Work At, and Excursions From, Magháir Shu'Ayb.
By the blessing of Nebi Shu'ayb and a glance from his eyrie, I at
once suspected that the western Shigd was the "Mountain on a
mountain" alluded to by Haji Wali;[EN#87] and, on January 12,
1878, I ascertained that such was the case. The old man had given
me a hand-sketch of the most artless, showing a gorge between two
rocks, a hill of two stages to the left or west, and a couple of
Wadys draining it to the sea; one (Wady Makná) trending
northwest, and the other (Wady 'Afál) south-west. The word
"Ishmah," affixed to the northern part of the route, is evidently
the Hismá plateau, and not, as I had supposed it to be, the Jebel
Tayyib Ism.
Nor had we any difficulty in discovering Haji Wali's tree, a
solitary Mimosa to the right of the caravan-track, springing from
the sands of the Shigdawayn gorge. The latter is formed by the
sister-blocks before alluded to. The western Shigd, on the right
of the Wady 'Afál, is composed of carbonate of lime and
sandstones dyed with manganese, the whole resting upon a core of
grey granite; the formation is the same as the eastern feature,
but the lines of the latter are gentler, and the culminating
tower is wanting.
The western Shigd, indeed, is sufficiently peculiar. It is the
southern apex of a short range, numbering some four heads: the
eastern flank discharges the Wady Kizáz, which feeds the 'Afál;
and the western the Wady Makná. The summit of the broken and
spiny cone is a huge perpendicular block, apparently inaccessible
as a tower, and composed of the dull yellow ferruginous
conglomerate called "El-Safrá:" the tint contrasts strongly with
a long line of bright white Rugham (gypsum), bisecting the head
of the Wady Makná. Below the apex is a thick stratum of
manganese-stained rock: the upper line, with a dip of 15 deg.
towards the main valley, looks much like a row of bulwarks which
had slipped from the horizontal, while still bluff between the
north-east and east. Indeed, the shape is so regular that M.
Lacaze, at first sight, asked if it was une construction.
As soon as the washing-trough was brought up from Sharmá, we
opened operations by digging a trench, at least twelve feet deep,
in the re-entering angle of the bed close to the Mimosa tree. The
sand, pink above and chloritic yellow below, ended in a thick bed
of water-rolled pebbles, not in ground-rock; nor did it show the
couch of excellent clay which usually underlies the surface, and
which, I have said, is extracted through pits to make sun-dried
brick, swish, and other building materials. We also secured some
of the blood-red earth from the eastern tail of the northern
"Shigh," the manganese-stained Tauá and the gravelly sand washed
out of the Cascalho-gravel, the latter very promising. The result
of our careless working, however, was not successful; the normal
ilmenite, black sand of magnetic iron, took the place of
gold-dust. And this unlooked-for end again made us suspicious of
my old friend's proceedings: the first occasion was that of his
notable "malingering." Had he bought a pinch of "Tibr" (pure
gold) from the Bedawin, and mixed it with the handful of surface
stuff ? Had the assayer at Alexandria played him a trick ? Or had
an exceptionally heavy torrent really washed down auriferous
"tailings"? I willingly believe the latter to have been the case;
and we shall presently see it is within the range of possibility.
Traces of gold were found by Lieutenant-Colonel W. A. Ross,
through his pyrological process, in the sandy clays brought from
the mouth of Wady Makná.
Meanwhile, despite our magnificent offers, the Arabs managed to
keep inviolate their secret--if they had one. An old man, now a
rich merchant and householder at Suez, had repeatedly declared to
Mr. A. G. K. Levick, that in his young days the Bedawin washed
gold in Midian, till the industry fell into disrepute. During my
last visit he was unfortunately absent upon a pilgrimage; after
our return he asserted that he had sent for specimens of the
sand, but that it paid too little even for transport. This 'Abd
el-Hámid el-Shámi, interviewed, after our return, by Mr. Clarke,
declared more than once, and still declares, that many years ago
he obtained from the Wady Zibá, behind the settlement, a certain
quantity of reddish sand which appeared auriferous. He roasted
and washed the contents of three small baskets called
"Coffas"[EN#88] by Europeans; and this yielded a pinch of "what
looked like pure gold."
In camp our men spoke freely of Tibr stored in quills, carried
behind the ear, and sold at Suez--not at Cairo for fear of
consequences. Yet neither promises nor bribes would persuade the
poorest to break through the rule of silence. The whole might
have been a canard: on the other hand, there was also a valid
reason for reticence; the open mouth would not long have led to a
sound throat. So our many informants contented themselves with
telling us frequent tales of gold ornaments picked up after rain;
they showed us a ring made from a bit found on the Tabúk road,
and they invariably assure us that we shall find wondrous
things--about the next station.
At Magháir Shu'ayb we wasted a whole fortnight (January 11-24,
1878) in vain works; and I afterwards bitterly repented that the
time had not been given to South Midian. Yet the delay was
pleasant enough, after the month which is required to acquire, or
to recover, the habit of tent-life. The halting-day was mostly
spent as follows: At six a.m., and somewhat later on cold
mornings, the Boruji sounds his réveillé--Kum, yá Habíbí, sáh
el-Naum ("Rise, friend! sleep is done"), as the Egyptian officers
interpret the call. A curious business he makes of it, when his
fingers are half frozen; yet Bugler Mersál Abú Dunya is a man of
ambition, who persistently, and despite the coarse laughter of
Europeans, repairs for quiet practicing to the bush. We drink tea
or coffee made by Engineer Ali Marie, or by Quartermaster Yusuf,
not by Europeans; two camels supply us with sweet milk; butter we
have brought; and nothing is wanted for complete comfort but
bread.
