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 principal 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 quantities 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 constitute 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 passing 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, butter, 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 God but God, and Mohammed is the
prophet of God); 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 assigning 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 circumstance 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 asses.
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 passage by sea to
Djidda, he undertook this route, which is practicable even in these
critical times to those who can pass 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.
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