The monks complain greatly
of poverty; and the prior assured me that he sometimes has not a
farthing left to pay for the corn that is brought to him, and is obliged
to borrow money from the Bedouins at high interest; but an appearance of
poverty is one of their great protections; and considering
[p.557] the possessions of this convent abroad, and the presents which
it receives from pilgrims, I am much inclined to doubt the prior’s
assertion.
The Bedouins who occupy the peninsula of Mount Sinai are:
I. The Szowaleha [Arabic]. They are the principal tribe, and they boast
of having been the first Bedouins who settled in these mountains, under
their founder Ayd, two of whose sons, they say, emigrated with their
families to the Hedjaz. The Szowaleha are divided into several branches:
1. The Oulad Said [Arabic], whose Sheikh is at present the second Sheikh
of the Towara Arabs. They are not so poor as the other tribes, and
possess the best valleys of the mountains. 2. Korashy [Arabic], or
Koreysh, whose Sheikh, Szaleh Ibn Zoheyr, is at present the great Sheikh
of the Towara, and transacts the public business with the government of
Egypt. The Korashy are descendants of a few families of Beni Koreysh,
who came here as fugitives from the Hedjaz, and settled with the
Szowaleha, with whom they are now intimately intermixed. 3. Owareme
[Arabic], a subdivision of whom are the Beni Mohsen [Arabic]; in one of
the families of which is the hereditary office of Agyd, or the commander
of the Towara in their hostile expeditions. 4. Rahamy [Arabic]. The
Szowaleha inhabit principally the country to the west of the convent,
and their date valleys are, for the greater part, situated on that side.
These valleys are the exclusive property of individuals, but the other
pasturing places of the tribe are common to all its branches, although
the latter usually remain somewhat separated from each other.
II. Aleygat [Arabic]. They are much weaker in number than the Szowaleha,
and encamp usually with the Mezeine, and with them form a counterbalance
to the power of the Szowaleha. A tribe of Aleygat is found in Nubia on
the banks of the Nile about twenty miles north of Derr, where they
occupy the district called Wady
BEDOUINS OF SINA
[p.558] el Arab, of which Seboua makes a part.[See Journey towards
Dongola, p. 26.] The Aleygat of Sinai are acquainted with this
settlement of their brethren, and relate that in the time of the
Mamelouks, one of them who had embarked with a Beg at Tor for Cosseir
travelled afterwards towards Ibrim, and when he passed Seboua was
delighted there to find the people of his own tribe. They treated him
well, and presented him with a camel and a slave. I am ignorant by what
chance the Aleygat settled in Nubia.
