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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/42215-0.txt b/42215-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf45299 --- /dev/null +++ b/42215-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7144 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Pilgrimage to Nejd, Vol. 1 [of 2], by Anne +Blunt + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Pilgrimage to Nejd, Vol. 1 [of 2] + The Cradle of the Arab Race + + +Author: Anne Blunt + + + +Release Date: February 26, 2013 [eBook #42215] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PILGRIMAGE TO NEJD, VOL. 1 [OF +2]*** + + +This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler. + + [Picture: Portrait of Lady Anne Blunt in Arab Costume] + + + + + + A PILGRIMAGE TO NEJD, + + + _THE CRADLE OF THE ARAB RACE_. + + * * * * * + + A VISIT TO THE COURT OF THE ARAB EMIR, AND + “OUR PERSIAN CAMPAIGN.” + + * * * * * + + BY LADY ANNE BLUNT. + AUTHOR OF “THE BEDOUIN TRIBES OF THE EUPHRATES.” + + * * * * * + + IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I. + + * * * * * + + WITH MAP, PORTRAITS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM + THE AUTHOR’S DRAWINGS. + + * * * * * + + _SECOND EDITION_. + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, + 1881. + + [_All Rights reserved_.] + + * * * * * + + + + +These Volumes Are Dedicated + + + TO + + SIR HENRY CRESWICKE RAWLINSON, + + K.C.B., F.R.S. + + BY + + THE AUTHORESS. + + + + +PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. + + +READERS of our last year’s adventures on the Euphrates will hardly need +it to be explained to them why the present journey was undertaken, nor +why it stands described upon our title page as a “Pilgrimage.” The +journey to Nejd forms the natural complement of the journey through +Mesopotamia and the Syrian Desert; while Nejd itself, with the romantic +interest attached to its name, seems no unworthy object of a religious +feeling, such as might prompt the visit to a shrine. Nejd, in the +imagination of the Bedouins of the North, is a region of romance, the +cradle of their race, and of those ideas of chivalry by which they still +live. There Antar performed his labours of Hercules, and Hatim Taï the +more historical hero entertained his guests. To the Ánazeh and Shammar, +especially, whose northward migrations date only from a few generations +back, the tradition of their birth-place is still almost a recollection; +and even to the Arabs of the earlier invasions, the townsmen of such +places as Bozra, Palmyra, and Deyr, and to the Taï Bedouins, once lords +of Jebel Shammar, it appeals with a fascination more than equal to that +of the Hejaz itself. Nejd is to all of them what Palestine is to the +Jews, England to the American and Australian colonists; but with this +difference, that they are cut off from the object of their filial +reverence more absolutely in practice than these by an intervening gulf +of desert less hospitable than any sea. It is rare to meet anywhere in +the North an Arab who has crossed the Great Nefûd. + +To us too, imbued as we were with the fancies of the Desert, Nejd had +long assumed the romantic colouring of a holy land; and when it was +decided that we were to visit Jebel Shammar, the metropolis of Bedouin +life, our expedition presented itself as an almost pious undertaking; so +that it is hardly an exaggeration, even now that it is over, and we are +once more in Europe, to speak of it as a pilgrimage. Our pilgrimage then +it is, though the religion in whose name we travelled was only one of +romance. + +Its circumstances, in spite of certain disappointments which the +narrative will reveal, were little less romantic than the idea. Readers +who followed our former travels to their close, may remember a certain +Mohammed Abdallah, son of the Sheykh of Palmyra, a young man who, after +travelling with us by order of the Pasha from Deyr to his native town, +had at some risk of official displeasure assisted us in evading the +Turkish authorities, and accomplishing our visit to the Ánazeh. It may +further be remembered that, in requital of this service and because we +had conceived an affection for him (for he appeared a really high-minded +young fellow), Mohammed had been given his choice between a round sum of +money, and the honour of becoming “the Beg’s” brother, a choice which he +had chivalrously decided in favour of the brotherhood. We had then +promised him that, if all went well with us, we would return to Damascus +the following winter, and go in his company to Nejd, where he believed he +had relations, and that we would help him there to a wife from among his +own people. + +The idea and the promise were in strict accordance with Bedouin notions, +and greatly delighted both him and his father Abdallah, to whom they were +in due course communicated. Arab custom is very little changed on the +point of marriage from what it was in the days of Abraham; and it was +natural that both father and son should wish for a wife for him of their +own blood, and that he should be ready to go far to fetch one. Moreover, +the sort of help we proposed giving (for he could hardly have travelled +to Nejd alone) was just such as beseemed our new relationship. +Assistance in the choice of a wife ranks in Bedouin eyes with the gift of +a mare, or personal aid in war, both brotherly acts conferring high +honour on those concerned. Mohammed too had a special reason in the +circumstances of his family history to make the proposal doubly welcome. +He found himself in an embarrassing position at home with regard to +marriage, and was in a manner forced to look elsewhere for a wife. The +history of the Ibn Arûks of Tudmur, the family to which he belonged, will +explain this, and is so curious, and so typical of Arabia, that it +deserves a passing notice here. + +It would appear that seven or eight generations ago (probably about the +date of the foundation of the Wahhabi empire) three brothers of the noble +family of Arûk, Sheykhs of the Beni Khaled of south-eastern Nejd, +quarrelled with their people and left the tribe. The Ibn Arûks were then +a very well-known family, exercising suzerain rights over the important +towns of Hasa and Katif, and having independent, even sovereign, power in +their own district. This lay between the Persian Gulf and Harik, an +oasis on the edge of the great southern desert, and they retained it +until they and the rest of their fellow Sheykhs in Arabia were reduced to +insignificance by Mohammed Ibn Saoud, the first Wahhabi Sultan of Nejd. +{xiii} + +At the beginning of last century, all Arabia was independent of central +authority, each tribe, and to a certain extent each town, maintaining its +separate existence as a State. Religion, except in its primitive Bedouin +form, had disappeared from the inland districts, and only the Hejaz and +Yemen were more than nominally Mahometan. The Bedouin element was then +supreme. Each town and village in Arabia was considered the property of +one or other of the nomade Sheykhs in its neighbourhood, and paid him +tribute in return for his protection. The Sheykh too not unfrequently +possessed a house or castle within the city walls, as a summer residence, +besides his tent outside. He in such cases became more than a mere +suzerain, and exercised active authority over the townspeople, +administering justice at the gate daily, and enrolling young men as his +body-guard, even on occasion levying taxes. He then received the title +of Emir or Prince. It was in no other way perhaps that the “Shepherd +Kings” of Egypt acquired their position and exercised their power; and +vestiges of the old system may still be found in many parts of Arabia. + +In the middle of the eighteenth century, however, Ibn Abd-el-Wahhab, the +Luther of Mahometanism, preached his religious reform in Nejd, and +converted Ibn Saoud, the Ánazeh Sheykh of Deriyeh, to his doctrines. By +Ibn Abd-el-Wahhab’s help Ibn Saoud, from the mere chief of a tribe, and +sovereign of one city, became Sultan of all Arabia, and reduced one after +another every rival Sheykh to submission. He even ultimately destroyed +the system of tribute and protection, the original basis of his power, +and having raised a regular army from among the townsmen, made these +quite independent of Bedouin rule. Arabia then, for the first time since +Mahomet’s death, became a united empire with a centralised and regular +government. It must have been about the year 1760 that the three Ibn +Arûks, disgusted with the new state of things in Nejd, went out to seek +their fortunes elsewhere. According to the tradition, partly embodied in +an old ballad which is still current in Arabia, they were mounted all +three upon a single camel, and had nothing with them but their swords and +their high birth to gain them credit among strangers. They travelled +northwards and at first halted in Jôf, the northernmost oasis of Central +Arabia, where one of them remained. The other two, quarrelling, +separated; the younger going, tradition knew not whither, while the elder +held on his way still further north, and settled finally at Tudmur +(Palmyra), where he married a woman of the place, and where he ultimately +became Sheykh. At that time Tudmur consisted but of a few houses. His +name was Ali, and from him our friend Mohammed and his father Abdallah, +and his uncle Faris, the real head of the family in Tudmur, are +descended. + +Mohammed then had some reason, as far as his male ancestry were +concerned, to boast of his birth, and look high in making a “matrimonial +alliance;” but _par les femmes_ he was of less distinguished blood; and, +as purity of descent on both sides is considered a _sine quâ non_ among +the Arabs, the Ibn Arûks of Tudmur had not been recognized for several +generations as _asil_, or noble. They had married where they could among +the townspeople of no birth at all, or as in the case of Mohammed’s +father, among the Moáli, a tribe of mixed origin. The Ánazeh, in spite +of the name of Arûk, would not give their daughters to them to wife. +This was Mohammed’s secret grief, as it had been his father’s, and it was +as much as anything else to wipe out the stain in their pedigree, that +the son so readily agreed to our proposal. + +The plan of our journey was necessarily vague, as it included the search +after two families of relations of whom nothing had been heard for nearly +a hundred years. The last sign of life shewn by the Ibn Arûks of Jôf had +been on the occasion of Abdallah’s father’s death by violence, when +suddenly a member of the Jôf family had appeared at Tudmur as avenger in +the blood feud. This relation had not, however, stayed longer there than +duty required of him, and having slain his man had as suddenly +disappeared. Of the second family nothing at all was known; and, indeed, +to the Ibn Arûks as to the other inhabitants of Tudmur, Nejd itself was +now little more than a name, a country known by ancient tradition to +exist, but unvisited by any one then living connected with the town. + +These singular circumstances were, as I have said, the key-note of our +expedition, and will, I hope, lend an interest beyond that of our own +personal adventures to the present volumes. To Mohammed and the Arabs +with whom we travelled, as well as to most of those we met upon our +journey, his family history formed a perpetual romance, and the _kasid_ +or ballad of Ibn Arûk came in on every occasion, seasonable and +unseasonable, as a chorus to all that happened. But for it, I doubt +whether the journey could ever have been accomplished; and on more than +one occasion we found ourselves borne easily on by the strength of it +over difficulties which, under ordinary conditions, might have sufficed +to stop us. By extreme good luck, as will be seen in the sequel, we lit +upon both branches of the family we set out in search of, the one +citizens of the Jôf oasis, the other Bedouins in Nejd, while the further +we got the better was the Arûk name known, and relations poured in on us +on all sides, eager to shew us hospitality and assistance. We were thus +passed on from kinsman to kinsman, and were everywhere received as +friends; nor is it too much to say that while in Arabia we enjoyed the +singular advantage of being accepted as members of an Arabian family. +This gave us an unique occasion of seeing, and of understanding what we +saw; and we have only ourselves to blame if we did not turn it to very +important profit. + +So much then for the romance. The profit of our expedition may be +briefly summarised. + +First as to geography. Though not the only Europeans who have visited +Jebel Shammar, we are the only ones who have done so openly and at our +leisure, provided with compass and barometer and free to take note of all +we saw. Our predecessors, three in number, Wallin, Guarmani, and +Palgrave, travelled in disguise, and under circumstances unfavourable for +geographical observation. The first, a Finnish professor, proceeded in +1848, as a Mussulman divine, from the coast of the Red Sea to Haïl and +thence to the Euphrates. The account of his journey, given in the +Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, is unfortunately meagre, +and I understand that, though one more detailed was published in his own +language, he did not live long enough to record the whole body of his +information. The second, Guarmani, a Levantine of Italian origin, +penetrated in disguise to Jebel Shammar, commissioned by the French +Government to procure them horses from Nejd; and he communicated a lively +and most interesting account of his adventures to the “Société de +Géographie” in 1865. He too went as a Turkish mussulman, and, being +rather an Oriental than a European, collected a mass of valuable +information relating chiefly to the Desert Tribes through which he +passed. It is difficult, however, to understand the route maps with +which his account is illustrated, and, though he crossed the Nefûd at +more than one point, he is silent as to its singular physical features. +Guarmani started from Jerusalem in 1863 and visited Teyma, Kheybar, +Áneyzeh, Bereydah, and Haïl, returning thence to Syria by Jôf and the +Wady Sirhán. Mr. Palgrave’s journey is better known. A Jesuit +missionary and an accomplished Arabic scholar, he was entrusted with a +secret political mission by Napoleon III. and executed it with the +permission of his superiors. He entered Nejd, disguised as a Syrian +merchant, from Maan, and passing through Haïl in 1864 reached Riad, the +capital of the Wahhabi kingdom, and eventually the Persian Gulf at Katif. +His account of Central Arabia is by far the most complete and life-like +that has been published, and in all matters of town life and manners may +be depended upon as accurate. But his faculty of observation seems +chiefly adapted to a study of society, and the nature he describes is +human nature only. He is too little in sympathy with the desert to take +accurate note of its details, and the circumstances of his journey +precluded him from observing it geographically. He travelled in the heat +of summer and mostly by night, and was besides in no position, owing to +his assumed character and the doubtful company in which he was often +compelled to travel, to examine at leisure what he saw. Mr. Palgrave’s +account of the physical features of the Nefûd, and of Jebel Shammar, the +only one hitherto published, bears very little resemblance to the +reality; and our own observations, taken quietly in the clear atmosphere +of an Arabian winter, are therefore the first of the kind which have +reached Europe. By taking continuous note of the variations of the +barometer while we travelled, we have been able to prove that the plateau +of Haïl is nearly twice the height supposed for it above the sea, while +the granite range of Jebel Shammar exceeds this plateau by about 2000 +feet. Again, the great pilgrim-road from the Euphrates, though +well-known by report to geographers, had never before been travelled by +an European, and on this, as on other parts of our route, we have +corrected previous maps. The map of Northern Arabia appended to the +first volume of our work may be now depended upon as within its limits +substantially accurate. + +In geology, though possessing a superficial knowledge only of our +subject, we have, I believe, been able to correct a few mistakes, and to +clear up a doubt, much argued by Professor Wetzstein, as to the rock +formation of Jebel Aja; while a short memoir I have appended, on the +physical conformation of the great sand desert, will contain +original—possibly valuable—matter. The sketches, above all, which +illustrate these volumes, may be relied on as conscientious +representations of the chief physical features of Central Arabia. + +Botanists and zoologists will be disappointed in the meagre accounts of +plants and animals I am able to give. But the existence now proved of +the white antelope (_Oryx Beatrix_) in Nejd is, I believe, a fact new to +science, as may be that of the _Webber_, a small climbing quadruped +allied to the marmots. + +A more important contribution to knowledge will, I hope, be recognised in +a description of the political system to which I have just alluded under +the name of Shepherd rule, and which is now once more found in Central +Arabia. I do not know that it has ever previously been noticed by +writers on Arabia. Neither Niebuhr nor Burckhardt seem to have come +across it in its pure form, and Mr. Palgrave misunderstood it altogether +in his contempt of Bedouin as contrasted with town life. Yet it is +probably the oldest form of government existing in Arabia, and the one +best suited for the country’s needs. In connection with this matter too, +the recent history of Nejd, with an account of the downfall of the Ibn +Saouds, for which I am mainly indebted to Colonel Ross, British Resident +at Bushire, and the decay of Wahhabism in Arabia, will prove of interest, +as may in a lesser degree the imperfect picture given in the second +volume of the extreme results produced in Persia by despotic rule, and +the iniquitous annexation of Hasa by the Turks. The value, however, of +these “discoveries” I leave to our readers to determine, premising only +that they are here pointed out less on account of their own importance, +than as an excuse in matter for the manner of the narrative. + +With regard to the sequel of our Arabian journey, the further journey +from Bagdad to Bushire, I should not intrude it on the notice of the +public, but that it serves as an additional proof, if such be wanting, of +the folly of those schemes which, under the name of “Euphrates Valley” +and “Indo-Mediterranean” railway companies, have from time to time been +dangled before the eyes of speculators. A country more absolutely +unsuited for railway enterprise than that between the Mediterranean and +the Persian Gulf, has probably never been selected for such operations; +and, if the recital of our passage through the uninhabited tracts, which +form nine tenths of the whole region, shall deter my countrymen from +embarking their capital in an enterprise financially absurd, I feel that +its publication will not have been in vain. + +One word before I end my Preface. It was objected to me at the Royal +Geographical Society’s meeting, where I read a paper on this “Visit to +Nejd,” that though we had crossed the Great Sand Desert, and visited +Jebel Shammar, we had after all not been to Nejd. Nejd, I was told on +the “best authority,” was a term applicable only to that district of +Central Arabia which is bounded by the Jebel Toweykh and the lesser +Nefûds, neither Jebel Shammar nor Kasim being included in it. Strange as +this statement sounded to ears fresh from the country itself, I was +unable at the time to fortify my refusal to believe by any more special +argument than that the inhabitants of the districts in question had +always called them so,—an argument “quod semper et ab omnibus” which to +some seemed insufficient. I have therefore taken pains to examine the +grounds of the objection raised, and to give a reason for the belief +which is still strong within me that Haïl is not only an integral part of +Nejd, but Nejd _par excellence_. + +First then, to repeat the argument “quod ab omnibus,” I state +emphatically that according to the Arabs themselves of every tribe and +town I have visited, Nejd is held to include the lands which lie within +the Nefûds. It is a geographical expression including three principal +sub-districts, Jebel Shammar and Kasim in the North, and Aared in the +South. The only doubt I have ever heard expressed was as to the Nefûds +themselves, whether they were included or not in the term. The Bedouins +certainly so consider them, for they are the only part of Nejd which they +habitually inhabit, the stony plateaux of the centre being unfit for +pastoral life. Jôf is considered outside the limit northwards, as are +Kheybar and Teyma to the north-west, while Jobba and Harik are doubtful, +being towns of the Nefûd. + +Secondly, I plead written authority:— + +1. Abulfeda and Edrisi, quoted by Colonel Ross in his memorandum, +include in the term Nejd all those lands lying between Yemen, Hejaz, and +Irak. + +2. Yakut, an Arabian geographer of the thirteenth century, quoted by +Wetzstein, expressly mentions Aja as being in Nejd. + +3. Merasid confirms Yakut in his geographical lexicon. + +4. Sheykh Hamid of Kasim, also quoted by Wetzstein, says, “Nejd in its +widest sense is the whole of Central Arabia;—in its narrowest and +according to modern usage, only the Shammar Mountains and the Land of +Kasim, with the Great Desert bordering it to the South.” + +5. Niebuhr, the oldest and most respectable of European writers, +enumerating the towns of Nejd, says, “Le mont Schamer n’est qu’à dix +journées de Bagdad; il comprend Haïl, Monkek, Kafar, et Bokà. L’on place +_aussi_ dans le Nejdsjed une contrée montagneuse nommée Djof-al-Sirhán +entre le mont Schâmer et Shâm (la Syrie),” etc.; thus showing that all, +and more than all I claim, were in Niebuhr’s day accounted Nejd. + +6. Chesney, in his map of Arabia, published in 1838, includes Kasim and +Jebel Shammar within the boundary of Nejd, and gives a second boundary +besides, still further north, including districts “sometimes counted to +Nejd.” + +7. Wallin defines Nejd as the whole district where the _ghada_ grows, a +definition taken doubtless from the Bedouins with whom he travelled, and +which would include not only Jebel Shammar, but the Nefûds and even the +Southern half of the Wady Sirhán. + +8. In Kazimirski’s dictionary, 1860, I find, “_Ahlu’lghada_, surnom +donné aux habitants de la frontière de Nejd où la plante _ghada_ croit en +abondance.” + +Finally, Guarmani gives the following as the result of his inquiries in +the country itself: “Le Gebel est la province la plus septentrionale du +Neged. C’est, comme disent les Arabes, un des sept Negged;” and on the +authority of Zamil, Sheykh of Áneyzeh, explains these seven to be Aared, +Hasa, and Harik, in the south, Woshem in the centre, and Jebel Shammar, +Kasim, and Sudeyr, in the north. + +Opposed to this mass of testimony, we find among travellers a single +competent authority, Mr. Palgrave; and even his opinion is much +qualified. After explaining that the name Nejed signifies “highland,” in +contradistinction to the coast and the outlying provinces of lesser +elevation, he sums up his opinion thus: “The denomination ‘Nejed’ is +commonly enough applied to the whole space included between Djebel Shomer +on the north, and the great desert to the south, from the extreme range +of Jebel Toweyk on the east to the neighbourhood of the Turkish +pilgrim-road or Derb-el-Hajj on the west. However, this central +district, forming a huge parallelogram, placed almost diagonally across +the midmost of Arabia from north-east-by-east to south-west-by-west, as a +glance at the map may show, is again subdivided by the natives of the +country into the Nejed-el-aala or Upper Nejed, and the Nejed-el-owta or +Lower Nejed, a distinction of which more hereafter, while Djebel Shomer +is generally considered as a sort of appendage to Nejed, rather than as +belonging to that district itself. But the Djowf is always excluded by +the Arabs from the catalogue of upland provinces, though strangers +sometimes admit it also to the title of Nejed, by an error on their part, +since it is a solitary oasis, and a door to highland or inner Arabia, not +in any strict sense a portion of it.” + +The exact truth of the matter I take, then, to be this. Nejd, in its +original and popular sense of “Highlands,” was a term of physical +geography, and necessarily embraced Jebel Shammar, the most elevated +district of all, as well as Kasim, which lay between it and Aared; and so +it was doubtless considered in Niebuhr’s time, and is still considered by +the Bedouins of the North, whose recollections date from an age previous +to Niebuhr’s. With the foundation, however, of the Wahhabi Empire of +Nejd, the term from a geographical became a political one, and has since +followed the fluctuating fortunes of the Wahhabi State. In this way it +once embraced not only the upland plateaux, but Jôf and Hasa; the latter, +though a low-lying district on the coast, retaining in Turkish official +nomenclature its political name of Nejd to the present day. At the time +of Mr. Palgrave’s visit, the Wahhabis, from whom doubtless his +information was acquired, considered Jebel Shammar no longer an integral +part of their State, but, as he expresses it, an appendage. It was +already politically independent, and had ceased in their eyes to be Nejd. +But since his day the Nejd State has seen a still further disruption. +Kasim has regained its independence, and Hasa has been annexed to the +Turkish Empire. Nejd has therefore become once more what it was before +the Empire of Nejd arose, a term of physical geography only, and one +pretty nearly co-extensive with our term Central Arabia. + +I hold, then, to the correctness of our title, though in this matter, as +in the rest, craving indulgence of the learned. + + WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT. + +CRABBET PARK, + _August_ 1, 1880. + + [Picture: Pilgrim Banner] + + + + +CONTENTS TO VOL. I. + + CHAPTER I. + PAGE +The charm of Asia—A return to old friends—Desert News—The 1 +Palmyrene colony at Damascus—New horses and camels—Mrs. +Digby and her husband Mijuel the Mizrab—A blood feud—Abd +el-Kader’s life—Midhat Pasha discourses on canals and +tramways—He raises a loan + CHAPTER II. +Brotherly offices—We prepare for a campaign—Mohammed Dukhi 21 +comes to court—A night robber—We start for Nejd—Tale of a +penitent—The duty of revenge—We are entertained by poor +relations—The fair at Mezarib + CHAPTER III. +Beating about—Bozra—We leave the Turkish 46 +dominions—Mohammed vows to kill a sheep—The citadel of +Salkhad and the independent Druses—We are received by a +Druse chieftain—Historical notice of the Hauran + CHAPTER IV. +We start in earnest—The Harra—A theory of Mirage—Camp of 64 +the Beni Sokkhr—Wady er Rajel—A Christmas Dinner in the +Desert—Sand-storm—We reach Kâf + CHAPTER V. +Kâf and Itheri—More relations—The Wady Sirhán—Locust 84 +hunting—Hanna sits down to die—Tales of robbery and +violence—We are surprised by a ghazu and made +prisoners—Sherarat statistics—Jôf + CHAPTER VI. +The Jôf oasis—We are entertained by Ibn Rashid’s 113 +lieutenant—A haunch of wild cow—Dancing in the +castle—Prayers—We go on to Meskakeh + CHAPTER VII. +The Ibn Arûks of Jôf—Mohammed contracts a matrimonial 129 +alliance—Leah and Rachel—We cheapen the bride’s dower—A +negro governor and his suite—A thunder-storm + CHAPTER VIII. +Mohammed in love—We enter the red sand desert—Geology of 150 +the Nefûd—Radi—The great well of Shakik—Old +acquaintance—Tales of the Nefûd—The soldiers who perished +of thirst—The lovers—We nearly remain in the sand—Land at +last + CHAPTER IX. +Jobba—An unpleasant dream—We hear strange tales of Ibn 187 +Rashid—Romping in the Nefûd—A last night there—The +Zodiacal light—We enter Nejd—The granite range of Jebel +Shammar + CHAPTER X. +Haïl—The Emir Mohammed Ibn Rashid—His menagerie—His 213 +horses—His courtiers—His wives—Amusements of the ladies of +Haïl—Their domestic life—An evening at the castle—The +telephone + CHAPTER XI. +Political and historical—Shepherd rule in Arabia—An 257 +hereditary policy—The army—The Law—Taxation—The finances +of Jebel Shammar—Ibn Rashid’s ambition + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. I. + +PORTRAIT OF LADY ANNE BLUNT IN HER ARAB COSTUME _Frontispiece_ +(BY MOLONY) + PAGE +PILGRIM BANNER xxvi +SALKHAD 45 +RUN TO EARTH 63 +SAND-STORM IN THE WADY ER-RAJEL 80 +KÂF 83 +GHAZÛ IN THE WADY SIRHÁN 104 +CASTLE OF JÔF 112 +THE OASIS OF JÔF 120 +A NEJD SHEEP 149 +THE NEFÛD OR GREAT RED SAND DESERT OF ARABIA 160 +A DELÚL RIDER 186 +RECEPTION AT HAÏL 212 +THE GREAT KAHWAH 214 +IBN RASHID’S STABLES AT HAÏL 250 +EVENING WITH THE EMIR 256 +OUR HOUSE AT HAÏL 273 +MAP OF NEJD _At the End_. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + “You have been a great traveller, Mercury?” + + “I have seen the world.” + + “Ah, a wondrous spectacle. I long to travel.” + + “The same thing over again. Little novelty and much change. I am + wearied with exertion, and if I could get a pension would retire.” + + “And yet travel brings wisdom.” + + “It cures us of care. Seeing much we feel little, and learn how very + petty are all those great affairs which cost us such anxiety.” + + IXION IN HEAVEN. + +The charm of Asia—A return to old friends—Desert news—The Palmyrene +colony at Damascus—New horses and camels—Mrs. Digby and her husband +Mijuel the Mizrab—A blood feud—Abd el-Kader’s life—Midhat Pasha +discourses on canals and tramways—He fails to raise a loan. + +DAMASCUS, _Dec._ 6, 1878.—It is strange how gloomy thoughts vanish as one +sets foot in Asia. Only yesterday we were still tossing on the sea of +European thought, with its political anxieties, its social miseries and +its restless aspirations, the heritage of the unquiet race of Japhet—and +now we seem to have ridden into still water, where we can rest and forget +and be thankful. The charm of the East is the absence of intellectual +life there, the freedom one’s mind gets from anxiety in looking forward +or pain in looking back. Nobody here thinks of the past or the future, +only of the present; and till the day of one’s death comes, I suppose the +present will always be endurable. Then it has done us good to meet old +friends, friends all demonstratively pleased to see us. At the coach +office when we got down, we found a little band of dependants waiting our +arrival—first of all Mohammed ibn Arûk, the companion of our last year’s +adventures, who has come from Palmyra to meet and travel with us again, +and who has been waiting here for us, it would seem, a month. Then +Hanna, the most courageous of cowards and of cooks, with his ever ready +tears in his eyes and his double row of excellent white teeth, agrin with +welcome. Each of them has brought with him a friend, a relation he +insists on calling him, who is to share the advantage of being in our +service, and to stand by his patron in case of need, for servants like to +travel here in pairs. Mohammed’s _cousin_ is a quiet, respectable +looking man of about five and thirty, rather thick set and very broad +shouldered. He is to act as head camel man, and he looks just the man +for the place. Hanna’s _brother_ bears no likeness at all to Hanna. He +is a young giant, with a rather feckless face, and great splay hands +which seem to embarrass him terribly. He is dressed picturesquely in a +tunic shaped like the ecclesiastical vestment called the “dalmatic,” and +very probably its origin, with a coloured turban on his head. He too may +be useful, but he is a Christian, and we rather doubt the prudence of +taking Christian servants to Nejd. Only Ferhan, our Agheyl camel-driver, +is missing, and this is a great disappointment, for he was the best +tempered and the most trustworthy of all our followers last year. I +fancy we may search Damascus with a candle before we find his like again. + +The evening we spent in giving and receiving news. Mohammed in his +quality of Wilfrid’s “brother,” was invited to dine with us, and a very +pleasant hour or two we had, hearing all that has happened in the desert +during the summer. First of all, the sensation that has been caused +there by our purchase of Beteyen’s mare, which after all we have secured, +and the heart-burnings and jealousies raised thereby. Then there have +been high doings among our friends in the Hamád. Faris and Jedaan have +(wonderful to relate) made peace, {3} and between them have it all their +own way now on the Euphrates, where the caravan road has become quite +unsafe in consequence. Ferhan ibn Sfuk, it seems, marched against his +brother with some Turkish troops to help him, and Faris retreated across +the river; but most of the Shammar have, as we anticipated last year, +come over to him. The Roala war is not yet finished. Ibn Shaalan, +rejecting the proposals made him through us by Jedaan, persisted in +reoccupying the Hama pastures last spring, and Jedaan attacked and routed +him; so that he has retreated southwards to his own country. Mohammed +Dukhi and Jedaan have parted company, the Sebaa having cleared off scores +with the Roala, and being satisfied with the summer’s campaign; while the +Welled Ali are still a long way on the creditor side in their blood feud. +Mohammed Dukhi is a long-headed old rogue, but it is difficult to see how +he is to hold his own with Sotamm in spite of a new alliance with Faris +el Meziad, Sheykh of the Mesenneh, who still has some hundred horsemen to +help him with, and of another with Mohammed Aga of Jerúd. The Welled Ali +are at the present moment encamped close to Jerúd, so we shall probably +go there, as the first step on our road to Nejd. + +Mohammed of course knows nothing about the roads to Nejd or Jôf, except +that they are somewhere away to the south, and that he has relations +there, and I doubt if anybody in Damascus can give us more information. +The Welled Ali, however, would know where the Roala are, and the Roala +could send us on, as they go further south than any of the Ánazeh. The +difficulty, we fear, this winter will be the accident of no rain having +fallen since last spring, so that the Hamád is quite burnt up and without +water. If it were not for this, our best course would undoubtedly be +outside the Hauran, which is always dangerous, and is said to be +especially so this year. The desert has often been compared to the sea, +and is like it in more ways than one, amongst others in this, that once +well away from shore it is comparatively safe, while there is always a +risk of accidents along the coast. But we shall see. In the meantime we +talk to Mohammed of the Jôf only, for fear of scaring him. Nejd, in the +imagination of the northern Arabs, is an immense way off, and no one has +ever been known to go there from Damascus. Mohammed professes unbounded +devotion to Wilfrid, and he really seems to be sincere; but six hundred +miles of desert as the crow flies will be a severe test of affection. We +notice that Mohammed has grown in dignity and importance since we saw him +last, and has adopted the style and title of Sheykh, at least for the +benefit of the hotel servants; he has indeed good enough manners to pass +very well for a true Bedouin. + +There is a small colony of Palmyra people at Damascus, or rather in the +suburb of the town called the Maidan, and with them Mohammed has been +staying. We went there with him this morning to see some camels he has +been buying for us, and which are standing, or rather sitting, in his +friends’ yard. The colony consists of two or three families, who live +together in a very poor little house. They left Tudmur about six years +ago “in a huff,” they say, and have been waiting on here from day to day +ever since to go back. The men of the house were away from home when we +called, for they make their living like most Tudmuri as carriers; but the +women received us hospitably, asked us to sit down and drink coffee, +excellent coffee, such as we had not tasted for long, and sent a little +girl to bring the camels out of the yard for us to look at. The child +managed these camels just as well as any man could have done. Mohammed +seems to have made a good selection. There are four deluls for riding, +and four big baggage camels; these last have remarkably ugly heads, but +they look strong enough to carry away the gates of Gaza, or anything else +we choose to put upon their backs. In choosing camels, the principal +points to look at are breadth of chest, depth of barrel, shortness of +leg, and for condition roundness of flank. I have seen the strength of +the hocks tested by a man standing on them while the camel is kneeling. +If it can rise, notwithstanding the weight, there can be no doubt as to +soundness. One only of the camels did not quite please us, as there was +a suspicion of recent mange; but Abdallah (Mohammed’s cousin) puts it “on +his head” that all is right with this camel, as with the rest. They are +not an expensive purchase at any rate, as they average less than £10 a +piece. One cannot help pitying them, poor beasts, when one thinks of the +immense journey before them, and the little probability there is that +they will all live to see the end of it. Fortunately they do not know +their fate any more than we know ours. How wretched we should be for +them if we knew exactly in what wady or at what steep place they would +lie down and be left to die; for such is the fate of camels. But if we +did, we should never have the heart to set out at all. + +Next in importance to the camels are the horses we are to ride. Mohammed +has got his little Jilfeh mokhra of last year which is barely three years +old, but he declares she is up to his weight, thirteen stone, and I +suppose he knows best. Mr. S. has sent us two mares from Aleppo by +Hanna, one, a Ras el Fedawi, very handsome and powerful, the other, a bay +three year old Abeyeh Sherrak, without pretension to good looks, but +which ought to be fast and able to carry a light weight. We rode to the +Maidan, and the chestnut’s good looks attracted general attention. +Everybody turned round to look at her; she is perhaps too handsome for a +journey. + +_December_ 7.—We have been spending the day with Mrs. Digby and her +husband, Mijuel of the Mizrab, a very well bred and agreeable man, who +has given us a great deal of valuable advice about our journey. They +possess a charming house outside the town, surrounded by trees and +gardens, and standing in its own garden with narrow streams of running +water and paths with borders full of old fashioned English +flowers—wall-flowers especially. There are birds and beasts too; pigeons +and turtle doves flutter about among the trees, and a pelican sits by the +fountain in the middle of the courtyard guarded by a fierce watch-dog. A +handsome mare stands in the stable, but only one, for more are not +required in town. + +The main body of the house is quite simple in its bare Arab furnishing, +but a separate building in the garden is fitted up like an English +drawing-room with chairs, sofas, books, and pictures. Among many +interesting and beautiful sketches kept in a portfolio, I saw some really +fine water-colour views of Palmyra done by Mrs. Digby many years ago when +that town was less known than it is at present. + +The Sheykh, as he is commonly called, though incorrectly, for his elder +brother Mohammed is reigning Sheykh of the Mizrab, came in while we were +talking, and our conversation then turned naturally upon desert matters, +which evidently occupy most of his thoughts, and are of course to us of +all-important interest at this moment. He gave us among other pieces of +information an account of his own tribe, the Mizrab, to which in our +published enumeration of tribes we scarcely did justice. + +But before repeating some of the particulars we learned from him, I +cannot forbear saying a few words about Mijuel himself, which will +justify the value we attach to information received from him as from a +person entitled by birth and position to speak with authority. In +appearance he shews all the characteristics of good Bedouin blood. He is +short and slight in stature, with exceedingly small hands and feet, a +dark olive complexion, beard originally black, but now turning grey, and +dark eyes and eyebrows. It is a mistake to suppose that true Arabs are +ever fair or red-haired. Men may occasionally be seen in the desert of +comparatively fair complexion, but these _always_ (as far as my +experience goes) have features of a correspondingly foreign type, showing +a mixture of race. No Bedouin of true blood was ever seen with hair or +eyes not black, nor perhaps with a nose not aquiline. + +Mijuel’s father, a rare exception among the Ánazeh, could both read and +write, and gave his sons, when they were boys, a learned man to teach +them their letters. But out of nine brothers, Mijuel alone took any +pains to learn. The strange accident of his marriage with an English +lady has withdrawn him for months at a time, but not estranged him, from +the desert; and he has adopted little of the townsman in his dress, and +nothing of the European. He goes, it is true, to the neighbouring +mosque, and recites the Mussulman prayers daily; but with this exception, +he is undistinguishable from the Ibn Shaalans and Ibn Mershids of the +Hamád. It is also easy to see that his heart remains in the desert, his +love for which is fully shared by the lady he has married; so that when +he succeeds to the Sheykhat, as he probably will, for his brother appears +to be considerably his senior, I think they will hardly care to spend +much of their time at Damascus. They will, however, no doubt, be +influenced by the course of tribal politics, with which I understand +Mijuel is so much disgusted, that he might resign in favour of his son +Afet; in that case, they might continue, as now, living partly at +Damascus, partly at Homs, partly in tents, and always a providence to +their tribe, whom they supply with all the necessaries of Bedouin life, +and guns, revolvers, and ammunition besides. The Mizrab, therefore, +although numbering barely a hundred tents, are always well mounted and +better armed than any of their fellows, and can hold their own in all the +warlike adventures of the Sebaa. + +According to Mijuel, the Mizrab, instead of being, as we had been told, a +mere section of the Resallin, are in fact the original stock, from which +not only the Resallin but the Moáhib and the Gomussa themselves have +branched off. In regard to the last-mentioned tribe he related the +following curious story:— + +An Arab of the Mizrab married a young girl of the Suellmat tribe and soon +afterwards died. In a few weeks his widow married again, taking her new +husband from among her own kinsmen. Before the birth of her first child +a dispute arose as to its parentage, she affirming her Mizrab husband to +be the father while the Suellmat claimed the child. The matter, as all +such matters are in the desert, was referred to arbitration, and the +mother’s assertion was put to the test by a live coal being placed upon +her tongue. In spite of this ordeal she persisted in her statement, and +got a judgment in her favour. Her son, however, is supposed to have been +dissatisfied with the decision, for as soon as born he turned angrily on +his mother, from which circumstance he received the name of Gomussa or +the “scratcher.” From him the Gomussa tribe are descended. They first +came into notice about seventy years ago when they attacked and plundered +the Bagdad caravan which happened to be conveying a large sum of money. +With these sudden riches they acquired such importance that they have +since become the leading section of the tribe, and they are now +undoubtedly the possessors of the best mares among the Ánazeh. The +Mizrab Sheykhs nevertheless still assert superiority in point of birth, +and a vestige of their old claims still exists in their titular right to +the tribute of Palmyra. + +Mijuel’s son, Afet, or Japhet, whom we met at Beteyen’s camp last spring, +has taken, it would appear, an active part in the late fighting. During +the battle where Sotamm was defeated by the Sebaa and their allies, the +head of the Ibn Jendal {11} family, pursued by some Welled Ali horsemen, +yielded himself up a prisoner to Afet whose father-in-law he was, and who +sought to give him protection by covering him with his cloak. But the +Ibn Smeyr were at blood feud with the Ibn Jendals, and in such cases no +asylum is sacred. One of Mohammed Dukhi’s sons dragged Ibn Jendal out of +his hiding-place and slew him before Afet’s eyes. On that day the Sebaa +took most of the mares and camels they had lost in the previous fighting, +and our friend Ferhan Ibn Hedeb is now in tolerable comfort again with +tents and tent furniture, and coffee-pots to his heart’s content. I hope +he will bear his good fortune as well as he bore the bad. + +Mijuel can of course give us better advice than anybody else in Damascus, +and he says that we cannot do better in the interests of our journey than +go first to Jerúd and consult Mohammed Dukhi. The Welled Ali after the +Roala are the tribe which knows the western side of the desert best, and +we should be sure of getting correct information from them, if nothing +more. The Sebaa never go anywhere near the Wady Sirhán, as they keep +almost entirely to the eastern half of the Hamád; and even their ghazús +hardly ever meddle with that inhospitable region. Mijuel has once been +as far south as to the edge of the Nefûd, which he describes as being +covered with grass in the spring. The Wady Sirhán, he believes, has +wells, but no pasturage. + +Another interesting visit which we paid while at Damascus was to Abd +el-Kader, the hero of the French war in Algiers. This charming old man, +whose character would do honour to any nation and any creed, is ending +his days as he began them, in learned retirement and the exercises of his +religion. The Arabs of the west, “Maghrabi” (Mogrebins), are +distinguished from those of the Peninsula, and indeed from all others, by +a natural taste for piety and a religious tone of thought. Arabia +proper, except in the first age of Islam and latterly during the hundred +years of Wahhabi rule, has never been a religious country. Perhaps out +of antagonism to Persia, its nearest neighbour, it neglects ceremonial +observance, and pays little respect to saints, miracles, and the +supernatural world in general. But with the Moors and the Algerian Arabs +this is different. Their religion is the reason of their social life and +a prime mover in their politics. It is the fashion there, even at the +present day, for a rich man to spend his money on a mosque, as elsewhere +he would spend it on his stud and the entertainment of guests, and +nothing gives such social distinction as regular attendance at prayer. +There is too, besides the lay nobility, a class of spiritual nobles held +equally high in public estimation. These are the marabous or descendants +of certain saints, who by virtue of their birth partake in the sanctity +of their ancestors and have hereditary gifts of divination and miraculous +cure. They hold indeed much the same position with the vulgar as did the +sons of the prophets in the days of Saul. + +Abd el-Kader was the representative of such a family, and not, as I think +most people suppose, a Bedouin Sheykh. In point of fact he was a +townsman and a priest, not by birth a soldier, and though trained, as +nobles of either class were, to arms, it was only the accident of a +religious war that made him a man of action. He gained his first +victories by his sermons, not by his sword; and, now that the fight is +over, he has returned naturally to his first profession, that of saint +and man of letters. As such, quite as much as for his military renown, +he is revered in Damascus. + +To us, however, it is the extreme simplicity of his character and the +breadth of his good sense, amounting to real wisdom, which form his +principal charm. “Saint” though he be “by profession,” as one may say, +for such he is in his own eyes as well as those of his followers, he is +uninjured by his high position. It is to him an obligation. His charity +is unbounded, and he extends it to all alike; to be poor or suffering is +a sufficient claim on him. During the Damascus massacres he opened his +doors to every fugitive; his house was crowded with Christians, and he +was ready to defend his guests by force if need were. To us he was most +amiable, and talked long on the subject of Arab genealogy and tradition. +He gave me a book which has been lately written by one of his sons on the +pedigree of the Arabian horse, and took an evident interest in our own +researches in that direction. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca many years +ago, travelling the whole way from Algeria by land and returning through +Nejd to Meshhed Ali and Bagdad. This was before the French war. + +Abd el-Kader returned our visit most politely next day, and it was +strange to see this old warrior humbly mounted on his little Syrian +donkey, led by a single servant, riding into the garden where we were. +He dresses like a mollah in a cloth gown, and with a white turban set far +back from his forehead after the Algerian fashion. He never, I believe, +wore the Bedouin kefiyeh. His face is now very pale as becomes a +student, and his smile is that of an old man, but his eye is still bright +and piercing like a falcon’s. It is easy to see, however, that it will +never flash again with anything like anger. Abd el-Kader has long +possessed that highest philosophy of noble minds according to Arab +doctrine, patience. + +A man of a very different sort, but one whom we were also interested to +see, was Midhat Pasha, just arrived at Damascus as Governor-General of +Syria. He had come with a considerable flourish of trumpets, for he was +supposed to represent the doctrine of administrative reform, which was at +that time seriously believed in by Europeans for the Turkish Empire. +Midhat was the protégé of our own Foreign Office, and great things were +expected of him. For ourselves, though quite sceptical on these matters +and knowing the history of Midhat’s doings at Bagdad too well to have any +faith in him as a serious reformer, we called to pay our respects, partly +as a matter of duty, and partly it must be owned out of curiosity. It +seemed impossible that a man who had devised anything so fanciful as +parliamentary government for Turkey should be otherwise than strange and +original. But in this we were grievously disappointed, for a more +essentially commonplace, even silly talker, or one more naïvely pleased +with himself, we had never met out of Europe. It is possible that he may +have adopted this tone with us as the sort of thing which would suit +English people, but I don’t think so. We kept our own counsel of course +about our plans, mentioning only that we hoped to see Bagdad and Bussora +and to go on thence to India, for such was to be ultimately our route. +On the mention of these two towns he at once began a panegyric of his own +administration there, of the steamers he had established on the rivers, +the walls he had pulled down and tramways built. “Ah, that tramway,” he +exclaimed affectionately. “It was I that devised it, and it is running +still. Tramways are the first steps in civilisation. I shall make a +tramway round Damascus. Everybody will ride in the trucks. It will pay +five per cent. You will go to Bussora. You will see my steamers there. +Bussora, through me, has become an important place. Steamers and +tramways are what we want for these poor countries. The rivers of +Damascus are too small for steamers, or I should soon have some afloat. +But I will make a tramway. If we could have steamers and tramways +everywhere Turkey would become rich.” “And canals,” we suggested, +maliciously remembering how he had flooded Bagdad with his experiments in +this way. “Yes, and canals too. Canals, steamers, and tramways, are +what we want.” “And railways.” “Yes, railways. I hope to have a +railway soon running alongside of the carriage road from Beyrout. +Railways are important for the guaranteeing of order in the country. If +there was a railway across the desert we should have no more trouble with +the Bedouins. Ah, those poor Bedouins, how I trounced them at Bagdad. I +warrant my name is not forgotten there.” We assured him it was not. + +He then went on to talk of the Circassians, “_ces pauvres Circassiens_,” +for he was speaking in French, “_il faut que je fasse quelque chose pour +eux_.” I wish I could give some idea of the tone of tenderness and +almost tearful pity in Midhat’s voice as he pronounced this sentence; the +Circassians seemed to be dearer to him than even his steamers and +tramways. These unfortunate refugees are, in truth, a problem not easy +of solution: they have been a terrible trouble to Turkey, and, since they +were originally deported from Russia after the Crimean war, they have +been passed on from province to province until they can be passed no +further. They are a scourge to the inhabitants wherever they go, because +they are hungry and armed, and insist on robbing to get a livelihood. To +the Syrian Arabs they are especially obnoxious, because they shed blood +as well as rob, which is altogether contrary to Arab ideas. The +Circassians are like the foxes which sportsmen turn out in their covers. +It is a public-spirited act to have done so, but they cannot be made to +live in peace with the hares and rabbits. Midhat, however, had a notable +scheme for setting things to rights. He would draft all these men into +the corps of zaptiehs, and then, if they did rob, it would be in the +interests of Government. Some score of them were waiting in the +courtyard at the time of our visit, to be experimented on; and a more +evil-visaged set it would have been difficult to select. + +On the whole, we went away much impressed with Midhat, though not as we +had hoped. He had astonished us, but not as a wise man. To speak +seriously, one such reforming pasha as this does more to ruin Turkey than +twenty of the old dishonest sort. Midhat, though he fails to line his +own purse, may be counted on to empty the public one at Damascus, as he +did at Bagdad, where he spent a million sterling on unproductive works +within a single year. As we wished him good-bye, we were amused to +notice that he retained Mr. Siouffi, the manager of the Ottoman Bank, who +had come with us, with him for a private conference, the upshot of which +was his first public act as Governor of Syria, the raising of a loan. +{18} + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + “This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods, + I better brook than flourishing peopled towns.” + + SHAKESPEARE. + +Brotherly offices—We prepare for a campaign—Mohammed Dukhi comes to +court—A night robber—We start for Nejd—Tale of a penitent—The duty of +revenge—We are entertained by poor relations—The fair at Mezarib. + +WE spent a week at Damascus, a week not altogether of pleasure, although +it was to be our last of civilised life. We had an immense number of +things to buy and arrange and think over, before starting on so serious a +journey as this, which we knew must be very unlike the pleasure trip of +last year. We could not afford to leave anything to chance with the +prospect of a three months’ wandering, and a thousand miles of desert, +where it was impossible to count upon fresh supplies even of the +commonest necessaries of life. Jôf, the first station on our road, was +four hundred miles off, and then we must cross the Nefûd, with its two +hundred miles of sand, before we could get to Nejd. The return journey, +too, to the Persian Gulf, would have to be made without coming to +anything so European as a Turkish town. Nobody could tell us what +supplies were to be had in Nejd, beyond dates and corn. Mr. Palgrave’s +account of Jebel Shammar was, in fact, the only guide we had to go on, +and its accuracy had been so much doubted that we felt obliged to take +into consideration the possibility of finding the Nejd towns mere oases, +and their cultivation only that of the date. + +Mohammed, less “insouciant” than most of his countrymen are on such +matters, now made himself most useful, spending many hours in the bazaars +with Wilfrid, as I did with the cook and the camel-man; and being a town +Arab and a trader born, he saved us an infinity of trouble and time, and +no few mejidies. + +They began by choosing a complete suit of Bedouin clothes for Wilfrid, +not exactly as a disguise, for we did not wish, even if we could have +done so, not to pass for Europeans, but in order to avoid attracting more +notice than was necessary on our way. The costume consisted of a striped +silk jibbeh or dressing-gown worn over a long shirt, a blue and white +abba of the kind made at Karieteyn, and for the head a black kefiyeh +embroidered with gold which was fastened on with the Bedouin aghal, a +black lamb’s-wool rope. Mohammed had brought with him a sword which had +belonged to his grandfather, a fine old Persian blade curved like a +sickle. He gave it to Wilfrid and received in return a handsome weapon +somewhat similar but silver-mounted, which they found in the bazaar. +Thus rigged out, for Mohammed too had been reclothed from head to foot +(and he much required it), they used to sally out in the town as two +Bedouin gentlemen. Wilfrid by holding his peace was able to pass with +the unwary as an unconcerned friend, while Mohammed did the bargaining +for cloaks, kefiyehs, and other articles suitable as presents to the +Sheykhs whose acquaintance we might make. Mohammed was an expert in +driving a hard bargain and knew the exact fashion in vogue in each +Bedouin tribe, so that although his taste did not always quite agree with +ours, we let him have his way. The only mistake he made, as it turned +out, was in underestimating the value of gifts necessary in Haïl. Not +one of us had the least idea of the luxury existing in Nejd, and +Mohammed, like most of the northern Arabs, had heard of Ibn Rashid only +as a Bedouin Sheykh, and fancied that a red cloth jibbeh would be the _ne +plus ultra_ of magnificence for him, as indeed it would have been for an +Ibn Shaalan or an Ibn Mershid. We had, however, some more serious +presents than these to produce, if necessary, in the rifles and revolvers +we carried with us, so that we felt there was no real danger of arriving +empty-handed. + +The purchases which it fell to my share to make, with the assistance of +Abdallah and the cook, were entirely of a useful sort, and do not require +a detailed description here. As to dress, it was unnecessary for me to +make any change, save that of substituting a kefiyeh for a hat and +wearing a Bedouin cloak over my ordinary travelling ulster. Hanna and +Abdallah were both of them masters in the art of haggling, and vied with +each other in beating down the prices of provisions. Dates, flour, +burghul (a kind of crushed wheat, which in Syria takes the place of +rice), carrots, onions, coffee, and some dried fruit were to be the +mainstay of our cooking, and of these we bought a supply sufficient to +last us as far as Jôf. We had brought from England some beef tea, +vegetable soup squares, and a small quantity of tea in case of need. We +had agreed to do without bulky preserved provisions, which add greatly to +the weight of baggage, and that as to meat, we would take our chance of +an occasional hare or gazelle, or perhaps now and then a sheep. + +All began well. Our servants seemed likely to turn out treasures, and we +had no difficulty in getting a couple of Agheyls to start with us as +camel drivers. We thought it prudent to keep our own counsel as to the +direction we intended to take, and it was generally supposed that Bagdad +was to be our first object. Only Mohammed and Hanna were informed of the +real design, and them we could trust. Not but what Hanna had occasional +fits of despondency about the risk he ran. He did not pretend to be a +hero, he had a wife and children to whom he was sincerely attached, and +he felt, not quite wrongly, that Central Arabia was hardly the place for +one of his nation and creed. He came to us, indeed, one morning, to +announce his intention of returning home to Aleppo, and he required a +good deal of humouring before he recovered his spirits; but I do not +think that he ever seriously intended to desert us. He had come all the +way from Aleppo to join us, and, besides, the companionship of the young +giant he called his “brother,” who was to share his tent, reassured him. +Once started, we knew that he would bear patiently all that fortune might +inflict. + +By the 11th the necessary preparations had been made, and we were ready +to start. As a preliminary, we moved into a garden outside the town with +our camels and our mares, so as to be at liberty to go off any morning +without attracting notice and in the direction we might choose. It was +generally believed in Damascus that we intended going to Bagdad, and we +had made up our minds to start in that direction, partly to avoid +questions, and partly because at Jerúd, the first village on the road to +Palmyra, we should find Mohammed Dukhi with the Welled Ali. He seemed +the most likely person to put us on our way, and in expeditions of this +sort the first few marches are generally the most difficult, if not the +most dangerous. The edges of the desert are always unsafe, whereas, once +clear of the shore, so to speak, there is comparatively little risk of +meeting anybody, friend or foe. We thought then that we should be able +to get a man from Mohammed Dukhi to take us in a straight line from Jerúd +to some point in the Wady Sirhán, keeping well outside the Hauran, a +district of the worst reputation, and following perhaps a line of pools +or wells which the Bedouins might know. But just as we had settled this, +Mohammed Dukhi himself appeared unexpectedly at Damascus, and our plan +was changed. + +Mohammed Dukhi ibn Smeyr is the greatest personage in the north-western +desert next to Ibn Shaalan, and as I have said before was at that time +hotly engaged in a war with the Roala chief. His object in visiting +Damascus was as follows: in the course of the autumn a detachment of +fifteen Turkish soldiers attacked his camp without provocation and, +firing into it, killed a woman and a child. This camp numbered only a +few tents, the tribe being at the time scattered on account of pasturage, +and the Sheykh himself was absent with most of the men. Those, however, +who had remained at home managed to cut off and surround the soldiers, +one of whom was killed in the fray. The Welled Ali would have killed the +rest but for Mohammed Dukhi’s wife, Herba, {26} who rushed in among the +combatants, and remonstrated with her people on the folly of involving +themselves in a quarrel with the Government. Her pluck saved the +soldiers’ lives. She took them under her protection, and the next +morning sent them under escort to a place of safety. + +Now Mohammed Dukhi, having the Roala war on his hands and being obliged +to shelter himself from Ibn Shaalan under the walls of Jerúd, was +naturally anxious to clear up this matter of the soldier’s death; and, +directly he heard of Midhat’s arrival at Damascus, he shrewdly determined +to make his count with the new Pasha by an early call at the Serai. Ibn +Shaalan was out of the way, and the first comer would doubtless be the +one most readily listened to. Ibn Smeyr had besides a little intrigue on +foot respecting the escort of the Damascus pilgrims, which he in part +provided or hoped to provide. Abd el-Kader was his friend, and it was at +the Emir’s house that he alighted and that we found him. Mohammed Dukhi, +noble though he is in point of blood, is not a fine specimen of a great +Bedouin Sheykh. His politeness is overstrained and unnatural, reminding +one rather of city than of desert manners; there are also ugly stories of +his want of faith, which one finds no difficulty in believing when one +sees him. He affected, however, great pleasure at seeing us again, and +professed an entire devotion to our welfare and our plans. He would +himself accompany us on the first stages of our road, or at least send +his sons or some of his men; offers which dwindled, till at last they +resulted in his merely writing some letters of recommendation for us, and +giving us a large amount of good advice. As regards the latter, he +informed us that a journey such as we proposed outside the Hauran would +not at the present moment be practicable. No rain had fallen during the +autumn, and the Hamád was without water; indeed, except in the Wady +Sirhán, where the wells were never dry, there was no watering place +southwards at any distance from the hills. He advised us, therefore, to +leave Damascus by the pilgrim road, which keeps inside the Hauran, and +follow it till we came across the Beni Sokkhr, whom we should find +encamped not far to the east of it. There was besides a capital +opportunity for us of doing this in company with the _Jerdeh_, now on the +point of starting for Mezárib, a station on the Haj road. The Jerdeh, he +explained, for the name was new to us, are a kind of relief party sent +every year from Damascus, to meet the pilgrims on their homeward route, +carrying with them supplies of all the necessaries of life, provisions, +and extra camels to replace those broken down. The party is escorted by +Mohammed Dukhi, or rather by his men, and the idea of joining them seemed +exactly suited to our purpose; though when we came to put it in practice, +it turned out to be of as little value as the rest of the smooth-spoken +Sheykh’s offers. It was something, however, to have a plan, good or bad, +and letters from so great a man as Ibn Smeyr were of value, even though +addressed to the wrong people. + +Accordingly, on the 12th we bade good-bye to our Damascus friends, wrote +our last letters to our friends in England, and said a long farewell to +the pleasures and pains of European life. On the 13th we started. + +_December_ 13.—We have started at last, and on a Friday, the 13th of the +month. I have no personal objection to any particular day of the week, +or of the month. But, as a matter of fact, the only seriously +unfortunate journey we ever made was begun on a Friday, and Wilfrid +professes himself to be superstitious and full of dark foreboding. He, +however, insisted on starting this Friday, and with some inconsistency +argues that forebodings are lucky, or that at any rate the absence of +them is unlucky, and that it would not be safe to begin a journey in a +cheerful frame of mind. + +We were roused in the middle of the night by a cry of thieves in the +garden, and running out of our tent found a scuffle going on, which, when +lights were brought, proved to have been caused by two men, one the +keeper of the garden and the other a soldier, whom he was taking +prisoner. Our servants were standing round them, and Hanna, seeing the +man to be securely bound, was belabouring him with a stick, ejaculating +at intervals, “O robber, O dog, O pig! O pig, O dog, O robber!” The +story told us was that the gardener had found this man prowling about, +and had, after a terrible engagement, succeeded in his capture. There +were, however, no blood or wounds to show; and, the evidence of the +prisoner’s wicked designs not being very overwhelming, Wilfrid gave +orders that he should be let go as soon as it should be daylight. In the +first place, any handing over of the man to justice would have delayed +our start, and secondly, it was more than probable that the whole thing +had been got up by the gardener with the accused person for the sake of +the present the two would receive. Such little comedies are quite common +in the East; and when we declined to take it seriously, the two men very +good-humouredly let the matter drop. + +At the first streak of dawn we struck our tents, loaded our camels, and a +little after sunrise were on our mares and well away from the town in +marching order for Nejd! At first we skirted the city, passing the gate +where St. Paul is said to have entered, and the place where he got over +the wall, and then along the suburb of Maidan, which is the quarter +occupied by Bedouins when they come to town, and where we had found the +Tudmuri and our camels. Here we were to have met the Jerdeh, and we +waited some time outside the Bawábat Allah, or “Gates of God,” while +Mohammed went in to make inquiries, and take leave of his Tudmuri +friends. It is in front of this gate that the pilgrims assemble on the +day of their start for Mecca, and from it the Haj road leads away in a +nearly straight line southwards. The Haj road is to be our route as far +as Mezárib, and is a broad, well worn track, though of course not a road +at all according to English ideas. It has, nevertheless, a sort of +romantic interest, one cannot help feeling, going as it does so far and +through such desolate lands, a track so many thousand travellers have +followed never to return. I suppose in its long history a grave may have +been dug for every yard of its course from Damascus to Medina, for, +especially on the return journey, there are constantly deaths among the +pilgrims from weariness and insufficient food. + +Our caravan, waiting at the gate, presented a very picturesque +appearance. Each of the delúls carries a gay pair of saddle-bags in +carpet-work, with long worsted tassels hanging down on each side half way +to the ground; and they have ornamented _reshmehs_ or headstalls to +match. The camels, too, though less decorated, have a gay look; and +Wilfrid on the chestnut mare ridden in a halter wants nothing but a long +lance to make him a complete Bedouin. The rest of our party consists, +besides Mohammed and Hanna, who have each of them a delúl to ride, of +Mohammed’s “cousin” Abdallah, whom we call Sheykh of the camels, with his +two Agheyl assistants, Awwad, a negro, and a nice-looking boy named Abd +er-Rahman. These, with Mohammed, occupy one of the servants’ tents, +while Hanna and his “brother” Ibrahim have another, for even in the +desert distinctions of religious caste will have to be preserved. It is +a great advantage in travelling that the servants should be as much as +possible strangers to each other, and of different race or creed, as this +prevents any combination among them for mutiny or disobedience. The +Agheyls will be one clique, the Tudmuri another, and the Christians a +third, so that though they may quarrel with one another, they are never +likely to unite against us. Not that there is any prospect of difficulty +from such a cause; but three months is a long period for a journey, and +everything must be thought of beforehand. + +Mohammed was not long in the Maidan, and came back with the news that the +Jerdeh has not been seen there, but might be at a khan some miles on the +road called Khan Denún. It was useless to wait for them there, and so, +wishing our friend, Mr. Siouffi, good-bye (for he had accompanied us thus +far) we rode on. Nothing remarkable has marked our first day’s journey; +a gazelle crossing the track, and a rather curious squabble between a +kite, a buzzard, and a raven, in which the raven got all the profit, +being the only events. From the crest of a low ridge we looked back and +saw our last of Damascus, with its minarets and houses imbedded in green. +We shall see no more buildings, I suppose, for many a day. Mount Hermon +to the left of it rose, an imposing mass, hazy in the hot sun, for, +December though it is, the summer is far from over. Indeed, we have +suffered from the heat today more than we did during the whole of our +last journey. + +At Denún no sign or knowledge of the Jerdeh, so we have decided to do +without them. On a road like this we cannot want an escort. There are +plenty of people passing all day long, most of them, like ourselves, +going to Mezárib for the annual fair which takes place there on the +occasion of the Jerdeh visit. Among them, too, are zaptiehs and even +soldiers; and there are to be several villages on the way. We filled our +goat-skins at Denún and camped for this our first night on some rising +ground looking towards Hermon. It is a still, delightful evening, but +there is no moon. The sun is setting at five o’clock. + +_December_ 14.—Still on the Haj road and through cultivated land, very +rich for wheat or barley, Mohammed says, though it has a fine covering of +stones. These are black and volcanic, very shiny and smooth, just as +they were shot up from the Hauran when the Hauran was a volcano. The +soil looks as if it ought to grow splendid grapes, and some say the +bunches the spies brought to Joshua came from near here. The villages, +of which we have passed through several, are black and shiny too, dreary +looking places even in the sunshine, without trees or anything pleasant +to look at round them. The fields at this time of year are of course +bare of crops, and it is so long since there was any rain that even the +weeds are gone. This is part of what is called the Leja, a district +entirely of black boulders, and interesting to archæologists as being the +land of Og, king of Basan, whose cities some have supposed to exist in +ruins to the present day. + +In the middle of the day we passed a small ruin, about which Mohammed, +who has been this road before, as his father was at one time +camel-contractor for the Haj, told us a curious story. Once upon a time +there were two children, left orphans at a very early age. The elder, a +boy, went out into the world to seek his fortune, while the other, a +girl, was brought up by a charitable family in Damascus. In course of +time the brother and sister came together by accident, and, without +knowing their relationship, married, for according to eastern usage the +marriage had been arranged for them by others. Then, on comparing notes, +they discovered the mistake which had been made; and the young man, +anxious to atone for the guilt they had inadvertently incurred, consulted +a wise man as to what he should do in penance. He was told to make the +pilgrimage to Mecca seven times, and then to live seven years more in +some desert place on the Haj road offering water to the pilgrims. This +he did, and chose the place we passed for the latter part of his penance. +When the seven years were over, however, he returned to Damascus, and the +little house he had built and the fig-trees he had planted remain as a +record of his story. Mohammed could not tell me what became of the girl, +and seemed to think it did not matter. + +He has been talking a great deal to us on the duties of brotherhood, +which seemed a little like a suggestion. The rich brother, it would +seem, should make the poor one presents, not only of fine clothes, but of +a fine mare, a fine delúl, or a score of sheep,—while the poor brother +should be very careful to protect the life of his sworn ally, or, if need +be, to avenge his death. Wilfrid asked him how he should set about this +last, if the case occurred. “First of all,” said Mohammed, “I should +inquire who the shedder of blood was. I should hear, for instance, that +you had been travelling in the Hauran and had been killed, but I should +not know by whom. I should then leave Tudmur, and, taking a couple of +camels so as to seem to be on business, should go to the place where you +had died, under a feigned name, and should pretend to wish to buy corn of +the nearest villagers. I should make acquaintance with the old women, +who are always the greatest talkers, and should sooner or later hear all +about it. Then, when I had found out the real person, I should watch +carefully all his goings out and comings in, and should choose a good +opportunity of taking him unawares, and run my sword through him. Then I +should go back to Tudmur as fast as my delúl could carry me.” Wilfrid +objected that in England we thought it more honourable to give an enemy +the chance of defending himself; but Mohammed would not hear of this. +“It would not be right. My duty,” he said, “would be to avenge your +blood, not to fight with the man; and if I got the opportunity, I should +come upon him asleep or unarmed. If he was some poor wretch, of no +consequence, I should take one of his relations instead, if possible the +head of his family. I cannot approve of your way of doing these things. +Ours is the best.” Mohammed might have reasoned (only Arabs never +reason), that there were others besides himself concerned in the deed +being secretly and certainly done. An avenger of blood carries not only +his own life but the lives of his family in his hand; and if he bungles +over his vengeance, and himself gets killed, he entails on them a further +debt of blood. To Mohammed, however, on such a point, reasoning was +unnecessary. What he had described was the custom, and that was enough. + +We are now a little to the south of the village of Gunayeh where we have +sent Abdallah with a delúl to buy straw. There is no camel pasture here +nor anything the horses can eat. To the east we can see the blue line of +the Hauran range, and to the west the Syrian hills from Hermon to Ajalon. +I told Mohammed the story of the sun standing still over Gibeon and the +moon over Ajalon, which he took quite as a matter of course, merely +mentioning that he had never heard it before. + +I forgot to say that we crossed the old Roman road several times to-day. +It is in fair preservation, but the modern caravan track avoids it. +Perhaps in old days wheeled carriages were common and required a stone +road. Now there is no such necessity. At Ghabaghat, a village we passed +about eleven o’clock, we found a tank supplied with water from a spring, +and while we were waiting there watering the camels a fox ran by pursued +by two greyhounds, who soon came up with and killed him. One of the +dogs, a blue or silver grey, was very handsome and we tried to buy him of +his owner, a soldier, but he would not take the money. After that we had +a bit of a gallop in which we were pleased with our new mares. But we +are both tired with even this short gallop, being as yet not in training, +and we feel the heat of the sun. + +_Sunday_, _December_ 15.—We have left the Leja country and are now in +bare open fields, a fine district for farmers, but as uninteresting as +the plains of Germany or northern France. These fields are better +watered than the Leja, and we crossed several streams to-day by old stone +bridges belonging to the Roman road. The streams run, I believe, +eventually into the Jordan, and in one place form a marsh to the right of +the road which Mohammed declared to be infested by robbers, men who lurk +about in the tall reeds and when they have made a capture run off with +their booty into it and cannot be followed. We saw nothing suspicious, +however, nor anything of interest but a huge flock of sand grouse, of +which we got four as they passed overhead. There were also immense +clouds of starlings, and we started a hare. We passed many villages, the +principal one being Shemskin, where there are the ruins of an old town. +Our road then bore away to the right, leaving the Roman road for good. +This goes on straight to Bozra, the chief town of the Hauran in former +days. + +At Tafazz we stopped to pay a visit to some Tudmuri settled there, +relations of Mohammed’s but not on the Ibn Arûk side, very worthy people +though hardly respectable as relations. Tafazz from the outside looks +like a heap of ruins half smothered in dunghills. There has been a +murrain among the cattle this year, and dead cows lay about in every +stage of decomposition. We had some difficulty in groping our way +through them to the wretched little mud hovel where the Tudmuri lived. +The family consisted of two middle-aged men, brothers, with their mother, +their wives, and a pretty daughter named Shemseh (sunshine), some +children, and an old man, uncle or grandfather of the others. These were +all presently clustering round us, and hugging and kissing Mohammed who, +I must say, showed a complete absence of false pride in spite of his fine +clothes and noble appearance. Their welcome to us, poor people, was very +hearty; and in a few minutes coffee was being pounded, and a breakfast of +unleavened loaves, thin and good, an omelette, buttermilk (lebben), and a +sweet kind of treacle (dibs), made of raisins, prepared. While we were +at breakfast a little starved colt looked in at the door from the yard; +and some chickens and a pretty fawn greyhound, all equally hungry I +thought, watched us eagerly. The people were very doleful about the want +of rain, and the loss of their yoke-oxen, which makes their next year’s +prospects gloomily uncertain. They told us, however, that they had a +good stock of wheat in their underground granaries, sufficient for a year +or even more, which shows a greater amount of forethought than I should +have expected of them. In these countries it is quite necessary to +provide against the famines which happen every few years, and in ancient +times I believe it was a universal practice to keep a year’s harvest in +store. + +After many entreaties that we would stay the night under their roof they +at last suffered us to depart, promising that the men of the party would +rejoin us the following day at Mezárib, for Mezárib was close by. There +we arrived about three o’clock and are encamped on the piece of desert +ground where the fair is held. The view from our tents is extremely +pretty, a fine range of distant hills, the Ajlun to the south-west, and +about a mile off a little lake looking very blue and bright, with a +rather handsome ruined khan or castle in the foreground. To the left the +tents of the Suk, mostly white and of the Turkish pattern. There are +about a hundred and fifty of them in four rows, making a kind of street. +The village of Mezárib stands on an island in the lake, connected by a +stone causeway with the shore, but the Suk is on the mainland. There is +a great concourse of people with horses, and donkeys, and camels, and +more are constantly coming from each quarter of the compass. They have +not as yet paid much attention to us, so that we have been able to make +ourselves comfortable. There is a fresh wind blowing from the south, and +there is a look in the clouds of something like rain. I have never +before wished for rain on a journey, but I do so heartily now; these poor +people want it badly. + +_December_ 16.—To-day we have done nothing but receive visits. First +there came a Haurani, who announced himself as a sheykh, and gave us the +information that Sotamm ibn Shaalan and the Roala are somewhere near +Ezrak. If this be true it will be a great piece of good luck for us, but +other accounts have made it doubtful. A more interesting visitor was a +young man, a native of Bereydeh in Nejd, who, hearing that we were on our +way to Jôf, came to make friends with us. Though a well-mannered youth, +he is evidently nothing particular in the way of position at home, and +admits having been somebody’s servant at Bagdad, but on the strength of a +supposed descent from the Beni Laam in Nejd, he has claimed kinship with +Mohammed and they have been sitting together affectionately all the +morning, holding each an end of Mohammed’s rosary. We have +cross-questioned him about Nejd; but though he knows Haïl and Kasim and +other places, he can give us little real information. He seems to have +left it as a boy. We are cheered, however, by the little he has had to +tell us, as he seems to take it for granted that everybody in Nejd will +be delighted to see us, and he has given us the name and address of his +relations there. + +Mohammed went last night to find out whether any of the Beni Sokkhr +Sheykhs were at the Suk, for it is to them that we have letters from +Mohammed Dukhi, and in the middle of the day Sákhn, a son of Fendi +el-Faiz, the nominal head of the tribe, was introduced. He was a not +ill-looking youth, and when we had shewn him our letter to his father +informed us that the Sheykh had just arrived, so we sent him to fetch +him. While Hanna was preparing coffee, the old man came to our tent. In +person he is very different from any of the Ánazeh Sheykhs we have seen, +reminding one rather of the Jiburi, or other Euphrates Arabs. The Beni +Sokkhr are in fact of Shimali or Northern race, which is quite distinct +from the Nejdi, to which both Ánazeh and Shammar belong. He is a fine +picturesque old man, with rugged features and grey beard and an immense +nose, which put us in mind of the conventional Arab types of Scripture +picture books, and seemed to correspond with a suggestion I have heard +made, that the Beni Sokkhr {41} are really the Beni Issachar, a lost +tribe. + +The Sheykh was very much “en cérémonie,” and we found it difficult to +carry on conversation with him. Either he had not much to say, or did +not care to say it to us; and the talk went on principally between his +second son Tellál, a Christian merchant (here on business), and Mohammed. +We did not, ourselves, broach the subject of our journey; but after +coffee had been served, Mohammed had a private conversation with the +Sheykh, which resulted in an invitation from him to his tents, which he +described as being somewhere near Zerka on the Haj road, from which he +will send us on to Maan, and ultimately to Jôf. This plan, however, does +not at all suit Wilfrid, who is determined on exploring the Wady Sirhán, +which no European has ever done, and he insists that we must go first to +Ezrak. Fendi, it appears, cannot take us that way, as he is on bad terms +with the Kreysheh, a branch of his own tribe who are on the road. +Perhaps, too, he is afraid of the Roala. It is very perplexing, as some +sort of introduction we must have at starting, and yet we cannot afford +to go out of our way or even wait here indefinitely till Fendi is ready. +The Jerdeh people are after all not expected for another two days, and it +may be a week before they go on. + +Later in the day Sottan, Fendi’s youngest son, came to us and offered to +accompany us himself to Jôf, but at a price which was altogether beyond +our ideas. He had travelled once with some English people on the Syrian +frontier, and had got foolish notions about money. Five pounds was the +sum we had thought of giving; and he talked about a hundred. So we sent +him away. Later still, came a Shammar from the Jebel, who said he was +willing to go for fifteen mejidies, and a Kreysheh who made similar +offers. We have engaged them both, but neither could do more than show +us the road. They would be no introduction. The difficulty, by all +accounts, of going down the Wady Sirhán, is from the Sherarát, who hang +about it, and who having no regular Sheykh, cannot easily be dealt with. +They are afraid, however, of the Beni Sokkhr Sheykhs, and of course of +Mohammed Dukhi and Ibn Shaalan; and if we could only get a proper +representative of one or other of these to go with us, all would be +right. But how to get such a one is the question. + +It has been very hot and oppressive here to-day, and the appearance of +rain is gone. The thermometer about noon stood at 86°. + +_December_ 17.—We have decided not to wait here any longer, but to go off +to-morrow in the direction of Ezrak, trusting to find some one on the +road. We shall have to pass through Bozra, and may have better luck +there. Our Shammar seems to think it will be all right; but the Kreysheh +came back this morning with a demand for thirty pounds, instead of the +two pounds ten shillings, which he informed Mohammed, Fendi had told him +to ask. He seems to be with Fendi, although his branch of the tribe are +not on terms with their principal chief. He still talks, however, of +coming on the original terms, but that will be without Fendi’s +permission. It is quite necessary to be, or appear to be stingy with +these people, as throwing money away is considered by them the act of a +simpleton. + +Mohammed has been sent to the Suk to make some last purchases, and +inquire about two more camels. Now that it is decided we are to go by +the Wady Sirhán, we shall be obliged to buy two extra camels to carry +food for the rest. In ordinary seasons this would not be necessary, but +this year everybody tells us we shall find no pasture. _Altek_, which is +the camel food used at Damascus, is made of a sort of grain, like small +misshapen peas or lentils, the husk green and the seed red. It is mixed +up into dough with wheaten flour and water, and then kneaded into +egg-shaped balls five inches long. Six of these balls are a camel’s +daily ration, which, if he can pick up any rubbish by the way, will be +enough to keep him fat. We are carrying barley for the mares. + +Aamar and Selim, our Tafazz relations, have come to pay us their promised +visit, and will perhaps accompany us to-morrow. They brought with them a +measure of _feríkeh_, wheat crushed very fine, a sort of burghul, some +bread, and a couple of fowls; also Mohammed’s sheepskin coat, which one +of the women has been lining for him; and lastly, the little greyhound we +saw at their house, all as a present, or very nearly so, after the +fashion of the country. + +Mohammed has come back with two camels for our approval, one a very +handsome animal, but rather long-legged, the other short and +broad-chested like a prize-fighter. We have paid ten pounds and eleven +pounds for them. Nothing is absolutely settled about who is going and +who is not going with us. Nothing but this, that we leave Mezárib +to-morrow. + +As I write, an immense hubbub and a cry of thieves from the Suk. They +are ducking a man in the lake. + + [Picture: Salkhad] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + “Rather proclaim it + That he which hath no stomach to this fight + Let him depart. His passport shall be made.” + + SHAKESPEARE. + +Beating about—Bozra—We leave the Turkish dominions—Mohammed vows to kill +a sheep—The citadel of Salkhad and the independent Druses—We are received +by a Druse chieftain—Historical notice of the Hauran. + +_December_ 18.—Our caravan has lost some of its members. To begin with +the two guides, the Kreysheh and the Shammar have failed to make their +appearance. Then Abd er-Rahman, the little Agheyl, came with a petition +to be allowed to go home. He was too young, he said, for such a journey, +and afraid he might die on the road. He had brought a cousin with him as +a substitute, who would do much better than himself, for the cousin was +afraid of nothing. The substitute was then introduced, a wild +picturesque creature all rags and elf locks and with eyes like jet, armed +too with a matchlock rather longer than himself, and evidently no Agheyl. +We have agreed, however, to take him and let the other go. Unwilling +hands are worse than useless on a journey. Lastly, the slave Awwad has +gone. Like most negroes he had too good an opinion of himself, and +insisted on being treated as something more than a servant, and on having +a donkey to ride. So we have packed him too off. He was very angry when +told to go, and broke a rebab we had given him to play on, for he could +both play and sing well. We are now reduced to our two selves, Mohammed, +Abdallah, Hanna, Ibrahim and the substitute—seven persons in all, but the +Tafazz people are to go the first two days’ march with us and help drive +the camels. + +We were glad to get clear of the dirt and noise of the Suk, and leaving +the Haj road, took a cross track to the south-east, which is to lead us +to Bozra. All day long we have been passing through a well-inhabited +country, with plenty of villages and a rich red soil, already ploughed, +every acre of it, and waiting only for rain. The road was full of people +travelling on donkey-back and on foot to Mezárib, singing as they went +along. In all the numerous villages we saw the effects of the late +murrain in the dead cattle strewed about. I counted seventy carcasses in +one small place, a terrible loss for the poor villagers, as each working +cow or bullock was worth ten pounds. I asked what disease had killed +them, and was told it was “min Allah” (from God). Mohammed, however, +calls it _abu hadlan_ (father of leanness). + +This district is said to be the best corn-growing country anywhere, and +looks like it, but unless rain falls soon, the year must be barren. The +villages depend almost entirely on rain for their water supply. In each +there is an old reservoir hollowed out of the rock. It is difficult to +understand how these tanks get filled, for they seem to have no drainage +leading to them, being on the contrary perched up generally on high +ground. They are now all dry, and the villagers have to send many miles +for their drinking water. All this country belongs to the Hauran, and we +are now in a Haurani village called Ghízeh. The people are evidently not +pure Arabs, as many of them have light eyes. + +We are being hospitably entertained by the village Sheykh, who is an old +acquaintance of Mohammed’s father’s, and insists on setting all he has +got before us,—coffee, a plate of rice, barley for the mares, and, what +is more precious just now, water for them as well as for ourselves. +Hassan, for such is his name, has a very pretty wife, who was among the +crowd which gathered round us on our arrival at the village. She, like +the women of all these villages, made no pretence of shyness, and was +running about unveiled as any peasant girl might in Italy. She was +evidently a spoilt child, and required more than one command from Hassan +before she would go home. The Sheykh has been spending the evening with +us. He is in great distress about his village, which is in the last +straits for water. The cattle, as I have said, have all died, and now +even the beasts of burden which have to go for the water are dying. The +nearest spring is at Bozra, twelve miles off; and if the donkeys break +down the village must die too of thirst. He told us that a Frank passed +this way two years ago, and had told him that there must be an ancient +well somewhere among the ruins of which the village is built, and he has +been looking for it ever since. He entreated us to tell him the most +likely spot either for finding the old well or digging a new one. We are +much distressed at not being engineers enough to do this for him; and I +can’t help thinking how much a real reformer (not a Midhat) might do in +Turkey by attending to such crying wants as these. Ghízeh is within +fifty miles from Damascus as the crow flies, and there are scores of +villages in like condition throughout the Hauran, which a Syrian governor +might relieve at the cost of sending round an engineer. But until +tramways and railroads and new bazaars have been made, I suppose there is +little chance for mere wells under the present regime. + +Besides meat and drink, Hassan has given us useful advice. He has +reminded Mohammed of another old friend of his father’s, who he thinks +might be of more service to us than anybody else could be, and he advises +us to go first to him. This is Huseyn ibn Nejm el-Atrash, a powerful +Druse Sheykh, who lives somewhere beyond the Hauran mountains. He must +certainly have relations with some of the Bedouin tribes beyond, for it +appears he lives in a little town quite on the extreme edge of the +inhabited country towards the Wady Sirhán. We have always heard of this +Druse country as unsafe, but what country is not called unsafe outside +the regular Turkish authority? The Ghízeh Sheykh’s suggestion seems +worth following, and we shall make for the Druse town. + +The little greyhound Shiekhah (so called from a plant of that name) is +very docile and well-behaved. She is a regular desert dog, and likes +dates better than anything else. I have made her a coat to wear at night +for she is chilly. + +_December_ 19.—Hassan with true hospitality did not leave his house this +morning, but let us depart quietly. His coming to wish us good-bye would +have looked like asking for a present, and he evidently did not wish for +anything of the sort. This is the first time we have received +hospitality absolutely gratis in a town, for even when staying with +Mohammed’s father at Tudmur, the women of the family had eagerly asked +for money. In the desert, Hassan’s behaviour would not have needed +remark. + +Before leaving Ghízeh we went to look at a house where there is a mosaic +floor of old Roman work, scrolls with orange trees and pomegranates, +vines with grapes on them, vases and baskets, all coloured on a white +ground. It speaks well for the quality of the workmanship that it has so +long stood the weather and the wear, for it is out of doors, and forms +the pavement in the courtyard of a house. + +Three and a half hours of steady marching brought us to Bozra, where we +now are. The entrance of the town is rather striking, as the old Roman +road, which has run in a straight line for miles, terminates in a gateway +of the regular classic style, beyond which lie a mass of ruins and +pillars, and to the right a fine old castle. A raven was sitting on the +gateway, and as we rode through solemnly said “caw.” + +Bozra is, I have no doubt, described by Mr. Murray, so I won’t waste my +time in writing about the ruins, which indeed we have not yet examined. +They seem to be Roman, and in tolerable preservation. The castle is more +modern, probably Saracenic, a huge pile built up out of older fragments. +It is occupied by a small garrison of Turkish regulars, the last, I hope, +we shall see for many a day, for Bozra is the frontier town of the +Hauran, and beyond it the Sultan is not acknowledged. I believe that its +occupation is not of older date than fifteen to twenty years ago, the +time when Turkey made its last flicker as a progressing state, and that +before that time the people of Bozra paid tribute to Ibn Shaalan, as they +once had to the Wahhabis of Nejd. The Roala still keep up some +connection with the town, however, for a shepherd we met at the springs +just outside it assured us that Ibn Shaalan had watered his camels at +them not two months ago. It was somewhere not far from Bozra that the +forty days battle between the Mesenneh and the Roala, described by +Fatalla, {51} was fought. Though the details are no doubt exaggerated, +Mohammed knows of the battle by tradition. Wilfrid asked him +particularly about it to-day, and he fully confirms the account given by +Fatalla of the downfall of the Mesenneh. He has added too some +interesting details of their recent history. We are encamped outside the +town at the edge of a great square tank of ancient masonry, now out of +repair and dry. Here would be another excellent occupation for Midhat +and his Circassians. + +_December_ 20.—We were disturbed all night by the barking of dogs, and +the strange echoes from the ruined places round. I never heard anything +so unearthly—a cold night—and melancholy too, as nights are when the moon +rises late, and is then mixed up in a haggard light with the dawn. + +The Tafazz relations are gone, very sorrowful to wish us good-bye. +Selim, the elder of the two, told me that he has been thirty years now in +the Hauran, and has no idea of going back to Tudmur. The land at Tafazz +is so good that it will grow anything, while at Tudmur there are only the +few gardens the stream waters. He is a _fellah_ and likes ploughing and +sowing better than camel driving. To Tafazz they are gone, Selim on his +chestnut mare, old, worn, and one-eyed, but _asil_; Aamar on his bay +Kehîleh from the Roala, also old and very lame. They went with tears in +their eyes, wishing us all possible blessings for the road. + +The consequence is, we have to do more than our share of work, and have +had a hard day loading and reloading the camels, for we were among the +hills, and the roads were bad. The beasts have not yet become accustomed +to each other, and the old camel we bought at Mezárib shows every sign of +wishing to return there. He is an artful old wretch, and chose his +moment for wandering off whenever we were looking the other way, and +wherever a bit of uneven ground favoured his escape. Once or twice he +very nearly gave us the slip. He wants to get back to his family, +Abdallah says, for we bought him out of a herd where he was lord and +master, a sultan among camels. Our road to-day has been very rough. We +were told to make our way to Salkhad, a point on the far horizon, just on +the ridge of the Hauran, and the only road there was the old Roman one. +This went in an absolutely straight line over hill and dale, and as two +out of every three of the stones paving it were missing, and the rest +turned upside down, it was a long stumble from beginning to end. We had +been warned to keep a good look-out for robbers, so Wilfrid and I rode +ahead, reconnoitering every rock and heap. We passed one or two ruined +villages, but met nobody all day long, still following the pointed hill +of Salkhad, which, as we got nearer it, we could see was crowned by a +huge fortress. The country had now become a mass of boulders, which in +places had been rolled into heaps, making gigantic cairns, not recently, +but perhaps in ancient days, when there were giants in the land. The +soil thus uncovered was a rich red earth, and here and there it had been +cultivated. There was now a little pasture, for on the hills rain had +fallen, and once we saw some goats in the distance. + +As we approached Salkhad the road got so bad that Mohammed made a vow of +killing a sheep if ever we got safe to Huseyn el-Atrash. We were amused +at this and asked him what it meant; and he told us the story of the +prophet Ibrahim who made a vow to kill his son, and who was prevented +from doing so by the prophet Musa, who appeared to him and stopped him, +and showed him two rams which he said would do instead. These vows the +Arabs make are very curious, and are certainly a relic of the ancient +sacrifices. Mohammed explained them to us. “The Bedouins,” he said, +“always do this when they are in difficulties,” he could not say why, but +it was an old custom; and when they go back home they kill the sheep, and +eat it with their friends. He does not seem to consider it a religious +ceremony, only a custom, but it is very singular. + +Nine and a half hours’ march from seven o’clock brought us to the foot of +the conical hill, on which the fortress of Salkhad stands. This is a +very ancient building, resembling not a little the fortress of Aleppo, a +cone partly artificial and surrounded by a moat, cased with smooth stone +and surmounted by walls still nearly perfect. We remarked on some of +them the same device as at Aleppo, a rampant lion, the emblem of the +Persian Monarchy. The fortress itself, however, is probably of much +older date, and may have existed at the time the children of Israel +conquered the country. Wilfrid and I, who had gone on in front, agreed +to separate here, and ride round the citadel, he to the right, and I to +the left, and I was to wait on the top of the ridge till he gave me some +signal. This I did and waited so long, that at last the camels came up. +He in the meantime had found a little town just under the fortress on the +other side and had ridden down into it. At first he saw nobody, and +thought the place deserted, but presently people in white turbans began +to appear on the house-tops, very much astonished to see this horseman +come riding down upon them, for the road was like a stair. He saluted +them, and they saluted politely in return, and answered his inquiry for +Huseyn el-Atrash, by pointing out a path which led down across the hills +to a town called Melakh, where they said Huseyn lived. They asked where +he was going, and he said Bussora, Bussora of Bagdad, at which they +laughed, and showing him the Roman road, which from Salkhad still goes on +in a straight line about south-east, said that that would take him to it. +This is curious, for it certainly is exactly the direction, and yet it is +impossible there can ever have really been a road there. It probably +goes to Ezrak but we hope to find out all about this in a day or two. At +the bottom of the hill Wilfrid beckoned to me, and I found him at a large +artificial pool or reservoir, still containing a fair supply of water, +and there, when the rest had joined us, we watered the camels and horses. +Mohammed in the meanwhile had been also on a voyage of discovery, and +came back with the news that Huseyn el-Atrash was really at Melakh, and +Melakh was only two hours and a half further on. + +Salkhad is a very picturesque town. It hangs something like a honeycomb +under the old fortress on an extremely steep slope, the houses looking +black from the colour of the volcanic stone of which they are built. +Many of them are very ancient, and the rest are built up of ancient +materials, and there is a square tower like the belfry of a church. {56} +The tanks below are at least equally old with the town, having a casing +of hewn stone, now much dilapidated, and large stone troughs for watering +cattle. Its inhabitants, the people in the white turbans, are Druses, a +colony sent I believe from the Lebanon after the disturbances in 1860. + +From Salkhad our road lay principally down hill, for we had now crossed +the watershed of the Jebel Hauran, and became somewhat intricate, winding +about among small fields. The country on this side the hills is divided +into walled enclosures, formed by the rolling away of boulders, which +give it a more European look than anything we have seen of late. These +date I should think from very early times, for the stones have had time +to get covered with a grey lichen, so as to resemble natural rather than +artificial heaps, and in these dry climates lichen forms slowly. In some +of the enclosures we found cultivation, and even vines and fig-trees. It +is remarkable how much more prosperous the land looks as soon as one gets +away from Turkish administration. The sun was setting as we first caught +sight of Melakh, another strange old mediæval town of black stone, with +walls and towers much out of the perpendicular; so leaving the camels to +come on under Abdallah’s charge and that of a man who had volunteered to +guide us, we cantered on with Mohammed, and in the twilight arrived at +the house of Huseyn el-Atrash. + +Huseyn is a fine specimen of a Druse sheykh, a man of about forty, +extremely dark and extremely handsome, his eyes made darker and more +brilliant by being painted with kohl. This seems to be a general fashion +here. He was very clean and well dressed in jíbbeh and abba; and, unlike +most of the Druses, he wore a kefiyeh of purple and gold, though with the +white turban over it in place of the aghal. He was sitting with his +friends and neighbours on a little terrace in front of his house, +enjoying the coolness of the evening, while we could see that a fire had +been lit indoors. He rose and came to meet us as we dismounted, and +begged us to come in, and then the coffee pots and mortar were set at +work and a dinner was ordered. The Sheykh’s manners were excellent, very +ceremonious but not cold, and though we conversed for an hour about “the +weather and the crops,” he carefully avoided asking questions as to who +we were and what we wanted. Neither did we say anything, as we knew that +the proper moment had not come. At last our camels arrived, and dinner +was served, a most excellent one, chicken and burghul, horse-radishes in +vinegar and water, several sweet dishes, one a puree of rice, spiced tea, +cream cheese, and the best water-melon ever tasted. The cookery and the +people remind us of the frontier towns of the Sahara, everything good of +its kind, good food, good manners, and good welcome. Then, when we had +all eaten heartily down to the last servant, he asked us who we were. +Mohammed’s answer that we were English persons of distinction, on our way +to Jôf, and that he was Mohammed, the son of Abdallah of Tudmur, made +quite a _coup de théâtre_, and it is easy to see that we have at last +come to the right place. We have been, however, glad to retire early, +for we have had a hard day’s march, nearly twelve hours, and over +exceedingly bad ground. + +_December_ 21.