Damascus, a message, engaging him to come and receive the investiture
of the general command of all the desert, with the title of Prince of
the Bedouins. This message overwhelmed him with joy, and he departed
for Damascus with ten horsemen.
Mehanna having ordered the departure of the tribe, the next morning
by sunrise not a single tent was to be seen standing; all was folded
up and loaded, and the departure began in the greatest order. Twenty
chosen horsemen formed the advanced guard, and served as scouts. Then
came the camels with their loads, and the flocks; then the armed men,
mounted on horses or camels; after these the women; those of the chiefs
carried in howdahs, (a sort of palankin,) placed on the backs of the
largest camels. These howdahs are very rich, carefully lined, covered
with scarlet cloth, and ornamented with different coloured fringe. They
hold commodiously two women, or a woman and several children. The women
and children of inferior rank follow directly after, seated on rolls
of tent-cloth, ranged like seats, and placed on camels. The loaded
camels, carrying the baggage and provision, are behind. The line was
closed by the Emir Mehanna, mounted on a dromedary by reason of his
great age, and surrounded by his slaves, the rest of the warriors, and
the servants, who were on foot. It was truly wonderful to witness the
order and celerity with which the departure of eight or nine thousand
persons was effected. Sheik Ibrahim and I were on horseback, sometimes
ahead, sometimes in the centre, or by the side of Mehanna. We proceeded
ten hours successively: all at once, three hours after noon, the order
of march was interrupted; the Bedouins dispersed themselves in the
midst of a fine plain, sprang to the ground, fixed their lances, and
fastened their horses to them. The women ran on all sides, and pitched
their tents near their husbands’ horses. Thus, as if by enchantment,
we found ourselves in a kind of city, as large as Hama. It is the duty
of the women alone to pitch and to strike the tents, and they acquit
themselves with surprising address and rapidity. All the labours of the
encampment generally fall to the lot of the women. The men take charge
of the flocks, kill and skin the beasts. The costume of the women is
very simple; they wear a large blue chemise, a black machlas, and a
sort of black silk scarf, which, after covering the head, passes twice
round the neck, and falls over the back. They have no covering for the
legs; except the wives of the sheiks, who wear yellow boots. Their
great ambition and luxury is to have a great many bracelets; they have
them of glass, of coral, coin, and amber.
The plain on which we rested was called El Makram. It is not far from
Hama. The place is rather agreeable, and its rich pasturage renders it
suitable to the Bedouins.
The fourth day we had an alarm: four hours after noon the shepherds
came running in haste, crying “To arms! the enemy are seizing our
flocks.” It was the tribe of Daffir, who, watching the opportunity
to revenge themselves on Nasser, had sent a thousand horse to carry
off the flocks at nightfall, to allow no time for a pursuit. Our men,
expecting an attack, were prepared; but it was necessary to find out
on which side the enemy were. Night coming on, four men dismounted
from their horses, took opposite directions, and crouching down, their
ears close to the ground, heard at a great distance the steps of the
plunderers. Night passed without being able to reach them; but in the
morning the troop of Hassné (that of Mehanna) having joined them,
they gave battle. After four hours’ fighting, half the flocks were
recaptured; but five hundred camels remained in the hands of the tribe
El Daffir. We had ten men killed and several wounded. At the return,
the affliction was general; the Bedouins murmured, attributing all that
had happened to the caprice and vanity of Nasser.
Mehanna sent off a courier to his son, who immediately returned from
Damascus, accompanied by a chokedar, (an officer of the pacha,) in
order to make an impression on the Bedouins. On his arrival he read a
letter from the pacha, to the following effect:--
“We make known to all the emirs and sheiks of the desert, great and
small, encamped on the territory of Damascus, that we have appointed
our son, Nasser Ebn Mehanna, Emir of all the Anazes (Bedouins of
the desert,) inviting them to obey him. The tribe that shall have
the misfortune to show itself rebellious, shall be destroyed by
our victorious troops, and, as an example, their flocks shall be
slaughtered, and their women delivered up to the soldiers. Such is our
will.
Signed,
“SOLIMAN, Pacha of Damascus and Acre.”
