They Export Camels And
Woollen Cloaks (Abbas), Of Which The Best Are Manufactured At El Hassa;
And From Baghdad They Receive Rice, (The Produce Of The Banks Of The
Tigris), And Articles Of Dress, Especially The Keffies, Or
Handkerchiefs, Striped Green And Yellow, Of Cotton, Wool, Or Silk:
These
the Bedouins wear over their bonnets.
From Mekka they get coffee, drugs,
and perfumes, much used among them, particularly the perfume called
Arez, which comes from Mokha. In general there is a spirit of commerce
very prevalent in Nedjed, where the merchants are wealthy and of better
repute for honesty than most of the Eastern traders. The settlers here
are armed with matchlocks, and constitute the best portion of the Wababy
infantry: they are generally successful against the Bedouins who invade
their crops or pastures; and, as saltpetre is found in Nedjed, every
family makes its own yearly provision of gunpowder.
In Nedjed are many ancient wells, lined with stone, and ascribed by the
inhabitants to a primeval race of giants. They are generally from
twenty-five to thirty fathoms deep, and
[p.462] mostly the property of individuals, who exact a certain
contribution from the tribes whose cattle they supply with water. Here
likewise are numerous remains of ancient buildings, of very massive
structure and large dimensions, but in a state of complete ruin. These
are attributed to a primitive (or perhaps a fabulous) tribe of Arabs,
the Beni Tamour, of whose supposed works some vestiges are likewise seen
in the Syrian deserts eastward of the plains of Hauran.
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