—The shortest day of the year, but still hot, though the +night was cold. + +We spent the morning with Huseyn. His house has not long been built, but +it looks old because it is built of old stones. Its construction is +simple but good, the main room being divided into sections with arches so +as to suit the stone rafters with which it is roofed. In front there is +a pleasant terrace overlooking an agreeable prospect of broken ground, +with glimpses of the desert beyond. While Wilfrid was talking to Huseyn +I went to see the ladies of the establishment. Huseyn has only one wife; +her name is Wardi (a rose). She is the mother of a nice little boy, +Mohammed, about six years old and very well behaved, whom we had seen +with the Sheykh; and of a pretty little girl of two, named Amina. There +are, besides, some older children by a former husband. Wardi is rather +fat, with a brilliant complexion and well-kohled eyes and eyebrows; she +has good manners, and received me very cordially in a room opening on to +a terrace, with a beautiful view eastward of some tells at the edge of +the Hamad. She sat surrounded by dependants and relations, among whom +were Huseyn’s mother and her own. The former was suffering from cough +and loss of voice, and another member of the family complained of a +rheumatic arm; both wanted me to advise them as to treatment. The ladies +would not uncover their faces until Assad, the Sheykh’s secretary, who +accompanied me, had retired. Wardi’s concealment of her features was, +however, a mere make-believe, only a corner of her head veil pulled half +across her face. She talked a great deal about her children of the +former marriage, Mustafa a son of eighteen, who is chief of a +neighbouring village, and a daughter of perhaps twelve who was present. +This young girl seemed particularly intelligent and had received some +education; enough to read out a phrase from my Arabic exercise book, and +to repeat the first chapter of the Koran. The pleasure of my visit was +somewhat marred by the quantity of sweetmeats and tea and coffee served; +with the tea and coffee I got on very well, as the cups were of the usual +small size, but the sugar-plums were of so massive a kind that it was +impossible to swallow them. The two small children fortunately came to +my rescue; and by their zeal in devouring everything I handed to them, +took off their mother’s attention from my shortcomings. At parting Wardi +gave me a bunch of feathers pulled then and there out of an ostrich skin +hanging up against the wall; the skin, she said, had been brought to her +some months before, from somewhere in the south. + +The Druses of the Hauran say that they are Arabs who came here with the +immediate successors of the prophet from the south; that the Jebel was at +that time inhabited by Rûmi (Greeks), whose descendants still live here +and are Christians. We saw one of them in Huseyn’s house to-day, +apparently on excellent terms with the other visitors. He was dressed +like an Arab, and was undistinguishable from the ordinary felláhín Arabs +one sees in the desert towns. The Druse women, except those of Huseyn’s +family, go about unveiled. They are particularly well-mannered and +civil, with clean fresh complexions and bright coloured cheeks, and +always say “Salam aleykum” to travellers. They all kohl their eyes +carefully and broadly. + +There has of course been much discussion about our further journey. It +is rather aggravating to think that a whole week has passed since we left +Damascus, and yet we are not, as the crow flies, more than eighty miles +on our way. Still there seems a chance now of our really getting +forward, for Huseyn promises to send some men with us to Kâf, an oasis in +the Wady Sirhán, with which there is occasional communication on this +side of the Hauran, as there are salt beds to which the villagers send +camels to fetch salt. They say it is about five days’ journey from here. +The principal difficulty is that there are several Bedouin tribes on the +road, and nobody knows which. The Sirdíeh are friends of Huseyn’s, and +so are the Kreysheh, but there are others whom he does not know, Sherarât +Sirhán and Howeysin, the last mere thieves “worse than the Sleb.” Any or +all of these may be met with, though it is very possible we may meet +nobody. Huseyn has sent a man on horseback to Ezrak, the first stage on +our way, where there are wells and an old castle, to find out who is +there. The Kreysheh we have letters to, from Mohammed Dukhi, and if we +can find them there will be no more difficulty, as they are strong enough +to give us protection from the rest. At any rate we go on to-morrow. We +are anxious to get away to the desert, for life is very fatiguing in +these towns; there are so many people to be civil to, and the children +make such a noise. They have been playing hockey all day long just +outside our tent, tiresome little wretches. Wilfrid went out for an hour +this afternoon, and got some grouse, of which there are immense flocks +all about the fields, while I made a picture of the town from behind a +wall. + +We have at last got a man to go with us as servant, who looks promising. +He is a Shammari from Jebel Shammar who, for some reason or other, has +left his own tribe (probably for some crime against Bedouin law), and has +been settled for the last few years at Salkhad, where he has married a +Druse woman. There is some mystery about his profession and way of life, +but he has an attractive face, and in spite of very poor clothes a +certain air of distinction. We both like him, and Huseyn seems to know +something about him. Besides, he has made the whole journey from Nejd +already, and has been backwards and forwards between Salkhad and Jôf more +than once. He wants now, he says, to go back to his own country. +Mohammed has also discovered a red-headed man, a native of Sokhne and as +such almost a fellow countryman, who will come as camel driver under +Abdallah; so that our complement of hands is made up to its original +number, eight. + +To-morrow we may hope to sleep in the desert. + + * * * * * + +_Note_. Alas, since this was written, our friends at Melakh have +experienced sad reverses. In September, 1879, Midhat Pasha, to signalize +his assumption of office at Damascus, and support that reputation of +energy which Europe has given him, sent an armed force to coerce the +independent Druses. At first these, fighting for their liberty, were +successful. They met and defeated the Turkish troops advancing through +the Leja, and the expedition returned with a loss of 400 men. A month +later, however, Midhat retrieved his fortunes. He bribed or persuaded +Mohammed Dukhi to overrun the Eastern Hauran with his Bedouins, and while +these were blockading the towns, marched a second column of regular +troops through the mountains, and so gained possession of Salkhad, +Melakh, and the rest, reducing all to submission. An Ottoman Governor +now replaces the native Sheykhs, and the blessings of the Sultan’s rule +have been extended to every village of the Hauran. + + [Picture: Run to earth] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + “For all is rocks at random thrown, + Black walls of crag, black banks of stone.” + + SCOTT. + +We start in earnest—The Harra—A Theory of Mirage—Camp of the Beni +Sokkhr—Wady er Rajel—A Christmas Dinner in the Desert—Sand storm—We reach +Kâf. + +_December_ 22.—A white frost, and off at half-past seven. Huseyn has +sent two men with us, Assad, his head man, and another. We have also +letters from him for Ali el-Kreysheh, and the Sheykh of Kâf. + +Mohammed as we rode away was much elated at the success of this visit, +and related to me the pretty things Huseyn had said about us. Huseyn had +seen other franjis but none who understood the _shoghl Arab_, Arab ways, +as we did. They had come with an escort to see the ruins, but we had +come to see him. “Ah,” said Mohammed, “now they are sitting drinking +coffee and talking about us. They are saying to each other that the Beg +and I are brothers, and we are travelling together, as is right, in +search of relations, and to make friends all over the world. There is +nothing so _asil_ (noble) as to travel and make friends. Once upon a +time there was an old man who had a son, but very little other property, +and when he came to die he called his son and said to him, “O my son, I +am about to die, and I have nothing to leave behind me for your good but +advice, and my advice is this: ‘Build to yourself houses in every part of +the world.’” And the son, who was a child without understanding, +wondered how he was to do this, seeing he had no money to build houses +with, and so set out on a journey in search of a wise man who could +explain to him his father’s last words. And he travelled for many years +and visited every part of the world, and made friends in each town, and +at last he found the wise man who told him that he had already done as +his father had bidden him, “for,” he said, “you have friends everywhere, +and is not your friend’s house your own?” + +We too were in high spirits, as everything now seemed to be going right. +Our course lay nearly south on the road to Ezrak, and we passed several +ruined villages and some cultivated land. Every now and then we put up +immense packs of sand-grouse, which were busy feeding on the seeds of the +_zueyti_, a kind of thistle which grows abundantly on the fallows. +Wilfrid got eight of them at a shot, and at one of the villages we bought +ten partridges of a man who had been out with a matchlock, so that we are +well supplied with meat for a couple of days. Assad has got a very +handsome greyhound with him, of the long-haired breed, which has a +wonderful nose for game. His master declares he _sees_ the birds, for +the Arabs do not seem to understand the theory of scent. + +After two hours’ fair travelling, we stopped at a village called Metém, +where Assad had friends, and where we were obliged to go through the +ceremony of drinking coffee, losing much time thereby. Then a new +discussion arose as to our road, somebody having just come in from Ezrak, +who announced that the Sirhán were camped there, and the Sirhán we knew +were friendly with Huseyn el-Atrash. Assad, and Salman his companion, +refused in consequence to go that way, and were for stopping the night at +Metém to think over it; but this we would not listen to. We were +determined to go somewhere, and if not to Ezrak then by some other route +to Kâf. Somebody suggested El Kreysheh, who was said to be in the Wady +er-Rajel, and others the Sirdíeh, who were camped a day’s journey towards +the east. It was difficult to decide; but at the well of the village +while we were watering our animals, we met a man and his wife, who told +us they knew where to find the Sirdíeh, and were themselves on their way +to join them. So this decided us, and we determined on the Sirdíeh. The +Sirdíeh are friends of Huseyn’s, and our Druse guides made no objection +to going that way; Awwad the Shammari declared also that it was all +right. Accordingly we left the Ezrak road, and striking off to the east, +soon found ourselves out of the range of cultivation. Metém is to be the +last village we shall see, and the desert is now before us all the way to +Nejd. + +We are encamped at the edge of a plateau, from which there is an immense +prospect of hill and plain, and Wilfrid has been very busy making out a +rough chart of the different landmarks, as they may be useful to-morrow +if we should happen to miss our way. The man and woman we met at the +well are with us, and know the different points by name. Awwad too, +declares he knows every part of the desert between this and Kâf and he +has pointed out a tell, south-east by south, beyond which it lies. The +Druses, like townsmen, are already nervous at the sight of the desert, +and angry with us for camping away from villages and tents. Our camp is +well concealed in an old volcanic crater, where also we are sheltered +from the wind, which is very cold. There is a spring just below called +Ain el-Ghiaour (the infidel’s spring); according to the Druses, the scene +of a great battle fought by the Arabs of the first invasion, in which +they routed the Christians. At that time all the country we have been +passing through, and perhaps the broken ground in front of us, was well +inhabited; and there is a tell with a ruined convent on it not far off to +the north-west, still known as Ed Deyr. There is capital pasture here, +_rotha_, which the camels have been making the most of. We too have +dined, and now all is quiet, and the sky is full of stars. We have been +sitting on the edge of the crater talking over plans for to-morrow. The +Sirdíeh, it now appears, are at a _khabra_ or pool, called Shubboitia, +which we could see before the sun set like a yellow line far away to the +northeast, too far out of our road for us to go there. Awwad is in +favour of going straight to Kâf and taking our chance of what Arabs we +may meet. El Kreysheh is somewhere in front of us, and so they say is +Ibn Majil, the Akid of the Roala, whom we met last year. At any rate, we +must take a good supply of water with us, and go forward at the first +streak of dawn. + +_December_ 23.—As soon as it was light we climbed up to the top of the +crater and looked over the plain. It was a wonderful sight with its +broken tells and strange chaotic wadys, all black with volcanic boulders, +looking blacker still against the yellow morning sky. There is always +something mysterious about a great plain, and especially such a plain as +this, where Europeans, one may say, have never been, and which even the +people of the Hauran know little of. Besides, it seems to have had a +history if only in the days of Og, king of Basan. But it was not to look +at the view or for any romantic reason that we had come there; only to +examine the country before us and see if we could discover traces of Arab +encampments. After looking carefully all round we at last made out a +thin column of smoke to the northeast, ten or twelve miles away, and +another nearly due east. The first must be the Sirdíeh, the second +perhaps the Kreysheh. Satisfied with this we returned to our party, who +were just setting the camels in motion, and as the sun rose we began our +march. + +We have been stumbling about all day among the boulders of the Harra, +following little tracks just wide enough for the camels to get along, and +making a great circuit in order to find ourselves at last barely twelve +miles from where we began. At first we kept company with our new +acquaintances, the people going to the Sirdíeh, but when we had arrived +at the foot of the hills we found them turning away to the north, and so +wished them good-bye, much to the Druses’ disgust, who did not at all +relish our wild-goose chase of the Kreysheh, and still less the idea of +going straight to Kâf. They followed, however, when they found that we +would listen to no reason, and I must say good-humouredly. One great +charm of the Arab character is that it bears no malice, even about +trifles. Sulkiness is very rare with them. They did not pretend to know +much of the country, so we made Awwad lead the way. Going straight was +out of the question, for the Harra is an impracticable country, not only +for camels but for horses, on account of the boulders, except just where +the paths lead. We had a bleak desolate ride, for a cold wind had sprung +up in our faces with a decided touch of winter. This country must be a +furnace, however, in summer with its polished black stones. I noticed +that these were very regularly weathered; one side, that towards the +north, being grey with a sort of lichen, so that as we rode past they +seemed to change colour continually. There was very little sign of life +in this region, only a few small birds, and no trace of inhabitants or of +any recent passers by. The tracks followed generally the beds of wadys, +and wandered on without any particular aim or direction. They looked +like the paths made by sheep or camels, only that the stones were so big +it seemed impossible that the mere passage of animals could have ever +made them. On the whole I think they must be artificial, made by +shepherds in very ancient times for their flocks. In the spring, we are +told, the whole of this Harra is excellent grazing ground. It is a +curious thing that every here and there in the hollows there is a space +free from stones where water lies after rain, forming a pool. Why are +there no stones there? The soil is a dry clay with a highly glazed +surface cracked into very regular squares, so glazed indeed that even +close by it has the appearance of water, reflecting the light of the sky. +This, no doubt, is the way some of the curious mirage effects are +produced in the desert, for it is to be noticed that the most perfect +delusions are found just in places where one would naturally expect to +find water—that is, where water has been. + +At half-past twelve, we came suddenly on a level bit of open ground, +which we took at first for one of these khabras, but found it to be part +of a long wady running north and south, with a very distinct watercourse +in the middle, with tamarisk bushes, and patches of fresh grass, showing +that water had run down it not long ago. Both Awwad and the Druses +recognised this as the Wady-er-Rajel, where the Kreysheh were reported to +be encamped, and the only question was, whether to turn up or down it. +While we were debating, however, a flock of sheep was sighted, and +presently a boy, who told us he was a Sirdíeh, but that the Kreysheh were +only a couple of hours further down the valley. This just suited, as it +was exactly in the right direction for us, and we are now at Ali +el-Kreysheh’s camp, and being hospitably entertained by a young relation +in the Sheykh’s absence. Ali is away at Mezárib with fifty horsemen, to +escort the Jerdeh on their way to Maan. + +We have had some singing to-night, and playing of the rebab. Among the +songs I was pleased to recognise an old Shammar ballad about Abdul Kerim +and the man who had no mare. + +_December_ 24.—The Kreysheh, at whose camp we now are, belong to the Beni +Sokkhr, a large, but not very warlike tribe, which occupies the whole of +the district from the pilgrim road eastwards to the extreme edge of the +Harra, throughout a wilderness of stones. To this they are said to owe +their name of Beni Sokkhr, children of the rocks; and they assure us that +they have lived in the Harra “from all time.” They do not come from +Nejd, they say, like the Ánazeh, but are Shimali or Northern Arabs. We +were told the names of ten divisions into which the Beni Sokkhr have +ramified, each owning a separate Sheykh, though nominally subject to +Fendi el-Faiz, or rather his son Sóttan, for Fendi is old and has given +up practical authority. These divisions are probably nothing more than +groups of the tribe, as their names are those of their Sheykhs, the +principal being Sóttan, and next to him El Kreysheh, and next again Ed +Dreybi ibn Zebbed. The Kreysheh have camels as well as sheep, and seem +pretty well off; but they have no great number of mares, and those not of +the best type. They keep hawks and greyhounds. + +They have given us news of the Roala. Ibn Majil, whom we met last year +at Sotamm Ibn Shaalan’s, and who took our side in the negotiations for +peace with the Sebaa, has now separated from Sotamm, and is somewhere +down by Jôf, so perhaps we may meet him; while Sotamm has just marched +north again to attack the Welled Ali. The Kreysheh are friends with Ibn +Majil, but at war with Sotamm, another curious instance of the +inconsistencies of Bedouin politics. These are, indeed, as changing as +the clouds in the sky, and transform themselves so rapidly, that in +Desert history, if it were written, ten years would comprise as much +incident as a century in Europe. + +While negotiations were going on about arrangements for our further +progress, I went to call on Ali el-Kreysheh’s wives. There are two of +them, Hazna and Fassal; but I only saw the latter, who had the women’s +tent to herself with her attendants and three children, two little boys +and a girl, remarkably dirty, and (what is rare among Bedouins) suffering +from sore eyes. Fassal was plain and uninteresting but sensible, and I +daresay has the advantage over Hazna, who, poor thing, is childless. She +told me she was from a section of the tribe further north, and took an +interest in Damascus, asking about the new Valy as well as about Mohammed +ibn Smeyr, who is the great name in these parts. She seemed much pleased +with the box of sugar-plums I gave her, and when I went away followed me +as far as the end of the tent ropes invoking blessings on my head. + +I found our own tents down and everything ready for a start; for an +arrangement had been come to with the young man representing our host, +that we were to have a _zellem_ (person) to go with us as far as Kâf for +the sum of ten mejidies (forty shillings). Assad and Salman were just +saying good-bye, for they had to go back to Melakh. They were made very +happy with a Turkish pound apiece, and Assad has left us his greyhound, +the black and tan dog, who whined piteously when his master went away. I +like the dog for this. + +As we left the Kreysheh camp a bitter wind sprang up from the +west-south-west, and continued all day long, chilling us, in spite of all +the furs and cloaks we could put on, to the bone. Our course lay nearly +across it south-south-east. We are out of the hills now in a nearly +level plain still covered with the black stones. The only variety during +the day was when we came to a large khabra (Khabra-el-Gurrthi), a dreary +flat of dried up clay and sand which we took two hours to cross, though +we went at the camels’ best pace. The wind drove great clouds of sand +across it, making it one of the dreariest places I ever saw. We were all +too cold for much talking, and sat huddled up on our delúls with our +backs to the wind, and our heads wrapped up in our cloaks. We met no one +all day long, except one string of a dozen camels driven by two very +wild-looking Arabs who told us they were Shesharât, and nothing living +except a hare which got up among the stones, and which the dogs coursed +for some hundreds of yards, over ground which would have broken every +bone of an English greyhound, apparently without hurting themselves. +About two o’clock we came, to our great delight, upon the Wady er-Rajel +again, an angle of whose course we had been cutting off. Here we found +beautiful soft ground and grass and pools of water, for this wady had +running water in it last month, and is not quite drunk up yet. The +pasture was too good to be passed, so here we remain for the night. Just +as we were unloading, a little troop of gazelles looked over the edge of +the wady, perhaps come for water, and Mohammed set off in pursuit with a +Winchester rifle. We heard him fire all the twelve shots one after the +other, but he came back empty-handed. Our tent is set under the lee of a +rough wall of loose stones, such as are set up by the shepherds as a +shelter for their flocks. The wind still blows tempestuously, and it is +cold as a Christmas Eve need be. But Hanna has made us a capital curry, +which with soup and burghul and a plum-pudding from a tin, makes not a +bad dinner, while Abdallah has distinguished himself baking bread, and +Awwad roasting coffee. + +_Wednesday_, _December_ 25.—Christmas Day. We are out of the Harra at +last, and on open ground. That black wilderness had become like a +nightmare with its horrible boulders and little tortuous paths, which +prevented the camels from doing more than about two miles an hour. Now +we are able to push on at three, or three and a quarter. + +After floundering down the wady for half an hour, we came to some +splendid pools in a narrow cleft of rock, where we stopped to take in +water. We have been very fortunate in such a season as this to find the +Wady er-Rajel full. The rain which filled it must have been some +isolated waterspout on the eastern slope of Jebel Hauran, for not a drop +fell anywhere else; and there is no autumn grass except just along its +edge. It is rapidly drying, or rather being drunk up, and the little +vegetation is very closely eaten down. In the smaller pools there is a +very distinct flavour of sheep and camels in the water; but at the pools +we came to this morning it is still pure. The Kreysheh have been all up +this valley, eating and drinking their way, and leaving not a blade they +could help behind them, and we have come upon numerous tracks of their +cattle. Every here and there we have passed the traces of their camps, +stones set in line on three sides of a square; one we saw had been only +just deserted, and we put up a number of vultures and ravens from the +fresh carcase of a camel lying by it. There crossed it also the +footprint of a horse, which brought on the usual talk of ghazús and +marauders, in which our people delight. They, however, have settled it +among them to their satisfaction, that such accidents as meeting robbers +or people of a hostile tribe are “min Allah” (from God), to be classed +with the rain and fine weather, and sickness and good health, all which +things the Bedouins consider fortuitous. + +Having filled our goat skins, we left the Wady er-Rajel for good, and are +to come across no more water now till we get to Kâf. The valley takes a +turn here to the west before it reaches the Wady Sirhán, and would +therefore be out of our road. We have been crossing some rolling downs +covered with light flinty gravel, a delightful change from the Harra, and +have had a gallop or two after the gazelles, which now and then came in +sight. We thought too of our Christmas dinner, and how glad we should be +to get some addition to the rice, which was all we had; but neither +greyhounds nor mares were in good enough condition to run down their +quarry. Once we made a rather successful stalk, and a charge in among a +small herd, but the dogs could not get hold of anything, and, though +several shots were fired, nothing came to bag. Then we had a long gallop +after Sayad, the black and tan greyhound, who went on after the gazelles +for a good two miles, so that we were afraid of losing him; and then +another long gallop to get back to our camels. This time, we had been +three quarters of an hour away from them, and we found our people all +much alarmed, Abdallah rather angry at our going so far, for Mohammed was +with us. He was perfectly in the right, and we were to blame, for we are +on a serious journey not a sporting tour; and to say nothing of danger +from enemies, there is always a certain risk of missing one another in a +country like this where camels leave no track behind them. A turn to +right or left out of the direct line and a fold in the ground, and they +are lost. So we apologised, and promised to do so again no more. We +were, however, in a most unexpected manner provided with dinner; for +while we were still talking, behold a grazing camel all alone on the +plain, not a mile away; when with a general shout of “a prize,” the whole +party on horseback and on foot rushed in pursuit. We were naturally the +first up, and drove the animal at a canter to the others. The camel was +a young one of last spring, in good condition, and at the sight tears +rushed into Hanna’s eyes—tears of hunger, not of pity. I am afraid +indeed that none of the party had much thought of pity, and the scene +caused me mixed feelings of compassion for the poor victim, and disgust +at ourselves who were waiting to prey upon it. No question was raised as +to ownership; camels found astray in desert places were by acclamation +declared the property of the first comer. We were in fact a ghazú, and +this was our lawful prize. So the poor little camel was driven on before +us. + +Dinner is thus secured, and I must see what else can be arranged in +honour of the occasion. + +_December_ 26.—Mohammed, Abdallah, Awwad, the two Ibrahims and Hanna, all +of them, spent the evening in feasting and ate up the whole of the camel +except the short ribs, which were set before us, and the shoulders which +were kept for to-day. They divided among them the labour of killing, +skinning and quartering, and cooking it, for all were equally ready to +lend a hand to the work. People talk sometimes of camel meat, as if it +were something not only unpalatable, but offensive. But it is in reality +very good; when young it resembles mutton, even when old it is only +tough, and never has any unpleasant taste as far as my experience goes; +indeed if served up without the bones it could hardly be distinguished +from mutton. + +The servants having thus feasted were all soon sound asleep, and even +when suddenly, between two and three in the morning, the wind rose with a +deafening noise, they did not wake, not till their tent blew down upon +them as ours did upon us. We were awake and might have kept our tent +standing had we not been too lazy to get up and drive in the pegs. It +was too late when the tent had fallen on us to do anything but lie as +well as we could beneath the ruins and wait for daylight. Fortunately +the main pegs had not drawn, and the sand, for this hurricane was a sand +storm, soon covered over the edges of the fallen tent, and no further +damage was done. In the morning, the servants proposed staying where we +were; but we would not hear of this, as we had water for only two days, +and it would have been folly to dawdle, so after rubbing the sand out of +or rather into our eyes, we set to work packing and loading. The wind +continued violent and bitterly cold, and carried a great deal of sand +with it. It came from the west-south-west. We had camped under shelter +at a small tell close to the Tell Guteyfi, which proved to be the same as +one pointed out to us by Awwad from Ain el-Giaour, and once beyond it, we +found ourselves on a perfectly open bit of plain, exposed to the full +fury of the gale, now more violent than ever. Sand storms are evidently +common here, for the Tell Guteyfi, which is of black volcanic boulders +like the Harra, is half smothered in sand. We saw it looming near us in +the thick air, and soon after were almost hidden from each other in the +increasing darkness. The sun shone feebly at intervals through the +driving sand, but it was all we could do to keep the caravan together, +and not lose sight of each other. At one moment we had all to stop and +turn tail to the wind, covering our eyes and heads with our cloaks, +waiting till the burst was over. Nothing could have faced it. Still we +were far from having any idea of danger, for there really is none in +these storms, and had plenty of time to notice how very picturesque the +situation was, the camels driven along at speed, all huddled together for +protection, with their long necks stretched out, and heads low, tags and +ropes flying, and the men’s cloaks streaming in the wind, all seen +through the yellow haze of sand which made them look as though walking in +the air. The beasts looked gigantic yet helpless, like antediluvian +creatures overwhelmed in a flood. Still, as I said, there was no danger, +for the wind was steady in its direction, and our course was directly +across it—that we knew—and by patiently struggling on, we managed to get +over a deal of ground. Suddenly the sandy plain over which we were +travelling, seemed to sink away in front of us, and at the bottom of a +steep dip we could see clumps of tamarisk looming through the storm. We +knew that a refuge was at hand. + + [Picture: Sand Storm in the Wady Er-Rajel] + +Here then we are comfortably housed under one of these bushes, where +there is a delightful lull. The soil is all deep sand, white as snow, +and the tent which we have rigged up is already half buried in it, so +that we might imagine ourselves at home snowed up on Boxing Day. We have +made a fire of tarfa sticks inside the tent, and have been enjoying +Hanna’s delicious coffee. Where is one ever so much at home as in one’s +own tent? Awwad surprised us very much to-day by objecting, when we +proposed to pitch the tent, that it would be impossible to do so in the +sand. If Mohammed or any of the townspeople had done so it would have +been natural, but Awwad is a Bedouin born, and must have pitched camp +hundreds of times in the Nefúd. Yet he had never heard of burying a tent +peg. + +One misfortune has happened in the storm. The old rogue of a camel we +bought at Mezárib, who has been trying all along to get back to his +family, has given us the slip. Taking advantage of the darkness, and +knowing that the wind would obliterate his track at once, he decamped as +soon as unloaded, and is gone. Mohammed and Awwad, each on a delúl, are +scouring the country, but without a chance of finding him; for at best +they can only see things a hundred yards off, and he was not missed for +the first half hour. Mohammed has vowed to kill a lamb, but I fear that +will do no good. + +_December_ 27.—We have arrived at Kâf after a long march, twenty-seven or +twenty-eight miles. Course about south-east! + +In the night a little rain fell, and the wind moderated. At eight +o’clock we started, crossing a wide plain of coarse sand interspersed +with low sandstone tells. At noon we came upon a well-marked track, the +road of the salt caravans between Bozra and Kâf, which, after crossing a +rather high ridge, brought us to a very curious valley; an offshoot, we +were told, of the Wady Sirhán. The geological formation of this is +singular; the crest of the ridge on either side the valley is of black +rock with detached stones of the same—then yellow sandstone, then another +black layer, then pure sand, then sand with isolated black stones, then a +calcareous deposit, and at the bottom chalk. The actual bed of the wady +is a fine white sand sprinkled over with tamarisk and guttub bushes. As +we were crossing this our dogs started a jerboa, and, little creature +though it is, it gave them much trouble to catch it. Its hops were +prodigious, and from side to side and backwards and forwards, so that the +dogs always ran over it, and snatching, always missed it; till at last, +as if by accident, it jumped into Shiekhah’s mouth. Abdallah and the +rest were very anxious to eat it, but it was so mauled as to be beyond +cooking. At three o’clock we crested another ridge, and from it suddenly +came in sight of the great Wady Sirhán, the object of so many of our +conjectures. It seems, however, to be no wady, but the bed of an ancient +sea. A little black dot on the edge of a _subbka_ or salt lake, now dry, +and just under a tall black tell, marked the oasis of Kâf, an +infinitesimal village of sixteen houses, and a palm garden of about an +acre. + +I have had the misfortune to sprain my knee, an awkward accident, and +very annoying in the middle of a journey. My delúl, always a fidgety +animal, gave a bolt just as I was leaning over to arrange something on +the off side of the _shedád_, or saddle, and pitched me off. The pain is +indescribable, and I fear I shall be helplessly lame for some time to +come. But here we are at Kâf. + + [Picture: Kâf] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + “Rafi ran after her with his sword drawn, and was just about to + strike off her head, when she cried ‘quarter.’”—ABULFEDA. + +Kâf and Itheri—More relations—The Wady Sirhán—Locust hunting—Hanna sits +down to die—Tales of robbery and violence—We are surprised by a ghazú and +made prisoners—Sherarât statistics—Jôf. + +_December_ 28.—Kâf is a pretty little village, with a character of its +own, quite distinct from anything one sees in Syria. All is in +miniature, the sixteen little square houses, the little battlemented +towers and battlemented walls seven feet high—seventy or eighty palm +trees in a garden watered from wells, and some trees I took at first for +cypresses, but which turned out to be a very delicate kind of tamarisk. +{84} Though so small a place, Kâf has a singularly flourishing look, all +is neat there and in good repair, not a battlement broken or a door off +its hinges, as would certainly have been the case in Syria. There are +also a good many young palms planted in among the older ones, and young +fig trees and vines, things hardly ever found in the North. The people +are nice looking and well behaved, though at first they startled us a +little by going about all of them with swords in their hands. These they +hold either sloped over their shoulders or grasped in both hands by the +scabbard, much as one sees in the old stone figures of mediæval martyrs, +or in the effigies of crusaders. + +Abdallah el-Kamis, Sheykh of the village, to whom we had letters from +Huseyn, received us with great politeness; and a room in his house was +swept out for our use. Like all the other rooms, it opened on to the +court-yard, in the middle of which was tethered a two-year-old colt. Our +room had been a storing place for wood, and was without furniture of any +sort, but we were delighted to find also without inhabitants. The +architecture here is very simple, plain mud walls with no windows or +openings of any kind except a few square holes near the roof. The roof +was of _ithel_ beams with cross rafters of palm, thatched in with palm +branches. The principal room is called the kahwah or coffee room; and in +it there is a square hearth at the side or in the middle for +coffee-making. There is no chimney, and the smoke escapes as it can; but +this is not so uncomfortable as it sounds, for the wood burnt here burns +with a beautiful bright flame, giving out a maximum of heat to a minimum +of smoke. It is the _ratha_ or _ghada_. {85} People sit round the +hearth while coffee is being made, a solemn process occupying nearly half +an hour. + +As soon as we arrived, a trencher of dates was brought, dates of the last +year’s crop, all sticky and mashed up, but good; and later in the +evening, we had a more regular dinner of burghul and boiled fowls. We +are much struck with the politeness of everybody. Abdallah, our host, +asked us at least twenty times after our health before he would go on to +anything else; and it was not easy to find appropriate compliments in +return. Everything of course is very poor and very simple, but one +cannot help feeling that one is among civilized people. They have been +making a great fuss with Mohammed, who is treated as a sheykh. Tudmur is +well known by name, and at this distance is considered an important town. +Much surprise was expressed at finding a man of his rank in the +semi-menial position Mohammed holds with us, and he was put to some +polite cross-questioning in the evening as to the motive of his journey. +No Franjis have ever been seen at Kâf before, so the people say; and they +do not understand the respect in which Europeans are held elsewhere. +Mohammed, however, has explained his “brotherhood with the Beg,” and +protested that his journey is one of honour, not of profit; so that we +are treated with as much courtesy as if we were Arabs born. Awwad the +Shammar has been of great use to us, as he is well known here, and he +serves as an introduction. + +Kâf is quite independent of the Sultan, though it has twice been sacked +by Turkish soldiers, once under Ibrahim Pasha in 1834, and again only a +few years ago, when the Government of Damascus sent a military expedition +down the Wady Sirhán. We were shown the ruins of a castle, Kasr es-Saïd, +on a hill above the town which the former destroyed, and we heard much +lamentation over the proceedings of the latter. The inhabitants of Kâf +acknowledge themselves subjects of Ibn Rashid, the Jebel Shammar chief, +some of whose people were here only a few days since, taking the annual +tribute, a very small sum, twenty mejidies (£4), which they are glad to +pay in return for his protection. They are very enthusiastic about “the +Emir,” as they call him, and certainly have no reason to wish for +annexation to Syria. The little town of Kâf and its neighbour Itheri, +where we now are, have commercially more connection with the north than +with the south, for their principal wealth, such as it is, arises from +the salt trade with Bozra. Abdallah el-Kamis seems to be well off, for +he possesses several slaves, and has more than one wife. But the colt I +have mentioned is his only four-footed possession; he would have come +with us, he said, if he had owned a delúl. I noticed a few camels and +donkeys and goats about the village. + +Makbul, the Kreysheh, has gone back, and we now want to find a Sherári to +take us on to Jôf. We have come on to Itheri, Kâf’s twin oasis, two and +a half hours east of it, also in the Wady Sirhán. This is not marked on +many of the modern maps, though Chesney has it incorrectly placed on his. +We find by the barometer that they are both on the same level, so that +our conjecture seems confirmed, about the Wady Sirhán having no slope. +The Wady Sirhán is a curious chaotic depression, probably the bed of some +ancient sea like the Dead Sea, and is here about twelve miles broad if we +can judge by the hills we see beyond it, and which are no doubt the +opposite cliffs of the basin. There are numerous wells both here and at +Kâf, wide and shallow, for the water is only eight feet below the surface +of the ground. From these the palm gardens are irrigated. There are +wells too outside, all lying low and at the same level. The water is +drinkable, by no means excellent. We crossed a large salt lake, now dry, +where the salt is gathered for the caravans. + +On our road Mohammed entertained us with tales of his birth and ancestry. +The people of Kâf have heard of the Ibn Arûks, and have told Mohammed +that he will find relations in many parts of Arabia besides Jôf. They +say there is somebody at Bereydeh, and a certain Ibn Homeydi, whom +Mohammed has heard of as a cousin. Then here at Itheri, the Sheykh’s +wife is a member of the Jôf family. Everything in fact seems going just +as we expected it. + +Itheri is a still smaller place than Kâf but it boasts of an ancient +building and miniature castle inside the walls, something after the +fashion of the Hauran houses. This, instead of mud, the common Arab +material, is built of black stones, well squared and regularly placed. +On the lintel of the doorway there is or rather has been, an inscription +in some ancient character, perhaps Himyaritic, which we would have copied +had it been legible, but the weather has almost effaced it. {89} Here we +are being entertained by Jeruan, an untidy half-witted young man, with +long hair in plaits and a face like a Scotch terrier, who is the son of +Merzuga, Mohammed’s cousin, and consequently a cousin himself. Though +nothing much to be proud of as a relation, we find him an attentive host. +His mother is an intelligent and well-bred woman, and it seems strange +that she should have so inferior a son. Her other three sons, for Jeruan +is the eldest of four, have their wits like other people, but they are +kept in the background. Merzuga came to see me just now with a large +dish of dates in her hand, and stopped to talk. Her face is still +attractive, and she must have once been extremely beautiful. I notice +that she wears a number of silver rings on her fingers like wedding +rings. + +Merzuga tells us we shall find plenty of Ibn Arûk relations at Jôf. She +herself left it young and talks of it as an earthly paradise from which +she has been torn to live in this wretched little oasis. Itheri is +indeed a forlorn place, all except Jeruan’s palm garden. After a walk in +the palm garden, in which my lameness prevented me from joining, we all +sat down to a very good dinner of lamb and sopped bread—the bread tasted +like excellent pastry—served us by Jeruan in person, standing according +to Arab fashion when guests are eating. His mother looks well after him, +and tells him what to do, and it is evident, though he has the sense to +say very little, that he is looked upon as not quite “accountable” in his +family. Wilfrid describes the walk in the garden as rather amusing, +Mohammed and Abdallah making long speeches of compliments about all they +saw, and telling Jeruan’s head man extraordinary stories of the grandeur +and wealth of Tudmur. Jeruan’s garden, the only one at Itheri, contains +four hundred palm trees, many of them newly planted, and none more than +twenty-five years old. Amongst them was a young tree of the _héllua_ +variety, the sweet date of Jôf, imported from thence, and considered here +a great rarity. At this there was a chorus of admiration. The ithel +trees were also much admired. They are grown for timber, and spring from +the stub when cut down, a six years’ growth being already twenty feet +high. + +Two men have arrived from Jôf with the welcome news that all is well +between this and Jôf; that is, there are no Arabs yet in the Wady Sirhán; +welcome because we have no introductions, and a meeting might be +disagreeable. The season is so late and the pasture so bad, that the +Wady has been quite deserted since last spring. There will be no road +now, or track of any kind, and as it is at least two hundred miles to +Jôf, we must have a guide to shew us the wells. Such a one we have found +in a funny looking little Bedouin, a Sherári, who happens to be here and +who will go with us for ten mejidies. + +_December_ 29.—There was a bitter east wind blowing when we started this +morning, and I observed a peewit, like a land bird at sea, flying hither +and thither under the lea of the palm trees, looking hopeless and worn +out with its long voyage. Poor thing, it will die here, for there is +nothing such a bird can eat anywhere for hundreds of miles. It must have +been blown out of its reckoning, perhaps from the Euphrates. + +Our course to-day lay along the edge of the Wady, sometimes crossing +stony promontories from the upper plain, sometimes sandy inlets from the +Wady. The heights of these were always pretty much the same, 2250 feet +above and 1850 below—so these may be taken as the respective heights of +the Hamád and of the Wady Sirhán. There are besides, here and there, +isolated tells, three hundred to four hundred feet higher than either. +Rough broken ground all day, principally of sand with slaty grit +sprinkled over it, the vegetation very scanty on the high ground, but +richer in the hollows. In one small winding ravine leading into the +Wady, we found ghada trees, but otherwise nothing bigger than shrubs. +There Awwad told us that two years ago he was robbed and stripped by a +ghazú from the Hauran. He had lost six camels and all he possessed. The +Haurani were eight in number, his own party six. I asked him how it was +the robbers got the best of it. He said it was “min Allah” (from God). +The Wady Sirhán seems to be a favourite place for robbers, and Awwad +takes the occurrence as a matter of course. I asked him why he had left +his tribe, the Shammar, and come to live so far north as Salkhad. He +said it was “_nasíb_,” a thing fated; that he had married a Salkhad wife, +and she would not go away from her people. I asked him how he earned his +living, and he laughed. “I have got half a mare,” he said, “and a delúl, +and I make ghazús. There are nine of us Shammar in the Hauran, and we go +out together towards Zerka, or to the western Leja and take cattle by +night.” He then showed us some frightful scars of wounds, which he had +got on these occasions, and made Wilfrid feel a bullet which was still +sticking in his side. He is a curious creature, but we like him, and, +robber or no robber, he has quite the air of a gentleman. He is besides +an agreeable companion, sings very well, recites ballads, and is a great +favourite everywhere. At Kâf and Itheri he was hugged and kissed by the +men, old and young, and welcomed by the women in every house. + +We were nearly frozen all the morning, the wind piercing through our fur +cloaks. At half-past twelve, after four hours’ marching, we came to some +wells called Kurághir, six of them in a bare hollow, with camel tracks +leading from every point of the compass towards them. It is clear that +at some time of the year the Wady is inhabited; Awwad says by the Roala +in winter, but this year there is nobody. The water, like that of Kâf +and Itheri, is slightly brackish. Near Kurághir we saw some gazelles and +coursed them vainly. It is vexatious, for I have forgotten to bring +meat, and unless we can catch or shoot something, we shall have none till +we get to Jôf. I ought to have thought of it, for, though provisions are +by no means plentiful at Itheri, we could probably have bought a sheep +and driven it on with us. The pain of my lameness distracted my +attention—a bad excuse, but the only one. I suffer less when riding than +at any other time. + +We are now, since four o’clock, camped on the sand under some ghada +bushes, and the wind has dropped for the moment. It seems always to blow +here except for an hour about sunset and another at dawn. We are to dine +on beef tea, burghul with curry sauce, and a water-melon, the last of our +Hauran store. + +_December_ 30.—On the high level all the morning over ground like the +Harra with volcanic stones, a fierce south-east wind in our faces, so +that we could not talk or hardly think. Our course lay towards an +inhospitable looking range of hills called El Mizmeh, and when we reached +these, to the right of them, for we travel in anything but a straight +line. Saw great numbers of red locusts which, as the sun warmed the +ground, began to fly about and were pursued by the men and knocked down +with sticks. Enough have been secured to make a dish for dinner. When +flying, these insects look very like large May flies, as they have the +same helpless heavy flight, drifting down the wind with hardly sufficient +power of direction to keep them clear of obstacles. Sometimes they fly +right against the camels, and at others drop heavily into the bushes +where they are easily caught. When sitting on the ground, however, they +are hard to see, and they keep a good look-out and jump up and drift away +again as you come near them. They seem to have more sense, than power of +moving. + +At two we came to more wells,—Mahiyeh—most of them choked up with sand, +but one containing a sufficient supply of brackish water. These wells +lay among clumps of tamarisk, out of which we started several hares which +the greyhounds could not catch, as they always dodged back to cover. +Wilfrid and I waited behind for this fruitless hunting upon which our +dinner depended, and did not join the rest of the party for more than a +mile. Before we reached them we came upon Hanna, sitting on the ground +on his _hedûm_ (quilt and abba), and Ibrahim standing over him, both +shouting, “_Wah_! _wah_! _wah_!” We could not conceive what had happened +and could get no information from either of them, except that they were +going to remain where they were. These two townspeople sitting on their +beds all alone in the Wady Sirhán were so absurd a spectacle that, at the +moment, we could not help laughing; but it was not an affair for +laughter, and of course it was impossible to leave them there. We +insisted on an explanation. There had been a quarrel between Hanna and +Abdallah, because the latter had driven on Hanna’s delúl fast with the +other camels, and refused to let it be made to kneel down and get up +again. Abdallah and Awwab were in a great hurry to get as far from +Mahiyeh as possible, because Hamdán the Sherâri says it is a dangerous +spot. But Hanna was angry, and in his anger he dropped his cloak; upon +which he jumped down, pulling his bed after him, and sat down on the +ground. There the others left him, wailing and raving, and in this state +we found him. He proposed that he and Ibrahim should be left behind to +be eaten up by the hyena whose tracks we had seen. However, Ibrahim, who +had only stayed to keep him company, was quite ready to go on, and, +seeing this, Hanna was not long in getting up, and, making his brother +carry his bedding, he followed us. It was no good inquiring who was +right or who was wrong; we stopped the camels, and, driving back the +delúl insisted on Hanna’s mounting, which after some faces he did, and +the episode ended. Mohammed has been commissioned to insist with the +Arabs on peace, and we have we think prevailed with Hanna to bear no +malice. It is absolutely impossible for anybody to go back now without +losing his life, and I trust they will all be reasonable; it is +disagreeable to think that there has been discord in our small party, +separated as it is from all the rest of the world. We are camped now in +a side wady where the camel pasture is good. We saw the place from a +great distance, for we are becoming skilful now at guessing likely spots. +Wherever you see rocky ground in lines you may be sure pasture will be +found. We have seen no sign of recent habitation in the country since +leaving Itheri, neither footprint of camel nor of man. + +The locusts fried are fairly good to eat. + +_December_ 31.—Another long day’s march, and here we are at the end of +the year in one of the most desolate places in the world. It was so cold +last night, that all the locusts are dead. They are lying about +everywhere, and being eaten up by the little desert birds, larks, and +wheatears. We have got down again into the main bed of the Wady Sirhán, +which is still at the same level as before; it is here nearly flat, and +covered with great bunches of guttub and other shrubs, all very salt to +the taste; the soil crumbly and unsound, in places white with saltpetre. +Awwad and the Sherâri declare that there are quicksands, _hadôda_ +(literally, an abyss), somewhere in the neighbourhood, in which +everything that passes over sinks and disappears, leaving no trace—men, +camels, and gazelles; but of such we saw nothing. Coasting the edge of +the Wady, we came suddenly on some gazelles, which led us to higher +ground, where we found a stony wilderness of the Harra type; and amongst +the stones we saw a hyena trotting leisurely. We got nothing, however; +neither him nor the gazelles, and are still without meat. No other +incident occurred till we came to a palm tree standing by itself in an +open place; near it, a charming little spring, quite in among the roots +of a thick clump of palm bushes. The hole is about three feet across, +and two deep, with about a foot of water in it; the water rises again as +fast as it is taken out, but never overflows. There were traces of +hyenas and gazelles about, and this, I suppose, is where the desert +animals come to drink, for it is the only water above ground we have yet +seen. This spring is called Maasreh (little by little)—a pleasant spot +where we should have liked to camp; but it is always dangerous to stop +near water, lest people should come. Awwad says there is some tradition +of a town or village having formerly existed here; but no ruins are to be +seen. The water is sweet and good, as might be perceived by the insects +which were swimming about in it. The Arabs always judge of the +wholesomeness of water in this way. There is nothing more suspicious in +the desert than perfectly clear water, free from animal life. + +We are now camped under a low cliff hollowed out into caves as if by +water, capital dens for hyænas. There is a beautiful view looking back +at the Mizmeh hills. The evening is still and cold, but we do not like +to make much fire for fear of enemies. Hamdán, our Sherári guide, an +uncouth, savage creature to look at, has been reciting a very pretty +ballad, which he tells us he made himself. It is in stanzas of four +lines with alternate rhymes, and relates to an episode in his own family. +As he recited it the rest of the Arabs chimed in, repeating always the +last word of the line with the rhyming syllable; it had a good effect. +The story was simple, and told how Hamdán’s mother and sister had a +quarrel, and how they brought their grievances before Obeyd ibn Rashid at +Haïl, and how the old Sheykh settled it by putting a rope round the +daughter’s neck, and bidding the mother hold the end of it, and do so for +the rest of their days. Whereupon the daughter had kissed her mother, +and Obeyd had sent them away with presents, a delúl, a cloak each, and a +hundred measures of wheat, a present he had continued giving them every +year till he died, and which is given still by his nephew, Mohammed, the +present ruler of Jebel Shammar. Hamdán has also given us an interesting +account of the Haïl politics, which agrees very closely with what we +remember of Mr. Palgrave’s, carrying them on to a later date. The +present Ibn Rashid is not by any means so amiable a character as his +brother Tellál; and Hamdán’s account of his career is rather startling. +It appears that he has put to death something like a dozen of his +relations, and is more feared than loved by the Shammar. This is very +tiresome, as it may be a reason for our not going on to Nejd after all. +But we shall hear more when we get to Jôf. + +Hamdán’s recitative was, as nearly as I could write the musical part of +it, like this:— + + [Picture: Two lines of music] + +_January_ 1, 1879.—A black frost, but still. We have changed our course, +and have been going all day nearly due south—twenty-five miles, as near +as we can calculate it—and down the middle of the Wady Sirhán, a level +plain of sand and grit, with here and there mounds of pure white sand +covered with ghada. Our plan is to get up and strike the tents at the +first glimpse of dawn, drink a cup of coffee, and eat a biscuit or a bit +of rusk (kâk), and then march on till three or four in the afternoon +without stopping for an instant, eating half-a-dozen dates and some more +rusk as we go. Then immediately on stopping, and before the tents are +pitched, we light a fire and make coffee, which carries us on till dinner +is ready, about sunset. It is wonderful how little food one can do with +while travelling. We have had no meat now for the last four days till +to-day, only beef tea, and burghul, and dates, with sometimes fried +onions, or flour mixed with curry powder and butter, and baked into a +cake. This last is very good, and easily made. To-day, however, we are +in clover, as the dogs coursed a hare, and we dug her out. The desert +hare is very little bigger than a large rabbit, and is literally too much +for one, and not enough for two; but Mohammed magnanimously foregoes his +portion, and says he can wait. + +Mohammed has been improving the occasion of a dispute which arose this +evening on a choice of camp, to tell us some stories of his own +adventures in the desert; and we have been telling him ours. He had a +younger brother, whom his mother was very fond of, a regular town boy +with “a white face like a girl,” who knew how to read and write and knew +nothing of the desert (Mohammed himself like his great namesake, has +always been a camel driver). Now at Tudmur they have constantly had +fights and quarrels for the Sheykhat, and on one such occasion his +brother was sent away by his parents to Sokhne, the neighbouring village, +about thirty miles from Tudmur; and there he stayed for some time with a +relation. At last, however, he got tired of being away from home, and +wanted to see his mother. He started off with another boy of his own age +(about fifteen) to walk back to Tudmur. It was in the middle of summer, +and they lost their way and wandered far down into the Hamád where they +died of thirst. Mohammed had gone out to look for them, and found them +both dead close together. + +On another occasion Mohammed himself was nearly meeting his death. He +had gone alone with his camels on the road to Karieteyn, and had fallen +in with a ghazú of robbers from the hills. These stripped him of +everything except his shirt and a tarbush. His gun he had contrived to +hide under a bush, but they left him nothing else, neither food nor +water, and it was in the middle of summer. Karieteyn, the nearest place, +was about forty miles off, and he was lame with a blow he had received. +However, when the robbers were gone, he set out in that direction, and +managed to walk on till night and the next day, till he got to a ruin +called Kasr el Hayr where he fell down senseless under the shade, and lay +for twenty-four hours unable to move, and suffering agonies from thirst. +At last, when he had said to himself, “now I shall have to die,” a party +of camel men from Sokhne came by and found him lying there. At first +they took him for a slave, for the sun had burnt him black, and his +tongue was dried so that he could not speak. Fortunately one of the +party recognised him, and then they gave him water. He still could give +no account of himself, but they put him on a donkey and brought him with +them to Tudmur. + +Our own story was the one of our quarrel with Abunjad and our rush from +Akaba to Gaza, when we so nearly perished of thirst. + +The year would have begun prosperously, but for a severe cold Wilfrid has +caught. He has lost his voice. + +_January_ 2.—A hard frost—water frozen in the pail. Reached the wells of +Shaybeh at half-past eight and watered the camels—water very +brackish—level by aneroid 1950, depth to surface of water twelve feet. +Got into a sort of track, part of the morning, but one evidently not +frequented. At one o’clock came to another well, near a curious rock +which at first we took for a castle. We have now crossed the wady and +are on its western bank. Passed a ruined house of no great antiquity +called Abu Kasr and another well near it, and at half-past four have +encamped under some sand hills, crowned with ghada, a delightful spot not +far from a fourth well called Bir el-Jerawi—level by barometer 1840. +Wilfrid has recovered his voice but still has a bad cold. I am as lame +as ever, though in less pain. I sometimes think I shall never be able to +walk again. + +_Friday_, _January_ 3.—We have had an adventure at last and a +disagreeable one; a severe lesson as to the danger of encamping near +wells. We started early, but were delayed a whole hour at Jerawi taking +water, and did not leave the wells till nearly eight o’clock. Then we +turned back nearly due east across the wady. The soil of pure white sand +was heavy going, and we went slowly, crossing low undulations without +other landmark than the tells we had left behind us. Here and there rose +little mounds tufted with ghada. To one of these Wilfrid and I cantered +on, leaving the camels behind us, and dismounting, tied our mares to the +bushes that we might enjoy a few minutes’ rest, and eat our midday +mouthful—the greyhounds meanwhile played about and chased each other in +the sand. We had finished, and were talking of I know not what, when the +camels passed us. They were hardly a couple of hundred yards in front +when suddenly we heard a thud, thud, thud on the sand, a sound of +galloping. Wilfrid jumped to his feet, looked round and called out, “Get +on your mare. This is a ghazú.” As I scrambled round the bush to my +mare I saw a troop of horsemen charging down at full gallop with their +lances, not two hundred yards off. Wilfrid was up as he spoke, and so +should I have been, but for my sprained knee and the deep sand, both of +which gave way as I was rising. I fell back. There was no time to think +and I had hardly struggled to my feet, when the enemy was upon us, and I +was knocked down by a spear. Then they all turned on Wilfrid, who had +waited for me, some of them jumping down on foot to get hold of his +mare’s halter. He had my gun with him, which I had just before handed to +him, but unloaded; his own gun and his sword being on his delúl. He +fortunately had on very thick clothes, two abbas one over the other, and +English clothes underneath, so the lances did him no harm. At last his +assailants managed to get his gun from him and broke it over his head, +hitting him three times and smashing the stock. Resistance seemed to me +useless, and I shouted to the nearest horseman, “_ana dahílak_” (I am +under your protection), the usual form of surrender. Wilfrid hearing +this, and thinking he had had enough of this unequal contest, one against +twelve, threw himself off his mare. The _khayal_ (horsemen) having +seized both the mares, paused, and as soon as they had gathered breath, +began to ask us who we were and where we came from. “English, and we +have come from Damascus,” we replied, “and our camels are close by. Come +with us, and you shall hear about it.” Our caravan, while all this had +happened, and it only lasted about five minutes, had formed itself into a +square and the camels were kneeling down, as we could plainly see from +where we were. I hardly expected the horsemen to do as we asked, but the +man who seemed to be their leader at once let us walk on (a process +causing me acute pain), and followed with the others to the caravan. We +found Mohammed and the rest of our party entrenched behind the camels +with their guns pointed, and as we approached, Mohammed stepped out and +came forward. “Min entum?” (who are you?) was the first question. +“Roala min Ibn Debaa.” “Wallah? will you swear by God?” “Wallah! we +swear.” “And you?” “Mohammed ibn Arûk of Tudmur.” “Wallah?” “Wallah!” +“And these are Franjis travelling with you?” “Wallah! Franjis, friends +of Ibn Shaalan.” + + [Picture: Ghazú in the Wady Sirhán] + +It was all right, we had fallen into the hands of friends. Ibn Shaalan, +our host of last year, was bound to protect us, even so far away in the +desert, and none of his people dared meddle with us, knowing this. +Besides, Mohammed was a Tudmuri, and as such could not be molested by +Roala, for Tudmur pays tribute to Ibn Shaalan, and the Tudmuris have a +right to his protection. So, as soon as the circumstances were made +clear, orders were given by the chief of the party to his followers to +bring back our mares, and the gun, and everything which had been dropped +in the scuffle. Even to Wilfrid’s tobacco bag, all was restored. The +young fellows who had taken the mares made rather wry faces, bitterly +lamenting their bad fortune in finding us friends. “Ah the beautiful +mares,” they said, “and the beautiful gun.” But Arabs are always +good-humoured, whatever else their faults, and presently we were all on +very good terms, sitting in a circle on the sand, eating dates and +passing round the pipe of peace. They were now our guests. + +What struck us as strange in all this was, the ready good faith with +which they believed every word we said. We had spoken the truth, but why +did they trust us? They knew neither us nor Mohammed; yet they had taken +our word that we were friends, when they might so easily have ridden off +without question with our property. Nobody would ever have heard of it, +or known who they were. + +It appears that Ibn Debaa (hyæna), the Sheykh, and his friends were a +small party in advance of the main body of the Roala. They had come on +to see what pasturage there might be in the wady, and had there camped +only a few miles from the wells of El Jerawi near which we slept last +night. They had come in the morning for water, and had seen our tracks +in the sand, and so had followed, riding in hot haste to overtake us. It +was a mere accident their finding us separated from the rest of the +caravan, and they had charged down as soon as they saw us. Everything +depends on rapidity in these attacks, and this had been quite successful +The least hesitation on their part, and we should have been safe with our +camels. There they could not have molested us, for though they were +twelve to our eight, they had only lances, while we carried firearms. We +liked the look of these young Roala. In spite of their rough behaviour, +we could see that they were gentlemen. They were very much ashamed of +having used their spears against me, and made profuse apologies; they +only saw a person wearing a cloak, and never suspected but that it +belonged to a man. Indeed their mistake is not a matter for surprise, +for they were so out of breath and excited with their gallop, that they +looked at nothing except the object of their desire—the mares. The loss +of these, however, I fear, was to them a cause of greater sorrow than the +rough handling to which we had been treated, when, after explanations +given and regrets interchanged, they rode away. Mohammed was anxious not +to detain them, prudently considering that our acquaintance with them had +gone far enough, and it was plain that Awwad was in a terrible fidget. I +fancy he has a good many debts of blood owing him, and is somewhat shy of +strangers. The others, too, were rather subdued and silent; so we wished +Ibn Debaa farewell and let him go. + +The mares belonging to this ghazú were small, compact, and active, with +especially good shoulders and fine heads, but they were of a more +poneyish type than our own Ánazeh mares. Most of them were bay. One I +saw was ridden in a bit. + +When the Roala were gone we compared notes. In the first place, +Wilfrid’s hurts were examined, but they are only contusions. The thick +rope he wears round his head had received all the blows, and though the +stock of the gun is clean broken, steel and all, his head is still sound. +The lances could not get through his clothes. As regards myself the only +injury I have received is the renewal of my sprain. But I could almost +forget the pain of it in my anger at it, as being the cause of our being +caught. But for this we might have galloped away to our camels and +received the enemy in quite another fashion. I was asked if I was not +frightened, but in fact there was at first no time, and afterwards rage +swallowed up every other feeling. Wilfrid says, but I do not believe +him, that he felt frightened, and was very near running away and leaving +me, but on reflection stayed. The affair seems more alarming now it is +over, which is perhaps natural. + +As to the others, Mohammed is terribly crestfallen at the not very heroic +part he took in the action. The purely defensive attitude of the caravan +was no doubt prudent; but it seemed hardly up to the ideal of chivalry +Mohammed has always professed. He keeps on reproaching himself, but we +tell him that he did quite right. It was certainly our own fault that we +were surprised in this way, and if the enemy, as they might have been, +had really been robbers and outlaws, our safety depended on our having +the caravan intact as a fortress to return to after being robbed. To +have rushed forward in disorder to help us would have exposed the whole +caravan to a defeat, which in so desolate a region as this would mean +nothing less than dying of cold and starvation. + +We may indeed be very thankful that matters were no worse. I shall never +again dismount while I remain crippled, and never as long as I live, will +I tie my horse to a bush. + +Many vows of sheep, it appears, were made by all the party of spectators +during the action, so we are to have a feast at Jôf—if ever we get there. + +Now all is quiet, and Hamdán the Sherâri is singing the loves of a young +man and maiden who were separated from one another by mischief-makers, +and afterwards managed to carry on a correspondence by tying their +letters to their goats when these went out to pasture + +_January_ 4.—There was no dawdling this morning, for everybody has become +serious, and we were off by seven, and have marched steadily on for quite +thirty miles without stopping, at the rate of three-and-a-half miles an +hour. We have left the Wady Sirhán for good, and are making a straight +cut across the Hamád for Jôf. There is no water this way, but less +chance of ghazús. The soil has been a light hard gravel, with hardly a +plant or an inequality to interfere with the camels’ pace. At one +o’clock we came to some hills of sandstone faced with iron, the beginning +of the broken ground in which, they say, Jôf stands. We had been +gradually ascending all day, and as we reached that, the highest point of +our route, the barometer marked 2660 feet. Here we found a number of +little pits, used, so Hamdán explained, for collecting and winnowing +_semh_, a little red grain which grows wild in this part of the desert, +and is used by the Jôf people for food. + +A little later we sighted two men on a delúl, the first people we have +seen, except the ghazú, since leaving Kâf. Wilfrid and Mohammed galloped +up to see what they were, and Mohammed, to atone I suppose for his +inertness on a recent occasion, fired several shots, and succeeded in +frightening them out of their wits. They were quite poor people, dressed +only in old shirts, and they had a skin of dates on one side the camel +and a skin of water on the other. They were out, they said, to look for +a man who had been lost in the Wady Sirhán, one of the men sent by Ibn +Rashid to Kâf for the tribute. He had been taken ill, and had stopped +behind his companions, and nobody had seen him since. They had been sent +out by the governor of Jôf to look for him. They said that we were only +a few hours from the town. + +Meanwhile, I had remained with our camels, listening to the remarks of +Awwad and Hamdán, both dying with curiosity about the two zellems from +Jôf. At last Awwad could wait no longer, and begged Hamdán to go with +him. They both jumped down from the camels they were riding, and set off +as hard as they could run to meet the Jôfi, who by this time had +proceeded on their way, while Wilfrid and Mohammed were returning. +Wilfrid on arriving held out to me a handful of the best dates I have +ever eaten, which the men had given him. The Sherâri and Awwad presently +came back with no dates, but a great deal of Jôf gossip. + +We are encamped this evening near some curious tells of red, yellow, and +purple sandstone, a formation exactly similar to parts of the Sinai +peninsula. There is a splendid view to the south, and we can see far +away a blue line of hills {110} which, they tell us, are beyond Jôf at +the edge of the Nefúd! + +We have been questioning Hamdán about his tribe, the Sherarât, and he +gives the following as their principal sections:— + +El Hueymreh Sheykh El Hawi. +El Helesseh ,, Ibn Hedayaja. +El Khayâli ,, Zeyd el Werdi. +Shemalat ,, Fathal el Dendeh. + +The Sherarât have no horses, but breed the finest dromedaries in Arabia. +Their best breed is called _Benat Udeyhan_, (daughters of Udeyhan). With +a Bint Udeyhan, he says, that if you started from where we now are at +sunset, you would be to-morrow at sunrise at Kâf, a distance of a hundred +and eighty miles. A thief not long ago stole a Sherâri delúl at Mezárib, +and rode it all the way to Haïl in seven days and nights! + +_January_ 5.—A long wearisome ride of twenty-two miles, always expecting +to see Jôf, and always disappointed. The ground broken up into fantastic +hills and ridges, but on a lower level than yesterday, descending in fact +all day. Every now and then we caught sight of the Wady Sirhán far away +to the right, with blue hills beyond it, but in front of us there seemed +an endless succession of rocky ridges. At last from the top of one of +these there became visible a black outline, standing darkly out against +the yellow confusion of sandstone hills and barren wadys, which we knew +must be the castle of Marid. It looked a really imposing fortress, +though dreary enough in the middle of this desolation. Towards this we +pushed on, eager for a nearer view. Then we came to a natural causeway +of white rock, which Awwad and Hamdán both affirmed to be a continuation +of the Roman road from Salkhad. We should have liked to believe this, +but it was too clear that the road was one made by nature. Along this we +travelled for some miles till it disappeared. All of a sudden we came as +it were to the edge of a basin, and there, close under us, lay a large +oasis of palms, surrounded by a wall with towers at intervals, and a +little town clustering round the black castle. We were at Jôf. + + [Picture: The castle of Jôf] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + And Laban said to him, “Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.” And + he abode with him the space of a month.—BOOK OF GENESIS. + +The Jôf oasis—We are entertained by Ibn Rashid’s lieutenant—A haunch of +wild cow—Dancing in the castle—Prayers—We go on to Meskakeh. + +JÔF is not at all what we expected. We thought we should find it a large +cultivated district, and it turns out to be merely a small town. There +is nothing at all outside the walls except a few square patches, half an +acre or so each, green with young corn. These are watered from wells, +and irrigated just like the gardens inside the walls, with little +water-courses carefully traced in patterns, like a jam tart. The whole +basin of Jôf is indeed barely three miles across at its widest, and +looks, what it no doubt is, the empty basin of a little inland sea. How, +or when, or why, it was originally dried up, is beyond me to guess (one +can only say with Mohammed, it is “min Allah”); but the proofs of its +pelagic origin are apparent everywhere. It looks lower than the rest of +the Wady Sirhán, with which it probably communicates; and we thought at +first that it might have been the last water-hole, as it were, of the sea +when it dried up. But this is not really the case, as its lowest part is +exactly on a level with all the hollows of the wady. Its wells are +between 1800 and 1900 feet above the sea. They are shallow, only a few +feet from the surface, and the water is drawn by camels pulling a long +rope with a bucket, which empties itself as it reaches the surface into a +kind of trough. The town, with its gardens, all encircled by a mud wall +ten feet high, is about two miles long from north to south, and half a +mile across. The rest of the plain is nearly a dead flat of sand, with +here and there a patch of hard ground, sandy clay, where the water +collects when it rains, and salt is left when it dries up. + +Wherever a well has been sunk, a little garden has been made, fenced in +with a wall, and planted with palms. There are perhaps a dozen of these +outlying farms occupying two or three acres each. In one place there are +four or five houses with their gardens together, which have the look of a +village. The whole of the basin, except these oases, is dazzlingly +white, showing the palm groves as black patches on its surface. Jôf +itself contains not more than six hundred houses, square boxes of mud, +clustering, most of them, round the ruin of Marid, but not all, for there +are half a dozen separate clusters in different parts of the grove. Many +of these houses have a kind of tower, or upper storey, and there are +small towers at irregular intervals all round the outer wall. The chief +feature of the town, besides Marid, is a new castle just outside the +_enceinte_, inhabited by Ibn Rashid’s lieutenant. It stands on rising +ground, and is an imposing building, square, with battlemented walls +forty feet high, flanked with round and square towers tapering upwards +twenty feet higher than the rest. It has no windows, only holes to shoot +from; and each tower has several excrescences like hoods (machicoulis) +for the same purpose. + +There is nothing like a bazaar in Jôf, nor even streets, as one generally +understands the word, only a number of narrow tortuous lanes, with mud +walls on either side. As we rode into the town, we found the lanes +crowded with armed men, all carrying swords in the way we had seen at +Kâf, dark-visaged and, we thought, not very pleased to see us. They +answered our “salaam aleykum” simply, without moving, and let us pass on +without any particular demonstration of hospitality. To suppose them +indifferent, however, was a mistake; their apparent coldness was only +Arab formality, and when Mohammed began to inquire after the house of his +relations, they very civilly pointed out the way, and one or two of them +came with us. We were led down a number of narrow byways, and through +the palm-gardens to the other side of the town, and then out by another +gate beyond to one of the isolated farms we had seen from the cliff. It +was close by, not a quarter of a mile, and in a few minutes more we had +dismounted, and were being hospitably entertained in the tidy kahwah of +Huseyn’s house. + +What Huseyn’s exact relationship is to Mohammed, I have not yet been able +to discover—Mohammed himself hardly knows—but here it is evident that any +consanguinity, however slight, is considered of high importance. We were +no sooner seated by Huseyn’s fire, watching the coffee roasting, than +another relation arrived, attracted by the news of our arrival, and then +another, both loud in their expostulations at our having accepted +Huseyn’s hospitality, not theirs. Mohammed was kissed and hugged, and it +was all he could do to pacify these injured relatives by promising to +stay a week with each, as soon as our visit to Huseyn should be over. +Blood here is indeed thicker than water. The sudden appearance of a +twentieth cousin is enough to set everybody by the ears. + +A lamb has been killed, and we have each had the luxury of a bath in our +own tent, and a thorough change of raiment. The tent is pitched in a +little palm garden behind the house, and we are quite at peace, and able +to think over all that has happened, and make our plans for the future. + +_January_ 6.—Last night, while we were sitting drinking coffee for the +ninth or tenth time since our arrival, two young men came into the kahwah +and sat down. They were very gaily dressed in silk jibbehs, and +embroidered shirts under their drab woollen abbas. They wore red cotton +kefiyehs on their heads, bound with white rope, and their swords were +silver-hilted. Everyone in the kahwah stood up as they entered, and we +both thought them to be the sons of the Sheykh, or some great personage +at Jôf. Wilfrid whispered a question about them to Huseyn, who laughed +and said they were not sons of sheykhs, but “zellemet Ibn Rashid,” Ibn +Rashid’s men, in fact, his soldiers. The red kefiyeh, and the silver +hilted sword, was a kind of uniform. They had come, as it presently +appeared, from Dowass, the acting governor of Jôf, to invite us to the +castle, and though we were sorry to leave Huseyn’s quiet garden and his +kind hospitality, we have thought it prudent to comply. Neither Huseyn +nor anyone else seemed to think it possible we could refuse, for Ibn +Rashid’s government is absolute at Jôf, and his lieutenant’s wishes are +treated as commands, not that there seems to be ill-feeling between the +garrison and the town; the soldiers we saw appear to be on good terms +with everybody, and are indeed so good-humoured, that it would be +difficult to quarrel with them. But Jôf is a conquered place, held +permanently in a state of siege, and the discipline maintained is very +strict. We have moved accordingly with all our camp to the precincts of +the official residence, and are encamped just under its walls. The kasr, +which, as I have said, is outside the town, was built about twelve years +ago by Metaab ibn Rashid, brother of the Emir Tellál (Mr. Palgrave’s +friend), and though so modern a construction, has a perfectly mediæval +look, for architecture never changes in Arabia. It is a very picturesque +building with its four high towers at the corners, pierced with +loopholes, but without windows. There is one only door, and that a small +one in an angle of the wall, and it is always kept locked. Inside it the +entrance turns and twists about, and then there is a small court-yard +surrounded by the high walls, and a kahwah, besides a few other small +rooms, all dark and gloomy like dungeons. Here the deputy governor lives +with six soldiers, young men from Haïl, who, between them, govern and +garrison and do the police work of Jôf. The governor himself is away +just now at Meskakeh, the other small town included in the Jôf district, +about twenty miles from here. He is a negro slave, we are told, but a +person of great consequence, and a personal friend of the Emir. + +Jôf, as far as we have been able to learn through Mohammed, for we don’t +like to ask too many questions ourselves, was formally an appanage of the +Ibn Shaalans, Sheykhs of the Roala, and it still pays tribute to Sotamm; +but about twenty years ago Metaab ibn Rashid conquered it, and it has +ever since been treated as part of Nejd. There have been one or two +insurrections, but they have been vigorously put down, and the Jôfi are +now afraid of stirring a finger against the Emir. On the occasion of one +of these revolts, Metaab cut down a great many palm trees, and half +ruined the town, so they are obliged to wait and make the best of it. In +truth, the government can hardly be very oppressive. These six soldiers +with the best will in the world cannot do much bullying in a town of four +or five thousand inhabitants. They are all strong, active, good-humoured +young fellows, serving here for a year at a time, and then being +relieved. They are volunteers, and do not get pay, but have, I suppose, +some advantages when they have done their service. They seem quite +devoted to the Emir. + +Four years ago, they tell us, the Turkish Governor of Damascus sent a +military expedition against Jôf (the same we heard of at Kâf), and held +it for a few months; but Ibn Rashid complained to the Sultan of this, and +threatened to turn them out and to discontinue the tribute he pays to the +Sherif of Medina if the troops were not withdrawn, so they had to go +back. This tribute is paid by the Emir on account of his outlying +possessions, such as Kâf, Teyma, and Jôf, which the Turks have on various +occasions attempted to meddle with. He is, however, quite independent of +the Sultan, and acknowledges no suzerain anywhere. The greatness of Ibn +Saoud and the Wahhabis is now a thing of the past, and Mohammed ibn +Rashid is the most powerful ruler in Arabia. We hear a charming account +of Nejd, at least of the northern part of it. You may travel anywhere, +they say, from Jôf to Kasim without escort. The roads are safe +everywhere. A robbery has not been known on the Emir’s highway for many +years, and people found loafing about near the roads have their heads cut +off. Ibn Rashid allows no ghazús against travellers, and when he makes +war it is with his enemies. The Ibn Haddal and Ibn Majil are his +friends, but he is on bad terms with Sotamm and the Sebaa Sheykhs. + +There are two twelve pounder cannons of English make in the castle. They +are ancient pieces of no value, but were used, it appears, in the siege +of Jôf by Metaab. + +The Jôfi are of a different race from the Shammar of Nejd, being as mixed +in their origin almost as the Tudmuri or the villagers of the Euphrates. +Huseyn our first host here, tells us he belongs to the Taï, and that +others of his neighbours are Sirhán or Beni Laam. He is not really a +cousin of Mohammed’s, but a cousin’s cousin; the real cousins living at +Meskakeh. Though we were very comfortable with him, we are not less well +off here; and it is more interesting being at the kasr. Dowass, the +deputy governor, is a very amiable man, and all his soldiers are +exceedingly civil and obliging. They are a cheerful set of people, +talking openly about everything with us, politics and all. They assure +us Ibn Rashid will be delighted to see us, but we must see Jôhar, the +black governor, first. There are several real slaves in the fort, but no +women. The soldiers leave their wives behind at Haïl when they go away +on service. There are no horses in Jôf, except one two-year-old colt +belonging to Dubejeh, one of the soldiers, who all admire our _shagra_ +(chestnut mare) amazingly, saying that there is nothing in Nejd so +beautiful. Neither are there any beasts of burden, not even asses. The +few camels there are in the town are kept for drawing water; and the only +other four-footed creatures I have seen are a few goats and three +half-starved cows at the kasr. There is not an atom of vegetation within +miles of Jôf, and the camels and these cows have to eat chopped straw and +refuse dates. + + [Picture: The Oasis of Jôf] + +Our dinner to-day consisted of a lamb and three other dishes—one a sort +of paste like the paste used for pasting paper, another merely rancid +butter with chopped onions, and the third, bread sopped in water—all +nasty except the lamb. There was, however, afterwards an extra course +brought to us as a surprise, a fillet of “wild cow” (probably an +antelope) from the Nefûd, baked in the ashes, one of the best meats I +ever tasted. + +In the evening we had an entertainment of dancing and singing, in which +Dowass, as well as the soldiers, took part. They performed a kind of +sword dance, one performer beating on a drum made of palm wood and horse +hide, while the rest held their swords over their shoulders and chaunted +in solemn measure, dancing as solemnly. Occasionally the swords were +brandished, and then there was a scream very like what may be heard in +the hunting-field at home. Once or twice there was a distinct who-whoop, +exactly in the proper key, and with the proper emphasis. The tunes were +many of them striking, after the manner of Arabian music. One of them +ran thus:— + + [Picture: A line of musical notes] + +The dancing ended, a huge bowl of date molasses (dibs) and juice from +_trengs_ (a gigantic sort of lemon) was mixed; and surprising quantities +of this temperance liquid drunk. Now we are quiet, outside the castle, +which is locked up for the night, and are at liberty to write or make +sketches by moonlight, things we dare not do in the daytime. + +_January_ 7.—Hamdán, our Sherâri guide, who had disappeared, returned +this morning furtively for the balance of pay due to him. He says he is +afraid of the people at the castle, and cannot stay with us. + +A messenger has come from Meskakeh with an invitation from Jóhar for us, +so we are going on there to-morrow. We are not, however, to stay with +Jóhar, as he has no house of his own there, but with our relations, the +Ibn Arûks, who have at last been really discovered. Nassr ibn Arûk, the +head of the family, hearing of our arrival, has sent his son with every +sort of polite message, and it is to his house we shall go. The young +man is modest, and well-mannered, without pretension, honest and +straightforward, if one can read anything in faces; and evidently much +impressed with the honour done him by our intended visit. + +We have been making calls all the morning, first on our former host, +Huseyn el-Kelb, and the other relatives, and then on one or two notables +of the town. Huseyn says that the Beyt Habûb, mentioned by Mr. Palgrave, +exists, but that the noblest of all the families is that of Mehsin ibn +Dirra, formerly Sheykh of Jôf, but now reduced to the condition of one of +the Emir’s subjects. Ibn Dirra is not (Mohammed tells us) by any means +pleased at the political changes in Jôf; but he is afraid to show more +than a half-smothered discontent, for Mohammed ibn Rashid keeps a hostage +for his good conduct in the person of his eldest son. This youth resides +at Haïl, where he is not exactly a prisoner, but cannot return to his +friends. At all the houses we were fed and entertained, having to drink +endless cups of coffee flavoured with cloves (heyl), and eat innumerable +dates, the _helwet el Jôf_, which they say here are the best in Arabia; +they are of excellent flavour, but too sweet and too sticky for general +use. The people of Jôf live almost entirely on dates; not, however, on +the _helwet_, which are not by any means the common sort. There are as +many varieties here of dates as of apples in our orchards, and quite as +different from each other. The kind we prefer for ordinary eating is +light coloured, crisp, and rounder than the helwet; while these are +shapeless, and of the colour of a horse chestnut. It is a great mistake +to suppose that dates are better for being freshly gathered; on the +contrary, they mellow with keeping. The sweeter kinds contain so much +sugar, that when placed in an open dish they half dissolve into a syrup, +in which the sugar forms in large lumps. I have no doubt that regular +sugar could be manufactured from them. + +The coffee making is much the same process here as among the Bedouins of +the north, except that it is more tedious. First, there is an +interminable sorting of the beans, which are smaller and lighter in +colour than what one gets in Europe; then, after roasting, a long +pounding in a mortar, though the coffee is never pounded quite fine; then +an extraordinary amount of washing and rinsing of coffee-pots, five or +six of them; and lastly, the actual boiling, which is done three times. +The Jôf mortars are very handsome, of red sandstone, the common stone of +the country, and are, I believe, an article of export. I should like to +take one away with me but they are too heavy, a quarter of a camel load +each. The design on them is simple but handsome, and I should not be +surprised if it were very ancient. The only other manufactures of Jôf +that I heard of, are cartridge belts and woollen abbas. The former are +showy and tipped with silver, and all the servants have purchased them; +the latter are made of wool brought from Bagdad. Awwad bought one for +six and a half mejidies. + +We next had a look at the castle of Marid, the only building of stone in +Jôf. Its construction dates, I should say, from mediæval times, +certainly it is not classic, and it has no particular feature to make it +interesting. It looks best at a distance. I find the map places it a +long way from Jôf, but in reality it is within the walls of the town, on +the western edge. It stands about 2000 feet above the sea. + +While sitting in Ibn Dirra’s house, we saw an instance of Ibn Rashid’s +paternal government, and the first sign of Wahhabism. The midday prayer +was called from the roof of the mosque close by, for there is no minaret +in Jôf, but for some time nobody seemed inclined to move, taking our +visit as an excuse. Then an old man with a sour face began lecturing the +younger ones, and telling them to get up and go to pray, and finding +precept of no avail, at last gave them the example. Still the main body +of the guests sat on, till suddenly up jumped the two young soldiers who +had come with us, and shouting “kum, kum,” get up, get up, set to with +the flats of their swords on the rest and so drove them to the mosque, +all but our host, whose position as such made him sacred from assault. +It is very evident that religion is not appreciated here, and except the +sour looking old man nobody seemed to take the praying seriously, for the +soldiers when they had done their duty of driving in the others, came +back without ceremony from the mosque. The outward show of religion does +not seem natural among the Arabs. + +Another sword dance to-night, and another carouse on lemonade. + +_January_ 8.—A cloudy, almost foggy morning, and a shower of rain. We +wished Dowass and his soldiers good-bye, and they really seemed sorry to +part with us. They are extraordinarily good-tempered, honest people, and +have treated us with great kindness. Dowass’s last attention to me was +the present of an enormous treng as big as a large cocoanut. The trengs +are sour not sweet lemons, but they have a rind an inch thick, sweet +enough to be eaten though very woolly. + +Meskakeh, where we have come to-day, is about twenty miles from Jôf, and +there is a well-beaten track between the two places. We were a rather +numerous party, as several Jôfi came with us for company, and we have +Areybi ibn Arûk, Nassr’s son, and another Arûk, a cousin of his, and a +man with a gun who is by way of going on with us to Haïl. All the party +but ourselves were on foot, for the Jôfi never ride, having neither +horses nor camels nor even donkeys. One of the men had with him an +ostrich eggshell slung in a sort of network, and used like a gourd to +hold water. He told me that ostriches are common in the Nefûd, which is +now close by. The scenery all the way was fantastic, sometimes +picturesque. First we crossed the punchbowl of Jôf to the other side, +passing several ruined farms, the ground absolutely barren, and the +lowest part of it covered with salt. The whole of this depression is but +a mile across. Then our road rose suddenly a hundred feet up a steep +bank of sand, and then again a hundred and sixty feet over some stony +ridges, descending again to cross a subbkha with a fringe of tamarisks +just now in flower, then tracts of fine ironstone gravel, +undistinguishable from sheep’s droppings. About two hours from Jôf is a +large water-hole, which the Jôfi call a spring, the water about eight +feet below ground. In the wadys where water had flowed (for it rained +here about a month ago), there were bright green bulbous plants with +crocus flowers, giving a false look of fertility. In other places there +were curious mushroom rocks of pink sandstone topped with iron, and in +the distance northwards several fine masses of hill, Jebel Hammamíyeh or +the pigeon mountains being the most remarkable. These may have been a +thousand feet higher than Jôf. Far beyond, to the north-east and east, +there ran a level line of horizon at about an equal height, the edge of +the Hamád, for all the country we have been crossing is within the area +of the ancient sea, which, we suppose, must have included the Wady +Sirhán, Jôf and Meskakeh. + +On one of the rocks I noticed an inscription, or rather pictures of +camels and horses, cut on a flat surface about five feet across. We +could not, however, under the circumstances, copy it. + +Meskakeh, though not the seat of Jóhar’s government, is a larger town +than Jôf—seven hundred houses they say, and palm gardens at least twice +as extensive as the other’s. The position of the two towns is much the +same, a broad hollow surrounded by cliffs of sandstone, but the Meskakeh +basin is less regular, and is broken up with sandhills and outlying tells +of rock. Meskakeh, like Jôf, has an ancient citadel perched on a cliff +about a hundred feet high, and dominating the town. The town itself is +irregularly built, and has no continuous wall round its gardens. There +are many detached gardens and groups of houses, and these have not been +ruined as those of Jôf have been by recent wars. Altogether, it has an +exceedingly flourishing look, not an acre of irrigable land left +unplanted. Everything is neat and clean, the walls fresh battlemented, +and every house trim as if newly built. The little square plots of +barley are surrounded each by its hedge of wattled palm branches, and the +streets and lanes are scrupulously tidy. Through these we rode without +stopping, and on two miles beyond, to Nassr’s farm. We are now in the +bosom of the Ibn Arûk family, after all no myth, but a hospitable +reality, receiving us with open arms, as if they had been expecting us +every day for the last hundred years. They know the Ibn Arûk ballad and +Mohammed’s genealogy far better than he knows it himself, so for the time +at least we may hope to be in clover, and if after all we get no further, +we may feel that we have travelled not quite in vain. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + “And Leah was tender eyed but Rachel was beautiful.”—BOOK OF GENESIS. + +The Ibn Arûks of Jôf—Mohammed contracts a matrimonial alliance—Leah and +Rachel.—We cheapen the bride’s dower—A negro governor and his suite—A +thunder-storm. + +WE stayed three days with Nassr and his sons, and his sons’ wives and +their children, in their quiet farm house. It was a rest which we much +needed, and proved besides to be an interesting experience, and an +excellent opportunity of learning more of Arab domestic life than we had +done on our previous journeys. Not that the Ibn Arûks of Meskakeh are in +themselves of any particular interest. Like their relations of Tudmur, +they have been too long settled down as mere townspeople, marrying the +daughters of the land, and adopting many of the sordid town notions, but +they were honest and kind-hearted, and the traditions of their origin, +still religiously preserved, cast an occasional gleam of something like +romance on their otherwise matter of fact lives. Nassr, the best of the +elder generation, resembled some small Scottish laird, poor and +penurious, but aware of having better blood in his veins than his +neighbours—one whose thought, every day in the year but one, is of how to +save sixpence, but who on that one day shows himself to be a gentleman, +and the head of a house. His sons were quiet, modest, and unpretending, +and, like most young Arabs, more romantically inclined than their father. +They even had a certain appreciation of chivalrous ideas; especially +Turki, the elder, in whom the Bedouin blood and Bedouin traditions +predominated almost to the exclusion of commercial instincts, while in +his brother Areybi, these latter more than counterbalanced the former. +We liked both the brothers, of course preferring Turki, with whom Wilfrid +made great friends. + +Mohammed is less distantly related to these people than I had supposed. +His ancestor, Ali ibn Arûk, was one of the three brothers who, in +consequence of a blood feud, or, as Wilfrid thinks more likely, to escape +the Wahhabi tyranny of a hundred years ago, left Aared in Nejd, and came +north as far as Tudmur, where Ali married and remained. Another brother, +Abd el-Kader ibn Arûk, had stopped at Jôf, settled there, and became +Nassr’s grandfather. As to the third, Mutlakh, the descendants of the +two former know nothing of his fate, except that, liking neither Tudmur +nor Jôf he returned towards Nejd. Some vague report of his death reached +them, but nobody can tell when or how he died. Nassr came from Jôf to +Meskakeh not many years ago. + +Nassr is now the head of the family, at least of that branch of it which +inhabits the Meskakeh oasis. But there lives in an adjoining house to +his, his first cousin, Jazi ibn Arûk, brother to our friend Merzuga, and +father to two pretty daughters. These, with a few other relations, make +up a pleasant little family party, all living in their outlying farm +together. + +Of course our first thought on coming amongst them was for a wife for +Mohammed, at whose request I took an early opportunity of making +acquaintance with the women of the family. I found them all very +friendly and amiable, and some of them intelligent. Most of the younger +ones were good looking. The most important person in the harim was +Nassr’s wife, a little old lady named Shemma (candle), thin and wizened, +and wrinkled, with long grey locks, and the weak eyes of extreme old age; +and, though she can have been hardly more than sixty, she seemed to be +completely worn out. She was the mother of Turki and Areybi; and I had +heard from Mohammed that Nassr had never taken another wife but her. In +this, however, he was mistaken, for on my very first visit, she called in +a younger wife from the adjoining room, and introduced her at once to me. +The second wife came in with two little boys of two and three years old, +the eldest of whom (for they all have extraordinary names) is called +Mattrak, “stick;” in spite of which he seemed an amiable, good-tempered +child. In this he resembled his mother, whose respectful manner towards +her elder, Shemma, impressed me favourably; she had, besides, a really +beautiful face. The little boy, Mattrak, I recognised as a boy I had +seen in the morning with old Nassr in our garden, and supposed to be his +grandson. Nassr was doing his best to spoil the child, after the fashion +of old men among the Arabs. I had then given Mattrak a little red frock, +one I had bought for Sotamm’s boy, Mansur, when we thought we were going +to the Roala, and in this the child was now strutting about, showing off +his finery to two very pretty little girls, his sisters. These two ran +in and out during my visit, helping to bring bowls of dates, and to eat +the dates when brought. Next appeared Turki’s two wives, a pretty one +and a plain one, and Areybi’s one wife, pretty, and lately married. All +these seemed to be on better terms with one another than is usually the +case among mixed wives and daughters-in-law. They were extremely anxious +to please me, and I, of course, did my best to satisfy their hospitable +wishes about eating. They offered me dates of countless kinds,—dry ones +and sticky ones, sweet and less sweet, long dried ones, and newer ones, a +mass of pulp; it was impossible for one person to do justice to them all. + +Shemma treated all the young people with the air of one in authority, +though her tone with them was kind. She, however, spoke little, while +the others talked incessantly and asked all sorts of questions, requiring +more knowledge of Arabic than I possessed to answer. In the middle of +the visit, Nazzch, Nassr’s married daughter, own sister to Turki and +Areybi, arrived with her daughter, and an immense bowl of dates. She had +walked all the way from the town of Meskakeh, about three miles, carrying +this child, a fat heavy creature of four, as well as the dates, and came +in, panting and laughing, to see me. She was pleasant and lively, very +like her brother Turki in face, that is to say, good-tempered rather than +good-looking. Any one of these young ladies, seen on my first visit, +might have done for Mohammed’s project of marriage, but, unfortunately, +they were all either married or too young. I asked if there were no +young ladies already “out,” and was told that there were none in Nassr’s +house, but that his cousin Jazi had two grown-up daughters, not yet +married; so I held my peace till there should be an opportunity of seeing +them. + +Mohammed, in the meantime, had already begun to make inquiries on his own +account, and the first day of our visit was not over before he came to me +with a wonderful account of these very daughters of Jazi. There were +three of them, he declared, and all more beautiful each than the others, +Asr (afternoon), Hamú and Muttra—the first two unfortunately betrothed +already, but Muttra still obtainable. I could see that already he was +terribly in love, for with the Arabs, a very little goes a long way; and +never being allowed to see young ladies, they fall in love merely through +talking about them. He was very pressing that I should lose no time +about making my visit to their mother, and seemed to think that I had +been wasting my time sadly on the married cousin. Mohammed has all along +declared that he must be guided by my opinion. I shall know, he +pretends, at once, not only whether Muttra is pretty, but whether +good-tempered, likely to make a good wife. He had been calculating, he +said, and thought forty pounds would be asked as her dower. It is a +great deal to be sure, but then she was really “asil,” and the occasion +was a unique one—a daughter of Jazi!—a niece of Merzuga!—a girl of such +excellent family!—an Ibn Arûk! and Ibn Arûks were not to be had every +day!