Nasser, proud of his new dignity, affected to read the order to every
body, and to talk Turkish with the officer of the pacha, which still
further increased the disgust of the Bedouins. One day whilst we were
with him, there arrived a very handsome young man, named Zarrak,
the chief of a neighbouring tribe. Nasser, as usual, spoke of his
appointment, vaunted the greatness and power of the vizier of Damascus,
and of the sultan of Constantinople “of the long sabre.”[C] Zarrak,
who listened with impatience, changing colour, rose and said, “Nasser
Aga,[D] learn that all the Bedouins detest thee: if thou art dazzled by
the magnificence of the Turks, go to Damascus; adorn thy forehead with
the caouk;[E] become the minister of the vizier; dwell in his palace;
perhaps thou mayest strike terror into the Damascenes; but we Bedouins
care no more for thee, thy vizier and thy sultan, than camel dung.
I shall depart for the territory of Bagdad, where I shall find the
Drayhy[F] Ebn Chahllan; him will I join.”
Nasser, in his turn growing pale with anger, transmitted the
conversation in Turkish to the chokedar, who thought by violent menaces
to alarm Zarrak. But he, looking at him fiercely, said, “It is enough:
though you have Nasser on your side, I could, if I would, prevent you
from ever eating bread more.” In spite of these offensive words, all
three preserved their coolness; and Zarrak, mounting his horse, said
to Nasser, “_Salam aleik_ (peace to thee); display all thy power; I
await thee.” This challenge caused Nasser much trouble; but he still
persevered in his alliance with the Turks.
The following day we learned that Zarrak had set out with his tribe
for the country of Geziri, and a combination of the Bedouins against
Nasser was talked of in all quarters. Mehanna, having learned what was
passing, called his son to him, and said, “Nasser, will you then break
the pillars of the tent of Melkhgem?” and taking his beard in his hand,
“Will you,” added he, “bring contempt upon this beard at the end of my
days, and tarnish the reputation I have acquired? Unhappy man, thou
hast not invoked the name of God. What I had foreseen, has happened.
All the tribes will unite with the Drayhy. What then will become of us?
It will only remain for us to humble ourselves before Ebn Sihoud, that
enemy of our race, who styles himself king of the Bedouins; he alone
can defend us from the terrible Drayhy.”
Nasser endeavoured to tranquillize his father, assuring him that
matters were not so bad as he feared. However, the Bedouins began to
take part with one or the other; but the greater part sided with the
father, who was in their true interest.
Sheik Ibrahim was very dissatisfied; he wished to penetrate farther
into the desert, and proceed as far as Bagdad; and he found himself
bound to a tribe that remained between Damascus and Homs. He thus lost
all the summer, being able to remove only with danger of his life. He
desired me to obtain some knowledge respecting the Drayhy, to learn his
character, the places where he passed the summer, where he wintered, if
he received strangers, and many other particulars; in short, he told me
he had the greatest interest in being rightly informed.
These details were difficult to obtain without exciting suspicion: it
was necessary to find some one not of the tribe of El Hassnnée. At
length I became acquainted with a man named Abdallah el Chahen (the
poet.) Knowing that poets are sought after by the great, I asked him
about all the tribes he had visited, and learned with pleasure that he
had been for a long time with the Drayhy. I obtained from him all the
information I had desired.
One day Nasser made me write to Sheik Saddad, and him of Corietain, to
demand from each a thousand piastres and six machlas. This claim is
called right of fraternity: it is an arrangement between the sheiks of
villages and the more powerful chiefs of the Bedouins, to be protected
against the ravages of the other tribes. This is an annual tax. These
unhappy villages are ruined to satisfy two tyrants--the Bedouins and
the Turks.
Mehanna holds this fraternity with all the villages of the territories
of Damascus, Homs, and Hama, which brings him in a revenue of about
fifty thousand piastres. The pacha of Damascus pays him twelve thousand
five hundred, and the cities of Homs and Hama furnish him besides a
certain quantity of corn, rice, dried grapes, and stuffs. The small
tribes bring him butter and cheese. In spite of all, he never has any
money, and is often in debt, without having any expenses to incur;
which greatly astonished us. We learned that he gave all away in
presents to the most distinguished warriors, either of his own tribe or
to others, and that he had thus raised for himself a powerful party. He
is always ill-clothed, and when he receives a handsome pelisse or other
article for a present, he gives it to the person who happens to be near
him at the moment. The Bedouin proverb, that _generosity covers all
defects_, is amply verified in Mehanna, whose liberality alone renders
the conduct of Nasser bearable.
