which overspread the desert. The fifth day, after passing the night
under the tents of El Henadi, we rose with the sun, and went out to
saddle our dromedaries; but found them, to our great amazement, with
their heads plunged deeply into the sand, from whence it was impossible
to disengage them. Calling to our aid the Bedouins of the tribe, they
informed us that the circumstance presaged the simoom, which would
not long delay its devastating course, and that we could not proceed
without facing certain death. Providence has endowed the camel with an
instinctive presentiment for its preservation. It is sensible two or
three hours beforehand of the approach of this terrific scourge of the
desert, and turning its face away from the wind, buries itself in the
sand; and neither force nor want can move it from its position, either
to eat or drink, while the tempest lasts, though it should be for
several days.
Learning the danger which threatened us, we shared the general terror,
and hastened to adopt all the precautions enjoined us. Horses must not
only be placed under shelter, but have their heads covered and their
ears stopped; they would otherwise be suffocated by the whirlwinds of
fine and subtle sand which the wind sweeps furiously before it. Men
assemble under their tents, stopping up every crevice with extreme
caution; and having provided themselves with water placed within reach,
throw themselves on the ground, covering their heads with a mantle, and
stir no more till the desolating hurricane has passed.
That morning all was tumult in the camp; every one endeavouring to
provide for the safety of his beasts, and then precipitately retiring
under the protection of his tent. We had scarcely time to secure our
beautiful Nedgde mares before the storm began. Furious gusts of wind
were succeeded by clouds of red and burning sands, whirling round with
fierce impetuosity, and overthrowing or burying under their drifted
mountains whatever they encountered. If any part of the body is by
accident exposed to its touch, the flesh swells as if a hot iron had
been passed over it. The water intended to refresh us with its coolness
was boiling, and the temperature of the tent exceeded that of a Turkish
bath. The tempest lasted ten hours in its greatest fury, and then
gradually sunk for the following six: another hour, and we must all
have been suffocated. When at length we ventured to issue from our
tents, a dreadful spectacle awaited us: five children, two women, and a
man were extended dead on the still burning sand; and several Bedouins
had their faces blackened and entirely calcined, as if by the action of
an ardent furnace. When any one is struck on the head by the simoom,
the blood flows in torrents from his mouth and nostrils, his face
swells and turns black, and he soon dies of suffocation. We thanked the
Lord that we had not ourselves been surprised by this terrible scourge
in the midst of the desert, but had been preserved from so frightful a
death.
When the weather permitted us to leave the camp of Henadi, twelve
hours’ march brought us back to our tribe. I embraced Sheik Ibrahim
with true filial love, and several days elapsed in the mutual recital
of our adventures. When I had perfectly recovered my fatigues, M.
Lascaris said to me:
“My dear son, we have no longer any business here. Thanks be to God,
all is accomplished! and my enterprise has succeeded beyond my most
sanguine hopes: we must now return to give an account of our mission.”
We quitted our friends in the hope of soon seeing them at the head of
the expedition to which we had opened and smoothed the way. Passing
through Damascus, Aleppo, and Caramania, we reached Constantinople in
the month of April, after ninety days’ travelling, frequently across
tracts of snow. In the course of that fatiguing journey I lost my
handsome Nedgdian mare, the gift of Ebn Sihoud, which I had calculated
on selling for at least thirty thousand piastres: but this was only
the forerunner of the misfortunes which awaited us. Constantinople was
ravaged by the plague; and General Andreossi lodged us at Keghat-Kani,
where we spent three months in quarantine, and, during that time, were
informed of the fatal catastrophe of Moscow and the retreat of the
French army upon Paris. M. Lascaris was in despair, and for two months
his plan of proceeding was quite undecided. At length, determining to
return into Syria, and there wait the issue of events, we embarked
on board a vessel freighted with corn; but a violent storm drove us
to Chios, where we again encountered the plague. M. de Bourville,
the French consul, procured us a lodging, in which we remained for
two months closely shut up; and there, our property having become a
prey to the tempest, while contagion cut us off from all external
communication, we were nearly without clothing, and exposed to the
greatest privations.
Communications were at length restored; and M. Lascaris having
received a letter from our consul-general at Smyrna, inviting him to a
conference there with the Generals Lallemand and Savary, determined to
comply, and allowed me meanwhile to visit my poor mother, whom I had
not seen for six years.
My travels no longer offering any thing of interest to the public,
I shall pass over the interval which elapsed between my separation
from M. Lascaris and my return to Syria, and hasten to the melancholy
conclusion.
