whom he found seated in a melancholy mood in front of a coffee-room of
the Bazaar. He went straight to him with a joyful air; but the other
turned angrily away, and Chatti had great difficulty in obtaining a
hearing, and still greater in persuading him to believe that his sheep
were waiting for him outside the walls. He apprehended a new snare, and
would not for a long while consent to follow the Bedouin. Convinced at
last by the sight of his sheep, he threw himself on Chatti’s neck, and
after giving full expression to his gratitude, vainly exerted himself
to induce him to accept a recompense proportioned to such a service.
The Bedouin could only be persuaded to receive a pair of boots and a
_cafia_ (handkerchief), not worth above a tallarin at the utmost, and,
after partaking of his brother’s bread, returned to his tribe.
Our first interview with the Drayhy was truly affecting. He came
himself, with the principal members of his tribe, to seek us at the
village of Nabek, and took us back in a sort of triumph to the camp.
By the way he gave us the history of the wars he had waged in the
territory of Samarcand, and his good fortune in vanquishing four of the
principal tribes,[P] and afterwards inducing them to sign the treaty.
It was important to have detached these tribes in time from their
alliance with the Wahabees, to whom they were formerly tributary; for
it was reported that our enemies were preparing a formidable army, and
flattered themselves with obtaining the supremacy of all Syria. Soon
afterwards we heard that the army was on its march, spreading terror
and devastation everywhere on its passage.
The Pacha of Damascus despatched orders to the governors of Hems
and Hama, to keep guard day and night, and to hold their troops in
readiness for battle: while the inhabitants fled towards the coast, to
escape the sanguinary Wahabees, whose name alone sufficed to drive them
from their homes.
The Drayhy was invited by the pacha to a conference with him at
Damascus; but fearing some treason, he excused himself under pretence
of the impossibility of deserting his post at so critical a moment.
He even requested from him some auxiliary troops, hoping by their
assistance to be able to keep the enemy in check.
While waiting for the expected reinforcement, the Drayhy caused a
solemn declaration of war to be made, according to the custom of the
Bedouins on very particular occasions, in the following form:--A
white female camel was selected, and blackened all over with soot and
oil; reins made of black hair were then put over her, and she was
mounted by a young maiden dressed in black, with her face and hands
also blackened. Ten men led her from tribe to tribe, and on reaching
each she proclaimed aloud three times,--“Succour! succour! succour!
Which of you will make this camel white? she is a relic from the tent
of the Drayhy menacing ruin. Fly, fly, noble and generous defenders!
The Wahabees are coming! they will carry away your allies and your
brothers: all you who hear me, address your prayers to the prophets
Mahomet and Ali, the first and the last!”
Saying which, she distributed amongst the tribe handfuls of black hair,
and letters from the Drayhy, indicating the place of rendezvous on the
banks of the Orontes. Our camp was in a short time augmented by the
coalition of thirty tribes, assembled in the same plain, and so thickly
encamped that the ropes of our tents touched. The Pacha of Damascus
sent ten thousand men to Hama, commanded by his nephew Ibrahim Pacha,
there to wait for other troops which the Pachas of Acre and Aleppo were
to furnish. Scarcely had they met, when the arrival of the Wahabees
at Palmyra was announced by the inhabitants, who fled to take refuge
in Hama. Ibrahim Pacha wrote to the Drayhy, who repaired to him, and
they arranged together their plan of defence. The Drayhy, who took me
with him as his counsellor, acquainted me with the stipulations agreed
upon; when I pointed out to him the danger of uniting Bedouins and
Turks in the same camp, the latter having no means of distinguishing in
the confusion of battle their friends from their enemies. The Bedouins
themselves, indeed, recognize each other in the heat of the fight only
by their war-cries, each tribe incessantly repeating its own,--“Khrail
el allia Doualli,--Khrail el bionda Hassny,--Khrail el hamra Daffiry,”
&c.;--Khrail signifying horsemen; allia, bionda, hamra, indicating
the colour of their favourite mare; Doualli, Hassny, Daffiry, are the
names of the tribes. This war-cry, therefore, is equivalent to the
words, _horsemen of the red mare of Daffir_, &c. Others invoke their
sister, or some other beauty; hence the Drayhy’s war-cry is, Ana Akhron
Rabda,--I the brother of Rabda; that of Mehanna,--I the brother of
Fodda: both have sisters renowned for their beauty. The Bedouins pride
themselves greatly in their war-cries, and would consider that man a
coward who should hesitate to pronounce it in the moment of danger.
