the Drayhy by no means intimidated by his approach, he judged it
prudent to secure a reinforcement of Osmanlis, and sent his son Fares
to Hems, to claim the governor’s promised assistance; who, however,
instead of investing him with the command of a body of troops, had him
loaded with irons and thrown into prison; and the dismayed Mehanna,
at this afflicting intelligence, beheld himself precipitated in a
moment from the supreme command, to the sad and humiliating necessity,
not only of submission to the Drayhy, but of even soliciting his
protection against the Turks. The unfortunate old man, overwhelmed by
so unexpected a reverse, was obliged to implore the mediation of Assaf
Sheik of Saddad, who promised him to negotiate a peace; and actually
accompanied him with a hundred horsemen within a short distance of our
camp. There leaving Mehanna with his escort, he advanced alone to the
tent of the Drayhy, who received him very cordially, but refused at
first to accept the submission of Mehanna, till we interposed in his
behalf. Sheik Ibrahim represented the hospitality with which he had
received us on our arrival in the desert, and Saher, twice kissing
his father’s hand, united his solicitations to ours. The Drayhy
yielding at last, the principal men of the tribe marched forward to
meet Mehanna,--an attention due to his years and rank. As soon as he
alighted, the Drayhy assigned him the seat of honour in the corner of
the tent, and ordered coffee to be brought. Mehanna hereupon rose: “I
will drink none of thy coffee,” said he, “till we shall be completely
reconciled, and have buried the seven stones.” At these words the
Drayhy also rose; they drew and mutually presented their sabres to be
kissed; after which they embraced, and the example was followed by
their attendants. Mehanna with his lance made an opening in the ground,
in the centre of the tent, about a foot in depth; and choosing seven
small stones, he said to the Drayhy, “In the name of the God of peace,
for your guarantee and mine, we thus for ever bury our discord.” As
the stones were cast into the hole, the two sheiks threw earth over
them, and trod it down with their feet; the women signalizing the
ceremony with deafening shouts of joy: at its termination the chiefs
resumed their seats, and coffee was served.[L] From that moment it was
no longer allowable to revert to the past, or to mention war. I was
assured that a reconciliation, to be according to rule, ought always
to be solemnized in this form. After a plentiful repast, I read aloud
the treaty, to which Mehanna and four other chiefs of tribes affixed
their seals.[M]
Their united forces amounted to seven thousand six hundred tents; and,
what was far more important still, the Drayhy became by this alliance
chief of all the Bedouins of Syria, where he had no longer a single
enemy. Saher went to Hems to solicit the deliverance of Fares, whom
he brought back, attired in a pelisse of honour, to take part in the
general rejoicing; after which the tribes dispersed, and occupied with
their several stations the whole country from the Horan to Aleppo.
We now only waited the end of the summer to return towards the east,
in order to conclude the negotiations we had commenced the preceding
year with the tribes of Bagdad and Bussora; and this interval of calm
and leisure was filled up with preparations for a marriage between
Giarah, son of Fares, chief of the tribe El Harba, and Sabha, daughter
of Bargiass, the most beautiful maiden of the desert. I was peculiarly
interested in the affair, having known the bride during my residence
with her mother. Fares begged the Drayhy to accompany him to Bargiass
to make his proposals; and the chiefs of the tribe, in the richest
attire, were in attendance. We reached the tent of Bargiass without
any one being sent to meet us; Bargiass did not even rise to receive
us: such is the usual form on such occasions; the smallest sign of
forwardness would be considered unbecoming.
After a few moments’ silence the Drayhy spoke;--“Why,” said he, “do
you receive us so indifferently? If you are resolved to offer us no
refreshment, we will return home.” During this time Sabha, withdrawn
within that part of the tent reserved for the women, observed her
suitor through the opening of the curtain; for custom exacts that the
lady should signify her satisfaction at the appearance of her lover,
before any negotiation is entered upon; and if, after the secret
survey I have just mentioned, she gives her mother to understand that
the intended bridegroom does not please her, the matter rests there.
