the sides, having two rows of poles clear, and the third was closed by a reeded partition, behind which was the apartment for the females, surrounded entirely by the same kind of matting.

It thus gave a perfect outline of the most ancient temples, and as these tents were certainly still more ancient as dwellings of men, if not as places of worship to gods, than any buildings of stone, it struck me forcibly on the spot, as a probable model from which the first architectural works of these countries were taken. We had here an open portico of an oblong form, with two rows of columns of six each in front, and the third engaged in the wall that enclosed the body of the tent all around; the first corresponding to the porticoes of temples; and the last, as well in its design as in the sacredness of its appropriation, to the sanctuaries of the most remote antiquity.*

The Sheikh, whose name was Ramadan, was an old man of eighty, of fine features, combining the characteristics of the Turkish

* See the representations of the primitive huts, in Vi

and Arabic race, with large expressive eyes. His complexion was darker than that of the people of Yemen, though somewhat less so than that of the common order of Abyssinians, and this was strongly contrasted by a long beard of silvery white. His divan was spread out with mats and cushions, covered with silk : his dress and arms were plain, yet of the best qualities of their kind; before his tent were two fine mares, well caparisoned, and every thing about his establishment wore an appearance of wealth and comfort.

Others of the caravan, seeing us halted here as they passed, alighted likewise, and took their seats without invitation, all being received with the same welcome salute, until the party amounted to twenty-six in number. While we were talking of the Turcomans, who had alarmed us on our way, a meal was preparing within; and soon afterwards, warm cakes baked on the hearth, cream, honey, dried raisins, butter, lebben, and wheat boiled in milk, were served to the company. Neither the Sheikh himself nor any of his family partook with us, but stood around, to wait upon their guests, though among those who sat down to eat, were two Indian fakirs, or

beggars, a Christian pilgrim from Jerusalem, and the slaves and servants of Hadjee Abd-elRakhman, all dipping their fingers into the same dish. Coffee was served to us in gilded china cups, and silver stands or finjans, and the pipes of the Sheikh and his son were filled and offered to those who had none.

If there could be traced a resemblance between the form of this tent, and that of the most ancient buildings of which we have any knowledge, our reception there no less exactly corresponded to the picture of the most ancient manners, of which we have any detail. When the three angels are said to have appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, he is represented, as sitting in the tent-door in the heat of the day.* "And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tentdoor, and bowed himself towards the ground." "And Abraham hastened into the tent, unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.' And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them, and he stood by them

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* See Genesis, chap. 18, where the interview is described.

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under the tree, and they did eat." When inquiry was made after his wife, he replied, “Behold, she is in the tent." And when it was promised him, that Sarah should have a son, it is said, “And Sarah heard in the tentdoor, which was behind him." The angels are represented, as merely passengers in their journey, like ourselves: for the rites of hospitality were shewn to them, before they had made their mission known. At first sight they were desired to halt and repose, to wash their feet, as they had apparently walked, and rest beneath the tree, while bread should be brought them to comfort their hearts. "And after that," said the good old Patriarch, “shall ye pass on, for therefore are ye come unto your servant;" so that the duty of hospitality to strangers seems to have been as well and as mutually understood in the earliest days, as it is in the same country at present.

The form of Abraham's tent, as thus described, seems to have been exactly like the one in which we sit; for in both, there was a shaded open front, in which he could sit in the heat of the day, and yet be seen from afar off; and the apartment of the females, where Sarah was, when he stated her to be within the

tent, was immediately behind this, wherein she prepared the meal for the guests, and from whence she listened to their prophetic declaration.

I have noted these points of resemblance, chiefly because the tents of the Turcomans here are different from all those of the Arabs that I have ever seen in the countries of the south: these latter being of an oblong form, and divided in the middle, so as to form two compartments by the side of each other, both of them open in front, and closed at the back and sides, but without either a shaded porch or door before them, or an apartment of any kind behind.

The Turcomans, on the borders of Turkey, seem to hold the same position as the Bedouins on the borders of Syria. They dwell chiefly in the plains, south of the range of Mount Taurus, and extend from the sea-coast, near Antioch, to the borders of the Euphrates. They are, however, more wealthy than the Arabs, from having richer pastures, and more numerous flocks, and from being cultivators, as well as shepherds. They are, therefore, also more fixed in their stations, and live both in tents and in villages. There are among