1 Cor. ix. 7.

"Who feedeth the flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?"

1 PETER i. 18, 19.

"For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

v. 2, 4.

"Feed the flock of God which is among you...and when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.'

"The Bedouins are essentially a pastoral peopletheir only riches are their flocks and herds, their home is in the wide desert, and they have no local attachments; they seldom remain above one month in one spot, but wander about the deserts from well to well. When their flocks have eaten up what little verdure there is in one place, they strike their tents, and set out for another." -MADDEN'S Travels.

"To-day they pitch their tents among the mountains, to-morrow in the plain; and wherever they plant themselves for the time, all that they have on earth-wife, children, and friends, are immediately around them. In fact, the life of a Bedouin, his appearance and habits, are precisely the same as those of the patriarchs of old. Abraham himself, the first of the patriarchs, was a Bedouin; and four thousand years have not made the slightest alteration in the character and habits of this extraordinary people. Read of the patriarchs in the Bible, and it is the best description you can have of pastoral life in the East at the present day."-Incidents of Travel.

66

Among the barren and desolate mountains, there is frequently a small space of ground, near some fountain

or deposit of water, known only to the Arabs, capable of producing a scanty crop of grass to pasture a few camels, and a small flock of sheep or goats. There the Bedouin pitches his tent, and remains until the scanty product is consumed; and then packs up his household goods, and seeks another pasture ground."- Incidents of Travel.

"The Grecian poets, Homer and Hesiod, do not speak of gold and silver money; they express the value of things by saying they are worth so many oxen or sheep. They estimated the riches of a man by the number of his flocks, and that of a country by the abundance of its pastures and the quantity of its metals. These observations throw great light upon the patriarchal history. The patriarchs occupied the rank of chiefs, or princes; their substance consisted in their flocks and herds; and in the occupations and duties of the families of the Turcoman and Bedouin chiefs of modern times, we have an exact transcript of their domestic manners.

"A Sheikh, who has the command of five hundred horse, does not disdain to saddle and bridle his own, nor to give him barley and chopped straw."

"We beheld the plain before us covered with an immense multitude of Arabs, with their flocks and camels. They had come from plains far distant from the extensive tracts which extend towards Babylon and Bagdad, the pastures being scanty, or else partially exhausted this season. They had journeyed hither with all their flocks and herds, for the sake of the superior pasturage the Syrian plains afford. Their tents were spread over an immense space of ground before us, those of the sheikh being distinguished by their superior size. Groups of camels were standing in some parts, and groups of their masters beside them, and herds of cattle, and goats, and horses were dispersed over all the plain, mingled with parties of Arabs, who watched and attended them.

"We came in sight of an Arab camp pitched near a

rivulet of water, in the midst of the plain, and flocks of cattle were feeding on the rich pasture. The large tent of the sheikh was conspicuous in the midst, and we resolved to trust to their hospitality. Having passed the line of tents, we stopped at the door of the chief's, and alighting from our horses, entered. The Arabs gave us a kind and friendly reception. We sat down on the

floor, and in about half an hour a repast was brought of boiled rice, cakes of bread, and fresh butter. The encampments and journeyings of these people probably present a vivid picture of those of the patriarchs, who, with their flocks and herdsmen, and camels, went on their journeys until they pitched their tents in a place that had water, and was rich in pasture."-See Appendix to CARNE's Letters, and the Letters, p. 369.

"When at the northern end of the Gulf of 'Akabah, Dr. Robinson writes, "We met a large caravan of the Haweitât (an Arab tribe) coming from the Eastern desert, whence they had been driven out by the drought. They were now wandering towards the south of Palestine, and had with them about seventy camels and many asses."-Researches, vol. i. p. 239.

"He told us that his master, the chief sheikh (of Dura) was the owner of five male, and six female slaves, two hundred sheep, three hundred goats, twenty-one neat cattle, three horses, and five camels."-Ibid. p. 3.

"In July, 1846, there were upwards of twenty thousand camels, and more than fifty thousand goats, grazing there ;* as the fine pastures of the surrounding plain attract immense numbers of the 'Anezah Arabs thither during the summer months."-WILSON's Lands of the

Bible.

"We calculated that altogether we could not have passed fewer than thirty-five thousand animals. We could not look upon them, without having recalled to our remembrance the passage of Isaiah, 'The multitude

* Dr. Wilson was travelling through some fine pasture land.

L

of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord."-WILSON's Lands of the Bible.

"The state and equipage of the Arab sheikhs is maintained by means of a revenue derived from a tithe which they exact for all the cattle, the camels excepted. This tenth of the innumerable herds and flocks, yields the chiefs a very handsome income."*-IRBY & MANGLES, p. 485.

"It was a pleasing sight to see (the Arabs) bring in their flocks at night, which always slept close to the tents of their owners, several Arabs together, with numerous dogs, remaining outside as guards. The lambs were placed inside the tents, in a small fenced place; to screen them from the inclemency of the night air, which was nearly as cold as you would experience it in England at that season, always freezing hard. The first care in the morning was to let their young charge out to their mothers, when it was not an uninteresting scene to observe the numerous ewes recognizing their offspring by the smell alone; the lambs, not being gifted with the sagacity of their mothers, were all willing to suck from the first ewe they met with."-IRBY & MANGLES, pp. 278, 279.

"We came to a fine flowing well. The water was cold and pleasant. Some Syrian shepherds had gathered their flocks around the well. There were many hundreds of goats; some drinking out of the troughs, some reclining till the noon-day heat should be past. We were again reminded of the song, 'Where thou makest the flock to rest at noon;' and of the care which the Lord Jesus takes to refresh the weary souls of his people during the burden and heat of the day, delivering them from daily returning wants and temptations."-Mission to the Jews, p. 208.

*Levit. xxvii. 32.

"In the evening I went to water my horse at the spring;-I met there a number of shepherds with their flocks; the rule is, that the first who arrives at the well, waters his cattle before the others; several were, therefore, obliged to wait till after sunset. There are always some stone basins round the wells, out of which the camels drink, the water being drawn up by leathern buckets, and poured into them: disputes frequently happen on these occasions. The well has a broad staircase leading down to it."-BURCKHARDT'S Syria, &c. p. 63.