Travels in Arabia Part 29

10. Meshnye, on the S. borders of Zohran.

11. Raghdan, a market-place of the Ghamed Arabs.

12. Korn el Maghsal, of the Ghamed Arabs.

13. Al Zahera, of the same Arabs. These two tribes of Zohran and Ghamed possess the Hedjaz (viz. the mountains) and adjoining districts in Tehama, or the Western plain [p.446] towards the sea, as well as the Eastern upper plain. The chief place of the Ghamed tribe is Mokhowa, a town not to be confounded with Mokha.

14. El Roheyta, of the powerful tribe of Shomran.

15. Adama, of the Shomran Arabs.

16. Tabala, of the Shomran Arabs, who extend over both sides of the mountains in the W. and E. plain.

17. El Hasba, market of the Shomran Arabs.

18. El Asabely, a village of the Asabely tribe.

19. Beni Shefra, a market-place of the tribe so called, formerly united with the Asabelys, but formed by the Wahaby chief into a distinct tribe.

20. Shat Ibn Aryf.

21. Sedouan: this place and Shat Ibn Aryf are inhabited by Arabs of the tribe called Ahl Aryef.

22. El Matsa.

23. Ibn Maan, which with El Matsa belong to the Ibn Katlan Arabs.

24. Ibl, in the territory of the powerful tribe of Asyr.

25. Ibn el Shayr, of the Asyr tribe.

26. Dahban, of the Kahtan Arabs, one of the most powerful tribes of the Eastern Desert.

27. Derb Ibn el Okeyda, a wady inhabited by the Refeydha tribe, who belong to the Asyr. They are strong in horses.

28. Derb Selman, of the Refeydha tribe.

29. Wakasha, of the Abyda Arabs. In the district of Abyda is the town of Aryn, in a very fertile territory. From Aryn southward the Arabs keep on the mountains a few camels, but many sheep and goats, and are what the Bedouins call Shouawy, or Ahl Shah, or Ahl Bul.

30. Wady Yaowd, of the Abyda Arabs.

31. Howd Ibn Zyad, of the Abyda Arabs.

32. Thohran, a district and market-place of the tribe of Wadaa.

33. Keradb, of the Wadaa tribe.

34. Roghafa, of the Sahhar Arabs.

35. Dohyan, of the Sahhar Arabs.

36. Sada, of the Sahhar tribe. From Sada the caravan, or Hadj el Kebsy, takes its departure; it is so called from the Emir, or chief of the Hadj, who is styled Kebsy. The pilgrims from all the interior parts of Yemen a.s.semble at Sada: it is a large town, but much decayed, famous in Arabia Felix as the birth-place of Yabya Ibn Hosseyn, chief promoter of the sect of Zeyd, which has numerous adherents in that country. Of late a new saint has appeared at Sada; he is called Seyd Ahmed, and is much revered by the Zyoud, or sect of Zeyd, who ent.i.tle him Woly, or Saint, even during his life. Sada is governed by Arabs: the Wahaby influence extended thus far. From Sada towards Sanaa the country is inhabited by Arabs, under the dominion of the Imam of Sanaa.

37. Aashemye, of the Sofyan tribe.

38. A market-place, or Souk, of the Bekyl Arabs.

[p.447]

39. Another market-place of the same tribe. The Bekyl and Hashed Arabs of this district serve in the army of the Imam of Sana; many of them go to India, and are preferred by the native princes there to any other cla.s.s of soldiers: Tipoo Saheb had several hundred of them in his service. They generally embark at Shaher, in Hadramaut; and their chief destination at present is Guzerat and Cutch.

40. Ghoulet Adjyb, of the Hashed Arabs.

41. Reyda, of the Omran Arabs.

42. Ayal Sorah, of the Hamdan tribe.

43. Sanaa. From Mekka to Sanaa, forty-three days' very slow travelling: for most of the pilgrims perform the whole journey on foot.

No. II.

Of the country through which the Kebsy pilgrims travel, and the extraordinary customs of some Arabian tribes.

THE route of this pilgrimage lies wholly along the mountains of the Hedjaz and Yemen, having the Eastern plain on one side, and Tehama, or the sea-coast, on the other. The road often leads through difficult pa.s.ses on the very summit of the mountains. Water abounds, in wells, springs, and rivulets: the entire tract of country is well peopled, although not every where cultivated, enclosed fields and trees being only found in the vicinity of water. There is a village at every station of the Hadj: most of these villages are built of stone, and inhabited by Arab tribes, originally of these mountains, and now spread over the adjoining plains. Some are very considerable tribes, such as Zohran, Ghamed, Shomran, Asyr, and Abyda, of whom each can muster from six to eight thousand firelocks: their princ.i.p.al strength consists in matchlocks. Horses are but few in these mountains; yet the Kahtan, Refeydha, and Abyda tribes, who likewise spread over the plain, possess the good Koheyl breed. This country produces not only enough for the inhabitants, but enables them to export great quant.i.ties of coffee- beans, corn, beans, raisins, almonds, dried apricots, &c.

