and Hama were in a state of consternation, and attempted to collect
together the Arabs of Horam and Idumea. Several tribes of the desert
arrived, some to reinforce the Drayhy, others Mehanna. No caravan could
pass from one city to another; the advantages were almost all on the
side of the Drayhy. One day, by a singular coincidence, Fares took from
us a hundred and twenty camels that were pasturing two leagues from the
tents; while at the same instant Zaher carried off the like number
of theirs. This simultaneous movement prevented either the one or the
other from being pursued. They also had time to secure their capture.
But this war of reprisals of cattle and plunder was about to assume a
character of ferocity and extermination. The signal for it was given
by the Dallati Turks, under the conduct of Nasser, who, having taken
from the tribe of Beni Kraleb two women and a girl, carried them to
the village of Zany-el-Abedin. Nasser gave the women to the soldiers;
and assigned to the aga the young girl, who in the middle of the night
revenged her honour by poniarding the Turk in his sleep. Her vigorous
arm pierced his heart and left him dead; and then escaping without
noise, she rejoined her tribe, and spread indignation and rage among
the Bedouins, who swore to die or slay Nasser, and to fill vessels
with his blood, to distribute among the tribes as a memorial of their
vengeance.
This penalty was not long postponed; an engagement having taken place
between a party commanded by Zaher, and another under the orders of
Nasser, the two chiefs, whose hatred was mutual, sought each other
out, and fought together with fury. The Bedouins remained spectators
of the battle between these warriors, equal in valour and skill. The
contest was long and terrible: at length their tired horses no longer
able promptly to obey the motions of their riders, Nasser received the
thrust of Zaher’s lance, which pierced him through and through: he
fell; his men ran away, or gave up their horses:[I] Zaher cut the body
of Nasser to pieces, put it in a couffe (wicker basket), and sent it to
Mehanna’s camp by a prisoner, whose nose he cut off. He then returned
to his tribe exulting in his revenge.
Mehanna sent to ask aid of the Bedouins of Chamma, of Neggde, and
of the Wahabees: they promised to come to his support the following
year, the time being then come for their return to the East. As we
were encamped very near Corietain, I proposed to go and fetch Sheik
Ibrahim. The Drayhy accepted my offer with eagerness, and gave me a
strong escort. I cannot describe the happiness I felt at again seeing
M. Lascaris, who received me with great warmth of heart;--as for me,
I embraced him as my father, for I had never known mine, who died in
my early infancy. I spent the night in relating to him all that had
passed. The next day, taking leave of our friends, the curate Moussi
and Sheik Selim, I took away Sheik Ibrahim, who was received with the
highest distinction by the Drayhy. A grand feast of camel’s flesh was
prepared, which I found less disagreeable than the first time, for I
was beginning to be accustomed to the food of the Bedouins. The camels
intended for killing are as white as snow, and are never either worked
or fatigued; the meat is red and very fat. The female gives great
abundance of milk; the Bedouins drink it continually, and give the rest
to their horses of pedigree, which greatly strengthens them: in this
way they consume all the milk, as it is not suited to make into butter.
We came at last to think the taste preferable to that of goat’s or
sheep’s milk.
An attack of the Wahabees a short time after the arrival of M. Lascaris
cost the Drayhy some horsemen and much cattle. The next day Sheik
Ibrahim took me aside and said, “I am pleased with the Drayhy; he is
just the man I want; but it is indispensable that he should become
the chief of all the Bedouins from Aleppo to the frontiers of India.
It is to you I look to arrange the matter, by friendship, by threats,
or by artifice; this must be effected.” “You are imposing a difficult
undertaking,” I replied. “Every tribe has its chief; they are enemies
of dependence, and never have they submitted to any yoke. I fear,
if you should engage in any such project, that something disastrous
will happen to you.” “Still it must absolutely be done,” replied M.
Lascaris; “exert all your capacity; without that we shall not succeed.”
I reflected a long time upon the best means of setting about the
business. The first point was to inspire the Bedouins with a high
idea of Sheik Ibrahim; and to effect this, as they are superstitious
and credulous to excess, we got up a few chemical experiments
with phosphorus and fulminating powder, hoping to astonish them.
Accordingly, at night, when the chiefs of the tribe were met together
under the tent of the Drayhy, Sheik Ibrahim, with a majestic air and
admirable dexterity, produced effects that struck them with surprise
and amazement. From that moment he appeared to them a sorcerer, a
magician, or rather a divinity.