We then separate to our work, after telling off the quarrymen to
their several tasks. Inveterate idlers and ne'er-do-weels, their
only object in life is not to labour; a dozen of them will pass a
day in breaking ten pounds' weight of stone. They pound in the
style of the Eastern tobacconist, with a very short stroke and a
very long stay. At last they burst the sieves in order to enjoy a
quieter life. They will do nothing without superintendence;
whilst the officer is absent they sit and chat, smoke, or lie
down to rest; and they are never to be entrusted with a
water-skin or a bottle of spirits. The fellows will station one
of their number on the nearest hill, whilst their comrades enjoy
a sounder sleep; they are the greatest of cowards, and yet none
would thus have acted sentinel even in the presence of the enemy.
These useful articles all expect a liberal "bakhshísh" when the
journey is done, with the usual Asiatic feeling: they know that
they deserve nothing, but my "dignity" obliges me to largess. On
this occasion it did not.
Those told off to dig prefer to make a deep pit, because fewer
can work together at it, rather than scrape off and sift the two
feet of surface which yield "antíka's." They rob what they can:
every scrap of metal stylus, manilla, or ring is carefully
tested, scraped, broken or filed, in order to see whether it be
gold. Punishment is plentifully administered, but in vain; we
cannot even cure their unclean habits of washing in and polluting
the fountain source. Three Europeans would easily do the work of
these thirty poor devils.
Mr. Clarke is our camp-manager in general: he is also our jäger;
he shoots the wild poultry, duck and partridge, sand-grouse, and
"Bob White" the quail, for half our dinners; and the Arabs call
him the "Angel of Death belonging to the Birds." He failed to
secure a noble eagle in the Wady 'Afál, whose nest was built upon
an inaccessible cliff: he described the bird as standing as high
as our table, and with a width of six to seven feet from wing to
wing. He also brought tidings of a large (horned?) owl, possibly
the same species as the fine bird noted at Sinai. The Arabs call
it classically Búmah, and vulgarly Umm Kuwayk ("Mother of
Squeaking"): the Fellahin believe that it sucks out children's
eyes, and hence their name, "Massásah." Here, as in the Sinaitic
Peninsula, "the owl and the hyena are used as charms; and the
burnt feathers of the former, and the boiled flesh of the latter
(superior filth!), are considered as infallible specifics for
numerous disorders." In other parts of Arabia the hooting of the
owl portends death; and the cry, Fát--fát, is interpreted, "He is
gone, gone."
The two Staff-officers make plans and sketches of the new places,
or they protract their field-books, working very hard and very
slowly. I have but little confidence in their route-surveys:
sights are taken from mule-back, and distances are judged by the
eye. True, the protractions come out well, but this is all the
worse, suggesting the process commonly called "doctoring." For
the style of thing, however, "dead reckoning" did well enough.
M. Lacaze is the most ardent. Accompanied by his favourite
orderly, Salámat el-Nahhás, an intelligent negro from Dár-For, he
sets out after breakfast with a bit of bread, a flagon of water,
a tent-umbrella, and his tools, which he loses with remarkable
punctuality, to spend the whole day sketching, painting, and
photographing. M. Philipin is our useful man: he superintends the
washing-cradle; he wanders far and wide, gun in hand, bringing us
specimens of everything that strikes the eye; and he is great at
his forge: the Bedawin sit for hours, gazing attentively as he
converts a file into a knife, and illustrating the reverence with
which, in early days, men regarded Vulcan and Wayland Smith.
At eleven a.m. the bugle sounds Tijrí taakul! ("Run and feed"), a
signal for déjeuner à la fourchette. It is a soup, a stew, and a
Puláo ("pilaff") of rice and meat, sheep or goat, the only
provisions that poor Midian can afford, accompanied by onions and
garlic, which are eaten like apples, washed down with bon
ordinaire; followed by cheese when we have it, and ending with
tea or coffee. George the cook proves himself an excellent man
when deprived of oil and undemoralized by contact with his fellow
Greeks. After feeding, the idlers, who have slumbered, or rather
have remained in bed, between eight p.m. and six to seven a.m.,
generally manage a couple of hours' siesta, loudly declaring that
they have been wide awake. One of the party seems to live by the
blessing of him who invented sleep, and he is always good for
half of the twenty-four hours--how they must envy him whose
unhappy brains can be stupefied only by poisonous chloral!
At two p.m., after drinking tea or coffee once more, we proceed
to another four hours' spell of work. As sunset and the cold
hours draw near, all assemble about the fire, generally two or
three huge palm trunks, whose blaze gladdens the soul of the
lonely night-sentinel; and, assembling the Shaykhs of the Arabs,
we gather from them information geographical, historical, and
ethnological. The amount of invention, of pure fancy, of airy
lying, is truly sensational; while at the same time they conceal
from us everything they can; and, more especially, everything we
most wish to know. Firstly, they do not want us to spy out the
secrets of the land; and, secondly, they count upon fleecing us
through another season. During the whole day, but notably at this
hour, we have the normal distractions of the Arabian journey. One
man brings, and expects "bakhshísh" for, a bit of broken metal or
some ridiculous stone; another grumbles for meat; and a third
wants tobacco, medicine, or something to be had for the asking. I
am careful to pay liberally, as by so doing the country is well
scoured.
Dinner, at seven p.m., is a copy of what was served before noon.
