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41
\
NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS
THROUGH
ARABIA,
AND OTHER
COUNTRIES IN THE EAST.
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Longitttde      Lolu*i« fhe Merman of Greenwich
from the A/rrj,/" &'[^>jL_ GreenH-te/i
T R AVELS
THROUGH
ARABIA,
AND OTHER
COUNTRIES IN THE EAST,
PERFORMED BY
M. NIEBUHR,
now a captain of engineers in the service ob the king of denmark.
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH
ROBERT HERON.
WITH NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR
ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS AND MAPS.
IN two volumes
vol.11. rmWHB UB Ad*
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR R. MOR1S0N AND SON, BOOKSELLERS, PERTH, G, MUDFJE, EDINBURGH J AND T. VERNOR, 1URCHIN LANE, LONDON.
CONTENTS.
SECTION XVI. Of Arabia in general.
Page
Chap. I.—Concerning the Defcription of Arabia. I Chap. II—Of the Extent and the Divisions of
Arabia. c, Chap. III.—Of the Revolutions of Arabia. - 10 Chap. IV—Of the Government of the Arabs. 16
SECTION XVII. Of the Province of Hedjas.
Chap. I.—Of the general Appearance of this Province, and fome of the Towns in it. 23
Chap. II__Of the Power of the Turks in Hedjas. 25
Chap. Ill__Of the SherifFe of Mecca.        - 28
Chap. PV__Of the City of Mecca.           . 32
Chap. V—Of the Pilgrimage of the Muflulmans. 36
Chap.
Chap. VI—Of the Cty of Medina. - 39
Chap. VII—Of the Independent Schiechs, Arab
and Jewifh. 4r
SECTION XVIII. Of Yemen in General.
Chap. I—Of the Boundaries and Subdivisions of
Yemen. 45
Chap. II__Of the Principality of Aden.       - 48
Chap. III.—Of the Principality of Kaukeban. 49
Chap. IV.—Of theAHiedPrincesof Hafthid-u-Bekil. 50 Chap. V.—Of the Principality of Abu Arifch, and
the Neighbouring Bedouins. - 53
Chap. VI.—Of the Territories of Saham and Khau-
lan. 57
Chap. VII__Of the Principalities of Nedsjeran and
Cachtan. - - - 59
Chap. VIII—Of the Principalities of Nehhm and
Khaulan. 62
Chap. IX.—Of the Country of Dsjof. - 63
Chap. X—Of the Country of Jafa. - 68
SECTION XIX. Of the Dominions of the Imam of Sana,
Chap. I.—Of the Exteat and Divilions of the Imam's
Dominions. 69 Chap. II.—Origin and Hiftory of the Imams. - 71 Chap. III.—Of El Mahadi, the reigning Imam. 75
Chap.
CONTENTS. Vii
Page
Chap. rV.—Hiftory of Schiech Ab Urrah. - 78 Chap. V.—Of the Conftitution and Government of
the Dominions of Sana. 82
Chap. VI.—Of the Revenues of the Imam.     - 87
Chap. VII.—Of the Military Force of Sana. 89
Chap. VIII.—Of the Arts and Commerce of Yemen. 92 Chap. IX—Of the Principal Towns in the Imam's
Dominions.            -            - 94
Chap. X__Of the Princes and Schiechs within the
Dominions of the Imam.            - 98
SECTION XX. Of the Province of Hadramaut.
Chap. I.—Of the General Character, and of the
Commerce of this Province.        - 104 Chap. II.—Of the Principal Towns in Hadramaut. 107 Chap. III.—Of the Sovereign Princes in Hadramaut. - - - iir
SECTION XXL Of the Province of Oman.
Chap. I.—Of Oman in general. - 113
Chap. II.—Of the Territories of the Imam of O-
man, or Mafkat. - - 1*4
Chap. Ill—Of the Revolutions of Oman.      - 117
Chap. IV—Of the Reigning Imam. - 120
Chap. V—Of the Principality of Seer.       * 123
*
SEC-
VlH
CONTENT S,
SECTION XXII. Of the Provinces of Lachfa and Nedsjed.
Page
Chap. I.—Of Lachfa, in particular. - 125
Chap. II.—Of the Province of Nedsjed.       - 128 <£8ap. HI.—Of the new Religion of a Part of Nedsjed. - - - j30
SECTION XXI1L
Of the Independent Arabian States upor the Sea-coaft of Perfia.
Chap. I.—Of the Arabs inhabiting around the Perfian Gulph. - - 137
Chap. II.—Of Places fubjecr. to the Dominion of
Perfia. - - - 140
Chap. III.—Of the Territories of the Tribe gf
Houle. -      .   - - 143
Chap. IV.—Of the Principalities of Abu Schxhhr
and Bender Rigk. - - 145
Chap. V.—Of the Tribe of Kiab, and their Schiech
Soliman. - - -' M9
Chap. VI.—Of fome other Independent States. 151
Chap. VIL—Of the Ifle of Karek. - 154
SEC
SECTION XXIV. Of the Bedouins, or Wandering Arabs.
Page
Chap. I.—Peculiarities in the Manners of the Bedouins. - - - 158 Chap. II.—Of the Political Conftitution of the
Wandering Arabs. - - 163
Chap. III.—Of the Bedouins on the Confines of the
Defart. - - - 168
Chap. IV,—Of the Bedouins of Mefopotamia. 172 Chap. V.—Of the Bedouins of Syria. - 176
Chap. VI.—Of the Bedouins of Arabia Petraea,
and Paleftine. - - 180
SECTION XXV.
Of the Religion and Character of the Arabs.
Chap. I,—Of the different Se<fts of Mahometans in
Arabia.          -           -           - 184
Chap. II.—Of the other Religions tolerated in
Arabia.          -          -          - ipt
Chap. III.—Of the Character of the Arabs. 194
Chap. Pv\—Of the Vengeance of the Arabs. 197
Chap. V—Of the Arabian Nobility.         - 203
Vol. IL                   b SEC
SECTION XXVI.
Of the Manners and Ufages of the Arabians.
Page
Chap. I.—Of Marriage among the Arabians. 212
Chap. II.—Of the Domeftic Life of the Arabs. 220 Chap. III.—Of the Food of the Arabians, and their
Manner of Eating. - - 226
Chap. IV.—Of the Drefs and Fafhions of the
Arabians. - - - 233
Chap. V.—Arabian Politcnefs - - 240
Chap. VI.—Of fome Peculiar Cuftoms.       - 248
SECTION XXVII.
Of the Language and Sciences of the Arabians.
Chap. I.—Of the Language and Writing of the
Arabians. - - - 253
Chap. II.—Of the Education and Schools of the
Arabians. - 262
Chap. III.—Of Arabian Poetry and Eloquence. 264 Chap. IV.—Of the Aftronomy of the Arabians. 268 Chap. V.—Of the Difcafcs and Medicine of the
Arabians. - - - 273
Chap. VI,—Of the Ocult Sciences of the Arabians. 280
SEC-
SECTION XXVIII. Agriculture of the Arabians.
Page-
Chap. I—Fertility of the Soil. - - 289
Chap. II.—Of the Modes of Plowing and Sowing. 294
Chap. Ill—Of the Harveft. - - 298
Chap. IV—Of the Domeftic Animals.        - 300
SECTION XXIX. Natural Hi (lory of Arabia.
Chap. I—General Reflections on the Natural Hif-
tory of Arabia.          -           - 307
Chap. II__Climate and Salt of Arabia.          - 315
Chap. Ill__Arabian Quadrupeds.       *        - 323
Chap. IV—Of the Birds of Arabia.         - 327
Chap. V.—Of Amphibious Animals and Fifhes. 332
Chap. VI__Infedh and Shells.         -        - 334
Chap. VII__The Common and Rare Plants. 34*1
Chap. VIII__Of Trees and Shrubs.          - 350
Chap. IX__The Minerals of Arabia.          - 363
SECTION XXX. Voyage from Mokha to Bombay.
Chap. I__Departure from Mokha.      -       _ 368
thap. II__Of the Ifle and the city of Bombay. 374
Chap.
Xii CONTENTS.
■   . paSe
Chap. Ill—Of the Inhabitants of Bombay. 377
Chap. IV__Of the Government and Power of the
Englifh and the Coaft of Malabar. 380
Chap. V__Of the Trade of Bombay. - 387
Chap. VI—Antiquities of the Ifle of Elephanta. 39!
SECTION XXXI. Voyage to Surat.
Chap. I__Occafion of this Voyage, and Departure
from Bombay. - - 406
Chap. II__Of the City of Surat, and its Environs. 403
Chap. Ill—Of the Inhabitants of Surat, and fomc
Peculiar Cuftoms. - - 407
Chap. IV__Of the Government of Surat, and the
Revolutions it has undergone.      - 412
Chap. V__Trade of Surat. »• - 417
Chap. VI.—Manners of the Hindoos. - 420
Chap. VII—Of the Religion of the Hindoos. 426
Chap. VIII—Of the Perfecs. - - 429
NOTES.
voyage to arabia,
AND
TRAVELS
in that country, &Ci
section xvi.
OF ARABIA IN GENERAL. CllAF. I.
Concerning the Defcription of Arabia.
Man. even in fociety, where civilization has been carried perhaps to excefs, where art extin-guiflies or difguifes the lentiments of nature,#ne-ver forgets his original deftination. He is Hill fond even of the very fliadow of that liberty, independence, and iimplieity, which he has loft by refinement, although they are fo congenial to his exiftence. He is charmed to meet with thele again, even in the illulions of paftoral poetry.
Vol. II. A We
nlkbuhr/s travels
We are no lefs fond of tracing thei'e native features of tiie human mind, where they are to be difcovered in the records of remote ages, in which the natural manners of mankind appear imdifguifed by affectation, and not yet altered by the progrefs of arts or policy. Even without adverting to the caufes of the pleafure which we feel, we are always pleafed to find fome faint traces even, of our natural and primary rights, and of the happinefs to which we were originally deftined.
If any people in the world afford in their hi-ftory an initancc of high antiquity, and of great iimplieity of manners, the Arabs furely do. Coming among them, one can hardly help fancying one's Felf fuddenly carried backwards to the ages which fucceeded immediately after the flpod. We are here tempted to imagine our-felves among the old patriarchs, with whole adventures we have been fo much amufed in our infant days. The language, which has been fpoken for time immemorial, and which fo nearly reiembles that which we have been accu-flomed to regard as of the molt diilant antiquity, completes the illuiion which the analogy of manners began.
The country in which this nation inhabit, affords many objects of curiofrty, no lefs lingular and imereiling.   Intersected by fandy defarts,
and
and vaft ranges of mountains, it prefents on one fide nothing but deiblation in its mod frightful form, while the other is adorned with all the beauties of the molt fertile regions. Such is its polition, that it enjoys, at once, all the advantages of hot and of temperate climates. The peculiar productions of regions, the molt diftant from one another, are produced here in equal perfection. Having never been conquered, A-rabia has fcarcely known any changes, but thofe produced by the hand of nature ; it bears none of the impreilions of human fury, which appear in fo many other places.
With all thefe circumltances, fo naturally calculated to engage euriofity, Arabia has been hitherto but very little known.   The ancients, who made their difcovcries of countries, by conquering them, remained ignorant, of the ltate and hiilory of a region, into which their arms could never penetrate.   What Greek and Latin authors mention concerning Arabia, proves, by its obfeurity, their ignorance of almolt every thing reflecting the Arabs.   Prejudices relative to the inconveniencies and dangers of travelling in Arabia, have hitherto kept the moderns in equal ignorance.   i ihall have occaiion to remark, that our belt books of Geography abound With capital errors upon this head ; as, for in-
A 2 ltance,
fiance, concerning the fubje&ion of the Arabs to the Turks and Ferfians.
For thefe reafons, I have relblved to give a more minute and cireumftantial defcription of a country, and a people, which deferve to be better known than they are at prefent. In the courfe of the former part of my travels, I have mentioned in part what I faw myfelf. But, as during fo fhort a flay in Arabia, I had time to travel over only a few of the provinces of that widely extended country, I fought information concerning the reft, from different honeft and intelligent Arabs. This information I was molt fuccefsful in obtaining among the men of letters and the merchants; perfons in public offices were more entirely engroffed with their own affairs, and generally of a more referved character.
This mode of obtaining my information appeared to carry with it feveral peculiar advantages ; and it will be of no lefs utility, that I diftinguilh in this manner between what I ob-ferved myfelf, and what I was informed of by others. The reader will thus be enabled to difcern between what I mention barely upon the authority of my own obfervation, and what I relate upon the concurrent evidence of many of the molt enlightened perfons in the nation. I lhall find many more favourable opportunities
of
of introducing certain particulars which I could not otherwife have inferted in the account of my travels, without interrupting too frequently the progrefs of the narrative. The reader will alfo be better entertained, when prefented with a fketch, exhibiting the features no lefs of the country, than of the people inhabiting it.
I mould have wiflied to add a brief compend of the hiitory of this lingular nation.   But this I found impoifible.   In the Eaft there are no libraries, and no men of deep erudition, refources which a traveller might find with great facility in Europe.   Yet there arc ancient Arabic lrifto-rians   but the copies of their works are very rare, as I learned at Kahira and Mokha. It would be of confequence, however, to examine thole authors, who are (till unknown in Europe. The fearch, 1 am periuaded, could hardly prove fruitlefs.   Thofe works would throw new light on feveral epochs in the hiflory of ancient nations (a).
Chap. II.
Of the Extent and the Bhiftom of Aralia.
arabia, properly fo called, is that great penin-fula formed by the Arabic Gulph, the Indian Ocean, and the Perfian Gulph.   The ancients
appear
appear to have comprehended under the name of Arabia, the whole tract lying between thofe feas, and a line drawn from the point of the Perfian to that of the Arabic Gulph. This line, however, was not the real boundary of the country, but merely fancied fuch by ignorance.
Whatever may be thought of the limits af-figned to this country by the ancients, a much wider extent muft, at any rate, be allowed to prefent Arabia. In confequence of the con-quells and fettlements of the Arabs in Syria and Palefline, the defarts of thefe countries are now to be regarded as part of Arabia, which may thus be confidered as being bounded on one lide by the river Euphrates, and on the other by the ifthmus of Suez.
Yet, we are not to confider all thofe countries in which this people have ever made conqueits, or eilablifhed colonies, as forming a part of A-rabia. Of all nations, the Arabs have fpread fartlieftover the world, and in all their wanderings, they have, better than any other nation, preferved their language, manners, and peculiar cuftoms. From eaft to weft, from the banks of the Senegal to the Indus, are colonies of Arabs to be met with ; and between north and fouth, they are feattered from Euphrates to the illand of Madagascar. The Tartar hordes have not occupied fo wide an extent of the globe.
The
The Senegal in Africa is known to feparate the negroes from thofe people who are only di-itinguiihed by a dark complexion. On its bank are fome tribes of wandering Arabs, who live in tents. The mountainous parts of Morocco, and the republics of Barbary, contain many other tribes of the fame nation, who, it mould feem, fpread through Africa in the progrefs of the con-quefts of the Caliphs. Thofe tribes are all governed by chiefs of their own ; they fpeak Arabic, and in their manners refemble the reft of the Arabian nation. They are to be regarded rather as allies than fubjects of the governments of the different countries in which they have eftablifhed themfelves.
On the eaftern coaft of Africa, the Arabs have fpread themfelves as far as to Mofambique. At leaft, the fovereigns of feveral kingdoms upon that coaft were anciently Arabs. The fame nation made themfelves likewife matters of the iiles of Comorra, and of a part of the ifle of Madagaf-car, in which Arab colonies ftill remain.
As i could learn nothing very particular concerning the Arab tribes, diiperfed through A-frica, 1 fhall not pretend to fpeak of them (b) ; nor do i need to fay any thing more of the E-gyptian Arabs, after what i have already mentioned concerning them, in the account of my travels in that country.
nIebuhr's travels
I mail likcwife pafs on, without noticing the pretended Arabian colonies in Habbefch, or examining the opinion, which reprefents the A-byflinians as originally fprung from the inhabitants of Arabia. This notion, which has been advanced by fome learned men, depends on probabilities fo flender, and fo uncertain, that, to enter into a particular difcuflion of them, would be taking more pains about them, than they are worth (c ).
But I cannot pafs, in equal filence, over the more confiderable colonies, which, although they are alfo fettled without the limits of Arabia, are, however, nearer to it. I mean the Arabs upon the fouthern coaft of Perfia, who are commonly in alliance with, and fometimes fubject. to the neighbouring Schiechs. A variety of circumftan-ces concur to indicate, that thefe tribes were fettled along the Perlian Gulph, before the conquefts of the Caliphs, and have ever preferved their independence. It is ridiculous in our Geographers, to reprefent a part of Arabia, as fubject to the Kings of Perfia; when, fo far from this, the Perfian monarchs have never been matters of the fea-coaft of their own dominions, but have patiently fullered it to remain in the pof-fclfion of the Arabians.
In order to proceed upon the molt natural plan-, in the geographical delineation of this
country,
country, I fhall follow that divifion of Arabia which is in ufe among the inhabitants. They divide their country into fix great provinces; Hedjas, lying along the Arabic Gulph, between Mount Sinai and Yemen, and extending inland fo far back as to the confines of Nedsjed ; Yemen, a province ftretching from the border of Hedjas, along the Arabic Gulph and the Indian Ocean, to Hadramaut, and bounded on the north by Nedsjed; Hadramaut, on the Indian Ocean, conterminous with Yemen on one fide, and with Oman on the other, bounded northwards by Nedsjed ; Oman, lying alfo on the fhore of the Indian Ocean, and encompalTcd by the provinces of Hadramaut, Lachfa, and Nedsjed; Lachsa, or Hadsjar, extending a-long the Perfian Gulph, and having Nedsjed for its interior boundary ; Nedsjed, comprehending all the interior country, and bounded by the other five provinces; its northern limits are the territories occupied by the Arabs in the defert of Syria. Thefe territories may indeed be reckoned a feventh province ; and to them may alfo be added the defcription of the Arabian euablifhrnent1} on the fouthern coaft of Perfia.
The two provinces of Yemen and Hadramaut, were formerly known by the name of Arabia the Happy.   But, as no fuch name is ufed a-
B mong
raong the Arabs, I have not thought of attending to this arbitrary divifion of the country.
Chap. III. Of the Revolutions of Arabia.
all that is known concerning the earlieft period of the hiftory of this country, is, that it was governed in thofe days by potent monarchs, called Tobba. This is thought to have been a title common to all thofe Princes, as the name of Pharaoh was to the ancient Sovereigns of
Egypt*
There ex.ifts, however, a pretty diftinct tradition among the learned Arabs, with refpect to thofe ancient Kings, which defcrves to be taken notice of. They pretend to know, from ancient monuments, that Tobba was the family name of thofe Sovereigns, that they came from the neighbourhood of Samarcand, were worfhippers of fire, and conquered and civilized Arabia. This tradition accords with the plaufible hypothefis of an ingenious writer, who derives the knowledge and civilization of the people of the fouth, from a nation who once flourifhed in that part of Tartary in which Samarcand is fituate (n).
One
One thing I had occafion to ohferve myfelf, wh ch feems to me to male in favour of the fame hypothefis. A Dutch renegado, who had travelled feveral times over Arabia, fhowed me, at Mokha, a copy of an infcription, in (Irange and unknown characters, which he had found in a province remote from the fea coaft. I was then in ill health, and neglected to copy it. But the uncommon form of the characters, which conlifted entirely of ftraight lines, made fuch an impreflion upon my memory, that, on my return, I diftinguifhed the inferiptions at Perfe-polis to be in the fame alphabet (e). A tradition prevails through Perfia, that the conqueror who founded Perfepolis, was originally from the vicinity of Samarcand ; fo that both the Arabians and the Perfians would appear to have had Sovereigns from the fame nation, who fpoke the fame language, or at leaft employed the fame characters in writing.
Whatever may have been the origin of thofe conquerors, many ciicumftances concur to prove that, in remote times, the Arabians acted an important part on the theatre of human affairs; although the memory of the revolutions which took place among them has not been handed down to poftertty. There can be no doubt of their having conquered Egypt at a time previous to the commencement of Grecian hiftory.
What
12 niebuhr's travels
*
What Greek hiftorians fay of the fhepherd-kings of Egypt, can be referred to none but the Arabs. The famous republic of robbers mud undoubtedly have been a tribe of this nation, who, after the expulfion of their countrymen, maintained themfelves for feveral ages in a di-ftrict in lower Egypt.
It is certain that moil of the nations fo frequently mentioned in the hiftory of the Jews, mud have been Arab tribes, who went often to war with thofe turbulent neighbours, and fometimes fubdued them. It may even be conjectured, that the Jews themfelves were originally Arabs, defcended from fome branch of thofe far fpread tribes (f).
Thofe events, in the fate of this nation, which took place in the time of the Perlians, Greeks, Romans, and Parthians, are all unknown to us; except fome faint and unfuccefsful attempts which thefe conquerors made to reduce the Arabians under iubjection. They fucceeded only againft a few tribes, fettled in the cities on the Arabic Gulph, or in the vicinity of Syria, and even here their power was extremely traniient.
Arabia feems to have been a rich and powerful country in the time of the ancient Egyptians. The averiion of thefe laft for the fea, left to the Arabs the whole commerce with India, by the
Arabic
Arabic Gulph. That trade, when once brought within this channel, continued to flow through it, under the Ptolemies, the Romans, the Greek Emperors, and the Caliphs of Egypt. But the difcovery of a new line of communication with India, deprived Arabia of the advantages of this traffic, and produced the rapid decline of many flour idling cities (g).
It mud have been during the more fplendid ages of the evidence of this nation, that the Hamjare Kings reigned over a great part of Arabia. The hidory of thofe Princes is fo involved in obfcurity, that we are ignorant even of their origin, and know not to what nation they properly belonged. But, they were probably indigenous.
Neither do we know in what period to place the Abyflinian invafion, of which fome authors fpeak. That people mud have attacked the A-rabs, of purpofe to convert them to Chrittia-nity. It is even pretended that, after fubdu-ing a part of Arabia, they accompli(hed the purpofe of their enterprife, and a great part of the Arabs became Chridians. But the circum-llances of this event are fo vague, and have fo fabulous an air, that we will be in the right to doubt if it ever took place ; or at lead, if it was produced by the caufes to which it has been afcribed (h).
A revolution, of the reality of which we arc more certain, and which involved in it more important coniequenees, was that which Mahomet effected in the religion, and the political ft ate of his country. This fortunate ufurper, with the arms of his countrymen, fpread his conquefts over diftant regions. His fuccefibrs, for a while, profecuted the career of conqueft with the fame fuccefs. But neither he, nor the Caliphs, could ever entirely fubdue their own nation. Many chiefs in the interior parts of the country, ftill maintained their independence, without <refpec~ting the Caliph in any other light than as the head of their religion. The authority of the Caliphs was merely fpiri-tual, except in their dominions over a part of the coaft, where they were acknowledged as Sovereigns (I).
After the ruin of the power of the Caliphate by the Turks, Arabia (hook off the yoke to which it had been in part fubjected, and came to be governed, as formerly, by a number of chiefs, more or lefs powerful, defcended froni different indigenous families.
No neighbouring power ever attempted to fubdue this country, till the Portuguefe penetrated to India, and made their appearance in the Red Sea. Then, in the beginning of the fixteenth century, Sultan El Gury, defirous to
rid
rid himfelf of thofe new comers, whom he viewed as dangerous, fitted out a fleet to expel the Portuguefe, That fleet, availing themfelves of the opportunity, feized almofl all the lea-port towns of Arabia. But, when the dynafty of the Mammalukes was terminated by the Turks, thefe cities fell again into the hands of their natural Sovereigns.
The Turks continued the war with the Portuguefe, in order to fecure Egypt, their new conqueft. Soliman Pacha, at the head of a powerful fleet, after the example of the laft Sultan of the Mammalukes, feized all the towns upon the Arabic Gulph. His fucceflbrs pulhed their conquefts ftill farther, and fubdued great part of Yemen, penetrating backwards to the Highlands ; fo that Arabia became almofl entirely a province of the Sultan of Conftantinople, and was governed by Pachas, like the other provinces of the Ottoman empire.
In the interior, parts, however, there Hill were independent Princes and Schiechs, who had never been fubdued, but continued to ha-rafs the Turks, and to drive them towards the coafls. After various reiterated efforts, a Prince of the family now reigning at Sana, at length fucceeded, about the middle of the laft century, and obliged the Turkifh nation to evacuate all the places upon the Arabian coaft, which they
had
had occupied for more than a century. The Turks now poffefs nothing in this country, but a precarious authority in the city of Jidda : And it is therefore abfurd to reckon Arabia among the Ottoman provinces, fince it is properly to be confidercd as independent of all foreign Powers.
A people who, like the Arabs, have fo long detached themfelves from the reft of the world, cannot undergo any very important revolutions, that may deferve to be commemorated in hiftory. The events which take place among them, are only petty wars and trifling con-quefts, worthy of their poor chiefs, and narrow divifions of territory. I fhall not notice them, therefore, unlefs when in the defcription of any province, fome event comes into view, that is remarkable either for its Angularity, or for its influence upon the affairs of other nations.
Chap. IV.
Of the Government of the Arabs.
The mod natural authority is that of a father over his family, as obedience is here founded upon the opinion of benevolence in the ruler. When the mournful furvivors of the human
race
In Arabia, £sV.
race fettled themfelves anew, after the awful revolution by which the globe was, for a time, di* veiled of its beauty, and depopulated; every family fubmitted readily to the guidance and direction of him to whom they owed their exift-ence.
As thofe families multiplied, the younger branches Hill retained fome refpect for the elded branch. Of all the progeny, it was efteem-ed the neareft to the parent ftera, And, altho* the fubdivifions became more and more nume-tous, they Hill regarded themfelves as comparing but one body, in remembrance of their common origin. Such an affemblage of families, all fprung from the fame flock, forms what we call a tribe. It was, in this manner, eafy for the representative of the eldefl branch to retain fomewhat of the primary paternal authority over the whole tribe to which he belonged.
Sometimes, when a family became too numerous, it divided from the reft with which it was connected, and formed a new tribe. Upon other occafions, when feveral tribes found themfelves feparately too weak to refill a common enemy, they would combine, and acknowledge one common chief And fometimes it would happen, that a numerous tribe might force fome others that were weaker, to unite themfelves to, Vol. II. C and
i8
kii-buhr's travels
and become dependent upon it; but feldoru has this dependence degenerated into flaviiTi fub-je£tion.
This primitive form of government, which has ever fubfu'ted without alteration among the Arabs, proves the antiquity of this people, and renders their prefent ftate more interefting than it would otherwife be. Among the Bedouins it is preferved in all its purity. In other parts of Arabia, it has fuffered fome changes, but yet is not materially altered. I fhall have occafion to take notice of thefe, fuch as they are, when I come to defcribe each particular province by itfelf. For the prefent, I fhall content myfelf with making fome general reflections upon the fpirit of the Arabian government.
The Bedouins, or pafloral Arabs, who live in tents, have many Schiechs, each of whom governs his family with power almoft abfolute. All the Schiechs, however, who belong to the fame tribe, acknowledge a common chief, who is called Schecb es Schcuch, Schiech of Schiechs, or Schecb el Kbir, and whofe authority is limited by cuftom. The dignity of Grand Schiech is hereditary in a certain family; but the inferior Schiechs, upon the death of a Grand Schiech, choofe the fucceffor out of his family, without regard to age or lineal fucceffion, or any other confideration, except fuperiority of
abilities.
abilities. This right of election, with their other privileges, obliges the Grand Schiech to treat the inferior Schiechs rather as afiociates than as fubjects, fharing with them his fove-reign authority. The fpirit of liberty, with which this warlike nation are animated, renders them incapable of fervitude.
This fpirit is lefs fenfibly felt among thofe who live in towns, or are employed in hufban-dtry. It was eafier to reduce them under fub-jection. In the fertile dilirifts of this country, there have always been monarchies, more ot lefs extenfive, formed, either by conqueft, or by religious prejudices. Such are the prefent dominions of the Sherrijfe of Mecca, of the /-mams of Sana and Mafhat, and of fome princes in the province of Hadramaut. However, as thefe countries are interfered by large ranges of mountains, the mountains are occupied by independent Shiechs.
But, although fo many independent chieftains have their domains interfperfed through the territories of thofe feveral fovereigns, yet nothing of the feudal form of government appears here. The Schiechs polfefs no fiefs j they have only a fort of property in the perfons of the people of their feveral tribes. Even thofe who feem to be tributary fubjefts to the princes within whole dominions they dwell, are not actually
tually fo. They remain independent; and the tribute which they pay is nothing but a tithe for the ufe of the land of which they are in fome fort farmers. Such are the Schiechs fettled in Syria, Egypt, and over all Mount Atlas (j).
A nation of this character cannot readily fink into a fervile fubje&ion to arbitrary power. Defpotifm would never have been known, even in the flighted degree, in Arabia, had it not been for theocracy, the ufual fource of it. The 1-mams being reputed fucceffors of Mahomet, and his defcendants, and being acknowledged both as temporal and Spiritual heads within their dominions, have thus found means to abufe the Simplicity of their fubjecls, and to enlarge their authority. Nevertheless, the genius of the people, their cuftoms, and even their religion, are all inimical to the progrefs of defpotifm, and con-Cur to check the Imams in the exercife of their power.
The idea of forming republican governments feems never to have occurred to the Arabians. This form is not a neceflary confequence of the primitive condition of mankind. It mull have originated among people whofe patience was ex-haufted by the outrages of arbitrary power; or fometimes, perhaps, from the fortuitous con* courfe of perfons not connected by the ties of fm-mi)y*relation.   The united States of Hafchidu
Bekil
Bekil are not fo much a federative republic, as an affociation of feveral petty princes, for the purpofe of mutual defence again!! their common enemies. Their government refembles that of the German empire, not the States of Switzerland, or the United Provinces. Concerning the pretended Republic of Brava, upon the eaftern coaft of Africa, little certain is known. There is ground for thinking that it likewife is merely a confederation among the Arabian Schiechs in that countryi
The colony of Jews, who occupy a diftrict in the province of Hedjas, are governed by a hereditary independent Schiech. Having been for ages divided from their countrymen, they have adopted that form of government which they faw prevalent among their immediate neighbours.
This multiplicity of petty Sovereigns occafions Several inconveniencies to the people in general. Wars cannot but frequently ariSe among Slates whoSe territories are So intermingled together, and whoSe Sovereigns have Such a variety of jarring interefls to manage. But, happily, theSe quarrels are Scarcely ever productive of very fatal conSequences. An army of a thoufand A-rabs will take to flight, and think themfelves routed, if they lofe but Seven or eight of their number.
Thus
32
neibuhr's travels
Thus are thefe contefts terminated as eafily as excited.
No doubt, fuch a multitude of nobles and petty princes, whofe numbers are continually in-crcafed by polygamy, muft have an unfavourable influence upon the general happinefs of the people. It ftrikes one with furprife, to fee the Arabs, in a country fo rich and fertile, uncomfortably lodged, indifferently fed, ill clothed, and deftitute of almoft all the conveniencies of life. But the caufes fully account for the effects.
The poverty of the wandering Arabs is plainly voluntary. They prefer liberty to wealth, paltoral fnnplicity to a life of conltraint and toil, which might procure them a greater variety of gratifications. Thofe living in cities, or employed in the cultivation of the land, are kept in poverty, by the exorbitancy of the taxes exacted from them. The whole fubftance of the people is confumed in the fupport of their numerous princes and priefls. Theinflancc of the terri-tority of Zebid, which I adduced in my account of that city, fhews that the hufbandman cannot bear fuch excefiive impofts without being reduced to mifery.
One general caufe of the impoverishment of Arabia is, no doubt, its having ceafed to be the channel of the trade with India, fince the difco-very of the paflag€ by the Cape of Good Hope.
Yet,
Yet, if the lands were better cultivated, this country might, without the aid of foreign trade, afford fufficient refources to fupply ail its inhabitants with abundance of the neceflaries and common conveniences of life.
SECTION XVII.
of the province of hedjas.
CHAP. L
Of the genera! Appearance of this Province, and of fome of the Towns in it.
Hedjas is bounded on the eaft fide by Nejed; on the north by the defart of Sinai j on the fouth by Yemen; and on the weft by the Arabic Gulph. Its interior limits I cannot pretend to know diitin&ly, having feen only the fea-coaft: Whatever I may mention concerning the other parts is entirely from hearfay.
By what I have heard, this diftricl: bears an entire refemblance to Yemen. From the fea-fliore, a plain, varying in breadth, ftretches' backwards to the bottom of a chain of mountains, running in
a
,a direction parallel to the Red Sea. This plain, like Tehama, is entirely fandy and barren, with the exception only of the openings of the vallies, which may be watered by torrents from the mountains.
The highlands of Hedjas produce abundance of fruits, and other commodities of various kinds: Yet I have not heard coffee mentioned among their productions. Balm of Mecca comes from thofe lofty regions, and chiefly from the exten-five mountain of Safra, which is a three days journey diftant from the Arabic Gulphj
This barren plain cannot be populous. I have mentioned already, that I could fee no towns or villages in my palfage from Suez to Loheya. I have defcribed Jambo, Jidda, and G/mnfude, the only towns or harbours on all this extenfive coaft. The other villages, that may be thinly Scattered here and there, are too few and too paltry to merit notice.
In the interior parts of this country, I could difcover no confiderable city, except Taaif, fitu-ate upon a lofty mountain, in fo agreeable a country, that the Arabs compare its environs to thofe of Damafcus and Sana. This city Supplies Jidda and Mecca with excellent fruits, particularly raifins, and carries on a confiderable trade in almonds, which grow in great plenty in its territories.
There
There are fome towns, of no great confequence, belonging to the Schiech of the tribe of llarb. I was alfo told of a charming valley, called Wa-di Fatima, between Mecca and Medina, which Mahomet gave for dowry to his favourite daughter Fathna, and which is presently poffeffed by the Dani Bark ad, a younger branch of the reigning family of Mecca, and confequcntly defendants from that princefs.
The curiofities of Mecca and Medina, the two capitals of Hedjas, are fo numerous, that each of thefe cities muff, be confidered in a chapter by itfelf.
CHAP. Ih
C)f the Poivtr of the Ti/rls m Hedjas,
The Grand Signior ftiles himfelf Sovereign of Hedjas; and our geographers, upon the faith of that empty title, reprefent this part of Arabia as a province of the Turkifh empire. But, the authority of the Sultan is here nothing but a mere fhadow, which the Arabs would long fince have annihilated, if they had not found their intereft in preferving it.
Noth with Handing the lofty pretenfions of the £rtand Signior, his power in Arabia confifls folely in a few llcnder prerogatives.   He fends
Vol. II. yearly
26
nkibuiir's travels.
yearly caravans to Mecca, with troops to protect" them, that are often obliged to make their way by force of arms. Like any other powerful So-• ereign, when he choofes to opprefs a weak neighbour, he can depofe the reigning Sherriffe, and cxajt another, while his caravan lords it at Mecca. He fends a Pacha to Jidda, who fhares the government of this city with the Sherriffe, but who dares neither go to the feat of his government, nor return from it, unlcfs when he can be protected by the great caravan. Laflly, the Arab;' fuffer the Turkifh Sovereign to maintain, for the feeurity of the pilgrims, and in order to guard the wells, a few janizaries, cooped up in fome wretched towers.
The revenues which he draws from this pretended province are proportionate to his power in it. The Sultan divides with the Sherriffe the duties paid at the cullom-houfe of Jidda. But, the revenue thus obtained, is not fufTicient to de* fray the expeuces of the Pacha's houfehold. A Turk, therefore, thinks himfelf difgraced when nominated to this fine government, and is unhappy till he be recalled.
If the Arabs did not receive, every year, large funis of money, and other advantages of all forts from the Sultan, they would long fmce have expelled this handful of Turks from their coun* try.   The Sultan all- •   large pennons to all the
Sher-
•Sherriffes, and to the principal nobility of Hedjas, as guardians of the facred family. With thefe penfions, and the freight of four or five large veflels, which he fends every year to Jidda, laden with provisions, he Supports almoft all the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina. During the whole time, while the pilgrims remain in the city of Mecca, as much water as two thoufand camels can bear is daily diftributed gratis ; not to fpeak of the vafl number of prefents with which he a-dorns the Kaba, and gratifies the descendants of Mahomet.
The principal Arabs likewife gain by the many pious foundations cftablifhed by the Sultans, or by opulent private perfons among the Turks, at different holy places. Through all the cities of the Ottoman empire are kans, baths, and houfes belonging to the Kaba. Some perfons, to fecure their property, after their deceafe, Srom the rapacity of defpotiSm, bequeath it. Sailing their own family, to the moSque at Mecca. The revenues of this moSque, and of the kaba, are fhared between the Sherriffe and the chief nobility of Hedjas. Thefe Arabs would therefore endanger their income, if they offered to break off an apparent dependence, which flatters the Sultan's vanity, without affecting their liberty.
The Sultan no longer commands refpect upon the Arabic Gulph-   Poffcffmg only a precarious
authority
authority over Egypt, and having but a poor navy, he cannot hinder the Arabs from plundering Turkilh mips, whenever thefe approach lb near to the mores as to fall into their hands, nor yet punilh filch acts of infolent piracy,
CHAP. III.
Of the Shernjff of Mecca,
Sherriffe, as I have already had occafion to remark, is the title of the descendants of Mahomet by Hajjiin ihn AH. Although this branch of the pofterity of Mahomet have never attained fo the dignities of Caliph or Imam, they, how* ever, appear to have always enjoyed the fove-reignty over moft of the cities in Hedjas.
The defcendants of Haffan ibn Ali are now divided into Several branches, of which the fa-mil V of Alt Bunemi, confirming at leaft of three hundred individuals, enjoy the fole right to the throne of Mecca. The Ali Buncmi are, again, Subdivided into two Subordinate branches, Da-rii Sajid, and Darii Barkad; of whom forne^ simes the one, Sometimes the other, have given Sovereigns to Mecca and Medina, when theSe were Separate States.
Not only is the Turkilh Sultan indifferent a-bont the order of fucceflion in this family,
but
but he feems even to foment the difTentions which arife among them, and favours the ttrongeft, merely that he may weaken them all. As the order of fuccefTion is not deter-minately fixed, and the Sherriffes may all. afpire alike to the Sovereign power, this uncertainty of right, aided by the intrigues of the Turkifh officers, occafions frequent revolutions. The Grand Sherriffe is Seldom able to maintain himfelf on the throne; and it flill Seldomer happens that his reign is not disturbed by the revolt of his neareft relations, There have been inffances of a nephew fucceeding his uncle, an uncle fucceeding his nephew; and Sometimes of a perSon, Srom a remote branch, coming in the room of the reigning prince of the ancient houSe.
When I was in Arabia, in 1763, the reigning Sherriffe Mcfad had fitten fourteen years on the throne, and, during all that period, had been continually at war with the neighbouring Arabs, and with his own nearefl relations Sometimes. A few years before, the Pacha of Syria had depoSed him, and raiSed his younger brother to the Sovereign dignity in his Stead., But, after the departure of the caravan, Jtfar, the new Sherriffe, not being able to maintain himfelf on the throne, was obliged to rcfign the fo-
vereignty
verelgnty again to Me/ad. Achmci, the fecond brother of the Sherriffe, who was much beloved by the Arabs, threatened to attack Mecca while we were at Jidda. We were foon after informed of the termination of the quarrel, and of Achmet's return to Mecca, where he continued to live peaceably in a private character.
Thefe examples mew, that the Muffulmans obferve not the law which forbids them to bear arms agamic their holy places. An Egyptian Bey even prefumed, a few years fince, to plant fome fmall cannons within the compafs of the Kaba, upon a fmall tower, from which he fired over that facred manfion, upon the palace of Sherriffe Mefad, with whom he was at variance.
The dominions of the Sherriffe comprehend the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jambo, Taaif, Sadie, Ghunfude, Hali, and thirteen others lefs confiderable, all fituate in Hedjas. Near Taaif is the lofty mountain of Gajvt>an9 which, according to Arabian authors, is covered with fnow and froft in the midft of fummer. As thefe dominions are neither opulent nor extenfive, the revenue of their Sovereign cannot be confidei% able.
He finds a rich refource, however, in the im-polls levied on pilgrims, and in the gratuities offered him by Muffulman monarchs. Every pilgrim pays a tax of from ten to an hundred
crowns,
crowns, in proportion to his ability. The Great Mogul remits annually fixty thoufand roupecs to the Sherriffe, by an affignment upon the government of Surat. Indeed, fince the Englifh made themfelves mailers of this city, and the territory belonging to it, the Nabob of Surat has no longer been able to pay the fum. The Sherriffe once demanded it of the Englifh, as the poffeffors of Surat j and, till they mould Satisfy him, forbade their captains to leave the port of Jidda. But the Englifh difregarding thU prohibition, the Sherriffe complained to the Ottoman Porte, and they communicated his complaints to the Englifh ambaffador. Pie at the fame time opened a negoeiation with the nominal Nabob, who refides in Surat. But thefe fteps proved all fruitlefs : And the Sovereign of Mecca feems not likely to be ever more benefited by the contribution from India.
The power of the Sherriffe extends not to fpi-ritual matters. Thefe are entirely managed by the heads of the clergy, of different fects, who are refident at Mecca. Rigid Muffulmans, fuch as the Turks, are not very favourable in their fentiments of the Sherriffes, but fufpe<St their orthodoxy, and look upon them as fecretly attached to the tolerant feci of the Zeidi.
CHAP.
chap. rv.
Of the City of Mecca.
This city is fituate in a dry and barren tract ©f country, a full day's journey from Jidda. a few leagues beyond it, nearer the highlands, however, abundance of excellent fruits is to be found. In the fummer months, the heat is ex-cefhve at Mecca; and, to avoid and moderate it as much as poflible, the inhabitants carefully (hut their windows and water the ftreets. There have been inftances of perfons Suffocated in the middle of the flreets by the burning wind called Samown or Samicl.
As a great part of the firft nobility in Hedjas live at Mecca, the buildings are better here than in any other city in Arabia. Among its elegant edifices, the molt remarkable is the famous Kaba, or houfe of God, which was held in high veneration by the Arabians, even before the days of Mahomet.
My curiofity would have led me to fee this fa-cred and Singular ftruclure; but no Chriftian dares enter Mecca. Not that there is any fuch exprefs prohibition in the laws of Mahomet, or that liberal-minded Mahometans could be of* fended ; but the prejudices of the people in general.,
in arabia, tff>.
33
neral, with refpect to the Sanctity of the place, make them think that it would be profaned by the feet of infidel Chriftians. They even per-fuade themfelves, that Chriftians are reftrained from approaching it by a Supernatural power. They tell of an infidel, who audacioufly advanced within fight of Mecca, but was there attacked by all the dogs of the city, and was fo ftruck with the miracle, and with the auguft aSpect of the Kaba, that he immediately became Mufful-man.
There is therefore ground for the prefump-tion, that all the Chriftians of Europe, who describe Mecca as eye-witneffes, have been renega-does who have efcaped from Turkey. A recent example confirms this fuSpicion. Upon a promise of being Suffered to adhere to his religion, a French Surgeon was prevailed with to attend the Emir Hadgi to Mecca, in the quality of his phyfician. But he had not proceeded far, when he was forced to Submit to circumciSion, and then Suffered to continue his journey.
Although the Mahometans permit not Europeans to vifit Mecca, they make no difficulty of defcribing the Kaba to them. I even obtained at Kahira a drawing of that holy place, which 1 had afterwards an opportunity of correcting, from another draught by a Turkifh painter. This painter gained his livelihood by making Voi.. II. E fuch
fuch draughts of the Kaba, and felling them, to pilgrims.
To judge from thofe defigns, and from the
relations of manv Muffulmans of Sufficient vera-j
city, the Kaba muff be an aukward fliapeleSs building ; a Sort of Square tower it is, covered on the top with a piece of black gold-embroidered filk fluff. This fluff is wrought at Kahira, and changed every year at the expence of the Turkifh Sultan. The gutters upon this building are of pure gold.
What feems to be mofl magnificent about this facred edifice, is the arcades around the Square in which the Kaba Stands. They Speak, in terms of high admiration, of a vafl number of lamps and candleflicks of gold and Silver with which thoSe arcades are illuminated. However, even by theSe accounts, in which the truth is apparently exaggerated, the riches of the Kaba are far from equal in value to what is displayed in fome Catholic churches in Europe.
In the Kaba is particularly one Singular relic, which is regarded with extreme veneration. This is the famous black flone, faid to have been brought by the angel Gabriel in order to the conftruclion of that edifice. The flone, according to the account of the clergy, was, at firft, of a bright white colour, fo as even to dazzle the eyes at the diflance of four days
journey;
IN arabia, fcff.
35
journey; but it wept fo long, and fo abundantly for the fins of mankind, that it became at length opaque, and at laft abfolurely black. This ftone, of fo companionate a character, every Mulfulman muft kifs, or at leaft touch, every time he goes round the Kaba. Neither the ftone of Abraham, nor that of Ifmael, receive.', the fame honours; pilgrims are not obliged either to viht or to kifs them.
The Arabs venerate the Kaba, as having been built by Abraham, and having been his houfe of prayer. Within the fame inclofure is the well of Zemzem, valued for the excellence of its water, and no lefs for its miraculous origin. Hagar, when banifhed by her mafter, fet little Ifmael down here, while fhe fhould find fome water to quench his thirft. Returning, after an unfuccefsful fearch, fire was furprifed to fee a fpring burfting up from the ground between the child's legs. That fpring is the prefent well of Zemzem.
Another ornament of the Kaba, is a row of metal pillars furrounding it. Thefe pillars are joined by chains, on which hang a vaft number of filver lamps. The porticos or arcades above mentioned are defigned to protect the pilgrims from the torrid heat of the day. They anfwer likewife another purpofe; for the merchants, of
whonr
■whom great numbers accompany the caravans, expofe their wares for fale under thofe arcades.
The Mahometans have fuch high ideas of the fanftity of Mecca, that they fuppofe it to extend even to the environs of the city. Its territory is reputed facred to a certain distance round, which is indicated by marks fet for this purpofe. Every caravan find one of thofe marks on their way, which warns the pilgrims to put on the modefl garb which it becomes them to wear on that facred ground.
CHAP. V,
Of the Pilgrimage of the Mujpthnans.
Every Muffulman, it is well known, is obliged, once in his life, to vifit Mecca, and perform acls of devotion in the facred places. If this law were ftricf ly obferved, the concourfe of pilgrims would be immenfe ; nor could the city contain fuch crowds from every country in which the Mahometan religion has been introduced. It may be prcfumed, therefore, that none but fuch as are more than ordinarily devout difcharge this duty.
Thofe indeed, whofe circumflances do not admit of their undertaking fo diftant a journey, are allowed to hire a perfon to perform it for
them.
in arabia, Esfc.
37
them. But a pilgrim, in this character, can act for no more than one perfon at the fame time; and, to prevent impoflure, he mult bring back a formal atteflation from an Imam in Mecca, bearing, that he has actually performed the appointed devotional exercifes in the holy places, in the name of fuch a perfon, living or dead; for, -even after the death of a man, who, during his life, neglected the fulfilling of this point of the law, the duty may ftill be difcharged in his name, and for his benefit. I have fometimes met with pilgrims by profeffion, who had been ill paid by their employers, and were obliged to afk alms.
Few as the caravans are, in proportion to the numbers of the Muffulmans, even thofe few are compofed, in great part, of perfons who go upon other motives than devotion; fuch as merchants, who think this the fafeft opportunity for the conveyance of their goods, and the molt favourable for the fale of them ;—purveyors of all forts, who furnifh the pilgrims with neceffaries ; and foldiers, paid by the caravan for cfcorting them. From this it happens, that many perfons have feen Mecca feveral times, without ever vifiting it upon any but views of interefl.
The molt confiderabre of thefe caravans is that of Syria, commanded by the Pacha of Damaf-cus.   At a certain diftance from Mecca, it joins ♦hat from Egypt, which is the fecond in numbers,
38
neibuhr's travel?
bers, and is conducted by a Bey, who takes the title of Emir Hadgi. A third comes from Yemen ; and a fourth, ftill fmaller in numbers, from the country of Lachfca. A few pilgrims come by the Red Sea, and from the Arabian Settlements on the coaft of Africa. The Perfians join that which is from Bagdad, and is conducted by the Pacha. His pofl is lucrative ; for he fqueezes large funis from the Perfian heretics.
When giving an account of what I faw on board our veffel, in the palfage between Suez and Jidda, I had occafion to fpeak of the Ihhram, and of the place where pilgrims are obliged to afiume that garb of humility. I may add, that they muft proceed without delay to Mecca, as foon as they arrive on the border of the facred territory. A Greek renegadoe, who had come in our company from Suez, was difpofed to reft for fome time at Jidda; but the reproaches which he found thrown out upon him, for fuch an inflance of indifference about the object: of his journey, obliged himtofet off for Mecca fooner than was favourable to the flate of his bufinefs in Jidda.
Befides, it is truly advantageous to a pilgrim to hafle forward to the holy places. If he has not been prefent from the commencement, at the celebration of all the ceremonies, and performed every appointed act of devotion, he cannot
not obtain the title of Hadgi; an honour much coveted by the Turks, becaufe it confers fub-ftantial privileges, and commands refpecl: to thofe who bear it. The rarity of this title, in Mahometan countries, is a proof how negligently the law enjoining pilgrimage is obferved.
A Similar cuflom prevails among the Chriftians in the eaft, who alfo make much ado about the title of Hadgi or Mokdq/i, which they gave to pilgrims of their communion. In order to acquire this title, it is not enough for a perfon. to go in pilgrimage to Jerufalem; he muft fpend the feafon of the paffover in that city, and ailift at all the ceremonies in the holy weeks (k).
CHAP. VI.
Of the City of Medina.
About a day's journey diflant from the port of Jambo Hands Medina, a city of moderate extent, furrounded with indifferent walls, and fituate in a fandy plain. It belongs to the Sherriffe of Mecca, but has of late been governed by a Sovereign of its own, of the family of Da-rii Barkad. At this prefent time, the Sherriffe rules it by a Vizir, who muft be of the royal family.
Before
4°
nkibuhr's travels
Before the days of Mahomet, this city was" called Jathreb. But it was called Mcdinet en Nebbi, the City of the Prophet; from the period at which Mahomet, upon his expulfion out of Mecca by the Koreifchites, took refuge here, and continued to make it the place of his refidence for the reft of his life.
The tomb of Mahomet at Medina is held in rcfpect by the Muffulmans; but they are not obliged to villi it in order to the performance of any devotional exercifes ; only, as the caravans from Syria neceifarily pafs near by Medina, in their return from Mecca, they turn afide to behold the Prophet's tomb.
I alfo obtained from a Turk a drawing of the mofque in which the tomb ftands. It is fituate in a corner of the great fquare; whereas the Kaba is in the middle of the fquare at Mecca. For fear that the people might fuperftitiouily offer worfhip to the allies of the Prophet, the tomb is inclofed within iron rails, and is only to be fecn by looking through thefe. It is of plain mafon-work, in the form of a cheft; and this is all the monument. I could never learn the origin of the ridiculous ftory, which has been circulated in Europe, concerning vaft magnets faid to Support the coffin of Mahomet in the air.
This tomb is placed between two other tombs, in which reft the afhes of the two firft Caliphs.
Al~
Although not more magnificent than the tombs of the founders of mofl other mofques, the building that covers it, is hung with a piece of fdk fluff embroidered with gold, which is renew, ed every feven years by the Pacha of Damascus.
This building is guarded by forty eunuchs, chiefly for the fecurity of the treafure which is faid to^be kept in it. This treafure confifls chiefly of precious flones, the offerings of rich Muf-fulmans. But there was evidently fuch a mixture of fable in the account I received of it, that I knew not what to think. Several refpe&able Mahometans ferioufly affured me, that the philosopher's flone, or a large quantity of powder for converting other metals into fine gold, was one of the mofl valuable articles of that treafure. An e-minent Arabian merchant informed me, that the guard was ported for no other purpofe but to keep off the populace, who had begun to throw dirt upon the tomb, which they afterwards Scraped off, and preServed as a Sort of relic.
CHAP. Vll.
Of the hidtpendcnt Schiechs, Arab and Jcw'fo.
The highlands of Hedjas are poffeffed by anuin ber of independent Sovereign Schiechs. The Vol. II. V mofl
molt powerful of thefe is the Schiech of the tribe of llarb, who can bring two thoufand men into the field. He refides in the city of Makfchous; and his domains contain feveral cities, and a number of villages.
During the months favourable for paflurage, the mofl diftinguifhed perfons of this tribe live in tents; in the reft of the year, they inhabit the towns and villages. The lower claSs live, commonly through the whole year, in huts thatched with grafs. This principality is fituate upon the mountains between Mecca and Medina.
I could not learn either the names or the Situation of the territories of the other independent Schiechs in this province. What I know is, that they all live with their Subjects in towns and villages, thro' the whole year, and have for their places of defence fome caflles built upon precipitous rocks. They Sometimes join their neighbours to attack the Turkifh caravans; but thefe never pafs thro* their dominions.
The chief of the tribe of Harb is the perfon who chiefly harraffes the caravans, and lays them under contribution. Unlets the Syrians and Egyptians pay the tribute he demands, for permiilion to pafs through his territories, he muflers up an army of his own Subjects and his
neigh-
in arabia, &C.
43
neighbours, all of whom are very willing to pillage a caravan.
The mofl remarkable, and the leafl known of thofe highland communities, is that which the Jews have formed upon the mountains lying to the north-eaft of Medina. That tract of country is called Khicbar; and the Jews inhabiting it are known in Arabia by the name of Bcni Khiebar. They have independent Schiechs of their own, and are divided into three tribes; Bcni Mijfead, Beni Schaban, Bcni Anacffc. So odious are they to the Mahometans, who accufe them of pillaging the caravans, that, in Syria, the greatefl affront which can be offered a man is to call him Beni Kheibar. Thofe robberies feem, however, to be unjuflly imputed to them. Some Mahometans, whom I could credit, affured me, that the Jews indeed furnifhed auxiliaries to the Arab army, which had lately pillaged the caravan from Damafcus; but, that the authors of that enterprife were, the Schiech of the tribe of Harb in Hedjas, and he of the tribe of Anacjfe in Nejcd.
It does not appear that the Jews of Kheibar keep up any intercourfe with their brethren who are difperfed over Afia. When I afked the^Jews in Syria concerning them, they told me^ that thofe falfe brethren durfl not claim their fellowship, for that they did not obferve the law. The Beni Kheibar muft therefore be of the feet
of
44
NEIBUHft's TRAVELS
of the Karaites, who ajje not numerous, and are much difperfed; and, by the other Jews, who are in general attached to the feet of the Pharifees, arc ftill more deteftedthan the Chriftians or Mahometans.
The name of Anacjft is not unlike Hanaji, the name of a tribe of whom Benjamin de Tu-dela fpeaks as being his countrymen. It alfo has a confiderable refemblance to Baruc Anzab, a race of Jews who gave much trouble to Mahomet and the firft Caliphs. It Ihould fecm, therefore, that this branch of the Jews muft have tub? filled here for more than twelve centuries. Bar-thema was the firft modern that made mention of this little flate of independent Jews, in the neighbourhood of Medina.
The circumftances of this fettlement have, perhaps, given rife to the fable of the Sabbatical River. Thefe Jews cannot accompany a caravan, becaufe their religion permits them not to travel on the Sabbath. Yet the country which they inhabit is furrounded by fuch vafl and fan-dy defarts, that, unlefs with a caravan, fo fe-queflered a tract cannot be fafely either entered or left.
SEC-
SECTION XVIII.
of yemen in general.
chap. i.
Of the Boundaries and Subdivrfto/is of Tenien.
This great province, comprehending the finell and mofl fertile part of Arabia, is furroun led by the Arabic Gulph, and by the provinces of Hadramaut, Nejed, and Hedjas.
Yemen is naturally divided into two parts, differing greatly in foil and climate. That bordering on the Arabic Gulph is a dry and fandy plain, nearly two days journey in breadth, and is fcorched by the mofl torrid heats. The other, extending immediately beyond this, is a high-lying country, full of precipitous, yet fertile hills, and enjoying a much more temperate air. But, thefe circumflances will fall properly within the natural hiflory of Arabia; and I am here fpeaking only of its political diyifions.
Yemen is, like the reft of Arabia, parcelled °ut among a number of different Sovereigns in unequal portions.   Some of them arc princes of
corn
46
neibuhr's travels
confiderable power; but many are petty Schiechs, who are, however, perfectly independent.
The mofi confiderable of thofe princes is' the Imam, who" relides at Sana. Having travelled through a part of his dominions, and by confe-quence acquired particular knowledge of them, I fhall defcribe them in a feparate article, and the rather, as they extend through the greater part of Yemen. At prefent, I proceed to give an abftract of what I could learn concerning the reft of this province.
