[p.184] day.  But if mischief be intended, a case of bloodshed is brought about, and then nothing can arrest the torrent of popular rage.[FN#38] The Egyptian, with all his good humour, merriment, and nonchalance, is notorious for doggedness, when, as the popular phrase is, his “blood is up.”  And this, indeed, is his chief merit as a soldier.  He has a certain mechanical dexterity in the use of arms, and an Egyptian regiment will fire a volley as correctly as a battalion at Chobham.  But when the head, and not the hands, is required, he notably fails.  The reason of his superiority in the field is his peculiar stubborness, and this, together with his powers of digestion and of enduring hardship on the line of march, is the quality that makes him terrible to his old conqueror, the Turk.[FN#39]

[FN#1] When travelling, the Shushah is allowed to spread over the greatest portion of the scalp, to act as a protection against the sun; and the hair being shaved off about two inches all round the head, leaves a large circular patch.  Nothing can be uglier than such tonsure, and it is contrary to the strict law of the Apostle, who ordered a clean shave, or a general growth of the hair.  The Arab, however, knows by experience, that though habitual exposure of the scalp to a burning sun may harden the skull, it seldom fails to damage its precious contents.  He, therefore, wears a Shushah during his wanderings, and removes it on his return home.  Abu Hanifah, if I am rightly informed, wrote a treatise advocating the growth of a long lock of hair on the Nasiyah, or crown of the head, lest the decapitated Moslem’s mouth or beard be exposed to defilement by an impure hand.  This would justify the comparing it to the “chivalry-lock,” by which the American brave facilitates the removal of his own scalp.  But I am at a loss to discover the origin of our old idea, that the “angel of death will, on the last day, bear all true believers, by this important tuft of hair on the crown, to Paradise.”  Probably this office has been attributed to the Shushah by the ignorance of the West. [FN#2] “Makhi-chus,” equivalent to our “skin-flint.” [FN#3] A well-known Arab chieftain, whose name has come to stand for generosity itself. [FN#4] This being an indispensable instrument for measuring distances, I had it divested of gold case, and provided with a facing carefully stained and figured with Arabic numerals.  In countries where few can judge of a watch by its works, it is as well to secure its safety by making the exterior look as mean as possible.  The watches worn by respectable people in Al-Hijaz are almost a1ways old silver pieces, of the turnip shape, with hunting cases and an outer etui of thick leather.  Mostly they are of Swiss or German manufacture, and they find their way into Arabia via Constantinople and Cairo. [FN#5] On my return to Cairo, Omar Effendi, whom I met accidentally in the streets, related the story to me.  I never owned having played a part,