It is followed by another sitting round the fire, which is built
inside the mess tent when cold compels. At times the conversation
lasts till midnight; and, when cognac or whisky is plentiful, I
have heard it abut upon the Battle of Waterloo and the
Immortality of the Soul. Piquet and écarté are reserved for life
on board ship. Our only reading consists of newspapers, which
come by camel post every three weeks; and a few "Tauchnitz,"
often odd volumes. I marvel, as much as Hamlet ever did, to see
the passionate influence of the storyteller upon those full-grown
children, bearded men; to find them, in the midst of this wild
new nature, so utterly absorbed by the fictitious weal and woe of
some poor creature of the author's brain, that they neglect even
what they call their "meals ;" allow their "teas" to cool, and
strain their eyesight poring over page after page in the dim
light of a rusty lantern. Thus also the Egyptian, after sitting
in his café with all his ears and eyes opened their widest,
whilst the story-teller drones out the old tale of Abú Zayd, will
dispute till midnight, and walk home disputing about what, under
such and such circumstances, they themselves would have done. To
me the main use of "Tauchnitz" was to make Arabia appear the
happier, by viewing, from the calm vantage-ground of the Desert,
the meanness and the littlenesses of civilized life--in novels.
The marching-day is only the halting-day in movement. By seven
a.m. in winter and four a.m. in spring, we have breakfasted and
are ready to mount mule or dromedary; more generally, however, we
set out, accompanied by the Sayyid and the Shaykhs, for a morning
walk. The tents and, most important of all, the tent-table are
left to follow under the charge of the Egyptian officers, who
allow no dawdling. With us are the cook and the two
body-servants, riding of course: they carry meat, drink, and
tobacco in my big tin cylinder intended to collect plants; and
they prefer to give us cold whilst we fight for hot breakfasts.
After resting between ten a.m. and noon in some shady spot,
generally under a thorn, we ride on to the camping-ground, which
we reach between two and three p.m. This is the worst part of the
day for man and beast, especially for the mules--hence the
necessity of early rising.
The average work rarely exceeds six hours (= eighteen to twenty
miles). Even this, if kept up day after day, is hard labour for
our montures, venerable animals whose chests, galled by the
breast-straps, show that they have not been broken to the saddle.
Accustomed through life to ply in a state of semi-somnolence,
between Cairo and the Citadel, they begin by proving how
unintelligent want of education can make one of the most
intelligent of beasts. They trip over every pebble, and are
almost useless on rough and broken ground; they start and swerve
at a man, a tree, a rock, a distant view or a glimpse of the sea;
they will not leave one another, and they indulge their pet
dislikes: this shies at a camel, that kicks at a dog. Presently
Tamaddun, as the Arabs say, "urbanity," or, more literally, being
"citified," asserts itself, as in the human cockney; and at last
they become cleverer and more knowing than any country-bred. They
climb up the ladders of stone with marvellous caution, and slip
down the slopes of sand on their haunches; they round every
rat-hole which would admit a hoof; and they know better than we
do where water is. They are not always well treated; the
"galloping griff" is amongst us, who enjoys "lambing" and
"bucketing" even a half-donkey. Of course, the more sensible
animal of the two is knocked up; whilst the rider assumes the
airs of one versed in the haute école. The only difficulty, by no
fault of the mules, was the matter of irons: shoeless they could
travel only in sand; and, as has been said, the farrier was
forgotten.
Amongst our recreant Shaykhs I must not include Furayj bin Rafí'a
el-Huwaytí, a man of whom any tribe might be proud, and a living
proof that the Bedawi may still be a true gentleman. A short
figure, meagre of course, as becomes the denizen of the Desert,
but "hard as nails," he has straight comely features, a clean
dark skin, and a comparatively full beard, already, like his
hair, waxing white, although he cannot be forty-five. A bullet in
the back, and both hands distorted by sabre-cuts, attempts at
assassination due to his own kin, do not prevent his using sword,
gun, and pistol. He is the 'Agíd of the tribe, the African
"Captain of War;" as opposed to the civil authority, the Shayhk,
and to the judicial, the Kázi. At first it is somewhat startling
to hear him prescribe a slit weasand as a cure for lying; yet he
seems to be known, loved, and respected by all around him,
including his hereditary foes, the Ma'ázah. He is the only Bedawi
in camp who prays. Naturally he is a genealogist, rich in local
lore. He counteracts all the intrigues by which that rat-faced
little rascal, Shaykh Hasan el-'Ukbi, tries to breed mischief
between friends. He is a walking map; it would be easy to draw up
a rude plan of the country from his information. He does not know
hours and miles, but he can tell to a nicety the comparative
length of a march; and, when ignorant, he has the courage to say
M'adri, "don't know." He never asked me for anything, nor told a
lie, nor even hid a water-hole. Willing and ready to undertake
the longest march, the hardest work, his word is Házir--"I'm
here"--and he will even walk to mount a tired man. Seated upon
his loud-voiced little Hijn,[EN#89] remarkable because it is of
the noble Bishári strain, bred between the Nile and the Red Sea,
he is ever the guide in chief. At last it ends with Nádi Shaykh
Furayj!--"Call Shaykh Furayj"--when anything is to be done, to be
explained, to be discovered. I would willingly have recommended
him for the chieftainship of his tribe, but he is not wealthy; he
wisely prefers to see the dignity in the hands of his cousin
'Alayán, who, by-the-by, is helpless without him. He remained
with us to the end: he seemed to take a pride in accompanying the
expedition by sea to El-Haurá, and by land to the Wady Hamz, far
beyond the limits of his tribe. When derided for mounting a pair
of Government "bluchers," tied over bare feet, with bits of
glaring tassel-string from his camel-saddle, he quoted the
proverb, "Whoso liveth with a people forty days becomes of them."
