THE POPULATION OF SYRIA, CONTINUED.—THE PAGAN INHABITANTS.
Having dwelt at some length upon the several bodies of Christian
inhabitants of Syria, I must entreat my readers’ pardon if I endeavour to
make my description of the unbelieving portion as brief and condensed as
possible. Of course, I need not advert to the Mahommedans, the faithful
followers of the Prophet. As I have stated before, they comprise by far
the largest proportion of the inhabitants of the towns and lowlands of
Syria, and are lords and masters over the rest of the population.
But, besides the orthodox Mahommedans, we have in Syria a very large
number of heterodox followers of the Mahommedan faith, who are called
Metáwali; and who, though they are certainly less numerous than their
orthodox brethren, are an infinitely more interesting people. They are
followers of Ali, the other sect adhering to Omar. They may amount, in
round numbers, to about 35,000; but as they have selected for their homes
some of the most inaccessible parts of the mountainous districts of the
country, their numbers cannot be very accurately ascertained. They are
said, by many persons, to belong to the same section of the Mahommedan
faith as the Persians, who also believe in Ali; but they exhibit some
peculiar doctrines and customs, which establish an essential distinction
between the two.
Like the former, they expect the advent of the Messiah in the person of
the twelfth Imam of his line, whom the Turks allege to have been slain in
the battle of Karbela in which he engaged with the Caliph of Bagdad; but
whom the Metáwali believe to have been transported to Arabia, by the
miraculous interposition of the Divinity, and from whence he is to return
in triumph to re-establish the race of the Imams on the throne, and to
punish all who opposed him or his followers. When the expected Messiah
does appear, they believe that he will assume the government of the whole
world—that he will visit with the most dreadful punishments all who shall
have denied him—and that he will render unto all true believers eternal
happiness.
In expectation of the advent of this Messiah, the Metáwali keep horses,
money, and clothing constantly in readiness for his arrival; and whatever
is once set apart for this purpose, is held sacred for ever after, and
cannot be used by an ordinary mortal. {318}
They believe in the transmigration and gradual purification of the soul,
which, according to their belief, eventually becomes a bright star in the
heavenly firmament. The first apostle of Ali, in Syria, was
Abou-Abdallah-Mohammed, who was most successful in making converts, but,
having excited the envy and hatred of some of the chief people in
Damascus, he was imprisoned and burned to death as an infidel and
blasphemer. From this circumstance he has been styled the first martyr.
Though the first apostle of the new faith was thus summarily
extinguished, the light of his doctrines was not smothered with him, and
it may be considered certain that the manner of his death was mainly the
cause of the rapidity with which they spread over the country immediately
afterwards. As is generally the case, persecution lent strength and
vitality to the cause, and many sought the honour of a martyrdom similar
to that which had befallen Abou-Abdallah-Mohammed. However, the faster
the new religion spread, the greater activity did the Orthodox
authorities develop in putting it down. Priest after priest was being
drawn and quartered, hundreds of men, women, and children were butchered
or buried alive, to gratify the atrocious passions of an ignorant people,
and still more barbarous government. Nevertheless, the new faith
prospered, and the Metáwali began to assume a position of influence and
power in the country; but after numerous vicissitudes, the butcher
Djezzar, who had been made governor of Syria, succeeded by cunning and
treachery in prostrating their power, and destroying their strongholds.
Thousands of them were executed by his orders, and even under his eye,
and, like Mehemet Ali, who watched the destruction of the Mamelukes, so
did Ahmed Djezzar amuse himself by watching the death struggles of
hundreds of the Metáwali who had been hurled from the battlements of
Nabatieh into the Kasmich.
Under persecutions like these, the strong arm of the authorities, aided
by the passions of a fanatical body combining together against them, the
Metáwali gradually lessened in numbers, and consequently lost the
influential and powerful position they were beginning to acquire.
Politically this sect may now be said to be prostrate, but they cherish
the memories of those of their forefathers who fell in the defence of
their religious independence, and many an evening’s hour is passed by the
people listening in rapt attention to the numerous anecdotes of the
firmness, the courage, and the devotedness of the martyrs for their
faith.
