families, halting to

ARAB TRIBE IN MOTION.

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pitch their tents in a beautiful little basin, which they had chosen for the place of their encampment, surrounded on three sides by woody hills. The sheikh

was the only one of the whole who rode; the rest of the men walked on foot, as did most of the women also. The boys drove the flocks of sheep and goats; and the little children, the young lambs, the kids, and the poultry were all carried in paniers or baskets across the camels' backs. The tents, with their cordage, and the mats, the cooking utensils, provisions, and furniture, were likewise laden upon these useful animals. As these halted at every five steps to pull a mouthful of leaves from the bushes, the progress of their march was very slow; but the patience of all seemed quite in harmony with the tardy movement of the camel, and it was evidently a matter of indifference to every one of the group, whether they halted at noon or at sunset, since an hour was time enough for them to prepare their shelter for the night."-BUCKINGHAM'S Travels, ii. 106.

"It would be difficult to describe the appearance of a large tribe, like that we now met, when migrating to new pastures. . . . We soon found ourselves in the midst of wide-spreading flocks of sheep and camels. As far as the eye could reach, to the right, to the left, and in front, still the same moving crowd. Long lines of asses and bullocks laden with black tents, huge caldrons and variegated carpets; aged women and men, no longer able to walk, tied on the heap of domestic furniture; infants crammed into saddle-bags, their tiny heads thrust through the narrow opening, balanced on the animal's back by kids or lambs tied on the opposite side; young girls clothed only in the close-fitting Arab shirt; mothers with their children on their shoulders; boys driving flocks of lambs; horsemen armed with their long tufted spears, scouring the plain on their fleet mares; riders urging their dromedaries with their short hooked sticks, and leading their high-bred steeds by