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The source whence the negroes came was known to be a region below the Sahara which from its yield of gold and ivory was called by the Moors the land of wealth, "Bilad Ghana," a name which on the tongues of European sailors was converted into "Guinea." To open a direct trade thither was a natural effort when the age of maritime exploration began.
Of course they were beggars, princes and paupers, lairds and loons, being all equally unfortunate; the Arabs have named the country Bilad Wa Issi, the "Land of Give me Something;" but their wants were easily satisfied, and the open hand always made a friend.
A noble Arab stallion is supposed to fight for his rider and to wake him at night if he see any sign of danger. The owner generally sleeps under the belly of the beast which keeps eyes and ears alert till dawn. "Yaum al tanadi," i.e. Resurrection-day. "Bilad al-Sudan"=the Land of the Blacks, negro- land, whence the slaves came, a word now fatally familiar to English ears.
A few examples of so-called "broken" plurals from Arabic will supplement the Hebrew verb forms that I have given in another connection. The noun balad "place" has the plural form bilad; gild "hide" forms the plural gulud; ragil "man," the plural rigal; shibbak "window," the plural shababik.
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