On this occasion, however, a young and handsome man, of a proud and
noble presence, presented himself, and Sabha gave the requisite token
of satisfaction to her mother, who then responded to the Drayhy’s
inquiry,--“You are all welcome! Not only will we heartily afford you
refreshment, but we will grant all that you can desire.”--“We come,”
returned the Drayhy, “to demand your daughter in marriage for the
son of our friend: what do you require for her dowry?”--“A hundred
nakas,”[N] replied Bargiass, “five horses of the race of Nedgde, five
hundred sheep, three negroes, and three negresses to attend upon Sabha;
and for the _trousseau_, a saddle embroidered with gold, a robe of
damask silk, ten bracelets of amber and coral, and yellow boots.”
The Drayhy made some remonstrances on the exorbitance of the demand,
saying, “Thou art minded to realize the Arab proverb: ‘If thou wouldst
not marry thy daughter, increase her price.’ Be more reasonable if thou
desirest the conclusion of this marriage.”
The dowry was finally settled at fifty nakas, two horses, two hundred
sheep, one negro, and one negress. The _trousseau_ remained as dictated
by Bargiass; saddles and yellow boots for the mother and some other
members of the family were even added above his demand. Having written
these articles, I read them aloud. Then the assistants at the ceremony
recited the prayer _Fatiha_--the Pater Noster of the Mussulmans, which
confers its sanction on the contract,--and camel’s milk was handed
round, as lemonade had been at a town in Syria. After this refreshment
the young people mounted their horses and amused themselves with the
djerid,[O] and other games. Giarah, desirous to ingratiate himself
with his bride, was particularly distinguished, and she remarked
with pleasure his agility and grace. We separated at nightfall, and
preparations for the nuptials now employed the thoughts of all.
By the evening of the third day, the dowry, or rather the price of
Sabha, was ready, and a numerous procession moved with it in the
following order:--A horseman led the van, with a white flag pendent
from the point of his lance, and crying, “I bear the spotless honour
of Bargiass.” After him followed the camels, decorated with garlands
of flowers and foliage, attended by their drivers; then the negro
on horseback, richly clothed, and surrounded by men on foot singing
popular airs. Behind them marched a troop of warriors, armed with
muskets, which they frequently discharged. A woman followed, sprinkling
with incense a large vessel of fire which she carried. Then the milch
ewes, under the guidance of their shepherds, who were singing like
Chibouk, the brother of Antar, two thousand years earlier; for the
manners of the Bedouins never change. After these came the negress,
mounted upon a horse and evironed by two hundred women on foot,
constituting not the least noisy of the groups; for the joyous shouts
and nuptial songs of the Arab women are shrill beyond expression. The
procession was closed by the camel which bore the _trousseau_, and
formed a splendid spectacle. The embroidered housings were spread out
on all sides and covered the animal; the yellow boots hung from his
sides, and the jewels, arranged in festoons, completed his trappings. A
child of one of the most distinguished families, mounted on this camel,
repeated with a loud voice, “May we be ever victorious! May the fire
of our enemies be extinguished for ever!” Other children accompanied
him, crying, “Amen!” For my part, I ran from one side to the other, to
enjoy the whole spectacle to the utmost.
This time Bargiass came out to meet us, attended by the horsemen and
women of his tribe; the cries and chants then became truly deafening;
and the horses galloping about on all sides, soon enveloped us in a
whirlwind of dust.
When the presents were all displayed and ranged in order around the
tent of Bargiass, coffee was made in a monstrous caldron, and every one
took some, while waiting for the feast.
Ten camels, thirty sheep, and a prodigious quantity of rice formed the
staple of the meal; after which a second caldron of coffee was emptied.
The dowry accepted, the ceremony was concluded by a repetition of the
prayer; and it was agreed that Giarah should come at the expiration of
three days to fetch his bride. Before my departure, I visited the women
in their apartments, to introduce Sheik Ibrahim to a more intimate
acquaintance with Bargiass’s wife, and to reiterate my thanks for her
care of me. She replied by expressing her readiness to increase my
obligations by bestowing her niece on me in marriage; but Sheik Ibrahim
deferred taking advantage of her favourable intentions towards me till
the following year.
On the eve of the day fixed for the wedding, a rumour arose that a
formidable army of Wahabees had appeared in the desert: couriers
flew from tribe to tribe, exhorting them to unite three or four in a
company, that the enemy might find them prepared on all points to
receive them; and the espousals had nearly been consummated by a mortal
combat, instead of the sham fight which is customary on such occasions.