The localities they live in entails habits and customs which naturally
tend to rear a hardy and courageous race. Their method of living is
simple in the extreme; but, though the stranger who may visit their
mountain-villages is sure of the greatest hospitality, it is
nevertheless, of a peculiar character. They never admit within their
dwellings any person who does not belong to their own persuasion, nor do
they allow any one but a Metáwali to use their furniture or domestic
utensils. Should a Frank or a Jew by accident touch a mat or a pot
belonging to them, it is instantly cast away as defiled and unclean. To
receive the wandering stranger there is erected in every village, a house
for the purpose, in which the visitor is ever most bountifully provided
for. Strange to say, however, their dislike to contact with others,
extends no further than their own dwellings. In the open air, or in a
house belonging to a person of a different persuasion, they are alike
indifferent to the presence of Christian or Jew, conversing and
associating with them as freely as they zealously avoid permitting them
to enter their own dwellings. They are an exceedingly clean people,
never sitting down to a meal without having performed their ablutions.
It is owing, perhaps to the paucity of their numbers, but still more, I
think, to the gradual decline of the power of the Maronite, that the
Metáwali exist untroubled in their mountain fastnesses. But should any
attempt be made by any government, or by any other religious body in the
East, to wrong or subjugate them, I am convinced that they would not
submit without a very severe struggle, in which their native ferocity
would once more appear on the surface, to their own disadvantage,
perhaps, but still more to that of their enemy.
A good deal has been written respecting the Druses, who are the most
curious, and least known section of the population of Syria. The cause
of the ignorance which prevails concerning them, and which I am unable to
dispel will be seen in the following account of this interesting and
courageous people.
I have been told that several learned men have, at different times,
diligently endeavoured to acquire a thorough insight into the religious
theories possessed by the Druses, but I have never yet met with any
author who has given an explanation or description of them,
satisfactorily to his readers. Where others, whom I have been taught to
respect and revere, have failed, I hesitate to make the attempt, knowing
that I shall be unsuccessful. In point of fact, the great mystery which
surrounds the religion of the Druses is, I fear, a mystery even to
themselves, a shadowy outline, which the initiated are told they
understand, and which the uninitiated worship in the depth of their
ignorance.
The Druses inhabit the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, or rather the southern
portions of the mountain, in which they possess a great deal of land and
villages; but they are also mixed up with the Maronite and other
Christian populations of more than two hundred other villages. They are
divided into two classes; the initiated into the mysteries of their
religion are called Akkals, and the uninitiated are called Djahils. Both
sexes are alike eligible for initiation among the Akkals; in this respect
there is that perfect equality for the female sex, which I so often hear
some of my fair friends in England sighing for. But the woman who is a
Akkaliah may not marry a Djahil. There is an easy remedy for this,
however, since I am told that initiation may be effected on very short
notice and without expense or examinations. Every Thursday the Akkals
meet in Khalueh, a temple, or building, erected expressly for the
purpose, and in which their religious books, their war trophies, and
standards are kept. Here they sit talking of politics, or reading
religious books, and when the general discussions are concluded, the
majority go away, leaving only the highest in social rank to discuss the
interests of the tribe with the priests. The chief priest, or as I take
the liberty of calling him, their great mystery-man, lives at Bakleen,
whence he rules over the whole body. As I have said previously, the
nature of their religious belief is a mystery. It is neither Christian
nor Jewish, nor Mahommedan nor Pagan. They believe in the unity of God,
and in the transmigration of souls, but while they themselves profess to
be Mahommedans, they exhibit in their social customs as well as in their
features, many points of resemblance with the Jews, and they have no
hesitation whatever in denouncing Mahommed as a false prophet, and in
disregarding the most sacred festivals of the Moslem faith.
Though so little is known of their present religion, it has been
tolerably well ascertained that it was founded by one Darazi, who about
the middle of the eleventh century traversed Syria, preaching the
doctrine that the real Caliph Hakeem was the incarnation of God, and the
most perfect manifestation of the Deity. Name and strength was, however,
first given to the new creed by one Hamza, who denounced Adam, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, and Mahommed as impostors, and declared himself to be the
incarnation of the spirit of universal intelligence. In his creed, he
either forgot or wilfully omitted all notice of a future state of
existence. Since that period, this peculiar faith has gained many
proselytes; and the Druses are now, next to the Maronites, the most
numerous religious body in Lebanon who are not Mahommedans.