We parted after the most friendly adieu, or rather au revoir, and
he was delighted with some small gifts of useful weapons:--I
wonder whether Shaykh Furayj will prove "milk," to use Sir Walter
Scott's phrase, "which can stand more than one skimming."
In such wild travel, the traveller's comfort depends mainly upon
weather. Usually the air of Magháir Shu'ayb was keen, pure, and
invigorating, with a distinct alternation of land-breeze by
night, and of sea-breeze by day. Nothing could be more charming
than the flushing of the mountains at sunrise and sunset, and the
magnificence of the windy, wintry noon. The rocky spires,
pinnacles, and domes, glowing with gorgeous golden light, and the
lower ranges, shaded with hazy blue, umber-red, and luminous
purple, fell into picture and formed prospects indescribably pure
and pellucid. But the average of the aneroid (29.19) gave an
altitude of eight hundred feet; and even in this submaritime
region, the minimum temperature was 42 deg. F., ranging to a
maximum of 85 deg F. in the shade. These are extremes which the
soft Egyptian body, reared in the house or the hut, could hardly
support.
Darwaysh Effendi followed suit after Yusuf Effendi; it was a
study to see him swathed to the nose, bundled in the thickest
clothes, with an umbrella opened against the sun, and with a
soldier leading his staid old mule. Bukhayt Ahmar and several of
the soldiers were laid up; Ahmed Kaptán was incapacitated for
work by an old and inveterate hernia, the effect, he said, of
riding his violent little beast; and a sound ague and fever,
which continued three days, obliterated in my own case the last
evils of Karlsbad. We had one night of rain (January 15),
beginning gently at 2.30 a.m., and ending in a heavy
downfall--unfortunately a pluviometer was one of the forgotten
articles. Before the shower, earth was dry as a bone; shortly
after it, sprouts of the greenest grass began to appear in the
low places, and under the shadow of the perennial shrubs. The
cold damp seemed to make even the snakes torpid: for the first
time in my life I trod upon one--a clairvoyante having already
warned me against serpents and scorpions. There were also bursts
of heat, ending in the normal three grey days of raw piercing
norther; and followed by a still warmer spell. Upon the Gulf of
El-'Akabah a violent gale was blowing. On the whole the winter
climate of inland Midian is trying, and a speedy return to the
seaboard air is at times advisable, while South Midian feels like
Thebes after Cairo. The coast climate is simply perfect, save and
except when El-Aylí, the storm-wind from 'Akabat Aylah, is
abroad. My meteorological journal was carefully kept, despite the
imperfection of the instruments. Mr. Clarke registered the
observations during my illness; Mr. Duguid and Násir Kaptán made
simultaneous observations on board the ships; and Dr. Maclean
kindly corrected the instrumental errors after our return to
Cairo.[EN#90]
I had proposed to march upon the Hismá, or sandy plateau to the
east, which can be made from Magháir Shu'ayb without the
mortification of a Nakb, or ladder of stone. Thereupon our
Tagaygát-Huwaytát Shaykhs and camel-men began to express great
fear of the 'Imran-Huwaytát, refusing to enter their lands
without express leave and the presence of a Ghafír ("surety").
Our caravan-leader, the gallant Sayyid, at once set off in search
of 'Brahim bin Makbúl, second chief of the 'Imrán, and recognized
by the Egyptian Government as the avocat, spokesman and
diplomatist, the liar and intriguer of his tribe. This man was
found near El-Hakl (Hagul), two long marches ahead: he came in
readily enough, holding in hand my kerchief as a pledge of
protection, and accompanied by three petty chiefs, Musallam,
Sa'd, and Muhaysin, all with an eye to "bakhshísh." In fact,
every naked-footed "cousin," a little above the average clansman,
would call himself a Shaykh, and claim his Musháhirah, or monthly
pay; not a cateran came near us but affected to hold himself
dishonoured if not provided at once with the regular salary.
'Brahim was wholly beardless, and our Egyptians quoted their
proverb, Sabáh el-Kurúd, wa lá Sabán el-'Ajrúd--"Better (see
ill-omened) monkeys in the morning than the beardless man." As
the corruption of the best turns to the worst, so the Bedawi, a
noble race in its own wilds, becomes thoroughly degraded by
contact with civilization. I remember a certain chief of the Wuld
Ali tribe, near Damascus, who was made a Freemason at Bayrút, and
the result was that "brother" Mohammed became a model villain.
By way of payment for escort and conveyance to the Hismá, 'Brahim
expected a recognition of his claim upon the soil of Magháir
Shu'ayb, which belongs to the wretched Masá'id. He held the true
Ishmaelitic tenet, that as Sayyidná (our Lord) Ádam had died
intestate, so all men (Arabs) have a right to all things,
provided the right can be established by might. Hence the saying
of the Fellah, "Shun the Arab and the itch." Thus encouraged by
the Shaykhs, the "dodges" of the clansmen became as manifold as
they were palpable. They wanted us to pay for camping-ground;
they complained aloud when we cut a palm-frond for palms, or used
a rotten fallen trunk for fuel. They made their sheep appear fat
by drenching them with water. The people of the Fort el-Muwaylah,
determined not to déroger, sent to us, for sale, the eggs laid by
our own fowls. And so forth.
