One day, a Turkish mollah arrived at the Drayhy’s; he wore the large green turban that distinguishes the descendants of Mahomet, a white flowing robe, his eyes blackened, and an enormous beard; he wore also several rows of chaplets, and an inkstand in the form of a dagger at his belt. He rode on an ass, and carried in his hand an arrow. He was come to instil his fanaticism into the Bedouins, and excite in them a great zeal for the religion of the Prophet, in order to attach them to the cause of the Turks. The Bedouins are of great simplicity of character, and remarkable for their frankness. They do not understand differences of religion, and do not willingly allow them to be spoken of. They are deists; they invoke the protection of God in all the events of life, and refer to him their success or their failures with humble resignation; but they have no ceremonies or obligatory ritual, and make no distinction between the sects of Omar and of Ali, which divide the East. They never inquired what was our religion. We told them that we were Christians; their answer was, “All men are equal in the sight of God, and are his creatures; we have no right to inquire what is the creed of other men.” This discretion on their part was much more favourable to our projects than the fanaticism of the Turks; so that the arrival of the mollah gave some anxiety to Sheik Ibrahim, who went to the tent of the Drayhy, where he found the conference already begun, or rather the preaching, to which the chiefs were listening with a dissatisfied air. As they all arose at our entrance to salute us, the mollah inquired who we were, and having learnt that we were Christians:--“It is forbidden,” said he, “by the laws of God, to rise before infidels; you will be cursed for holding intercourse with them; your wives will be illegitimate, and your children bastards. Such is the decree of our lord, Mahomet, whose name be for ever venerated!” The Drayhy, without waiting for the end of his speech, got up in a rage, seized him by the beard, threw him down, and drew his sabre; Sheik Ibrahim sprang forward, withheld his arm, and conjured him to moderate his anger: at length, the emir consented to cut off his beard instead of his head, and drove him away with ignominy. The Drayhy having attacked the tribe of Beni-Sakhrer, the only one which still opposed him, beat it completely.