The independent ftates of Yemen, befide the dominions of the Imam, are, as I learned from perfons who were the moft likely to be accurately informed,
1. The territory of Aden, which has been for fome time governed by a particular prince ;
2. The principality of Kaukeban, poffeffed by a Sejid;
3. Kobail, or Hafchid-u-Bckil, in which are many Schiechs, united in a fort of confederation ;
4. The principality of Abu-Arifch, belonging to a Sherriffe;
5. A large diftrict. between Abu-Arifcb and Hedjas, inhabited by free Bedouins;
6. The territory of Khaulan, under the dominion of its own Schiech;
7. The
7. The territory of Sahan, comprehending the principality of Saade, which belongs to a Scjid, with the domains of fome independent Schiechs;
8. Ncdfjcran;
9. Kachtan; 1 o. Nehbm ;
11. Eaft Khaulan, confifting of four fmall fo-vereignties, under the government of as many independent Schiechs ;
12. The vaft country of Dfjof or Mareb, governed by a Sherriffe, and fome independent Schiechs;
13. The territory of Jafa, in which are at leafl three independent Schiechs.
There are poffibly feveral other fovereign flates in Yemen, which might be too fmall to come to my knowledge. A traveller, who fhould only flop a fhort time on his way, could not readily learn the names of all the petty German baronies. What I know certainly, howe-, ver, as having witneffed flriking enough inflan-ces of if, is, that thofe endlefs fubdivifions of territory, among fuch a multitude of petty Sovereigns, are, in a great meafure, the caufe of the Hate of decline in which Arabia at prefent appears : Such a collection of jarring interefls is Naturally fatal to trade and induflry.
CHAP.
chap, il
Of the Principality cf Aden.
This fmall Hate is bounded on the fouth by the Indian Ocean; on the weft and north by the dominions of the Imam; and on the eaft by the country of Jafa. It formerly belonged to the Imam; but, in 1730, the inhabitants expelled the Imam's governor, and elected a Schiech, who is perfectly independent.
Aden, an ancient and celebrated city, gives its name to this principality. It has ftill a good harbour, although much declined from what it once was. Its trade is now trifling ; for the Sovereign is never at peace with his neighbours. Coffee from Jafa is the only article for export which this city affords.
Among a number of cities, and a good many caftles of no great ftrength, belonging to this-fmall ftate, the only place that is ftill in any degree confiderable, is Lahadsjc, the feat of the prefent Schiech Abd td Kerim el Foddeli. This town was befieged by the famous Abd Urrab, from whom it fuffered confiderably. Foddeli is a narrow diftricf, containing a city and feveral -villages, known from its having been the original feat of the reigning family.
CHAP.
chap. hl
Of the Principality of Kaukebatt.
The country bearing this name, is furrounded aimoft on all hands by the dominions of the I-mam of Sana ; only, on one fide, meeting the territory of the confederated Schiechs of Hafchid-u-Bekil. The reigning family are defcendants from Mahomet, by Hadi, Imam of Saade. They, for feveral ages, poifeffed confiderable dominions in Yemen; and retained the title of I-mam even during the usurpation of the Turks. But, when this nation was driven out of Yemen by Khaffem el Kebir, that illuftrious family were obliged to yield up their title of Imam to the new Arabian conqueror, and to content themfelves with that of Sidi or Sejid. However, they ftill retain Sovereign authority over a con-£derable territory.
A feries of thofe fovereigns was communicated to me; but I could not find means to Satisfy myfelf of its authenticity. The reigning prince, in 1763, was Sejid Achmet. He had feveral fons and brothers, and a good many nephews.
He refides at Kaukeban, a fmall unfortified town, but fituate on the fummit of an aimoft in-Vol. II. G acccS-
NIEBUHr's TRAVELS
acceffible mountain. The aunt of the reigning prince has made a caufeway be formed, by which loaded camels can now advance up to the city.
In the different dittricts into which this country is divided, are a good many towns and villages, mofl of which have caflles or citadels upon adjoining hills. Thefe are not unneceffary precautions for the defence of thofe petty princes, againft fo powerful a neighbour as the Imam of Sana.
Wadi Laa is a valley fertile in coffee, which belongs to Sejid Ibrahim, brother to the reigning Imam. In its neighbourhood are fome hot mineral fprings.
CHAP. IV.
Of the allied Princes of Hafchid-u-Behl.
The extenfive country of Hafchid-u-Bekil, pof-feffed by a number of confederated Schiechs, is properly named Bellad el Kobail, the Country of the Highlanders: But the other, exprefhve of the confederacy, is the name by which it is more commonly known. It extends northward as far as to the Defart of Amafia; on the fouth and the eaft, it is bounded by the dominions of the I-mam, and the principality of Kaukeban; weft-ward, it meets the Sovereign flate of Abu A-
rifch.
rifch. The republican fpirit prevails fo little through Afia, that thefe Hates may be regardeJ as a Singular political phenomenon in the eaft.
This highland country contains many Schiechs, defcended from very ancient noble families, each of whom rules within his own domains as a fovereign prince. Thefe Schiechs, finding themfelves unable to make Separately any fuc-ceSsSul refiftance to a powerful neighbour, have combined, in order to defend themfelves by the common force.
It is not eafy, even in Europe, to obtain a thorough knowledge of the principles of any political conftitution \ but, among the miftruftful, fufpicious inhabitants of the eaft, fuch a thing is aimoft impoffible. I could not learn upon what laws and conditions the confederation of Haf-cid-u-Bekil is maintained. All I know is, that they choofe a certain number of chiefs, and, in war, fo many generals, to command their united forces.
Thefe allied princes, and their Subjects, are much better Soldiers, and more inclined to war, than the reft of the Arabians. The Imam of Sana, and the Sherriffe of Mecca, entertain each feveral regiments of thofe highlanders, and pay them better than their other troops. They muft have officers of their own nation; and the Schiechs ufually both raife the regiments, and
nominate
53 neibuhr's travels
nominate the officers. For this reafon, the I-mam fears to quarrel with the confederates. When they go to war with the Sovereign of Sana, their countrymen in his fervice defert and join them.
A tradition which fubfifls concerning their common origin, may have been the caufe which firft gave rife to the confederation among thofe Schiechs, and which has difpofed them to maintain it hitherto. Hafchid and Bekil, whofe names the confederates have affumed, were, by this tradition, brothers, fons of one Babrofchamy by a princefs called Nedsjema. Babrofcham, who was born of honourable parents in Natolia, after fome romantic adventures, carried off that princefs, who was daughter to the king of Bi-thynia, and fought refuge upon thefe mountains of Yemen; where, through his fons, Hafchid and Bekil, he became the anceilor of all the Schiechs of Bel/ad el Kobail; and they accordingly look all up to him as their common parent.
It is certain, however, that in this country are Schiechs, whofe families can be traced farther back than the date of this tale. In the district of Khcivan, and in the city of Beit il To-bet, refides the chief of the family of Toba9 a defendant from the ancient Arabian monarchs of this name.
I was told of fifty of thefe independent Schiechs, fome of whom polfefs domains in the midft of the Imam's territories. It is needlefs to put down their names.
The country inhabited by thefe confederates is of various degrees of fertility. Some vallies, which produce fruits in great abundance, are interfperfed among the hills; and even the higher grounds are cultivated and fertile.
A number of caftles are Scattered upon the heights; but few confiderable villages are to be feen. The town of Kheivan, in the diftrict of the fame name, is remarkable for having been the feat, firft of the Hamjare Monarchs, and afterwards of the Imams. Ruins of a very ancient palace are ftill to be feen there.
In fome other fmall villages are feveral monuments, from which it appears, that, before the Turkifh conqueft, a great part of Belted el Ko-bail was under the dominion of the ancient I-mams.
CHAP. V.
the Principality of Abu Arlfck, and the neighbouring Bedouins.
The principality of Abu Arlfch, which is alfo named after its capital, is properly a part of Tehama.
54
niebuhr's travels
hama. It Stretches along the Arabic Gulpli, northward from Loheya, for the fpace of two degrees. Like the reft of the Tehama, it is every where dry and barren, except only where watered by the rivers from the mountainous parts of Yemen.
This country was, not long fmce, within the Imam's dominions. The Sovereigns of Sana uSually intruft the government of their provinces to none but perSons of mean birth ; often to Slaves, who may be lefs likely than the Arab nobles to afpire at independence. But a late I-mam imprudently appointed a Sherriffe, named Achmed, to the government of Abu Arifch. The confequence was, that this Sherriffe revolted againft his Sovereign: Thus juftifying the faying among the Arabs, that the pofterity of Mahomet have all a thirft for Sovereign power.
His Son Mahommed, the reigning Sherriffe of Abu Arifch, has hitherto withftood all the efforts of the Imam to reduce him to his obedience. The confederates of Hafchid-u-Bekil have been repeatedly excited, by prefents from the I-mam, to attack the Sherriffe ; but their attacks have been made without any regular concerted plan of conqueft. Schiech Mecrami of Nedsje-ran likewife penetrated into this country, with a fmall army, in two fucceffive winters. To expel this enemy, the Sherriffe levied fix hundred
men
men in the country of Hafchid-u-Bekil, and gave him battle in January 1763, The Sherriffe was defeated, with the lofs of fix or feven men, upon which he fhut himfelf up, in de-fpair, in his palace. But Schiech Mecrami did not avail himfelf of his victory ; for, learning that the Schiech of Kachtan had entered Neds-jeran in his abfence, he haftencd home to the defence of his own dominions.
The remarkable places in the principality of Abu Arifch, are the capital, known by the fame name, which is encompaffed with walls, and is the feat of the Sherriffe ; and the town and harbour of Gezan, a day's journey from Abu Arifch. This province of Gezan, fituate upon the Arabic Gulph, and in a fertile country, carries on a confiderable trade in fenna; great plenty of which grows in the circumjacent territory ; and in coffee, which is brought hither from the mountains of Hafchid-u-Bekil. It has a trade Iikewife with the ports on the oppofite fide of the Arabic Gulph ; but has no intercourfe with the Subjects of the Imam. A few towns, and feveral large villages, form the reft of this principality.
The plain extended along the Arabic Gulph, for the fpace of a degree, from the borders of Abu Arifch to Hedjas, is occupied by a tribe of free Arabs, called Beni Ealal   Thefe Bedouins
live
5<>
neibuhr's travels
live in tents, under the government of Schiechs* They are poor, and addicted to robbery, as I have already obferved in the account of out journey from Jidda to Loheya. But they value themfelves on their courage, and glory in bearing pain without fhrinking.
Thefe Bedouins, when afked what religion they are of, call themfelves Muffulmans. But their neighbours, not crediting this account, call them infidels, and accufe them of profeffing a peculiar religion, the followers of which arc called Mafaliks. It appears indeed, that they depart widely, in feveral points, from pure Ma-hometifm ; their circumcifion at leaft is totally different. It may be thought, that thefe wan^ dering Arabs, having never been fubdued, by either Mahomet or his fucccffors, have retained fome part of their ancient religion. The Mufiulmans confider the Bedouins, in general, as fcarcely orthodox, and reproach them as not being true believers.
Thefe Arabs of Beni Halal inhabit a barren territory. They are poor, and live upon the fcanty produce of their flocks.
CHAP,
'   CHAP. VI.
Of the Territories of Saham and Khaidan*
The Arabs call the mountainous tract between Hafchid-u-Bekil and Hedjas, Sahan. This tract of country is of confiderable extent, and produces abundance of excellent fruits of all kinds, but especially grapes. Iron mines have alfo been difcovered in it, but for want of wood have not been wrought. From this circumftance, the iron in Yemen is both dear and bad.
The inhabitants of this country, efpecially the highlanders, who have little intercourfe with Grangers, are faid to fpeak the bell Arabic, corresponding more entirely than that Spoken any where elfe with the language of the Alcoran ; although, at the fame time, they are aimoft absolutely ftrangers to the book.
Thefe people differ effentially in their manners from the Arabs in the cities of Yemen. They feldom take more than one wife each. Their women are not permitted to marry till they have completed their fifteenth year; whereas, in the dominions of the Imam, girls are married at the age of nine or ten. They live upon meat, honey, milk, and fome vegetables. Their country affords plenty of thefe articles. By
Vol. II. H this
neibutir's travels
this Simple mode of living, they commonly attain to a very advanced age, retaining the perfect ufe of their fight to the laft. They are very hofpitable, and yet rob with no lefs rapacity, when they meet with travellers not embodied in a caravan, than the Bedouins of the defart.
In this country are many independent lord-fhips. The principal of thefe is Saade, in the poffeflion of Prince Khaffcm, a defcendant from imam Hadi, of the fame flock as the prefent. royal families of Kaukeban and Sana. This Prince takes alfo the title of Imam; but his principality is fo fmall, that he can hardly defend himfelf agalnft the Schiechs of the neighbouring mountains.
At Saade, his capital, and the place of his residence, is a cLiftom-houfe, which brings him a confiderable revenue. All goods from the dominions of the Imam muft pafs this way to Nedf-jeran, Kachtan, or Mecca ; and high duties are .exacted. In' the neighbourhood of this city is a high hill, famous as being the poft upon which a prince of this ftate fuftained a feven years fiege by the Turks.
A part of the great defart of Amafia lies V-e-tween SaaJ :■ and Hafchic-.u-Bekil. In the midaie of that defart is Birket Soidan, the only place where travellers c^n I •■ foa cefi aent.
. lie
The fmall diftrict of Khaulan, which comes to be here taken notice of, and which is to be carefully diftinguifhed from that of the lame name near Sana, lies among the mountains weft-ward from Saade, upon the road from Sana to Mecca, four days journey from Mali, the extreme city upon that fide of the Shcrriffe's territory. It has likewife an independent Schiech. This is all that I could learn concerning it.
chap. vii.
Of the Principalities of Nedsfran and Cachtan.
Nedsjeran is fituate in a pleafant and well watered country, three days journey north-eaft from Saade. This narrow territory is fertile in corn and fruits, especially in dates. It affords excellent pafturage j and its horfes and camels are in high requeft through all Arabia.
Its prefent Schiech, whofe name is Mecrami, has gained a very high reputation. He is laid not to be of the flock of the ancient nobility. In his youth, he travelled through all Arabia, Perfia, and India. After his return, the Imam of Saade Lntrufted him with the government of the province of Nedsjeran. But, fcarce had Mecrami been inverted in this office, when he threw off his allegiance.
The
The new Schiech of Nedsjeran has made himfelf formidable by his genius and valour, not merely to his neighbours, but even to diftant princes.    Not long fince, he introduced his troops, by fmall detachments, into the territory of Hafchid-u-Bekil; penetrated into the dominions of the Imam ; and made himfelf mailer of the province of Safan.   In January 1763, as has already been mentioned, he defeated the Sherriffe of Abu Arifch.   In the end of the fame year, he had traverfed all Arabia with his army, and entered the province of Lachfa. In Europe, it would be impoflible to conduct an army, in fo fhort a time, through fuch an extent of ftrange and defart countries.   But an army of Arabs are not incumbered with artillery, tents, or ammunition.   The fcanty provifions which they need are borne by camels; and the foldiers, being light-armed, and aimoft naked, fear no fatigue.
Schiech Mecrami enjoys through Arabia the reputation, no lefs of a profound theologian, than of a valiant warrior. His religious opinions differ effentially from thofe of the Handing feels among the Muffulmans. He honours Mahomet as the Prophet of God, but looks with little refpect on his fucceffors and commentators. Some of the more fenfible Arabs fay, that this Schiech has found means to avail himfelf of heaven, even in this life ; for, to ufe their expref-
fion,
IN ARABIA, Cffr. 6l
fion, he fells paradife by the yard ; and affigns more or lefs honourable places in that manlion according to the funis paid him. Simple, fuper-ftitious perfons actually purchafe alignments up-on heaven, from him and his procurators, and hope to profit by them. A Perfian, of the province of Kirman too, has lately begun to iffue fimilar bills upon heaven, and has gained considerably by the traffic. The people of the Eaft appear to approach daily nearer to the ingenious invention of the Europeans in thefe matters.
The knowledge of many fecrets, and, among others, of one for obtaining rain when he plea-fes, is likewife afcribed to this Schiech. When the country Suffers by drought, he appoints a faff, and aSter it a public proceflion, in which all muff affift, with an air of humility, without their turbans, and in a garb Suitably mean. Some Arabs oS diftinction affured me, that this never fails to procure an immediate fall of rain.
The capital of this Small kingdom is Nedsje-ran, an ancient city, famous in Arabian hiftory. The other towns in it are places of little confe-quence.
The fmall diftrict of Kachtan lies among the mountains, three days journey northward from Nedsjeran.   At Loheya, I faw a perfon of distinction
unction from that country, who had been at Sana with horfes for the Imam. He became fuf. picious of my intentions, when I put fome questions to him refpecting his country, and would give me no information. All that I could learn concerning Kachtan, was, that it is governed by a peculiar Schiech.
chap. viii.
Of the PruL'lpalh'ws of Nehhm and Khaulan.
Neuiim is a fmall diftrift between Dsjof and Hafchid-u-Bekil. The prefent Schiech, who is of a warlike character, and often troublefome to the Imam, is an independent prince. He pof-feffes a few fmall inconfiderable towns, with a fertile mountain, on which are many villages. The inhabitants of Deiban are free; but they always join the Schiech of Nehhm in his wars with the Imam.
The fmall diftrict of Khaulan, which is different from that of the fame name of which fome account has already been given, lies a few leagues fouth-eaft from Sana. It is governed by an independent Schiech, the reprefentative of a very ancient family. Schiech Rajcch Khaulani^ who reigned in 1763, dwelled at Sana, being general of the Imam's troops.   His ordinary
place
place of refidence is at Beit Rodsje, a fmall town in his own dominions.
In this principality is the fmall city of Tana-clm, famous among the jews of Arabia, who had anciently their chief feat, with many fpa-cious Synagogues, in it. At prefent it is aimoft defolate; and few Jews are among its inhabitants. Beit el Kibfi is a village inhabited folely by Sherrifies, one of whom muft always be at the head of the caravan which goes annually from Sana to Mecca. This caravan confifts of about three thoufand perfons, and is forty-five days upon the road, although the whole length of the journey be not more than an hundred German miles, at leaft if it could be travelled in a Straight line.
Several places, which once pertained to the prince of Khaulan, have been, bv degrees, annexed to the dominions of the Imam.
CHAr. IX.
Of the Country of Dsjof.
This great province of Yemen extends fouth-ward from Neckjcran to Hadramaut, and eaft-ward from Hafchid-u-Bekil to the Defart, by which Yemen is feparated from Oman. It is full of fandy and defart plains. In feveral places,
ces, however, the inhabitants want neither ctieefe, nor durra, nor any other of the necef-iaries of life. The horfes and camels of Dsjof are greatly in requeft in the Imam's dominions.
The country of Dsjof is divided into Bcllad cl Bedwif that diffricTt which is occupied by wandering Arabs ; Bcllad cs Saladin, the highland diftrict, governed by independent chiefs, who take the title of Sultan; and Bcllad cs Sche-raf, the diftrict in which the fupreme power is pollened by Sherriifes.
The wandering Arabs in this country are of a martial character. In their military expeditions they ride upon horfes or camels. Their arms are a lance, a fabre, and fometimes a match-firelock. Sometimes they put on coats of mail, a piece of defenfive armour which the other Arabs have ceafed to wear. They are not a little troublefome to their neighbours, who are fettled in villages,—plundering them, and often carrying off their young women. But neither thefe, nor any other of the Bedouins, are ferocioufly cruel; they only rob ftrangers, but never kill them. Thefe Bedouins of Dsjof are faid to have uncommon talents for poetry, and to excel all the other Arabs in this elegant art.
In the diftrict of Bellad es Saladin are many petty Sovereigns.   Of thefe, none was named to
me
me but the Sultan of Baham. The title of Sultan is no where ufed in Arabia, except in Dsjof and Jafa. It feems to be applied to diftinguifh the Schiechs of the Highlanders from thofe of the Bedouins.
The mofl confiderable princes in the diflridt of Bellad es Scheraf, are the three Sherriffes of Mareb, Harib, and Rachvan. But the firft, although chief of the defendants of Mahomet in this country, poffeffes only the town of Mareb, with fome adjacent villages.
Mareb, though confifting only of about three hundred poor houfes, is the capital of the province. It is fituate fixteen leagues north-eaft from Sana. It was known to the ancients as the capital of the Sabeans, by the name of Ma~ riaba. It is not certain whether it was ever called Saba. In its neighbourhood are fome ruins, which are pretended to be the remains of the palace of Queen Balkis. But there is no infcription to confirm or refute this affertion.
The Sabeans had a refervoir or bafon for water, which was anciently famous, and which 1 often heard talked of in Arabia; but nobody could give me an exact defcription of it, except one man of rank, who had been born at Mareb, and had always lived there. He told me, that the famous refeTvoir, called by the Arabs Sitte Ma* reb, was a narrow valley between two ranges of Vol. II. I hills,
hills, and a day's journey in length.   Six or Seven fmall rivers meet in that valley, holding their courfe fouth and fouth-weft, and advancing from the territories of the Imam. Some of thefe rivers contain fifties, and their waters flow through the whole year; others are dry, except in the rainy feafon.   The two ranges of hills which confine this valley, approach fo near to each other upon the eaftern end, that the intermediate fpace may be crofted in five or fix minutes.   To confine the waters in the rainy feafon, the entrance into the valley was here fhut up by a high and thick wall; and, as outlets, through which the water thus collected, might be conveyed, in the feafon of drought, to water the neighbouring fields,—three large flood-gates were formed in the wall, one above another. The wall was fifty feet high, and built of large hewn ftones.   Its ruins are ftill to be feen. But the waters, which it ufed formerly to confine, are now loft among the fands, after running only a ftiort way.
Thus was there nothing incredibly wonderful in the true account of the Sabaean refervoir. Similar, although much fmaller refervoirs, are formed at the roots of the mountains in many places through Yemen. Near Conftantinople is a vale, the entrance into which is likewife fhut tip by a wall to confine the water, which is conveyed
veyed thence in aqueducts into the capital of the Ottoman empire.
The tradition, that the city of Mareb was de-flroyed by a deluge, occafioned by the fudden burfting of the wall, has entirely the air of a popular fable. It feems more probable, that the wall, being neglected, fell gradually into difre-pair, when the kingdom of the Sabceans declined. But the ruin of the wall proved fatal to the city in a different way. The neighbouring fields, when no longer watered from the refer-voir, became wafte and barren; and the city was thus left without means of fubfiftence. Be-fides, Mareb is not fo fituate that it could fuffer an inundation in confequence of the demolition of the wall. It (lands upon a fmall eminence, at a league's diflance from it, upon the water fide.
The fertility of the diftrict might be renewed by the reparation of this work. But, fuch undertakings can be executed only by opulent Sovereigns. Mariaba was the feat of a powerful prince, who reigned over Yemen and Hadramaut. Mareb is but the abode of a poor Sherriffe, who can Scarcely withitand the encroachments of feeble neighbours.
The only other place in the country of Dsjof, *hat I heard of as remarkable, is Kajfer el Nat, ■   •   ■'•* ft
NIEJBUHR*S TRAVELS
a citadel which Hands upon a lofty hill, and wa& built by the Hamjare princes.
CHAP. X.
Of the Country of Jafa.
This territory is furrounded by Aden, fome part of the Imam's dominions, and the extenfive province of Hadramaut. It is fertile, and a-bounds particularly in coffee and cattle.
It was formerly under the dominion of the I-mam; but, in the end of the laft century, the inhabitants revolted, and made themfelves inder pendent. Ihey are governed at prefent by three fovereign princes, who have conquered alfo a part of the province of Hadramaut. Thofe princes are, i. The Sultan of Reffes, who re-fides at Medsjeba; 2. The Sultan of Mofaka, who takes his title from the place of his residence j 3. The Sultan of Kara, who refides in a caftle upon the mountain of Kara.
One of thefe Sultans of Jafa likewife poffeffes Schahhr, a fea-port town, from which incenfe, but inferior in quality to that of India, is exported. Nobody could inform me concerning the interior parts of this diftrict; of $cbabbr.
Bellad Schafel, and Ed Dab/a, are the dominions of two petty Schiechs.   Medina el Asfal,
is
a city famous for the tombs of various faints. The inhabitants are consequently Sunnites.
SECTION XIX.
OF THE DOMINIONS OF THE IMAM OF SANAf
CHAP. I.
Of the Extent and Divifions of the Imam's Dominions.
Speaking of Yemen in general, I unavoidably gave fome account of that part of this province which is Subject, to the Imam. The fame intermixture of fertile and barren territory, and the fame productions, appear every where through the whole province. The Imam, however, Seems to be matter of the richeft, the moil a-greeable, and the molt interefting part of this tract oS country.
It would not be eaSy to explain diftinctly the extent and limits of this fovereign's territories, as they are So interfered by the domains of a number of petty princes.   On the north fide,
they
they meet the territory of Hafchid-u-Bekil; weftward they are bounded by the principality of Abu-Arifch and the Arabic Gulph; to the fouth by the principality of Aden; and on the eaft by the territories of Dsjof and Jafa.
The general divifion of Yemen into Ttbama, the Lowlands, and Djebal, the Highlands, obtains in the Imam's dominions, as well as elfe-where. Upon this grand divifion depends the fubdivifion of the kingdom of Sana into thirty governments or counties. Tehama contains fix of thefe governments, and the highland country twenty-four.
Thefe fmall governments are not all alike populous or remarkable. It would be a tedious and fupcrfluous labour, therefore, to enumerate the names of all the towns and villages contained in them. I fhall content myfelf with taking notice of the principal of thofe, after I have given fome general account of the Sovereign of thefe dominions, and of the nature of his government.
As there are, in the territory of the Imam, many Schiechs difperfed among the mountains, who acknowledge not his authority, and are but in a very flight degree dependent upon him, I fhall be more careful to take notice of thefe independent Lords, than of thejpetty towns and villages. The reader will be more entertained by an account of
the
the political conftitution under which this lingular people are united, than he could poflibly be by a lift of Arabic names.
CHAP. II.
Origin and Hi/lory of the Imams.
In the abftract of the revolutions of Arabia, I have briefly mentioned that by which the expul-fion of the Turks was accomplished. This event took place in 1630 ; and, from this period, are we to date the elevation of the prefent royal family of Sana. Their great anceftor is Khajfcw Abu Mahomed, who was the chief author of that revolution.
Khaffem was defeended from Mahomet by I* mam JAadi, who is buried at Saade, where his pofterity ftill reign, from him are fprung both the Imams of Saade, and the princes of Kauke-ban, whom the Turks could never fubdue. Khaffem lived as a private perfon, upon the revenue of an eftate which had been left him by his an-ceftors, upon the mountain of Schaehara, north-eaft from Loheya. Although but a private individual, he enjoyed the friendfhip of the independent Schiechs in the Highlands; and, feeing the Turks to be odious to his countrymen, he, with the aid of thofe Schiechs,. attacked the Pachas,
and.
72
niebuhr's Travels
and, by degrees, expelled them out of all the cities of Yemen. Thus attaining the dignity of a Sovereign Prince, and affuming the title of Sejid Khaffem, he ftill continued, however, to refide upon the mountains of Schaehara, and died there, after a reign of nine years. The gratitude of the nation honoured him with the epithet Great; and he has accordingly been denominated Khaffem el Kbir, or Khaffem the Great.
After this revolution, the ancient royal family of Kaukeban, being obliged to yield its prerogatives to the family of Khaffem, the eldeft fon of Khaffem affumed the title of Imam, and the name of Metwokkel Allah. The Imam is properly the clcrygman who fays public prayers in the mofques. The royal fucceffors of Mahomet have continued the practice of performing thefe religous fervices, in proof that they enjoy Spiritual, no lefs than temporal power. Various Arabian Princes, who dare not affume the title of Caliph, content themfelves with that of Imam, or Emir el Mumcnim, Prince of the Faithful. All thofe Sovereigns, thus inverted with fpiritual authority, whether Caliphs or Imams, obferve the ancient cuftom of changing their name, like the Popes in Chriftendom, when they mount the throne. This change feems to indicate, that the whole character of the man is entirely altered,
upon
upon his being inverted with an employment, which impreffes a degree of Sanctity upon the character.
Imam Metwokkel Allah proceeded to deliver his country from the Turks, who do not appear to have made any very vigorous efforts to maintain themfelves in fo remote a conqueft, by which they were rather lofers than gainers. The Arabs honour that Imam as a Saint: To Spare the public revenue, he, like many other Mahometan Mo-narchs, earned his livelihood by his labour, employing himfelf in making caps. He had only one wife, and fhe contented herfelf with one houfehold Servant. Metwokkel Allah refided at Doran, and reigned thirty years.
His fon Mejid Billah Succeeded him ; was no leSs Scrupulous than his father with refpect to the revenues of the ftate; and reigned feven years,
His fucceffor was his coufin Mahadi Achmet, who, after reigning likewife Seven years, and, notwithftanding his devout turn of mind, extending by his conquefts the limits of the kingdom, was fucceeded by
His nephew Mcjid Billah. He was proclaimed Imam by the name of Mahadi Hadi. This prince had reigned only two years, when Mahadi Mahomed, fon of Imam Mahadi Achmed, de> throned him, and affumed his place. Vol. II. K This
Cj nif.euiir's travels
This Imam Mahadi Mahomed refided at Mou-ahhcb, and reigned thirty years. The French viiited his court in 1707: An account of the cir-cumftances of which vifit has been publiihed by ha Roquc. Hamilton fpeaks alfo of this prince, and fays, thai he was eighty years of age in the year 1714. Mahadi Mahomed was continually at war with the confederates of Hafchid-u-Bekil. In the beginning of this conteft, he put his nephew Khaifem at the head of his army, and he proved victorious; but the Imam ungratefully fiuit up the fuccefsful general in the citadel of Damar. At a fubfequent period, the Imam's fon being defeated by the confederates, that prince was obliged to rcieafe Khaffem, and in-trufl him again with the command of his forces. Khaffem was again victorious; but, before he could return to his uncle's court, another perfon, of the fame family, from Schachhara, had poffeffed himfelf of the throne, affuming the n:\me of El Nafer. However, the ufurper had fcarcely enjoyed the Supreme power two years,
lien Khaifem expelled him, and afcended the throne under the name of F.l Metwokkel.
Imam El Metwokkel cbofc Sana for the place of his refidencc, and there reigned in tranquility* for ten years.
After his death, El Man/or his fon afcended the throne.   But, hardly was he feated upon it,
when
JN ARABIA, tSfY.
when a nephew of Maliadi Mahomed, with the afliftance of tlie prince of Kaukcban, made himfelf mailer of all the country except Sana. El Manibr, however, found means to feize the perfons of the ufurper and his protector, and call them both into confinement, lie, with the fame good fortune, repreifed the rebellion of another of his coufins, and of one of his brothers ; and fhut thefe alfo up for the reft of life, lie reign, ed one and twenty years.
CHAP. III.
Of El Mahadi, the reigning Imam*
Imam El Mansor left feveral fons, the eldeft of whom, Ali, had naturally the beft right to Succeed him. His mother was the firft wife that his father had married, and daughter to the prince of Kaukeban: Confequcntly he was lineally defcended from Mahomet both by father and mother. But, the princefs, who was living at Sana in 1763, had not inthience or addicts enough to fecure the fucceflion to her fon, although it was the general with of the country that he mould be Sovereign.
A fon, who was named Abbas, had been born to El Manfor by a negrefs flavc.   This woman
artfully concealed her mafter's death, till the Kadi
di Jachja, one of El Manfor's principal mini--Iters, had time to fecure the troops, and the governors of the provinces, in the intcreft of her fon Abbas, whom Hie then made to be proclaimed Imam, by the name of El Mahadi. Prince Ali was thrown into confinement, in which he died in the year 1759.
In the beginning of El Mahadi's reign, the prince of Kaukeban repeatedly difputed with him the title of Imam. But, being twice defeated, and his beard being burnt in the fecond engagement by the accidental explofion of his magazine of powder, he renounced his pretenfions to the character of Imam, and made peace with the Monarch of Sana.
In the year 1750, an army of three thoufand Arabs from Nehhm and Deiban advanced nearly to Sana: But they were routed and difper-fed by the Imam. Seven years after, the confederates of Hafchid-u-Bekil attacked the Imam, and routed his forces. But, in the year following, 1758, the Imam's general furprifed and routed the allies.
Imam El Mahadi Abbas was five and forty years of age, and had reigned feventeen years, in 1763. He was of a dark complexion, like his ancettors by the mother's fide, and did not at all referable the other defendants of Mahomet. Had it not been for fome negro traits, his countenance
IN ARABIA, EsfV. , 77
tenance might have been thought a good one. He had twenty brothers, of whom fome that I faw were black as ebony, flat-nofed, and thick-lipped, like the Caffres of the South of Africa. He had married the daughter of a relation, one of the pretenders to the crown of Taacs ; and, be-fide her, feveral other free women ; but he kept fewer female flaves than his father had. EI Manfor had more than two hundred of thefe in his haram.
The reigning Imam had a number of fons; but only four of them were fo much grown up as to be permitted to appear in public. His relations, who are numerous, live all,at Sana; and fome of them are very well provided for. He has feveral uncles; but he leaves all his relations in private Stations, employing none of them in any public office.
On his acccffion to the throne, he continued Kadi Jachja, to whom he owed his advancement, for Some time in the poft of Prime Minifter. But, finding that his Subjects were discontented with the adminiftration of Jacbja, and ftill regretted Ali, who, before his death, had written an alfe&ing letter to his brother; the Imam Sacrificed his minifter to the public hatred, depo-fmg him, confiscating his effects, and throwing himfelf and his confidential Servant into priSon. The degraded minifter was reftored to liberty
Soon
foon after our arrival at Sana. But, inftead of reftoring his effects, the Imam only allowed him a fmall penfion, which was Scarcely enough to make him live.
CHAP. IV.
Hijlory of Schiech Abd Urrab.
Of the enemies with whom Imam El Mahadi had to contend, the moft formidable, both by-genius and courage, was Schiech Abd Urrab of Hodsjerie. When Speaking of the fiege of Taacs, I mentioned by the way fomething of the adventures of this Schiech, who is regarded as a hero among his countrymen. I found his hiftory interefting, and fhall now enter into it more at length, becaufe it involves Several particulars illustrative oS the principles of the I-mam's government, and of the general manners of the Arabs.
Abd Urrab, fon to a Nakib or General, who was governor of a fmall province, fucceeded his father in the government. The Imam, pleafed with his Services, conferred on him the government of Kataba, which was more confiderable j and at the fame time intrufted him with a com-miffion to demolim the caftles of fome neighbouring lords.   The zeal with which he carried
this
this order into execution, raifed him many enemies among the nobility; the mofl bitter of whom was a Nakib, of the ancient family of Wadci, who, among others, had loft his caflle.
This Nakib prepoffeffed the Imam againfr Abd Urrab, by accufing him of rebellion ; and obtained three thoufand men to reduce him to obedience. With this army, he befieged the pretended rebel for eleven months in Kataba, the capital of the diftrict. under his government. When Abd Urrab could no longer hold out, he fallied forth with fix hundred men, made his way through the midft of the enemy, and retired to the diftrict of Hodsjerie, where his friends opened to him the gates of their fortreffes, and acknowledged him their Schiech. Another army, lent by the Imam to befiege him here, was as unfuccefsful as the firft.
As yet, the new Schiech had Only flood upon the defenhve ; but, beginning now to feel his ftrength, he attacked the dominions of the Imam, made himfelf mailer of various places, and levied heavy contributions. The Imam, unable to reduce him to obedience, entered into an alliance againft him with the prince ot Aden. Abd Urrab upon this entered Aden, befieged the Sovereign in his capital, and forced a large Sum of money from him.   The I-
mam
mam on this occafion entirely abandoned hia ally.
In the account of the fiege of Taaes, I have already related in what manner the Imam concluded a peace with the Schiech, and how the latter took that city. The conditions, I may here add, were, that the Imam mould treat the Schiech as a friend, acknowledge him Shiech of Hodsjerie, and renounce all his own pretenfions to the fovereignty of that province. This engagement the Imam not only confirmed with feven oaths ; but, according to a prevalent cuf-tom in the Eaft, fent to the Schiech the copy of the Koran upon which he had fwoni, and the rofary which he ufed at prayers, as pledges of his hncerity. Moreover, his two generals, El Mas, and Achmcd el Hamcr, alfo bound themfelves that the Imam fhould abide by his promife.
'J'rLilting to fo many oaths, to thofe pledges of faith, and to the affurances of the two generals, Abd Urrab yielded to the prefhng invitations of the Imam, and repaired to his court. By the way he was treated with the higheft marks of refpecl. The inhabitants of Sana went out to meet, and gaze upon him, as a hero. His valour, his addrefs, his noble exploits, wrere generally talked of with paflionate admiration.
It is not known whether the Imam had any previous intention of deftroying him, or became
jealous
jealous of thofe praifes, and began to fear that a party might be formed, even in his own capital, in behalf of the rebel. However it might be, the Schiech, foon after his arrival, was feized, bedaubed on the face and hands with red paint, and, in this condition, placed on a camel, with his face to the tail, and conducted through the ftreets. His fitter, who was at this time in Sana, feeing her brother thus maltreated, fprang from the roof of a houfe, and fell dead at his feet. After being led about in this plight, and ftill farther abufed with blows, the Schiech was thrown upon a dunghill, and, at the end of three days, beheaded.
This perfidious act of the Imam moved the indignation of his fubjects. The two generals, who had pledged themfelves for the fafety of Abd Urrab, were particularly enraged. The firft, Nakib El Mas, was commander of the national troops ; the other, Nakib Achmcd El Elamer, commanded the mercenaries from Haf-chid-u-bekil, and his brother Khaffem was general of the confederates. Thefe two confider-ate perfons thought that it became them to fhew their refentment.
El Hamer, therefore, reproached the Imam for his perfidious cruelty, but was immediately eaft into prifon. El Mas, now more enraged than ever, formed a party to dethrone the Imam;
L but
but the prince preventing him, made coffee to be given him, upon a friendly vifit; by the effects of which the Nakib died before he could leave the palace.
As foon as Khaffem received notice of the imprifonment of his brother El Hamer, he attacked the Imam's dominions with the forces of the confederates ; but happening to lofe his fon in a fkirmifh, he retreated home. The Imam, fearing new movements on the part of the allies of Hafchid-u-bekil, Set Nakib El Hamer at liberty, by beheading him in priSon. Since that time, the allies have never ceaSed avenging his death, by inroads upon the dominions oS the Imam ; in which they burnt Several cities, Soon after our arrival in Arabia.
The conduct of the Imam, in refpecl to this unfortunate Schiech of Hodsjerie, has rendered him odious to his neighbours and fubjects, and may probably occafion his depofition Srom the throne, and premature death.
CHAP. V.
Of the Confitidion and Government of the Dominions of Sana.
The throne of Yemen is hereditary. If generally approved of by the Subjects, the eldeft legitimate Son of an Imam is his rightful fucceffor.
But
But, the revolutions which I have briefly narj rated, mew, that this order of fucceffion is often violated. In the defpotic governments of the Eaft, indeed, no order can be clofely obferved, be-caufe there are no fundamental laws. The practice of polygamy has alfo a tendency to confound the order of fucceflion in Afia, as it often happens, that brothers, by different mothers, found their pretenfions to fucceed their father upon grounds equally falfe, or equally fpecious. The blind preference of a father, funk into dotage, or the intrigues of a favourite, in fuch cafes, determine the difference.
The Imam is an abfolute prince, and the more fo for uniting in his own perfon fupreme authority, both fpiritual and temporal, over his fubjects. His jurisdiction in ecclefiaftical matters, however, extends not over the dominions of other fovereigns of the fame feet. Thefe States have each a Mufti or Cadi lor its fpiritual ufe.
Although the Imam be abfolute, he is checked in the exercife of his authority by the Supreme tribunal of Sana, of which he is only prefidcnt. This tribunal, confifling of a certain number of Kadis, polfelfes the fole power of life and death. The Imam may not order any of his fubjects for execution, but Such as have been condemned in cc/niequence of a criminal proSecution before this Court..   The Kadis are generally efteemed
to
to be perfons of incorruptible integrity, of blame-Tefs lives, and devoted to the faithful difcharge of their duties. They are not changed here fo often as in Turkey, but hold their offices ufual-Ly for life.
Yet, when one of thefe Monarchs is difpofed to abufe his authority, he can break through a-ny restraints impofed upon him by this tribunal. The afleffors are nominated by the Imam, and removcable at his pleafure. He has it thus in his power to extort their fuifrages by threatening them with difgrace. But, the fovereigns of Sana have never found their advantage in having recourfe to violent meafures. Acts of tyranny have commonly ended in the depofition of the Prince who hazarded them. This fate feems to await the prefent Imam, whofe cruelty and extortion have nearly wearied out the patience of his fubjects.
At the Imam's court, public offices are many, and titles of honour few. The flrit Miniiter has no other title but Fakih ; an appellation fo vague, that his fecretaries, and men of learning who think themfelves in any degree above the vulgar, affume it as well as the Minifter. The other Mini-Hers, the Secretary of State, the Superintendant of pious eltablilhments, the Surveyor-general of public buildings, the Infpector of the camels, and, by confequence, all thofe who occupy the firft:
em-
employments, are, in the fame manner, only Fakihs, without any other title of honour to distinguish them.
Every petty diftrict in the dominions of the Imam has its governor. If not a Prince, or one of the higher nobility, this governor is called Wall and Do/a; or fometimes Emir, when he happens to be a perfon of low birth. I have already remarked, that the Sovereigns of Sana find it generally the befl policy to confer thofe governments upon men who have rifen merely by perfonal merit, rather than upon their nobles.
A Dola in Yemen is much fuch a another as a Pacha in Turkey, only acting upon a narrower flage. He commands the forces Rationed in in his province, regulates the police, and collects the taxes. From lucrative governments, the Dolas are recalled every two or three years, to prevent their accumulating too much wealth. When the Imam continues a Dola in his office, he fends him a horfe, a fabre, and robes. All are obliged to render an .account, from time to time, of their adminiftration ; and, when guilty of high mifdemeanors, or convicted of malversations in office, they are punifhed by iinprifon-ment, or by confiscation of their property, but Seldom capitally. Sometimes a Dola, who has heen thus difgraced, is raifed from prifon to an
office
office of greater confequence than that of which he was diverted. This cuitom marks the character of defpotifm, where honour, and degradation by punifhment, of confequence, are utterly unknown.
In every little town, a Sub-dola, with a fmall garrifon, confiding fometimes of only five or fix foldiers, refide, to maintain order. The chief of a largevillageisaSchiech; heofafmall one ,a Hakim.
The Dolas of confiderable governments are attended by a Bajhaicb or comptroller, whofe bu-finefs is to keep a Uriel: eye upon their conduct, and to inform the Imam of what is going forward. This fpy often Succeeds the Governor who has been removed upon his representation ; but another Bafkateb is, at the fame time, fent to do for him what he did for his prcdecef-Sor.
Every city in which a Dola reSides has alio ,i a Kadi, dependent on the chief Kadi of Sana. The Kadi is fole judge in civil and ecclefiallical affairs; nor may the Dola interfere to contradict his Sentences, or render them inefficacious. The Kadis in the provinces, no leSs than in the capital, are in high reputation for wiSdom and integrity.
In the Sea-port towns, the Emir Babrr, who is inSpector of the port, enjoys the chief authority under the Dola. In other towns, the chief Magistrate
Urate is denominated Schiech el Belled. He it is who levies the taxes, and determines what each individual mull pay. The Emir es Souk, regulates fales and markets. In Yemen the poll of keeper of the prifon is honourable, and an object: of ambition.
CHAP. VI.
Of the Revenues of the Imam.
It is no doubt difficult for a traveller to gain any tolerably accurate knowledge of the public revenue of a ftate in which he fpends only a fhort time. In Arabia it is peculiarly difficult; as he muft here be very cautious in putting questions, that he may not render himfelf fufpected among a nation of whom fo few have any knowledge of public affairs.
I however had the advantage of confulting upon this head a man who had held employments, in which he could not avoid making himfelf acquainted with the ilate of the Imam's finances. This perfon was Oraki the Jew, fur-veyor-general of the buildings, who had been the favourite of two fucceflive Imams, and of whofe adventures I have given fome account in rhe narrative of our journey to Sana.
By
By this Jew's calculation, the revenues of I-mam EI Mahadi Mahomet amounted to 830,000 crowns in the month. But the reigning family having loft a number of provinces, Kataba, A-den, Abu Arifch ^ and Taas, with part of Bel-lad Anes and Harras, and having beftowed the diflri&s of Ofab and Mechader in fief, El Man-for's monthly income was thus reduced to 300,000 crowns. The prefent Imam had recovered fome of the difmembered territories, and had acquired others which had never before belonged to the empire. His revenue might therefore be nearly 500,000 crowns a-month.
But from this I cannot make an eftimate of the Imam's wealth; for Oraeki the Jew could give me no information concerning his expenditure. In the provinces, I was told, every Dola pays the troops belonging to his government; defrays the charges of the police ; and, after deducting all that the public expences require, remits the furplus to the Imam,
This revenue arifes from a land and a poll tax of long ftanding, and from duties payable upon articles of merchandife. Coffee affords a very confiderable tax. Before it can be put a-board a fhip for exportation, the Imam muft receive a fourth part of the price for which it was fold. It is remarkable, that Pliny even mentions it as
an
an old cuflom for the Arabs to grant their princes a fourth of the value of their productions (L.)
chap. vii.
Of the Military Force of Sana.
Fhe Imam keeps up a body of regular troops 'r but their precife number I could not learn. According to common opinion, it confifts ordinarily of four thoufand infantry, raifed chiefly in Hafchid-u-Bekil, and of one thoufand cavalry.
The principal commanding officers of this army were the four Schiechs of Hamdan, Wada, Sefan, and Khaulan. Befide jthefe four general officers of high birth, many Nakibs or officers of inferior defcent, fome of whom had even been Raves in their youth, were alfo in the army. Nakib is the highefl; title that the Imam can confer. Schiech is a title that can only come by defcent, and is peculiar to Sovereign princes and independent lords.
In time of peace, a foldicr ferving in the cavalry has nothing to do but to take care of his horfe, and attend the Imam or Dola to the mofque, according as he happens to be quartered at Sana, or in one of the provinces. The Arabs are extremely attentive to the breeding and management of their horfes.  "Each horfe is
Vol. II. M under
under the care of a particular groom. Their heads are left at liberty j but, to hinder them from kicking, they are confined aimoft clofe to the ground by the legs. After conducting their matter home from the mofque, the cavalry perform their exercife, which confifts merely in riding after one another at full gallop with their lances couched. As the nights are very cold in Yemen, cloths arc always put upon the horfes, except when they are ridden.
Mofl of thofe who ferve in the cavalry have likewife civil employments, in which they occupy themfelves in time of peace. Their arms are lances and fabres. Some carry piltols in the hol-ilers of the faddle. They know nothing of the life of uniforms; every one dreffes after his own fancy.
The infantry in the garrifons are equally unemployed ; they never Hand as centincis but at the gates of cities. The Dola is attended by loot-guards likewife to the mofque; they march in rank and file. Four men in arms leap before them with antic geitures. On his return from the mofque, they falute him with fome irregular difcharges of mufqiietry. This too is all the exercife ufed by the infantry.
They are ftill more unfuitably clothed than the cavalry. The greater part wear nothing but a piece of linen about their loins, and a
handker-
in" arabia, &fi
handkerchief upon their heads. Some are a little better d re (fed, with a blue cap of linen and a Hurt.
The Arabs have a lingular way of displaying their courage in engagements, not unlike the devotcment to the infernal gods among the ancients. A foldier willing to Signalize his attachment to his mailer, binds up his leg to his thigh, and continues to fire away upon the enemy, till either they be routed, or he himfelf be flain upon the field of battle, I could take this only for a fable when it was firft told me ; but I was afterwards convinced of its truth, by a late inftance in the cafe of a Schiech of Hafchid-u-Bekil, in the Imam's fervice, who devoted himfelf in this manner, in a battle againft his own countrymen. Six flaves charged mufkets for him, which he continued to fire upon the enemy, till being at laft deferted by the Imam's troops, and even by his own fervants, he was cut in pieces.
Thofe armies uSe ho artillery. The Arabs know not how to manage cannons. In Some towns they have renegadoes or vagabond Turks for gunners, little lefs ignorant than them-Selves.
The Imam, as he has no dread of enemies or corfairs upon the Arabic Gulph, needs not to keep up a naval force.   His fubjects arc in general
ncral unlkilled in navigation, as I have had oc-canon to remark. The fifhermen only difcover fome degree of courage and dexterity, venturing far out at fea in fmall canoes, fcarcely fur-niflied with oars.
chap. viil
Of the Arts and Commerce oj Yemen.
Not withstanding the natural abilities of the Arabs, the arts receive no encouragement, and are totally neglected in the Imam's dominions, and no lefs throughout the neighbouring countries. Books are fcarce in Arabia, becaule the Arabs have a diilike of printed characters. Their intricate alphabetical writing is belt performed with the hand ; they can hardly read books from our prefles. It was for this rcafon, that the attempt of Ibrahim Effetidi to introduce printing at Conftantinople failed of fuccefs, and the renegado was ruined by the project. The I Icbrew characters indeed are much eafier eaft, and therefore the Jewilh prefles at Conftantinople, Smyrna, and Salonica, may poflibly maintain their ground (M.)
The devotees among the MulTulmans, and chiefly the feet of the Sunnites, have a ftrong abhorrence againft images -f in confequence of
which
which there is neither painter nor fculptor in Yemen j but a great many inferiptions are engraven.
The Turks have fome muficians ; but the A-rabs never apply to mufic as a feparate art. In Yemen, I never heard any mufical inftrument but the drum and the pipe.
Much gold and filver work is prepared here; but the workers in thefe precious metals are all jews and Banians. All the current coin too is ftruck by Jews.
All Arabian workmen fit while they work j a habit not confiftent with very great activity. In walking, they have their feet always bare j as the wearing of their fandals would be trouble-fome. Many work with their feet, with little lefs dexterity than with their hands.
The mills in Yemen are of a very fimple conftruction. But I faw in Tehama an oil-prefs wrought by an ox j and it is furprifing, that the fame mode of operation has never yet been employed in the corn-mills.
The manufactures of a people of fo little in-duitry cannot but be very trifling. No fabres are manufactured in Yemen, nor any edged weapon, except a fort of crooked knives called Jambea. The making of match-firelocks has been attempted here within thefe few years ; it fucceeds but indifferently. It is only of late that
glafs-
glafs-works have been eftablifhed at Mokha. Some coarfe cloth is manufactured here; but not fo much as is required for the ufe of the country. Broad-cloths are neither made nor worn here. The Englifh brought fome goods of this fort to Mokha, but were obliged to carry them back to India unfold.
A country, which affords fo few articles for file, cannot have a great trade. Coffee is aimoft the fole article exported from Yemen; a valuable commodity, in exchange for which many of thofe things which this country needs from abroad may well be obtained.
I have mentioned the imports in my account of the trade of Mokha. All the commerce of Yemen is carried on by this port, except only that fome fmall quantities of coffee are exported by Loheya and Hodeida. What has been faid, therefore, of the trade of Mokha, may be con-fidered as relating to the trade of all Yemen.
CHAP. IX.
Of the Principal Towns in the Imam's Dominions.
In the travels of our whole party, and in my own feparate excurfions, I traverfed a great part of the Imam's dominions, which I have occafion-ally defcribed in the courfe of my narrative. I
am
am now therefore only to fpeak of fome places more remote from the coaft, which I had not oc-cafion to vifit myfelf, and which yet feem to defer ve notice. I fhall mention nothing but what I learned from perfons who had full accefs to certain information.
I have already given a general defcription of Tehama, that vaft plain through which I travelled from one end of it to the other. 1 have therefore nothing to add to what has been faid concerning the governments of Mokha, Has, jebid, Beit el lakib, 11 ode i da, and Lohcya.
In the highlands I Saw and have defcribed the governments of Sana, Damar, Jerim, Mc-chader, Dsjobla, Taee, Bcllad Aklan, IJddcn, Harras, and Mofhak. The following are the other towns and diftricts, which I know only by hearfay.
Doran, in which feveral Imams refidc, is a very ancient city, fituate on the declivity of a mountain, not far from the roads between Sana and Damar. The diftrict is under the goverment of a particular Schiech, as is alfo Dsjebbcl Schcr-ki, a great mountain in its vicinity.
Kataba is a city governed by a Dola, and de-tended by a ftrong citadel, lying in a fertile country, through which panes a fine river, whofe Waters are difcharged into the fea at Aden. In this
diftria
diftrict is a range of wild and lofty mountains, bordering on the territorities of the Imam.
Hodsjerie was originally a diftrict. and government belonging to Sana; became afterwards the domain of the famous Schiech Abd Urrab ; but is now reunited to the dominions of the Imam. It contains Dimiu, a ftrong city, upon a mountain, which Abulfcda calls the King's Treafury ; and Mukatera, a fortrefs faid to be impregnable, which ftands upon a lofty and precipitous hill, acceflible only by one narrow path, which is fhut up by a gate ; but fertile on the fummit in corn, and plentifully Supplied with water.
Qfab is a diftrict held in fief from the Imam by one of his relations. In it are a fmall village, and three ftrong caftles, upon hills.
Kufma is. a fmall town, Handing upon a high hill. Its confines I had occafion to fee, where it meets Tehama. The mountains in it produce coffee, and extend far through the interior country. They are free Arabs who inhabit them. Dsjebi, a town, with a diftrict of confiderable extent, in which are a number of independent Schiechs, lies farther northward. Thefe two diftricts form together the country of Rema; the merchants of which are often mentioned in ancient hiftory. It is a fertile tract of country, abounding chiefly in grapes and coffee.
Homrane,
t
IN ARABIA, fcfV. 97
Homran is an ancient city, with a ruinous citadel. In a hill, in its vicinity, there are laid to be three hundred and fixty refervoirs for water, cut in the rock. The diftrict in which it lies, approaches near to the road between Sana and Beit el Fakih. Burra, a large and fertile mountain, is comprehended in it.
In the province of Hofafch, extended over the mountains of Melhan, ftands Scftkin, a town of confiderable fize.
Manacha is alfo a confiderable town, and famous for its fairs. It is the feat of the Dola of Hurras. In the heart of his government lies the diftrict of Safan, in which Schiech Mecrami has an aimoft impregnable caftle, which he took, fome years fince, by furprife.
North-weft from Sana is a mountainous and extenfive tract, of country, which is confidered as belonging to the Imam. But many Schiechs are in it, who acknowledge not this Prince for their Sovereign. He poffeifes, however, a number of towns in it, and governs thefe by Dolas, whofe authority is commonly confined within the walls of the places of their refidence. Such are the following :
Tulla, a ftrong town, with a citadel, in which a Dola refides, whofe jurisdiction extends over another fmall town with a citadel. The reft of the environs belongs to Schiechs,   In this
Vol. II. N diftrift
diftrict; Is Schhcchhava, a large mountain, on which are more than three hundred villages, under the dominion of various Schiechs ; fa-, mous, too, as having been the feat of Khajfcm, the founder of the reigning family.
Khamir, a fortified town, fituate in the middle of the territories of the confederates of Ha* fchid-u-Bekil.—It coil the Imam no fmall trouble to retain poffeffion of this town.
Medem, the capital of Hamdan, in which the Schiech has a palace. This principality is two days journey in length, and one in breadth. It is reckoned among the dominions of Sana, be-caufe the reigning chief has been made to ac* knowledge himfelf the Imam's vaffal.
Amran, a town with a citadel in a fertile country, which once belonged to the allies of Hafchid-u-Bekil. Saad cl Khammel, one of the moil ancient and famous kings of Yemen, is in-, terred in this diftrift.
CHAP. X.
Of the Princes and Schiechs within the Dominions of the Imam.
One of the moll fingular and curious facts in the hiftory of Arabia, is, its having always been, even from the mofl remote antiquity, parcelled
out
iN ARABIA, f&Ci
99
out among fuch a number of petty princes and independent lords. The hiftory of Arabia exhibits, through its whole courfe, nearly the fame political arrangements which appear to have prevailed in Europe, for fome centuries, in the middle age; with this difference only, that the Schiechs have feldom been in a ftate of vaffal-age, and never knew the feudal government.
The nature and local circumftances of Arabia are favourable to the fpirit of independence, which diftinguifhes its inhabitants from other nations. Their defarts and mountains have always fecured them from the encroachments of conqueft. Thofe inhabiting the plains have indeed been fubdued; but their fervitude has been only temporary ; and the only foreign powers to whofe arms they have yielded, have been thofe bordering on the two giilphs between which this country lies.
Independent Schiechs are therefore to be found among the Bedouins, or wandering Arabs, Who efcape oppreffion in confequence of the barrennefs of their lands, and of the facility with which they retire into the defarts, whither no armies can follow them; and among the Kobails, or Arabian Highlanders, who inhabit wild and lofty chains of mountains, yet of fufli-cient fertility to afford fubfiftence to a frugal
race
race, blocked up by their enemies in this retreat.
