In The Time Of Harvest The
Szaltese Transport Their Families Thither, Where They Live For Several
Months Under Tents, Like True Bedouins.
The principal encampment
SZALT
[p.351] is at a place called Feheis, about one bour and a half to the
S.E. of Szalt.
In addition to the means of subsistence just mentioned the inhabitants
of Szalt have several others: in July and August they collect, in the
mountains of the Belka the leaves of the Sumach, which they dry and
carry to the market at Jerusalem, for the use of the tanneries; upwards
of five hundred camel loads are yearly exported, at the rate of fifteen
to eighteen piastres the cwt. The merchants also buy up ostrich feathers
from the Bedouins, which they sell to great advantage at Damascus.
The food and clothing of the Szaltese are inferior in quality to those
of the peasants of northern Syria. Their dress, especially the women’s
approaches to that of the Bedouins: their language is the true Bedouin
dialect. The only public expense incurred by them is that of
entertaining travellers: for this purpose there are four public taverns
(Menzel, or Medhafe), three belonging to the Turks and one to the
Christians; and whoever enters there is maintained as long as he
chooses, provided his stay be not prolonged to an unreasonable period,
without reasons being assigned for such delay. Breakfast, dinner, and
supper, with a proportionate number of cups of coffee, are served up to
the stranger, whoever he may be. For guests of respectability a goat or
lamb is slaughtered, and some of the inhabitants then partake of the
supper. The expenses incurred by these Menzels are shared among the
heads of families, according to their respective wealth, and every
tavern has a kind of landlord, who keeps the accounts, and provides the
kitchen out of the common stock. I was told that every respectable
family paid about fifty piastres per annum into the hands of the master
of the Menzels, which makes altogether a sum of about £1000. spent in
the entertainment of strangers. Were the place dependent on any Turkish
government,
[p.352] more than triple that sum would be extorted from its inhabitants
for the support of passengers. Besides the Menzels every family is
always ready to receive any acquaintances who may prefer their house to
the public inn. It will readily be conceived, that upon these terms the
people of Szalt are friends of the neighbouring Bedouins; who moreover
fear them because they have a secure retreat, and can muster about four
hundred fire-locks, and from forty to fifty horses. The powerful tribe
of Beni Szakher alone is fearless of the people of Szalt; on the
contrary, they exact a small yearly tribute from the town, which is
willingly paid, in order to secure the harvest against the depredations
of these formidable neighbours; disputes nevertheless arise, and Szalt
is often at war with the Beni Szakher.
While I remained at Szalt I was told of a traveller of whom I had also
heard in the Haouran; he was a Christian of Abyssinia, whose desire it
was to end his days at Jerusalem; he first sailed from Massoua to
Djidda, where he was seized by the Wahabi, and carried to their chief
Ibn Saoud at Deraye, where he remained two years. From Deraye he crossed
the desert with the encampments of wandering Bedouins, in the direction
of Damascus, and last year he reached Boszra in the Haouran, from whence
he was sent by the Christians to Szalt, where he remained a few days,
and then proceeded for Jerusalem. When he arrived at the Jordan, he
declared to his companions that he was a priest, a circumstance which he
had always kept secret; he continued two days on the banks of the river
fasting and praying, and from thence made his way alone to Jerusalem. He
never tasted animal food, and although he had experienced no sickness on
the road, he died soon after his arrival in the holy city.
It was not my intention to tarry at Szalt; I wished to proceed by the
first opportunity to Kerek, a town on the eastern side of the
MEZAR OSHA
[p.353] Dead sea; but the communications in these deserted countries are
far from being regular, and the want of a proper guide obliged me to
delay my departure for ten days; during this delay I had the good
fortune to see the ruins of Amman, which I had not been able to visit in
the course of my late tour in the Decapolis. But before I describe Amman
I shall subjoin some notes on the neighbourhood of Szalt.
A narrow valley leads up from Szalt towards the Mezar Osha, which I have
already mentioned. Half way up, the valley is planted with vines, which
are grown upon terraces as in Mount Libanus, to prevent their being
washed away by the winter torrents. The Mezar Osha is supposed to
contain the tomb of Neby Osha, or the prophet Hosea, equally revered by
Turks and Christians, and to whom the followers of both religions are in
the habit of offering prayers and sacrifices. The latter consist
generally of a sheep, to be slain in honour of the saint, or of some
perfumes to be burnt over his tomb. I was invited to partake of a sheep
presented by a suppliant, to whose prayers the saint had been
favourable. There was a large party, and we spent a very pleasant day
under a fine oak-tree just by the tomb. The wives and daughters of those
who were invited were present, and mixed freely in the conversation. The
tomb is covered by a vaulted building, one end of which serves as a
mosque; the tomb itself, in the form of a coffin, is thirty-six feet
long, three feet broad, and three feet and a half in height, being thus
constructed in conformity with the notion of the Turks, who suppose that
all our forefathers were giants, and especially the prophets before
Mohammed.
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