The next day the Drayhy called me and said, “Oh, Abdallah! your master
is a god!” “No,” replied I, “but rather a prophet: what you witnessed
yesterday is nothing compared to the power he has acquired by his
profound science; he is the remarkable man of the age. Learn that, if
he would, he is capable of making you king of all the Bedouins: he
discerned that the comet which appeared some time ago was your star,
that is, is superior to that of the other Arabs, and that if you will
follow his advice in every point, you will become all-powerful.”
This idea pleased him extremely. The desire of command and of glory
sprang up with violence in his breast; and, by a coincidence truly
extraordinary, I had divined the object of his superstition, for he
exclaimed, “Oh, Abdallah, I see that you speak truth, and that your
master is really a prophet. I had a dream some time ago, in which some
fire, separating from a comet, fell upon my tent and consumed it, and
I took this fire in my hand and it did not burn me. That comet surely
was my star.” He then called his wife, and begged her to relate herself
the dream as he had told it her on awaking. I availed myself of the
circumstance to confirm still more effectually the superiority of Sheik
Ibrahim, and the Drayhy promised me to follow all his advice for the
future. M. Lascaris, delighted at this fortunate commencement, selected
from his goods a handsome present, to give to the Drayhy, who accepted
it with the greatest pleasure, and perceived in it a proof that it was
not to enrich ourselves that we were endeavouring to counsel him. From
that time he made us eat with his wife and daughters-in-law, in the
interior of their tent, instead of eating with strangers in the rabha.
His wife, a descendant of a great family, and sister of a minister of
Ebn Sihoud, is named Sugar: she enjoys a high reputation for courage
and generosity.
Whilst we were establishing our influence over the Drayhy, a minor
enemy was working in the shade to destroy our hopes and ruin us. There
is in every tribe a pedler, who sells to the women various articles he
brings from Damascus. The one belonging to our tribe, whose name was
Absi, filled besides the office of scribe to the Drayhy; but ever since
our arrival he had lost both his office and his custom. He naturally
felt a great antipathy for us, and sought every possible means to
calumniate us before the Bedouins, beginning with the women, whom he
persuaded that we were magicians; that we wanted to carry off their
daughters into a far country, and throw a spell round the women that
they might have no more children; that thus the race of the Bedouins
would become extinct, and that Frank conquerors would come and take
possession of the country. We soon felt the effects of his calumnies,
without knowing their cause. The girls fled at our approach; the women
called us opprobrious names; the elderly ones even threatened us.
Amongst an ignorant and credulous people, where the women possess great
influence, such a danger might have become serious. At last we found
out these intrigues of Absi, and acquainted the Drayhy with them, who
would have put him to death on the spot. We had great difficulty in
getting him only dismissed from the tribe, which in fact only gave him
further opportunity to extend his malice. A village called Mohadan,
hitherto tributary to Mehanna, had become so to the Drayhy since his
victories. This chief having demanded a thousand piastres that were due
to him, the inhabitants, at the instigation of Absi, maltreated the
Emir’s messenger, who punished them by carrying off their flocks. Absi
persuaded the village chiefs to come with him to Damascus, and declare
to the Capidji Bashi that two Frank spies had gained the confidence
of the Drayhy, had made him commit all kinds of injustice, and were
endeavouring to make him withdraw the Bedouins from their alliance with
the Osmanlis. This denunciation was made before the Vizier Solyman
Pacha, who sent a chokedar to the Drayhy, with a threatening letter,
concluding with ordering him to deliver up the two infidels to his
officer, that they might be led in chains to Damascus, where their
public execution would operate as an example.
The Drayhy, enraged at the insolence of this letter, said to the
Mussulman officer, “By Him who has raised the heavens, and lowered the
earth, if thou wert not beneath my tent, I would cut off thy head, and
tie it to my horse’s tail; and thus should he bear my answer to your
vizier. As to the two strangers who are with me, I shall never deliver
them up while I live. If he wants them, let him come and take them by
the power of his sword!”
I then took the Drayhy aside, and entreated him to compose himself, and
leave it to me to settle the affair.
I knew that M. Lascaris was intimately connected with Solyman Pacha,
and that a letter from him would produce an effect that the Drayhy
little expected. M. Lascaris, whilst with the French expedition in
Egypt, had married a Georgian, brought with the women of Murad Bey, who
proved to be cousin to Solyman Pacha. Subsequently he had occasion to
go to Acre; his wife made known her relationship to the pacha, and was
loaded by him with kindness and presents, as well as her husband.
