THE OX. 147

come a stranger by pouring melted butter on his head.
Our way of spreading it thinly on bread is unknown to
the Arabs; and when they do eat it with bread, the bread
forms but a small item in the repast, so that it might, with
propriety, be called butter and bread, rather than, as with
us, bread and butter.

Milk, in its various forms, is a great article of diet with
the Arabs and other pastoral tribes, many living almost
entirely on dates and milk ; sweet milk is handed round after
every meal, and buttermilk is also much used. Sour milk
mixed with water is a favourite beverage with the western
Asiatics, and is said to be really refreshing in warm climates.
Excellent cream is made by the usual process. “From the
frequent mention which is made of milk, milk meals must
have been very common among the Hebrews, who seem to
have been always, even in their settled state, more a pastoral
than an agricultural people. In Proverbs xxvii., goats’
milk is mentioned as a principal article of diet in a Hebrew
household. The milk of goats is perhaps there mentioned,
as being of the best quality. It is decidedly so considered
in the East; the Arabs drink camels’ milk, but all their
butter and cheese is made with that of goats and sheep,
which are milked by the women every morning before day-