—forty pounds would hardly be too much. He trusted all to my +judgment—I had so much discernment, and had seen the wives and daughters +of all the Ánazeh Sheykhs; I should know what was what, and should not +make a mistake. Still, he would like Abdallah to go with me, just to spy +out things. Abdallah, as a relation, might be admitted to the door on +such an occasion, though he, Mohammed, of course could not; he might, +perhaps, even be allowed to see the girl, as it were, by accident. With +us, the Ibn Arûks, the wives and daughters are always veiled, a custom we +brought with us from Nejd, for we are not like the Bedouins; yet on so +important an occasion as this, of arranging a marriage, a man of a +certain age, a dependant, or a poor relation, is sometimes permitted to +see and report. I promised that I would do all I could to expedite the +matter. + +Accordingly, the next day Turki was sent for, and a word dropped to him +of the matter in hand, and he was forthwith dispatched to announce my +visit to the mother of the daughters of Jazi—Mohammed explaining, that it +was etiquette that the mother should be made acquainted with the object +of my visit, though not necessarily the daughters. Then we went to +Jazi’s house, Turki, Abdallah, and I. + +Jazi’s house is close to Nassr’s, only the garden wall dividing them, and +is still smaller than his, a poor place, I thought, to which to come for +a princess; but in Arabia one must never judge by externals. At the +door, among several women, stood Saad, Jazi’s eldest son, who showed us +through the courtyard to an inner room, absolutely dark, except for what +light might come in at the doorway. It is in Arabia that the expression +“to darken one’s door,” must have been invented, for windows there are +none in any of the smaller houses. There was a smell of goats about the +place, and it looked more like a stable than a parlour for reception. At +first I could see nothing, but I could hear Saad, who had plunged into +the darkness, shaking something in a corner, and as my eyes got +accustomed to the twilight, this proved to be a young lady, one of the +three that I had come to visit. It was Asr the second, a great, +good-looking girl, very like her cousin Areybi, with his short aquiline +nose and dark eyes. She came out to the light with a great show of +shyness and confusion, hiding her face in her hands, and turning away +even from me; nor would she answer anything to my attempts at +conversation. Then, all of a sudden, she broke away from us, and rushed +across the yard to another little den, where we found her with her mother +and her sister Muttra. I hardly knew what to make of all this, as +besides the shyness, I thought I could see that Asr really meant to be +rude, and the polite manners of her mother Haliyeh and her little sister +Muttra confirmed me in this idea. I liked Muttra’s face at once; she has +a particularly open, honest look, staring straight at one with her great +dark eyes like a fawn, and she has, too, a very bright fresh colour, and +a pleasant cheerful voice. I paid, then, little attention to Asr’s +rudeness, and asked the little girl to walk with me round their garden, +which she did, showing me the few things there were to be seen, and +explaining about the well, and the way they drew the water. The garden, +besides the palm trees, contained figs, apricots, and vines, and there +was a little plot of green barley, on which some kids were grazing. +Muttra told me that in summer they live on fruit, but that they never +preserve the apricots or figs, only the dates. I noticed several young +palm trees, always a sign of prosperity. The well was about ten feet +square at the top, and carefully faced with stone, the water being only a +few feet below the surface of the ground. Water, she told me, could be +found anywhere at Meskakeh by digging, and always at the same depth. I +was pleased with the intelligence Muttra showed in this conversation, and +pleased with her pretty ways and honest face, and decided in my own mind +without difficulty that Mohammed would be most fortunate if he obtained +her in marriage. It was promising, too, for their future happiness, to +remark that Haliyeh, the mother, seemed to be a sensible woman; only I +could not understand the strange behaviour of the elder sister Asr. +Abdallah, in the meanwhile, standing at the door, had made his notes, and +come to much the same conclusion as myself; so we returned with an +excellent report to give to the impatient suitor waiting outside. + +Mohammed’s eagerness was now very nearly spoiling the negotiation, for he +at once began to talk of his intended marriage; and the same thing +happened to him in consequence, which happened long ago to Jacob, the son +of Isaac. Jazi, imitating the conduct of Laban, and counting upon his +cousin’s anxiety to be married, first of all increased the dower from +forty pounds to sixty, and then endeavoured to substitute Leah for +Rachel, the ill-tempered Asr for the pretty Muttra. + +This was a severe blow to Mohammed’s hopes, and a general council was +called of all the family to discuss it and decide. The council met in +our tent, Wilfrid presiding; on one side sat Mohammed, with Nassr as head +of the house; on the other, Jazi and Saad, representing the bride, while +between them, a little shrivelled man knelt humbly on his knees, who was +no member of the family, but, we afterwards learned, a professional +go-between. Outside, the friends and more distant relations assembled, +Abdallah and Ibrahim Kasir, and half a dozen of the Ibn Arûks. These +began by sitting at a respectful distance, but as the discussion warmed, +edged closer and closer in, till every one of them had delivered himself +of an opinion. + +Mohammed himself was quite in a flutter, and very pale; and Wilfrid +conducted his case for him. It would be too long a story to mention all +the dispute, which sometimes was so warmly pressed, that negotiations +seemed on the point of being broken off. Jazi contended that it was +impossible he should give his younger daughter, while the elder ones +remained unmarried. “Hamú, it was true, was engaged, and of her there +was no question, but Asr, though engaged too, was really free; Jeruan, +the shock-headed son of Merzuga, to whom she was betrothed, was not the +husband for her. He was an imbecile, and Asr would never marry him. If +a girl declares that she will not marry her betrothed, she is not +engaged, and has still to seek a husband she likes. But this would not +do. We cited the instance of Jedaan’s marriage with an engaged girl, and +the unfortunate sequel, as proving that Jeruan’s consent was necessary +for Asr, and Mohammed chimed in, “Ya ibn ammi, ya Jazi, O Jazi! O son of +my uncle how could I do this thing, and sin against my cousin? How could +I take his bride? Surely this would be a shame to us all.” In fine, we +insisted that Muttra it should be or nobody, and Asr’s claim was +withdrawn. Still it was pleaded, Muttra was but a child, hardly fifteen, +and unfit for so great a journey as that to Tudmur. Where indeed was +Tudmur? who of all the Jôfi had ever been so far? Mohammed, however, +replied that if youth were an obstacle, a year or two would mend that. +He was content to wait for a year, or two, or even for three years, if +need were. He was an Ibn Arûk, and trained to patience. As to Tudmur, +it was far, but had we not just come thence, and could we not go back? +He would send one of his brothers at the proper time, with twenty men, +thirty, fifty, to escort her. So argued, the marriage project was at +last adopted, as far as Muttra was concerned. But the question of +“settlements” was not as easily got over. Here it was very nearly being +wrecked for good and all. Wilfrid had all along intended to pay the +dower for Mohammed, but he would not say so till the thing was settled, +and left Mohammed to fight out the question of jointure to as good a +bargain as they could make. This Mohammed was very capable of doing, +despite the infirmity of his heart, and strengthened by Abdallah, who +took a strictly commercial view of the whole transaction, a middle sum +was agreed on, and the conference broke up. + +Things, however, were not yet to go off quite smoothly. On the day +following, when I went with some little presents for the bride to Jazi’s +house, I was met at the door by Jazi himself, who received me, as I at +once perceived, with an embarrassed air, as also did Haliyeh, for both +she and a strange relation were sitting in the kahwah. To my questions +about Muttra short answers were given; and the conversation was at once +turned on “the weather and the crops,” or rather on that Arabian +substitute for it, a discussion about locusts. We had had a heavy +thunderstorm in the morning, for which all were thankful. It would bring +grass in the Nefûd, but the locusts there, never were so numerous as this +year. Again I asked about the girls, but again got no reply; and at +last, tired of their idle talk, and quite out of patience, I exclaimed, +“O Jazi, what is this? I trust that you—and you, O Haliyeh,—are pleased +at this connection with Mohammed.” To which he replied, in a sing-song +voice, “Inshallah, inshallah,” and Haliyeh repeated “Inshallah,” and the +stranger. I saw that something must be wrong, for it was no answer to my +question, and rose to go. Then Haliyeh went out with me into the yard, +and explained what had happened. Asr, it appeared, with her violent +temper, was frightening them all out of their wits. She would not hear +of her sister being married before herself, or making so much better a +match. Jeruan she despised, though he was Sheykh of Kâf; and she wanted +to marry the Sheykh of Tudmur herself. She had tormented old Jazi into +withdrawing his consent; and Muttra was afraid of her. What was to be +done? I said it was no use arguing about this over again; that if she +and her husband were really not able to manage their daughters, we must +look out elsewhere for Mohammed; that I hoped and trusted Asr would not +be so foolish as to stand in the way of her sister’s happiness, for it +would not profit her. This bad temper of hers made it more than ever +certain that she could not marry Mohammed, and, in fine, that the family +must make up their minds, yes or no, about Muttra, and at once, for we +were leaving Meskakeh presently, and must have the matter settled. I +then saw the two girls, and spoke to them in the same strain, and with +such effect that a few hours later, Mohammed, who had fallen into low +spirits about the affair, now came with a joyful countenance to say that +the marriage contract would be signed that evening. + +Signed, therefore, it was, though to the last moment difficulty on +difficulty was raised, and a lamentably haggling spirit displayed by all +except Turki in the matter of the dower. Fifty Turkish pounds was, +however, the sum ultimately fixed on; and Wilfrid refused curtly to +advance a beshlik beyond it, even to buy off a cousin who unaccountably +appeared on the scene and claimed his right to Muttra or an equivalent +for her in coin. It was not very dignified this chaffering about price; +and people do better in England, leaving such things to be settled by +their lawyers. + +Everything, however, was at last arranged, the marriage contract written +out and signed, and everybody made happy. Then the rest of the evening +was spent in jubilation. A kid was killed and eaten, songs sung, and +stories told, nor was, as might be expected, the Arûk ballad left out of +the programme. Nassr is a poet, and recited an ode impromptu for the +occasion. Among the guests were two pilgrims from Mecca—so at least they +called themselves—and some men who had run away from the Turkish +conscription in Syria. These feasted with the rest, as though they too +had been relations. And so ended Mohammed’s marriage negotiations. He +is to come back next year or send for Muttra; but for the present he is +to be content and wait. + +While this family arrangement was in progress, we had also on hand a more +important negotiation of our own, and that was to get the governor’s +permission for our journey on to Haïl. The first thing to be done was to +make friends with Jóhar, for all in this despotic country depends upon +his good will and pleasure; and if he had chosen to send us back to Kâf +by the Wady Sirhán, I do not know that we could have offered any +resistance. Jôf is not an easy place to get away from. It is more than +three hundred miles from the nearest point on the Euphrates, and without +the governor’s leave no one would have dared to travel a mile with us. +Accordingly, the day after our arrival at Meskakeh, we called on Jóhar, +who had been warned of our visit, and received us in state. + +Jóhar is a perfectly black negro, with repulsive African features; tall, +and very fat, and very vain. He had put on his finest clothes to receive +us, a number of gaudy silk jibbehs one over the other, a pair of sky-blue +trousers—things new to us in Arabia—a black and gold abba, and a purple +kefiyeh. His shirt was stiff with starch, and crackled every time he +moved. He carried a handsome gold-hilted sword, and looked altogether as +barbaric a despot as one need wish to see. He kept us waiting nearly ten +minutes in the kahwah, to add, I suppose, to his importance, and then +came in behind a procession of armed men, all of them well got up with +silver hilted swords, silver ornamented belts, and blue and red kefiyehs +bound with thick white aghals. He affected the affable, rather languid +air of a royal personage, passing from one subject of conversation to +another without transition, and occasionally asking explanations of our +remarks or questions from one or other of his attendants. It struck me +as eminently absurd to see this negro, who is still a slave, the centre +of an adulous group of white courtiers, for all these Arabs, noble as +many of them are in blood, were bowing down before him, ready to obey his +slightest wink and laugh at his poorest joke. After the first few +moments of dignified silence, Jóhar, as I have said, became affable, and +began asking the news. We had come from the north, and could tell him +all about the war. What was Sotamm doing and what was Ibn Smeyr,—the +latter evidently a hero with the Jôfi or rather with the Haïl people, for +they are not friends with Sotamm, and old Mohammed Dukhi is considered +Sotamm’s great rival. We were glad to be able to say that we had seen +Ibn Smeyr himself at Damascus not a month ago. Jóhar told us in return +of a report recently brought in to Meskakeh by some Sleb that the Roala +had been beaten in a fight with Mohammed Dukhi, and that Sotamm was +killed—a report we were sorry to hear. + +Then, but in a tone of minor interest, we were questioned about the +Sultan. He had made peace with the Muscov, Jóhar was glad to hear it. +Peace was a good thing, and now “inshallah es Sultan mabsutin,” “the +Sultan, let us hope, was pleased;” this with a mock sentimental, +patronising accent and a nasal twang in the voice, which was extremely +comic. A little whispering then took place between Mohammed and one of +the suite, which resulted in their going out together, to hand over to +Jóhar the presents we had brought for him. Mohammed was, I believe, +cross-questioned as to our position and the objects of our journey, and +answered, as it had been agreed beforehand he should do, that we were +going to Bussora to meet friends, and that we had come by way of Jôf to +avoid the sea-voyage. This, though of course not by any means the whole +truth, was true as far as it went, and was a story easily understood and +accepted by those to whom it was told. Mohammed added, moreover, that as +we had happened to pass through the Emir’s dominions, the English Beg was +anxious to pay his respects to Ibn Rashid at Haïl before going any +further, and begged Jóhar to give us the necessary guides. This, after +some discussion, and some coyness on the governor’s part, he consented to +do. His heart had been softened by the handsome clothes we had given +him, and I believe a small present in money was also talked of between +him and Mohammed. + +When we were summoned again to Jóhar’s presence, this time on the +house-top, we found the negro’s face wreathed in smiles, and our journey +being discussed as a settled matter. Carpets were then spread, and we +all sat down on the roof and had breakfast, boiled meat on rice, with a +sharp sauce to pour over the rice, and then after the usual washings and +el hamdu lillahs we retired, extremely pleased to get away from the flies +and the hot sun of Jóhar’s roof; and not a little thankful for the good +turn things had taken with us. As Wilfrid remarked, when we were well on +our mares again and riding home, Jóhar was just the picture of a +capricious despot, and one who, if he had been in a bad humour, might +have ordered our heads off, with no more ceremony than he had ordered +breakfast. Our last day at Meskakeh was a quiet one. + +_January_ 11.—Every morning since we have been here there has been a fog, +and to-day (Saturday), as I have already said, it has rained heavily. +The rain came with thunder and lightning, as I believe is almost always +the case in this part of the world. I am much surprised to learn, in +talking of the lightning, that nobody at Meskakeh has heard of people +being killed by it, and Mohammed confirms the statement made here, by +saying that the same is the case at Tudmur. He seemed astonished when I +asked him, at lightning being thought dangerous, and says that accidents +from it never occur in the desert. This is strange. The surface soil of +Meskakeh is very nearly pure sand, and the rain runs through it as +quickly as it falls, remaining only in a few hollows, where there is a +kind of sediment hard enough to hold it. + +In the afternoon the weather cleared, and we made a little expedition to +the top of the low tell just outside Nassr’s farm. The tell is of +sandstone rock, orange coloured below, but weathered black on the upper +surface. It is not more than a hundred feet high, but standing alone, it +commands a very extensive view, curious as all views in the Jôf district +are, and very pretty besides. In the fore-ground just below lay the +farm, a square walled enclosure of three or four acres, with its palms +and ithel trees, and its two low mud houses, and its wells, looking snug +and trim and well to do. Beyond, looking westwards, three other farms +were visible, spots of dark green in the broken wilderness of sand and +sandstone rock, and then behind them Meskakeh, only its palm-tops in +sight, and the dark mass of its citadel rising over them in fantastic +outline. The long line of the palm grove stretched far away to the +south, disappearing at last in a confused mass of sand-hills. These +specially attracted our notice, for they marked the commencement of the +Nefûd, not indeed the great Nefûd, but an outlying group of dunes tufted +with ghada, and not at all unlike those passed through by the Calais and +Boulogne railway. Our route, we know, lies across them, and we are to +start to-morrow. + +While I sat sketching this curious view, Wilfrid, who had climbed to the +top of a tall stone, crowning the hill, came back with the news that he +had discovered an inscription. We have been looking out, ever since our +arrival in the sandstone district, for traces of ancient writing, but +have hitherto found nothing except some doubtful scratches, and a few of +those simple designs one finds everywhere on the sandstone, representing +camels and gazelles. Here however, were three distinctly formed letters, +[Picture: Incised characters] two of them belonging to the Greek +alphabet. + +It was evident, too, by the colour of the incisions, that they had been +there for very many years. On these we have built a number of historical +conjectures relating to Meskakeh, and its condition in classical times. + +When we came home again, we found that Mohammed had been to make the last +arrangements with Jóhar for our journey. The great man had raised +objections at one point of the negotiations, but these had been settled +by a _dahab_ or gold piece, and he has now agreed to send a man with us, +a professional guide for crossing the Nefûd. It seems that there are two +lines by which Haïl may be reached, one of thirteen and the other of ten +days’ journey. The first is better suited, they say, for heavy laden +camels, as the sand is less deep, but we shall probably choose the +shorter route, if only for the sake of seeing the Nefûd at its worst. +For the Nefûd has been the object of our dreams all through this journey, +as the _ne plus ultra_ of desert in the world. We hear wonderful +accounts of it here, and of the people who have been lost in it. This +ten days’ journey represents something like two hundred miles, and there +are only two wells on the way, one on the second, and another on the +eighth day. The guide will bring his own camel, and carry a couple of +waterskins, and we have bought four more, making up the whole number to +eight. This will have to suffice for our mares as well as for ourselves, +and we shall have to be very careful. We have laid in a sufficient stock +of dates and bread, and have still got one of the kids left to start with +in the way of meat, the other has just been devoured as I have said, and +cannot be replaced. Provisions of every kind are difficult to procure at +Meskakeh; it was only by the exercise of a little almost Turkish bullying +that Jóhar has been able to get us a camel load of corn. + +The rain is over and the moon shining. All our preparations are made for +crossing the Nefûd, and in a few hours we shall be on our way. We shall +want all our strength for the next ten days. + + [Picture: A Nejd sheep] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + + “We were now traversing an immense ocean of loose reddish sand, + unlimited to the eye, and heaped up in enormous ridges running + parallel to each other from north to south, undulation after + undulation, each swell two or three hundred feet in average height, + with slant sides and rounded crests furrowed in every direction by + the capricious gales of the desert. In the depths between the + traveller finds himself as it were imprisoned in a suffocating sand + pit, hemmed in by burning walls on every side; while at other times, + while labouring up the slope, he overlooks what seems a vast sea of + fire, swelling under a heavy monsoon wind, and ruffled by a cross + blast into little red hot waves.”—PALGRAVE. + +Mohammed in love—We enter the red sand desert—Geology of the +Nefûd—Radi—The great well of Shakik—Old acquaintance—Tales of the +Nefûd—The soldiers who perished of thirst—The lovers—We nearly remain in +the sand—Land at last. + +_January_ 12.—We left the farm this morning in a thick fog, among the +benedictions of the Ibn Arûks. They have treated us kindly, and we were +sorry to say good-bye to them, especially to Turki and Areybi, although +we are a little disappointed in our expectations of the family in +general. In spite of their noble birth and their Nejdean traditions, +they have the failings of town Arabs in regard to money, and it was a +shock to our feelings that Nassr, our host, expected a small present in +money at parting, nominally for the women, but in reality, no doubt, for +himself. No desert sheykh, however poor, would have pocketed the +mejidies. The boys too asked for gifts, the elder wanted a cloak, +because one had been given to his brother, the younger, a jíbbeh, because +he already had a cloak; and other members of the household came with +little skins full of dates or semneh in their hands, in the guise of +farewell offerings, and lingered behind for something in return. All +this of course was perfectly fair, and we were pleased to make them happy +with our money; but it hardly tallied with the fine sentiments they had +been in the habit of expressing, in season and out of season, about the +duties of hospitality. Such small disappointments, however, must be +borne, and borne cheerfully, for people are not perfect anywhere, and a +traveller has no right to expect more abroad than he would find at home. +In England we might perhaps not have been received at all, while here our +welcome had been perfectly honest at starting, whatever the afterthought +may have been. So Wilfrid solemnly kissed the relations all round, and +exchanged promises of mutual good-will and hopes of meeting; I went in to +the harim to say good-bye to the rest of the family, and fortunately was +not expected to kiss them all round; and then we set out on our way. + +Our course lay due south over the sand hills we saw yesterday, and +presently these shut out Meskakeh and its palm groves from our view, and +we were once more reduced to our own travelling party of eight souls, +with Radi our new guide, and fairly on the road to Haïl. These sand +dunes are not really the Nefûd, and are much like what may be seen +elsewhere in the desert, in the Sahara for instance, or in certain parts +of the peninsula of Sinai. They are very picturesque, being of pure +white sand, from fifty to a hundred feet high, with intervening spaces of +harder ground, and are covered with vegetation. The ghada here grows +quite into a tree, with fine gnarled trunks, nearly white, and feathery +grey foliage. We met several shepherds with their flocks, sent here to +graze from the town, and parties of women gathering firewood. Mohammed +amused us very much all the morning, talking with these wood gatherers. +He had managed to get a glimpse of his bride elect and her sister before +starting, and fancies himself desperately in love, though he cannot make +up his mind which of the two he prefers. Sometimes it is Muttra, as it +ought to be, and sometimes the other, for no better reason, as far as we +can learn, than that she is taller and older, for he did not see their +faces. His conversations to-day with the wood gatherers shewed a +_naïveté_ of mind neither of us suspected. He would ride on whenever he +saw a party of these women, and when we came up was generally to be found +in earnest discussion with the oldest and ugliest of them on the subject +of his heart. He would begin by asking them whether they were from +Meskakeh, and lead round the conversation to the Ibn Arûk family, and if +he found that the women knew them, he would vaguely ask how many +daughters there were in Jazi’s house, and whether married or unmarried. +Then he would hint that he had heard that the eldest one was very +beautiful, and ask cautiously after the youngest, ending always by the +disclosure that he himself was an Ibn Arûk from Tudmur, and that he was +engaged to whichever of the two unmarried ones the old women had seemed +to favour in their descriptions. By this process he had quite lost his +head about both sisters, sometimes fancying that he was the happiest of +men, and sometimes that Jazi had passed off the less valuable of his +daughters upon him. On such occasions he would turn to me and beg me to +repeat for the hundredth time my description of Muttra’s merits, which +consoled him until he met somebody else to raise new doubts in his mind. + +After about eight miles of travelling through the sand dunes, we came out +rather suddenly on the village of Kara, the last that we shall see for +many a day. It is commanded by a rocky mound, with a ruin on it, and +contains seventy or eighty houses; the palm grove surrounding it is +remarkable for the palms and ithel trees. The fog had cleared off, and +the sun was hot enough to make us glad to sit down for a few minutes +under the mud wall which encloses the oasis. Some villagers came out, +and we had a little chat about Kara and its sheykh, while our mares were +being watered from a well close by. They told us we should find a Roala +camp not far upon our way, for the camels from it were watered from this +very well. Formerly Kara, like Jôf and Meskakeh, was a fief of the Ibn +Shaalans, and they still pay a small tribute to Sotamm, but in return +they make the Bedouins pay for the water they use. There is no danger of +being attacked by the Roala or anyone else, for we are in Ibn Rashid’s +country now, where highway robbery is not allowed. The villagers were +very hospitable in their offers of entertainment if we would remain at +Kara, but there was nothing in the place sufficiently interesting to +detain us, so we went on. It contains, like Jôf and Meskakeh, a ruined +castle on a low tell, but the ruins are now not much more than the +foundations of old stone walls made without cement. + +Not long after leaving the village, we came upon a party of Roala, with +several hundred camels coming in to Kara for water. They were unarmed, +and travelling as peaceably as peasants would in Italy. They told us +their camp was out of our way, and too far off for us to reach to-night, +but that we should find Beneyeh ibn Shaalan, a cousin of Sotamm’s, near +the well of Shakik our watering place for to-morrow. It argued well for +the security of the country, to find parties of villagers, as we +presently did, out in the sand dunes many miles beyond Kara, with all +these Bedouins about. But really there seem to be law and order in Ibn +Rashid’s government. After travelling on for another two hours and a +half in broken ground, we came at last to a steep acclivity which proved, +when we had mounted it, to be the further edge of the Meskakeh +depression, and above it we found ourselves on a gravelly plain. The +view from this edge, looking back, was very interesting, and gave us at +once an idea of the geography of the whole country, the great basin of +Meskakeh with its tells and sand hills, the long ridge of hill under +which the oasis stands, the range of Jebel Hammamiyeh too, all mere +islands in the basin, which seems moreover to include Jôf as well as the +eastern villages in its main circuit. Wilfrid has little doubt now that +Meskakeh and Jôf are really only the tail as it were of the Wady Sirhán +or rather its head, for the whole must be in shape something like a +tadpole, and this point its nose. + +The Hamád or plain where we now were, is three hundred and fifty feet +higher than Kara and Meskakeh, or 2220 feet above the sea. It is +absolutely level and bare of vegetation, a flat black expanse of gravelly +soil covered with small round pebbles, extending southwards to the +horizon, and quite unlike anything in the basin below. We were much +surprised to find such an open plain in front of us, for we had expected +nothing now but sand, but the sand, though we could not see it, was not +far off, and this was only as it were the shore of the great Nefûd. + +At half past three o’clock we saw a red streak on the horizon before us, +which rose and gathered as we approached it, stretching out east and west +in an unbroken line. It might at first have been taken for an effect of +mirage, but on coming nearer we found it broken into billows, and but for +its red colour not unlike a stormy sea seen from the shore, for it rose +up, as the sea seems to rise, when the waves are high, above the level of +the land. Somebody called out “the Nefûd,” and though for a while we +were incredulous, we were soon convinced. What surprised us was its +colour, that of rhubarb and magnesia, nothing at all like the sand we had +hitherto seen, and nothing at all like what we had expected. Yet the +Nefûd it was, the great red desert of central Arabia. In a few minutes +we had cantered up to it, and our mares were standing with their feet in +its first waves. + +_January_ 13.—We have been all day in the Nefûd, which is interesting +beyond our hopes, and charming into the bargain. It is, moreover, quite +unlike the description I remember to have read of it by Mr. Palgrave, +which affects one as a nightmare of impossible horror. It is true he +passed it in summer, and we are now in mid-winter, but the physical +features cannot be much changed by the change of seasons, and I cannot +understand how he overlooked its main characteristics. The thing that +strikes one first about the Nefûd is its colour. It is not white like +the sand dunes we passed yesterday, nor yellow as the sand is in parts of +the Egyptian desert, but a really bright red, almost crimson in the +morning when it is wet with the dew. The sand is rather coarse, but +absolutely pure, without admixture of any foreign substance, pebble, +grit, or earth, and exactly the same in tint and texture everywhere. It +is, however, a great mistake to suppose it barren. The Nefûd, on the +contrary, is better wooded and richer in pasture than any part of the +desert we have passed since leaving Damascus. It is tufted all over with +ghada bushes, and bushes of another kind called _yerta_, which at this +time of the year when there are no leaves, is exactly like a thickly +matted vine. Its long knotted stems and fibrous trunk give it so much +that appearance, that there is a story about its having originally been a +vine. The rasúl Allah (God’s prophet), Radi says, came one day to a +place where there was a vineyard, and found some peasants pruning. He +asked them what they were doing, and what the trees were, and they, +fearing his displeasure or to make fun of him, answered, these are +“yerta” trees, yerta being the first name that came into their heads. +“Yerta inshallah, yerta let them be then,” rejoined the prophet, and from +that day forth they ceased to be vines and bore no fruit. There are, +besides, several kinds of camel pasture, especially one new to us called +adr, on which they say sheep can feed for a month without wanting water, +and more than one kind of grass. Both camels and mares are therefore +pleased with the place, and we are delighted with the abundance of +firewood for our camps. Wilfrid says that the Nefûd has solved for him +at last the mystery of horse-breeding in Central Arabia. In the hard +desert there is nothing a horse can eat, but here there is plenty. The +Nefûd accounts for everything. Instead of being the terrible place it +has been described by the few travellers who have seen it, it is in +reality the home of the Bedouins during a great part of the year. Its +only want is water, for it contains but few wells; all along the edge, it +is thickly inhabited, and Radi tells us that in the spring, when the +grass is green after rain, the Bedouins care nothing for water, as their +camels are in milk, and they go for weeks without it, wandering far into +the interior of the sand desert. + +We have been travelling through the Nefûd slowly all day, and have +occupied ourselves in studying its natural features. At first sight it +seemed to us an absolute chaos, and heaped up here and hollowed out +there, ridges and cross ridges, and knots of hillocks all in utter +confusion, but after some hours’ marching we began to detect a uniformity +in the disorder, which we are occupied in trying to account for. The +most striking features of the Nefûd are the great horse-hoof hollows +which are scattered all over it (Radi calls them _fulj_). These, though +varying in size from an acre to a couple of hundred acres, are all +precisely alike in shape and direction. They resemble very exactly the +track of an unshod horse, that is to say, the toe is sharply cut and +perpendicular, while the rim of the hoof tapers gradually to nothing at +the heel, the frog even being roughly but fairly represented by broken +ground in the centre, made up of converging water-courses. The diameter +of some of these fuljes must be at least a quarter of a mile, and the +depth of the deepest of them, which we measured to-day, proved to be 230 +feet, bringing it down very nearly exactly to the level of the gravelly +plain which we crossed yesterday, and which, there can be little doubt, +is continued underneath the sand. This is all the more probable, as we +found at the bottom of this deepest fulj, and nowhere else, a bit of hard +ground. The next deepest fulj we measured was only a hundred and forty +feet, and was still sandy at the lowest point, that is to say, just below +the point of the frog. Though the soil composing the sides and every +part of the fuljes is of pure sand, and the immediate surface must be +constantly shifting, it is quite evident that the general outline of each +has remained unchanged for years, possibly for centuries. The vegetation +proves this; for it is not a growth of yesterday, and it clothes the +fuljes like all the rest. Moreover, our guide, who has travelled +backwards and forwards over the Nefûd for forty years, asserts that it +never changes. No sandstorm ever fills up the hollows, or carries away +the ridges. He knows them all, and has known them ever since he was a +boy. “They were made so by God.” Wilfrid has been casting about, +however, for some natural theory to account for their formation, but has +not yet been able to decide whether they are owing to the action of wind +or water, or to inequalities of the solid ground below. But at present +he inclines to the theory of water. We shall be able perhaps to say more +of them hereafter, when we have seen more of them, and I therefore +reserve my remarks. We have had a long day’s journey, plodding up to the +camel’s fetlocks in sand, and now it is time to look after Hanna, who is +busy cooking. Height of our camp 2440 feet; but the highest level +crossed during the day was 2560 feet. Nobody seen all day but one Roala +on a delúl, who told us there was a camp to our left. We looked for it, +but only made out camels at a great distance. + +_January_ 14.—Another bright clear morning, but with a cold wind from the +south-east. Nothing can be more bright and sparkling than the winter’s +sun reflected from these red sands. The fuljes have again been the +object of our attention. We find that they all point in the same +direction, or nearly so, that is to say, with the toe of the horse-hoof +towards the west, though the steepest part of the declivity varies a +little, sometimes the southerly and sometimes the northerly aspect being +more abrupt than that facing east. This would seem to point rather to +wind than water as being the original cause of the depressions. + + [Picture: The Nefûd, or Great Red Sand Desert of Arabia] + +At the edge, moreover, of the large fuljes there is generally a tallish +mound of sand with a ridge, such as one sees on the top of a snow peak, +and evidently caused by the wind, the lee side being steep and the +weather side rounded. These seem to change with a change of wind and are +generally bare of vegetation, and what is singular, of a lighter coloured +sand than the rest. One can guess the existence of a deep fulj from a +long way off, by the presence of one of these snowy looking mounds on the +horizon. It is seldom that one can see very far in the Nefûd, as one is +always toiling up or down sandslopes, or creeping like a fly round the +edges of these great basins. The ground is generally pretty even, just +round the edges, and one goes from one fulj to another so as to take this +advantage of level. We rode up to the top of one or two of the highest +sand peaks, and from one of them made out a line of hills about fifteen +miles off to the west-south-west, with an isolated headland beyond, which +we recognized as the Ras el Tawil pointed out to us the day we arrived at +Jôf. From these heights too we could observe the lay of the fuljes, and +make out that they followed each other in strings, not always in a +straight line, but as a wady would go, winding gently about. This made +us speculate on the water theory again. Wilfrid thinks that there may be +a very gradual slope in the plain beneath the sand, and that whenever +rain falls, as of course it must do here sometimes, it sinks through to +the hard ground and flows under the sand along shallow winding wadys, and +that the sand in this way is constantly slipping very gradually down the +incline, and wherever there is a slope in the plain below, there the fulj +occurs above it. {162} + +This notion is favoured by what we have observed of the bare places, +where such occur, for they always slope down towards the west. Radi +assures us that no water ever collects in the fuljes even after rain. It +runs into them and disappears. While we were discussing these points of +natural history, we suddenly perceived camels grazing at the edge of a +fulj not half a mile below us, and jumped on to our mares in a great +hurry. I have contrived a bandage which enables me to mount quickly, and +ever since the ghazú in the Wady Sirhán, we keep a good look-out for +enemies. We then rode down to see what was to be seen, and presently +found half a dozen people, men and women, in a fulj, and several more +camels grazing near a tent. The tent was a mere awning with a back to +it, and as soon as they saw us the women ran and pulled it down, while +the men rushed off to the nearest camels, and made them kneel. They were +evidently in a fright, and so quickly was it all done that by the time we +had ridden up, the tent and tent furniture, such as there was, were +loaded and ready to go. The Arabs take pride in being able to strike +camp and march at almost a moment’s notice, and in this case I think it +hardly took three minutes. They seemed much surprised and puzzled at our +appearance when we rode up, and at first said they were Roala, but when +our people joined us they confessed that they were of the Howeysin, a +very poor tribe despised by the rest of the Bedouins and holding much the +same position as the Sleb. They were, however, to our eyes +undistinguishable from other Bedouins. + +I asked Mohammed after this, how it was that in the desert each tribe +seemed so readily recognized by their fellows, and he told me that each +has certain peculiarities of dress or features well known to all. Thus +the Shammar are in general tall, and the Sebaa very short but with long +spears. The Roala spears are shorter, and their horses smaller. The +Shammar of Nejd wear brown abbas, the Harb are black in face, almost like +slaves, and Mohammed told me many more details as to other tribes which I +do not remember. He said that Radi had recognised these people as +Howeysin directly, by their wretched tent. He then reminded us of how we +had been deceived last year by the ghazú we had met in the Hamád the day +we found Jedaan. It was very lucky, he declared, that nothing +disagreeable had happened then, for he had found out since that the nine +people Wilfrid had ridden up to talk to, were in reality a ghazú of +Amarrat, headed by Reja himself, Sheykh of the Erfuddi section of that +tribe. Reja had come in not many weeks later to Palmyra to buy corn, and +had stayed two days in Abdallah’s house, and had recognized him as the +man who was with the Beg that day. These Amarrat had been in the act of +discussing how they should attack our caravan when Wilfrid rode up, and +the fact of his doing so alone made them imagine that our caravan was a +very strong one, so they had decided on leaving us alone. Mohammed and +Reja were now friends, Reja having given Mohammed a falcon on going away, +and Mohammed the strange present of a winding-sheet. Winding-sheets he +explains are much esteemed by the Bedouins, and this one had been made by +Mohammed’s mother. + +Soon after this we came upon a real Roala camp, at least a camp of their +slaves. The men were not negroes, though very dark and ill-looking. +They explained that they belonged to Beneyeh ibn Shaalan, a cousin of +Sotamm’s, and the head of the tribe now in the Nefûd. They gave us some +fresh camel’s milk, the first we have tasted this year. We then began to +descend into a long valley, which here intersects the Nefûd, and in which +stand the wells of Shakik. Close to one of these we now are, camped on a +bit of hard ground, under the first wave of sand beyond the wells. There +are four wells known as Shakik; the one where we now are and another near +it, and two others, three or four miles distant, up and down the valley. +They are all, we hear, of the same depth, two hundred and twenty-five +feet, and are apparently very ancient, for this one is lined with cut +stones, and the edges are worn through with long usage of ropes in +drawing water. There is, however, here, a little wooden pulley for the +rope to pass over, a permanent arrangement very unusual in the desert, +where everything removable is as a matter of course removed. A rope or a +bucket would have no chance of remaining a week at any well. There was a +dead camel near the well, on which a pair of vultures and a dog were at +work, but nothing else living. + +While we were looking over our ropes, and wondering whether we could make +up enough, with all the odds and ends tied together, to reach to the +water, a troop of camels came flourishing down upon us, cantering with +their heads out, and their heels in the air, and followed by some men on +delúls. These proved to be Ibn Shaalan’s people, and, to our great +surprise and delight, one of them, a man named Rashid, recognized us as +old acquaintances. We had met him the year before at the Roala camp at +Saikal far away north. He had come, he said, with Abu Giddeli to our +tent, and we remember the circumstance perfectly. It is pleasant to +think of finding friends in such a place as this, and it shows how far +the tribes wander during the year. Saikal is five hundred miles from +Shakik, as the crow flies. Rashid at once offered to draw us all the +water we wanted, for he had a long rope with him, and coffee was drunk +and dates were eaten by all the party. Amongst them are two sons of +Beneyeh’s, Mohammed and Assad, the elder a shy boorish youth, but the +younger, nine years old, a nice little boy. To him we entrusted our +complimentary message to his father. Beneyeh ibn Heneyfi ibn Shaalan is +the Sheykh of a large section of the Roala, the very one we heard of last +year as having stayed in Nejd. He is on ill terms with Sotamm on account +of a chestnut mare Sotamm took from him by force, some years ago. The +children had never seen a European in their lives, or been further north +than the Wady Sirhán. We should like to pay Beneyeh a visit, but his +tents are many miles out of our way, and we dare not trifle with the +Nefûd. + +A camel foal was born to-day by the well. I went to look at the little +creature which was left behind with its mother, when the rest were driven +home. I noticed that it had none of those bare places (callosities) +which the older camels get on their knees and chest from kneeling down, +and that its knees were bruised by its struggles to rise. We helped it +up, and in three hours’ time it was able to trot away with its mother. + +_January_ 15.—This morning, as I looked out of the tent, I saw a halo +round the moon, and thought there would be rain; but no such luck has +come, though the sky was overcast and the day sultry. We made a great +effort to get off early, and there was a great deal of “yalla, yalla” +from Mohammed with very little result, for the men had been celebrating +our passage of the Nefûd, which began seriously to-day, with a final +feast on kid, and were dull and slow in consequence. Wilfrid made them a +short speech last night, about the serious nature of the journey we were +undertaking, the hundred miles of deep sand we have to cross, and the +necessity of husbanding all our strength for the effort. With the best +despatch we can hardly hope to reach Jobba under five days, and it may be +six or seven. No heavily laden caravan such as ours is, has ever, if we +may believe Radi, crossed the Nefûd at this point, and if the camels +break down, there will be no means of getting help, nor is there any well +after Shakik. Abdallah has accordingly been made _sheykh of the water_, +with orders to dole it out in rations every night, and allow nobody to +drink during the day. The Arabs are very childish about meat and drink, +eating and drinking all day long if they get the chance, and keeping +nothing for the morrow. But here improvidence can only bring disaster, +and we think Abdallah as well as Mohammed are impressed with the +situation. There is something sobering and solemn in these great tracts +of sand, even for the wildest spirits, and we have begun our march to-day +in very orderly fashion. + +Radi, the little guide (his name signifies _willing_), has proved a great +acquisition to our party, willing to give every sort of information when +asked, and not impertinently talkative. He is a curious little old man, +as dry and black and withered as the dead stumps of the yerta bushes one +sees here, the driftwood of the Nefûd. He has his delúl with him, an +ancient bag of bones which looks as if it would never last through the +journey, and on which he sits perched hour after hour in silence, +pointing now and then with his shrivelled hand towards the road we are to +take. He is carrying with him on his camel one of the red sand-stone +mortars of the Jôf for a relation of Ibn Rashid’s, and this seems to +balance the water-skin hanging on the other side. From time to time, +however, he speaks, and he has told us more than one interesting tale of +those who have perished here in former days. In almost every hollow +there are bones, generally those of camels, “Huseyn’s camels,” Radi calls +them, and if anybody asks who Huseyn was, there is a laugh. At the +bottom, however, of one fulj there are bones of another sort. Here a +ghazú perished, delúls and men. They were Roala who had crossed the +Nefûd to make a raid upon the Shammar, and had not been able to reach +Shakik on their way back. The bones were white, but there were bits of +skin still clinging to them, though Radi says it happened ten years ago. +In another place, he shewed us two heaps of wood, thirty yards apart +which mark the spot where a Shammar which had been lifting camels in the +Wady Sirhán, was overtaken by their owner, a Sirhan sheykh, who had +thrown his lance these thirty yards at the akid of the Shammar and +transfixed him, mare and all. Again, he pointed out the remains of forty +Suelmat camel riders, who had lost their way, and perished of thirst. + +The sand, for several miles after leaving the wells, was covered with +camel tracks, Roala camels no doubt, and here and there we came across +the track of a horse, but the further one gets into Arabia, the rarer +horses seem to be. After these first few miles, however, there appeared +no trace of living creatures except lizards. Radi took us first in a +nearly southerly direction, till he hit a line of landmarks, invisible to +us but well known to him, running-south-south-east. This he calls _the +road_, the road of Abu Zeyd, and told us the following legend in +connection with it (there was no more trace of a road than there might +have been on the sea). Many years ago, says Radi, there was a famine in +Nejd, and the Beni Hellal were without bread. Then Abu Zeyd, sheykh of +the tribe, spoke to his kinsmen Merrey and Yunis, and said, “Let us go +out towards the west, and seek new pastures for our people,” and they +travelled until they came to Tunis el-Gharb, which was at that time ruled +by an Emir named Znati, and they looked at the land and liked it, and +were about to return to their tribe with the news, when Znati put them +all into prison. Now Znati had a daughter who was very beautiful, named +Sferi, and when she saw Merrey in the dungeon, she fell in love with him, +and proposed that he should marry her, and promised that his life and all +their lives should be spared. But Merrey did not care for her and would +not at first consent. Still she persisted in her love, and sought to do +them good, and interceded with her father to spare their lives. Now +Znati began to be perplexed with his prisoners, hearing from his daughter +that they were of noble birth, and not knowing what to do with them. And +when she told them this, they proposed that one of them should be +released, and sent home to bring a ransom for his fellows, but in their +hearts they were determined that Abu Zeyd should be the one sent, and +that he should return, not with a ransom, but with all his people to +Tunis, and so set them free. And Sferi carried the proposal to her +father, and said, “Two of these men are of noble birth, but the third is +a slave, but I know not which it is. Let then the slave go and get +ransom for his masters.” And Znati said, “How shall we discover the +slave amongst them, and distinguish him from the others?” and she said, +“By this. Take them to a muddy place, where there is water, and bid them +pass over it. And you shall see that whichever is the slave amongst them +will gather up his clothes about him carefully, while the nobly born will +let their clothes be soiled.” And her father agreed, and it happened so +that on the following day the three men were brought out of their +dungeon, and made to pass through a muddy stream. And Abu Zeyd, being +warned by Sferi, put his abba on his head, and lifted up his shirt to the +waist, while Merry and Yunis walked through without precaution. So Abu +Zeyd was set free and returned to Nejd, and gathering all his people +together there, he led them across the Nefûd by this very way, making the +road we had just seen, to enable them to come in safety. He then marched +on to Tunis, and laid siege to the town. + +Abu Zeyd besieged Tunis for a year but could not enter, and he never +would have taken it, but for Sferi who was plotting for his success +outside. Sferi was a wise woman. She could read and write, and knew +magic and could interpret prophecies. And there was a prophecy +concerning Znati that he could be killed by no one in battle but by a +certain Dib ibn Ghanim, a robber in the neighbouring desert. And Sferi +sent word of this to Abu Zeyd, who took this robber into his service, and +on the next occasion sent him against Znati when he came out to fight. +And the Emir was slain. + +Then Abu Zeyd became Emir of Tunis and Merrey married Sferi. + +Such is Radi’s story, which it may be hoped is not exactly true as to +Sferi’s betrayal of her father. As to the road legend, it is impossible +to say that the road is there “to witness if he lies.” Road or no road +we have been wandering about in zigzags all day long, sometimes toiling +up steep slopes, at others making a long circuit to avoid a fulj, and +sometimes meandering for no particular reason yet always on a perfectly +untrodden surface of yielding sand. The ground is more broken than ever, +the fuljes bigger and the travelling harder. But both mares and camels +have marched bravely, and we have got over about twenty-one miles to-day. +Our camp this evening, though in a fulj, is five hundred and sixty feet +higher than the wells of Shakik. + +_January_ 16.—A thunderstorm in the night which has turned the sand +crimson. Radi congratulates us upon this, as he says now we shall get to +Jobba, inshallah! He seems to have been a little doubtful before. But +the heavy rain has hardened the ground, and we have been able to push on +at almost as good a rate as if we had been travelling on gravel. As we +get deeper into the Nefûd, the fuljes are further apart and the cross +ridges lower. The fuljes seem to run in pretty regular strings from east +to west, or rather from east by south to west by north. It is +interesting to observe the footmarks of wild animals on the sand, for +they are now clearly marked as on fresh fallen snow. The most common are +those of hares answering in size to our rabbits at home, and to-day the +greyhounds have put up and coursed several of them, though quite in vain, +for the ghada trees and bushes soon screen them from the dogs. We have +had a gallop or two, and there is no danger of losing ourselves, for we +only have to go back on our footsteps to find the caravan. Besides the +hares there are several sorts of small birds, linnets, wrens, desert +larks, wheatears, and occasionally crows. I also saw a pair of kestrels +evidently quite at home. Reptiles are still much more numerous, the +whole surface of the desert being marked with lizard tracks, while here +and there was the trail of a snake. Our people killed two to-day of the +sort called _suliman_, common in most parts of the desert, a long, slim, +silvery snake, with a little head, and quite harmless. The warm sunshine +after the rain had brought them out. We have been inquiring of Radi +after the more dangerous species, and he describes very accurately the +horned viper and the cobra. I was surprised to hear of the latter, but +it is impossible to mistake his description of a snake which stands on +its tail, and swells out its neck like wings. These, he says, are only +seen in the summer. Gazelles there seem to be none in the Nefûd, but we +crossed the quite fresh track of two “wild cows” (antelope). This +animal, Radi assures us, never leaves the Nefûd and never drinks. Indeed +there is no water here above ground anywhere nearer than Jebel Aja, and +it must be able to do without. The slot was about the size of a red deer +fully grown. We are very anxious to see the beast itself, which they +assure us is a real cow, though that can hardly be. We have also kept a +good look-out for ostriches but without result. In the way of insects, +we have seen a few flies like houseflies, and some dragonflies and small +butterflies. There is a much better sort of grass in the Nefûd and more +of it than on the outskirts, which I suppose is from the absence of +camels. + +I find that Radi makes out his course almost entirely by landmarks. On +every high sand-hill he gets down from his delúl, and pulls some ghada +branches, which are very brittle, and adds them to piles of wood he has +formerly made. These can be seen a good way off. We have learned, too, +to make out a sort of road after all, of an intermittent kind, marked by +the dung of camels, and occasionally on the side of a steep slope there +is a distinct footway. Along this line our guide feels his way, here and +there making a cast, as hounds do when they are off the scent. Neither +he nor Mohammed, nor any of the Arabs with us, have the least notion of +steering by the sun, and when Wilfrid asked Mohammed if he thought he +could find his way back to Shakik, he answered, “How could I do so? +Every one of these sand-hills is like the last.” + +We have been entertained by Radi with more blood and bones stories, the +most terrible of which is that of some Turkish soldiers, {174} who many +years ago were treacherously abandoned in the Nefûd. They had occupied +Haïl in the days of the first Ibn Rashid, and had been left there as a +garrison. But either the Sultan could not communicate with them or +forgot them, and after a certain time they wished to go home. Many of +them had died at Haïl, and the remainder of them, about five hundred, +easily agreed to set out for Damascus under the escort of Obeyd, the +Emir’s brother, who had resolved to destroy them. They left Haïl on +horseback and followed their Shammar guides to this place, who to all +questions as to where they should find wells, answered, a little further, +a little further on. At last the Bedouins left them. They seem to have +been brave fellows, for the last that was heard of them was a sort of +song or chorus which they sang as they struggled on, “Nahnu askar ma +nahnu atâsha nahnu askar ma benríd moyeh.” “We are not thirsty, we +soldiers want no water.” But at noon that day they must have lost heart, +and lain down under the bushes to get a sort of shade, and so they were +afterwards found scattered about in the different fuljes. Some of their +horses made their way back to Jobba, and became the property of any who +could seize them. They were sold by these lucky people for a few sheep +or goats each. It is a ghastly tale. + +A pleasanter one is that of two young lovers who eloped from Jôf, and +were pursued by their relations. Suspecting that they would be tracked, +and to avoid scandal, they had agreed that instead of walking together, +they would keep parallel lines about a hundred yards apart and so set out +on their journey, and when they came to a certain fulj, which Radi +pointed out to us, they were too tired and lay down to die each under his +bush. Thus they were found and fortunately in time, and their discretion +so pleased the relations on both sides, that consent was given to their +marriage, and the nuptials celebrated with rejoicings. + +At half-past ten we suddenly caught sight of the peaks of Aalem, two +conical rocks which jut out of the sand, and make a conspicuous landmark +for travellers on their way to Jobba. It was an immense relief to see +them, for we had begun to distrust the sagacity of our guide on account +of the tortuous line we followed, and now we knew that the worst was +over, and that if need were, we could find our way on across the other +half of the Nefûd, with some prospect at least of success. We left our +camels to follow, and rode on towards the hills. It still took us +several hours to reach them, but we were by three o’clock touching the +stones with our hands to feel that they were real. It was as if we had +been lost at sea and had found a desert island. + +We had some time to wait while the caravan laboured slowly on to join us. +I remained with the mares and kept a look-out while Wilfrid climbed to +the top of the smaller rock. “What a place to be buried in,” he +exclaimed. “Mount Nebo must have been like this.” But people who die in +the Nefûd have seldom anyone to bury them. As he clambered round the +pile of loose stones near the top of the tell, he found to his great +delight a painted lady butterfly sunning itself in a sheltered spot. If, +as is probable, there is no vegetation suited for the caterpillar of this +butterfly nearer than Hebron, this little insect must have travelled at +least four hundred miles. Here it seemed happy in the sun. This smaller +rock, or rocky hill, was just a hundred feet from the level of the plain, +and rose sheer out of it bare and naked as a rock does at sea. The +barometer at the top of it shewed 3220 feet. The taller Aalem is perhaps +three times its height. + +Aalem, Radi says, is Sheykh of the Nefûd, and the little tell is his son. +At some miles distance to the north-east there is a cluster of white +sand-hills, Aalem’s “harim.” The rocks of Aalem are sandstone weathered +black, not granite as we had hoped, and this no doubt is the material +from which in the lapse of years the great red sand heaps have been +formed. They are not of solid rock but resemble heaps of stones. On the +top of the one Wilfrid ascended was a cairn with the remains of some old +letters scratched on the stones, of the same kind as those to be seen on +Sinai, or rather in the Wady Mokattib. The view was, by Wilfrid’s +report, stupendous, but one impossible to draw or even attempt to draw. +Here could be seen spread out as on a map the general features of the +Nefûd, the uniformity of the ocean of sand streaked with the long lines +of its fuljes, Aalem itself rising in their midst like a rock out of a +sea streaked with foam. + +We are now encamped about two miles beyond Aalem. I have filled a bottle +with sand to make an hour-glass with at home. + +_January_ 17.—A white frost, some of which was packed up with the tents +and carried with us all day. + +It is curious that now we have passed Aalem the vegetation has changed. +Up to that point the ghada reigned supreme, and I could not have believed +it could so suddenly disappear, yet such is the case. Now not a bush of +ghada is to be seen, and its place is taken by the yerta which before was +rare. It seems impossible to account for this, as there is no material +change of level, and absolutely no change in the character of the soil. +The bushes by which we camped last night were quite the last southwards. +We are sorry to lose them, as ghada is the finest firewood in the world. +Charcoal made from it, which one finds here and there where there has +been a camp fire, is finer than the finest charcoal used for drawing. +The yerta is inferior. On the other hand there is more of the grass +called _nassí_ for the camels, and of the hamar, a whitish-blue prickly +plant which the mares are very fond of, while the _adr_, a shrub with +stiff green leaves and brownish yellow flowers, is still the commonest +plant. + +The sand has dried again since yesterday, and as the day grew warmer +became very heavy for the camels. The labour of trudging through the +yielding surface is beginning to tell on them, and to-day most of our men +have walked, Mohammed giving the example. Every one was cheerful, in +spite of the hard work, and all showed wonderful strength in running on +and playing pranks in the sand. Wilfrid, who is in fair training, was +quite unable to keep up with them, and I fared still worse as may be +imagined, being as yet very lame; we both, however, felt bound to try and +walk at intervals for the sake of our mares. Ibrahim el-tawîl (the tall +as contrasted with Ibrahim el-kasír, or the short), who has hitherto been +the butt of the party, being sent down on fools’ errands to fetch water +from fuljes, and up to the tops of sand-hills, to see imaginary +mountains, has proved himself to-day most valiant. He, although a +Christian, is a match for any Moslem of the party, and gives as much as +he takes in the rough games the Arabs indulge in to keep up their +spirits. At one moment he got hold of the servants’ tent pole, a very +heavy one, and played at quarter-staff with it among them to such effect, +that I thought there would have been bones broken. Abdallah, too, when +there is any particularly hard piece of climbing to do and the rest seem +fagged, generally runs on and stands on his head till they come up. We +encourage this mirth as it makes the work lighter. + +Our water is now running rather short, for we have had to divide a skin +among the mares each day, but this lightens the loads. Two of the camels +are beginning to flag, Hanna’s delúl, which has hardly had fair play, as +he and Ibrahim have been constantly changing places on its back, and +making a camel kneel and get up repeatedly tires it more than any weight; +also the beautiful camel we bought at Mezárib. This last, in spite of +his good looks, seems to be weakly. His legs are a trifle long, and his +neck a trifle short, two bad points for endurance, and then he is only a +three year old and has not had the distemper, at least so Abdallah says. +A camel can never be depended on till he has had it. The ugly camel, +too, which they call Shenuan, seems distressed. He has certainly got the +mange, and I wish we had insisted on this point when we suspected the +camels at Damascus, but it is too late now. The rest are still in fine +order, in spite of the long journey and the absence of fresh pasture, +which at this time of year they require. Nothing green has yet appeared, +except a diminutive plant like a nemophila, with a purple flower which is +beginning to show its head above the sand. Fresh grass there is none, +and last year’s crop stands white and withered still without sign of +life. + +We met a man to-day, a Roala, alone with twelve camels, yearlings and two +year olds, which he had bought from the Shammar and was driving home. He +had paid twenty-five to thirty-five mejidies apiece for them, but they +were scraggy beasts. The Nejd camels are nearly all black, and very +inferior in size and strength to those of the north. When we came upon +the man we at first supposed he might be an enemy, for anybody here is +likely to be that, and Awwad rushed valiantly at him with a gun, +frightening him out of his wits and summoning him in a terrible voice to +give an account of himself. He was perfectly harmless and unarmed, and +had been three nights out already in the Nefûd by himself. He had a skin +of water and a skin of dates, and was going to Shakik, a lonely walk. + +At half-past three (level 3040 feet) we caught sight of the hills of +Jobba, and from the same point could just see Aalem. It was a good +occasion for correcting our reckoning, so we took the directions +accurately with the compass, and made out our course to be exactly south +by east. + +To-day all our Mahometans have begun to say their prayers, for the first +time during the journey. The solemnity of the Nefûd, or perhaps a doubt +about reaching Jobba, might well make them serious; perhaps, however, +they merely want to get into training for Nejd, where Wahhabism prevails +and prayers are in fashion. Whatever be the cause, Mohammed on the top +of a sand-hill was bowing and kneeling towards Mecca with great +appearance of earnestness, and Awwad recited prayers in a still more +impressive manner, raising his voice almost to a chant. + +Talking by the camp fire tonight, Radi informs us that the Nefûd extends +twelve days’ journey to the east of where we now are, and eleven days’ +journey to the west. At the edge of it westwards, lies Teyma, an oasis +like Jôf, where there is a wonderful well, the best in Arabia. We asked +him about sandstorms, and whether caravans were ever buried by them. He +said they were not. The sand never buries any object deeply, as we can +judge by the sticks and bones and camel-dung which always remain on the +surface. The only danger for caravans is that a storm may last so long +that their provision of water fails them, for they cannot travel when it +is severe. Of the simum, or poisonous wind spoken of by travellers, he +has never heard, though he has been travelling to and fro in the Nefûd +for forty years. Abdallah, however, says he has heard of it at Tudmur, +as of a thing occurring now and again. None of them have ever +experienced it. + +_January_ 18.—A calm night with slight fog, hoar frost in the morning. + +It appears that there was a scout or spy about our camp in the night from +the Shammar. We had been sighted in the afternoon, and he had crept up +in the dark to find out who we were. At first he thought we were a +ghazú, but afterwards recognised Radi’s voice, and knew we must be +travellers going to Ibn Rashid. He came in the morning and told us this; +and that he was out on a scouting expedition to look for grass in the +Nefûd. He seemed rather frightened, and very anxious to please; and +assured us over and over again that Mohammed Ibn Rashid would be +delighted to see us. + +It has been another hard day for the camels. Shenuan has broken down and +cannot carry his load; and Hanna, like the rest of the men, has had to +walk, for his delúl is giving in. The sand seems to get deeper and +deeper; and though we have been at work from dawn to dusk, we are still +ten or fifteen miles from Jobba. But for the hills which we see before +us every time we rise to the crest of a wave, it would be very hopeless +work. Every one is serious to-night. + +_Sunday_, _January_ 19.—A terrible day for camels and men. Hanna’s +delúl, Shenuan, and the tall camel they call “Amúd,” or the “Pillar,” +refused their aliek last night, being too thirsty to eat; and to-day they +could carry no loads. Shakran, too, who has hitherto been one of our +best walkers, lagged behind; and the whole pace of the caravan has been +little over a mile an hour. But for the extraordinary strength of +Hatherán, the gigantic camel which leads the procession, and on whom most +of the extra loads have been piled, we should have had to abandon a great +part of our property; and, indeed, at one moment it seemed as if we +should remain altogether in the Nefûd, adding a new chapter to old Radi’s +tales of horror. And now that we have escaped such a fate and have +reached Jobba, we can see how fortunate we have been. But for the +perfect travelling weather throughout our passage of the Nefûd, and the +extraordinary luck of that thunderstorm, we should not now be at Jobba. +The sand to tired camels is like a prison, and in the sand we should have +remained. Mohammed, Abdallah, and the rest all behaved like heroes; even +old Hanna, with stray locks of grey hair hanging from under his kefiyeh, +for he has grown grey on the journey, and his feet bare, for it is +impossible to walk in shoes, trudged on as valiantly as the most robust +of the party. All were cheerful and uncomplaining, though the usual +songs had ceased, and they talked but little. + +Wilfrid and I were the only ones who rode at all, except Hanna, whom +Wilfrid forced to ride his mare from time to time, and we were the +gloomiest of the party. We felt annoyed at being unable to do our work +on foot with the others; though from time to time we walked or rather +waded through the sand, until obliged to remount for lack of breath and +strength. Neither of us could have kept up on foot; but a European is no +match for even a town Arab in the matter of walking. + +To-day the _khall Abu Zeyd_ (Abu Zeyd’s road) was distinctly traceable, +and we begin to think that it may not have been altogether a romance. +There are regular cuttings in some places, and the track is often well +marked for half a mile together. Radi assures us that there is a road of +stone under the sand; of stone brought from Jebel Shammar at, I am afraid +to say, what expense of camels and men, who died in the work. I noticed +to-day a buzzard and a grey shrike; and a couple of wolves had run along +the road, as one could see by their footmarks and the scratching on the +sand. + +The level of the Nefûd had been rising all day, and at one o’clock we +were 3300 feet above the sea. From this point we had a large view +southwards, sand, all sand still for many a mile; but close before us the +group of islands we had so long been steering for, the rocks of Jobba. +The nearest was not two miles off. We could see nothing of the oasis, +for it was on the other side of the hills; but we could make out a wide +space bare of sand, which looked like a subbkha, and beyond this a +further group of rocks of exceedingly fantastic outline, rising out of +the sand. It was like a scene on some great glacier in the Alps. Beyond +again, lay a faint blue line of hills. “Jebel Shammar. Those are the +hills of Nejd,” said Radi. They were what we have come so far to see. + +We made haste now to get to the rocks, and reached them at half-past +three. They were of the same character as Aalem, sand and ironstone. +There Wilfrid took a map, and I a sketch, and we waited till the camels +came up; a doleful string they were as we looked down from the top of our +rocky hill at them passing below. Shenuan and Amúd toiled on with only +their saddles, and the poor black delúl, absolutely bare and hardly able +to walk, was fifty yards behind, urged along by Abdallah. We still had +some miles to go to get to Jobba, but on harder ground and all down hill; +and Mohammed proposed that we three should ride on, and prepare a place +for the camels in the village. On our way we saw what we thought was a +cloud of smoke moving from west to east, and the tail of it passed over +us. We found it was a flight of locusts in the red stage of their +existence, which the people here prefer for eating, but we did not care +to stop now to gather them, and rode on. It was nearly sunset when we +first saw Jobba itself, below us at the edge of the subbkha, with dark +green palms cutting the pale blue of the dry lake, and beyond that a +group of red rocks rising out of the pink Nefûd; in the foreground yellow +sand tufted with adr; the whole scene transfigured by the evening light, +and beautiful beyond description. + + [Picture: Delúl Rider] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + + “They went till they came to the Delectable Mountains, which + mountains belong to the Lord of that hill of which we have spoken.” + + PILGRIM’S PROGRESS. + +Jobba—An unpleasant dream—We hear strange tales of Ibn Rashid—Romping in +the Nefûd—A last night there—The Zodiacal light—We enter Nejd—The granite +range of Jebel Shammar. + +JOBBA is one of the most curious places in the world, and to my mind one +of the most beautiful. Its name Jobba, or rather Jubbeh, meaning a well, +explains its position, for it lies in a hole or well in the Nefûd; not +indeed in a fulj, for the basin of Jobba is on quite another scale, and +has nothing in common with the horse-hoof depressions I have hitherto +described. It is, all the same, extremely singular, and quite as +difficult to account for geologically as the fuljes. It is a great bare +space in the ocean of sand, from four hundred to five hundred feet below +its average level, and about three miles wide; a hollow, in fact, not +unlike that of Jôf, but with the Nefûd round it instead of sandstone +cliffs. That it has once been a lake is pretty evident, for there are +distinct water marks on the rocks which crop up out of its bed just above +the town; and, strange to say, there is a tradition still extant of there +having formerly been water there. The wonder is how this space is kept +clear of sand. What force is it that walls out the Nefûd and prevents +encroachment? As you look across the subbkha or dry bed of the lake, the +Nefûd seems like a wall of water which must overwhelm it, and yet no sand +shifts down into the hollow, and its limits are accurately maintained. + +The town itself (or village, for it has only eighty houses) is built on +the edge of the subbkha, 2860 feet above the sea, and has the same sort +of palm gardens we saw at Jôf, only on a very small scale. The wells +from which these are watered are seventy-five feet deep, and are worked, +like all the wells in Arabia, by camels. The village is extremely +picturesque, with its little battlemented walls and its gardens. At the +entrance stand half a dozen fine old ithel-trees with gnarled trunks and +feathery branches. The rocks towering above are very grand, being of +purple sandstone streaked and veined with yellow, and having an upper +facing of black. They are from seven hundred to eight hundred feet high, +and their bases are scored with old water marks. Wilfrid found several +inscriptions in the Sinaïtic character upon them. Jobba is backed by +these hills, and by a strip of yellow sand, like the dunes of Ithery, on +which just now there are brilliantly green tufts of adr in full leaf. +Beyond the subbkha the rocks of Ghota rising out of the Nefûd remind one +of the Aletsch Glacier, as seen from the Simplon Road. + +So much for the outer face of Jobba. The interior is less attractive. +The houses are very poor, and less smartly kept than those of Kâf and +Ithery. I can hardly call them dirty, for dirt in this region of sand is +almost an impossibility. It is one of the luxuries of the Nefûd that no +noxious insects are found within its circuit. The Nefûd and, indeed, +Nejd, which lies beyond it, are free from those creatures which make life +a torment in other districts of the East. Even the fleas on our +greyhounds died as soon as they entered the enchanted circle of red sand. +But Jobba would be dirty if it could; and its inhabitants are the least +well-mannered of all the Arabs we saw in Nejd. The fact is, the people +are very poor and have no communication with the outer world, except when +the rare travellers between Haïl and Jôf stop a night among them. At the +time of our passage through Jobba, the Sheykh had lately died, and his +office was being held by a young man of two or three and twenty, who had +no authority with his fellow-youths, a noisy, good-for-nothing set. Ibn +Rashid has no special lieutenant at Jobba, and the young Sheykh Naïf was +unsupported by any representative of the central government, even a +policeman. The consequence was that though entertained hospitably enough +by Naïf, we were considerably pestered by his friends, and made to feel +not a little uncomfortable. I quote this as a single instance of +incivility in a country where politeness is very much the rule. + +The style of our entertainment at Naïf’s house requires no special +mention, as it differed in no respect from what we had already received +elsewhere. There was a great deal of coffee drinking, and a great deal +of talk. Wherever one goes in Arabia one only has to march into any +house one pleases, and one is sure to be welcome. The kahwah stands open +all day long, and the arrival of a guest is the signal for these two +forms of indulgence, coffee and conversation, the only ones known to the +Arabs. A fire is instantly lighted, and the coffee cups in due course +are handed round. One curious incident, however, of our stay at Jobba +must be related. + +For some days before our arrival there Mohammed, who was usually careless +enough about the dangers of the road, had betrayed considerable +uneasiness whenever there was a question of meeting Arabs on the way or +making new acquaintances. He had dissuaded us more than once from +looking about for tents; and when we had met the solitary man with the +camels and the man we called the spy, he had given very short answers to +their inquiries of who we were, and where we were going. It was not till +the evening of our arrival at Jobba that he explained the cause of his +anxiety. It then appeared that Radi in the course of conversation had +mentioned the name of a certain Shammar Sheykh, one Ibn Ermal, as being +in the neighbourhood, and Mohammed had remembered that many years ago a +Sheykh of that name had made a raid against Tudmur. There had been some +fighting, and a man or two killed on the Shammar side; and this was +enough to make it extremely probable that a blood-feud might be still +unsettled between his family and the Ibn Ermals. He therefore begged us +not to mention his name in Jobba, or the fact that he and Abdallah were +Tudmur men. He had the more reason for this because he had discovered +that Naïf, our host, was himself related to the Ibn Ermals; and it was +fortunate that Tudmur had not yet been mentioned by any one in +conversation. Later on in the evening he came to us very radiant, with +the news that we need no longer be under any apprehension. He had +managed ingeniously to lead the conversation with Naïf to the subject he +had at heart, and had just learned that the blood-feud was considered at +an end. Mohammed ibn Rashid, before he came to the Sheykhat of Jebel +Shammar, was Emir el-Haj, or Prince of the pilgrimage to Mecca, a +position of honour and profit, under his brother Tellál, and in that +capacity had made acquaintance with several Tudmuri at the holy cities, +and when he succeeded to the Sheykhat he had good-naturedly composed +their difference with his people. He had either paid the blood-money +himself, or had used pressure on Ibn Ermal to forego his revenge, and the +blood-feud had been declared cancelled. Whatever the Emir’s reason for +acting thus as peace maker, it was a very fortunate circumstance for us, +and now Mohammed and Naïf were the best of friends. On the morning, +however, of our departure from Jobba (we stayed there two nights), Naïf +in wishing Mohammed good bye, narrated that he had had a curious dream +that night. He had gone to sleep, he said, thinking of this old feud; +and in his sleep he thought he heard a voice reproaching him with having +neglected his duty of taking just revenge on the man who was his guest, +and he had been much distressed between the conflicting duties of +vengeance and hospitality, so that he had got up in his sleep to feel +about for his sword, and had found himself doing this when he woke. Then +he had remembered that the feud was at an end, and said El hamdu lillah, +and went to sleep again. “What a dreadful thing it would have been,” he +said to Mohammed at the end of this story, “if I had been obliged to kill +you, you, my guest!” Mohammed, however, maintained to us that even if +the blood-feud had not been settled, Naïf would not have been bound to do +anything, once he had eaten and drunk with him in his house. Such, at +least, would be the rule at Tudmur, though morals might be stricter in +Nejd. + +We only stayed, as I have said, two nights with Naïf. The young people +of the village were inquisitive and obtrusive, and we were obliged to +make a sort of scene with our host about it, a thing which is +disagreeable, but sometimes necessary. I dare say they meant no harm, +but their manners were bad, and there was something almost hostile in +their tone about Nasrani (Nazarenes or Christians), which it was +advisable to check. I am glad to say that this is the only instance we +have had in Arabia of unpleasant allusions to religion. The Arabs are by +nature tolerant to the last degree on this point, and national or +religious prejudices are exceedingly rare. + +This little episode, however, made us rather anxious about our possible +reception at Haïl. No European nor Christian of any sort had penetrated +as such before us to Jebel Shammar, and all we knew of the people and +country was the recollection of Mr. Palgrave’s account of his visit there +in disguise sixteen years before. Ibn Rashid, for all we knew, might be +as ill-disposed towards us as these Jobbites here, and it was clear that, +without his countenance and protection, we should be running considerable +risk in entering Haïl. Still, the die was cast. We had crossed our +Rubicon, the Red Desert, and there was no turning back. There was +nothing to be done but to put a good face on things and proceed on our +way. We cross questioned Radi as to the state of affairs at Haïl, and I +may as well give here the whole of the information he gave us, +corroborated and amplified by subsequent narrators. The main facts we +learned from him. + +Radi, in the first place, confirmed in general terms the account we had +already heard of the history of the Ibn Rashid family. About fifty years +ago, Abdallah ibn Rashid, at that time “a mere _zellem_,” individual, of +the Abde section of the Shammar tribe, took service with the Ibn Saouds +of Upper Nejd, and was appointed lieutenant of Jebel Shammar, by the +Wahhabi Emir. He was a great warrior, and reduced the whole country to +order with the help of his brother Obeyd, the principal hero of Shammar +tradition. Of Obeyd we heard nothing to confirm the evil tales mentioned +by Mr. Palgrave. On the contrary, he has left a great reputation among +the Arabs for his hospitality, generosity, and courage, the three +cardinal virtues of their creed. He was never actually Emir of Jebel +Shammar, but after his brother’s death he virtually ruled the country. +It was he that counselled the destruction of the Turkish soldiers in the +Nefûd. He lived to a great age, and died only nine years ago, having +been paralysed from the waist downwards for some months before his death. +It is related of him that he left no property behind him, having given +away everything during his lifetime—no property but his sword, his mare, +and his young wife. These he left to his nephew Mohammed, ibn Rashid, +the reigning Emir, with the request that his sword should remain undrawn, +his mare unridden, and his wife unmarried for ever afterwards. Ibn +Rashid has respected his uncle’s first two wishes, but he has taken the +wife into his own harim. + +Abdallah ibn Rashid died in 1843, and was succeeded in the Sheykhat of +the Shammar and the lieutenancy of Haïl, by his son Tellál, who took the +title of Emir, and made himself nearly independent of the Wahhabi +government. There is not much talk at Haïl now about Tellál. He has +left behind him little of the reputation one would expect from Mr. +Palgrave’s account of him. In his time, his second brother and +successor, Metaab, conquered Jôf and Ithery, and Metaab’s name is much +more frequently mentioned than Tellál’s. About twelve years ago Tellál +went out of his mind and committed suicide. He stabbed himself at Haïl +with his own dagger. He left behind him several sons, the eldest of whom +was Bender, and two brothers, Metaab and Mohammed, besides his uncle +Obeyd, then a very old man, and several cousins. Bender was quite a boy +at the time, and Metaab succeeded Tellál with the approval of all the +family. Metaab, however, only ruled for three years, and dying rather +suddenly, a dispute arose as to the succession. Mohammed, who for some +years had been acting as Emir el-Haj, or leader of the pilgrims, was away +from Haïl, settling a matter connected with his office with Ibn Saoud at +Riad, and Bender, being now twenty years old, was proclaimed Emir. He +was supported by all the family except Mohammed and Hamúd, Obeyd’s eldest +son, who had been brought up with Mohammed as a brother. Mohammed, when +he heard of this, was very angry, and for many days, so Radi told us, sat +with his kefiyeh over his face like one in grief, and refused to speak +with anyone. He remained at Riad, rejecting all Bender’s advances and +invitations until Obeyd was dead, when he consented to return to Haïl, +and resume his post with the Haj. This post brought him in much money, +and he was fond of money. But he plotted all the while for the Sheykhat, +intriguing with the Sherarât and other Bedouins under Bender’s rule. It +was in this way that he ultimately gratified his ambition, for it +happened one day that a caravan of Sherarât came to Haïl to buy dates, +and placed themselves under Mohammed’s protection instead of the Emir’s. +This made Bender very angry, and he sent for Mohammed, and asked him the +meaning of this insolence. “Are you Sheykh,” he asked, “or am I?” He +then mounted his mare and rode out, threatening to confiscate the +Sherarât camels, for they were encamped under the walls of Haïl. But +Mohammed followed him, and riding with him, a violent dispute arose, in +which Mohammed drew his _shabriyeh_ (a crooked dagger they all wear in +Nejd), and stabbed his nephew, who fell dead on the spot. Then Mohammed +galloped back to the castle, and, finding Hamúd there, got his help and +took possession of the place. He then seized the younger sons of Tellál, +Bender’s brothers, all but one child, Naïf, and Bedr, who was away from +Haïl, and had their heads cut off by his slaves in the courtyard of the +castle. They say, however, that Hamúd protested against this. But +Mohammed was reckless, or wished to strike terror, and not satisfied with +what he had already done, went on destroying his relations. He had some +cousins, sons of Jabar, a younger brother of Abdallah and Obeyd; and +these he sent for. They came in some alarm to the castle, each with his +slave. They were all young men, beautiful to look at, and of the highest +distinction; and their slaves had been brought up with them, as the +custom is, more like brothers than servants. They were shown into the +kahwah of the castle, and received with great formality, Mohammed’s +servants coming forward to invite them in. It is the custom at Haïl, +whenever a person pays a visit, that before sitting down, he should hang +up his sword on one of the wooden pegs fixed into the wall, and this the +sons of Jabar did, and their slaves likewise. Then they sat down, and +waited and waited, but still no coffee was served to them. At last +Mohammed appeared surrounded by his guard, but there was no “salaam +aleykum,” and instantly he gave orders that his cousins should be seized +and bound. They made a rush for their swords, but were intercepted by +the slaves of the castle, and made prisoners. Mohammed then, with +horrible barbarity, ordered their hands and their feet to be cut off, and +the hands and the feet of their slaves and had them, still living, +dragged out into the courtyard of the palace, where they lay till they +died. These ghastly crimes, more ghastly than ever in a country where +wilful bloodshed is so unusual, seem to have struck terror far and wide, +and no one has since dared to raise a hand against Mohammed. Now he is +said to have repented of his crimes, and to be “angry with himself” for +what he has done. But Radi is of opinion that Heaven is at least as +angry, for though Mohammed has married over and over again, he has never +been blessed with a son, nor even with a daughter. His rule, however, +apart from its evil commencement, though firm, has been beneficent. The +only other persons, with one exception, who have suffered death during +his reign, have been highway robbers, and these are now extirpated within +three hundred miles of Haïl. A traveller may go about securely in any +part of the desert with all his gold in his hand, and he will not be +molested. Neither are there thieves in the towns. He has made Jebel +Shammar definitely independent of Riad, and has resisted one or two +attempted encroachments by the Turks. He is munificent to all, and +exercises unbounded hospitality. No man, rich or poor, is ever sent away +from his gate unfed, and seldom without a present of clothes or money; +and hospitality in Arabia covers a multitude of sins. Besides, the Arabs +easily forget, and Mohammed is already half forgiven. “Allah yetowil +omrahu,” God grant him long life, exclaimed Radi, after giving us these +particulars. + +The one exception I have alluded to was this. About two years after +Mohammed had gained the Sheykhat, Bedr, the second son of Tellál, who had +escaped the massacre of his brothers, began to grow a beard, and in Arab +opinion was come of age; and being a youth of high spirit and high +principle, resolved to avenge his brothers’ deaths. This was clearly his +duty according to Arab law. He was alone and unaided, except by some +former slaves of his father’s, to whose house at Haïl he returned +secretly. With their assistance, he made a plan, of falling upon +Mohammed one day when he was paying a visit to Hamúd in Hamúd’s house +next the castle. He went with one slave to the house, and asking +admittance was shown into the kahwah, where, if he had found the Emir, he +would have drawn his sword and killed him; but, as it happened, Mohammed +had just gone out into the garden, and only Hamúd was present. Hamúd +asked him what he wanted, and he said he wished to speak to the Emir, but +Hamúd suspecting something, detained him and gave Mohammed warning. When +arrested and recognised, Bedr was cross-questioned again, and then +declared his intention of avenging his brother Bender’s death, nor would +he desist from this. Mohammed, it is said, besought him to hear reason, +and offered to release him if he would be content to let matters alone. +“I do not wish to shed more blood,” he said, “but you must promise to +leave Haïl.” Still the young man refused, and at last in despair, +Mohammed ordered his execution. The slave, who accompanied, Bedr, was +not ill-used. Indeed, Mohammed sent him away with gifts, and he now +resides very comfortably at Samawa on the Euphrates. + +After this, Mohammed, who seems to have really felt remorse for his +wickedness, sent for Naïf, the remaining son of Tellál, who was still a +boy, and took him to live with him, and treated him as his own son. Only +a year ago, seeing the boy growing up, he exhorted him to marry, offering +him one of his nieces and a fitting establishment. But the boy, they +say, hung back. “What!” he said, “you would treat me as you treat a lamb +or a kid which you fatten before you kill it?” Mohammed wept and +entreated, and swore that he would be as a father to Naïf; and the youth +still lives honourably treated in the Emir’s house. Opinion at Haïl, +however, is very decided that as soon as Naïf is old enough, either he or +his uncle must die. It will be his duty to follow Bedr in his attempt, +and if need be, to end like him + +All this, as may be supposed, was anything but agreeable intelligence to +us, as we travelled on to Haïl. We felt as though we were going towards +a wild beast’s den. In the meantime, however, there were four days +before us, four days of respite, and of that tranquillity which the +desert only gives, and we agreed to enjoy it to the utmost. There is +something in the air of Nejd, which would exhilarate even a condemned +man, and we were far from being condemned. It is impossible to feel +really distressed or really anxious, with such a bright sun and such pure +delicious air. We might feel that there was danger, but we could not +feel nervous. + +Our last three nights in the Nefûd were devoted to merriment, large +bonfires of yerta, round which we sat in the clear starlight, feasting on +dates bought at Jobba, and feats of strength and games among the +servants. I will give the journal for one day, the 22nd of January: “We +have been floundering along in the deep sand all day leisurely, and with +much singing and nonsense among the men, for we are in no hurry now; it +is only one day on to Igneh, the first village of Jebel Shammar. The +camels, though tired, are not now in any danger of breaking down, and +they have capital _nassí_ grass to eat; the tufts of grass are beginning +to get their new shoots. The Nefûd here is as big as ever, and the +fuljes as deep; and we crossed the track of a bakar wahash or wild cow, +not an hour before we stopped. At half past three, we came upon a +shepherd driving forty sheep to market at Haïl. He is a Shammar from Ibn +Rahis, a sheykh, whose tents we saw to-day a long way off to the +north-east, and he intends selling his flock to the Persian pilgrims who +are expected at Haïl to-day. The pilgrims, he says, are on their way +from Mecca, and will stay a week at Haïl. Who knows if we may not travel +on with them? The sheep, which I took at first for goats, are gaunt, +long legged creatures, with long silky hair, not wool, growing down to +their fetlocks, sleek pendulous ears and smooth faces. They are jet +black with white heads, spots of black round the eyes and noses, which +look as if they had been drinking ink. They are as unlike sheep as it is +possible to conceive, all legs, and tail, and face. But they have the +merit of being able to live on adr for a month at a time without needing +water. They are, I fancy, quite peculiar to Nejd. This meeting was the +signal for a halt, and behold a delightful little fulj, just big enough +to hold us, in the middle of a bed of nassí. We slid our horses down the +sand-slope, the camels followed, Mohammed, the while, bargaining with the +shepherd for the fattest of his flock. Here we unloaded, and the camels +in another ten minutes were scattered all over the hill-side, for there +is a sand-hill at least a hundred feet high, close by above us. Ibrahim, +the short, was set to watch them while the rest were busy with the camp. +There is an enormous supply of fire-wood, beautiful white logs which burn +like match wood. We climbed to the top of the hill to take the bearings +of the country, for there is a splendid view now of Jebel Shammar, no +isolated peak, as Dr. Colvill would have it last year, but a long range +of fantastic mountains, stretching far away east and west, reminding one +somewhat of the Sierra Guadarama in Spain. There are also several +outlying peaks distinct from the main chain. Behind us, to the +north-west, the Jobba group, with continuations to the west and +south-west. Eastwards, there is a single point Jebel Atwa. Haïl lies +nearly south-east, its position marked by an abrupt cliff near the +eastern extremity of the Jebel Aja range. The northern horizon only is +unbroken. This done, we both went down to measure a fulj half a mile +off, and found it two hundred and seventy feet deep, with hard ground +below. It is marked very regularly on its steep side with sheep tracks, +showing how permanent the surface of the Nefûd remains, for the little +paths are evidently of old date. {203a} By the time of our return, +Hanna’s good coffee was ready with a dish of flour and curry, to stay +hunger until the sheep is boiled. Awwad, who delights in butcher’s work, +has killed the sheep in the middle of our camp, for it is the custom to +slaughter at the tent door, and has been smearing the camels with gore. +When asked why, he says, “it will look as if we had been invited to a +feast. It always looks well to have one’s camels sprinkled.” He has +rigged up three tent poles, as a stand to hang the sheep from, and is +dismembering in a truly artistic fashion. Ibrahim el-Tawîl and Abdallah +are collecting an immense pile of wood for the night. Hanna is preparing +to cook. Poor Hanna has been having a hard time of it since Meskakeh, +for now that everybody has to walk, he insists upon walking too, “to +prevent trouble,” he says, and probably he is right. A regular Aleppin +Christian like Hanna, in such a country as this, does best by effacing +himself and disarming envy, unless indeed he can fraternize, and at the +same time inspire respect, as Ibrahim seems to have done. Hanna is +patient, and does not complain, endeavouring, though with a rueful +countenance, to be cheerful when the rest tease him. I do my best to +protect him, but he dares not take his own part. Lastly, Mohammed is +sitting darning his shirt, against making his appearance at Court, and +talking to two Jobbites, who are travelling with us, about the virtues of +Ibn Rashid, and the grandeur of the Ibn Arûks. The Ibn Arûk legend, like +a snowball, is gathering as it rolls, and we fully expect Mohammed to +appear in the character of a Prince at Haïl. He talks already of Nejd as +his personal property, and affects a certain air of protection towards +us, as that of a host doing the honours to his guests. His scare about +Ibn Ermal is quite forgotten. Prince or peasant, however, Mohammed has +the great merit of always being good-tempered, and this evening he is +very amusing. He has been telling us the whole history of his relations +with Huseyn Pasha at Deyr, which we never quite understood before (and +which I dare not repeat in detail for fear of bringing him into trouble). +He has been two or three times in prison, but poor Huseyn seems to have +been made a sad fool of. Mohammed also gave us a full, true, and +particular account of Ahmed Beg Moali’s death; and then we had a long +discussion about the exact form in which we are to introduce ourselves at +Haïl. Mohammed will have it that Wilfrid ought to represent himself as a +merchant travelling to Bussorah to recover a debt, but this we will not +listen to. We think it much more agreeable and quite as prudent to be +straightforward, and we intend to tell Ibn Rashid that we are persons of +distinction in search of other persons of distinction; that we have +already made acquaintance with Ibn Smeyr and Ibn Shaalan, and all the +sheykhs of the north, and that each time we have seen a great man, we +have been told that these were nothing in point of splendour to the Emir +of Haïl, and that hearing this, and being on our way to Bussorah, we have +crossed the Nefûd to visit him, as in former days people went to see +Suliman ibn Daoud, and then we are to produce our presents and wish him a +long life. Mohammed has been obliged to admit that this will be a better +plan; and so it is settled. Radi, whom we have taken more or less into +our confidence, thinks that the Emir will be pleased, and promises to +sing our praises “below stairs,” and he talks of a Franji having already +been at Haïl, and having gone away with money and clothes from Ibn +Rashid. Who this can be, we cannot imagine, for Mr. Palgrave was not +known there as a European. So we whiled away the time till dinner was +ready, and when all had well feasted, Mohammed came to invite us to the +servants’ fire, where feats of strength were going on. First, Abdallah +lies flat on the sand, a camel saddle is put upon his back, and then two +gigantic khurjes, weighing each of them about a hundredweight. With +these he struggles to his knees, and then by a prodigious effort to his +feet, staggers a pace, and topples over. Mohammed, not to be outdone, +lifts Ibrahim kasír, who weighs at least twelve stone, on the palm of his +hand off his legs. Then they make wheels, such as are seen at a circus, +and play at a sort of leap-frog, which consists of standing in a row one +close behind the other, when the last jumps on their shoulders and runs +along till he comes to the end, where he has to turn a somersault and +alight as he can on his head or his heels. This is very amusing, and in +the deep sand hurts nobody. All, except Hanna, join in these athletic +sports, but Awwad, who is a Bedouin born, goes through the performance +with a rather wry face. Bedouins never play at games as the town Arabs +do, and they have not the physical strength of the others. Awwad +revenges himself, however, by malignantly hiding bits of hot coal in the +ground, and every now and then somebody steps on these traps with his +bare feet, and there is a scream. Great amusement, too, is caused by +Wilfrid showing them the old game of turning three times round with the +head resting on a short stick, and then trying to walk straight. This is +considered very funny, and they generally manage to tumble over Hanna, +and when they make him try it, arrange that he shall run into the fire. +The best game, to my mind, is something like one sometimes played by +sailors on board ship. They all put their cloaks together in one heap, +and one man has to guard it. Then the rest dance round him, and try to +steal the clothes away without getting touched. Ibrahim tawíl is great +at this sport, and defends the heap with his huge hands and feet, dealing +tremendous blows on the unwary, and paying off, I fancy, not a few old +scores. Abdallah especially, who is disliked by the rest on account of +his bad temper, gets shot clean off his legs by a straight kick almost +like a football, and a fight very nearly ensues. But a diversion is made +by the ingenious Awwad, who steals away with a gun and fires it suddenly +from the top of the fulj, and then comes tumbling head over heels down +the sand to represent a ghazú. So the evening passes, and as we go back +to our private lair, we see for the first time the zodiacal light in the +western sky. + +This was our last night in the Nefûd, and the recollection of it long +stood as our standard of happiness, when imprisoned within walls at Haïl, +or travelling in less congenial lands. The next day we reached Igneh, +the first village of Jebel Shammar, and the day after the mountains +themselves, the “Happy Mountains,” which had so long been the goal of our +Pilgrim’s progress. + +_January_ 23.—It is like a dream to be sitting here, writing a journal on +a rock in Jebel Shammar. When I remember how, years ago, I read that +romantic account by Mr. Palgrave, which nobody believed, of an ideal +State in the heart of Arabia, and a happy land which nobody but he had +seen, and how impossibly remote and unreal it all appeared; and how, +later during our travels, we heard of Nejd and Haïl and this very Jebel +Shammar, spoken of with a kind of awe by all who knew the name, even by +the Bedouins, from the day when at Aleppo Mr. S. first answered our vague +questions about it by saying, “It is _possible_ to go there. Why do +_you_ not go?” I feel that we have achieved something which it is not +given to every one to do. Wilfrid declares that he shall die happy now, +even if we have our heads cut off at Haïl. It is with him a favourite +maxim, that every place is exactly like every other place, but Jebel +Shammar is not like anything else, at least that I have seen in this +world, unless it be Mount Sinaï, and it is more beautiful than that. All +our journey to-day has been a romance. We passed through Igneh in the +early morning, stopping only to water our animals. It is a pretty little +village, something like Jobba, on the edge of the sand, but it has what +Jobba has not, square fields of green barley unwalled outside it. These +are of course due to irrigation, which while waiting we saw at work from +a large well, but they give it a more agricultural look than the walled +palm-groves we have hitherto seen. Immediately after Igneh we came upon +hard ground, and in our delight indulged our tired mares in a fantasia, +which unstiffened their legs and did them good. The soil was beautifully +crisp and firm, being composed of fine ground granite, quite different +from the sandstone formation of Jobba and Jôf. The vegetation, too, was +changed. The yerta and adr and other Nefûd plants had disappeared, and +in their place were shrubs, which I remember having seen in the wadys of +Mount Sinaï, with occasionally small trees of the acacia tribe known to +pilgrims as the “burning bush”—in Arabic “talkh”—also a plant with thick +green leaves and no stalks called “gheyseh,” which they say is good for +the eyes. Every now and then a solitary boulder, all of red granite, +rose out of the plain, or here and there little groups of rounded rocks, +out of which we started several hares. The view in front of us was +beautiful beyond description, a perfectly even plain, sloping gradually +upwards, out of which these rocks and tells cropped up like islands, and +beyond it the violet-coloured mountains now close before us, with a +precipitous cliff which has been our landmark for several days towering +over all. The outline of Jebel Shammar is strangely fantastic, running +up into spires and domes and pinnacles, with here and there a loop-hole +through which you can see the sky, or a wonderful boulder perched like a +rocking stone on the sky line. One rock was in shape just like a camel, +and would deceive any person who did not know that a camel could not have +climbed up there. At half-past one we passed the first detached masses +of rock which stand like forts outside a citadel, and, bearing away +gradually to the left, reached the buttresses of the main body of hills. +These all rise abruptly from the smooth sloping surface of the plain, +and, unlike the mountains of most countries, with no interval of broken +ground. Mount Sinaï is the only mountain I have seen like this. In both +cases you can stand on a plain, and touch the mountain with your hand. +Only at intervals from clefts in the hills little wadys issue, showing +that it sometimes rains in Jebel Shammar. Indeed to-night, we shall +probably have a proof of this, for a great black cloud is rising behind +the peaks westwards, and every now and then it thunders. All is tight +and secure in our tent against rain. There is a small ravine in the rock +close to where we are encamped, with a deep natural tank full of the +clearest water. We should never have discovered it but for the shepherd +who came on with us to-day, for it is hidden away under some gigantic +granite boulders, and to get at it you have to creep through a hole in +the rock. A number of bright green plants grow in among the crevices +(capers?), and we have seen a pair of partridges, little dove-coloured +birds with yellow bills. + +We passed a small party of Bedouin Shammar, moving camp to-day. One of +them had a young goshawk {210} on his delúl. They had no horses with +them, and we have not crossed the track of a horse since leaving Shakik. +I forgot to say that yesterday we saw a Harb Bedouin, an ugly little +black faced man, who told us he was keeping sheep for the Emir. The Harb +are the tribe which hold the neighbourhood of Medina, and have such an +evil reputation among pilgrims. + +_January_ 24.—Thunderstorm in the night. We sent on Radi early this +morning, for we had only a few miles to go, with our letters to Haïl. It +was a lovely morning after the rain, birds singing sweetly from the +bushes, but we all felt anxious. Even Mohammed was silent and +preoccupied, for none knew now what any moment might bring forth. We put +on our best clothes, however, and tried to make our mares look smart. We +had expected to find Haïl the other side of the hills, but this was a +mistake. Instead of crossing them, we kept along their edge, turning +gradually round to the right, the ground still rising. The barometer at +the camp was 3370, and now it marks an ascent of two hundred feet. + +We passed two villages about a mile away to our left, El Akeyt and El +Uta; and from one of them we were joined by some peasants riding in to +Haïl on donkeys. This looked more like civilisation than anything we had +seen since leaving Syria. We were beginning to get rather nervous about +the result of our message, when Radi appeared and announced that the Emir +had read our letters, and would be delighted to see us. He had ordered +two houses to be made ready for us, and nothing more remained for us to +do, than to ride into the town, and present ourselves at the kasr. It +was not far off, for on coming to the top of the low ridge which had been +in front of us for some time, we suddenly saw Haïl at our feet not half a +mile distant. The town is not particularly imposing, most of the houses +being hidden in palm groves, and the wall surrounding it little more than +ten feet high. The only important building visible, was a large castle +close to the entrance, and this Radi told us was the kasr, Ibn Rashid’s +palace. + +In spite of preoccupations, I shall never forget the vivid impression +made on me, as we entered the town, by the extraordinary spick and span +neatness of the walls and streets, giving almost an air of unreality. + + [Picture: Reception at Haïl] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + + “There’s daggers in men’s smiles.”