While staying at Latakia with my mother, and daily expecting the
arrival of a ship that might transport me to Egypt, where I had been
ordered by M. Lascaris to rejoin him, I saw a French brig of war enter
the port, and hastened to inquire for letters. Alas! those letters
brought me the afflicting intelligence of the decease of my benefactor
at Cairo. My grief baffled description: I entertained a filial
affection for M. Lascaris; besides which, all my future prospects had
expired with him. M. Drovetti, French consul in Alexandria, wrote
to desire I would come to him as soon as possible; but it was forty
days before I could find an opportunity of embarking, and when I
reached Alexandria, M. Drovetti had set out for Upper Egypt; thither I
followed, and overtook him at Asscout. He informed me that M. Lascaris
having entered Egypt with an English passport, Mr. Salt, the English
consul, had taken possession of all his effects. He persuaded me,
therefore, to apply to that gentleman for payment of my stipend of five
hundred tallarins per annum, which was nearly six years in arrear; and
especially recommended me to insist strongly on the restitution of M.
Lascaris’s manuscript journal, a document of vast importance.
I immediately returned to Cairo; but Mr. Salt received me very coldly,
and told me that M. Lascaris having died under English protection, he
had transmitted his property and papers to England. All my attempts
were therefore futile; and after a long detention at Cairo, in the
vain hope of obtaining either payment of my arrears or the papers of
my patron, Mr. Salt at last menaced me with procuring my arrest by
the Egyptian authorities; and to the protection of M. Drovetti alone I
owe my escape from this new peril. Weary of so profitless a struggle,
I returned to Latakia and my family, more unhappy and less rich than I
had at first quitted it on my expedition to Aleppo.
END OF FATALLA SAYEGHIR’S STORY.
NOTE.
It was my intention to have added here a few translations, for the
purpose of giving the reader some idea of modern Arabian poetry; but
I understand that an able hand, and one more practised than mine, is
already employed on the task. A volume, entitled _A Miscellany of
French and Oriental Literature_, by J. Augoub, will appear in a few
days.[U] I was acquainted with the author, a young poet of the highest
promise, prematurely snatched from his family and his fame. He was born
in Egypt, and had been educated in France. The original fragments which
he has left behind, and doubtless also these translations, breathe the
deep and ardent colouring of his native skies, combined with the purity
of French taste. These works, published by his widow, are the only
legacy he has bequeathed to his family and his country.
I have inserted in these volumes a few fragments extracted from the
publication here announced, assured that they will but stimulate the
reader’s desire for a further acquaintance with them.
A. DE LAMARTINE.
15th April, 1835.
MAOULS,
Or Popular Romances of the Modern Arabs; extracted from a Collection
entitled, “A Miscellany of French and Oriental Literature,” by
_J. Augoub_.
Now that thy stature, like the young shoot of a palm, is slender and
graceful, grant me thy caresses. O my best beloved, let us make use
of time as it flies! Close not against love the avenue to thy favour.
Believe me, beauty is evanescent; its empire has never yet been
prolonged for a mortal.
They have compared thee to the queen of the nightly firmament; but how
greatly do they err in their language! Has the moon those beautiful
black eyes, with their sparkling pupils? The rushes bend and sway
before the gentlest breath of the zephyr; thou, who resemblest them by
thy slight figure--thou seest all men bend before thee!
If the torment of my heart causes happiness to thine, torment me; for
my happiness is bound up in thine,--if, indeed, thine is not far dearer
to me than my own. If thou wishest to take my life--if the sacrifice
of it is necessary to thee--take it, O thou who alone art my life, and
incense not thyself against me!
What harm would it be, young beauty, if thou shouldest treat me with
more justice? Thou wouldest cure my grievous malady by a remedy which
would relieve me from the necessity of having recourse to the Canon of
Avicene.[V] Whenever I contemplate thy beautiful eyebrows, I recognize
in them the graceful contour of the houn;[W] and thy voice is sweeter
to my ear than the sound of the harp and the cithern.[X]
When my best beloved passed by, the branch of the neighbouring willow
was jealous of her delicate figure; the rose bent her head for shame
when she saw the bright colour of her cheek; and I exclaimed,--O thou
who beyond recovery hast captivated my soul, the glance of thine eye
has opened a wound in my bosom which will not be cured to the end of my
life!
I love, I love an adolescent, and my passion burns like a flame at
the bottom of my heart. When love glided into my bosom, scarcely did
the tender down shade the cheek of my lover. Oh, I love! and it is
for thee, my well-beloved, that my tears flow; and I swear by Him who
created love, that my heart has never known tenderness but for thee! I
offer to thee my first flame.