Of the latter are the Schiechs eflablifhed within the Imam's dominions. The hills which they occupy are high and precipitous, yet cultivated up to their loftiell peaks, and abounding in productions of various forts. Thefe hills are very difficult of accefs ; and the palfes through the vallies are ufually barred, either by fortifications, or by caftles upon infulated rocks. A circumltance, to fliew with what eafe the Schiechs defend themfelves, is, that the Imams, altho' they had little difficulty in expelling the Turks from the low country, have never been able, with all their efforts, to reduce thofe Highlanders, except only a fmall number who have been brought to recognize their territorial fuperiori-
I could not learn the names, either of all thofe Schiechs, or of their dominions. From the few, however, that came to my knowledge, one may conceive how numerous they are; fince the domains of fo many are intermixed through territories of no greater extent than thofe of the Imam of Sana.
There is not one independent Schiech in the Tehama. But, not far from the royal refidence, in the province of Sana, is a tribe of Bedouins, denominated Beni Dabbeiuu
In
11$ AP.ABIA, &Ci
In the government of Bcllad Ancs are two Schiechs of eminence, the Schiech of Bcllad Ancs, and of the mountain of Scherki.
The lofty and extenfive mountain of Sumara belongs in part to Schiech IVadcy, and partly to the Schiech of Beni Haffan: Thefe are both vaflals to the Imam. But the town of Hofach, in the vicinity of this mountain, is ruled by an independent Schiech.
The famous hill of Sabbar, which I mentioned in my account of Tues, is laid to be parcelled out among more than a hundred free and hereditary Schiechs, perfectly independent of the Imam, although furrounded on all hands by his territories. This fertile mountain con-fifts of a chain of hills of various heights.
In the government of Hodsjerie are the Schiechs of Manfora and Afas. The diftrict of Beni Jufif, and the hill of Habbefchi, contain alfo a good number of hereditary independent lords.
I have already fpoken of the prince of Bcni Aklan, who refides at Dorebat, and of the independent Schiechs who potfefs Mount Kamarcu lying within this principality, in giving an account of my excurfion through the highlands of Yemen, in company with Mr Forikal, I at the fame time mentioned the prince of Uddcn, and his dominions.   la nobility of family, and dig-
nity
nieeuhr's travels
nity of rank, thefe two princes are inferior to none in Arabia.
The prince of Ofab is of the Imam's family, and a vaffal to that prince \ his principality being a territory that has been detached from th.-dominions of Sana*
In no diftrict: are there a greater number of confiderable Schiechs than in Kufma, the mofl weflern range of the coffee mountains. This diftrict, confifting entirely of precipitous hills, planted with coffee-trees to the very fummits, is naturally populous, in confequence of affording fo profitable a produce as coffee, in fuch abundance. Hence it is, that thofe gentry are here fo rich and numerous. I was told of more than thirty, who draw large revenues from the markets within their dominions, at which an afton-iftiing quantity of colfee is fold. Thefe Schiechs are all independent, and refide in fortified cafr ties upon the mountains.
The government of Dsjcbi being, with refpect to external appearance, foil, and productions, precifely of the fame character as Kufma, is, like it, full of Schiechs of eminence. I learned the names of a dozen of them. They live in the fame ftyle as the others.
On Mount llarras, a large hill, fertile in vines, are likewife fome caftles, belonging to independent.
dependent lords. This, among other diftricts, was feized by Schiech Mecramu
In the territories which have been conquered by the Imams from the allies of Ilafchid-u-bekil, are ftill many free domains. Among ten or a dozen of the molt eminent Schiechs, are the Schiechs Beni Jfchiab, Sbenifan, and Marani. Near Tulla, is alfo Sejid Machfen of lladsje, a principality anciently held under the reigning family.
The mountain Schahhara, with its three hundred villages, is fhared out among a great many Schiechs, moft of whom were related to the royal family before its elevation to throne of Sana.
The prince of Hamdan is diftinguifhed for his power, and the antiquity of his family ; he being defcended from the tribe of Hamdan, which was known long before the days of Mahomet. Yet, with thefe advantages, he has been reduced to a ftate of vaffalage, probably becaufe his country was too plain and too narrow for defence againft an enemy. In this principality h Muakcb, a city of a fingular conftrucfion; its houfes are all cut oufc in the natural rock.
From this detail, it appears, that the ftate of Yemen is not unlike to that of Germany. The Arabs want only a head ; they have princes, a body of nobility, and an ariftocratic league.
But
But their conllitution is not of recent origin; nor did it take its rife in the forefts. It is as ancient as fociety itfelf, and will probably laft while the country endures in which nature has eftablifhed it.
SECTION XX.
OF THE PROVINCE OF HADRAMAUT.
CHAP. L
Of the General Character, and of the Commerce of this Province,
Hadramaut is bounded, on the weft by Yemen, on the fouth-eaft by the ocean, on the north-eaft by Oman, and on the north by a great defart. It comprehends a wide extent of country, efpecially if, with the Arabians, wc include in it the diftrict. of Mahhra, Mahhra feems to be like Tehama, a fandy plain, extending in breadth, from the fhores of the ocean backward to where the hill country commences.
Thefe
Thefe plains have probably been once covered by the fea.
Such being the ftate of the coaft, atid of the Highlands, Hadramaut, like Yemen, exhibits great diverfities of foil and furface. Some parts of it are dry and defart; but the hills are ex-tremely fertile, and are interfered by well-watered vales.
The inhabitants of this province, too, are divided, like thofe of Yemen, into Arabs fettled in towns, wandering Bedouins, and Kobails or Highlanders. A native of Hadramaut, with whom i had opportunities of converfing, de-fcribed his country as the feat of fcience and religion. The other Arabs are lefs favourable in their accounts, and not without reafon, if one may judge from the coarfenefs of the dialect, fpoken in this province. It differs fo confider-ably from that of Yemen, that I needed an interpreter to aflift me in converfing with the perfon who entertained me with the above pompous elogium of his country. The religion of his countrymen muft be a tiffue of fantaftic pieces of fuperftition ; for the Sunnites are the prevalent fed among them.
Arabia the Happy, comprehending, as I have above remarked, the two provinces of Yemen and Hadramaut, enjoyed, in the remoteft times, a very extenfive commerce.   Its exports con-
Vol. II. O fifted
io6
NIEBUHr's TRAVELS
rifted not only in its own productions, but in thofe of India likewife, which were brought into its harbours, upon the fhores of the ocean, by velfels from India. As the navigation of the Arabic Gulph was always reckoned 'dangerous, thofe articles of merchandife were conveyed by land into Egypt and Syria. The caravans were a fource of wealth to the whole nation ; the inhabitants of the towns gained by purchafes and fales, and the Bedouins by hiring out their camels. There is, therefore, the greateft truth in the accounts of the ancients, which defcribe fo pompoufly the opulence of the Happy Arabia, although its prefent ftate be far from flourifh-
ing*
Since the Europeans have difcovered a different rout to India, the trade of South Arabia has neceffarily declined. To Yemen the lofs is made up bv the exportation of fuch immenfe quantities of coffee ; a traffic begun two centuries ago, and ftill encreafing: But Hadramaut, producing little coffee, has no fuch refource, and is therefore not likely to recover fuddenly from the disadvantages which it has Sulfered by the lofs of its Indian trade.
Yet this province ftill carries on Some trade in its native productions ; Sor theSe, fhips from Majkat vifit its harbours upon the ocean. The little coffee which it affords, incenfe, gum Arabic,
bic, dragon's-blood, myrrh, and aloes, are the articles of this trade. The incenfe of Arabia is not of the very heft quality j but the aloes of Soccatra, an ifle belonging to the princes of Hadramaut, has been always in the very higheft eftimation.
The inhabitants of Hadramaut have likewife fome trivial manufactures. Yemen is furnilhed from this province with coarfe cloths, carpets, and the knives called Jambea, which are hung from the girdle. But the inhabitants of Hadramaut being averfe to a maritime life, the trade from their fea ports is all carried on in foreign bottoms (m.)
CHAP. II.
Of the Principal Taicns in Hadramaut.
There are in Hadramaut a good many confiderable towns, which were known to the ancients, perhaps better than they are at prefent. Notwithftanding the pains which I took, I could learn the names only of a few of thofe places. What i know of the reft, I had from fome perfons not very well acquainted with the prefent ftate of Hadramaut. i mall repeat what was told me concerning fome of thofe cities.
Schibam, a large city, and the feat of a powerful prince, is eight days journey diflant from Sana, and ten from Mareb. An Arabian from Mareb informed me, that he had not found a fingle village in Dsjof, on his way from his native city ; but that, as he travelled through Hadramaut, he had been in feveral confiderable towns. Schibam feems to be the Saba of the ancients, from which the Sabeans were denominated. This people occupied the fouthern parts of Arabia, before Mareb became the capital of their empire.
Doan, in which a Schiech refides, is five and twenty days journey eaflward from Sana, and eleven from Kcfchim. An inhabitant of Doan, whom I met with in Yemen, told me, that it was a larger and more elegant city than Sana.
Dafir is a well known fea-port town, from which incenfe, called in Arabia Oliban or Liban, is exported. This incenfe is not nearly fo good as that, of India. The Arabians are blamed for felling both their incenfe and their gum without purifying them. This neglect; occafions a deterioration in the quality, and a reduction in the price.   A Schiech likewife refides in Dafir.
Kefchim is a fea-port town, and the feat of a fovereign prince. Its inhabitants are faid to be highly civilized, and to receive all ftrangcrs hof-
pitably. The Engliftrfometimes vifit this harbour.
Merbat and Hafek are two cities, known only for the traffic which their inhabitants carry on in incenfe produced in that neighbourhood. The quantity of this incenfe is not fo confiderable as that which comes from Dafar; but it is better in quality than that from Scbabbr. The great confumption of incenfe in the Indian temples, and even in private houfes, through fome countries in the Eaft, is what chiefly occa-fions the demand for this article. It is not ufed in the rnofques.
Ainad is a confiderable town, thirteen days journey from Kcfcbitn, and feven from Schachhr. An inhabitant of this town whom I faw in Maf-kat, told me, what divers other Arabians confirmed, that the tomb of the ancient prophet Kacbtan or Jaktan, mentioned in the Koran, ftands within a day's journey of Ainad. Even before the days of Mahomet, pilgrims ufed to vifit this tomb. The inhabitants of Hadramaut ftill affemble at a certain time to perform their devotions there. A famous fair is held at it. It is remarked, that all pilgrimages to one place, for fo many centuries, owe their continued ex-iftencc to commerce.
This fame Arab from Ainad named to me more than a fcore of cities, in the interior parts
of
of the province, which he had vifited. As I know-nothing of them but their names, I fhall not fet down the bare lift.
There are alfo feveral fea-ports, concerning which I could obtain no particular information. What was particularly ftriking in the lifts of names mentioned to me, was the remarkable re-femblance of the names of many of the prefent cities in Hadramaut, to thofe of the cities of A-rabia fpoken of by the moft ancient hiftorians. Many of thefe eftablifhments, in this province, muft have exifted in the fame ftate from the moft remote antiquity.
Thefe obfervations lead me to think, that a journey through this province might prove at ieaft no lefs interefting than our journey through Yemen. The difficulties attending fuch an ex* pedition, could not be greater than thofe which we had to ftruggle with, I was acquainted with a Turk, who related to me with what eafe and fafety he had vifited the feveral fea-port towns in South Arabia.. The inhabitants of that coaft, remembering the wealth which ftrangers ufed to bring thither in former times, and long ac-cuftomed to receive them well, would undoubtedly give Europeans a favourable reception at prefent..
CHAP.
IN ARABIA, CifY. Ill
CHAP. III.
Of the Sovereign Princes in Hadramaut.
The Bedouins, and inhabitants of the hills, have here, as well as through the refl of Arabia, a number of independent Schiechs; but, not knowing particulars, I can fay nothing of them.
The coafts, and the adjacent country, are flia-red among fovereigns of higher dignity, whom travellers have called Kings, although they take only the title of Schiech or Sultan. The Schiech of Schibam I have already mentioned as one of the mofl: powerful.
Doan belongs to a Schiech, whom I believe to be a defcendent of Mahomet, and of the family of the Imams; for he who reigned in 1763 was called Sejid If a el Amudi. In a neighbouring-city, are the tombs of all the princes of the il-luflrious houfe of Amudi.
The Schiech of Dafar is alfo a Sovereign Prince ; but I know not either his name, or the extent of his power.
He of Kcfchim, called by fome travellers, King of Fartak, is the moll powerful. His dominions comprehend a confiderable number of cities, a-mong which is that of Fartak ; and hence the
fancied
fancied kingdom of Fartak, represented in various maps. One of the Princes of Kefchim may have, fome time or other, refided in that city, and may thus have given rife to the idea of a Sovereign of Fartak. Befide his poffeftions on the continent, the Schiech of Kefchim is like-wife Lord of the illand of Soccatra, or Soccatora, famous for its aloes. The presumptive heir to the reigning Schiech is always governor of this ifland, which feems to have belonged to theSe Arabian Princes from time immemorial. Arrian relates that, in the period concerning which he writes, it was Subject, to the Sovereigns oS the incenSe country. The firft PortugueSe who viSited Arabia found the Prince of KeSchim Still in the undifturbed poffeffion of this part of the ancient dominions of his family.
The principality of Ainad muft be extenfive, if the account may be credited, which I received from a native of the city of the fame name. But I have rcafon to fufpect, that the Sovereign of Ainad is one of thofe Sultans of Jafa who have conquered fome territories in Hadramaut.
There are probably ftill other fovereign Slates in this widely extended province.   But I had not opportunities of acquiring farther knowledge of a country, which, for many reafons, deServes to' be better known.
SEC-
SECTION XXI.
of THE PROVINCE OF OMAN.
CHAP. r.
Of Oman in general.
The province of Oman is bounded on the eafl by the Ocean; on the north, by the Perfian Gulph; on the weft, and the fouth, by extensive defarts. I vifited no part of it, but the environs of Mafkat j and, therefore, do not fpeak concerning it from perfonal observation.
It is poffeffed by a number of petty Sovereigns, the moft confiderable of whom is the Imam of Oman or Mafkat. The Princes of Dsjau, Gabriel, Gafar, Rank, Gabbi, Dabhara, Makaniat, and Seer, have the title of Scbicch,
The whole weftern fide of Oman is one fan-dy plain, a day's journey in length, and extending from the village of Sib to the town of So-bar. The Imam's territories are mountainous to the very brink of the fhore. The rivers continue to flowr throughout the year, all, except
Vol. II. P that
that near which Sohar (lands, which, traverfing an arid plain, lofes itfelf among the fands, and reaches the fea only in the rainy feafon.
The country affords plenty of cheefe, barley, Ientiles, with feveral different forts of grapes. Of dates fuch abundance is here produced, as to yield an annual exportation of feveral mips lading ; and there is variety of other fruits, and of pulfe. Here are alfo lead and copper mines. Fifhes arc fo plentiful upon the coaft, and fo ea-fdy caught, as to be ufed not only for feeding cows, afles, and other domcflic animals, but even as manure to the fields.
The inhabitants are of different fects in religion, and mutually regard one another as heretics. The fubjects of the Imam follow one Muf-fulman doctor ; thofe of the Schiechs another.
chap. II.
Oj the Ter movies of the Imam of Oman, or Majkat.
The territory poffefied by the Imam of Oman is pretty extenfive, and contains a good many towns, moft of which are but little known. I fhall mention only fome few particulars, which I learned concerning the more remarkable among them.
Rojlak, a city at fome diflance from the fea, is the feat of the Sovereign.   In its neghbourhood
is
is Dsjcbbcl Akdar, the higheft and largeft mountain in Oman, and diftinguiihed for its fertility in fruits, efpecially grapes. Sohar is an ancient and celebrated city, but greatly decayed.
South from Roftak, (lands Kalbat, an ancient city, which was once in a flourifhing condition.
The Imam of Oman poffeffes alfo Kiloa and Sinsjibar, upon the eaftern coall of Africa, which were, not long fince, conquered by one of his anceftors.
The mofl important and beft known city in the dominions of this Imam is Mafkat; in confequence of which, he is, by many travellers, called King of Mafkat. It Hands at one end of a beautiful plain, befide a fmall gulph, encompaf-fed with deep rocks, forming an excellent harbour, in which the largefl veffels may find fliel-ter. This harbour is likewife protected by forts; and the city thus fortified both by art and nature.
Arrian calls it Mofca, and fpeaks of it as being, even then, a great emporium of the trade of Arabia, Perfia, and India. Mafkat has ever enjoyed this advantage, and even at prefent, pof-felfcs a confiderable trade. The Portuguese made themfelves maflers of it in 1508. Two churches, one of which is now a magazine, and the other the houfe of the Wall or Governor, ftill remain
to
to fhow that they were once eftablifhcd here. An hundred and fifty years after their conquefl of Mafkat, the Portuguefe were driven hence by the Arabs, through the treacherous aid of a Ba~ nian, who had been robbed of his daughter by the Portuguefe Governor.
In no other Mahometan city are the Banians fo numerous as in Mafkat; their number in this city amounts to no fewer than twelve hundred. They are permitted to live agreeably to their own laws, to bring their wives hither, to fet up idols in their chambers, and to burn their dead. If a Banian intrigues here with a Muffuh man woman, government does not treat him with the fame feverity as he would meet with elfe* where.
With refpe& to the Imam's revenue, I could learn nothing, but that the duties levied upon merchant-goods amount to about an hundred thoufand rupees. At Mafkat, Europeans pay five per cent, upon imports; Mahometans fix and a half; and Jews and Banians feven per cent. The Imam's natural fubjects pay fix per cent, in kind, upon dates exported ; which are the principal article that the country affords (n).
chap.
IN ARABJA, Cjff.
CHAP. Ill,
Of the Revolutions of Oman.
There are in Oman three very ancient and il. luftrious families; thofe of Gafari, Hamani, and Arrabi. The latter pretends to be defcended from the Koreifch of Mecca, who were famous before the days of Mahomet. However this may be, the family of Arrabi have long reigned at Mafkat, but are not at prefent in poffeffion of the fupreme power. The events which degrade ed them from the throne are connected with the hiftory of Nadir Schah, the laft Monarch of Perfia. In order to convey diftinct ideas of them, it will be neceflary to go back to fome things that happened in the laft century.
Imam Malek, of the houfe of Arrabi, was mafter of all Oman, and added to his dominions, by conquefl, Kunk, Kifchmc, Hormusy and Baharein. His fon ftill extended thefe con* quells, making himfelf mafter of Kiloa and Sinsjibar, in Africa. But, in the reign of his grandfon Ben Scif the new Monarch of Perfia, Schah Nadir, fent an army to conquer Oman. The Perfians loft many of their number among the hills, and were repulfed. Ben Seif accordingly
ingly continued to occupy the throne till his death.
Upon his deceafe, Mohammed Gafari, prince of Gabrin, made himfelf mafter of the greater part of Oman, and affumed the title of Imam. His fon El Nafer proved unable to maintain the conquefts of his father. Serf cl AJdl, fon to the laft Imam of the family of Arrabi, made himfelf be proclaimed Imam, and forced Nafer to com tent himfelf with his patrimony, the principality of Gabrin.
Imam Seif el Afdi was an indolent voluptuous prince. Not content with a numerous Harem, he would occafionally attempt the chaflity of his fubjects daughters, He addicted himfelf to the ufe of wine and ftrong liquors. He neglected his affairs; and, not paying his foldiers, who were Coffer flaves, Suffered them to harrafs and pillage his fubjects. This conduct rendered him fo odious, that Sultan Murfchcd, one of his relations, eafily procured himfelf to be proclaimed Imam, and took poneftion of aimoft all Oman.
Mafkat ftill remained in allegiance to Imam Seif; and he maintained himfelf in it, by means of four fhips of war, and of the profits of its trade. But, becoming yet more odious to the few fubjects who ftill obeyed him, by perfever-ance in his imprudent conduct, he foon found it impoflible to ftand out longer. In this extremity,
he
IN ARABIA, fcrV. 1*9
lie refolved rather to yield up his dominions to the Perfians, than to his relation Imam Mur-fched.
Sailing to Perfia, with fome vefTels which ftill remained to him, he obtained from Nadir Schah a fleet, under the command of Mirza Tcekl Khan, Governor of Schiraz. The Perfian Admiral, upon arriving at Oman, made Imam Seif drunk, and feized Mafkat, with its citadels. Seif not knowing well what to do, purfued his rival Murfched with the Perfian forces, till Mur-fched, reduced to defpair by the lofs of his friends, died by a voluntary death. Imam Seif died himfelf foon after, at Roftak, opprelfed with the mortification of finding himfelf duped by the Perfians.
Txki Khan, on his return to Schiraz, revolted againft Nadir Schah, and fought to eftablifh himfelf in the fovereignty of Farjijlan. It is well known, how that the Perfian Monarch quafhed this rebellion, and punifhed its author. But thefe diflurbances withdrew the attention of the Perfians from the affairs of Arabia, and made them negle& to keep up the garrifon in Mar-fkat.
CHAP.
120 niebuhr's travel:.
CHAP. IV.
Of the Kefomhg Imam.
At the period of Tceki Khan's expedition into1 Oman, there was at Sohar a governor of the name of Acbmed ben Sajid, a native of a fmall town within the Imam's dominions. This Ach-med, being a man of ability and enterprise, and feeing that, after the death of the two Imams, he mould be under a neceflity of fubmitting to fuch potent enemies as the Perfians, made his peace with the invaders, and managed matters fo well, that Tceki Khan confirmed him in his government.
During the civil wars in Perfia, a prince of Rank, of the houfe of Arrabi, the Prince of Seer, and a Nobleman named Bel Arrab, had fhared among themfelves the fpoils of the laft Imam. Bel Arrab had even affumed the title.
Achmed, feizing the Perfian officers in Mafkat by furprife, forced the garrifon to furrender, and made himfelf mafter of the city, without any elfufion of blood. Gaining to his intereft the firft Cadi, who officiates as Mufti in Oman, he obtained from him a decifion, that he, as the deliverer of his country, deferved to be
raifed
raifed to the dignity of its Sovereign. In virtue of this decifion, Achmed was proclaimed at Mafkat, Imam of Oman.
As fopn as Imam Bel Arrab heard this news, he prepared to attack his rival with an army of four or five thoufand men. Achmed, too weak for refiflance, retired into a fortrefs among the hills, in which he was invefted by his enemy, and would have been obliged to Surrender himfelf, had he not happily efcaped in the difguife of a camel-driver. Being beloved in his former government, he found means to affemble fome hundreds of men, and with thefe marched a-gainft Bel Arrab, whofe army was ftill encamped among the hills. He divided his little troop into detachments, who feized the panes of the vallies, and founded their trumpets. Bel Arrab, fuppofmg himfelf to be circumvented by a ftrong army, was ftruck with a panic, fled, and was flain in his flight by a fon of Achmed.
After the defeat and death of Bel Arrab, no perfon gave Imafn Achmed ben Sajid any further difturbance in the poffefHon of the throne of Oman, except a fon of Imam Murfched, who has made fome unfuccefsful efforts to deprive him of the Sovereign authority. Notwithstanding thefe attempts, the reigning Imam has yielded up to his rival die town of Nahhel, with the territory belonging to it,   A brother and
Vol. IL two
two fons of the laft Imam, of the ancient family, are ftill living, in a private ftation indeed, but in circumftanccs fo opulent, that they maintain three or four hundred flaves. The reigning Imam has married the daughter of one of thole princes ; thus connecting his own family with the moft illuftrious perfons in his dominions. It may be prefumed, therefore, that the reigning family, although but newly royal, may continue to keep pofteflion of the throne.
In 1765, Imam Achmed had reigned fixteen years, to the full fatisfaction of his fubjects. He faw juftice promptly and uprightly adminiftered, without partiality to rank or religion. Theft was fcarce ever heard of. At Mafkat goods remained fafely in the ftreets by night; and few were at the pains to bolt their doors. The reigning Imam's troops confift chiefly of Cadre flaves, who are well paid, armed with match-firelocks, and ftrictly difciplined. Imam Seif s flaves and foldiers were very thievifh j ftrangers had moft to fear from them who were guardians of the public fecurity.
To eke out his fcanty revenue, the Prince does not difdain to deal himfelf in trade. He keeps four fhips of war, and. a number of fmall veftels, which, in time of peace, he employs in the conveyance of goods, chiefly to and from •   ■ S the
the eaftern coaft of Africa, where he pofTeffes ftill Kiloa and Sinjibar. Some other ihips are kept to guard the coaft ; but this they do fo negligently, or fearfully, that pirates venture into the very road of Mafkat.
The inhabitants of Oman, although not fond of fea-fights, are neverthelefs the beft mariners in all Arabia. They have feveral good harbours, and employ many fmall veffels in the navigation between Jidda and Bafra. To this laft town there come annually fifty fuch veffels, called Trenkis; the ftructure of which 1 defcribed in the account of our paifage from Jidda to Lo-heya, They are fewed together without nails, the planks being bound with cords.
Two numerous tribes of Arabs are chiefly employed in carrying coffee by fea. One of thefe tribes once dwelled on the fhores of the Perfian Gulph; but, being haraffed by turbulent neighbours, at length fought refuge in the dominions of the Imam of Omam.
CHAP. V.
Of the Principality of Seer,
This petty fovereiguty extends from Cape Muf-fendom along the Perfian Gulph.   The Perfians call it the country of Dsjulfar, another cape
near
near MufTendom. The Europeans alfo have thus learned to call thefe people the Arabs of Dsjulfar,
The other Arabs call it Seer, from the town of the fame name, which has a good harbour, and is the feat of the Schiech. He formerly pofleffed, and indeed ftill retains, the ifle of Scharcdsjc, with fome confiderable places upon the oppofite fide of the Gulph, among which are Kunk and Lundsje.
This country not long fince acknowledged the Sovereign authority of the Imam; but it has withdrawn itfelf from this condition of dependence ; and the Schiech often goes to war with his old mailers. Yet he is not ftrong enough to defend himfelf without amftance; and therefore takes care to live in a good underftanding with the other independent Schiechs, efpecially with the Schiech of Dsjau, whofe dominions lie weftward from Oman.
The Prince of Seer makes fome figure among the maritime powers in thefe parts. His navy is one of the moft confiderable in the Perfian Gulph. His fubjects are much employed in navigation, and carry on a pretty extenfive trade.
SECT.
IN' ARABIA, (St.
SECTION XXII.
OF THE PROVINCES OF LACIISA AND NEDSJED.
CHAP I.
Of Lachfa, in particular.
This country is bounded towards the eaft by the Perfian Gulph, towards the fouth by Oman, weftward by the province of Nedsjed, and northward by the territories of the wandering Arabs in the neighbourhood of Bafra.
It is alfo denominated Hadsjar, and fome-times Bahhrein. The latter of thefe names, in ftritt propriety, belongs only to the ifland of Altai, and the fmall ifles depending upon it.
Lachfa affords no great variety of productions. Its affes and camels are efteemed to be of an excellent breed ; and, of the latter, fome thoufands are annually fold into Syria. In the interior parts of this province, the inhabitants Jive much upon dates: Upon the coafts, pearl-
fiming
liming is followed with advantage; and there is a confiderable trade in foreign commodities.
With refpect. to religion, the inhabitants of Lachfa are divided. Thofe living in the towns are Shiites; but the peafants are, like the Bedouins, Sunnites. Here are alfo Jews, and a great many Sabaans, or Chriftians of St John.
This country was once a province of the Ottoman empire. The Arabs have long fince, however, fhaken off the Ottoman yoke. Many Turks, defcended from the ancient Pachas, ftill remain in the province, and enjoy confiderable eftates, but have no fhare in the government.
The province of Lachfa belongs in Sovereign-ty at prefent to the Schiech of the Arabian tribe of Bcni Khalcd. The reigning Schiech, in 1765, was Arar. The tribe of Beni Khaled is one of the moft powerful in Arabia. They are fo far fpread through the defart, as often to har-rafs the caravans pafling between Bagdad and Kaleb. The greater part of Lachfa is inhabited by Bedouins, and other petty tribes; but thefe all acknowledge the dominion of the Schiech of Beni Khaled.
i could learn nothing concerning the cities in the interior parts of this province. Lachfa, the feat of the reigning Schiech, is probably a large city, containing confiderable buildings.
Katif,
IN ARABIA, Iffc.
127
Katif, a town of fome magnitude, (lands upon the coaft, at the diftance of about five German miles from the ifle of Bahhrein. The inhabitants earn their fubfiftence by the pearl-fifh-ery. When any are too poor to fifh at their own rifk and expence, they hire their labour to ftranger-adventurers, who refort hither in the hotter months of the year, the feafon for the fifhing. The air of this country is, however, believed to be very infalutary in fummer. The ruins of an old Portuguefe fortrefs are ftill to be feen near this place.
Koucit or Gran, as it is called by the Perfians and Europeans, is a fea-port town, three days journey from Zobcjer, or old Bafra. The inhabitants live by the fifhery of pearls and of fifties. They are faid to employ in this fpecies of naval induflry more than eight hundred boats. In the favourable feafon of the year, this town is left aimoft defolate, every body going out either to the fifhing, or upon fome trading adventure. Gram is governed by a particular Schiech, of the tribe of 0 the ma, who is a vaffal to the Schiech of Lachfa, but fometimes afpires at independence. In fuch cafes, when the Schiech of Lachfa advances with his army, the citizens of Gram retreat, with their effects, into the little ifland of Feludsje. Near Gram are the remains of another Portuguefe fortrefs.
Be-
Between the territories of the Schiech of Lachfa, and the dominions of the Sovereign of O* man, area numerous tribe, denominated^/ Mm* fillim, and poffefling feveral confiderable towns, the names of which are unknown to me.
CHAP. II.
Of the Province rf Nedsjed.
Tins province is of vaft extent. It comprehends all the interior parts of Arabia, lying between the provinces which I have above briefly defcribed, and the defart of Syria. The foil is various ; among the hills fertile, and bearing a-bundance of fruits, efpecially dates ; but, being bounded by arid tracts of country, its rivers are only (hort flreams, which, after pafling through the vallies, have their waters abforbed in the Tandy plains, before they can reach the ocean. Upon this account, the inhabitants are, in many places, obliged to dig deep wells; and cultivation is there difficult, or aimoft impoflible.
The Bedouins inhabit a great part of this province. The remainder is mountainous, full of cities and villages, and parcelled out among fo many petty Sovereigns, that aimoft every little town has its own Schiech. Formerly, when the
power
power of the Sherriffes was at its height, many of thefe Schiechs, who were fituate in the vicinity of Hedsjas, were obliged to pay tribute to the Sherriffe of Mecca.   At prefent, they pay nothing.
The inhabitants of this vaft country refemble the other Arabs in their moral qualities ; they are at once robbers and hofpitable.   As thofe petty Sovereigns are fo numerous in Nedsjed, it is impoffible for any traveller to pafs fafely thro* this country ; the firft Schiech whofe territory he enters^ will be fure to rob him, if it were only to prevent a neighbour with whom he is at war from profiting by this act of rapacity, if he himfelf fhould abftain from it.   The caravan indeed travels Safe between Oman and Mecca, becaufe it confifts of beggars from whom nothing is to be gained.   But the Schiechs of Nedsjed levy a contribution upon the caravan from Bagdad, on its way to Mecca, in the fame manner as the Schiechs of Hedsjas levy contributions upon thofe from Syria and Egypt.   I have, however, learned that the inhabitants of Nedsjed carry or a confiderable trade among themfelves, and with their immediate neighbours; and it is therefore not improbable that an European might travel in fafcty, even through this remote part of Arabia.
The people appear to be of a very warlike character, and are aimoft conftantly in arms. Vol. II. k It
130
niebuhr/s travel*
It is laid that none of their young men is Suffered to marry till after he has performed fome gallant action.
Nedsjed is divided into two wide diftricts j El Arad, which joins Oman; and El Kherdsje, ft retching to the confine of Yemen. Several of the towns in El Ared were named to me ; among o-thers, El Aijane, the birth-place of the new prophet Abd ul Wahheb, of whom I fhall fhortly fpeak.
In the diftrict of El Kerdsje, extending northward from Hedsjas to the defart, is the city of Imam, famous, even before the days of Mahomet, for being the native city of Mofei-lama, who fet himfelf up for a prophet. This diftrict contains alfo many other cities.
North from Nedsjed, and about ten days journey from Bagdad, is the famous mountain of Scbatncr, of confiderable extent and fertility. Between this mountain and Syria is a hilly tract of country, denominated Dsjof al Sirhan, populous nnd cultivated.
CHAP. HL
Of the new Religion of a Part of Nedsjed*
In this province are Saboeans, or Chriftians of St John, and a few Jews.   Its other inhabitants
are all Mahometans, and were once rigid Sun-nites. Some time fince, a new religion fprang up in the diftrict of El Ared. It has already produced a revolution in the government of A-rabia, and will probably hereafter influence the ftate of this country ftill farther.
The founder of this religion was one Abd ul Wahheb, a native of Aijame, a town in the dif-tria of El Ared. This man, in his youth, firft ftudied at home thofe Sciences which are chiefly cultivated in Arabia ; he afterwards fpenl fome time at Bafra, and made feveral journies to Bagdad, and through Perfia.
After his return to his native place, he began to propagate his opinions among his countrymen, and fuccceded in converting feveral independent Schiechs, whofe fubjects consequently became followers of this new prophet.
Thefe Schiechs, who had hitherto been aimoft constantly at war among themfelves, were now-reconciled by the mediation of Abd ul Wahheb, and agreed to undertake nothing in future without confulting their apoftle. By this alfociation, the balance of power in Nedsjed was deftroyed j Thofe petty Schiechs, who could maintain their independence againft any of the members of the league Separately, were unable to refill the whole acting together. Wars alfo became, from the fame caufes, more keen and frequent, religion
now
now intermingling itfelf with other grounds of difpute.
Abd ul Wahheb having thus reduced great part of El Ared, the Schiechs who were worded, called in to their amftance Arar, Schiech of Lachfa. That Prince, from motives as well of policy as of religion, complied with their re-queft, and fent an army into El Ared. This army being defeated by Abd ul Wahheb, Schiech Arar marched thither himfelf, at the head of four thoufand men, with a train of artillery, con-filling of three old pieces of cannon and a mortar. He laid fiege to a fortrefs Handing on a hill; but, as he could make no ufe of his artillery, he was compelled, after fulfering fome lof-fes, to return to Lachfa.
I have already given fome account of the ad* ventures of Schiech Mecrami of Nedsjeran; and I at the fame time mentioned that he was in fome fort the head of a particular feet. An A-rabian of Lachfa told me, that there was a great fimilarity between the principles of Abd ul Wahheb, and thofe of Shiech Mecrami. It feems to be fo. At leall thofe two innovators in religion mud have been good friends ; otherwife Schiech Mecrami could not have paffed through Nedsjed with a fmall army, to attack the potent chief of Lachfa, as he did in 1764. It fliould feem, that he had joined Abd ul Wahheb, or rather
his
his fori Mahomet, who had by this time Succeeded his father, in order to reduce the Sunnite Schiechs. I was even told, that thefe two acting in concert, had fubdued many of their neighbours. The reft wrote to all the Arabs in the neighbourhood of Bafra, during the time of my ftay in that city, begging their afiiftance.
After the death of Abd ul Wahheb, his fon retained the fame authority, and continued to profecute his views. He fuftains the Supreme , ecclefiaftical character in EI Ared. The hereditary Schiechs of the fmall ftates in that country, which were once independent, do indeed ftill retain a nominal authority ; but Mahom-med is, in fact, Sovereign oS the whole. He exacts a tribute, under the name of Sikla, or aid, for the purpoSe of carrying on the war againft the Infidels,
The Sunnites complain of his perfecution. But, more probably, this bigotted and fuperfti-tious feet hate and calumniate Mahomet for his innovations in religion. However the matter be, certain it is, that fuch of the inhabitants of Nedsjed as are unwilling to embrace the new religion are retiring to other parts of the country. Zobayer, the ancient Bafra, which had decayed to little better than a hamlet, has been peopled by thefe refugees, and is now a large town.
As
As I had no opportunity of becoming acquainted with any of the difciples of this new religion, I can fay nothing pofitive with refpect to its tenets. I had a converfation upon this head indeed with an Arabian Schiech, who had been accuftomed from his youth to travel with merchants through all Arabia, and had vifited the principal cities in Nedsjed. This Bedouin Schiech, who appeared to be an intelligent man, gave me the following account of the religion in queftion.
Abd ul Wahheb taught, that God is the only proper object of worfhip and invocation, as the creator and governor of the world. He forbade the invocation of faints, and the very mentioning of Mahomet, or any other prophet, in prayer, as practices favouring of idolatry. He confidered Mahomet, Jefus Chrift, Moles, and many others, refpected by the Sunnites in the character of prophets, as merely great men, whofe hiftory might be read with improvement; denying, that any book had ever been written by divine infpiration, or brought down from heaven by the angel Gabriel. He forbade, as a crime againft Providence, the making of vows, in the manner of the Sunnites, to obtain deliverance from danger.
This account of the Schiechs does not entirely accord with what was told me by fome
Sunnites,
Sunnites, of the doctrines of Abd ul Wahheb. But, upon this head, it would be unfair to give credit to the difciples of a fuperftitious feet, whofe falfe opinions are all combated by the new religion.
The Mufulman religion, as profeifed by the Sunnites, is furely far different from what it was inftituted by Mahomet. This fecT follow the authority of fome commentators, who explain the Alcoran by their own whimfies, and exalt their private opinions into doctrines of the Mahometan fyltem. It acknowledges a long train of faints, who are invoked in cafes of ne-.ceffity, and to whom many abfurd miracles are afcribed, and thefe faid to have been wrought in favour of perfons who addreffed themfelves to the faints, in preference to God. It gives faith to the virtues of amulets, and the efficacy of foolifh vows. In fhort, it has gradually a-dopted many pieces of fuperftition, which are condemned in the Alcoran, and juftined only by the ftrained interpretations of the Doctors. Other fects, fuch, for inflance, as that of the Zeidites, have corrupted the religion of Mahomet lefs; although even among them it is far from remaining in its original purity.
The new religion of Abd ul Wahheb deferves therefore to be regarded as a reformation of Mahometifm, reducing it back to its original
Simplicity.
i36
NIEBUHr's TRAVEtS
Simplicity. He has gone farther, perhaps, than fome other reformers; but an Arab can hardly be expected to ad in fuch matters with a delicate hand. Experience will here fhew, whether a religion, fo ftripped of every thing that might ferve to ftrike the fenfes, can maintain its ground among fo rude and ignorant a people a<5 the Arabs,
The importure of Schiech Mecrami is nowife inconfiftent with the fpirit of reformation. The Schiech, taking advantage of the rudenefs of his countrymen, has impreffed them with a fanatical idea of the efficacy of his prayers, giving out, that he obtains in this way whatever he afks from God. This confidence in the power of prayer is not inconfiftent with fimplicity of doctrine. We have among ourfelves inflances, that it is apt to feize upon the mind, in an ag<$ illuminated by Science, and profeffing the pureft of religions.
chap,
SECTION XXIII.
«f the independent arabian states upon the sea-coast of persia.
CHAP. I.
Of the Arabs inhabiting around the Pet fan Gulph.
Our geographers are wrong, as I have elfewhere remarked, in representing a part of Arabia as Subject to the Monarchs of Perfia. So far is it from being fo, that, on the contrary, the Arabs poflefs all the fea-coaft of the Perfian empire, from the mouths of the Euphrates, nearly to thofe of the Indus.
Thefe fettlements upon the coaft of Perfia belong not, indeed, to Arabia properly fo called. But, fmce they are independent of Perfia, and ufe the fame language, and exhibit the fame manners, as the native, inhabitants of Arabia, I fhall here fubjoin a brief account of them.
It is impoffible to afcertain the period at which the Arabians formed their fettlements up-
Vol. II. S oa
138 NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS
on this coaft. Tradition affirms, that they have been eftabliftied here for many centuries. From a variety of hints in ancient hiftory, it may be prefumed, that thefe Arabian colonies occupied their prefent fituation in the time of the firft kings of Perfia. There is a ftriking analogy between the manners afcribed to the ancient Ich-thyophagi, and thofe of thefe Arabs.
They live all nearly in the fame manner, leading a feafaring-life, and employing themfelves in hilling, and in gathering pearls. They ufe little other food but fifti and dates; and they feed alfo their cattle upon fifti.
They prize liberty as highly as do their brethren in the defart. Aimoft every different town has its own Schiech, who receives hardly any revenue from his fubjects j but, if he has no private fortune, muft, like his fubje&s, fup-port himfelf by his induftry, either in carrying goods, or in fifhing. If the principal inhabitants happen to be diflatisfied with the reigning Schiech, they depofe him, and choofe another out of the fame family.
Their arms are a match-firelock, a fabre, and a buckler. All their fifhing-boats ferve occasionally as Ships of war. But a fleet like this, that muft frequently flop to take fifh for food, when they mould purfue the enemy, can never perform any very great exploits.   Their wars
are
IN ARABIA, Isfc. 139
are mere fkirmifhes and inroads, never ending in any decifive action, but producing lading quarrels, and a ftate of continual hoftility.
Their dwellings are fo paultry, that an enemy would not take the pains to demolifh them. And as, from this circumftance, thefe people have nothing to lofe upon the continent, they always betake themfelves to their boats at the approach of an enemy, and lie concealed in fome ifle in the Gulph till he have retreated. They are convinced that the Perfians will never think of fettling on a barren (hore, where they would be infefted by all the Arabs who frequent the adjacent feas.
Thefe Arabs are Sunnites. They regard the Perfians, who are Shiites, with abhorrence, and fhun all alliance with them. The mutual hatred of the two fects, was even one caufe of the failure of Nadir-Shah's attempt to fubdue thefe A-tabs. In the profecution of this object, the u-furper had, at immenfe expence, equipped a fleet of twenty-five large fliips upon the Perfian Gulph. But, as he had no Perfian failors, he was obliged to take Indians, who were Sunnites. Thefe refufing to fight againft their brethren of the fame orthodox faith, malfacred their Shiite officers, and carried off the fhips. Towards the end of his life, Nadir-Shah was meditating to feize thefe Arabs, to tranfport them to the
fhores
fliores of the Cafpian Sea, and to fettle a colony of Perfians in their room. His tragical death prevented the execution of this project; and the disturbances in Perfia have ever fince prevented all incroachments from that quarter upon the liberty of thefe Arabs (o).
Their government and prefent political fitua-tion feem to me to bear a great relemblance to thofe of ancient Greece. Hoflile engagements are continually a-fighting, and important revolutions happening upon the Perfian Gulph ; but the Arabs have no historian to fpread their fame beyond their own narrow confines.
CHAP. II.
Of Places fubjccl to the Dominion of Perfia.
The kings of Perfia, although not mailers of thefe coafls, yet retained fome places upon them. In later times, the Perfian governors of thefe places have iliaken off their allegiance, and have, in fome meafure, erected them into independent Sovereignties. The chief of thefe are Gatnbroriy and Hormus.
Gambron, a fea-port town in the province of Lariflan, belonged anciently to the Perfian Monarch.   After the death of Nadir-Schah, a Perfian
han, named Nafer Khan, made himfelf mafter of the province, and, by confequence, of the city. He acknowledges himfelf vaffal to Vakeel Kerim Khan of Schiraz, yet pays no tribute, and refpects not the Vakeel's authority, unlefs when he comes with his army to compel him.
The city of Gambron, which has been alfo called Bender Abbas, was famous through all the laft century, and in the beginning of the prefent, as the port of Schiraz, and of all the fouth of Perfia. Its trade was, at that time, very extenfive. At prefent it is very low; nor is there a fingle European counting-houfe in the city. This decline has been occafioned by the domeftic difturbances in Perfia, and the wars and difputes between the French and the Englifh. The Dutch for a while continued to carry on a petty trade here. But, fince they formed a fettlement in the ifle of Karek, they have entirely deferted Gambron.
The ifle of Ormus, fo celebrated of old, now retains nothing of its ancient fplendour. It belongs at prefent to Mulla Ali Shah, a Perfian, who made himfelf mafter of it immediately after the death of Nadir-Shah, whofe admiral he had been. This Prince of Ormus poffeffes like-wife a part of the ifle of Kijhme, the other part being fubject to the Prince of Seer,
South
South from Lariftan is Minau, a confiderable inland town, fix leagues diftant from the fea-thore. The inhabitants of the diftrict in which it lies are Shiites, and are chiefly employed in a-griculture; from thefe circumftances, they are fometimes induced to acknowledge the authority of the Chan of Lariftan.
A tribe of Arabs, denominated Bclludgc, inhabit between Minau and Cape Jafke. They are mafters of a good many veffels, and carry on a confiderable trade with Bafra, upon the Arabic Gulph, and even venture as far as to the coafts of India. Thefe Arabs are Sunnites ; and unity of religious fentiments has occafioned their joining the party of the Afghans in the late revolutions of Perfia.
Some geographers reprefent thefe Belludge as inhabiting all along the Perfian coaft, to the mouths of the Indus, and haveMefcribed them as a warlike people, addicted to piracy. I know not whether they are to be confidered as independent, or as tributary to Perfia. More probably, they acknowledge no fovereign authority but that of their own Schiechs. Some narratives of travels, performed in the laft century, relate the extraordinary adventures of a Prince of jatke, who withftood the power of Shah Abbas, till he was, at length, taken off by treachery. His widow continued to refift the Perfian King,
and
and performed deeds worthy of the heroines in the ages of chivalry. But, it is to a Schiech of the Belludge that the ftory is properly to be referred.
The country from Bender Abbas, northward to Delam, refembles the Tehama in Arabia; it is an arid plain, and is called by the ferfians Kermcfir, or the hot country. In this diftrict I know no place but Khamir, a caftle fituate on a precipitous rock, which, with a fmall tract adjoining, is the property of a particular Schiech. Ships come hither for cargoes of fulphur, of which there is abundance in the neighbourhood.
CHAP. ill.
Of the Territories of the Tribe of Houle.
This numerous tribe are matters of all the coaft from Bender Abbas to Cape Berdiftan, and poffefs all the ports in this extent of coaft. One part of the tract is parched and barren ; but a range of hills, like Dahr Ajban, extend nearly to the fea, and afford wood, which is cut down and exported by the inhabitants.
Notwithftanding thefe natural advantages, the Arabs of Houle do not cultivate their lands, but live by hunting and fifhing. They arc Sunnites;
and
144
n»ebuhr*s travels
and are efteemed among their neighbours for valour. If their forces could be brought to act in combination, they might eafily conquer all the cities upon the Perfian Gulph : But aimoft every city is fubject to a particular Schiech ; and, although thefe Schiechs are all defcen-dents from the fame family, they choofe rather to remain petty and poor, than to raife themfelves to a more opulent and refpectable condition, by Submitting to act. in concert, under the direction of one Grand Schiech.
The following are the Schiechs or Princes of the tribe of Houle :
The Schiech of Seer, whom I mentioned in the defcription of Oman; but who, being originally from this country, and of the tribe of Houle, poffeffes, in the neighbourhood of Gambron, the cities of Kunk, Lundsje, and Ras He-ft. His fubjects export wood for fuel and charcoal.
The Schiechs of Mogho and Tsjarack. The inhabitants of the latter of thefe diftricts alfo export wood ; and are faid to be the braveft of all the tribe of Houle.
Laftly, the Schiechs of Nachelo, Nabend, Aaloe, Tcebbrie, Scbilu, and Konkoun. The inhabitants of Nachelo are efteemed to be very ikilful divers. In the city of Konkoun, the inhabitants of which are of a more pacific character
rer than the other branches of the tribe of Houle, both Jews and Banians refide.
Perfians, who have no fhips, but live by husbandry, occupy the tract between the principality of Abu Scbasbbr and Cape Bcrdijlan.
CHAP. IV.
Of the Principalities of Abu Schahbr and Bender Righ.
Abu Sch^hhr, the capital of the independent (late of the fame name, poffeffes a commodious harbour, in which fhips can come up clofe to the houfes. This circumftance induced Nadir Shah to ftation a fleet here, of which fome remains are to be ftill feen. Since that time, this city has been better known, and more confiderable, It is at prefent the fea-port town of Schiraz; and the Englifh, the only European nation who continue to trade with Perfia, have a factory here.
The Arabs inhabiting the diftrict of Abu Schaehhr are not of the tribe of Ploule. There are among them three eminent families; the two firft of which have been, from time immemorial, fettled in this country. The third, named Matar.fcb, came lately from Oman, where they were employed in fifhing, entered into alliance with the other two, and found means to ufurp
Vol. II. T the
the fovereign authority, which they have now held for feveral years.
The prefent Schiech, Nafer, of the family of Mat arifch, poffeifes likewife the ifle of Bahhrein, upon the coaft of Arabia, by which he is enabled to keep on foot fome fhipping. He alfo has confiderable domains in Kermefir, which he holds from Kerim Khan, with whom Nafer's children are placed as hoflages for their father's fidelity. It is a happy circumftance for Schiraz, that the Prince of Abu Schamhr can thus be retained in the interefls of Perfia by means of his poifeflions in Kermefir.
Schiech Nafer was a Sunnite ; but, in hopes of being appointed Admiral of the Perfian fleet, he became a Shiite, and married a Perfian lady. Thefe two fteps have proved very injurious to him and his family. He is odious to his fubjects and neighbours ; and his children are 110 longer counted among the Arabian nobility.
Bender Rigk, the feat of the prince of thii name, is a city encompaffed with walls in an indifferent ftate, and lies north from Abu Schiehhr. The petty ftate, of which this is the capital city, comprehends feveral other places in Kermefir, which render its Sovereign in fome mcaiiire dependent upon Kerim Khan. The Arabs of this principality are chiefly addicted to
a
IN ARABIA, SsV.
347
a feafaring-life ; the Perfians inhabiting its back parts are hufbandmen.
The reigning family of Bender Rigk are of the Arabian tribe of Beni Saab, and are originally from Oman ; but the grandfather of the prefent prince, having become a Shiite, and married a Perfian lady, this family are no longer counted by the Arabs among their genuine nobility.
The reigning Prince of Bender Rigk, Mir Mahenna, is diftinguifhed through this country for his vices and cruelties, as one of the mofl execrable tyrants that ever exifled. He made fervants murder his father in his own prefence, becaufe the old man had a predilection for his eldeft fon. He killed his mother, becaufe fhe reproached him for his crimes. He caufed his brother, and fixteen of his other relations, to be affaffmated, that he might eftablifh himfelf in unqueflioned poffeflion of the throne. He drowned two of his fillers, becaufe a neighbouring prince had afked one of them in marriage. He expofes all the female children that happen to be born to him. In 1765, this deferable monfler was under the age of thirty years.
Mir Makenna had fallen twice into the hands of Kerim Khan.   From his firft captivity he made his efcape, upon a defeat which the Governor
vernor of Perfia fuffered. He obtained his liberty the fecond time, by the good offices of his filler, who was married to a Perfian officer. Upon returning into his own dominions, he immediately began to pillage the caravans which travelled between Schiraz and Abu Schamhr, and to pra&ife piracy. Kerim Khan prepared to chaflife him, and befieged his capital, but without fuccefs.
In the year 1765, the fame Kerim Khan fent to demand payment of the tribute due for his poffeffions in Kermefir ; but Mir Mahenna maltreated the officer who was fent on the errand, and caufed his beard to be fliaven. Kerim Khan then fent a flrong army againfl him, which conquered Bender Rigk, and all his territories. Mir Mahenna had, however, prudently retired, before it was too late, with his troops, and a part of his fubjects, into a defart ifle called Khousri, where he waited till the Perfian army fliould retire from his country. After they were gone, he returned out of the ifland, expelled the gar-rifon from Bender Rigk, and recovered poffef-fion of his dominions.
The tyrant had abandoned himfelf to drun-kennefs j and had begun to exercife his cruelties upon his troops to fuch excefs, as to cut off the nofe and ears of fome of the principal officers ; yet his foldiers were ftill fo fteadily attached
tached to him, that, even in the period of his exile, he took the ifle of Karek from the Dutch." A band of robbers never abandon their chief, while he continues to fhare the plunder among them.
CHAP. V.
Of the Tribe of Kiab, and their Schiech Solimati.
The Arabian tribe of Kiab, or, as the Perfians pronounce it, Tsjab, inhabit the fartheft point upon the fide of the Perfian Gulph. They were in fmall confederation before the reign of their prefent Schiech Soli man, whofe fame hath even reached Europe, in confequence of a quarrel he had with the Englifh, in which he took fome of their fhips.
This Schiech took advantage of the troubles of Perfia, and of the defects in the government of Bafra. He began with fubduing his petty independent neighbours; after which he made himfelf mafter of feveral large diftricts in Perfia, and promifed tribute to the Khans who were contending for the throne of that diffracted empire. None of them ever attempted to exact tribute but Kcfim, and he contented himfelf With a fmall fnm.   Soliman then extended his
conqucfts
conquefts towards Bafra. He cultivated the friendfhip of the Ajals, the chief people of that country ; and at laft made himfelf mailer of all the ifles between the mouths of the Euphrates, commonly called the country of Schat el Arrab.
Having puftied his conquefls to the navigable rivers, he endeavoured to form a naval force. He built his firft veffel in 1758; and, in 1765, he had ten large, and feven fmall (hips.
In the fame year, 1765, Kerim Khan fent a force againft him, too powerful for him to refift. He then tranfported his treafures and troops from ifle to ifle, till he had carried them to the weft of Scbai el Arrab. The Perfians could not purfue him for want of ftiips, and were therefore obliged to retire. The Pacha of Bagdad then ordered his forces to attack Soliman ; but he retreated among the ifles, and efcaped the Turks now, as he had before avoided the Perfians.
The territory of the tribe of Kiab extends from the defart of Arabia to the country of Hindean, and northward to the principality of Havifa. It is watered by feveral rivers, large and fmall. It abounds in dates, rice, grain, and pafture. Its principal cities are Dantck, lying within Perfia, Hafar, and Ghoban, the feat
9f
IN ARABIA, EffV. ?5I
of a Schiech, near one of the mouths of the Euphrates.
CHAP. VI.
Offome other independent States.
Hindian, north from Bender Rigk, and bordering on the poffeftions of the tribe of Kiab, is a fmall diftrict, fubject. to a particular Sovereign, The Arabs who inhabit it live upon the produce of their lands, and their cattle.
Havifa, a city and diftrict in the back parts of the country bordering on the Perfian Gulph, belongs to a defcendent from Mahomet. This Prince is named Mania, and enjoys the privilege of coining money.
Upon the eaftern coaft of the Perfian Gulph are many ifles, and moft of them inhabited. Except Ormus, none of them conftitutes an independent ftate. The different princes on the continent poffefs the ifles adjoining to their respective dominions.
On the weftern fide of the Gulph is ay ifle, or rather a clufter of ifles, known to the Europeans by the name of Jlahhrein. The Arabs call the largeft of thefe ifles Aval; and each of the fmaller has its particular name. As this ifle is famous for the pearl-fifiicry, and has under-
goii t
gone many revolutions, and often changed its mafter, I muft fay a few words of it.
Bahhrein is a fortified city, upon the ifle, known either by the fame name, or by the name of A-vaL In this ifle were once three hundred and fixty towns and villages. At prefent it contains, befidc the capital, only fixty "wretched villages. A long feries of wars have ruined the others.
This ifle produces great abundance of dates. But its chief dependence is upon the pearl-iifti-ery, as the beit pearls are found here in great, abundance. The duties upon the two articles of dates and pearls afford its Sovereign a lack of rupees, or 300,000 French livres. Out of this revenue he is obliged to maintain a garrifon in the city.
Bahhrein belonged once to the Portuguefe. When they were driven out of the Perfian Gulph, it fell into the hands of the Schiech of Lachfa, but was taken from him by the Perfians. The Imam of Oman then made himfelf mafter of it, but gave it up again to the Perfian Monarch for a fum of money. After fome time, during the inroad of the Afghans, the Perfian Governor gave it up to the Schiech of ■' Tabend, of the tribe of Houle. Another Houlite, the Schiech of Tahhri, expelled him of Nabend. Nadir Shah's admiral then feized it; but, after
hi*
his departure, the Schiech of Taehhrie recovered it. During the late troubles in Perfia, the Schiech of Afloe made himfelf mafter of this ifle, but was immediately difpoffeffed by the Princes of Abu Schtehhr and Bender R-igk, who conquered it together. The firft of thefe princes drove out the fecond, and was in his turn expelled by the Beni Houle. in 1765, it had returned again into the porfeffion of the Schiech of Abu Scheehhr, and he was then folc Monarch of the ifle of Bahhrein.
From this narrative, the reader may form an idea of the continual revolutions which take place among this multitude of petty princes. At Bafra I learned fome particulars concerning their complicated quarrels, which I could noi well comprehend : I was told, that every Arab Prince was always at open war with two or three others of his own nation.
The navigation is continually difturbed and interrupted by thefe ftrong quarrels. On board any Arabian veflel, paffengers are always in danger of falling into the hands of one enemy or another. It is only on board a European ftiip, which the Arabian fmall craft dare not attack that one can perform this voyage in fafetv.
