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.
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