—SHAKESPEARE. + +Haïl—The Emir Mohammed Ibn Rashid—His menagerie—His horses—His +courtiers—His wives—Amusements of the ladies of Haïl—Their domestic +life—An evening at the castle—The telephone. + +AS we stayed some time at Haïl, I will not give the detail of every day. +It would be tedious, and would involve endless repetitions, and not a few +corrections, for it was only by degrees that we learned to understand all +we saw and all we heard. + +Our reception was everything that we could have wished. As we rode into +the courtyard of the kasr, we were met by some twenty well-dressed men, +each one of whom made a handsomer appearance than any Arabs we had +previously seen in our lives. “The sons of Sheykhs,” whispered Mohammed, +who was rather pale, and evidently much impressed by the solemnity of the +occasion. In their midst stood a magnificent old man, clothed in +scarlet, whose tall figure and snow-white beard gave us a notion of what +Solomon might have been in all his glory. He carried a long wand in his +hand—it looked like a sceptre—and came solemnly forward to greet us. +“The Emir,” whispered Mohammed, as we all alighted. Wilfrid then gave +the usual “salam aleykum,” to which every one replied “aleykum salam,” in +a loud cheerful tone, with a cordiality of manner that was very +reassuring. I thought I had never seen so many agreeable faces collected +together, or people with so excellent a demeanour. The old man, smiling, +motioned to us to enter, and others led the way. We were then informed +that these were the servants of the Emir, and the old man his +chamberlain. They showed us first through a dark tortuous entrance, +constructed evidently for purposes of defence, and then down a dark +corridor, one side of which was composed of pillars, reminding one a +little of the entrance to some ancient Egyptian temple. Then one of the +servants tapped at a low door, and exchanged signals with somebody else +inside, and the door was opened, and we found ourselves in a large +kahwah, or reception room. It was handsome from its size, seventy feet +by thirty, and from the row of five pillars, which stood in the middle, +supporting the roof. The columns were about four feet in diameter, and +were quite plain, with square capitals, on which the ends of the rafters +rested. The room was lighted by small square air-holes near the roof, +and by the door, which was now left open. The whole of the inside was +white, or rather, brown-washed, and there was no furniture of any sort, +or fittings, except wooden pegs for hanging swords to, a raised platform +opposite the door where the mortar stood for coffee-pounding, and a +square hearth in one corner, where a fire was burning. + + [Picture: The Emir’s Palace at Haïl] + +It was very dark, but we could make out some slaves, busy with +coffee-pots round the fire. Close to this we were invited to sit down, +and then an immense number of polite speeches were exchanged, our healths +being asked after at least twenty times, and always with some mention of +the name of God, for this is required by politeness in Nejd. Coffee was +soon served, and after this the conversation became general between our +servants and the servants of the Emir, and then there was a stir, and a +general rising, and the word was passed round, “yiji el Emir,” the Emir +is coming. We, too, got up, and this time it really was the Emir. He +came in at the head of a group of still more smartly-dressed people than +those we had seen before, and held out his hand to Wilfrid, to me, and to +Mohammed, exchanging salutations with each of us in turn, and smiling +graciously. Then we all sat down, and Wilfrid made a short speech of the +sort we had already agreed upon, which the Emir answered very amiably, +saying that he was much pleased to see us, and that he hoped we should +make his house our house. He then asked Mohammed for news of the road; +of Jóhar and Meskakeh, and especially about the war going on between +Sotamm and Ibn Smeyr. So far so good, and it was plain that we had +nothing now to fear; yet I could not help looking now and then at those +pegs on the wall, and thinking of the story of the young Ibn Jabars and +their slaves, who had been so treacherously murdered in this very hall, +and by this very man, our host. + +The Emir’s face is a strange one. It may be mere fancy, prompted by our +knowledge of Ibn Rashid’s past life, but his countenance recalled to us +the portraits of Richard the Third, lean, sallow cheeks, much sunken, +thin lips, with an expression of pain, except when smiling, a thin black +beard, well defined black knitted eyebrows, and remarkable eyes,—eyes +deep sunk and piercing, like the eyes of a hawk, but ever turning +restlessly from one of our faces to the other, and then to those beside +him. It was the very type of a conscience-stricken face, or of one which +fears an assassin. His hands, too, were long and claw-like, and never +quiet for an instant, incessantly playing, while he talked, with his +beads, or with the hem of his abba. With all this, the Emir is very +distinguished in appearance, with a tall figure, and, clothed as he was +in purple and fine linen, he looked every inch a king. His dress was +magnificent; at first we fancied it put on only in our honour, but this +we found to be a mistake, and Ibn Rashid never wears anything less +gorgeous. His costume consisted of several jibbehs of brocaded Indian +silk, a black abba, interwoven with gold, and at least three kefiyehs, +one over the other, of the kind made at Bagdad. His aghal, also, was of +the Bagdad type, which I had hitherto supposed were only worn by women, +bound up with silk and gold thread, and set high on the forehead, so as +to look like a crown. In the way of arms he wore several golden-hilted +daggers and a handsome golden-hilted sword, ornamented with turquoises +and rubies, Haïl work, as we afterwards found. His immediate attendants, +though less splendid, were also magnificently clothed. + +After about a quarter of an hour’s conversation, Mohammed ibn Rashid rose +and went out, and we were then shown upstairs by ourselves to a corridor, +where dates and bread and butter were served to us. Then a message came +from the Emir, begging that we would attend his _mejlis_, the court of +justice which he holds daily in the yard of the palace. We were not at +all prepared for this, and when the castle gate was opened, and we were +ushered out into the sunshine, we were quite dazzled by the spectacle +which met our eyes. + +The courtyard, which is about a hundred yards long by fifty broad, was +completely lined with soldiers, not soldiers such as we are accustomed to +in Europe, but still soldiers. They were, to a certain extent, in +uniform, that is to say, they all wore brown cloaks and blue or red +kefiyehs on their heads. Each, moreover, carried a silver-hilted sword. +I counted up to eight hundred of them forming the square, and they were +sitting in a double row under the walls, one row on a sort of raised +bench, which runs round the yard, and the other squatted on the ground in +front of them. The Emir had a raised seat under the main wall, and he +was surrounded by his friends, notably his cousin Hamúd, who attends him +everywhere, and his favourite slave, Mubarek, whose duty it is to guard +him constantly from assassins. {218} In front of the Emir stood +half-a-dozen suppliants, and outside the square of soldiers, a mob of +citizens and pilgrims, for the pilgrimage had arrived at Haïl. We had to +walk across the square escorted by a slave, and the Emir motioned us to +take places at his side, which we accordingly did; he then went on with +his work. People came with petitions, which were read to him by Hamúd, +and to which he generally put his seal without discussion, and then there +was a quarrel to settle, the rights of which I confess I did not +understand, for the Arabic spoken at Haïl is different from any we had +hitherto heard. I noticed, however, that though the courtiers addressed +Mohammed as Emir, the poorer people, probably Bedouins, called him “ya +Sheykh,” or simply “ya Mohammed.” One, who was probably a small Shammar +Sheykh, he kissed on the cheek. Some pilgrims, who had a grievance, also +presented themselves, and had their case very summarily decided; they +were then turned out by the soldiers. No case occupied more than three +minutes, and the whole thing was over in half-an-hour. At last the Emir +rose, bowed to us, and went into the palace, while we, very glad to +stretch our legs, which were cramped with squatting on the bench barely a +foot wide, were escorted to our lodgings by the chamberlain and two of +the soldiers. + +We found a double house provided for us in the main street of Haïl, and +not two hundred yards from the kasr—a house without pretence, but +sufficient for our wants, and secure from all intruders, for the street +door could be locked, and the walls were high. It consisted of two +separate houses, as I believe most dwellings in Arabia do, one for men +and the other for women. In the former there was a kahwah and a couple +of smaller rooms, and this we gave over to Mohammed and the servants, +keeping the _harim_ for ourselves. This last had a small open court, +just large enough for the three mares to stand in, an open vestibule of +the sort they call _liwan_ at Damascus, and two little dens. In one of +these dens we stored our luggage, and in the other, spread our beds. The +doors of these inner rooms could be locked up when we went out, with +curious wooden locks and wooden keys; the doors were of ithel wood. All +was exceedingly simple, but in decent repair and clean, the only +ornaments being certain patterns, scratched out in white from the brown +wash which covered the walls. Here we soon made ourselves comfortable, +and were not sorry to rest at last, after our long journey. + +Our rest, however, was not to come yet. It was only one o’clock when we +arrived at our house, and before two, the Emir sent for us again. This +time the reception was a private one in the upper rooms of the kasr, and +we found the Emir alone with Hamúd. He received us with even more +cordiality than before, and with less ceremony. We had brought presents +with us, the duty of displaying which we left to Mohammed, who expatiated +on their value and nature with all the art of a bazaar merchant. As for +us, we were a little ashamed of their insignificance, for we had had no +conception of Ibn Rashid’s true position when we left Damascus, and the +scarlet cloth jibbeh we had considered the _ne plus ultra_ of splendour +for him, looked shabby among the gorgeous dresses worn at Haïl. We had +added to the cloak and other clothes, which are the usual gifts of +ceremony, a revolver in a handsome embroidered case, a good telescope, +and a Winchester rifle, any one of which would have made Jedaan or Ibn +Shaalan open his eyes with pleasure; but Ibn Rashid, though far too +well-bred not to admire and approve, cared evidently little for these +things, having seen them all before. Even the rifle was no novelty, for +he had an exactly similar one in his armoury. Poor Mohammed, however, +went on quite naïvely with his descriptions, while the Emir looked out of +window through the telescope, pretending to be examining the wall +opposite, for there was no view. Hamúd, his cousin, whose acquaintance +we now made, is more _sympathique_ than the Emir, though they are +ridiculously like each other in face, but Hamúd has the advantage of a +good conscience, and has no vengeance to fear. They were dressed also +alike, so that it was difficult at first to know them apart; perhaps +there is a motive in this, as with the Richmonds of Shakespeare. The +Emir’s room was on the same plan as the kahwah, but smaller, and boasting +only two columns, the coffee place in the right-hand corner as you enter, +and the Emir’s fireplace, with a fire burning in it, on an iron plate in +front. Persian carpets were spread, and there were plenty of cushions to +lean against by the wall. We were invited to sit down to the left of the +Emir and Hamúd, who never seems to leave his side. Mohammed had a place +on the right, between them and the door. Coffee, and a very sweet tea, +were handed round in thimblefuls, and a good deal of conversation ensued. +We had brought a letter from our old friend the Nawab Ikbal ed-Dowlah, +who had been at Haïl about forty years ago, in the time of Abdallah ibn +Rashid. {221} The Emir remembered his coming, though he must have been a +child at the time, and said some pretty things in compliment of him. He +then asked Mohammed about his Arûk relations in Jôf, and said that they +had always been faithful to him. They had taken the Emir’s part, it +would seem, in some revolt which took place there a few years ago. There +was also an Ibn Arûk in Harík, a Bedouin sheykh, who the Emir said was a +friend of his; at least, he was on bad terms with Ibn Saoud and the +Wahhabis, and this is a title to favour at Haïl. Ibn Rashid is very +jealous of Ibn Saoud, and now that the Wahhabi empire is broken up, +fosters any discontent there may be in Aared. I believe many of the +Bedouin sheykhs of Upper Nejd have come over to him. Mohammed, thus +encouraged, launched out into his favourite tales, and repeated the Ibn +Arûk legend, which, I confess, I am beginning to get a little tired of, +and then went on to describe the wonders of Tudmur, of which he now +implied, without exactly stating it in words, that he was actual Sheykh. +The house he lived in at home, he said, had columns of marble, each sixty +feet in height, and had been built originally by Suliman ibn Daoud. +There were two hundred of these columns in and around it, and the walls +were twenty feet thick. The Emir, who seemed rather perplexed by this, +appealed to us for confirmation, and we told him that all this really +existed at Tudmur; indeed, there was no gainsaying the fact that +Mohammed’s father’s house had some of the objects named on the premises, +though the house itself is but a little square box of mud. The city +wall, in fact, makes one side of the stable, and a column or two have +been worked into the modern building; but this we did not think it +necessary to explain. Mohammed’s reputation rose in consequence, and I +already began to fear that the Emir’s civilities had turned his head. I +heard him whisper to Hamúd that the silver-hilted sword he is wearing, +and which is the one Wilfrid gave him at Damascus, was an ancestral +relic; it had been, he said, “min zeman,” from time immemorial, in the +Arûk family. He had also established a fiction, in which he privately +entreated us to join, that we started from home with a hawk (for all the +best falcons come from Tudmur), and lost it on the journey. {223} + +While we were discussing these important matters, the call to prayer was +heard, and the two Ibn Rashids, begging us to remain seated, rose and +went out. + +They were absent a few minutes, and on their return the Emir, to our +great delight, proposed to show us his gardens, and immediately led the +way down tortuous passages and through courts and doors into a palm grove +surrounded by a high wall. Here we were joined by numerous slaves, some +black, some white, for there are both sorts at Haïl. A number of +gazelles were running about, and came up quite familiarly as we entered. +These were of two varieties, one browner than the other, answering, I +believe, to what are called the “gazelle des bois,” and the “gazelle des +plaines,” in Algeria. There were also a couple of ibexes with immense +heads, tame like the gazelles, and allowing themselves to be stroked. +The gazelles seemed especially at home, and we were told that they breed +here in captivity. The most interesting, however, of all the animals in +this garden were three of the wild cows (bakar wahhash), from the Nefûd, +which we had so much wished to see. They proved to be, as we had +supposed, a kind of antelope, {224} though their likeness to cows was +quite close enough to account for their name. They stood about as high +as an Alderney calf six months old, and had humps on their shoulders like +the Indian cattle. In colour they were a yellowish white, with reddish +legs turning to black towards the feet. The face was parti-coloured, and +the horns, which were black, were quite straight and slanted backwards, +and fully three feet long, with spiral markings. These wild cows were +less tame than the rest of the animals, and the slaves were rather afraid +of them, for they seemed ready to use their horns, which were as sharp as +needles. The animals, though fat, evidently suffered from confinement, +for all were lame, one with an enlarged knee, and the rest with overgrown +hoofs. When we had seen and admired the menagerie, and fed the antelopes +with dates, we went on through a low door, which we had almost to creep +through, into another garden, where there were lemon trees (treng), +bitter oranges (hámud), and pomegranates (roman). The Emir, who was very +polite and attentive to me, had some of the fruit picked and gave me a +bunch of a kind of thyme, the only flower growing there. We saw some +camels at work drawing water from a large well, a hundred to a hundred +and fifty feet deep, to judge by the rope. The Emir then crept through +another low door and we after him, and then to our great satisfaction we +found ourselves in a stable-yard full of mares, tethered in rows each to +a manger. I was almost too excited to look, for it was principally to +see these that we had come so far. + +This yard contained about twenty mares, and beyond it was another with a +nearly equal number. Then there was a third with eight horses, tethered +in like manner; and beyond it again a fourth with thirty or forty foals. +I will not now describe all we saw, for the Emir’s stud will require a +chapter to itself. Suffice it to say, that Wilfrid’s first impression +and mine were alike. The animals we saw before us were not comparable +for beauty of form or for quality with the best we had seen among the +Gomussa. The Emir, however, gave us little time for reflection, for with +a magnificent wave of his hand, and explaining with mock humility, “The +horses of my slaves,” he dragged us on from one yard to another, allowing +us barely time to ask a few questions as to breed, for the answers to +which he referred us to Hamúd. We had seen enough, however, to make us +very happy, and Hamúd had promised that we should see them again. There +was no doubt whatever that, in spite of the Emir’s disclaimer, these were +Ibn Rashid’s celebrated mares, the representatives of that stud of Feysul +ibn Saoud, about which such a romance had been made. + +An equally interesting spectacle, the Emir thought for us, was his +kitchen, to which he now showed the way. Here, with unconcealed pride, +he displayed his pots and pans, especially seven monstrous cauldrons, +capable each, he declared, of boiling three whole camels. Several of +them were actually at work, for Ibn Rashid entertains nearly two hundred +guests daily, besides his own household. Forty sheep or seven camels are +his daily bill of fare. As we came out, we found the hungry multitude +already assembling. Every stranger in Haïl has his place at Ibn Rashid’s +table, and towards sunset the courtyard begins to fill. The Emir does +not himself preside at these feasts. He always dines alone, or in his +harim; but the slaves and attendants are extraordinarily well-drilled, +and behave with perfect civility to all comers, rich and poor alike. Our +own dinner was brought to us at our house. Thus ended our first day at +Haïl, a day of wonderful interest, but not a little fatiguing. “Ya +akhi,” (oh my brother), said Mohammed ibn Arûk to Wilfrid that evening, +as they sat smoking and drinking their coffee, “did I not promise you +that you should see Nejd, and Ibn Rashid, and the mares of Haïl, and have +you not seen them?” We both thanked him, and, indeed, we both felt very +grateful. Not that the favours were all on one side; for brotherly +offices had been very evenly balanced, and Mohammed had been quite as +eager to make this journey as we had. But, alas! our pleasant +intercourse with Mohammed was very near its end. + +The next few days of our life at Haïl may be briefly described. Wilfrid +and Mohammed went every morning to the mejlis, and then paid visits, +sometimes to Hamúd, sometimes to Mubarek, sometimes to the Emir. A slave +brought us our breakfast daily from the kasr, and a soldier came to +escort us through the streets. Mohammed had now made acquaintances of +his own, and was generally out all day long. I stayed very much in +doors, and avoided passing through the streets, except when invited to +come to the castle, for we had agreed that discretion was the better part +of valour with us. That there was some reason for this prudence I think +probable, for though we never experienced anything but politeness from +the Haïl people, we heard afterwards that some among them were not best +pleased at the reception given us by the Emir. Europeans had never +before been seen in Nejd; and it is possible that a fanatical feeling +might have arisen if we had done anything to excite it. Wahhabism is on +the decline, but not yet extinct at Haïl; and the Wahhabis would of +course have been our enemies. In the Emir’s house, or even under charge +of one of his officers, we were perfectly safe, but wandering about alone +would have been rash. The object, too, would have been insufficient, for +away from the Court there is little to see at Haïl. + +With Hamúd and his family we made great friends. He was a man who at +once inspired confidence, and we had no cause to regret having acted on +our first impression of his character. He has always, they say, refused +to take presents from the Emir; and has never approved of his conduct, +though he has sided with him politically, and serves him faithfully as a +brother. His manners are certainly as distinguished as can be found +anywhere in the world, and he is besides intelligent and well informed. +The Emir is different; with him there was always a certain _gêne_. It +was impossible to forget the horrible story of his usurpation; and there +was something, too, about him which made it impossible to feel quite at +ease in his presence. Though he knows how to behave with dignity, he +does not always do so. It is difficult to reconcile his almost childish +manner, at times, with the ability he has given proofs of. He has +something of the spoiled child in his way of wandering on from one +subject to another; and, like Jóhar, of asking questions which he does +not always wait to hear answered, a piece of ill-manners not altogether +unroyal, and so, perhaps, the effect of his condition as a sovereign +prince. He is also very naïvely vain, as most people become who are fed +constantly on flattery; and he is continually on the look-out for +compliments about his power, and his wisdom, and his possessions. His +jealousy of other great Sheykhs whom we have seen is often childishly +displayed. Hamúd has none of this. I fancy he stands to his cousin +Mohammed somewhat in the position in which Morny is supposed to have +stood to Louis Napoleon, only that Morny was neither so good a man nor +even so fine a gentleman as Hamúd. He gives the Emir advice, and in +private speaks his mind, only appearing to the outer world as the +obsequious follower of his prince. Hamúd has several sons, the eldest of +whom, Majid, has all his father’s charm of manner, and has, besides, the +attraction of perfectly candid youth, and a quite ideal beauty. He is +about sixteen, and he and his brother and a young uncle came to see us +the morning after our arrival, sent by their father to pay their +compliments. He talked very much and openly about everything, and gave +us a quantity of information about the various mares at the Emir’s +stable, and about his father’s mares and his own. He then went on to +tell us of an expedition he had made with the Emir to the neighbourhood +of Queyt, and of how he had seen the sea. They had made a ghazú on the +felláhín of the sea-coast, and had then returned. He asked me how I rode +on horseback, and I showed him my side-saddle, which, however, did not +surprise him. “It is a shedad,” he said; “you ride as one rides a +delúl.” This young Majid, though he looks quite a boy, is married; and +we were informed that here no one of good family puts off marriage after +the age of sixteen. I made acquaintance with his wife Urgheyeh, who is +very pretty, very small in stature, and very young; she is one of +Metaab’s daughters, and her sister is married to Hamúd, so that father +and son are brothers-in-law. + +Mubarek, the Emir’s chief slave, was one of our particular acquaintances. +He inhabits a very handsome house, as houses go in Haïl; and there +Wilfrid paid him more than one visit. His house is curiously decorated +with designs in plaster of birds and beasts—ostriches, antelopes, and +camels. Though a slave, Mubarek has not in appearance the least trace of +negro blood; and it is still a mystery to us how he happens to be one. +He is a well-bred person, and has done everything in his power to make +things pleasant for us. + +On the second day after our arrival, after the usual compliments and some +conversation, I asked the Emir’s permission to pay a visit to the harim. +Mohammed ibn Rashid appeared gratified by my request, which he +immediately granted, saying that he would send to the khawatin (ladies) +to inform them, and desire them to prepare for my reception. He +accordingly despatched a messenger, but we sat on talking for a long time +before anything came of the message; I had grown quite tired of waiting, +and was already wondering how soon we should be at liberty to return +home, where I might write my journal in secret, when the servant +re-appeared, and brought us word that Amusheh, the Emir’s chief wife, was +ready to receive me. I fancy that ladies here seldom dress with any care +unless they want to display their silks and jewels to some visitor; and +on such special occasions their toilet is a most elaborate one, with kohl +and fresh paint, and takes a long time. The Emir at once put me in +charge of a black slave woman, who led the way to the harim. Hamúd’s +wives as well as Mohammed’s live in the palace, but in separate +dwellings. The kasr is almost a town in itself, and I and my black guide +walked swiftly through so many alleys and courts, and turned so many +corners to the right and to the left, that if I had been asked to find my +way back unassisted, I certainly could not have done it. At last, +however, after crossing a very large courtyard, we stopped at a small low +door. This was open, and through it I could see a number of people +sitting round a fire within, for it was the entrance to Amusheh’s kahwah. +This room had two columns supporting the ceiling, like all other rooms I +had seen in the palace, except the great kahwah, which has five. The +fire-place, as usual, an oblong hole in the ground, was on the left as +one entered, in the corner near the door; in it stood a brazier +containing the fire, and between it and the wall handsome carpets had +been spread. All the persons present rose to their feet as I arrived. +Amusheh could easily be singled out from among the crowd, even before she +advanced to do the honours. She possesses a certain distinction of +appearance and manner which would be recognised anywhere, and completely +eclipsed the rest of the company. But she, the daughter of Obeyd and +sister of Hamúd, has every right to outshine friends, relatives, and +fellow wives. Her face, though altogether less regularly shaped than her +brother’s, is sufficiently good-looking, with a well-cut nose and mouth, +and something singularly sparkling and brilliant. Hedusheh and Lulya, +the two next wives, who were present, had gold brocade as rich as hers, +and lips and cheeks smeared as red as hers with carmine, and eyes with +borders kohled as black as hers, but lacked her charm. Amusheh is +besides clever and amusing, and managed to keep up a continual flow of +conversation, in which the other two hardly ventured to join. They sat +looking pretty and agreeable, but were evidently kept in a subordinate +position. Lulya shares with Amusheh, as the latter informed me, what +they consider the great privilege of never leaving town, thus taking +precedence of Hedusheh, on whom devolves the duty of following the Emir’s +fortunes in the desert, where he always spends a part of the year in +tents. The obligation of such foreign service is accounted derogatory, +and accordingly objected to by these Haïl ladies. They have no idea of +amusement, if I may judge from what they said to me, but a firm +conviction that perfect happiness and dignity consist in sitting still. + +This happiness Amusheh and I enjoyed for some time. We sat together on +one carpet spread over a mattress, cushions being ranged along the wall +behind us for us to lean against, and the fire in front scorching our +faces while we talked. On my right sat Hedusheh; beyond her Lulya and +the rest of the company, making a circle round the fireplace. Before +long, Atwa, a pretty little girl, who was introduced to me as the fourth +wife, came in and took her place beyond Lulya. She looked more like a +future wife than one actually married, being very young; and indeed it +presently appeared that she had merely been brought to be looked at and +considered about, and that the Emir had decided to reject her as too +childish and insignificant. {233} He was, in fact, casting about in his +mind for some suitable alliance which should bring him political support, +as well as an increase of domestic comfort. That these were the objects +of his new matrimonial projects I soon learned from his own mouth, from +the questions he asked me about the marriageable daughters of Bedouin +Sheyks. What could, indeed, be more suitable for his purpose than some +daughter of a great desert sheykh, whose family should be valuable allies +in war, while she herself, the ideal fourth wife, unlike these ladies of +the town, should be always ready to accompany her husband to the desert, +and should indeed prefer the desert to the town? + +Among other persons present were several oldish women, relatives, whose +names and exact relationship have slipped my memory; also a few friends +and a vast number of attendants and slaves, these last mostly black. +They all squatted round the fire, each trying to get into the front rank, +and to seize every opportunity of wedging in a remark, by way of joining +in the conversation of their betters. None of these outsiders were +otherwise than plainly dressed in the dark blue or black cotton or +woollen stuffs, used by ordinary Bedouin women in this part of Arabia, +often bordered with a very narrow red edge, like a cord or binding, which +looks well. The rich clothes worn by Amusheh and her companion wives are +somewhat difficult to describe, presenting as they did an appearance of +splendid shapelessness. Each lady had a garment cut like an abba, but +closed up the front, so that it must have been put on over the head; and +as it was worn without any belt or fastening at the waist, it had the +effect of a sack. These sacks or bags were of magnificent material, gold +interwoven with silk, but neither convenient nor becoming, effectually +hiding any grace of figure. Amusheh wore crimson and gold, and round her +neck a mass of gold chains studded with turquoises and pearls. Her hair +hung down in four long plaits, plastered smooth with some reddish stuff, +and on the top of her head stuck a gold and turquoise ornament, like a +small plate, about four inches in diameter. This was placed forward at +the edge of the forehead, and fastened back with gold and pearl chains to +another ornament resembling a lappet, also of gold and turquoise, hooked +on behind the head, and having flaps which fell on each side of the head +and neck, ending in long strings of pearls with bell-shaped gold and +pearl tassels. The pearls were all irregularly shaped and unsorted as to +size, the turquoises very unequal in shape, size, and quality, the coral +generally in beads. The gold work was mostly good, some of it said to be +from Persia, but the greater part of Haïl workmanship. I had nearly +forgotten to mention the nose-ring, here much larger than I have seen it +at Bagdad and elsewhere, measuring an inch and a half to two inches +across. It consists of a thin circle of gold, with a knot of gold and +turquoises attached by a chain to the cap or lappet before described. It +is worn in the left nostril, but taken out and left dangling while the +wearer eats and drinks. A most inconvenient ornament, I thought and +said, and when removed it leaves an unsightly hole, badly pierced, in the +nostril, and more uncomfortable-looking than the holes in European ears. +But fashion rules the ladies at Haïl as in other places, and my new +acquaintances only laughed at such criticisms. They find these trinkets +useful toys, and amuse themselves while talking by continually pulling +them out and putting them in again. The larger size of ring seemed +besides to be a mark of high position, so that the diameter of the circle +might be considered the measure of the owner’s rank, for the rings of all +inferiors were kept within the inch. + +Amusheh was very communicative, but told me so many new names, that I +could not remember all the information she volunteered about the Ibn +Rashid family and relationships. She remarked that neither she nor any +of Mohammed’s wives had any children, a fact which I already knew, and +not from Radi alone; for it is the talk of the town and tribe that this +is a judgment for the Emir’s crimes. She spoke with great affection of +her nephew Majid and of her brother Hamúd, and with veneration of her +father Obeyd, but I cannot recollect that she told me anything new about +any of them. She spoke too of Tellál, but of course made no mention of +Bender. Indeed, anxious as I was for any information she might give, I +knew too much of the family history and secrets to venture on asking many +questions; besides, any show of curiosity might have made her suspect me +of some unavowed motive. I therefore felt more at ease when the +conversation wandered from dangerous topics to safe and trivial ones, +such as the manners and customs of different countries. “Why do you not +wear your hair like mine?” said she, holding out one of her long auburn +plaits for me to admire; and I had to explain that such short locks as +mine were not sufficient for the purpose. “Then why did I not dress in +gold brocade?” “How unsuitable,” I replied, “would such beautiful stuffs +be for the rough work of travelling, hunting, and riding in the desert.” +When we talked of riding, Amusheh seemed for a moment doubtful whether to +be completely satisfied about her own lot in life—she would like, she +said, to see me on my mare; and I promised she should, if possible, be +gratified; but the opportunity never occurred, and perhaps the supreme +authority did not care that it should. Even she might become +discontented. Thus conversing, time slipped away, and the midday call to +prayer sounded. My hostess then begged me to excuse her, and added, “I +wish to pray.” She and the rest then got up and went to say their +prayers in the middle of the room. After this she returned and continued +the conversation where we had left it off. + +Some slaves now brought a tray, which they placed before me. On it was a +regular solid breakfast: a large dish of rice in the middle, set round +with small bowls of various sorts of rich and greasy sauces to be eaten +with the rice. I excused myself as well as I could for my want of +appetite, and said that I had this very morning eaten one of the hares +sent to us by the Emir. Of course I was only exhorted all the more to +eat, and obliged to go through the form of trying; but fortunately there +were other hungry mouths at hand, and eager eyes watching till the dishes +should be passed on to them, so I got off pretty easily. + +Amusheh afterwards invited me to go upstairs, that she might show me her +own private apartment, on the floor above the kahwah. I followed her up +a steep staircase, of which each step was at least eighteen inches in +height. It led nowhere, except to a single room, the same size as the +one below, and built in the same way, with two columns supporting the +roof, and with a window in a recess corresponding to the door beneath. +This apartment was well carpeted, and contained for other furniture a +large bed, or couch, composed of a pile of mattresses, with a velvet and +gold counterpane spread over it; also a kind of press or cupboard, a box +(sanduk) rather clumsily made of dark wood, ornamented by coarse, thin +plaques of silver stuck on it here and there. The press stood against +the wall, and might be five feet long and two to three feet high, opening +with two doors, and raised about two feet from the floor on four thin +legs. Underneath and in front of it were three or four rows of china and +crockery of a common sort, and a few Indian bowls, all arranged on the +carpet like articles for sale in the streets. Amusheh asked what I +thought of her house, was it nice? And after satisfying herself of my +approbation, she conducted me down again, and we sat as before on the +mattress between the brazier and the wall. + +During my stay, the Emir paid two visits to the kahwah, and each time +that he appeared at the door the crowd and the wives, except Amusheh, +rose and remained standing until he left. Amusheh only made a slight bow +or movement, as if about to rise, and kept her place by me while her +husband stood opposite to us talking. He addressed himself almost +entirely to me, and spoke chiefly in the frivolous, almost puerile, +manner he sometimes affects. He inquired my opinion of his wives, +whether they were more beautiful and charming than Ibn Shaalan’s wife, +Ghiowseh, the sister of El Homeydi ibn Meshur, or than his former wife, +Turkya, Jedaan’s daughter, who had left him and returned to her father’s +tent. In the forty-eight hours since my arrival at Haïl, the Emir had +already asked me many questions about these two ladies, and I now +answered for the hundredth time that Turkya was pretty and nice, and that +Ghiowseh was still prettier, but very domineering. He was, however, +determined on a comparison of the two families, and it was fortunate that +now, having seen Amusheh, Hedusheh, and Lulya and Atwa, I could say with +truth they were handsomer, even the poor little despised Atwa, than their +rivals. He was rather impatient of Atwa being classed with the others, +and said, “Oh, Atwa, I don’t want her; she is worth nothing.” His +character is, as I have already said, a strange mixture of remarkable +ability and political insight on the one hand, and on the other a +tendency to waste time and thought on the most foolish trifles, if they +touch his personal vanity. Of his ability I judge by his extremely +interesting remarks on serious subjects, as well as by the position he +has been able to seize and to keep. Of his energy no one can doubt, for +he has shown it, alas, by his crimes; but he is so eaten up with petty +personal jealousies, that I sometimes wonder whether these would +influence his conduct at an important political crisis. I think, +however, that at such a moment all little vanities would be forgotten, +for he is above all things ambitious, and his vanity is, as it were, a +part and parcel of his ambition. He is personally jealous of all other +renowned chiefs, because here in Arabia personal heroism is, perhaps more +than anywhere else in the world since the age of chivalry, an engine of +political power. He would, I doubt not, make alliance with Sotamm, if +necessary to gain his ends; nevertheless, he could not resist talking to +me about Ibn Shaalan at this most inappropriate moment, evidently hoping +to hear something disparaging of his rival. I confess I found it +embarrassing to undergo an examination as to the merits of Ghiowseh and +Turkya in the presence of Mohammed’s own wives, who all listened with +wide open eyes, breathless with attention. My embarrassment only +increased when, after the Emir was gone, Amusheh, on her part, +immediately attacked me with a volley of questions. While he remained he +had persisted in his inquiries, especially about Turkya, till I, being +driven into a corner, at last lost patience, and exclaimed, “But why do +you ask me these questions? Why do you want to hear about Turkya? What +is it to you whether she is fair or kind? You never have seen her, nor +is it likely you ever will see her!” “No,” he replied, “I have never +seen her. Yet I want to know something about her, and to hear your +opinion of her. Perhaps some day I may like to marry her. I might take +her instead of this little girl,” pointing to Atwa, “who will never do +for me, and whom I will not have. She is worthless,” he repeated, +“worthless.” Poor little Atwa stood listening, but I think with stolid +indifference, for I watched her countenance, and could not detect even a +passing shade of regret or disappointment. Indeed, of all the wives, +Amusheh alone seemed to me to have any personal feeling of affection for +the Emir. She, the moment he had left, fell upon me with questions. +“Who is Turkya?” she asked, almost gasping for breath. It surprised me +that she did not know, for she knew who El-Homeydi ibn Meshur was. I had +to explain that his sister Ghiowseh had married Sotamm ibn Shaalan, and +to tell her the story of Sotamm’s second marriage; and of how Ghiowseh +had determined to get rid of her rival, and succeeded in making the +latter so uncomfortable, that she had left, and had since refused to +return. Amusheh certainly cares about Ibn Rashid, and I thought she +feared lest a new element of discord should be brought into the family. +As to her own position, it could hardly be affected by the arrival of a +new wife; she, as Hamúd’s sister, must be secure of her rank and +influence, and the Emir, with his guilty conscience, would never dare, if +he ever wished, to slight her or Hamúd, to whose support he owes so much. + +From Amusheh’s house I went with a black slave girl to another house also +within the kasr, that of Hamúd’s wife, Beneyeh, a daughter of Metaab. +There I saw Urgheyeh, her sister, married to Majid, son of Hamúd; also +another wife of Hamúd’s. This last person I found was not considered as +an equal, and on asking about her birth and parentage, was told, “She is +the daughter of a Shammar.” “Who?” I inquired. “Ahad” (one). “But +_who_ is he?” “Ahad,—fulan min Haïl min el belad” (some one, a person of +the town). She was hardly considered as belonging to the family. The +third and fourth wives, whom I afterwards saw, are, like the first, +relations, one a daughter of Tellál, and the other of Suleyman, Hamúd’s +uncle on the mother’s side (khal). These four are young; Majid’s mother, +whose name I never heard, died, I believe, several years ago. Hamúd, +like the Emir, keeps up the number of his wives to the exact figure +permitted by the law of the Koran, any one who dies or fails to please +being replaced as we replace a servant. + +Beneyeh met me at her door, and we went through a little ante-room or +vestibule into her kahwah. Here we remained only a few moments till, to +my surprise, three arm-chairs were brought and placed in the ante-room. +On these I and Beneyeh and the second class wife sat, drinking tea out of +tea-cups, with saucers and tea-spoons. The cups were filled to the brim, +and the tea in them then filled to overflowing with lumps of sugar. It +was, however, good. A pile of sweet limes was then brought; slaves +peeled the fruits, and divided them into quarters, which they handed +round. After these refreshments Beneyeh wished to show me her room +upstairs. It was reached, like Amusheh’s private apartment, by a rugged +staircase from the kahwah, and was built in the same style, with two +columns supporting the rafters, only it had no outlook, being lighted +only by two small openings high up in the wall. It was, however, more +interesting than Amusheh’s room, for its walls were decorated with arms. +There were eighteen or twenty swords, and several guns and daggers, +arranged with some care and taste as ornaments. The guns were all very +old-fashioned things, with long barrels, but most of them beautifully +inlaid with silver. Two of the daggers we had already seen in the +evening, when the Emir sent for them to show us as specimens of the +excellence of Haïl goldsmiths’ work. The swords, or sword-hilts, were of +various degrees of richness, the blades I did not see. Unfortunately at +the moment I did not think of Obeyd and his three wishes, and so forgot +to ask Beneyeh whether Obeyd’s sword was among these; it would not have +done to inquire about the widow, but there would have been no impropriety +in asking about the sword, and I afterwards the more regretted having +omitted to do so, because this proved to be my only opportunity. It +would have been curious to ascertain whether Obeyd wore a plain +unjewelled weapon in keeping with Wahhabi austerity. He would surely +have disapproved, could he have foreseen it, of the gold and jewels, not +to mention silks and brocaded stuffs now worn by his descendants; for his +own children have none of the severe asceticism attributed to him, +although they inherit his love of prayer. + +Hamúd came upstairs while I was there with Beneyeh, but he only stayed a +few minutes. They seemed to be on very good terms, and after he left she +talked a great deal about him, and seemed very proud of him. “This is +Hamúd’s, and this, and this,” said she, “and here is his bed,” pointing +to a pile of mattresses with a fine coverlid. There were several +European articles of furniture in the room, an iron bedstead with +mattresses, several common looking-glasses, with badly gilt frames, and a +clock with weights. Urgheyeh now joined us, and Beneyeh particularly +showed me a handsome necklace her sister wore of gold and coral, +elaborately worked. “This was my father’s,” she told me, adding that the +ornament came from Persia. Beneyeh is immensely proud of her son, +Abdallah, a fine boy of four months old. She and her sister were so +amiable and anxious to please, that I could willingly have spent the rest +of the afternoon with them. But it was now time to pay my next visit. +After many good-byes and good wishes from both sisters, my black guide +seized hold of my hand, and we proceeded to the apartments of another +wife of Hamúd, Zehowa, daughter of Tellál. She is sympathetic and +intelligent, extremely small and slight, with the tiniest of hands. Like +the other ladies, she wore rings on her fingers, with big, irregular +turquoises. We sat by the fire and ate sweet limes and trengs and drank +tea. Zehowa sent for her daughter, a baby only nine months old, to show +me, and I told her I had a daughter of my own, and that girls were better +than boys, which pleased her, and she answered, “Yes, the daughter is the +mother’s, but the son belongs to the father.” + +Presently one of the guards, a tall black fellow, all in scarlet, came +with a message for me, a request from the Beg that I would join him in +the Emir’s kahwah, where he was waiting for me. Zehowa, like her +cousins, begged hard that I would stay, or at least promise to visit her +again as soon as possible, and I, bidding her farewell, followed the +scarlet and black swordsman through courts, alleys, and passages to the +kahwah, where I found Wilfrid. He was being entertained by an elderly +man with coffee and conversation. This personage was Mubarek, already +mentioned as the chief of the slaves, and he had been giving Wilfrid a +vast deal of interesting information about horses, especially the +dispersion of Feysul ibn Saoud’s stud, and the chief sources from which +that celebrated collection was obtained. It had been originally got +together, he said, entirely from the Bedouins, both of Nejd and of the +north, by purchase and in war. + +I never saw Zehowa, Beneyeh, or Amusheh again, for the next few days were +fully occupied, and afterwards, owing to our finding ourselves involved +in a network of mystery, and subject to an adverse influence, the +pressure of which made itself felt without our being able at first to lay +hold of anything tangible, or even to conjecture the cause, it became +more than ever an object to us to remain quiet and unobserved. But I am +anticipating circumstances to be detailed further on. + +About three days later I paid a visit to the harim of Hamúd’s uncle. +This gentleman, Suleyman, we were already acquainted with, from seeing +him at Court on several occasions. He had sent me an invitation to visit +his family, and two black slaves came to escort me to their house, one of +the dependencies of the palace. In a kahwah opening out of a small yard, +I found the old man waiting to receive me. He dyes his beard red, and +loves books, amidst a pile of which he was sitting. I was in hopes that +his conversation would be instructive, and we had just begun to talk +when, alas, his wife came in with a rush, followed by a crowd of other +women, upon which he hastily gathered up all his books and some +manuscripts which were lying about, and putting some of them away in a +cupboard, carried off the rest and made his escape. + +Ghut, his wife, was the stupidest person I had seen at Haïl, but very +talkative, and hospitable with dates, fresh butter floating in its own +buttermilk, and sugar-plums. The many-coloured crowd of white, brown, +and black attendants, slaves, and children, were not in much awe of her, +and chattered away without a check to their hearts’ content. All were, +however, respectful and attentive to me. Ghut’s daughter, another +Zehowa, presently arrived with a slave carrying her son, Abderrahman, a +child about a year old. This Zehowa was good-looking, but nearly as +stupid and tiresome as her mother. She was very much taken up with +showing me her box of trinkets, which she sent for on purpose to display +before me its contents. These were of the usual sort, gold ornaments for +head and arms and ankles, set with turquoises and strings of pearls. The +furniture of the room, which she and her mother specially pointed out for +my admiration, was also like what I had already seen—presses or boxes on +legs, and ornamented with rude silver plaques. + +The conversation was dull. Here is a sample: + + _I_. “What do you do all day long?” + + _Zeh._ “We live in the kasr.” + + _I_. “Don’t you go out at all?” + + _Zeh._ “No; we always stay in the kasr.” + + _I_. “Then you never ride as we do?” (I always ask if they ride, to + see the effect.) + + _Zeh._ “No, we have no mares to ride.” + + _I_. “What a pity! and don’t you ever go into the country outside + Haïl, the desert?” + + _Zeh._ “Oh, no, of course not.” + + _I_. “But, to pass the time, what do you do?” + + _Zeh._ “We do nothing.” + +Here a sharp black boy interrupted us, “O, khatún, these are daughters of +sheykhs, they have no work—no work _at all_ to do, don’t you understand?” + + _I_. “Of course, I understand perfectly; but they might amuse + themselves without doing work,” and turning to Zehowa I added, “Don’t + you even look at the horses?” + + _Zeh._ “No, we do nothing.” + + _I_. “I should die if I did nothing. When I am at home I always walk + round the first thing in the morning to look at my horses. How do you + manage to spend your lives?” + + _Zeh._ “We sit.” Thus supreme contentment in the harim here is to sit + in absolute idleness. It seems odd, where the men are so active and + adventurous, that the women should be satisfied to be bored; but such, + I suppose, is the tyranny of fashion. + +Every evening after dinner we used to receive a message from the Emir, +inviting us to spend the evening with him. This was always the +pleasantest part of the day, for we generally found one or two +interesting visitors sitting with him. As a sample of these I give an +extract from my journal: + +“We found the Emir this evening in high good humour. News had just come +from El-Homeydi ibn Meshur, a Roala sheykh of the faction opposed to +Sotamm, that a battle was fought about a month ago between the Roala and +the Welled Ali, and that Sotamm has been worsted. Sotamm, at the head of +a ghazú numbering six hundred horsemen, had marched against Ibn Smeyr at +Jerud, but the latter refused to come out and fight him, and so Sotamm +retired. On his way back home, however, he fell in with an outlying camp +of Welled Ali, somewhere to the east of the Hauran, and summoned it to +surrender. These, numbering only a hundred and fifty horsemen, at first +entered into negotiation, and, it is said, offered to give up their camp +and camels if they were permitted to retire with their mares (the women +and children would of course not have been molested in any case), and to +this Sotamm wished to agree. But the younger men of his party, and +especially the Ibn Jendal family, who had a death to avenge, would not +hear of compromise, and a battle ensued. It ended, strangely enough, in +favour of the weaker side, who succeeded in killing four of the Roala, +and among them Tellal ibn Shaalan, Sotamm’s cousin and heir presumptive. +Sotamm himself is said to have been saved only by the speed of his mare. +Though the forces engaged were so disproportionate, nobody here seems +surprised at the result, for victory and defeat are “min Allah,” “in the +hand of God;” but everybody is highly delighted, and the Emir can hardly +contain himself for joy. “What do you think now of Sotamm?” he said; +“has he head, or has he no head?” “Not much, I am afraid,” I answered, +“but I am sorry for him. He is weak, and does not know how to manage his +people, but he has a good heart.” “And Ibn Smeyr, what do you say to Ibn +Smeyr?” “He has more head than heart,” I said. This delighted the Emir. +“Ah,” he replied, “it is you, khatún, that have the head. Now what do +you say to me? have I head, or not head?” “You have head,” I answered. +“And Hamúd?” “You all of you have plenty of head here, more of course +than the Bedouins, who are most of them like children.” “But we are +Bedouins too,” he said, hoping to be contradicted. “I like the Bedouins +best,” I replied; “it is better to have heart than head.” Then he went +on to cross-question me about all the other sheykhs whose names he knew. +“Which,” he asked, “is the best of all you have met with?” “Mohammed +Dukhi,” I said, “is the cleverest, Ferhan ibn Hedeb the best-mannered, +but the one I like best is your relation in the Jezireh, Faris Jerba.” I +don’t think he was quite pleased at this. He had never heard, he said, +good or bad of Ibn Hedeb, who belonged to the Bisshr. He was not on +terms with any of the Bisshr except Meshur ibn Mershid, who had paid him +a visit two years ago. We told him that both Meshur and Faris were +Wilfrid’s “brothers.” Meshur he liked, but Faris Jerba was evidently no +favourite of his. + + [Picture: Ibn Rashid’s stable at Haïl] + +I fancy the Emir has taken Ferhan’s part in the family quarrel. It is +certain that when Amsheh, Sfuk’s widow and Abdul Kerim’s mother, came +with her son Faris to Nejd, he would see neither of them. They stayed in +the desert all the time they were here, and never came to Haïl. Rashid +ibn Ali, too, is Faris’s friend, and of course in no favour at this +court. {251} He then asked about Jedaan, touched rather unfeelingly on +the idiocy of Turki, Jedaan’s only son, and then cut some jokes at the +expense of our old acquaintance, Smeyr ibn Zeydan. “An old fool,” the +Emir exclaimed, “why did they send him here? They might as well have +sent a camel!” This is the Smeyr who came to Nejd a year and a half ago +to try and get Ibn Rashid’s assistance for Sotamm, and arrange a +coalition against Jedaan and the Sebaa. We knew his mission had failed, +but the fact is Ibn Rashid is eaten up with jealousy of anyone who has +the least reputation in the desert. We are surprised, however, to find +him so well informed about everything and everybody in the far north, and +we are much interested, as he has solved for us one of the problems about +Nejd which used to puzzle us, namely, the relations maintained by the +tribes of Jebel Shammar with those of the north. The Emir has told us +that the Shammar of the Jezireh and his own Shammar still count each +other as near relations. “Our horses,” he said, “are of the same blood.” +With the Roala he has made peace, and with Ibn Haddal; but the Sebaa and +the rest of the Bisshr clan are out of his way. They never come anywhere +near Nejd, except on ghazús, and that very rarely. Once, however, a +ghazú, of Fedaan, had got as far as Kasím, and he had gone out against +them, and captured a Seglawi Jedran mare of the Ibn Sbeni strain. He +promised to show it to us. We then talked a good deal about horses, and +our knowledge on this head caused general astonishment. Indeed, I think +we could pass a better examination in the breeds than most of the Ibn +Rashids. By long residence in town they have lost many of the Bedouin +traditions. Hamúd, however, who takes more interest in horses than the +Emir, has told us a number of interesting facts relating to the stud +here, and that of the late Emir of Riad, Feysul ibn Saoud, solving +another problem, that of the fabulous Nejd breed; but we are taking +separate notes about these things. + +We had not been talking long with the Emir and Hamúd, when a fat +vulgar-looking fellow was introduced and made to sit down by us. It was +evident that he was no Haïl man, for his features were coarse, and his +manners rude. He talked with a strong Bagdadi accent, and was addressed +by everyone as “ya Hajji.” It was clear that he belonged to the Haj, but +why was he here? The mystery was soon cleared up, for after a whispered +conversation with Hamúd, the new visitor turned to Wilfrid, and began +addressing him in what we at first took to be gibberish, until seeing +that we made no answer, he exclaimed in Arabic, “There, I told you he was +no Englishman!” Wilfrid then cross-questioned him, and elicited the fact +that he had been a stoker on board one of the British India Company’s +steamers on the Persian Gulf, and that the language he had been talking +was English. Only two phrases, however, we succeeded in distinguishing, +“werry good,” and “chief engineer”—and having recognised them and given +their Arabic equivalents, our identity was admitted. The fellow was then +sent about his business, and a very small, very polite old man took his +place. He was conspicuous among these well-dressed Shammar by the +plainest possible dress, a dark brown abba without hem or ornament, and a +cotton kefiyeh on his head, unbound by any aghal whatsoever. He was +treated with great respect, however, by all, and it was easy to see that +he was a man of condition. He entered freely into conversation with us, +and talked to Mohammed about his relations in Aared, and it presently +appeared that he was from Southern Nejd. This fact explained the +severity of his costume, for among the Wahhabis, no silk or gold +ornaments are tolerated. He was, in fact, the Sheykh of Harík, the last +town of Nejd towards the south, and close to the Dahna, or great southern +desert. This he described to us as exactly like the Nefûd we have just +crossed, only with more vegetation. The ghada is the principal wood, but +there are palms in places. + +It is not the custom of Haïl to smoke, either from Wahhabi prejudice, or, +as I am more inclined to think, because tobacco has never penetrated so +far inland in quantities sufficient to make the habit general. No +objection, however, has been made to Wilfrid’s pipe, which he smokes when +and where he chooses, and this evening when the call to prayer sounded, +and the Emir and Hamúd had gone out to perform their devotions, the old +man I have just mentioned, Nassr ibn Hezani, hinted without more ceremony +that he should like a whiff. He has quarrelled with Ibn Saoud, and +probably hates all the Wahhabi practices, and was very glad to take the +opportunity of committing this act of wickedness. He was careful, +however, to return the pipe before the rest came back. He, at any rate, +if a Wahhabi, is not one of the disagreeable sort described by Mr. +Palgrave, for he invited us very cordially to go back home with him to +Harík. The Emir, however, made rather a face at this suggestion, and +gave such an alarming account of what would happen to us if we went to +Riad, that I don’t think it would be wise to attempt to go there now. We +could not go in fact without the Emir’s permission. I do not much care, +for town life is wearisome; we have had enough of it, and I have not much +curiosity to see more of Nejd, unless we can go among the Bedouins there. +If Ibn Saoud still had his collection of mares the sight of them would be +worth some risk, but his stud has long since been scattered, and Nassr +ibn Hezani assures us that there is nothing now in Arabia to compare with +Ibn Rashid’s stud. Ibn Hezani, like everybody else, laughs at the story +of a Nejd breed, and says, as everybody else does, that the mares at Riad +were a collection made by Feysul ibn Saoud in quite recent times. + +Later in the evening, a native goldsmith was introduced, with a number of +articles worked by him at Haïl. They were pretty, but not specially +interesting, or very unlike what may be seen elsewhere, dagger hilts and +sheaths, and a few ornaments. It was this man, however, who had made the +gold hilts which all the princely family here wear to their swords. +These we examined, and found the work really good. + +The most amusing incident of the evening, however, and one which we were +not at all prepared for, was the sudden production by the Emir of one of +those toys called telephones, which were the fashion last year in Europe. +This the Emir caused two of his slaves to perform with, one going into +the courtyard outside, and the other listening. The message was +successfully delivered, the slave outside, to make things doubly sure, +shouting at the top of his voice, “Ya Abdallah weyn ente? yeridak el +Emir.” “O Abdallah, where are you? the Emir wants you,” and other such +phrases. We expressed great surprise, as in duty bound; indeed, it was +the first time we had actually seen the toy, and it is singular to find +so very modern an invention already at Haïl. + +At about ten o’clock, the Emir began to yawn, and we all got up and +wished him good-night. He very kindly sent for, and gave me, a number of +trengs and oranges, which he gave orders should be conveyed to our house, +together with a new-laid ostrich’s egg, the “first of the season,” which +had just been brought to him from the Nefûd. + + [Picture: Evening with the Emir] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + “I shall do well: + The people love me, and the Desert’s mine; + My power’s a crescent, and my auguring hope + Says it will come to the full.” + + SHAKESPEARE. + +Political and historical—Shepherd role in Arabia—An hereditary policy—The +army—The law—Taxation—The finances of Jebel Shammar—Ibn Rashid’s +ambition. + +THE following is the result of our inquiries made while at Haïl into the +political condition and resources of the country. It has no pretension +to rigid accuracy, especially in the figures given, but it will serve to +convey an idea of the kind of government found in Arabia, and of the +capacity for self-rule of the Arab race. + +The political constitution of Jebel Shammar is exceedingly curious; not +only is it unlike anything we are accustomed to in Europe, but it is +probably unique, even in Asia. It would seem, in fact, to represent some +ancient form of government indigenous to the country, and to have sprung +naturally from the physical necessities of the land, and the character of +its inhabitants. I look upon Ibn Rashid’s government as in all +likelihood identical with that of the Kings of Arabia, who came to visit +Solomon, and of the Shepherd Kings who, at a still earlier date, held +Egypt and Babylonia; and I have little doubt that it owes its success to +the fact of its being thus in harmony with Arab ideas and Arab tradition. +To understand it rightly, one ought to consider what Arabia is, and what +the Arab character and mode of life. The whole of the peninsula, with +the exception, perhaps, of Yemen, and certain districts of Hadramaut +within the influence of the monsoon winds, is a rainless, waterless +region, in every sense of the word a desert. The soil is a poor one, +mainly of gravel or of sand, and except in a few favoured spots, unsuited +for cultivation; indeed, no cultivation is possible at all in Nejd, +except with the help of irrigation, and, as there is no water above +ground, of irrigation from wells. Even wells are rare. The general +character of the central plateaux, and of the peninsula, is that of vast +uplands of gravel, as nearly destitute of vegetation as any in the world, +and incapable of retaining water, even at a great depth. It is only in +certain depressions of the plain, several hundred feet lower than the +general level, that wells as a rule are found, and wherever these occur +with a sufficient supply of water, towns and villages with gardens round +them, have sprung up. These, however, are often widely apart, showing as +mere spots on the map of Arabia, and unconnected with each other by any +intervening district of agricultural land. Indeed, it is not too much to +say, that Nejd contains no agricultural region, as we understand +agriculture, and that all its production is garden produce. From this +state of things, it happens that there is also no rural class, and that +each town is isolated from its neighbours to a degree impossible with us. +The desert surrounds them like a sea, and they have no point of contact +one with the other in the shape of intervening fields or villages, or +even intervening pastures. They are isolated in the most literal sense, +and from this fact has sprung the political individuality it has always +been their care to maintain. Each city is an independent state. + +Meanwhile the desert outside, though untenanted by any settled +population, is roamed over by the Bedouin tribes, who form the bulk of +the Arab race. These occupy for the most part the Nefûds, where alone +pasture in any abundance is found; but they frequent also every part of +the upland districts, and being both more warlike and more numerous than +the townsmen, hold every road leading from town to town, so that it +depends upon their good will and pleasure, to cut off communication for +the citizens entirely from the world. + +The towns, as I have said, are for the most part self-supporting; but +their production is limited to garden produce, and the date. They grow +no wheat and rear no stock, so that for bread and meat they are dependent +on without. They require also a market for their industries, the weaving +of cloth, the manufacture of arms and utensils, and it is necessary, at +least in Jebel Shammar, to send yearly caravans to the Euphrates for +corn. Thus security of travelling outside their walls is essential to +the life of every town in Arabia, and on this necessity the whole +political structure of their government is built. The towns put +themselves each under the protection of the principal Bedouin Sheykh of +its district, who, on the consideration of a yearly tribute, guarantees +the citizens’ safety outside the city walls, enabling them to travel +unmolested as far as his jurisdiction extends, and this, in the case of a +powerful tribe, may be many hundred miles, and embrace many cities. The +towns are then said to “belong” to such and such a tribe, and the Bedouin +Sheykh becomes their suzerain, or Lord Protector, until, from their +common vassalage, and the freedom of intercourse it secures them with +each other, the germs of federation spring up, and develop sometimes into +nationality. + +This has, I believe, been always the condition of Arabia. + +A farther development then ensues. The Bedouin Sheykh, grown rich with +the tribute of a score of towns, builds himself a castle close to one of +them, and lives there during the summer months. Then with the prestige +of his rank (for Bedouin blood is still accounted the purest), and backed +by his power in the desert, he speedily becomes the practical ruler of +the town, and from protector of the citizens becomes their sovereign. He +is now dignified by them with the title of Emir or prince, and though +still their Sheykh to the Bedouins, becomes king of all the towns which +pay him tribute. + +This form of government, resting as it does on a natural basis, has +always been reverted to in Arabia, whenever the country has, after an +interval of foreign or domestic tyranny, succeeded in emancipating +itself. Of very early Arabia little is known; neither the Persian nor +the Macedonian nor the Roman Empires embraced it, and it is probable that +Nejd at least existed till the time of Mahomet exclusively under the +system of government I have described. Then for a short time it became +part of the Mussulman Empire, and shared in the centralised or +semi-centralised administration of the Caliphs, which substituted a +theocratic rule for the simpler forms preceding it. But though the +birthplace of Islam, no part of the Arabian Empire was sooner in revolt +than Arabia itself. In the second century of the Mahometan era, nearly +all the peninsula had reverted to its ancient independence, nor, except +temporarily, has Nejd itself ever been since included in the imperial +system of a foreign king or potentate. In the middle of last century, +however, just as Mahomet had asserted his spiritual authority over the +peninsula, the Wahhabi Emir of Aared once more established a centralized +and theocratic government in Arabia. The Bedouin Princes were one after +another dispossessed, and a new Arabian Empire was established. This +included not only the whole of Nejd, but at one time Yemen, Hejaz, and +Hasa, with the northern desert as far north as the latitude of Damascus. +For nearly sixty years the independence of the towns and tribes of the +interior was crushed, and a system of imperial rule substituted for that +of old Arabia. The Ibn Saouds, “Imâms of Nejd,” governed neither more +nor less than had the first Caliphs, and with the same divine +pretensions. But their rule came to an end in 1818, when Nejd was +conquered by the Turks, and the reigning Ibn Saoud made prisoner and +beheaded at Constantinople. Then, on the retirement of the Turks, (for +they were unable long to retain their conquest,) shepherd government +again asserted itself, and the principality of Jebel Shammar was founded. + +The Shammar tribe is the most powerful of Northern Nejd, and the towns of +Haïl, Kefar, Bekaa, and the rest, put themselves under the protection of +Abdallah ibn Rashid, who had succeeded in gaining the Shammar Sheykhat +for himself. He seems to have been a man of great ability, and to him is +due the policy of rule which his descendants have ever since pursued. He +took up his residence in Haïl, and built the castle there, and caused +himself to be recognized as Emir, first in vassalage to the Ibn Saouds, +who had reappeared in Aared, but later on his own account. His policy +seems to have been first to conciliate or subdue the other Bedouin tribes +of Nejd, forcing them to become tributary to his own tribe, the Shammar, +and secondly to establish his protectorate over all the northern towns. +This was a simple plan enough, and one which any Bedouin Sheykh might +have devised; but Abdallah’s merit consists in the method of its +application. He saw that in order to gain his object, he must appeal to +national ideas and national prejudices. The tribute which he extracted +from the towns, he spent liberally in the desert, exercising boundless +hospitality to every sheykh who might chance to visit him. To all he +gave presents, and dazzled them with his magnificence, sending them back +to the tribes impressed with his wealth and power. Thus he made numerous +friends, with whose aid he was able to coerce the rest, his enemies or +rivals. In treating with these he seems always to have tried +conciliation first, and, if forced to arms, to have been satisfied with a +single victory, making friends at once with the vanquished, and even +restoring to them their property, an act of generosity which met full +appreciation in the desert. By this means his power and reputation +increased rapidly, as did that of his brother and right-hand man Obeyd, +who is now a legendary hero in Nejd. + +Another matter to which the founder of the Ibn Rashid dynasty paid much +attention was finance. Though spending large sums yearly on presents and +entertainments, he took care that these should not exceed his revenue, +and at his death he left, according to common report, a house full of +silver pieces to his son. Nor have any of his successors been otherwise +than thrifty. It is impossible of course to guess the precise amount of +treasure thus saved, but that it represents a fabulous fortune in Arabia +is certain; the possession of this, with the prestige which in a poor +country wealth gives, is an immense source of power. + +Lastly Abdallah, and all the Ibn Rashid family, have been endowed with a +large share of caution. No important enterprise has been embarked on in +a hurry; and certainly at the present day affairs of state are discussed +in family council, before any action is taken. It seems to have been +always a rule with the Ibn Rashids to think twice, thrice, or a dozen +times before acting, for even Mohammed’s violent deeds towards his +nephews were premeditated, and thought over for many months beforehand. +In their conduct with the Ibn Saouds and the Turkish Sultans, they have +always waited their opportunity, and avoided an open rupture. It is very +remarkable that so many members of this family should be superior men, +for it is difficult to say who has been the ablest man of them, Abdallah, +Obeyd, Tellál, Mohammed, or his cousin Hamúd. Nor is the rising +generation less promising. + +Having united into a sort of confederation all the Bedouin tribes of +Northern Nejd, Abdallah became naturally supreme over the towns; but he +was not satisfied merely with power, he aimed at making his rule popular. +It is much to his credit, and to that of his successors, that none of +them seem to have abused their position. Liberality and conciliation, +combined with an occasional display of power, have been no less their +policy with the townsmen than with the Bedouins, and they have thus +placed their rule on its only secure basis, popularity. In early days +the Ibn Rashids had to fight for their position at Haïl, and later in Jôf +and at Meskakeh. But their rule is now acknowledged freely everywhere, +enthusiastically in Jebel Shammar. It strikes a traveller fresh from +Turkey as surpassingly strange to hear the comments passed by the +townspeople of Haïl on their government, for it is impossible to converse +ten minutes with any one of them without being assured that the +government of the Emir is the best government in the world. “El hamdu +lillah, ours is a fortunate country. It is not with us as with the Turks +and Persians, whose government is no government. Here we are happy and +prosperous. El hamdu lillah.” I have often been amused at this +chauvinism. + +In the town of Haïl the Emir lives in state, having a body-guard of 800 +or 1000 men dressed in a kind of uniform, that is to say, in brown cloaks +and red or blue kefiyehs, and armed with silver-hilted swords. These are +recruited from among the young men of the towns and villages by voluntary +enlistment, those who wish to serve inscribing their names at the castle, +and being called out as occasion requires. Their duties are light, and +they live most of them with their families, receiving neither pay nor +rations, except when employed away from home on garrison duty in outlying +forts and at Jôf. Their expense, therefore, to the Emir is little more +than that of their clothes and arms. To them is entrusted any police +work that may be necessary in the towns, but it is very seldom that the +authority of the Emir requires other support than that of public opinion. +The Arabs of Nejd are a singularly temperate race, and hardly ever +indulge in brawling or breaches of the peace. If disputes arise between +citizens they are almost always settled on the spot by the interference +of neighbours; and the rowdyism and violence of European towns are +unknown at Haïl. Where, however, quarrels are not to be settled by the +intervention of friends, the disputants bring their cases to the Emir, +who settles them in open court, the _mejlis_, and whose word is final. +The law of the Koran, though often referred to, is not, I fancy, the main +rule of the Emir’s decision, but rather Arabian custom, an authority far +older than the Mussulman code. I doubt if it is often necessary for the +soldiers to support such decisions by force. Thieving, I have been +repeatedly assured, is almost unknown at Haïl; but robbers or thieves +taken redhanded, lose for the first offence a hand, for the second their +head. + +In the desert, and everywhere outside the precincts of the town, order is +kept by the Bedouins, with whom the Emir lives a portion of each year. +He is then neither more nor less himself than a Bedouin, throws off his +shoes and town finery, arms himself with a lance, and leads a wandering +life in the Nefûd. He commonly does this at the commencement of spring, +and spring is the season of his wars. Then with the extreme heat of +summer he returns to Haïl. The tribute paid by each town and village to +the Emir is assessed according to its wealth in date palms, and the sheep +kept by its citizens with the Bedouins. Four khrush for each tree is, I +believe, the amount, trees under seven years old being exempt. At Haïl +this is levied by the Emir’s officers, but elsewhere by the local +sheykhs, who are responsible for its due collection. At Jôf and +Meskakeh, which are still in the position of territory newly annexed, Ibn +Rashid is represented by a vakil, or lieutenant, who levies the tax in +coin, Turkish money being the recognised medium of exchange everywhere. +Without pretending to anything at all like accuracy we made a calculation +that the Emir’s revenue from all sources of tribute and tax may amount to +£60,000 yearly, and that the annual passage of the pilgrimage through his +dominions may bring £20,000 to £30,000 more to his exchequer. + +With regard to his expenditure, it is perhaps easier to calculate. He +pays a small sum yearly in tribute to the Sherif of Medina, partly as a +religious offering, partly to insure immunity for his outlying +possessions, Kheybar, Kâf and the rest, from Turkish aggression. I +should guess this tribute to be £3,000 to £5,000, but could not ascertain +the amount. The Emir’s expenditure on his army can hardly be more, and +with his civil list and every expense of Government, should be included +within £10,000. On his household he may spend £5,000, and on his stable +£1,000. By far the largest item in his budget must be described as +entertainment. Mohammed ibn Rashid, in imitation of his predecessors, +feeds daily two to three hundred guests at the palace; the poor are there +clothed, and presents of camels and clothes made to richer strangers from +a distance. The meal consists of rice and camel meat, sometimes mutton, +and there is besides a constant “coulage” in dates and coffee, which I +cannot estimate at less than £50 a day, say £20,000 yearly, or with +presents, £25,000. Thus we have our budget made up to about £45,000 +expenditure, as against £80,000 to £90,000 revenue—which leaves a +handsome margin for wars and other accidents, and for that amassing of +treasure which is traditional with the Ibn Rashids. I must say, however, +once more, that I am merely guessing my figures, and nobody, perhaps, in +Jebel Shammar, except the Emir himself and Hamúd, could do more. + +It will be seen from all this that Jebel Shammar is, financially, in a +very flourishing state. The curse of money-lending has not yet invaded +it, and neither prince nor people are able to spend sixpence more than +they have got. No public works, requiring public expenditure and public +loans, have yet been undertaken, and it is difficult to imagine in what +they would consist. The digging of new wells is indeed the only duty a +“company” could find to execute, for roads are unnecessary in a country +all like a macadamised highway; there are no rivers to make canals with, +or suburban populations to supply with tramways. One might predict with +confidence, that the secret of steam locomotion will have been forgotten +before ever a railway reaches Jebel Shammar. + +With regard to the form of government, it is good mainly because it is +effective. It is no doubt discordant to European ideas of political +propriety, that the supreme power in a country should be vested in +Bedouin hands. But in Arabia they are the only hands that can wield it. +The town cannot coerce the desert; therefore, if they are to live at +peace, the desert must coerce the town. The Turks, with all their +machinery of administration, and their power of wealth and military +force, have never been able to secure life and property to travellers in +the desert, and in Arabia have been powerless to hold more than the +towns. Even the pilgrim road from Damascus, though nominally in their +keeping, can only be traversed by them with an army, and at considerable +risk. Ibn Rashid, on the other hand, by the mere effect of his will, +keeps all the desert in an absolute peace. In the whole district of +Jebel Shammar, embracing, as it does, some of the wildest deserts, +inhabited by some of the wildest people in the world, a traveller may go +unarmed and unescorted, without more let or hindrance than if he were +following a highway in England. On every road of Jebel Shammar, townsmen +may be found jogging on donkey-back, alone, or on foot, carrying neither +gun nor lance, and with all their wealth about them. If you ask about +the dangers of the road, they will return the question, “Are we not here +in Ibn Rashid’s country?” No system, however perfect, of patrols and +forts and escorts, could produce a result like this. + +In the town, on the other hand, the Bedouin prince, despotic though he +may be, is still under close restraint from public opinion. The citizens +of Jebel Shammar have not what we should call constitutional rights; +there is no machinery among them for the assertion of their power; but +there is probably no community in the old world, where popular feeling +exercises a more powerful influence on government than it does at Haïl. +The Emir, irresponsible as he is in individual acts, knows well that he +cannot transgress the traditional unwritten law of Arabia with impunity. +An unpopular sheykh would cease, _ipso facto_, to be sheykh, for, though +dethroned by no public ceremony, and subjected to no personal +ill-treatment, he would find himself abandoned in favour of a more +acceptable member of his family. The citizen soldiers would not support +a recognised tyrant in the town, nor would the Bedouins outside. Princes +in Arabia have, therefore, to consider public opinion before all else. + +The flaw in the system, for in every system there will be found one, lies +in the uncertainty of succession to the Sheykhat or Bedouin throne. On +the death of an Emir, if he have no son of full age and acknowledged +capacity to take up the reins of government, rival claimants, brothers, +uncles, or cousins of the dead man, dispute his succession in arms, and +many and bitter have been the wars in consequence. Such, quite lately, +was the quarrel which convulsed Aared on the death of Feysul ibn Saoud, +and led to the disintegration of the Wahhabi monarchy, and such, one +cannot help fearing, may be the fate of Jebel Shammar, on Mohammed’s. He +has no children, and the sons of Tellál, the next heirs to the throne, +have a formidable rival in Hamúd. The Emir, however, is a young man, +forty-five, and may live long; and if he should do so, seems to have the +succession of the Wahhabi monarchy in his hands. He has effected, he and +his predecessors, the union of all the Bedouin sheykhs, from Meshhed Ali +to Medina, under his leadership, and is in close connection with those of +Kasim and Aared. His authority is established as far north as Kâf, and +he has his eye already on the towns still further north, if ever they +should shake off the Turkish bondage. I look forward to the day when the +Roala too, and the Welled Ali, shall have entered into his alliance, +possibly even the Sebaa and Ibn Haddal; and though it is neither likely +nor desirable that the old Wahhabi Empire should be re-established on its +centralised basis, a confederation of the tribes of the north may +continue its best traditions. Hauran and the Leja, and the Euphrates +towns, were once tributary to the Ibn Saouds, and may be again one day to +the Ibn Rashids. This is looking far afield, but not farther than +Mohammed himself looks. {272} + + [Picture: Our house at Haïl] + + * * * * * + + END OF VOL. I. + + + + +NOTES. + + +{xiii} Such at least is the family tradition of the Ibn Arûks. Niebuhr +writing in 1765 gives Arär as the name of the Beni Khaled Sheykhs. + +{3} A truce only, I fear. + +{11} One of the noblest of the Roala families. + +{18} Midhat’s reign at Damascus lasted for twenty months, and is +remarkable only for the intrigues in which it was spent. It began with +an _action d’éclat_, the subjugation of the independent Druses of the +Hauran, a prosperous and unoffending community whom Midhat with the help +of the Welled Ali reduced to ruin. The rest of his time and resources +were spent in an attempt to gain for himself the rank and title of +khedive, a scheme which ended in his recall. Of improvements, material +or administrative, nothing at all has been heard, but it is worth +recording that a series of fires during his term of office burnt down +great part of the bazaars at Damascus, causing much loss of property, and +that their place has been taken by a boulevard. Midhat has been now +removed to Smyrna, where it is amusing to read the following account of +him:— + +MIDHAT PASHA—September 28:—‘A private correspondent of the _Journal de +Genève_, writing ten days ago from Smyrna, says that Midhat Pasha, being +convinced that he possessed the sympathy of the inhabitants and could +count on their active co-operation, conceived a short time since vast +schemes of improvement and reform for the benefit of the province which +he has been called upon to administer. The first works he proposed to +take in hand were the drainage of the great marshes of Halka-Bournar (the +Baths of Diana of the ancients), the cleansing of the sewers of Smyrna, +and the removal of the filth which cumbers the streets, pollutes the air, +and, as an eminent physician has told him, impairs the health of the city +and threatens at no distant date to breed a pestilence. He next +proposed, at the instance of a clever engineer Effendi, to repress the +ravages of the river Hermus, which in winter overflows its banks and does +immense damage in the plain of Menemen. Orders were given for the +execution of engineering works on a great scale which, it was thought, +would correct this evil and restore to agriculture a vast extent of +fertile, albeit at present unproductive, land. Administrative reform was +to be also seriously undertaken. The police were to be re-organized, and +order and honesty enforced in the courts of justice. The scandal of +gendarmes being constrained, owing to the insufficiency of their pay, to +enter into an alliance, offensive and defensive, with all the thieves and +cut-throats of the city—the disgrace of judges receiving bribes from +rogues and other evil-doers—were to be promptly put down. It was ordered +that every caïmacan, mudir, chief of police, and president of tribunal, +guilty either of malfeasance or robbery, should be arrested and +imprisoned. The municipalities were to cease being the mere mouthpieces +of the valis, and consider solely the interests of their constituencies. +The accounts of functionaries who, with nominal salaries of 800 francs a +year, spend 10,000, were to be strictly investigated and their +malversations severely punished; and many other measures, equally +praiseworthy and desirable, were either projected or begun. But energy +and goodwill in a reformer—whether he be a Midhat or a Hamid—are, +unfortunately, not alone sufficient to accomplish reforms. To drain +marshes, embank rivers, cleanse sewers, remove filth, pay magistrates and +policemen, procure honest collectors of revenue, much money is necessary. +How was it to be obtained? Not from the revenues of the port or the +province; these are sent regularly, to the last centime, to +Constantinople, for the needs of the Government are urgent and admit of +no delay. Midhat Pasha, not knowing which way to turn, called a +_medjeless_ (council), but the members were able neither to suggest a +solution of the difficulty nor to find any money. In this emergency it +occurred to the Governor that there existed at Smyrna a branch of the +Ottoman Bank, at the door of which are always stationed two superb nizams +in gorgeous uniforms, who give it the appearance of a Government +establishment. Why should not the bank provide the needful? The idea +commended itself to the Pasha, and the manager was requested to call +forthwith at the Konak on urgent public business. When he arrived there +Midhat unfolded to him his plans of reform, and proved, with the +eloquence of a new convert, that the public works he had in view could +not fail to be an unspeakable benefit to the province and restore its +waning prosperity. Never, he assured the wondering manager, could the +bank have a finer opportunity of making a splendid investment than this +of lending the Government a few million francs, to be strictly devoted to +the purposes he had explained. The projected schemes, moreover, were to +be so immediately profitable that the bank might reckon with the most +implicit confidence on receiving back, in the course of a few years, both +interest and principal. Unfortunately, however, all these arguments were +lost on M. Heintze, the manager; and he had to explain to the Pasha that, +although he, personally, would have been delighted to advance him the +millions he required, his instructions allowed him no discretion. He was +there to do ordinary banking business, and collect certain revenues which +had been assigned to the bank by way of security; but he had been +strictly enjoined to make no loans whatever, however promising and +profitable they might appear. And this was the end of Midhat Pasha’s +great schemes of public improvement and administrative reform. In these +circumstances it would be the height of injustice to accuse him of not +having kept the promises which he made on entering office; for nobody, +not even a Turkish Governor-General, can be expected to achieve +impossibilities. + +{26} Daughter of Faria-el-Meziad, Sheykh of the Mesenneh. + +{41} Sakhr, a stone—the real origin of their name. + +{51} This is a mistake, as the battle was fought on the banks of the +Orontes. + +{56} The Hauran was among the first districts conquered by the Caliph +Omar. It shared for some centuries the prosperity of the Arabian Empire, +but suffered severely during the Crusades. There is no reason, however, +to doubt that it continued to be well inhabited until the conquest of +Tamerlane in 1400, when all the lands on the desert frontier were +depopulated. + +{84} The _Ithel_, a tree grown in every village of Central Arabia, but +not, as far as I know, found there wild. + +{85} A kind of tamarisk. + +{89} We were told that this inscription related to hidden treasure, a +common fancy among the Arabs who cannot read. + +{110} Jebel el Tawîl. + +{162} A diagram, showing what a section of the Nefûd would be like, is +given in the geographical notes, Vol. ii., page 248. + +{174} These were no doubt the Egyptians of Ibrahim Pasha’s army, left +behind at Aneyzeh. + +{203a} Query.—May not these be the spiral markings noticed by Mr. +Palgrave, and attributed by him to the wind, in his description of a +certain maelstrom in the Nefûd? + +{210} More probably a fanner. + +{218} The danger to Mohammed is a personal one on account of the blood +he has shed, not an official one, for, as Emir, he is adored by his +subjects. + +{221} The Nawab was in fact detained a prisoner at Haïl for about two +months. But this we did not at the time know; nor was any allusion made +by Ibn Rashid to the circumstance. + +{223} To travel with a hawk is a sign of nobility. + +{224} Oryx boatrix. + +{233} I heard nothing of the fate of Obeyd’s widow, and could not +inquire. + +{251} The Ibn Alis were formerly Sheykhs of the Shammar, but were +displaced by the Ibn Rashids fifty years ago. + +{272} That Mohammed ibn Rashid does not limit his ambition to Nejd has +been very recently proved. In the month of April last, 1880, he marched +with an army of 5000 men from Haïl, passed up the Wady Sirhán, surprised +Mohammed Dukhi ibn Smeyr in the Harra and sacked his camp, and then went +on to the Hauran. The citizens of Damascus were not a little startled at +learning one morning that the Emir was at Bozra not 60 miles from the +capital of Syria, and there was much speculation as to his object in +coming so far northwards, no army from Nejd having been seen in the +Paahalik since the days of the Wahhabi Empire. Then it was whispered +that he had made friends with Ibn Smeyr, that the quarrel between them +had been a mistake, and that a Sherari guide, held responsible for the +blunder, had been beheaded; lastly, that an enormous feast of +reconciliation had been given by Ibn Rashid to the Northern tribes, at +which 75 camels and 600 sheep had been slaughtered, and that after a stay +of some weeks at Melakh the Emir had returned to Nejd. + +Without pretending to know precisely what was in Mohammed’s mind in +making this ghazú, or all that really happened, it seems to me not +difficult to guess its main object. Ibn Smeyr’s success over Ibn +Shaalan, already alluded to, had placed him in a leading position with +the tribes of the North; and his raid against the Druses of the Hauran, a +district once tributary to the Emirs of Nejd, pointed him out for +Mohammed’s resentment. It is part of the Ibn Rashid policy to strike a +blow and then make peace; and by thus humbling their most successful +chief, and becoming afterwards his host, Mohammed achieved exactly that +sort of reputation he most valued with the Northern tribes. He has +asserted himself as supreme, where he chooses to be so, in the desert, +and has moreover reminded the frontier population in Syria of the old +Wahhabi pretensions to Eastern Syria. It is conceivable that having +coerced or persuaded the Ánazeh to join his league, he may, in the coming +break-up of the Ottoman Empire, succeed to that part of its inheritance, +and be recognised as sovereign in all the lands beyond Jordan. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PILGRIMAGE TO NEJD, VOL. 1 [OF +2]*** + + +******* This file should be named 42215-0.txt or 42215-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/2/2/1/42215 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Pilgrimage to Nejd, Vol. 1 [of 2] + The Cradle of the Arab Race + + +Author: Anne Blunt + + + +Release Date: February 26, 2013 [eBook #42215] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PILGRIMAGE TO NEJD, VOL. 1 [OF +2]*** +</pre> +<p>This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/fp.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Portrait of Lady Anne Blunt in Arab Costume" +title= +"Portrait of Lady Anne Blunt in Arab Costume" +src="images/fp.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h1>A PILGRIMAGE TO NEJD,</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>THE CRADLE OF THE ARAB +RACE</i>.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">A VISIT TO THE COURT OF THE ARAB +EMIR, AND<br /> +“OUR PERSIAN CAMPAIGN.”</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">By</span> LADY +ANNE BLUNT.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AUTHOR OF “THE BEDOUIN TRIBES OF THE +EUPHRATES.”</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">WITH MAP, +PORTRAITS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE AUTHOR’S DRAWINGS.</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall"><i>SECOND +EDITION</i></span><span class="GutSmall">.</span></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:<br /> +JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET,<br /> +1881.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">[<i>All Rights reserved</i>.]</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<h2><a name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vii</span>These Volumes Are Dedicated</h2> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="GutSmall">TO</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center">SIR HENRY CRESWICKE RAWLINSON,</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">K.C.B., +F.R.S.</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="GutSmall">BY</span></p> +<p style="text-align: right">THE AUTHORESS.</p> +<h2><a name="pageix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +ix</span>PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Readers</span> of our last year’s +adventures on the Euphrates will hardly need it to be explained +to them why the present journey was undertaken, nor why it stands +described upon our title page as a +“Pilgrimage.” The journey to Nejd forms the +natural complement of the journey through Mesopotamia and the +Syrian Desert; while Nejd itself, with the romantic interest +attached to its name, seems no unworthy object of a religious +feeling, such as might prompt the visit to a shrine. Nejd, +in the imagination of the Bedouins of the North, is a region of +romance, the cradle of their race, and of those ideas of chivalry +by which they still live. There Antar performed his labours +of Hercules, and Hatim Taï the more historical hero +entertained his guests. To the Ánazeh and Shammar, +especially, whose northward migrations date only from a few +generations back, the tradition of their birth-place is still +almost a recollection; and even to <a name="pagex"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. x</span>the Arabs of the earlier invasions, +the townsmen of such places as Bozra, Palmyra, and Deyr, and to +the Taï Bedouins, once lords of Jebel Shammar, it appeals +with a fascination more than equal to that of the Hejaz +itself. Nejd is to all of them what Palestine is to the +Jews, England to the American and Australian colonists; but with +this difference, that they are cut off from the object of their +filial reverence more absolutely in practice than these by an +intervening gulf of desert less hospitable than any sea. It +is rare to meet anywhere in the North an Arab who has crossed the +Great Nefûd.</p> +<p>To us too, imbued as we were with the fancies of the Desert, +Nejd had long assumed the romantic colouring of a holy land; and +when it was decided that we were to visit Jebel Shammar, the +metropolis of Bedouin life, our expedition presented itself as an +almost pious undertaking; so that it is hardly an exaggeration, +even now that it is over, and we are once more in Europe, to +speak of it as a pilgrimage. Our pilgrimage then it is, +though the religion in whose name we travelled was only one of +romance.</p> +<p>Its circumstances, in spite of certain disappointments which +the narrative will reveal, were little less romantic than the +idea. Readers who followed our former travels to their +close, may remember a <a name="pagexi"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xi</span>certain Mohammed Abdallah, son of the +Sheykh of Palmyra, a young man who, after travelling with us by +order of the Pasha from Deyr to his native town, had at some risk +of official displeasure assisted us in evading the Turkish +authorities, and accomplishing our visit to the +Ánazeh. It may further be remembered that, in +requital of this service and because we had conceived an +affection for him (for he appeared a really high-minded young +fellow), Mohammed had been given his choice between a round sum +of money, and the honour of becoming “the +Beg’s” brother, a choice which he had chivalrously +decided in favour of the brotherhood. We had then promised +him that, if all went well with us, we would return to Damascus +the following winter, and go in his company to Nejd, where he +believed he had relations, and that we would help him there to a +wife from among his own people.</p> +<p>The idea and the promise were in strict accordance with +Bedouin notions, and greatly delighted both him and his father +Abdallah, to whom they were in due course communicated. +Arab custom is very little changed on the point of marriage from +what it was in the days of Abraham; and it was natural that both +father and son should wish for a wife for him of their own blood, +and that <a name="pagexii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xii</span>he should be ready to go far to fetch one. +Moreover, the sort of help we proposed giving (for he could +hardly have travelled to Nejd alone) was just such as beseemed +our new relationship. Assistance in the choice of a wife +ranks in Bedouin eyes with the gift of a mare, or personal aid in +war, both brotherly acts conferring high honour on those +concerned. Mohammed too had a special reason in the +circumstances of his family history to make the proposal doubly +welcome. He found himself in an embarrassing position at +home with regard to marriage, and was in a manner forced to look +elsewhere for a wife. The history of the Ibn Arûks of +Tudmur, the family to which he belonged, will explain this, and +is so curious, and so typical of Arabia, that it deserves a +passing notice here.</p> +<p>It would appear that seven or eight generations ago (probably +about the date of the foundation of the Wahhabi empire) three +brothers of the noble family of Arûk, Sheykhs of the Beni +Khaled of south-eastern Nejd, quarrelled with their people and +left the tribe. The Ibn Arûks were then a very +well-known family, exercising suzerain rights over the important +towns of Hasa and Katif, and having independent, even sovereign, +power in their own district. This lay between the Persian +Gulf and Harik, an oasis on the edge of the great southern <a +name="pagexiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xiii</span>desert, +and they retained it until they and the rest of their fellow +Sheykhs in Arabia were reduced to insignificance by Mohammed Ibn +Saoud, the first Wahhabi Sultan of Nejd. <a +name="citationxiii"></a><a href="#footnotexiii" +class="citation">[xiii]</a></p> +<p>At the beginning of last century, all Arabia was independent +of central authority, each tribe, and to a certain extent each +town, maintaining its separate existence as a State. +Religion, except in its primitive Bedouin form, had disappeared +from the inland districts, and only the Hejaz and Yemen were more +than nominally Mahometan. The Bedouin element was then +supreme. Each town and village in Arabia was considered the +property of one or other of the nomade Sheykhs in its +neighbourhood, and paid him tribute in return for his +protection. The Sheykh too not unfrequently possessed a +house or castle within the city walls, as a summer residence, +besides his tent outside. He in such cases became more than +a mere suzerain, and exercised active authority over the +townspeople, administering justice at the gate daily, and +enrolling young men as his body-guard, even on occasion levying +taxes. He then received the title of Emir or Prince. +It was in no other way <a name="pagexiv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xiv</span>perhaps that the “Shepherd +Kings” of Egypt acquired their position and exercised their +power; and vestiges of the old system may still be found in many +parts of Arabia.</p> +<p>In the middle of the eighteenth century, however, Ibn +Abd-el-Wahhab, the Luther of Mahometanism, preached his religious +reform in Nejd, and converted Ibn Saoud, the Ánazeh Sheykh +of Deriyeh, to his doctrines. By Ibn Abd-el-Wahhab’s +help Ibn Saoud, from the mere chief of a tribe, and sovereign of +one city, became Sultan of all Arabia, and reduced one after +another every rival Sheykh to submission. He even +ultimately destroyed the system of tribute and protection, the +original basis of his power, and having raised a regular army +from among the townsmen, made these quite independent of Bedouin +rule. Arabia then, for the first time since Mahomet’s +death, became a united empire with a centralised and regular +government. It must have been about the year 1760 that the +three Ibn Arûks, disgusted with the new state of things in +Nejd, went out to seek their fortunes elsewhere. According +to the tradition, partly embodied in an old ballad which is still +current in Arabia, they were mounted all three upon a single +camel, and had nothing with them but their swords and their high +birth to gain them credit among strangers. They <a +name="pagexv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xv</span>travelled +northwards and at first halted in Jôf, the northernmost +oasis of Central Arabia, where one of them remained. The +other two, quarrelling, separated; the younger going, tradition +knew not whither, while the elder held on his way still further +north, and settled finally at Tudmur (Palmyra), where he married +a woman of the place, and where he ultimately became +Sheykh. At that time Tudmur consisted but of a few +houses. His name was Ali, and from him our friend Mohammed +and his father Abdallah, and his uncle Faris, the real head of +the family in Tudmur, are descended.</p> +<p>Mohammed then had some reason, as far as his male ancestry +were concerned, to boast of his birth, and look high in making a +“matrimonial alliance;” but <i>par les femmes</i> he +was of less distinguished blood; and, as purity of descent on +both sides is considered a <i>sine quâ non</i> among the +Arabs, the Ibn Arûks of Tudmur had not been recognized for +several generations as <i>asil</i>, or noble. They had +married where they could among the townspeople of no birth at +all, or as in the case of Mohammed’s father, among the +Moáli, a tribe of mixed origin. The Ánazeh, +in spite of the name of Arûk, would not give their +daughters to them to wife. This was Mohammed’s secret +grief, as it had been his father’s, and it was as much as +<a name="pagexvi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xvi</span>anything +else to wipe out the stain in their pedigree, that the son so +readily agreed to our proposal.</p> +<p>The plan of our journey was necessarily vague, as it included +the search after two families of relations of whom nothing had +been heard for nearly a hundred years. The last sign of +life shewn by the Ibn Arûks of Jôf had been on the +occasion of Abdallah’s father’s death by violence, +when suddenly a member of the Jôf family had appeared at +Tudmur as avenger in the blood feud. This relation had not, +however, stayed longer there than duty required of him, and +having slain his man had as suddenly disappeared. Of the +second family nothing at all was known; and, indeed, to the Ibn +Arûks as to the other inhabitants of Tudmur, Nejd itself +was now little more than a name, a country known by ancient +tradition to exist, but unvisited by any one then living +connected with the town.</p> +<p>These singular circumstances were, as I have said, the +key-note of our expedition, and will, I hope, lend an interest +beyond that of our own personal adventures to the present +volumes. To Mohammed and the Arabs with whom we travelled, +as well as to most of those we met upon our journey, his family +history formed a perpetual romance, and the <i>kasid</i> or +ballad of Ibn Arûk came in on every occasion, seasonable +and unseasonable, as a chorus to all that <a +name="pagexvii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xvii</span>happened. But for it, I doubt whether the +journey could ever have been accomplished; and on more than one +occasion we found ourselves borne easily on by the strength of it +over difficulties which, under ordinary conditions, might have +sufficed to stop us. By extreme good luck, as will be seen +in the sequel, we lit upon both branches of the family we set out +in search of, the one citizens of the Jôf oasis, the other +Bedouins in Nejd, while the further we got the better was the +Arûk name known, and relations poured in on us on all +sides, eager to shew us hospitality and assistance. We were +thus passed on from kinsman to kinsman, and were everywhere +received as friends; nor is it too much to say that while in +Arabia we enjoyed the singular advantage of being accepted as +members of an Arabian family. This gave us an unique +occasion of seeing, and of understanding what we saw; and we have +only ourselves to blame if we did not turn it to very important +profit.</p> +<p>So much then for the romance. The profit of our +expedition may be briefly summarised.</p> +<p>First as to geography. Though not the only Europeans who +have visited Jebel Shammar, we are the only ones who have done so +openly and at our leisure, provided with compass and barometer +and free to take note of all we saw. Our predecessors, <a +name="pagexviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xviii</span>three +in number, Wallin, Guarmani, and Palgrave, travelled in disguise, +and under circumstances unfavourable for geographical +observation. The first, a Finnish professor, proceeded in +1848, as a Mussulman divine, from the coast of the Red Sea to +Haïl and thence to the Euphrates. The account of his +journey, given in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical +Society, is unfortunately meagre, and I understand that, though +one more detailed was published in his own language, he did not +live long enough to record the whole body of his +information. The second, Guarmani, a Levantine of Italian +origin, penetrated in disguise to Jebel Shammar, commissioned by +the French Government to procure them horses from Nejd; and he +communicated a lively and most interesting account of his +adventures to the “Société de +Géographie” in 1865. He too went as a Turkish +mussulman, and, being rather an Oriental than a European, +collected a mass of valuable information relating chiefly to the +Desert Tribes through which he passed. It is difficult, +however, to understand the route maps with which his account is +illustrated, and, though he crossed the Nefûd at more than +one point, he is silent as to its singular physical +features. Guarmani started from Jerusalem in 1863 and +visited Teyma, Kheybar, Áneyzeh, Bereydah, and Haïl, +returning thence to <a name="pagexix"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xix</span>Syria by Jôf and the Wady +Sirhán. Mr. Palgrave’s journey is better +known. A Jesuit missionary and an accomplished Arabic +scholar, he was entrusted with a secret political mission by +Napoleon III. and executed it with the permission of his +superiors. He entered Nejd, disguised as a Syrian merchant, +from Maan, and passing through Haïl in 1864 reached Riad, +the capital of the Wahhabi kingdom, and eventually the Persian +Gulf at Katif. His account of Central Arabia is by far the +most complete and life-like that has been published, and in all +matters of town life and manners may be depended upon as +accurate. But his faculty of observation seems chiefly +adapted to a study of society, and the nature he describes is +human nature only. He is too little in sympathy with the +desert to take accurate note of its details, and the +circumstances of his journey precluded him from observing it +geographically. He travelled in the heat of summer and +mostly by night, and was besides in no position, owing to his +assumed character and the doubtful company in which he was often +compelled to travel, to examine at leisure what he saw. Mr. +Palgrave’s account of the physical features of the +Nefûd, and of Jebel Shammar, the only one hitherto +published, bears very little resemblance to the reality; and our +own <a name="pagexx"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xx</span>observations, taken quietly in the clear atmosphere of +an Arabian winter, are therefore the first of the kind which have +reached Europe. By taking continuous note of the variations +of the barometer while we travelled, we have been able to prove +that the plateau of Haïl is nearly twice the height supposed +for it above the sea, while the granite range of Jebel Shammar +exceeds this plateau by about 2000 feet. Again, the great +pilgrim-road from the Euphrates, though well-known by report to +geographers, had never before been travelled by an European, and +on this, as on other parts of our route, we have corrected +previous maps. The map of Northern Arabia appended to the +first volume of our work may be now depended upon as within its +limits substantially accurate.</p> +<p>In geology, though possessing a superficial knowledge only of +our subject, we have, I believe, been able to correct a few +mistakes, and to clear up a doubt, much argued by Professor +Wetzstein, as to the rock formation of Jebel Aja; while a short +memoir I have appended, on the physical conformation of the great +sand desert, will contain original—possibly +valuable—matter. The sketches, above all, which +illustrate these volumes, may be relied on as conscientious +representations of the chief physical features of Central +Arabia.</p> +<p><a name="pagexxi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxi</span>Botanists and zoologists will be disappointed in the +meagre accounts of plants and animals I am able to give. +But the existence now proved of the white antelope (<i>Oryx +Beatrix</i>) in Nejd is, I believe, a fact new to science, as may +be that of the <i>Webber</i>, a small climbing quadruped allied +to the marmots.</p> +<p>A more important contribution to knowledge will, I hope, be +recognised in a description of the political system to which I +have just alluded under the name of Shepherd rule, and which is +now once more found in Central Arabia. I do not know that +it has ever previously been noticed by writers on Arabia. +Neither Niebuhr nor Burckhardt seem to have come across it in its +pure form, and Mr. Palgrave misunderstood it altogether in his +contempt of Bedouin as contrasted with town life. Yet it is +probably the oldest form of government existing in Arabia, and +the one best suited for the country’s needs. In +connection with this matter too, the recent history of Nejd, with +an account of the downfall of the Ibn Saouds, for which I am +mainly indebted to Colonel Ross, British Resident at Bushire, and +the decay of Wahhabism in Arabia, will prove of interest, as may +in a lesser degree the imperfect picture given in the second +volume of the extreme results produced in Persia by despotic +rule, and the iniquitous <a name="pagexxii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xxii</span>annexation of Hasa by the +Turks. The value, however, of these +“discoveries” I leave to our readers to determine, +premising only that they are here pointed out less on account of +their own importance, than as an excuse in matter for the manner +of the narrative.