M. Lascaris therefore wrote to Solyman Pacha, informing him that
the pretended spies were no other than himself and his dragoman,
Fatalla Sayeghir; that all that had been said against the Drayhy was
false; that it was, on the contrary, for the interest of the Porte to
cultivate his friendship, and to favour his preponderance over the
other Bedouins. The chokedar, who was trembling for his life, hastened
to bear the letter to Damascus, and returned in two days with a most
friendly answer to Sheik Ibrahim, and another for the Drayhy, of which
these are the contents.--After many compliments to the emir, he adds:
“We have received a letter from our dear friend, the great Sheik
Ibrahim, which destroys the calumnies of your enemies, and gives most
satisfactory testimony regarding you. Your wisdom is made known to us.
Henceforward we authorize you to command in the desert, according to
your good pleasure. From us you shall receive only acts of friendship.
We rate you above your equals. We commend to you our well-beloved Sheik
Ibrahim, and Abdallah: their satisfaction will increase our regard for
you,” &c. The Drayhy and other chiefs were greatly astonished at the
great credit of Sheik Ibrahim with the pacha. This incident crowned
their consideration towards us.
I have said that the Drayhy was surnamed the Exterminater of the Turks;
I inquired the origin of this epithet. This is what Sheik Abdallah told
me. The Drayhy having once plundered a caravan that was going from
Damascus to Bagdad, the pacha was extremely enraged; but not daring
openly to avenge himself, dissembled, according to the practice of the
Turks, and induced him by fair promises to come to Bagdad. The Drayhy,
frank and loyal, suspected no treachery, and went to the pacha with
his ordinary train of ten horsemen. He was immediately seized, bound,
thrown into a dungeon, and threatened with the loss of his head, if he
did not pay for his ransom a thousand purses, (a million piastres,)
five thousand sheep, twenty mares of the kahillan breed, and twenty
dromedaries. The Drayhy, leaving his son as hostage, went to raise
this enormous ransom; and as soon as he had discharged it, he resolved
on taking his revenge. The caravans and the villages were plundered;
and Bagdad was itself blockaded. The pacha, having collected his
troops, came out with an army of thirty thousand men and some pieces
of cannon against the Drayhy, who, supported by the allied tribes,
gave him battle, which lasted three days; but finding that he was
gaining no decisive advantage, retired silently in the night, turned
the pacha’s army, and placing himself between it and Bagdad, attacked
it unexpectedly on several points at the same time. Surprised by night,
and on the quarter which was without defence, a panic seized the
enemy’s camp. The confusion became general among the Osmanlis; and the
Drayhy made a great slaughter of them, remaining master of an immense
booty. The pacha escaped alone and with difficulty, and shut himself up
in Bagdad. This exploit spread such terror among the inhabitants, that
even after the peace, his name continued an object of dread. Abdallah
recounted many other achievements of the Drayhy, and ended with saying
that he loved grandeur and difficulties, and wished to subject all to
his dominion.
These were precisely the qualities that Sheik Ibrahim desired to find
in him: he therefore devoted himself more and more to the project
of making him master of all the other tribes; but the Wahabees were
formidable adversaries, who a few days afterwards fell upon the
tribe Would Ali, and spread themselves over the desert to force
the Bedouins to pay them a tenth. Alarmed at the approach of these
terrible warriors, many tribes were about to submit, when Sheik Ibrahim
persuaded the Drayhy that it was for his own honour to take the field,
and declare himself protector of the oppressed.
Encouraged by his example, all the tribes, with the exception of that
of El Hassnnée, and Beni Sakhrer, made alliance with him to resist
the Wahabees. The Drayhy marched with an army of five thousand horse,
and two thousand mardouffs. We were ten days without receiving any
intelligence. The anxiety in the camp was excessive; symptoms of
dissatisfaction against us were becoming apparent, for being the
instigators of the perilous expedition; our lives might possibly have
paid the penalty of our temerity, if the uncertainty had lasted much
longer. On the next day, at noon, a horseman arrived at full speed,
waving his white belt at the end of his lance, and shouting aloud, “God
has given us the victory!” Sheik Ibrahim gave magnificent presents to
the bearer of this good news, which relieved the tribe from serious
alarm, and ourselves from no small peril. Shouting and dancing round
lighted fires, cattle slain, and preparations for a festival to welcome
the warriors, set the camp in an unusual agitation; and all this active
arrangement executed by the women, presented a most original spectacle.
