The Moggrebyns Are
Generally Employed In This Service.
I compute the population of the
Haouran, exclusive of the Arabs who frequent the plain, the mountain
(Djebel Haouran), and the Ledja, at about fifty or sixty thousand, of
whom six or seven thousand are Druses; and about three thousand
Christians.
The Turks and Christians have exactly the same modes of
life; but the Druses are distinguished from them in many respects. The
two former very nearly resemble the Arabs in their customs and manners;
their ordinary dress is precisely that of the Arabs; a coarse white
cotton stuff forms their Kombaz or gown, the Keffie round the head is
tied with a rope of camel's hair, they wear the Abba over the shoulder,
and have the breast and feet naked; they have also adopted, for the
greater
[p.292]part, the Bedouin dialect, gestures, and phraseology; according
to which most articles of housebold furniture have names different from
those in the towns; it requires little experience however to distinguish
the adults of the two nations from one another. The Arabs are generally
of short stature, with thin visage, scanty beard, and brilliant black
eyes; while the Fellahs are taller and stouter, with a strong beard, and
a less piercing look; but the difference seems chiefly to arise from
their mode of life; for the youth of both nations, to the age of
sixteen, have precisely the same appearance. The Turks and Christians of
the Haouran live and dress alike, and religion seems to occasion very
little difference in their respective conditions. When quarrels happen
the Christian fears not to strike the Turk, or to execrate his religion,
a liberty which in every town of Syria would expose the Christian to the
penalty of death, or to a very heavy pecuniary fine. Common sufferings
and dangers in the defence of their property may have given rise to the
toleration which the Christians enjoy from the Turks in the Haouran; and
which is further strengthened by the Druses, who shew equal respect to
both religions. Of the Christians four-fifths are Greeks; and the only
religious animosities which I witnessed during my tour, were between
them and the Catholics.
Among the Fellahs of the Haouran, the richest lives like the poorest,
and displays his superior wealth only on the arrival of strangers. The
ancient buildings afford spacious and convenient dwellings to many of
the modern inhabitants, and those who occupy them may have three or four
rooms for each family; but in newly built villages, the whole family,
with all its household furniture, cooking utensils, and provision
chests, is commonly huddled together in one apartment. Here also they
keep their wheat and barley in reservoirs formed of clay, called Kawara
[Arabic], which are about five feet high and two feet in diameter. The
chief articles
[p.293]of furniture are, a handmill, which is used in summer, when there
is no water in the Wadys to drive the mills; some copper kettles; and a
few mats; in the richer houses some woollen Lebaet are met with, which
are coarse woollen stuffs used for carpets, and in winter for horse-
cloths:
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 193 of 453
Words from 100015 to 100541
of 236498