</p> +<p>With regard to the sequel of our Arabian journey, the further +journey from Bagdad to Bushire, I should not intrude it on the +notice of the public, but that it serves as an additional proof, +if such be wanting, of the folly of those schemes which, under +the name of “Euphrates Valley” and +“Indo-Mediterranean” railway companies, have from +time to time been dangled before the eyes of speculators. A +country more absolutely unsuited for railway enterprise than that +between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf, has probably +never been selected for such operations; and, if the recital of +our passage through the uninhabited tracts, which form nine +tenths of the whole region, shall deter my countrymen from +embarking their capital in an enterprise financially absurd, I +feel that its publication will not have been in vain.</p> +<p>One word before I end my Preface. It was objected to me +at the Royal Geographical Society’s meeting, where I read a +paper on this “Visit to Nejd,” that though we had +crossed the Great Sand <a name="pagexxiii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xxiii</span>Desert, and visited Jebel Shammar, +we had after all not been to Nejd. Nejd, I was told on the +“best authority,” was a term applicable only to that +district of Central Arabia which is bounded by the Jebel Toweykh +and the lesser Nefûds, neither Jebel Shammar nor Kasim +being included in it. Strange as this statement sounded to +ears fresh from the country itself, I was unable at the time to +fortify my refusal to believe by any more special argument than +that the inhabitants of the districts in question had always +called them so,—an argument “quod semper et ab +omnibus” which to some seemed insufficient. I have +therefore taken pains to examine the grounds of the objection +raised, and to give a reason for the belief which is still strong +within me that Haïl is not only an integral part of Nejd, +but Nejd <i>par excellence</i>.</p> +<p>First then, to repeat the argument “quod ab +omnibus,” I state emphatically that according to the Arabs +themselves of every tribe and town I have visited, Nejd is held +to include the lands which lie within the Nefûds. It +is a geographical expression including three principal +sub-districts, Jebel Shammar and Kasim in the North, and Aared in +the South. The only doubt I have ever heard expressed was +as to the Nefûds themselves, whether they were included or +not in the term. The <a name="pagexxiv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xxiv</span>Bedouins certainly so consider +them, for they are the only part of Nejd which they habitually +inhabit, the stony plateaux of the centre being unfit for +pastoral life. Jôf is considered outside the limit +northwards, as are Kheybar and Teyma to the north-west, while +Jobba and Harik are doubtful, being towns of the Nefûd.</p> +<p>Secondly, I plead written authority:—</p> +<p>1. Abulfeda and Edrisi, quoted by Colonel Ross in his +memorandum, include in the term Nejd all those lands lying +between Yemen, Hejaz, and Irak.</p> +<p>2. Yakut, an Arabian geographer of the thirteenth +century, quoted by Wetzstein, expressly mentions Aja as being in +Nejd.</p> +<p>3. Merasid confirms Yakut in his geographical +lexicon.</p> +<p>4. Sheykh Hamid of Kasim, also quoted by Wetzstein, +says, “Nejd in its widest sense is the whole of Central +Arabia;—in its narrowest and according to modern usage, +only the Shammar Mountains and the Land of Kasim, with the Great +Desert bordering it to the South.”</p> +<p>5. Niebuhr, the oldest and most respectable of European +writers, enumerating the towns of Nejd, says, “Le mont +Schamer n’est qu’à dix journées de +Bagdad; il comprend Haïl, Monkek, Kafar, et +Bokà. L’on place <i>aussi</i> dans le Nejdsjed +une contrée montagneuse nommée +Djof-al-Sirhán entre le mont Schâmer et Shâm +(la Syrie),” etc.; thus <a name="pagexxv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xxv</span>showing that all, and more than all +I claim, were in Niebuhr’s day accounted Nejd.</p> +<p>6. Chesney, in his map of Arabia, published in 1838, +includes Kasim and Jebel Shammar within the boundary of Nejd, and +gives a second boundary besides, still further north, including +districts “sometimes counted to Nejd.”</p> +<p>7. Wallin defines Nejd as the whole district where the +<i>ghada</i> grows, a definition taken doubtless from the +Bedouins with whom he travelled, and which would include not only +Jebel Shammar, but the Nefûds and even the Southern half of +the Wady Sirhán.</p> +<p>8. In Kazimirski’s dictionary, 1860, I find, +“<i>Ahlu’lghada</i>, surnom donné aux +habitants de la frontière de Nejd où la plante +<i>ghada</i> croit en abondance.”</p> +<p>Finally, Guarmani gives the following as the result of his +inquiries in the country itself: “Le Gebel est la province +la plus septentrionale du Neged. C’est, comme disent +les Arabes, un des sept Negged;” and on the authority of +Zamil, Sheykh of Áneyzeh, explains these seven to be +Aared, Hasa, and Harik, in the south, Woshem in the centre, and +Jebel Shammar, Kasim, and Sudeyr, in the north.</p> +<p>Opposed to this mass of testimony, we find among travellers a +single competent authority, Mr. Palgrave; and even his opinion is +much qualified. After explaining that the name Nejed +signifies <a name="pagexxvi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxvi</span>“highland,” in contradistinction to the +coast and the outlying provinces of lesser elevation, he sums up +his opinion thus: “The denomination ‘Nejed’ is +commonly enough applied to the whole space included between +Djebel Shomer on the north, and the great desert to the south, +from the extreme range of Jebel Toweyk on the east to the +neighbourhood of the Turkish pilgrim-road or Derb-el-Hajj on the +west. However, this central district, forming a huge +parallelogram, placed almost diagonally across the midmost of +Arabia from north-east-by-east to south-west-by-west, as a glance +at the map may show, is again subdivided by the natives of the +country into the Nejed-el-aala or Upper Nejed, and the +Nejed-el-owta or Lower Nejed, a distinction of which more +hereafter, while Djebel Shomer is generally considered as a sort +of appendage to Nejed, rather than as belonging to that district +itself. But the Djowf is always excluded by the Arabs from +the catalogue of upland provinces, though strangers sometimes +admit it also to the title of Nejed, by an error on their part, +since it is a solitary oasis, and a door to highland or inner +Arabia, not in any strict sense a portion of it.”</p> +<p>The exact truth of the matter I take, then, to be this. +Nejd, in its original and popular sense of <a +name="pagexxvii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxvii</span>“Highlands,” was a term of physical +geography, and necessarily embraced Jebel Shammar, the most +elevated district of all, as well as Kasim, which lay between it +and Aared; and so it was doubtless considered in Niebuhr’s +time, and is still considered by the Bedouins of the North, whose +recollections date from an age previous to Niebuhr’s. +With the foundation, however, of the Wahhabi Empire of Nejd, the +term from a geographical became a political one, and has since +followed the fluctuating fortunes of the Wahhabi State. In +this way it once embraced not only the upland plateaux, but +Jôf and Hasa; the latter, though a low-lying district on +the coast, retaining in Turkish official nomenclature its +political name of Nejd to the present day. At the time of +Mr. Palgrave’s visit, the Wahhabis, from whom doubtless his +information was acquired, considered Jebel Shammar no longer an +integral part of their State, but, as he expresses it, an +appendage. It was already politically independent, and had +ceased in their eyes to be Nejd. But since his day the Nejd +State has seen a still further disruption. Kasim has +regained its independence, and Hasa has been annexed to the +Turkish Empire. Nejd has therefore become once more what it +was before the Empire of Nejd arose, a term of physical geography +only, and one <a name="pagexxviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxviii</span>pretty nearly co-extensive with our term Central +Arabia.</p> +<p>I hold, then, to the correctness of our title, though in this +matter, as in the rest, craving indulgence of the learned.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Crabbet Park</span>,<br /> + <i>August</i> 1, 1880.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/pxxviii.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Pilgrim Banner" +title= +"Pilgrim Banner" +src="images/pxxviii.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="pagexxix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxix</span>CONTENTS TO VOL. I.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The charm of Asia—A return to old +friends—Desert News—The Palmyrene colony at +Damascus—New horses and camels—Mrs. Digby and her +husband Mijuel the Mizrab—A blood feud—Abd +el-Kader’s life—Midhat Pasha discourses on canals and +tramways—He raises a loan</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Brotherly offices—We prepare for a +campaign—Mohammed Dukhi comes to court—A night +robber—We start for Nejd—Tale of a penitent—The +duty of revenge—We are entertained by poor +relations—The fair at Mezarib</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page21">21</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER III.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Beating about—Bozra—We leave the Turkish +dominions—Mohammed vows to kill a sheep—The citadel +of Salkhad and the independent Druses—We are received by a +Druse chieftain—Historical notice of the Hauran</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page46">46</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>We start in earnest—The Harra—A theory of +Mirage—Camp of the Beni Sokkhr—Wady er Rajel—A +Christmas Dinner in the Desert—Sand-storm—We reach +Kâf</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page64">64</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagexxx"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xxx</span>CHAPTER +V.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Kâf and Itheri—More relations—The Wady +Sirhán—Locust hunting—Hanna sits down to +die—Tales of robbery and violence—We are surprised by +a ghazu and made prisoners—Sherarat +statistics—Jôf</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page84">84</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Jôf oasis—We are entertained by Ibn +Rashid’s lieutenant—A haunch of wild +cow—Dancing in the castle—Prayers—We go on to +Meskakeh</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page113">113</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Ibn Arûks of Jôf—Mohammed contracts +a matrimonial alliance—Leah and Rachel—We cheapen the +bride’s dower—A negro governor and his suite—A +thunder-storm</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page129">129</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Mohammed in love—We enter the red sand +desert—Geology of the Nefûd—Radi—The +great well of Shakik—Old acquaintance—Tales of the +Nefûd—The soldiers who perished of thirst—The +lovers—We nearly remain in the sand—Land at last</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page150">150</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IX.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Jobba—An unpleasant dream—We hear strange +tales of Ibn Rashid—Romping in the Nefûd—A last +night there—The Zodiacal light—We enter +Nejd—The granite range of Jebel Shammar</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page187">187</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a +name="pagexxxi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xxxi</span>CHAPTER +X.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Haïl—The Emir Mohammed Ibn Rashid—His +menagerie—His horses—His courtiers—His +wives—Amusements of the ladies of Haïl—Their +domestic life—An evening at the castle—The +telephone</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page213">213</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XI.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Political and historical—Shepherd rule in +Arabia—An hereditary policy—The army—The +Law—Taxation—The finances of Jebel Shammar—Ibn +Rashid’s ambition</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page257">257</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="pagexxxiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxxiii</span>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. I.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Portrait of Lady Anne Blunt in her +Arab Costume</span> (<span class="smcap">by Molony</span>)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>Frontispiece</i></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Pilgrim Banner</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagexxvi">xxvi</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Salkhad</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page45">45</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Run to Earth</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page63">63</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Sand-storm in the Wady +er-Rajel</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page80">80</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Kâf</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Ghazû in the Wady +Sirhán</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page104">104</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Castle of Jôf</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page112">112</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Oasis of Jôf</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page120">120</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">A Nejd Sheep</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page149">149</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Nefûd or Great Red Sand +Desert of Arabia</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page160">160</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">A Delúl Rider</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page186">186</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Reception at Haïl</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page212">212</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Great Kahwah</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page214">214</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Ibn Rashid’s Stables at +Haïl</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page250">250</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Evening with the Emir</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page256">256</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Our House at Haïl</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page273">273</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Map of Nejd</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>At the End</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>CHAPTER +I.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“You have been a great traveller, +Mercury?”</p> +<p>“I have seen the world.”</p> +<p>“Ah, a wondrous spectacle. I long to +travel.”</p> +<p>“The same thing over again. Little novelty and +much change. I am wearied with exertion, and if I could get +a pension would retire.”</p> +<p>“And yet travel brings wisdom.”</p> +<p>“It cures us of care. Seeing much we feel little, +and learn how very petty are all those great affairs which cost +us such anxiety.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Ixion in +Heaven</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">The charm of Asia—A return to old +friends—Desert news—The Palmyrene colony at +Damascus—New horses and camels—Mrs. Digby and her +husband Mijuel the Mizrab—A blood feud—Abd +el-Kader’s life—Midhat Pasha discourses on canals and +tramways—He fails to raise a loan.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Damascus</span>, <i>Dec.</i> 6, +1878.—It is strange how gloomy thoughts vanish as one sets +foot in Asia. Only yesterday we were still tossing on the +sea of European thought, with its political anxieties, its social +miseries and its restless aspirations, the heritage of the +unquiet race of Japhet—and now we seem to have ridden into +still water, where we can rest and forget and be thankful. +The charm of the East is the absence of intellectual life there, +the freedom one’s mind gets from anxiety in looking forward +or pain in looking back. Nobody here thinks of the past or +the future, only of the <a name="page2"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 2</span>present; and till the day of +one’s death comes, I suppose the present will always be +endurable. Then it has done us good to meet old friends, +friends all demonstratively pleased to see us. At the coach +office when we got down, we found a little band of dependants +waiting our arrival—first of all Mohammed ibn Arûk, +the companion of our last year’s adventures, who has come +from Palmyra to meet and travel with us again, and who has been +waiting here for us, it would seem, a month. Then Hanna, +the most courageous of cowards and of cooks, with his ever ready +tears in his eyes and his double row of excellent white teeth, +agrin with welcome. Each of them has brought with him a +friend, a relation he insists on calling him, who is to share the +advantage of being in our service, and to stand by his patron in +case of need, for servants like to travel here in pairs. +Mohammed’s <i>cousin</i> is a quiet, respectable looking +man of about five and thirty, rather thick set and very broad +shouldered. He is to act as head camel man, and he looks +just the man for the place. Hanna’s <i>brother</i> +bears no likeness at all to Hanna. He is a young giant, +with a rather feckless face, and great splay hands which seem to +embarrass him terribly. He is dressed picturesquely in a +tunic shaped like the ecclesiastical vestment called the +“dalmatic,” and very probably its origin, with a +coloured turban on his head. He too may be useful, but he +is a Christian, and we rather doubt the prudence of taking +Christian servants to Nejd. Only <a name="page3"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 3</span>Ferhan, our Agheyl camel-driver, is +missing, and this is a great disappointment, for he was the best +tempered and the most trustworthy of all our followers last +year. I fancy we may search Damascus with a candle before +we find his like again.</p> +<p>The evening we spent in giving and receiving news. +Mohammed in his quality of Wilfrid’s “brother,” +was invited to dine with us, and a very pleasant hour or two we +had, hearing all that has happened in the desert during the +summer. First of all, the sensation that has been caused +there by our purchase of Beteyen’s mare, which after all we +have secured, and the heart-burnings and jealousies raised +thereby. Then there have been high doings among our friends +in the Hamád. Faris and Jedaan have (wonderful to +relate) made peace, <a name="citation3"></a><a href="#footnote3" +class="citation">[3]</a> and between them have it all their own +way now on the Euphrates, where the caravan road has become quite +unsafe in consequence. Ferhan ibn Sfuk, it seems, marched +against his brother with some Turkish troops to help him, and +Faris retreated across the river; but most of the Shammar have, +as we anticipated last year, come over to him. The Roala +war is not yet finished. Ibn Shaalan, rejecting the +proposals made him through us by Jedaan, persisted in reoccupying +the Hama pastures last spring, and Jedaan attacked and routed +him; so that he has retreated southwards to his own +country. Mohammed Dukhi and Jedaan have parted company, <a +name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 4</span>the Sebaa +having cleared off scores with the Roala, and being satisfied +with the summer’s campaign; while the Welled Ali are still +a long way on the creditor side in their blood feud. +Mohammed Dukhi is a long-headed old rogue, but it is difficult to +see how he is to hold his own with Sotamm in spite of a new +alliance with Faris el Meziad, Sheykh of the Mesenneh, who still +has some hundred horsemen to help him with, and of another with +Mohammed Aga of Jerúd. The Welled Ali are at the +present moment encamped close to Jerúd, so we shall +probably go there, as the first step on our road to Nejd.</p> +<p>Mohammed of course knows nothing about the roads to Nejd or +Jôf, except that they are somewhere away to the south, and +that he has relations there, and I doubt if anybody in Damascus +can give us more information. The Welled Ali, however, +would know where the Roala are, and the Roala could send us on, +as they go further south than any of the Ánazeh. The +difficulty, we fear, this winter will be the accident of no rain +having fallen since last spring, so that the Hamád is +quite burnt up and without water. If it were not for this, +our best course would undoubtedly be outside the Hauran, which is +always dangerous, and is said to be especially so this +year. The desert has often been compared to the sea, and is +like it in more ways than one, amongst others in this, that once +well away from shore it is comparatively safe, while there is +always a risk of accidents along the coast. <a +name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 5</span>But we shall +see. In the meantime we talk to Mohammed of the Jôf +only, for fear of scaring him. Nejd, in the imagination of +the northern Arabs, is an immense way off, and no one has ever +been known to go there from Damascus. Mohammed professes +unbounded devotion to Wilfrid, and he really seems to be sincere; +but six hundred miles of desert as the crow flies will be a +severe test of affection. We notice that Mohammed has grown +in dignity and importance since we saw him last, and has adopted +the style and title of Sheykh, at least for the benefit of the +hotel servants; he has indeed good enough manners to pass very +well for a true Bedouin.</p> +<p>There is a small colony of Palmyra people at Damascus, or +rather in the suburb of the town called the Maidan, and with them +Mohammed has been staying. We went there with him this +morning to see some camels he has been buying for us, and which +are standing, or rather sitting, in his friends’ +yard. The colony consists of two or three families, who +live together in a very poor little house. They left Tudmur +about six years ago “in a huff,” they say, and have +been waiting on here from day to day ever since to go back. +The men of the house were away from home when we called, for they +make their living like most Tudmuri as carriers; but the women +received us hospitably, asked us to sit down and drink coffee, +excellent coffee, such as we had not tasted for long, and sent <a +name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>a little girl +to bring the camels out of the yard for us to look at. The +child managed these camels just as well as any man could have +done. Mohammed seems to have made a good selection. +There are four deluls for riding, and four big baggage camels; +these last have remarkably ugly heads, but they look strong +enough to carry away the gates of Gaza, or anything else we +choose to put upon their backs. In choosing camels, the +principal points to look at are breadth of chest, depth of +barrel, shortness of leg, and for condition roundness of +flank. I have seen the strength of the hocks tested by a +man standing on them while the camel is kneeling. If it can +rise, notwithstanding the weight, there can be no doubt as to +soundness. One only of the camels did not quite please us, +as there was a suspicion of recent mange; but Abdallah +(Mohammed’s cousin) puts it “on his head” that +all is right with this camel, as with the rest. They are +not an expensive purchase at any rate, as they average less than +£10 a piece. One cannot help pitying them, poor +beasts, when one thinks of the immense journey before them, and +the little probability there is that they will all live to see +the end of it. Fortunately they do not know their fate any +more than we know ours. How wretched we should be for them +if we knew exactly in what wady or at what steep place they would +lie down and be left to die; for such is the fate of +camels. But if we did, we should never have the heart to +set out at all.</p> +<p><a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 7</span>Next in +importance to the camels are the horses we are to ride. +Mohammed has got his little Jilfeh mokhra of last year which is +barely three years old, but he declares she is up to his weight, +thirteen stone, and I suppose he knows best. Mr. S. has +sent us two mares from Aleppo by Hanna, one, a Ras el Fedawi, +very handsome and powerful, the other, a bay three year old +Abeyeh Sherrak, without pretension to good looks, but which ought +to be fast and able to carry a light weight. We rode to the +Maidan, and the chestnut’s good looks attracted general +attention. Everybody turned round to look at her; she is +perhaps too handsome for a journey.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 7.—We have been spending the day with +Mrs. Digby and her husband, Mijuel of the Mizrab, a very well +bred and agreeable man, who has given us a great deal of valuable +advice about our journey. They possess a charming house +outside the town, surrounded by trees and gardens, and standing +in its own garden with narrow streams of running water and paths +with borders full of old fashioned English +flowers—wall-flowers especially. There are birds and +beasts too; pigeons and turtle doves flutter about among the +trees, and a pelican sits by the fountain in the middle of the +courtyard guarded by a fierce watch-dog. A handsome mare +stands in the stable, but only one, for more are not required in +town.</p> +<p>The main body of the house is quite simple in its <a +name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>bare Arab +furnishing, but a separate building in the garden is fitted up +like an English drawing-room with chairs, sofas, books, and +pictures. Among many interesting and beautiful sketches +kept in a portfolio, I saw some really fine water-colour views of +Palmyra done by Mrs. Digby many years ago when that town was less +known than it is at present.</p> +<p>The Sheykh, as he is commonly called, though incorrectly, for +his elder brother Mohammed is reigning Sheykh of the Mizrab, came +in while we were talking, and our conversation then turned +naturally upon desert matters, which evidently occupy most of his +thoughts, and are of course to us of all-important interest at +this moment. He gave us among other pieces of information +an account of his own tribe, the Mizrab, to which in our +published enumeration of tribes we scarcely did justice.</p> +<p>But before repeating some of the particulars we learned from +him, I cannot forbear saying a few words about Mijuel himself, +which will justify the value we attach to information received +from him as from a person entitled by birth and position to speak +with authority. In appearance he shews all the +characteristics of good Bedouin blood. He is short and +slight in stature, with exceedingly small hands and feet, a dark +olive complexion, beard originally black, but now turning grey, +and dark eyes and eyebrows. It is a mistake to suppose that +true Arabs are ever fair or red-haired. Men may <a +name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>occasionally be +seen in the desert of comparatively fair complexion, but these +<i>always</i> (as far as my experience goes) have features of a +correspondingly foreign type, showing a mixture of race. No +Bedouin of true blood was ever seen with hair or eyes not black, +nor perhaps with a nose not aquiline.</p> +<p>Mijuel’s father, a rare exception among the +Ánazeh, could both read and write, and gave his sons, when +they were boys, a learned man to teach them their letters. +But out of nine brothers, Mijuel alone took any pains to +learn. The strange accident of his marriage with an English +lady has withdrawn him for months at a time, but not estranged +him, from the desert; and he has adopted little of the townsman +in his dress, and nothing of the European. He goes, it is +true, to the neighbouring mosque, and recites the Mussulman +prayers daily; but with this exception, he is undistinguishable +from the Ibn Shaalans and Ibn Mershids of the Hamád. +It is also easy to see that his heart remains in the desert, his +love for which is fully shared by the lady he has married; so +that when he succeeds to the Sheykhat, as he probably will, for +his brother appears to be considerably his senior, I think they +will hardly care to spend much of their time at Damascus. +They will, however, no doubt, be influenced by the course of +tribal politics, with which I understand Mijuel is so much +disgusted, that he might resign in favour of his son Afet; in +that case, they might continue, as now, living partly at <a +name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>Damascus, +partly at Homs, partly in tents, and always a providence to their +tribe, whom they supply with all the necessaries of Bedouin life, +and guns, revolvers, and ammunition besides. The Mizrab, +therefore, although numbering barely a hundred tents, are always +well mounted and better armed than any of their fellows, and can +hold their own in all the warlike adventures of the Sebaa.</p> +<p>According to Mijuel, the Mizrab, instead of being, as we had +been told, a mere section of the Resallin, are in fact the +original stock, from which not only the Resallin but the +Moáhib and the Gomussa themselves have branched off. +In regard to the last-mentioned tribe he related the following +curious story:—</p> +<p>An Arab of the Mizrab married a young girl of the Suellmat +tribe and soon afterwards died. In a few weeks his widow +married again, taking her new husband from among her own +kinsmen. Before the birth of her first child a dispute +arose as to its parentage, she affirming her Mizrab husband to be +the father while the Suellmat claimed the child. The +matter, as all such matters are in the desert, was referred to +arbitration, and the mother’s assertion was put to the test +by a live coal being placed upon her tongue. In spite of +this ordeal she persisted in her statement, and got a judgment in +her favour. Her son, however, is supposed to have been +dissatisfied with the decision, for as soon as born he turned +angrily on his mother, from <a name="page11"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 11</span>which circumstance he received the +name of Gomussa or the “scratcher.” From him +the Gomussa tribe are descended. They first came into +notice about seventy years ago when they attacked and plundered +the Bagdad caravan which happened to be conveying a large sum of +money. With these sudden riches they acquired such +importance that they have since become the leading section of the +tribe, and they are now undoubtedly the possessors of the best +mares among the Ánazeh. The Mizrab Sheykhs +nevertheless still assert superiority in point of birth, and a +vestige of their old claims still exists in their titular right +to the tribute of Palmyra.</p> +<p>Mijuel’s son, Afet, or Japhet, whom we met at +Beteyen’s camp last spring, has taken, it would appear, an +active part in the late fighting. During the battle where +Sotamm was defeated by the Sebaa and their allies, the head of +the Ibn Jendal <a name="citation11"></a><a href="#footnote11" +class="citation">[11]</a> family, pursued by some Welled Ali +horsemen, yielded himself up a prisoner to Afet whose +father-in-law he was, and who sought to give him protection by +covering him with his cloak. But the Ibn Smeyr were at +blood feud with the Ibn Jendals, and in such cases no asylum is +sacred. One of Mohammed Dukhi’s sons dragged Ibn +Jendal out of his hiding-place and slew him before Afet’s +eyes. On that day the Sebaa took most of the mares and +camels they had lost in the previous <a name="page12"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 12</span>fighting, and our friend Ferhan Ibn +Hedeb is now in tolerable comfort again with tents and tent +furniture, and coffee-pots to his heart’s content. I +hope he will bear his good fortune as well as he bore the +bad.</p> +<p>Mijuel can of course give us better advice than anybody else +in Damascus, and he says that we cannot do better in the +interests of our journey than go first to Jerúd and +consult Mohammed Dukhi. The Welled Ali after the Roala are +the tribe which knows the western side of the desert best, and we +should be sure of getting correct information from them, if +nothing more. The Sebaa never go anywhere near the Wady +Sirhán, as they keep almost entirely to the eastern half +of the Hamád; and even their ghazús hardly ever +meddle with that inhospitable region. Mijuel has once been +as far south as to the edge of the Nefûd, which he +describes as being covered with grass in the spring. The +Wady Sirhán, he believes, has wells, but no pasturage.</p> +<p>Another interesting visit which we paid while at Damascus was +to Abd el-Kader, the hero of the French war in Algiers. +This charming old man, whose character would do honour to any +nation and any creed, is ending his days as he began them, in +learned retirement and the exercises of his religion. The +Arabs of the west, “Maghrabi” (Mogrebins), are +distinguished from those of the Peninsula, and indeed from all +others, by a natural taste for piety <a name="page13"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 13</span>and a religious tone of +thought. Arabia proper, except in the first age of Islam +and latterly during the hundred years of Wahhabi rule, has never +been a religious country. Perhaps out of antagonism to +Persia, its nearest neighbour, it neglects ceremonial observance, +and pays little respect to saints, miracles, and the supernatural +world in general. But with the Moors and the Algerian Arabs +this is different. Their religion is the reason of their +social life and a prime mover in their politics. It is the +fashion there, even at the present day, for a rich man to spend +his money on a mosque, as elsewhere he would spend it on his stud +and the entertainment of guests, and nothing gives such social +distinction as regular attendance at prayer. There is too, +besides the lay nobility, a class of spiritual nobles held +equally high in public estimation. These are the marabous +or descendants of certain saints, who by virtue of their birth +partake in the sanctity of their ancestors and have hereditary +gifts of divination and miraculous cure. They hold indeed +much the same position with the vulgar as did the sons of the +prophets in the days of Saul.</p> +<p>Abd el-Kader was the representative of such a family, and not, +as I think most people suppose, a Bedouin Sheykh. In point +of fact he was a townsman and a priest, not by birth a soldier, +and though trained, as nobles of either class were, to arms, it +was only the accident of a religious war that made him a man of +action. He gained his first <a name="page14"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 14</span>victories by his sermons, not by his +sword; and, now that the fight is over, he has returned naturally +to his first profession, that of saint and man of letters. +As such, quite as much as for his military renown, he is revered +in Damascus.</p> +<p>To us, however, it is the extreme simplicity of his character +and the breadth of his good sense, amounting to real wisdom, +which form his principal charm. “Saint” though +he be “by profession,” as one may say, for such he is +in his own eyes as well as those of his followers, he is +uninjured by his high position. It is to him an +obligation. His charity is unbounded, and he extends it to +all alike; to be poor or suffering is a sufficient claim on +him. During the Damascus massacres he opened his doors to +every fugitive; his house was crowded with Christians, and he was +ready to defend his guests by force if need were. To us he +was most amiable, and talked long on the subject of Arab +genealogy and tradition. He gave me a book which has been +lately written by one of his sons on the pedigree of the Arabian +horse, and took an evident interest in our own researches in that +direction. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca many years ago, +travelling the whole way from Algeria by land and returning +through Nejd to Meshhed Ali and Bagdad. This was before the +French war.</p> +<p>Abd el-Kader returned our visit most politely next day, and it +was strange to see this old warrior humbly mounted on his little +Syrian donkey, led <a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +15</span>by a single servant, riding into the garden where we +were. He dresses like a mollah in a cloth gown, and with a +white turban set far back from his forehead after the Algerian +fashion. He never, I believe, wore the Bedouin +kefiyeh. His face is now very pale as becomes a student, +and his smile is that of an old man, but his eye is still bright +and piercing like a falcon’s. It is easy to see, +however, that it will never flash again with anything like +anger. Abd el-Kader has long possessed that highest +philosophy of noble minds according to Arab doctrine, +patience.</p> +<p>A man of a very different sort, but one whom we were also +interested to see, was Midhat Pasha, just arrived at Damascus as +Governor-General of Syria. He had come with a considerable +flourish of trumpets, for he was supposed to represent the +doctrine of administrative reform, which was at that time +seriously believed in by Europeans for the Turkish Empire. +Midhat was the protégé of our own Foreign Office, +and great things were expected of him. For ourselves, +though quite sceptical on these matters and knowing the history +of Midhat’s doings at Bagdad too well to have any faith in +him as a serious reformer, we called to pay our respects, partly +as a matter of duty, and partly it must be owned out of +curiosity. It seemed impossible that a man who had devised +anything so fanciful as parliamentary government for Turkey +should be otherwise than strange and original. But in this +we were grievously <a name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +16</span>disappointed, for a more essentially commonplace, even +silly talker, or one more naïvely pleased with himself, we +had never met out of Europe. It is possible that he may +have adopted this tone with us as the sort of thing which would +suit English people, but I don’t think so. We kept +our own counsel of course about our plans, mentioning only that +we hoped to see Bagdad and Bussora and to go on thence to India, +for such was to be ultimately our route. On the mention of +these two towns he at once began a panegyric of his own +administration there, of the steamers he had established on the +rivers, the walls he had pulled down and tramways built. +“Ah, that tramway,” he exclaimed +affectionately. “It was I that devised it, and it is +running still. Tramways are the first steps in +civilisation. I shall make a tramway round Damascus. +Everybody will ride in the trucks. It will pay five per +cent. You will go to Bussora. You will see my +steamers there. Bussora, through me, has become an +important place. Steamers and tramways are what we want for +these poor countries. The rivers of Damascus are too small +for steamers, or I should soon have some afloat. But I will +make a tramway. If we could have steamers and tramways +everywhere Turkey would become rich.” “And +canals,” we suggested, maliciously remembering how he had +flooded Bagdad with his experiments in this way. +“Yes, and canals too. Canals, steamers, and tramways, +are what we want.” “And <a +name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +17</span>railways.” “Yes, railways. I +hope to have a railway soon running alongside of the carriage +road from Beyrout. Railways are important for the +guaranteeing of order in the country. If there was a +railway across the desert we should have no more trouble with the +Bedouins. Ah, those poor Bedouins, how I trounced them at +Bagdad. I warrant my name is not forgotten +there.” We assured him it was not.</p> +<p>He then went on to talk of the Circassians, “<i>ces +pauvres Circassiens</i>,” for he was speaking in French, +“<i>il faut que je fasse quelque chose pour +eux</i>.” I wish I could give some idea of the tone +of tenderness and almost tearful pity in Midhat’s voice as +he pronounced this sentence; the Circassians seemed to be dearer +to him than even his steamers and tramways. These +unfortunate refugees are, in truth, a problem not easy of +solution: they have been a terrible trouble to Turkey, and, since +they were originally deported from Russia after the Crimean war, +they have been passed on from province to province until they can +be passed no further. They are a scourge to the inhabitants +wherever they go, because they are hungry and armed, and insist +on robbing to get a livelihood. To the Syrian Arabs they +are especially obnoxious, because they shed blood as well as rob, +which is altogether contrary to Arab ideas. The Circassians +are like the foxes which sportsmen turn out in their +covers. It is a public-spirited act to have done so, but +they cannot <a name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +18</span>be made to live in peace with the hares and +rabbits. Midhat, however, had a notable scheme for setting +things to rights. He would draft all these men into the +corps of zaptiehs, and then, if they did rob, it would be in the +interests of Government. Some score of them were waiting in +the courtyard at the time of our visit, to be experimented on; +and a more evil-visaged set it would have been difficult to +select.</p> +<p>On the whole, we went away much impressed with Midhat, though +not as we had hoped. He had astonished us, but not as a +wise man. To speak seriously, one such reforming pasha as +this does more to ruin Turkey than twenty of the old dishonest +sort. Midhat, though he fails to line his own purse, may be +counted on to empty the public one at Damascus, as he did at +Bagdad, where he spent a million sterling on unproductive works +within a single year. As we wished him good-bye, we were +amused to notice that he retained Mr. Siouffi, the manager of the +Ottoman Bank, who had come with us, with him for a private +conference, the upshot of which was his first public act as +Governor of Syria, the raising of a loan. <a +name="citation18"></a><a href="#footnote18" +class="citation">[18]</a></p> +<h2><a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +21</span>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,<br +/> +I better brook than flourishing peopled towns.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Shakespeare</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">Brotherly offices—We prepare for a +campaign—Mohammed Dukhi comes to court—A night +robber—We start for Nejd—Tale of a penitent—The +duty of revenge—We are entertained by poor +relations—The fair at Mezarib.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> spent a week at Damascus, a week +not altogether of pleasure, although it was to be our last of +civilised life. We had an immense number of things to buy +and arrange and think over, before starting on so serious a +journey as this, which we knew must be very unlike the pleasure +trip of last year. We could not afford to leave anything to +chance with the prospect of a three months’ wandering, and +a thousand miles of desert, where it was impossible to count upon +fresh supplies even of the commonest necessaries of life. +Jôf, the first station on our road, was four hundred miles +off, and then we must cross the Nefûd, with its two hundred +miles of sand, before we could get to Nejd. The return +journey, too, to the Persian Gulf, would have to be made without +coming to anything so European as a Turkish town. Nobody +could tell us what supplies were to be had in Nejd, beyond dates +and corn. Mr. Palgrave’s account of Jebel <a +name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>Shammar was, +in fact, the only guide we had to go on, and its accuracy had +been so much doubted that we felt obliged to take into +consideration the possibility of finding the Nejd towns mere +oases, and their cultivation only that of the date.</p> +<p>Mohammed, less “insouciant” than most of his +countrymen are on such matters, now made himself most useful, +spending many hours in the bazaars with Wilfrid, as I did with +the cook and the camel-man; and being a town Arab and a trader +born, he saved us an infinity of trouble and time, and no few +mejidies.</p> +<p>They began by choosing a complete suit of Bedouin clothes for +Wilfrid, not exactly as a disguise, for we did not wish, even if +we could have done so, not to pass for Europeans, but in order to +avoid attracting more notice than was necessary on our way. +The costume consisted of a striped silk jibbeh or dressing-gown +worn over a long shirt, a blue and white abba of the kind made at +Karieteyn, and for the head a black kefiyeh embroidered with gold +which was fastened on with the Bedouin aghal, a black +lamb’s-wool rope. Mohammed had brought with him a +sword which had belonged to his grandfather, a fine old Persian +blade curved like a sickle. He gave it to Wilfrid and +received in return a handsome weapon somewhat similar but +silver-mounted, which they found in the bazaar. Thus rigged +out, for Mohammed too had been reclothed from head to foot (and +he much required it), they used to sally <a +name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>out in the +town as two Bedouin gentlemen. Wilfrid by holding his peace +was able to pass with the unwary as an unconcerned friend, while +Mohammed did the bargaining for cloaks, kefiyehs, and other +articles suitable as presents to the Sheykhs whose acquaintance +we might make. Mohammed was an expert in driving a hard +bargain and knew the exact fashion in vogue in each Bedouin +tribe, so that although his taste did not always quite agree with +ours, we let him have his way. The only mistake he made, as +it turned out, was in underestimating the value of gifts +necessary in Haïl. Not one of us had the least idea of +the luxury existing in Nejd, and Mohammed, like most of the +northern Arabs, had heard of Ibn Rashid only as a Bedouin Sheykh, +and fancied that a red cloth jibbeh would be the <i>ne plus +ultra</i> of magnificence for him, as indeed it would have been +for an Ibn Shaalan or an Ibn Mershid. We had, however, some +more serious presents than these to produce, if necessary, in the +rifles and revolvers we carried with us, so that we felt there +was no real danger of arriving empty-handed.</p> +<p>The purchases which it fell to my share to make, with the +assistance of Abdallah and the cook, were entirely of a useful +sort, and do not require a detailed description here. As to +dress, it was unnecessary for me to make any change, save that of +substituting a kefiyeh for a hat and wearing a Bedouin cloak over +my ordinary travelling ulster. <a name="page24"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 24</span>Hanna and Abdallah were both of them +masters in the art of haggling, and vied with each other in +beating down the prices of provisions. Dates, flour, +burghul (a kind of crushed wheat, which in Syria takes the place +of rice), carrots, onions, coffee, and some dried fruit were to +be the mainstay of our cooking, and of these we bought a supply +sufficient to last us as far as Jôf. We had brought +from England some beef tea, vegetable soup squares, and a small +quantity of tea in case of need. We had agreed to do +without bulky preserved provisions, which add greatly to the +weight of baggage, and that as to meat, we would take our chance +of an occasional hare or gazelle, or perhaps now and then a +sheep.</p> +<p>All began well. Our servants seemed likely to turn out +treasures, and we had no difficulty in getting a couple of +Agheyls to start with us as camel drivers. We thought it +prudent to keep our own counsel as to the direction we intended +to take, and it was generally supposed that Bagdad was to be our +first object. Only Mohammed and Hanna were informed of the +real design, and them we could trust. Not but what Hanna +had occasional fits of despondency about the risk he ran. +He did not pretend to be a hero, he had a wife and children to +whom he was sincerely attached, and he felt, not quite wrongly, +that Central Arabia was hardly the place for one of his nation +and creed. He came to us, indeed, one morning, to announce +<a name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>his +intention of returning home to Aleppo, and he required a good +deal of humouring before he recovered his spirits; but I do not +think that he ever seriously intended to desert us. He had +come all the way from Aleppo to join us, and, besides, the +companionship of the young giant he called his +“brother,” who was to share his tent, reassured +him. Once started, we knew that he would bear patiently all +that fortune might inflict.</p> +<p>By the 11th the necessary preparations had been made, and we +were ready to start. As a preliminary, we moved into a +garden outside the town with our camels and our mares, so as to +be at liberty to go off any morning without attracting notice and +in the direction we might choose. It was generally believed +in Damascus that we intended going to Bagdad, and we had made up +our minds to start in that direction, partly to avoid questions, +and partly because at Jerúd, the first village on the road +to Palmyra, we should find Mohammed Dukhi with the Welled +Ali. He seemed the most likely person to put us on our way, +and in expeditions of this sort the first few marches are +generally the most difficult, if not the most dangerous. +The edges of the desert are always unsafe, whereas, once clear of +the shore, so to speak, there is comparatively little risk of +meeting anybody, friend or foe. We thought then that we +should be able to get a man from Mohammed Dukhi to take us in a +straight line from Jerúd to some point in the Wady +Sirhán, <a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +26</span>keeping well outside the Hauran, a district of the worst +reputation, and following perhaps a line of pools or wells which +the Bedouins might know. But just as we had settled this, +Mohammed Dukhi himself appeared unexpectedly at Damascus, and our +plan was changed.</p> +<p>Mohammed Dukhi ibn Smeyr is the greatest personage in the +north-western desert next to Ibn Shaalan, and as I have said +before was at that time hotly engaged in a war with the Roala +chief. His object in visiting Damascus was as follows: in +the course of the autumn a detachment of fifteen Turkish soldiers +attacked his camp without provocation and, firing into it, killed +a woman and a child. This camp numbered only a few tents, +the tribe being at the time scattered on account of pasturage, +and the Sheykh himself was absent with most of the men. +Those, however, who had remained at home managed to cut off and +surround the soldiers, one of whom was killed in the fray. +The Welled Ali would have killed the rest but for Mohammed +Dukhi’s wife, Herba, <a name="citation26"></a><a +href="#footnote26" class="citation">[26]</a> who rushed in among +the combatants, and remonstrated with her people on the folly of +involving themselves in a quarrel with the Government. Her +pluck saved the soldiers’ lives. She took them under +her protection, and the next morning sent them under escort to a +place of safety.</p> +<p>Now Mohammed Dukhi, having the Roala war <a +name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>on his hands +and being obliged to shelter himself from Ibn Shaalan under the +walls of Jerúd, was naturally anxious to clear up this +matter of the soldier’s death; and, directly he heard of +Midhat’s arrival at Damascus, he shrewdly determined to +make his count with the new Pasha by an early call at the +Serai. Ibn Shaalan was out of the way, and the first comer +would doubtless be the one most readily listened to. Ibn +Smeyr had besides a little intrigue on foot respecting the escort +of the Damascus pilgrims, which he in part provided or hoped to +provide. Abd el-Kader was his friend, and it was at the +Emir’s house that he alighted and that we found him. +Mohammed Dukhi, noble though he is in point of blood, is not a +fine specimen of a great Bedouin Sheykh. His politeness is +overstrained and unnatural, reminding one rather of city than of +desert manners; there are also ugly stories of his want of faith, +which one finds no difficulty in believing when one sees +him. He affected, however, great pleasure at seeing us +again, and professed an entire devotion to our welfare and our +plans. He would himself accompany us on the first stages of +our road, or at least send his sons or some of his men; offers +which dwindled, till at last they resulted in his merely writing +some letters of recommendation for us, and giving us a large +amount of good advice. As regards the latter, he informed +us that a journey such as we proposed outside the Hauran would +not at the present <a name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +28</span>moment be practicable. No rain had fallen during +the autumn, and the Hamád was without water; indeed, +except in the Wady Sirhán, where the wells were never dry, +there was no watering place southwards at any distance from the +hills. He advised us, therefore, to leave Damascus by the +pilgrim road, which keeps inside the Hauran, and follow it till +we came across the Beni Sokkhr, whom we should find encamped not +far to the east of it. There was besides a capital +opportunity for us of doing this in company with the +<i>Jerdeh</i>, now on the point of starting for Mezárib, a +station on the Haj road. The Jerdeh, he explained, for the +name was new to us, are a kind of relief party sent every year +from Damascus, to meet the pilgrims on their homeward route, +carrying with them supplies of all the necessaries of life, +provisions, and extra camels to replace those broken down. +The party is escorted by Mohammed Dukhi, or rather by his men, +and the idea of joining them seemed exactly suited to our +purpose; though when we came to put it in practice, it turned out +to be of as little value as the rest of the smooth-spoken +Sheykh’s offers. It was something, however, to have a +plan, good or bad, and letters from so great a man as Ibn Smeyr +were of value, even though addressed to the wrong people.</p> +<p>Accordingly, on the 12th we bade good-bye to our Damascus +friends, wrote our last letters to our friends in England, and +said a long farewell to <a name="page29"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 29</span>the pleasures and pains of European +life. On the 13th we started.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 13.—We have started at last, and on a +Friday, the 13th of the month. I have no personal objection +to any particular day of the week, or of the month. But, as +a matter of fact, the only seriously unfortunate journey we ever +made was begun on a Friday, and Wilfrid professes himself to be +superstitious and full of dark foreboding. He, however, +insisted on starting this Friday, and with some inconsistency +argues that forebodings are lucky, or that at any rate the +absence of them is unlucky, and that it would not be safe to +begin a journey in a cheerful frame of mind.</p> +<p>We were roused in the middle of the night by a cry of thieves +in the garden, and running out of our tent found a scuffle going +on, which, when lights were brought, proved to have been caused +by two men, one the keeper of the garden and the other a soldier, +whom he was taking prisoner. Our servants were standing +round them, and Hanna, seeing the man to be securely bound, was +belabouring him with a stick, ejaculating at intervals, “O +robber, O dog, O pig! O pig, O dog, O robber!” +The story told us was that the gardener had found this man +prowling about, and had, after a terrible engagement, succeeded +in his capture. There were, however, no blood or wounds to +show; and, the evidence of the prisoner’s wicked designs +not being <a name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +30</span>very overwhelming, Wilfrid gave orders that he should be +let go as soon as it should be daylight. In the first +place, any handing over of the man to justice would have delayed +our start, and secondly, it was more than probable that the whole +thing had been got up by the gardener with the accused person for +the sake of the present the two would receive. Such little +comedies are quite common in the East; and when we declined to +take it seriously, the two men very good-humouredly let the +matter drop.</p> +<p>At the first streak of dawn we struck our tents, loaded our +camels, and a little after sunrise were on our mares and well +away from the town in marching order for Nejd! At first we +skirted the city, passing the gate where St. Paul is said to have +entered, and the place where he got over the wall, and then along +the suburb of Maidan, which is the quarter occupied by Bedouins +when they come to town, and where we had found the Tudmuri and +our camels. Here we were to have met the Jerdeh, and we +waited some time outside the Bawábat Allah, or +“Gates of God,” while Mohammed went in to make +inquiries, and take leave of his Tudmuri friends. It is in +front of this gate that the pilgrims assemble on the day of their +start for Mecca, and from it the Haj road leads away in a nearly +straight line southwards. The Haj road is to be our route +as far as Mezárib, and is a broad, well worn track, though +of course not a road at all according to English ideas. It +has, nevertheless, <a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +31</span>a sort of romantic interest, one cannot help feeling, +going as it does so far and through such desolate lands, a track +so many thousand travellers have followed never to return. +I suppose in its long history a grave may have been dug for every +yard of its course from Damascus to Medina, for, especially on +the return journey, there are constantly deaths among the +pilgrims from weariness and insufficient food.</p> +<p>Our caravan, waiting at the gate, presented a very picturesque +appearance. Each of the delúls carries a gay pair of +saddle-bags in carpet-work, with long worsted tassels hanging +down on each side half way to the ground; and they have +ornamented <i>reshmehs</i> or headstalls to match. The +camels, too, though less decorated, have a gay look; and Wilfrid +on the chestnut mare ridden in a halter wants nothing but a long +lance to make him a complete Bedouin. The rest of our party +consists, besides Mohammed and Hanna, who have each of them a +delúl to ride, of Mohammed’s “cousin” +Abdallah, whom we call Sheykh of the camels, with his two Agheyl +assistants, Awwad, a negro, and a nice-looking boy named Abd +er-Rahman. These, with Mohammed, occupy one of the +servants’ tents, while Hanna and his “brother” +Ibrahim have another, for even in the desert distinctions of +religious caste will have to be preserved. It is a great +advantage in travelling that the servants should be as much as +possible strangers to each other, and of <a +name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 32</span>different +race or creed, as this prevents any combination among them for +mutiny or disobedience. The Agheyls will be one clique, the +Tudmuri another, and the Christians a third, so that though they +may quarrel with one another, they are never likely to unite +against us. Not that there is any prospect of difficulty +from such a cause; but three months is a long period for a +journey, and everything must be thought of beforehand.</p> +<p>Mohammed was not long in the Maidan, and came back with the +news that the Jerdeh has not been seen there, but might be at a +khan some miles on the road called Khan Denún. It +was useless to wait for them there, and so, wishing our friend, +Mr. Siouffi, good-bye (for he had accompanied us thus far) we +rode on. Nothing remarkable has marked our first +day’s journey; a gazelle crossing the track, and a rather +curious squabble between a kite, a buzzard, and a raven, in which +the raven got all the profit, being the only events. From +the crest of a low ridge we looked back and saw our last of +Damascus, with its minarets and houses imbedded in green. +We shall see no more buildings, I suppose, for many a day. +Mount Hermon to the left of it rose, an imposing mass, hazy in +the hot sun, for, December though it is, the summer is far from +over. Indeed, we have suffered from the heat today more +than we did during the whole of our last journey.</p> +<p><a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>At +Denún no sign or knowledge of the Jerdeh, so we have +decided to do without them. On a road like this we cannot +want an escort. There are plenty of people passing all day +long, most of them, like ourselves, going to Mezárib for +the annual fair which takes place there on the occasion of the +Jerdeh visit. Among them, too, are zaptiehs and even +soldiers; and there are to be several villages on the way. +We filled our goat-skins at Denún and camped for this our +first night on some rising ground looking towards Hermon. +It is a still, delightful evening, but there is no moon. +The sun is setting at five o’clock.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 14.—Still on the Haj road and through +cultivated land, very rich for wheat or barley, Mohammed says, +though it has a fine covering of stones. These are black +and volcanic, very shiny and smooth, just as they were shot up +from the Hauran when the Hauran was a volcano. The soil +looks as if it ought to grow splendid grapes, and some say the +bunches the spies brought to Joshua came from near here. +The villages, of which we have passed through several, are black +and shiny too, dreary looking places even in the sunshine, +without trees or anything pleasant to look at round them. +The fields at this time of year are of course bare of crops, and +it is so long since there was any rain that even the weeds are +gone. This is part of what is called the Leja, a district +entirely of black boulders, and interesting to +archæologists as being <a name="page34"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 34</span>the land of Og, king of Basan, whose +cities some have supposed to exist in ruins to the present +day.</p> +<p>In the middle of the day we passed a small ruin, about which +Mohammed, who has been this road before, as his father was at one +time camel-contractor for the Haj, told us a curious story. +Once upon a time there were two children, left orphans at a very +early age. The elder, a boy, went out into the world to +seek his fortune, while the other, a girl, was brought up by a +charitable family in Damascus. In course of time the +brother and sister came together by accident, and, without +knowing their relationship, married, for according to eastern +usage the marriage had been arranged for them by others. +Then, on comparing notes, they discovered the mistake which had +been made; and the young man, anxious to atone for the guilt they +had inadvertently incurred, consulted a wise man as to what he +should do in penance. He was told to make the pilgrimage to +Mecca seven times, and then to live seven years more in some +desert place on the Haj road offering water to the +pilgrims. This he did, and chose the place we passed for +the latter part of his penance. When the seven years were +over, however, he returned to Damascus, and the little house he +had built and the fig-trees he had planted remain as a record of +his story. Mohammed could not tell me what became of the +girl, and seemed to think it did not matter.</p> +<p>He has been talking a great deal to us on the duties <a +name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 35</span>of +brotherhood, which seemed a little like a suggestion. The +rich brother, it would seem, should make the poor one presents, +not only of fine clothes, but of a fine mare, a fine +delúl, or a score of sheep,—while the poor brother +should be very careful to protect the life of his sworn ally, or, +if need be, to avenge his death. Wilfrid asked him how he +should set about this last, if the case occurred. +“First of all,” said Mohammed, “I should +inquire who the shedder of blood was. I should hear, for +instance, that you had been travelling in the Hauran and had been +killed, but I should not know by whom. I should then leave +Tudmur, and, taking a couple of camels so as to seem to be on +business, should go to the place where you had died, under a +feigned name, and should pretend to wish to buy corn of the +nearest villagers. I should make acquaintance with the old +women, who are always the greatest talkers, and should sooner or +later hear all about it. Then, when I had found out the +real person, I should watch carefully all his goings out and +comings in, and should choose a good opportunity of taking him +unawares, and run my sword through him. Then I should go +back to Tudmur as fast as my delúl could carry +me.” Wilfrid objected that in England we thought it +more honourable to give an enemy the chance of defending himself; +but Mohammed would not hear of this. “It would not be +right. My duty,” he said, “would be to avenge +your blood, not to fight with the man; and if I got the <a +name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>opportunity, +I should come upon him asleep or unarmed. If he was some +poor wretch, of no consequence, I should take one of his +relations instead, if possible the head of his family. I +cannot approve of your way of doing these things. Ours is +the best.” Mohammed might have reasoned (only Arabs +never reason), that there were others besides himself concerned +in the deed being secretly and certainly done. An avenger +of blood carries not only his own life but the lives of his +family in his hand; and if he bungles over his vengeance, and +himself gets killed, he entails on them a further debt of +blood. To Mohammed, however, on such a point, reasoning was +unnecessary. What he had described was the custom, and that +was enough.</p> +<p>We are now a little to the south of the village of Gunayeh +where we have sent Abdallah with a delúl to buy +straw. There is no camel pasture here nor anything the +horses can eat. To the east we can see the blue line of the +Hauran range, and to the west the Syrian hills from Hermon to +Ajalon. I told Mohammed the story of the sun standing still +over Gibeon and the moon over Ajalon, which he took quite as a +matter of course, merely mentioning that he had never heard it +before.</p> +<p>I forgot to say that we crossed the old Roman road several +times to-day. It is in fair preservation, but the modern +caravan track avoids it. Perhaps in old days wheeled +carriages were common and required a stone road. Now there +is no such <a name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +37</span>necessity. At Ghabaghat, a village we passed about +eleven o’clock, we found a tank supplied with water from a +spring, and while we were waiting there watering the camels a fox +ran by pursued by two greyhounds, who soon came up with and +killed him. One of the dogs, a blue or silver grey, was +very handsome and we tried to buy him of his owner, a soldier, +but he would not take the money. After that we had a bit of +a gallop in which we were pleased with our new mares. But +we are both tired with even this short gallop, being as yet not +in training, and we feel the heat of the sun.</p> +<p><i>Sunday</i>, <i>December</i> 15.—We have left the Leja +country and are now in bare open fields, a fine district for +farmers, but as uninteresting as the plains of Germany or +northern France. These fields are better watered than the +Leja, and we crossed several streams to-day by old stone bridges +belonging to the Roman road. The streams run, I believe, +eventually into the Jordan, and in one place form a marsh to the +right of the road which Mohammed declared to be infested by +robbers, men who lurk about in the tall reeds and when they have +made a capture run off with their booty into it and cannot be +followed. We saw nothing suspicious, however, nor anything +of interest but a huge flock of sand grouse, of which we got four +as they passed overhead. There were also immense clouds of +starlings, and we started a hare. We passed many villages, +the principal one being Shemskin, where <a +name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 38</span>there are the +ruins of an old town. Our road then bore away to the right, +leaving the Roman road for good. This goes on straight to +Bozra, the chief town of the Hauran in former days.</p> +<p>At Tafazz we stopped to pay a visit to some Tudmuri settled +there, relations of Mohammed’s but not on the Ibn +Arûk side, very worthy people though hardly respectable as +relations. Tafazz from the outside looks like a heap of +ruins half smothered in dunghills. There has been a murrain +among the cattle this year, and dead cows lay about in every +stage of decomposition. We had some difficulty in groping +our way through them to the wretched little mud hovel where the +Tudmuri lived. The family consisted of two middle-aged men, +brothers, with their mother, their wives, and a pretty daughter +named Shemseh (sunshine), some children, and an old man, uncle or +grandfather of the others. These were all presently +clustering round us, and hugging and kissing Mohammed who, I must +say, showed a complete absence of false pride in spite of his +fine clothes and noble appearance. Their welcome to us, +poor people, was very hearty; and in a few minutes coffee was +being pounded, and a breakfast of unleavened loaves, thin and +good, an omelette, buttermilk (lebben), and a sweet kind of +treacle (dibs), made of raisins, prepared. While we were at +breakfast a little starved colt looked in at the door from the +yard; and some chickens and a <a name="page39"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 39</span>pretty fawn greyhound, all equally +hungry I thought, watched us eagerly. The people were very +doleful about the want of rain, and the loss of their yoke-oxen, +which makes their next year’s prospects gloomily +uncertain. They told us, however, that they had a good +stock of wheat in their underground granaries, sufficient for a +year or even more, which shows a greater amount of forethought +than I should have expected of them. In these countries it +is quite necessary to provide against the famines which happen +every few years, and in ancient times I believe it was a +universal practice to keep a year’s harvest in store.</p> +<p>After many entreaties that we would stay the night under their +roof they at last suffered us to depart, promising that the men +of the party would rejoin us the following day at Mezárib, +for Mezárib was close by. There we arrived about +three o’clock and are encamped on the piece of desert +ground where the fair is held. The view from our tents is +extremely pretty, a fine range of distant hills, the Ajlun to the +south-west, and about a mile off a little lake looking very blue +and bright, with a rather handsome ruined khan or castle in the +foreground. To the left the tents of the Suk, mostly white +and of the Turkish pattern. There are about a hundred and +fifty of them in four rows, making a kind of street. The +village of Mezárib stands on an island in the lake, +connected by a stone causeway with the shore, but the Suk is on +the <a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +40</span>mainland. There is a great concourse of people +with horses, and donkeys, and camels, and more are constantly +coming from each quarter of the compass. They have not as +yet paid much attention to us, so that we have been able to make +ourselves comfortable. There is a fresh wind blowing from +the south, and there is a look in the clouds of something like +rain. I have never before wished for rain on a journey, but +I do so heartily now; these poor people want it badly.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 16.—To-day we have done nothing but +receive visits. First there came a Haurani, who announced +himself as a sheykh, and gave us the information that Sotamm ibn +Shaalan and the Roala are somewhere near Ezrak. If this be +true it will be a great piece of good luck for us, but other +accounts have made it doubtful. A more interesting visitor +was a young man, a native of Bereydeh in Nejd, who, hearing that +we were on our way to Jôf, came to make friends with +us. Though a well-mannered youth, he is evidently nothing +particular in the way of position at home, and admits having been +somebody’s servant at Bagdad, but on the strength of a +supposed descent from the Beni Laam in Nejd, he has claimed +kinship with Mohammed and they have been sitting together +affectionately all the morning, holding each an end of +Mohammed’s rosary. We have cross-questioned him about +Nejd; but though he knows Haïl and Kasim and other places, +he can give us little real <a name="page41"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 41</span>information. He seems to have +left it as a boy. We are cheered, however, by the little he +has had to tell us, as he seems to take it for granted that +everybody in Nejd will be delighted to see us, and he has given +us the name and address of his relations there.</p> +<p>Mohammed went last night to find out whether any of the Beni +Sokkhr Sheykhs were at the Suk, for it is to them that we have +letters from Mohammed Dukhi, and in the middle of the day +Sákhn, a son of Fendi el-Faiz, the nominal head of the +tribe, was introduced. He was a not ill-looking youth, and +when we had shewn him our letter to his father informed us that +the Sheykh had just arrived, so we sent him to fetch him. +While Hanna was preparing coffee, the old man came to our +tent. In person he is very different from any of the +Ánazeh Sheykhs we have seen, reminding one rather of the +Jiburi, or other Euphrates Arabs. The Beni Sokkhr are in +fact of Shimali or Northern race, which is quite distinct from +the Nejdi, to which both Ánazeh and Shammar belong. +He is a fine picturesque old man, with rugged features and grey +beard and an immense nose, which put us in mind of the +conventional Arab types of Scripture picture books, and seemed to +correspond with a suggestion I have heard made, that the Beni +Sokkhr <a name="citation41"></a><a href="#footnote41" +class="citation">[41]</a> are really the Beni Issachar, a lost +tribe.</p> +<p>The Sheykh was very much “en +cérémonie,” and we found it difficult to +carry on conversation with <a name="page42"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 42</span>him. Either he had not much to +say, or did not care to say it to us; and the talk went on +principally between his second son Tellál, a Christian +merchant (here on business), and Mohammed. We did not, +ourselves, broach the subject of our journey; but after coffee +had been served, Mohammed had a private conversation with the +Sheykh, which resulted in an invitation from him to his tents, +which he described as being somewhere near Zerka on the Haj road, +from which he will send us on to Maan, and ultimately to +Jôf. This plan, however, does not at all suit +Wilfrid, who is determined on exploring the Wady Sirhán, +which no European has ever done, and he insists that we must go +first to Ezrak. Fendi, it appears, cannot take us that way, +as he is on bad terms with the Kreysheh, a branch of his own +tribe who are on the road. Perhaps, too, he is afraid of +the Roala. It is very perplexing, as some sort of +introduction we must have at starting, and yet we cannot afford +to go out of our way or even wait here indefinitely till Fendi is +ready. The Jerdeh people are after all not expected for +another two days, and it may be a week before they go on.</p> +<p>Later in the day Sottan, Fendi’s youngest son, came to +us and offered to accompany us himself to Jôf, but at a +price which was altogether beyond our ideas. He had +travelled once with some English people on the Syrian frontier, +and had got foolish notions about money. Five pounds was +the sum we had thought of giving; and he talked about a +hundred. <a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +43</span>So we sent him away. Later still, came a Shammar +from the Jebel, who said he was willing to go for fifteen +mejidies, and a Kreysheh who made similar offers. We have +engaged them both, but neither could do more than show us the +road. They would be no introduction. The difficulty, +by all accounts, of going down the Wady Sirhán, is from +the Sherarát, who hang about it, and who having no regular +Sheykh, cannot easily be dealt with. They are afraid, +however, of the Beni Sokkhr Sheykhs, and of course of Mohammed +Dukhi and Ibn Shaalan; and if we could only get a proper +representative of one or other of these to go with us, all would +be right. But how to get such a one is the question.</p> +<p>It has been very hot and oppressive here to-day, and the +appearance of rain is gone. The thermometer about noon +stood at 86°.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 17.—We have decided not to wait here any +longer, but to go off to-morrow in the direction of Ezrak, +trusting to find some one on the road. We shall have to +pass through Bozra, and may have better luck there. Our +Shammar seems to think it will be all right; but the Kreysheh +came back this morning with a demand for thirty pounds, instead +of the two pounds ten shillings, which he informed Mohammed, +Fendi had told him to ask. He seems to be with Fendi, +although his branch of the tribe are not on terms with their +principal chief. He still talks, however, of coming on the +original terms, but that will be without <a +name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>Fendi’s +permission. It is quite necessary to be, or appear to be +stingy with these people, as throwing money away is considered by +them the act of a simpleton.</p> +<p>Mohammed has been sent to the Suk to make some last purchases, +and inquire about two more camels. Now that it is decided +we are to go by the Wady Sirhán, we shall be obliged to +buy two extra camels to carry food for the rest. In +ordinary seasons this would not be necessary, but this year +everybody tells us we shall find no pasture. <i>Altek</i>, +which is the camel food used at Damascus, is made of a sort of +grain, like small misshapen peas or lentils, the husk green and +the seed red. It is mixed up into dough with wheaten flour +and water, and then kneaded into egg-shaped balls five inches +long. Six of these balls are a camel’s daily ration, +which, if he can pick up any rubbish by the way, will be enough +to keep him fat. We are carrying barley for the mares.</p> +<p>Aamar and Selim, our Tafazz relations, have come to pay us +their promised visit, and will perhaps accompany us +to-morrow. They brought with them a measure of +<i>feríkeh</i>, wheat crushed very fine, a sort of +burghul, some bread, and a couple of fowls; also Mohammed’s +sheepskin coat, which one of the women has been lining for him; +and lastly, the little greyhound we saw at their house, all as a +present, or very nearly so, after the fashion of the country.</p> +<p><a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +45</span>Mohammed has come back with two camels for our approval, +one a very handsome animal, but rather long-legged, the other +short and broad-chested like a prize-fighter. We have paid +ten pounds and eleven pounds for them. Nothing is +absolutely settled about who is going and who is not going with +us. Nothing but this, that we leave Mezárib +to-morrow.</p> +<p>As I write, an immense hubbub and a cry of thieves from the +Suk. They are ducking a man in the lake.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p45.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Salkhad" +title= +"Salkhad" +src="images/p45.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +46</span>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<blockquote><p> “Rather +proclaim it<br /> +That he which hath no stomach to this fight<br /> +Let him depart. His passport shall be made.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Shakespeare</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">Beating about—Bozra—We leave the +Turkish dominions—Mohammed vows to kill a sheep—The +citadel of Salkhad and the independent Druses—We are +received by a Druse chieftain—Historical notice of the +Hauran.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 18.—Our caravan has lost some of its +members. To begin with the two guides, the Kreysheh and the +Shammar have failed to make their appearance. Then Abd +er-Rahman, the little Agheyl, came with a petition to be allowed +to go home. He was too young, he said, for such a journey, +and afraid he might die on the road. He had brought a +cousin with him as a substitute, who would do much better than +himself, for the cousin was afraid of nothing. The +substitute was then introduced, a wild picturesque creature all +rags and elf locks and with eyes like jet, armed too with a +matchlock rather longer than himself, and evidently no +Agheyl. We have agreed, however, to take him and let the +other go. Unwilling hands are worse than useless on a +journey. Lastly, the slave Awwad has gone. Like most +negroes he had too good an opinion of himself, and insisted on +being treated as something more than a servant, and on having a +<a name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span>donkey to +ride. So we have packed him too off. He was very +angry when told to go, and broke a rebab we had given him to play +on, for he could both play and sing well. We are now +reduced to our two selves, Mohammed, Abdallah, Hanna, Ibrahim and +the substitute—seven persons in all, but the Tafazz people +are to go the first two days’ march with us and help drive +the camels.</p> +<p>We were glad to get clear of the dirt and noise of the Suk, +and leaving the Haj road, took a cross track to the south-east, +which is to lead us to Bozra. All day long we have been +passing through a well-inhabited country, with plenty of villages +and a rich red soil, already ploughed, every acre of it, and +waiting only for rain. The road was full of people +travelling on donkey-back and on foot to Mezárib, singing +as they went along. In all the numerous villages we saw the +effects of the late murrain in the dead cattle strewed +about. I counted seventy carcasses in one small place, a +terrible loss for the poor villagers, as each working cow or +bullock was worth ten pounds. I asked what disease had +killed them, and was told it was “min Allah” (from +God). Mohammed, however, calls it <i>abu hadlan</i> (father +of leanness).</p> +<p>This district is said to be the best corn-growing country +anywhere, and looks like it, but unless rain falls soon, the year +must be barren. The villages depend almost entirely on rain +for their water supply. In each there is an old reservoir +hollowed <a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +48</span>out of the rock. It is difficult to understand how +these tanks get filled, for they seem to have no drainage leading +to them, being on the contrary perched up generally on high +ground. They are now all dry, and the villagers have to +send many miles for their drinking water. All this country +belongs to the Hauran, and we are now in a Haurani village called +Ghízeh. The people are evidently not pure Arabs, as +many of them have light eyes.</p> +<p>We are being hospitably entertained by the village Sheykh, who +is an old acquaintance of Mohammed’s father’s, and +insists on setting all he has got before us,—coffee, a +plate of rice, barley for the mares, and, what is more precious +just now, water for them as well as for ourselves. Hassan, +for such is his name, has a very pretty wife, who was among the +crowd which gathered round us on our arrival at the +village. She, like the women of all these villages, made no +pretence of shyness, and was running about unveiled as any +peasant girl might in Italy. She was evidently a spoilt +child, and required more than one command from Hassan before she +would go home. The Sheykh has been spending the evening +with us. He is in great distress about his village, which +is in the last straits for water. The cattle, as I have +said, have all died, and now even the beasts of burden which have +to go for the water are dying. The nearest spring is at +Bozra, twelve miles off; and if the donkeys break down the +village must die too of thirst. He <a +name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 49</span>told us that +a Frank passed this way two years ago, and had told him that +there must be an ancient well somewhere among the ruins of which +the village is built, and he has been looking for it ever +since. He entreated us to tell him the most likely spot +either for finding the old well or digging a new one. We +are much distressed at not being engineers enough to do this for +him; and I can’t help thinking how much a real reformer +(not a Midhat) might do in Turkey by attending to such crying +wants as these. Ghízeh is within fifty miles from +Damascus as the crow flies, and there are scores of villages in +like condition throughout the Hauran, which a Syrian governor +might relieve at the cost of sending round an engineer. But +until tramways and railroads and new bazaars have been made, I +suppose there is little chance for mere wells under the present +regime.</p> +<p>Besides meat and drink, Hassan has given us useful +advice. He has reminded Mohammed of another old friend of +his father’s, who he thinks might be of more service to us +than anybody else could be, and he advises us to go first to +him. This is Huseyn ibn Nejm el-Atrash, a powerful Druse +Sheykh, who lives somewhere beyond the Hauran mountains. He +must certainly have relations with some of the Bedouin tribes +beyond, for it appears he lives in a little town quite on the +extreme edge of the inhabited country towards the Wady +Sirhán. We have always heard of this Druse country +as <a name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span>unsafe, +but what country is not called unsafe outside the regular Turkish +authority? The Ghízeh Sheykh’s suggestion +seems worth following, and we shall make for the Druse town.</p> +<p>The little greyhound Shiekhah (so called from a plant of that +name) is very docile and well-behaved. She is a regular +desert dog, and likes dates better than anything else. I +have made her a coat to wear at night for she is chilly.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 19.—Hassan with true hospitality did not +leave his house this morning, but let us depart quietly. +His coming to wish us good-bye would have looked like asking for +a present, and he evidently did not wish for anything of the +sort. This is the first time we have received hospitality +absolutely gratis in a town, for even when staying with +Mohammed’s father at Tudmur, the women of the family had +eagerly asked for money. In the desert, Hassan’s +behaviour would not have needed remark.</p> +<p>Before leaving Ghízeh we went to look at a house where +there is a mosaic floor of old Roman work, scrolls with orange +trees and pomegranates, vines with grapes on them, vases and +baskets, all coloured on a white ground. It speaks well for +the quality of the workmanship that it has so long stood the +weather and the wear, for it is out of doors, and forms the +pavement in the courtyard of a house.</p> +<p>Three and a half hours of steady marching brought us to Bozra, +where we now are. The entrance of <a +name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>the town is +rather striking, as the old Roman road, which has run in a +straight line for miles, terminates in a gateway of the regular +classic style, beyond which lie a mass of ruins and pillars, and +to the right a fine old castle. A raven was sitting on the +gateway, and as we rode through solemnly said +“caw.”</p> +<p>Bozra is, I have no doubt, described by Mr. Murray, so I +won’t waste my time in writing about the ruins, which +indeed we have not yet examined. They seem to be Roman, and +in tolerable preservation. The castle is more modern, +probably Saracenic, a huge pile built up out of older +fragments. It is occupied by a small garrison of Turkish +regulars, the last, I hope, we shall see for many a day, for +Bozra is the frontier town of the Hauran, and beyond it the +Sultan is not acknowledged. I believe that its occupation +is not of older date than fifteen to twenty years ago, the time +when Turkey made its last flicker as a progressing state, and +that before that time the people of Bozra paid tribute to Ibn +Shaalan, as they once had to the Wahhabis of Nejd. The +Roala still keep up some connection with the town, however, for a +shepherd we met at the springs just outside it assured us that +Ibn Shaalan had watered his camels at them not two months +ago. It was somewhere not far from Bozra that the forty +days battle between the Mesenneh and the Roala, described by +Fatalla, <a name="citation51"></a><a href="#footnote51" +class="citation">[51]</a> was fought. Though the <a +name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 52</span>details are +no doubt exaggerated, Mohammed knows of the battle by +tradition. Wilfrid asked him particularly about it to-day, +and he fully confirms the account given by Fatalla of the +downfall of the Mesenneh. He has added too some interesting +details of their recent history. We are encamped outside +the town at the edge of a great square tank of ancient masonry, +now out of repair and dry. Here would be another excellent +occupation for Midhat and his Circassians.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 20.—We were disturbed all night by the +barking of dogs, and the strange echoes from the ruined places +round. I never heard anything so unearthly—a cold +night—and melancholy too, as nights are when the moon rises +late, and is then mixed up in a haggard light with the dawn.</p> +<p>The Tafazz relations are gone, very sorrowful to wish us +good-bye. Selim, the elder of the two, told me that he has +been thirty years now in the Hauran, and has no idea of going +back to Tudmur. The land at Tafazz is so good that it will +grow anything, while at Tudmur there are only the few gardens the +stream waters. He is a <i>fellah</i> and likes ploughing +and sowing better than camel driving. To Tafazz they are +gone, Selim on his chestnut mare, old, worn, and one-eyed, but +<i>asil</i>; Aamar on his bay Kehîleh from the Roala, also +old and very lame. They went with tears in their <a +name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>eyes, wishing +us all possible blessings for the road.</p> +<p>The consequence is, we have to do more than our share of work, +and have had a hard day loading and reloading the camels, for we +were among the hills, and the roads were bad. The beasts +have not yet become accustomed to each other, and the old camel +we bought at Mezárib shows every sign of wishing to return +there. He is an artful old wretch, and chose his moment for +wandering off whenever we were looking the other way, and +wherever a bit of uneven ground favoured his escape. Once +or twice he very nearly gave us the slip. He wants to get +back to his family, Abdallah says, for we bought him out of a +herd where he was lord and master, a sultan among camels. +Our road to-day has been very rough. We were told to make +our way to Salkhad, a point on the far horizon, just on the ridge +of the Hauran, and the only road there was the old Roman +one. This went in an absolutely straight line over hill and +dale, and as two out of every three of the stones paving it were +missing, and the rest turned upside down, it was a long stumble +from beginning to end. We had been warned to keep a good +look-out for robbers, so Wilfrid and I rode ahead, reconnoitering +every rock and heap. We passed one or two ruined villages, +but met nobody all day long, still following the pointed hill of +Salkhad, which, as we got nearer it, we could see was crowned by +a huge fortress. <a name="page54"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 54</span>The country had now become a mass of +boulders, which in places had been rolled into heaps, making +gigantic cairns, not recently, but perhaps in ancient days, when +there were giants in the land. The soil thus uncovered was +a rich red earth, and here and there it had been +cultivated. There was now a little pasture, for on the +hills rain had fallen, and once we saw some goats in the +distance.</p> +<p>As we approached Salkhad the road got so bad that Mohammed +made a vow of killing a sheep if ever we got safe to Huseyn +el-Atrash. We were amused at this and asked him what it +meant; and he told us the story of the prophet Ibrahim who made a +vow to kill his son, and who was prevented from doing so by the +prophet Musa, who appeared to him and stopped him, and showed him +two rams which he said would do instead. These vows the +Arabs make are very curious, and are certainly a relic of the +ancient sacrifices. Mohammed explained them to us. +“The Bedouins,” he said, “always do this when +they are in difficulties,” he could not say why, but it was +an old custom; and when they go back home they kill the sheep, +and eat it with their friends. He does not seem to consider +it a religious ceremony, only a custom, but it is very +singular.</p> +<p>Nine and a half hours’ march from seven o’clock +brought us to the foot of the conical hill, on which the fortress +of Salkhad stands. This is a very ancient building, +resembling not a little the fortress of Aleppo, a cone partly +artificial and surrounded by a <a name="page55"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 55</span>moat, cased with smooth stone and +surmounted by walls still nearly perfect. We remarked on +some of them the same device as at Aleppo, a rampant lion, the +emblem of the Persian Monarchy. The fortress itself, +however, is probably of much older date, and may have existed at +the time the children of Israel conquered the country. +Wilfrid and I, who had gone on in front, agreed to separate here, +and ride round the citadel, he to the right, and I to the left, +and I was to wait on the top of the ridge till he gave me some +signal. This I did and waited so long, that at last the +camels came up. He in the meantime had found a little town +just under the fortress on the other side and had ridden down +into it. At first he saw nobody, and thought the place +deserted, but presently people in white turbans began to appear +on the house-tops, very much astonished to see this horseman come +riding down upon them, for the road was like a stair. He +saluted them, and they saluted politely in return, and answered +his inquiry for Huseyn el-Atrash, by pointing out a path which +led down across the hills to a town called Melakh, where they +said Huseyn lived. They asked where he was going, and he +said Bussora, Bussora of Bagdad, at which they laughed, and +showing him the Roman road, which from Salkhad still goes on in a +straight line about south-east, said that that would take him to +it. This is curious, for it certainly is exactly the +direction, and yet it is impossible there can ever have really +been a road there. It probably goes to Ezrak <a +name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 56</span>but we hope +to find out all about this in a day or two. At the bottom +of the hill Wilfrid beckoned to me, and I found him at a large +artificial pool or reservoir, still containing a fair supply of +water, and there, when the rest had joined us, we watered the +camels and horses. Mohammed in the meanwhile had been also +on a voyage of discovery, and came back with the news that Huseyn +el-Atrash was really at Melakh, and Melakh was only two hours and +a half further on.</p> +<p>Salkhad is a very picturesque town. It hangs something +like a honeycomb under the old fortress on an extremely steep +slope, the houses looking black from the colour of the volcanic +stone of which they are built. Many of them are very +ancient, and the rest are built up of ancient materials, and +there is a square tower like the belfry of a church. <a +name="citation56"></a><a href="#footnote56" +class="citation">[56]</a> The tanks below are at least +equally old with the town, having a casing of hewn stone, now +much dilapidated, and large stone troughs for watering +cattle. Its inhabitants, the people in the white turbans, +are Druses, a colony sent I believe from the Lebanon after the +disturbances in 1860.</p> +<p>From Salkhad our road lay principally down hill, for we had +now crossed the watershed of the Jebel <a name="page57"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 57</span>Hauran, and became somewhat +intricate, winding about among small fields. The country on +this side the hills is divided into walled enclosures, formed by +the rolling away of boulders, which give it a more European look +than anything we have seen of late. These date I should +think from very early times, for the stones have had time to get +covered with a grey lichen, so as to resemble natural rather than +artificial heaps, and in these dry climates lichen forms +slowly. In some of the enclosures we found cultivation, and +even vines and fig-trees. It is remarkable how much more +prosperous the land looks as soon as one gets away from Turkish +administration. The sun was setting as we first caught +sight of Melakh, another strange old mediæval town of black +stone, with walls and towers much out of the perpendicular; so +leaving the camels to come on under Abdallah’s charge and +that of a man who had volunteered to guide us, we cantered on +with Mohammed, and in the twilight arrived at the house of Huseyn +el-Atrash.</p> +<p>Huseyn is a fine specimen of a Druse sheykh, a man of about +forty, extremely dark and extremely handsome, his eyes made +darker and more brilliant by being painted with kohl. This +seems to be a general fashion here. He was very clean and +well dressed in jíbbeh and abba; and, unlike most of the +Druses, he wore a kefiyeh of purple and gold, though with the +white turban over it in place of the aghal. He was sitting +with his friends and <a name="page58"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 58</span>neighbours on a little terrace in +front of his house, enjoying the coolness of the evening, while +we could see that a fire had been lit indoors. He rose and +came to meet us as we dismounted, and begged us to come in, and +then the coffee pots and mortar were set at work and a dinner was +ordered. The Sheykh’s manners were excellent, very +ceremonious but not cold, and though we conversed for an hour +about “the weather and the crops,” he carefully +avoided asking questions as to who we were and what we +wanted. Neither did we say anything, as we knew that the +proper moment had not come. At last our camels arrived, and +dinner was served, a most excellent one, chicken and burghul, +horse-radishes in vinegar and water, several sweet dishes, one a +puree of rice, spiced tea, cream cheese, and the best water-melon +ever tasted. The cookery and the people remind us of the +frontier towns of the Sahara, everything good of its kind, good +food, good manners, and good welcome. Then, when we had all +eaten heartily down to the last servant, he asked us who we +were. Mohammed’s answer that we were English persons +of distinction, on our way to Jôf, and that he was +Mohammed, the son of Abdallah of Tudmur, made quite a <i>coup de +théâtre</i>, and it is easy to see that we have at +last come to the right place. We have been, however, glad +to retire early, for we have had a hard day’s march, nearly +twelve hours, and over exceedingly bad ground.</p> +<p><a name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +59</span><i>December</i> 21.—The shortest day of the year, +but still hot, though the night was cold.</p> +<p>We spent the morning with Huseyn. His house has not long +been built, but it looks old because it is built of old +stones. Its construction is simple but good, the main room +being divided into sections with arches so as to suit the stone +rafters with which it is roofed. In front there is a +pleasant terrace overlooking an agreeable prospect of broken +ground, with glimpses of the desert beyond. While Wilfrid +was talking to Huseyn I went to see the ladies of the +establishment. Huseyn has only one wife; her name is Wardi +(a rose). She is the mother of a nice little boy, Mohammed, +about six years old and very well behaved, whom we had seen with +the Sheykh; and of a pretty little girl of two, named +Amina. There are, besides, some older children by a former +husband. Wardi is rather fat, with a brilliant complexion +and well-kohled eyes and eyebrows; she has good manners, and +received me very cordially in a room opening on to a terrace, +with a beautiful view eastward of some tells at the edge of the +Hamad. She sat surrounded by dependants and relations, +among whom were Huseyn’s mother and her own. The +former was suffering from cough and loss of voice, and another +member of the family complained of a rheumatic arm; both wanted +me to advise them as to treatment. The ladies would not +uncover their faces until Assad, the Sheykh’s secretary, +who accompanied <a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +60</span>me, had retired. Wardi’s concealment of her +features was, however, a mere make-believe, only a corner of her +head veil pulled half across her face. She talked a great +deal about her children of the former marriage, Mustafa a son of +eighteen, who is chief of a neighbouring village, and a daughter +of perhaps twelve who was present. This young girl seemed +particularly intelligent and had received some education; enough +to read out a phrase from my Arabic exercise book, and to repeat +the first chapter of the Koran. The pleasure of my visit +was somewhat marred by the quantity of sweetmeats and tea and +coffee served; with the tea and coffee I got on very well, as the +cups were of the usual small size, but the sugar-plums were of so +massive a kind that it was impossible to swallow them. The +two small children fortunately came to my rescue; and by their +zeal in devouring everything I handed to them, took off their +mother’s attention from my shortcomings. At parting +Wardi gave me a bunch of feathers pulled then and there out of an +ostrich skin hanging up against the wall; the skin, she said, had +been brought to her some months before, from somewhere in the +south.</p> +<p>The Druses of the Hauran say that they are Arabs who came here +with the immediate successors of the prophet from the south; that +the Jebel was at that time inhabited by Rûmi (Greeks), +whose descendants still live here and are Christians. We +saw one of them in Huseyn’s house to-day, <a +name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 61</span>apparently on +excellent terms with the other visitors. He was dressed +like an Arab, and was undistinguishable from the ordinary +felláhín Arabs one sees in the desert towns. +The Druse women, except those of Huseyn’s family, go about +unveiled. They are particularly well-mannered and civil, +with clean fresh complexions and bright coloured cheeks, and +always say “Salam aleykum” to travellers. They +all kohl their eyes carefully and broadly.</p> +<p>There has of course been much discussion about our further +journey. It is rather aggravating to think that a whole +week has passed since we left Damascus, and yet we are not, as +the crow flies, more than eighty miles on our way. Still +there seems a chance now of our really getting forward, for +Huseyn promises to send some men with us to Kâf, an oasis +in the Wady Sirhán, with which there is occasional +communication on this side of the Hauran, as there are salt beds +to which the villagers send camels to fetch salt. They say +it is about five days’ journey from here. The +principal difficulty is that there are several Bedouin tribes on +the road, and nobody knows which. The Sirdíeh are +friends of Huseyn’s, and so are the Kreysheh, but there are +others whom he does not know, Sherarât Sirhán and +Howeysin, the last mere thieves “worse than the +Sleb.” Any or all of these may be met with, though it +is very possible we may meet nobody. Huseyn has sent a man +on horseback to Ezrak, the first stage on our way, where there +are <a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 62</span>wells +and an old castle, to find out who is there. The Kreysheh +we have letters to, from Mohammed Dukhi, and if we can find them +there will be no more difficulty, as they are strong enough to +give us protection from the rest. At any rate we go on +to-morrow. We are anxious to get away to the desert, for +life is very fatiguing in these towns; there are so many people +to be civil to, and the children make such a noise. They +have been playing hockey all day long just outside our tent, +tiresome little wretches. Wilfrid went out for an hour this +afternoon, and got some grouse, of which there are immense flocks +all about the fields, while I made a picture of the town from +behind a wall.</p> +<p>We have at last got a man to go with us as servant, who looks +promising. He is a Shammari from Jebel Shammar who, for +some reason or other, has left his own tribe (probably for some +crime against Bedouin law), and has been settled for the last few +years at Salkhad, where he has married a Druse woman. There +is some mystery about his profession and way of life, but he has +an attractive face, and in spite of very poor clothes a certain +air of distinction. We both like him, and Huseyn seems to +know something about him. Besides, he has made the whole +journey from Nejd already, and has been backwards and forwards +between Salkhad and Jôf more than once. He wants now, +he says, to go back to his own country. Mohammed has also +discovered a <a name="page63"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +63</span>red-headed man, a native of Sokhne and as such almost a +fellow countryman, who will come as camel driver under Abdallah; +so that our complement of hands is made up to its original +number, eight.</p> +<p>To-morrow we may hope to sleep in the desert.</p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><i>Note</i>. Alas, since this was written, our friends +at Melakh have experienced sad reverses. In September, +1879, Midhat Pasha, to signalize his assumption of office at +Damascus, and support that reputation of energy which Europe has +given him, sent an armed force to coerce the independent +Druses. At first these, fighting for their liberty, were +successful. They met and defeated the Turkish troops +advancing through the Leja, and the expedition returned with a +loss of 400 men. A month later, however, Midhat retrieved +his fortunes. He bribed or persuaded Mohammed Dukhi to +overrun the Eastern Hauran with his Bedouins, and while these +were blockading the towns, marched a second column of regular +troops through the mountains, and so gained possession of +Salkhad, Melakh, and the rest, reducing all to submission. +An Ottoman Governor now replaces the native Sheykhs, and the +blessings of the Sultan’s rule have been extended to every +village of the Hauran.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p63.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Run to earth" +title= +"Run to earth" +src="images/p63.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +64</span>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“For all is rocks at random thrown,<br /> +Black walls of crag, black banks of stone.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Scott</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">We start in earnest—The Harra—A +Theory of Mirage—Camp of the Beni Sokkhr—Wady er +Rajel—A Christmas Dinner in the Desert—Sand +storm—We reach Kâf.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 22.—A white frost, and off at half-past +seven. Huseyn has sent two men with us, Assad, his head +man, and another. We have also letters from him for Ali +el-Kreysheh, and the Sheykh of Kâf.</p> +<p>Mohammed as we rode away was much elated at the success of +this visit, and related to me the pretty things Huseyn had said +about us. Huseyn had seen other franjis but none who +understood the <i>shoghl Arab</i>, Arab ways, as we did. +They had come with an escort to see the ruins, but we had come to +see him. “Ah,” said Mohammed, “now they +are sitting drinking coffee and talking about us. They are +saying to each other that the Beg and I are brothers, and we are +travelling together, as is right, in search of relations, and to +make friends all over the world. There is nothing so +<i>asil</i> (noble) as to travel and make friends. Once +upon a time <a name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +65</span>there was an old man who had a son, but very little +other property, and when he came to die he called his son and +said to him, “O my son, I am about to die, and I have +nothing to leave behind me for your good but advice, and my +advice is this: ‘Build to yourself houses in every part of +the world.’” And the son, who was a child +without understanding, wondered how he was to do this, seeing he +had no money to build houses with, and so set out on a journey in +search of a wise man who could explain to him his father’s +last words. And he travelled for many years and visited +every part of the world, and made friends in each town, and at +last he found the wise man who told him that he had already done +as his father had bidden him, “for,” he said, +“you have friends everywhere, and is not your +friend’s house your own?”</p> +<p>We too were in high spirits, as everything now seemed to be +going right. Our course lay nearly south on the road to +Ezrak, and we passed several ruined villages and some cultivated +land. Every now and then we put up immense packs of +sand-grouse, which were busy feeding on the seeds of the +<i>zueyti</i>, a kind of thistle which grows abundantly on the +fallows. Wilfrid got eight of them at a shot, and at one of +the villages we bought ten partridges of a man who had been out +with a matchlock, so that we are well supplied with meat for a +couple of days. Assad has got a very handsome greyhound <a +name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>with him, of +the long-haired breed, which has a wonderful nose for game. +His master declares he <i>sees</i> the birds, for the Arabs do +not seem to understand the theory of scent.