Presently 'Brahim brought in his elder brother, Khizr bin Makbúl,
about as ill-conditioned a "cuss" as himself. Very dark, with the
left eye clean gone, this worthy appeared pretentiously dressed
in the pink of Desert fashion--a scarlet cloak, sheepskin-lined,
and bearing a huge patch of blue cloth between the shoulders; a
crimson caftan, and red morocco boots with irons resembling
ice-cramps at the heels. Like 'Brahim, he uses his Bákúr, or
crooked stick, to trace lines and dots upon the ground;
similarly, the Yankee whittles to hide the trick that lurks in
his eyes. Khizr tents in the Hismá, and his manners are wild and
rough as his dwelling-place; possibly manly, brusque certainly,
like the Desert Druzes of the Jebel Haurán. He paid his first
visit when our Shaykhs were being operated upon by the
photographer: I fancied that such a novelty would have attracted
his attention for the moment. But no: his first question was,
Aysh 'Ujratí?--"What is the hire for my camels?" Finally, these
men threw so many difficulties in our way, that I was compelled
to defer our exploration of the eastern region to a later day.
After a week of washing for metals at Magháir Shu'ayb, it was
time to move further afield. On January 17th, the Egyptian
Staff-officers rode up the Wady 'Afál, and beyond the two
pyramidal rocks of white stone, which have fallen from the
towered "Shigd," they found on its right bank the ruins of a
small atelier. It lies nearly opposite the mouth of the Wady
Tafrígh, which is bounded north by a hill of the same name; and
south by the lesser "Shigd." Beyond it comes the Wady Nimir, the
broad drain of the Jibál el-Nimir, "Hills of the Leopard,"
feeding the 'Afál: the upper valley is said to have water and
palms. After a "leg" to the north-east (45 deg. mag.), they found
the 'Afál running from due north; and one hour (= three miles)
led them to other ruins on the eastern side of the low hills that
prolong to the north the greater "Shigd." The names of both sites
were unknown even to Shaykh Furayj. The foundations of uncut
boulders showed a semicircle of buildings measuring 229 paces
across the horseshoe. They counted eleven tenements--probably
occupied by the slave-owners and superintendents--squares and
oblongs, separated by intervals of from forty-five to
ninety-seven or a hundred paces. On the north-north-east lay the
chief furnace, a parallelogram of some twenty-three paces, built
of stone and surrounded by scatters of broken white quartz and
scoriæ. These two workshops seem to argue that the country was
formerly much better watered than it is now. Moreover, it
convinced me that the only rock regularly treated by the
ancients, in this region, was the metallic Marú (quartz).
I had heard by mere chance of a "White Mountain," at no great
distance, in the mass of hills bounding to the north the
Secondary formations of Magháir Shu'ayb. On January 21st, M.
Marie and Lieutenant Amir were detached to inspect it. They were
guided by the active Furayj and a Bedawi lad, Hamdán of the
Amírát, who on receiving a "stone dollar" (i.e. silver) could not
understand its use. Travelling in a general northern direction,
the little party reached their destination in about three hours
(= nine miles). They found some difficulty in threading a mile
and a quarter of very ugly road, a Nakb, passing through rocks
glittering with mica; a ladder of stony steps and overfalls, with
angles and zigzags where camels can carry only half-loads. The
European dismounted; the Egyptian, who was firm in the saddle,
rode his mule the whole way. We afterwards, however, explored a
comparatively good road, viâ the Wady Murákh, to the seaboard,
which will spare the future metal-smelter much trouble and
expense.
The quartz mountain is, like almost all the others, the expanded
mushroom-like head of a huge filon or vein; and minor filets
thread all the neighbouring heights. The latter are the
foot-hills of the great Jebel Zánah, a towering, dark, and
dome-shaped mass clearly visible from Magháir Shu'ayb. This
remarkable block appeared to me the tallest we had hitherto seen;
it is probably the "Tayyibat Ism, 6000," of the Hydrographic
Chart. The travellers ascended the Jebel el-Marú, trembling the
while with cold; and from its summit, some fifteen hundred feet
above sea-level, they had a grand view of the seaboard and the
sea. They brought home specimens of the rock, and fondly fancied
that they had struck gold: it was again that abominable
"crow-gold" (pyrites), which has played the unwary traveller so
many a foul practical joke.
During our stay at Magháir Shu'ayb the camp had been much excited
by Bedawi reports of many marvels in the lands to the north and
the north-east. The Arabs soon learned to think that everything
was worth showing: they led M. Lacaze for long miles to a rock
where bees were hiving. A half-naked 'Umayri shepherd, one Suwayd
bin Sa'íd, had told us of a Hajar masdúd ("closed stone") about
the size of a tent, with another of darker colour set in it; the
Arabs had been unable to break it open, but they succeeded with a
similar rock in the Hismá, finding inside only Tibn ("tribulated
straw") and charcoal. Another had seen a Kidr Dahab ("golden
pot"), in the 'Aligán section of the Wady el-Hakl (Hagul) where
it leaves the Hismá; and a matchlock-man had brought down with
his bullet a bit of precious metal from the upper part. This
report prevails in many places: it may have come all the way from
"Pharaoh's Treasury" at Petra, or from the Sinaitic Wady Lejá. At
the mouth of the latter is the Hajar el-Kidr ("Potrock"), which
every passing Arab either stones or strikes with his staff,
hoping that the mysterious utensil will burst and shed its golden
shower. Moreover, a half-witted Ma'ázi, by name Masá'í, had
tantalized us with a glorious account of the "House of 'Antar" in
the Hismá, and the cistern where that negro hero and poet used to
water his horses. Near its massive walls rises a Hazbah ("steep
and solitary hillock") with Dims or layers of ashlar atop: he had
actually broken off a bit of greenstone sticking in the masonry,
and sold it to a man from Tor (Khwájeh Kostantin?) for a large
sum--two napoleons, a new shirt, and a quantity of coffee. A
similar story is found in the Bádiyat el-Tíh, the Desert north of
the Sinaitic Peninsula. At the ruined cairns of Khara'bat Lussán
(the ancient Lysa), an Arab saw a glimmer of light proceeding
from a bit of curiously cut stone. "This he carried away with him
and sold to a Christian at Jerusalem for three pounds."[EN#91]
Shaykh 'Brahím had also heard of this marvel; but he called it
the Haráb 'Antar ("Ruin of 'Antar"), and he placed it in the Wady
el-Hakl, about an hour's ride south of the Wady 'Afál. Finally, a
tablet in the Wady Hawwayi', adorned with a dragon and other
animals, was reported to me; and the memory of inscriptions
mentioned in the Jihan-numá was still importunate. Evidently all
these were mere fancies; or, at best, gross distortions of facts.