When the night deepens its shadows, it is to imitate the blackness
of thy curling locks; when the day shines in its purest splendour,
it is to recall to mind the dazzling brightness of thy countenance:
the exhalations of the aloes are less sweet than the perfume of thy
breath; and the lover, enamoured of thy charms, shall pass his life in
recounting thy praises.
My best-beloved comes forth, but her countenance is veiled; yet at
sight of her all minds are bewildered. The slender branch in the Valley
of Camels becomes jealous of her flexible and attractive form. Suddenly
she raises her hand and removes the curious veil which concealed her,
and the inhabitants of the land utter cries of surprise. Is it a flash
of lightning, say they, which illuminates our dwellings? or have the
Arabs lighted fires in the desert?
--------------+--------------------------+----------+-------------
| | Number | Probable
Names | Names of Commanders | of Tents | Number of
of Tribes. | of Tribes. | in each | Persons in
| | Tribe. | each Tribe.
--------------+--------------------------+----------+-------------
| | |
El-Ammour | Soultan El-Brrak | 500 | 5,000
El-Hassné | Mehamma El Fadel Eben | |
| Melhgem | 1,500 | 15,000
Would Aly | Douhi Eben Sammir | 5,000 | 50,000
El-Serhaan | Adgham Eben Ali | 1,200 | 12,000
El-Sarddié | Fedghem Eben Sarraage | 1,800 | 18,000
Benni Sakhrer | Sellamé Eben Fakhrer | 2,700 | 27,000
El-Doualla | Drayhy Eben Chahllan | 5,000 | 50,000
El-Harba | Fares El-Harba | 4,000 | 40,000
El-Suallemè | Auad Eben Giandal | 1,500 | 15,000
El-Ollama | Taffaissan Eben Sarraage | 1,400 | 14,000
Abdellé | Selam Eben Mehgiel | 1,200 | 12,000
El-Refacha | Zarrak | 800 | 8,000
El-Wualdè | Giandal El-Mehidi | 1,600 | 16,000
El-Mofanfakhr | Hammoud El-Tammer | 5,000 | 50,000
El-Cherarah | Abedd Eben Sobaihi | 2,300 | 23,000
El-Achgaha | Dehass Eben Ali | 2,000 | 20,000
El-Salca | Giassem Eben Geraimess | 3,000 | 30,000
El-Giomllan | Zarrak Ebn Fakhrer | 1,200 | 12,000
El-Giahma | Giarah Eben Mehgiel | 1,500 | 15,000
El-Ballahiss | Ghaleb Eben Ramdoun | 1,400 | 14,000
El-Maslekhr | Faress Eben Nadjed | 2,000 | 20,000
El-Khrassa | Zehayran Eben Houad | 2,000 | 20,000
El-Mahlac | Nabec Eben Habed | 3,000 | 30,000
El-Merackhrat | Roudan Eben Soultan | 1,500 | 15,000
El-Zeker | Motlac Eben Fayhan | 800 | 8,000
El-Bechakez | Faress Eben Aggib | 500 | 5,000
El-Chiamssi | Cassem El-Wukban | 1,000 | 10,000
El-Fuaher | Sallamé El-Nahessan | 600 | 6,000
El-Salba | Mehanna El-Saneh | 800 | 8,000
El-Fedhan | Douackhry Eben Ghabiaïn | 5,000 | 50,000
El-Salkeh | Ali Eben Geraimess | 3,000 | 30,000
El-Messahid | Nehaiman Eben Fehed | 3,500 | 35,000
El-Sabha | Mohdi Eben Heïd | 4,000 | 40,000
Benni Dehabb | Chatti Eben Harab | 5,000 | 50,000
El-Fekaka | Astaoui Eben Tayar | 1,500 | 15,000
El-Hamamid | Chatti Eben Faress | 1,500 | 15,000
El-Daffir | Auad Eben Motlac | 2,300 | 23,000
El-Hegiager | Sellamé Eben Barac | 800 | 8,000
El-Khrezahel | Khrenkiar El-Alimy | 3,000 | 30,000
Benni Tay | Hamdi Eben Tamer | 4,000 | 40,000
El-Huarig | Habac Eben Mahdan | 3,500 | 35,000
El-Mehazez | Redaini Eben Khronkiar | 6,000 | 60,000
El-Berkazè | Sahdoun Eben Wuali | 1,300 | 13,000
El-Nahimm | Faheh Eben Saleh | 300 | 3,000
Bouharba | Alyan Eben Nadjed | 500 | 5,000
+----------+----------
| 102,000 | 1,020,000
THE END.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] According to Arab law, murder is compensated by money; and the sum
is fixed according to circumstances.
