[p.239]Those which I saw in the Haouran, and afterwards in the gardens
of Damascus, fly in separate bodies, and do not spread over a whole
district. The young of this species are quite black until a certain age.
The Bedouins eat locusts, which are collected in great quantities in the
beginning of April, when the sexes cohabit, and they are easily caught;
after having been roasted a little upon the iron plate [Arabic], on
which bread is baked, they are dried in the sun, and then put into large
sacks, with the mixture of a little salt. They are never served up as a
dish, but every one takes a handful of them when hungry. The peasants of
Syria do not eat locusts, nor have I myself ever had an opportunity of
tasting them: there are a few poor Fellahs in the Haouran, however, who
sometimes pressed by hunger, make a meal of them; but they break off the
head and take out the entrails before they dry them in the sun. The
Bedouins swallow them entire. The natural enemy of the locust is the
bird Semermar [Arabic]; which is of the size of a swallow, and devours
vast numbers of them; it is even said that the locusts take flight at
the cry of the bird. But if the whole feathered tribe of the districts
visited by locusts were to unite their efforts, it would avail little,
so immense are the numbers of these dreadful insects.
At eight hours and three quarters from Aaere, and at a short distance to
the right, is the village Obta [Arabic]; our route N.W. by N. Nine hours
and a quarter, we saw, at one hour to the left, the village El Kherbe
[Arabic]. Nine hours and three quarters, Shemskein [Arabic], one of the
principal villages in the Haouran. As we had rode at a very brisk pace,
the above distance of nine hours and three quarters may be computed at
nearly twelve hours of the common travelling. Shemskein, a village
containing upwards of one hundred families, is situated on the Hadj
road, on the side of Wady
[p.240]Hareir [Arabic], over which a solid bridge has been built on one
side of the village: this Wady comes from the north-east at four or six
hours distance, and flows south-west. It is one of the largest torrents
of Haouran, and was at this moment full of water, while most of the
other Wadys were nearly dried up. The Sheikh of Shemskein has the title
of Sheikh el Haouran, and holds the first rank among the village Sheikhs
of the country. In the time of Hadj he collects from the Haouran and
Djolan about fifteen hundred camels, and accompanies them to Mekka. His
income is considerable, as the peasants of the different villages of the
Haouran, when engaged in disputes with neighbouring villagers, or with
their Sheikhs, generally apply in the first instance to his tribunal.
We alighted at the Sheikh's house, in the court-yard of which we found
almost the whole population of the village assembled: there had been a
nuptial feast in the village, and the Nowars or gypsies, were playing
music. These Nowar [Arabic], who are called Korbatt [Arabic] at Aleppo,
are dispersed over the whole of Syria; they are divided into two
principal bodies, viz. the Damascenes, whose district extends as far as
Hassia, on the Aleppo road; and the Aleppines, who occupy the country to
the north of that line. They never dare go beyond the limits which they
have allotted to each other by mutual consent; both bodies have an Aga,
who pays to the Grand Signior about five hundred piastres per annum, and
collects the tribute from his subjects, which in the Damascus territory
amounts annually to twenty piastres a head for every full grown male.
April 30th.--As I wished to visit from Shemskein the Mezareib, and to
ascend from thence the mountains of Adjeloun, I set out in the company
of an old acquaintance of Aleppo, a Janissary, who had entered into the
service of the Pasha of Damascus, and was now stationed at Mezareib.
Following the Hadj road, in a S.S.E. direction, in an hour and a quarter
from Shemskein we crossed the