The Bedawin repeat them in the forlorn hope of "bakhshísh," and
never expect action to be taken: next morning they will probably
declare the whole to be an invention. Yet it is never safe to
neglect the cry of "wolf": our most remarkable discovery, the
Temple at the Wady Hamz, was made when report promised least.
Accordingly, on January 24th, I despatched, with Shaykhs Khizr
and 'Brahím as guides, Mr. Clarke and the two Staff-lieutenants
towards El-Rijm, the next station of the pilgrim-caravan. Riding
up the Wady 'Afál, they reached, after an hour and
three-quarters, the ruins known as Igár Muás--a name of truly
barbarous sound. The settlement had occupied both banks, but the
principal mass was on the left: here two blocks, separated by a
hillock, lay to north-east and south-west of each other.
Apparently dwelling-places, they were composed of a
masonry-cistern and of fourteen buildings, detached squares and
oblongs, irregular both in orientation and in size; the largest
measuring eighty by fifty metres, and the smallest five by four.
The material was of water-rolled boulders, huge pebbles without
mortar or cement. There were no signs of a furnace, nor were the
usual fragments of glass and pottery strewed about. To the north
and running up the north-north-eastern slope stood a line of wall
two metres broad and three hundred long: it ended at the
south-western extremity in five round towers razed to their
foundations. It was suggested that this formed part of a street,
laid out on the plan of the Jebel el-Safrá, the hauteville of
Magháir Shu'ayb. On the right bank of the Wady appeared a heap of
stones suggesting a Burj. Fine, hard, compact, and purple-blue
slate was collected in the ruins; and the red conglomerates on
either side of the watercourse suggested that Cascalho had been
worked.
After riding their dromedaries some three hours, halts not
included, the travellers were asked why they had not brought
their tents. "Because we expect to return to camp this evening!"
Then it leaked out that they had not reached half-way to the
"closed stone," while the dragon-tablet would take a whole day.
Unprepared for a wintry night in the open, some twelve hundred
feet above sea-level, they rode back at full speed, greatly to
the disgust of the Arabs, who, at this hungry season, rarely push
their lean beasts beyond three and a half to four miles an hour.
Lieutenant Amir, who is invaluable in the field, would have
pressed forward: not so the European.
I did not see Shaykhs Khizr or 'Brahím for many a day; nor did we
attempt any more reconnaissances to the north of Magháir Shu'ayb.
Not the least pleasant part of our evening's work was collecting
information concerning the origin of the tribes inhabiting modern
Midian; and, as on such occasions a mixed multitude was always
present, angry passions were often let rise. As my previous
volume showed, the tribes in this Egyptian corner of
North-Western Arabia number three--the Huwaytát, the Maknáwi, and
the Beni 'Ukbah; the two former of late date, and all more or
less connected with the Nile Valley. Amongst them I do not
include the Hutaym or Hitaym, a tribe of Pariahs who, like the
Akhdám ("serviles") of Maskat and Yemen, live scattered amongst,
although never intermarrying with, their neighbours. As a rule
the numbers of all these tribes are grossly exaggerated, the
object being to impose upon the pilgrim-caravans, and to draw
black-mail from the Government of Egypt. The Huwaytát, for
instance, modestly declare that they can put 5000 matchlocks into
the field: I do not believe that they have 500. The Ma'ázah speak
of 2000, which may be reduced in the same proportion; whilst the
Baliyy have introduced their 37,000 into European books of
geography, when 370 would be nearer the mark. I anticipate no
difficulty in persuading these Egypto-Arabs to do a fair day's
work for a fair and moderate wage. The Bedawin flocked to the
Suez Canal, took an active part in the diggings, and left a good
name there. They will be as useful to the mines; and thus shall
Midian escape the mortification of the "red-flannel-shirted
Jove," while enjoying his golden shower.
I first took the opportunity of rectifying my notes on the origin
of the Huwayta't tribe.[EN#92] According to their own oral
genealogists, the first forefather was a lad called 'Alayán, who,
travelling in company with certain Shurafá ("descendants of the
Apostle"), and ergò held by his descendants to have been also a
Sherif, fell sick on the way. At El-'Akabah he was taken in
charge by 'Atíyyah, Shaykh of the then powerful Ma'ázah tribe,
who owned the land upon which the fort stands. A "clerk," able to
read and to write, he served his adopted father by superintending
the accounts of stores and provisions supplied to the Hajj. The
Arabs, who before that time embezzled at discretion, called him
El-Huwayti' ("the Man of the Little Wall") because his learning
was a fence against their frauds He was sent for by his Egyptian
friends; these, however, were satisfied by a false report of his
death: he married his benefactor's daughter; he became Shaykh
after the demise of his father-in-law; he drove the Ma'ázah from
El-'Akabah, and he left four sons, the progenitors and eponymi of
the Midianite Huwaytát. Their names are 'Alwán, 'Imrán, Suway'id,
and Sa'id; and the list of nineteen tribes, which I gave in "The
Gold-Mines of Midian," is confined to the descendants of the
third brother.