[B] This bottle was taken with all the rest into Egypt.
[C] An Arabic expression implying extent of dominion.
[D] A title of a Turkish officer, used in derision by the Bedouins.
[E] Turban of ceremony, (Turkish.)
[F] Destroyer of the Turks.
[G] Every Bedouin accustoms his horse to some sign when it is to put
out all its speed. He employs it only on pressing occasions, and never
confides the secret even to his own son.
[H] A pun not easy to translate: _Serah_ means gone; _Serhan_, wolf.
[I] When a Bedouin voluntarily gives up his horse to his adversary, he
may neither kill him nor make him prisoner.
[J] Ebn Sihoud, King of the Wahabees, is often called by this name.
[K] This imaginary princess was no other than lady Hester Stanhope.
[L] The ceremony is called the _hasnat_.
[M] These chiefs were, Zarack Ebn Fahrer, chief of the tribe El
Gioullan; Giarah Ebn Meghiel, chief of the tribe El Giahma; Ghaleb Ebn
Ramdoun, chief of the tribe El Ballahiss; and Fares Ebn Nedged, chief
of the tribe El Maslekher.
[N] Female camels of the most beautiful species.
[O] An equestrian exercise with sticks, called djerids, which are
lanced like javelins.
[P] The tribe El Krassa, whose chief was Zahaman Ebn Houad; the tribe
El Mahlac, with its chief Ebn Habed; the tribe El Meraikhrat, its chief
Roudan Ebn Abed; and the tribe El Zeker, its chief Matlac Ebn Fayhan.
[Q] Fares Ebn Aggib, chief of the tribe El Bechakez, with five hundred
tents; Cassan Ebn Unkban, chief of the tribe El Chiamssi, one thousand
tents; Selame Ebn Nahssan, chief of the tribe El Fuaher, six hundred
tents; Mehanna el Saneh, chief of the tribe El Salba, eight hundred
tents.
[R] The tribe of El Fedhan, composed of five thousand tents; that of
El Sabha, four thousand tents; El Fekaka, one thousand five hundred;
El Messahid, three thousand five hundred; El Salca, three thousand;
finally, that of Benni Dehabb, five thousand.
[S] The tribe of Beny Tay, composed of 4,000 tents; that of El
Hamarnid, 1,500 tents; of El Daffir, 2,500 tents; of El Hegiager, 800
tents; and lastly, that of El Khresahel, 3,000.
[T] At Maktal El Abed, we met two tribes, that of Berkaje, commanded by
Sahdoun Ebn Wuali, 1300 tents strong, and that of Mahimen, commanded by
Fahed Ebn Salche, of 300 tents. Crossing the Euphrates before Haiff,
we concluded an alliance with Alayan Ebn Nadjed, chief of the tribe of
Bouharba, which reckoned 500 tents.
[U] Published by Abel Ledoux.
[V] The celebrated treatise on medicine by Ebn Sina.
[W] This Arabic letter is of a bent form.
[X] A stringed instrument.
* * * * *
Transcriber’s note
Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Spelling has
been retained as published.
The spelling of the tribe El Hassnnée was standardized to include the
accent mark.
=CHANGED FROM TO=
Page 11: “manners are every thing” “manners are everything”
Page 47: “MEHANNA EL FFADEL” “MEHANNA EL FADEL”
Page 69: “Nabbee was armed with” “Nabee was armed with”
Page 71: “Damascus for merchandize” “Damascus for merchandise”
Page 76: “me for my weaknes” “me for my weakness”
Page 104: “des rous of securing” “desirous of securing”
Page 110: “arrived at a spot were” “arrived at a spot where”
Page 136: “the prayer _Faliha_” “the prayer _Fatiha_”
Page 137: “enemies be extingushed” “enemies be extinguished”
Page 149: “_cafia_ (handkercheif)” “_cafia_ (handkerchief)”
Page 153: “Drayhy ordered the Hatfé” “Drayhy ordered the hatfé”
Page 158: “enthusiastically rece ved” “enthusiastically received”
Page 204: “Chatti Eben Faress 15,00” “Chatti Eben Faress 1,500”
Page 204: “Auad Eben Motlac 23,00” “Auad Eben Motlac 2,300”