</p> +<p>After two hours’ fair travelling, we stopped at a +village called Metém, where Assad had friends, and where +we were obliged to go through the ceremony of drinking coffee, +losing much time thereby. Then a new discussion arose as to +our road, somebody having just come in from Ezrak, who announced +that the Sirhán were camped there, and the Sirhán +we knew were friendly with Huseyn el-Atrash. Assad, and +Salman his companion, refused in consequence to go that way, and +were for stopping the night at Metém to think over it; but +this we would not listen to. We were determined to go +somewhere, and if not to Ezrak then by some other route to +Kâf. Somebody suggested El Kreysheh, who was said to +be in the Wady er-Rajel, and others the Sirdíeh, who were +camped a day’s journey towards the east. It was +difficult to decide; but at the well of the village while we were +watering our animals, we met a man and his wife, who told us they +knew where to find the Sirdíeh, and were themselves on +their way to join them. So this decided us, and we +determined on the Sirdíeh. The Sirdíeh are +friends of Huseyn’s, and our Druse guides made no objection +to going that way; Awwad the Shammari declared also that it was +all right. Accordingly we left the Ezrak road, <a +name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 67</span>and striking +off to the east, soon found ourselves out of the range of +cultivation. Metém is to be the last village we +shall see, and the desert is now before us all the way to +Nejd.</p> +<p>We are encamped at the edge of a plateau, from which there is +an immense prospect of hill and plain, and Wilfrid has been very +busy making out a rough chart of the different landmarks, as they +may be useful to-morrow if we should happen to miss our +way. The man and woman we met at the well are with us, and +know the different points by name. Awwad too, declares he +knows every part of the desert between this and Kâf and he +has pointed out a tell, south-east by south, beyond which it +lies. The Druses, like townsmen, are already nervous at the +sight of the desert, and angry with us for camping away from +villages and tents. Our camp is well concealed in an old +volcanic crater, where also we are sheltered from the wind, which +is very cold. There is a spring just below called Ain +el-Ghiaour (the infidel’s spring); according to the Druses, +the scene of a great battle fought by the Arabs of the first +invasion, in which they routed the Christians. At that time +all the country we have been passing through, and perhaps the +broken ground in front of us, was well inhabited; and there is a +tell with a ruined convent on it not far off to the north-west, +still known as Ed Deyr. There is capital pasture here, +<i>rotha</i>, which the camels have been making the most +of. We too <a name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +68</span>have dined, and now all is quiet, and the sky is full of +stars. We have been sitting on the edge of the crater +talking over plans for to-morrow. The Sirdíeh, it +now appears, are at a <i>khabra</i> or pool, called Shubboitia, +which we could see before the sun set like a yellow line far away +to the northeast, too far out of our road for us to go +there. Awwad is in favour of going straight to Kâf +and taking our chance of what Arabs we may meet. El +Kreysheh is somewhere in front of us, and so they say is Ibn +Majil, the Akid of the Roala, whom we met last year. At any +rate, we must take a good supply of water with us, and go forward +at the first streak of dawn.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 23.—As soon as it was light we climbed +up to the top of the crater and looked over the plain. It +was a wonderful sight with its broken tells and strange chaotic +wadys, all black with volcanic boulders, looking blacker still +against the yellow morning sky. There is always something +mysterious about a great plain, and especially such a plain as +this, where Europeans, one may say, have never been, and which +even the people of the Hauran know little of. Besides, it +seems to have had a history if only in the days of Og, king of +Basan. But it was not to look at the view or for any +romantic reason that we had come there; only to examine the +country before us and see if we could discover traces of Arab +encampments. After looking carefully all round we at <a +name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 69</span>last made out +a thin column of smoke to the northeast, ten or twelve miles +away, and another nearly due east. The first must be the +Sirdíeh, the second perhaps the Kreysheh. Satisfied +with this we returned to our party, who were just setting the +camels in motion, and as the sun rose we began our march.</p> +<p>We have been stumbling about all day among the boulders of the +Harra, following little tracks just wide enough for the camels to +get along, and making a great circuit in order to find ourselves +at last barely twelve miles from where we began. At first +we kept company with our new acquaintances, the people going to +the Sirdíeh, but when we had arrived at the foot of the +hills we found them turning away to the north, and so wished them +good-bye, much to the Druses’ disgust, who did not at all +relish our wild-goose chase of the Kreysheh, and still less the +idea of going straight to Kâf. They followed, +however, when they found that we would listen to no reason, and I +must say good-humouredly. One great charm of the Arab +character is that it bears no malice, even about trifles. +Sulkiness is very rare with them. They did not pretend to +know much of the country, so we made Awwad lead the way. +Going straight was out of the question, for the Harra is an +impracticable country, not only for camels but for horses, on +account of the boulders, except just where the paths lead. +We had a bleak desolate ride, for a cold wind had sprung up in +our faces with a decided <a name="page70"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 70</span>touch of winter. This country +must be a furnace, however, in summer with its polished black +stones. I noticed that these were very regularly weathered; +one side, that towards the north, being grey with a sort of +lichen, so that as we rode past they seemed to change colour +continually. There was very little sign of life in this +region, only a few small birds, and no trace of inhabitants or of +any recent passers by. The tracks followed generally the +beds of wadys, and wandered on without any particular aim or +direction. They looked like the paths made by sheep or +camels, only that the stones were so big it seemed impossible +that the mere passage of animals could have ever made them. +On the whole I think they must be artificial, made by shepherds +in very ancient times for their flocks. In the spring, we +are told, the whole of this Harra is excellent grazing +ground. It is a curious thing that every here and there in +the hollows there is a space free from stones where water lies +after rain, forming a pool. Why are there no stones +there? The soil is a dry clay with a highly glazed surface +cracked into very regular squares, so glazed indeed that even +close by it has the appearance of water, reflecting the light of +the sky. This, no doubt, is the way some of the curious +mirage effects are produced in the desert, for it is to be +noticed that the most perfect delusions are found just in places +where one would naturally expect to find water—that is, +where water has been.</p> +<p><a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 71</span>At +half-past twelve, we came suddenly on a level bit of open ground, +which we took at first for one of these khabras, but found it to +be part of a long wady running north and south, with a very +distinct watercourse in the middle, with tamarisk bushes, and +patches of fresh grass, showing that water had run down it not +long ago. Both Awwad and the Druses recognised this as the +Wady-er-Rajel, where the Kreysheh were reported to be encamped, +and the only question was, whether to turn up or down it. +While we were debating, however, a flock of sheep was sighted, +and presently a boy, who told us he was a Sirdíeh, but +that the Kreysheh were only a couple of hours further down the +valley. This just suited, as it was exactly in the right +direction for us, and we are now at Ali el-Kreysheh’s camp, +and being hospitably entertained by a young relation in the +Sheykh’s absence. Ali is away at Mezárib with +fifty horsemen, to escort the Jerdeh on their way to Maan.</p> +<p>We have had some singing to-night, and playing of the +rebab. Among the songs I was pleased to recognise an old +Shammar ballad about Abdul Kerim and the man who had no mare.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 24.—The Kreysheh, at whose camp we now +are, belong to the Beni Sokkhr, a large, but not very warlike +tribe, which occupies the whole of the district from the pilgrim +road eastwards to the extreme edge of the Harra, throughout a +wilderness of stones. To this they are said to owe <a +name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 72</span>their name of +Beni Sokkhr, children of the rocks; and they assure us that they +have lived in the Harra “from all time.” They +do not come from Nejd, they say, like the Ánazeh, but are +Shimali or Northern Arabs. We were told the names of ten +divisions into which the Beni Sokkhr have ramified, each owning a +separate Sheykh, though nominally subject to Fendi el-Faiz, or +rather his son Sóttan, for Fendi is old and has given up +practical authority. These divisions are probably nothing +more than groups of the tribe, as their names are those of their +Sheykhs, the principal being Sóttan, and next to him El +Kreysheh, and next again Ed Dreybi ibn Zebbed. The Kreysheh +have camels as well as sheep, and seem pretty well off; but they +have no great number of mares, and those not of the best +type. They keep hawks and greyhounds.</p> +<p>They have given us news of the Roala. Ibn Majil, whom we +met last year at Sotamm Ibn Shaalan’s, and who took our +side in the negotiations for peace with the Sebaa, has now +separated from Sotamm, and is somewhere down by Jôf, so +perhaps we may meet him; while Sotamm has just marched north +again to attack the Welled Ali. The Kreysheh are friends +with Ibn Majil, but at war with Sotamm, another curious instance +of the inconsistencies of Bedouin politics. These are, +indeed, as changing as the clouds in the sky, and transform +themselves so rapidly, that in Desert history, if it were +written, <a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +73</span>ten years would comprise as much incident as a century +in Europe.</p> +<p>While negotiations were going on about arrangements for our +further progress, I went to call on Ali el-Kreysheh’s +wives. There are two of them, Hazna and Fassal; but I only +saw the latter, who had the women’s tent to herself with +her attendants and three children, two little boys and a girl, +remarkably dirty, and (what is rare among Bedouins) suffering +from sore eyes. Fassal was plain and uninteresting but +sensible, and I daresay has the advantage over Hazna, who, poor +thing, is childless. She told me she was from a section of +the tribe further north, and took an interest in Damascus, asking +about the new Valy as well as about Mohammed ibn Smeyr, who is +the great name in these parts. She seemed much pleased with +the box of sugar-plums I gave her, and when I went away followed +me as far as the end of the tent ropes invoking blessings on my +head.</p> +<p>I found our own tents down and everything ready for a start; +for an arrangement had been come to with the young man +representing our host, that we were to have a <i>zellem</i> +(person) to go with us as far as Kâf for the sum of ten +mejidies (forty shillings). Assad and Salman were just +saying good-bye, for they had to go back to Melakh. They +were made very happy with a Turkish pound apiece, and Assad has +left us his greyhound, the black and <a name="page74"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 74</span>tan dog, who whined piteously when +his master went away. I like the dog for this.</p> +<p>As we left the Kreysheh camp a bitter wind sprang up from the +west-south-west, and continued all day long, chilling us, in +spite of all the furs and cloaks we could put on, to the +bone. Our course lay nearly across it +south-south-east. We are out of the hills now in a nearly +level plain still covered with the black stones. The only +variety during the day was when we came to a large khabra +(Khabra-el-Gurrthi), a dreary flat of dried up clay and sand +which we took two hours to cross, though we went at the +camels’ best pace. The wind drove great clouds of +sand across it, making it one of the dreariest places I ever +saw. We were all too cold for much talking, and sat huddled +up on our delúls with our backs to the wind, and our heads +wrapped up in our cloaks. We met no one all day long, +except one string of a dozen camels driven by two very +wild-looking Arabs who told us they were Shesharât, and +nothing living except a hare which got up among the stones, and +which the dogs coursed for some hundreds of yards, over ground +which would have broken every bone of an English greyhound, +apparently without hurting themselves. About two +o’clock we came, to our great delight, upon the Wady +er-Rajel again, an angle of whose course we had been cutting +off. Here we found beautiful soft ground and grass and +pools of water, for this wady had running water in it last month, +<a name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>and is not +quite drunk up yet. The pasture was too good to be passed, +so here we remain for the night. Just as we were unloading, +a little troop of gazelles looked over the edge of the wady, +perhaps come for water, and Mohammed set off in pursuit with a +Winchester rifle. We heard him fire all the twelve shots +one after the other, but he came back empty-handed. Our +tent is set under the lee of a rough wall of loose stones, such +as are set up by the shepherds as a shelter for their +flocks. The wind still blows tempestuously, and it is cold +as a Christmas Eve need be. But Hanna has made us a capital +curry, which with soup and burghul and a plum-pudding from a tin, +makes not a bad dinner, while Abdallah has distinguished himself +baking bread, and Awwad roasting coffee.</p> +<p><i>Wednesday</i>, <i>December</i> 25.—Christmas +Day. We are out of the Harra at last, and on open +ground. That black wilderness had become like a nightmare +with its horrible boulders and little tortuous paths, which +prevented the camels from doing more than about two miles an +hour. Now we are able to push on at three, or three and a +quarter.</p> +<p>After floundering down the wady for half an hour, we came to +some splendid pools in a narrow cleft of rock, where we stopped +to take in water. We have been very fortunate in such a +season as this to find the Wady er-Rajel full. The rain +which filled it must have been some isolated waterspout on the +eastern slope of Jebel Hauran, for not <a name="page76"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 76</span>a drop fell anywhere else; and there +is no autumn grass except just along its edge. It is +rapidly drying, or rather being drunk up, and the little +vegetation is very closely eaten down. In the smaller pools +there is a very distinct flavour of sheep and camels in the +water; but at the pools we came to this morning it is still +pure. The Kreysheh have been all up this valley, eating and +drinking their way, and leaving not a blade they could help +behind them, and we have come upon numerous tracks of their +cattle. Every here and there we have passed the traces of +their camps, stones set in line on three sides of a square; one +we saw had been only just deserted, and we put up a number of +vultures and ravens from the fresh carcase of a camel lying by +it. There crossed it also the footprint of a horse, which +brought on the usual talk of ghazús and marauders, in +which our people delight. They, however, have settled it +among them to their satisfaction, that such accidents as meeting +robbers or people of a hostile tribe are “min Allah” +(from God), to be classed with the rain and fine weather, and +sickness and good health, all which things the Bedouins consider +fortuitous.</p> +<p>Having filled our goat skins, we left the Wady er-Rajel for +good, and are to come across no more water now till we get to +Kâf. The valley takes a turn here to the west before +it reaches the Wady Sirhán, and would therefore be out of +our road. We have been crossing some rolling downs covered +<a name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 77</span>with light +flinty gravel, a delightful change from the Harra, and have had a +gallop or two after the gazelles, which now and then came in +sight. We thought too of our Christmas dinner, and how glad +we should be to get some addition to the rice, which was all we +had; but neither greyhounds nor mares were in good enough +condition to run down their quarry. Once we made a rather +successful stalk, and a charge in among a small herd, but the +dogs could not get hold of anything, and, though several shots +were fired, nothing came to bag. Then we had a long gallop +after Sayad, the black and tan greyhound, who went on after the +gazelles for a good two miles, so that we were afraid of losing +him; and then another long gallop to get back to our +camels. This time, we had been three quarters of an hour +away from them, and we found our people all much alarmed, +Abdallah rather angry at our going so far, for Mohammed was with +us. He was perfectly in the right, and we were to blame, +for we are on a serious journey not a sporting tour; and to say +nothing of danger from enemies, there is always a certain risk of +missing one another in a country like this where camels leave no +track behind them. A turn to right or left out of the +direct line and a fold in the ground, and they are lost. So +we apologised, and promised to do so again no more. We +were, however, in a most unexpected manner provided with dinner; +for while we were still talking, behold a grazing camel <a +name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 78</span>all alone on +the plain, not a mile away; when with a general shout of “a +prize,” the whole party on horseback and on foot rushed in +pursuit. We were naturally the first up, and drove the +animal at a canter to the others. The camel was a young one +of last spring, in good condition, and at the sight tears rushed +into Hanna’s eyes—tears of hunger, not of pity. +I am afraid indeed that none of the party had much thought of +pity, and the scene caused me mixed feelings of compassion for +the poor victim, and disgust at ourselves who were waiting to +prey upon it. No question was raised as to ownership; +camels found astray in desert places were by acclamation declared +the property of the first comer. We were in fact a +ghazú, and this was our lawful prize. So the poor +little camel was driven on before us.</p> +<p>Dinner is thus secured, and I must see what else can be +arranged in honour of the occasion.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 26.—Mohammed, Abdallah, Awwad, the two +Ibrahims and Hanna, all of them, spent the evening in feasting +and ate up the whole of the camel except the short ribs, which +were set before us, and the shoulders which were kept for +to-day. They divided among them the labour of killing, +skinning and quartering, and cooking it, for all were equally +ready to lend a hand to the work. People talk sometimes of +camel meat, as if it were something not only unpalatable, but +offensive. But it is in reality very good; when young it +resembles mutton, even when old it is only tough, and never <a +name="page79"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 79</span>has any +unpleasant taste as far as my experience goes; indeed if served +up without the bones it could hardly be distinguished from +mutton.</p> +<p>The servants having thus feasted were all soon sound asleep, +and even when suddenly, between two and three in the morning, the +wind rose with a deafening noise, they did not wake, not till +their tent blew down upon them as ours did upon us. We were +awake and might have kept our tent standing had we not been too +lazy to get up and drive in the pegs. It was too late when +the tent had fallen on us to do anything but lie as well as we +could beneath the ruins and wait for daylight. Fortunately +the main pegs had not drawn, and the sand, for this hurricane was +a sand storm, soon covered over the edges of the fallen tent, and +no further damage was done. In the morning, the servants +proposed staying where we were; but we would not hear of this, as +we had water for only two days, and it would have been folly to +dawdle, so after rubbing the sand out of or rather into our eyes, +we set to work packing and loading. The wind continued +violent and bitterly cold, and carried a great deal of sand with +it. It came from the west-south-west. We had camped +under shelter at a small tell close to the Tell Guteyfi, which +proved to be the same as one pointed out to us by Awwad from Ain +el-Giaour, and once beyond it, we found ourselves on a perfectly +open bit of plain, exposed to the full fury of the gale, now more +violent than <a name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +80</span>ever. Sand storms are evidently common here, for +the Tell Guteyfi, which is of black volcanic boulders like the +Harra, is half smothered in sand. We saw it looming near us +in the thick air, and soon after were almost hidden from each +other in the increasing darkness. The sun shone feebly at +intervals through the driving sand, but it was all we could do to +keep the caravan together, and not lose sight of each +other. At one moment we had all to stop and turn tail to +the wind, covering our eyes and heads with our cloaks, waiting +till the burst was over. Nothing could have faced it. +Still we were far from having any idea of danger, for there +really is none in these storms, and had plenty of time to notice +how very picturesque the situation was, the camels driven along +at speed, all huddled together for protection, with their long +necks stretched out, and heads low, tags and ropes flying, and +the men’s cloaks streaming in the wind, all seen through +the yellow haze of sand which made them look as though walking in +the air. The beasts looked gigantic yet helpless, like +antediluvian creatures overwhelmed in a flood. Still, as I +said, there was no danger, for the wind was steady in its +direction, and our course was directly across it—that we +knew—and by patiently struggling on, we managed to get over +a deal of ground. Suddenly the sandy plain over which we +were travelling, seemed to sink away in front of us, and at the +bottom of a steep dip we could see clumps of <a +name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 81</span>tamarisk +looming through the storm. We knew that a refuge was at +hand.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p80.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Sand Storm in the Wady Er-Rajel" +title= +"Sand Storm in the Wady Er-Rajel" +src="images/p80.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Here then we are comfortably housed under one of these bushes, +where there is a delightful lull. The soil is all deep +sand, white as snow, and the tent which we have rigged up is +already half buried in it, so that we might imagine ourselves at +home snowed up on Boxing Day. We have made a fire of tarfa +sticks inside the tent, and have been enjoying Hanna’s +delicious coffee. Where is one ever so much at home as in +one’s own tent? Awwad surprised us very much to-day +by objecting, when we proposed to pitch the tent, that it would +be impossible to do so in the sand. If Mohammed or any of +the townspeople had done so it would have been natural, but Awwad +is a Bedouin born, and must have pitched camp hundreds of times +in the Nefúd. Yet he had never heard of burying a +tent peg.</p> +<p>One misfortune has happened in the storm. The old rogue +of a camel we bought at Mezárib, who has been trying all +along to get back to his family, has given us the slip. +Taking advantage of the darkness, and knowing that the wind would +obliterate his track at once, he decamped as soon as unloaded, +and is gone. Mohammed and Awwad, each on a delúl, +are scouring the country, but without a chance of finding him; +for at best they can only see things a hundred yards off, and he +was not missed for the first half hour. Mohammed has vowed +to kill a lamb, but I fear that will do no good.</p> +<p><a name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +82</span><i>December</i> 27.—We have arrived at Kâf +after a long march, twenty-seven or twenty-eight miles. +Course about south-east!</p> +<p>In the night a little rain fell, and the wind moderated. +At eight o’clock we started, crossing a wide plain of +coarse sand interspersed with low sandstone tells. At noon +we came upon a well-marked track, the road of the salt caravans +between Bozra and Kâf, which, after crossing a rather high +ridge, brought us to a very curious valley; an offshoot, we were +told, of the Wady Sirhán. The geological formation +of this is singular; the crest of the ridge on either side the +valley is of black rock with detached stones of the +same—then yellow sandstone, then another black layer, then +pure sand, then sand with isolated black stones, then a +calcareous deposit, and at the bottom chalk. The actual bed +of the wady is a fine white sand sprinkled over with tamarisk and +guttub bushes. As we were crossing this our dogs started a +jerboa, and, little creature though it is, it gave them much +trouble to catch it. Its hops were prodigious, and from +side to side and backwards and forwards, so that the dogs always +ran over it, and snatching, always missed it; till at last, as if +by accident, it jumped into Shiekhah’s mouth. +Abdallah and the rest were very anxious to eat it, but it was so +mauled as to be beyond cooking. At three o’clock we +crested another ridge, and from it suddenly came in sight of the +great Wady Sirhán, the object of so many of <a +name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 83</span>our +conjectures. It seems, however, to be no wady, but the bed +of an ancient sea. A little black dot on the edge of a +<i>subbka</i> or salt lake, now dry, and just under a tall black +tell, marked the oasis of Kâf, an infinitesimal village of +sixteen houses, and a palm garden of about an acre.</p> +<p>I have had the misfortune to sprain my knee, an awkward +accident, and very annoying in the middle of a journey. My +delúl, always a fidgety animal, gave a bolt just as I was +leaning over to arrange something on the off side of the +<i>shedád</i>, or saddle, and pitched me off. The +pain is indescribable, and I fear I shall be helplessly lame for +some time to come. But here we are at Kâf.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p83.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Kâf" +title= +"Kâf" +src="images/p83.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +84</span>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“Rafi ran after her with his sword drawn, +and was just about to strike off her head, when she cried +‘quarter.’”—<span +class="smcap">Abulfeda</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">Kâf and Itheri—More +relations—The Wady Sirhán—Locust +hunting—Hanna sits down to die—Tales of robbery and +violence—We are surprised by a ghazú and made +prisoners—Sherarât statistics—Jôf.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 28.—Kâf is a pretty little +village, with a character of its own, quite distinct from +anything one sees in Syria. All is in miniature, the +sixteen little square houses, the little battlemented towers and +battlemented walls seven feet high—seventy or eighty palm +trees in a garden watered from wells, and some trees I took at +first for cypresses, but which turned out to be a very delicate +kind of tamarisk. <a name="citation84"></a><a href="#footnote84" +class="citation">[84]</a> Though so small a place, +Kâf has a singularly flourishing look, all is neat there +and in good repair, not a battlement broken or a door off its +hinges, as would certainly have been the case in Syria. +There are also a good many young palms planted in among the older +ones, and young fig trees and vines, things hardly ever found in +the North. The people are nice looking <a +name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 85</span>and well +behaved, though at first they startled us a little by going about +all of them with swords in their hands. These they hold +either sloped over their shoulders or grasped in both hands by +the scabbard, much as one sees in the old stone figures of +mediæval martyrs, or in the effigies of crusaders.</p> +<p>Abdallah el-Kamis, Sheykh of the village, to whom we had +letters from Huseyn, received us with great politeness; and a +room in his house was swept out for our use. Like all the +other rooms, it opened on to the court-yard, in the middle of +which was tethered a two-year-old colt. Our room had been a +storing place for wood, and was without furniture of any sort, +but we were delighted to find also without inhabitants. The +architecture here is very simple, plain mud walls with no windows +or openings of any kind except a few square holes near the +roof. The roof was of <i>ithel</i> beams with cross rafters +of palm, thatched in with palm branches. The principal room +is called the kahwah or coffee room; and in it there is a square +hearth at the side or in the middle for coffee-making. +There is no chimney, and the smoke escapes as it can; but this is +not so uncomfortable as it sounds, for the wood burnt here burns +with a beautiful bright flame, giving out a maximum of heat to a +minimum of smoke. It is the <i>ratha</i> or <i>ghada</i>. +<a name="citation85"></a><a href="#footnote85" +class="citation">[85]</a> People sit round the hearth while +coffee is being made, a solemn process occupying nearly half an +hour.</p> +<p><a name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 86</span>As soon +as we arrived, a trencher of dates was brought, dates of the last +year’s crop, all sticky and mashed up, but good; and later +in the evening, we had a more regular dinner of burghul and +boiled fowls. We are much struck with the politeness of +everybody. Abdallah, our host, asked us at least twenty +times after our health before he would go on to anything else; +and it was not easy to find appropriate compliments in +return. Everything of course is very poor and very simple, +but one cannot help feeling that one is among civilized +people. They have been making a great fuss with Mohammed, +who is treated as a sheykh. Tudmur is well known by name, +and at this distance is considered an important town. Much +surprise was expressed at finding a man of his rank in the +semi-menial position Mohammed holds with us, and he was put to +some polite cross-questioning in the evening as to the motive of +his journey. No Franjis have ever been seen at Kâf +before, so the people say; and they do not understand the respect +in which Europeans are held elsewhere. Mohammed, however, +has explained his “brotherhood with the Beg,” and +protested that his journey is one of honour, not of profit; so +that we are treated with as much courtesy as if we were Arabs +born. Awwad the Shammar has been of great use to us, as he +is well known here, and he serves as an introduction.</p> +<p>Kâf is quite independent of the Sultan, though it has +twice been sacked by Turkish soldiers, once <a +name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 87</span>under Ibrahim +Pasha in 1834, and again only a few years ago, when the +Government of Damascus sent a military expedition down the Wady +Sirhán. We were shown the ruins of a castle, Kasr +es-Saïd, on a hill above the town which the former +destroyed, and we heard much lamentation over the proceedings of +the latter. The inhabitants of Kâf acknowledge +themselves subjects of Ibn Rashid, the Jebel Shammar chief, some +of whose people were here only a few days since, taking the +annual tribute, a very small sum, twenty mejidies (£4), +which they are glad to pay in return for his protection. +They are very enthusiastic about “the Emir,” as they +call him, and certainly have no reason to wish for annexation to +Syria. The little town of Kâf and its neighbour +Itheri, where we now are, have commercially more connection with +the north than with the south, for their principal wealth, such +as it is, arises from the salt trade with Bozra. Abdallah +el-Kamis seems to be well off, for he possesses several slaves, +and has more than one wife. But the colt I have mentioned +is his only four-footed possession; he would have come with us, +he said, if he had owned a delúl. I noticed a few +camels and donkeys and goats about the village.</p> +<p>Makbul, the Kreysheh, has gone back, and we now want to find a +Sherári to take us on to Jôf. We have come on +to Itheri, Kâf’s twin oasis, two and a half hours +east of it, also in the Wady Sirhán. This is not +marked on many of the modern <a name="page88"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 88</span>maps, though Chesney has it +incorrectly placed on his. We find by the barometer that +they are both on the same level, so that our conjecture seems +confirmed, about the Wady Sirhán having no slope. +The Wady Sirhán is a curious chaotic depression, probably +the bed of some ancient sea like the Dead Sea, and is here about +twelve miles broad if we can judge by the hills we see beyond it, +and which are no doubt the opposite cliffs of the basin. +There are numerous wells both here and at Kâf, wide and +shallow, for the water is only eight feet below the surface of +the ground. From these the palm gardens are +irrigated. There are wells too outside, all lying low and +at the same level. The water is drinkable, by no means +excellent. We crossed a large salt lake, now dry, where the +salt is gathered for the caravans.</p> +<p>On our road Mohammed entertained us with tales of his birth +and ancestry. The people of Kâf have heard of the Ibn +Arûks, and have told Mohammed that he will find relations +in many parts of Arabia besides Jôf. They say there +is somebody at Bereydeh, and a certain Ibn Homeydi, whom Mohammed +has heard of as a cousin. Then here at Itheri, the +Sheykh’s wife is a member of the Jôf family. +Everything in fact seems going just as we expected it.</p> +<p>Itheri is a still smaller place than Kâf but it boasts +of an ancient building and miniature castle inside the walls, +something after the fashion of the Hauran houses. This, +instead of mud, the common <a name="page89"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 89</span>Arab material, is built of black +stones, well squared and regularly placed. On the lintel of +the doorway there is or rather has been, an inscription in some +ancient character, perhaps Himyaritic, which we would have copied +had it been legible, but the weather has almost effaced it. <a +name="citation89"></a><a href="#footnote89" +class="citation">[89]</a> Here we are being entertained by +Jeruan, an untidy half-witted young man, with long hair in plaits +and a face like a Scotch terrier, who is the son of Merzuga, +Mohammed’s cousin, and consequently a cousin himself. +Though nothing much to be proud of as a relation, we find him an +attentive host. His mother is an intelligent and well-bred +woman, and it seems strange that she should have so inferior a +son. Her other three sons, for Jeruan is the eldest of +four, have their wits like other people, but they are kept in the +background. Merzuga came to see me just now with a large +dish of dates in her hand, and stopped to talk. Her face is +still attractive, and she must have once been extremely +beautiful. I notice that she wears a number of silver rings +on her fingers like wedding rings.</p> +<p>Merzuga tells us we shall find plenty of Ibn Arûk +relations at Jôf. She herself left it young and talks +of it as an earthly paradise from which she has been torn to live +in this wretched little oasis. Itheri is indeed a forlorn +place, all except Jeruan’s palm garden. After a walk +in the palm garden, in which <a name="page90"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 90</span>my lameness prevented me from +joining, we all sat down to a very good dinner of lamb and sopped +bread—the bread tasted like excellent pastry—served +us by Jeruan in person, standing according to Arab fashion when +guests are eating. His mother looks well after him, and +tells him what to do, and it is evident, though he has the sense +to say very little, that he is looked upon as not quite +“accountable” in his family. Wilfrid describes +the walk in the garden as rather amusing, Mohammed and Abdallah +making long speeches of compliments about all they saw, and +telling Jeruan’s head man extraordinary stories of the +grandeur and wealth of Tudmur. Jeruan’s garden, the +only one at Itheri, contains four hundred palm trees, many of +them newly planted, and none more than twenty-five years +old. Amongst them was a young tree of the +<i>héllua</i> variety, the sweet date of Jôf, +imported from thence, and considered here a great rarity. +At this there was a chorus of admiration. The ithel trees +were also much admired. They are grown for timber, and +spring from the stub when cut down, a six years’ growth +being already twenty feet high.</p> +<p>Two men have arrived from Jôf with the welcome news that +all is well between this and Jôf; that is, there are no +Arabs yet in the Wady Sirhán; welcome because we have no +introductions, and a meeting might be disagreeable. The +season is so late and the pasture so bad, that the Wady has <a +name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 91</span>been quite +deserted since last spring. There will be no road now, or +track of any kind, and as it is at least two hundred miles to +Jôf, we must have a guide to shew us the wells. Such +a one we have found in a funny looking little Bedouin, a +Sherári, who happens to be here and who will go with us +for ten mejidies.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 29.—There was a bitter east wind blowing +when we started this morning, and I observed a peewit, like a +land bird at sea, flying hither and thither under the lea of the +palm trees, looking hopeless and worn out with its long +voyage. Poor thing, it will die here, for there is nothing +such a bird can eat anywhere for hundreds of miles. It must +have been blown out of its reckoning, perhaps from the +Euphrates.</p> +<p>Our course to-day lay along the edge of the Wady, sometimes +crossing stony promontories from the upper plain, sometimes sandy +inlets from the Wady. The heights of these were always +pretty much the same, 2250 feet above and 1850 below—so +these may be taken as the respective heights of the Hamád +and of the Wady Sirhán. There are besides, here and +there, isolated tells, three hundred to four hundred feet higher +than either. Rough broken ground all day, principally of +sand with slaty grit sprinkled over it, the vegetation very +scanty on the high ground, but richer in the hollows. In +one small winding ravine leading into the Wady, we found ghada +trees, but otherwise nothing bigger than <a +name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 92</span>shrubs. +There Awwad told us that two years ago he was robbed and stripped +by a ghazú from the Hauran. He had lost six camels +and all he possessed. The Haurani were eight in number, his +own party six. I asked him how it was the robbers got the +best of it. He said it was “min Allah” (from +God). The Wady Sirhán seems to be a favourite place +for robbers, and Awwad takes the occurrence as a matter of +course. I asked him why he had left his tribe, the Shammar, +and come to live so far north as Salkhad. He said it was +“<i>nasíb</i>,” a thing fated; that he had +married a Salkhad wife, and she would not go away from her +people. I asked him how he earned his living, and he +laughed. “I have got half a mare,” he said, +“and a delúl, and I make ghazús. There +are nine of us Shammar in the Hauran, and we go out together +towards Zerka, or to the western Leja and take cattle by +night.” He then showed us some frightful scars of +wounds, which he had got on these occasions, and made Wilfrid +feel a bullet which was still sticking in his side. He is a +curious creature, but we like him, and, robber or no robber, he +has quite the air of a gentleman. He is besides an +agreeable companion, sings very well, recites ballads, and is a +great favourite everywhere. At Kâf and Itheri he was +hugged and kissed by the men, old and young, and welcomed by the +women in every house.</p> +<p>We were nearly frozen all the morning, the wind <a +name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 93</span>piercing +through our fur cloaks. At half-past twelve, after four +hours’ marching, we came to some wells called +Kurághir, six of them in a bare hollow, with camel tracks +leading from every point of the compass towards them. It is +clear that at some time of the year the Wady is inhabited; Awwad +says by the Roala in winter, but this year there is nobody. +The water, like that of Kâf and Itheri, is slightly +brackish. Near Kurághir we saw some gazelles and +coursed them vainly. It is vexatious, for I have forgotten +to bring meat, and unless we can catch or shoot something, we +shall have none till we get to Jôf. I ought to have +thought of it, for, though provisions are by no means plentiful +at Itheri, we could probably have bought a sheep and driven it on +with us. The pain of my lameness distracted my +attention—a bad excuse, but the only one. I suffer +less when riding than at any other time.</p> +<p>We are now, since four o’clock, camped on the sand under +some ghada bushes, and the wind has dropped for the moment. +It seems always to blow here except for an hour about sunset and +another at dawn. We are to dine on beef tea, burghul with +curry sauce, and a water-melon, the last of our Hauran store.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 30.—On the high level all the morning +over ground like the Harra with volcanic stones, a fierce +south-east wind in our faces, so that we could not talk or hardly +think. Our course lay <a name="page94"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 94</span>towards an inhospitable looking range +of hills called El Mizmeh, and when we reached these, to the +right of them, for we travel in anything but a straight +line. Saw great numbers of red locusts which, as the sun +warmed the ground, began to fly about and were pursued by the men +and knocked down with sticks. Enough have been secured to +make a dish for dinner. When flying, these insects look +very like large May flies, as they have the same helpless heavy +flight, drifting down the wind with hardly sufficient power of +direction to keep them clear of obstacles. Sometimes they +fly right against the camels, and at others drop heavily into the +bushes where they are easily caught. When sitting on the +ground, however, they are hard to see, and they keep a good +look-out and jump up and drift away again as you come near +them. They seem to have more sense, than power of +moving.</p> +<p>At two we came to more wells,—Mahiyeh—most of them +choked up with sand, but one containing a sufficient supply of +brackish water. These wells lay among clumps of tamarisk, +out of which we started several hares which the greyhounds could +not catch, as they always dodged back to cover. Wilfrid and +I waited behind for this fruitless hunting upon which our dinner +depended, and did not join the rest of the party for more than a +mile. Before we reached them we came upon Hanna, sitting on +the ground on his <i>hedûm</i> (quilt and abba), and +Ibrahim standing over him, both shouting, “<i>Wah</i>! +<i>wah</i>! <i>wah</i>!” <a name="page95"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 95</span>We could not conceive what had +happened and could get no information from either of them, except +that they were going to remain where they were. These two +townspeople sitting on their beds all alone in the Wady +Sirhán were so absurd a spectacle that, at the moment, we +could not help laughing; but it was not an affair for laughter, +and of course it was impossible to leave them there. We +insisted on an explanation. There had been a quarrel +between Hanna and Abdallah, because the latter had driven on +Hanna’s delúl fast with the other camels, and +refused to let it be made to kneel down and get up again. +Abdallah and Awwab were in a great hurry to get as far from +Mahiyeh as possible, because Hamdán the Sherâri says +it is a dangerous spot. But Hanna was angry, and in his +anger he dropped his cloak; upon which he jumped down, pulling +his bed after him, and sat down on the ground. There the +others left him, wailing and raving, and in this state we found +him. He proposed that he and Ibrahim should be left behind +to be eaten up by the hyena whose tracks we had seen. +However, Ibrahim, who had only stayed to keep him company, was +quite ready to go on, and, seeing this, Hanna was not long in +getting up, and, making his brother carry his bedding, he +followed us. It was no good inquiring who was right or who +was wrong; we stopped the camels, and, driving back the +delúl insisted on Hanna’s mounting, which after some +faces he did, and the episode <a name="page96"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 96</span>ended. Mohammed has been +commissioned to insist with the Arabs on peace, and we have we +think prevailed with Hanna to bear no malice. It is +absolutely impossible for anybody to go back now without losing +his life, and I trust they will all be reasonable; it is +disagreeable to think that there has been discord in our small +party, separated as it is from all the rest of the world. +We are camped now in a side wady where the camel pasture is +good. We saw the place from a great distance, for we are +becoming skilful now at guessing likely spots. Wherever you +see rocky ground in lines you may be sure pasture will be +found. We have seen no sign of recent habitation in the +country since leaving Itheri, neither footprint of camel nor of +man.</p> +<p>The locusts fried are fairly good to eat.</p> +<p><i>December</i> 31.—Another long day’s march, and +here we are at the end of the year in one of the most desolate +places in the world. It was so cold last night, that all +the locusts are dead. They are lying about everywhere, and +being eaten up by the little desert birds, larks, and +wheatears. We have got down again into the main bed of the +Wady Sirhán, which is still at the same level as before; +it is here nearly flat, and covered with great bunches of guttub +and other shrubs, all very salt to the taste; the soil crumbly +and unsound, in places white with saltpetre. Awwad and the +Sherâri declare that there are quicksands, +<i>hadôda</i> (literally, <a name="page97"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 97</span>an abyss), somewhere in the +neighbourhood, in which everything that passes over sinks and +disappears, leaving no trace—men, camels, and gazelles; but +of such we saw nothing. Coasting the edge of the Wady, we +came suddenly on some gazelles, which led us to higher ground, +where we found a stony wilderness of the Harra type; and amongst +the stones we saw a hyena trotting leisurely. We got +nothing, however; neither him nor the gazelles, and are still +without meat. No other incident occurred till we came to a +palm tree standing by itself in an open place; near it, a +charming little spring, quite in among the roots of a thick clump +of palm bushes. The hole is about three feet across, and +two deep, with about a foot of water in it; the water rises again +as fast as it is taken out, but never overflows. There were +traces of hyenas and gazelles about, and this, I suppose, is +where the desert animals come to drink, for it is the only water +above ground we have yet seen. This spring is called +Maasreh (little by little)—a pleasant spot where we should +have liked to camp; but it is always dangerous to stop near +water, lest people should come. Awwad says there is some +tradition of a town or village having formerly existed here; but +no ruins are to be seen. The water is sweet and good, as +might be perceived by the insects which were swimming about in +it. The Arabs always judge of the wholesomeness of water in +this way. There is nothing more suspicious in the <a +name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 98</span>desert than +perfectly clear water, free from animal life.</p> +<p>We are now camped under a low cliff hollowed out into caves as +if by water, capital dens for hyænas. There is a +beautiful view looking back at the Mizmeh hills. The +evening is still and cold, but we do not like to make much fire +for fear of enemies. Hamdán, our Sherári +guide, an uncouth, savage creature to look at, has been reciting +a very pretty ballad, which he tells us he made himself. It +is in stanzas of four lines with alternate rhymes, and relates to +an episode in his own family. As he recited it the rest of +the Arabs chimed in, repeating always the last word of the line +with the rhyming syllable; it had a good effect. The story +was simple, and told how Hamdán’s mother and sister +had a quarrel, and how they brought their grievances before Obeyd +ibn Rashid at Haïl, and how the old Sheykh settled it by +putting a rope round the daughter’s neck, and bidding the +mother hold the end of it, and do so for the rest of their +days. Whereupon the daughter had kissed her mother, and +Obeyd had sent them away with presents, a delúl, a cloak +each, and a hundred measures of wheat, a present he had continued +giving them every year till he died, and which is given still by +his nephew, Mohammed, the present ruler of Jebel Shammar. +Hamdán has also given us an interesting account of the +Haïl politics, which agrees very closely with what we +remember of Mr. Palgrave’s, carrying them on to <a +name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 99</span>a later +date. The present Ibn Rashid is not by any means so amiable +a character as his brother Tellál; and +Hamdán’s account of his career is rather +startling. It appears that he has put to death something +like a dozen of his relations, and is more feared than loved by +the Shammar. This is very tiresome, as it may be a reason +for our not going on to Nejd after all. But we shall hear +more when we get to Jôf.</p> +<p>Hamdán’s recitative was, as nearly as I could +write the musical part of it, like this:—</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p99.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Two lines of music" +title= +"Two lines of music" +src="images/p99.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><i>January</i> 1, 1879.—A black frost, but still. +We have changed our course, and have been going all day nearly +due south—twenty-five miles, as near as we can calculate +it—and down the middle of the Wady Sirhán, a level +plain of sand and grit, with here and there mounds of pure white +sand covered with ghada. Our plan is to get up and strike +the tents at the first glimpse of dawn, drink a cup of coffee, +and eat a biscuit or a bit of rusk (kâk), and then march on +till three or four in the afternoon without stopping for an +instant, eating half-a-dozen dates and some more rusk as we +go. Then immediately on stopping, and before the tents are +pitched, we light a fire and make coffee, which carries us on <a +name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 100</span>till dinner +is ready, about sunset. It is wonderful how little food one +can do with while travelling. We have had no meat now for +the last four days till to-day, only beef tea, and burghul, and +dates, with sometimes fried onions, or flour mixed with curry +powder and butter, and baked into a cake. This last is very +good, and easily made. To-day, however, we are in clover, +as the dogs coursed a hare, and we dug her out. The desert +hare is very little bigger than a large rabbit, and is literally +too much for one, and not enough for two; but Mohammed +magnanimously foregoes his portion, and says he can wait.</p> +<p>Mohammed has been improving the occasion of a dispute which +arose this evening on a choice of camp, to tell us some stories +of his own adventures in the desert; and we have been telling him +ours. He had a younger brother, whom his mother was very +fond of, a regular town boy with “a white face like a +girl,” who knew how to read and write and knew nothing of +the desert (Mohammed himself like his great namesake, has always +been a camel driver). Now at Tudmur they have constantly +had fights and quarrels for the Sheykhat, and on one such +occasion his brother was sent away by his parents to Sokhne, the +neighbouring village, about thirty miles from Tudmur; and there +he stayed for some time with a relation. At last, however, +he got tired of being away from home, and wanted to see his +mother. He started off with another boy of his own age +(about fifteen) to walk back to Tudmur. <a +name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 101</span>It was in +the middle of summer, and they lost their way and wandered far +down into the Hamád where they died of thirst. +Mohammed had gone out to look for them, and found them both dead +close together.</p> +<p>On another occasion Mohammed himself was nearly meeting his +death. He had gone alone with his camels on the road to +Karieteyn, and had fallen in with a ghazú of robbers from +the hills. These stripped him of everything except his +shirt and a tarbush. His gun he had contrived to hide under +a bush, but they left him nothing else, neither food nor water, +and it was in the middle of summer. Karieteyn, the nearest +place, was about forty miles off, and he was lame with a blow he +had received. However, when the robbers were gone, he set +out in that direction, and managed to walk on till night and the +next day, till he got to a ruin called Kasr el Hayr where he fell +down senseless under the shade, and lay for twenty-four hours +unable to move, and suffering agonies from thirst. At last, +when he had said to himself, “now I shall have to +die,” a party of camel men from Sokhne came by and found +him lying there. At first they took him for a slave, for +the sun had burnt him black, and his tongue was dried so that he +could not speak. Fortunately one of the party recognised +him, and then they gave him water. He still could give no +account of himself, but they put him on a donkey and brought him +with them to Tudmur.</p> +<p><a name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 102</span>Our +own story was the one of our quarrel with Abunjad and our rush +from Akaba to Gaza, when we so nearly perished of thirst.</p> +<p>The year would have begun prosperously, but for a severe cold +Wilfrid has caught. He has lost his voice.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 2.—A hard frost—water frozen in the +pail. Reached the wells of Shaybeh at half-past eight and +watered the camels—water very brackish—level by +aneroid 1950, depth to surface of water twelve feet. Got +into a sort of track, part of the morning, but one evidently not +frequented. At one o’clock came to another well, near +a curious rock which at first we took for a castle. We have +now crossed the wady and are on its western bank. Passed a +ruined house of no great antiquity called Abu Kasr and another +well near it, and at half-past four have encamped under some sand +hills, crowned with ghada, a delightful spot not far from a +fourth well called Bir el-Jerawi—level by barometer +1840. Wilfrid has recovered his voice but still has a bad +cold. I am as lame as ever, though in less pain. I +sometimes think I shall never be able to walk again.</p> +<p><i>Friday</i>, <i>January</i> 3.—We have had an +adventure at last and a disagreeable one; a severe lesson as to +the danger of encamping near wells. We started early, but +were delayed a whole hour at Jerawi taking water, and did not +leave the wells till nearly eight o’clock. Then we +turned back nearly due east across the wady. The soil of +pure white <a name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +103</span>sand was heavy going, and we went slowly, crossing low +undulations without other landmark than the tells we had left +behind us. Here and there rose little mounds tufted with +ghada. To one of these Wilfrid and I cantered on, leaving +the camels behind us, and dismounting, tied our mares to the +bushes that we might enjoy a few minutes’ rest, and eat our +midday mouthful—the greyhounds meanwhile played about and +chased each other in the sand. We had finished, and were +talking of I know not what, when the camels passed us. They +were hardly a couple of hundred yards in front when suddenly we +heard a thud, thud, thud on the sand, a sound of galloping. +Wilfrid jumped to his feet, looked round and called out, +“Get on your mare. This is a +ghazú.” As I scrambled round the bush to my +mare I saw a troop of horsemen charging down at full gallop with +their lances, not two hundred yards off. Wilfrid was up as +he spoke, and so should I have been, but for my sprained knee and +the deep sand, both of which gave way as I was rising. I +fell back. There was no time to think and I had hardly +struggled to my feet, when the enemy was upon us, and I was +knocked down by a spear. Then they all turned on Wilfrid, +who had waited for me, some of them jumping down on foot to get +hold of his mare’s halter. He had my gun with him, +which I had just before handed to him, but unloaded; his own gun +and his sword being on his delúl. He fortunately had +on very thick clothes, two abbas one over the other, and <a +name="page104"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 104</span>English +clothes underneath, so the lances did him no harm. At last +his assailants managed to get his gun from him and broke it over +his head, hitting him three times and smashing the stock. +Resistance seemed to me useless, and I shouted to the nearest +horseman, “<i>ana dahílak</i>” (I am under +your protection), the usual form of surrender. Wilfrid +hearing this, and thinking he had had enough of this unequal +contest, one against twelve, threw himself off his mare. +The <i>khayal</i> (horsemen) having seized both the mares, +paused, and as soon as they had gathered breath, began to ask us +who we were and where we came from. “English, and we +have come from Damascus,” we replied, “and our camels +are close by. Come with us, and you shall hear about +it.” Our caravan, while all this had happened, and it +only lasted about five minutes, had formed itself into a square +and the camels were kneeling down, as we could plainly see from +where we were. I hardly expected the horsemen to do as we +asked, but the man who seemed to be their leader at once let us +walk on (a process causing me acute pain), and followed with the +others to the caravan. We found Mohammed and the rest of +our party entrenched behind the camels with their guns pointed, +and as we approached, Mohammed stepped out and came +forward. “Min entum?” (who are you?) was the +first question. “Roala min Ibn Debaa.” +“Wallah? will you swear by God?” “Wallah! +we swear.” “And you?” +“Mohammed ibn Arûk of Tudmur.” +“Wallah?” “Wallah!” +“And these are Franjis travelling with you?” +“Wallah! Franjis, friends of Ibn Shaalan.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p104.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Ghazú in the Wady Sirhán" +title= +"Ghazú in the Wady Sirhán" +src="images/p104.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><a name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 105</span>It +was all right, we had fallen into the hands of friends. Ibn +Shaalan, our host of last year, was bound to protect us, even so +far away in the desert, and none of his people dared meddle with +us, knowing this. Besides, Mohammed was a Tudmuri, and as +such could not be molested by Roala, for Tudmur pays tribute to +Ibn Shaalan, and the Tudmuris have a right to his +protection. So, as soon as the circumstances were made +clear, orders were given by the chief of the party to his +followers to bring back our mares, and the gun, and everything +which had been dropped in the scuffle. Even to +Wilfrid’s tobacco bag, all was restored. The young +fellows who had taken the mares made rather wry faces, bitterly +lamenting their bad fortune in finding us friends. +“Ah the beautiful mares,” they said, “and the +beautiful gun.” But Arabs are always good-humoured, +whatever else their faults, and presently we were all on very +good terms, sitting in a circle on the sand, eating dates and +passing round the pipe of peace. They were now our +guests.</p> +<p>What struck us as strange in all this was, the ready good +faith with which they believed every word we said. We had +spoken the truth, but why did they trust us? They knew +neither us nor Mohammed; yet they had taken our word that we were +<a name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 106</span>friends, +when they might so easily have ridden off without question with +our property. Nobody would ever have heard of it, or known +who they were.</p> +<p>It appears that Ibn Debaa (hyæna), the Sheykh, and his +friends were a small party in advance of the main body of the +Roala. They had come on to see what pasturage there might +be in the wady, and had there camped only a few miles from the +wells of El Jerawi near which we slept last night. They had +come in the morning for water, and had seen our tracks in the +sand, and so had followed, riding in hot haste to overtake +us. It was a mere accident their finding us separated from +the rest of the caravan, and they had charged down as soon as +they saw us. Everything depends on rapidity in these +attacks, and this had been quite successful The least hesitation +on their part, and we should have been safe with our +camels. There they could not have molested us, for though +they were twelve to our eight, they had only lances, while we +carried firearms. We liked the look of these young +Roala. In spite of their rough behaviour, we could see that +they were gentlemen. They were very much ashamed of having +used their spears against me, and made profuse apologies; they +only saw a person wearing a cloak, and never suspected but that +it belonged to a man. Indeed their mistake is not a matter +for surprise, for they were so out of breath and excited with +their gallop, that they looked at nothing except the object of +their desire—the mares. The loss of <a +name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 107</span>these, +however, I fear, was to them a cause of greater sorrow than the +rough handling to which we had been treated, when, after +explanations given and regrets interchanged, they rode +away. Mohammed was anxious not to detain them, prudently +considering that our acquaintance with them had gone far enough, +and it was plain that Awwad was in a terrible fidget. I +fancy he has a good many debts of blood owing him, and is +somewhat shy of strangers. The others, too, were rather +subdued and silent; so we wished Ibn Debaa farewell and let him +go.</p> +<p>The mares belonging to this ghazú were small, compact, +and active, with especially good shoulders and fine heads, but +they were of a more poneyish type than our own Ánazeh +mares. Most of them were bay. One I saw was ridden in +a bit.</p> +<p>When the Roala were gone we compared notes. In the first +place, Wilfrid’s hurts were examined, but they are only +contusions. The thick rope he wears round his head had +received all the blows, and though the stock of the gun is clean +broken, steel and all, his head is still sound. The lances +could not get through his clothes. As regards myself the +only injury I have received is the renewal of my sprain. +But I could almost forget the pain of it in my anger at it, as +being the cause of our being caught. But for this we might +have galloped away to our camels and received the enemy in quite +another fashion. I was asked if I was not frightened, but +in fact there was at first no time, and afterwards rage swallowed +<a name="page108"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 108</span>up every +other feeling. Wilfrid says, but I do not believe him, that +he felt frightened, and was very near running away and leaving +me, but on reflection stayed. The affair seems more +alarming now it is over, which is perhaps natural.</p> +<p>As to the others, Mohammed is terribly crestfallen at the not +very heroic part he took in the action. The purely +defensive attitude of the caravan was no doubt prudent; but it +seemed hardly up to the ideal of chivalry Mohammed has always +professed. He keeps on reproaching himself, but we tell him +that he did quite right. It was certainly our own fault +that we were surprised in this way, and if the enemy, as they +might have been, had really been robbers and outlaws, our safety +depended on our having the caravan intact as a fortress to return +to after being robbed. To have rushed forward in disorder +to help us would have exposed the whole caravan to a defeat, +which in so desolate a region as this would mean nothing less +than dying of cold and starvation.</p> +<p>We may indeed be very thankful that matters were no +worse. I shall never again dismount while I remain +crippled, and never as long as I live, will I tie my horse to a +bush.</p> +<p>Many vows of sheep, it appears, were made by all the party of +spectators during the action, so we are to have a feast at +Jôf—if ever we get there.</p> +<p>Now all is quiet, and Hamdán the Sherâri is +singing the loves of a young man and maiden who <a +name="page109"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 109</span>were +separated from one another by mischief-makers, and afterwards +managed to carry on a correspondence by tying their letters to +their goats when these went out to pasture</p> +<p><i>January</i> 4.—There was no dawdling this morning, +for everybody has become serious, and we were off by seven, and +have marched steadily on for quite thirty miles without stopping, +at the rate of three-and-a-half miles an hour. We have left +the Wady Sirhán for good, and are making a straight cut +across the Hamád for Jôf. There is no water +this way, but less chance of ghazús. The soil has +been a light hard gravel, with hardly a plant or an inequality to +interfere with the camels’ pace. At one o’clock +we came to some hills of sandstone faced with iron, the beginning +of the broken ground in which, they say, Jôf stands. +We had been gradually ascending all day, and as we reached that, +the highest point of our route, the barometer marked 2660 +feet. Here we found a number of little pits, used, so +Hamdán explained, for collecting and winnowing +<i>semh</i>, a little red grain which grows wild in this part of +the desert, and is used by the Jôf people for food.</p> +<p>A little later we sighted two men on a delúl, the first +people we have seen, except the ghazú, since leaving +Kâf. Wilfrid and Mohammed galloped up to see what +they were, and Mohammed, to atone I suppose for his inertness on +a recent occasion, fired several shots, and succeeded in +frightening them <a name="page110"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +110</span>out of their wits. They were quite poor people, +dressed only in old shirts, and they had a skin of dates on one +side the camel and a skin of water on the other. They were +out, they said, to look for a man who had been lost in the Wady +Sirhán, one of the men sent by Ibn Rashid to Kâf for +the tribute. He had been taken ill, and had stopped behind +his companions, and nobody had seen him since. They had +been sent out by the governor of Jôf to look for him. +They said that we were only a few hours from the town.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, I had remained with our camels, listening to the +remarks of Awwad and Hamdán, both dying with curiosity +about the two zellems from Jôf. At last Awwad could +wait no longer, and begged Hamdán to go with him. +They both jumped down from the camels they were riding, and set +off as hard as they could run to meet the Jôfi, who by this +time had proceeded on their way, while Wilfrid and Mohammed were +returning. Wilfrid on arriving held out to me a handful of +the best dates I have ever eaten, which the men had given +him. The Sherâri and Awwad presently came back with +no dates, but a great deal of Jôf gossip.</p> +<p>We are encamped this evening near some curious tells of red, +yellow, and purple sandstone, a formation exactly similar to +parts of the Sinai peninsula. There is a splendid view to +the south, and we can see far away a blue line of hills <a +name="citation110"></a><a href="#footnote110" +class="citation">[110]</a> which, <a name="page111"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 111</span>they tell us, are beyond Jôf +at the edge of the Nefúd!</p> +<p>We have been questioning Hamdán about his tribe, the +Sherarât, and he gives the following as their principal +sections:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>El Hueymreh</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sheykh</p> +</td> +<td><p>El Hawi.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>El Helesseh</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">,,</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ibn Hedayaja.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>El Khayâli</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">,,</p> +</td> +<td><p>Zeyd el Werdi.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Shemalat</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">,,</p> +</td> +<td><p>Fathal el Dendeh.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>The Sherarât have no horses, but breed the finest +dromedaries in Arabia. Their best breed is called <i>Benat +Udeyhan</i>, (daughters of Udeyhan). With a Bint Udeyhan, +he says, that if you started from where we now are at sunset, you +would be to-morrow at sunrise at Kâf, a distance of a +hundred and eighty miles. A thief not long ago stole a +Sherâri delúl at Mezárib, and rode it all the +way to Haïl in seven days and nights!</p> +<p><i>January</i> 5.—A long wearisome ride of twenty-two +miles, always expecting to see Jôf, and always +disappointed. The ground broken up into fantastic hills and +ridges, but on a lower level than yesterday, descending in fact +all day. Every now and then we caught sight of the Wady +Sirhán far away to the right, with blue hills beyond it, +but in front of us there seemed an endless succession of rocky +ridges. At last from the top of one of these there became +visible a black outline, standing darkly out against the yellow +confusion of sandstone hills and barren wadys, which we knew must +be the castle of Marid. <a name="page112"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 112</span>It looked a really imposing +fortress, though dreary enough in the middle of this +desolation. Towards this we pushed on, eager for a nearer +view. Then we came to a natural causeway of white rock, +which Awwad and Hamdán both affirmed to be a continuation +of the Roman road from Salkhad. We should have liked to +believe this, but it was too clear that the road was one made by +nature. Along this we travelled for some miles till it +disappeared. All of a sudden we came as it were to the edge +of a basin, and there, close under us, lay a large oasis of +palms, surrounded by a wall with towers at intervals, and a +little town clustering round the black castle. We were at +Jôf.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p112.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The castle of Jôf" +title= +"The castle of Jôf" +src="images/p112.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="page113"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +113</span>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<blockquote><p>And Laban said to him, “Surely thou art my +bone and my flesh.” And he abode with him the space +of a month.—<span class="smcap">Book of Genesis</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">The Jôf oasis—We are entertained +by Ibn Rashid’s lieutenant—A haunch of wild +cow—Dancing in the castle—Prayers—We go on to +Meskakeh.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jôf</span> is not at all what we +expected. We thought we should find it a large cultivated +district, and it turns out to be merely a small town. There +is nothing at all outside the walls except a few square patches, +half an acre or so each, green with young corn. These are +watered from wells, and irrigated just like the gardens inside +the walls, with little water-courses carefully traced in +patterns, like a jam tart. The whole basin of Jôf is +indeed barely three miles across at its widest, and looks, what +it no doubt is, the empty basin of a little inland sea. +How, or when, or why, it was originally dried up, is beyond me to +guess (one can only say with Mohammed, it is “min +Allah”); but the proofs of its pelagic origin are apparent +everywhere. It looks lower than the rest of the Wady +Sirhán, with which it probably communicates; and we +thought at first that it might have been the last <a +name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 114</span>water-hole, +as it were, of the sea when it dried up. But this is not +really the case, as its lowest part is exactly on a level with +all the hollows of the wady. Its wells are between 1800 and +1900 feet above the sea. They are shallow, only a few feet +from the surface, and the water is drawn by camels pulling a long +rope with a bucket, which empties itself as it reaches the +surface into a kind of trough. The town, with its gardens, +all encircled by a mud wall ten feet high, is about two miles +long from north to south, and half a mile across. The rest +of the plain is nearly a dead flat of sand, with here and there a +patch of hard ground, sandy clay, where the water collects when +it rains, and salt is left when it dries up.</p> +<p>Wherever a well has been sunk, a little garden has been made, +fenced in with a wall, and planted with palms. There are +perhaps a dozen of these outlying farms occupying two or three +acres each. In one place there are four or five houses with +their gardens together, which have the look of a village. +The whole of the basin, except these oases, is dazzlingly white, +showing the palm groves as black patches on its surface. +Jôf itself contains not more than six hundred houses, +square boxes of mud, clustering, most of them, round the ruin of +Marid, but not all, for there are half a dozen separate clusters +in different parts of the grove. Many of these houses have +a kind of tower, or upper storey, and there are small towers at +irregular intervals all round the <a name="page115"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 115</span>outer wall. The chief feature +of the town, besides Marid, is a new castle just outside the +<i>enceinte</i>, inhabited by Ibn Rashid’s +lieutenant. It stands on rising ground, and is an imposing +building, square, with battlemented walls forty feet high, +flanked with round and square towers tapering upwards twenty feet +higher than the rest. It has no windows, only holes to +shoot from; and each tower has several excrescences like hoods +(machicoulis) for the same purpose.</p> +<p>There is nothing like a bazaar in Jôf, nor even streets, +as one generally understands the word, only a number of narrow +tortuous lanes, with mud walls on either side. As we rode +into the town, we found the lanes crowded with armed men, all +carrying swords in the way we had seen at Kâf, dark-visaged +and, we thought, not very pleased to see us. They answered +our “salaam aleykum” simply, without moving, and let +us pass on without any particular demonstration of +hospitality. To suppose them indifferent, however, was a +mistake; their apparent coldness was only Arab formality, and +when Mohammed began to inquire after the house of his relations, +they very civilly pointed out the way, and one or two of them +came with us. We were led down a number of narrow byways, +and through the palm-gardens to the other side of the town, and +then out by another gate beyond to one of the isolated farms we +had seen from the cliff. It was close by, not a quarter of +a mile, and in a few minutes more we <a name="page116"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 116</span>had dismounted, and were being +hospitably entertained in the tidy kahwah of Huseyn’s +house.</p> +<p>What Huseyn’s exact relationship is to Mohammed, I have +not yet been able to discover—Mohammed himself hardly +knows—but here it is evident that any consanguinity, +however slight, is considered of high importance. We were +no sooner seated by Huseyn’s fire, watching the coffee +roasting, than another relation arrived, attracted by the news of +our arrival, and then another, both loud in their expostulations +at our having accepted Huseyn’s hospitality, not +theirs. Mohammed was kissed and hugged, and it was all he +could do to pacify these injured relatives by promising to stay a +week with each, as soon as our visit to Huseyn should be +over. Blood here is indeed thicker than water. The +sudden appearance of a twentieth cousin is enough to set +everybody by the ears.</p> +<p>A lamb has been killed, and we have each had the luxury of a +bath in our own tent, and a thorough change of raiment. The +tent is pitched in a little palm garden behind the house, and we +are quite at peace, and able to think over all that has happened, +and make our plans for the future.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 6.—Last night, while we were sitting +drinking coffee for the ninth or tenth time since our arrival, +two young men came into the kahwah and sat down. They were +very gaily dressed in silk jibbehs, and embroidered shirts under +their drab woollen abbas. They wore red cotton kefiyehs on +<a name="page117"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 117</span>their +heads, bound with white rope, and their swords were +silver-hilted. Everyone in the kahwah stood up as they +entered, and we both thought them to be the sons of the Sheykh, +or some great personage at Jôf. Wilfrid whispered a +question about them to Huseyn, who laughed and said they were not +sons of sheykhs, but “zellemet Ibn Rashid,” Ibn +Rashid’s men, in fact, his soldiers. The red kefiyeh, +and the silver hilted sword, was a kind of uniform. They +had come, as it presently appeared, from Dowass, the acting +governor of Jôf, to invite us to the castle, and though we +were sorry to leave Huseyn’s quiet garden and his kind +hospitality, we have thought it prudent to comply. Neither +Huseyn nor anyone else seemed to think it possible we could +refuse, for Ibn Rashid’s government is absolute at +Jôf, and his lieutenant’s wishes are treated as +commands, not that there seems to be ill-feeling between the +garrison and the town; the soldiers we saw appear to be on good +terms with everybody, and are indeed so good-humoured, that it +would be difficult to quarrel with them. But Jôf is a +conquered place, held permanently in a state of siege, and the +discipline maintained is very strict. We have moved +accordingly with all our camp to the precincts of the official +residence, and are encamped just under its walls. The kasr, +which, as I have said, is outside the town, was built about +twelve years ago by Metaab ibn Rashid, brother of the Emir +Tellál (Mr. Palgrave’s friend), and though so modern +a <a name="page118"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +118</span>construction, has a perfectly mediæval look, for +architecture never changes in Arabia. It is a very +picturesque building with its four high towers at the corners, +pierced with loopholes, but without windows. There is one +only door, and that a small one in an angle of the wall, and it +is always kept locked. Inside it the entrance turns and +twists about, and then there is a small court-yard surrounded by +the high walls, and a kahwah, besides a few other small rooms, +all dark and gloomy like dungeons. Here the deputy governor +lives with six soldiers, young men from Haïl, who, between +them, govern and garrison and do the police work of +Jôf. The governor himself is away just now at +Meskakeh, the other small town included in the Jôf +district, about twenty miles from here. He is a negro +slave, we are told, but a person of great consequence, and a +personal friend of the Emir.</p> +<p>Jôf, as far as we have been able to learn through +Mohammed, for we don’t like to ask too many questions +ourselves, was formally an appanage of the Ibn Shaalans, Sheykhs +of the Roala, and it still pays tribute to Sotamm; but about +twenty years ago Metaab ibn Rashid conquered it, and it has ever +since been treated as part of Nejd. There have been one or +two insurrections, but they have been vigorously put down, and +the Jôfi are now afraid of stirring a finger against the +Emir. On the occasion of one of these revolts, Metaab cut +down a great <a name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +119</span>many palm trees, and half ruined the town, so they are +obliged to wait and make the best of it. In truth, the +government can hardly be very oppressive. These six +soldiers with the best will in the world cannot do much bullying +in a town of four or five thousand inhabitants. They are +all strong, active, good-humoured young fellows, serving here for +a year at a time, and then being relieved. They are +volunteers, and do not get pay, but have, I suppose, some +advantages when they have done their service. They seem +quite devoted to the Emir.</p> +<p>Four years ago, they tell us, the Turkish Governor of Damascus +sent a military expedition against Jôf (the same we heard +of at Kâf), and held it for a few months; but Ibn Rashid +complained to the Sultan of this, and threatened to turn them out +and to discontinue the tribute he pays to the Sherif of Medina if +the troops were not withdrawn, so they had to go back. This +tribute is paid by the Emir on account of his outlying +possessions, such as Kâf, Teyma, and Jôf, which the +Turks have on various occasions attempted to meddle with. +He is, however, quite independent of the Sultan, and acknowledges +no suzerain anywhere. The greatness of Ibn Saoud and the +Wahhabis is now a thing of the past, and Mohammed ibn Rashid is +the most powerful ruler in Arabia. We hear a charming +account of Nejd, at least of the northern part of it. You +may travel anywhere, they say, from Jôf to Kasim without +escort. The roads are safe everywhere. A robbery <a +name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 120</span>has not +been known on the Emir’s highway for many years, and people +found loafing about near the roads have their heads cut +off. Ibn Rashid allows no ghazús against travellers, +and when he makes war it is with his enemies. The Ibn +Haddal and Ibn Majil are his friends, but he is on bad terms with +Sotamm and the Sebaa Sheykhs.</p> +<p>There are two twelve pounder cannons of English make in the +castle. They are ancient pieces of no value, but were used, +it appears, in the siege of Jôf by Metaab.</p> +<p>The Jôfi are of a different race from the Shammar of +Nejd, being as mixed in their origin almost as the Tudmuri or the +villagers of the Euphrates. Huseyn our first host here, +tells us he belongs to the Taï, and that others of his +neighbours are Sirhán or Beni Laam. He is not really +a cousin of Mohammed’s, but a cousin’s cousin; the +real cousins living at Meskakeh. Though we were very +comfortable with him, we are not less well off here; and it is +more interesting being at the kasr. Dowass, the deputy +governor, is a very amiable man, and all his soldiers are +exceedingly civil and obliging. They are a cheerful set of +people, talking openly about everything with us, politics and +all. They assure us Ibn Rashid will be delighted to see us, +but we must see Jôhar, the black governor, first. There are +several real slaves in the fort, but no women. The soldiers +leave their wives behind at Haïl when they go away on +service. There are no horses <a name="page121"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 121</span>in Jôf, except one +two-year-old colt belonging to Dubejeh, one of the soldiers, who +all admire our <i>shagra</i> (chestnut mare) amazingly, saying +that there is nothing in Nejd so beautiful. Neither are +there any beasts of burden, not even asses. The few camels +there are in the town are kept for drawing water; and the only +other four-footed creatures I have seen are a few goats and three +half-starved cows at the kasr. There is not an atom of +vegetation within miles of Jôf, and the camels and these +cows have to eat chopped straw and refuse dates.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p120.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Oasis of Jôf" +title= +"The Oasis of Jôf" +src="images/p120.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Our dinner to-day consisted of a lamb and three other +dishes—one a sort of paste like the paste used for pasting +paper, another merely rancid butter with chopped onions, and the +third, bread sopped in water—all nasty except the +lamb. There was, however, afterwards an extra course +brought to us as a surprise, a fillet of “wild cow” +(probably an antelope) from the Nefûd, baked in the ashes, +one of the best meats I ever tasted.</p> +<p>In the evening we had an entertainment of dancing and singing, +in which Dowass, as well as the soldiers, took part. They +performed a kind of sword dance, one performer beating on a drum +made of palm wood and horse hide, while the rest held their +swords over their shoulders and chaunted in solemn measure, +dancing as solemnly. Occasionally the swords were +brandished, and then there was a scream very like what may be +heard in the hunting-field at home. Once or twice there was +a distinct <a name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +122</span>who-whoop, exactly in the proper key, and with the +proper emphasis. The tunes were many of them striking, +after the manner of Arabian music. One of them ran +thus:—</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p121.jpg"> +<img alt= +"A line of musical notes" +title= +"A line of musical notes" +src="images/p121.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The dancing ended, a huge bowl of date molasses (dibs) and +juice from <i>trengs</i> (a gigantic sort of lemon) was mixed; +and surprising quantities of this temperance liquid drunk. +Now we are quiet, outside the castle, which is locked up for the +night, and are at liberty to write or make sketches by moonlight, +things we dare not do in the daytime.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 7.—Hamdán, our Sherâri +guide, who had disappeared, returned this morning furtively for +the balance of pay due to him. He says he is afraid of the +people at the castle, and cannot stay with us.</p> +<p>A messenger has come from Meskakeh with an invitation from +Jóhar for us, so we are going on there to-morrow. We +are not, however, to stay with Jóhar, as he has no house +of his own there, but with our relations, the Ibn Arûks, +who have at last been really discovered. Nassr ibn +Arûk, the head of the family, hearing of our arrival, has +sent his son with every sort of polite message, and it is to his +house we shall go. The young man is modest, and +well-mannered, without pretension, honest and straightforward, if +one can read <a name="page123"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +123</span>anything in faces; and evidently much impressed with +the honour done him by our intended visit.</p> +<p>We have been making calls all the morning, first on our former +host, Huseyn el-Kelb, and the other relatives, and then on one or +two notables of the town. Huseyn says that the Beyt +Habûb, mentioned by Mr. Palgrave, exists, but that the +noblest of all the families is that of Mehsin ibn Dirra, formerly +Sheykh of Jôf, but now reduced to the condition of one of +the Emir’s subjects. Ibn Dirra is not (Mohammed tells +us) by any means pleased at the political changes in Jôf; +but he is afraid to show more than a half-smothered discontent, +for Mohammed ibn Rashid keeps a hostage for his good conduct in +the person of his eldest son. This youth resides at +Haïl, where he is not exactly a prisoner, but cannot return +to his friends. At all the houses we were fed and +entertained, having to drink endless cups of coffee flavoured +with cloves (heyl), and eat innumerable dates, the <i>helwet el +Jôf</i>, which they say here are the best in Arabia; they +are of excellent flavour, but too sweet and too sticky for +general use. The people of Jôf live almost entirely +on dates; not, however, on the <i>helwet</i>, which are not by +any means the common sort. There are as many varieties here +of dates as of apples in our orchards, and quite as different +from each other. The kind we prefer for ordinary eating is +light coloured, crisp, and rounder than the helwet; while these +are shapeless, and of the colour of a horse <a +name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +124</span>chestnut. It is a great mistake to suppose that +dates are better for being freshly gathered; on the contrary, +they mellow with keeping. The sweeter kinds contain so much +sugar, that when placed in an open dish they half dissolve into a +syrup, in which the sugar forms in large lumps. I have no +doubt that regular sugar could be manufactured from them.</p> +<p>The coffee making is much the same process here as among the +Bedouins of the north, except that it is more tedious. +First, there is an interminable sorting of the beans, which are +smaller and lighter in colour than what one gets in Europe; then, +after roasting, a long pounding in a mortar, though the coffee is +never pounded quite fine; then an extraordinary amount of washing +and rinsing of coffee-pots, five or six of them; and lastly, the +actual boiling, which is done three times. The Jôf +mortars are very handsome, of red sandstone, the common stone of +the country, and are, I believe, an article of export. I +should like to take one away with me but they are too heavy, a +quarter of a camel load each. The design on them is simple +but handsome, and I should not be surprised if it were very +ancient. The only other manufactures of Jôf that I +heard of, are cartridge belts and woollen abbas. The former +are showy and tipped with silver, and all the servants have +purchased them; the latter are made of wool brought from +Bagdad. Awwad bought one for six and a half mejidies.</p> +<p><a name="page125"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 125</span>We +next had a look at the castle of Marid, the only building of +stone in Jôf. Its construction dates, I should say, +from mediæval times, certainly it is not classic, and it +has no particular feature to make it interesting. It looks +best at a distance. I find the map places it a long way +from Jôf, but in reality it is within the walls of the +town, on the western edge. It stands about 2000 feet above +the sea.</p> +<p>While sitting in Ibn Dirra’s house, we saw an instance +of Ibn Rashid’s paternal government, and the first sign of +Wahhabism. The midday prayer was called from the roof of +the mosque close by, for there is no minaret in Jôf, but +for some time nobody seemed inclined to move, taking our visit as +an excuse. Then an old man with a sour face began lecturing +the younger ones, and telling them to get up and go to pray, and +finding precept of no avail, at last gave them the example. +Still the main body of the guests sat on, till suddenly up jumped +the two young soldiers who had come with us, and shouting +“kum, kum,” get up, get up, set to with the flats of +their swords on the rest and so drove them to the mosque, all but +our host, whose position as such made him sacred from +assault. It is very evident that religion is not +appreciated here, and except the sour looking old man nobody +seemed to take the praying seriously, for the soldiers when they +had done their duty of driving in the others, came back without +ceremony from the mosque. <a name="page126"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 126</span>The outward show of religion does +not seem natural among the Arabs.</p> +<p>Another sword dance to-night, and another carouse on +lemonade.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 8.—A cloudy, almost foggy morning, and a +shower of rain. We wished Dowass and his soldiers good-bye, +and they really seemed sorry to part with us. They are +extraordinarily good-tempered, honest people, and have treated us +with great kindness. Dowass’s last attention to me +was the present of an enormous treng as big as a large +cocoanut. The trengs are sour not sweet lemons, but they +have a rind an inch thick, sweet enough to be eaten though very +woolly.</p> +<p>Meskakeh, where we have come to-day, is about twenty miles +from Jôf, and there is a well-beaten track between the two +places. We were a rather numerous party, as several +Jôfi came with us for company, and we have Areybi ibn +Arûk, Nassr’s son, and another Arûk, a cousin +of his, and a man with a gun who is by way of going on with us to +Haïl. All the party but ourselves were on foot, for +the Jôfi never ride, having neither horses nor camels nor +even donkeys. One of the men had with him an ostrich +eggshell slung in a sort of network, and used like a gourd to +hold water. He told me that ostriches are common in the +Nefûd, which is now close by. The scenery all the way +was fantastic, sometimes picturesque. First we crossed the +punchbowl of Jôf to the other side, <a +name="page127"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 127</span>passing +several ruined farms, the ground absolutely barren, and the +lowest part of it covered with salt. The whole of this +depression is but a mile across. Then our road rose +suddenly a hundred feet up a steep bank of sand, and then again a +hundred and sixty feet over some stony ridges, descending again +to cross a subbkha with a fringe of tamarisks just now in flower, +then tracts of fine ironstone gravel, undistinguishable from +sheep’s droppings. About two hours from Jôf is +a large water-hole, which the Jôfi call a spring, the water +about eight feet below ground. In the wadys where water had +flowed (for it rained here about a month ago), there were bright +green bulbous plants with crocus flowers, giving a false look of +fertility. In other places there were curious mushroom +rocks of pink sandstone topped with iron, and in the distance +northwards several fine masses of hill, Jebel Hammamíyeh +or the pigeon mountains being the most remarkable. These +may have been a thousand feet higher than Jôf. Far +beyond, to the north-east and east, there ran a level line of +horizon at about an equal height, the edge of the Hamád, +for all the country we have been crossing is within the area of +the ancient sea, which, we suppose, must have included the Wady +Sirhán, Jôf and Meskakeh.</p> +<p>On one of the rocks I noticed an inscription, or rather +pictures of camels and horses, cut on a flat surface about five +feet across. We could not, however, under the +circumstances, copy it.</p> +<p><a name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +128</span>Meskakeh, though not the seat of Jóhar’s +government, is a larger town than Jôf—seven hundred +houses they say, and palm gardens at least twice as extensive as +the other’s. The position of the two towns is much +the same, a broad hollow surrounded by cliffs of sandstone, but +the Meskakeh basin is less regular, and is broken up with +sandhills and outlying tells of rock. Meskakeh, like +Jôf, has an ancient citadel perched on a cliff about a +hundred feet high, and dominating the town. The town itself +is irregularly built, and has no continuous wall round its +gardens. There are many detached gardens and groups of +houses, and these have not been ruined as those of Jôf have +been by recent wars. Altogether, it has an exceedingly +flourishing look, not an acre of irrigable land left +unplanted. Everything is neat and clean, the walls fresh +battlemented, and every house trim as if newly built. The +little square plots of barley are surrounded each by its hedge of +wattled palm branches, and the streets and lanes are scrupulously +tidy. Through these we rode without stopping, and on two +miles beyond, to Nassr’s farm. We are now in the +bosom of the Ibn Arûk family, after all no myth, but a +hospitable reality, receiving us with open arms, as if they had +been expecting us every day for the last hundred years. +They know the Ibn Arûk ballad and Mohammed’s +genealogy far better than he knows it himself, so for the time at +least we may hope to be in clover, and if after all we get no +further, we may feel that we have travelled not quite in +vain.</p> +<h2><a name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +129</span>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“And Leah was tender eyed but Rachel was +beautiful.”—<span class="smcap">Book of +Genesis</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">The Ibn Arûks of +Jôf—Mohammed contracts a matrimonial +alliance—Leah and Rachel.—We cheapen the +bride’s dower—A negro governor and his suite—A +thunder-storm.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> stayed three days with Nassr and +his sons, and his sons’ wives and their children, in their +quiet farm house. It was a rest which we much needed, and +proved besides to be an interesting experience, and an excellent +opportunity of learning more of Arab domestic life than we had +done on our previous journeys. Not that the Ibn Arûks +of Meskakeh are in themselves of any particular interest. +Like their relations of Tudmur, they have been too long settled +down as mere townspeople, marrying the daughters of the land, and +adopting many of the sordid town notions, but they were honest +and kind-hearted, and the traditions of their origin, still +religiously preserved, cast an occasional gleam of something like +romance on their otherwise matter of fact lives. Nassr, the +best of the elder generation, resembled some small Scottish +laird, poor and penurious, but aware of having better blood in +his veins than his <a name="page130"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +130</span>neighbours—one whose thought, every day in the +year but one, is of how to save sixpence, but who on that one day +shows himself to be a gentleman, and the head of a house. +His sons were quiet, modest, and unpretending, and, like most +young Arabs, more romantically inclined than their father. +They even had a certain appreciation of chivalrous ideas; +especially Turki, the elder, in whom the Bedouin blood and +Bedouin traditions predominated almost to the exclusion of +commercial instincts, while in his brother Areybi, these latter +more than counterbalanced the former. We liked both the +brothers, of course preferring Turki, with whom Wilfrid made +great friends.</p> +<p>Mohammed is less distantly related to these people than I had +supposed. His ancestor, Ali ibn Arûk, was one of the +three brothers who, in consequence of a blood feud, or, as +Wilfrid thinks more likely, to escape the Wahhabi tyranny of a +hundred years ago, left Aared in Nejd, and came north as far as +Tudmur, where Ali married and remained. Another brother, +Abd el-Kader ibn Arûk, had stopped at Jôf, settled +there, and became Nassr’s grandfather. As to the +third, Mutlakh, the descendants of the two former know nothing of +his fate, except that, liking neither Tudmur nor Jôf he +returned towards Nejd. Some vague report of his death +reached them, but nobody can tell when or how he died. +Nassr came from Jôf to Meskakeh not many years ago.</p> +<p><a name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 131</span>Nassr +is now the head of the family, at least of that branch of it +which inhabits the Meskakeh oasis. But there lives in an +adjoining house to his, his first cousin, Jazi ibn Arûk, +brother to our friend Merzuga, and father to two pretty +daughters. These, with a few other relations, make up a +pleasant little family party, all living in their outlying farm +together.</p> +<p>Of course our first thought on coming amongst them was for a +wife for Mohammed, at whose request I took an early opportunity +of making acquaintance with the women of the family. I +found them all very friendly and amiable, and some of them +intelligent. Most of the younger ones were good +looking. The most important person in the harim was +Nassr’s wife, a little old lady named Shemma (candle), thin +and wizened, and wrinkled, with long grey locks, and the weak +eyes of extreme old age; and, though she can have been hardly +more than sixty, she seemed to be completely worn out. She +was the mother of Turki and Areybi; and I had heard from Mohammed +that Nassr had never taken another wife but her. In this, +however, he was mistaken, for on my very first visit, she called +in a younger wife from the adjoining room, and introduced her at +once to me. The second wife came in with two little boys of +two and three years old, the eldest of whom (for they all have +extraordinary names) is called Mattrak, “stick;” in +spite of which he seemed an amiable, <a name="page132"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 132</span>good-tempered child. In this +he resembled his mother, whose respectful manner towards her +elder, Shemma, impressed me favourably; she had, besides, a +really beautiful face. The little boy, Mattrak, I +recognised as a boy I had seen in the morning with old Nassr in +our garden, and supposed to be his grandson. Nassr was +doing his best to spoil the child, after the fashion of old men +among the Arabs. I had then given Mattrak a little red +frock, one I had bought for Sotamm’s boy, Mansur, when we +thought we were going to the Roala, and in this the child was now +strutting about, showing off his finery to two very pretty little +girls, his sisters. These two ran in and out during my +visit, helping to bring bowls of dates, and to eat the dates when +brought. Next appeared Turki’s two wives, a pretty +one and a plain one, and Areybi’s one wife, pretty, and +lately married. All these seemed to be on better terms with +one another than is usually the case among mixed wives and +daughters-in-law. They were extremely anxious to please me, +and I, of course, did my best to satisfy their hospitable wishes +about eating. They offered me dates of countless +kinds,—dry ones and sticky ones, sweet and less sweet, long +dried ones, and newer ones, a mass of pulp; it was impossible for +one person to do justice to them all.</p> +<p>Shemma treated all the young people with the air of one in +authority, though her tone with them was kind. She, +however, spoke little, while the <a name="page133"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 133</span>others talked incessantly and asked +all sorts of questions, requiring more knowledge of Arabic than I +possessed to answer. In the middle of the visit, Nazzch, +Nassr’s married daughter, own sister to Turki and Areybi, +arrived with her daughter, and an immense bowl of dates. +She had walked all the way from the town of Meskakeh, about three +miles, carrying this child, a fat heavy creature of four, as well +as the dates, and came in, panting and laughing, to see me. +She was pleasant and lively, very like her brother Turki in face, +that is to say, good-tempered rather than good-looking. Any +one of these young ladies, seen on my first visit, might have +done for Mohammed’s project of marriage, but, +unfortunately, they were all either married or too young. I +asked if there were no young ladies already “out,” +and was told that there were none in Nassr’s house, but +that his cousin Jazi had two grown-up daughters, not yet married; +so I held my peace till there should be an opportunity of seeing +them.</p> +<p>Mohammed, in the meantime, had already begun to make inquiries +on his own account, and the first day of our visit was not over +before he came to me with a wonderful account of these very +daughters of Jazi. There were three of them, he declared, +and all more beautiful each than the others, Asr (afternoon), +Hamú and Muttra—the first two unfortunately +betrothed already, but Muttra still obtainable. I could see +that already he was <a name="page134"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 134</span>terribly in love, for with the +Arabs, a very little goes a long way; and never being allowed to +see young ladies, they fall in love merely through talking about +them. He was very pressing that I should lose no time about +making my visit to their mother, and seemed to think that I had +been wasting my time sadly on the married cousin. Mohammed +has all along declared that he must be guided by my +opinion. I shall know, he pretends, at once, not only +whether Muttra is pretty, but whether good-tempered, likely to +make a good wife. He had been calculating, he said, and +thought forty pounds would be asked as her dower. It is a +great deal to be sure, but then she was really +“asil,” and the occasion was a unique one—a +daughter of Jazi!—a niece of Merzuga!—a girl of such +excellent family!—an Ibn Arûk! and Ibn Arûks +were not to be had every day!—forty pounds would hardly be +too much. He trusted all to my judgment—I had so much +discernment, and had seen the wives and daughters of all the +Ánazeh Sheykhs; I should know what was what, and should +not make a mistake. Still, he would like Abdallah to go +with me, just to spy out things. Abdallah, as a relation, +might be admitted to the door on such an occasion, though he, +Mohammed, of course could not; he might, perhaps, even be allowed +to see the girl, as it were, by accident. With us, the Ibn +Arûks, the wives and daughters are always veiled, a custom +we brought with us from Nejd, for we are not <a +name="page135"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 135</span>like the +Bedouins; yet on so important an occasion as this, of arranging a +marriage, a man of a certain age, a dependant, or a poor +relation, is sometimes permitted to see and report. I +promised that I would do all I could to expedite the matter.</p> +<p>Accordingly, the next day Turki was sent for, and a word +dropped to him of the matter in hand, and he was forthwith +dispatched to announce my visit to the mother of the daughters of +Jazi—Mohammed explaining, that it was etiquette that the +mother should be made acquainted with the object of my visit, +though not necessarily the daughters. Then we went to +Jazi’s house, Turki, Abdallah, and I.</p> +<p>Jazi’s house is close to Nassr’s, only the garden +wall dividing them, and is still smaller than his, a poor place, +I thought, to which to come for a princess; but in Arabia one +must never judge by externals. At the door, among several +women, stood Saad, Jazi’s eldest son, who showed us through +the courtyard to an inner room, absolutely dark, except for what +light might come in at the doorway. It is in Arabia that +the expression “to darken one’s door,” must +have been invented, for windows there are none in any of the +smaller houses. There was a smell of goats about the place, +and it looked more like a stable than a parlour for +reception. At first I could see nothing, but I could hear +Saad, who had plunged into the darkness, shaking something <a +name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 136</span>in a +corner, and as my eyes got accustomed to the twilight, this +proved to be a young lady, one of the three that I had come to +visit. It was Asr the second, a great, good-looking girl, +very like her cousin Areybi, with his short aquiline nose and +dark eyes. She came out to the light with a great show of +shyness and confusion, hiding her face in her hands, and turning +away even from me; nor would she answer anything to my attempts +at conversation. Then, all of a sudden, she broke away from +us, and rushed across the yard to another little den, where we +found her with her mother and her sister Muttra. I hardly +knew what to make of all this, as besides the shyness, I thought +I could see that Asr really meant to be rude, and the polite +manners of her mother Haliyeh and her little sister Muttra +confirmed me in this idea. I liked Muttra’s face at +once; she has a particularly open, honest look, staring straight +at one with her great dark eyes like a fawn, and she has, too, a +very bright fresh colour, and a pleasant cheerful voice. I +paid, then, little attention to Asr’s rudeness, and asked +the little girl to walk with me round their garden, which she +did, showing me the few things there were to be seen, and +explaining about the well, and the way they drew the water. +The garden, besides the palm trees, contained figs, apricots, and +vines, and there was a little plot of green barley, on which some +kids were grazing. Muttra told me that in summer they <a +name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 137</span>live on +fruit, but that they never preserve the apricots or figs, only +the dates. I noticed several young palm trees, always a +sign of prosperity. The well was about ten feet square at +the top, and carefully faced with stone, the water being only a +few feet below the surface of the ground. Water, she told +me, could be found anywhere at Meskakeh by digging, and always at +the same depth. I was pleased with the intelligence Muttra +showed in this conversation, and pleased with her pretty ways and +honest face, and decided in my own mind without difficulty that +Mohammed would be most fortunate if he obtained her in +marriage. It was promising, too, for their future +happiness, to remark that Haliyeh, the mother, seemed to be a +sensible woman; only I could not understand the strange behaviour +of the elder sister Asr. Abdallah, in the meanwhile, +standing at the door, had made his notes, and come to much the +same conclusion as myself; so we returned with an excellent +report to give to the impatient suitor waiting outside.</p> +<p>Mohammed’s eagerness was now very nearly spoiling the +negotiation, for he at once began to talk of his intended +marriage; and the same thing happened to him in consequence, +which happened long ago to Jacob, the son of Isaac. Jazi, +imitating the conduct of Laban, and counting upon his +cousin’s anxiety to be married, first of all increased the +dower from forty pounds to sixty, and then <a +name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 138</span>endeavoured +to substitute Leah for Rachel, the ill-tempered Asr for the +pretty Muttra.