The Drayhy saw the force of my argument, and persuaded Ibrahim Pacha,
though with difficulty, to consent to a division of their forces.
The next day we returned to the camp, followed by the Mussulman army,
composed of Dalatis, Albanese, Mogrebins, Houaras, and Arabs; in all,
fifteen thousand men. They had with them some pieces of ordnance, a few
mortars and bombs, and pitched their tents half an hour’s march from
ours: the pride of their bearing, the variety and richness of their
costumes, and their banners, altogether formed a magnificent spectacle;
but, in spite of their fine appearance, the Bedouins jested upon them,
and asserted that they would be the first to fly.
In the afternoon of the second day a broad cloud was observable towards
the desert, spreading itself like a thick fog as far as the eye could
reach: by degrees the cloud cleared up, and the enemy’s army appeared
in view.
This time they brought their wives, their children, and their camels,
and established their camp, composed of fifty tribes, forming
seventy-five thousand tents, at an hour’s march from ours. About
each tent, camels and a great number of sheep were tied; presenting,
together with the horses and warriors, a formidable mass to the eye.
Ibrahim Pacha was in consternation, and sent in great haste in search
of the Drayhy, who, having succeeded in reanimating his courage a
little, returned to the camp, to order the necessary entrenchments.
For this purpose all the camels were assembled, bound together by
their knees, and placed in double files in front of the tents; and, to
complete the rampart, a trench was dug behind them. The enemy on his
part did the same, and the Drayhy ordered the hatfé to be prepared.
This singular ceremony consists in selecting the most beautiful amongst
the Bedouin girls, to be placed in a houdah, richly ornamented, borne
by a tall white camel. The choice of the maiden who is destined to
occupy this honourable but perilous post is very important, for the
success of the battle depends almost entirely upon her. Placed opposite
to the enemy, and surrounded by the bravest warriors, it is her duty
to excite them to the combat: the principal action always takes
place around her, and prodigies of valour defend her. All would be
lost should the hatfé fall into the enemy’s hands; and, to avoid so
irreparable a misfortune, half the army must always be stationed about
her. Warriors succeed each other on this point, where the battle is
always hottest, and each comes to gather enthusiasm from her looks. A
girl named Arkia, uniting in an eminent degree courage, eloquence and
beauty, was chosen for our hatfé. The enemy also prepared his, and the
battle soon afterwards commenced. The Wahabees divided their army into
two corps: the first and most considerable, commanded by Abdallah el
Hedal, the general-in-chief, was opposed to us; the second, under the
command of Abou Nocta, to the Turks. Both the character of the latter,
and their mode of fighting, are totally different from those of the
Bedouins, who, prudent and cool headed, begin the action calmly, but
growing gradually animated, become at last furious and irresistible.
The Turk, on the contrary, proud and arrogant, rushes impetuously upon
the enemy, and fancies he has only to appear and conquer: his whole
energy is thus expended on the first shock.
The Pacha Ibrahim, seeing the Wahabees attack coldly, deemed himself
sufficiently strong to disperse their entire army without assistance;
but, before the end of the day, he had learned by dear-bought
experience to respect his enemy, and was forced to permit his troops to
fall back, leaving us to sustain the whole weight of the action.
Sunset suspended the engagement, but not till both parties had suffered
a severe loss.