The Drayhy and the other chiefs set out very early in the morning with
a thousand horsemen and five hundred women to achieve the conquest of
the beautiful Sabha. At a short distance from the camp, the procession
halted: the women and old men alighted and awaited the issue of a
combat between the young people who came to carry off the betrothed,
and those of her tribe who opposed their design. These contests have
sometimes fatal results; but the bridegroom is not permitted to take
part in them, lest his life should be exposed to hazard from the
machinations of his rivals. On this occasion the combatants came off
with about a score of wounds; and victory, as was reasonable, decided
for our party, who carried off the bride in triumph and consigned
her to the women of our tribe. Sabha’s train was composed of a score
of maidens with three well-laden camels; the first carrying her
howdah covered with scarlet cloth, trimmed with fringes and tufts
of various-coloured worsted, and adorned with ostrich-feathers: the
interior was decorated by festoons of shells and strings of coloured
glass, forming a sort of frames to small mirrors, which, placed at
intervals, reflected the scene on all sides; and furnished with silken
cushions for the reception of the bride. The tent formed the burden
of the second camel, and the carpets and kitchen utensils that of
the third. The queen of the festival being placed in her howdah,
surrounded by the wives of the chiefs mounted on their camels, and by
other women on foot, the procession commenced its retrograde march.
Horsemen prancing in the van announced its progress to the tribes we
might meet, who were expected to greet us by throwing incense and
killing sheep under the feet of the bride’s camels. It is not possible
to convey a very exact idea of this scene, nor of that which lasted
during the whole day and night; nor to describe the dances, the songs,
the bonfires, the banquets, the tumult, and the cries of all sorts,
which her arrival occasioned. Eight tribes were entertained by the
hospitality of Fares. Two thousand pounds of rice, twenty camels, and
fifty sheep, furnished out the feast; and in the middle of the night
the cry was still, “Let him who is hungry come and eat.” So great was
my reputation among them, that Giarah begged a talisman from me to
insure the happiness of this union: I accordingly wrote his cipher and
that of his spouse in European characters; placed the charm solemnly in
his hands; and no one doubted the efficacy of it, when they observed
the satisfaction of the new-married couple.
Some days afterwards, hearing that the Wahabees, ten thousand strong,
were besieging Palmyra, the Drayhy gave orders for marching against
them. We encountered them at El Dauh, and exchanged some musket-shots
till nightfall, but without coming to a pitched battle. I had here
leisure to appreciate the advantage of the _mardouffs_, in these wars
of the desert, in which it is always necessary to carry about the
commissariat of the army, and often for a considerable time. These
camels, mounted each by two soldiers, are like moving fortresses,
provisioned with everything necessary for the nourishment and defence
of their riders. A budget of water, a sack of flour and another of
dried dates, a jar of sheep’s butter, and the munitions of war, are
formed into a sort of square tower on the animal’s back. The men,
conveniently placed on each side on seats composed of cordage, thus
carry with them everything of which their temperate habits have need.
When they are hungry, they knead a little of the meal with butter,
and eat it in that state without baking; a few dates and a small
quantity of water completing their moderate repast: nor do they quit
their post to sleep, but throw themselves across the camel in the
manner I have already described. The next day’s engagement was more
serious. Our Bedouins fought with more inveterate obstinacy than their
adversaries, because their women and children were in their rear, while
the Wahabees, far from home, and with no other object than pillage,
were little disposed to risk their lives in the cause. Night separated
the combatants, but with the earliest dawn the battle recommenced: at
length, towards evening, victory declared in our favour; the enemy
having lost sixty men killed, took to flight and left us in possession
of the field of battle, besides twenty-two prisoners, forty beautiful
mares, and sixty camels. This victory still enhanced the reputation of
the Drayhy, and filled Sheik Ibrahim with joy; in the exuberance of
which he exclaimed, “Thanks be to God, our affairs prosper!”
Having no longer any enemies to fear in the Syrian desert, Sheik
Ibrahim parted company for a time from the Drayhy, and went to Hems
to purchase merchandise and write to Europe. During our stay in that
place he left me perfectly at liberty to seek amusement, and to recover
from all my fatigues; and I made daily excursions into the country
in company with some of my young friends, doubly enjoying this life
of pleasure from its contrast with that which I had led amongst the
Bedouins. But, alas! my joy was to be of short duration, and was soon
converted into bitter anguish. A messenger, who had been to Aleppo to
fetch remittances for M. Lascaris, brought me a letter from my mother,
couched in terms of the deepest affliction, and announcing the death
of my elder brother by the plague. Grief made her writing almost
incoherent. She had been ignorant of my destiny for nearly the last
three years, and conjured me, if still in existence, to go to her.