Leaving their mysterious creed, to deal with the people themselves, I may
state, that they are easily distinguished by their features, being,
generally speaking, muscular, well-made men, active and middle-sized, and
enabled to undergo great fatigue. Their courage is not to be daunted.
The women are generally very handsome, with tall, slim figures, black
hair, and beautiful blue eyes. The disposition of the men is a strange
mixture of open-hearted hospitality and morose vindictiveness; but they
are strictly honourable, and have never been known to break a promise.
In all their transactions they deal uprightly with one another; but this
cannot be said to be the case when they transact business with others:
their creed admits of their practising imposition upon infidels to their
own faith.
I have already observed, that there exists a great resemblance between
the ancient Scottish clans and the mountaineers of the Lebanon. In
support of this, I cannot do better than to quote what Volney says, when
speaking of the Druses:—“As soon as the emir and sheikhs had determined
on war at Deyr al Kamar, criers went up at night to the summit of the
cliffs, and cried aloud, ‘To war, to war! Take your guns, take your
pistols! Noble sheikhs, mount your horses; arm yourselves with the lance
and the sabre: meet to-morrow at Deyr al Kamar. Zeal of God! zeal of
combat!’ This summons, heard in the neighbouring villages,” continues
the same author, “was repeated there; and as the whole country is nothing
but a chain of lofty mountains and deep valleys, the proclamation passed
through its length and breadth in a few hours. These cries, from the
stillness of the night, the long-resounding echoes, and the nature of the
subject, had something awful and terrible in their effect. Three days
after, fifteen thousand men were assembled at Deyr al Kamar, and
operations might have been immediately commenced.”
To strengthen their respective clans, is the Druses’ main object through
life; and to effect this, they almost invariably marry amongst
themselves—preferring their own relations with poverty, to the richest
dowry with a foreigner. Their creed admits of but one wife; but they
allow of divorces. If a Druse says to his wife, “Go to your father’s
house,” and does not say to her, “Come back,” it is considered a divorce.
Their jealousy far outstrips the Mussulman’s: any conjugal infidelity is
certain of being requited by death: no intercession, however powerful,
can avail aught in these cases; even where fathers have made
intercession, brothers have become the executioners of their own sisters.
Any man can divorce his wife upon paying a certain sum; but divorces are
of very rare occurrence.
The every-day life of the Druse is monotonous in the extreme; even their
children at an early age inherit their insipid manner of life, and leave
the healthful recreation of a good game at _damah_, to sit down in a
circle, and ape their parents in discussing politics. The Druse, like
most of the natives of Syria, is an early riser; and the first thing he
does after he has gone through his morning ablutions, is to command his
wife to set before him a large bowl of freshly-drawn goat’s milk, or
_dibs_. In this he sops his bread; and making a hearty and wholesome
breakfast, shoulders his gun, sticks his kanjur in his girdle, lights his
pipe, and then goes forth to attend to his daily occupations till
mid-day. If it be the season to plough, he harnesses his oxen, and
treads heavily after the furrows till nigh upon mid-day, at which time
his wife or one of the family brings him out his substantial mid-day
repast. In this interval he has perhaps rested himself half a dozen
times, to sit and smoke a pipe: or, if a fellow-creedsman passed, he has
stopped to exchange a few words—complain of the heat, ask the news, the
lowest price quoted for wheat, and so on; but you seldom hear them
laughing or joking with one another, and never by any chance singing or
whistling; they have no idea of a tune, no taste for music, unless it be
the music of money rattling in their pockets; and this has greater charms
for them than the pipe of Tityrus had over the sylvan woods. At this
mid-day meal there is another fresh bowl of _laban_ milk in addition to a
goodly supply of _borghol_, and, in summer, cucumber and some chillies,
or the batingan stuffed with hashed mutton and rice.