Vol. II.
U
CHAR
CHAP. VII.
Of //^ 7/7,- ofKanh.
This ifle, which lies on the eafl; coaft of the Perfian Gulph, between Abu Schachhr and Bender Rigk, contains only a fmgle village; but the aqueducts cut in the rocks, which ftill remain, fhew it to have been once more populous in proportion to its extent, which is about five leagues in circumference.
Karek has become famous, in confequence of the fettlement lately formed upon it by the Dutch, and fince given up by them. As this event has made fome noife in the world, I fhall give a brief account of it.
The Dutch carried on a great trade to Bafra, and had for the principal director of their factory there a Baron Kniphaufen, who was much refpected in that city. This German having embroiled himfelf with the Governor, in confequence of fome affair of gallantry, was eaft in prifon, and might have loft his head, had he not paid a large fum of money for his liberty. Before he failed for Batavia, he obtained from the factory at Bafra a written atteftation of the innocence of his conduct; and the Dutch Eaft-India Company approved of all he had done.
In
*
In confequence of his difference with the Governor of Bafra, Mr Kniphaufen had agreed with Mir Nafer, Prince of Bender Rigk, to whom Karek belonged, that the Dutch fhould, for a certain annual rent, be allowed to feat their factory there. The government at Bata-via relilhed the project, which was, in fact, a very wife one, and fent the Baron, with two great mips, to carry it into execution.
Upon arriving at Karek, he feized fome mips from Bafra, and detained them, till he received reflitution of the fum which he had paid for his liberty. He built a large fquare magazine upon the ifland, and raifed, by degrees, four towers at •its corners, each of which he furnifhed with fix cannons. Mir Nafer, diffatisfied at the erection of thefe fortifications, attacked the Dutch, who attacked him in his turn, but could not follow him into his faltneffes. This petty war proved, however, very expenfive to the company.
Baron Kniphaufen, after governing Karek with fovereign authority for five years, was fuo ceeded by Mr Vanderhulft, who having been piLvioufly employed at Bafra, and knowing the Arabs, thought it his duty to profecute, with Mir Mahenna, the new Prince of Bender Rigk, the war which had been waged againft his father. Mir Mahenna, by a ftratagem, feized two armed velfels belonging to the Dutch, and
unfuc
unfuccefsfully attempted a defcent upon the ifland. Mr Vanderhulft then enlarged his fortifications, and formed the plan of a town, which was foon peopled with Perfians and A* rabs.
This fettlement might be lucrative to the officers employed about it; but the expences of the war and the garrifons confumed the Company's profits, and they determined to abandon it; but the profpecf of an advantageous trade With Perfia induced them to hold it fome time longer. The new Governor, Mr Bufchmann^ therefore concluded a peace with Mir Mahenna; after which the trade met with no interruption.
His fucceffor, Mr Van Homing, although in other refpeds a man of merit, did not conduct: himfelf fo prudently, being a flranger to the genius and temper of the Arabs, and having no experienced officers under him. He was not careful to obferve a neutrality in the quarrels between the Prince of Abu Schamhr and Mir Mahenna; but, in concert with the former, attacked the latter in his retreat in the ifland of Khoncri. Mir Mahenna allowed his enemies to approach j and, when he faw them in fecuri-ty, fell upon them with his cavalry, and entirely difcomfited the troops of the Dutch, and of Abu Schashhr.
Em-
Emboldened by this fuccefs, Mir Mahenna made a defcent upon the ifle of Karek, and ber fieged the town. Mr Van Houting fufTercd himfelf to be outwitted by a Perfian, by whom he was perfuaded to permit Mir Mahenna to enter the fort with a fmall retinue, in order to agree upon terms for an accommodation. The Arab then made the Dutch garrifon prifoners, and fent them to Batavia. This event happened in the end of December 1765.
It is not probable that the Dutch Kafl-India Company will put themfelves to the trouble of expelling the conqueror, and renewing their e* ftablifliment on the ifle of Karek.
SECT
15S niebuiir's travel*
SECTION XXII.
of the bedouins, or wandering arabs.
CHAP I.
Peculiarities in the Manners of the Bedouins.
The Arabs fettled in cities, and efpecially thofe in the fea-port towns, have loft fomewhat of their diftinctive national manners, by their in-tcrcourfe with ftrangers ; but the Bedouins, who live in tents, and in feparate tribes, have ftill retained the cuftoms and manners of their earlieft anceftors. They are the genuine Arabs, and exhibit, in the aggregate, all thofe charac-teriftics which are diftributed refpettively among the other branches of their nation.
I have repeatedly noticed the different acceptations in which the word Schecb or Schiech is ufed. Among the Bedouins it belongs to every noble, whether of the higheft or the loweft order. Their nobles are very numerous, and com-pofe in a manner the whole nation, j the plebeians
IN ARABIA, fcff. 159
tacians are invariably actuated and guided by the Schiechs, who fuperintend and direct in every tranfa&ion.
The Schiechs, and their fubjects, are born to the life of fhepherds and fokliers. The greater tribes rear many camels, which they either fell to their neighbours, or employ them in the carriage of goods, or in military expeditions. The petty tribes keep flocks of fheep. Among thofe tribes which apply to agriculture, the Schiechs at leaf! live always in tents, and leave the culture of their grounds to their fubjects, whofe dwellings are wretched huts.
It is the difference in their ways of living that conftitutes.the great diftinctions which charatte-rife the different tribes. The genuine Arabs dif-dain hufbandry, as an employment by which they would be degraded. They maintain no domeftic animals but fheep and camels, except perhaps horfes. Thofe tribes which are of a pure Arab race live on the fiefh of their buffaloes, cows, and horfes, and on the produce of fome little ploughing. The former tribes, diitin-, guifhed as noble by their poffeflion of camels, are denominated Abu el Abaar ; and the fecond Moecdan, The latter are efteemed a middle clafs, between genuine Arabs and peafants. I have heard fome tribes mentioned contemptuouflv, becaufe they kept buffaloes and cows. The
Moeedan
neibuhr's travel?
Moadan tranfport their dwellings from dn<* county to -another, according as pallurage fails them ; fo that a village often arifes fuddenly in a fituation where, on the day before, not a hut was to be feen.
The genuine Bedouins, living always in the open air, have a very acute fmell. They dillike cities, on account of the foetid exhalations produced about them. They cannot conceive how-people, who regard cleanlinefs, can bear to breathe fo impure air. I have been allured, by perfons of undoubted veracity, that fome Bedouins, if carried to the fpot from which a camel has wandered affray, will follow the animal by fmclling its track, and diftinguifh the marks of its footftcps, uy the fame means, from thofe of' any other beafts that may have travelled the fame way. Thofe Arabs, who wander in the defart, will live five days without drinking, and-difcover a pit of water by examining the foil and plants in its environs. They are laid to be addicted to robbery ; and the accufation is not entirely unfounded; but may be laid equally to the charge of all nations that lead an erratic life. The Schiechs ride continually about on their horfes or dromedaries, infpecling the conduct of their fubjects, vifiting their friends, or hunting. Traver-fmg the defart, where the horizon is wide as on the ocean, they perceive travellers at a diflance.
As
•As travellers arc feldom to be met with in thofe wild tracts, they naturally draw nigh to thofe whom they difcover, and are tempted to pillage the ftrangers when they find their own party the ftrongeft. Refides, travellers palling through thefe defarts go generally in caravans; and a finglc perfon, or a fmall party, has a lingular and fufpicious appearance, which is a temptation to the Bedouins.
In Arabia* as in all other thinly inhabited countries, robbery is practifed ; but the Arabian robbers are not cruel, and do not murder thofe whom they rob, unlefs when travellers ftand upon the defenfive, and happen to kill a Bedouin, whofe death the others are eager to revenge. Upon all other occafions they act in a manner confident with their natural hofpitality. Upon this head I have heard fome anecdotes, which it may not be amifs to introduce here.
A Mufti of Bagdad, returning from Mecca, Was robbed in Nedsjed. He entered into a Written agreement with the robbers, who engaged to conduct him fafe and found to Bagdad for a certain fum, payable at his own houfe They delivered him to the next tribe, thofe to a third j and he was thus conveyed from tribe: to tribe, till he arrived fafe at home.
An European, belonging to a caravan which ^as plundered, had been infected with the plague
X upon
162
NI£BUHR,S TRAVELS
upon his journey. The Arabs, feeing hiin too weak to follow his companions, took him with themfelves, lodged him without their camp, attended him till he was cured, and then fent him to Bafra.
An Englifhman, who was travelling exprefs to India, and could not wait for the departure of a caravan, hired two Arabs at Bagdad, who were to accompany him to Bafra. By the way he was attacked by fome Schiechs, againft whom he at firft defended himfelf with his piftols; but, being hard preffed by their lances, was forced to fur-render. The Arabs, upon whom he had fired, beat him till he could not walk. They then carried him to their camp, entertained him for fome time, and at laft conducted him fafe to Bafra. When Mr Forfkal was robbed by the Arabs in Egypt, a peafant, who accompanied him, was beaten by the robbers, becaufe he had piftols, although he had made no attempt to defend himfelf with them.
The pillaging of the caravans is not always owing merely to the propenfity which the Arabians have to robbery. Their pillaging expeditions are commonly confidered by themfelves as lawful hoftilities againft enemies who would defraud the nation of their dues, or againft rival tribes, who have undertaken to protect thofe illegal traders.
In
In one of thofe expeditions, a few years fmce, undertaken againft the Pacha of Damafcus, who was conductor of the Syrian caravan to Mecca, the tribe of Aneefe, which gained the victory, fliowed inftances of their ignorance, and of the fimplicity of their manners. Thofe who hap* pened to take goods of value knew not their worth, but exchanged them for trifles. One of thofe Arabs having obtained for his (hare a bag of pearls, thought them rice, which he had heard to he good food, and gave them to his wife to boil, who, when fhe found that no boiling could foften them, threw them away as ufelefs.
CHAP. II.
Of the political Conjlitutlon of the wandering Arabs.
Treating of the government of the Arabs in general, I faid a few words occafionally concerning that of the Bedouins. To avoid unne-ceffary repetition, I (hall add here only a few particulars concerning chiefly their political inte-refts, in refpect to the neighbouring nations.
The dignity of Schiech is hereditary, but is not confined to the order of primogeniture. The petty Schiechs, who form the hereditary nobility,
rhoofe
choofe the grand Schiech out of the reigning family, without regarding whether he be more nearly or more diftantly related to his prede? ceffor.
Little or no revenue is paid to the grand Schiech ; and the other Schiechs are rather his equals than his fubjects. If diffatisfied with his government, they depofe him, or go away with their cattle, and join another tribe. Thefe emigrations, which happen pretty frequently, have reduced fome tribes, which were once potent, to a low and inconfiderable ftate ; and have greatly augmented the numbers and power of fome petty tribes.
Perfonal flavery is eftablifiied among the Bedouins ; but none of them are afcripti gleba. A peafant, when diflatisfied with his mafter, may quit his fervice, and remove any where elfe.
The Bedouins, who live in tents in the defart, have never been fubdued by any conqueror ; but fuch of them as have been enticed, by the profped of an eafier way of life, to fettle near towns, and in fertile provinces, are now, in fome meafure, dependent on the Sovereigns of thofe provinces.
Such are the Arabs in the different parts of the Ottoman empire. Some of them pay a rent or tribute for the towns or pafturages which they occupy. Others frequent the Banks of the Euphrates, only in one feafon of the year ; and, in
winter,
winter, return to the defart. Thefe laft acknowledge no dependence on the Porte,
Neither are, properly fpeaking, fubject to the Turks; to whom, on the contrary, they would be dangerous neighbours, if the Pachas did not find means to fow diffentions among the tribes and great families, when there are more than one pretender to the dignity of Schiech of Schiechs.
The policy of the Turks occafions frequent wars among the Bedouins ; but thefe are neither long nor bloody.
Whenever the Turks interfere in their quarrels, all the tribes combine to repulfe the common enemy of the whole nation.
Every Grand Schiech juftly confiders himfelf as abfolute lord of his whole territories ; and accordingly exacts the fame duties upon goods carried through his dominions as are levied by other princes. The Europeans are wrong in fup-pofing the fums paid by travellers to the Grand Schiechs to be merely a ranfom to redeem them from pillage.
The Turks, who fend caravans through the defart to Mecca, have fubmitted to the payment of thefe duties. They pay a certain fum annually to the tribes who live near the road to Mecca ; in return for which, the Arabs keep the wells open, permit the paffage of merchandize, and efcort the caravans.
It
*66
mebuiir's travels
If the Bedouins fometimes pillage thofe caravans, the haughty perfidious conduct of the Turkifh officers is always the firft caufe of fuch hoftilities. Thofe infolent Turks look upon ali the Arabs as rebels j that is, in the modern figni-fication of this word, as a people who, although weak, have the audacity to withitand the oppref-fion of their ftronger neighbours. In confequence of this felfifli reafoning, they violate their engagements; and the Arabs take their revenge by pillaging the caravans.
The famous Ali Bey, when he conduced the Egyptian caravan to Mecca, would not pay all the duties on his way to Mecca, but promifed to pay the reft, on his return, and forgot his pro-mife. On the year followir j, the Arabs afTem-bled in greater numbers, and obliged the Captain of the caravan to pay for himfelf and Ali Bey both. The Turks exclaimed againlt this as an act of robbery; yet the Arabs had only done themfelves juftice.
The conduct of Abdalla, Pacha of Damafcus, who commanded the Syrian caravan in 1756, was ftill more odious. When the Schiechs of the tribe of Harb came to meet him, to receive the ftipulated toll, he gave them a friendly invitation to vifit him ; but, inftead of paying the toll, cut off their heads, and fent them to Conftantinople, as a proof of his victory over the rebel Arabs. The ftroke- which thofe uiifered by the death of
their
their chiefs hindered them from attempting any thing in revenge, on either that or the following year: The caravans travelled in triumph to Mecca; and the Turks boafled of the valour and prudence of Abdalla Pacha. But, in the third year, the Arabs avenged the ilaughtered Schiechs, and, with an army of eighty thoufand men, raifed out of all the tribes, routed the Turks, and pillaged the caravan. The tribe of Anafe, under the command of their Schiech, diftinguifhed themfelves particularly in this expedition.
There is a certain fubordination among the tribes. The petty tribes, being unable to defend themfelves, place themfelves under the protection of the greater, and are governed by their laws. Thus are powerful tribes formed by the union of feveral fmall tribes.
The Arabian nation are much more numerous, and wider fpread, than they are generally fuppofed to be. They occupy countries, once cultivated and populous, whofe ancient inhabitants have difappeared. The period at which thefe Arabian fettlements were formed, cannot now be afcertained; nor is it known whether they may not have been anterior to the reign of the Caliphs. The ancients did not diftin-guilh accurately between different nations. The Kings of Palmyra, who have been fuppofed to be Jews, were more probably Arabs.
CHAP
NILBUIIk's TRAVELS
CHAP, III.
Of the Bedouins on the confines of the Defart*
The moft ancient and powerful tribes of this people are thofe which eafily retire into the de-fart when attacked by a foreign enemy. Thefe too have preferved the national character in its greateft purity, and have maintained their liberty unimpaired. Of this number are the following tribes, of whom I mall mention fuch particulars as have come to my knowledge.
The Bcni Khaled are one of the moft power* ful tribes in all Arabia, on account of their con* quefts, their wealth, and the number of other tribes fubject to them. From the defart of Nedsjed, they have advanced to the fea, and have conquered the country of Lachfa, as I mentioned in the proper place. The Schiech of this tribe does not live always in the city of Lachi fa, but fomctimes in tents in the defart.
The tribe of Kiab, who inhabit north from the Perfian Gulph, and of whom I have already fpoken, rarely encamp; they have poflcflions in the province of Sififlan, in Perfia.
In this province of Sufiftan, near the principality of Havifa, and in the neighbourhood of the city of Schuftcr, five different confiderable
able tribes of independent Bedouins. From the exiftence of thefe eftablifhments, I mould judge the authority of the Perfians in this country to be precarious, and Sufiftan to be interfperfed with defarts.
Beni Lam, are a great tribe between Korne and Bagdad, upon the banks of the Tigris, the Arabic name of which river, in conftant ufe a-mong the inhabitants of the country, is Dids-jele. They receive duties upon goods carried between Bafra and Bagdad. Thefe Arabs fome-times pillage caravans. The Pacha of Bagdad then fends troops againft them, and fometimes chaftifes them by beheading their chiefs. But the fucceffors of the Schiechs, who have been beheaded, are always as great enemies to the Turks, and as zealous to maintain their liberty, as their predeceffors have been.
Montefidft, or Montefik, are the moft powerful tribe north from the defart, whether in re-fpect to the extent of their territories, or the great number of the fubaltern tribes who acknowledge their authority. They polfefs all the country upon both fides of the Euphrates, from Kome to Ardje.
In fummer, when the grafs in the defart is in a manner burnt up, the reigning Schiech refides at Na&hr el Antar, a town upon the banks of the Euphrates.   In winter, they drive their
Vol. II. Y cattle
cattle to feed in the defart, and encamp in tents. The inhabitants of the villages, who apply to a-griculturc, and are for this reafon held in contempt by the Bedouins, pay a tribute. They are poor, as mull naturally be the condition of the fubjeefs of thofe Schiechs who live comfortably themfelves, but are not difpofed to fuffer their peafantry to grow rich.
The Arabs of this tribe often plunder travellers going between llcllc and Bafra. The Pa, cha of Bagdad commonly chaflifes them ; fome-times even depofes the reigning Schiech, and advances another prince of the fame family in his room. Thefe Arabs fubmit to this flight degree of dependence on the Turks, becaufe they are unwilling to Iofe their eftablifhments on the fertile banks of the Euphrates. In the late troubles of thefe provinces of the Ottoman empire, frequent notice was taken of this tribe, and they acted no unimportant part.
The tribe derive their name from one Monte* fik, who came from Hedsjas, and was defcended from a family who were illuflrious before the days of Mahomet. One thing certain is, that the dependents of this Montejik have been fovc-reigns in this country from time immemorial. They are divided into many branches; and, in my time, the reigning family confifled of one
hun-
hundred and fifty perfons, all of whom might afpire to the fupreme power.
In 1765, the reigning Schiech, who was not of the eldeft branch, was named Abdullah. The other princes of his family enjoyed, at the fame time, a certain (hare of authority; each having his own fubjects, with whom, in time of war* they all join the troops of the Schiech of Schiechs; in fome diltricls they levy taxes and cuftoms upon their own account*
There were named to me more than a fcore of inferior tribes, who live all in fubjection to that of Montefik, which, of itfelf* is not extremely numerous. Among thefe fubordinate tribes* are fome who have others again ftill lefs confiderable, dependent upon them. The Arabs call /•hole dependent tribes El Arayc.
All thefe tribes upon the confines of the de fart, whofe names Lhave mentioned, are genuine Arabs, who breed iheep and camels, and live in tents. But this description is, with more peculiar propriety, applicable to the reigning tribes; for, I believe, that fome of the inferior tribes have loft their nobility, by intermixing the practice J>f agriculture with the habits of pajtoral life.
CHAP.
niebuhr's travels
CHAP. IV.
Of the Bedouins of Mefopotamia.
The rich plains of Mefopotamia and AiTyria, which were once cultivated by a populous nation, and watered by furprifing efforts of human induftry, are now inhabited, or rather ravaged, by wandering Arabs. As long as thefe fertile provinces fhall remain under the government, or rather anarchy of the Turks, they muft continue defarts, in which nature dies for want of the foftering care of man. A hereditary Sovereign, feated at Bagdad, and none elfe, might reftore this country to its once flourifhing ftate.
The Pachas, not knowing how to improve the value of thefe depopulated diftricts, and not being able to drive away the Arabs, permit them for an annual rent to cultivate thofe lands, or feed their flocks upon them, But that people are paftionately fond of liberty, and fhew by their conduct that they confider not themfelves as fubject to the Turkifh yoke. The frequent wars, in which feveral of the tribes are engaged with the Pacha of Bagdad, although viewed as rebellion by the Ottoman officers, are proofs of the independence of the Arabs.
So
So rich a trace of country, naturally invites its inhabitants to cultivate it. The lands between the Tigris and the Euphrates are interfered by numerous canals, and are inhabited only by tribes praftifing agriculture, or Moa-cian.   Such are the
Beni Hcehkejn, a tribe fituate eafl:ward from the Euphrates, whofe prefent Schiech is named Fontil, and who rules feveral petty tribes of huf-bandmen.
Khafaaly a powerful tribe of hulbandmen, like-wife on the eafl: fide of the Euphrates. They have a great many petty tribes of Arabs, who live in villages, fubject to them. One of thefe petty tribes comprehends live and twenty inferior tribes, and two others forty each. The tribes which practife huflbandry appear therefore to be lefs numerous than the Bedouins, who often unite into very large bodies. The tribe of Khafaal can mutter two thoufand cavalry, and a proportionate number of infantryr The Pacha of Bagdad has lately made war on thefe people, with various fuccefs. Thefe Arabs are Shiites; and this is one motive more to fet, them at variance with the Turks. The reigning Schiech is named Hammoud, and levies cuftoms from veftels coming up the Euphrates.
All
*74
niebuhr's thavals
All the Arabs within the territories of the go vernment of Bagdad are not hulbaiulmen. South from tJiat city are fome Bedouins, who breed ca* mels. Of thefe are the tribes of Beni Tcmim, and Dafafa, as well as fome other tribes between Bagdad and Moful. The tribe of Al Tobad have become very confiderable, through the favour of the Pacha of Bagdad, one of whofe principal officers was a near relation to the reigning Schiech. All that tract of country between Bagdad and Mofui is poffelfed by hordes of Bedouins ; one of which, occupying the range of kills adjacent to the Tigris, lately made an attack upon the troops of the Pacha; and another, denominated Al Buhanidan, pillaged a caravan when I was in Moful.
Tbay arc a great and powerful tribe of Bedouins between Merdin and Moful. The rcigu* ing Schiech, who is of the family of Spite, for a fmall annual tribute, poffeffes the large and fertile plain of Affyria. Were it not for the ufual Turkifh policy of fowing diffention among the neighbours, the Pachas would find it impoilible to maintain any fhadow of authority over this tribe. But, the Pacha of Bar/dad fends the Togk, or horfe's tail, fometimcs to one Schiech, fometimes to another; and thus is a conflant rivalry kept up among them, which weakens their common ftrength.   This horfe's tail is not mere-
\y an enfign of empty honour. It confers the dignity of Beg, with the right to the poffeflion of the plain, which is held to be with the Turks. The depofed Beg quits his place of refidcnce between Moful and Ntfflbin, and retires with his partizans to the banks of the river Khabour, and there waits an opportunity to fupplant his rival.
All travellers complain of the robberies of thefe Bedouins of Affyria. The reftlefihefs and thievilh difpofition of thefe people feem to increafe the farther they recede from their native defarts, and approach the country inhabited by the plundering Kurdcs and Turcomans.
I was told of ten wandering tribes, Arak A-rahi. The moft confiderable encamps in the environs of He'He; its name is Solced; and its branches are fpread even into the governments of Aleppo and Damafcus.
An Arabian Schiech, with whom I was acquainted at Aleppo, gave me the names of eight tribes of Bedouins who live towards the head ot the Euphrates, in diftricls comprehended within the government of the Pacha of Or/a. But, as he could give me no farther information concerning thefe tribes, I pafs them by in ft, lence.
CHAR
176 niebuhr's travels
chap. v.
Of the Bedouins of Syr/a.
Phe Pachas of this province have as much to do with the wandering Arabs, as the Turkifh governors on the Perfian frontier. It is of great confequence to the cities of Aleppo and Damafcus, that their caravans, travelling to Bagdad or Bafra, be fuffered to pafs in fafety through the defart. Without efcorting them with an army, the Pachas could not protect them from infult and pillage, did they not artfully contrive to employ one tribe of Arabs a-, gainfl the reft.
With this view, the Pacha gives the title of Emir to the mofl powerful Schiech in the neighbourhood. This emir is obliged to guide the caravans, to keep the other Arabs in awe, and to levy the dues from thofe who feed their cattle on the Pacha's grounds. As payment for his trouble, and to reimburfe his expences, he receives a certain fum yearly. But the A-rabs having Jittle confidence in Turkifh pro-mifes, the Pacha fettles upon the Emir a number of villages, the revenues of which make up the ftipulated fum. Thefe villages were referable enough before, but have been abfolutely
ruined
ruined by the precarious government of the Arabs.
Upon a calculation of the fcanty revenue which the Porte derive from this part of their dominions, and the trivial rents paid by the A-rabs for the liberty of ravaging whole provinces ; and, on the other hand, a comparative eflimate of the fums expended in maintaining that vagabond race in a fpecious fubjection; it is plant, that they are lofers by the fhadow of authority which they pretend to have over the Arabs; but Ottoman vanity is pleafed with the vain fancy of polfefling immenfe territories, from which the Sultan derives no revenue, and in which his orders are not refpected.
The molt powerful tribe near Aleppo, are the Mauali, whofe reigning Schiech is of the family of El Burifchc. The Pachas put fometimes one, fometimes another of the Schiechs of this family in poneilion of the villages and revenues belonging to the dignity of Emir, He whom they depofe, retires commonly with his party to the banks of the Euphrates, and there awaits an opportunity to foften the new Pacha by prefents, and recover his place. A few years fince, an Emir forefeeing that he was to?be depofed, plundered a caravan, carried away 30,000 head of cattle from the pafture's about Aleppo, and con* veyed his booty to a place of fafety near the Eu-
Vol. II. 7. phrates.
phrates. Some time after, he furprifed and pillaged the city of Hams. It was fuppofed, when I was in Aleppo, that the Pacha would be obliged to recal and reinftate him in the office of Emir.
A nephew of the Emir, or reigning Schiech of the tribe of Mauali, named to me fifteen confiderable tribes who inhabit the neighbourhood of Aleppo. Another Schiech, a great traveller, mentioned five others, fomewhat farther difhmt, and near the road from Aleppo to Bafra. All thefe Bedouins pay each a trifle to the Emir, for liberty to hire out or fell their camels, and to feed their cattle through the country. The neighbouring tribes in the defart of fait, who are fubject to the Pacha, pay fomething to a farmer (of the tax) for liberty to gather the fait formed in that defart.
i was furprifed to fee among thofe tribes the tribes of Tbay and Sobad, which muft of confe-i quence be fpread very widely over the country. The tribe of Rabea boafts of its antiquity, and pretends to have come from Yemen to fettle in the north, at the time when the dyke of the re*-fervoir of the Sabaians at Mareb was broken down.
As my flay at Damafcus was very fhort, i could not acquire enough of information concerning the Bedouins in the government of D9-
ma/cu$
mafcus or Scham. I learned only the names of a dozen of their tribes, one of which named Abu Sa/ibe, confifts, as I was told, folely of Chriftians. Another, Bcni Hamjar, pretend that they are defcended from the old Arabian kings of this name'.
Several circumftances lead me to prefume, that, of the other nations in Syria, Kurdes, Drur fes, Mctimeli, NaJ'uries, and Tfcbingancs, fome arc of Arabian anceftry.
The tribe of Anafe are efteemcd to be the greateft tribe in the defart of Syria. They have even fpread into Nedsjed, where they are reckoned the molt numerous tribe in the heart of Arabia. The caravans of Turkifh pilgrims pay them a confiderable duty for their free paffage through the country. This tribe too, when diffatisfied, plunder the caravans. They often make war on the Pacha of Damafcus. They lately routed and killed the Pacha of Ghaffa in his own government.
In my time, the departure of a caravan from Bagdad was retarded by news received of thofe Arabs being on ill terms with the Pacha of Damafcus. Two Turkifh lords, who were very much beloved in Arabia, refolving to attend the caravan, the merchants ventured to pack up and fend off their goods. But, i not choofing, after fo many dangers, to expofe myfelf anew
and unneceflarily, took the road from Bagdad to Moful, and intruded a trunk to an Arab, a camel-driver in that caravan, directing him to deliver it to a certain man at Aleppo. Within a day's journey of Damafcus, the whole caravan were plundered by the tribe of Anafe. The trunk was opened. The Bedouins took what they chofe, but left me my books, papers, a box of medals, and two watches. The camel-driver collected the broken pieces of my trunk, and brought the whole honeftly to Aleppo. Thus had I, at the fame time, a proof of Arabian rapacity and Arabian integrity.
CHAP. VI.
Of the Bedouins of Arabia Petraa, and Palefine.
I he name of Arabia Petr&a is ufed in a vague manner by our geographers. It feems to be a denomination given to thofe countries which are moflly defart, between Egypt, Syria, and Arabia properly fo called. It would be difficult to determine exactly the limits of thofe countries, which are little known, and but thinly inhabited ; the inhabitants of which wander among dry fands and rocks, feeking here and there a few fpots which afford fome fcanty food for
their
IK ARABIA, &rV.
their cattle. None but Bedouins haunt thefe defarts.
In the account of my journey to Mount Sinai, I fpoke of three tribes whom 1 found fettled by the highway. Thofe are no doubt of that clafs which acknowledge the fuperiority of a greater tribe. On the other fide of that chain of mountains, and in the environs of Akaba, there muft be other tribes, but the names of thefe I know not.
I have already mentioned the great tribe of Harb, who live to the north of Hedsjas. In this province are alfo the ancient tribes of Beni Ot-tecba, Hodcil, Jo?n, and others, which the inhabitants of Mecca call bands of robbers, feemingly for no other reafon, but that their Sherriffe has frequent quarrels with thofe Bedouins.
There are alfo feveral confiderable tribes upon the confines of Nedsjed, and the great defart. The tribe of Beni Temim, among thefe, were famous in the days of the fucceffors of Mahomet, for a pro-phetefs named Sedsjay, who did honour to the tribe. Schiech Dahbcr, Mafter of Acca, and the greater part of Paleftine, is alfo an Arab, but I know not to what tribe he belongs.
I could learn nothing of confequence concern* iug the Arabs of Paleftine. They feem to be poor neglected hordes, who inhabit that barren and difmal country.
NIEBUHR*S TRAVELS
I was told of the tribe of DsjcBrbamie, between Rama and Jerufalem. The European monks-) who are now the only pilgrims that vifit the Holy Land, defcribe thofe Arabs as devils incarnate, and complain dolefully of their cruelty to the poor Chriftians. Thofe lamentations, and the fupcrftitious pity of good fouls in Europe, procure large alms to the convent of Francifcans at Jerufalem. The exaggerated relations of the furferings of the pilgrims, from thofe inhuman Bedouins, will therefore be continued as long as they can ferve the purpofe for which they are intended.
It muft be confeffed, however, that this tribe of Dsjarhamic form, in one inftance, a remarkable exception from the ordinary national character of the Arabs, who, in general, never maltreat a ftranger, unlefs they have firft received provocation. But, thofe Arabs in the neighbourhood of Jerufalem have a rooted averfion to the monks; in other refpects, they are honeft enough people.
They convey every year, from Jafa to Jerufalem, money and goods, fent to the monks from Europe, to a confiderable amount, without ever touching or embezzling the fmalleft article. They know that the fuperior of the convent at Jerusalem pays the travelling expences of the pi!-,
grim*
grims, and that they are poor monks, who have nothing to lofe. Yet they wait to intercept thofe indigent caravans, not to pillage them, but that they may have the pleafure of venting their hatred againft the monks.
It would be a grofs iniftake, therefore, if any European mould fancy that he might travel lately through Judea, in confequence of putting himfelf under the protection of the monks. A youngs Frenchman had a trial of this when I was in that country. Paffing the river Jordan, he was feverely beaten by the Bedouins, folely for bej ing found in company with the monks, which jmade the Arabs view him in a fufpicious light.
SECT,
n'iebuhVs travels
SECTION XXV.
0P THE RELIGION AND CHARACTER OF THE ARABS.
CHAP. I. -
Of the different Seels of Mahometans in Arabia.
It might be expected that the Mahometan religion fhould be preferved in its higheil purity in Arabia, which was its cradle ; and that no contrariety of opinions, or diverfity of lefts, fhould have arifen there. An old tradition records a faying of Mahomet's, from which he appears to have forefeen that it was iinpofliblc for his followers to remain in perpetual harmony of doctrine and worfhip. He is faid to have predicted that his new religion fliould be divided into fe-venty different feels, as the Chriftians of his time were.
This prediction is in part accomplifhed j for there are at prefent feveral Mahometan fects in Arabia.
The doctrines and rites of the Muffulman religion are in general fufficiently known. I
(hall
fhall fatisfy myfelf with mentioning fome remarkable peculiarities which diftinguifh the feels efta-blilhed in Arabia, and which have an influence on the moral character or political ftate of the nation.
The moft confiderable feels among the Arabian Mahometans, are,
1. That of Sunniy to which the Turks alfo belong. This forms the moft numerous feci: in Arabia ; its opinions being , profeffed by the inhabitants of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and by the Sherriffes of thofe cities who are reputed the fucceffors of Mahomet.
2. The feci of Scbya, of which the whole Perfian nation profefs themfelves. In the eaft-ern parts of Arabia are fome difciples of this feci; and it prevails all along the borders of the Perfian Gulph. The Metaueli, or Mut-Ali, in Syria, are likewife Shiites.
3. The feci of Zeidi, which prevails in Yemen, and of which the Imam of Sana is a follower.
4. The feci of Beiq/i, Beiadi, or Abadi, is the principal feci in Oman. It is faid to owe its origin to the enemies of the Caliph Ali, two of whom went into Oman after a defeat, which only nine of them had furvived.
5. The feci of Mejfalicb, of which I have already taken notice in defcribing the Bedouins fettled between the provinces of Hedsjas and
Vol. II. A a Yemen,
l86 NIEBUHR'S TRAVELS
Yemen. I fufpect this rather to be a different religion, than a feci: of the Muffulman.
6. The feet of Mecrami and Abd id Wahheb. I have already given my opinion of this little known fed in the defcriptions of Nedsjeran and Nedsjed.
7. The feci: of Dsjcdsjal, of which the inhabitants of Mecrarty a maritime province of Perfia, are followers.
8. Laftly, the feels of Schabreari and Mer-dinar, of which are the Belludsje, Arabian tribes on the confines of the province of Mecran, as I have above obferved.
All thefe different feels acknowledge Mahomet their prophet, and regard the Koran as their code of civil and ecclefiaflical laws. However, they mutually treat each other as Chaua-redsji or Rafidi, that is to fay, heretics.
The Sunnites allow only the four feels, which they confider as orthodox; thofe of Schafei, Ha-nefi, Malekiy and Hanbali, to have houfes of prayer about the Kaba. The Zeidites, however, to make themfelves amends for the exclufion they fuffer, have reared for themfelves an invi-fible houfe of prayer in the air, immediately over the Kaba, by which means they are, in their own opinion, put into poflfeffion of thefe facred places. Notwithftanding thefe lofty pretenfions, every pilgrim of this feci is obliged to pay a
high
high capitation to the Sherriffe, who has, for thefe feveral years, made the Shiites likewife pay dear for permiflion to vifit Mecca.
The Zeidites feem to be lefs rigid and fuper-ftitious than the Sunnites, who are much addicted to the worfhip of faints, and believe in the mofl ridiculous miracles. The former trouble not themfelves with the controverfy about Mahomet's fucceffors, which has occasioned the fchifm between the Sunnites and the Shiites. Nor are they fo rigid and exact in re-fpect to prayers and other ceremonies; they make no mention of faints; and the Imam of Sana, who is a Zeidite, fuffers ufelefs mofques to fall into ruins, and fometimes even demolifh-es them, to the great offence of his Sunnite fubjects in the Tehama*
All thefe feels venerate the defcendants of Mahomet, except the Bc'iafi, who treat them with no greater refpect than other Arabs, and believe all the families in the nation to have the fame right to the fovereign power.
For this reafon, the Prince of Mafkat, who is of the feet of Beiafi, takes the title of Imam^ although not defcended from Mahomet. This feet abftain, not only from ftrong liquors, like the other Muffulmans, but even from tobacco and coffee; although, out of hofpitality, thefe are offered to ftrangers in Oman.   The Beiqfi
pique
pique themfelves on great aufterity of manners, and fimplicity in their mode of living. Even the moft opulent among them avoid every thing like magnificence in their drefs, houfes, and mofques. The Prince adminifters juftice in perfon, and permits all his fubjects to be feated in his prefence. It was in confequence of this feverity of manners, that the laft Imam, who was a tyrannical and voluptuous prince, became odious to his fubjects. In the description of O-man, I have taken notice of the revolution by which that prince was driven from the throne.
At Maikat, I received an account of the miraculous origin of the feet of Dsjedsjal, in the province of Mccran. Its firft author was a venerable old man, who was found by fome woodcutters fhut up in the middle of a tree, and having a book in his hand. Each feet indeed tells ridiculous ftories of the other fects to bring them into contempt.
I faw or heard of no convents of monks a-mong the Zeidites in Yemen, or among the Beiafi in Oman. The Sunnites, and among them the Turks efpecially, are known to have a great number of religious orders, the members of which are diftinguifhed by the names of Dervifes and Santons, and discriminated from one another by diverfities of drefs and manners. At Mokha were beggars, who fang through the
ftreets,
ftreets, called Dervifes; as well as forne other poor creatures, who, for any trifle, were ready to read the paifages of the Koran infcribed on the tombffones. As the Zeidites and Beiaft are not woriliippers of faints, they cannot have Dervifes and Santons ; who, on the other hand, are very numerous in Egypt, where they per-form many extravagant fooleries.
The Turks and Perfians have been aimoft conftantly at war; and their refpeclive Princes have generally contrived to reprefent to their fubjects difputes which originated from their ambition, as prompted by religious confidera-tions. This is the reafon of the violent hatred with which the Shiites and Sunnites are animated againft one another. In Turkey and Perfia, Chriftians are permitted to build churches, and the Jews, fynagogues j but in Perfia, no Sunnite mofque is allowed; and the Turks tolerate the Shiites in the exercife of no other part of their worfhip, except their pilgrimage to their Prophet's tomb in the vicinity of Bagdad; and for this permiffion they pay very dear to the Ottoman Porte. In Yemen, the Sunnites and Zeidites live happily together ; for the latter, who are the more tolerant of the two, are the predominant feci.
The Muffulmans in general do not perfecute men of other religions, when they have nothing
to
to fear from them, unlefs in the cafe of an ir tercourfe of gallantry with a Mahometan woman. A Chriflian, convicted of blafphemy, would alfo be in danger of lofing his life. In fuch a cafe, it is true, a Mahometan would as little be fpared. While I was at Bagdad, a Ja-niffary urged a citizen for a debt j the latter always anfwered with a devout air, that he fhould remember God and the Prophet, and wait patiently for payment, without putting himfelf in a paffion. The Janiffary was at laft provoked to utter a blafphemous expreffion ; the artful citizen attefled witneffes; and the Janiffary was accordingly convicted, expelled out of his corps, and next day hanged.
All the Muffulman fects are not alike abhor-rers of images. In Oman, the Banians are allowed to fet up their images openly in their a-partments. The Sunnites even appear to have loft fome what of their averfion for thefe material reprefentations of Deity. Thofe in India keep paintings; and I even faw two of thefe in a villa of the Sultan's near Conftantinople. At Kahira I found prints, and a plafter buff in the houfe of a learned Sunnite.
CHAP.
CHAP. II.
Of the other Religions tolerated in Arabia.
Through all Arabia are Jews, who are held in much greater contempt than the Chriftians. I have already mentioned the Jewifh tribes fettled in the neighbourhood of Kheibar, where they are not barely tolerated, but have the fo-vereign authority in their own hands.
The Jews difperfed through different cities have fynagogues, and enjoy a great deal of freedom. They are fond of living together, and commonly form a village near every principal town. In Oman they are ftill better treated, and permitted to wear the drefs of Mahometans.
The Chriftians were once numerous in Arabia. I know of no Chriftian church remaining at prefent in all this country. In the province £>f Lachfa are many Saboeans, or Chriftians of St John. But, the Chriftianity of this feet feems to be a confufed medley of the opinions and ceremonies of feveral different religions.
Banians from India are fettled in great numbers in the commercial cities. At Mokha, they fuffer many mortifications. But, at Maf-among the tolerant feet of the Beiafi, they
ar§
are permitted to obferve the laws, and cultivate the worfhip of their own religion without di-fturbance. In Perfia there are alfo fome of thefe Indians; but the Turks, who are auftere Sunnites, fuffer none of them in their provinces.
I never faw that the Arabs have any hatred for thofe of a different religion. They, however, regard them with much the fame contempt with which Chriftians look upon the Jews in Europe. Among the Arabs this contempt is regulated. It falls heavieft upon the Banians; next after them, upon the Jews; and, leaft of all, upon the Chriftians, who, in return, ex* prefs the leaft averfion for the Muffuhnans. A Mahometan, who marries a Chriftian or lewifh woman, does not oblige her to apoftatize from her religion ; but the fame man would not marry a Banian female, becaufe this Indian feci are fuppofed to be ftrangcrs to the knowledge of God, having no book of divine authority. The Mahometans in India appear to be even more tolerant than thofe of Arabia. They live in a good underftanding with the Banians, and treat them with lefs contempt than their Arabian brethren.
This progrefs towards general toleration pre-ferves the Arabs from the rage of making pro-felytes.   They feek neither to entice nor con-
ftrain
ftrain any perfon, except fometimes their young Haves, whom they compel to embrace Mahom-etifm : But, when a profelyte voluntarily pre-fents himfelf, they are, by the laws of their religion, obliged to receive him, and even to provide for his maintenance. The converts who mofl commonly offer themfelves are deferters from the crews of European fhips, who take this fhift to efcape punifhment.. As they are known to be moftly very bad fubjects, government allows them but a very fcanty penfion, Scarcely fufficient for their maintenance. They are not confined, either from intercourfe with Chriftians, or from taking voyages into diftant countries. We had in our fervice in Arabia a French renegado, who, when he left us, went to India.
It may not be improper to remark, in this place, that the Indians are ftill lefs anxious about making converts than the Arabs. The Bramins, Rajaputs, and Banians, receive nobody into their communion, but, on the contrary, expel all of their members who render themfelves obnoxious by irregularity of life, and by this means afford profelytes to the Chriftians. Thus the European miflionaries, who run fo indecently through the Eaft, and profane the facrament of baptifm, by calling it at the head of every Vol, II. B b one
one, have little reafon to boafl of the conver-fions they effect, efpecially as they ufe fo much importunity to accomplifh them.
CHAP. III.
Of the Character of the, Arabs.
Climate, government, and education, are, undoubtedly, the great agents which form and modify the characters of nations. To the hrfl of thefe the Arabs owe their vivacity, and their difpofition to indolence ; the fecond increafes; their lazinefs, and gives them a fpirit of duplicity ; the third is the caufe of that formal gravity which influences the faculties of their mind, as well as their carriage and exterior afpecr..
No two things can differ more than the education of the Arabs from that of the Europeans. The former ftrive as much to haflen the age of maturity, as the latter to retard it. The Arabs are never children ; but many Europeans continue children all their life.
In Arabia, boys remain in the Ilaram, among the women, till the age of five or fix, and during this time follow the childifh amufemcnts fuitabb to their years; but, affoon as they are removed from that fecne of frivolity, they are ac-
cu Homed,
I*f ARABIA, &C. 195
Cuftomed to think and fpeak with gravity, and to pafs whole days together in their father's company, at lead if he is not in a condition to retain a preceptor, who may form them. As mu-fic and dancing are efteemed indecent among the Arabs, women are alfo excluded from all aifem-blies, and the ufe of ftrong drink is forbidden. The Arabian youth are ftrangers to the pretended pleafures which are fo eagerly purfued by the youth of Europe. The young Arabs, in confequence of being always under the eyes of perfons advanced to maturity, become penlive
and ferious even in infancy.
* .......
Yet, under this air of gravity and recollection, the nation have in reality a great degree of vivacity in their hearts, which varies through the different provinces. The inhabitants of Yemen, living in a mild climate, and an agreeable air, have more animation in their character than thofe of Hedsjas and Arabia Petraea, whofe imagination receives a more gloomy eaft from the continual profpect of barren defarts and bare rocks. I have feen young Arabs in Yemeii dance and leap, with arms in their hands, to the found of fmall drums ; yet, even the inhabitants of the defart, fhew greater vivacity than the Turks. As for the melancholy Egyptians, 1 never faw them difcover any mark of genuine joy, even at their feftivals, however iplendid.
Thifi
niebtjhr's travels
Tliis vivacity in the Arabians makes them fond of company, and of large affemblies, not-withffanding their feeming ferioufnefs. They frequent public coffee-houfes, and markets, which are fo numerous through Yemen, that every village, of any confiderable magnitude, has a weekly market. When the villages lie at too great a diflance, the country people meet in the open fields, fome to buy or fell, and others to converfe, or amufe themfelves as fpeclators of the bufy fcene. Artifans travel through the whole week from town to town, and work at their trade in the different markets. From this fondnefs of theirs for fociety, it may be inferred, that the nation are more civilized than they are commonly fuppofed to be.
Several travellers accufe them of being cheats, thieves, and hypocrites. An arbitrary government, which impoverifhes its fubjects by extortion, can have no favourable influence indeed upon the probity of the nation ; yet, I can fay, from my own experience, that the accufations laid againft them have been exaggerated above the facts. The Arabs themfelves allow that their countrymen are not all honeft men. I have heard them praife the fidelity with which the Europeans fulfil their promifes, and exprefs high indignation againft the knavery of their
own
own nation, as a difgrace to the Mufulmafi name.
CHAP. IV,
Of the Vengeance of the Arabia
A lively, animated people, of quick and violent paffions, are naturally led to carry the defire of vengeance for injuries to its highefl excefs. The vindictive fpirit of" the Arabs, which is common to them with the other inhabitants of hot climates, varies, however, with the varying modifications of the national character.
The Arabs are not quarrelfome ; but, when any difpute happens to arife among them, they make a great deal of noife. I have feen fome of them, however, who, although armed with poignards, and ready to ftab one another, were eafily appeafed. A reconciliation was initantly elfedled, if any indifferent perfon but faid to them, Think of God and his Prophet. When the contefl could not be fettled at once, umpires were chofen, to whofe decifion they fub-raitted.
The inhabitants of the Eafl in general ftrive to mafter their anger.   A boatman from Mafkat
kat complained to the governor of the city of a merchant who would not pay a freight due for the carriage of his goods. The governor always put off hearing him, till fome other time. At laft the plaintiff told his cafe coolly, and the governor immediately did him juftice, faying, I refufed to hear you before, becaufe you were intoxicated with anger, the moft dangerous of all intoxications.
Notwithftanding this coolnefs, on which the people of the Eaft pique themfelves, the Arabs fhew great fenfibility to every thing that can be conflrued into an injury. If one man fhould happen to fpit befide another, the latter will not fail to avenge himfelf of the imaginary in-fult. In a caravan I once faw an Arab highly offended at a man, who, in fpitting, had accidentally befpattered his beard with fome fmall part of the fpittle. It was with difficulty that he could be appeafed by him, who, he imagined, had offended him, even- although he humbly afked pardon, and kiffed his beard in token of fubmiflion. They are lefs ready to be offended by reproachful language, which is, befides, more in ufe with the lower people than among the higher claffes.
But the moft irritable of all men are the noble Bedouins, who, in their martial fpirit, feem to carry thofe fame prejudices farther than even
the
the barbarous warriors who iffued from the North, and overran Europe. Bedouin honour is ftill more delicate than ours, and requires even a greater number of victims to be facri-ficed to it. If one Schiech fays to another, with a ferious air, 4 Thy bonnet is dirty,* or, 4 The wrong fide of thy turban is out,' nothing but blood can wafh away the reproach ; and not merely the blood of the offender, but that alfo of all the males of his family.
At Barra I heard the ftory of an adventure, which had happened about a dozen of years fince, in the neighbourhood of that city, and which may afford an idea of the excefs to which the fpirit of revenge often rifes among th\p nation.   A man of eminence, belonging to the tribe of Montefuift, had given his daughter in marriage to an Arab of the tribe of Kornc. Shortly after the marriage, a Schiech of an inferior tribe afked him, in a coffee-houfe, Whether he were father to the handfome young wife of fuch a one, whom he named ?   The father, fuppofing his daughter's honour ruined, immediately left the company to ftab her.   At his return from the execution of this inhuman deed, he who had fo indifcreetly put the queftion was gone.   Breathing nothing now but vengeance, he fought him every where; and not finding him, killed in the mean time feveral of his relations.
relations, without fparing even his cattle or Servants. The offender offered the governor of Korne a great fum if he would rid him of fo furious an adverfary. The governor fent for him who had been offended, and endeavoured by threats, and a fhew of the apparatus of puniihment, to force him to a reconciliation; but the vengeful Arab would rather meet death than forego his revenge. Then the governor, to preferve a man of fuch high honour, foothed him to an agreement, by which the firfl aggreffor gave his daughter, with a handfome portion, in marriage to him whom he had' offended. But the father-in-law durlt never after appear before rm fon-in-law.
The thirft for vengeance difcovers itfelf like* wife in the peculiar manner in which murther is profecuted here. In the high country of Yemen, the fupreme court of Sana commonly pro-fecutes murthers in the mode ufual in other countries J but, in feveral diftricts in Arabia, the relations of the deceafed have leave either to accept a compofition in money, or to require the murtherer to furrender himfelf to juftice, or even to wreak their vengeance upon his whole family. In many places, it is reckoned unlawful to take money for the fliedding of blood, which, by the laws of Arabian honour, can be expiated only by blood.   They think
little
iN arabia, SsrV.
20t
little of making an affaffm be punifhed, or even put to death, by the hand of juftice ; for this would be to deliver a faintly from an unworthy member, who deferved no fuch favour at their hands.
For thefe reafons, the Arabs rather revenge themfelves, as law allow?, upon the family of the murderer, and feek an opportunity of flaying its head, or moft confiderable perfon, whom they regard as being properly the perfon guilty of the crime, as it muft have been committed, through his negligence in watching over the conduct, of thofe under his inflection. In the mean time, the judges feize the murderer, and detain him till he has paid a fine of two hundred crowns. Had it not been for this fine, fb abfurd a law muft have been long fince repealed. From this time, the two families are in continual fears, till fome one or other of the murderer's family be ilain. No reconciliation can take place between them, and the quarrel is £1111 Occasionally renewed. There have been in-ftances of fuch family feuds lafting forty years. If, in the conteft, a man of the murdered per-fon's family happens to fall, there can be no peace till two others of the murderer's family have been ilain.
This deteftablc cuftom is fo exprefsly forbidden in the Koran, that I fhould not have beer:
Vol. II. C c perfuadeeS
f
perfuaded of its exiftence, had I not feen in-ftances of it. Men, indeed, act. every where in direct contradiction to the principles of religion; and this fpecies of revenge is not merely impious, but even abfurd and inhuman. An Arabian of diftinction, who often vifited us at Lo-heya, always wore, even when he was in company, both his poignard and a imall lance. The reafon of this, he told us, was, that a man ol his family had been murdered, and he was obliged to avenge the murder upon a man of the inimical family, who was then actually in the city, and carried juft fuch another lance. He acknowledged to us, that the fear of meeting his enemy, and fighting with him, often dif-turbed his fleep. In the narrative of my journey from Beit el Fakih to Mokha, I have related an initance of a family feud of this kind, in the country through which we parted.
Among the Bedouins in the Eaft of Arabia, every family ftrive to right themfelves, whenever they think that they have fuffered an injury. When the two hoftile families happen to belong to two powerful rival tribes, formal wars fometimes follow in confequence of fuch accidental quarrels: But, on the other hand, the public peace is not at all interrupted by a private feud, when the perfons at variance belong to two petty tribes, both fubject to the fame
great
great tribe. Laftly, when the two contending parties are fubjects of the fame Schiech, and are, of confequence, held to be of the fame family, the Schiech and the principal fubjects join to reconcile the parties, and to punifh the murderer.
The tribes upon the confines of Oman, and the fhores of the Perfian gulph, are alfo acquainted with thefe family wars, and more har-raffed even than the Arabians by them. A great part of thefe tribes earn their fubfiftence by carrying coffee from Yemen to the Perfian gulph, and by the pearl fifhery; and, from this circumftance, parties at variance have more frequent opportunities of meeting and fighting at fea. Weak tribes are thus often obliged to quit their way of life, and fall into obfcurity and mifery (p).
CHAP. V.
Of the Arabian Nobility.
The Arabs are accufed of being vain, full of prejudices with refpect to birth, and ridiculouuy -attentive to records of genealogy, which they keep even for their horfes. This reproach cannot affect the $reat body of the nation, who
know
know not their family names, and take not the trouble of keeping a regifter of births. Moft of thofe, even in the middle ftation of life, know not who were their grandfathers, and would often be as much at a lofs to know their fathers, if it were not regulated by cuftom, that the fon fhall join his father's name with his own.
All thofe petty princes who govern in Arabia are, undoubtedly, very proud of their birth, and with fome reafon, fince their families have, from time immemorial, enjoyed independence and fovereign power. The nobility, who are free, or dependent only on the chiefs of their tribes, are equally fo. They enjoy privileges which the traditional hiftory of the nation re-prefents as having always belonged to certain families. The Schiechs are excufeable, therefore, although they value themfelves upon advantages which are peculiarly theirs.
What adds to the high conceit the Bedouin Schiechs have of their nobility, is its being incommunicable, and not to be conferred by any fovereign prince, or even by the Caliphs. As it is founded on the cuftoms of a paftoral people, who know no diftincfion of rank, but that of the heads of families, no fovereign can augment the number of thefe chiefs. Nobles can be reated only in countries where the nobility
form
form a diftincl clafs, enjoying certain civil privileges, which may be equally conferred on o-thers. The Bedouin nobility may be compared to the chiefs of the clans among the Scotch highlanders, who are in a very fimilar condition with refpecr. to their honours and authority
The defcendents of Mahomet hold, with fome reafon, the firft rank among the great families in Arabia. Mahomet was fprung from one of the nobleft families in the country, and rofe to the rank of a potent prince. His firft profeftion of a dealer in camels, proves him to have been a Schiech of the genuine and pure nobility of his nation. It may be inferred, however, from the fingular veneration in which his family are held, that religious opinions have contributed to gain them the pre-eminence which they hold, above even the moft ancient fovereign houfes. A feci naturally refpecf. the pofterity of their founder, as a race bearing an indelible character of fanctity.
Thefe defcendents of Mahomet have received different titles. In Arabia they arc called Sher-riffes, or Sejids ; in the Mahometan countries fituate northward, Sherriffes or Emirs; and in the Arabian colonies in the Eaft, fimply Sejids. The prince of Havifa, on the frontiers of Perfia, takes the title of Maula, which has, I believe, been alfo afltimed by the Emperor of
Morocco,
Morocco. In fome countries, this family are diftinguifhed by a green turban. Nay, on the coafts of Arabia, fhips hoift a green nag, when fitted out by a Sejid. Yet the green turban is not invariably a diftinclive mark of a defcendent of Mahomet. Beggars fometimes wear turbans of this colour ; and one of our fervants did the fame, and was blamed by nobody.
The Sherriffes of Hedsjas are efteemed the nobleft of Mahomet's defcendents, becaufe they have made fewer intermarriages with ftrangers than the reft of the Prophet's pofterity. In that province, they are treated with aimoft incredible refpect. A Sherriffe may venture into the midft of a fray, without the fmalleft fear of being intentionally hurt or killed. He needs not to Ihut his doors againft thieves. In the Ottoman provinces, the family of the Prophet are lefs regarded. In my time, a Sejid, who had been guilty of divers crimes, and although warned and reproved by an indulgent governor, had not corrected his bad habits, was condemned to fuf-fer capital punifhment.
Having heard a diftincf ion frequently made between a Sherriffe and a Sejid, I made inquiry into its nature. I learned that Sherriffes are conftantly devoted to a military life, and are defcended from Hajfan; but that the Sejids are the pofterity of Hojfein, and follow the
purfuits
purfuits of trade and fcience, although they have fometimes rifen to fovereign power in fome parts of Arabia.
There are, in all Mahometan countries, an aftonifhing number of Sherriffes.   I faw whole villages peopled with this family folely. To thofe who know not in what manner this title is tranfmitted, the numbers of thofe who enjoy this high rank muft undoubtedly appear furpri-fmg; but polygamy naturally multiplies families, till many of their branches fink into the moft wretched mifery.   In my account of Jebid, I have mentioned my acquaintance with a Sherriffe in that city, who was in extreme poverty. A peculiar cuftom tends to the farther increafe of the race of Sherriffes.   The fon of a woman of the family of Mahomet is efteemed a Sherriffe, and tranfmits the honour to all his pofterity.   I travelled through Natolia with a Turk, who was called fimply Achmed, and wore the common turban, while his fon was honoured with a green turban, and with the title of Sherriffe, becaufe his mother was a Sherriffa. Other fimilar inftances came within my knowledge in the provinces of Turkey ; and, from various circumftances, I was led to infer, that many perfons enjoy this title who are not at all connected with the Prophet's family.   The genuine Sherriffes, to ftrengthen their party againft the Caliphs,
NlgBtfHR's TRAVELS
liphs, have acknowledged kindred wiih various, powerful families who were entire flrangers to them.
