Note 18 — CHAP. VII.

We have long ago been convinced of the truth of the common saying in Egypt, that no Arab can bring home even an orange or lemon from the market, without running a pin into and sucking it, so as to make something by the job. The love of theft seems to have been an hereditary vice of Arabs from the earliest times, as even in the Bible they are described as unsafe companions. However, their thefts are generally those of the pettiest kinds, such as Frank servants would not think of, as they never take more than a small portion of what they steal from, even were this a pile of coin or a heap of sugar. They either trust that the owner’s stupidity will not miss this (and it is true Europeans are very apt in this country to sink into a curious state of careless listlessness), or they imagine that, in case of discovery, no great noise will be made about such a trifle. The Barabra are perfect children in their manners. When sent to fetch anything, they never think, full as their hands may be, of first emptying them, ere trying to lift other articles. One of these we, for our sins, had, while in Chartum, attempted to make a cook of, and instruct him, as far as we ourselves had picked it up, in making our favourite dish of jugged hare; but all in vain—a nice mess he made! A cookery book would, indeed have been a treasure here, as the favourite dishes of one’s young and healthy days are doubly relished when ailing, or among a people whose food and cookery are so different to European.