As the sun sinks behind the conical tops of the western hills, the Druse
unyokes his cattle and drives them homeward, himself shouldering the
plough. Now it is that, if ever he enjoys himself, the Druse indulges in
a little relaxation. If he be fortunate enough to be possessed of a
supply of powder and shot, he deviates from his right path, leaving the
oxen to find their way home untended, and shouts and throws stones into
every bush and down every glade he passes. Sometimes a hare starts up,
sometimes a covey of partridges, or, may be, a jackal; but, whatever the
game chance to be, he fires, and that with so steady and correct an aim,
as to be almost certain of securing the victim. Even jackals’ skins are
valuable, and will fetch their price.
Of an evening they assemble at one anothers’ houses, and there, with pipe
in hand, seated in such an attitude that their knees are on a level with
their nose, they talk politics by the hour. They are generally a
dissatisfied, gloomy, and grumbling people; and their usual topic of
conversation is exactly what John Bull is so much laughed at for, viz.,
the hardness of the times. They pull to pieces the pasha, the emir, the
effendis—lament over the prospects of a bad silk crop, or a worse wheat
harvest, speaking feelingly of the general lack of money—foretell that
things will be certain to go on from bad to worse—predict a
famine—prophesy a murrain amongst the cattle—see in the yellow tinge of
the western atmosphere the cholera—smell out of the heavy night-dew an
interminable catalogue of maladies, as absurd and unknown as any of the
foregoing calamities; and having worked themselves up to an extreme pitch
of wretchedness, they disperse for the night, and retrace their steps to
their respective homes, croaking the while, or hooting gloomily to one
another just as a parcel of ravens would croak or owls hoot as they wing
their way to roost, when the distant growl of thunder foretells the
coming storm.
The Druses are great hypocrites in religious matters. One of their
religious books gives them this liberty, for it says:—“_Embrace the
religion of those who have power over you_; _for such is the pleasure of
our_ MAOULA, _till he_, _to whom the best times are known_, _shall
unsheathe the sword_, _and display the power of his unity_.” Hence with
the Turks, they pretend to be devout Moslems—fast when they fast, and
feast when they feast. With the Christians they are equally devoted to
the Adrah Mariam—the Virgin Mary; and in private they despise and detest
both: but I believe that the Druses have really great faith and
confidence in the English, whom they suppose to be all Protestants; and
their idea of a Protestant is that their religion is a species of
freemasonry, which very much resembles their own. Of late years
political struggles on the mountains have served rather to strengthen
this belief; for the Druses were invariably supported by the English, and
the native attachés, agents, and other people, not only of the Consulates
in the neighbouring towns, but also English travellers, lost no
opportunity of impressing this fact upon the minds of the Druses’ who
were already predisposed to such a belief from the fact of a tradition
long existent amongst them, that many of their noblest families were
descended from some of the princes amongst the Crusaders.
The Druses never introduce the subject of their religion before others;
that is to say, never in such a form as to hold it forth as an argument,
or an inducement for others to become proselytes, or to inform strangers
of their doctrines, but they confidently affirm that a great number of
their co-religionists inhabit the vast continent of India, and declare
that they are to be met with even in China, from which they believe they
themselves came.
They suppose, that in England there are to this day many of the Akkals,
or initiated, but of later years their confidence has been much shaken;
and _apropos_ of this, I quote an extract of a letter from one of the
Akkals of the Druses, sent to me from Lebanon in 1845:—
“There are many English travellers, and some men apparently of much
wisdom, who have visited us and conversed on subjects of religion;
and they endeavour to persuade us that in their country there are
many people who profess a creed similar to our own: this was
particularly mentioned by a tall English emir. I wish you would
enquire into this matter, and write us your opinion clearly; and
should the report be verified, the existence of such co-religionists
would at once entitle us to proclaim the protection of the English
upon the same grounds as the Maronites are protected by France.”
It is said that, in the official report of M. Desméloises, then a French
Consul in Syria, this belief of the Druses that they were allied to, and
descended from, noble European families, was found serviceable to the
French agents, when the allied forces appeared off the coast of Syria,
for the purpose of expelling Ibrahim Pasha and the Egyptian troops; and
they acted upon the imagination of the Druses so powerfully, that little
or no inducement was requisite to cause them to side with the Europeans.
