The Less Mountainous Districts Mentioned Here, South Of Mekka, Are Even
In Time Of Peace Accessible Only To Bedouins, Or Bedouin Merchants, And
Have Not Any Regular Communication With Mekka By Caravans - Taraba
Excepted, The Inhabitants Of Which Carry Their Dates In Monthly Caravans
To Mekka And Djidda.
The people of Nedjed pass continually through this
district in search of coffee-beans, and during the Wahaby dominion there
was no other intercourse between Yemen and the northern provinces of
Arabia.
This country seldom enjoys peace, the mountaineers being hostile
to the pastoral inhabitants of the low districts, and often at variance
among themselves. They are all very warlike, but the Wahabys have
succeeded in checking their private feuds.
The country from Mekka southwards near the sea-shore, to the west of the
chain of mountains, is flat, intersected with hills that gradually
disappear as we approach the sea, of which the shore presents a level
plain in almost every direction at the distance of several hours. In
time of peace the land road is most frequented by caravans, which either
proceed along the coast close to the barbour, or by the foot of the
mountains. The former way affords but little water. The first inhabited
place south of Djidda is Leyth, four days distant, a small harbour,
which the people were now deserting through dread of the mountaineers.
The inhabitants of Leyth are mostly of the Beni Harb tribe, numerous and
powerful in the country between Mekka and Medina. On this coast are many
encampments of the Heteym Arabs. From Leyth up the mountains to the
district of Zohran, is a journey of three days and a half: from Leyth to
Shagga, a small town, is one day's journey: from thence to Doga, the
same distance. Doga lies near the mountainous region, and is a
considerable market-place; but its houses, or rather huts, are
constructed only of brush-wood and reeds, not of stone. The inhabitants
are mostly Sherifs, connected in kindred with the Sherif families of
Mekka, to whom they often granted an asylum in the late civil wars. It
is a journey of one day from Doga to Gonfode, the well-known harbour.
One day and a half south of Gonfode, is the small harbour of Haly: this
was the southern limit of the territory belonging to the Sherif of
Mekka, who kept custom-house officers at Gonfode and Haly. The Wahaby
chieftain, Othman el Medhayfe, in 1805 (or 1806), took Gonfode from the
Sherif, and the whole coast from thence to Djidda fell under the Wahaby
dominion. In 1814 the Turkish troops of Mohammed Aly Pasha endeavoured
to establish themselves there, but were soon dislodged with considerable
loss by Tamy. Gonfode, however, was retaken in 1815 by Mohammed Aly
himself, after his return from the expedition against Tamy, the Sheikh
of Asyr.
The caravan distance from Djidda to Gonfode along the coast is seven
days, easy travelling. From Djidda to Leyth, another more eastern road,
somewhat mountainous, five
[p.454] days' journey, yielding plenty of water: while on the coast
road, but one well is found between the two towns.
The other road from Mekka to Yemen, close along the western foot of the
great mountains, is much frequented in time of peace: there are weekly
arrivals of caravans, chiefly from Mokhowa, which is distant fifteen
hours from Doga, and one day from the district of Zohran in the
mountains. Mokhowa is a large town, nine days' journey from Mekka, for
caravans travelling slowly: it has stone buildings, and is the market
where the husbandmen of Zohran and the neighbouring districts sell the
produce of their labour to the merchants of Mokhowa, who send it to
Mekka and Djidda. The country about Mokhowa is very fertile, and
inhabited by the three tribes of Beni Selym, Beni Seydan, and Beni Aly:
the two latter had submitted to the Wahabys, and were commanded by Tamy,
the Sheikh of Asyr. There are likewise at Mokhowa many of the Beni
Ghamed tribe. In time of peace the intercourse between this town and
Mekka is very considerable; perhaps one third of the supplies of Mekka
in grain of different kinds come from this place. Between these towns
the road lies chiefly through valleys, and crosses but few hills: on it
are some villages, of which the huts are inhabited by Bedouins as well
as agriculturists. I must here repeat that Mokhowa is not to be
confounded with Mokha.
The two first days' journeys lie in the territory of the Djebadele
tribe, whose boundary on the S. is Wady Lemlem, a fertile valley with
springs. Beyond that live the Beni Fahem, an ancient tribe, now much
reduced in numbers: they are celebrated throughout the Hedjaz for having
retained the purity of their language in a higher degree than other
tribes; and those who hear one of their boys speak, will be convinced
that they deserve thin praise.
The country west of the great mountainous chain down to the sea is
called Tehama; an appellation not given, at least in this part of
Arabia, to any particular province, but assigned generally to the
comparatively low grounds towards the coast; and the Bedouins extend
this appellation northwards as far as Yembo. The people of Tehama are
poor, those excepted who engage in trade; for the country has few
fertile spots, and less pasturage than the mountains, where rain falls
more abundantly. In the lower Tehama there are sometimes, during a whole
year, but three or four days of rain. The Tehama Bedouins south of Mekka
had mostly retired up into the mountains, when Mohammed Aly invaded the
Hedjaz, not from dread of the Turks, but because, in such an unsettled
state of affairs, weak tribes were not secure, in the open country, from
being surprised by straggling Bedouins from the more powerful hostile
tribes, who during the power of the Wahabys did not venture to show
their enmity, and now impatiently broke loose. Among the Bedouins of
Tehama are many tribes of the Beni Heteym, a tribe more widely spread
than any other in Arabia.
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