At night, all the camp went forth to meet the victorious army, the
dust they raised being seen in the distance. As soon as we met, the
cries were redoubled. Jousting, racing, firing, and all possible
demonstrations of joy, accompanied us back to the camp. After our
repast we obtained a recital of the exploits of the warriors.
The Wahabees were commanded by a doughty negro, a half-savage, whose
name was Abu-Nocta. When he prepares for battle, he takes off his
turban and boots, draws up his sleeves to his shoulders, and leaves his
body almost naked, which is of prodigious size and muscular strength.
His head and chin, never being shaved, are overshadowed by a bushy head
of hair and black beard, which cover his entire face, his eyes gleaming
beneath the shade. His whole body, too, is hairy, and affords a sight
as strange as it is frightful. The Drayhy came up to him three days
from Palmyra, at a spot called Heroualma. The battle was most obstinate
on both sides, but ended in the flight of Abu-Nocta, who removed to the
country of Neggde, leaving two hundred slain on the field of battle.
The Drayhy searched out among the spoils all that had been taken from
the tribe Would Ali, and restored it. This act of generosity still
further attached to him the affection of the other tribes, who were
coming daily to put themselves under his protection. The report of this
victory gained over the terrible Abu-Nocta was disseminated everywhere.
Solyman Pacha sent the conqueror a pelisse of honour, and a magnificent
sabre, with his congratulations. Soon after this exploit we encamped on
the frontiers of Horan.
One day, a Turkish mollah arrived at the Drayhy’s; he wore the large
green turban that distinguishes the descendants of Mahomet, a white
flowing robe, his eyes blackened, and an enormous beard; he wore also
several rows of chaplets, and an inkstand in the form of a dagger at
his belt. He rode on an ass, and carried in his hand an arrow. He was
come to instil his fanaticism into the Bedouins, and excite in them a
great zeal for the religion of the Prophet, in order to attach them
to the cause of the Turks. The Bedouins are of great simplicity of
character, and remarkable for their frankness. They do not understand
differences of religion, and do not willingly allow them to be spoken
of. They are deists; they invoke the protection of God in all the
events of life, and refer to him their success or their failures with
humble resignation; but they have no ceremonies or obligatory ritual,
and make no distinction between the sects of Omar and of Ali, which
divide the East. They never inquired what was our religion. We told
them that we were Christians; their answer was, “All men are equal in
the sight of God, and are his creatures; we have no right to inquire
what is the creed of other men.” This discretion on their part was much
more favourable to our projects than the fanaticism of the Turks; so
that the arrival of the mollah gave some anxiety to Sheik Ibrahim, who
went to the tent of the Drayhy, where he found the conference already
begun, or rather the preaching, to which the chiefs were listening
with a dissatisfied air. As they all arose at our entrance to salute
us, the mollah inquired who we were, and having learnt that we were
Christians:--“It is forbidden,” said he, “by the laws of God, to rise
before infidels; you will be cursed for holding intercourse with them;
your wives will be illegitimate, and your children bastards. Such is
the decree of our lord, Mahomet, whose name be for ever venerated!”
The Drayhy, without waiting for the end of his speech, got up in a
rage, seized him by the beard, threw him down, and drew his sabre;
Sheik Ibrahim sprang forward, withheld his arm, and conjured him to
moderate his anger: at length, the emir consented to cut off his beard
instead of his head, and drove him away with ignominy.
The Drayhy having attacked the tribe of Beni-Sakhrer, the only one
which still opposed him, beat it completely.
However, as the autumn was now come, we commenced our return towards
the east. As we approached Homs, the governor sent the Drayhy forty
camels loaded with corn, ten machlas, and a pelisse of honour. Sheik
Ibrahim addressed me in private and said, “We are going into the
desert; we have exhausted all our stock; what must we do?” “Give me
your orders,” I replied; “I will go secretly to Aleppo, and get what we
want, and I will engage not to make myself known to my family.” It was
agreed that I should rejoin the tribe at Zour; and I went to Aleppo.
I took up my station in a khan but little frequented, and remote from
all my acquaintances. I sent a stranger to the correspondent of M.