</p> +<p>This was a severe blow to Mohammed’s hopes, and a +general council was called of all the family to discuss it and +decide. The council met in our tent, Wilfrid presiding; on +one side sat Mohammed, with Nassr as head of the house; on the +other, Jazi and Saad, representing the bride, while between them, +a little shrivelled man knelt humbly on his knees, who was no +member of the family, but, we afterwards learned, a professional +go-between. Outside, the friends and more distant relations +assembled, Abdallah and Ibrahim Kasir, and half a dozen of the +Ibn Arûks. These began by sitting at a respectful +distance, but as the discussion warmed, edged closer and closer +in, till every one of them had delivered himself of an +opinion.</p> +<p>Mohammed himself was quite in a flutter, and very pale; and +Wilfrid conducted his case for him. It would be too long a +story to mention all the dispute, which sometimes was so warmly +pressed, that negotiations seemed on the point of being broken +off. Jazi contended that it was impossible he should give +his younger daughter, while the elder ones remained +unmarried. “Hamú, it was true, was engaged, +and of her there was no question, but Asr, though engaged too, +was really free; Jeruan, the shock-headed son of Merzuga, to whom +she was betrothed, was not the husband for her. He was an +imbecile, and Asr would never marry him. If a girl <a +name="page139"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 139</span>declares +that she will not marry her betrothed, she is not engaged, and +has still to seek a husband she likes. But this would not +do. We cited the instance of Jedaan’s marriage with +an engaged girl, and the unfortunate sequel, as proving that +Jeruan’s consent was necessary for Asr, and Mohammed chimed +in, “Ya ibn ammi, ya Jazi, O Jazi! O son of my uncle +how could I do this thing, and sin against my cousin? How +could I take his bride? Surely this would be a shame to us +all.” In fine, we insisted that Muttra it should be +or nobody, and Asr’s claim was withdrawn. Still it +was pleaded, Muttra was but a child, hardly fifteen, and unfit +for so great a journey as that to Tudmur. Where indeed was +Tudmur? who of all the Jôfi had ever been so far? +Mohammed, however, replied that if youth were an obstacle, a year +or two would mend that. He was content to wait for a year, +or two, or even for three years, if need were. He was an +Ibn Arûk, and trained to patience. As to Tudmur, it +was far, but had we not just come thence, and could we not go +back? He would send one of his brothers at the proper time, +with twenty men, thirty, fifty, to escort her. So argued, +the marriage project was at last adopted, as far as Muttra was +concerned. But the question of “settlements” +was not as easily got over. Here it was very nearly being +wrecked for good and all. Wilfrid had all along intended to +pay the dower for Mohammed, but he would not say so till the +thing was settled, and left Mohammed to fight out <a +name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 140</span>the +question of jointure to as good a bargain as they could +make. This Mohammed was very capable of doing, despite the +infirmity of his heart, and strengthened by Abdallah, who took a +strictly commercial view of the whole transaction, a middle sum +was agreed on, and the conference broke up.</p> +<p>Things, however, were not yet to go off quite smoothly. +On the day following, when I went with some little presents for +the bride to Jazi’s house, I was met at the door by Jazi +himself, who received me, as I at once perceived, with an +embarrassed air, as also did Haliyeh, for both she and a strange +relation were sitting in the kahwah. To my questions about +Muttra short answers were given; and the conversation was at once +turned on “the weather and the crops,” or rather on +that Arabian substitute for it, a discussion about locusts. +We had had a heavy thunderstorm in the morning, for which all +were thankful. It would bring grass in the Nefûd, but +the locusts there, never were so numerous as this year. +Again I asked about the girls, but again got no reply; and at +last, tired of their idle talk, and quite out of patience, I +exclaimed, “O Jazi, what is this? I trust that +you—and you, O Haliyeh,—are pleased at this +connection with Mohammed.” To which he replied, in a +sing-song voice, “Inshallah, inshallah,” and Haliyeh +repeated “Inshallah,” and the stranger. I saw +that something must be wrong, for it was no answer to my <a +name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 141</span>question, +and rose to go. Then Haliyeh went out with me into the +yard, and explained what had happened. Asr, it appeared, +with her violent temper, was frightening them all out of their +wits. She would not hear of her sister being married before +herself, or making so much better a match. Jeruan she +despised, though he was Sheykh of Kâf; and she wanted to +marry the Sheykh of Tudmur herself. She had tormented old +Jazi into withdrawing his consent; and Muttra was afraid of +her. What was to be done? I said it was no use +arguing about this over again; that if she and her husband were +really not able to manage their daughters, we must look out +elsewhere for Mohammed; that I hoped and trusted Asr would not be +so foolish as to stand in the way of her sister’s +happiness, for it would not profit her. This bad temper of +hers made it more than ever certain that she could not marry +Mohammed, and, in fine, that the family must make up their minds, +yes or no, about Muttra, and at once, for we were leaving +Meskakeh presently, and must have the matter settled. I +then saw the two girls, and spoke to them in the same strain, and +with such effect that a few hours later, Mohammed, who had fallen +into low spirits about the affair, now came with a joyful +countenance to say that the marriage contract would be signed +that evening.</p> +<p>Signed, therefore, it was, though to the last moment +difficulty on difficulty was raised, and a <a +name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 142</span>lamentably +haggling spirit displayed by all except Turki in the matter of +the dower. Fifty Turkish pounds was, however, the sum +ultimately fixed on; and Wilfrid refused curtly to advance a +beshlik beyond it, even to buy off a cousin who unaccountably +appeared on the scene and claimed his right to Muttra or an +equivalent for her in coin. It was not very dignified this +chaffering about price; and people do better in England, leaving +such things to be settled by their lawyers.</p> +<p>Everything, however, was at last arranged, the marriage +contract written out and signed, and everybody made happy. +Then the rest of the evening was spent in jubilation. A kid +was killed and eaten, songs sung, and stories told, nor was, as +might be expected, the Arûk ballad left out of the +programme. Nassr is a poet, and recited an ode impromptu +for the occasion. Among the guests were two pilgrims from +Mecca—so at least they called themselves—and some men +who had run away from the Turkish conscription in Syria. +These feasted with the rest, as though they too had been +relations. And so ended Mohammed’s marriage +negotiations. He is to come back next year or send for +Muttra; but for the present he is to be content and wait.</p> +<p>While this family arrangement was in progress, we had also on +hand a more important negotiation of our own, and that was to get +the governor’s permission for our journey on to +Haïl. The first <a name="page143"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 143</span>thing to be done was to make friends +with Jóhar, for all in this despotic country depends upon +his good will and pleasure; and if he had chosen to send us back +to Kâf by the Wady Sirhán, I do not know that we +could have offered any resistance. Jôf is not an easy +place to get away from. It is more than three hundred miles +from the nearest point on the Euphrates, and without the +governor’s leave no one would have dared to travel a mile +with us. Accordingly, the day after our arrival at +Meskakeh, we called on Jóhar, who had been warned of our +visit, and received us in state.</p> +<p>Jóhar is a perfectly black negro, with repulsive +African features; tall, and very fat, and very vain. He had +put on his finest clothes to receive us, a number of gaudy silk +jibbehs one over the other, a pair of sky-blue +trousers—things new to us in Arabia—a black and gold +abba, and a purple kefiyeh. His shirt was stiff with +starch, and crackled every time he moved. He carried a +handsome gold-hilted sword, and looked altogether as barbaric a +despot as one need wish to see. He kept us waiting nearly +ten minutes in the kahwah, to add, I suppose, to his importance, +and then came in behind a procession of armed men, all of them +well got up with silver hilted swords, silver ornamented belts, +and blue and red kefiyehs bound with thick white aghals. He +affected the affable, rather languid air of a royal personage, +passing from one subject of <a name="page144"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 144</span>conversation to another without +transition, and occasionally asking explanations of our remarks +or questions from one or other of his attendants. It struck +me as eminently absurd to see this negro, who is still a slave, +the centre of an adulous group of white courtiers, for all these +Arabs, noble as many of them are in blood, were bowing down +before him, ready to obey his slightest wink and laugh at his +poorest joke. After the first few moments of dignified +silence, Jóhar, as I have said, became affable, and began +asking the news. We had come from the north, and could tell +him all about the war. What was Sotamm doing and what was +Ibn Smeyr,—the latter evidently a hero with the Jôfi +or rather with the Haïl people, for they are not friends +with Sotamm, and old Mohammed Dukhi is considered Sotamm’s +great rival. We were glad to be able to say that we had +seen Ibn Smeyr himself at Damascus not a month ago. +Jóhar told us in return of a report recently brought in to +Meskakeh by some Sleb that the Roala had been beaten in a fight +with Mohammed Dukhi, and that Sotamm was killed—a report we +were sorry to hear.</p> +<p>Then, but in a tone of minor interest, we were questioned +about the Sultan. He had made peace with the Muscov, +Jóhar was glad to hear it. Peace was a good thing, +and now “inshallah es Sultan mabsutin,” “the +Sultan, let us hope, was pleased;” this with a mock +sentimental, patronising accent and <a name="page145"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 145</span>a nasal twang in the voice, which +was extremely comic. A little whispering then took place +between Mohammed and one of the suite, which resulted in their +going out together, to hand over to Jóhar the presents we +had brought for him. Mohammed was, I believe, +cross-questioned as to our position and the objects of our +journey, and answered, as it had been agreed beforehand he should +do, that we were going to Bussora to meet friends, and that we +had come by way of Jôf to avoid the sea-voyage. This, +though of course not by any means the whole truth, was true as +far as it went, and was a story easily understood and accepted by +those to whom it was told. Mohammed added, moreover, that +as we had happened to pass through the Emir’s dominions, +the English Beg was anxious to pay his respects to Ibn Rashid at +Haïl before going any further, and begged Jóhar to +give us the necessary guides. This, after some discussion, +and some coyness on the governor’s part, he consented to +do. His heart had been softened by the handsome clothes we +had given him, and I believe a small present in money was also +talked of between him and Mohammed.</p> +<p>When we were summoned again to Jóhar’s presence, +this time on the house-top, we found the negro’s face +wreathed in smiles, and our journey being discussed as a settled +matter. Carpets were then spread, and we all sat down on +the roof and had breakfast, boiled meat on rice, with a sharp +sauce to pour over the rice, and then after the usual <a +name="page146"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 146</span>washings +and el hamdu lillahs we retired, extremely pleased to get away +from the flies and the hot sun of Jóhar’s roof; and +not a little thankful for the good turn things had taken with +us. As Wilfrid remarked, when we were well on our mares +again and riding home, Jóhar was just the picture of a +capricious despot, and one who, if he had been in a bad humour, +might have ordered our heads off, with no more ceremony than he +had ordered breakfast. Our last day at Meskakeh was a quiet +one.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 11.—Every morning since we have been here +there has been a fog, and to-day (Saturday), as I have already +said, it has rained heavily. The rain came with thunder and +lightning, as I believe is almost always the case in this part of +the world. I am much surprised to learn, in talking of the +lightning, that nobody at Meskakeh has heard of people being +killed by it, and Mohammed confirms the statement made here, by +saying that the same is the case at Tudmur. He seemed +astonished when I asked him, at lightning being thought +dangerous, and says that accidents from it never occur in the +desert. This is strange. The surface soil of Meskakeh +is very nearly pure sand, and the rain runs through it as quickly +as it falls, remaining only in a few hollows, where there is a +kind of sediment hard enough to hold it.</p> +<p>In the afternoon the weather cleared, and we made a little +expedition to the top of the low tell just outside Nassr’s +farm. The tell is of sandstone rock, <a +name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 147</span>orange +coloured below, but weathered black on the upper surface. +It is not more than a hundred feet high, but standing alone, it +commands a very extensive view, curious as all views in the +Jôf district are, and very pretty besides. In the +fore-ground just below lay the farm, a square walled enclosure of +three or four acres, with its palms and ithel trees, and its two +low mud houses, and its wells, looking snug and trim and well to +do. Beyond, looking westwards, three other farms were +visible, spots of dark green in the broken wilderness of sand and +sandstone rock, and then behind them Meskakeh, only its palm-tops +in sight, and the dark mass of its citadel rising over them in +fantastic outline. The long line of the palm grove +stretched far away to the south, disappearing at last in a +confused mass of sand-hills. These specially attracted our +notice, for they marked the commencement of the Nefûd, not +indeed the great Nefûd, but an outlying group of dunes +tufted with ghada, and not at all unlike those passed through by +the Calais and Boulogne railway. Our route, we know, lies +across them, and we are to start to-morrow.</p> +<p>While I sat sketching this curious view, Wilfrid, who had +climbed to the top of a tall stone, crowning the hill, came back +with the news that he had discovered an inscription. We +have been looking out, ever since our arrival in the sandstone +district, for traces of ancient writing, but have hitherto found +nothing except some doubtful scratches, and a few <a +name="page148"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 148</span>of those +simple designs one finds everywhere on the sandstone, +representing camels and gazelles. Here however, were three +distinctly formed letters, +<a href="images/p148.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Incised characters" +title= +"Incised characters" +src="images/p148.jpg" /> +</a> two of them belonging to the Greek alphabet.</p> +<p>It was evident, too, by the colour of the incisions, that they +had been there for very many years. On these we have built +a number of historical conjectures relating to Meskakeh, and its +condition in classical times.</p> +<p>When we came home again, we found that Mohammed had been to +make the last arrangements with Jóhar for our +journey. The great man had raised objections at one point +of the negotiations, but these had been settled by a <i>dahab</i> +or gold piece, and he has now agreed to send a man with us, a +professional guide for crossing the Nefûd. It seems +that there are two lines by which Haïl may be reached, one +of thirteen and the other of ten days’ journey. The +first is better suited, they say, for heavy laden camels, as the +sand is less deep, but we shall probably choose the shorter +route, if only for the sake of seeing the Nefûd at its +worst. For the Nefûd has been the object of our +dreams all through this journey, as the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of +desert in the world. We hear wonderful accounts of it here, +and of the people who have been lost in it. This ten +days’ journey represents something like two hundred miles, +and there are only two wells on the way, one on the second, and +another on the eighth day. The <a name="page149"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 149</span>guide will bring his own camel, and +carry a couple of waterskins, and we have bought four more, +making up the whole number to eight. This will have to +suffice for our mares as well as for ourselves, and we shall have +to be very careful. We have laid in a sufficient stock of +dates and bread, and have still got one of the kids left to start +with in the way of meat, the other has just been devoured as I +have said, and cannot be replaced. Provisions of every kind +are difficult to procure at Meskakeh; it was only by the exercise +of a little almost Turkish bullying that Jóhar has been +able to get us a camel load of corn.</p> +<p>The rain is over and the moon shining. All our +preparations are made for crossing the Nefûd, and in a few +hours we shall be on our way. We shall want all our +strength for the next ten days.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p149.jpg"> +<img alt= +"A Nejd sheep" +title= +"A Nejd sheep" +src="images/p149.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="page150"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +150</span>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“We were now traversing an immense ocean of +loose reddish sand, unlimited to the eye, and heaped up in +enormous ridges running parallel to each other from north to +south, undulation after undulation, each swell two or three +hundred feet in average height, with slant sides and rounded +crests furrowed in every direction by the capricious gales of the +desert. In the depths between the traveller finds himself +as it were imprisoned in a suffocating sand pit, hemmed in by +burning walls on every side; while at other times, while +labouring up the slope, he overlooks what seems a vast sea of +fire, swelling under a heavy monsoon wind, and ruffled by a cross +blast into little red hot waves.”—<span +class="smcap">Palgrave</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">Mohammed in love—We enter the red sand +desert—Geology of the Nefûd—Radi—The +great well of Shakik—Old acquaintance—Tales of the +Nefûd—The soldiers who perished of thirst—The +lovers—We nearly remain in the sand—Land at last.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 12.—We left the farm this morning in a +thick fog, among the benedictions of the Ibn Arûks. +They have treated us kindly, and we were sorry to say good-bye to +them, especially to Turki and Areybi, although we are a little +disappointed in our expectations of the family in general. +In spite of their noble birth and their Nejdean traditions, they +have the failings of town Arabs in regard to money, and it was a +shock to our feelings that Nassr, our host, expected a small +present in money at parting, nominally for the women, but in +reality, no doubt, for himself. No desert sheykh, however +poor, would have pocketed the mejidies. The boys too asked +for gifts, the elder wanted a cloak, because <a +name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 151</span>one had +been given to his brother, the younger, a jíbbeh, because +he already had a cloak; and other members of the household came +with little skins full of dates or semneh in their hands, in the +guise of farewell offerings, and lingered behind for something in +return. All this of course was perfectly fair, and we were +pleased to make them happy with our money; but it hardly tallied +with the fine sentiments they had been in the habit of +expressing, in season and out of season, about the duties of +hospitality. Such small disappointments, however, must be +borne, and borne cheerfully, for people are not perfect anywhere, +and a traveller has no right to expect more abroad than he would +find at home. In England we might perhaps not have been +received at all, while here our welcome had been perfectly honest +at starting, whatever the afterthought may have been. So +Wilfrid solemnly kissed the relations all round, and exchanged +promises of mutual good-will and hopes of meeting; I went in to +the harim to say good-bye to the rest of the family, and +fortunately was not expected to kiss them all round; and then we +set out on our way.</p> +<p>Our course lay due south over the sand hills we saw yesterday, +and presently these shut out Meskakeh and its palm groves from +our view, and we were once more reduced to our own travelling +party of eight souls, with Radi our new guide, and fairly on the +road to Haïl. These sand dunes are not really <a +name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 152</span>the +Nefûd, and are much like what may be seen elsewhere in the +desert, in the Sahara for instance, or in certain parts of the +peninsula of Sinai. They are very picturesque, being of +pure white sand, from fifty to a hundred feet high, with +intervening spaces of harder ground, and are covered with +vegetation. The ghada here grows quite into a tree, with +fine gnarled trunks, nearly white, and feathery grey +foliage. We met several shepherds with their flocks, sent +here to graze from the town, and parties of women gathering +firewood. Mohammed amused us very much all the morning, +talking with these wood gatherers. He had managed to get a +glimpse of his bride elect and her sister before starting, and +fancies himself desperately in love, though he cannot make up his +mind which of the two he prefers. Sometimes it is Muttra, +as it ought to be, and sometimes the other, for no better reason, +as far as we can learn, than that she is taller and older, for he +did not see their faces. His conversations to-day with the +wood gatherers shewed a <i>naïveté</i> of mind +neither of us suspected. He would ride on whenever he saw a +party of these women, and when we came up was generally to be +found in earnest discussion with the oldest and ugliest of them +on the subject of his heart. He would begin by asking them +whether they were from Meskakeh, and lead round the conversation +to the Ibn Arûk family, and if he found that the women knew +them, he would vaguely ask how <a name="page153"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 153</span>many daughters there were in +Jazi’s house, and whether married or unmarried. Then +he would hint that he had heard that the eldest one was very +beautiful, and ask cautiously after the youngest, ending always +by the disclosure that he himself was an Ibn Arûk from +Tudmur, and that he was engaged to whichever of the two unmarried +ones the old women had seemed to favour in their +descriptions. By this process he had quite lost his head +about both sisters, sometimes fancying that he was the happiest +of men, and sometimes that Jazi had passed off the less valuable +of his daughters upon him. On such occasions he would turn +to me and beg me to repeat for the hundredth time my description +of Muttra’s merits, which consoled him until he met +somebody else to raise new doubts in his mind.</p> +<p>After about eight miles of travelling through the sand dunes, +we came out rather suddenly on the village of Kara, the last that +we shall see for many a day. It is commanded by a rocky +mound, with a ruin on it, and contains seventy or eighty houses; +the palm grove surrounding it is remarkable for the palms and +ithel trees. The fog had cleared off, and the sun was hot +enough to make us glad to sit down for a few minutes under the +mud wall which encloses the oasis. Some villagers came out, +and we had a little chat about Kara and its sheykh, while our +mares were being watered from a well close by. They told us +we <a name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +154</span>should find a Roala camp not far upon our way, for the +camels from it were watered from this very well. Formerly +Kara, like Jôf and Meskakeh, was a fief of the Ibn +Shaalans, and they still pay a small tribute to Sotamm, but in +return they make the Bedouins pay for the water they use. +There is no danger of being attacked by the Roala or anyone else, +for we are in Ibn Rashid’s country now, where highway +robbery is not allowed. The villagers were very hospitable +in their offers of entertainment if we would remain at Kara, but +there was nothing in the place sufficiently interesting to detain +us, so we went on. It contains, like Jôf and +Meskakeh, a ruined castle on a low tell, but the ruins are now +not much more than the foundations of old stone walls made +without cement.</p> +<p>Not long after leaving the village, we came upon a party of +Roala, with several hundred camels coming in to Kara for +water. They were unarmed, and travelling as peaceably as +peasants would in Italy. They told us their camp was out of +our way, and too far off for us to reach to-night, but that we +should find Beneyeh ibn Shaalan, a cousin of Sotamm’s, near +the well of Shakik our watering place for to-morrow. It +argued well for the security of the country, to find parties of +villagers, as we presently did, out in the sand dunes many miles +beyond Kara, with all these Bedouins about. But really +there seem to be law and order in Ibn Rashid’s +government. After travelling on for <a +name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 155</span>another two +hours and a half in broken ground, we came at last to a steep +acclivity which proved, when we had mounted it, to be the further +edge of the Meskakeh depression, and above it we found ourselves +on a gravelly plain. The view from this edge, looking back, +was very interesting, and gave us at once an idea of the +geography of the whole country, the great basin of Meskakeh with +its tells and sand hills, the long ridge of hill under which the +oasis stands, the range of Jebel Hammamiyeh too, all mere islands +in the basin, which seems moreover to include Jôf as well +as the eastern villages in its main circuit. Wilfrid has +little doubt now that Meskakeh and Jôf are really only the +tail as it were of the Wady Sirhán or rather its head, for +the whole must be in shape something like a tadpole, and this +point its nose.</p> +<p>The Hamád or plain where we now were, is three hundred +and fifty feet higher than Kara and Meskakeh, or 2220 feet above +the sea. It is absolutely level and bare of vegetation, a +flat black expanse of gravelly soil covered with small round +pebbles, extending southwards to the horizon, and quite unlike +anything in the basin below. We were much surprised to find +such an open plain in front of us, for we had expected nothing +now but sand, but the sand, though we could not see it, was not +far off, and this was only as it were the shore of the great +Nefûd.</p> +<p>At half past three o’clock we saw a red streak on <a +name="page156"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 156</span>the horizon +before us, which rose and gathered as we approached it, +stretching out east and west in an unbroken line. It might +at first have been taken for an effect of mirage, but on coming +nearer we found it broken into billows, and but for its red +colour not unlike a stormy sea seen from the shore, for it rose +up, as the sea seems to rise, when the waves are high, above the +level of the land. Somebody called out “the +Nefûd,” and though for a while we were incredulous, +we were soon convinced. What surprised us was its colour, +that of rhubarb and magnesia, nothing at all like the sand we had +hitherto seen, and nothing at all like what we had +expected. Yet the Nefûd it was, the great red desert +of central Arabia. In a few minutes we had cantered up to +it, and our mares were standing with their feet in its first +waves.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 13.—We have been all day in the +Nefûd, which is interesting beyond our hopes, and charming +into the bargain. It is, moreover, quite unlike the +description I remember to have read of it by Mr. Palgrave, which +affects one as a nightmare of impossible horror. It is true +he passed it in summer, and we are now in mid-winter, but the +physical features cannot be much changed by the change of +seasons, and I cannot understand how he overlooked its main +characteristics. The thing that strikes one first about the +Nefûd is its colour. It is not white like the sand +dunes we passed yesterday, nor yellow as the sand is in parts of +the <a name="page157"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +157</span>Egyptian desert, but a really bright red, almost +crimson in the morning when it is wet with the dew. The +sand is rather coarse, but absolutely pure, without admixture of +any foreign substance, pebble, grit, or earth, and exactly the +same in tint and texture everywhere. It is, however, a +great mistake to suppose it barren. The Nefûd, on the +contrary, is better wooded and richer in pasture than any part of +the desert we have passed since leaving Damascus. It is +tufted all over with ghada bushes, and bushes of another kind +called <i>yerta</i>, which at this time of the year when there +are no leaves, is exactly like a thickly matted vine. Its +long knotted stems and fibrous trunk give it so much that +appearance, that there is a story about its having originally +been a vine. The rasúl Allah (God’s prophet), +Radi says, came one day to a place where there was a vineyard, +and found some peasants pruning. He asked them what they +were doing, and what the trees were, and they, fearing his +displeasure or to make fun of him, answered, these are +“yerta” trees, yerta being the first name that came +into their heads. “Yerta inshallah, yerta let them be +then,” rejoined the prophet, and from that day forth they +ceased to be vines and bore no fruit. There are, besides, +several kinds of camel pasture, especially one new to us called +adr, on which they say sheep can feed for a month without wanting +water, and more than one kind of grass. Both camels and +mares are therefore pleased with the <a name="page158"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 158</span>place, and we are delighted with the +abundance of firewood for our camps. Wilfrid says that the +Nefûd has solved for him at last the mystery of +horse-breeding in Central Arabia. In the hard desert there +is nothing a horse can eat, but here there is plenty. The +Nefûd accounts for everything. Instead of being the +terrible place it has been described by the few travellers who +have seen it, it is in reality the home of the Bedouins during a +great part of the year. Its only want is water, for it +contains but few wells; all along the edge, it is thickly +inhabited, and Radi tells us that in the spring, when the grass +is green after rain, the Bedouins care nothing for water, as +their camels are in milk, and they go for weeks without it, +wandering far into the interior of the sand desert.</p> +<p>We have been travelling through the Nefûd slowly all +day, and have occupied ourselves in studying its natural +features. At first sight it seemed to us an absolute chaos, +and heaped up here and hollowed out there, ridges and cross +ridges, and knots of hillocks all in utter confusion, but after +some hours’ marching we began to detect a uniformity in the +disorder, which we are occupied in trying to account for. +The most striking features of the Nefûd are the great +horse-hoof hollows which are scattered all over it (Radi calls +them <i>fulj</i>). These, though varying in size from an +acre to a couple of hundred acres, are all precisely alike in +shape and direction. They resemble very exactly the track +of <a name="page159"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 159</span>an +unshod horse, that is to say, the toe is sharply cut and +perpendicular, while the rim of the hoof tapers gradually to +nothing at the heel, the frog even being roughly but fairly +represented by broken ground in the centre, made up of converging +water-courses. The diameter of some of these fuljes must be +at least a quarter of a mile, and the depth of the deepest of +them, which we measured to-day, proved to be 230 feet, bringing +it down very nearly exactly to the level of the gravelly plain +which we crossed yesterday, and which, there can be little doubt, +is continued underneath the sand. This is all the more +probable, as we found at the bottom of this deepest fulj, and +nowhere else, a bit of hard ground. The next deepest fulj +we measured was only a hundred and forty feet, and was still +sandy at the lowest point, that is to say, just below the point +of the frog. Though the soil composing the sides and every +part of the fuljes is of pure sand, and the immediate surface +must be constantly shifting, it is quite evident that the general +outline of each has remained unchanged for years, possibly for +centuries. The vegetation proves this; for it is not a +growth of yesterday, and it clothes the fuljes like all the +rest. Moreover, our guide, who has travelled backwards and +forwards over the Nefûd for forty years, asserts that it +never changes. No sandstorm ever fills up the hollows, or +carries away the ridges. He knows them all, and has known +them ever since he was a boy. “They were made so by +<a name="page160"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +160</span>God.” Wilfrid has been casting about, +however, for some natural theory to account for their formation, +but has not yet been able to decide whether they are owing to the +action of wind or water, or to inequalities of the solid ground +below. But at present he inclines to the theory of +water. We shall be able perhaps to say more of them +hereafter, when we have seen more of them, and I therefore +reserve my remarks. We have had a long day’s journey, +plodding up to the camel’s fetlocks in sand, and now it is +time to look after Hanna, who is busy cooking. Height of +our camp 2440 feet; but the highest level crossed during the day +was 2560 feet. Nobody seen all day but one Roala on a +delúl, who told us there was a camp to our left. We +looked for it, but only made out camels at a great distance.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 14.—Another bright clear morning, but +with a cold wind from the south-east. Nothing can be more +bright and sparkling than the winter’s sun reflected from +these red sands. The fuljes have again been the object of +our attention. We find that they all point in the same +direction, or nearly so, that is to say, with the toe of the +horse-hoof towards the west, though the steepest part of the +declivity varies a little, sometimes the southerly and sometimes +the northerly aspect being more abrupt than that facing +east. This would seem to point rather to wind than water as +being the original cause of the depressions.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p160.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Nefûd, or Great Red Sand Desert of Arabia" +title= +"The Nefûd, or Great Red Sand Desert of Arabia" +src="images/p160.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>At the edge, moreover, of <a name="page161"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 161</span>the large fuljes there is generally +a tallish mound of sand with a ridge, such as one sees on the top +of a snow peak, and evidently caused by the wind, the lee side +being steep and the weather side rounded. These seem to +change with a change of wind and are generally bare of +vegetation, and what is singular, of a lighter coloured sand than +the rest. One can guess the existence of a deep fulj from a +long way off, by the presence of one of these snowy looking +mounds on the horizon. It is seldom that one can see very +far in the Nefûd, as one is always toiling up or down +sandslopes, or creeping like a fly round the edges of these great +basins. The ground is generally pretty even, just round the +edges, and one goes from one fulj to another so as to take this +advantage of level. We rode up to the top of one or two of +the highest sand peaks, and from one of them made out a line of +hills about fifteen miles off to the west-south-west, with an +isolated headland beyond, which we recognized as the Ras el Tawil +pointed out to us the day we arrived at Jôf. From +these heights too we could observe the lay of the fuljes, and +make out that they followed each other in strings, not always in +a straight line, but as a wady would go, winding gently +about. This made us speculate on the water theory +again. Wilfrid thinks that there may be a very gradual +slope in the plain beneath the sand, and that whenever rain +falls, as of course it must do here sometimes, it sinks through +to the hard ground and flows under the <a +name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 162</span>sand along +shallow winding wadys, and that the sand in this way is +constantly slipping very gradually down the incline, and wherever +there is a slope in the plain below, there the fulj occurs above +it. <a name="citation162"></a><a href="#footnote162" +class="citation">[162]</a></p> +<p>This notion is favoured by what we have observed of the bare +places, where such occur, for they always slope down towards the +west. Radi assures us that no water ever collects in the +fuljes even after rain. It runs into them and +disappears. While we were discussing these points of +natural history, we suddenly perceived camels grazing at the edge +of a fulj not half a mile below us, and jumped on to our mares in +a great hurry. I have contrived a bandage which enables me +to mount quickly, and ever since the ghazú in the Wady +Sirhán, we keep a good look-out for enemies. We then +rode down to see what was to be seen, and presently found half a +dozen people, men and women, in a fulj, and several more camels +grazing near a tent. The tent was a mere awning with a back +to it, and as soon as they saw us the women ran and pulled it +down, while the men rushed off to the nearest camels, and made +them kneel. They were evidently in a fright, and so quickly +was it all done that by the time we had ridden up, the tent and +tent furniture, such as there was, were loaded and ready to +go. The Arabs take pride in being able to strike camp and +march at almost a moment’s notice, and in this case I think +it hardly took three <a name="page163"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 163</span>minutes. They seemed much +surprised and puzzled at our appearance when we rode up, and at +first said they were Roala, but when our people joined us they +confessed that they were of the Howeysin, a very poor tribe +despised by the rest of the Bedouins and holding much the same +position as the Sleb. They were, however, to our eyes +undistinguishable from other Bedouins.</p> +<p>I asked Mohammed after this, how it was that in the desert +each tribe seemed so readily recognized by their fellows, and he +told me that each has certain peculiarities of dress or features +well known to all. Thus the Shammar are in general tall, +and the Sebaa very short but with long spears. The Roala +spears are shorter, and their horses smaller. The Shammar +of Nejd wear brown abbas, the Harb are black in face, almost like +slaves, and Mohammed told me many more details as to other tribes +which I do not remember. He said that Radi had recognised +these people as Howeysin directly, by their wretched tent. +He then reminded us of how we had been deceived last year by the +ghazú we had met in the Hamád the day we found +Jedaan. It was very lucky, he declared, that nothing +disagreeable had happened then, for he had found out since that +the nine people Wilfrid had ridden up to talk to, were in reality +a ghazú of Amarrat, headed by Reja himself, Sheykh of the +Erfuddi section of that tribe. Reja had come in not many +weeks later to Palmyra to buy corn, and had stayed two days in <a +name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +164</span>Abdallah’s house, and had recognized him as the +man who was with the Beg that day. These Amarrat had been +in the act of discussing how they should attack our caravan when +Wilfrid rode up, and the fact of his doing so alone made them +imagine that our caravan was a very strong one, so they had +decided on leaving us alone. Mohammed and Reja were now +friends, Reja having given Mohammed a falcon on going away, and +Mohammed the strange present of a winding-sheet. +Winding-sheets he explains are much esteemed by the Bedouins, and +this one had been made by Mohammed’s mother.</p> +<p>Soon after this we came upon a real Roala camp, at least a +camp of their slaves. The men were not negroes, though very +dark and ill-looking. They explained that they belonged to +Beneyeh ibn Shaalan, a cousin of Sotamm’s, and the head of +the tribe now in the Nefûd. They gave us some fresh +camel’s milk, the first we have tasted this year. We +then began to descend into a long valley, which here intersects +the Nefûd, and in which stand the wells of Shakik. +Close to one of these we now are, camped on a bit of hard ground, +under the first wave of sand beyond the wells. There are +four wells known as Shakik; the one where we now are and another +near it, and two others, three or four miles distant, up and down +the valley. They are all, we hear, of the same depth, two +hundred and twenty-five feet, and are apparently very ancient, +for this one is lined with cut stones, and the edges <a +name="page165"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 165</span>are worn +through with long usage of ropes in drawing water. There +is, however, here, a little wooden pulley for the rope to pass +over, a permanent arrangement very unusual in the desert, where +everything removable is as a matter of course removed. A +rope or a bucket would have no chance of remaining a week at any +well. There was a dead camel near the well, on which a pair +of vultures and a dog were at work, but nothing else living.</p> +<p>While we were looking over our ropes, and wondering whether we +could make up enough, with all the odds and ends tied together, +to reach to the water, a troop of camels came flourishing down +upon us, cantering with their heads out, and their heels in the +air, and followed by some men on delúls. These +proved to be Ibn Shaalan’s people, and, to our great +surprise and delight, one of them, a man named Rashid, recognized +us as old acquaintances. We had met him the year before at +the Roala camp at Saikal far away north. He had come, he +said, with Abu Giddeli to our tent, and we remember the +circumstance perfectly. It is pleasant to think of finding +friends in such a place as this, and it shows how far the tribes +wander during the year. Saikal is five hundred miles from +Shakik, as the crow flies. Rashid at once offered to draw +us all the water we wanted, for he had a long rope with him, and +coffee was drunk and dates were eaten by all the party. +Amongst them are two sons of Beneyeh’s, Mohammed and Assad, +the <a name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +166</span>elder a shy boorish youth, but the younger, nine years +old, a nice little boy. To him we entrusted our +complimentary message to his father. Beneyeh ibn Heneyfi +ibn Shaalan is the Sheykh of a large section of the Roala, the +very one we heard of last year as having stayed in Nejd. He +is on ill terms with Sotamm on account of a chestnut mare Sotamm +took from him by force, some years ago. The children had +never seen a European in their lives, or been further north than +the Wady Sirhán. We should like to pay Beneyeh a +visit, but his tents are many miles out of our way, and we dare +not trifle with the Nefûd.</p> +<p>A camel foal was born to-day by the well. I went to look +at the little creature which was left behind with its mother, +when the rest were driven home. I noticed that it had none +of those bare places (callosities) which the older camels get on +their knees and chest from kneeling down, and that its knees were +bruised by its struggles to rise. We helped it up, and in +three hours’ time it was able to trot away with its +mother.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 15.—This morning, as I looked out of the +tent, I saw a halo round the moon, and thought there would be +rain; but no such luck has come, though the sky was overcast and +the day sultry. We made a great effort to get off early, +and there was a great deal of “yalla, yalla” from +Mohammed with very little result, for the men had been +celebrating our passage of the Nefûd, which began <a +name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 167</span>seriously +to-day, with a final feast on kid, and were dull and slow in +consequence. Wilfrid made them a short speech last night, +about the serious nature of the journey we were undertaking, the +hundred miles of deep sand we have to cross, and the necessity of +husbanding all our strength for the effort. With the best +despatch we can hardly hope to reach Jobba under five days, and +it may be six or seven. No heavily laden caravan such as +ours is, has ever, if we may believe Radi, crossed the +Nefûd at this point, and if the camels break down, there +will be no means of getting help, nor is there any well after +Shakik. Abdallah has accordingly been made <i>sheykh of the +water</i>, with orders to dole it out in rations every night, and +allow nobody to drink during the day. The Arabs are very +childish about meat and drink, eating and drinking all day long +if they get the chance, and keeping nothing for the morrow. +But here improvidence can only bring disaster, and we think +Abdallah as well as Mohammed are impressed with the +situation. There is something sobering and solemn in these +great tracts of sand, even for the wildest spirits, and we have +begun our march to-day in very orderly fashion.</p> +<p>Radi, the little guide (his name signifies <i>willing</i>), +has proved a great acquisition to our party, willing to give +every sort of information when asked, and not impertinently +talkative. He is a curious little old man, as dry and black +and withered as the dead stumps of the yerta bushes one sees +here, the <a name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +168</span>driftwood of the Nefûd. He has his +delúl with him, an ancient bag of bones which looks as if +it would never last through the journey, and on which he sits +perched hour after hour in silence, pointing now and then with +his shrivelled hand towards the road we are to take. He is +carrying with him on his camel one of the red sand-stone mortars +of the Jôf for a relation of Ibn Rashid’s, and this +seems to balance the water-skin hanging on the other side. +From time to time, however, he speaks, and he has told us more +than one interesting tale of those who have perished here in +former days. In almost every hollow there are bones, +generally those of camels, “Huseyn’s camels,” +Radi calls them, and if anybody asks who Huseyn was, there is a +laugh. At the bottom, however, of one fulj there are bones +of another sort. Here a ghazú perished, +delúls and men. They were Roala who had crossed the +Nefûd to make a raid upon the Shammar, and had not been +able to reach Shakik on their way back. The bones were +white, but there were bits of skin still clinging to them, though +Radi says it happened ten years ago. In another place, he +shewed us two heaps of wood, thirty yards apart which mark the +spot where a Shammar which had been lifting camels in the Wady +Sirhán, was overtaken by their owner, a Sirhan sheykh, who +had thrown his lance these thirty yards at the akid of the +Shammar and transfixed him, mare and all. Again, he pointed +out the remains of forty Suelmat camel <a +name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 169</span>riders, who +had lost their way, and perished of thirst.</p> +<p>The sand, for several miles after leaving the wells, was +covered with camel tracks, Roala camels no doubt, and here and +there we came across the track of a horse, but the further one +gets into Arabia, the rarer horses seem to be. After these +first few miles, however, there appeared no trace of living +creatures except lizards. Radi took us first in a nearly +southerly direction, till he hit a line of landmarks, invisible +to us but well known to him, running-south-south-east. This +he calls <i>the road</i>, the road of Abu Zeyd, and told us the +following legend in connection with it (there was no more trace +of a road than there might have been on the sea). Many +years ago, says Radi, there was a famine in Nejd, and the Beni +Hellal were without bread. Then Abu Zeyd, sheykh of the +tribe, spoke to his kinsmen Merrey and Yunis, and said, +“Let us go out towards the west, and seek new pastures for +our people,” and they travelled until they came to Tunis +el-Gharb, which was at that time ruled by an Emir named Znati, +and they looked at the land and liked it, and were about to +return to their tribe with the news, when Znati put them all into +prison. Now Znati had a daughter who was very beautiful, +named Sferi, and when she saw Merrey in the dungeon, she fell in +love with him, and proposed that he should marry her, and +promised that his life and all their lives should be +spared. But Merrey did <a name="page170"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 170</span>not care for her and would not at +first consent. Still she persisted in her love, and sought +to do them good, and interceded with her father to spare their +lives. Now Znati began to be perplexed with his prisoners, +hearing from his daughter that they were of noble birth, and not +knowing what to do with them. And when she told them this, +they proposed that one of them should be released, and sent home +to bring a ransom for his fellows, but in their hearts they were +determined that Abu Zeyd should be the one sent, and that he +should return, not with a ransom, but with all his people to +Tunis, and so set them free. And Sferi carried the proposal +to her father, and said, “Two of these men are of noble +birth, but the third is a slave, but I know not which it +is. Let then the slave go and get ransom for his +masters.” And Znati said, “How shall we +discover the slave amongst them, and distinguish him from the +others?” and she said, “By this. Take them to a +muddy place, where there is water, and bid them pass over +it. And you shall see that whichever is the slave amongst +them will gather up his clothes about him carefully, while the +nobly born will let their clothes be soiled.” And her +father agreed, and it happened so that on the following day the +three men were brought out of their dungeon, and made to pass +through a muddy stream. And Abu Zeyd, being warned by +Sferi, put his abba on his head, and lifted up his shirt to the +waist, while Merry and Yunis walked through without +precaution. So Abu Zeyd <a name="page171"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 171</span>was set free and returned to Nejd, +and gathering all his people together there, he led them across +the Nefûd by this very way, making the road we had just +seen, to enable them to come in safety. He then marched on +to Tunis, and laid siege to the town.</p> +<p>Abu Zeyd besieged Tunis for a year but could not enter, and he +never would have taken it, but for Sferi who was plotting for his +success outside. Sferi was a wise woman. She could +read and write, and knew magic and could interpret +prophecies. And there was a prophecy concerning Znati that +he could be killed by no one in battle but by a certain Dib ibn +Ghanim, a robber in the neighbouring desert. And Sferi sent +word of this to Abu Zeyd, who took this robber into his service, +and on the next occasion sent him against Znati when he came out +to fight. And the Emir was slain.</p> +<p>Then Abu Zeyd became Emir of Tunis and Merrey married +Sferi.</p> +<p>Such is Radi’s story, which it may be hoped is not +exactly true as to Sferi’s betrayal of her father. As +to the road legend, it is impossible to say that the road is +there “to witness if he lies.” Road or no road +we have been wandering about in zigzags all day long, sometimes +toiling up steep slopes, at others making a long circuit to avoid +a fulj, and sometimes meandering for no particular reason yet +always on a perfectly untrodden surface of yielding sand. +The ground is more broken than ever, the fuljes bigger and the +travelling harder. But both mares and <a +name="page172"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 172</span>camels have +marched bravely, and we have got over about twenty-one miles +to-day. Our camp this evening, though in a fulj, is five +hundred and sixty feet higher than the wells of Shakik.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 16.—A thunderstorm in the night which has +turned the sand crimson. Radi congratulates us upon this, +as he says now we shall get to Jobba, inshallah! He seems +to have been a little doubtful before. But the heavy rain +has hardened the ground, and we have been able to push on at +almost as good a rate as if we had been travelling on +gravel. As we get deeper into the Nefûd, the fuljes +are further apart and the cross ridges lower. The fuljes +seem to run in pretty regular strings from east to west, or +rather from east by south to west by north. It is +interesting to observe the footmarks of wild animals on the sand, +for they are now clearly marked as on fresh fallen snow. +The most common are those of hares answering in size to our +rabbits at home, and to-day the greyhounds have put up and +coursed several of them, though quite in vain, for the ghada +trees and bushes soon screen them from the dogs. We have +had a gallop or two, and there is no danger of losing ourselves, +for we only have to go back on our footsteps to find the +caravan. Besides the hares there are several sorts of small +birds, linnets, wrens, desert larks, wheatears, and occasionally +crows. I also saw a pair of kestrels evidently quite at +home. Reptiles are still much more numerous, the whole +surface of <a name="page173"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +173</span>the desert being marked with lizard tracks, while here +and there was the trail of a snake. Our people killed two +to-day of the sort called <i>suliman</i>, common in most parts of +the desert, a long, slim, silvery snake, with a little head, and +quite harmless. The warm sunshine after the rain had +brought them out. We have been inquiring of Radi after the +more dangerous species, and he describes very accurately the +horned viper and the cobra. I was surprised to hear of the +latter, but it is impossible to mistake his description of a +snake which stands on its tail, and swells out its neck like +wings. These, he says, are only seen in the summer. +Gazelles there seem to be none in the Nefûd, but we crossed +the quite fresh track of two “wild cows” +(antelope). This animal, Radi assures us, never leaves the +Nefûd and never drinks. Indeed there is no water here +above ground anywhere nearer than Jebel Aja, and it must be able +to do without. The slot was about the size of a red deer +fully grown. We are very anxious to see the beast itself, +which they assure us is a real cow, though that can hardly +be. We have also kept a good look-out for ostriches but +without result. In the way of insects, we have seen a few +flies like houseflies, and some dragonflies and small +butterflies. There is a much better sort of grass in the +Nefûd and more of it than on the outskirts, which I suppose +is from the absence of camels.</p> +<p>I find that Radi makes out his course almost entirely by +landmarks. On every high sand-hill he <a +name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 174</span>gets down +from his delúl, and pulls some ghada branches, which are +very brittle, and adds them to piles of wood he has formerly +made. These can be seen a good way off. We have +learned, too, to make out a sort of road after all, of an +intermittent kind, marked by the dung of camels, and occasionally +on the side of a steep slope there is a distinct footway. +Along this line our guide feels his way, here and there making a +cast, as hounds do when they are off the scent. Neither he +nor Mohammed, nor any of the Arabs with us, have the least notion +of steering by the sun, and when Wilfrid asked Mohammed if he +thought he could find his way back to Shakik, he answered, +“How could I do so? Every one of these sand-hills is +like the last.”</p> +<p>We have been entertained by Radi with more blood and bones +stories, the most terrible of which is that of some Turkish +soldiers, <a name="citation174"></a><a href="#footnote174" +class="citation">[174]</a> who many years ago were treacherously +abandoned in the Nefûd. They had occupied Haïl +in the days of the first Ibn Rashid, and had been left there as a +garrison. But either the Sultan could not communicate with +them or forgot them, and after a certain time they wished to go +home. Many of them had died at Haïl, and the remainder +of them, about five hundred, easily agreed to set out for +Damascus under the escort of Obeyd, the Emir’s brother, who +had resolved to destroy them. They left Haïl on +horseback and <a name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +175</span>followed their Shammar guides to this place, who to all +questions as to where they should find wells, answered, a little +further, a little further on. At last the Bedouins left +them. They seem to have been brave fellows, for the last +that was heard of them was a sort of song or chorus which they +sang as they struggled on, “Nahnu askar ma nahnu +atâsha nahnu askar ma benríd moyeh.” +“We are not thirsty, we soldiers want no +water.” But at noon that day they must have lost +heart, and lain down under the bushes to get a sort of shade, and +so they were afterwards found scattered about in the different +fuljes. Some of their horses made their way back to Jobba, +and became the property of any who could seize them. They +were sold by these lucky people for a few sheep or goats +each. It is a ghastly tale.</p> +<p>A pleasanter one is that of two young lovers who eloped from +Jôf, and were pursued by their relations. Suspecting +that they would be tracked, and to avoid scandal, they had agreed +that instead of walking together, they would keep parallel lines +about a hundred yards apart and so set out on their journey, and +when they came to a certain fulj, which Radi pointed out to us, +they were too tired and lay down to die each under his +bush. Thus they were found and fortunately in time, and +their discretion so pleased the relations on both sides, that +consent was given to their marriage, and the nuptials celebrated +with rejoicings.</p> +<p>At half-past ten we suddenly caught sight of the <a +name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 176</span>peaks of +Aalem, two conical rocks which jut out of the sand, and make a +conspicuous landmark for travellers on their way to Jobba. +It was an immense relief to see them, for we had begun to +distrust the sagacity of our guide on account of the tortuous +line we followed, and now we knew that the worst was over, and +that if need were, we could find our way on across the other half +of the Nefûd, with some prospect at least of success. +We left our camels to follow, and rode on towards the +hills. It still took us several hours to reach them, but we +were by three o’clock touching the stones with our hands to +feel that they were real. It was as if we had been lost at +sea and had found a desert island.</p> +<p>We had some time to wait while the caravan laboured slowly on +to join us. I remained with the mares and kept a look-out +while Wilfrid climbed to the top of the smaller rock. +“What a place to be buried in,” he exclaimed. +“Mount Nebo must have been like this.” But +people who die in the Nefûd have seldom anyone to bury +them. As he clambered round the pile of loose stones near +the top of the tell, he found to his great delight a painted lady +butterfly sunning itself in a sheltered spot. If, as is +probable, there is no vegetation suited for the caterpillar of +this butterfly nearer than Hebron, this little insect must have +travelled at least four hundred miles. Here it seemed happy +in the sun. This smaller rock, or rocky hill, was just a +hundred feet from the level of the plain, <a +name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 177</span>and rose +sheer out of it bare and naked as a rock does at sea. The +barometer at the top of it shewed 3220 feet. The taller +Aalem is perhaps three times its height.</p> +<p>Aalem, Radi says, is Sheykh of the Nefûd, and the little +tell is his son. At some miles distance to the north-east +there is a cluster of white sand-hills, Aalem’s +“harim.” The rocks of Aalem are sandstone +weathered black, not granite as we had hoped, and this no doubt +is the material from which in the lapse of years the great red +sand heaps have been formed. They are not of solid rock but +resemble heaps of stones. On the top of the one Wilfrid +ascended was a cairn with the remains of some old letters +scratched on the stones, of the same kind as those to be seen on +Sinai, or rather in the Wady Mokattib. The view was, by +Wilfrid’s report, stupendous, but one impossible to draw or +even attempt to draw. Here could be seen spread out as on a +map the general features of the Nefûd, the uniformity of +the ocean of sand streaked with the long lines of its fuljes, +Aalem itself rising in their midst like a rock out of a sea +streaked with foam.</p> +<p>We are now encamped about two miles beyond Aalem. I have +filled a bottle with sand to make an hour-glass with at home.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 17.—A white frost, some of which was +packed up with the tents and carried with us all day.</p> +<p><a name="page178"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 178</span>It is +curious that now we have passed Aalem the vegetation has +changed. Up to that point the ghada reigned supreme, and I +could not have believed it could so suddenly disappear, yet such +is the case. Now not a bush of ghada is to be seen, and its +place is taken by the yerta which before was rare. It seems +impossible to account for this, as there is no material change of +level, and absolutely no change in the character of the +soil. The bushes by which we camped last night were quite +the last southwards. We are sorry to lose them, as ghada is +the finest firewood in the world. Charcoal made from it, +which one finds here and there where there has been a camp fire, +is finer than the finest charcoal used for drawing. The +yerta is inferior. On the other hand there is more of the +grass called <i>nassí</i> for the camels, and of the +hamar, a whitish-blue prickly plant which the mares are very fond +of, while the <i>adr</i>, a shrub with stiff green leaves and +brownish yellow flowers, is still the commonest plant.</p> +<p>The sand has dried again since yesterday, and as the day grew +warmer became very heavy for the camels. The labour of +trudging through the yielding surface is beginning to tell on +them, and to-day most of our men have walked, Mohammed giving the +example. Every one was cheerful, in spite of the hard work, +and all showed wonderful strength in running on and playing +pranks in the sand. Wilfrid, who is in fair training, was +quite <a name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +179</span>unable to keep up with them, and I fared still worse as +may be imagined, being as yet very lame; we both, however, felt +bound to try and walk at intervals for the sake of our +mares. Ibrahim el-tawîl (the tall as contrasted with +Ibrahim el-kasír, or the short), who has hitherto been the +butt of the party, being sent down on fools’ errands to +fetch water from fuljes, and up to the tops of sand-hills, to see +imaginary mountains, has proved himself to-day most +valiant. He, although a Christian, is a match for any +Moslem of the party, and gives as much as he takes in the rough +games the Arabs indulge in to keep up their spirits. At one +moment he got hold of the servants’ tent pole, a very heavy +one, and played at quarter-staff with it among them to such +effect, that I thought there would have been bones broken. +Abdallah, too, when there is any particularly hard piece of +climbing to do and the rest seem fagged, generally runs on and +stands on his head till they come up. We encourage this +mirth as it makes the work lighter.</p> +<p>Our water is now running rather short, for we have had to +divide a skin among the mares each day, but this lightens the +loads. Two of the camels are beginning to flag, +Hanna’s delúl, which has hardly had fair play, as he +and Ibrahim have been constantly changing places on its back, and +making a camel kneel and get up repeatedly tires it more than any +weight; also the beautiful camel we <a name="page180"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 180</span>bought at Mezárib. This +last, in spite of his good looks, seems to be weakly. His +legs are a trifle long, and his neck a trifle short, two bad +points for endurance, and then he is only a three year old and +has not had the distemper, at least so Abdallah says. A +camel can never be depended on till he has had it. The ugly +camel, too, which they call Shenuan, seems distressed. He +has certainly got the mange, and I wish we had insisted on this +point when we suspected the camels at Damascus, but it is too +late now. The rest are still in fine order, in spite of the +long journey and the absence of fresh pasture, which at this time +of year they require. Nothing green has yet appeared, +except a diminutive plant like a nemophila, with a purple flower +which is beginning to show its head above the sand. Fresh +grass there is none, and last year’s crop stands white and +withered still without sign of life.</p> +<p>We met a man to-day, a Roala, alone with twelve camels, +yearlings and two year olds, which he had bought from the Shammar +and was driving home. He had paid twenty-five to +thirty-five mejidies apiece for them, but they were scraggy +beasts. The Nejd camels are nearly all black, and very +inferior in size and strength to those of the north. When +we came upon the man we at first supposed he might be an enemy, +for anybody here is likely to be that, and Awwad rushed valiantly +at him with a gun, frightening him out of his wits and summoning +him in a terrible voice to give an <a name="page181"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 181</span>account of himself. He was +perfectly harmless and unarmed, and had been three nights out +already in the Nefûd by himself. He had a skin of +water and a skin of dates, and was going to Shakik, a lonely +walk.</p> +<p>At half-past three (level 3040 feet) we caught sight of the +hills of Jobba, and from the same point could just see +Aalem. It was a good occasion for correcting our reckoning, +so we took the directions accurately with the compass, and made +out our course to be exactly south by east.</p> +<p>To-day all our Mahometans have begun to say their prayers, for +the first time during the journey. The solemnity of the +Nefûd, or perhaps a doubt about reaching Jobba, might well +make them serious; perhaps, however, they merely want to get into +training for Nejd, where Wahhabism prevails and prayers are in +fashion. Whatever be the cause, Mohammed on the top of a +sand-hill was bowing and kneeling towards Mecca with great +appearance of earnestness, and Awwad recited prayers in a still +more impressive manner, raising his voice almost to a chant.</p> +<p>Talking by the camp fire tonight, Radi informs us that the +Nefûd extends twelve days’ journey to the east of +where we now are, and eleven days’ journey to the +west. At the edge of it westwards, lies Teyma, an oasis +like Jôf, where there is a wonderful well, the best in +Arabia. We asked him about sandstorms, and whether caravans +were ever buried <a name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +182</span>by them. He said they were not. The sand +never buries any object deeply, as we can judge by the sticks and +bones and camel-dung which always remain on the surface. +The only danger for caravans is that a storm may last so long +that their provision of water fails them, for they cannot travel +when it is severe. Of the simum, or poisonous wind spoken +of by travellers, he has never heard, though he has been +travelling to and fro in the Nefûd for forty years. +Abdallah, however, says he has heard of it at Tudmur, as of a +thing occurring now and again. None of them have ever +experienced it.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 18.—A calm night with slight fog, hoar +frost in the morning.</p> +<p>It appears that there was a scout or spy about our camp in the +night from the Shammar. We had been sighted in the +afternoon, and he had crept up in the dark to find out who we +were. At first he thought we were a ghazú, but +afterwards recognised Radi’s voice, and knew we must be +travellers going to Ibn Rashid. He came in the morning and +told us this; and that he was out on a scouting expedition to +look for grass in the Nefûd. He seemed rather +frightened, and very anxious to please; and assured us over and +over again that Mohammed Ibn Rashid would be delighted to see +us.</p> +<p>It has been another hard day for the camels. Shenuan has +broken down and cannot carry his load; and Hanna, like the rest +of the men, has had to walk, for his delúl is giving +in. The sand seems <a name="page183"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 183</span>to get deeper and deeper; and though +we have been at work from dawn to dusk, we are still ten or +fifteen miles from Jobba. But for the hills which we see +before us every time we rise to the crest of a wave, it would be +very hopeless work. Every one is serious to-night.</p> +<p><i>Sunday</i>, <i>January</i> 19.—A terrible day for +camels and men. Hanna’s delúl, Shenuan, and +the tall camel they call “Amúd,” or the +“Pillar,” refused their aliek last night, being too +thirsty to eat; and to-day they could carry no loads. +Shakran, too, who has hitherto been one of our best walkers, +lagged behind; and the whole pace of the caravan has been little +over a mile an hour. But for the extraordinary strength of +Hatherán, the gigantic camel which leads the procession, +and on whom most of the extra loads have been piled, we should +have had to abandon a great part of our property; and, indeed, at +one moment it seemed as if we should remain altogether in the +Nefûd, adding a new chapter to old Radi’s tales of +horror. And now that we have escaped such a fate and have +reached Jobba, we can see how fortunate we have been. But +for the perfect travelling weather throughout our passage of the +Nefûd, and the extraordinary luck of that thunderstorm, we +should not now be at Jobba. The sand to tired camels is +like a prison, and in the sand we should have remained. +Mohammed, Abdallah, and the rest all behaved like heroes; even +old Hanna, with stray <a name="page184"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 184</span>locks of grey hair hanging from +under his kefiyeh, for he has grown grey on the journey, and his +feet bare, for it is impossible to walk in shoes, trudged on as +valiantly as the most robust of the party. All were +cheerful and uncomplaining, though the usual songs had ceased, +and they talked but little.</p> +<p>Wilfrid and I were the only ones who rode at all, except +Hanna, whom Wilfrid forced to ride his mare from time to time, +and we were the gloomiest of the party. We felt annoyed at +being unable to do our work on foot with the others; though from +time to time we walked or rather waded through the sand, until +obliged to remount for lack of breath and strength. Neither +of us could have kept up on foot; but a European is no match for +even a town Arab in the matter of walking.</p> +<p>To-day the <i>khall Abu Zeyd</i> (Abu Zeyd’s road) was +distinctly traceable, and we begin to think that it may not have +been altogether a romance. There are regular cuttings in +some places, and the track is often well marked for half a mile +together. Radi assures us that there is a road of stone +under the sand; of stone brought from Jebel Shammar at, I am +afraid to say, what expense of camels and men, who died in the +work. I noticed to-day a buzzard and a grey shrike; and a +couple of wolves had run along the road, as one could see by +their footmarks and the scratching on the sand.</p> +<p>The level of the Nefûd had been rising all day, and at +one o’clock we were 3300 feet above the <a +name="page185"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 185</span>sea. +From this point we had a large view southwards, sand, all sand +still for many a mile; but close before us the group of islands +we had so long been steering for, the rocks of Jobba. The +nearest was not two miles off. We could see nothing of the +oasis, for it was on the other side of the hills; but we could +make out a wide space bare of sand, which looked like a subbkha, +and beyond this a further group of rocks of exceedingly fantastic +outline, rising out of the sand. It was like a scene on +some great glacier in the Alps. Beyond again, lay a faint +blue line of hills. “Jebel Shammar. Those are +the hills of Nejd,” said Radi. They were what we have +come so far to see.</p> +<p>We made haste now to get to the rocks, and reached them at +half-past three. They were of the same character as Aalem, +sand and ironstone. There Wilfrid took a map, and I a +sketch, and we waited till the camels came up; a doleful string +they were as we looked down from the top of our rocky hill at +them passing below. Shenuan and Amúd toiled on with +only their saddles, and the poor black delúl, absolutely +bare and hardly able to walk, was fifty yards behind, urged along +by Abdallah. We still had some miles to go to get to Jobba, +but on harder ground and all down hill; and Mohammed proposed +that we three should ride on, and prepare a place for the camels +in the village. On our way we saw what we thought was a +cloud of smoke moving from west to east, and the tail of it +passed over us. We found <a name="page186"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 186</span>it was a flight of locusts in the +red stage of their existence, which the people here prefer for +eating, but we did not care to stop now to gather them, and rode +on. It was nearly sunset when we first saw Jobba itself, +below us at the edge of the subbkha, with dark green palms +cutting the pale blue of the dry lake, and beyond that a group of +red rocks rising out of the pink Nefûd; in the foreground +yellow sand tufted with adr; the whole scene transfigured by the +evening light, and beautiful beyond description.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p186.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Delúl Rider" +title= +"Delúl Rider" +src="images/p186.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="page187"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +187</span>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“They went till they came to the Delectable +Mountains, which mountains belong to the Lord of that hill of +which we have spoken.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Pilgrim’s +Progress</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">Jobba—An unpleasant dream—We hear +strange tales of Ibn Rashid—Romping in the +Nefûd—A last night there—The Zodiacal +light—We enter Nejd—The granite range of Jebel +Shammar.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Jobba</span> is one of the most curious +places in the world, and to my mind one of the most +beautiful. Its name Jobba, or rather Jubbeh, meaning a +well, explains its position, for it lies in a hole or well in the +Nefûd; not indeed in a fulj, for the basin of Jobba is on +quite another scale, and has nothing in common with the +horse-hoof depressions I have hitherto described. It is, +all the same, extremely singular, and quite as difficult to +account for geologically as the fuljes. It is a great bare +space in the ocean of sand, from four hundred to five hundred +feet below its average level, and about three miles wide; a +hollow, in fact, not unlike that of Jôf, but with the +Nefûd round it instead of sandstone cliffs. That it +has once been a lake is pretty evident, for there are distinct +water marks on the rocks which <a name="page188"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 188</span>crop up out of its bed just above +the town; and, strange to say, there is a tradition still extant +of there having formerly been water there. The wonder is +how this space is kept clear of sand. What force is it that +walls out the Nefûd and prevents encroachment? As you +look across the subbkha or dry bed of the lake, the Nefûd +seems like a wall of water which must overwhelm it, and yet no +sand shifts down into the hollow, and its limits are accurately +maintained.</p> +<p>The town itself (or village, for it has only eighty houses) is +built on the edge of the subbkha, 2860 feet above the sea, and +has the same sort of palm gardens we saw at Jôf, only on a +very small scale. The wells from which these are watered +are seventy-five feet deep, and are worked, like all the wells in +Arabia, by camels. The village is extremely picturesque, +with its little battlemented walls and its gardens. At the +entrance stand half a dozen fine old ithel-trees with gnarled +trunks and feathery branches. The rocks towering above are +very grand, being of purple sandstone streaked and veined with +yellow, and having an upper facing of black. They are from +seven hundred to eight hundred feet high, and their bases are +scored with old water marks. Wilfrid found several +inscriptions in the Sinaïtic character upon them. +Jobba is backed by these hills, and by a strip of yellow sand, +like the dunes of Ithery, on which just now there are brilliantly +green tufts of adr in full leaf. Beyond the subbkha the +rocks of <a name="page189"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +189</span>Ghota rising out of the Nefûd remind one of the +Aletsch Glacier, as seen from the Simplon Road.</p> +<p>So much for the outer face of Jobba. The interior is +less attractive. The houses are very poor, and less smartly +kept than those of Kâf and Ithery. I can hardly call +them dirty, for dirt in this region of sand is almost an +impossibility. It is one of the luxuries of the Nefûd +that no noxious insects are found within its circuit. The +Nefûd and, indeed, Nejd, which lies beyond it, are free +from those creatures which make life a torment in other districts +of the East. Even the fleas on our greyhounds died as soon +as they entered the enchanted circle of red sand. But Jobba +would be dirty if it could; and its inhabitants are the least +well-mannered of all the Arabs we saw in Nejd. The fact is, +the people are very poor and have no communication with the outer +world, except when the rare travellers between Haïl and +Jôf stop a night among them. At the time of our +passage through Jobba, the Sheykh had lately died, and his office +was being held by a young man of two or three and twenty, who had +no authority with his fellow-youths, a noisy, good-for-nothing +set. Ibn Rashid has no special lieutenant at Jobba, and the +young Sheykh Naïf was unsupported by any representative of +the central government, even a policeman. The consequence +was that though entertained hospitably enough by Naïf, we +were considerably pestered by his friends, and made to feel not a +little <a name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +190</span>uncomfortable. I quote this as a single instance +of incivility in a country where politeness is very much the +rule.</p> +<p>The style of our entertainment at Naïf’s house +requires no special mention, as it differed in no respect from +what we had already received elsewhere. There was a great +deal of coffee drinking, and a great deal of talk. Wherever +one goes in Arabia one only has to march into any house one +pleases, and one is sure to be welcome. The kahwah stands +open all day long, and the arrival of a guest is the signal for +these two forms of indulgence, coffee and conversation, the only +ones known to the Arabs. A fire is instantly lighted, and +the coffee cups in due course are handed round. One curious +incident, however, of our stay at Jobba must be related.</p> +<p>For some days before our arrival there Mohammed, who was +usually careless enough about the dangers of the road, had +betrayed considerable uneasiness whenever there was a question of +meeting Arabs on the way or making new acquaintances. He +had dissuaded us more than once from looking about for tents; and +when we had met the solitary man with the camels and the man we +called the spy, he had given very short answers to their +inquiries of who we were, and where we were going. It was +not till the evening of our arrival at Jobba that he explained +the cause of his anxiety. It then appeared that Radi in the +course of conversation had mentioned the name of a certain +Shammar Sheykh, one Ibn <a name="page191"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 191</span>Ermal, as being in the +neighbourhood, and Mohammed had remembered that many years ago a +Sheykh of that name had made a raid against Tudmur. There +had been some fighting, and a man or two killed on the Shammar +side; and this was enough to make it extremely probable that a +blood-feud might be still unsettled between his family and the +Ibn Ermals. He therefore begged us not to mention his name +in Jobba, or the fact that he and Abdallah were Tudmur men. +He had the more reason for this because he had discovered that +Naïf, our host, was himself related to the Ibn Ermals; and +it was fortunate that Tudmur had not yet been mentioned by any +one in conversation. Later on in the evening he came to us +very radiant, with the news that we need no longer be under any +apprehension. He had managed ingeniously to lead the +conversation with Naïf to the subject he had at heart, and +had just learned that the blood-feud was considered at an +end. Mohammed ibn Rashid, before he came to the Sheykhat of +Jebel Shammar, was Emir el-Haj, or Prince of the pilgrimage to +Mecca, a position of honour and profit, under his brother +Tellál, and in that capacity had made acquaintance with +several Tudmuri at the holy cities, and when he succeeded to the +Sheykhat he had good-naturedly composed their difference with his +people. He had either paid the blood-money himself, or had +used pressure on Ibn Ermal to forego his revenge, and the +blood-feud had been declared <a name="page192"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 192</span>cancelled. Whatever the +Emir’s reason for acting thus as peace maker, it was a very +fortunate circumstance for us, and now Mohammed and Naïf +were the best of friends. On the morning, however, of our +departure from Jobba (we stayed there two nights), Naïf in +wishing Mohammed good bye, narrated that he had had a curious +dream that night. He had gone to sleep, he said, thinking +of this old feud; and in his sleep he thought he heard a voice +reproaching him with having neglected his duty of taking just +revenge on the man who was his guest, and he had been much +distressed between the conflicting duties of vengeance and +hospitality, so that he had got up in his sleep to feel about for +his sword, and had found himself doing this when he woke. +Then he had remembered that the feud was at an end, and said El +hamdu lillah, and went to sleep again. “What a +dreadful thing it would have been,” he said to Mohammed at +the end of this story, “if I had been obliged to kill you, +you, my guest!” Mohammed, however, maintained to us +that even if the blood-feud had not been settled, Naïf would +not have been bound to do anything, once he had eaten and drunk +with him in his house. Such, at least, would be the rule at +Tudmur, though morals might be stricter in Nejd.</p> +<p>We only stayed, as I have said, two nights with +Naïf. The young people of the village were inquisitive +and obtrusive, and we were obliged to make a sort of scene with +our host about it, a thing <a name="page193"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 193</span>which is disagreeable, but sometimes +necessary. I dare say they meant no harm, but their manners +were bad, and there was something almost hostile in their tone +about Nasrani (Nazarenes or Christians), which it was advisable +to check. I am glad to say that this is the only instance +we have had in Arabia of unpleasant allusions to religion. +The Arabs are by nature tolerant to the last degree on this +point, and national or religious prejudices are exceedingly +rare.</p> +<p>This little episode, however, made us rather anxious about our +possible reception at Haïl. No European nor Christian +of any sort had penetrated as such before us to Jebel Shammar, +and all we knew of the people and country was the recollection of +Mr. Palgrave’s account of his visit there in disguise +sixteen years before. Ibn Rashid, for all we knew, might be +as ill-disposed towards us as these Jobbites here, and it was +clear that, without his countenance and protection, we should be +running considerable risk in entering Haïl. Still, the +die was cast. We had crossed our Rubicon, the Red Desert, +and there was no turning back. There was nothing to be done +but to put a good face on things and proceed on our way. We +cross questioned Radi as to the state of affairs at Haïl, +and I may as well give here the whole of the information he gave +us, corroborated and amplified by subsequent narrators. The +main facts we learned from him.</p> +<p>Radi, in the first place, confirmed in general <a +name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 194</span>terms the +account we had already heard of the history of the Ibn Rashid +family. About fifty years ago, Abdallah ibn Rashid, at that +time “a mere <i>zellem</i>,” individual, of the Abde +section of the Shammar tribe, took service with the Ibn Saouds of +Upper Nejd, and was appointed lieutenant of Jebel Shammar, by the +Wahhabi Emir. He was a great warrior, and reduced the whole +country to order with the help of his brother Obeyd, the +principal hero of Shammar tradition. Of Obeyd we heard +nothing to confirm the evil tales mentioned by Mr. +Palgrave. On the contrary, he has left a great reputation +among the Arabs for his hospitality, generosity, and courage, the +three cardinal virtues of their creed. He was never +actually Emir of Jebel Shammar, but after his brother’s +death he virtually ruled the country. It was he that +counselled the destruction of the Turkish soldiers in the +Nefûd. He lived to a great age, and died only nine +years ago, having been paralysed from the waist downwards for +some months before his death. It is related of him that he +left no property behind him, having given away everything during +his lifetime—no property but his sword, his mare, and his +young wife. These he left to his nephew Mohammed, ibn +Rashid, the reigning Emir, with the request that his sword should +remain undrawn, his mare unridden, and his wife unmarried for +ever afterwards. Ibn Rashid has respected his uncle’s +first two wishes, but he has taken the wife into his own +harim.</p> +<p><a name="page195"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +195</span>Abdallah ibn Rashid died in 1843, and was succeeded in +the Sheykhat of the Shammar and the lieutenancy of Haïl, by +his son Tellál, who took the title of Emir, and made +himself nearly independent of the Wahhabi government. There +is not much talk at Haïl now about Tellál. He +has left behind him little of the reputation one would expect +from Mr. Palgrave’s account of him. In his time, his +second brother and successor, Metaab, conquered Jôf and +Ithery, and Metaab’s name is much more frequently mentioned +than Tellál’s. About twelve years ago +Tellál went out of his mind and committed suicide. +He stabbed himself at Haïl with his own dagger. He +left behind him several sons, the eldest of whom was Bender, and +two brothers, Metaab and Mohammed, besides his uncle Obeyd, then +a very old man, and several cousins. Bender was quite a boy +at the time, and Metaab succeeded Tellál with the approval +of all the family. Metaab, however, only ruled for three +years, and dying rather suddenly, a dispute arose as to the +succession. Mohammed, who for some years had been acting as +Emir el-Haj, or leader of the pilgrims, was away from Haïl, +settling a matter connected with his office with Ibn Saoud at +Riad, and Bender, being now twenty years old, was proclaimed +Emir. He was supported by all the family except Mohammed +and Hamúd, Obeyd’s eldest son, who had been brought +up with Mohammed as a brother. Mohammed, when he heard of +this, was very angry, and for many days, so <a +name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 196</span>Radi told +us, sat with his kefiyeh over his face like one in grief, and +refused to speak with anyone. He remained at Riad, +rejecting all Bender’s advances and invitations until Obeyd +was dead, when he consented to return to Haïl, and resume +his post with the Haj. This post brought him in much money, +and he was fond of money. But he plotted all the while for +the Sheykhat, intriguing with the Sherarât and other +Bedouins under Bender’s rule. It was in this way that +he ultimately gratified his ambition, for it happened one day +that a caravan of Sherarât came to Haïl to buy dates, +and placed themselves under Mohammed’s protection instead +of the Emir’s. This made Bender very angry, and he +sent for Mohammed, and asked him the meaning of this +insolence. “Are you Sheykh,” he asked, +“or am I?” He then mounted his mare and rode +out, threatening to confiscate the Sherarât camels, for +they were encamped under the walls of Haïl. But +Mohammed followed him, and riding with him, a violent dispute +arose, in which Mohammed drew his <i>shabriyeh</i> (a crooked +dagger they all wear in Nejd), and stabbed his nephew, who fell +dead on the spot. Then Mohammed galloped back to the +castle, and, finding Hamúd there, got his help and took +possession of the place. He then seized the younger sons of +Tellál, Bender’s brothers, all but one child, +Naïf, and Bedr, who was away from Haïl, and had their +heads cut off by his slaves in the courtyard of the castle. +They say, however, that Hamúd <a name="page197"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 197</span>protested against this. But +Mohammed was reckless, or wished to strike terror, and not +satisfied with what he had already done, went on destroying his +relations. He had some cousins, sons of Jabar, a younger +brother of Abdallah and Obeyd; and these he sent for. They +came in some alarm to the castle, each with his slave. They +were all young men, beautiful to look at, and of the highest +distinction; and their slaves had been brought up with them, as +the custom is, more like brothers than servants. They were +shown into the kahwah of the castle, and received with great +formality, Mohammed’s servants coming forward to invite +them in. It is the custom at Haïl, whenever a person +pays a visit, that before sitting down, he should hang up his +sword on one of the wooden pegs fixed into the wall, and this the +sons of Jabar did, and their slaves likewise. Then they sat +down, and waited and waited, but still no coffee was served to +them. At last Mohammed appeared surrounded by his guard, +but there was no “salaam aleykum,” and instantly he +gave orders that his cousins should be seized and bound. +They made a rush for their swords, but were intercepted by the +slaves of the castle, and made prisoners. Mohammed then, +with horrible barbarity, ordered their hands and their feet to be +cut off, and the hands and the feet of their slaves and had them, +still living, dragged out into the courtyard of the palace, where +they lay till they died. These ghastly crimes, more ghastly +than ever <a name="page198"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +198</span>in a country where wilful bloodshed is so unusual, seem +to have struck terror far and wide, and no one has since dared to +raise a hand against Mohammed. Now he is said to have +repented of his crimes, and to be “angry with +himself” for what he has done. But Radi is of opinion +that Heaven is at least as angry, for though Mohammed has married +over and over again, he has never been blessed with a son, nor +even with a daughter. His rule, however, apart from its +evil commencement, though firm, has been beneficent. The +only other persons, with one exception, who have suffered death +during his reign, have been highway robbers, and these are now +extirpated within three hundred miles of Haïl. A +traveller may go about securely in any part of the desert with +all his gold in his hand, and he will not be molested. +Neither are there thieves in the towns. He has made Jebel +Shammar definitely independent of Riad, and has resisted one or +two attempted encroachments by the Turks. He is munificent +to all, and exercises unbounded hospitality. No man, rich +or poor, is ever sent away from his gate unfed, and seldom +without a present of clothes or money; and hospitality in Arabia +covers a multitude of sins. Besides, the Arabs easily +forget, and Mohammed is already half forgiven. “Allah +yetowil omrahu,” God grant him long life, exclaimed Radi, +after giving us these particulars.</p> +<p>The one exception I have alluded to was this. About two +years after Mohammed had gained the <a name="page199"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 199</span>Sheykhat, Bedr, the second son of +Tellál, who had escaped the massacre of his brothers, +began to grow a beard, and in Arab opinion was come of age; and +being a youth of high spirit and high principle, resolved to +avenge his brothers’ deaths. This was clearly his +duty according to Arab law. He was alone and unaided, +except by some former slaves of his father’s, to whose +house at Haïl he returned secretly. With their +assistance, he made a plan, of falling upon Mohammed one day when +he was paying a visit to Hamúd in Hamúd’s +house next the castle. He went with one slave to the house, +and asking admittance was shown into the kahwah, where, if he had +found the Emir, he would have drawn his sword and killed him; +but, as it happened, Mohammed had just gone out into the garden, +and only Hamúd was present. Hamúd asked him +what he wanted, and he said he wished to speak to the Emir, but +Hamúd suspecting something, detained him and gave Mohammed +warning. When arrested and recognised, Bedr was +cross-questioned again, and then declared his intention of +avenging his brother Bender’s death, nor would he desist +from this. Mohammed, it is said, besought him to hear +reason, and offered to release him if he would be content to let +matters alone. “I do not wish to shed more +blood,” he said, “but you must promise to leave +Haïl.” Still the young man refused, and at last +in despair, Mohammed ordered his execution. The slave, who +accompanied, <a name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +200</span>Bedr, was not ill-used. Indeed, Mohammed sent him +away with gifts, and he now resides very comfortably at Samawa on +the Euphrates.</p> +<p>After this, Mohammed, who seems to have really felt remorse +for his wickedness, sent for Naïf, the remaining son of +Tellál, who was still a boy, and took him to live with +him, and treated him as his own son. Only a year ago, +seeing the boy growing up, he exhorted him to marry, offering him +one of his nieces and a fitting establishment. But the boy, +they say, hung back. “What!” he said, +“you would treat me as you treat a lamb or a kid which you +fatten before you kill it?” Mohammed wept and +entreated, and swore that he would be as a father to Naïf; +and the youth still lives honourably treated in the Emir’s +house. Opinion at Haïl, however, is very decided that +as soon as Naïf is old enough, either he or his uncle must +die. It will be his duty to follow Bedr in his attempt, and +if need be, to end like him</p> +<p>All this, as may be supposed, was anything but agreeable +intelligence to us, as we travelled on to Haïl. We +felt as though we were going towards a wild beast’s +den. In the meantime, however, there were four days before +us, four days of respite, and of that tranquillity which the +desert only gives, and we agreed to enjoy it to the utmost. +There is something in the air of Nejd, which would exhilarate +even a condemned man, and we were far from being condemned. +It is impossible to feel really distressed or <a +name="page201"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 201</span>really +anxious, with such a bright sun and such pure delicious +air. We might feel that there was danger, but we could not +feel nervous.</p> +<p>Our last three nights in the Nefûd were devoted to +merriment, large bonfires of yerta, round which we sat in the +clear starlight, feasting on dates bought at Jobba, and feats of +strength and games among the servants. I will give the +journal for one day, the 22nd of January: “We have been +floundering along in the deep sand all day leisurely, and with +much singing and nonsense among the men, for we are in no hurry +now; it is only one day on to Igneh, the first village of Jebel +Shammar. The camels, though tired, are not now in any +danger of breaking down, and they have capital +<i>nassí</i> grass to eat; the tufts of grass are +beginning to get their new shoots. The Nefûd here is +as big as ever, and the fuljes as deep; and we crossed the track +of a bakar wahash or wild cow, not an hour before we +stopped. At half past three, we came upon a shepherd +driving forty sheep to market at Haïl. He is a Shammar +from Ibn Rahis, a sheykh, whose tents we saw to-day a long way +off to the north-east, and he intends selling his flock to the +Persian pilgrims who are expected at Haïl to-day. The +pilgrims, he says, are on their way from Mecca, and will stay a +week at Haïl. Who knows if we may not travel on with +them? The sheep, which I took at first for goats, are +gaunt, long legged creatures, with long silky hair, not wool, +growing down to their fetlocks, sleek pendulous ears <a +name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 202</span>and smooth +faces. They are jet black with white heads, spots of black +round the eyes and noses, which look as if they had been drinking +ink. They are as unlike sheep as it is possible to +conceive, all legs, and tail, and face. But they have the +merit of being able to live on adr for a month at a time without +needing water. They are, I fancy, quite peculiar to +Nejd. This meeting was the signal for a halt, and behold a +delightful little fulj, just big enough to hold us, in the middle +of a bed of nassí. We slid our horses down the +sand-slope, the camels followed, Mohammed, the while, bargaining +with the shepherd for the fattest of his flock. Here we +unloaded, and the camels in another ten minutes were scattered +all over the hill-side, for there is a sand-hill at least a +hundred feet high, close by above us. Ibrahim, the short, +was set to watch them while the rest were busy with the +camp. There is an enormous supply of fire-wood, beautiful +white logs which burn like match wood. We climbed to the +top of the hill to take the bearings of the country, for there is +a splendid view now of Jebel Shammar, no isolated peak, as Dr. +Colvill would have it last year, but a long range of fantastic +mountains, stretching far away east and west, reminding one +somewhat of the Sierra Guadarama in Spain. There are also +several outlying peaks distinct from the main chain. Behind +us, to the north-west, the Jobba group, with continuations to the +west and south-west. Eastwards, there is a single point <a +name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 203</span>Jebel +Atwa. Haïl lies nearly south-east, its position marked +by an abrupt cliff near the eastern extremity of the Jebel Aja +range. The northern horizon only is unbroken. This +done, we both went down to measure a fulj half a mile off, and +found it two hundred and seventy feet deep, with hard ground +below. It is marked very regularly on its steep side with +sheep tracks, showing how permanent the surface of the +Nefûd remains, for the little paths are evidently of old +date. <a name="citation203a"></a><a href="#footnote203a" +class="citation">[203a]</a> By the time of our return, +Hanna’s good coffee was ready with a dish of flour and +curry, to stay hunger until the sheep is boiled. Awwad, who +delights in butcher’s work, has killed the sheep in the +middle of our camp, for it is the custom to slaughter at the tent +door, and has been smearing the camels with gore. When +asked why, he says, “it will look as if we had been invited +to a feast. It always looks well to have one’s camels +sprinkled.” He has rigged up three tent poles, as a +stand to hang the sheep from, and is dismembering in a truly +artistic fashion. Ibrahim el-Tawîl and Abdallah are +collecting an immense pile of wood for the night. Hanna is +preparing to cook. Poor Hanna has been having a hard time +of it since Meskakeh, for now that everybody has to walk, he +insists upon walking too, “to prevent trouble,” he +says, and probably he is right. A regular Aleppin Christian +like <a name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +204</span>Hanna, in such a country as this, does best by effacing +himself and disarming envy, unless indeed he can fraternize, and +at the same time inspire respect, as Ibrahim seems to have +done. Hanna is patient, and does not complain, +endeavouring, though with a rueful countenance, to be cheerful +when the rest tease him. I do my best to protect him, but +he dares not take his own part. Lastly, Mohammed is sitting +darning his shirt, against making his appearance at Court, and +talking to two Jobbites, who are travelling with us, about the +virtues of Ibn Rashid, and the grandeur of the Ibn +Arûks. The Ibn Arûk legend, like a snowball, is +gathering as it rolls, and we fully expect Mohammed to appear in +the character of a Prince at Haïl. He talks already of +Nejd as his personal property, and affects a certain air of +protection towards us, as that of a host doing the honours to his +guests. His scare about Ibn Ermal is quite forgotten. +Prince or peasant, however, Mohammed has the great merit of +always being good-tempered, and this evening he is very +amusing. He has been telling us the whole history of his +relations with Huseyn Pasha at Deyr, which we never quite +understood before (and which I dare not repeat in detail for fear +of bringing him into trouble). He has been two or three +times in prison, but poor Huseyn seems to have been made a sad +fool of. Mohammed also gave us a full, true, and particular +account of Ahmed Beg Moali’s death; and then we had a long +discussion about the exact <a name="page205"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 205</span>form in which we are to introduce +ourselves at Haïl. Mohammed will have it that Wilfrid +ought to represent himself as a merchant travelling to Bussorah +to recover a debt, but this we will not listen to. We think +it much more agreeable and quite as prudent to be +straightforward, and we intend to tell Ibn Rashid that we are +persons of distinction in search of other persons of distinction; +that we have already made acquaintance with Ibn Smeyr and Ibn +Shaalan, and all the sheykhs of the north, and that each time we +have seen a great man, we have been told that these were nothing +in point of splendour to the Emir of Haïl, and that hearing +this, and being on our way to Bussorah, we have crossed the +Nefûd to visit him, as in former days people went to see +Suliman ibn Daoud, and then we are to produce our presents and +wish him a long life. Mohammed has been obliged to admit +that this will be a better plan; and so it is settled. +Radi, whom we have taken more or less into our confidence, thinks +that the Emir will be pleased, and promises to sing our praises +“below stairs,” and he talks of a Franji having +already been at Haïl, and having gone away with money and +clothes from Ibn Rashid. Who this can be, we cannot +imagine, for Mr. Palgrave was not known there as a +European. So we whiled away the time till dinner was ready, +and when all had well feasted, Mohammed came to invite us to the +servants’ fire, where feats of strength were going +on. First, <a name="page206"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +206</span>Abdallah lies flat on the sand, a camel saddle is put +upon his back, and then two gigantic khurjes, weighing each of +them about a hundredweight. With these he struggles to his +knees, and then by a prodigious effort to his feet, staggers a +pace, and topples over. Mohammed, not to be outdone, lifts +Ibrahim kasír, who weighs at least twelve stone, on the +palm of his hand off his legs. Then they make wheels, such +as are seen at a circus, and play at a sort of leap-frog, which +consists of standing in a row one close behind the other, when +the last jumps on their shoulders and runs along till he comes to +the end, where he has to turn a somersault and alight as he can +on his head or his heels. This is very amusing, and in the +deep sand hurts nobody. All, except Hanna, join in these +athletic sports, but Awwad, who is a Bedouin born, goes through +the performance with a rather wry face. Bedouins never play +at games as the town Arabs do, and they have not the physical +strength of the others. Awwad revenges himself, however, by +malignantly hiding bits of hot coal in the ground, and every now +and then somebody steps on these traps with his bare feet, and +there is a scream. Great amusement, too, is caused by +Wilfrid showing them the old game of turning three times round +with the head resting on a short stick, and then trying to walk +straight. This is considered very funny, and they generally +manage to tumble over Hanna, and when they make him try it, +arrange that he shall run into the fire. The best <a +name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 207</span>game, to my +mind, is something like one sometimes played by sailors on board +ship. They all put their cloaks together in one heap, and +one man has to guard it. Then the rest dance round him, and +try to steal the clothes away without getting touched. +Ibrahim tawíl is great at this sport, and defends the heap +with his huge hands and feet, dealing tremendous blows on the +unwary, and paying off, I fancy, not a few old scores. +Abdallah especially, who is disliked by the rest on account of +his bad temper, gets shot clean off his legs by a straight kick +almost like a football, and a fight very nearly ensues. But +a diversion is made by the ingenious Awwad, who steals away with +a gun and fires it suddenly from the top of the fulj, and then +comes tumbling head over heels down the sand to represent a +ghazú. So the evening passes, and as we go back to +our private lair, we see for the first time the zodiacal light in +the western sky.</p> +<p>This was our last night in the Nefûd, and the +recollection of it long stood as our standard of happiness, when +imprisoned within walls at Haïl, or travelling in less +congenial lands. The next day we reached Igneh, the first +village of Jebel Shammar, and the day after the mountains +themselves, the “Happy Mountains,” which had so long +been the goal of our Pilgrim’s progress.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 23.—It is like a dream to be sitting +here, writing a journal on a rock in Jebel Shammar. When I +remember how, years ago, I read that romantic <a +name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 208</span>account by +Mr. Palgrave, which nobody believed, of an ideal State in the +heart of Arabia, and a happy land which nobody but he had seen, +and how impossibly remote and unreal it all appeared; and how, +later during our travels, we heard of Nejd and Haïl and this +very Jebel Shammar, spoken of with a kind of awe by all who knew +the name, even by the Bedouins, from the day when at Aleppo Mr. +S. first answered our vague questions about it by saying, +“It is <i>possible</i> to go there. Why do <i>you</i> +not go?” I feel that we have achieved something which +it is not given to every one to do. Wilfrid declares that +he shall die happy now, even if we have our heads cut off at +Haïl. It is with him a favourite maxim, that every +place is exactly like every other place, but Jebel Shammar is not +like anything else, at least that I have seen in this world, +unless it be Mount Sinaï, and it is more beautiful than +that. All our journey to-day has been a romance. We +passed through Igneh in the early morning, stopping only to water +our animals. It is a pretty little village, something like +Jobba, on the edge of the sand, but it has what Jobba has not, +square fields of green barley unwalled outside it. These +are of course due to irrigation, which while waiting we saw at +work from a large well, but they give it a more agricultural look +than the walled palm-groves we have hitherto seen. +Immediately after Igneh we came upon hard ground, and in our +delight indulged our tired mares in a fantasia, which unstiffened +their legs and did them good. The soil <a +name="page209"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 209</span>was +beautifully crisp and firm, being composed of fine ground +granite, quite different from the sandstone formation of Jobba +and Jôf. The vegetation, too, was changed. The +yerta and adr and other Nefûd plants had disappeared, and +in their place were shrubs, which I remember having seen in the +wadys of Mount Sinaï, with occasionally small trees of the +acacia tribe known to pilgrims as the “burning +bush”—in Arabic “talkh”—also a +plant with thick green leaves and no stalks called +“gheyseh,” which they say is good for the eyes. +Every now and then a solitary boulder, all of red granite, rose +out of the plain, or here and there little groups of rounded +rocks, out of which we started several hares. The view in +front of us was beautiful beyond description, a perfectly even +plain, sloping gradually upwards, out of which these rocks and +tells cropped up like islands, and beyond it the violet-coloured +mountains now close before us, with a precipitous cliff which has +been our landmark for several days towering over all. The +outline of Jebel Shammar is strangely fantastic, running up into +spires and domes and pinnacles, with here and there a loop-hole +through which you can see the sky, or a wonderful boulder perched +like a rocking stone on the sky line. One rock was in shape +just like a camel, and would deceive any person who did not know +that a camel could not have climbed up there. At half-past +one we passed the first detached masses of rock which stand like +forts outside a citadel, and, bearing away gradually <a +name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 210</span>to the +left, reached the buttresses of the main body of hills. +These all rise abruptly from the smooth sloping surface of the +plain, and, unlike the mountains of most countries, with no +interval of broken ground. Mount Sinaï is the only +mountain I have seen like this. In both cases you can stand +on a plain, and touch the mountain with your hand. Only at +intervals from clefts in the hills little wadys issue, showing +that it sometimes rains in Jebel Shammar. Indeed to-night, +we shall probably have a proof of this, for a great black cloud +is rising behind the peaks westwards, and every now and then it +thunders. All is tight and secure in our tent against +rain. There is a small ravine in the rock close to where we +are encamped, with a deep natural tank full of the clearest +water. We should never have discovered it but for the +shepherd who came on with us to-day, for it is hidden away under +some gigantic granite boulders, and to get at it you have to +creep through a hole in the rock. A number of bright green +plants grow in among the crevices (capers?), and we have seen a +pair of partridges, little dove-coloured birds with yellow +bills.