The Huwaytát tribe is not only an intruder, it is also the
aggressive element in the Midianite family of Bedawin; and, of
late years, it has made great additions to its territory. If it
advances at the present rate it will, after a few generations,
either "eat up," as Africans say, all the other races or, by a
more peaceful process, assimilate them to its own body.
We also consulted Shaykh Hasan and his cousin Ahmed, alias Abú
Khartúm, concerning the origin of his tribe, the Beni 'Ukbah.
According to our friend Furayj, the name means "Sons of the Heel"
('Akab) because, in the early wars and conquests of El-Islám,
they fought during the day by the Moslems' side; and at night,
when going over to the Nazarenes, they lost the "spoor" by
wearing their sandals heel foremost, and by shoeing their horses
the wrong way. All this they indignantly deny; and they are borne
out by the written genealogies, who derive them from "Ukbah, the
son of Maghrabah, son of Heram," of the Kahtániyyah (Joctanite)
Arabs, some of the noblest of Bedawi blood. They preserve the
memory of their ancestor 'Ukbah, and declare that they come from
the south; that is, they are of Hejázi descent, consequently far
more ancient than the Huwaytát. At first called "El-Musálimah,"
they were lords of all the broad lands extending southward
between Shámah (Syria) and the Wady Dámah below the port of Zibá;
and this fine valley retains, under its Huwayti occupants, the
title of 'Ukbíyyah--'Ukbah-land. Thus they still claim as Milk,
or "unalienable property," the Wadys Gharr, Sharmá, 'Aynúnah, and
others; whilst their right to the ground upon which Fort
el-Muwaylah is built has never been questioned.
The first notable event in the history of the Beni 'Ukbah was a
quarrel that arose between them and their brother-tribe, the Beni
'Amr. The 'Ayn el-Tabbákhah,[EN#93] the fine water of Wady
Madyan, now called Wady Makná, was discovered by a Hutaymi
shepherd of the Beni 'Ali clan, while tending his flocks; others
say that the lucky man was a hunter following a gazelle. However
that may be, the find was reported to the Shaykh of the Musálimah
(Beni 'Ukbah), who had married 'Ayayfah, the sister of Ali ibn
Nejdi, the Beni 'Amr chief, whilst the latter had also taken his
brother-in-law's sister to wife. The discoverer was promised a
Jinu or Sabátah ("date-bunch") from each palm-tree; and the
rivals waxed hot upon the subject. The Musálimah declared that
they would never yield their rights, a certain ancestor,
'Asaylah, having first pitched tent upon the Rughámat Makná, or
white "horse" of Makná. A furious quarrel ensued, and, as usual
in Arabia as in Hibernia, both claimants prepared to fight it
out.
To repeat the words of our oral genealogist, Furayj: "Now, when
the wife of the Shaykh of the Musálimah had heard and understood
what Satan was tempting her husband to do against her tribe, she
rose up, and sent a secret message to her brother of the Beni
'Amr, warning him that a certain person (Fulán) was about to lay
violent hands on the beautiful valley of El-Madyan. Hearing this,
the Beni 'Amr mustered their young men, and mounted their horses
and dromedaries, and rode forth with jingling arms; and at
midnight they found their opponents asleep in El-Khabt,[EN#94]
the beasts being tied up by the side of their lords. So they cut
the cords of the camels, they gagged the hunter who guided the
attack, they threatened him with death if he refused to obey, and
they carried him away with them towards Makná.
"When the Musálimah awoke, they discovered the deceit, they
secured their beasts, and they hastened after the enemy,
following his track like Azrail. Both met at Makná, when a battle
took place, and Allah inclined the balance towards the Beni 'Amr.
The Musálimah, therefore, became exiles, and took refuge in
Egypt. And in the flow of days it so happened that the Shaykh of
the Beni' Amr awoke suddenly at midnight, and heard his wife, as
she sat grinding at the quern, sing this quatrain:--
'If the handmill (of Fate) grind down our tribe
We will bear it, O Thou (Allah) that aidest to bear!
But if the mill grind the foeman tribe,
We will pound and pound them as thin as flour.'
"Whereupon the Shaykh, in his wrath, seized a stone, and cast it
at his wife, and knocked out one of her front teeth. She said
nothing, but she took the tooth and wrapped it in a rag, and sent
it with a message to her brother, the Shaykh of the Musálimah.
Now, this chief was unable to revenge his sister single-handed,
so he travelled to Syria, and threw himself at the feet of the
great Shaykh of the Wuhaydi tribe, who was also a Sherif.
"The Wuhaydi despatched his host together with the warriors of
the Musálimah, and both went forth to do battle with the Beni
'Amr. The latter being camped in a valley near 'Aynúnah, tethered
their dogs and, some say, left behind their old people,[EN#95]
and lit huge bonfires; whence the name of the place is Wady Umm
Nírán ('the Mother of Fires') to this day. Before early dawn they
had reached in flight the Wady 'Arawwah of the Jibál el-Tihámah.
In the morning the Musálimah and the Wuhaydi, finding that a
trick had been practiced upon them, followed the foe, and beat
him in the Wady 'Arawwah, killing the Shaykh. And the chief of
the Musálimah gave his widowed sister as wife to the Wuhaydi, and
settled with his people in their old homes. The Beni 'Amr fled to
the Hismá, and exiled themselves to Kerak in Syria, where they
still dwell, owning the plain called Ganán Shabíb. There is now
peace between the Beni 'Ukbah and their kinsmen the Beni 'Amr."
