From Salidan's time, till the conquest of Selim emperor of the Turks, who finished the reign of the Mamalukes by the murder of Tomum Bey, that is, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, the Arabs in Nubia and Beja, and the several countries above Egypt, had been incorporated with the old indigenous inhabitants of those territories, which were the _Shepherds_, and, upon conversion of these last to the Mahometan religion, had become one people with those Saracens who over-ran this country in the Khalifat of Omar. The only distinction that remained was, that the Arabs continued their old manner of life in tents, while the indigenous inhabitants lived in huts, mostly by the sides of rivers, and among plantations of date-trees. It must be, however, remembered, that this, though a pretty general observation, does not hold without exception; for the Arabs of Mahomet's own family, the Beni Koreish, mostly lived in towns, such as Mecca, Tajef, and Medina, especially after the expulsion of the Jews and the establishment of his empire. Many also of these, who came over to Beja and the eastern part of Nubia, continued their practice of living in small towns or villages, and were distinguished by the name of Jaheleen: This appellation, literally interpreted, signifies Pagans; but by extention, the ancient races of Arabs converted immediately from Paganism to the Mahometan faith, by Mahomet himself, without having ever embraced Christianity, or any other Pagan superstition besides pure Sabaism, and this was the old religion of Arabia, and of the whole peninsula of Africa to the Western Ocean. These Jaheleen are generally known by their name, referring to men of consideration in the time of Mahomet's life, whom they call their father, or to some circumstance relating to Mahomet himself. An example of the first of the race is, Rabatab, that is, _Rabat was our father_, or, "we are the children of Rabat." An example of the second is the Macabrab, or, _the sepulchre is our father_, meaning the sepulchre of their prophet at Medina. These Jaheleen are, as I have said, truly noble Arabs of the race of Beni Koreish. Though they live in villages, they are the most dangerous and most fanatic wretches a traveller can meet. All this country, though nominally subject to Egypt for the sake of trade, had their own prince of the race of Beni Koreish, whose title was Welled Ageeb, _Son of the Good_, which was his general inauguration name; and, besides this, he was called Ali, or Mahomet Welled Ageeb, which is part of his title, or, as it were, his Christian name added to that of his family. This prince was, nevertheless, but the Shekh of all the Arabs, to whom they paid a tribute to enable him to maintain his dignity, and a sufficient strength to keep up order and inforce his decrees in public matters. As for œconomical ones, each tribe was under the government of its own Shekh, old men, fathers of families in each clan.