This dreadful intelligence deprived me of the use of my senses, and for
three days I was unconscious where I was, and refused all nourishment.
Thanks to the attentive care of M. Lascaris, I gradually recovered my
recollection; but all that I could obtain from him was permission to
write to my poor mother. Neither was I allowed to despatch my letter
till the eve of our departure, for fear she should come herself to seek
me. But I pass over the detail of my personal feelings, in which the
reader can have no interest, to return to our travels.
The Drayhy having advertised us that he would shortly set out for the
east, we hastened to join him, with three camels, two mares, and four
guides, whom he had placed at our disposal. The day of our departure
from Hems, I felt so extraordinary a weight upon my heart that I was
tempted to regard it as a fatal presentiment. It struck me that I was
advancing to a premature death. I made the best use, however, of my
reasoning powers, and at length persuaded myself that the oppression
I experienced resulted from the dejection into which my mother’s
afflicting letter had plunged me. We set out on a journey of twenty
hours, and though wearied by travelling the whole day, were persuaded
by our guides not to halt till we had completed it. Nothing particular
occurred till midnight; when growing drowsy from fatigue and the
monotonous movement of the march, we were alarmed by a sudden cry from
the advanced guide--“Rouse yourselves, and look well about you, for we
are on the brink of a tremendous precipice!” The road was but a foot
in breadth; on the right was a perpendicular mountain, and on the left
the precipice called Wadi el Hail. I woke in surprise, rubbed my eyes,
and reseized the bridle, which I had allowed to hang loosely over the
neck of my mare. But this precaution, which ought to have saved me, was
the very thing that had nearly caused my death; for the animal having
stumbled against a stone, fear made me draw the reins too hastily. She
reared, and in coming down lost her footing, stepped only on vacancy,
and rolled over with her rider to the bottom of the precipice. What
passed after that moment of agony I know only from Sheik Ibrahim, who
has since told me, that he dismounted in terror, and endeavoured to
distinguish the nature of the gulf in which I had disappeared; but the
night was too dark,--the noise of my fall was the only notice he had
of it, and he could discern nothing but an abyss beneath his feet. He
then betook himself to weeping, and conjuring the guides to go down
the precipice. But this they declared impossible in the darkness,
assuring him moreover, that it would be useless trouble, since I must
not only be certainly dead, but dashed to pieces against the points of
the rocks. Whereupon he announced his resolution not to stir from the
spot till the daylight should enable him to make his researches, and
promised a hundred tallarins to whoever should recover my body, however
mutilated it might be, as he could not, he said, consent to leave it a
prey to wild beasts. He then sat down on the edge of the gulf, waiting
in mournful despair for the first glimmerings of daylight.
No sooner were they perceptible, than the four men descended the
abyss with much difficulty, and found me, insensible, suspended by
my sash, my head downwards. The mare lay dead a few toises below, at
the extremity of the ravine. I had ten wounds on my head, the flesh
torn from my left arm, my ribs broken, and my legs scratched to the
bone. I was deposited, without any sign of life, at the feet of Sheik
Ibrahim, who threw himself upon me in tears. But having a little
knowledge of medicine, and carrying always some valuable remedies about
with him, he did not long abandon himself to a useless grief. Having
satisfied himself, by the application of volatiles to the nostrils,
that I was not absolutely dead, he placed me carefully on a camel,
and retraced his steps as far as the village of El Habedin. During
this short journey my body swelled prodigiously, without giving any
other sign of life. The village sheik having placed me on a mattress,
sent to Hems for a surgeon. For nine whole hours I remained perfectly
insensible; and at the end of that time opened my eyes without the
smallest perception of the objects around me, or recollection of what
had befallen me. I felt as if under the influence of a dream, but
without being sensible of pain. In this state I lay for four-and-twenty
hours, and recovered from my lethargy only to suffer such indescribable
agonies that I fancied it would have been better a hundredfold to have
remained at the bottom of the precipice.