A short time after this event we went to encamp, three hours from the
Orontes, upon lands called El Zididi, on which there are many springs.
Mehanna having one day been with ten horsemen to visit the Aga of Homs,
returned loaded with presents from all the merchants, who cultivate his
friendship, because, wheresoever dissatisfied with them, he intercepts
their commerce and plunders the caravans.--Immediately upon his return,
Nasser set forth on an expedition against the tribe Abdelli, which is
commanded by the Emir El Doghiani, and encamped near Palmyra, on two
small hills of equal size, called Eldain (the breast;) he returned
after three days with five hundred camels and two hundred sheep. In
this affair we lost three men, and Zamel’s mare was killed under him.
On the other hand, we took three mares, killed ten men, and wounded
twenty more. Notwithstanding this success, the Bedouins were indignant
at Nasser’s want of faith, who had no cause of hatred against this
tribe.
On all sides measures were taken with the Drayhy, to destroy the tribe
El Hassnnée. The news reached the Emir Douhi, the chief of the tribe
Would Ali, a kinsman and intimate friend of Mehanna, and who, as well
as himself, is charged with the escort of the grand caravan; and he
came with thirty horsemen to make known the danger with which he was
threatened. The heads of the tribe went out to meet Douhi: having
entered the tent, Mehanna ordered coffee; the emir stopped him and
said, “Mehanna, thy coffee is drunk already! I come here neither to
eat nor drink, but to inform thee that the behaviour of thy son Nasser
Pacha (for so he styled him in derision) is bringing down destruction
upon thee and thine: know that all the Bedouins have leagued together,
and are about to declare against thee a war of extermination.” Mehanna,
changing colour, exclaimed, “Well, art thou now satisfied, Nasser? Thou
wilt be the last of the race of Melkghem.”
Nasser, still obstinate, replied that he should make head against all
the Bedouins; and that he should have the support of twenty thousand
Osmanlis, as well as that of Mola Ismael, the chief of the Kurdish
cavalry, who bears the schako. Douhi passed the night in endeavouring
to turn Nasser from his projects, but without succeeding: the day
following, he departed, saying, “My conscience forbids me to join you.
Our relationship, and the bread we have eaten together, prevent me from
declaring war against you. Farewell; I leave you with sorrow.”
From this moment our time passed very disagreeably with the Bedouins.
We could never quit them, for all the people who went to a distance
from the tents were massacred. There were continual attacks on both
sides, sudden changes of the encampment for greater security, alarms,
reprisals, incessant disputes between Mehanna and his son; but the
old man was so kind and so credulous, that Nasser always succeeded in
persuading him that he was in the right.
We were told a thousand traits of his simplicity: amongst others,
that being at Damascus whilst Yousouf Pacha, the grand vizier of the
Porte, was holding his court there on his return from Egypt after the
departure of the French, Mehanna was presented to him, as well as the
other grandees; but, being little acquainted with Turkish etiquette, he
accosted him without ceremony and with the Bedouin mode of salutation,
and placed himself on the divan by his side without being invited.
Yousouf, equally unaccustomed to the usages of the Bedouins, and
ignorant of the dignity of the little shabby old man who treated him
with such familiarity, ordered him to be taken from his presence and
beheaded. The slaves took him out, and were preparing to execute the
order, when the Pacha of Damascus cried aloud, “Hold! what is it you
are doing? If there should fall a hair of his head, with all your
power, you will never send another caravan to Mecca.” The vizier
instantly had him brought back, and placed him by his side; he gave him
coffee, had him invested with a rich Cachemire turban, a rich gombaz
(robe,) and a pelisse of honour, and presented him with a thousand
piastres. Mehanna, deaf, and besides not understanding Turkish, knew
nothing of what was passing; but taking off the fine clothes, he gave
them to three of his slaves who accompanied him. The vizier asked
him, through the dragoman, if he was not satisfied with the present.
