The Upper Part Of The Mountains Consists Entirely Of
Siliceous Rock.
We passed on the road several spots where the Bedouins
cultivate Dhourra.
We were well received by the Bedouins of the encampment; who are on good
terms with the people of Szalt: one of the principal Sheikhs of which
place is married to the daughter of the chief of this tribe. They belong
to the Ghanemat, whose Sheikh, called
THE BELKA
[p.368] Abd el Mohsen (Arabic), is one of the first men in the Belka.
The chief tribe in this province, for many years, was the Adouan, but
they are now reduced to the lowest condition by their inveterate enemies
the Beni Szakher. The latter, whose abode had for a long space of time
been on the Hadj road, near Oella (Arabic), were obliged, by the
increasing power of the Wahabi, to retire towards the north. They
approached the Belka, and obtained from the Adouan, who were then in
possession of the excellent pasturage of this country, permission to
feed their cattle here, on paying a small annual tribute. They soon
proved, however, to be dangerous neighbours; having detached the greater
part of the other tribes of the Belka from their alliance with the
Adouan, they have finally succeeded in driving the latter across the
Zerka, notwithstanding the assistance which they received from the Pasha
of Damascus. Peace had been made in 1810, and both tribes had encamped
together near Amman, when Hamoud el Szaleh, chief of the Adouan, made a
secret arrangement with the Pasha’s troops, and the tribe of Rowalla,
who were at war with the Beni Szakher to make a united attack upon them.
The plot was well laid, but the valour of the Beni Szakher proved a
match for the united forces of their enemies; they lost only about a
dozen of their horsemen, and about two thousand sheep, and since that
time an inveterate enmity has existed between the Beni Szakher and the
Adouan. The second chief of Adouan, an old man with thirteen sons, who
always accompany him to the field, joined the Beni Szakher, as did also
the greater part of the Arabs of the Belka. In 1812, the Adouan were
driven into the mountains of Adjeloun, and to all appearance will never
be able to re-enter the Belka.[For the enumeration of the Belka Arabs,
see the classification of Syrian Bedouins, in the Appendix.]
The superiority of the pasturage of the Belka over that of all southern
Syria, is the cause of its possession being thus contested.
ZERKA MAYN
[p.369] The Bedouins have this saying, “Thou canst not find a country
like the Belka.”—Methel el Belka ma teltaka (Arabic); the beef and
mutton of this district are preferred to those of all others. The
Bedouins of the Belka are nominally subject to an annual tribute to the
Pasha of Damascus; but they are very frequently in rebellion, and pay
only when threatened by a superior force. For the last two years Abd el
Mohsen has not paid any thing. The contribution of the Adouan is one-
tenth of the produce of their camels, sheep, goats, and cows, besides
ten pounds of butter for every hundred sheep.[The hundred of any kind of
cattle is here called Shilleie (Arabic).] The Arabs of the Belka have
few camels; but their herds of cows, sheep, and goats are large; and
whenever they have a prospect of being able to secure the harvest
against the incursions of enemies, they cultivate patches of the best
soil in their territory. In summer they remain in the valleys on the
side of the Ghor, in the winter a part of them descend into the Ghor
itself, while the others encamp upon the upper plain of the Belka.
July 14th.—We left the encampment of Abd el Mohsen early in the morning,
and at one hour from it, descending along a winding valley, we reached
the banks of the rivulet Zerka Mayn (Arabic), which is not to be
confounded with the northern Zerka. Its source is not far from hence; it
flows in a deep and barren valley through a wood of Defle trees, which
form a canopy over the rivulet impenetrable to the meridian sun. The red
flowers of these trees reflected in the river gave it the appearance of
a bed of roses, and presented a singular contrast with the whitish gray
rocks which border the wood on either side. All these mountains are
calcareous, mixed with some flint. The water of the Zerka Mayn is almost
warm, and has a disagreeable taste, occasioned probably by the quantity
of Defle flowers that fall into it. Having crossed the river we ascended
the steep side of the mountain Houma (Arabic),
WADY WALE
[p.370] at the top of which we saw the summit of Djebel Attarous
(Arabic), about half an hour distant to our right; this is the highest
point in the neighbourhood, and seems to be the Mount Nebo of the
Scripture. On its summit is a heap of stones overshaded by a very large
wild pistachio tree. At a short distance below, to the S.W. is the
ruined place called Kereyat (Arabic). The part of the mountain over
which we rode was completely barren, with an uneven plain on its top. In
two hours and a half we saw at about half an hour to our right, the
ruins of a place called Lob, which are of some extent. We passed an
encampment of Arabs Ghanamat. At the end of three hours and three
quarters, after an hour’s steep descent, we reached Wady Wale (Arabic);
the stream contains a little more water than the Zerka Mayn; it runs in
a rocky bed, in the holes of which innumerable fish were playing; I
killed several by merely throwing stones into the water. The banks of
the rivulet are overgrown with willows, Defle, and tamarisks (Arabic),
and I saw large petrifactions of shells in the valley.
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