The second event in the history of the tribe, the "Tale of Abú
Rísh,"[EN#96] shall also be told in the words of Furayj:--"After
the course of time the Beni 'Ukbah, aided by the Ma'ázah, made
war against the Shurafá, who were great lords in those days, and
plundered them and drove them from their lands. The victors were
headed by one Salámah, a Huwayti who dwelt at El-'Akabah, and who
had become their guest. In those ages the daughters of the tribe
were wont to ride before the host in their Hawádig
('camel-litters'), singing the war-song to make the warriors
brave. As Salámah was the chief Mubáriz ('champion in single
combat'), the girls begged him to wear, when fighting, a white
ostrich feather in his chain-helmet, that they might note his
deeds and chant in his name. Hence his title, Abú Rísh--the
'Father of a Feather.' The Sherifs, being beaten, made peace,
taking the lands between Wady Dámah and El-Hejaz; whilst the Beni
'Ukbah occupied Midian Proper (North Midian), between 'Dámah' and
'Shámah' (Syria).
"Abú Rísh, who was a friend to both victor and vanquished,
settled among the Sherifs in the Sirr country south of Wady
Dámah. He had received to wife, as a reward for his bravery, the
daughter of the Shaykh of the Beni 'Ukbah; and she bare him a
son, 'Id, whose tomb is in the Wady Ghál, between Zibá and
El-Muwaylah. On the Yaum el-Subúh ('seventh day after birth'),
the mother of 'Id followed the custom of the Arabs; and, after
the usual banquet, presented the babe to the guests, including
her father, who made over Wady 'Aynúnah in free gift to his
grandson. Now, 'Id used to lead caravans to Cairo, for the
purpose of buying provisions; and he was often plundered by the
Ma'ázah, who had occupied by force the Wadys Sharmá, Tiryam, and
Surr of El-Muwaylah.
"This 'Id ibn Salámah left, by a Huwayti woman, a son 'Alayán,
surnamed Abú Takíkah ('Father of a Scar') from a sabre-cut in the
forehead: he was the founder of the Tugaygát-Huwaytát clan, and
his descendants still swear by his name. Once upon a time, when
leading his caravan, he reached the Wady 'Afál, and he learned
that his enemies, the Ma'ázah, and the black slaves who
garrisoned El-Muwaylah, were lurking in the Wady Marayr. So he
placed his loads under a strong guard; and he hastened, with his
kinsmen of the Huwaytát, to the Hismá, where the Ma'ázah had left
their camels undefended: these he drove off, and rejoined his
caravan rejoicing. The Ma'ázah, hearing of their disaster,
hurried inland to find out the extent of the loss, abandoning the
black slaves, who, nevertheless, were still determined to plunder
the Káfilah. 'Alayán was apprized of their project; and, reaching
the Wady Umm Gehaylah, he left his caravan under a guard, and
secretly posted fifty matchlock-men in El-Suwayrah, east of the
hills of El-Muwaylah. He then (behold his cunning!) tethered
between the two hosts, at a place called Zila'h, east of the tomb
of Shaykh Abdullah,[EN#97] ten camel-colts without their dams.
Roused by the bleating, the negro slaves followed the sound and
fell into the ambush, and were all slain.
"'Alayán returned to the Sirr country, when his tribe, the
Huwaytát, said to him, 'Hayya (up!) to battle with these Ma'ázah
and Beni 'Ukbah; either they uproot us or we uproot them!' So he
gathered the clan, and marched to a place called El-Bayzá,[EN#98]
where he found the foe in front. On the next day the battle
began, and it was fought out from Friday to Friday; a truce was
then made, and it was covenanted to last between evening and
morning. But at midnight the enemy arose, left his tents pitched,
and fled to the Hismá. 'Alayán followed the fugitives, came up
with them in the Wady Sadr, and broke them to pieces. Upon this
they took refuge in Egypt and Syria.
"After a time the Beni 'Ukbah returned, and obtained pardon from
'Alaya'n the Huwayti, who imposed upon them six conditions.
Firstly, having lost all right to the land, they thus became
'brothers' (i.e. serviles). Secondly, they agreed to give up the
privilege of escorting the Hajj-caravan. Thirdly, if a Huwayti
were proved to have plundered a pilgrim, his tribe should make
good the loss; but if the thief escaped detection, the Beni
'Ukbah should pay the value of the stolen property in coin or in
kind. Fourthly, they were bound not to receive as guests any
tribe (enumerating a score or so) at enmity with the Huwaytát.
Fifthly, if a Shaykh of Huwaytát fancied a dromedary belonging to
one of the Beni 'Ukbah, the latter must sell it under cost price.
And, sixthly, the Beni 'Ukbah were not allowed to wear the 'Abá
or Arab cloak."[EN#99]
The Beni 'Ukbah were again attacked and worsted, in the days of
Sultan Selim, by their hereditary foe, the Ma'ázah. They
complained at Cairo; and the Mamlúk Beys sent down an army which
beat the enemy in the Wady Surr. They had many quarrels with
their southern neighbours, the Baliyy: at last peace was made,
and the land was divided, the Beni 'Ukbah taking the tract
between Wadys Da'mah and El-Muzayrib. Since that time the tribe
has been much encroached upon by the Huwayta't. It still claims,
however, as has been said, all the lands between El-Muwaylah and
Makná, where they have settlements, and the Jebel Harb, where
they feed their camels. They number some twenty-five to thirty
tents, boasting that they have hundreds; and, as will appear,
their Shaykh, Hasan el-'Ukbi, amuses himself by occasionally
attacking and plundering the wretched Maknáwis, or people of
Makná, a tribe weaker than his own.