In Turkey, where the Sherriffes arc not numerous, they enjoy various privileges, and, a-mong others, that of being fubject, in every confiderable town, not to the Pacha, but to a man of their own family, who is denominated Nakib, or general of the Sherriffes. The Turkifh government feems, however, to be fufpicious of their ambition, and never intrufls them with any public office. They are commonly called Emirs ; an indeterminate title, which is bellowed equally upon perfons of the highefl quality, and upon fubordinate officers.
Of all the titles in ufe among the Arabian nobility, the mofl ancient and mofl common is that of Schiech. The Arabian language, which is in other refpecf s fo rich, is however poor in terms expreflive of the diflinctions of rank. The word Schiech has, in confequence of this circumftance, various fiomifications. Somc-times it is the title of a prince or noble ; at other times, it is given to a profeffor in an academy, to a man belonging to a mofque, to the defcend-ent of a faint, to the mayor of a town, and in Oman, even to the chief of the Jewifh fyna-gogue. Although thus feemingly proftituted, yet is not this title defpifed by the great. A
Schiech
Schiech of an ancient Arabian family would not change the name for that of Saltan, which has been alfumed by fome petty princes in the highlands of Hadramaut and Jafa.
The Schiechs of illuitrious families among the Bedouins have reafon for confidering their genealogy as a matter of fome confequence. Some of them are defcended from anceflors who were princes before the days of Mahomet, and the firft Caliphs. As it would be difficult, among a people who have no public regifters'or hiftorians, to make out regular tables of genealogies reaching farther than ten centuries backwards, the Arabians have contrived a compendious mode of verifying their lines of defcent. From among their later anceftors, they felecf: fome illuftrious man from whom they are uni-verfally allowed to be defcended. This great man, again, is as univerfally allowed to be defcended from fome other great man ; and thus they proceed backwards to the founder of the family. The Sherriffes and Sejids, by the fame expedient, prove the origin of their family to have been with Mahomet, and thus abbreviate their genealogy, without rendering it doubtful.
Befide thefe Schiechs and princes, there arc, at Mecca, fome families not lefs concerned to Vol. II. " d preferve
niectjhr's travels
preferve their genealogies, with a}l pofliblQ exactitude. Thefe are the families defcended from the tribe of Koraifch, which have held certain employments, by hereditary right, fince the days of Mahomet and his firft fucceffors. Their employments are, i/?, the office of keeper of the key of the Kaba, which was conferred by Mahomet on the family of Othman ibn Talhai 2d, That of Mufti of the feci of Schafd : $d, That of Mufti of the feci: of Hanbali; and, lajily, That of a learned Scbcch to attend in the holy mofque.
There are alfo, in Mecca, twelve other families, defcended from the illuftrious tribe of Koraifch. If any where in the world, a faithful lift of genealogy, for more than ten centuries, may be found, it is certainly among thefe families of Koraifchitcs, who are conftantly obliged to prove the genuinenefs of their defcent, in order to preferve their envied privileges.
I never heard the diftinftion between the genuine and naturalized Arabs formally explained. Such a diftincfion is made, however ; for the Bedouins value themfelves fo much on the purity of their defcent, that they look very con-temptuoufly on the Arabs who live in cities, as a race debafed by their intermixture with other nations.   No Schiecfc will marrv the daughter
of
of a citizen, unlefs he happen to be driven by poverty to contract fo unequal an alliance. At Bagdad I faw a Schiech of eminence from the defart, who, from motives of this nature, had married the daughter of the Mufti of that city.
The Arabs feem ftill to have a vanity in the ufe of thofe long names which are fo difgufting in their hiftory; but this length of names and titles is occafioned by the difficult) of diftinguiming individuals among a nation who know not the ufe of family, names. Thus an Arab named Ali, if his father's name was Mohammed, takes the name of Ali Ibn Mohammed ; if from Bafra, he adds the name of his country, el Bafri; and, if a man of letters, the name of his feet, as Scba-fei; and his name at length will thus be, Ali Ibn Mohammed el Bafri el Schafei; fo that he .cannot be confounded with any other of his countrymen. An illuftrious man never takes thefe long names in his lifetime, but has all this pomp of epithets coniferred on him after his death.
Some men, whofe fathers have not been much known, adjoin to their own names that of their eldeft fon. A Turk of the name of Saleeb, who furnifhed me for hire with mules to perform the journey from Aleppo to Konie, called himfelf
Fatime
212 J
NlEBUHR*S TRAVELS
Fatbne Ugli, the fon of Fatime. I afked feveral Turks, if it were common among them to take the name of the mother. They re-plied, that there were fome inftances of it, but that no man in his fenfes would name himfelf after a woman.
SECTION XXVI.
OF   THE   MANNERS   AND   USAGES   OF THE ARABIANS.
CHAP, t
Of Marriage among the Arabians.
The Europeans are miftaken in thinking the ftate of marriage fo different among the Mulful-mans from what it is with Chriftian nations. I could not difcern any fuch difference in Arabia. The women of that country feem to be as free and happy as thofe of Europe can poffibly be.
Polygamy
Polygamy is permitted, indeed, among Mahometans, and the delicacy of our ladies is ihocked at this idea; but the Arabians rarely avail them, felves of the privilege of marrying four lawful wives, and entertaining at the fame time any number of female flaves. None but rich voluptuaries marry fo many wives, and their conduct is blamed by all fober men. Men of fenfe, indeed, think this privilege rather troublefome than convenient. A hulband is, by law, obliged to treat his wives fuitably to their condition, and to difpenfe his favours among them with perfect equality: But thefe are duties not a little difagreeable to mofl; Muflulmans; and fuch modes of luxury are too cxpenfive to the Arabians, who ar,e feldom in eafy circumftances. I muft, however, except one cafe; for it fometimes happens that a man marries a number of wives in the way of a commercial fpeculation. I knew a Mullah, in a town near the Euphrates, who had married four wives, and was fupported by the profits of their labour.
Divorce, the idea of which is alfo regarded as horrid by the fair fex in Europe, is not nearly fo common as is imagined in the Eaft. The Arabians never exercife the right of repudiating a wife, unlefs urged by the ftrongelt reafons; becaufe this is confidered a difhonourable ftep, by perfons who value their reputation, and
throws
throws difgracc on the woman and her relations. Wives are entitled to demand a divorce when they think themfelves ill ufed by their hufoands. Only profligate and impudent men, who have married without confideration, will divorce their wives for flight caufes.
An Arabian, in moderate circumftances, fel-dom marries more than one wife. And even the moft confiderable perfons in the nation are oh en contented with one for life. Rich men, who are in a condition to maintain as many wives as they pleafe, have often confefled to me, that although they had begun to live with feveral wives, they had at lad found that they could be happy only with one.
The Arabian women enjoy a great deaf of liberty, and often a great deal of power, in their families. They continue miftreffes of their dowries, and of the annual income which thefe aiford, during their marriage ; and, in the cafe of divorce, all their own property is referved to them. Hence it happens, that when a man in narrow circumftances marries a woman of fortune, he is entirely dependent on his wife, and dares not divorce her.
It is abfurd to fay, as fome travellers have, that the Mahometan wives are all flaves, and fo entirely the property of their hulbands, that they are even inherited by his heirs.   In this
reprefentation,
reprefentation, flaves purchafed with money have been confounded with women of free elf ate, who difpofe of themfelves in the Eaft juft as in Europe.
The opinion, that women arc flaves in Arabia, feems to have arifen from the miftaken notion, that fathers there fell their daughters to the highefl bidder. It many times happens, no doubt, that a poor man, who has an handfome daughter, is pleafed to match her with a rich man, from whom he may receive occafional pre-fents. And rich voluptuaries, who choofe to marry more wives than one, arc obliged to take young women of low condition, who are compelled by interefted parents, or feduced by fplen-dour, to accept a hufband who affociates them with other wives, and at length divorces them.
Inftead of felling his daughter, every man, in tolerably eafy circumftances, ftrives to give her a dowry, which may continue her own property. The marriage is made out by the Cadi, and figned in his prefence ; and in it not only is her dowry fecured to the wife, but alfo a feparate maintenance, in cafe of a divorce. The rich often give their daughters, in preference, to poor men, and confider their children as more likely to be happy, when thus fettled, than if they were married to rich men. The wife is then miftrefs of all the property, and even of
the
the houfe of her hufband, and is not in danger of being'fent away.
Many ridiculous (lories have been told of the marks of virginity which an Arab expects when he marries a young woman. But molt of thefe {lories greatly exaggerate the truth. The Bedouins, and the highlanders of Yemen, a rude and aimoft favage race, do indeed regard the want of thofe marks as a proof of difhonour, and think themfelves obliged to fend a woman back to her relations, when her chaftity cannot be thus evinced. But the inhabitants of the towns, being more civilized, never concern themfelves about fuch a trifle ; only, in cafe of fuch an accident, a fon-in-law forces an addition to the dowry from his father-in-law, by threatening to fend his daughter home again, although he never actually does fo. At Bafra i heard of a fmgle inltance of divorce upon this ground, and the man was of the lowed clafs of the people.
Many fuperftitious obfervances, refpecting marriage, ftill prevail in Arabia. The Arabs ftill believe in the virtue of enchantments, and in the art of tying and untying the knots of fate. The miferable victim of this diabolical art ad-dreffes fome phyfician, or fome old woman ; for the old women are always ikilled in forcery. The Chriftians of the Eaft have a ftill more
certain
certain remedy againft the effects of witchcraft. They fay maffes for the perfon afflicted; and when, at laft, the imagination of the poor patient has had time to recover, the honour of the cure is always afcribed to the powerful influence of the maffes.
We imagine in Europe, that the inhabitants of the Eaft keep Eunuchs for fjie guardians of their harams j yet Eunuchs are not common through the Eaft, and in Arabia there are none. The Turkilh Monarch keeps more Eunuchs in his feraglio at Conftantinople than are in all the reft of his dominions. The Pacha of Aleppo had two, and he of Moful one, whom he kept, becaufe he had belonged to his father* It is wrong, therefore, to regard Arabia as the feat of Eunuchifm. They are brought from Upper Egypt, but are moftly natives of the interior and little known provinces of Africa. The Arabians abhor the cruel operation which is re-quifite to render a man a fit guardian of the chaftity of a haram.
Eunuchs born in a climate which has a tendency to inflame the blood, are not abfolutefy void of all paffion for the fair fex. On the fea* between Suez and jedda, I met with a Eunuch who travelled with his feraglio ; and at Bafra I heard of another rich Eunuch, who kept female flaves for his private amufement.
Vol. II. E e Much.
Much has been faid in Europe concerning the origin of the practice of polygamy, fo generally prevalent through the Eaft. Suppofing that the plurality of wives is not barely allowed by law, but takes place in fact, fome of our philofophers have imagined, that, in hot countries, more women than men are born ; but I have already ftat,ed, that fome nations avail not themfelves of the permiflion given by the Muf-fulman law for one man to marry feveral wives. It would be unfair to judge of the manners of a whole people by the faftidious luxury of the great.   It is vanity that fills feraglios, and that chiefly with flaves, moft of whom are only flaves to a few favourite women.   The number of female fervants in Europe, who are, in the fame manner, condemned in a great meafure to celibacy, is equal or fuperior to that of thofe who are confined in the harams of the Eaft.
It is true, that European clergymen and phy-ficians fettled in the Eaft have prefumed that rather more girls than boys are born here. I obtained fome lifts of Chriftian baptifms in the Eaft; but fome of thofe were filled with inconfiftencies; and, in the others, the number by which the females born exceeded the males was indeed very trifling. I have reafon, therefore, to conclude, that the proportion between the male and the female births is the fame here as elfewhere.
This
T'his proportion varies fometimes in Europe, as is proved by a recent inftance of a town in England, in which, for fome part of this century, more girls than boys have been born.
There are, it muft be allowed, a good many Mahometans, who marry more wives than one, and at the fame time keep female flaves; but to fupply thefe men's harams a furplus of females is not neceffary. Different accidents carry off a number of men, and thofe accidents are fuch as the women are not expofed to. In the Eaft, women are more impatient for marriage than in Europe. According to the ideas of Eaftern manners, nothing is more difgraceful to a woman than to remain barren. Confcience obliges the women of thofe regions to defire that they may become mothers. A woman will, therefore, rather marry a poor man, or become fecond wife to a man already married, than remain in a ftate of celibacy. I have mentioned the inftance of the poor Mullah, who married four wives, and lived by the profits of their labour. The men are equally difpofed to marry, becaufe their wives, inftead of being expenfive, are rather profitable to them. Nothing is more rarely to be met with in the Eaft, than a woman unmarried after a certain time of life
The Shiites are, by their law, permitted to live for a certain time, by agreement, but without
22©
niebuhr's travels
out a formal marriage, with a free Mahometan woman. The Perfians frequently avail themfelves of this permiflion; but the more rigid Sunnites think this an illicit connection, and do not tolerate it. In Turkey, a man who mould cohabit with a free woman, without being married to her, would be punilhed by law.
CHAP. II.
Of the Dotmjlic Life of the Arabs.
Arabia affords no elegant or fplendid apart, ments for the admiration of the traveller. The houfes are built of ftone, and have always terrace roofs. Thofe occupied by the lower people are fmall huts, having a round roof, and covered with a certain herb. The huts of the Arabs on the banks of the Euphrates are formed of branches of the date tree, and have a round roof covered with rufh mats. The tents of the Bedouins are like thofe of the Kurdes and Turcomans. They have the afpect of a tattered hut. I have formerly remarked, that they are formed of coarfe (tuffs prepared by the women.
The palaces and houfes of Arabians of rank tlifplay no exterior magnificence. Ornaments
are
are not to be expected in the apartments of men who are ilrangers to all luxury, except what confifts in the number and the value of the horfes, fervants, and arms which they keep. The poor fpread their floors with ftraw mats, and the rich with fine carpets. No perfon even enters a room, without having firft put off his fhoes. A Frenchman boafts of having maintained the honour of his nation, by wearing his fhoes in the governor of Mecca's hall of audience. It is jufl fuch another boaft, as if an Arabian envoy fhould vaunt of trampling on the chairs of an European Lord,
The men of every family always occupy the fore part of the houfe, and the women the back part. If the apartments of the men are plain, thofe of the women are, on the contrary, mod. ftudioufly fet off with decorations. Of this I faw a fpecimen in a haram, which was nearly finifhed for a man of rank. One room in it was wholly covered over with mirrors ; the roof, the walls, the doors, the pillars, prefented all fo many looking glaffes. The floor was to be fet with fofas, and fpread with carpets.
Arabians, in circumftances which admit not of their having feparate apartments for the females of the family, are careful, whenever they carry a ftranger into the houfe, to enter before him, and cry Tarik, retire.   Upon this notice,
given
given by the mafter of the houfe, the women inftantly difappear, and even his very beft friends fee not one of them. A man muft, indeed, deny himfelf this fight; for it is reckoned highly impolite to falute a woman, or even to look her ftedfaftly in the face. To avoid receiving ftrangers in their houfes, fhopkeepers and artifans expofe their wares, and follow their refpective trades, in the open ftreets.
The retired life of the women difpofes them to behave refpeclfully to the other fex. I met a Bedouin lady, who, purely out of refpecl, left the road, and turned her back upon me; and I faw her do the fame to other men. I feveral times have feen women kifs the hands of a man of diftin&ion, or kneel to kifs his feet.
The great often have in their halls bafons with jets cVeau, to cool the air. I have mentioned that which we faw in the Imam of Sana's hall of audience. The edges of the bafon were coated with marble, and the reft of the floor was covered with rich carpets.
As the people of the Eaft wifti to keep their floors very clean, they fpit very little, although they fmoke a great deal. Yet to fpit is not reckoned a piece of impolitenefs. I have feen fome perfons of rank ufe a fpitting-box, and others fpit on the bottom of the wall, behind the cufhions on which they fat.
As the floors are fpread with carpets, and cufhions are laid round the walls, one cannot fit down, without inconvenience, on the ground ; and the ufe of chairs is unknown in the Eafl. The Arabians practife feveral different modes of fitting. When they wifh to be very much at their eafe, they crofs their legs under the body. I found indeed, by experience, that this mode of fitting is the mofl commodious for people who wear long clothes, and wide breeches, without any confining ligatures. It feems to afford better reft, after fatigue, than our pofture of fitting upon chairs. In prefence of fuperiors, an Arab fits with his two knees touching each other, and with the weight of the body refting upon the heels. As in this pofition a perfon occupies lefs room than in the other, this is the pofture in which they ufually place themfelves at table. I often tried it, but found it extremely uneafy, and could never accuftom myfelf to it. In many parts of Arabia, there are long, low chairs, made of ftraw mats ; but they fit crofs-legged on them, as well as on the carpets.
The life which the Arabians lead in their houfes, is fo vacant and unvaried, that they cannot help feeling it irkfome. Their natural vivacity prompts them to feek amufements out of doors. They frequent coffee-houfes and markets, and are fond of affembling in public meetings
ings as often as poffible. Yet they have nol the fame means of diverfion as other nations. What I have formerly faid concerning the a-mufements of the inhabitants of the Eaft, re-fpe£ls the Arabians only in part. They are often obliged to take up with fedentary and domeftic amufemcnts, which to Europeans appear very infipid.
It is, no doubt, to divert the toedium of a fedentary life, that the people of the Eaft make fo much ufe of tobacco. The Arabians, notwithftanding the natural drynefs of their conftitution, and the warmth of their climate, fmoke ftill more than the inhabitants of the northern provinces of Aha. They ufe the long Perfian pipe, which I have already defcribed. A cuftom peculiar to Arabia, is, that perfons of opulence and fa* fnion carry always about them a box filled with odoriferous wood. They put a bit of this wood into any perfon's pipe, to whom they wifh to exprefs particular refpecf ; and it communicates to the tobacco a fragrant fmell, and a very agreeable tafte.
I never faw the Arabians ufe opium, like the Turks and the Perfians. Inftead of taking this gratification, they conftantly chew Kaad. This is the buds of a certain tree, which are brought in fmall boxes from the hills of Yemen. Perfons who have good teeth chew thefe buds juft
a*
IN ARABIA,  CffV. 225
as they come from the tree : For the ufe of old men it is firft brayed in a mortar. It feems to be from fafhion merely that thefe buds are chewed; for they have a difagreeable tafte ; nor could we accuftom ourfelves to them. i found likewife that Kaad has a parching effect upon the conftitu-tion, and is unfavourable to fleep.
The lower people are fond of raifing their fpirits to a ftate of intoxication. As they have no ftrong drink, they, for this purpofe, fmoke Hafchifch, which is the dried leaves of a fort of hemp. This fmoke exalts their courage, and throws them into a ftate in which delightful vifions dance before the imagination. One of our Arabian fervants, after fmoking Haf-cbifch, met with four foldiers in the ftreet, and attacked the whole party; One of the foldiers gave him a found beating, and brought him home to us. Notwithstanding his mifliap, he would not make himfelf eafy, but ftill imagined, fuch was the effect, of his intoxication, that he was a match for any four men.
Vol.. II.
Ff
CHAR
chap. m.
Of the Food of the Arabians, and their Manner of Eating,
As the people of the Eaft fquat themfelves upon the ground when they fit, fo their manner of eating at meals is conformable to this way of fitting. They fpread a large cloth in the middle of the room, put upon this cloth a fmall table only one foot high, and upon the table a large round plate of tinned copper. Upon this are fet different copper difhes, neatly tinned within and without. Inftead of table napkins, Arabians of rank ufe a long linen cloth, which thofe at table put under their knees. Where this linen cloth is wanting, every one ufes a fmall handkerchief of his own. They ufe no knives nor forks. The Turks have fometimes wooden or horn fpoons ; but the Arabians ufe their fingers with great dexterity, and eat all difhes with the hand*
Were we to judge them by the ftandard of our own manners, the people of the Eaft behave very indecently at an European table. I could not help being much ftruck by the behaviour of the firft Turk I faw eat, who was the comptroller of the cuftoms of the Dardanelles, in company
with
with whom I happened to fup at the French Conful's table. That Turk tore his meat in pieces with his fingers, and wiped them with his napkin. My furprife at this mode of eating ceafed when I became more familiar with the manners of thofe people. They know not the ufe of table napkins, and fuppofe them to be handkerchiefs, with which they arc to wipe themfelves. They are much at a lofs when a piece of meat is to be cut; for they think it indecent to make ufe of the left hand in cutting it, as with it they perform their ablutions. They manage better when the meats are, after their own fa-ihion, cut into fmall bits, before being fet down on the table. We, Europeans, were at firft fhocked to fee fo many hands in the difh together. But, as the Mahometans are obliged, by the laws of their religion, to pay the utmoft attention to perfonal cleanlinefs, and are habituated to it, there is in reality little difference, in point of delicacy, between their mode of eating *md ours.
The more eminent Schiechs in the defart eat of nothing but Pilau, or boiled rice. It is ferved ip in a very large wooden plate. The company lit down and eat, one after another, till the whole contents of the plate be exhaufled, or they are fatisfied. In the houfes of perfons °f diftinction in the towns, feveral of thefe plates
are
are fet, one upon another, in a pyramidical form. When the mailers rife, the fervants fit down at the fame table, and eat up what remains.
The meal was ferved up in a different flyle at Mcrdin, where I dined with fifteen of the Wai-wode's officers. A fervant (food in the middle of the company, to fet down and remove the dimes which were brought in by the other fervants. Hardly was a plate fet down upon the table, when fifteen hands were thruft into it, all at once, and foon emptied it of its contents, efpecially when this was paftry, which the inhabitants of the Eaft, whofe drink is water, are paflionately fond of. They eat with amazing quicknefs in the Eaft. At Merdin we emptied more than fourteen plates within lefs than twenty minutes.
The Muffulmans in general, and particularly the Arabs, repeat always a ftiort prayer before fitting down to a meal, " In the name of the moft merciful God." When any one has done eating, he rifes, without waiting for the reft, and fays, " God be praifed." They drink little while they eat; but, as they rife from the table, after walking, they drink fome cold water, and a cup of coffee.
The Arabians, in the eaftern part of this country, are not lefs fond than the Turks of
coffee,
\
coffee, which they alfo call Kethwe. They prepare it in the manner which we have adopted from them. The only difference, between their mode of preparing it and ours, is, that they, in-ftead of grinding their coffee-beans, pound them in a mortar. We carried a coffee-mill with us into Arabia, but foon found the tafle of the pounded coffee much fuperior to that of the ground, and left off ufmg our mill. The pounding feems better to exprefs the oily parts of the bean, which give the coffee its peculiar relifli. The people of the Eaft always drink their coffee without either milk or fugar.
It is odd enough that, in Yemen, the proper country of which the coffee plant is a native, there fhould be fo little coffee drunk. It is there called Bunn, and is fuppofed to have heating effects upon the blood. The favourite drink of the Arabians of this province is prepared from the hulks of coffee-beans, (lightly roafted, and pounded. It is called Kahwc, or more commonly Kifchcr. It taftes like tea, and is thought refrefhing. People of diftincf ion drink it out of porcelain cups, and the lower fort out of cups of coarfe earthern ware.
Although the Muffulmans are forbidden the ufe of all intoxicating liquors, yet many of them are paftionately fond of thefe, and drink them privately, and at night, in their own
houfes-
houfes. Our phyfician faw, in the houfe of a rich merchant at Loheia, all the ncceffary in-liniments for diftilling brandy. On the frontiers of Arabia, where there are Chriftians, both wine and fpiritous liquors are to be found > but in Arabia, none of thefe are to be obtained, except from the Jews of Sana, who have great plenty, and that of excellent quality. They fupply their countrymen ; but, having na calks, they are obliged to carry their wine and brandy in copper veffels, which renders the ufe of them dangerous to the health. The Englifh, too, fometimes bring Arrack from India to Mokha.
At Loheya, we bought a fort of wine, prepared from an infufion of dry grapes in water, in a pot which is buried in the ground, to make the liquor ferment. We had alfo offered to us a thick, white liquor, called Bit/a, which is prepared from meal mixed with water, and brought into a ftate of fermentation. It is ufed at Bafra, and is ftill more common in Armenia, where the inhabitants keep it in large earthern pots, half buried in the ground, and draw it out for ufe by the infertion of reeds. A proof of the permanency of national cuftoms is, that Xenophon found this fame liquor ufed in Armenia, and preferved in this very manner (r).
The
The Arabians are, in general, a fober, frugal nation, which is probably the caufe of their lean-nefs, and feemingly flinted growth. Their ufual articles of food are rice, pulfe, milk, butter, and Keimak, or whipped cream. They are not without animal food ; but they feldom eat of it; for it is thought very unwholefome in thefe hot countries. Mutton is the mod common fpecies of animal food ufed here ; and on it the Arabians of the defart chiefly live. As the caflration of animals, though not forbidden by the Muffulman law, is little practifed here, wedder-mutton is never ufed by the Arabians.
The common people in Arabia have little other food, but bad bread made of Durra, a fort of coarfe millet, by kneading it with camel's milk, oil, butter, or greafe. I could not eat of this bread at firft, and would have preferred to ir the worft bread i had ever eaten in Europe; but the people of the country, being accuftomed to it, prefer it to barley bread, which they think too light.
The modes of baking bread are different in different places of Arabia. In the fhip in which wc failed from Jidda to Loheya, there was a fail-lor, whofe talk every afternoon was to prepare Durra for next day's bread. He broke and bruifed the grain between two ftones, one til
which
A
NIEBtJHR's TRAVPLS
which was convex, the other concave. Of the meal thus prepared, he formed dough, and then divided it into fmall cakes. In the meantime, the oven was heated ; but it was limply an earthen pot glazed; and a lire of charcoal was kindled up within it. When the oven was Sufficiently heated., the cakes were laid againft the fides of the pot, without removing the coalSj and in a few moments the bread was taken up luilf-roafted, and was eaten hot.
The Arabians of the defart ufe a heated plate of iron, or a gridiron, in preparing their cakes. When they have no gridiron, they roll their dough into balls, and put it either among live coals, or into a fire of camels dung, where they cover it till it is penetrated by the heat. They then remove the allies, and eat the bread, while it is fcarcely dry, and ftill hot. In the towns, the Arabians have ovens like ours ; their bread is of barley-meal, and of the form and thick-nels of our pancakes j but they never give it enough of the fire.
It is lingular that the Arabs, who are no ftrangers to the invention of mills, mould ftill continue the old and troublefome practice of bruifing their grain with ftones, without machinery. But I fufpecf: that they find bread made of meal prepared in this way to tafte more agreeably than that which is made of meal that
ha*
has been ground in a mill. The negroes, of certain countries in Africa, are faid to prefer the mode of bruiting their maize upon a ftone, even after they have lived long among Europeans.
CHAP. IV.
Of tht Drefs and Fafdons of the Arabians.
M^hen fpeaking of the drefs of the inhabitants of the Eaft in general, I communicated fome idea of the dreifes ufed by the Arabians. I defcribed the drefs of people of diftinction in Yemen, when I had occafion to mention the drefs of ceremony with which I was favoured by the Imam of Sana. But there is a great variety in the national dreffes of the Arabians, and various fafluons prevail among them, which I muft not leave unnoticed.
Nothing can be more inconvenient or expen-five than the head-drefs worn by Arabians of famion. They wear fifteen caps, one over another, fome of which are indeed of linen, but the reft of thick cloth or cotton. That which covers all the reft is ufually richly embroidered with gold, and has always fome fentence of the Koran embroidered upon it.   Over all thefe
Vol, II. G g caps
caps they wrap a large piece of muflin, called a Snfc/j, ornamented at the ends, which flow loofe upon the fhoulders, with filk or golden fringes. As it muft be very difagreeable, in a hot country, to have the head always loaded in this manner, the Arabians, when in their own houfes, or with intimate friends, lay afide this ufelefs weight, all to one or two of the caps. But, before perfons whom they are obliged to treat with ceremony or refpect, they dare not appear without their turbans. Thofe who de-fire to pafs for men of learning, difcover their pretenfions by the bulk of their turbans.
Arabians of rank wear one piece of drefs, which is not in ufe among the other inhabitants of the Eaft. This is a piece of fine linen upon the fhoulder, which feems to have been originally intended to flielter the wearer from the fun and rain, but is now merely ornamental.
The common clafs of Arabs wear only two caps, with the Safc/j carelefsly bound on the head. Some have drawers and a fhirt; but the greater number have only a piece of linen about their loins, a large girdle with the yambca, and a piece of cloth upon the ftioulders ; in other refpects they are naked, having neither fhoes nor ftockings. In the highlands, where the climate is colder, the people wear fheep fkins, fhe fcanty clothes which they wear through the
4ay,
day, are alfo their covering by night; the cloth fwaddled about the waift ferves for a mattrafs; and the linen garment worn about the loins is a meet to cover the Arab while he ileeps. The highlanders, to fecure themfelves from being infefled by infects, fleep in facks.
Perfons in a middle rank of life W'ear, in-ftead of fhoes, fandals, being merely fingle foles, or fometimes thin pieces of wood, bound upon the foot with a ftrap of dreifed leather. People of better fortune ufe flippers, like thofe worn through the reft of the Eaft ; and this is alfo the drefs for the feet worn by the women.
The ordinary drefs of the Arabs is indeed fimple enough j but they have alfo a fort of great coat, without fleeves, called Abba, which is fimpler ftill. I was acquainted with a blind taylor at Bafra, who earned his bread by making Abbas; fo that they cannot be of a very nice fhape, or made of many pieces. In Yemen they are worn only by travellers ; but in the province of Lachfa, the Abba is a piece of drefs commonly ufed by both fexes.
In feveral places in Arabia, the men wear no drawers ; but thefe with a large fhirt are all the drefs ufed by the lower women. In the Tehama, women of this clafs wrap a linen cloth about their loins in the manner of drawers. The women of Hedsjas veil their faces, like thofe of
Egypt,
niebuhr's. travels
Egypt, with a narrow piece of linen, which leaves both the eyes uncovered. In Yemen, they wear a larger veil, which covers the face fo entirely, that the eyes can hardly be difcerned. At Sana and Mokha, they cover the face with a gauze veil, which is often embroidered with gold. They wear all rings on their fingers, arms, nofe, and ears. They (lain their nails red, and their hands and feet of a brownifh yellow colour, with the juice of the plant El-henna, The circle of the eyes, and even the eye-lames, they paint black, with a preparation of lead ore called KochheL The men fometimes imitate this mode of painting the eyes with Kochhd; but perfons of fenfe laugh at fo effeminate a practice.
This mode of flaming the fkin of a brown colour, is pothbly ufed by the women of the low country, in confequence of the natural fal-lownefs of their complexion. They fancy, that, when the whole body is brown, the peculiar darknefs of the countenance will efcape obfer-vation. I conjecture this much concerning the women, from the practice of the men j they going aimoft naked, rub the body all over with E/bcnne, and thus become entirely brown.
The women of Yemen alfo make black punc-tottes in their face to improve their beauty. Their natural complexion is a deep yellow ; but,
among
among the hills, are perfons of fair complexions and fine faces, and there even among the pea-fantry. In the towns, thefe women, who think themfelves handfome, lift up their veils to fhew their beauty, whenever they think they can do it unobferved.
Faihion (hews its influence, in a particular manner, in the modes in which the hair and beard are worn in Arabia. In the Imam of Sana's dominions, all men, of whatever flation, fhave their heads. In other parts of Yemen, all men, even the Shiechs, preferve their hair, wrap it in a handkerchief, and knot it up behind ; caps and turbans are not in ufe there. Some of the highlanders keep their hair long and loofe, and bind the head with fmall cords.
Every body, without exception, wears the beard of its natural length ; but the Arabs keep their muftachios very fliort. In the highlands of Yemen, where few flrangers are ever feen, it is difgraceful to appear without a beard. Our fervant wore only his muftachios; and thofe good highlanders fancied that we had fhaven him by way of punifhment for fome fault.
The Turks, on the contrary, fhave their beards, and keep only their muftachios long. Among this nation, the beard is an enfign of honour and dignity; and therefore the flaves **d domeftic fervants of great men are obliged * to
NIEBl/HR8 TRAVEL j
to keep themfelves clofe fhaven. The Perfian? wear long muftachios, and clip their beards in an aukward enough faftuon. The Kurdcs fhave their beards, but preferve their muftachios, with a lift of hair upon each cheek.
The Arabians have all black beards. Some old men, when their beards are whitened by time, dye them red ; but this practice is generally dif-approved. The Perfians blacken their beards, although naturally black, and continue to do fo, till a very advanced age. Turkifh gravity could not endure the ufe of this fafhion of ornament. Some young noblemen are indeed beginning to imitate this Perfian mode, in order to difguife the whitenefs of their beards; for this colour of their hair is more common in Turky than in the fouthern regions of Afia. A white beard is thought by the Turks to be very unbecoming for a man of rank.
When Turks, who have had themfelves fhaven in their youth, determine upon fullering their beards to grow, they obferve the ceremony of pronouncing a Fat ha, which is confidered as a vow to preferve their hair untouched by a razor through the reft of life. The Mahometans perhaps fancy, as fome travellers have reprefented, that angels occupy their beards. It is at leaft certain, that a man who cuts his beard, after having once determined to preferve ir. long, is fevcrely punifh-
ed for the breach of his vow. At Bafra, he lvould be condemned to receive three hundred blows with a flick, but might indeed, for a round fum, efcape the punifhment. An inhabitant of that city, who had, twelve years before I vifited it, ihaven himfelf in a drunken fit, fled to India, and durfl never return, for fear of the difgrace, and the punifhment, which he had merited both by his (having and his drunkennefs.
The Jews, through all the Eafl, preferve their beards from their youth. They wear the beard not in the fame form as the Muffulmans and Chriftians, fhaving none of it about the temples and the ears. To diftinguifh themfelves ftill more from the reft of mankind, they retain two tufts of hair hanging over their ears. Thefe Jews of Arabia refemble thofe of Poland ; only they have a more decent and lefs beggarly af-pect. They dare not wear the turban, but are obliged to content themfelves with a fmall bonnet. Neither are they fuffered to drefs in any colour but blue ; all their clothes are of blue cloth. They are alfo forbidden the ufe of the fambea.
As there are many Banians fettled in Arabia, I mall add a few words refpecfing their drefs. It confifts of a turban of a particular form, a piece of linen upon the fhoulders, another piece of li-nen fixed by a firing about their loins, and flippers.
pers. Some alfo wear over thefe pieces of drefs a long white robe, which plaits upon the haunches, and fits clofe upon the body and the arms. Thefe Indians ufed to drefs entirely in white ; but they received, fome years fince, an order from Sana, enjoining them to wear red clothes. To obtain a difpenfation from this change of drefs, they paid a confiderable fum to the Imam, and the order was revoked. They were foon after enjoined, by another edict, to wear a red, inflead of a white turban : But, not choofmg to buy off in this inftance, they obeyed, and now wear a red turban, with the reft of their drefs white.
CHAP. V.
Arabian Politenefs.
In Yemen, Oman, and Perfia, an European is treated with as much civility as a Mahometan would find in Europe. Some travellers complain of the rude manners of the inhabitants of the Eafl ; but it muft be allowed that the Europeans often involve themfelves in embarraffments in thefe countries, by being the firft to exprefs contempt or averfion for the Muffulmans. A proof of the defire of theje governments to obtain
tain the friendfhip of Europeans, is their exacting eafier duties of cuftom from them than from other nations, as I had occafion to remark, both in Perfia, and throughout all Arabia.
In Turkey they are lefs kindly treated, A comparifon of the manners of the Turks with thofe of the Arabians will bell prove the fupe-rior politenefs of the latter nation.
The Turks in general hate Europeans j probably from an indiftinct remembrance of the bloody wars which they have at different time9 waged with the inhabitants of the Weft. Children are, with them, as much terrified at the name of European as with us at the name of Turk. Turks, in the fervice of Europeans, con-fider their mafters as indebted to them for pro, tection, yet are defpifed by their countrymen for eating the bread of Chriftians, and at Con-* ftantinople are nicknamed fwine-herds. The Europeans are held in particular abhorrence at Damietta, Damafcus, and Kahira. The Arabians, having never had any quarrels with the inhabitants of Europe, have not the fame reafons for viewing them with averfion.
Neither are the Chriftians of the Eaft treated equally well in all the different parts of Afia. The Armenians and Georgians are not ill looked upon in Perfia; and may afpire to the hrft pofts in the army, without changing their
Vol. IL H h religion*
religion. I was myfelf acquainted at Shifaz" with a Khan, and feveral officers, who were Chriftians, and natives of Georgia. The Turks again admit no Chriftian foldiers into their armies, and regard their Chriftian fellow fubjects with the moft infolent contempt.
In Arabia, the Chriftians are called Naffara or Nufrani. As they are incapable of any honourable office in this country, the moft re-fpectable among them are merchants. The A-rabians, for this reafon, give every Chriftian of a decent appearance the title either of Chauadf-je, or of Barfagan, two appellations both fignify-ing merchant. A Chriftian of more ordinary drefs and equipage is called Mallim, or mafter, as they fuppofe fuch a one to be an artifan. I had afTumed the name of Abdallah, and was accordingly called in Arabia Chauadsje Abdalla, and in Perfia Abdalla Aga. In Natolia, where the Turkifh language prevails, and civility feems to be unknown, the Turks call the Chriftians of the Eaft Dsjaurler, a term extremely contemptuous. A Turk, who had hired me his mules for the journey between Aleppo and Konie, and was confequently in my fervice, never gave me another name than Dsjaur. I told him indeed, that I was not a Dsjaur, but a Frank ; and he afterwards gave me the name of Frank or Ab-dallah.
The
The behaviour of the Turks to the Chriftians correfponds to the reproachful language in which they addrefs them. In the Turkifh empire, Chriftians are obliged to wear a badge, which marks their fervile condition, and to pay a poll-tax. In Conftantinople, Chriftians, as they pafs, are required either to fweep the ftreets, and remove the filth, or to pay money, that they may be excufed. Thefe vexatious impofitions are not warranted by the government ; but fo abject is the condition of the Chriftians, that they dare not complain of an injury fuffered from a Mahometan. They are in danger of being infulted if they appear in the ftreets on days of public feftivity. I fhall mention one inftance, out of many, which I witneffed, of the infolence of the Turks. In Natolia, we met in the high way with a Turk, who being about to mount his horfe, compelled an honeft Greek merchant to alight from hi$ mule, and hold the ftirrup to him. An Arab would blufh for fuch rudenefs. A Schiech, from whom we had hired camels, ufed often to prefent his back for a ftep by which I might mount my dromedary.
I know enough of the Chriftians of the Eaft, to induce me to believe that their own concUict often draws upon them the contempt of the Turks; at leaft, the Greek merchants whom I
faw
faw in Natolia were mean, flattering, babbling creatures ; qualities which could not but render them contemptible to a haughty and ferious nation. They would eagerly run to hold the ftirrup, not only to a Turk, but even to their own Katerdsjis or horfe-hirers, with whom they condefcend to cultivate a fhameful familiarity. A Turk, who was fervant to two Greeks, called his mailers Dsjaurlers, and they him Bekir Aga, or Mr Bekir. In the prefence of the Turks, they call themfelves Dsjaurlers, and give the Turks the pompous titles of Bafckam, Ejfcndum, Sultanum, &c. exclufively; but, on the contrary, in the abfence of the Turks, they difcover an infufferable degree of vanity, and the fofteft names they give them are Kafr and Kopek. The Armenians indeed are of a different character. They are grave and fincere, behave with a degree of dignity, and know better how to command the efteem of the Turks, who treat them better than the Greeks. They fometimes, or indeed pretty often, hear themfelves called infidels ; but this reproach they laugh at, and confidently name themfelves Chriftians, by which means they come to receive the fame name from the Mahometans,
In Arabia and Perfia, the Jews are held at leaft as much in contempt as in Europe. In Turkey they are very numerous, and praclife
all
all different trades. Among thofe of them who are employed in commerce, are fome rich bankers, who often rife into credit with people in power, and afford protection to their brethren. The Arabians call them Jehudi. In Turkey, where they are infulted alike by the Muffulmans and the Chriftians, they receive the denomination of Tscbeficd, which is ftill more opprobrious than than that of Dsjat/r.
The chief part of Arabian politenefs is hofpi-tality j a virtue which is hereditary to the nation, and which they ftill exercife in its primitive fimplicity. An ambaffador fent to any prince or Schiech has his expences defrayed,, and receives prefents, according to the cuflom of the Eaft. A traveller of any diflinction, who fhould go to fee any great Schiech ) in trie defart,. would receive the fame treatment. I have fpoken occafionally of the Kans and Man/ales^ or houfes of hofpitable entertainment, in which I was received on my travels. What appears to diftinguifh the Arabians from the other inhabitants of the Eaft, is, that they exercife hofpitality to all, without refpect of rank or religion.
The Arabians invite all who come in while they are at table, to eat with them, whether great or fmall, Mahometans or Chriftians. In the caravans, I have often had the pleafure of feeing
4 3-
a poor muleteer prefs paffengers to mare his meals, and, with an air of fatisfattion, diftri-bute his little ft ore of bread and dates to whomever would accept any part of it from him. I have, on the other hand, been mocked at the behaviour even of rich Turks, who retired to a corner to eat by themfelves, that they might avoid aiking any one to partake of their fare.
When a Bedouin Shiech eats bread with ftran-gers, they may truft his fidelity, and depend upon his protection. A traveller will always do well therefore to take an early opportunity of fecuring the fnendfhip of his guide by a meal. When two Arabians falute each other, he who fpeaks firft lays his right hand on his heart, and fays," SalamAkikum" or, " peace be with yqu;" the other replies, " Aleikum ejfalam" or, " with " you be peace." Old perfons commonly add their bleffmg, or rather, " the mercy and bleffmg " of God." The Mahometans of Egypt and Syria never falute the Chriftians in thefe words; but content themfelves with faying to them, ** 6V-" bachd chair, good day," or, f* Sahfyeb falamat, " friend, how art thou ?" In Yemen, this dif-tinction is not obferved. The inhabitants of the highlands of Yemen ufe a form of falutation, of which I could never learn the meaning,
I long imagined that the ufe of a peculiar form of falutation to Chriftians was owing to the orthodox
thddox zeal of the Mahometans; but I have fince underftood that it is rather owing to a fu-perftitious averfion in the oriental Chriftians for the Muflulman form of falutation. They would not fuffer me to ufe thofe words, and would not reply in them to fome Turks who miftook their* for men of their own nation; a circumftance which eafily happens, as Chriftians fometimes ufe the white turban to procure refpecf, and to make robbers fuppofe them Turks.
Two Arabs of the defart meeting, fhake hands more than ten times. Each kiffes his own hand, and ftill repeats the queftion " how art thou.?" In Yemen, perfons who value themfelves on their good-breeding ufe many compliments. Each does as if he wifhed the other's hand, and draws back his own to avoid receiving the fame honour. At length, to end the conteft, the eldeft of the two fuffers the other to kifs his fingers. People of rank embrace their equals; and all treat one another with a degree of politenefs that furprifes ftrangers.
At vifits, they obferve nearly the fame cuftoms as the other inhabitants of the Eaft. When the vifit is an ordinary and familiar one, pipes of Kircher and Kaad are always prefented; on a vifit of ceremony, rofe-water and perfumes are added. When it is time for the vifitor to retire, a fcrvant comes in with a flafk of rofe-water, and
befprinkle?
befprinkles the company ; another perfumes the heard of the vifitor, and the wide fleeves of his gown. When we firft faw the ceremony ufed, which was at Rafchid, we were a good deal furprifed to fee a fervant fit down befide us, and eaft water upon our faces.
CHAP. VI.
Of feme peculiar CtiflomSt
In hot countries, cleaniinefs is'indifpcnfibly ne* ceffary to health. The common people, who reafon little, might forget or neglect a care fo neceffary to their welfare. For this reafon, as it fhould feem, have the founders of feveral fecb enjoined purifications and ablutions as a religious duty.
The Arabians are obliged to be extreme cleanly by the laws equally of their climate and their religion, and they obferve thefe precepts with the moft fcrupulous exactitude. They not only wafh, bathe, and pair their nails very often, but cut away all hairs from the body; and pluck them from thofe parts upon which the razor cannot be employed, that not the leaft impurity may remain upon them. Thofe are held in contempt who excercife uncleanly trades, fuch as the fer-
vants
vants at the public baths, barbers, cooks, tanners, Sec. This contempt, however, falls upon the employment, without operating to the ex-clufion of the perfon exercifing it from fociety.
Much has been laid concerning the origin of the cuftom of circumcifing infants, which feems, at a firft view, fo abfurd. Some have referred it to men's difpofition, to offer to the Deity a part of what they hold dearefl, and value as moll precious. But this feems to be an aukward attempt at pleafantry, and bcfides, is not true $ otherwife circumcifion would be pra&ifed among all nations, in all climates, and would be regarded as a religious ceremony; whereas it fubfifls only in hot countries, and there not as a religi ous inflitution, but as an old cuflom.
It is true that feveral nations, in hot climates, do not practife it, fuch as the Perfians, the Indians, and many of the inhabitants of Africa; but there are others who obferve it, although not enjoined by the precepts of their religion. Such X are the Chriftians of Abyffmia, and many of the idolatrous people of Africa. The Mahometans do not confider circumcifion as a religious duty, but merely as a laudable cuftom of their anceftors, worthy of being kept up. None but the fuperflitious Jews appear to attach ideas of religious fanctity to an obfervance which is purely civil.
Vol. II. 1 i The
The cuftom of circumcifing infants certainly owes its origin to the phyfical nature of thefe climates. There are fome corporeal defects and infirmities more common in fome countries than in others, which this practice has a tendency to remedy ; and, where thefe prevail, circumcifion is ufed. Nothing is more effectual in preventing thofe difeafes, which, in hot countries, are liable to attack certain parts, than the keeping of thofe parts very clean by frequent ablution. Circumcifion renders this ablution necef-fary, and reminds thofe, who might otherwife neglect it, of its utility. Legiflators have accordingly thought it their duty to make people take fuitable precautions for the prefervation of health, by giving this ufeful cuftom the function of laws civil and religious.
This conjecture will appear the more probable, when it is confidered that the practice of circumcifing girls is general in the fame countries in which boys are circumcifed. In Oman, on the fhores of the Perfian Gulph, among the Chriftians of Abyflinia, and in Egypt among the Arabs and Copts, this latter cuftom is prevalent. At Bafra and Bagdad, all the women of Arabian blood circumcife their daughters as well as their fons. At Kahira, the women who perform this operation are as well known as midwives. They are openly called into houfes from the ftreets,
without
without any fecret being made of the intention with which they are invited.
In Egypt, we mentioned to a nobleman, who had invited us to his country feat, our curiofity to know in what manner girls were circumcifed. He immediately made a young Arabian girl, who had been circumcifed, and was then eighteen years of age, to be called in, and allowed us to examine, in the prefence of his fervants, what changes had been produced by the operation, upon the parts, and even to make a drawing of them. I was convinced, that it is alfo out of cleanlinefs, and to render ablution eafier, that the practice of circumcifing women has been firft adopted. No law has appointed it, any more than that of boys ; it is a ufage, not a religious duty.
The corruption of dead bodies has the moft deftructive effects upon the health in hot countries ; more fo than in more temperate climates. It was therefore necelfary to fecure the inhabitants, from its noxious influence, by increafing, through religious motives, their natural averhon for dead carcafes. Mahomet, and fome other founders of fects, have for this reafon affixed ideas, of fpiritual impurity to the act of touching a dead body. Some Mulfulmans require great purification to cleanfe a man thus defiled, and feparate him for fome time from fociety.
The
The Arabians are lefs rigid ; when a perfon of this nation has had the misfortune to touch a carcafe, he wafhes himfelf carefully, and, when no mark of external impurity remains, he then returns to the ordinary intercourfe of life.
A frugal nation, who regard even fobriety as a virtue, mull: naturally aflix ideas of Ihame to every thing that indicates any degree of intemperance. The Arabians are greatly mocked when that accident happens to a man, which is the natural confequence of the fulnefs of the in-teflines after too copious a meal, and of the in-digeflion of windy articles of diet. The Chevalier D''Arvicux has been blamed as guilty of exaggeration in what he fays concerning the delicacy of the Arabs upon this fcore; but I have found all that he fays of the manners and ufages of this nation to be ftric~tly true. I am therefore inclined to believe equally what he relates concerning things which I could not obferve or verify myfelf. It mould feem that the Arabs are not all equally mocked at fuch an involuntary accident. Yet, a Bedouin, guilty of fuch a piece of indecency, would be defpifed by his countrymen. The inftance of an Arab of the tribe of Belludsjc was mentioned to me, who, for a reafon of this fort, was obliged to leave his country, and never duril return.
The
The ignorance of the Arabians fubjects them to all the illufions of fuperftition. They wear almofl all amulets upon their arms; on their fingers they have ordinary rings. Their religion is faid to oblige them to take off their rings, which are of gold, or fet with precious ftones, ivhenever they fay their prayers, which, if this precaution were neglected, would be of no efficacy. They feem to think, that, in order to be heard, they muft appear before the Deity in the utmoft humiliation and abafement.
SECTION XXVII.
OF THE LANGUAGE  AND SCIENCES  OF Tllfi ARABIANS.
CHAP. I,
Oj the Language and IVriling of the Arabians.
T- iie Arabian language, one of the moft ancient and general in the world, has had the fate of other living languages, which have been fpoken
through
354
NIEBUHR's TRAVELS
through many ages, and by the inhabitants of different provinces and countries remote from one another. It.has gradually undergone fuch an alteration, that the Arabic fpoken and written by Mahomet may now be regarded as a dead language.
From religious prejudices, perhaps the Mufful-mans in general believe, and the Arabians affert, the language of the Koran, and confequently the dialect fpoken at Mecca in the days of Mahomet, to be the pureit and molt perfect of all. That dialect, however, differs fo widely from the modern language of Arabia, that it is now taught and itudied in the college of Mecca jult as the Latin is at Rome. The fame is done through Yemen ; and is fo much the more neceffary, becaufe the dialect of that province, which differed from that of Mecca eleven centuries fince, has fuffered new and very confiderable changes fince that period. The dialect of the highlands of Yemen is faid to have the ftrongeit analogy to the language of the Koran; for thofe highlanders have little intercourfe wilh Itrangers. The old Arabic language is, through all the Ealt, jult like Latin in Europe, a learned tongue, to be acquired only in colleges, or by the perufal of the beft authors.
There is perhaps no other language diverfi-fied by fo many dialects as that of Arabia. The
nation
nation having extended their conquefts, and fent out colonies through great part of Afia, and al-moft over the whole coafts of Africa; the different people conquered by them have been obliged to fpeak the language of their new mailers and neighbours; but thofe people retained at the fame time terms and phrafes of their former language, which have debafed the purity of the Arabic, and formed a diverfity of dialects.
Thefe different dialects in Arabia bear a confiderable refemblance to thofe of Italy ; beyond the confines of Arabia, their reciprocal relations to each other are the fame as thofe of the languages of Provence, Spain, and Portugal, and all the others derived from the Latin. Even in the narrow extent of the Imam of Sana's dominions, this diverfity of dialects is very confiderable. Not only does the language of the Tehama differ from that fpoken in the highlands; but, even in the fame parts of the country, people of rank ufe words and phrafes entirely unknown to the reft of the people. Thefe dialects of Yemen differ ftill more widely from thofe ufed by the Bedouins in the defart, than from one another.
The pronunciation of one province differs equally from that of other provinces. Letters and founds are often changed in fuch a manner as to produce an entire alteration upon the words. I found the pronunciation of the Southern Arabs
more
256
NIF.BUHR*S TRAVELS
morefoft, and better adapted to European organ than that of the inhabitants of Egypt and Syria.
A fnnilar diverfity of dialects diftinguifhes the Turkifh language. The Turks of Bafra cannot underhand thofe of Conftantinople, and are no better underftood themfelves by the Turcomans of Perfia.
Although the Arabian conquerors have introduced . and eftablifhed their language in the countries which they conquered, yet their fubjects have not always left off the ufe of their mother tongue. In Syria and Paleftine, indeed, no language is to be heard but the Arabic ; and yet the Syriac is not absolutely a dead language, but is ftill fpoken in feveral villages in the Pa-chalick of Damafcus. In many places, in the neighbourhood of Merdin and Moful, the Chriftians ftill fpeak the Chaldean language ; and the inhabitants of the villages who do not frequent towns, never hear any other than their mother tongue. The Chriftians born in the cities of Merden and Moful, although they fpeak Arabic, write in the Chaldean characters, jult as the Maronites write their Arabic in Syriac letters, and the Greeks the Turkifh in Greek letters.
Many people living under the dominion of the Arabians and Turks have loft the ufe of their mother tongue.   The Greeks and Armenians
mans fettled in Egypt and Syria fpeak Arabic; and the fervices of their public worfhip are performed in two languages at once. In Natolia, thefe nations fpeak their own languages in feveral different dialects. The Turkifh officers fometimes extend their defpotifm to the language of their fubjects. A Pacha of Kayfar, who could not endure to hear the Greek language fpoken, forbade the Greeks in his Pachalic, under pain of death, to ufe any language but the Turkifh. Since that prohibition was iffued, the Chriftians of Kayfar and Angora have continued to fpeak the Turkifh, and at prefent do not even understand their original language.
The Kurdes, who are nearly independent, have preferved their ancient language, of which there are in Kurdijlan three principal dialects. I was informed that the Sabaans, who are commonly called Chriftians of St John, ftill fpeak and write their ancient language. The moft learned of the few of this fed, who are fettled in Bafra, was a farrier; him I prevailed with to write me out the characters of his language; but he wrote them fo indiftinctly, that I could form no idea of his alphabet.
I was not fortunate enough to difcover any Hamjarine infcriptions in Arabia, although I had learnt that there were fuch in feveral places written in abfolutely unknown characters. I have
Vol. II. K k already
already fpoken, in the proper place, of an in-fcription, probably ftill more ancient, which was (hown me by a Dutch renegado, and of which the characters bore a great refemblance to thofe of the infcriptions among the ruins of Perfepolis. A Maronite of Mount Libanus related to me, that grottos and ruins were to be feen upon a hill in his country, on which were unknown infcriptions, moft probably Phoenician.
The Arabic character, which was anciently in ufe, but is now entirely loft, was the Kufic. It feems to have been the alphabet of the Arabians of Mecca ; for the Koran was originally written in Kufic characters. The inhabitants of Yemen have always ufed a different alphabet, and therefore could not read the Koran, when it was firft publifhed, after the death of Mahomet. In Yemen, I copied fome infcriptions in Kufic characters, which had been engraven in the twelfth century. Thefe characters being in fome degree of a fquare form, are ftill ufed in infcriptions.
I had nattered myfelf, that I might obtain fome light from medals concerning the ancient written characters of this nation; but medals are extremely rare in Arabia; when found, they are commonly fold to the goldfmiths, and immediately melted down. In Kurdiftan, a great quantity of Grecian, Roman, and Perfian medals,
have
have been dug up, and of them better care is taken; in places remote from great towns, they are ufed as current money.
The invention of the modern characters, which are very different from the Kufic, is afcribed to a vizier. The Arabians, Perfians, and Turks, write Arabic in fets of characters differing in feveral particulars from one another. They have alfo different modes of writing for different forms of bufinefs, each of which has its particular name.
The hand-writing of the Arabians in the common bufinefs of life is not legible. The orientals, however, value themfelves on their writing, and have carried the art of making beautiful written characters to high perfection. But the Arabians value chiefly a fpecies of elegance, which con-fifts in their manner of joining their letters, the want of which makes themfelves diflike the ftyle in which Arabic books are printed in Europe.
They fign "their letters with a fort of cypher, to prevent the poffibility of counterfeiting their fignature > at leaft, the great and the learned do fo. Their letters folded are an inch in breadth, and the leaves are pafted together at one end. They cannot feal them ; for wax is fo foft in hot countries that it cannot retain an impreffion.
CHAP.
CHAP. II.
Of the Education and Schools of tl>e Arabians.
The monarchs of the Eafl do not take the fame Care, or lay out the fame expence, for the encouragement of fcience as the fOvereigns of Europe. In Arabia, therefore, are neither numerous academies, nor men of profound learning.
Yet the Arabian youth are not entirely neglected. In the cities, many of the lowcft of the people are taught both to read and write ; the fame qualifications are alfo common among the Shiechs of the defart, and in Egypt. Perfons of distinction retain preceptors in their families to inflrudt their children and young flaves; for they bring up fuch of their young flaves as appear to poffefs natural abilities, like children of the family.
In aimoft every mofque is a fchool, denominated Mceddraffe, having a foundation for the fupport of teachers, and the entertainment and instruction of poor fcholars. In great towns are likewife other fchools, to which people of middle rank fend their children to receive religious in-ftrudion, and to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. I have often feen fchools of this fort in the market place; they are open like
fhop?
