About Two Hundred Persian
Hadjis Only, Who Were With The Caravan, Were Allowed To Pass On Paying A
Large Sum Of Money.
Ibn Saoud, the Wahabi chief, had one interview with
Abdullah Pasha, accompanied by the whole of his retinue, at Djebel
Arafat, near Mekka; they exchanged presents, and parted as friends.
Of the seven different pilgrim caravans which unite at Mekka, two only
bear the Mahmal, the Egyptian and Syrian; the latter is the first in
rank.
We left Mezareib towards the evening, and were obliged to proceed
EL TORRA.
[p. 246]alone along the Hadj route, the fear of the Aeneze rendering
every one unwilling to accompany us. In a quarter of an hour we came to
a bridge over the Wady Mezareib, called Djissr Kherreyan [Arabic]; to
the left, near the road, is the ruined village Kherbet el Ghazale
[Arabic], where the Hadj sometimes encamps. It often happens that the
caravan does not encamp upon the usual spots, owing to a wish either to
accelerate or to prolong the journey. Past the Akabe, near the head of
the Red Sea, beyond which the bones of dead camels are the only guides
of the pilgrim through the waste of sand, the caravan often loses its
way, and overshoots the day's station; in such cases the water-skins are
sometimes exhausted, and many pilgrims perish through fatigue and
thirst.
At one hour from the Mezareib, following the river that issues from the
small lake, are several mills: from thence, south-west, begins the
district called Ollad Erbed [Arabic]. Half an hour to the right, at some
distance from the road, is the village Tel el Shehab [Arabic]; forty
minutes, Wady Om El Dhan [Arabic], coming from the eastward, with a
bridge over it, built by Djezzar Pasha. In winter this generally proves
a very difficult passage to the Hadj, on account of the swampy ground,
and the peasants of the adjacent villages are, in consequence, obliged
to cover the road with a thick layer of straw. At one hour to the right
of the road is the village El Torra [Arabic], on the top of a low chain
of hills, forming a circle, through the centre of which lies the road.
Here, as in so many other parts of the Haouran, I saw the most luxuriant
wild herbage, through which my horse with difficulty made his way.
Artificial meadows can hardly be finer than these desert fields: and it
is this which renders the Haouran so favourite an abode of the Bedouins.
The peasants of Syria are ignorant of the advantages of feeding their
cattle with hay; they suffer the superfluous grass to wither away, and
in summer and winter feed them on cut straw. In one
REMTHA.
[p. 247]hour and a quarter we passed Wady Torra; our road lying S.S.E.
One hour and three quarters, we came to Wady Shelale [Arabic], a torrent
descending from the southern hills, and flowing in a deep bed, along
which the road continues for some time. In two hours and three quarters
quick walking, we came to Remtha [Arabic], a station of the Hadj; which
encamps near two Birkets or reservoirs formed in the bed of the Wady by
means of three high walls built across it. A large tribe of Aeneze were
watering their cattle as we passed. The surrounding country is hilly:
the village is built upon the summits of several hills, and contains
about one hundred families. In its neighbourhood are a number of wells
of fresh water. We met with a very indifferent reception at the Sheikh's
house, for the inhabitants of the villages on the Hadj route exceed all
others in fanatism: an old man was particularly severe in his
animadversions on Kafers treading the sacred earth which leads to the
Kaabe, and the youngsters echoed his insulting language. I found means,
however, to show the old man a penknife which I carried in my pocket,
and made him a present of it, before he could ask it of me; we then
became as great friends as we had been enemies, and his behaviour
induced a like change in the others towards me. A penknife worth two
shillings overcomes the fanatism of a peasant; increase the present and
it will have equal effect upon a townsman; make it a considerable sum,
and the Mufti himself will wave all religious scruples. Remtha is the
last inhabited village on this side of the Haoun: the greater part of
its houses are built against the caverns, with which this calcareous
country abounds; so that the rock forms the back of the house, while the
other sides are enclosed by a semicircular mud wall whose extremities
touch the rock.
May 1st.--From Remtha I wished to cross the mountains directly to
Djerash, which, I had reason to believe, was not more than seven
WADY WARRAN.
[p.248]or eight hours distant. It was with difficulty that I found a
guide, because I refused to be answerable for the value of the man's
horse and gun, in case we should be plundered by Arab robbers. A sum of
twelve piastres, however, at last tempted one of the Fellahs, and we
rode off late in the morning, our road lying toward the southern
mountains, in a direction S. by W. Remtha is on the boundary line of the
Haouran; which to the south-eastward runs by Om el Djemal and Szamma,
two ruined towns. The district bordering upon the Haouran in this part
is called Ezzoueit [Arabic], and stretches across the mountain nearly as
far as Djerash. To the E. of Remtha runs a chain of low hills, called
Ezzemle [Arabic], extending towards the S.E. nearly to Kalaat Mefrek, a
ruined castle situated on the eastern extremity of Djebel Zoueit. At one
hour and a quarter, brisk walking of our horses, we saw to the right, or
west, about one hour distant, the ruins of a town called Eszereikh
[Arabic], at the foot of Djebel Beni Obeyd.
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