Lascaris to get five hundred tallaris. The precaution was unnecessary,
for with my long beard, my costume, and my Bedouin accent, I ran no
risk of being known; I proved this sufficiently on purchasing some
goods at the Bazaar. I met many of my friends there, and amused
myself with behaving rudely to them. But to these moments of careless
gaiety, painful ones succeeded; I passed and repassed continually
before the door of my house, hoping to get a glimpse of my brother or
my poor mother. My desire of seeing her above all was so great that I
was twenty times on the point of breaking my word; but the conviction
that she would not again allow me to return to M. Lascaris restored
my courage, and after six days I was obliged to tear myself away from
Aleppo, without obtaining any news of my relatives.
I overtook the tribe on the banks of the Euphrates opposite
Daival-Chahar, where there are still some fine ruins of an ancient
city. I found the Bedouins engaged, before crossing the river, in
selling cattle, or changing them for goods with the pedlers from
Aleppo. They have no idea of the value of fictitious money; they will
not receive gold in payment, recognising nothing but silver tallaris.
They would rather pay too much, or not receive enough in change, than
admit of fractions. The merchants, aware of this foible, dexterously
profit by it. Besides the exchanges, the tribes sold to the amount of
twenty-five thousand tallaris; and every man put his money into his
sack of flour, that it might not sound on loading and unloading.
A tragical accident happened at the passage of the Euphrates. A
woman and two children, mounted on a camel, were carried down by the
current before it was possible to give them any assistance. We found
Mesopotamia covered with the tribes of Bagdad and Bassora. Their
chiefs came daily to congratulate the Drayhy on his victory, and to
make acquaintance with us, for the renown of Sheik Ibrahim had reached
them. They felt indebted to him for having counselled the war against
the Wahabees, whose rapacity and exactions were become intolerable.
Their king, Ebn-Sihoud, was accustomed to send a mezakie to count the
flocks of each individual, and to take the tenth, always choosing the
best: he then had the tents taken down, from that of the sheik to that
of the poorest wretch, to find his money, of which they also exacted a
tenth. He was still more odious to the Bedouins, because in his extreme
fanaticism, he exacted ablutions and prayers five times a day, and
punished with death those who refused to submit. When he forced a tribe
to make war for him, instead of sharing the gains and the losses, he
kept all the plunder, and only left his allies to bewail their dead.
And thus, by degrees, the Bedouins were becoming the slaves of the
Wahabees, for want of a chief capable of making head against Ebn-Sihoud.
We encamped at a spot called Nain-el-Raz, three days from the
Euphrates. Here the Emir Fares el Harba, the chief of the tribe El
Harba, of the territory of Bassora, came to make an offensive and
defensive alliance with the Drayhy. When the chiefs have to discuss
any important affair, they quit the camp and hold their conference at
a distance; this is called _dahra_,--secret assembly. Sheik Ibrahim
having been called to the dahra, showed some mistrust of Fares,
fearing that he was a spy of the Wahabees. The Drayhy said to him,
“You judge of the Bedouins by the Osmanlis: know that the characters
of the two people are directly opposed--treason is unknown among us.”
After this declaration, all the sheiks present at the council mutually
pledged their word. Sheik Ibrahim took advantage of this disposition
to propose to them to conclude a treaty in writing, to be signed and
sealed by all those who would successively enter into the alliance
against Ebn-Sihoud. This was a great step in the interest of Sheik
Ibrahim, and I drew up the treaty in the following terms:--
“In the name of the God of mercy, who by his might will help us against
traitors. We praise him for all his goodness, and return thanks to him
for having given us to distinguish good from evil--to love liberty and
to hate slavery; we acknowledge that he is the only and Almighty God,
alone to be adored.
“We declare that we are confederated by our own free will without any
constraint, that we are all sound in body and mind, and that we have
unanimously resolved to follow the advice of Sheik Ibrahim and Abdallah
el Katib, for the interest of our prosperity, of our glory, and of our
liberty. The articles of our treaty are:--
“1st. To separate ourselves from the Osmanlis.
“2d. To wage a war of extirpation against the Wahabees.
“3d. Never to speak upon the subject of religion.
“4th. To obey the orders of our brother, the great Drayhy, Ebn Chahllan.
“5th. To oblige each sheik to answer for his tribe and to keep this
engagement secret.
“6th. To combine against those tribes who should not subscribe to it.
“7th. To march to the assistance of those who sign the present treaty,
and to combine against their enemies.
“8th. To punish with death those who should break this alliance.
“9th. To listen to no calumnies against Sheik Ibrahim and Abdallah.