Ihops towards the ftreet. The noife and appearance of palfengers does not feetn to divert the attention of the fcholars, who fit before a fmall defk, and read their leffons aloud, balancing themfelves conlfantly in their feats; to fuch a degree does motion appear necelfary to roufe and keep up the attention of the inhabitants of hot countries. No girls attend thefe fchools; they are privately taught by women.
Befide thefe fmall fchools, there are fome more confiderable feminaries of education in fome great towns in Arabia, Thefe are colleges in which the fciences of aftronomy, aftrology, philofophy, and medicine are taught; in thefe the Arabians, although poffened of natural abilities, have, for want of good books and mafters, made but little progrefs. In the dominions of the Imam, there have long been two famous academies -t one at Zcbid for Sunnites, and the other at Da-mar for the Zeidites. When I palled through thefe two cities, I happened to neglect making myfelf acquainted with the profeflors, or acquiring any knowledge of their fyftem of in-ftruction. I fuppofe, however, that the fame ftudies are cultivated in thefe two academies as in that of Dsjatnea el Jfiar at Kahira.
The interpretation of the Koran, and the ftudy of the ancient hiftory of the Mahometans, are the principal employments of men of letters
among
among the Arabians. Thefe ftudies take up much time; for the ftudent mitft not only acquire the ancient Arabic, but alfo make himfelf Familiar with all the commentators on the Koran, the number of whom is very confiderable.
I was informed, that all men of letters undergo a public examination, before they can be promoted to any employment, civil or ecclefi-aftical. Yet thofe examinations are furely conducted with partiality; for many perfons, indifferently qualified, rife to confiderable offices, while men of merit are often obliged to act as tranfcribers or fchoohnafters.
CHAP. III. *
Of Arabian Poetry and Eloquence.
The Arabians have been always accounted admirers of poetry. Their early hiftory records many inftances of the eftimation in which they held this art, even before the days of Mahomet, and of the glory which any family acquired that produced a poet.
The Arabians have no great poets among them at prefent, although they ftill cultivate poetry, and fometimes reward thofe who excel in it.   The belt poets are among the Bedouins
of
of Dsjof. A Schiech of that country was, a few years fince, imprifoned at Sana. The Schiech, obferving a bird upon the roof of a houfe, recollected the opinion of thofe pious Muffulmans, who think it a meritorious action to deliver a bird from a cage. He thought that he himfelf had as good a right to liberty as any bird, and expreffed this idea in a poem, which his guards got by heart, and which becoming generally known, at lengthreached the Monarch's ears, who was fo pleafed with it, that he fet the Schiech at liberty, although he had been guilty of various acts of robbery.
The Arabians often fing the exploits of their Schiechs. Not long fince, the tribe of Khafael having obtained a victory over the Pacha of Bagdad, made a fong, in which the actions of every one of their chiefs were celebrated. But the tribe of Khafael being beaten next year by the Pacha, a poet of Bagdad made a parody of the Arabian fong, in which he extolled the valour °f the Pacha and his officers. In my time, the fong of the Arabians ftill continued to be fung at Bagdad, and among the Bedouins. When -4fad, Pacha of Damafcus, who had long commanded the caravans, and was beloved by the Arabians, was alfaffinated by order of the Sultan, the Bedouins made an elegy on his death, aim fang it openly in the towns of Syria. That
piece
«66
NIEE-UHr's TRAVELS
piece is in the form of a dialogue between fome Arabians, the daughter of the Schiech of the tribe of llarb, and the lieutenant of the aflafli-nated Pacha.
A Maronite informed me, that the poets of of Syria fent their compofitions to the academy of Dsjamca cl AJhar, at Kahira; and did not fmg them publicly till they had received the approbation of that academy.
In a country like Arabia, where occafions of fpeaking in public feldom occur, eloquence is an ufelefs accomplifhment, and therefore cannot be much cultivated. The Arabians fay, however, that they hear great orators in their mofques. As Europeans are not admitted to hear thofe fermons, I never had an opportunity to fatisfy myfelf in refpect to the truth of this account of the facred eloquence of Arabia.
The only theatres for the exercife of profane eloquence are the coffee-houfes in Arabia, Egypt, and Syria. Thofe coffee-houfes are commonly forge halls, which have their floors fpread with ftraw mats, and are illuminated at night by a multitude of lamps. The guefts are ferved with pipes, and a cup of coffee. As the Arabians never engage in any game, and fit ftill without entering into converfation with one an-another, they would find their evenings ex-■rcmcly irkfome, if readers and orators did not
attend
attend in the coffee-houfes to amufe them. Thefe are commonly Mullachs, or poor fcholars.
Such of them as are content with the praife of reading or repeating the works of others, felect chofen paffages from fome favourite authors, fuch as, among the Arabians, the hiftory of Autar, an Arabian hero who lived before Mahomet ; the adventures of Ruflan Sal, a Perfian hero ; or of Beber, king of Egypt; the hiftory of the Ayubiies, anciently fovereigns of Arabia ; and the life of Bahluldan, a buffoon in the court of Haroun El Rafchid. The leaft of thefe books contains fome good morality.
Thofe Mullahs who afpire to the praife of invention make tales and fables, which they walk about and recite ; or affuming oratorical confequence, deliver difcourfes upon any fubjects they choofe. When the orator has ended, he obtains a voluntary contribution from his hearers. This, although but a very moderate reward, encourages thofe poor Mullachs to learn to recite gracefully, or to compofe tales and fpeeches with fome fuc-cefs. At Aleppo, I heard of a man of diftinc-tion who ftudied for his own pleafure, yet had gone the round of all the colfee-houfes in the city to pronounce moral harangues.
At Conftantinople, affemblies in the coffee-houfes are, for political reafons, prohibited ; and the decoction of coffee is fold only in the Vol. II, L 1 (hops.
(hops. The Turks, an ignorant, grave, and filent nation, are indeed not fond of public orators, and have no relifh for an amufement, fo delightful to the Arabians, who have greater fenft-bility for the beauties of poetry and eloquence.
CHAP. IV.
Of the Ajironomy of the Arabians.
The modes of the divifion of time in ufe a-mong the Arabians fhow how little progrefs this nation have made in aflronomy. They know-indeed a little of it elements j but this, it fhould feem, rather from tradition, than from any ob-fervations of their own.
The Arabian day confifls of twenty-four hours, and lafls from fun-fetting to fun-fetting, Their hours are therefore of uncertain duration, and vary with the length of the natural day, or the time during which the fun is above the horizon. As they are flrangers to the ufe of watches, none of them has any precife idea of the dura-ration of their hours, but, like the peafants of Europe, they dillinguifh the different parts of the day by vague, uncertain denominations, which only approach near the truth.
Their year confifls of twelve lunar months. They begin the month with the new moon ; and,
when
when the Iky is fo clouded that they cannot fee her rife, then they make no difficulty of beginning the month a day or two later. Thus all their months go the round of the feafons ; and this divifion of the year marks out no period for the labours of hufbandry, or any of the other employments of civil life. To obviate this inconvenience, the learned reckon by other months correfponding to the courfe of the folar year, and confuting of the fame number of days as ours.
In Arabia, as in other Mahometan countries, two great feftivals are annually celebrated ; that of offerings, called Arafa or Corban, and that of Beiram, immediately after Ramadan. The reckoning by lunar months occahons thefe feftivals alfo to circulate through the whole year. When the faft of Ramadan falls in Summer, it is extremely diftreffing ; for the people, however employed in labour, dare tafle nothing, even in the longeft days of the year, till the fun is down.
At Conftantinople, the Sultan's aftronomer compofes every year a portable almanac, of which there are at leaft feveral copies made. But, in Egypt and Arabia, this mode of acquainting the people with the return of the feftivals, and the progrefs of the feafons, has not been thought of; and fo ignorant are they on this head, that the fame feftival is fometimes two days earlier,
and
and fometimes as much later than the jufl time, and often on different days at different places. A cloud hiding the new moon from one city, while ffie is feen by another, will be fufficient to produce thefe irregularities.
It is not for want of a paflion for aflroriomy that the Arabians have made fo little progrefs in this fcience. But they want books and instruments. I found fome of the nobles curious to iee, and to aiM at astronomical obfervations; and fome of their learned men paffed whole nights with me in examining the heavens. They have the work of Abdarachman cs Soft upon the constellations, and the tables of Ulugb Bcigb, by which fome astronomers in the great towns are enabled to calculate eclipfes. Their instruments arc a celestial globe of copper, beitudded with golden ftars, which they well know how to ufe t an aftrolabe of brafs, and a quadrant of wood, to take altitudes, and to determine the hour for prayer.
I was told that the Perfians, but particularly the Brachmans, were more ikilful astronomers than the Arabians ; yet, to judge from the instruments and converfation of a Perfian astrologer whom I met with at Surat, and of a Brach-man with whom I was acquainted at Bombay, thefe two nations are equally unlkilful as the inhabitants of Arabia.   In making calculations,
the
the Perfian ufed the tables of TJlugh Btigh, and the Brachman a book which he called Grola Go, and its author Gunnis, The Indian's inflru-ments were a bowl of copper, having a hole in the bottom, fet in water, which ferved him for a pendulum, with an indifferent folar circle.
It is known to the aftrologers, and to all men of fenfe in Arabia, that eclipfes are owing to the interception of the light of one heavenly body by the interpofition of another. But the people ftill maintain the fuperftitious opinion, that a huge fifli purfues the planet which is eclipfed. To chafe away the hfh, women and children get upon the roofs of the houfes, and make a noife during the eclipfe by beating upon brazen kettles and bafons. The rife of this cuftom is referred to an Arabian aftronomer, who perfuad-ed the people of this fable, that they might make a noife great enough to reach the ears of the Caliph of Perfia, who had refufed to credit that aflronomer's prediction of the eclipfe.
The Arabians feem to fludy aftronomy fole-ly with a view to their fuccefs in the cultivation of aflrology, a fcience highly efteemed and very lucrative in the Eaft. When I told the firft aftronomer in Kahira of the contempt in which we hold aflrology in Europe, he replied, that it was a divine fcience, the depths of which man could not fathom.   He at the fame time acknowledged to
me
NIEEUHR*S TRAVELS
me the uncertainty of his calculations; but5 added he, people defire only to know what my books fay of their affairs, and that 1 hone Illy tell them.
The Koran exprefsly forbids all Moflems to pry into futurity by any form of divination ; and the mofl famous commentators for this reafon reprefent the ftudy of aflrology as criminal. But, notwithstanding the decifion of thofe doctors, the Mahometans are all much attached to this fcience ; the Shiites, however, more than the Sunnites.   The former feet carry this fuper-flition to fuch a length, as never to conclude a bargain without trying fortune, at leafl by counting the buttons on their clothes, or the beads of their rofaries. The Perfians are not all alike weak in this refpect.   It is faid that Kerim Khan, in compliance with the popular error, undertakes nothing of confequence, without iirtt consulting the astrologers ; but he previoufly informs them of his deligns,and dictates the an-fwers which they are to return.
CHAR
CHAP V.
Of the Difenfes and Medicine of the Arabians.
A regular and temperate life preferves the body from the attacks of difeafe. The Arabian-, accordingly, are feldom fick, and hardly ever have recourfe to phyficians and medicines. When forced by extreme illnefs to call in a phyficiar, they reward him poorly, and hardly pay for the value of his medicines. When the fick perfon dies, the phyfician has no reward to hope for ; it he recovers, he foon forgets the fervices he has received. This ingratitude of their patients ha.-, taught themto ufeartifices often diflioneft and dif-graceful, in order to obtain payment from the patient beforehand.
In Arabia, therefore, we cannot expect to find great phyficians. Thofe who there praftife the art of medicine, know little more than the technical terms, fuch as they find them in the bockc of Aviccnna, and fome little matters about the ufe of fimples. All the phyficiaiiG whom I knew in Yemen acted at the fame time as chemiffs, apothecaries, furgeons, and horfe-dodors; and yet, by the practice of all thefe arts together, could hardly earn a livelihood.
The
The Arabians have many family nottrums, which they apply with much fuccefs. A pea-fant from the highlands extracted, by incifion, a Iact.eous juice from a fpongy tree, and by fwal-lowing drops of it, which he knew to be a poifon, if taken in greater quantity, gave himfelf a purge.
The Bedouin heals wounds which have been made with clear arms, by applying to them raw flefh from a camel newly killed. A man on board the Arabian veffel in which we failed from Jidda to Lohcya complained of a colic, upon which his maflcr put an iron in the fire, and applied it hot to him till his pains ccafed.
In Yemen the anointing of the body is believed to ftrengthen and protect it from the heat of the fun, which the inhabitants of this province, as they wear fo little clothing, are very liable to fuller. Oil, by clofmg up the pores of the fkin, is fuppofed to prevent that too copious tranfpi-ration which enfeebles the frame. Perhaps too thefe Arabians think a glittering ikin a beauty. When the intenfe heat comes in, they always anoint their bodies with bad oil. At Sana, all the Jews, and many of the Mahometans have their bodies anointed, whenever they find themfelves indifpofed. The extreme unction of the Chriftians in the Eaft does not affect the health ; for they are obliged to pay their patriarch fo dear a price for the pretended holy oil, that, out of
frugality
iFrugality, the point of a fdver needle only is dipped in the oil, and what adheres to it dropped upon the dying perfon.  . .
It was formerly imagined that the Arabians would rather die than endure the administration of a glyfler; but our phyfician prevailed with feveral perfons of distinction at Cairo to take this remedy. Every one was fhocked, however, when he propofed it for a woman. Bleeding b feldom employed in Arabia; yet, a Banian bled one of us with great dexterity at Mokha. In Yemen, it is pretty frequently ufed. At Bafra, the lower people, efpecially porters, fcarify their legs, in the idea that this practice has a tendency to improve their flrength.
Toothachs are lefs common in Arabia thaR in Europe, becaufe the inhabitants warn the „mouth, after eating, more carefully than we. In the towns, however, this diforder is not un«. known, and is afcribed to the infectious fmell with which the air is tainted from the common fewers. At Bafra, where thefe are not carefully cleanfed, the teeth of the inhabitants are very much fpoiled; and I have feen a barber flopped in the ftrcet, by a perfon in pain, to draw out his teeth publicly. Thefe toothachs are not owing to the ufe of coffee, for they were common in Egypt before this beverage was drunk there. A Mullah told me that an Arabian had Vol. II. M m been
been cured of a tooth-ach by introducing into a hollow tooth the fmoke of a certain plant, which had brought feveral fmall worms out of that tooth.
A difeafe very common in Yemen is the attack of the Guinea-worm, or the Vena Medincnfis, as it is called by the phyficians of Europe. This difeafe is fuppofed to be occasioned by the ufe of the putrid waters, which people are obliged to drink in feveral parts of Yemen ; and for this reafon the Arabians always pafs water, with the nature of which they are unacquainted, through a linen cloth, before drinking it. When one unfortunately fwallows any of the eggs of this infecf, no immediate confequence follows ; but after a confiderable time the worm begins to fhew itfelf through the fkin. Our phyfician, Mr Cramer, was, within a few days of his death, attacked by five of thefe worms at once, although this was more than five months after we had left Arabia. In the ifle of Karek, I faw a French officer, named Le Page, who, after a long and difficult journey, performed on foot, and in an Indian drefs, between Pondicherry and Surat, through the heat of India, was bufy extracting a worm out of his body. He fuppofed that he had got it by drinking bad water in the country of the Marattas.
This
IN ARABIA,  SgV. 277
This diforder is not dangerous, if the perfon affected can extract the worm without breaking it. With this view, it is rolled on a fmall bit of wood, as it comes out of the fkin. It is flender as a thread, and two or three feet long. It gives no pain as it makes its way out of the body, unlefs what may be occafioned by the caie which muft be taken of it for fome weeks. If unluckily it is broken, it then returns into the body, and the molt difagreeable confequences enfue, palfy, a gangrene, and fometimes death.
As venomous ferpents are very common in hot, dry countries, it often happens that they bite people who have occafion to be much in the open fields. The Arabians would not, for any compenfation, teach us the fecret by which they cure their bites, and prevent the effects of the poifon. But, a Shiech at Bafra, who was celebrated for his fkill in the occult fciences, informed me, that he ufed to fcarify the wound, and then rubbed it to his mouth, and fucked the poifon without danger to himfelf, and with the happieft fuccefs* This mode of cure is not unlike that of the Hottentots, who apply bruif-ed flices of a fort of white onion to wounds of this fort. Over all the Eaft, the power of fym-pathy in curing difeafes is firmly believed. Some inftances were mentioned to me of perfons who had healed others bitten by ferpents, at a diftance,
without
without feeing them, or applying any remedies to them.
Befides, the ferpents of Afia are not ali alike dangerous. Some are harmlefs and familiar, take refuge in the walls of houfes, and are ef-teemed agreeable guefts by the inhabitants. The failors brought a ferpent of this character on board our fhip, after it had been inadvertently carried out, leaft its abfence might prove unlucky to the veffel.
The leprofy feems to have been always an endemic difeafe in Arabia; for there is one fpe-cies of leprofy which authors diftinguifti by the character of Arabian. Three different varieties of this difeafe are known here at prefent; of which two, named Bohak and Barras, are rather difgufting than dangerous; but the third, called Juddam, is very malignant, and apparently infectious. This latter exhibits the fame fymptoms which the Englifh phyfician Hillary afcribes to what he calls the leprofy of the joints.
The Turks, from a mifconception of the doctrine of predestination, ufe no precautions againft the plague \ but the Arabians, although true Muffulmans, are more careful in refpect to the feprofy. The laft prince of Abu Schahhr ufed to fend to the ifle of Bahhrein all who were attacked with the lebrofy, or with venereal complaints.  At Bafra, lepers are fhut up in a houfe
by themfelves; and there is a quarter in Bagdad furrounded with walls, and full of barracks, to which lepers are carried by force, if they retire not thither voluntarily; but government does not feem to provide with any care for the maintenance of thofe lepers. They come out every Friday to the market place to alk alms.
It is faid that thefe wretched creatures are much inclined to footh their mifery in the enjoyments of love. Not many years fince, a leper employed a cruel ftratagem in order to obtain a woman with whom he was in love. He wore a fine fhirt for a few days, and then caufed it to be privately fold, for a trifling price, to the object of his paffion. When he knew that the leprofy had made its appearance upon her, he informed againft her, and procured her to be fhut up with himfelf in the barracks.
At Bombay, the leprofy is not uncommon among the lower people ; but it feems not to be of a dangerons nature; for there lepers are permitted to work in company with perfons not affected with the difeafe. In India, as in Arabia, the leprofy is thought to be occafioned chiefly by the unwholefome food, efpecially putrid fifti, ufed by the people. Mr Forfkal has left a de-fcription of the different varieties of the leprofy, which muft be valuable to phyficians.
I could learn nothing concerning the origin of the plague. It is at leaft not owing to the putrefaction of the waters at Cairo. The Chriftians who live on the banks of the great canal are never annoyed by it. Whatever has been faid concerning certain difeafes preferving thofe who are affected by them from the contagion of the plague, is founded on prejudices which have been refuted by experience, and particularly by the obfervations of Dr Rujfrf, a fkilful phyfician at Aleppo.
Inoculation for the fmall-pox has been in ufe from time immemorial among the Bedouins. Mothers perform this operation on their children, opening the Ikin of the arm with the prickle of a thorn. An Arabian of the ifle of Lam, fituate on the fouth-eaft coaft of Africa, informed me at Bombay, that inoculation had been known and practifed in his country for fe? veral ages.
CHAP. VI.
Of the Occult Sciences of the Arabians.
To fpeak of the occult fciences of any people, is to defcribe their ignorance, weaknefs of understanding, and wildnefs of imagination. Such
a
1ST ARABIA, &fY.
& defcription would be too humiliating to human pride, did it not at the fame time afford us conization, by fhewing from what endlefs abfurdi* ties we are faved by the fhidy of found philc-fophy, particularly of phyhcs.
Thofe pretended occult fciences are in high efli-mation among the Arabians. None dare practife them, unlefs previoufly authorifed by a mafter in the art, after ferving a fort of apprenticefhip ; or, as the Arabians fay, without having for fome time fpread the carpet for prayer before the feet of a famous mafter. A certain proof of their veneration for thefe fciences, is, that one of the firft men in Mecca, and of the higheft nobility in Arabia, Shiech Mohammed el Dsjanadsjeni, is now the moft celebrated mafter of the fcience of Ifm Allah.
This fcience of Ifm Allah, or of the name of God, is the moft fublime of all j for God is the lock, as Mahomet is the key ; and confequently none but Muffulmans can acquire it. It enables its poffeffor to difcover what is paffing in the moft diftant countries, to make himfelf familiar with genii, and to oblige them to obey his plea-fure; to difpofe of the winds and feafons as he choofes; and to cure the bites of ferpents, and many other difeafes or infirmities. Perfons who have advanced far in the ftudy of this fcience, have attained, as there are inftances to prove, to
a
a facility of performing their prayers at noon5 in the Kaba at Mecca, without going out of their own houfes in Bagdad or Aden for the refl of the day. A merchant of Mecca, who had flu-died this fcience in that city, under the famous Dsjanadsjeni, affured me, that he had himfelf, when in danger of perifhing at fea, fixed to the malt a billet written by the rules of art, which inflantly calmed the florm. The art of discovering hidden treafure belongs alfo to this fcience, in which the Magrcbins or Arabians of Barbary are known to excel.
The art of procuring fublime vifions is not unknown to thefe Arabians j they ufe the fame means which are employed by the devotees of certain focietics in Europe. They fhut themfelves up for a long time without eating or drinking, in a dark place, and continue to repeat their prayers aloud till they faint away. After recovering from the fwoon, and leaving the cave, they relate what they have feen in their trance. The common pretences are, that they have be-held God in his glory, angels, and fpirits of all forts, heaven and hell.
The fecond of thefe fciences, called Simia, is not of fo exalted a nature, but has fomething human in it. It only teaches juggling tricks. Although the mofl fenfible of the Mahometan clergy difapprove of this fcience, fome orders of
dervifes.
dervifes, however, apply to it, and practife it, as they fay, to prove the truth of their religion, and the fanctity of the founder of their order. Thefe pretended miracles are no where oftencr performed than at Bafra, where I have feen a company of dervifes, of the order, of Bed-reddin, walk all day about in the ftreets, leaping, dan-cing,beating the drum,and making gefticulations with fharp pointed irons, which they feemed to ftrike into their eyes.
In the fame city, I was prefent at a feftival which the dervifes of this order celebrate every year in honour of the birth of Mahomet. The fcene was in the open air, and in the court of the mofque, which was illuminated with only three lamps. Several Mullahs and dervifes began with finging fome paffages out of the Koran. They continued to fing, with the accompaniment of fome drums; and, during the mufic, the other dervifes arofe, took the fharp pointed irons, and did as if they were piercing their bodies, and even driving the irons with mallets into their flefh. Next appeared the principal actor, who, afluming an air of infpiration, directed the mufic to proceed, and to be raifed to higher animation, in order to affift his enthufiafm, or rather to ftun the ears of the fpeclators. In his extacy, he threw up his turban in the air, loofe-ned his hair j for this order of dervifes wear their Vol, II. N n, hair,
hair ; and pierced his body with five lances \ Then mounting upon a low building, upon which a pole, fixteen feet long, and fhod with a fharp iron point, had been fet up, he impaled himfelf upon the pole, and was carried in this condition through the fquare.
It was an affecting fight, to fee a lean man, with a long beard, and difhevelled hair, wounded all over with fpikes, and then carried about fpitted upon a pole. I faid, as I went away, to a Mullah of my acquaintance, that the dervife performed his tricks by means of a broad belt which he carried in his long wide drawers. The Mullah replied, that he had fufpected fome fuch art, but avoided mentioning his fufpicions, leaft he might draw upon himfelf the enmity of the order of Bedr Kddin ; for that one of his brethren had experienced great perfecution from thole dervifes, in confequence of prefuming to hint his doubts of the reality of their miracles.
Underftanding that the impaled dervife went alfo about, exhibiting in private houfes for money, I offered him two ducats, if he would come and (hew me what he could do. He accepted my offer, came, and began with a long harangue on the dignity of his order, and its founder, who had tranfmitted to his difciples the gift of working miracles. After this he prayed, and pufhed the fpikes with violence into his
head
head and body. I examined the places into which the points had feemed to enter, and found the (kin (lightly torn, but without effufion of blood. 1 however thought that he had fuffered enough for two ducats, and difmiffed him.
The fcience of Kurra teaches to compofe billets, which fecure the wearer from the power of enchantment, and from accidents of all forts. Thofe billets are inclofed in fmall purfes of fkin, and worn on the head, the arm, or the breaft. They are likewife bound upon the necks of horfes and affes, to give them an appetite for their food, or to tame them when unmanageable. In the citadel of Diarbekir, a billet of this fort put an end to a troublefome croaking of frogs. A man of eminence in Aleppo diftri-butes every year, gratis, billets for freeing houfes from flies. The efficacy of thefe billets depends on the day, the hour, and the particular condition of the meffenger who is fent to afk for them. Old women continue to ufe them, however often they fail, being fimple enough to fuppofe always that fome of the conditions requifite to the efficacy of the billets have been wanting when they have been unfuccefsful. Thefe billets are not the worfe for being written by a Jew or a Chriftian. Being thought an aftrologer, I was often aiked for fuch. Thefe billets arc at leaft no worfe than thofe for making hens lay, which
were
■i86
NIEUUHr's travels
were publicly fold by a Jcfuit, in the middle of the eighteenth century, and among enlightened nations.
The fcience of Ramie is properly the art of fortune-telling. Jews, as well as Muffulmans, deal in it. When a man falls fick, his friends, in order to learn whether he will recover, fend to confult a Mullah, who returns an anfwer, after examining his book, and receives for .his pains a cock or a fheep.
The Sunnite clergy condemn the practice of thefe two laft fciences; yet they are tolerated, becaufe they afford a livelihood to a great number of poor fcribes. As the Arabians are in general covetous, men of wealth and diftinction too often practife thefe low arts for gaining money.
A fcience truly occult, and which every Arabian of worth muft hold in abhorrence, is what they call Sihbr, or pure open forcery. The end of this fcience is rather to do mifchief to another perfon than to do good to the perfon who practifes it. It is fometimes employed* however, to fed ace a wife from the arms of her hufband into thofe of a flranger. All that is re-quifite for this is to fix a certain billet on her door. The inhabitants of Oman are peculiarly Ikilled in this execrable fcience : Yet they are certainly inferior to our European forcerers; for
they
they know nothing of the art of riding through the air on a broomftick, or of nocturnal aftem-blies under the prefidency of the devil.
I found in Arabia more votaries than I expected of an occult fcience of a different fort, the purfuit of the philofopher's ftone. The Arabians are fo paflionately addicted to this fcience, which is the object of their higheft wifhcs, and mod eager refearches, that they often ruin their fortunes by it, as the alchemifts of Europe have been accuftomed to do. They fuppofe the fecret of making gold to be known in Europe, cfpccially among the Venetians. They have books in their own language which treat of that fcience, and infpire them with wild hopes. It Ihould feem, that the idea of the philofopher's ftone is originally oriental, and has been brought weftward, like many other foolifh fables.
At Beit el Fakih, we became acquainted with two alchemifts, who wrought each by the precepts of a particular book. The one, who was an amiable, and, in all other refpects, a fenfible man, was fure of fuccefs, as he imagined, if he could find a certain herb, which he believed to grow on the hills of Yemen. As he fuppofed us to be likewife alchemifts, and to have come on purpofe to feek that wonderful herb, he cultivated the intimacy of Mr Fofkal, and was of sjreat ufe to him in his botanical excurfionsj
but
but the poor man, who has already waited ali his own fubftance, and was then working at the expence of a rich nobleman, was not fortunate enough to find the herb he fought. There is faid to be an herb on Mount Libanus which communicates a yellow golden hue to the teeth of the goats which graze upon it. The obfervation of this fact may perhaps have given rife to the opinion of the efficacy of an herb in promoting the great work.
The other of thefe Arabian alchemifts was a fort of phyfician, fo poor that he had not wherewith to buy a glafs alembic. He believed that he fhould iucceed in making gold if he could difcover the meaning of a particular term in his book. Knowing that Mr Von Haven was a linguift, he applied to him for the explanation of a barbarous term which nobody could underftand.
SECT.
SECTION XXVIII.
AGRICULTURE OF THE ARABIANS.
CHAP. I.
Fertility of the Soil.
A traveller, who is obliged to fpend the greateft part of his time in towns, and has only a tranfi-ent view of the country, cannot well acquire juft ideas of the fertility of the lands, or the modes of cultivation. I neglected no opportunity that offered of obtaining information, concerning the ftate of agriculture in the Eaft, from fuch perfons as I underftood to be beft qualified to give it. I fhall here fet down what came to my knowledge concerning the fertility of Arabia Proper, and of thofe other countries in which the Arabians have fettlements.
The moft fertile foil I heard of is in Egypt, and in the lands lying immediately around Alexandria.   By the accounts of the European mer-, chants
chants in that city, wheat yields an hundred fold increafe ; but the peafants told Mr Forfkal, that their moll plenteous wheat harvefts afforded no greater returns than from thirty to feventy fold, and, in fome places, from fifteen to twenty fold. It is at leaft certain, that the lands of Egypt, although watered by the Nile, afford in all other places only an increafe of tenfold. Granger never met with a greater produce than this laft.
In Mefopotamia, in the vicinity of Kelle, Bagdad, and Bafra, where the lands are watered by the Euphrates and the Tigris, it is thought a fin-gularly good crop when the increafe is twenty-fold j nobody remembers having feen thirty-fold produced.
In the plains of Affyria, at Erbil, and in the neighbourhood of Moful, the cultivated grounds yield only a return of ten or fifteen to one. But corn of thefe countries, which are watered folely by rain, is of a better quality, and produces more meal than what grows upon fields artificially watered. Fifteen fold is better in Affyria than twenty fold in Mefopotamia. In the neighbourhood of Diarbekir, the ordinary wheat-crop is from four to fifteen fold.
An inhabitant of Merdan affured me that he reaped fifty for one in barley ; a return which he himfelf confidered as extraordinary; the u-
fual
fual increafe being only from feven to fifteen. Upon more particular inquiry refpecling this fact, I learned that there were in this country two different forts of barley, the common and black barley. The latter ferves beft for the ufe of cattle, and yields fifty fold ; while the increafe of the common barley never exceeds fifteen fold. There are likewife two forts of wheat, one of which yields a larger return than the other, and yet is feldomer fown, becaufe it exhaufts the ground more.
In Syria, near Aleppo, nobody could recollect more than one harveft that had yielded above twenty to one. The peafants between Saide and Damafcus, and thofe about Bethlehem, had never, in their beft years even, reaped more than from twelve to fifteen fold increafe.
In Arabia, in the environs of Mafkat, wheat, yields ten to one. In the province of Yemen, agriculture feems to be farther advanced than in the other parts of the Eaft. I was allured, that, in the beft cultivated diftricts, wheat yields an increafe of fifty fold ; durra, in the highlands, an hundred and forty ; and in the Tehama, from two hundred even to four hundred. The latter product may appear incredible ; but, by their mode of fowing and watering this grain, the inhabitants of the Tehama reap three fucceffive crops from the fame field, in the
Vol. II, O q fame
fame year. Durra is, in general, the moft productive grain. Granger fays, that, on the banks of the Nile, it yields fifty to one.
Thefe particulars may afford fome ge: idea of the productive powers of land i. JEaft. The ancients, and fome modern trai >-lers, with a view, it fhould feem, to g'arnifh their works with wonders, have related things abfolutely incredible of the fertility of thefe regions. Their calculations have either been intentionally enlarged beyond the truth, or the natives have impofed upon them;
Yet it is not impoffible to bring their accounts within the bounds of probability. It is a vague way of eftimating the fertility of any foil, to fay that the produce is in fuch a proportion to the feed. Skilful modes of tilling and fowing may give a great faving of feed, as I fhall foon have occafion to remark, when fpeaking of the agriculture of the peafants of Yemen. If, then, a piece of ground, where one half of the feed has been loft through the unfkilfulnefs of the fower, yet produces ten fold in the crop, another piece bf ground, of the fame degree of fertility, and fbwn with only half the quantity of feed, will yield twenty for one, and will consequently feem, upon a halty confideration, to be twice as fertile. This circumftance does not appear to have been duly attended to, by either the ancients or
the
the moderns, in their accounts of the fertility of diftant countries.
Neither do they ftate what fort of grain they allude to in their calculations of the produce of the lands. We have feen that there is a great difference between the increafe of wheat and that of durra. The latter grain^ a fort of coarfe millet, known in Denmark by the name of Sargo, has been found in Europe to be friendly to the fertility of the lands on which it is fown ; but being of little value, in comparifon with our other grains, it is now very feldom fown. In the Eaft, it appears to have been in ufe from time immemorial. The Arabians ufe it as their chief article of food. It is fown in Egypt, Mefopotamia, and Affyria. The peafants of Syria and Paleftine fell their wheat, and live upon durra. It fhould feem, therefore, that what fome authors have related concerning the aftonifhing fertility of fome countries in the Eaft, is to be underftood of this durra.
CHAP.
294
NIEBUHR'iJ TRAVELS
CHAP. II.
Of the Modes of Plowing and Sowing.
1 he foil not being every where alike good, and the climate varying greatly through the countries of the Eafl, the modes of cultivation here practifed are alfo confiderably diverfified. In Egypt, Affyria, Mefopotamia, and Syria, agriculture is very much neglected ; and thefe provinces are fo thinly inhabited, that much valuable land is fuffered to lie wafte.
In Arabia, the government of which is lefs inaufpicious to agricultural induftry, hulbandry is in a more profperous condition. Yet the inftruments of hufbandry are, even here, coarfe and ill made. The plough ufed is of a very fimple ffrucfure, is drawn by oxen, and is dragged over the ground in every direction, till the foil feems to be fufficiently broken and loofened for the reception of the feed. In the neighbourhood of Bagdad, I faw affes yoked in the plough with oxen ; and near Moful, two mules. In cultivating their gardens, and fuch fpots in their fields as are not acceilible to the plough, the Arabians ufe a fort of hoe, and in digging very deep, a large crow, managed by two men,
one
one of whom preffes it in the ground, and the other draws it towards himfelf with cords.
In many parts in Yemen, whole fields are cultivated like a garden. Agriculture is in fuch places, however, a very laborious talk, for much care is requifite in watering the grounds. In the highland part of this province, the fields are often formed into terraces, and watered in the rainy feafon by canals from the hills. The inhabitants of the plain are obliged to encompafs their fields with dykes, in order that the water may remain for fome time upon the furface of the ground. I have already defcribed both thefe modes of watering the fields, in the narrative of my journies to Zebid, and in the highlands.
The inhabitants of the upper parts of Yemen collect the water necelfary for their fields in dams formed at the foot of the hills. Befide private dams, there are likewife very large public refervoirs, formed by carrying a wall between two hills. In the plain of Damar, the fields are watered out of very deep draw-wells, from which the water is drawn by ftrength of arm. It is furprifing that the Arabians adopt not the hydraulic machines which are ufed by their neighbours in Egypt, and in India.
I faw them fow in the highlands of Yemen. A peafant bearing a fackful of lentiles, dropped *hem here and there in the furrows, juft as we
fow
fow peas in our gardens; and, as he went on, covered the feed by pufhing in the mould with his feet from both fides. In other places, the fower followed the ploughman, and call the feed into the furrow, which the other returning covered up with his plough. Both thefe modes of fowing are exceedingly troublefome ; for the fower muft make as many turns backwards and forwards as there are furrows ; but there is a faving in the quantity of the feed, no part of which can be withered by the winds, or pecked up by birds. In Arabia in general, only a fmall quantity of feed is ufed ; the peafant, trufting to the regularity of the feafons, does not expofe his grain to perifh in the ground, by fowing it at an improper time. This is another proof of* the fallacious nature of inferences concerning the fertility of ground, deduced from the proportion between the feed and the increafe.
In fome diftricts in Yemen, maize and durra are planted with the hand. I faw likewife, in the highlands, between Mofhak and Schart, fome fields in which thofe grains grew in rows, like our cabbages in Europe. They were the fineft fields I ever faw in my life. The ftalks were all of the fame height, and every plant was thriving and luxuriant. In adjoining fields were fome unpromifing enough crops of the fame grain, which is a proof that the Arabian
peafants
peafants are not all alike induftrious. The cornfields in the places about Beit el Fakih were alfo full of cockle weeds, and irregularly fown. ■ Near Mount Mharras I faw a peafant draw furrows with a fmall plough between ftraight rows of corn, of which the ftalks were from nine to ten inchest high. His oxen were fo yoked, that they paffed between the rows without treading down any of the plants. The intention of this piece of labour was to deflroy weeds, to cover the roots of the plants with earth, and to open the toil for the reception of moifture. The weeds which ftill remained were pulled up with the hand, and given to cattle. Thus the hufbandry of Tull and Du Hamel, although novel in Europe, is very old in Arabia. 1 For the prefervation of the grain, care muft be taken to drive away birds, and the deftru&ive animals. 5 To this end, the peafants watch their fields by turns. In the highlands, he who Watches feats himfelf on a tree; in the Tehama, on a fort of fcaffold, having a roof raifed over it.
CHAP.
CHAP. III.
Of the Harvefi.
The beginning of the harveft varies greatly through Arabia, not only by reafon of the differences of the latitude of places, but chiefly in confequence of the diverfities of their fituations as to high and low, and the different times in the feafon at which it becomes' convenient to water them refpe&ively. Even within the narrow extent of the Imam of Sana's dominions, there are great differences in this refpeft. At Sana, their barley was cut down on the 15th of July, while at Chamis, nearer the mountains, the lentiles were then but a fowing. In the plain of Beit el Fakih, the durra was feven feet high on the firft days of Auguft; and, at the fame time, the fields were ploughed and watered for a fecond feed in the valley of Zebid, which is only a very fhort day's journey from Beit el Fakih.
At Mafkat, wheat and barley are fown in December, and reaped about the end of March j but durra is fown in Auguft, and reaped in the end of the month of November. The date trees are fecundated in the month of December j and,
as
\
as Oman produces feveral forts of this fruit which ripen fucceffively, the inhabitants have frefh dates during the three months of February, March, and April.
In Egypt, the lands adjoining to the canals arc fown in October, and the corn is ripe in the end of February. Lands which cannot be watered from the Nile are fown in November; and, in this laft cafe, the wheat is ripe in February, and the barley in March. At Moful, the barley may be cut in the beginning of the month of May, and the wheat within forty days after. All different grains are ripe at Bagdad twenty-four days fooner than at Moful.
The Arabians pull up their ripe corn by the roots, but cut with a fickle green corn, grafs, and whatever they intend as forage for their cattle. The indians ufe the fame inltrument in cutting their rice, and pruning their cocoa trees. Both nations have a very fimple mode of fhar-pening their fickles. They pour water among a quantity of fand, and rub the blade with this fand till it is fufficiently fharpened.
In threfhing their corn, the Arabians lay the fiieaves down in a certain order, and then lead over them two oxen dragging a large ftone. This mode of feparating the ears from the ftraw is not unlike that of Egypt, of which I have^
Vol. il P p fpoken
fpoken in my defcription of the manners of that country.
In Syria, the (heaves are fpread in the open fields; and oxen drag over them a plank loaded with ftones.
The Arabians being lefs fuperftitious than the Jews, make no fcruple of fowing a field with a mixture of different grains, whenever they fuppofe that this may be done with advantage.
CHAP. W.
Of the Dcmejlic Animals.
In Arabia are abundance of all the domeftic a-nimals common in hot countries. The Arabians breed horfes, mules, alfes, camels, dromedaries, cows, buffaloes, fheep, and goats. In the fertile provinces, wild fowls are fo plentiful that they are fold at a trifling price.
Of all their domeftic animals, it is well known that the Arabians put the greateft value on their horfes. Of thefe they have two great branches, the Kadifchi, whofe defcent is unknown, and the Kochlani, of whom a written genealogy has been kept for two thoufand years. The Kadifcbi are in no better eftimation than our European
horfes,
horfes, and are ufually employed in bearing burthens, and in ordinary labour.
The Kochlani are referved for riding folely. They are highly efteemed, and confequently are very dear. They are faid to derive their origin from King Solomon's ftuds. However this may be, they are fit to bear the greateft fatigues, and can pafs whole days without food. They are alfo faid to fhow uncommon courage againft an enemy. It is even afferted, that when a horfe of this race finds himfelf wounded, and unable to bear his rider much longer, he retires from the fray, and conveys him to a place of fecurity. If the rider falls upon the ground, his horfe remains befide him, and neighs till af-fiftance is brought. The Kochlani are neither large nor handfome, but amazingly fwift: It is not for their figure, but for their velocity, and other good qualities, that the Arabians efteem them.
Thefe Kochlani are bred chiefly by the Bedouins fettled between Bafra, Merdin, and Syria, in which countries the nobility never choofe to ride horfes of any other race. The whole race is divided into feveral families, each of which has its proper name : That of Dsjulfa feems to be the moft numerous. Some of thefe families have a higher reputation than others, 0n account of their more ancient and unconta-
minated,
minated nobility. Although it is known, by experience, that the Kochlani are often inferior to the Kadifchi, yet the mares at leaft, of the former, are always preferred, in the hopes of a fine pro-geny.
The Arabians have indeed no tables of genealogy to prove the defcent of their Kochlani-yet they are fure of the legitimacy of the progeny ; for a mare of this race is never covered unlefs in the prefence of witneffes, who muft be Arabians. This people do not indeed always fticlde at perjury j but in a cafe of fuch ferious importance, they are careful to deal confcienti-oufly. There is no inftance of falfe teftimony given in refpect to the defcent of a horfe. Every Arabian is perfuaded that himfelf and his whole family would be ruined, if he fhould prevaricate in giving his oath in an affair of fuch confequence.
A Chriftian, having a Kochlani mare whom he wiflies to have covered by a ftallion of the fame race, is obliged to employ an Arabian witnefs, who muft watch the mare twenty days, to be fure that fhe has been defiled by the embraces of no common horfe. During all this time, fhe muft not fee either horfe or afs, even at a diftance. When the mare produces her foal, the fame Arabian muft be prefent; and-within the firft feven days, a notorial certificate
of
in Arabia, EsrY.
3°3
of the legitimate birth of the foal is made. If there happens to be a eroding of the two breeds, the foal, whether the father or the mother be Kochlani, is always efteemed Ka~ difchi.
The Arabians make no fcruple of felling their Kochlani ftallions like other horfes; but they are unwilling to part with their mares for money. When not in a condition to fupport them, they difpofe of them to others, on the terms of having a mare in the foals, or of being at liberty to recover them, after a certain time. : Thefe Kochlani are much like the old Arabian nobility, the dignity of whofe birth is held in no effimation unlefs in their own country. Thefe horfes' are little valued by the Turks. Their country being more fertile, better watered, and lefs level, fwift horfes are lefs neceffary to them than to the Arabians. They prefer large horfes, who have a irately appearance when fumptu-oufly harneffed. It mould feem that there are alfo Kochlani in Hedsjas, and in the country of Dsjof; but I doubt if they be in effimation in the dominions of the Imam, where the horfes of men of rank appeared to me too handfome to be Kochlani. The Englifh, however, fometimes purchafe thefe horfes at the price of 800 or 1000 crowns each.   An Englifh merchant
was
was offered at Bengal twice the purchafe money for one of thefe horfes; but he fent him to England, where he hoped that he would draw four times the original price.
There are two forts of affes in Arabia j the fmaller or lazy afs, as little efleemed here as in Europe; and a large and high fpirited breed, who are highly valued. Thefe latter are fold at a high price. I thought them fitter for a journey than horfes are.
I have reafon to believe, that, in Arabia, are feveral forts of camels. Thofe in the dominions of the Imam are of a moderate fize, and a light brown colour. Thofe from Nedsjeran are large, lubbardly, and of a dark brown colour. The dromedaries of Egypt and Arabia have only one bunch upon the back j and, by fuch as have not often feen them, can be diftinguifhed from camels only by an air of lightnefs, which makes them feem fitter for running. I never but once faw dromedaries with two bunches, and that was in a town in Natolia, to which thofe I faw had been brought from the Crimea ; but they were fo large and lubbardly, that they feemed to me rather camels of a particular fpe-cies, than dromedaries.
Buffaloes are to be found in all the marfhy countries of the Eaft, and on the banks of the
rivers.
rivers. They are even more numerous than the common horned cattle. I have feen animals of this fpecies in Egypt, at Bombay, near the Euphrates, the Tigris, the Orontes, &c. The female buffalo yields more milk than the common cow j and the male is as fit for the yoke as our oxen. His flefh is indeed inferior to that of the ox, being hard and ill tailed. European merchants are however obliged to ufe it in the Countries where thofe animals are numerous. I believe that 1 have often eaten the flefh of a young buffalo without diflinguifhing it by the tafte or appearance from our beef. The Arabians have a mode of forcing the female buffalo to yield more milk than fhe voluntarily does, which the ancient Scythians alfo pracfifed with their mares. While one milks the cow, another tickles her.
The oxen and cows of Arabia have upon the moulder, immediately above the forelegs, a lump or bunch of fat; the bunch of the camel grows larger, or diminifhes, as the animal becomes fatter or leaner. I could obtain Ho particular information concerning the in-ftinft afcribed to thefe oxen, of forming into circular bodies, to defend themfelves againft beafts of prey. The ftory is fo much the lefs probable, becaufe the cattle of Arabia are dif-*inguifhed by remarkably fmall horns.
The
The Arabians have no meadows which might afford grafs for the feeding of thefe domeitic animals. The country is too much parched for the grafs to become luxuriant enough to be ufed as hay. Straw, barley, and beans, are the articles of food upon which they nourifh their cattle. The only herb they fow exprefsly for this purpofe is a fort of bean or phafeolus ; the Egyptians, whofe country is better watered, fow trefoil for the fame ufe. The camel eats the moil flunted and withered roots. In Arabia, however, he lives chiefly on herbs of the gourd fpecies, which abound in the driefl countries,
SECT
i
SECTION XXIX.
natural history of arabia-
CHAP. I.
General Reflections on the Natural Hiftory of Arabia.
One principal object which it became our party of travellers to keep in view, was undoubtedly the examination of the natural productions of the country through which we travelled. Every member of our company having had his particular talk afligned to him, the inveftigation of fubjects of natural hiftory was particularly appro« priated to the late Mr Forfkal. His well known activity, abilities, and ardour for the cultivation of fcience, afforded the public room to expect from him numerous difcoveries in the natural hiftory, as well of Egypt, as of Arabia; countries which he had time to examine before his premature death. But, our hopes have been in Part difappointed, by the concurrence of difter-V01.. H. Q^q cnt
ent unfavourable circumftances, which it may be proper to give an account of here, both in ex-cufe for the deficiency of this article, and as an encouragement to future travellers to perfect: what was fo fuccefsfully begun by our deceafed friend.
The time prefcribed for our continuance in the Eafl: was fhort in the whole ; and an unfor-feen delay in Egypt farther abridged that portion of it which we had deftined to be fpent in Arabia. In confequence of this circumftance, we had no more time for examining the natural hiflory of Arabia than the fix months between the end of December 1762, and the beginning of June 1763, at the laft of which periods Mr Forfkal died. Hence many objects could be only curforily obferved. Befides, the frequent indifpofition of fome or other of our party obliged us often to feparate ; and a reafon of this nature hindered Mr Forfkal from feeing Mount Sinai, and the productions of that part of Arabia Petra^a.
The climate and foil of feveral of the countries which we vifited are lefs favourable, than is commonly fuppofed, for the increafe of vegetables and animals. The foil of Arabia is, through a great part of that country, dry and fandy, produces no plants, and is therefore unfit for the nourifhment of animals.   Here the na-
turalift
turalifl finds but few objects to obferve; and of fuch a country the natural hiftory can never be extenfive. In Arabia, likewife, the heat of the fun is fo intenfe, that the flowers no fooner blow than they are withered ; and if the botanift, attentive to a number of plants at once, mines the precife moment when any one which is new to him is in flower, he can have no fubfequent opportunity of examining it till the cnfuing feafon.
This inconvenience might be avoided by ob-ferving the plants in gardens. But there is perhaps no country in the world where gardening is fo much neglected as in Arabia. There is hardly a fingle fmall garden in the neighbourhood even of the greater! towns. At Beit el Fa* kih there is only one, which was formed by an old Dola. The Arabians, a fimple frugal race, content themfelves with the plaineft food, without taking pains to furnilh themfelves with a variety of difhes. What feems to give them an a-verfion for the culture of gardens is the long droughts, which laft fometimes for more than a year, and deftfoy every fprout of vegetation, together with the ravages of the grafshoppers, which complete the devaftation of the fields. The Banians, being by their religion confined to a vegetable diet, plant great quantities of pul'fe ; fcut thefe are moflly of fpecies that are natives of
India,
India, and by confequence already known to botanifts.
Befide thefe phyfical obftacles to the invefti-gation of the natural hiftory of the Eaft, there is another, arifing from the moral character of the people who inhabit thefe regions. The Arabians, an ignorant, covetous, and jealous race, cannot comprehend how the Europeans fhould be prompted by mere curiofity to expofe themfelves to fo much danger and fatigue. They afcribe to them a motive of intereft, the defire of difcovering hidden treafures, with great fkill in the fearch. The idea generally prevalent among them, of the wealth of travellers, makes a curious perfon run a great rifk of being plundered by vagabond robbers. Mr Forfkal, efcaping once with difficulty out of the clutches of a band of thefe robbers in Egypt, and being once plundered by another party, was obliged to ccafe from his fcientific excurfions. He found means, indeed, to have plants gathered for him, by an Arabian, in the neighbourhood of Kahira. But the naturalift makes his obfervations beft upon living plants, in their native fituations.
Our friend was luckier, in this refpecf, in Yemen, where the fafety of a ftranger is better fe-^:ured by the laws, and the manners of the people <I' the country.   The Arabians in Yemen were,
fo
IN ARABIA,  CSV. 31 i
fo far from offering him any interruptions in his purfuits, that both men and women, of all ranks and ages, appeared to take pleafure in bringing, pointing out, and naming to him all their indigenous plants. A people living the life of fliep-herds, and of hufbandmen, like the Arabians, who fpend aimoft all their time in the open fields, naturally acquire a tafte for botany, and a degree of (kill in its refearchcs. But, in order to obtain the aid, and even the friendship of thefe good people, he was obliged to conform to their manners, and to content himfelf with their fcanty cheer. A life of fuch abftinence and fatigue, too fevere for a perfon brought up in European habits, undoubtedly contributed to fhorten the days of our friend.
In fpite of all thefe obftacles, Mr Forfkal's ardent induflry was fuccefsful beyond our hopes. It is inconceivable in what a fhort time he discovered and made defcriptions of full three hundred fpecies in the animal kingdom, and of more than eight hundred in the vegetable. This number might have been yet more confiderable, had he not laid it down as a rule to himfelf, to de-fcribe nothing which he had not examined with the molt fcrupulous exactnefs. For this reafon had he put off, till he fhould be at more leifure, the examination of a large collection of infects and Ihells.   "With the fame intention, he had
preferved
preferved, in fpirit of wine, a great many fifties and amphibious animals. But the reader will recollect the fate of this collection, when our goods were infpe&ed at the cuflom-houfe at Mokha, as above related.
After my return to Europe, I was intruded with the tafk of publishing my friend's poft-humous papers. I then discovered a new lofs which natural hiftory had fuffered by his death. He had been accuftomed to write down his ob-fervations on fmall detached pieces of paper, which could not eaftly be preferved together. It Is true, i found 1800 of thefe billets, which I endeavoured to reduce into order. But I could not help inferring from the chafms here and there, that many of them were loft. Whether it be or be not fo, I have, however, prefented to the public all that I could recover, in two Latin works, intituled, Defcriptiones Animalium, 4to, Hafnia:, 1775 ; and Flora Arabica, 4to9 ib.
'775-
Thefe two works, written in Latin, and in the manner and arrangement of Linnaws, are intended particularly for the ufe of the learned natura-lift. To gratify readers of all claffes, I fhall here infert the moft curious particular of the information contained in thofe works, and fuch as will ferve to give the beft ideas of the productions, common or peculiar, of the countries which we
t raver fed.
IN" ARABIA, CSV.
traverfed. Although natural hiftory was not my province, I had occafion to obferve tranfient-ly many things reflecting it. I fhall, therefore, intermingle my own remarks, without diftin-guifhing them as fuch ; for the greater part of the whole is Mr Forfkal's.
CHAP. II.
Climate and Soil of Arabia.
A country, fuch as Arabia, extending from the 300 to the 130 of northern latitude, and, by confequence, fituate partly between the tropics, will be naturally fuppofed fubject to a very hot climate. In fome provinces of Arabia, the heat is excefhve. But, in this country, as in moft others, the varying degrees of elevation, the relative fituations of places, and the nature of the foil, occafion confiderable varieties of temperature.
Before a perfon can underftand thefe varieties, it is neceffary that he fhould have a juft idea of the phyfical circumftances of Arabia. This country may be confidered as a pile of mountains, encircled with a belt of flat, dry, and fan-dy ground. Towards the north and the continent, this belt is formed by the defarts of Syria,
ria, and Arabia Petrasa. The plains called Tehama by the Arabians, and extending from the fea-fhore to the hills, bound Arabia on thofe fides on which it is warned by the waters of the Red Sea, of the Eatlern Ocean, and of the Perfian Gulph.
In thefe defarts, diverfihed here and there only by bare rocks, and in thefe flat plains, there is nothing to foften the force of the fun's rays, but all vegetables are burnt up, and the foil is every where reduced to fand. The drought is fo extreme, that whole years will pafs without rain; and the torrents which fall from the hills are loll among the fands long before they can reach the fea. Were it not for thefe river-waters, which being fwelled in the rainy feafon, are drained off to fertilize the lands, the hufbandman would be unable to raife even thofe fcanty crops which his harvelfs at prefent afford. By obfervations made with good thermometers, we found, that in thefe plains, as, for inftance, at Loheya, Mokha, and Maikat, the heats were as intenfe as in any other hot country whatever.
In the interior country, the temperature of the atmofphere is very different. The great ranges of lofty mountains attract vapours j and thefe falling down in plenteous rains cool the air, and quicken vegetation. The cold occasioned
ed by the height of the country, produces falls of mow ; but this never lies long upon the ground. While the inhabitants of the plains fuffer by heat, thofe of the hills are obliged to wrap themfelves in pellices. We were affured that there was ice on fome of the hills, and that, at Sana, which lies among the hills in the interior country, there was fometimes froft.
The pofition of thefe mountains in the middle of a peninfula, occafions likewife another phenomenon that is equally obfervable in the peninfula formed by the Ganges, which is in the fame manner interfered by mountains. The rainy feafons, which are regular in the countries between the tropics, are, by this peculiarity of fituation, diverfified here. Weffward, in Yemen, the rainy feafon is of great fervice to the country ; for it comes on in the month of June, and terminates in the middle of September; in which months the heats are moft violent, and the earth and its inhabitants in the greateft need of fuch refrefhment. In the eaftern part of thefe mountains, on the fide of Mafkat, thofe rains fall between the middle of the month of November and the middle of February. In Hadramaut and Oman, to the fouth, the rainy feafon lafts from the middle of February to the middle of April. It fhould feem, therefore, that the rains make the tour of the peninfula
Vol. II. R r every
3'«
nihbuhr's travel
every feafon, as impelled by the prevalent winds. In the Tehama of Yemen, we heard alfo of a rain in fpring, the period of which is uncertain, but on which the fuccefs of the harvefls depends.
Thefe regular rains render the vallies lying a-■rnong the mountains fertile and delightful. The Highlanders, who breathe a fine frefh air, are handfome, healthy, and brave. Another advantage which the Arabians owe to the fituation of their country, is, that it affords them at the fame time the productions of different climates. In the plains, feveral vegetables tranf-planted from India thrive well enough, and many of the animals of hot countries multiply there. The mountains produce the plants and animals of temperate climates. Arabia may thus be regarded as an affemblage of different climates, the refpective advantages of which are all to be found in the tract lying between the Red Sea and the Perfian Gulph.
The nature of the winds differs, in Arabia, with the point of the compafs from which they blow, and the tract over which they refpecfively pafs. The fame wind is, in different places, dry or moifl, according as it blows over the ocean, or over defarts. On the fhores of the Perfian Gulph, the fouth-eafl wind is accompanied with a degree of moiflure which, when the heat is
intenfe,
intenfe, occafions violent fweatings; the north-weft, palling over the great defart, is more torrid, but lefs difagreeable ; this laft wind heats metals in the made, as if they were expofed to the fun ; and its heat, fuddenly added to that of the atmofphere, often fuffbcates men and other animals. The Arabians, when they travel, carry with them garlic and dried grapes, for the purpofe of reviving fuch perfons as may fall down fainting, from the effect, of thefe hot blafts.
