“Mehanna el Fadel, the son of Melkhgem, to Sheik Ibrahim and Abdalla el Katib, greeting. May the mercy of God be upon you! On the arrival of our son Nasser, we were informed of the desire you have to visit us. Be welcome! you will shed blessing upon us. Fear nothing; you have the protection of God, and the word of Mehanna; nothing shall touch you but the rain of heaven! Signed, MEHANNA EL FADEL.” A seal was appended by the side of the signature. The letter gave great pleasure to Sheik Ibrahim: our preparations were soon made, and early the next morning we were out of Palmyra. Being arrived at a village watered by an abundant spring, we filled our skins for the rest of the route. This village, called Arak, is four hours from Palmyra. We met a great number of Bedouins, who, after having questioned our conductors, continued their road. After a march of ten hours, the plain appeared covered with fifteen hundred tents: it was the tribe of Mehanna. We entered into the tent of the emir, who ordered us coffee at three different intervals; which, amongst the Bedouins, is the greatest proof of consideration. After the third cup, supper was served, which we were obliged to eat _a la Turque_: it was the first time this had occurred, so that we burnt our fingers. Mehanna perceived it. “You are not accustomed,” said he, “to eat as we do.”--“It is true,” replied Sheik Ibrahim; “but why do you not make use of spoons? it is always possible to procure them, if only of wood.”--“We are Bedouins,” replied the emir, “and we keep to the customs of our ancestors, which, besides, we consider well founded. The hand and the mouth are the parts of the body that God has given us to aid each other. Why then make use of a strange thing, whether of wood or of metal, to reach the mouth, when the hand is naturally made for that purpose?” We were obliged to approve these reasons, and I remarked to Sheik Ibrahim that Mehanna was the first Bedouin philosopher that we had encountered. The next day the emir had a camel killed to regale us, and I learned that that was a high mark of consideration, the Bedouins measuring the importance of the stranger by the animal they kill to welcome him. They begin with a lamb, and finish with a camel. This was the first time we had eaten the flesh of this animal, and we thought it rather insipid.