Shemskein, A Village
Containing Upwards Of One Hundred Families, Is Situated On The Hadj
Road, On The Side Of Wady
[P.240]Hareir [Arabic], over which a solid bridge has been built on one
side of the village:
This Wady comes from the north-east at four or six
hours distance, and flows south-west. It is one of the largest torrents
of Haouran, and was at this moment full of water, while most of the
other Wadys were nearly dried up. The Sheikh of Shemskein has the title
of Sheikh el Haouran, and holds the first rank among the village Sheikhs
of the country. In the time of Hadj he collects from the Haouran and
Djolan about fifteen hundred camels, and accompanies them to Mekka. His
income is considerable, as the peasants of the different villages of the
Haouran, when engaged in disputes with neighbouring villagers, or with
their Sheikhs, generally apply in the first instance to his tribunal.
We alighted at the Sheikh's house, in the court-yard of which we found
almost the whole population of the village assembled: there had been a
nuptial feast in the village, and the Nowars or gypsies, were playing
music. These Nowar [Arabic], who are called Korbatt [Arabic] at Aleppo,
are dispersed over the whole of Syria; they are divided into two
principal bodies, viz. the Damascenes, whose district extends as far as
Hassia, on the Aleppo road; and the Aleppines, who occupy the country to
the north of that line. They never dare go beyond the limits which they
have allotted to each other by mutual consent; both bodies have an Aga,
who pays to the Grand Signior about five hundred piastres per annum, and
collects the tribute from his subjects, which in the Damascus territory
amounts annually to twenty piastres a head for every full grown male.
April 30th.--As I wished to visit from Shemskein the Mezareib, and to
ascend from thence the mountains of Adjeloun, I set out in the company
of an old acquaintance of Aleppo, a Janissary, who had entered into the
service of the Pasha of Damascus, and was now stationed at Mezareib.
Following the Hadj road, in a S.S.E. direction, in an hour and a quarter
from Shemskein we crossed the
EL MEZAREIB.
[p.241]Wady Aar [Arabic], coming from the east. Half an hour to the left
of the road is Daal [Arabic], a considerable village; and between Daal
and Mezareib, but more to the eastward, lies the village of Draa
[Arabic], the ancient Edrei. Two hours, Tefas [Arabic], with a well
built mosque.
At the end of three hours, we arrived at El Mezareib [Arabic], El
Mezareib is the first castle on the Hadj road from Damascus, and was
built by the great Sultan Selym, three hundred and eight years ago. It
is the usual residence of the Aga of the Haouran; but that office is now
vacant, the late Aga having been deposed, and no one has yet been
appointed to succeed him. The garrison of the castle consisted of a
dozen Moggrebyns, whose chief, a young black, was extremely civil to me.
The castle is of a square form, each side being, as well as I can
recollect, about one hundred and twenty paces in length. The entrance is
through an iron gate, which is regularly shut after sunset. The interior
presents nothing but an empty yard enclosed by the castle wall, within
which are ranges of warehouses, where the provisions for the Hadj are
deposited; their flat roofs form a platform behind the parapet of the
castle wall, where sixteen or eighteen mud huts have been built on the
top of the warehouses, as habitations for the peasants who cultivate the
neighbouring grounds. On the east side two miserable guns are planted.
Within the castle is a small mosque. There are no houses, beyond its
precincts. Close by it, on the N. and E. sides, are a great number of
springs, whose waters collect, at a short distance, into a large pond or
lake, of nearly half an hour in circumference, in the midst of which is
an island. On an elevated spot at the extremity of a promontory,
advancing into the lake, stands a chapel, around which are many ruins of
ancient buildings. The water of the lake is as clear as crystal, neither
weeds
[p.242]nor grass growing in it; its depth in the middle is much more
than the heighth of a man; the bottom is sand, and gravel of the black
Haouran stone. It abounds with fish, particularly carp, and a species
called Emshatt [Arabic]. In summer time, after the harvests of the
Haouran have been gathered in, when the Aeneze approach the more
populous parts of the country, the borders of the lake are crowded every
evening with thousands of camels, belonging to these Arabs, who prefer
filling their water skins here, as they say that the water keeps better
than any other. The water of the springs is slightly tepid, and nearly
of the same temperature as that of the springs near Kalaat el Medyk, in
the valley of the Orontes. According to the Arabs the springs emit a
copious steam in the winter mornings. An ancient mill stands near one of
them, with a few broken stones around it; but it does not appear that
any village or city of note stood here, though the quantity of water
seems inviting to settlers. The springs as well as the lake are known by
the name of El Budje [Arabic].
The pilgrim caravan to Mekka collects at the Mezareib, where the Pasha,
or Emir el Hadj, remains encamped for ten days, in order to collect the
stragglers, and to pay to the different Arab tribes the accustomed
tribute for the passage of the caravan through the desert. The
warehouses of the castle are annually well stocked with wheat, barley,
biscuit, rice, tobacco, tent and horse equipage, camel saddles, ropes,
ammunition, &c. each of which has its particular warehouse.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 82 of 232
Words from 82564 to 83571
of 236498