There is one thing to which the Druses are much addicted, and which sadly
deteriorates from their general character for civilization—this is, their
fondness for raw meat. Whenever a gazelle is shot, or a kid killed, the
raw kidneys and heart are luxuries for which the Druse epicure will
contend with angry words; and such is the force of example, that even
Christians in the neighbourhood have adopted this system of cannibalism,
washing down every mouthful with a glass of strong _arakey_. European
authors accuse the Christians of the plains, and especially the women, of
being guilty of a like atrocity, saying that they eat meat in their
_kubbas_, but the fact is what meat they use in these is first so finely
sliced up, and then so unmercifully thumped, that it becomes a perfect
paste, and the very friction and heat more than half cook it; besides
which, this meat is mixed with chillies, onions, and borghol, and the
proportion of meat to wheat is one to ten.
Outwardly the Druses keep up the appearance of friendship with their
neighbours, but the intrigues of political agents, and the wary cunning
of Roman priests, have of late years tended sadly to interrupt the
harmony that existed between the Druses and the Maronites.
The Yezidees, of whom there are some thousands in the country next claim
attention. They are most numerous in Koordistan, where they are all
comprised in one general body. In Syria, however, we are accustomed to
divide them into three tribes—the worshippers of the sun, the Shemisees;
the worshippers of the devil, the Sheytanees; and the cut-throats. I do
not mean to say that the latter portion are greater cut-throats than
their co-religionists of the other two sections, for like the
Mahommedans, with whom they come chiefly into collision, the whole of the
three divisions are equally distinguished by the same murderous
inclinations. Like the religion of the Druses, that of the Yezidees is
an indescribable mixture of nearly all the religious creeds of the East
and West. They respect Christ and the Christian saints; but they do not
disavow Mahommed and Moses. They baptize their children, but they
conform also to the Hebrew practice of circumcision. They commemorate
the birth of the Saviour, but they also celebrate the feast of the
Passover with all the forms and solemnities customary among the Jews; and
they also abstain from all the food which is considered unclean by the
Israelite. While worshipping but one God, they profess profound
veneration for Ahriman, the prince of darkness, and they also adore the
fiery element, bowing before the rising sun. In praying, they are
careful to kneel with their faces towards the East. Indeed, it would
seem as if, doubtful of salvation under a simple faith of their own, the
presiding minds of the Yezidees had collected the principal points from
all religions in the world, in order to make sure of the right one. Some
of them even do not hesitate to make an avowal of this kind. The most
peculiar feature of their religion, is the extreme respect which they pay
to the devil, who is never mentioned by his right name, but is always
mysteriously spoken of _as the great incognito_, _the bird of Paradise_,
and whose worship is always carried on after sunset. I am assured too,
that his Satanic eminence is always present on these sacred occasions,
and is accustomed to acknowledge the honours paid to him by his credulous
worshippers by a yell or scream of a most unearthly kind, its effect
being to prostrate on their faces the whole of the parties present.
Their head-priest possesses an extraordinary amount of influence over the
whole body.
The Yezidees are a brave, open, confiding, honest, industrious, civil
race, combining with these good qualities, however, an inordinate passion
for warfare, civil and national, and a great proneness to robbery and
pillage on a large scale. They are actuated by their intense contempt
and hatred towards the Mahommedans to the committal of many excesses
against the followers of the Prophet. Indeed, they are firmly convinced
that they cannot perform a more meritorious action—an action more
advantageous to themselves, both in this and the next life, and they
absolutely take pleasure in ridding the world of a Mahommedan. This
spirit of hatred is fully returned by its objects, who detest the
Yezidees, and who consider the very name to be synonymous with all that
is evil and treacherous.
It has been stated of late years, that the traditions which exist among
this people, and which tend to establish their descent from the ancient
Hebrews, are founded on fact, that they are in reality a remnant of the
lost tribes of Israel. I am not sufficiently learned on this subject to
trace the links of the connection, but I may unhesitatingly state, that
the conviction of its truth is rapidly spreading among the people
themselves.
