. Under the crescent, and among the kraals; a study of Methodism in Africa. gends. The evil eye is always aterror, and is only to be warded off by the wear-ing of amulets and charms. Beads, old coins,teeth, holy earth in small bags, a Koran orchapter from it, are all worn for their beneficenteffects. A universal superstition is the beliefthat to his everlasting undoing there may becast upon his person or belongings, the ill luckof the evil eye. Let a stranger, particularlyone not a follower of the Prophet, look intentlyat something an Arab wears or carries, and hewill immediately moisten his f
. Under the crescent, and among the kraals; a study of Methodism in Africa. gends. The evil eye is always aterror, and is only to be warded off by the wear-ing of amulets and charms. Beads, old coins,teeth, holy earth in small bags, a Koran orchapter from it, are all worn for their beneficenteffects. A universal superstition is the beliefthat to his everlasting undoing there may becast upon his person or belongings, the ill luckof the evil eye. Let a stranger, particularlyone not a follower of the Prophet, look intentlyat something an Arab wears or carries, and hewill immediately moisten his finger and passit over the article in question in order to checkthe spell. A certain token of good luck is theimage of a hand called the hand of fetish is probably named after the sisterof the Prophet and painted over the doors ofhouses, upon the walls of shops, or even minglingamong mosque decorations, or worn as anornament, it is believed to be absolutely sureto ward off the malignant effects of the much-to-be-dreaded witchery. Of legends there are many, some. 20 UNDER THE CRESCENT some beautiful in their poetic delicacy. In theformer class is the belief that the eyes of a camelare like magnifying glasses, increasing the sizeof his master seven times. His master maybeat and abuse the creature, though close toteeth and hoofs, and not fear, as he appearsseven times larger than he is. It is not,says the Arab story-teller, because the camelis stupid, nor yet because he is timid. It is be-cause of a wise provision whereby Allah suitedhim to the weakness of men. Again, we hear the pretty legend of the originof the date-palm, the desert Arabs mostpriceless treasure, as springing up from a fewgrains of dust which fell from the fingers ofAllah, as Adam was created.
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