Mehanna replied, “Tell the vizier of the sultan, that we Bedouins seek
not to distinguish ourselves by fine clothes: I am ill clad, but all
the Bedouins know me; they know that I am Mehanna el Zadel, the son of
Melkghem.” The pacha, not daring to offend him, affected to smile, and
to be much pleased.
The summer passed away. By the month of October the tribe was in the
vicinity of Aleppo. My heart beat on finding myself so near my home;
but, according to our agreement, I could not even send news of myself
to my friends. Sheik Ibrahim desired to pass the winter at Damascus--no
Bedouin durst conduct us. We obtained with great difficulty an escort
as far as a village, two days from Aleppo, called Soghene (the hot.)
The hospitable inhabitants contended for the pleasure of receiving
us. A natural warm bath accounts for the name of the village; and the
beauty of its inhabitants may probably be attributable to its warm
springs. From thence we reached Palmyra, but with a difficulty for
which we were indemnified by the pleasure of seeing Sheik Ragial
again. After passing a fortnight with our friends, we went back to
Corietain, where Sheik Selim and the curate Moussi welcomed us with
genuine kindness;--they were never tired of hearing our accounts of the
Bedouins.--Sheik Ibrahim satisfied their friendly concern about our
affairs, by saying that our speculation was wonderfully advantageous;
that we had gained more than we had expected; whilst in reality,
between presents and losses, we only had remaining the goods deposited
with Moussi.--We lost thirty days at Corietain in preparing for our
departure. Winter was rapidly coming on, and no one durst furnish
us with cattle, being convinced we should be plundered on the road.
At last, Sheik Ibrahim bought a bad horse, I hired an ass, and in
miserable weather, with a freezing wind, we set off, accompanied by
four men on foot, for the village of Dair Antié. After some hours we
arrived at a defile between two mountains, named Beni el Gebelain. At
this spot, twenty Bedouin horsemen came upon us. Our guides, far from
defending us, hid their guns and remained spectators of our disaster.
The Bedouins stripped us, and left us nothing but our shirts. We
implored them to kill us rather than expose us to the cold. At last,
touched at our condition, they had the generosity to leave each of us
a gombaz. As for our beasts, they were too sorry to tempt them. Being
hardly able to walk, they would have only uselessly detained them.
Night came on, and the cold was excessive, and deprived us of the use
of speech. Our eyes were red, our skin blue; at the end of some time I
fell to the ground, fainting and frozen. Sheik Ibrahim in despair made
gesticulations to the guides, but was unable to speak. One of them, a
Syrian Christian, took pity upon me and the grief of Sheik Ibrahim; he
threw down his horse, which was also half dead with cold and fatigue,
killed it, opened the belly, and placed me without consciousness in the
skin, with only my head out. At the end of half an hour, I regained
my senses, quite astonished at finding myself alive again, and in so
strange a position. Warmth restored my speech; and I earnestly thanked
Sheik Ibrahim and the good Arab. I took courage, and found strength to
proceed. A little after, our guides cried out, “Here’s the village!”
and we entered the first house. It belonged to a farrier, named Hanna
el Bitar. He showed a lively sympathy in our situation, set about
covering us both with camel-dung, and gave us a little wine--a few
drops at a time: having thus restored our strength and warmth, he
withdrew us from our dunghill, put us to bed, and made us take some
good soup. After a sleep, which was indispensable, we borrowed two
hundred piastres to pay our guides and carry us to Damascus, which we
reached the 23d December, 1810.
M. Chabassan, a French physician, the only Frank at Damascus, received
us; but as we were to pass the winter here, we afterwards took up our
quarters in the Lazarist Convent, which was abandoned.
I will not describe the celebrated city of Sham (Damascus), the Gate of
Glory (Bab el Cahbé), as the Turks style it. Our long residence has
enabled us to know it minutely; but it has been too often visited by
travellers to offer any new interest. I return to my narrative.
One day, being at the bazaar to pass away the time in the Turkish
fashion, we saw running towards us a Bedouin, who embraced us, saying,
“Do you not recollect your brother Hettall, who ate your bread at
Nuarat el Nahaman?” Delighted with meeting him, we took him home, and
having regaled him, and asked him many questions, we learned that the
affairs of the tribe Hassnnée were in a bad condition, and that the
league against them was extending daily. Hettall told us that he was
of the tribe of Would Ali, whose chief, Douhi, was known to us. This
tribe winters in the territory of Sarka and Balka; it reaches from
the country of Ismael to the Dead Sea, and returns to Horan in the
spring. He proposed to us to visit it, promising a good sale for our
merchandise. Having consented, it was agreed that he should come for us
in the month of March.