I shall close this account of these sects in Syria with a brief mention
of the Ansyreeh or Nosairiyeh and I am more inclined to say a few words
about them, from the fact that a systematic effort is likely to be made
for their conversion. These tribes also inhabit the mountain districts;
but they live in much greater isolation than the other religious bodies,
and in consequence, their numbers are not to be ascertained with anything
approaching to precision. They do not inhabit any particular province,
but I am perfectly well aware, as has been stated by one writer on this
subject, that there are several hundred Nosairiyeh resident in the small
village of Salahiyeh, about one mile from Damascus. They are most
numerous in the range of mountains north of Mount Lebanon; where I can
assure my readers that it is a task of no slight difficulty, and even
great danger to penetrate, and it has very rarely indeed been
successfully accomplished. In illustration of this fact, I may narrate
here the experience of a friend of mine, who desired personally to obtain
all the information concerning this people, which a trip into the most
northern parts of the Lebanon could procure. Having made all his
arrangements for the purpose, he departed, provided with a passport, or
firman from the Turkish authorities, addressed to all the sheikhs of the
mountain tribes, ordering them to show the bearer every civility, and to
afford him every protection during his journey. Armed with this
document, he proceeded on his journey without much apprehension. During
the first day’s travel among the hills, he found the firman most
effective, the sheikhs lending him every aid to get on. But he had no
sooner left the immediate limits within which the people came into direct
and frequent contact with the authorities, than he found the case was
very different; argument and entreaty became necessary, where the mere
sight of the firman had been formerly sufficient to procure the
gratification of his wishes. Having succeeded in obtaining quarters for
the night in the abode of a small sheikh, who condescended to be
hospitable to the stranger, my friend soon got into conversation with his
entertainer, and ultimately explained the whole object of his journey.
The Sheikh listened in silence, twisting his moustachios with Eastern
solemnity, and displaying some astonishment in his features at what he
evidently considered the very hazardous course which my friend seemed
bent on pursuing. After supper, the sheikh returned to the subject, and
laboured seriously to impress upon his guest’s mind the nature of the
numerous dangers which he must encounter if he continued his journey. To
the sheikh’s argument respecting the want of all roads, the ruggedness of
the mountain paths, sudden precipices, and dangerous fords, the former
laughingly rejoined, that he relied on a stout pair of legs, a firm hand,
and a steady eye, and that he would not shrink from his object deterred
by such difficulties, which a strong and bold man might readily vanquish;
and in reply to the sheikh’s still more serious sketch of the dangerous
character of the tribes through whose territories he must pass, my
friend, still laughing, flourished what he considered his all-powerful
firman. The sheikh asked permission to read it; it was granted, and
having perused it, returned it to the owner. After some moments’ silence
he rose from his mat, and approaching my friend, said to him, in an under
tone: “Friend, your firman certainly may procure you protection and
assistance on your outward journey, but it says nothing concerning your
return; be advised, retrace your steps and get your firman amended, if
you must inquire into our condition and habits, but you would do much
better to remain among your friends. We Nosairiyeh do not like
strangers.” My friend stared at this address, which many of my readers
may consider most lawyer-like, and worthy the nice distinctions between
words which I am told the English lawyers delight to make; but it had its
effect, for we are yet without the full account of these people which my
friend would have furnished us with. On the following morning he
retraced his steps; and on his arrival he appears to have forgotten to
apply for any alteration or addition to his firman, and to have preferred
the inglorious ease of home to the dangerous search after knowledge among
unexplored mountains, inhabited by barbarous infidels.