Notwithftanding its torrid qualities, this north-weft wind ferves to cool their liquors for the Arabians, in the middle of Summer. In order to this, they put their water into bardaks, or un-glazed pots, made of a fort of porous earth ; and then, having thefe pots in a place expofed to the current of this hot wind, the water is thus rendered very cool; a circumftance well-known in hot countries, and at prefent afcribed by na-turalifts to the effects of hidden evaporation.
Another wind, of a more dangerous nature, is the famous Sam, Smum, or Samiel, which feldom blows within Arabia, but frequently upon its frontiers. This wind prevails only on the confines of the great defart, where the agitation of the air forms a current for the vapours which arc raifed by the heat of the fun from that parched territory.   The places the moft expofed to this
destructive
deftructive wind, arc the banks of the Euphrates, and fometimes the environs of Mecca, when the north wind blows from the defart. It is not unknown in Perfia, on the borders of thofe arid plains; and it is faid to have been felt in fome places in Spain, near the vaft tracts of defart fands which deform that fine kingdom. The effects of theSmum are inftant fuffocation to every living creature that happens to be within the fphere of its activity, and immediate putrefaction of the carcafes of the dead. As a fimilar rapidity of putrefaction has been obferved to take place upon bodies deprived of life by thun-der, or by the electric fhock, it has been conjectured, that electrical matter, which is very generally diffufed through nature, might be the caufe of the peculiarly noxious qualities of this wind. The Arabians difcern the approach of the Smum by an unufual rednefs in the air ; and they fay that they feel a fmell of fulphur as it "paffes. However this n ay be, the only means by which any perfon can preferve himfelf from fullering from the noxious blafls, is, by throw-in;; himfelf down with his face upon the earth, till this whirlwind of poifonous exhalations has blown over ; which always moves at a certain height in the atmofphere. Inftinct even teaches the brutes to incline their heads to the ground on thele occafions,
The
The other meteors of Arabia are common to it with all other hot countries. A clear iky, felr dom obfcured by clouds, renders florins very unfrequent in the plains. The air difcharges its electric matter in globes of fire, and by the phenomena called {hooting liars, which are not unfrequent, and of confiderable bulk. In the mofl acid tracts, near the fea, the dews are Angularly copious. But, notwithstanding this humidity, the air is fo pure, that the inhabitants lleep in the open air ; I never fiept founder than where I found my bed all wet with dew in the morning. There are, however, places where one dares not fleep in the open air for fear of being ftruck with a palfy. By long experience the inhabitants of thofe parts have learned what precautions to take, and thefe are always peculiarly necelfary to an European unaccuilomed to the climate.
Arabia enjoys the profpect of aimoft conftant verdure. Not but that moft of the trees fhcd their leaves, and the annual plants wither and are re-produced. But, the interval between the fall of the leaf in one year, and the re-production of new leaves for the next, is fo fliort, that the change is hardly obfervable. Continual verdure is peculiar to thofe countries in which there are no frofts, but a rainy feafon inftead of our winter.
From
From the lingular local fituation of Arabia, the inequalities in the nature of its lands may, without farther information, be inferred. Thefe inequalities are indeed very remarkable. On one fide are frightful defarts, and on the other fertile and delightful vales. The fandy belt which encircles this peninfula is aimoft entirely barren, and prefents one unvaried picture of deflation.
This belt, denominated Tehama, as has been feveral times mentioned, begins at Suez, and extends round the whole peninfula, to the mouth of the Euphrates. Its breadth varies; it is, however, for the moft part, about two days journey from the fea-fhore to the rife of the hills j at leaft this is the breadth of the plain adjacent to the Red Sea. It bears every mark of having been anciently a part of the bed of the fea. Its bottom foil is a greyim clay, with a large proportion of fand, and having marine exuvisc interfperfed to a great diftance from the fea-ftiore. It contains large ftrata of fait, which in fome places even rife up into hills. Its regular inclination towards the fea indicates that it has emerged gradually. The fmall eminences upon the confines of this plain are compofed of calcareous ftones, having a blackifh appearance, and feeming as if they were burnt by the fun. The adjoining hills contain fchiftus and bafaltes \
in
in this differing greatly from the flrata of the hills on the oppofite coaft of Egypt, and from thofe of Arabia Petraia, which are chiefly made Up of granite.
The fea,no doubt,ftill continues to recede; and the Tehama is on that fide gradually extending its limits. The banks of coral are ftill increafmg, and coming nearer to the fhore, fo as to render the navigation of the gulph every day more and more dangerous. The fand accumulated by the billows gradually fills up the intermediate fpace, and joins thefe beds of coral to the continent, as appears from fome recent inftan* ces. Hiftory alfo records proofs of this gradual receffion of the waters; and mentions, as fea-ports, feveral places which are at prefent inland, without noticing the prefent maritime towns, which muft undoubtedly be of later origin than the formation of the land on which they ftand.
Such a conquefl over the watery element pro-mifes, however, little advantage to man. Thefe newly formed lands are ungrateful and barren. Nor can any better be fanguinely hoped of the future; fince the territory of the Tehama has remained for fo many ages unchanged in its nature. Mr Forfkal fancied that he could diftin-guifh a fimilarity between the foil of Hedsjas ^nd that of Egypt, from which he inferred, that
the
$22 NIEBUHR*S TRAVELS
the fterility of the former was owing to the want of water. But he was certainly miftaken; for the foil of Egypt is formed of the fediment of the Nile, but that of Hedsjas of the remains of the bed of the fea. The calcareous ftone of the hills of this latter province is, however, decompofed into a blackifh earth, which in time becomes fit to bear fome coarfe vegetables.
In the Highlands of Arabia, there are as great diverfities of foil as in moft other cultivated countries. The moft general character of the foil on thefe fchiftous hills is clay mixed with fand. But the figure of the hills is unfavourable to their fertility. They are commonly fo craggy and precipitous, as to afford neither room nor foil for vegetable-productions, the good earth being continually wafhed away by the waters. Thefe circumftances have likewife the effect of rendering the culture of fuch places extremely difficult and expenfive. Terraces are neceffary to be formed; of which indeed the conftruction is fometimes facilitated by the piles of bafaltes naturally eaft into regular pentagonal figures, which are broken, from time to time, from the rocks, and ferve as materials for the walls.
Arabia is a country interefting in many re-fpects; but is, in general, neither rich nor fertile.
tile. The laborious life, and indifferent fate of its inhabitants, are fufficient proofs of this truth. If it was called Happy by the ancients, it was only by the value and the novelty, not by the abundance of its productions, that it could merit this name.
CHAP. lit
Arabian Quadrupeds.
Speaking of the agriculture of the Arabians, I had occafion to mention their domeftic animals. Of thofe, fome appear to be originally natives of the country, for they are not common through the other regions of the eaft; they retain their primary inftincts in higher perfection, and are more eminently diftinguifhed by ftrength and beauty here than elfewhere. Such are the horfe, the afs, the camel, and perhaps too the ox. The camel, by its power of enduring thirft, and its containing a refer-voir for water in its bowels, feems naturally deftined for an inhabitant of the defart. Its hoof is formed to tread on burning fands ; and fhe cartilaginous texture of its mouth enables it to feed on the hard and prickly plants of thofe parched plains.
Vol. IT S f The
The afs, efpecially, feems to be a native of Arabia. Here are a fpecies of afTes, which, in beauty, vigour, and fpirit, are no contemptible rivals to the horfe. The inhabitants fpeak likewife of a wild animal, called Djaar, of the fame fize and fhape as the afs, the flefh of which is excellent food.
This animal is probably a wild afs, who, in confequence of living in a flate of independence, acquires fome varieties of form, which the A-rabs, in their unfkilfulnefs in natural hiftory, miftake for the characteristics of a different animal.
The Arabians give the name of Bakar Uafch to an animal which we did not fee, but of which their vague defcfiption can be referred only to the wild ox. They fpeak of another animal of the form of an ox, which is deflitute of horns, and feeds only by night.
On the lofty hills of Arabia Petrcea, are rock-goats. The plains are flocked with gazelles ; and this beautiful creature is fo common, that the Arabian poets draw from it many of their allufions and fimilitudes. The hare is not a common animal here, and is to be feen only in fome mountainous parts. In the fandy tracks are numbers of thofe little animals called Jerboa's, Pharaoh's rats, whofe flefh the Arabians eat without any dillike.   The peculiarity in
the
ihe itructure of the hinder feet of thefe animals, and their manner of leaping, which have induced our naturalifls to give the fpecies the name of Mus Jaculusy are well known.
In the forefts, in the fouth of Arabia, are monkies without tails, whofe back parts are bare and red. I faw thefe animals in troops of fome hundreds. Other travellers have met with them in thoufands on the hills of Aden. Thefe creatures are docile, and eafily learn any trick which is attempted to be taught them. On this account numbers of them are exported to Egypt, where jugglers exhibit them to the people.
Of carnivorous animals, the mofl hideous and formidable is the Hyana, who attacks men and beaffs with the fame ferocity. This fierce and folitary animal inhabits the caverns of the defart mountains of Arabia Petraea, and is alfo common round the fhores of the Perfian Gulph. The hyama marches out only at night, in that feafon when the inhabitants of the country fleep in the open air, and often carries off children from befide their parents.
As the domeftic animals on the fouthern coafl of the Perfian Gulph are chiefly fed upon fifhes, the hyaena is fometimes obliged to content himfelf with the fame food. On my return into Europe, I faw in Denmark one of
thefe
thefe animals alive, in the king's collection of wild animals.
The leopard, reckoned by Mr Forfkal a-mong the carnivorous animals, is perhaps the fame as the panther, (Felis pardus Linnai); the more probably fo, as he gives it the Arabic name of the panther, Nemer. However, the ounce or fmall panther, named in Arabic Fath, is flill more common than the large one; neither is it regarded with any fort of terror in Arabia, where it carries away cats and dogs, but never ventures to attack men.
Wild boars, wolves, and foxes, are to be found in Arabia ; but the moft common carnivorous animal is a fort of wild dog, more like the fox than the houfehold-dog, and named by the Turks Tfchakal, by the Arabians El Vavi. This animal, common through all the countries of the Eaft, is fo well known, that I need not here add any thing concerning its figure and manners.
Mr Forfkal names feveral other animals of which he knew nothing, except what he gathered from the indiftinct accounts of the natives \ and fome others of which he could only learn the Arabian names. As fuch flight notices cannot enlarge the knowledge of nature, 1 fhall not repeat them here. The moft lingular of thofe animals, which we knew only by
hearfay,
hearfay, is one faid to referable a cat, to live upon the hills, to feed on grafs, and to be a mofl: delicate article of food.
CHAP. IV.
Of the Birds of Arabia.
If we had opportunities of examining but few quadrupeds, we were not more fortunate in re-fpett to birds. Not that Arabia is deficient in variety of fpecies; on the contrary, its productions are fuflicient to nourilh a prodigious number : But a traveller haftening through a country, has it ftill lefs in his power to acquaint himfelf with the inhabitants of the air than with thofe of the earth. One cannot fee many birds, or obferve them at leifure, unlefs among people who are fond of fowling, and who, as they feek for game and fell it, bring to the curious fuch birds as they have caught or killed, and are able to give fome account of their re-fpecfive names and inftincts.
In Arabia we had no fuch advantage. The Arabians defpife the ufe of wild fowl, and regard neither the amufement nor the exercife of fowling. I thought that I could difcern two -caufes of their averfion for a diverfion which
fhe
»
the lavages of the north purfue with extreme fondnefs. A people who are naturally fober and frugal, and live in a climate where the ufe of animal food is injurious to health, cannot be fond of game. The precepts of the Muffulman religion muft alfo difguft the Arabians at the purfuit of wild animals, especially of birds. A hunter lofes his labour, and his prey becomes impure, if he has but neglected the repetition of one fhort prayer when he killed the animal; if it has not loft the juft quantity of blood required by the law; if the bird ftruggled with any remains of life after it was fhot; or if it fell upon a place which was either inhabited, or in any manner defded. We faw no other birds, therefore, than thofe which we killed ourfelves, or thofe which we could obfervc while they were at liberty.
In the fertile countries of Arabia, tame fowls are very plentiful, and all forts of poultry are bred in great abundance. The pintado is not domeftic; but thefe birds inhabit the woods in fuch numbers, that children kill them with ftones, and then collect them to be fold in the towns. The pheafant is likewife a native of Arabia, and is found in great plenty, in the forefts of Yemen, as well as the wood-pigeon, arid feveral other varieties of the pigeon fpecies. In the plains of the fame province, the grey part-
ridge.
ridge, the common lark, and a fort of white-crane, having the under part of the belly of a beautiful red, arc alfo to be feen here.
So dry a country as Arabia cannot be fuppofed to afford a great variety of water fowls. However, in places where there was water, we found a beautiful variety of the plover, and fometimes ftorks. Sea-fowls, which live upon fifh, are numerous on the coafls of the Red fea, becaufe this gulph is very deep, and copioufly flored with hikes. Befide fome forts of fea-maws, We faw in an ifle of the Red fea pelicans, who had built nelts and laid eggs as large as thofe of the goofe.
The defarts of Arabia are not without of-triches, whic)i are called by the inhabitants Thar Edsjamnui, the camel bird. I did not un-derfland that the Arabians take this bird young, and tame it. One which I faw at Loheya was from Abyflinia. A beautiful lapwing, called by the Arabians Hudhud, is alfo common on the mores of the Perfian Gulph. Some Arabians have been perfuaded, by a fabulous tradition, that the language of this bird may be underftood.
Eagles, falcons, fparrow-hawks, and the Egyptian vulture, (Vultur Pctcnoptcrus Linnai), are birds of prey to be met with in Arabia. The laft °f thefe is very ferviceable in the country ; clear-lrig the earth of all carcafes, which corrupt very
rapidly,
NIEBHUR's "TRAVEL3
rapidly, and are very noifome in hot countries* He alfo destroys the field mice, which multiply lb prodigioufly in fome provinces, that, were it. not for this affiitance j the peafant might ceafc from the culture of the fields as abfolutely vain. Their performance of thefe important fervice? induced the ancient Egyptians to pay thofe birds divine honours; and even at prefent it is held unlawful to kill them, in all the countries which they frequent.
In feveral countries in the eafl, as alfo in Arabia, there is another bird, not lefs beneficial to the inhabitants. It is thought to be a native of Korafan, for it comes annually into Arabia, in purfuit of the fwarms of locufts, of which it deflroys incredible numbers. It is called Samar-man or Samarmog. Mr Forfkal ranks it among the thrufhes, and calls it Turdus Seleucus. The fervices done by this bird, in countries expofed to the ravages of thofe infect s, have given rife to feveral ridiculous and fuperftitious practices in Syria. It is thought to be attracted from Kara/an by water, which is, for this end, brought from a distance with great ceremony, and preferved in a ftone refervoir on the top of the tower of a mofque. When this water fails, the inhabitants of Moful are in defpair. But as this bird's inflincts prompt it not only to feed on locufts, but to kill as many of them as polfible
it
it naturally follows thefe infects in the courfe of their paflage.
We heard much talk of two fpecies of birds, which are highly valued by the Arabians, and are called Salva and Sumana. We could discover nothing concerning the generic character of the latter ; but we heard enough of the Salva to enable us to underifand that it is the rail, a bird of paffage which frequents a fmall diftrict. in Arabia. As to quails, we received no evidence of their being birds of paffage ; nor is it probable that this bird fhould traverfe defarts where no fubfiftence is to be found.
The Arabians likewife named to Mr Forfkal feveral other birds, which he never could fee, and confequently could not afcertain their genus, fuch as the Achjal, famous for two beautiful feathers, with which the Highlanders adorn their bonnets, and to preferve which uninjured, the bird, it feems, leaves a hole in its neft. Another, the Tbaer el Hind, rare and remarkable for its gilded plumage, is fold very dear in Arabia. Its name feems to indicate that it is a bird of paflage, which is fuppofed to come from India.
Vol. II. T t CHAP.
chap. V,
Of Amphibious Animals and Fijbes.
In the Arabian feas, we never met with the fea-tortoife j the land-tortoife is more common ; the peafants bring the latter, by cart-loads/ to the markets of feveral towns in the eaft. The saltern Chriftians eat thefe animals in Lent, and drink their blood with great relifti.
We faw faw feveral forts of lizards, of which the only dangerous one was that called by the Egyptians Gecko. It is faid that the faliva of this creature, falling upon victuals, infects the perfons who eat them with the leprofy.
There are in Arabia feveral forts of ferpents, the bite of which is often mortal. But the innocent are as numerous as the dangerous ferpents. Of fome the bite occafions only a difagreeable itching, which the Arabians cure by applying the leaves of the caper-tree to the wound. In general, life is endangered only by the bite of fuch ferpents as have a distinct row of teeth larger than the reft of the teeth. The Arabians in Egypt are acquainted with this law in the structure of reptiles, and play fafely with ferpents, after pulling out the long teeth, which
ferve
ferve to conduct the poifon. In Arabia, the only ferpent that is truly formidable is that called Bactan, a fmall ilender creature, fpotted black and white; its bite is inftant death, and the dead body is fwelled by the poifon in a very extraordinary manner.
Mr Forfkal difcovered in the Red Sea feveral forts of Ray-fifhes which are unknown in Europe. That fea is in general itored with a great variety of fifties; and I was told by my friend,, that in the fliort paffage between Suez and Jidda, he obferved more than a hundred new fpecies, only a part of which he could rank among the known genera. He was obliged to form four new genera, which he named Salaria, Scants, Signanus, and Acanthurus. A new torpedo which he met with, appeared fo different from that already known, that he was induced to clafs it as a particular genus.
Among the new fpecies are fome belonging to genera which are found alfo in our feas; fuch are feveral cod-fifhes hitherto unknown ; new fpecies of mackerels, mullets, fcari, perches, &c. Others of thefe fpecies belong to genera peculiar to the feas adjacent to hot countries, fuch as the Qhatodon and the Sciaena.
In our paffage over the Red Sea, we faw troops of flying fifties, which rofe from time to time above the furface of the water; but we difcovered
covered no flying ferpent in the courfe of our voyage ; although the Arabians give this name to a ferpent which fhould rather be called the Jeaper. This ferpent fixes himfelf by the tail to a low branch of a tree, and then giving himfelf an impetus, by means of his elaftic tail, fprings from branch to branch fucceflively, till he reaches the top.
The Arabians inhabiting the fhores of the Red Sea live aimoft entirely on fifhes, as I have already had occafion to mention, and even fuftain their cattle with the fame food. Although fifhes are fo plentiful, yet a living fifh is feldom to be feen among them. For fear of violating fome precept of the Muffulman law, the fifhermen kill all their fifties before they bring them on fhore,
CHAP VI.
Infetls and Shells.
The locufts have a great influence on the condition of the inhabitants of Arabia, and of feveral other countries in the eaft; and, therefore, I fhall fpeak of this infect at a length which others do not merit. We, however, did not find the numbers fo great as they are commonly fuppofed to be in Europe.
In Egypt I faw once only a cloud of locufts, •which was brought by a fouth-wind from the defarts of Lybia ; the locufts fell in prodigious quantities on the roofs of the houfes, and in the ftreets of Kahira. I faw no more of them, till at Jidda, in November 1762, a large cloud of locufts was driven over the city by a weft-wind. The cloud came from the other fide of the Arabic Gulph ; and, therefore, many of the infects muft have been drowned in their paflage. In the month of July following, we found a fmall quantity near mount Samara, which feemed to have fpent the feafon in Arabia. Thefe fwarms often crofs the Red Sea a fecond time, and return to Egypt, the upper part of which adjoining to the defarts of Lybia, feems to be the cradle of thefe animals. I faw clouds of them in Perfia, and Syria; where, in the quarter of Moful, I found nefts of thefe infects, which a careful police might in a great degree deftroy. Small locufts, of the fize of a fly, grow with amazing rapidity, and attain their natural fize within a few days.
There are undoubtedly various fpecies of this infect, which have not as yet been fufhciently difcriminated. Mr Forfkal calls the locuft which infefts Arabia Gryllus Gregarius, and thinks it to be different from that which is called by Linnaeus Gryllus Migratorius, and which is a native
of
of the defarts of Tartary, from which it paffes through the neighbouring countries, into Poland and Germany. The Gryllus Gregarius merits this denomination ; for the locufts of this fpecies appear to aft in concert, and to live and (■ravel in focicty. Thofe which remain after the departure of the great body are only irregular ftragglers.
The Arabians diftinguifh. feveral feparate fpecies of this infect, to which they give particular names. But thefe names are not expreilive of any qualities in the nature of the animal; as they refpeft only the delicacy afcribed to its flefh. They give the name Muken to the red locuft, which is efteemed fatter and more fuccu-lent than any of the others; they likewife eat the light locuft j but abftain from another, called Dubhcj becaufe it has a tendency to produce diarrhoea.
All. Arabians, whether living in their native country, or in Perfia, Syria, and Africa, are ac~ cuftomed to eat locufts. The Turks, on the. contrary, have an averfion for this fort of food. If the Europeans exprefs any thing of the fame averfion, the Arabians then remind us of our fondnefs for oyfters, crabs, and lobfters. A German, who had long refided in Barbary, af-fured us, that the flefh of this infect: tafted like
the
the fmall fardine of the Baltic Sea, which is dried in fome towns of Holilein.
We faw locufts caught, and put into bags, or on firings, to be dried, in feveral parts of Arabia. In Barbary, they are boiled, and then dried upon the roofs of the houfes. The Bedouins of Egypt roaft them alive, and devour them with the utmoft voracity. We faw no inftance of unwholefomenefs in this article of food ; Mr Forfkal was indeed told, that it had a tendency to thicken the blood, and to bring on melancholy habits. The Jews in Arabia are convinced, that the fowls, of which the Israelites ate fo largely in the defart, were only clouds of locufts,—and laugh at our tranflators, who have fuppofed that they found quails where quails never were.
The fwarms of thefe infects darken the air, and appear at a diftance like clouds of fmoke. The noife they make in flying is frightful and ftunning, like that of a water-fall. When fuch a fwarm falls upon a field, it is wafted, and def-poiled of its verdure. The pulfe and date-trees fuller greatly from the locufts; but corn, either ripe or nearly fo, is too hard for their ufe, and Ihey are obliged to fpare it.
A fmall infect named Arda, of the bulk of a grain of barley (Termes fatalc, Linn.) is another fcourge of Arabia, and of hot countries in general.
33«
klEBtJIIR's TRAVELS
ral. On account of fome general refemblance^ many travellers reprefent this infect as an ant, and fpeak of it under this name. Its inftinct dif. poles it to travel only by night, through a fort of galleries, which it forms, as it proceeds, of fat earth. After reaching the end of its journey, it corrodes and deflroys every thing, vi&uals, clothes, and furniture. We found an army of thefe in our chamber, for the firft time, at Beit el Fakih. We immediately demolifhed the galleries which they had formed; but they, without being difcouraged, or terrified at our pre-fence, renewed their work in the night, with lingular obltinacy, fo that we had much ado to rid ourfelves of them. They live and work together like ants.
The arda is alfo destructive to trees, the fweet-nefs of whofe leaves and fruits gratifies its tafle. Thefe infects fix upon trees of this character, and extend their galleries from the root to the top. The inhabitants of the country have no other means for preferving their gardens from utter ruin, except to furround the trees with fheep's dung, the fmell of which the arda cannot endure.
There are in Arabia many ants, but moft of them are harmlefs as our's. From among thefe, however, are to be excepted two fpecies, one of which becomes troublefome by the voracity with
which
which it attacks vi.&uals,, unlefs driven away by the odour of camphor ; the other's bite is little lefs painful than that of the fcorpion; but neither is it more deadly.
A fort of fcolopendra likewife torments the inhabitants of this country, and affects thofe on whom it fixes with burning pains. This infect fixes all its feet into the flefh, fo that it is impof-fible to rid one's felf of it otherwife than by fuc-ceflively burning all the parts affected with a hot iron. The cuttle-fifh is dangerous to fwimmers anddivers,of whom it lays hold with its long claws, Thefe do not wound, but produce fwelling, internal pains, and often an incipient paralyfis.
Among the Tehelpriones is one fpecies which deflroys reeds. Probably this fmall infect attacks likewife the ftalks of corn, in which is obferved a farina, which ferves to diffufe the eggs of this infect through houfes. This little animal is therefore one of the mofl troublefbme infects in the country. The women of Arabia and Turkey make ufe of another tenebrio, which is found a-mong the filth of gardens. As plumpnefs is thought a beauty in the eaft, the women, in order to obtain this beauty, fwallow, every morning and every evening, three of thofe infects fried in butter. The Red Sea is full of marine inT feds; Priapi, Salha, Fi/lulares, Medufa, &c. Mr Forfkal became more and more convinced,
Vol. IT. II u in
340
ntebuhr's TRAVELS
in the courfe of his obfervations, that the im-inenfe numbers of thefe animals contribute to produce the refulgence which is perceived at night in fea-water. This infect feems to be an animated phofphoric body.
We obferved a great many crabs, fome of which were fpecies peculiar to the Arabic gulph. The fhelis are not lefs numerous j and fome of them of rare fpecies. The mofl beautiful is a Pinna, the colours of which are fuperb ; but this fhell is very brittle. The inhabitants avail not themfelves of this plenty of marine productions, which might afford them excellent food. Muf-fulmans in general eat very little fifh, and appear to have a particular averfion for crabs and fhell -fifh. On the contrary, the oriental Chriftians, who are confined to long and rigid fafls, make up to themfelves for their abstinence from flefh, by the frequent ufe of fuch meats as thefe. At Suez, the Copts live almofl entirely on fhell fifh.
I have already had occafion to fpeak, in the courfe of my travels, of the aftonifhing mafs of works formed by marine infects; namely, the immenfe banks of coral bordering, and almofl filling up the Arabic gulph. Great part of the houfes in the Tehama are of coral rock. Mr Forfkal ufed to look upon every Arabic houfe as a cabinet of natural hiftory, as rich in corals as any fuch cabinet in Europe.   The reader may
therefore
therefore conceive with himfelf what a variety of madrepores and millepores are to be met with in thefe feas. Some are fo curious as to tempt us conftantly to take fpecimens of them j but then their bulk renders it impoflible to carry thefe away. Thefe coral rocks, rifing fometimes ten fathoms above the furface of the fea, are foft under the waters : And hence, being eafily wrought, they are preferred to all other ftones for the purpofes of building.
CHAP. VII.
The Common and Rare Plants.
Arabia, by its fituation, as has been already remarked, partakes of the advantages equally of hot and of temperate climates. In the higher parts of this country, therefore, are found plants common to it with the northern parts of Europe and Afia. The plains, on the contrary, produce vegetables which are to be met with in India and in Africa. It is, however, probable that many of thefe laft plants had been introduced into Arabia by the Banians from their ancient country.
It is worthy of remark, that, where there are in Europe various fpecies of any genus of plants,
the
34« N.IEBUHR*S TRAVELS
the fpecies of the fame genus to be found in Arabia are aimoft all new, and have accordingly been defcribed by Mr Forfkal for the firft time. The cafe is not the fame in refpect to the plants common to Arabia with India ; moft of thefe are equally to be found in both countries. The indigenous plants of Arabia have been hitherto fo little known, that Mr Forfkal was obliged to form no fewer than 30 new genera; not to fpeak of the doubtful fpecies, which he durft hardly arrange under known genera.
Of the 800 plants defcribed by my late friend, I fhall content myfelf with fpeaking of a fmall number remarkable for their novelty or utility. The firft place is, no doubt, due to thofe which are ufed for food. I have already had occafion to name fome of them in my account of the Arabian agriculture. The Arabians cultivate wheat, barley, and durra, (Holcus Linn.J. The latter grain, forgo, or great millet, feems to be a native of Arabia, for feveral wild fpecies of it are here to be found, on which the birds feed. That which is cultivated, in order to attain full maturity, requires confiderable warmth, and upon a good foil grows to a great height.
The Arabians cultivate feveral pot-herbs, of the fame nature as ours ; fuch as lettuces, of which there is alfo a wild fort which is not ufed ; fpinnach ; the carrot (Daucus, Linn. J ;
a
a very delicate fort of purflain with fharp leaves a fort of raddifh, of which only the leaves are eaten j water-creffes j and above all, great variety of gourds, cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons. Of pumpkins and melons, feveral forts grow naturally in the woods, and ferve for feeding camels. But the proper melons are planted in the fields, where a great variety of them is to be found, and in fuch abundance, that the Arabians of all ranks ufe thern, for fome part of the year, as their principal article of food. They afford a very agreeable liquor. When the fruit is nearly ripe, a hole is pierced into the pulp ; this hole is then flopped with wax, and the melon left upon the if alk ; within a few days the pulp is, in confequence of this procefs, converted into a delicious liquor.
The pot-herbs which are natives of India, but are now cultivated or naturalized in Arabia, are, —Sida, refembling our mallows; Hibifcus, re-fembhng mallows alfo, but of which only one fpecies is proper to be eaten, Jujfiata, nearly like the Lyftmachia; Acanthus, a beautiful fpecies ; and Bunias, fomewhat like our cabbages; the leaves of thefe plants are boiled. There are other Indian plants whofe leaves the Arabians eat raw, and by way of fallad, fuch as Cleome, not unlike muflard • Stapelia; and Dolichos,
344
NIEBHUR's TRAVELS
a fort of bean, of which I mall hereafter have occafion to fpeak. %
There are alfo fome leguminous vegetables peculiar to the country, which require no culture. Such are Corchorus, and the plant like our mallows ; Salanthns, a new plant like the Salix Calaf, the leaves of which, when boiled, have ra pleafing acid rafte; laftly, the celebrated Colo-cafia,( ArccmCoiocafiaLinn.), of which the Egyptians have always made great ufe, and which , grows in abundance in all marfhy places in Arabia,
Nor is there in Arabia any want of vegetables diftinguifhed by the beauty of their flowers, and their fragrant fmell. The odoriferous herbs, of which we have alfo fpecies, are lavender, marjoram, the lily, and fome pinks. But, the moft fragrant, and thofe which produce the fmeft flowers, are plants common to Arabia and India. Thofe valued for their perfume are Ocymum, the moft beautiful fpecies of the bafilic ; Inula, a very odoriferous fort of elicampane, a native of India ; Cacalia, from the heart of Africa ; and Dianthera, a plant as yet but little known, of which Mr Forfkal discovered eight fpecies. In the fandy defarts grows a plant of a new genus, named Mofcharia, by my friend, on account of its mulky fmell. The plants of Indian origin which afford the fineft flowers, are, Ipomaa, a
plant
.IN ARABIA, &C.
345
plant like the rope weed; Pancraticum, called by us the fea-daffodil, a flower of the pureft white colour ; and Hibifcus, a fpecies different from the leguminous Hibifcus, a flower of the brighten: red-colour, and Angularly large. Thefe flowers, agreeable by their form or perfume, are far from being indifferent objects to the Arabian peafantry, who retain the ancient cuftom of crowning themfelves with flowers on days of joy and feftivity.
Various Arabian plants are ufed as materials for the arts, and for purpofes of economy. An ill looking herb, like orache, and which Mr Forfkal ranked as a diftincf genus, by the name of Suada, affords abundance of an alkaline fait, excellent for whitening linen, and ufed by the common people, inftead of foap, which is very dear in Arabia. Of a particular fort of rufli, the Arabians work carpets fo fine, that the exportation of them to other countries, and even as far as to Conftantinople, forms a confiderable branch of trade to the people who live on the borders of the Red Sea. Two plants, natives of India, and of the interior parts of Africa, which have become very common in Arabia, namely, Dolichos und G/ycyne, and refembling French beans, produce fuch beautiful beans, that they are ftrung into necklaces and bracelets, which are highly deemed.   The bean of the Glycyne is generally
known
known by the name of the black bean of Abyf finia. The indigo-fhrub (Indigofera Linn.) is cultivated through all Arabia, blue being the favourite colour of the Arabians. Several wild fpecies of this plant grow very generally over the country. We were told, that, in a fcarcity of this plant, the Arabians knew how to extract indigo from a fpecies of Polygala. The common Kali (Salfola Linn.) grows in great plenty along the Arabic Gulph, and in the ifles. Were the Arabians capable of induftry, they might make fugar for themfelves, as the cane grows in their country in its full perfection ; they content themfelves with eating it raw, without even fqueezing out the juice.
Through almoit all Arabia, a fort of Panis (Panicum Linn.) or bulrufh fScirpus Linn.) is \ifed for covering the roofs of the houfes. Thefe flender coverings are fuflicient in countries where rains are unfrequent.
One plant, although not a native of Arabia, merits notice in this place, on account of the difcovery made by Mr Forfkal of an economical Secret among the Arabians in Egypt, in which it is concerned. That country, in which the water SI generally bad, has, from time immemorial, ufed for drinking a fort of beer different in its nature from that ufed in the north. They told us that they could neither brew this beer, nor give
if
it an agreeable tafte, without the ufe of a grey herb, called Schabe, an infuhon of which was mixed with a certain quantity of meal, in order to form leaven for the fermentation both of bread and of beer. Upon Teeing a fpecimen of that herb, my friend and I perceived it to be the Lichen of the plum-tree, a native of the ifles of the Archipelago, whence feveral (hip-ladings of it are annually brought to Alexandria.
Meadows are rare, and not rich in hot countries ; in Arabia, therefore, there are are not many plants for forage. Horned cattle are not common here, and are ill-fed, and their flefh is confequently ill-tafled. Animals of a nature fuitable to the climate, fuch as camels and afles, are, as I have already mentioned, content with the drieff. and hardeft fare. We have feen camels eat of a fpecies of Euphorbia, after it had received fome little preparation in a hole dug in the earth. This animal alfo browfes on the dry and prickly herbs and fhrubs of the defart,fuch as the Zygophyltum, Hedyrarum, Colntea, &c. The MeftWibryanthema, fucculent herbs, afford another refource to the animals of the fandy plains. The Bedouins likewife prepare, of the grain of a fpecies of Mcfcmbryanthcmum, a fort of breads which they eat as readily as wheat bread. The als eats even a fpecies of Scorfonere, fo rough and bitter that even the camel refufes it,
Vol. II. X x Ail
348 NlEfcUHR's TRAVELS
All fimple nations ufe for remedies vegetables of the virtues of which they have a traditionary knowledge. The Arabians have alfo medicines of this kind, which they have ufed from time immemorial, with a degree of fuceefs of which indeed a ftranger can never be abfoluteiy certain. I need fay nothing of plants fo well known as aloes and euphorbia. In Arabia, the different fpecies of the latter of thefe plants are fo numerous, that Arabia may certainly be re* garded as its native country. In hot countries counterpoifons are highly efteemed, on account of the numbers of venomous beafts with which fuch countries are infefted. By long experience, the inhabitants of thofe countries have learned what plants are falutary to man, and noxious to the venomous animals. The Ara-' bians, however, appear to be ignorant of the virtues of the Ophiorrhiza, which is very common on their hills. But they value highly the Arijlolochia femper virens, which they confider not only as a remedy, but as a prefervative too, againft the bite of ferpents. In their opinion, a man who, for forty days, drinks the decoction of this herb, is in no future danger of being bitten by thofe venomous animals. Although the grounds of this opinion do not fulry appear, yet it feems probable, that the jugglers, who expofe themfelves fo daringly to be bitten by ferpents,
have
have fome fecret by which they preferve themfelves from fuifering by their bites. The prickly caper-tree is alfo efteemed an excellent antidote againft poifons of all kinds.
Among the new genera of plants difcovercd by Mr Forfkal, feveral are particularly curious. Caydbeja, called by SirCharlesLinmeus Forjkaka, in honour of my deceafed friend, grows in the drieft places of the country. It has fmall feelers, with which it fixes itfelf fo tenacioufly upon fluffs and other fmooth bodies, that it is torn in pieces before it can be removed. The Volutclla is a very extraordinary plant; being properly a long flender thread, without root or leaves, which intwines itfelf about trees. It bears, however, a fort of flower, and berries, which are eaten by children. The Polycophalos, which re-fembles the thill le, has at a diftance the appearance of a loofe heap of balls, each of which inclofes a parcel of flowers. The Ncrium obefum, a fort of laurel-rofe, is remarkable for a lingular bulb, clofe to the earth, and of the fize of a inam't head, which forms all its trunk, and out cf wiiich the branches fpring.
Reeds are fo common about the Arabic Gulph, as to have procured the Gulph the name of Jam Suf, or the fea of reeds, from the ancients. Onefpecies of this vegetable is particularly worthy of notice.   It grows with a vigorous vegetation,
and
arid in great abundance, in the bath-waters, in the diftrict of Ghobeybc, where it rifes to the height of twenty-four feet. Thefe long folid reeds are an article of commerce. They are exported to Yemen, and there ufed in the ceilings of houfes. In the fame diftrict of Gbobeybe, nearly oppofite to Suez, we were furprifed to fee a Conferva growing in the bottom of the jiot baths of Hammam Faraon, the heat of which was at 49 degrees in Reaumur's thermometer.
CHA1\ vin.
Of Trees and Shrubs.
The fandy plains of Arabia are aimoft deftitute of trees ; only a few palms are fcattered here and there. Forefts are to be feen only in the Highland provinces, where the hills retain enough of earth for vegetation ; but even in the Highlands are rare. The trees in thofe forefts are either abfolutely unknown, or at leaft different from our European trees of the fame genera or fpecies. The principal of them are the following, of which I fhall have occafion to fpeak fomewhat more at length : Sccura, Tomcx, Catba, Cynancbum, Maru, Bezka, Haledi, and
feveral
feveral fpecies of the fig-tree unknown among us.
The Arabians cultivate feveral of our fruit trees. They have pomegranate, almond, apricot, pear, and apple-trees. Here is a fpecies of pear-tree, and a corneil-tree which are peculiar to Arabia. The Arabians likewife eat the fruit of feveral of our flirubs, fuch as the AJdepias and the Rbammts.
Although the Mahometans drink no wine, the Arabians however plant the vine, and have a great variety of grapes. They dry a fmall fort of grape, called Kifchmifcb, which has no flone, but only foft, and almofl impalpable feeds; and of thefe grapes they fell a quantity to their neighbours. They alfo make from mint a fyrup, named Dub, which they find a pretty lucrative article of commerce.
Several forts of lemons and oranges are found in Arabia. If an inference may be drawn from the names which the Arabians have given them, one fhould fuppofe that they have had an o-range tree from Portugal, and two lemon-trees from Italy. From common oranges, cut through the middle while they are green, dried in the air, and fleeped for forty days in oil, is prepared an effence famous among old women far restoring a frefh black colour to grey hairs.
Th"
The Banians have tranfported various fruit-trees from India, which are now naturalized in Arabia; fuch are theBannana-trce ^M^LmB.^; theMangouffan, (Mangifera Linn.); thcPapaya (Carica Papaya Linn.); and the Ciffiis Linn. Arabia produces the date-tree ; but their other palms, and efpecially the Cocos, feem to be from India.
The Indian fig-tree, (Ticus varta)y although now very common in Arabia, is perhaps not a native of this country. The fingular property which this tree poffelfes, of fpreading itfelf, by means of filaments mooting from its branches, which, when they reach the ground, take root' and form new trunks, is well known. Mr Formal faw a dozen fpecies of indigenous fig-trees in Arabia, which are not mentioned by Linnaeus. Their fruit is far from delicate ; feldom eatable. The bark of one fpecies is ufed in tanning leather. Of another the leaves are fo rough, that they are ufed for cleaning and po-lilhing iron. The reft are only fo many of the ufelefs trees of the foreft.
The tamarind, which, in Arabia, as well as in India, is equally ufeful and agreeable. It has a pulp of a vineous tafte, of which a wholefome reffelhing liquor is prepared. Its ihade fheltcrs houfes from the torrid heat of the fun, and its fine figure greatly adorns the fcenery of the
country.
country. The inhabitants are alfo fond of raising over their houfes the fhade of the Indian fig-tree.
Arabia appears to be very rich in indigenous trees, the number of which is more than proportionate to its peculiar herbaceous plants. But great trees are not eafily removed from one place to another ; and thofe of the forefts, in the back parts of the country, are feldomer feen by travellers than the other vegetables. Hence, it is no wonder that we have been hitherto fo ig-norant concerning the trees of Arabia. More than half the new genera clalfcd by Mr Forfkal comprehend trees only. My friend faw likewife other eighteen trees, the genera of which he had no opportunity of afcertaining ; not to mention a great many others, of which he could learn only the Arabic name.
Caiha is one of thofe new genera peculiar to Arabia. This tree, which is improveable by culture, is commonly planted among the coffee-Ihrubs on the hills where thefe grow. The Arabians arc accuftomed conftantly to chew the buds of this tree, which they call Kaad; they are as much addicted to this practice, as the Indians to that of chewing betel. To their kaad they afcribe the virtues of aflifting digeftion, and of fortifying the conflitutiou againft infectious diftempers.   Yet its infipid talte gives no
indication
indication of extraordinary virtues. The only effects we felt from the ufe of thofe buds Were the hinderance and the interruption of our fleep.
Elcaya and Kcura, two trees famous for their perfume, are not known, but form two new genera. The former is common on the hills of Yemen; and the women ffeep its fruit in water, which they ufe for warning and perfuming the head. The fecond bears fome refemblance to the palm-tree, and produces flowers of a rich and delicious fmell. Thefe flowers are fold at an high price, as the Keura is rather a fcarce plant. But one little knot, if preferved in a cool place, will long continue to diffufe its odours through a whole apartment.
Children eat the fruit, which is infipid enough, of a large tree called Oncoba, and a tall fhrub named Mama. Both thefe, too, are new fpecies difcovered by Mr Forfkal. Such is alfo the Chadara, a large tree, and the Antura, a tree of a fmaller fize ; neither of which has any thing remarkable to diftinguifh it, except its wood and its novelty. Cidhamia, a large tree, alfo unknown to the botanilts, has nothing but its ufe to recommend it. Cadaba and Mafa are flirubs which have nothing particular about them, and might be pa fled over in fdence, had not Mr Forfkal taken notice of them.
Several
%
Several fhrubs which are indigenous in Arabia are of fome ufe to the inhabitants. The fruit of a new genus, named Sodada, is eaten j from the berry of another new fhrub, called Ccbatha, is extracted a very ftrong fpecies of brandy, the acid tafte of which is improved by a mixture of fugar. A fort of that falfe phafeo-lus, Dolichcs, which I have mentioned in fpeak-ing of the plants, grows up to a bufhy fhrub, fo as to form hedges in a fhort time, which are aimoft impenetrable. Cynanchum, a new genus, is a fhrub, of which the wood called by the Arabians March, is ufed for fuel, as it has ali the lightnefs and combuftibility of tinder.
An Arabian tree, famous from the moft remote antiquity,and neverthelefs but little known, is that from which the balfam of Mecca is obtained. We found one of thefe trees in the open fields; and under its fhade Mr Formal wrote the firft botanical defcription of the fpecies. He at the fame named it, as a new fpecies, Amyris; a name which has fince been adopted by other botanifts. The tree has not a beautiful appearance ; and, what is furprifmg, its qualities are not known to the inhabitants of Yemen, in which we met with it. They only burn its wood as a perfume. The wood of a fort of Amyris,  called KafaL is exported to
Vol. If Y y Egypt,
Egypt, and there ufed to communicate an agreeable odour to pots boiled upon it,as fuel,which affects alfo the liquors contained in them. The Arabians, in the remoter parts of theprovinceof Hcds-jds,feem to be better informed; for they collect the balfam,and bring it toMecca,whence it isdiftribut-ed through the Turkifh empire, where it is in high effimation. Even at Mecca it is difficult to obtain any of this balfam in its original purity. America produces alfo fome trees of the genus of Amyris, fo that the value of the balfam of Mecca may fall in time.
We could learn nothing of the tree from which incenfe diflils ; and Mr Eorlkal does not mention it. I know that it is to be found in a part of Hadramaut, where it is called Oliban. But the Arabians hold their own incenfe in no effimation, and make ufe only of that which comes from India. Probably Arabian incenfe was fo called among the ancients, becaufe the Arabians traded in it, and conveyed it from India to the ports of Egypt and Syria.
Senna (Caffia Senna Linn.) is a fhrub of which the favourite feat feems to be Upper Egypt, and that part of Arabia which lies op-pofitc to Upper Egypt, on the other fide of the Arabic Gulph. As there are feveral fpecies of CaJJia, it feems probable that the fenna imported into Europe is not all the produce of the
fame
fame fhrub. The differently figured leaves indicate as much. That which we call fenna of Alexandria grows in great abundance in the territory of Abu Arifch. The Arabians fell it at Mecca and Jidda; whence it panes, by the way of Suez and Kahira, to Alexandria. Senna, and other forts of caffia, are much ufed in Arabia in various difeafes. Caffia Fiflula,ov black cama, mixed with a lktle rhubarb, is the befl remedy known to the Arabian phyficians for the cure of the Cholera Morbus, and of diarrhoeas, which are in hot countries peculiarly dangerous.
I have already had occafion to fpeak of the coffee-tree, which furnifhes the Arabians with their befl article for exportation. This fhrub, which is at prefent reared in many green-houfes in Europe, is too well known to need a description here. The Arabians fay that it is a native of Abyflinia ; and feveral travellers affirm that they have feen it in great plenty in that country, where it produces berries not inferior in goodnefs to the coffee of Yemen. What ren ders this relation the more probable is, that the fruit of the wild coffee-tree is in Arabia fo bad as to be unfit for ufe. However this may be, it is at leafl certain that this fhrub thrives only on hills, and in places which are cool, and not defli-tute of moiflure. For this reafon, the inhabitants of the Highlands plant other trees among
their
35$
KI£BUHR*s TRAVELS
their coffee-plants, in order to ihade them ; and, in the time of the intenfe heats, water them. It iliould feem then that the Europeans are miftaken, in fuppofing that this fhrub mould be planted in a dry foil, under a torrid iky, and in the hotted climates. This miftake may be fufpected to be the reafon of the bad quality of the American coffee. In the account of my journey through Yemen, I have mentioned the countries where the beft coffee is to be found; and have at the fame time fpoken of the extenfive trade which the Arabians carry on in this commodity.
Their profits are lefs confiderable from the cotton-tree, of which they have two fpecies; that which grows to a fhrub; and another which bears red flowers. Aimoft all the inhabitants of Arabia are clothed in cotton-cloth from India.
Arabia, as wTell as Egypt, produces the celebrated Aihenna (Laufonia inerm'is Linn.J the leaves of which, pulverifed and wrought into a pafte, form a cofmetic which is in high repute through the eaft. The women of thofe countries, with this drug,ftain their hands and feet, or at leaft the nails of thefe, of a red colour ; which is yellowifh, or deeper, according to the manner in which the powder is applied. They think their charms improved by this painting; and, indeed, it may, by contraft, render the black and yellow of their complexion lefs difagrecable than they
would
would otherwife be. This fhrub, in its fize and character, has a refemblance to our privets.
The fenfitive plant, of the genus Mimofa, is well known. In Arabia are feveral fpecies of this genu?, all either trees or fhrubs, which ferve the inhabitants both for ufe and pleafure. ()ne of thefe trees droops its branches whenever any perfon approaches it, fceming as if it faluted thofe who retire under its made. This mute hofpitality has fo endeared this tree to the Arabians, that the injuring or cutting of it down is ftrictly prohibited. Another of thefe (Mimofa Sslam) produces fplendid flowers, of a beautiful red colour, with which the Arabians crown their heads on their days of fcftivity. The flowers of another (Mimofa Lcbbex) are no lefs remarkable for a fine filky tuft, formed by their piflils. The leaves of another (Mimofa Orfaia) preferve camel's milk from becoming four, fo that it retains all its fweetnefs for feveral days. The fmoke of the timber of this fame tree expels a worm, which fixes itfelf in the flefh of the human neck, and produces epileptic fits. This fpecies of the mimofa is difperfed through Afia, Africa, and America ; it is well known that the fenfitive plant was brought into Europe from the latter of thefe continents.
At Beit el Eakih, Mr Forfkal found fome fine trees, which were the ornament of the place j
but
but he could not learn either their name or their country. He fufpe&s them to have been brought from India by the Bramins. But, as their cha-racteriftics were different from thofe of any other known fpecies, he has claffed them in two new genera, under the names of Hyperanthera and B'inetlarium. Thofe trees were large, of a majeflic form, and covered with beautiful flowers. The Cijus, perhaps another native of India, is at prefent common in Arabia, where it has been naturalized, as well as the Tomex, a great tree, the properties of which we are unacquainted with. The Cijfus is valued as one of the bed counterpoifons ; and is on this account held in high effimation, it is the Cijfus Ilia Linn. A fpecies of Glycyrrhiza, or liquorice-fhrub, is common in Arabia and India.
Arabia does not produce many poifonous vegetables ; yet here is found a very dangerous fhrub of a new genus, called by Mr Forfkal Adenia. The buds of this fhrub are one of the mofl violent poifons, if dried, and given in drink as a powder ; they have the Hidden effect to fwell the body in an extraordinary manner. A fort of caper-tree (Capparis fpinofa Linn.) is the only remedy againfl the effects of this poifon-This latter fhrub is fo common in Arabia, that the antidote is always to be found befide the poifon.
Mr
Mr Forfkal likewife enumerates other eighteen trees which he faw, and which are indigenous in Arabia ; but their genera he could not determine. Of the moft part he learned the Arabic names, and of a few, fome of the properties. In Yemen he faw two trees, one of which was like the lemon, the other like the apple-tree ; but the inhabitants themfelves know neither their names nor qualities. Noemam, a tree from the coffee mountains, is often confounded with the caffia-tree. Becka and Anas are trees very common in the High lands, the juice of which is cauftic and poifonous. Schamama bears a fruit which taftes and fmells like a lemon. Gharib Elbake is a tree on the hills in the territory of Abu Arifch, from which diftils an agreeable juice, which affords pleafant morfels to the birds. Segleg, another tree of Abu Arifch, bears leaves from which there is a juice expreifed which paffes for an excellent remedy in cafes of weaknefs of fight. Sy?n el Horat, or the poifon of fifhes, is the fruit of an unknown tree in Arabia Felix ; from which great quantities of it are exported by the ports of the Red Sea. It is ufed in fifhing. Fifhes are fond of it, and fwal-low it eagerly ; after which they float in a ftate of feeming intoxication on the furface of the water.   This feems to be a fort of mix vomica;
which
which is alfo obtained from the weltern coafts of India.
We neglected to inform ourfelves, in Arabia, concerning the production of manna ; and what we learned from a monk, in a convent near Suez, was a monaftic legend, not worth repetition. The tree from which manna is obtained in Mefopotamia, by the making of its branches, is an oak, as I have been credibly informed by feveral different perfons. This manna is white and faccharine. But, at Bafra, I had a fpecimen fhewn me of the manna Tarand-jubin, which is gathered inPerfiafrom a prickly fhrub: it, as well as the former, is in round grains; but thefe are yellowifh. As Arabia-Petrxa abounds in prickly fhrubs, poflibly this manna may be found alfo there; although in thofe defart places it cannot be very plentiful. Both thefe forts of manna are ufed as fugar, in feveral difhes of meat, efpecially paftry. They are nourifhing, and, when newly gathered, have no purgative qualities.
The cedar grows not in Arabia, but feems to be a tree peculiar to Mount Libanus. The Arabians have little wood fit for building; their trees are moftly of a light, porous texture. Sceura, a new genus defcribed by Mr Forfkal, a tree that grows on the fea-fhore, is fo (oft an wood, that no ufe can be made of it.
CHAP.
CHAP. IX.
The Minerals of Arabia.
In the account of my journey, and in fpeaking of the foil of Arabia, I have already had fome occafion to mention the nature of thofe ftones of which the hills are here compofed. I have likewife fpoken of the maffes of bafaltes between Hadie and Kachma, from the upper parts of which pentagonal fragments are from time to time detached, and darted down into the vallies.
Befide calcareous, vitrifiable, and fand-ftones,, we faw alfo a ferruginous fpar, mixed with brown or white felenite, aimoft tranfparent. We found likewife, in the neighbourhood of Loheya, a blueifh gypfum, a grey fchiflus, and fpheric marcaffites, in beds of grit-ftone; from which ftones are hewn for building. Arabia affords, however, ftones of greater value. The onyx is common in Yemen ; and we law even quantities of thefe ftones on the road between Taces and Mount Sumara. In a hill near the town of Damar is found the ftone Ayek jfemani, which is in the higheft effimation among the Arabians. It is of a dark red, or rather a light-brown colour, and feems to be ?
vol. IL Z z for
fort of carnelian. The Arabians fet it in rings or bracelets, and afcribe to it the virtue of flopping the bleeding of wounds when inflantly. applied. Among the ftones of Mokha, which are, properly fpeaking, Indian carnelians, brought from Surat to Arabia and Europe, pieces are often found which bear a perfect, refemblance to this Ayek Jemani.
I could learn nothing of the precious ftones, properly fo called, which are fuppofed to be found in Arabia. It does not feem even probable that emeralds were ever found here. The hill which has been denominated the hill of emeralds is in Egypt, on the oppofite fide of the Arabic Gulph, and forms a part of that large chain of mountains which are compofed chiefly of granite.
We faw two little hills, confifling aimoft entirely of foffile fait j one near Loheya, and the other in the neighbourhood of Hodeida. Thofe maffes of fait are piled up in large tranfparent ftrata, and inclofed in a cruft of calcareous ftone. The Arabians formerly dug up this fait, but the galleries of the mines have funk down, and it is now neglected. We were told, however, that foreign veffels fometimes come to lade with this fait, from the hill near the iilo of Kameran, in the neighbourhood of Hodeida.
Arabia
Arabia does not appear to be rich in metals. The old Greek and Latin writers go even fo far as to affert that it is abfolutely deftitute of iron. This is not true ■, for grains of iron are to be feen among the fands which are waflied down by the rains. Magnets are commonly to be met with in the province of Kufma; and at Saade are iron-mines, which are wrought at prefent. It muft, however, be confeffed that the iron of Yemen is coarfe and brittle ; difadvantages in it which cannot be remedied. Befides, the fcarcity of wood makes this iron dearer than that which is brought from diftant countries. For this reafon, iron is a commodity which ftrangers can always difpofe of to advantage in the ports of the Red Sea.
In Oman are many very rich lead mine*. As this metal is more eafily fufiblc, the inhabitants of this province export great plenty of it. This trade is carried on from the harbour of Majhat.
As the ancients honoured one part of Arabia with the title of Happy, it fhould feem that they muft have afcribed to it all poffible advantages. The Greeks and Latins accordingly make ample mention of the immenfe quantity of gold which this country produced. In remqte times poftibly, when the Arabians were the factors of the trade to India, much of this precious metal .wight pafs through Arabia into Europe j but
that
that gold was probably the produce of the minej of India. At prefent, at leaft, there is no gold-mine in Arabia. The rivulets bring down no grains of this metal from the hills; nor does the fand fhew any marks of fo rich an intermixture. A philofopher of Loheya ftrove to periuade us, that he himfelf, and no body elle, was acquainted with fome mines in the country; but he was a babbler to whole ftories we could not give the flighteft credit.
All the gold now circulating in Arabia is from Abyflinia or Europe, and is received in payment either for coffee, or for India goods, which are fold at Jidda or Mokha. The Imam of Sana, when he wifhed, fome time fince, to ftrike a little gold coin, was obliged to melt down foreign money for the purpofe. The gold which paffes from Europe into Arabia, confifls aimoft altogether of Venetian fequins. On this account fome Arabians afked, if the Venetians were the only nation in Europe who had gold mines. Others fancied that the Venetians were in poifeflion of the philofopher's ftone.
Thefe prejudices and popular rumours ferve to keep up the old partiality of the Arabians for the purfuit of the art of tranfmuting other fub-ftances into gold. An Arabian no fooner meets with any obfcure book upon this fubject, by fome pretended adept, than he fets himfelf to
chemical
chemical procelTes, which he purfues as far as the circumltances of his country will permit. I have already given the ftory of two alchemifts of Beit el Fakih who had ruined themfelves by refearches into the art of making gold. This tafte is very general in Arabia ; moft of thofe alchemical enthufiafts think themfelves fure of fuccefs, if they could but find out the herb which gilds the teeth, and gives a yellow colour to the flefh of the fheep that eat it. Even the oil of this plant muft be of a golden colour. It is called Hafchifchet ed dab. I was affured that it is common in the vales of Mount Libanus, and is alfo to be found on the high hills of Yemen.
SECT,
SECTION XXX.
voyage from mokha to bombay,
CHAP. I. Departure from Mokba.
The veflel belonging to Mr Scott, with whom we were to take our paffage for Bombay, having been detained for a confiderable time at Mokha, we could not leave the city till 23d of Auguft 1763. Although Meffrs Cramer and Baurenfeind were at that time very ill, they, however, determined not to lofe the opportu. nity of leaving Arabia. As to myfelf, my health was fo far re-eftabliftied, that I could fafely venture upon the voyage to India.
