The dowry was finally settled at fifty nakas, two horses, two hundred sheep, one negro, and one negress. The _trousseau_ remained as dictated by Bargiass; saddles and yellow boots for the mother and some other members of the family were even added above his demand. Having written these articles, I read them aloud. Then the assistants at the ceremony recited the prayer _Fatiha_--the Pater Noster of the Mussulmans, which confers its sanction on the contract,--and camel’s milk was handed round, as lemonade had been at a town in Syria. After this refreshment the young people mounted their horses and amused themselves with the djerid,[O] and other games. Giarah, desirous to ingratiate himself with his bride, was particularly distinguished, and she remarked with pleasure his agility and grace. We separated at nightfall, and preparations for the nuptials now employed the thoughts of all. By the evening of the third day, the dowry, or rather the price of Sabha, was ready, and a numerous procession moved with it in the following order:--A horseman led the van, with a white flag pendent from the point of his lance, and crying, “I bear the spotless honour of Bargiass.” After him followed the camels, decorated with garlands of flowers and foliage, attended by their drivers; then the negro on horseback, richly clothed, and surrounded by men on foot singing popular airs. Behind them marched a troop of warriors, armed with muskets, which they frequently discharged. A woman followed, sprinkling with incense a large vessel of fire which she carried. Then the milch ewes, under the guidance of their shepherds, who were singing like Chibouk, the brother of Antar, two thousand years earlier; for the manners of the Bedouins never change. After these came the negress, mounted upon a horse and evironed by two hundred women on foot, constituting not the least noisy of the groups; for the joyous shouts and nuptial songs of the Arab women are shrill beyond expression. The procession was closed by the camel which bore the _trousseau_, and formed a splendid spectacle. The embroidered housings were spread out on all sides and covered the animal; the yellow boots hung from his sides, and the jewels, arranged in festoons, completed his trappings. A child of one of the most distinguished families, mounted on this camel, repeated with a loud voice, “May we be ever victorious! May the fire of our enemies be extinguished for ever!” Other children accompanied him, crying, “Amen!” For my part, I ran from one side to the other, to enjoy the whole spectacle to the utmost. This time Bargiass came out to meet us, attended by the horsemen and women of his tribe; the cries and chants then became truly deafening; and the horses galloping about on all sides, soon enveloped us in a whirlwind of dust. When the presents were all displayed and ranged in order around the tent of Bargiass, coffee was made in a monstrous caldron, and every one took some, while waiting for the feast.