It is said that the coffee-tree does not grow northward beyond Meshnye, in the Zohran country; the tree improves in quality southward: the best coffee is produced in the neighbourhood of Sanaa. Grapes abound in these mountains. Raisins const.i.tute a common article of food with the Arabs, and are exported to the towns on the sea-coast, and to Djidda and Mekka, where a kind of wine is made from them, as follows:--The raisins are put into

[p.448] earthen jars, which are then filled with water, buried in the ground, and left there for a whole month, during which the fermentation takes place. Most other fruits are cultivated in these mountains, where water is at all times abundant, and the climate temperate. Snow has sometimes fallen, and water been frozen as far as Sada. The Arabs purchase their cotton dresses in the market-places of Tehama, or on the coast: the pa.s.sing pilgrims sell to them a few drugs, spices, and needles, and proceed on their way in perfect security, at least since the Wahabys have subjugated the whole country, by overpowering, after many sanguinary battles, the hostile Sheikhs, who were forced to pay an annual tribute.

Most of the Arab tribes south of Zohran belong to the sect of Zeyd: they live in villages, and are chiefly what the Arabs call Hadhar, or settlers, not Bedouins; but as they keep large herds of cattle, they descend, in time of rain, into the Eastern plain, which affords rich pasturage for cows, camels, and sheep. They procure clothes, drugs, utensils, &c. from the sea-ports of Yemen, where they sell dried fruits, dates, honey, b.u.t.ter, coffee-beans, &c. With the Bedouins of the Eastern plain they exchange durra for cattle. The Spanish dollar is current among them; but in their markets all things are valued by measures of corn. The dress of these Bedouins generally consists in cotton stuffs and leather.

Before the Wahabys taught them the true Mohammedan doctrines, they knew nothing more of their religion than the creed, La Illaha ill' Allah, wa Mohammed rasoul Allah, (There is no G.o.d but G.o.d, and Mohammed is the prophet of G.o.d); nor did they ever perform the prescribed rites. The El Merekede, a branch of the great Asyr tribe, indulged in an ancient custom of their forefathers by a.s.signing to the stranger, who alighted at their tents or houses, some female of the family to be his companion during the night, most commonly the host's own wife; but to this barbarous system of hospitality young virgins were never sacrificed. If the stranger rendered himself agreeable to his fair partner, he was treated next morning with the utmost attention by his host, and furnished, on parting, with provisions sufficient for the remainder of his journey: but if, unfortunately, he did not please the lady, his cloak was found next day to want a piece, cut off by her as a signal of contempt. This circ.u.mstance being known, the unlucky traveller was driven away with disgrace by all the women and children of the village or encampment. It was not without much difficulty that the Wahabys forced them to renounce this custom; and as there was a scarcity of rain for two years after, the Merekedes regarded this misfortune as a punishment for having abandoned the laudable rites of hospitality, practised during so many centuries by their ancestors.

That this extraordinary custom prevailed in the Merekede tribe, I had often heard during my travels among the Syrian Bedouins, but could not readily believe a report so inconsistent with our established notions of the respect in which female honour is held by the Arabs; but I can no longer entertain a doubt on the subject, having received, both at Mekka and Tayf, from various persons who had actually witnessed the fact, most unequivocal evidence in confirmation of the statement.

Before the Wahaby conquest it was a custom among the Asyr Arabs, to take their marriageable daughters, attired in their best clothes, to the public market, and there, walking before them, to cry out, Man yshtery el Aadera? "Who will buy the virgin?" The match,

[p.449] sometimes previously settled, was always concluded in the market-place; and no girl was permitted to marry in any other manner.

I heard that tigers and wolves abound in these mountains, but that there are not any lions. The Arabs have here a fine breed of mules and a.s.ses.

No. III.

Route from Tayf to Sanaa.

This itinerary was communicated to me by a poor man who had travelled with his wife, in 1814, from Sada to Mekka. He was a native of some place near Sanaa; and as the pilgrimage or Hadj el Kebsy had been for some years interrupted, and he could not afford a pa.s.sage by sea to Djidda, he undertook this route, which is practicable even in these critical times to those who can pa.s.s unsuspected in the character of pilgrims. He was every where treated with hospitality. On his arrival at a village he proceeded to the Mesdjed or mosque, and recited some chapter of the Koran: the Arab inhabitants then inquired who he was, and supplied him with plenty of flour, milk, raisins, meat, &c. He was never stopped by robbers until he reached the advanced posts of Mohammed Aly's Turkish army; there he was plundered by some soldiers of all his provisions. He could not mark exactly each day's journey, because he loitered about from one settlement to another, waiting often several days that he might have companions on the road. The journey occupied him altogether three months. He supported himself at Mekka by singing, during the night, before the houses of wealthy pilgrims, some verses in honour of the propbet and of the pilgrimage. His route was as follows:--

El Tayf--Beni Sad, Arabs--Naszera, Arabs--Begyle (or Bedjele), a market- place--Rebah, a market-place--El Mandak, in the Zohran country--El Bekaa, in the Zohran country--Raghdan, in the district of the Ghamed Arabs-- Ghamed, Arabs--Sollebat, inhabited by Ghamed Arabs and those called Khotham, a very ancient tribe that flourished in the beginning of Islam-- Shomran, Arabs--Bel Korn--Ibn Dohman, an Arab tribe so called--Ibn el Ahmar, another Arab tribe--Ibn el Asmar, an Arab tribe--The country here is called after the inhabitants, which my informer had not forgotten, although he did not always recollect the names of the villages through which he pa.s.sed in the districts of each tribe--Asyr; this tribe is now united with the three former under one head--The Asyr chief, El Tamy, proved the steadiest antagonist of Mohammed Aly: his princ.i.p.al residence was the strong castle of El Tor, situated upon a high level surrounded by mountains; he