The next morning brought us a reinforcement, in the tribe of El Hadidi,
four thousand strong, all mounted on asses, and armed with muskets.
We numbered our forces, which amounted to eighty thousand men; but
the Wahabees had a hundred and fifty thousand, and this day’s battle
terminated in their favour. Our defeat, exaggerated, as always happens
in similar cases, was reported at Hama, and filled the inhabitants with
dismay; but two days afterwards their fears for us were removed, and
for three weeks we were alternately discomfited and successful. The
actions became daily more sanguinary; and on the fifteenth day of this
trying campaign, a new enemy, more formidable than the Wahabees, arose
in the shape of famine. The town of Hama, which alone could furnish
subsistence to either army, was exhausted, or concealed its resources.
The Turks took to flight; our allies dispersed, to avoid perishing with
hunger; the camels, forming the rampart of our camp, began to devour
one another. Amidst such frightful calamities, the courage of Arkia
never for an instant wavered. The bravest of our warriors were slain
by her side; but she ceased not to encourage them, and to excite and
applaud their efforts. She animated the old by extolling their valour
and experience; the young, by the promise of marrying him who should
bring her the head of Abdallah el Hedal. Keeping my station near her
houdah, I saw all the warriors present themselves to her for some words
of encouragement, and then rush to the combat, excited to enthusiasm
by her eloquence. I confess I preferred hearing these compliments to
receiving them myself, for they were almost uniformly the forerunners
of death.
I one day saw a fine young man, one of our bravest soldiers, present
himself before the houdah: “Arkia,” said he, “O thou fairest amongst
the fair, allow me a sight of thy face, for I go to fight for thee!”
Arkia, unveiling, replied: “Behold, O thou most valiant! Thou knowest
my price; it is the head of Abdallah!” The young man brandished his
spear, put spurs to his courser, and rushed into the midst of the
enemy. In less than two hours he sank covered with wounds. “Heaven
preserve you!” said I to Arkia, “this brave man is killed.”--“He is not
the only one who has never returned,” she sorrowfully replied. At this
moment a warrior made his appearance, armed from head to foot; even
his boots were defended with steel, and his horse covered with a coat
of mail, (the Wahabees reckoned twenty such warriors amongst them; we
had twelve.) He advanced towards our camp, challenging the Drayhy to
single combat: this has been the custom amongst the Bedouins from time
immemorial; he who is thus defied, cannot without forfeiting his honour
refuse to fight. The Drayhy, hearing his name, prepared to answer to
the challenge: but his kinsmen joined with us to prevent it. His life
was of too much importance to be thus risked; for the loss of it would
have entailed the total ruin of our cause, and the destruction of the
two allied armies. Persuasion becoming useless, we were obliged to have
recourse to coercion. We bound him with cords hand and foot to stakes
driven into the ground in the middle of his tent: the most influential
chiefs supported him, and entreated him to calm himself, urging the
imprudence of risking the welfare of the army for the purpose of
answering the insolent bravado of a savage Wahabee. Meanwhile, the
latter incessantly exclaimed: “Let the Drayhy come forth! this shall be
his last day; I am waiting to terminate his career.” The Drayhy, who
heard him, becoming more and more furious, foamed with rage and roared
like a lion; his blood-shot eyes almost starting from his head, while
he fought with terrible strength to disencumber himself of his bonds.
This tumult attracted a considerable multitude around the tent, when
suddenly a Bedouin, making his way through the crowd, presented himself
before the Drayhy. His sole clothing was a shirt bound round his loins
with a leathern girdle, and a turban on his head; he was mounted upon a
bay horse, and armed only with a spear; and thus singularly equipped,
he came to ask, in the following metrical style, permission to fight
the Wahabee instead of the sheik: “This day, I, Tehaisson, have become
master of the horse Hadidi: it has long been the object of my ambition;
I wished to receive upon his back the praises due to my valour. I am
about to fight and to vanquish the Wahabee, for the beautiful eyes
of my betrothed, and to render myself worthy of his daughter who was
always conqueror.” So saying, he rushed to combat the hostile warrior.