In connection with this subject I may mention, that several travellers
have been induced to state, that there exists a peculiar religious sect
in Syria who are called Womb-worshippers, but I am sure that the only
persons who deserve that name are the Nosairiyeh. The occasions on which
this peculiar part of their religion is developed are extremely limited;
indeed, I believe that it takes place but once a year, when the majority
of the whole people assemble together in a cave, which is set apart for
the purpose, and which is known only to themselves. I can add, moreover,
that no one is admitted to these rites, who is not acquainted with the
distinguishing sign or token by which they recognise each other. When
they are assembled, a variety of prayers adapted expressly to the
occasion are recited; and after what I may term the religious portion of
the service is concluded, the men and women present have recourse to the
most indelicate proceedings, which are the peculiar forms of the worship
of the womb. By some, however, the Nosairiyeh are considered to be an
aboriginal tribe, which has survived the many changes that have swept
over the country, and have preserved such peculiar traits as distinguish
them from all its other inhabitants. From what I have heard, I am
inclined to believe that this is the case; and I also feel disposed to
regard them as probably a sect of heretical Christians, who having
originally retired among the mountains to secure the free exercise of
their opinions, thus became isolated; and that their early faith became
more and more corrupted by the influence of time, and the circumstances
and changes going on around them, since like some other similar sects
they still preserve a vague idea of some of the leading facts of
Christianity, though mixed with notions not only false but absurd.
They speak of the incarnation and crucifixion of our Lord as of one among
many others. They have, I understand, also a custom of celebrating the
sacrament by giving to the communicants a portion of meat and wine; added
to this, they have mystical ceremonies and prayers. They believe in the
transmigration of souls, and also in astrology and magic, also observing,
it is said, many of the religious seasons and festivals peculiar to the
Jews; nor are they at all reluctant, when any object is to be attained,
to profess the doctrines and carry out the practice of Mahommedanism.
But whatever may be the essential doctrines of their religion, there is
no doubt that their morality is of the very lowest character; passionate
and violent, their hatred of their rulers is only equalled by that which
the different factions among them bear to each other, the most sanguinary
feuds breaking out every now and then among them, carried on with the
deadliest animosity, and accompanied by fearful acts of murder and
revenge.
About a year since, I happened to be at a convent about two days’ journey
from Tripoli; and while there, I had an opportunity of seeing a number of
these curious people. Some days previous to my arrival, a young woman
belonging to them had been brought to the convent in a state of mental
aberration. I ought to say that the convent is consecrated to Saint
George, who is believed to possess especial power for the cure of
madness, and for whom the Nosairiyeh, as well as most of the mountain
tribes, profess great respect and veneration—carrying out their
professions practically, by the payment of an annual donation of oil,
corn, and fruits, for the use of the convent. The young woman in
question, having been confined in chains during her whole stay in one of
the cells behind the altar, and kept on very low diet indeed, was
restored to reason. I will not say what part of the treatment had been
most efficacious in curing her, but the devout believers in the power of
the saint, declared that he had visited her during the night, and by his
presence driven out the evil spirit. Her friends, being made acquainted
with her miraculous recovery, came to reclaim her just after my arrival.
Contrary to the general Eastern custom, there was a large number of women
mixed up with the men, moving apparently on a footing of perfect equality
with the ruder sex. While they remained within sight of the convent,
before and after reclaiming their recovered companion, they appeared to
care for nothing besides dancing and singing. One of their dances was
very much like an English country dance, with a great deal of shaking
hands. I found them to be a powerfully-built, muscular race, with open
honest countenances; they were all thoroughly equipped and armed. In
their dress, the women differed from the general costume of the country,
inasmuch as they wore very long and very flowing garments, of a kind
usually only worn by men.
Nothing, however, can exceed the degradation in which the female sex are
held among the Nosairiyeh. They are regarded in the same light as their
horses and other domestic animals; and to the practice of polygamy among
them, and the drudgery and ill-usage to which their wives are condemned,
may be traced the origin of the darkest and most repulsive portions of
the picture they present. The untiring perseverance and praiseworthy
zeal of missionary labourers may yet succeed in leading them to a
knowledge of better things. I could repeat here what I have always
stated in respect to such endeavours, that schools must be the first step
towards such an end; and that even before the subject of religion is
touched upon, they must be taught such a course of secular studies as
will, by expanding their mind and strengthening their reasoning
faculties, prepare them to receive that priceless seed, which it would be
unwise to cast beforehand in such a weedy soil, among the thorns and the
thistles that would choke its growth and cause it to perish.