Sheik Ibrahim having received, through the intervention of M.
Chabassan, a group of a thousand tallaris from Aleppo, desired me to
make new purchases. When they were completed, I showed them to him,
and asked whether any thing would remain for us at our return? “My
dear son,” he replied, “the gratitude of every chief of a tribe brings
me more than all my merchandise.--Be under no concern. You also shall
receive your return in money and in reputation. You shall be renowned
in your time; but I must know all the tribes and their chiefs. I depend
upon you to get to the Drayhy, and for that purpose you must absolutely
pass for a Bedouin. Let your beard grow, dress like them, and imitate
their usages. Ask no explanations--remember our terms.” My only reply
was, “May God give us strength!”
Twenty times was I on the point of abandoning an enterprise of which
I perceived all the dangers without knowing the object. This silence,
this blind obedience, became insupportable. However, my wish to come to
the issue, and my attachment to M. Lascaris, gave me patience.
At the time agreed, Hettall arrived with three camels and two guides,
and we set out the 15th March, 1811, one year and twenty-eight days
after our first departure from Aleppo. The tribe was at a place called
Misarib, three days from Damascus. Nothing remarkable happened on
the road. We passed the nights under a starry sky; and on the third
day, by sunset, we were in the midst of the tents of Would Ali. The
_coup d’œil_ was delightful. Every tent was surrounded by horses,
camels, goats, and sheep, with the lance of the horseman planted at
the entrance: that of the Emir Douhi arose in the centre. He received
us with all possible consideration, and made us sup with him. He is a
man of understanding, and is equally loved and feared by his people.
He commands five thousand tents, and three tribes, which are joined to
his; those of Benin Sakhrer, of El Serhaan, and El Sarddié. He had
divided his soldiers into companies or divisions, each commanded by one
of his kinsmen.
The Bedouins are fond of hearing stories after supper. This is one
that the emir told us: it depicts the extreme attachment they have for
their horses, and the self-love they manifest with regard to their own
qualities.
One of his tribe, named Giabal, possessed a very celebrated mare.
Hassad Pacha, then vizier of Damascus, made him on various occasions
all sorts of offers to part with it, but in vain, for a Bedouin loves
his horse as he does his wife. The pacha then employed threats, but
with no better success. At length, another Bedouin, named Giafar,
came to the pacha, and asked what he would give him if he brought him
Giabal’s mare? “I will fill thy barley sack with gold,” replied Hassad,
who felt indignant at his want of success. This took place without
transpiring; and Giabal fastened his mare at night by the foot with an
iron ring, the chain of which passed into his tent, being held by a
picket fixed in the ground under the very felt which served him and his
wife as a bed. At midnight, Giafar creeps into the tent on all-fours,
and, insinuating himself between Giabal and his wife, gently pushes
first the one, and then the other: the husband thought his wife was
pushing, the wife thought the same of the husband; and each made more
room. Giafar then, with a knife well sharpened, makes a slit in the
felt, takes out the picket, unties the mare, mounts her, and, grasping
Giabal’s lance, pricks him slightly with it, calling out, “It is I,
Giafar, who have taken thy noble mare; I give thee early notice!”
and off he goes. Giabal instantly darts from the tent, calls his
friends, mounts his brother’s mare, and pursues Giafar for four hours.
Giabal’s brother’s mare was of the same blood as his own, though not
so good. Outstripping all the other horsemen, he was on the point of
overtaking Giafar, when he cried out, “Pinch her right ear, and give
her the stirrup.” Giafar did so, and flew like lightning. The pursuit
was then useless: the distance between them was too great. The other
Bedouins reproached Giabal with being himself the cause of the loss
of his mare.[G] “I would rather,” said he, “lose her, than lower her
reputation. Would you have me let it be said in the tribe of Would Ali,
that any other mare has outrun mine? I have at least the satisfaction
of saying that no other could overtake her.” He returned with this
consolation, and Giafar received the price of his address.