No one imagined that he could for one half hour resist his formidable
antagonist, whose armour rendered him invulnerable; but if the blows
he dealt were thus robbed of their murderous power, he avoided with
wonderful dexterity those that were aimed at himself during the two
hours that the struggle lasted. Meanwhile, all was suspense; the
deepest interest was manifested on both sides. At length our champion
turned round, and apparently took to flight. All hope was now lost;
the enemy was about to proclaim his triumph. The Wahabee pursued, and,
with a hand strengthened by the assurance of success, flung his lance;
but Tehaisson, foreseeing the blow, stooped even to his saddle-bow,
and the weapon flew whizzing above his head; then, suddenly returning,
he thrust his spear into the throat of his adversary, taking advantage
of the moment when the latter, being obliged to curb his horse hastily
before him, was in the act of raising his head. This movement leaving a
space between the helmet and the cuirass, the spear passed through from
side to side, and killed him on the spot: but his armour supporting
him in the saddle, he was carried by his horse into the midst of his
followers; and Tehaisson returned in triumph to the tent of the Drayhy,
where he was enthusiastically received. All the chiefs embraced him,
loading him with eulogies and presents; and Sheik Ibrahim was not
backward in testifying his gratitude.
Meanwhile, the war and the famine continued to rage: even in the
Drayhy’s tent we were two days without food; on the third, he received
a considerable supply of rice, which Mola Ismael, chief of the
Dallatis, sent him as a present. Instead of husbanding it as a last
resource, he ordered that the whole should be dressed, and invited all
present to sup with him. His son Saher would not sit down to table;
but, being importuned by his father, he requested that his portion
might be given to him, and carried it to his mare, declaring that he
had rather suffer himself, than see her die for want of food.
We had now arrived at the thirty-seventh day from the commencement of
the war: on the thirty-eighth, the battle was terrible. The camp of the
Osmanlis was taken and pillaged: the pacha had scarcely time to escape
to Hama, whither he was pursued by the Wahabee, who there besieged him.
The defeat of the Turks was the more fatal to us, as it left the second
corps of the hostile army, commanded by the famous Negro Abou Nocta,
at liberty to unite with Abdallah, and make a combined attack upon us.
The following day witnessed the commencement of a frightful struggle,
which lasted eight days without intermission. The combatants were
so intermingled together, that it was impossible to distinguish one
party from another. They fought with the sabre man to man; the entire
plain was deluged with blood, the colour of the ground being totally
invisible: never perhaps was such a battle fought. The inhabitants of
Hama, fully persuaded that we were utterly exterminated, no longer sent
us those occasional supplies of provisions which, coming at our utmost
need, had hitherto preserved us from starvation. At length the Drayhy,
finding his misfortunes accumulate, assembled his chiefs, and addressed
them thus: “My friends, it now becomes necessary that we should make
a last effort. To-morrow we must either conquer or die. To-morrow,
by God’s permission, I will destroy the enemy’s camp: to-morrow we
will feast upon its spoils.” This harangue was received with a smile
of incredulity; until one, more daring than the rest, replied: “Give
but the word, and we will obey.”--“This night,” he continued, “you
must noisely transplant your tents, your wives, and your children, to
the other side of the Orontes. The whole must have disappeared before
sunrise, without the cognisance of the enemy. Then, having no longer
any care to trouble us, we will make a desperate attack upon them, and
will exterminate them, or perish ourselves in the attempt: but God will
be on our side, and we shall conquer.” Every one hastened to execute
the commands thus given, with incredible order, celerity, and silence.
The next day, the efficient warriors alone remained. The Drayhy divided
them into four corps, ordering a simultaneous attack upon the four
sides of the enemy’s camp. The troops, in desperation, threw themselves
upon their prey like hungry lions; and the impetuous but well-concerted
onset was attended with all the success which could have been wished.