Sheik Ibrahim never quitted me for an instant, and offered the highest
rewards to the surgeon in case he should succeed in saving me. The
latter was zealous, but by no means skilful; and no amendment appearing
at the expiration of thirty days, gangrene was apprehended. The
Drayhy had visited me immediately on being informed of my accident;
and he also wept over me, and offered rich presents to stimulate the
surgeon’s efforts: but at the highest point of his sensibility he could
not suppress his regret for the loss of his mare Abaige, who was of
pure blood, and worth ten thousand piastres. Nevertheless, he was in
real distress, as was Ibrahim; for they not only feared my loss, but
foresaw in it the miscarriage of all their operations. I endeavoured
to encourage them, telling them that I did not believe myself dying.
But it was too true, that though, I should be spared, there was no
probability of my being for a long while in a condition to travel.
The Drayhy was obliged to take leave of us to pursue his migration
eastwards; and Sheik Ibrahim was in despair at seeing me grow daily
worse. Hearing at length that a more skilful surgeon resided at El Dair
Attia, he sent for him. The surgeon refused to come, requiring that
the patient should be taken to him. I was therefore put upon a sort of
litter in the best manner that could be contrived, and carried to him,
at the hazard of expiring on the road. The new surgeon entirely changed
the dressing of my wounds, and washed them with warm wine. Three months
I stayed with him, suffering martyrdom, and a thousand times regretting
the death I had escaped. I was then transported to the village of
Nabek, where for three months longer I kept my bed. From that period
I may date the actual commencement of my recovery, though it was
retarded by frequent relapses. Upon the sight of a horse, for example,
I fainted, and continued for a month in a state of extreme nervousness,
which at length, and by degrees, I conquered: but I am bound to confess
that to this moment the presence of that animal causes me a shudder;
and I made a resolution never again to mount a horse, except in a case
of absolute necessity.
My illness cost Sheik Ibrahim five hundred tallarins. But how shall I
estimate his attentions, his paternal care! I am assuredly indebted to
him for my life.
During my convalescence he learnt that our friend the Pacha of Damascus
had been replaced by another, Soliman Selim. This news greatly
disconcerted us, as it appeared indicative of the loss of our credit
with the Turks.
Ten months had elapsed--a second spring was come, and we were expecting
with impatience the arrival of the Bedouins, our allies, when, to our
great joy, a courier announced their approach. We forwarded him in
haste to the Drayhy, who liberally rewarded him for the good news he
brought of my recovery, which produced universal joy in the camp, where
I had long been supposed dead. We waited some days longer, till the
tribe advanced nearer; and in the interval a singular story came to my
knowledge, which I think worthy of insertion, as an illustration of
Arab manners.
A merchant of Anatolia, escorted by fifty men, was leading ten thousand
sheep to be sold at Damascus. On the road he made acquaintance with
three Arabs, with one of whom he formed a close intimacy, and at
parting was desired to swear fraternity with him. The merchant could
not discover in what respect he, who was the proprietor of ten thousand
sheep, and was escorted by fifty soldiers, could be benefitted by
having a brother amongst the poor Bedouins; but the Bedouin, whose
name was Chatti, was so importunate, that, to satisfy him, he consented
to give him two piastres and a handful of tobacco as pledges of
fraternity. Chatti divided the two piastres between his companions,
saying, “Be ye witnesses that this man is become my brother.” They then
separated, and the merchant thought no more of the matter, till, at a
place called Ain el Alak, a party of Bedouins, superior in number to
his escort, attacked and routed them, took possession of his sheep, and
stripped him to his shirt; in which pitiable condition he arrived at
Damascus, imprecating curses upon the Bedouins, and especially upon his
pretended brother Chatti, whom he accused of betraying and selling him.
Meanwhile the news of so rich a capture was quickly spread in the
desert, and reached the ears of Chatti, who, having with some
difficulty found his two witnesses, brought them before Soultan el
Brrak, chief of the tribe of El Ammour, to whom he declared that he
was brother to the merchant who had just been robbed, and called
upon the chief to enable him to fulfil the duties of fraternity, by
restoring the property. Soultan, having taken the depositions of the
two witnesses, was obliged to accompany Chatti to El Nahimen, the
sheik of the tribe which had carried off the sheep, and to reclaim
them in conformity with their laws. The sheik was under the necessity
of restoring them; and Chatti, having first ascertained that none
were missing, took the road to Damascus, with the flocks and their
shepherds.