TAFYLE. 
404 
opposition to that of his Sheikh. The father of the young man 
who had eloped had come with us from Kerek, for the whole fa 
mily had been obliged to fly, the Bedouin laws entitling an injured 
husband to kill any of the offender’s relations, in retaliation for the 
loss of his wife. The husband began by demanding from the 
young man’s father two wives in return for the one carried off, and 
the greater part of the property which the emigrant family pos 
sessed in Tafyle. The father of the wife and her first cousin also 
made demands of compensation for the insult which their family 
had received by her elopement. Our Sheikh, however, by his 
eloquence and address, at last got the better of them all : indeed it 
must in justice be said that Youssef Medjaly was not more superior 
to the other mountaineers in the strength of his arm, and the ex 
cellence of his horsemanship, than he was by his natural talents. 
The affair was settled by the offender’s father placing his four 
infant daughters, the youngest of whom was not yet weaned, at the 
disposal of the husband and his father-in-law, who might betrothe 
them to whomsoever they chose, and receive themselves the money 
which is usually paid for girls. The four daughters were esti 
mated at about three thousand piastres, and both parties seemed 
to be content. In testimony of peace being concluded between 
the two families, and of the price of blood being paid, the young 
man’s father, who had not yet shewn himself publickly, came to 
shake hands with the injured husband, a white flag was suspended 
at the top of the tent in which we sat, a sheep was killed, and we 
passed the whole night in feasting and conversation. 
The women of Tafyle are much more shy before strangers than 
those of Kerek. The latter never, or at least very seldom, veil 
themselves, and they discourse freely with all strangers; the for 
mer, on the contrary, imitate the city ladies in their pride, and re 
served manners. T’he inhabitants of Tafyle, who are of the tribe