Confusion and disorder spreading rapidly amongst their unexpectedly
enclosed ranks, the Wahabees took to flight, abandoning their women
and children, their tents and their baggage. The Drayhy, without
allowing his men time to seize upon the booty, obliged them to pursue
the fugitives to Palmyra, and gave them no respite until they had
accomplished the total dispersion of the enemy.
No sooner had victory declared itself in our favour, than I departed
with Sheik Ibrahim to announce the joyful intelligence at Hama; but
nobody there would give credit to it, and the inhabitants would
fain have treated ourselves as fugitives. They exhibited the utmost
perturbation: some climbed the heights, whence they could perceive
nothing but clouds of dust; others prepared their mules for flight
towards the coast. The defeat of the Wahabees being, however, speedily
confirmed, the most extravagant demonstrations of joy succeeded to this
terrible alarm. A Tartar was despatched to Damascus, and brought back
with him forty loads of wheat, twenty-five thousand piastres, and a
sabre and a robe of honour for the Drayhy, who made his triumphal entry
into Hama, escorted by all the chiefs of the allied tribes. He was
received by the governor, the agas, the pacha, and all his court, in
the most splendid manner.
After four days of rejoicings we quitted Hama, to rejoin our tribes,
and conduct them to the east before the approach of winter. The Drayhy
was personally attended by a company of twelve; the others, in groups
of five or six, dispersed themselves in the desert of Damascus. Our
first stay was at Tall el Dehab, in the territory of Aleppo, where we
encountered four tribes who had taken no part in the war. The chiefs
came forward to meet the Drayhy, penetrated with respect for his
recent exploits, and soliciting the favour of being admitted to sign
the treaty of alliance with us.[Q] From thence we marched without
interruption to join our friend, the Emir Faher, who received us with
the most lively demonstrations of joy. In company with his, and several
other tribes, proceeding like ourselves to Mesopotamia, we crossed the
Euphrates, some establishing themselves in the neighbourhood of Hamad,
others in the desert of Bussora.
On the road we received a letter from Fares el Harba, announcing that
six considerable tribes, who had fought on the side of the Wahabees
against us, were encamped in the Hebassia, near Machadali, and were
well disposed to enter into alliance with us; and that if the Drayhy
would send me to him furnished with full powers to treat, he believed
himself certain of success. I lost not a moment in availing myself
of this invitation, and, after a journey of six hours, reached him
without accident. Fares el Harba immediately broke up his camp, and
conducted me to the distance of a day’s journey from the tribes.[R]
I then wrote in his name to the Emir Douackhry, chief of the tribe
El Fedhan, exhorting him to make an alliance with the Drayhy, and
promising oblivion of the past. Douackhry came in person to Fares el
Harba, and we were soon agreed; but he disclaimed answering for more
than his own tribe, considering that it would be extremely difficult to
succeed with the others. He proposed, however, that I should accompany
him back, when he would assemble the chiefs of all the tribes, and
exert his utmost influence with them. I accepted the invitation, and
departed with him; but when arrived in the centre of what ought to
have been an encampment, I was painfully affected to behold hordes of
Arabs crouching on the ground under the full blaze of the sun: having
lost their tents and baggage in the battle, their only bed was the bare
ground, their only canopy the sky. A few rags suspended here and there
upon pikes did indeed afford a semblance of shade to these unfortunate
beings, who, having stripped themselves of their only garments to
furnish this slender shelter from the fervent heat of the sun, were
exposed to the sting of insects, and to the thorny points of the plants
on which their camels browse. Many were wholly destitute of any defence
either from the heat of day or the cold of night, at that autumnal
season, when the contrasts of temperature are most fatal.
Never had I conceived an idea of wretchedness so complete: the sad
spectacle oppressed my heart and drew tears from my eyes, and it was
some time before I could recover from the agitation it occasioned me.