</p> +<p>We passed a small party of Bedouin Shammar, moving camp +to-day. One of them had a young goshawk <a +name="citation210"></a><a href="#footnote210" +class="citation">[210]</a> on his delúl. They had no +horses with them, and we have not crossed the track of a horse +since leaving Shakik. I forgot to say that yesterday we saw +a Harb Bedouin, an ugly little black <a name="page211"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 211</span>faced man, who told us he was +keeping sheep for the Emir. The Harb are the tribe which +hold the neighbourhood of Medina, and have such an evil +reputation among pilgrims.</p> +<p><i>January</i> 24.—Thunderstorm in the night. We +sent on Radi early this morning, for we had only a few miles to +go, with our letters to Haïl. It was a lovely morning +after the rain, birds singing sweetly from the bushes, but we all +felt anxious. Even Mohammed was silent and preoccupied, for +none knew now what any moment might bring forth. We put on +our best clothes, however, and tried to make our mares look +smart. We had expected to find Haïl the other side of +the hills, but this was a mistake. Instead of crossing +them, we kept along their edge, turning gradually round to the +right, the ground still rising. The barometer at the camp +was 3370, and now it marks an ascent of two hundred feet.</p> +<p>We passed two villages about a mile away to our left, El Akeyt +and El Uta; and from one of them we were joined by some peasants +riding in to Haïl on donkeys. This looked more like +civilisation than anything we had seen since leaving Syria. +We were beginning to get rather nervous about the result of our +message, when Radi appeared and announced that the Emir had read +our letters, and would be delighted to see us. He had +ordered two houses to be made ready for us, and nothing more +remained for us to do, than to ride into the town, and present +ourselves at the kasr. It was not far off, for on coming to +the <a name="page212"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 212</span>top +of the low ridge which had been in front of us for some time, we +suddenly saw Haïl at our feet not half a mile distant. +The town is not particularly imposing, most of the houses being +hidden in palm groves, and the wall surrounding it little more +than ten feet high. The only important building visible, +was a large castle close to the entrance, and this Radi told us +was the kasr, Ibn Rashid’s palace.</p> +<p>In spite of preoccupations, I shall never forget the vivid +impression made on me, as we entered the town, by the +extraordinary spick and span neatness of the walls and streets, +giving almost an air of unreality.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p212.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Reception at Haïl" +title= +"Reception at Haïl" +src="images/p212.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="page213"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +213</span>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<blockquote><p>“There’s daggers in men’s +smiles.”—<span class="smcap">Shakespeare</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">Haïl—The Emir Mohammed Ibn +Rashid—His menagerie—His horses—His +courtiers—His wives—Amusements of the ladies of +Haïl—Their domestic life—An evening at the +castle—The telephone.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">As</span> we stayed some time at +Haïl, I will not give the detail of every day. It +would be tedious, and would involve endless repetitions, and not +a few corrections, for it was only by degrees that we learned to +understand all we saw and all we heard.</p> +<p>Our reception was everything that we could have wished. +As we rode into the courtyard of the kasr, we were met by some +twenty well-dressed men, each one of whom made a handsomer +appearance than any Arabs we had previously seen in our +lives. “The sons of Sheykhs,” whispered +Mohammed, who was rather pale, and evidently much impressed by +the solemnity of the occasion. In their midst stood a +magnificent old man, clothed in scarlet, whose tall figure and +snow-white beard gave us a notion of what Solomon might have been +in all his glory. He carried a long wand in his +hand—it looked like a sceptre—and came solemnly +forward to greet us. “The Emir,” whispered <a +name="page214"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 214</span>Mohammed, +as we all alighted. Wilfrid then gave the usual +“salam aleykum,” to which every one replied +“aleykum salam,” in a loud cheerful tone, with a +cordiality of manner that was very reassuring. I thought I +had never seen so many agreeable faces collected together, or +people with so excellent a demeanour. The old man, smiling, +motioned to us to enter, and others led the way. We were +then informed that these were the servants of the Emir, and the +old man his chamberlain. They showed us first through a +dark tortuous entrance, constructed evidently for purposes of +defence, and then down a dark corridor, one side of which was +composed of pillars, reminding one a little of the entrance to +some ancient Egyptian temple. Then one of the servants +tapped at a low door, and exchanged signals with somebody else +inside, and the door was opened, and we found ourselves in a +large kahwah, or reception room. It was handsome from its +size, seventy feet by thirty, and from the row of five pillars, +which stood in the middle, supporting the roof. The columns +were about four feet in diameter, and were quite plain, with +square capitals, on which the ends of the rafters rested. +The room was lighted by small square air-holes near the roof, and +by the door, which was now left open. The whole of the +inside was white, or rather, brown-washed, and there was no +furniture of any sort, or fittings, except wooden pegs for +hanging swords to, a raised platform opposite the door where the +mortar stood for coffee-pounding, and a square hearth in one +corner, where a fire was burning.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p214.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Emir’s Palace at Haïl" +title= +"The Emir’s Palace at Haïl" +src="images/p214.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><a name="page215"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 215</span>It +was very dark, but we could make out some slaves, busy with +coffee-pots round the fire. Close to this we were invited +to sit down, and then an immense number of polite speeches were +exchanged, our healths being asked after at least twenty times, +and always with some mention of the name of God, for this is +required by politeness in Nejd. Coffee was soon served, and +after this the conversation became general between our servants +and the servants of the Emir, and then there was a stir, and a +general rising, and the word was passed round, “yiji el +Emir,” the Emir is coming. We, too, got up, and this +time it really was the Emir. He came in at the head of a +group of still more smartly-dressed people than those we had seen +before, and held out his hand to Wilfrid, to me, and to Mohammed, +exchanging salutations with each of us in turn, and smiling +graciously. Then we all sat down, and Wilfrid made a short +speech of the sort we had already agreed upon, which the Emir +answered very amiably, saying that he was much pleased to see us, +and that he hoped we should make his house our house. He +then asked Mohammed for news of the road; of Jóhar and +Meskakeh, and especially about the war going on between Sotamm +and Ibn Smeyr. So far so good, and it was plain that we had +nothing now to fear; yet I could not help looking now and then at +those <a name="page216"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +216</span>pegs on the wall, and thinking of the story of the +young Ibn Jabars and their slaves, who had been so treacherously +murdered in this very hall, and by this very man, our host.</p> +<p>The Emir’s face is a strange one. It may be mere +fancy, prompted by our knowledge of Ibn Rashid’s past life, +but his countenance recalled to us the portraits of Richard the +Third, lean, sallow cheeks, much sunken, thin lips, with an +expression of pain, except when smiling, a thin black beard, well +defined black knitted eyebrows, and remarkable eyes,—eyes +deep sunk and piercing, like the eyes of a hawk, but ever turning +restlessly from one of our faces to the other, and then to those +beside him. It was the very type of a conscience-stricken +face, or of one which fears an assassin. His hands, too, +were long and claw-like, and never quiet for an instant, +incessantly playing, while he talked, with his beads, or with the +hem of his abba. With all this, the Emir is very +distinguished in appearance, with a tall figure, and, clothed as +he was in purple and fine linen, he looked every inch a +king. His dress was magnificent; at first we fancied it put +on only in our honour, but this we found to be a mistake, and Ibn +Rashid never wears anything less gorgeous. His costume +consisted of several jibbehs of brocaded Indian silk, a black +abba, interwoven with gold, and at least three kefiyehs, one over +the other, of the kind made at Bagdad. His aghal, also, was +of the Bagdad type, which I had hitherto <a +name="page217"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 217</span>supposed +were only worn by women, bound up with silk and gold thread, and +set high on the forehead, so as to look like a crown. In +the way of arms he wore several golden-hilted daggers and a +handsome golden-hilted sword, ornamented with turquoises and +rubies, Haïl work, as we afterwards found. His +immediate attendants, though less splendid, were also +magnificently clothed.</p> +<p>After about a quarter of an hour’s conversation, +Mohammed ibn Rashid rose and went out, and we were then shown +upstairs by ourselves to a corridor, where dates and bread and +butter were served to us. Then a message came from the +Emir, begging that we would attend his <i>mejlis</i>, the court +of justice which he holds daily in the yard of the palace. +We were not at all prepared for this, and when the castle gate +was opened, and we were ushered out into the sunshine, we were +quite dazzled by the spectacle which met our eyes.</p> +<p>The courtyard, which is about a hundred yards long by fifty +broad, was completely lined with soldiers, not soldiers such as +we are accustomed to in Europe, but still soldiers. They +were, to a certain extent, in uniform, that is to say, they all +wore brown cloaks and blue or red kefiyehs on their heads. +Each, moreover, carried a silver-hilted sword. I counted up +to eight hundred of them forming the square, and they were +sitting in a double row under the walls, one row on a sort of +raised bench, which runs round the yard, and the <a +name="page218"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 218</span>other +squatted on the ground in front of them. The Emir had a +raised seat under the main wall, and he was surrounded by his +friends, notably his cousin Hamúd, who attends him +everywhere, and his favourite slave, Mubarek, whose duty it is to +guard him constantly from assassins. <a name="citation218"></a><a +href="#footnote218" class="citation">[218]</a> In front of +the Emir stood half-a-dozen suppliants, and outside the square of +soldiers, a mob of citizens and pilgrims, for the pilgrimage had +arrived at Haïl. We had to walk across the square +escorted by a slave, and the Emir motioned us to take places at +his side, which we accordingly did; he then went on with his +work. People came with petitions, which were read to him by +Hamúd, and to which he generally put his seal without +discussion, and then there was a quarrel to settle, the rights of +which I confess I did not understand, for the Arabic spoken at +Haïl is different from any we had hitherto heard. I +noticed, however, that though the courtiers addressed Mohammed as +Emir, the poorer people, probably Bedouins, called him “ya +Sheykh,” or simply “ya Mohammed.” One, +who was probably a small Shammar Sheykh, he kissed on the +cheek. Some pilgrims, who had a grievance, also presented +themselves, and had their case very summarily decided; they were +then turned out by the soldiers. No case occupied more than +three minutes, <a name="page219"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +219</span>and the whole thing was over in half-an-hour. At +last the Emir rose, bowed to us, and went into the palace, while +we, very glad to stretch our legs, which were cramped with +squatting on the bench barely a foot wide, were escorted to our +lodgings by the chamberlain and two of the soldiers.</p> +<p>We found a double house provided for us in the main street of +Haïl, and not two hundred yards from the kasr—a house +without pretence, but sufficient for our wants, and secure from +all intruders, for the street door could be locked, and the walls +were high. It consisted of two separate houses, as I +believe most dwellings in Arabia do, one for men and the other +for women. In the former there was a kahwah and a couple of +smaller rooms, and this we gave over to Mohammed and the +servants, keeping the <i>harim</i> for ourselves. This last +had a small open court, just large enough for the three mares to +stand in, an open vestibule of the sort they call <i>liwan</i> at +Damascus, and two little dens. In one of these dens we +stored our luggage, and in the other, spread our beds. The +doors of these inner rooms could be locked up when we went out, +with curious wooden locks and wooden keys; the doors were of +ithel wood. All was exceedingly simple, but in decent +repair and clean, the only ornaments being certain patterns, +scratched out in white from the brown wash which covered the +walls. Here we soon made ourselves comfortable, and were +not sorry to rest at last, after our long journey.</p> +<p><a name="page220"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 220</span>Our +rest, however, was not to come yet. It was only one +o’clock when we arrived at our house, and before two, the +Emir sent for us again. This time the reception was a +private one in the upper rooms of the kasr, and we found the Emir +alone with Hamúd. He received us with even more +cordiality than before, and with less ceremony. We had +brought presents with us, the duty of displaying which we left to +Mohammed, who expatiated on their value and nature with all the +art of a bazaar merchant. As for us, we were a little +ashamed of their insignificance, for we had had no conception of +Ibn Rashid’s true position when we left Damascus, and the +scarlet cloth jibbeh we had considered the <i>ne plus ultra</i> +of splendour for him, looked shabby among the gorgeous dresses +worn at Haïl. We had added to the cloak and other +clothes, which are the usual gifts of ceremony, a revolver in a +handsome embroidered case, a good telescope, and a Winchester +rifle, any one of which would have made Jedaan or Ibn Shaalan +open his eyes with pleasure; but Ibn Rashid, though far too +well-bred not to admire and approve, cared evidently little for +these things, having seen them all before. Even the rifle +was no novelty, for he had an exactly similar one in his +armoury. Poor Mohammed, however, went on quite naïvely +with his descriptions, while the Emir looked out of window +through the telescope, pretending to be examining the wall +opposite, for there was no view. Hamúd, his cousin, +<a name="page221"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 221</span>whose +acquaintance we now made, is more <i>sympathique</i> than the +Emir, though they are ridiculously like each other in face, but +Hamúd has the advantage of a good conscience, and has no +vengeance to fear. They were dressed also alike, so that it +was difficult at first to know them apart; perhaps there is a +motive in this, as with the Richmonds of Shakespeare. The +Emir’s room was on the same plan as the kahwah, but +smaller, and boasting only two columns, the coffee place in the +right-hand corner as you enter, and the Emir’s fireplace, +with a fire burning in it, on an iron plate in front. +Persian carpets were spread, and there were plenty of cushions to +lean against by the wall. We were invited to sit down to +the left of the Emir and Hamúd, who never seems to leave +his side. Mohammed had a place on the right, between them +and the door. Coffee, and a very sweet tea, were handed +round in thimblefuls, and a good deal of conversation +ensued. We had brought a letter from our old friend the +Nawab Ikbal ed-Dowlah, who had been at Haïl about forty +years ago, in the time of Abdallah ibn Rashid. <a +name="citation221"></a><a href="#footnote221" +class="citation">[221]</a> The Emir remembered his coming, +though he must have been a child at the time, and said some +pretty things in compliment of him. He then asked Mohammed +about his Arûk relations in Jôf, and said that they +had <a name="page222"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +222</span>always been faithful to him. They had taken the +Emir’s part, it would seem, in some revolt which took place +there a few years ago. There was also an Ibn Arûk in +Harík, a Bedouin sheykh, who the Emir said was a friend of +his; at least, he was on bad terms with Ibn Saoud and the +Wahhabis, and this is a title to favour at Haïl. Ibn +Rashid is very jealous of Ibn Saoud, and now that the Wahhabi +empire is broken up, fosters any discontent there may be in +Aared. I believe many of the Bedouin sheykhs of Upper Nejd +have come over to him. Mohammed, thus encouraged, launched +out into his favourite tales, and repeated the Ibn Arûk +legend, which, I confess, I am beginning to get a little tired +of, and then went on to describe the wonders of Tudmur, of which +he now implied, without exactly stating it in words, that he was +actual Sheykh. The house he lived in at home, he said, had +columns of marble, each sixty feet in height, and had been built +originally by Suliman ibn Daoud. There were two hundred of +these columns in and around it, and the walls were twenty feet +thick. The Emir, who seemed rather perplexed by this, +appealed to us for confirmation, and we told him that all this +really existed at Tudmur; indeed, there was no gainsaying the +fact that Mohammed’s father’s house had some of the +objects named on the premises, though the house itself is but a +little square box of mud. The city wall, in fact, makes one +side of the stable, and a column or two have been <a +name="page223"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 223</span>worked into +the modern building; but this we did not think it necessary to +explain. Mohammed’s reputation rose in consequence, +and I already began to fear that the Emir’s civilities had +turned his head. I heard him whisper to Hamúd that +the silver-hilted sword he is wearing, and which is the one +Wilfrid gave him at Damascus, was an ancestral relic; it had +been, he said, “min zeman,” from time immemorial, in +the Arûk family. He had also established a fiction, +in which he privately entreated us to join, that we started from +home with a hawk (for all the best falcons come from Tudmur), and +lost it on the journey. <a name="citation223"></a><a +href="#footnote223" class="citation">[223]</a></p> +<p>While we were discussing these important matters, the call to +prayer was heard, and the two Ibn Rashids, begging us to remain +seated, rose and went out.</p> +<p>They were absent a few minutes, and on their return the Emir, +to our great delight, proposed to show us his gardens, and +immediately led the way down tortuous passages and through courts +and doors into a palm grove surrounded by a high wall. Here +we were joined by numerous slaves, some black, some white, for +there are both sorts at Haïl. A number of gazelles +were running about, and came up quite familiarly as we +entered. These were of two varieties, one browner than the +other, answering, I believe, to what are called the +“gazelle des <a name="page224"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +224</span>bois,” and the “gazelle des plaines,” +in Algeria. There were also a couple of ibexes with immense +heads, tame like the gazelles, and allowing themselves to be +stroked. The gazelles seemed especially at home, and we +were told that they breed here in captivity. The most +interesting, however, of all the animals in this garden were +three of the wild cows (bakar wahhash), from the Nefûd, +which we had so much wished to see. They proved to be, as +we had supposed, a kind of antelope, <a name="citation224"></a><a +href="#footnote224" class="citation">[224]</a> though their +likeness to cows was quite close enough to account for their +name. They stood about as high as an Alderney calf six +months old, and had humps on their shoulders like the Indian +cattle. In colour they were a yellowish white, with reddish +legs turning to black towards the feet. The face was +parti-coloured, and the horns, which were black, were quite +straight and slanted backwards, and fully three feet long, with +spiral markings. These wild cows were less tame than the +rest of the animals, and the slaves were rather afraid of them, +for they seemed ready to use their horns, which were as sharp as +needles. The animals, though fat, evidently suffered from +confinement, for all were lame, one with an enlarged knee, and +the rest with overgrown hoofs. When we had seen and admired +the menagerie, and fed the antelopes with dates, we went on +through a low door, which we had almost to creep through, into +another garden, where there were <a name="page225"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 225</span>lemon trees (treng), bitter oranges +(hámud), and pomegranates (roman). The Emir, who was +very polite and attentive to me, had some of the fruit picked and +gave me a bunch of a kind of thyme, the only flower growing +there. We saw some camels at work drawing water from a +large well, a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet deep, to judge +by the rope. The Emir then crept through another low door +and we after him, and then to our great satisfaction we found +ourselves in a stable-yard full of mares, tethered in rows each +to a manger. I was almost too excited to look, for it was +principally to see these that we had come so far.</p> +<p>This yard contained about twenty mares, and beyond it was +another with a nearly equal number. Then there was a third +with eight horses, tethered in like manner; and beyond it again a +fourth with thirty or forty foals. I will not now describe +all we saw, for the Emir’s stud will require a chapter to +itself. Suffice it to say, that Wilfrid’s first +impression and mine were alike. The animals we saw before +us were not comparable for beauty of form or for quality with the +best we had seen among the Gomussa. The Emir, however, gave +us little time for reflection, for with a magnificent wave of his +hand, and explaining with mock humility, “The horses of my +slaves,” he dragged us on from one yard to another, +allowing us barely time to ask a few questions as to breed, for +the answers to which he referred us to Hamúd. We had +seen enough, <a name="page226"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +226</span>however, to make us very happy, and Hamúd had +promised that we should see them again. There was no doubt +whatever that, in spite of the Emir’s disclaimer, these +were Ibn Rashid’s celebrated mares, the representatives of +that stud of Feysul ibn Saoud, about which such a romance had +been made.</p> +<p>An equally interesting spectacle, the Emir thought for us, was +his kitchen, to which he now showed the way. Here, with +unconcealed pride, he displayed his pots and pans, especially +seven monstrous cauldrons, capable each, he declared, of boiling +three whole camels. Several of them were actually at work, +for Ibn Rashid entertains nearly two hundred guests daily, +besides his own household. Forty sheep or seven camels are +his daily bill of fare. As we came out, we found the hungry +multitude already assembling. Every stranger in Haïl +has his place at Ibn Rashid’s table, and towards sunset the +courtyard begins to fill. The Emir does not himself preside +at these feasts. He always dines alone, or in his harim; +but the slaves and attendants are extraordinarily well-drilled, +and behave with perfect civility to all comers, rich and poor +alike. Our own dinner was brought to us at our house. +Thus ended our first day at Haïl, a day of wonderful +interest, but not a little fatiguing. “Ya +akhi,” (oh my brother), said Mohammed ibn Arûk to +Wilfrid that evening, as they sat smoking and drinking their +coffee, “did I not promise you that you should see Nejd, +and Ibn Rashid, and the mares <a name="page227"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 227</span>of Haïl, and have you not seen +them?” We both thanked him, and, indeed, we both felt +very grateful. Not that the favours were all on one side; +for brotherly offices had been very evenly balanced, and Mohammed +had been quite as eager to make this journey as we had. +But, alas! our pleasant intercourse with Mohammed was very near +its end.</p> +<p>The next few days of our life at Haïl may be briefly +described. Wilfrid and Mohammed went every morning to the +mejlis, and then paid visits, sometimes to Hamúd, +sometimes to Mubarek, sometimes to the Emir. A slave +brought us our breakfast daily from the kasr, and a soldier came +to escort us through the streets. Mohammed had now made +acquaintances of his own, and was generally out all day +long. I stayed very much in doors, and avoided passing +through the streets, except when invited to come to the castle, +for we had agreed that discretion was the better part of valour +with us. That there was some reason for this prudence I +think probable, for though we never experienced anything but +politeness from the Haïl people, we heard afterwards that +some among them were not best pleased at the reception given us +by the Emir. Europeans had never before been seen in Nejd; +and it is possible that a fanatical feeling might have arisen if +we had done anything to excite it. Wahhabism is on the +decline, but not yet extinct at Haïl; and the Wahhabis would +of course have been our enemies. In the Emir’s house, +or even under <a name="page228"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +228</span>charge of one of his officers, we were perfectly safe, +but wandering about alone would have been rash. The object, +too, would have been insufficient, for away from the Court there +is little to see at Haïl.</p> +<p>With Hamúd and his family we made great friends. +He was a man who at once inspired confidence, and we had no cause +to regret having acted on our first impression of his +character. He has always, they say, refused to take +presents from the Emir; and has never approved of his conduct, +though he has sided with him politically, and serves him +faithfully as a brother. His manners are certainly as +distinguished as can be found anywhere in the world, and he is +besides intelligent and well informed. The Emir is +different; with him there was always a certain +<i>gêne</i>. It was impossible to forget the horrible +story of his usurpation; and there was something, too, about him +which made it impossible to feel quite at ease in his +presence. Though he knows how to behave with dignity, he +does not always do so. It is difficult to reconcile his +almost childish manner, at times, with the ability he has given +proofs of. He has something of the spoiled child in his way +of wandering on from one subject to another; and, like +Jóhar, of asking questions which he does not always wait +to hear answered, a piece of ill-manners not altogether unroyal, +and so, perhaps, the effect of his condition as a sovereign +prince. He is also very naïvely <a +name="page229"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 229</span>vain, as +most people become who are fed constantly on flattery; and he is +continually on the look-out for compliments about his power, and +his wisdom, and his possessions. His jealousy of other +great Sheykhs whom we have seen is often childishly +displayed. Hamúd has none of this. I fancy he +stands to his cousin Mohammed somewhat in the position in which +Morny is supposed to have stood to Louis Napoleon, only that +Morny was neither so good a man nor even so fine a gentleman as +Hamúd. He gives the Emir advice, and in private +speaks his mind, only appearing to the outer world as the +obsequious follower of his prince. Hamúd has several +sons, the eldest of whom, Majid, has all his father’s charm +of manner, and has, besides, the attraction of perfectly candid +youth, and a quite ideal beauty. He is about sixteen, and +he and his brother and a young uncle came to see us the morning +after our arrival, sent by their father to pay their +compliments. He talked very much and openly about +everything, and gave us a quantity of information about the +various mares at the Emir’s stable, and about his +father’s mares and his own. He then went on to tell +us of an expedition he had made with the Emir to the +neighbourhood of Queyt, and of how he had seen the sea. +They had made a ghazú on the felláhín of the +sea-coast, and had then returned. He asked me how I rode on +horseback, and I showed him my side-saddle, which, however, did +not surprise him. “It is a shedad,” he said; <a +name="page230"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 230</span>“you +ride as one rides a delúl.” This young Majid, +though he looks quite a boy, is married; and we were informed +that here no one of good family puts off marriage after the age +of sixteen. I made acquaintance with his wife Urgheyeh, who +is very pretty, very small in stature, and very young; she is one +of Metaab’s daughters, and her sister is married to +Hamúd, so that father and son are brothers-in-law.</p> +<p>Mubarek, the Emir’s chief slave, was one of our +particular acquaintances. He inhabits a very handsome +house, as houses go in Haïl; and there Wilfrid paid him more +than one visit. His house is curiously decorated with +designs in plaster of birds and beasts—ostriches, +antelopes, and camels. Though a slave, Mubarek has not in +appearance the least trace of negro blood; and it is still a +mystery to us how he happens to be one. He is a well-bred +person, and has done everything in his power to make things +pleasant for us.</p> +<p>On the second day after our arrival, after the usual +compliments and some conversation, I asked the Emir’s +permission to pay a visit to the harim. Mohammed ibn Rashid +appeared gratified by my request, which he immediately granted, +saying that he would send to the khawatin (ladies) to inform +them, and desire them to prepare for my reception. He +accordingly despatched a messenger, but we sat on talking for a +long time before anything came of the message; I had grown quite +tired of waiting, <a name="page231"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +231</span>and was already wondering how soon we should be at +liberty to return home, where I might write my journal in secret, +when the servant re-appeared, and brought us word that Amusheh, +the Emir’s chief wife, was ready to receive me. I +fancy that ladies here seldom dress with any care unless they +want to display their silks and jewels to some visitor; and on +such special occasions their toilet is a most elaborate one, with +kohl and fresh paint, and takes a long time. The Emir at +once put me in charge of a black slave woman, who led the way to +the harim. Hamúd’s wives as well as +Mohammed’s live in the palace, but in separate +dwellings. The kasr is almost a town in itself, and I and +my black guide walked swiftly through so many alleys and courts, +and turned so many corners to the right and to the left, that if +I had been asked to find my way back unassisted, I certainly +could not have done it. At last, however, after crossing a +very large courtyard, we stopped at a small low door. This +was open, and through it I could see a number of people sitting +round a fire within, for it was the entrance to Amusheh’s +kahwah. This room had two columns supporting the ceiling, +like all other rooms I had seen in the palace, except the great +kahwah, which has five. The fire-place, as usual, an oblong +hole in the ground, was on the left as one entered, in the corner +near the door; in it stood a brazier containing the fire, and +between it and the wall handsome carpets had been spread. +All the persons present <a name="page232"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 232</span>rose to their feet as I +arrived. Amusheh could easily be singled out from among the +crowd, even before she advanced to do the honours. She +possesses a certain distinction of appearance and manner which +would be recognised anywhere, and completely eclipsed the rest of +the company. But she, the daughter of Obeyd and sister of +Hamúd, has every right to outshine friends, relatives, and +fellow wives. Her face, though altogether less regularly +shaped than her brother’s, is sufficiently good-looking, +with a well-cut nose and mouth, and something singularly +sparkling and brilliant. Hedusheh and Lulya, the two next +wives, who were present, had gold brocade as rich as hers, and +lips and cheeks smeared as red as hers with carmine, and eyes +with borders kohled as black as hers, but lacked her charm. +Amusheh is besides clever and amusing, and managed to keep up a +continual flow of conversation, in which the other two hardly +ventured to join. They sat looking pretty and agreeable, +but were evidently kept in a subordinate position. Lulya +shares with Amusheh, as the latter informed me, what they +consider the great privilege of never leaving town, thus taking +precedence of Hedusheh, on whom devolves the duty of following +the Emir’s fortunes in the desert, where he always spends a +part of the year in tents. The obligation of such foreign +service is accounted derogatory, and accordingly objected to by +these Haïl ladies. They have no idea of amusement, if +I may judge from what they said to me, <a +name="page233"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 233</span>but a firm +conviction that perfect happiness and dignity consist in sitting +still.</p> +<p>This happiness Amusheh and I enjoyed for some time. We +sat together on one carpet spread over a mattress, cushions being +ranged along the wall behind us for us to lean against, and the +fire in front scorching our faces while we talked. On my +right sat Hedusheh; beyond her Lulya and the rest of the company, +making a circle round the fireplace. Before long, Atwa, a +pretty little girl, who was introduced to me as the fourth wife, +came in and took her place beyond Lulya. She looked more +like a future wife than one actually married, being very young; +and indeed it presently appeared that she had merely been brought +to be looked at and considered about, and that the Emir had +decided to reject her as too childish and insignificant. <a +name="citation233"></a><a href="#footnote233" +class="citation">[233]</a> He was, in fact, casting about +in his mind for some suitable alliance which should bring him +political support, as well as an increase of domestic +comfort. That these were the objects of his new matrimonial +projects I soon learned from his own mouth, from the questions he +asked me about the marriageable daughters of Bedouin +Sheyks. What could, indeed, be more suitable for his +purpose than some daughter of a great desert sheykh, whose family +should be valuable allies in war, while she herself, the ideal +fourth wife, unlike these ladies of the town, should be <a +name="page234"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 234</span>always +ready to accompany her husband to the desert, and should indeed +prefer the desert to the town?</p> +<p>Among other persons present were several oldish women, +relatives, whose names and exact relationship have slipped my +memory; also a few friends and a vast number of attendants and +slaves, these last mostly black. They all squatted round +the fire, each trying to get into the front rank, and to seize +every opportunity of wedging in a remark, by way of joining in +the conversation of their betters. None of these outsiders +were otherwise than plainly dressed in the dark blue or black +cotton or woollen stuffs, used by ordinary Bedouin women in this +part of Arabia, often bordered with a very narrow red edge, like +a cord or binding, which looks well. The rich clothes worn +by Amusheh and her companion wives are somewhat difficult to +describe, presenting as they did an appearance of splendid +shapelessness. Each lady had a garment cut like an abba, +but closed up the front, so that it must have been put on over +the head; and as it was worn without any belt or fastening at the +waist, it had the effect of a sack. These sacks or bags +were of magnificent material, gold interwoven with silk, but +neither convenient nor becoming, effectually hiding any grace of +figure. Amusheh wore crimson and gold, and round her neck a +mass of gold chains studded with turquoises and pearls. Her +hair hung down in four long plaits, plastered smooth with some <a +name="page235"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 235</span>reddish +stuff, and on the top of her head stuck a gold and turquoise +ornament, like a small plate, about four inches in +diameter. This was placed forward at the edge of the +forehead, and fastened back with gold and pearl chains to another +ornament resembling a lappet, also of gold and turquoise, hooked +on behind the head, and having flaps which fell on each side of +the head and neck, ending in long strings of pearls with +bell-shaped gold and pearl tassels. The pearls were all +irregularly shaped and unsorted as to size, the turquoises very +unequal in shape, size, and quality, the coral generally in +beads. The gold work was mostly good, some of it said to be +from Persia, but the greater part of Haïl workmanship. +I had nearly forgotten to mention the nose-ring, here much larger +than I have seen it at Bagdad and elsewhere, measuring an inch +and a half to two inches across. It consists of a thin +circle of gold, with a knot of gold and turquoises attached by a +chain to the cap or lappet before described. It is worn in +the left nostril, but taken out and left dangling while the +wearer eats and drinks. A most inconvenient ornament, I +thought and said, and when removed it leaves an unsightly hole, +badly pierced, in the nostril, and more uncomfortable-looking +than the holes in European ears. But fashion rules the +ladies at Haïl as in other places, and my new acquaintances +only laughed at such criticisms. They find these trinkets +useful toys, and amuse themselves while <a +name="page236"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 236</span>talking by +continually pulling them out and putting them in again. The +larger size of ring seemed besides to be a mark of high position, +so that the diameter of the circle might be considered the +measure of the owner’s rank, for the rings of all inferiors +were kept within the inch.</p> +<p>Amusheh was very communicative, but told me so many new names, +that I could not remember all the information she volunteered +about the Ibn Rashid family and relationships. She remarked +that neither she nor any of Mohammed’s wives had any +children, a fact which I already knew, and not from Radi alone; +for it is the talk of the town and tribe that this is a judgment +for the Emir’s crimes. She spoke with great affection +of her nephew Majid and of her brother Hamúd, and with +veneration of her father Obeyd, but I cannot recollect that she +told me anything new about any of them. She spoke too of +Tellál, but of course made no mention of Bender. +Indeed, anxious as I was for any information she might give, I +knew too much of the family history and secrets to venture on +asking many questions; besides, any show of curiosity might have +made her suspect me of some unavowed motive. I therefore +felt more at ease when the conversation wandered from dangerous +topics to safe and trivial ones, such as the manners and customs +of different countries. “Why do you not wear your +hair like mine?” said she, holding out one of her long +auburn plaits for me to admire; and I had <a +name="page237"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 237</span>to explain +that such short locks as mine were not sufficient for the +purpose. “Then why did I not dress in gold +brocade?” “How unsuitable,” I replied, +“would such beautiful stuffs be for the rough work of +travelling, hunting, and riding in the desert.” When +we talked of riding, Amusheh seemed for a moment doubtful whether +to be completely satisfied about her own lot in life—she +would like, she said, to see me on my mare; and I promised she +should, if possible, be gratified; but the opportunity never +occurred, and perhaps the supreme authority did not care that it +should. Even she might become discontented. Thus +conversing, time slipped away, and the midday call to prayer +sounded. My hostess then begged me to excuse her, and +added, “I wish to pray.” She and the rest then +got up and went to say their prayers in the middle of the +room. After this she returned and continued the +conversation where we had left it off.</p> +<p>Some slaves now brought a tray, which they placed before +me. On it was a regular solid breakfast: a large dish of +rice in the middle, set round with small bowls of various sorts +of rich and greasy sauces to be eaten with the rice. I +excused myself as well as I could for my want of appetite, and +said that I had this very morning eaten one of the hares sent to +us by the Emir. Of course I was only exhorted all the more +to eat, and obliged to go through the form of trying; but +fortunately there were other hungry mouths at hand, and eager +eyes <a name="page238"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +238</span>watching till the dishes should be passed on to them, +so I got off pretty easily.</p> +<p>Amusheh afterwards invited me to go upstairs, that she might +show me her own private apartment, on the floor above the +kahwah. I followed her up a steep staircase, of which each +step was at least eighteen inches in height. It led +nowhere, except to a single room, the same size as the one below, +and built in the same way, with two columns supporting the roof, +and with a window in a recess corresponding to the door +beneath. This apartment was well carpeted, and contained +for other furniture a large bed, or couch, composed of a pile of +mattresses, with a velvet and gold counterpane spread over it; +also a kind of press or cupboard, a box (sanduk) rather clumsily +made of dark wood, ornamented by coarse, thin plaques of silver +stuck on it here and there. The press stood against the +wall, and might be five feet long and two to three feet high, +opening with two doors, and raised about two feet from the floor +on four thin legs. Underneath and in front of it were three +or four rows of china and crockery of a common sort, and a few +Indian bowls, all arranged on the carpet like articles for sale +in the streets. Amusheh asked what I thought of her house, +was it nice? And after satisfying herself of my +approbation, she conducted me down again, and we sat as before on +the mattress between the brazier and the wall.</p> +<p>During my stay, the Emir paid two visits to the <a +name="page239"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 239</span>kahwah, and +each time that he appeared at the door the crowd and the wives, +except Amusheh, rose and remained standing until he left. +Amusheh only made a slight bow or movement, as if about to rise, +and kept her place by me while her husband stood opposite to us +talking. He addressed himself almost entirely to me, and +spoke chiefly in the frivolous, almost puerile, manner he +sometimes affects. He inquired my opinion of his wives, +whether they were more beautiful and charming than Ibn +Shaalan’s wife, Ghiowseh, the sister of El Homeydi ibn +Meshur, or than his former wife, Turkya, Jedaan’s daughter, +who had left him and returned to her father’s tent. +In the forty-eight hours since my arrival at Haïl, the Emir +had already asked me many questions about these two ladies, and I +now answered for the hundredth time that Turkya was pretty and +nice, and that Ghiowseh was still prettier, but very +domineering. He was, however, determined on a comparison of +the two families, and it was fortunate that now, having seen +Amusheh, Hedusheh, and Lulya and Atwa, I could say with truth +they were handsomer, even the poor little despised Atwa, than +their rivals. He was rather impatient of Atwa being classed +with the others, and said, “Oh, Atwa, I don’t want +her; she is worth nothing.” His character is, as I +have already said, a strange mixture of remarkable ability and +political insight on the one hand, and on the other a tendency to +waste time and <a name="page240"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +240</span>thought on the most foolish trifles, if they touch his +personal vanity. Of his ability I judge by his extremely +interesting remarks on serious subjects, as well as by the +position he has been able to seize and to keep. Of his +energy no one can doubt, for he has shown it, alas, by his +crimes; but he is so eaten up with petty personal jealousies, +that I sometimes wonder whether these would influence his conduct +at an important political crisis. I think, however, that at +such a moment all little vanities would be forgotten, for he is +above all things ambitious, and his vanity is, as it were, a part +and parcel of his ambition. He is personally jealous of all +other renowned chiefs, because here in Arabia personal heroism +is, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world since the age of +chivalry, an engine of political power. He would, I doubt +not, make alliance with Sotamm, if necessary to gain his ends; +nevertheless, he could not resist talking to me about Ibn Shaalan +at this most inappropriate moment, evidently hoping to hear +something disparaging of his rival. I confess I found it +embarrassing to undergo an examination as to the merits of +Ghiowseh and Turkya in the presence of Mohammed’s own +wives, who all listened with wide open eyes, breathless with +attention. My embarrassment only increased when, after the +Emir was gone, Amusheh, on her part, immediately attacked me with +a volley of questions. While he remained he had persisted +in his inquiries, especially about <a name="page241"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 241</span>Turkya, till I, being driven into a +corner, at last lost patience, and exclaimed, “But why do +you ask me these questions? Why do you want to hear about +Turkya? What is it to you whether she is fair or +kind? You never have seen her, nor is it likely you ever +will see her!” “No,” he replied, “I +have never seen her. Yet I want to know something about +her, and to hear your opinion of her. Perhaps some day I +may like to marry her. I might take her instead of this +little girl,” pointing to Atwa, “who will never do +for me, and whom I will not have. She is worthless,” +he repeated, “worthless.” Poor little Atwa +stood listening, but I think with stolid indifference, for I +watched her countenance, and could not detect even a passing +shade of regret or disappointment. Indeed, of all the +wives, Amusheh alone seemed to me to have any personal feeling of +affection for the Emir. She, the moment he had left, fell +upon me with questions. “Who is Turkya?” she +asked, almost gasping for breath. It surprised me that she +did not know, for she knew who El-Homeydi ibn Meshur was. I +had to explain that his sister Ghiowseh had married Sotamm ibn +Shaalan, and to tell her the story of Sotamm’s second +marriage; and of how Ghiowseh had determined to get rid of her +rival, and succeeded in making the latter so uncomfortable, that +she had left, and had since refused to return. Amusheh +certainly cares about Ibn Rashid, and I thought she feared lest a +new element of discord should be <a name="page242"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 242</span>brought into the family. As to +her own position, it could hardly be affected by the arrival of a +new wife; she, as Hamúd’s sister, must be secure of +her rank and influence, and the Emir, with his guilty conscience, +would never dare, if he ever wished, to slight her or +Hamúd, to whose support he owes so much.</p> +<p>From Amusheh’s house I went with a black slave girl to +another house also within the kasr, that of Hamúd’s +wife, Beneyeh, a daughter of Metaab. There I saw Urgheyeh, +her sister, married to Majid, son of Hamúd; also another +wife of Hamúd’s. This last person I found was +not considered as an equal, and on asking about her birth and +parentage, was told, “She is the daughter of a +Shammar.” “Who?” I inquired. +“Ahad” (one). “But <i>who</i> is +he?” “Ahad,—fulan min Haïl min el +belad” (some one, a person of the town). She was +hardly considered as belonging to the family. The third and +fourth wives, whom I afterwards saw, are, like the first, +relations, one a daughter of Tellál, and the other of +Suleyman, Hamúd’s uncle on the mother’s side +(khal). These four are young; Majid’s mother, whose +name I never heard, died, I believe, several years ago. +Hamúd, like the Emir, keeps up the number of his wives to +the exact figure permitted by the law of the Koran, any one who +dies or fails to please being replaced as we replace a +servant.</p> +<p>Beneyeh met me at her door, and we went <a +name="page243"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 243</span>through a +little ante-room or vestibule into her kahwah. Here we +remained only a few moments till, to my surprise, three +arm-chairs were brought and placed in the ante-room. On +these I and Beneyeh and the second class wife sat, drinking tea +out of tea-cups, with saucers and tea-spoons. The cups were +filled to the brim, and the tea in them then filled to +overflowing with lumps of sugar. It was, however, +good. A pile of sweet limes was then brought; slaves peeled +the fruits, and divided them into quarters, which they handed +round. After these refreshments Beneyeh wished to show me +her room upstairs. It was reached, like Amusheh’s +private apartment, by a rugged staircase from the kahwah, and was +built in the same style, with two columns supporting the rafters, +only it had no outlook, being lighted only by two small openings +high up in the wall. It was, however, more interesting than +Amusheh’s room, for its walls were decorated with +arms. There were eighteen or twenty swords, and several +guns and daggers, arranged with some care and taste as +ornaments. The guns were all very old-fashioned things, +with long barrels, but most of them beautifully inlaid with +silver. Two of the daggers we had already seen in the +evening, when the Emir sent for them to show us as specimens of +the excellence of Haïl goldsmiths’ work. The +swords, or sword-hilts, were of various degrees of richness, the +blades I did not see. Unfortunately at the moment I did not +think of <a name="page244"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +244</span>Obeyd and his three wishes, and so forgot to ask +Beneyeh whether Obeyd’s sword was among these; it would not +have done to inquire about the widow, but there would have been +no impropriety in asking about the sword, and I afterwards the +more regretted having omitted to do so, because this proved to be +my only opportunity. It would have been curious to +ascertain whether Obeyd wore a plain unjewelled weapon in keeping +with Wahhabi austerity. He would surely have disapproved, +could he have foreseen it, of the gold and jewels, not to mention +silks and brocaded stuffs now worn by his descendants; for his +own children have none of the severe asceticism attributed to +him, although they inherit his love of prayer.</p> +<p>Hamúd came upstairs while I was there with Beneyeh, but +he only stayed a few minutes. They seemed to be on very +good terms, and after he left she talked a great deal about him, +and seemed very proud of him. “This is +Hamúd’s, and this, and this,” said she, +“and here is his bed,” pointing to a pile of +mattresses with a fine coverlid. There were several +European articles of furniture in the room, an iron bedstead with +mattresses, several common looking-glasses, with badly gilt +frames, and a clock with weights. Urgheyeh now joined us, +and Beneyeh particularly showed me a handsome necklace her sister +wore of gold and coral, elaborately worked. “This was +my father’s,” she told me, adding that the ornament +came from Persia. <a name="page245"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 245</span>Beneyeh is immensely proud of her +son, Abdallah, a fine boy of four months old. She and her +sister were so amiable and anxious to please, that I could +willingly have spent the rest of the afternoon with them. +But it was now time to pay my next visit. After many +good-byes and good wishes from both sisters, my black guide +seized hold of my hand, and we proceeded to the apartments of +another wife of Hamúd, Zehowa, daughter of +Tellál. She is sympathetic and intelligent, +extremely small and slight, with the tiniest of hands. Like +the other ladies, she wore rings on her fingers, with big, +irregular turquoises. We sat by the fire and ate sweet +limes and trengs and drank tea. Zehowa sent for her +daughter, a baby only nine months old, to show me, and I told her +I had a daughter of my own, and that girls were better than boys, +which pleased her, and she answered, “Yes, the daughter is +the mother’s, but the son belongs to the father.”</p> +<p>Presently one of the guards, a tall black fellow, all in +scarlet, came with a message for me, a request from the Beg that +I would join him in the Emir’s kahwah, where he was waiting +for me. Zehowa, like her cousins, begged hard that I would +stay, or at least promise to visit her again as soon as possible, +and I, bidding her farewell, followed the scarlet and black +swordsman through courts, alleys, and passages to the kahwah, +where I found Wilfrid. He was being entertained by an +elderly man with coffee and conversation. This personage +was Mubarek, <a name="page246"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +246</span>already mentioned as the chief of the slaves, and he +had been giving Wilfrid a vast deal of interesting information +about horses, especially the dispersion of Feysul ibn +Saoud’s stud, and the chief sources from which that +celebrated collection was obtained. It had been originally +got together, he said, entirely from the Bedouins, both of Nejd +and of the north, by purchase and in war.</p> +<p>I never saw Zehowa, Beneyeh, or Amusheh again, for the next +few days were fully occupied, and afterwards, owing to our +finding ourselves involved in a network of mystery, and subject +to an adverse influence, the pressure of which made itself felt +without our being able at first to lay hold of anything tangible, +or even to conjecture the cause, it became more than ever an +object to us to remain quiet and unobserved. But I am +anticipating circumstances to be detailed further on.</p> +<p>About three days later I paid a visit to the harim of +Hamúd’s uncle. This gentleman, Suleyman, we +were already acquainted with, from seeing him at Court on several +occasions. He had sent me an invitation to visit his +family, and two black slaves came to escort me to their house, +one of the dependencies of the palace. In a kahwah opening +out of a small yard, I found the old man waiting to receive +me. He dyes his beard red, and loves books, amidst a pile +of which he was sitting. I was in hopes that his +conversation would be instructive, and we had just begun to talk +when, <a name="page247"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +247</span>alas, his wife came in with a rush, followed by a crowd +of other women, upon which he hastily gathered up all his books +and some manuscripts which were lying about, and putting some of +them away in a cupboard, carried off the rest and made his +escape.</p> +<p>Ghut, his wife, was the stupidest person I had seen at +Haïl, but very talkative, and hospitable with dates, fresh +butter floating in its own buttermilk, and sugar-plums. The +many-coloured crowd of white, brown, and black attendants, +slaves, and children, were not in much awe of her, and chattered +away without a check to their hearts’ content. All +were, however, respectful and attentive to me. Ghut’s +daughter, another Zehowa, presently arrived with a slave carrying +her son, Abderrahman, a child about a year old. This Zehowa +was good-looking, but nearly as stupid and tiresome as her +mother. She was very much taken up with showing me her box +of trinkets, which she sent for on purpose to display before me +its contents. These were of the usual sort, gold ornaments +for head and arms and ankles, set with turquoises and strings of +pearls. The furniture of the room, which she and her mother +specially pointed out for my admiration, was also like what I had +already seen—presses or boxes on legs, and ornamented with +rude silver plaques.</p> +<p>The conversation was dull. Here is a sample:</p> +<p class="gutindent"><span class="smcap"><i>I</i></span><span +class="smcap">. “</span>What do you do all day +long<span class="smcap">?”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>Zeh.</i><span class="smcap"> +“</span>We live in the kasr<span +class="smcap">.”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>I</i>.<span class="smcap"> +“</span>Don’t you go out at all<span +class="smcap">?”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><a name="page248"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 248</span><i>Zeh.</i><span +class="smcap"> “</span>No<span class="smcap">; +</span>we always stay in the kasr<span +class="smcap">.”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>I</i>.<span class="smcap"> +“</span>Then you never ride as we do<span +class="smcap">?” (</span>I always ask if they ride, +to see the effect<span class="smcap">.)</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>Zeh.</i><span class="smcap"> +“</span>No, we have no mares to ride<span +class="smcap">.”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>I</i>.<span class="smcap"> +“</span>What a pity! and don’t you ever go into the +country outside Haïl, the desert<span +class="smcap">?”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>Zeh.</i><span class="smcap"> +“</span>Oh, no, of course not<span +class="smcap">.”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>I</i>.<span class="smcap"> +“</span>But, to pass the time, what do you do<span +class="smcap">?”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>Zeh.</i><span class="smcap"> +“</span>We do nothing<span +class="smcap">.”</span></p> +<p>Here a sharp black boy interrupted us, “O, +khatún, these are daughters of sheykhs, they have no +work—no work <i>at all</i> to do, don’t you +understand?”</p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>I</i>.<span class="smcap"> +“</span>Of course, I understand perfectly<span +class="smcap">; </span>but they might amuse themselves without +doing work<span class="smcap">,” </span>and turning to +Zehowa I added<span class="smcap">, “</span>Don’t you +even look at the horses<span class="smcap">?”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>Zeh.</i><span class="smcap"> +“</span>No, we do nothing<span +class="smcap">.”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>I</i>.<span class="smcap"> +“</span>I should die if I did nothing<span +class="smcap">. </span>When I am at home I always walk +round the first thing in the morning to look at my horses<span +class="smcap">. </span>How do you manage to spend your +lives<span class="smcap">?”</span></p> +<p class="gutindent"><i>Zeh.</i><span class="smcap"> +“</span>We sit<span class="smcap">.” +</span>Thus supreme contentment in the harim here is to sit in +absolute idleness<span class="smcap">. </span>It seems odd, +where the men are so active and adventurous, that the women +should be satisfied to be bored<span class="smcap">; </span>but +such, I suppose, is the tyranny of fashion<span +class="smcap">.</span></p> +<p>Every evening after dinner we used to receive a message from +the Emir, inviting us to spend the evening with him. This +was always the pleasantest part of the day, for we generally +found one or two interesting visitors sitting with him. As +a sample of these I give an extract from my journal:</p> +<p>“We found the Emir this evening in high good <a +name="page249"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +249</span>humour. News had just come from El-Homeydi ibn +Meshur, a Roala sheykh of the faction opposed to Sotamm, that a +battle was fought about a month ago between the Roala and the +Welled Ali, and that Sotamm has been worsted. Sotamm, at +the head of a ghazú numbering six hundred horsemen, had +marched against Ibn Smeyr at Jerud, but the latter refused to +come out and fight him, and so Sotamm retired. On his way +back home, however, he fell in with an outlying camp of Welled +Ali, somewhere to the east of the Hauran, and summoned it to +surrender. These, numbering only a hundred and fifty +horsemen, at first entered into negotiation, and, it is said, +offered to give up their camp and camels if they were permitted +to retire with their mares (the women and children would of +course not have been molested in any case), and to this Sotamm +wished to agree. But the younger men of his party, and +especially the Ibn Jendal family, who had a death to avenge, +would not hear of compromise, and a battle ensued. It +ended, strangely enough, in favour of the weaker side, who +succeeded in killing four of the Roala, and among them Tellal ibn +Shaalan, Sotamm’s cousin and heir presumptive. Sotamm +himself is said to have been saved only by the speed of his +mare. Though the forces engaged were so disproportionate, +nobody here seems surprised at the result, for victory and defeat +are “min Allah,” “in the hand of God;” +but everybody is highly delighted, and the Emir can hardly +contain <a name="page250"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +250</span>himself for joy. “What do you think now of +Sotamm?” he said; “has he head, or has he no +head?” “Not much, I am afraid,” I +answered, “but I am sorry for him. He is weak, and +does not know how to manage his people, but he has a good +heart.” “And Ibn Smeyr, what do you say to Ibn +Smeyr?” “He has more head than heart,” I +said. This delighted the Emir. “Ah,” he +replied, “it is you, khatún, that have the +head. Now what do you say to me? have I head, or not +head?” “You have head,” I answered. +“And Hamúd?” “You all of you have +plenty of head here, more of course than the Bedouins, who are +most of them like children.” “But we are +Bedouins too,” he said, hoping to be contradicted. +“I like the Bedouins best,” I replied; “it is +better to have heart than head.” Then he went on to +cross-question me about all the other sheykhs whose names he +knew. “Which,” he asked, “is the best of +all you have met with?” “Mohammed Dukhi,” +I said, “is the cleverest, Ferhan ibn Hedeb the +best-mannered, but the one I like best is your relation in the +Jezireh, Faris Jerba.” I don’t think he was +quite pleased at this. He had never heard, he said, good or +bad of Ibn Hedeb, who belonged to the Bisshr. He was not on +terms with any of the Bisshr except Meshur ibn Mershid, who had +paid him a visit two years ago. We told him that both +Meshur and Faris were Wilfrid’s +“brothers.” Meshur he liked, but Faris Jerba +was evidently no favourite of his.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p250.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Ibn Rashid’s stable at Haïl" +title= +"Ibn Rashid’s stable at Haïl" +src="images/p250.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><a name="page251"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 251</span>I +fancy the Emir has taken Ferhan’s part in the family +quarrel. It is certain that when Amsheh, Sfuk’s widow +and Abdul Kerim’s mother, came with her son Faris to Nejd, +he would see neither of them. They stayed in the desert all +the time they were here, and never came to Haïl. +Rashid ibn Ali, too, is Faris’s friend, and of course in no +favour at this court. <a name="citation251"></a><a +href="#footnote251" class="citation">[251]</a> He then +asked about Jedaan, touched rather unfeelingly on the idiocy of +Turki, Jedaan’s only son, and then cut some jokes at the +expense of our old acquaintance, Smeyr ibn Zeydan. +“An old fool,” the Emir exclaimed, “why did +they send him here? They might as well have sent a +camel!” This is the Smeyr who came to Nejd a year and +a half ago to try and get Ibn Rashid’s assistance for +Sotamm, and arrange a coalition against Jedaan and the +Sebaa. We knew his mission had failed, but the fact is Ibn +Rashid is eaten up with jealousy of anyone who has the least +reputation in the desert. We are surprised, however, to +find him so well informed about everything and everybody in the +far north, and we are much interested, as he has solved for us +one of the problems about Nejd which used to puzzle us, namely, +the relations maintained by the tribes of Jebel Shammar with +those of the north. The Emir has told us that the Shammar +of the Jezireh and his own Shammar still count each other as near +relations. “Our <a name="page252"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 252</span>horses,” he said, “are +of the same blood.” With the Roala he has made peace, +and with Ibn Haddal; but the Sebaa and the rest of the Bisshr +clan are out of his way. They never come anywhere near +Nejd, except on ghazús, and that very rarely. Once, +however, a ghazú, of Fedaan, had got as far as +Kasím, and he had gone out against them, and captured a +Seglawi Jedran mare of the Ibn Sbeni strain. He promised to +show it to us. We then talked a good deal about horses, and +our knowledge on this head caused general astonishment. +Indeed, I think we could pass a better examination in the breeds +than most of the Ibn Rashids. By long residence in town +they have lost many of the Bedouin traditions. +Hamúd, however, who takes more interest in horses than the +Emir, has told us a number of interesting facts relating to the +stud here, and that of the late Emir of Riad, Feysul ibn Saoud, +solving another problem, that of the fabulous Nejd breed; but we +are taking separate notes about these things.</p> +<p>We had not been talking long with the Emir and Hamúd, +when a fat vulgar-looking fellow was introduced and made to sit +down by us. It was evident that he was no Haïl man, +for his features were coarse, and his manners rude. He +talked with a strong Bagdadi accent, and was addressed by +everyone as “ya Hajji.” It was clear that he +belonged to the Haj, but why was he here? The mystery was +soon cleared up, for after a whispered <a +name="page253"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +253</span>conversation with Hamúd, the new visitor turned +to Wilfrid, and began addressing him in what we at first took to +be gibberish, until seeing that we made no answer, he exclaimed +in Arabic, “There, I told you he was no +Englishman!” Wilfrid then cross-questioned him, and +elicited the fact that he had been a stoker on board one of the +British India Company’s steamers on the Persian Gulf, and +that the language he had been talking was English. Only two +phrases, however, we succeeded in distinguishing, “werry +good,” and “chief engineer”—and having +recognised them and given their Arabic equivalents, our identity +was admitted. The fellow was then sent about his business, +and a very small, very polite old man took his place. He +was conspicuous among these well-dressed Shammar by the plainest +possible dress, a dark brown abba without hem or ornament, and a +cotton kefiyeh on his head, unbound by any aghal +whatsoever. He was treated with great respect, however, by +all, and it was easy to see that he was a man of condition. +He entered freely into conversation with us, and talked to +Mohammed about his relations in Aared, and it presently appeared +that he was from Southern Nejd. This fact explained the +severity of his costume, for among the Wahhabis, no silk or gold +ornaments are tolerated. He was, in fact, the Sheykh of +Harík, the last town of Nejd towards the south, and close +to the Dahna, or great southern desert. This he described +to us as exactly like the <a name="page254"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 254</span>Nefûd we have just crossed, +only with more vegetation. The ghada is the principal wood, +but there are palms in places.</p> +<p>It is not the custom of Haïl to smoke, either from +Wahhabi prejudice, or, as I am more inclined to think, because +tobacco has never penetrated so far inland in quantities +sufficient to make the habit general. No objection, +however, has been made to Wilfrid’s pipe, which he smokes +when and where he chooses, and this evening when the call to +prayer sounded, and the Emir and Hamúd had gone out to +perform their devotions, the old man I have just mentioned, Nassr +ibn Hezani, hinted without more ceremony that he should like a +whiff. He has quarrelled with Ibn Saoud, and probably hates +all the Wahhabi practices, and was very glad to take the +opportunity of committing this act of wickedness. He was +careful, however, to return the pipe before the rest came +back. He, at any rate, if a Wahhabi, is not one of the +disagreeable sort described by Mr. Palgrave, for he invited us +very cordially to go back home with him to Harík. +The Emir, however, made rather a face at this suggestion, and +gave such an alarming account of what would happen to us if we +went to Riad, that I don’t think it would be wise to +attempt to go there now. We could not go in fact without +the Emir’s permission. I do not much care, for town +life is wearisome; we have had enough of it, and I have not much +curiosity to see more of Nejd, unless we can go <a +name="page255"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 255</span>among the +Bedouins there. If Ibn Saoud still had his collection of +mares the sight of them would be worth some risk, but his stud +has long since been scattered, and Nassr ibn Hezani assures us +that there is nothing now in Arabia to compare with Ibn +Rashid’s stud. Ibn Hezani, like everybody else, +laughs at the story of a Nejd breed, and says, as everybody else +does, that the mares at Riad were a collection made by Feysul ibn +Saoud in quite recent times.</p> +<p>Later in the evening, a native goldsmith was introduced, with +a number of articles worked by him at Haïl. They were +pretty, but not specially interesting, or very unlike what may be +seen elsewhere, dagger hilts and sheaths, and a few +ornaments. It was this man, however, who had made the gold +hilts which all the princely family here wear to their +swords. These we examined, and found the work really +good.</p> +<p>The most amusing incident of the evening, however, and one +which we were not at all prepared for, was the sudden production +by the Emir of one of those toys called telephones, which were +the fashion last year in Europe. This the Emir caused two +of his slaves to perform with, one going into the courtyard +outside, and the other listening. The message was +successfully delivered, the slave outside, to make things doubly +sure, shouting at the top of his voice, “Ya Abdallah weyn +ente? yeridak el Emir.” “O Abdallah, where are +you? the Emir wants you,” and other such phrases. We +<a name="page256"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +256</span>expressed great surprise, as in duty bound; indeed, it +was the first time we had actually seen the toy, and it is +singular to find so very modern an invention already at +Haïl.</p> +<p>At about ten o’clock, the Emir began to yawn, and we all +got up and wished him good-night. He very kindly sent for, +and gave me, a number of trengs and oranges, which he gave orders +should be conveyed to our house, together with a new-laid +ostrich’s egg, the “first of the season,” which +had just been brought to him from the Nefûd.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p256.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Evening with the Emir" +title= +"Evening with the Emir" +src="images/p256.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><a name="page257"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +257</span>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<blockquote><p> “I +shall do well:<br /> +The people love me, and the Desert’s mine;<br /> +My power’s a crescent, and my auguring hope<br /> +Says it will come to the full.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Shakespeare</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p class="gutsumm">Political and historical—Shepherd role +in Arabia—An hereditary policy—The army—The +law—Taxation—The finances of Jebel Shammar—Ibn +Rashid’s ambition.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> following is the result of our +inquiries made while at Haïl into the political condition +and resources of the country. It has no pretension to rigid +accuracy, especially in the figures given, but it will serve to +convey an idea of the kind of government found in Arabia, and of +the capacity for self-rule of the Arab race.</p> +<p>The political constitution of Jebel Shammar is exceedingly +curious; not only is it unlike anything we are accustomed to in +Europe, but it is probably unique, even in Asia. It would +seem, in fact, to represent some ancient form of government +indigenous to the country, and to have sprung naturally from the +physical necessities of the land, and the character of its +inhabitants. I look upon Ibn Rashid’s government as +in all likelihood identical with that of the Kings of Arabia, who +came to visit Solomon, and of the Shepherd Kings <a +name="page258"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 258</span>who, at a +still earlier date, held Egypt and Babylonia; and I have little +doubt that it owes its success to the fact of its being thus in +harmony with Arab ideas and Arab tradition. To understand +it rightly, one ought to consider what Arabia is, and what the +Arab character and mode of life. The whole of the +peninsula, with the exception, perhaps, of Yemen, and certain +districts of Hadramaut within the influence of the monsoon winds, +is a rainless, waterless region, in every sense of the word a +desert. The soil is a poor one, mainly of gravel or of +sand, and except in a few favoured spots, unsuited for +cultivation; indeed, no cultivation is possible at all in Nejd, +except with the help of irrigation, and, as there is no water +above ground, of irrigation from wells. Even wells are +rare. The general character of the central plateaux, and of +the peninsula, is that of vast uplands of gravel, as nearly +destitute of vegetation as any in the world, and incapable of +retaining water, even at a great depth. It is only in +certain depressions of the plain, several hundred feet lower than +the general level, that wells as a rule are found, and wherever +these occur with a sufficient supply of water, towns and villages +with gardens round them, have sprung up. These, however, +are often widely apart, showing as mere spots on the map of +Arabia, and unconnected with each other by any intervening +district of agricultural land. Indeed, it is not too much +to say, that Nejd contains no agricultural region, as <a +name="page259"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 259</span>we +understand agriculture, and that all its production is garden +produce. From this state of things, it happens that there +is also no rural class, and that each town is isolated from its +neighbours to a degree impossible with us. The desert +surrounds them like a sea, and they have no point of contact one +with the other in the shape of intervening fields or villages, or +even intervening pastures. They are isolated in the most +literal sense, and from this fact has sprung the political +individuality it has always been their care to maintain. +Each city is an independent state.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the desert outside, though untenanted by any settled +population, is roamed over by the Bedouin tribes, who form the +bulk of the Arab race. These occupy for the most part the +Nefûds, where alone pasture in any abundance is found; but +they frequent also every part of the upland districts, and being +both more warlike and more numerous than the townsmen, hold every +road leading from town to town, so that it depends upon their +good will and pleasure, to cut off communication for the citizens +entirely from the world.</p> +<p>The towns, as I have said, are for the most part +self-supporting; but their production is limited to garden +produce, and the date. They grow no wheat and rear no +stock, so that for bread and meat they are dependent on +without. They require also a market for their industries, +the weaving of cloth, the manufacture of arms and <a +name="page260"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 260</span>utensils, +and it is necessary, at least in Jebel Shammar, to send yearly +caravans to the Euphrates for corn. Thus security of +travelling outside their walls is essential to the life of every +town in Arabia, and on this necessity the whole political +structure of their government is built. The towns put +themselves each under the protection of the principal Bedouin +Sheykh of its district, who, on the consideration of a yearly +tribute, guarantees the citizens’ safety outside the city +walls, enabling them to travel unmolested as far as his +jurisdiction extends, and this, in the case of a powerful tribe, +may be many hundred miles, and embrace many cities. The +towns are then said to “belong” to such and such a +tribe, and the Bedouin Sheykh becomes their suzerain, or Lord +Protector, until, from their common vassalage, and the freedom of +intercourse it secures them with each other, the germs of +federation spring up, and develop sometimes into nationality.</p> +<p>This has, I believe, been always the condition of Arabia.</p> +<p>A farther development then ensues. The Bedouin Sheykh, +grown rich with the tribute of a score of towns, builds himself a +castle close to one of them, and lives there during the summer +months. Then with the prestige of his rank (for Bedouin +blood is still accounted the purest), and backed by his power in +the desert, he speedily becomes the practical ruler of the town, +and from protector of the citizens <a name="page261"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 261</span>becomes their sovereign. He is +now dignified by them with the title of Emir or prince, and +though still their Sheykh to the Bedouins, becomes king of all +the towns which pay him tribute.</p> +<p>This form of government, resting as it does on a natural +basis, has always been reverted to in Arabia, whenever the +country has, after an interval of foreign or domestic tyranny, +succeeded in emancipating itself. Of very early Arabia +little is known; neither the Persian nor the Macedonian nor the +Roman Empires embraced it, and it is probable that Nejd at least +existed till the time of Mahomet exclusively under the system of +government I have described. Then for a short time it +became part of the Mussulman Empire, and shared in the +centralised or semi-centralised administration of the Caliphs, +which substituted a theocratic rule for the simpler forms +preceding it. But though the birthplace of Islam, no part +of the Arabian Empire was sooner in revolt than Arabia +itself. In the second century of the Mahometan era, nearly +all the peninsula had reverted to its ancient independence, nor, +except temporarily, has Nejd itself ever been since included in +the imperial system of a foreign king or potentate. In the +middle of last century, however, just as Mahomet had asserted his +spiritual authority over the peninsula, the Wahhabi Emir of Aared +once more established a centralized and theocratic government in +Arabia. The Bedouin Princes were one after another +dispossessed, and <a name="page262"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +262</span>a new Arabian Empire was established. This +included not only the whole of Nejd, but at one time Yemen, +Hejaz, and Hasa, with the northern desert as far north as the +latitude of Damascus. For nearly sixty years the +independence of the towns and tribes of the interior was crushed, +and a system of imperial rule substituted for that of old +Arabia. The Ibn Saouds, “Imâms of Nejd,” +governed neither more nor less than had the first Caliphs, and +with the same divine pretensions. But their rule came to an +end in 1818, when Nejd was conquered by the Turks, and the +reigning Ibn Saoud made prisoner and beheaded at +Constantinople. Then, on the retirement of the Turks, (for +they were unable long to retain their conquest,) shepherd +government again asserted itself, and the principality of Jebel +Shammar was founded.</p> +<p>The Shammar tribe is the most powerful of Northern Nejd, and +the towns of Haïl, Kefar, Bekaa, and the rest, put +themselves under the protection of Abdallah ibn Rashid, who had +succeeded in gaining the Shammar Sheykhat for himself. He +seems to have been a man of great ability, and to him is due the +policy of rule which his descendants have ever since +pursued. He took up his residence in Haïl, and built +the castle there, and caused himself to be recognized as Emir, +first in vassalage to the Ibn Saouds, who had reappeared in +Aared, but later on his own account. His policy seems to +have been first to conciliate or subdue the <a +name="page263"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 263</span>other +Bedouin tribes of Nejd, forcing them to become tributary to his +own tribe, the Shammar, and secondly to establish his +protectorate over all the northern towns. This was a simple +plan enough, and one which any Bedouin Sheykh might have devised; +but Abdallah’s merit consists in the method of its +application. He saw that in order to gain his object, he +must appeal to national ideas and national prejudices. The +tribute which he extracted from the towns, he spent liberally in +the desert, exercising boundless hospitality to every sheykh who +might chance to visit him. To all he gave presents, and +dazzled them with his magnificence, sending them back to the +tribes impressed with his wealth and power. Thus he made +numerous friends, with whose aid he was able to coerce the rest, +his enemies or rivals. In treating with these he seems +always to have tried conciliation first, and, if forced to arms, +to have been satisfied with a single victory, making friends at +once with the vanquished, and even restoring to them their +property, an act of generosity which met full appreciation in the +desert. By this means his power and reputation increased +rapidly, as did that of his brother and right-hand man Obeyd, who +is now a legendary hero in Nejd.</p> +<p>Another matter to which the founder of the Ibn Rashid dynasty +paid much attention was finance. Though spending large sums +yearly on presents and entertainments, he took care that these +should not <a name="page264"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +264</span>exceed his revenue, and at his death he left, according +to common report, a house full of silver pieces to his son. +Nor have any of his successors been otherwise than thrifty. +It is impossible of course to guess the precise amount of +treasure thus saved, but that it represents a fabulous fortune in +Arabia is certain; the possession of this, with the prestige +which in a poor country wealth gives, is an immense source of +power.</p> +<p>Lastly Abdallah, and all the Ibn Rashid family, have been +endowed with a large share of caution. No important +enterprise has been embarked on in a hurry; and certainly at the +present day affairs of state are discussed in family council, +before any action is taken. It seems to have been always a +rule with the Ibn Rashids to think twice, thrice, or a dozen +times before acting, for even Mohammed’s violent deeds +towards his nephews were premeditated, and thought over for many +months beforehand. In their conduct with the Ibn Saouds and +the Turkish Sultans, they have always waited their opportunity, +and avoided an open rupture. It is very remarkable that so +many members of this family should be superior men, for it is +difficult to say who has been the ablest man of them, Abdallah, +Obeyd, Tellál, Mohammed, or his cousin Hamúd. +Nor is the rising generation less promising.</p> +<p>Having united into a sort of confederation all the Bedouin +tribes of Northern Nejd, Abdallah became naturally supreme over +the towns; but he was not <a name="page265"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 265</span>satisfied merely with power, he +aimed at making his rule popular. It is much to his credit, +and to that of his successors, that none of them seem to have +abused their position. Liberality and conciliation, +combined with an occasional display of power, have been no less +their policy with the townsmen than with the Bedouins, and they +have thus placed their rule on its only secure basis, +popularity. In early days the Ibn Rashids had to fight for +their position at Haïl, and later in Jôf and at +Meskakeh. But their rule is now acknowledged freely +everywhere, enthusiastically in Jebel Shammar. It strikes a +traveller fresh from Turkey as surpassingly strange to hear the +comments passed by the townspeople of Haïl on their +government, for it is impossible to converse ten minutes with any +one of them without being assured that the government of the Emir +is the best government in the world. “El hamdu +lillah, ours is a fortunate country. It is not with us as +with the Turks and Persians, whose government is no +government. Here we are happy and prosperous. El +hamdu lillah.” I have often been amused at this +chauvinism.</p> +<p>In the town of Haïl the Emir lives in state, having a +body-guard of 800 or 1000 men dressed in a kind of uniform, that +is to say, in brown cloaks and red or blue kefiyehs, and armed +with silver-hilted swords. These are recruited from among +the young men of the towns and villages by voluntary enlistment, +those who wish to serve inscribing their <a +name="page266"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 266</span>names at +the castle, and being called out as occasion requires. +Their duties are light, and they live most of them with their +families, receiving neither pay nor rations, except when employed +away from home on garrison duty in outlying forts and at +Jôf. Their expense, therefore, to the Emir is little +more than that of their clothes and arms. To them is +entrusted any police work that may be necessary in the towns, but +it is very seldom that the authority of the Emir requires other +support than that of public opinion. The Arabs of Nejd are +a singularly temperate race, and hardly ever indulge in brawling +or breaches of the peace. If disputes arise between +citizens they are almost always settled on the spot by the +interference of neighbours; and the rowdyism and violence of +European towns are unknown at Haïl. Where, however, +quarrels are not to be settled by the intervention of friends, +the disputants bring their cases to the Emir, who settles them in +open court, the <i>mejlis</i>, and whose word is final. The +law of the Koran, though often referred to, is not, I fancy, the +main rule of the Emir’s decision, but rather Arabian +custom, an authority far older than the Mussulman code. I +doubt if it is often necessary for the soldiers to support such +decisions by force. Thieving, I have been repeatedly +assured, is almost unknown at Haïl; but robbers or thieves +taken redhanded, lose for the first offence a hand, for the +second their head.</p> +<p>In the desert, and everywhere outside the precincts <a +name="page267"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 267</span>of the +town, order is kept by the Bedouins, with whom the Emir lives a +portion of each year. He is then neither more nor less +himself than a Bedouin, throws off his shoes and town finery, +arms himself with a lance, and leads a wandering life in the +Nefûd. He commonly does this at the commencement of +spring, and spring is the season of his wars. Then with the +extreme heat of summer he returns to Haïl. The tribute +paid by each town and village to the Emir is assessed according +to its wealth in date palms, and the sheep kept by its citizens +with the Bedouins. Four khrush for each tree is, I believe, +the amount, trees under seven years old being exempt. At +Haïl this is levied by the Emir’s officers, but +elsewhere by the local sheykhs, who are responsible for its due +collection. At Jôf and Meskakeh, which are still in +the position of territory newly annexed, Ibn Rashid is +represented by a vakil, or lieutenant, who levies the tax in +coin, Turkish money being the recognised medium of exchange +everywhere. Without pretending to anything at all like +accuracy we made a calculation that the Emir’s revenue from +all sources of tribute and tax may amount to £60,000 +yearly, and that the annual passage of the pilgrimage through his +dominions may bring £20,000 to £30,000 more to his +exchequer.</p> +<p>With regard to his expenditure, it is perhaps easier to +calculate. He pays a small sum yearly in tribute to the +Sherif of Medina, partly as a religious offering, partly to +insure immunity for his outlying <a name="page268"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 268</span>possessions, Kheybar, Kâf and +the rest, from Turkish aggression. I should guess this +tribute to be £3,000 to £5,000, but could not +ascertain the amount. The Emir’s expenditure on his +army can hardly be more, and with his civil list and every +expense of Government, should be included within +£10,000. On his household he may spend £5,000, +and on his stable £1,000. By far the largest item in +his budget must be described as entertainment. Mohammed ibn +Rashid, in imitation of his predecessors, feeds daily two to +three hundred guests at the palace; the poor are there clothed, +and presents of camels and clothes made to richer strangers from +a distance. The meal consists of rice and camel meat, +sometimes mutton, and there is besides a constant +“coulage” in dates and coffee, which I cannot +estimate at less than £50 a day, say £20,000 yearly, +or with presents, £25,000. Thus we have our budget +made up to about £45,000 expenditure, as against +£80,000 to £90,000 revenue—which leaves a +handsome margin for wars and other accidents, and for that +amassing of treasure which is traditional with the Ibn +Rashids. I must say, however, once more, that I am merely +guessing my figures, and nobody, perhaps, in Jebel Shammar, +except the Emir himself and Hamúd, could do more.</p> +<p>It will be seen from all this that Jebel Shammar is, +financially, in a very flourishing state. The curse of +money-lending has not yet invaded it, and neither <a +name="page269"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 269</span>prince nor +people are able to spend sixpence more than they have got. +No public works, requiring public expenditure and public loans, +have yet been undertaken, and it is difficult to imagine in what +they would consist. The digging of new wells is indeed the +only duty a “company” could find to execute, for +roads are unnecessary in a country all like a macadamised +highway; there are no rivers to make canals with, or suburban +populations to supply with tramways. One might predict with +confidence, that the secret of steam locomotion will have been +forgotten before ever a railway reaches Jebel Shammar.</p> +<p>With regard to the form of government, it is good mainly +because it is effective. It is no doubt discordant to +European ideas of political propriety, that the supreme power in +a country should be vested in Bedouin hands. But in Arabia +they are the only hands that can wield it. The town cannot +coerce the desert; therefore, if they are to live at peace, the +desert must coerce the town. The Turks, with all their +machinery of administration, and their power of wealth and +military force, have never been able to secure life and property +to travellers in the desert, and in Arabia have been powerless to +hold more than the towns. Even the pilgrim road from +Damascus, though nominally in their keeping, can only be +traversed by them with an army, and at considerable risk. +Ibn Rashid, on the other hand, by the mere effect of his will, +keeps <a name="page270"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +270</span>all the desert in an absolute peace. In the whole +district of Jebel Shammar, embracing, as it does, some of the +wildest deserts, inhabited by some of the wildest people in the +world, a traveller may go unarmed and unescorted, without more +let or hindrance than if he were following a highway in +England. On every road of Jebel Shammar, townsmen may be +found jogging on donkey-back, alone, or on foot, carrying neither +gun nor lance, and with all their wealth about them. If you +ask about the dangers of the road, they will return the question, +“Are we not here in Ibn Rashid’s +country?” No system, however perfect, of patrols and +forts and escorts, could produce a result like this.</p> +<p>In the town, on the other hand, the Bedouin prince, despotic +though he may be, is still under close restraint from public +opinion. The citizens of Jebel Shammar have not what we +should call constitutional rights; there is no machinery among +them for the assertion of their power; but there is probably no +community in the old world, where popular feeling exercises a +more powerful influence on government than it does at +Haïl. The Emir, irresponsible as he is in individual +acts, knows well that he cannot transgress the traditional +unwritten law of Arabia with impunity. An unpopular sheykh +would cease, <i>ipso facto</i>, to be sheykh, for, though +dethroned by no public ceremony, and subjected to no personal +ill-treatment, he would find himself abandoned in favour of a +more acceptable member of his family. <a +name="page271"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 271</span>The citizen +soldiers would not support a recognised tyrant in the town, nor +would the Bedouins outside. Princes in Arabia have, +therefore, to consider public opinion before all else.</p> +<p>The flaw in the system, for in every system there will be +found one, lies in the uncertainty of succession to the Sheykhat +or Bedouin throne. On the death of an Emir, if he have no +son of full age and acknowledged capacity to take up the reins of +government, rival claimants, brothers, uncles, or cousins of the +dead man, dispute his succession in arms, and many and bitter +have been the wars in consequence. Such, quite lately, was +the quarrel which convulsed Aared on the death of Feysul ibn +Saoud, and led to the disintegration of the Wahhabi monarchy, and +such, one cannot help fearing, may be the fate of Jebel Shammar, +on Mohammed’s. He has no children, and the sons of +Tellál, the next heirs to the throne, have a formidable +rival in Hamúd. The Emir, however, is a young man, +forty-five, and may live long; and if he should do so, seems to +have the succession of the Wahhabi monarchy in his hands. +He has effected, he and his predecessors, the union of all the +Bedouin sheykhs, from Meshhed Ali to Medina, under his +leadership, and is in close connection with those of Kasim and +Aared. His authority is established as far north as +Kâf, and he has his eye already on the towns still further +north, if ever they should shake off the Turkish bondage. I +look forward to the day when the Roala too, <a +name="page272"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 272</span>and the +Welled Ali, shall have entered into his alliance, possibly even +the Sebaa and Ibn Haddal; and though it is neither likely nor +desirable that the old Wahhabi Empire should be re-established on +its centralised basis, a confederation of the tribes of the north +may continue its best traditions. Hauran and the Leja, and +the Euphrates towns, were once tributary to the Ibn Saouds, and +may be again one day to the Ibn Rashids. This is looking +far afield, but not farther than Mohammed himself looks. <a +name="citation272"></a><a href="#footnote272" +class="citation">[272]</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="page273"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 273</span> +<a href="images/p273.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Our house at Haïl" +title= +"Our house at Haïl" +src="images/p273.jpg" /> +</a></p> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">END OF VOL. I.</p> +<h2>NOTES.</h2> +<p><a name="footnotexiii"></a><a href="#citationxiii" +class="footnote">[xiii]</a> Such at least is the family +tradition of the Ibn Arûks. Niebuhr writing in 1765 +gives Arär as the name of the Beni Khaled Sheykhs.</p> +<p><a name="footnote3"></a><a href="#citation3" +class="footnote">[3]</a> A truce only, I fear.</p> +<p><a name="footnote11"></a><a href="#citation11" +class="footnote">[11]</a> One of the noblest of the Roala +families.</p> +<p><a name="footnote18"></a><a href="#citation18" +class="footnote">[18]</a> Midhat’s reign at Damascus +lasted for twenty months, and is remarkable only for the +intrigues in which it was spent. It began with an <i>action +d’éclat</i>, the subjugation of the independent +Druses of the Hauran, a prosperous and unoffending community whom +Midhat with the help of the Welled Ali reduced to ruin. The +rest of his time and resources were spent in an attempt to gain +for himself the rank and title of khedive, a scheme which ended +in his recall. Of improvements, material or administrative, +nothing at all has been heard, but it is worth recording that a +series of fires during his term of office burnt down great part +of the bazaars at Damascus, causing much loss of property, and +that their place has been taken by a boulevard. Midhat has +been now removed to Smyrna, where it is amusing to read the +following account of him:—</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Midhat Pasha</span>—September +28:—‘A private correspondent of the <i>Journal de +Genève</i>, writing ten days ago from Smyrna, says that +Midhat Pasha, being convinced that he possessed the sympathy of +the inhabitants and could count on their active co-operation, +conceived a short time since vast schemes of improvement and +reform for the benefit of the province which he has been called +upon to administer. The first works he proposed to take in +hand were the drainage of the great marshes of Halka-Bournar (the +Baths of Diana of the ancients), the cleansing of the sewers of +Smyrna, and the removal of the filth which cumbers the streets, +pollutes the air, and, as an eminent physician has told him, +impairs the health of the city and threatens at no distant date +to breed a pestilence. He next proposed, at the instance of +a clever engineer Effendi, to repress the ravages of the river +Hermus, which in winter overflows its banks and does immense +damage in the plain of Menemen. Orders were given for the +execution of engineering works on a great scale which, it was +thought, would correct this evil and restore to agriculture a +vast extent of fertile, albeit at present unproductive, +land. Administrative reform was to be also seriously +undertaken. The police were to be re-organized, and order +and honesty enforced in the courts of justice. The scandal +of gendarmes being constrained, owing to the insufficiency of +their pay, to enter into an alliance, offensive and defensive, +with all the thieves and cut-throats of the city—the +disgrace of judges receiving bribes from rogues and other +evil-doers—were to be promptly put down. It was +ordered that every caïmacan, mudir, chief of police, and +president of tribunal, guilty either of malfeasance or robbery, +should be arrested and imprisoned. The municipalities were +to cease being the mere mouthpieces of the valis, and consider +solely the interests of their constituencies. The accounts +of functionaries who, with nominal salaries of 800 francs a year, +spend 10,000, were to be strictly investigated and their +malversations severely punished; and many other measures, equally +praiseworthy and desirable, were either projected or begun. +But energy and goodwill in a reformer—whether he be a +Midhat or a Hamid—are, unfortunately, not alone sufficient +to accomplish reforms. To drain marshes, embank rivers, +cleanse sewers, remove filth, pay magistrates and policemen, +procure honest collectors of revenue, much money is +necessary. How was it to be obtained? Not from the +revenues of the port or the province; these are sent regularly, +to the last centime, to Constantinople, for the needs of the +Government are urgent and admit of no delay. Midhat Pasha, +not knowing which way to turn, called a <i>medjeless</i> +(council), but the members were able neither to suggest a +solution of the difficulty nor to find any money. In this +emergency it occurred to the Governor that there existed at +Smyrna a branch of the Ottoman Bank, at the door of which are +always stationed two superb nizams in gorgeous uniforms, who give +it the appearance of a Government establishment. Why should +not the bank provide the needful? The idea commended itself +to the Pasha, and the manager was requested to call forthwith at +the Konak on urgent public business. When he arrived there +Midhat unfolded to him his plans of reform, and proved, with the +eloquence of a new convert, that the public works he had in view +could not fail to be an unspeakable benefit to the province and +restore its waning prosperity. Never, he assured the +wondering manager, could the bank have a finer opportunity of +making a splendid investment than this of lending the Government +a few million francs, to be strictly devoted to the purposes he +had explained. The projected schemes, moreover, were to be +so immediately profitable that the bank might reckon with the +most implicit confidence on receiving back, in the course of a +few years, both interest and principal. Unfortunately, +however, all these arguments were lost on M. Heintze, the +manager; and he had to explain to the Pasha that, although he, +personally, would have been delighted to advance him the millions +he required, his instructions allowed him no discretion. He +was there to do ordinary banking business, and collect certain +revenues which had been assigned to the bank by way of security; +but he had been strictly enjoined to make no loans whatever, +however promising and profitable they might appear. And +this was the end of Midhat Pasha’s great schemes of public +improvement and administrative reform. In these +circumstances it would be the height of injustice to accuse him +of not having kept the promises which he made on entering office; +for nobody, not even a Turkish Governor-General, can be expected +to achieve impossibilities.</p> +<p><a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26" +class="footnote">[26]</a> Daughter of Faria-el-Meziad, +Sheykh of the Mesenneh.</p> +<p><a name="footnote41"></a><a href="#citation41" +class="footnote">[41]</a> Sakhr, a stone—the real +origin of their name.</p> +<p><a name="footnote51"></a><a href="#citation51" +class="footnote">[51]</a> This is a mistake, as the battle +was fought on the banks of the Orontes.</p> +<p><a name="footnote56"></a><a href="#citation56" +class="footnote">[56]</a> The Hauran was among the first +districts conquered by the Caliph Omar. It shared for some +centuries the prosperity of the Arabian Empire, but suffered +severely during the Crusades. There is no reason, however, +to doubt that it continued to be well inhabited until the +conquest of Tamerlane in 1400, when all the lands on the desert +frontier were depopulated.</p> +<p><a name="footnote84"></a><a href="#citation84" +class="footnote">[84]</a> The <i>Ithel</i>, a tree grown in +every village of Central Arabia, but not, as far as I know, found +there wild.</p> +<p><a name="footnote85"></a><a href="#citation85" +class="footnote">[85]</a> A kind of tamarisk.</p> +<p><a name="footnote89"></a><a href="#citation89" +class="footnote">[89]</a> We were told that this +inscription related to hidden treasure, a common fancy among the +Arabs who cannot read.</p> +<p><a name="footnote110"></a><a href="#citation110" +class="footnote">[110]</a> Jebel el Tawîl.</p> +<p><a name="footnote162"></a><a href="#citation162" +class="footnote">[162]</a> A diagram, showing what a +section of the Nefûd would be like, is given in the +geographical notes, Vol. ii., page 248.</p> +<p><a name="footnote174"></a><a href="#citation174" +class="footnote">[174]</a> These were no doubt the +Egyptians of Ibrahim Pasha’s army, left behind at +Aneyzeh.</p> +<p><a name="footnote203a"></a><a href="#citation203a" +class="footnote">[203a]</a> Query.—May not these be +the spiral markings noticed by Mr. Palgrave, and attributed by +him to the wind, in his description of a certain maelstrom in the +Nefûd?</p> +<p><a name="footnote210"></a><a href="#citation210" +class="footnote">[210]</a> More probably a fanner.</p> +<p><a name="footnote218"></a><a href="#citation218" +class="footnote">[218]</a> The danger to Mohammed is a +personal one on account of the blood he has shed, not an official +one, for, as Emir, he is adored by his subjects.</p> +<p><a name="footnote221"></a><a href="#citation221" +class="footnote">[221]</a> The Nawab was in fact detained a +prisoner at Haïl for about two months. But this we did +not at the time know; nor was any allusion made by Ibn Rashid to +the circumstance.</p> +<p><a name="footnote223"></a><a href="#citation223" +class="footnote">[223]</a> To travel with a hawk is a sign +of nobility.</p> +<p><a name="footnote224"></a><a href="#citation224" +class="footnote">[224]</a> Oryx boatrix.</p> +<p><a name="footnote233"></a><a href="#citation233" +class="footnote">[233]</a> I heard nothing of the fate of +Obeyd’s widow, and could not inquire.</p> +<p><a name="footnote251"></a><a href="#citation251" +class="footnote">[251]</a> The Ibn Alis were formerly +Sheykhs of the Shammar, but were displaced by the Ibn Rashids +fifty years ago.</p> +<p><a name="footnote272"></a><a href="#citation272" +class="footnote">[272]</a> That Mohammed ibn Rashid does +not limit his ambition to Nejd has been very recently +proved. In the month of April last, 1880, he marched with +an army of 5000 men from Haïl, passed up the Wady +Sirhán, surprised Mohammed Dukhi ibn Smeyr in the Harra +and sacked his camp, and then went on to the Hauran. The +citizens of Damascus were not a little startled at learning one +morning that the Emir was at Bozra not 60 miles from the capital +of Syria, and there was much speculation as to his object in +coming so far northwards, no army from Nejd having been seen in +the Paahalik since the days of the Wahhabi Empire. Then it +was whispered that he had made friends with Ibn Smeyr, that the +quarrel between them had been a mistake, and that a Sherari +guide, held responsible for the blunder, had been beheaded; +lastly, that an enormous feast of reconciliation had been given +by Ibn Rashid to the Northern tribes, at which 75 camels and 600 +sheep had been slaughtered, and that after a stay of some weeks +at Melakh the Emir had returned to Nejd.</p> +<p>Without pretending to know precisely what was in +Mohammed’s mind in making this ghazú, or all that +really happened, it seems to me not difficult to guess its main +object. Ibn Smeyr’s success over Ibn Shaalan, already +alluded to, had placed him in a leading position with the tribes +of the North; and his raid against the Druses of the Hauran, a +district once tributary to the Emirs of Nejd, pointed him out for +Mohammed’s resentment. It is part of the Ibn Rashid +policy to strike a blow and then make peace; and by thus humbling +their most successful chief, and becoming afterwards his host, +Mohammed achieved exactly that sort of reputation he most valued +with the Northern tribes. He has asserted himself as +supreme, where he chooses to be so, in the desert, and has +moreover reminded the frontier population in Syria of the old +Wahhabi pretensions to Eastern Syria. It is conceivable +that having coerced or persuaded the Ánazeh to join his +league, he may, in the coming break-up of the Ottoman Empire, +succeed to that part of its inheritance, and be recognised as +sovereign in all the lands beyond Jordan.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PILGRIMAGE TO NEJD, VOL. 1 [OF +2]***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 42215-h.htm or 42215-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/2/2/1/42215 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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