The famous ftreight of Babel-Mandel, where the Arabian Gulph joins the ocean, and where we arrived on the fecond day of our voyage, may be about ten German miles in breadth. It
is
is interfperfed with fmall ifles, of which that neareft Africa is called Perim, and forms with the African continent a channel, through which fhips ufually pafs, notwithftanding the rapid current which prevails in it. In the fea, between Arabia and India, there is generally a rapid current driving to the eaft, with fo much violence, that it is impoflible to reckon the rate at which a fhip runs in pafling here. In this fea we met likewife with north winds fo cold that we were obliged to put on warmer clothes. ,
In this firft part of our voyage, Mr Cramer's health feemed to recover daily; but Mr Bauren-feind grew worfe and worfe. He funk into a a deep lethargy, and died on the 29th of Auguft. The defigns of this artift, of which I have published a part, fufriciently befpeak his praife.
Next day after Mr Baurenfeind, died alfo our fervant, Bcrggrecn, a Swede, who had made feveral campaigns in the fervice of a Colonel of Iluflars. This man, who was naturally robuft, and had been inured to fatigue, had at firft laughed at the idea of the hardfhips of a voyage to Arabia ; but he funk under them at laft, as well as Mr Cramer, as I fhall hereafter relate.
This melancholy fate of my fellow-travellers leads me to recollect; the fimilar end of two learned travellers into the eaft, which deferves
to
to be made known. The one was Mr Donati, who was at the head of a fociety of learned Ita* lians, fent by the King of Sardinia to travel in Afia. Soon after their arrival in Egypt, this fociety quarrelled among themfelves. Mr Doj nati's companions returned to Italy, and he proceeded alone on the journey, attended only by a young interpreter from Kahira, and an Italian fervant. He went by Damafcus to Bafra, in order to find an opportunity of pafling on to India. But,, being naturally impatient, and weary of waiting for an European veffel, he embarked on board a fmall open fluff, in which he purpofed to proceed to Mangalore, on the coaft of Malabar. The fatigue was too much for him ; and he died on board this veffel, three days before it reached India. Before his death, he gave money to his fervants to carry them home ; but this the Italian lofing all at play, in defpair, turned Muffulman at Mafkat.
Mr Donati was well qualified to make the moft of fuch a journey as that he had undertaken. His knowledge was very extenfive; and he pollened all the requifite firmnefs and activity of fpirit. He was farther poffeffed of a ftill more neceffary quality, courage, which danger could not lubdue, and of which he gave frequent proofs in Egypt, when attacked by the
Arabians,
Arabians, who, at laft, learned to refpect his intrepidity.
This philofopher had taken, although in vain, all poffible precautions to make his papers and the curiofities which he had collected in Egypt and Syria reach the Sardinian Court. He had intrufted to the Arabs with whom he failed all his effects, begging them, before his death, to convey the whole to the viceroy of Goa, who would not fail to forward them to the Court of Turin. 1 met with one of thofe men in India, who told me that they had faithfully difcharged their commiifion, and that the whole of Mr Donati's effects were in the hands of the Portuguefe viceroy. In 1772, however, nothing had been obtained from him; and I know not if any part of the deceafed travellers effects has been yet received in Italy. It was in 1763 that the Arabs, on board whofe veffel Mr Donati died, were on the coaft of Malabar.
The other learned traveller to whom I above alluded, was a French phyfician named Simon, well fkilled in natural hiftory, and a confiderable proficient in aftronomy. He arrived long before us in Syria, and was well received by his countrymen at Aleppo. Not finding leifure enough while he was among thofe Europeans, to profecute his refearches, he went to Diarbe-{ur, in the hope of being there left at liberty for
Vol. II. 3 A his
his inquncs. In that city he lodged with the carJuchins, the only Europeans in the place; but, dilgufted by the mummeries and ridiculous obfervanccs of thofe monks, he, in a fit of def-pair, refolved to become Muffulman.
Although the Turks make much of an European phyfician, Mr Simon faw himfelf neglected as foon as he had made profeflion of Maho-metifm ; jufl as if he had lofl his fkill in his profeihon, with the change of his religion. Becoming weary of Diarbckir, he retired to Bagdad, and there lived by the fale of drugs, and the practice of medicine. Still retaining, however, his tafte for natural hiftory, lie continued to botanize in the adjacent country with great activity. A Perfian khan in the neighbourhood, whom he had refufed to vifit, had him carried off, when he was out upon one of his botanical excurfions, and compelled him by the baiiina-doc to prefcribc for him. Mr Simon not fucceeding in the cure of the khan, was again baftina-doed, and imprifoned. The fucceffor of the deceased khan being likewife fick, and learning that the prifoner was an European phyfician, took him out from confinement, entrufted his health to his care, and was fortunately cured by Mr Simon's fkill. But this fuccefs proved only a fource of new misfortunes to the ill-fated philo-fophcr.   His new mafter refufed him penniflion
to
io return to .Bagdad, and carried him with him, in all his campaigns, in the late civil war in Perfia. In one of thole expeditions, an enemy furprifed the khan, and Mr Simon was Ilain on that occafion, with his mafter, and their whole party.
The paffage between Arabia and India was formerly thought very dangerous. Ships were carried on by fo rapid a current, that they could neither keep their reckoning, nor diffin-guifh the coaft during the rainy feafon : Several were confequently loft on the low coafts of Malabar. Thefe misfortunes have cealed to take place, fince an obfervation was made, which has been thought new, akhough Arrian fpeaks oi h as being known to the ancients, in the Indian ocean, at a certain diftance from land, a great many water ferpents, from 12 to 13 inches in length, are to be feen rifing above the furface of the water. When thefe ferpents are feen, they are an indication that the coaft is exactly two degrees diftant.
We faw fome of thefe ferpents, for the firft time, on the evening of the 9th of September j on the nth we landed in the harbour of Bombay ; and on the 13th entered the city.
CHAP.
chap. II.
Of the Ifle and the City of Bombay.
The ifle of Bombay is two German miles in length, by rather more than half a mile in breadth. A narrow channel divides it from another fmall ifle of little value, called by the Englifh Old Woman's Ifland. Bombay produces nothing but cocoa's and rice ; and on the fhore a confiderable quantity of fait is collected. The inhabitants are obliged to bring their provifions from the continent, or from Salfet, a large and fertile ifland not far from Bombay, and belonging to the Marattas. Since I left India, the Englifh have made an attempt upon Salfet, which is indeed very much in their power, and the public papers fay that they have been fuccefsful. I know not whether they may be able to maintain themfelves in it againfl the Marattas, whofe armies are very numerous.
The fea-breezes, and the frequent rains, cool the atmofphere, and render the climate of this ifland temperate. Its air was formerly unhealthy and dangerous, but has become pure fince the Englifh drained the marfhes, in the city and its c-uviron:;.   Still, however, many Europeans die
fuddenly
fuddenly here ; but they are new-comers, who fhorten their days by a mode of life unfuitable to the climate; eating great quantities of beef and pork, which the Indian Legiflator had wifely forbidden, and drinking copioufly of the ftrong wines of Portugal in the hotted feafon. They likewife perfift obftinately in wearing the European drefs, which by its ligatures impedes the free circulation of the blood, and by confining the limbs, renders the heat more intolerable. The Orientals again live to a great age, and are little fubject to difeafes, becaufe they keep the body at eafe in wide flowing robes, ab-ftain from animal food and ftrong liquors, and eat their principal meal in the evening after (unlet.
The city of Bombay, fituate in the northern part of the ifland, is a quarter of a German mile in length ; but narrow. It is defended by an indifferent citadel towards the fea, and at the middle of the city. On the land fide, its fortifications are very good. During the war the Eafl India Company expended no lefs than 900,000 French Iivres a-year, in the conflruction of new works for its defence; and, although thefe works are no longer carried on with the fame activity, yet the fortifications of Bombay are ftill continued, fo that it muft be in a fhort time the mofl; confiderable fortrets in India.   Befide the town,
there
there are in the ifland fome fmall forts fuflicient to protect it from any irruption of the Indians.
In this city are feveral handfomc buildings; a-mong which are the Director's palace, and a large and elegant church near it. The houfes are not flat roofed here, as through the reft of the eail, but are covered with tiles in the European faihion. TheEnglifh have glafs windows. The other inhabitants of the ifland have their windows of fmall pieces of tranfparcnt fhells framed in wood, which renders the apartments very dark. In the eafl it is the faffhon to live during the dry feafon in chambers open on one fide. The houfes of Bombay are in general neither fplendid nor commodious in any great degree.
The harbour Is fpacious, and fheltered from all winds. A valuable work, which has been conflructed at the Company's expence, is, two bafons, hewn out in the rock, in which two fhips may be at once careened. A third is now preparing. This work, which has been very ex-penfive, likewife brings in a confiderable annual return. Strangers pay very dear for liberty to careen in thefe bafons. While I was there I faw a fhip of war belonging to the Imam of Sana, which he had fent to Bombay folely on purpofe that it might be refitted.
CHAP.
chap. m.
Of the Inhabitants of Bombay.
The toleration which the Englifh grant to ali religions has rendered this ifland very populous. During thefe hundred years, for which it has been in the poffeflion of the Company, the number of its inhabitants has greatly increafed ; fo that they are now reckoned at 140,000 fouls, although within thefe twenty years they did not amount to 70,000.
Of thefe the Europeans are naturally the leaft numerous clafs ; and this the rather as they do not marry, and their numbers consequently do not multiply. The other inhabitants are Portuguefe, or Indian Catholics; Hindoos, the original pofleiTors of the country ; Perfians from Kerman; Mahometans of different feels ; and in ihe laft place fome Oriental Chriftians. My journey to Surat will afford me occafion to fpeak more at length of the Hindoos and Perfians, who chiefly inhabit the invirons of this city adding the obfervations I alfo made on thefe people at Surat.
The Englifh, as I have mentioned, have an handfomc church at Bombay, but only one En-
glifh
glifh clergyman to perform the fervicea of reli, gion in it; and, if he mould die, the congregation would be abfolutely deprived of a paftor; for the Company have no chaplains in their mips, and entertain no clergy in their fettle-ments on the coaft. Wherefore, when a child is to be baptized, which is not often, as the Englifh rarely marry in India, a Danifh miflionary is fent for, to adminifter the facrament of bap-tifm.
The Catholics, a fcanty remainder of the Portuguefe, and a great number of Indians, their converts, are much more numerous than the Proteftants. They have abundance of pricfts, as well Europeans as Indians, who attend their ftudies at Goa. To fuperintend this herd, the Pope named fome years ago a bifhop of Bombay, but the governor of the ifland fent him away, declaring that they needed not Catholic priefts of fo high a rank. The Catholic churches are decent buildings, and are fumptuoufly ornamented within. The Jews had once a college and a church in the middle of this ifland. Their college is at prefent the country-houfe of the Englifh governour. And the old church has been converted into a fuite of affembly-rooms.
All religions, as I have already remarked, are here indulged in the free exercife of their public worfhip, not only in their churches, but openly,
in
ill feftivals and proceflions, and none takes offence at another. Yet Government allows not the Catholic priefts to give a loofe to their zeal for making profelytes. When any perfon choofes to become Catholic, the reafons muft be laid before Government, and if they are judged valid, he is then allowed to profefs his converfion. The priefts complain of the difficulty of obtaining this permiffion. They, however, have confiderable fuccefs in converfion among the flaves, who, being ftruck with the pomp of the Romifh worlhip, and proud of wearing the image of a faint upon their breafts, choofe rather to frequent the Catholic churches than any others, and perfuade their countrymen, as the^y fuccef-fively arrive, to follow their example. I had purchafed a young Catholic negro at Bombay, who was alfo born of Chriftian parents, and intended to bring him with me into Europe j but, fearing afterwards that the Mufiulmans in Perfia and Turkey might give me trouble, and pretend that I was carrying away a Mahometan boy in order to make him a Chriftian, I gave him away before my departure from India.
Vol. II.
CHAP.
CHAP. IV.
Of the Government and Power of the Englifh on the Coaft of Malabar.
Xhe Englifh Eaft India Company govern their fettlements in a mode of adminiftration differ* ent from that of the Portuguefe and Dutch. Thefe laft nations intruft the difpofal of all places to the power of a fingle governor ; the Portuguefe to the viceroy of Goa; the Dutch 10 the governor-general of Batavia. The con-quefts of the Englifh are, on the contrary, all divided into four independent governments, each of which receives its orders immediately from the Court of Directors at London. The feats of thefe four governments are, Bombay for the coaft of Malabar, Madras for the Coromandel coaft, Calcutta for Bengal, and Bcncoolen for the ifland of Sumatra.
Although independent of one another, the feveral Englifh governors are however obliged to lend one another mutual aid in extraordinary exigencies. On a late occafion, news being received at Bombay of an infurrection, the council of Bombay, without waiting for orders from the Court of Directors in London, fent troops
and
and artillery to Calcutta. Thefe different efta-blifhments are all governed in the fame manne?. All proceffes between fubjects of the Company are determined by the law of England.
The council or regency of Bombay confift of a governor, with the title of prefident, and twelve counfellors, who are all merchants, except the commander of the troops, who held lately the rank of major. The Company have of late made fome changes upon this arrangement. The prefident muft be a military man ; the commander of the troops is a brigadier, and has a voice in the council; and the director of the naval affairs has a place among the twelve counfellors who were formerly all merchants. The other fervants of the Company are factors and writers of different ranks. Thefe rife from lower to higher places in the order of feniority,—even to the very firft offices, that only excepted of prefident; who is nominated by the Court of Directors in London. The fervants of the Company are fometimes transferred from one department to another. Mr Spencer, a very intelligent man, who was a counfellor at Bombay when I was there, was foon after transferred to the place of firft prefident at Calcutta.
The prefident of the council of Bombay is obliged to refide in the ifland ; as are alfo thofe counfellors who hold the offices of treafurer and
infpector
infpector of the Company's ftores. The other counfellors are fent out to manage the con-cerns of the Company's trade in the eftablifh-ments dependent on the government of Bombay. In my time, the directors of the trade at Surat, Tellicberry, Anjengo, and Bafra, were members of the council. In three of thefe places, the Company have forts in which they keep up garrifons of fufficicnt ftrength.' Since I left that country, the Englifh have conquered Baradfch, a great town, north from Surat, which was fubject to a Nabob of its own, and was formerly the feat of a Dutch factory. A counfellor from Bombay now refides as director in this city.
Factors are fent to the inferior fettlements ; .fuch as, in the province of Scindi, the great city of Tatta, the feat of the fovereign of the
• country ; Leer Bunder ; and Schab Bunder. The Company have likewife factors at Abu Sebabr, Cambay, Onor, Calicut, and even in the fort of
• Vicloria. This fort Itands on a great river, which holds its courfe through the interior country,even to as great diitance as Puna, the feat of the chief of the Mahrattas. The Englifh acquired this place, with fome adjacent villages, from the Mahrattas, in exchange for Geri, a fortrefs once belonging to the famous Angria, of which they had taken poffeihon. The Company expected, that, by means of this river, they might extend
their
their trade through the country of the Mahrattas. This project having, however, failed, they avail themfelves of the fort, and purchafe butcher-meats from the Mahometans in the neighbourhood, as the Hindoos about Bombay will not fell their cattle for (laughter.
It is for the benefit of the Company to fend its fervants fuccelhvely to different places, before they are advanced to the firft employments. Factors thus gain a knowledge of the affairs of all the different fettlements fubject to the government of which they are afterwards to be counfellors. The Company, however, allows but very moderate falaries to its factors and directors. But they are permitted to trade on their own account in India only from Dc/egoa near the Cape of Good Hope, to China, and northward, as far as Jidda and Bafra. By means of this extenfive trade chiefly, do the directors acquire that wealth which is the aftonifhment and envy of their countrymen in Europe.
Thefe advantages for the acquifition of wealth in trade, are referved for the Englifh exclufive-ly. The Company admit ftrangers into none but the military department of their fervice. In it they muft enter the loweft rank; but advancement is pretty rapid ; for their mode of life cuts off the officers very faf'l. At Bombay, I faw officers from various nations; chiefly however
Germans
Germans and Swifs. The troops are well paid; but I could not think the fervice agreeable ; for the writers, who are more directly in the career of advancement, look upon the foldier with that contempt which rnonied men commonly think themfelves entitled to mew for perfons who are in their pay.
In the government of which Bombay is the centre, the Company maintain feventeen companies of regular troops, confiding each of about an hundred and twenty men, with three companies of artillery. The foldiers are modly Europeans, except fome Topafes, or Catholic Indians, dreffed in the European fafhion. At Bombay there is alfo a body of three thoufand Sepoys, or Indian foldiers, Pagan and Mahometan, who wear their own original drefs, and are commanded by their own officers. Each company of this corps has an inferior European officer to teach the Sepoys their exercife ; for, when commanded by Europeans, they form good troops. At Surat, the Company have in their pay a fmall corps of Arabs from the Perfian Gulph, who are in fuch high reputation in India for their courage, that every Rajah defires to have fome of them in his fervice.
The artillery of Bombay is in very good condition, owing to the care of a Swede, whom the Englifh fent out in 1752, and who brought
with
with him a company of gunners whom he had raifed in Germany. Bombay was thus furnifli-ed with a good number of able workmen, chiefly mafons and carpenters. Thofe Germans likewife engaged many of their countrymen to leave the Dutch, and enter into the Englifh fervice.
The whole coaft from Bombay to Bafra is inhabited by people addi&ed to piracy, fuch as the Malays, the Sangeries, the Kulis, the Arabs, with other petty nations. It might be eafy for the Englifh to exterminate thefe pirates ; as they fhewed in 1765, by poffefling themfelves of the territory of the Malayans; which however they foon after ceded to the Indians for a round fum of money. But it is the Company's intereft to leave thofe plunderers to fcour the feas, and hinder other nations from failing in the fame latitudes. The Englifh are therefore content with protecting their own trade; for which purpofe they maintain in the government of Bombay eight or ten fmall fhips of war, with a number of armed barks. The Indians dare not travel from one port to another, other wife than in caravans, and under the protection of an Englifh veffel, for which they are obliged to pay very dear.
The Company find it not neceffary to pay their court in a particular manner to any nation
in
in thefe latitudes, except the Mahrattas, who"are matters of the coaft and of the ifles about Bombay, and by confequence in fome ineafure mafters of the fubfiftence of this fettlement. The marine force of the Mahrattas is not formidable ; but they can bring 80,000 cavalry into the field. This refidue of the old Indians, retired among the hills, ftill retain power which renders them formidable to the Moguls. The great Aureng-zebe, to keep peace with the Mahrattas, granted them a fourth of the cuftoms paid by feveral provinces j a revenue which they have found means to enlarge fince the rife of the laft troubles in Indoftan. They ventured to attack the Englifh, in a time of peace, and in 1765 took a man of war pertaining to that nation. The Company, inftcad of revenging this infult, thought it more prudent to fettle the affair amicably. The fovereign of the Mahrattas, who is a Bramin, as are alfo his principal officers, refides at Puna, a great town in the interior country. He farms out his provinces to the Bramins, who again employ under-farmers of their own Caft. According ,to accounts, the government of this nation is good, although arbitrary. Juftice is impartially adminiftered ; agriculture and manufactures flourifli; and the country is very populous. The Mahrattas, although they thus practife juftice among themfelves, are, however,
guilty
guilty of great barbarities in their frequent in-currions into the neighbouring provinces under the government of Mahometans. They pillage and lay wade all before them in the moft cruel manner,
CHAP. V.
Qf the Trade of Bombay.
The pcrmilTion which the Company's fervants enjoy of trading on their own account, appears to many perfons to be injurious to the interefts of the Company. It muft be confeffed that this private trade is liable to abufes, and may on certain occafions prove hurtful to that of the Company. Yet, judging upon the whole, I am induced to think it advantageous alike to the mafters and to the fervants. A liberty of trading on their own account infpires factors with fpirit and activity, and affords them means of acquiring fuller imformation concerning various branches of commerce. Thus is the trade in general benefited, and bufinefs extended.
A recent inftance will fhewboth the good and the bad fide of this account, In the firft part of my work, I have mentioned the privilege the Englifh enjoy at Jidda, of paying lower duties
Vol. II. 3 C thar\
than any other nation. Since the extenfion of their conquefl sin India, they have eugrolfcd almofl the whole trade of the Red Sea; fo that, few mips from other nations now reforting to Jidda, the culioms of that city have considerably declined. The Turks an«i Arabs, not daring to raife thofe duties, in violation of the tenor of their treaties with the Englifh, contrived to make the pur-chafer of goods imported by mips from Bombay pay a fecond duty. This falling ultimately upon the Englifh merchant, the Company complained, but could obtain no redrefs. They then threatened to forfake the harbour of Jidda, and to fend their fhips flraight to Suez. The Turks and Arabs, confidering the navigation of the Arabian Gulph as the mofl dangerous in the world, paid no attention to thofe menaces.
At laft, Mr Holford, an able feaman, determined to accomplifh them. To this end, it was neceffary to obtain the confent of the regency of Cairo, and affurance of good treatment at Suez. Ali Bey, who was then mafter of Egypt, giving himfelf no concern about the interefts of the Pacha of Jidda, or of the Sherriffe of Mecca, offered the Englifh the moft advantageous conditions ; hoping to derive great profits from the India trade running in this new channel. Since Mr Holford, in 1773, maae a fuccefsful voyage up the Arabic Gulph, and conducted the firft
Englifh
Englifh fhip ftreight to Suez, feveral veffels have every year failed from India for this port. In 1776, five of thofe Englifh. mips entered the harbour of Suez. The paffage has been found fo fhort and convenient, that the regency of Bombay now fend their couriers by the way of Suez to England. In this way, they receive an-fwers to their difpatches within the fame length of time which was formerly confumed in the conveyance of their packets to London.
But, this change in the conduct of this trade, is not yet of long Handing. By the diminution of the expences of freight which it produced, the Englifh reduced the prices of India goods fo conhderably, through all the Levant, that the Company no longer found fale for thofe fluffs which they had been accuflomed to fend from London to the Levant. They have, therefore, prohibited their factors from trading, on their Own account, from India ftreight to Suez. But, as this trade has been once opened, the Com., pany might fend their own fhips to Egypt. The Only confederation to hinder them, is, that of the inftability of the government of Cairo, and the frequent difturbances which render Egypt unfafe for the merchant.
All the Englifh fhips for India fail to one of the four principal fettlements. Thofe which fail for Bombay are commonly five months
in
in their paffage. In one inftance, the voyage i# known to have been performed in three months and eighteen days. Few of thofe mips, of which there arrive commonly four in the year, return to Europe immediately after difcharging their cargoes. They, for the moft part, make firft fome voyage to a different fettlement, as far often as China, by which they gain confiderable freights, when the governor favours them fo far as to grant them his permiftion. Each of thefe fhips was formerly to take out 40,000 crowns; but, fince the Company have acquired fuch an extent of territory in India, they have no necef-fity to fend ready money from London to their fettlements.
The principal article with which the fhips from India are freighted, is cloth of all forts, which is fold moftly at Bafra, and in Perfia. The others are cochineal, ivory, iron, copper, guns, arms, &c. The crew of thefe fhips carry out likewife, each man a parcel of goods, on his own account. A great part of the cargoes of thefe fhips is publicly fold, foon after they are unladen. The Indian merchants gather in to the fale ; and the goods are difpofed of by auction, to the higheft bidder. The remainder are carried to the dependent fettlements.
The fhips return to Europe, laden with pepper from Malabar, faltpetre from Scindi, and
fluff*
fluffs from Surat. The crews carry home parcels of perfumes, gums, and fpiceries of different forts, the produce of India.
CHAP. VI.
Antiquities of the Ifle Elephanta.
This fmall ifle, fituate near Bombay, belongs to the Mahrattas, and is inhabited by an hundred poor Indian families. Its proper name is Cali Pouri. The Europeans call it Elephanta, from the flatue of an elephant, formed of black flone, which Hands in this ifland, in the open plain, near the more. This ifland being of fmall importance, the Mahrattas take no care of it j and the Englifh are at liberty to vifit it without paffports, which are requifite, when they go to the ifle of Salfet,
Several travellers mention the ifle of Elephanta, and the Indian temple in it; but this only in a tranfient manner, and without feeming to have known all the importance of thofe remains of remote antiquity. To me the temple appeared fo remarkable, that I vifited the ifland three different times, in order to draw, and de-fcribe its curiofities.
It
It is an hundred and twenty feet long, and the fame in breadth, without including the meafurement of the chapels and the adjacent chambers. Its height within is nearly fifteen feet, although the floor has been greatly raifed by the acceffion of duff, and of the fediment of the water which falls into it in the rainy feafon. The whole of this vaft If ru&ure, fituate in a hill of confiderable height, is cut out in the; folid rock. The pillars fupporting the roof are alfo parts of the rock which have been left Handing by the architect. They are of an uncommon order ; but have an agreeable enough effect.
The walls of this temple are ornamented with figures in bas-relief, fo prominent, that they are joined to the rock only by the back. Many of thefe figures are of a coloifal fize; being fome 10, fome 12, and fome even 14 feet high. Neither in defign, nor in execution, indeed, can thefe bas-reliefs be compared vith the works of the Grecian fculptors. But they are greatly fuperior in elegance to the remains of the ancient Egyptian fculpture. They are alfo finer than the bas-reliefs from the ruins of Perfepolis. No doubt, then, but the arts were cultivated by the ancient Indians with better fuccefs than is commonly fuppofed.
Probably thefe figures mark events relative to the mythology and fabulous hiftory of the Indians,
tiians, lor they feem to be reprefentative oF Gods and Heroes. But, to be able to under-If and them, we mould know more than we at prefent do of the manners and religion of this ancient nation. The modern Indians are fo ignorant, that I could obtain from them no in. formation concerning thofe antiquities. One man, who pretended to explain the character of one of the largeft ftatues, affurcd me that it was Kami, one of their ancient fabulous princes, famous for his cruelties committed upon his filter's children. This ftatue, which is in other refpects well formed, has eight arms ; an emblem of power, "which the Indians give to their allegorical figures.
I have given dcilgns of thefe allegorical figures, (in the larger works), which will make them better underftood than dry defcription can. There are, however, fome particulars about them,which prove the liability of the manners of the Indians, and afford points for the comparifon of ancient with modern cufloms. None of thefe figures has a beard j and all of them very fcanty whifkers. At prefent, the young Indians wear all whifkers; and fuch as are advanced in life leave commonly the whole beard to grow. The lips of thefe figures are always thick; and their ears are lengthened out by large pendents; ornaments which they aimoft all wear. Several
of
394
NIEBHUP.'s TRAVELS
them wear a fmall cord, in the fafhion of * i'carf-9 a mode now prevalent among the Bramins.
One woman has but a fingle bread ; from which it mould feem, that the dory of the Amazons was not unknown to the old Indians. Several figures, as well mafculine as feminine, have one arm leaning on the head of a male, or a female dwarf; from which it fhould feem that thefe mondcrs of the human fpecies have always been an object, of luxury and magnificence a-mong the tadelefs great. Several of thefe figures have hair on the head, which feems not to be of its native growth, but is perfectly like a wig j fo that this covering for the head appears to be of very ancient invention. The female bofom is always perfectly round; from which it feems that the Indian fafhion of wearing thin wooden cafes upon the breads is alfo very ancient. One woman too appears bearing her child in the fame attitude which is dill in ufe among the Indians, and which forms thofe children to ftand firmly upon their feet and legs.
The head-drefs of thefe female figures is commonly an high-crowned bonnet. I have, however, obferved alfo a turban. Some are bareheaded, and have their hair at lead well combi ed, if it is not rather a periwig they wear. Several are naked.   The drefs of others is more
nearly
nearly like that of the moderns. Some of the women wear a cap. In many places the handkerchief, ff ill ufed through all India, is obferva-ble in the hands of the inferior figures.
In feveral parts of thefe bas-reliefs appears the famous Cobra de Capellb, a fort of ferpent, which the human figures treat with great familiarity. Thefe ferpents are ftill very common in the ifle of Elephanta, the inhabitants of which are not afraid of them, but fay that they are friendly to man, and do no harm, unlefs when intentionally provoked. Certain it is, howeverj that their bite is mortal.
On each fide of this temple is a chapel, nine feet high, confequently lower than the principal building. The walls of thefe chapels are alfo covered with bas-relief figures, on a fmaller fcale than thofe upon the walls of the temple. Behind the chapels are three chambers, the walls of which difplay no fculptures; their ufeS I could not conjecture.
The fmalleft of the chapels, having no fculp-tured figure, but that of the God Gonnis, is ftill in a ftate of neat prefervation, which muft be owing to the cares of the prefent inhabitants, whom I faw repair thither to perform their devotions. Before the entrance into this chapel, I found a pile of fhapelefs ftones, newly bedaubed with red paint.   I fhould fuppofe that the mo-
Vol. II. 3 D dern
dern Indians no longer adore their ancient Gods, but have adopted new objects of worftiip, whom they reprefent by ftones painted red, for want of more artificial ftatues. In many places through India, indeed, may be feen fimilar piles of red ftones, which are held in high veneration among a people who have now aimoft entirely loft all knowledge of the fine arts.
The reft of the temple being perfectly neglected, is now the haunt of ferpents and beafts of prey. One dares not enter it without firft making feveral difcharges of fire arms, to expel thofe creatures. Even after ufing this precaution, a Dutchman was once in great danger from fwarms of wafps of a peculiar fpecies, which he had roufed from their nefts with his gun. In the hot feafon, horned cattle refort to the lower chambers of the temple, to drink of the water which is depofited there during the rains.
As little is there any hope of obtaining any information from the prefent inhabitants of the ifland, concerning the period when this temple was built. Thofe good folks relate with fimplicity, that a number of ftrangers came one night into the ifland, and reared this edifice before the return of day-light. Men feem fond of the marvellous in India, as elfewhere.
On a hill, at a fmall diftance, there is faid to he another temple.   But, to it, there is no open
road)
road; and, as the grafs was at that time very tall, my guides would not accompany me thither, for fear of ferpents and wild animals.
Befides, this is not the only old temple remaining in India. I have already mentioned thofe in the ifle of Salfet, three of which itand-ing at Kanari, Ponifer, and Monpefer^ have been defcribed by M. Anqueiil. 1 have already mentioned, that accefs into this ifland cannot be obtained without a paifport from the Mahratta go. vernor at Tana, or perhaps from the fovereign. Such a paffport I durft not afk for the purpofe of gratifying my curiofity as to the temples ; as the Mahrattas had lately feized a velfel, and were not, even then, in a good underftanding with the Englifh.
Freyer has defcribed the temple of Dunganes, and Thevcnot that of Uowa, both hewn out in the folid rock, like that of Elephanta. Near Fort Victoria is another very large temple, hewn out alfo in folid rock, and divided into twenty-five feparate chambers. One perfectly like this is to be found in the vicinity of the town of Teridfchanapalli.
Thefe monuments of the ancient fplendour of the Indians deferve, upon feveral accounts, the attention of our men of learning. We go to fee pyramids nowife worthy of comparifon with thefe pagodas.   It would require more labour
an.#
and fkill to cut out fuch fpacious apartments im rocks, and to ornament them with luch large and beautiful pieces of fculpture, than to raife thofe huge piles of foft, calcareous ftones, which the builder found ready at his hand. The pyra* mids appear to have been reared by the toil of barbarous flavery ; the temples of India are the works of a magnificent and enlightened people.
The Indians are, befides, the mofl ancient of the nations whofe hiftory is known, and have befl retained their ancient ufages and opinions. We know that the inhabitants of other countries in the eafl, the Greeks, and perhaps too the Egyptians, drew the firft elements of their knowledge from India. It may farther be pre-fumed, that the examination of Indian antiquities would throw new light on thofe opinions and modes of worfhip which were by degrees diffuffed through other parts of the eaft, and fpread, at laft, into Europe. Thefe difcoveries, again, would throw new light on the antiquities of other nations.
Thefe hopes are the more plaufible, as the Indians have ftill books which were written in the moft remote times, and of which the language is at prefent underftood. The books might explain the monuments; and the monuments a-gain might ferve as a commentary upon thofe books, and the hiftory of the nation.
It
It were to be wifhed, that fome enlightened fcholars would undertake a voyage into India for the purpofe of inveftigating its antiquities. But, fuch an undertaking is more than can be expected from any private perfon, and might be worthy of the patronage of a prince or a nation. The Portuguefe, who were for two centuries mailers of Salfet, muft have been well acquainted with thefe temples, for they converted that of Kanari into a church. But, inftead of feek-ing to make thofe monuments known to other nations, they fought to conceal them, and covered the fineft of the bas-reliefs with pi after. The Englifh, although they have been fettled at Bombay for thefe hundred years now, have ftill neglected thefe refearches. It is to be hoped that they will at length think of meriting the gratitude of the public, by bringing thofe hidden cu-riofities to light, which lie in the extenfive con-quefts on the continent, now poffeffed by that nation.
SEC-
SECTION XXXI.
VOYAGE  TO SURAT.
CHAP. I.
Occafion of this Voyage, and Departure from Bombay.
The reader will recollea that Mr Cramer and I were both fick when we arrived at Bombay in September 1763. Our intention was to return into Europe through Turkey, and to take our paflage on board a (hip of the Company's which was to fail for Bafra the beginning of the next year ; but, the ft ate of our health would not ah low us to take that opportunity. Mr Cramer, finking at length under his complaints, died at Bombay, on the 10th of February 1764, in fpite of the cares of a fkilful Englifh phyfician.
Being now the fole furvivor of all our party, I thought it my duty to attend to my own preservation, and to provide for the fafe conveyance of our papers to Europe, as I feared that thefe would be loft, if I alfo fhould die by the way.
Forefeeing
Forefeeing that I fhould have to undergo the fame fatigues in palling through Turkey, which I had already encountered in Arabia, and which the weak ftate of my health was unfit to bear, I refolved to fet out ftraight for London, by the firft fhip which fhould fail for Europe. In the mean time, to gratify my curiofity with a fight of Surat, I took the opportunity of going on board an Englifh fhip bound on a voyage to that port.
We failed from Bombay on the 24th of March 1764, and were obliged to flop at Mabim, a fmall town in the northern part of the ifle, where a member of the Council of Bombay conftantly refides. An incident which took place at this time may ferve as an inftance of the military fpirit and fkill of the Portuguefe. Proud of their ancient conquefts, they fcorn to make peace with any of the Indian nations, all of whom they regard as rebels. Being thus in terms of continual hoftility with their neighbours, they dare not fail thefe feas without an cfcort. A fmall fleet of merchant fhips bound from Goa to Diu, under the protection of two frigates, was feen, one evening, off Bombay. In the night we heard a brifk firing of guns, and imagined that the Portuguefe were engaged with the Mahrattas. But, in the morning, it appeared that their exploits had ended merely in the
deftrucfion
402
NIEBUHr's TRAVELS
deftruction of a quantity of bamboos, from 30 to 40 feet high, which the fifhermeri had fet up in a fand bank for the purpofes of their liming. Thofe valiant Portuguefe had taken the bamboos for the mafts of an hoflile fleet. To crown their glory, the admiral found himfelf compelled by the governor of Bombay to pay damages to the fifhermen.
On the 26th of March we arrived in the road of Surat, at the diftance of three German miles from the city. We went on more at Domus, a village diflinguifhed by the refidence of fome, and by a vaft Indian fig-tree, which is held in high veneration. Of this tree (the Ficus vqfta of Linnaeus,) I have already fpoken in giving the natural hiftory of Arabia. To the defcrip-tion above given of-it, I may here add, that it grows to a great age; the new fhoots from the branches of the primary ftem continuing to nourifh the top of the tree, even after the parent ftock is entirely decayed.
At Domus we took a Kakkri, the carriage common in the country, which is neither more nor lefs than a covered cart, drawn by two oxen, which are driven by a peafant feated on the pole. I had here an inftance of the great drynefs of this country, for the movement of our light carriage raifed a cloud of duft about us.
I never fufTered fo much from the duft, even in caravans of fome hundreds of camels, horfes, md mules.
CHAP. II
Of the City of Surat, and its Environs.
This city ftands in a large and fertile plain, ofl the banks of a confiderable river, named Tapp'u On the land fide, it is encompalfed with two trick walls, which divide it into the inner and the outer town. The citadel ftands within the inner, on the more of the Tappi, and is divided by trenches from the town. One may walk round the outer wall in two hours and a half; the fpace which it inclofes is chiefly occupied by gardens, having but a very few houfes.
The larger houfes are flat-roofed here, as through the reft of the eaft, with courts before them. The hohfes of the common people are high-roofed. Although Surat has been long under the dominion of the Mahometan Moguls, yet here is no handfome mofque with towers, as among the Turks and Arabians. The fquares of this city are large, and the ftreets fpacious, but not paved ; fo that the duft is infufferable. Each ftreet has gates of its own, with which it
Vol. IL 3 E is
is fhut up in times of turbulence ; and thefe are as frequent here as at Cairo.
At Surat provifions are plenteous and cheap ; the air, too, is wholefome, notwithftanding the warmth of the climate. I here obferved Faren-heit's thermometer at 980 in.the month of March, while,the wind blew from the north. In the month of May the thermometer flood at 930 degrees at Bombay, which lies two degrees farther to the fouth.
One thing unfavourable for Surat, is, that mips cannot enter the harbour, becaufe the Tap-pi is full of fand-banks. This river is too low in the dry feafon ; and in the rains fwells .too fuddenly, to fuch a height as to overflow all the neighbourhood. Were the river confined by dikes, the ftream which, during the rains, often rifes eight and twenty feet above its ordinary level, would carry away all the fand, and thus clearing the channel, would afford fhips accefs to the very walls. But, the defpotic governments of Afia neglect every thing that might contribute to the general good of their iub-jects.
General toleration and entire liberty are enjoyed in this city by all religious profeflions j and its inhabitants are accordingly very numerous. The Europeans refiding here eflimate the population of the city at a million of fouls.
But this calculation is evidently above the truth, —by two thirds, I have reafon to believe.
One thing fingular in Surat is, that here is no hofpital for human beings, but an extenfivc eflabliflunent of this nature for fick or maimed animals. When the Europeans turn out an old horfe, or any other domeftic animal, to perifb as ufelefs, the Indians voluntarily affume the care of it, and place it in this houfe, which is full oi of infirm, decrepid cows, fheep, rabbits, hens, pigeons, &c. I faw in it a great tortoife, which was blind and helplefs, and, as I was told, 125 years of age. The charitable Indians keep a phyfician of purpofe for thefe animals.
The environs of Surat are not without gardens, which are the property either of Europeans, or of natives of the country. The fineft of thofe belonging to Europeans is the property of the Dutch Eaft India Company. Its afpecf is rich and charming.
To get an idea of the character of an Indian garden, I went to fee one which was formed by I late Nabob, at the expence of 500,000 rupees. This garden is of confiderable extent, but has not the leaft appearance of regularity in the de-fign, and has in it nothing in the fafhion of our gardens, but a few ponds and fountains : the reft is a confided medley of buildings and fmall orchards.   Among the buildings is one of great
dimenfions,
dimenfions, having baths and faloons, and ornamented with the magnificence of India, which bears no refemblance to ours. The other buildings are harams for the Nabob's wives, entirely feparate from each other, fo that each lady can hold her little court apart. Every haram has fome one good apartment; but all the reft of it confifls of very narrow chambers for the flaves. What ftruck me particularly in this garden, was the paffage from one fuite of rooms to another, by paths fo narrow, fo winding, and fo blocked up by doors, as to afford a ftrong in-itance of the diftruft with which the unfortunate great in defpotic countries regard all about them ; fo that they are never free from anxiety, and are obliged to Hand continually on their guard againft furprife.
I fhould have wifhed to draw a plan of Surat. But I foon found that the Europeans in India would not leave me fo much at liberty, in this refpect, as the Turks and Arabians had done. The climate of hot countries, and the nature of the government of fettlements fo diftant from the mother country, feem to alter the national character of the people of Europe. The Englifh governor of Surat would not allow a Frenchman to live in a high apartment from which he had a view of the citadel. At Mokha, I was told of an Arabian merchant who had languifh-
ed
ed fome years in the prifons of Batavia, for having had the curjpfity to meafure the dimen-fions of a cannon.
CHAR III.
Of the Inhabitants of Surat, and fome Peculiar Citftoms,
Ac. reat commercial city muft be peopled by men of different nations. The principal inhabitants of Surat are Mahometans, and moftly ftrangcrs, although employed in the fervice of the government. They are equally zealous in the obfervance of their law as the Turks and Arabians. Although of the feci of the Sunnites, they tolerate the Shiites, and even permit them to celebrate the feftival of Haffcin. They make no fcruple of drinking wine publicly, or of lending money upon intereft.
All people of diftin&ion in Surat, and through the reft of India, fpeak and write the Perfian language. Hence has this language been received at the courts, and the knowledge of it is very ufeful for the difpatch of bufinefs. In trade, corrupt Portuguefe is the language ufed ; and this is in India what the Lingua Franca is in the Levant.
The
The Muflulmans of Surat bring about them a great many Fakirs of their own religion, who are the moft infolent beggars in the world. Thofe Fakirs will often fit down before a houfe, and continue there till the owner pay the fum they afk, or make a compofition with them. As the police interferes not to check thefe infolent mendicants, people muft be content with getting quit of them at any price.
At -Surat, I had occafion to witnefs the Muf-fulman proceffion at the feftival of Bairam. The counfellor from Bombay, who refides in the citadel of Surat, and reprefents a Nabob, is obliged to announce this ceremony by a difcharge of cannons, and to aflilt at it in perfon. It is a ftrange fight, to fee an Englifh merchant in the European drefs, attended by a party of Britifh foldiers, and with the train of an Indian prince, conduct and regulate a religious feftival of the Mahometans. The Englifh director made the Indians fenfible of his importance upon this occafion, by refuting to difcharge his cannons in the night; a favour requefted of him by the Nabob of the city, in order to give the people timely warning of the approach of the feftival.
In this proceffion there was nothing remarkable, except the numbers of kakkris, palanquins, and horfes, a few cannons, a great deal of martial mufic, and the Nabob's foldiers.   The go-i vernor
vernor rode upon an elephant, on the back of which he fat on a fort of throne, raifed upon four pillars. This elephant was, like moft of the horfes and oxen which drew the kahkris, painted red.
Kakkris, the carriages moft common through India, are of a very iimple conftruclion, run upon two wheels, and are drawn by oxen : the driver fits on a large pole, confifting of feveral bamboos. It is not in any ornaments about thele vehicles, but in the cattle which draw them, that the object of pride and expence to the Indian lies j a pair of white oxen for one of thefe carriages will coft 600 rupees. Thefe oxen have the points of their horns ornamented with fil-ver; their pace is quick,.but lefs fo than that of horfes.
The citizens of Surat difplay their magnificence likewife in their palanquins. A palanquin is known to be a fort of couch fufpended from a bamboo, and borne by four men. The traveller reclines in this vehicle, and is ftiaded from the fun by a curtain. A palanquin, completely ornamented with filver, covered with rich ftuffs, and fufpended upon a handfomc bamboo, properly bent, will coft above 200 pounds Sterling. The bamboo only of the governor of Bombay's palanquin, ex-clufive  of the  other ornaments,   coft 125
pound1.
pounds Sterling. The bearers of the palanquins are Indian fervants j who wear no clothes, except a fmall linen cloth about their loins, with clofe flat bonnets on their heads, as liveries, and are commonly employed in keeping the rooms clean within the houfes. The European ladies are at firft Ihocked at the indecency of being carried by naked men, but foon learn to ac-cuftom themfelves to it. The palanquins of the Mahometan ladies are incommodious wooden boxes, entirely clofe, and fixed upon a ftraight pole.
The Hindoos, the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, of whom I fhall foon fpeak more at length, compofe the moft confiderable part of the population of Surat. They are aimoft all of the eaft of the Banians; and hence their fkill and dexterity in matters of calculation and economy often raife them to places of confiderable truft, in the collection of the taxes and cuftoms for the Mahometans. Thefe Banians, being born to trade, have engrolfed the commerce of India to fuch a degree, that all foreign nations are obliged to employ them as brokers; in which employment they give better fatisfaction than the Jews in Turkey. Europeans have never found reafon to repent the intrufting even of their whole fortune to the Banians, who continue to give aftonifhing proofs of their probity
and
and fidelity. Some of them are very rich ; but they live all in a llyle of moderate fimplicity, wearing for drefs only a plain robe of white cotton.
At Surat are numbers of Perfccs or Perfians, who are fkilful merchants, induilrious artifans, and good fervants. In the fame city are alfo Armenians, Georgians, and Jews; but of none of thefe any confiderable number. The Indian Catholics, commonly called Portuguefe, from their fpeaking the India dialect of the Portuguefe language, are numerous here. At Surat, the day is reckoned from funfet to funfet, and is divided, not into 24 hours, but into 60 garris. Here are no clocks j the progrefs of the day is meafured by different means. In a confpicuous fituation, a man {lands to put a cup of copper, pierced with a hole in the bottom, from time to time under water; every time the cup finks, a garri is counted, and the man announces its lapfe by finking the number which it makes upon a plate of metal that founds like a clock. Each garri confifls of 24 of our minutes. In the houfes of the great, too, where clocks and watches are not wanting, this old falhion of meafuring time is ftill kept up.
Vol. II. 3 F
CHAR, IV.
Of the Government of Surat, and the Revolutions it ha\ undergone.
Surat, and the great diftrict of which it is the capital, belonged for a long time to the great Mogul, who, to keep fo diftant a province the more effectually in obedience, put it under the government of two Nabobs independent on one another. The one refided in the city, and was properly the governor of the province. The other had the command of the citadel, and enjoyed the title of admiral, with a fmall revenue appropriated to the maintenance of a fmall fleet for the defence of the coaft againft pirates.
After Shah Nadir's expedition into Indoftan, the diftant Nabobs of this vaft empire aimed all at independence, and left the Mogul nothing but a fhadow of authority, afking him only for form's fake to confirm them in their places. Teg Beg Khan, Nabob of Surat, a rich and powerful man, followed this example, and procured his brother to be declared Nabob of the citadel. The two brothers then looked upon . the whole province as their patrimony, and acquired immenfe wealth. y
Teg
Teg Beg Khan dying in 1746, without children, left his fortune to his relations, by which feveral of them were raifed to a condition which enabled them to afpire to the government of the city. His brother died on the following year ; and his widow, a woman extremely rich and ambitious, ftrove to make her fon-indaw Nabob at once of the town and of the citadel.
The contelt of the different competitors for the fupreme authority produced a civil war in the town of Surat, like that which arifes from time to time among the Begs of Cairo, and of which we in Europe can form no idea. Each of the rivals raifed as many troops as he poffibly could ; with thefe he cantoned and intrenched himfelf in his houfes and gardens, and from time to time endeavoured to furprize or drive away his opponents. During thefe hoflile operations, which were not attended with great flaughter, the inhabitants were content with fhutting the gates nearefl to the fcene of action, and continued to go about their ordinary affairs, without fear of being pillaged. Nay, they were fure of receiving compenfation whenever any cafual injury was done to any perfon through means of the difturbances. Hence trade fuffer-ed no interruption.
Some of the rival candidates imprudently called in the Mahrattas; and they, without doing
any
any thing for any party, made the victors pay for their afliflance, although they had apparently favoured the vanquifhed. Since that time, the Mahrattas have enjoyed a third part of the amount of the cufloms of Surat; and one of their officers conflantly attends to receive this tribute.
The Englifh and Dutch had always kept their factories in a flate of defence, and on the occafion of the difturbances, they increafed their military preparations. The nobles of the country then had recourfe to thofe powerful traders. Each of the two European nations took part with one of the competitors, furnifhed him with ammunition, intrenched themfelves in their factories, and fought againfl each other, although not openly at war. The Nabob, protected by the Englifh, was at laft expelled from the city. But, in 1758, he returned; and his mother-in-law, the rich widow above-mentioned, made fo good an ufe of her treafures, that the Nabob for whom he had been expelled was obliged to yield to him the government of the city.
When the Englifh faw the city in the hands of their creature, they began to think ferioufly of gaining poffeflion of the citadel. The council of Bombay, in 1759, fent Mr Spencer, one of their number, a man of abilities, and beloved by the Indians, to burat, with a confiderable
force.
force. The Nabob opened the gates of the city to the Englifh, and allowed them to lay fiege to the citadel undiflurbed. It was taken in a few days. To avoid giving offence to the Indians, the Englifh declared, that they made the conquefl in the name of the great Mogul, and waved his Hag from the walls of the citadel.
This expedition thus accomplifhed, Mr Spencer fent a long reprefentation to the Court of Delhi, in which he ftated the reafons which had induced the merchants of Surat to put themfelves under the protection of the Englifh, and to expel the ufurper Nabob from the citadel. He afferted that thofe petty tyrants had fullered the fleet neceffary for the protection of trade to fall into a flate of decay, and that none but the Englifh could reftore it. He offered, at the fame time, that if the Mogul would grant to the Company the poll of Admiral, with the revenues annexed to it, they would maintain a fleet which mould give full fecurity to trade. Thefe facts were attefled, and the propofals feconded by the principal inhabitants of Surat, who figned the memorial. The great Mogul, who in his prefent weaknefs durit not fend a governor to the province, but confidered it as loft, readily granted the Company's requeft ; and a member of the council of Bombay now difcharges the office of Nabob and Admiral at Surat. Upon
this
this title, the Company enjoy a third of the re. venue from the cufroms of this city, with other funds of income ftill more confiderable ; which enables them to keep on foot a body of troops, with fome fmall fhips of war.
The Englifh are, at prefent, the actual fove-reigns of Surat. They keep the Nabob of the city in a ftate of abfolute dependence; allowing him only an income on which he may live fuit-ably to his dignity. The Indians are in part content with their new matters. The merchants are no longer in danger of the avaritious extortions of the Nabobs; yet they complain of the felfifh fpirit of thofe matters. The Indians dare not fail without a paffport from the admiral. When the Englifh wifh to fend goods to any port, the Indians are denied paffports to that port till the feafon of the monfoon is over ; whereas the Englifh are favoured, fo that they have all the time necelfary to pre-occupy the market. Of this I have feen inftances j which, if frequently repeated, muft undoubtedly ruin the trade of the natives.
CHAP.
CHAP. V,
Trade of Surat.
The great trade carried on at Surat renders this city the ftore-houfe of the moft precious productions of fndoftan. Hither is brought from the interior parts of the empire an immenfe quantity of goods, which the merchants carry in their fhips to the Arabic Gulph, the Perfian Gulph, the coaft of Malabar, the coaft of Coro-mandel, and even to China. The provinces near this city are full of manufactures of all forts.
Ship-building is a branch of the bufinefs carried on here. In this art, indeed, the Indians are fervile imitators of the Europeans, but they have in great plenty, and at a low price, that excellent wood called Tak, which is not liable to be attacked by worms, and is fo lafting, that at Surat there are to be feen fhips 90 years old which are ftill in a condition to fail the fea.
Of foreign nations, the Dutch have next after the Englifh, the moft confiderable eftablifh-nient at Surat. They have here a director, feveral merchants, a number of writers and fervants, and a few foldiers.    Their trade has,
however,
however, declined, till it has become trilling. The affairs of this nation in India feem to be rather in diforder, fince the Englifh obtained pof-feflion of the citadel. The Nabob of the city has obliged the Dutch to pay him 90,000 rupees, and fend away the cannons of their factory.
The affairs of the French are yet in a worfe ftate. Since the lofs of Pondicherry, their director has been fo neglected, that he can hardly find credit for the means of a fcanty fubfiftence. This nation arc here in no eftimation, but what is paid to their capuchin friars, who are generally beloved and refpected at Surat. Thefe good regular clergy have done effential fervice to the public, by keeping a regifter of all events that have happened in Indoftan, from 1676 to the prefent time.
Such nearly is alfo the condition of the Portuguefe in India. In my time, they had a Jefuit of Hamburgh for their director, I have been told, however, that, fince I left Surat, they have raifed their trade, by fending thither a director of their own nation who was born at Goa.
There fometimes arrive at Surat fhips belonging to nations who have no permanent efta-blifhments in that city. A Danifli veffel put in here while the citadel was befieged, and was : ivoured with the protection of the Englifh, to whom the captain did good fervice upon the ac-
cafion.
cafion. In confequence of the favour which he thus obtained, he accomplifhed his bufinefs in a manner very much to his advantage. A Swede, who came hither fome years after, was lefs fortunate, although the Nabob had, for the payment of a moderate duty, allowed him freedom of trade. Selling his iron and copper at a lower rate than the Englifh, he foon difpofed of his whole cargo advantageoufly as he thought. But, when he was preparing to depart, the Nabob demanded from him an extraordinary duty of 100,000 rupees, and put him under arreft, till it was paid. The Swede not daring to apply to the Englifh, with whom he fufpecTed his mif-chance to originate, directed his fhip to fail for China, and remained under arreft. At laft he compounded with the Nabob, who for 20,000 rupees, fet him at liberty. Such treatment muft deter other nations from trying their fortune at Surat.
In all appearance, the Englifh muft fhortly en-grofs the whole trade of this city. Being at once fovereigns and rich merchants, they have every means in their power by which foreign nations can be excluded, or the Indians reftrained from this fource of opulence.
Vol. If 3 Q CHAP
4-3 NfEBUHR's TRAVELS
CHAP. VI.
Manners of the Hindoos.
The Hindoos are the primary inhabitants of the vafl empire of Indoflan. Having lived a-mong thefe people at Bombay and Surat, I fhall here bring together fome obfervations which I made upon the Hindoos in thofe two cities, and alfo upon the Perfees, a flranger colony fettled in this part of India.
This people, perhaps the earlicfl civilized nation in the world, are mild, laborious, and naturally virtuous in their difpofitions. All who have opportunities of obferving the lives of the Hindoos, admire their patience, probity, and benevolence ; but they are at the fame time the mofl unfocial people in the world. By their manners and religious principles, the Hindoos detach themfelves not only from other nations, whom they confider as impure races ; but even the different calls or tribes of themfelves have little mutual intercourfe. No Hindoo will eat with a flranger j nor any Hindoo of a fuperior eafl with another of a call that is inferior. A poor fervant, if a Bramin} would think himfelf dif-
honoured
honoured by fitting down at table with a Ra~ japitt or Banian, although his mailer. .
It is generally known, that the Indians are diftributed into a number of tribes or calls. As far as I could learn, there are four principal calls ; the Bramins, or priefts; the Rajaputs, or men of the fword ; the Banians, or merchants, and that of the artifans and labourers. Thefe four general calls are fubdivided into more than 80 others, each of which has its own ceremonies, and patron deities, as I have been affured by feveral perfons.
Thofe permanent divifions have led fome travellers into the miftakc that the fon was always obliged to embrace his father's profeffion. The fon may not quit his native calf, but may choofc among the employments which are praclifed by that caff > There are Bramins who hold fovereign authority ; as, for inftance, the prince of the Mahrattas. Thefe fame Bramins become magiflrates under the government of Rajaput princes, and farmers of the revenue under the Mahometans. I have been acquainted with Bramins who were merchants, and wit'h Rajaputs and Banians who were artifans.
This liberty is the more neceffary, as it is im-pofiible for a Hindoo to be received from an inferior into a fuperior caff. I was told of a fin-gular inftance of fuch a promotion ; but even it
I
I will not warrant as true. A Rajaput fovereign defiring to be admitted into the eaft of the Bramins, the priefts, after a long refufal, at length granted his requeft, on the condition of his fetting up in the temple the ftatue of a cow, of fuch a fize, that a man might enter it behind, and go out by its mouth. The fovereign, after pafling feveral times through this golden cow, was fuppofed to be regenerated, and received into the eaft of the Bramins.
This cuftom hinders ftrangers from being naturalized among the Hindoos, or embracing their religion ; and there is no people lefs inclined to make profelytes. But, it is their rigorous obfervation of their ancient laws of fepa-ration which has reduced thefe people to their prefent humiliated ftate. If, at the time of the conqueft, the Hindoos had fuffered the Tartars to incorporate with the vanquished nation; the conquerors muft have adopted the manners and the religion of their new fubjects. Their conduct in China gives probability to this idea. But the Hindoos exprcfling fo great an averfion for their new matters, made them prefer Maho-metifm, and forced them to bring in from time to time foreign Mahometans, to govern the conquered people. Since that period, the Hindoos have been an abject herd of flaves, fubject to
the vexatious oppreflion of a defpot who returns
turns the contempt which they have expreffed for him.
The power of the Mahometans indeed becomes daily lefs: and there are at prefent fome Hindoo princes who may reftore their nation to its ancient fplendour. The Mahrattas have fuc-cefsfully begun a project: which has this afpect. It is the exorbitant power of the Englifh that at prefent retards the progreflive improvement of the Hindoos. But, when this coloffal flatue, whofe feet are of clay, and which has been raifed by conquering merchants, mall be broken in pieces, an event which may fall out fooner than is fuppofed, then fhall Indoflan become again a llourifhing country.
In almofl all the circumftances of their mode of life, the Hindoos diflinguifh themfelves from the reft of mankind. Their ufual diet confifls of rice, milk, and fruits. The law, however, which forbids them to eat animal food, feems to have been rather fuggefled by the climate, than by religious confederation. The Rajaputs eat mutton, as well as the flefh of fome other animals ; but all the calls alike refpect the cow, and abflain from eating beef. None of the cafls are fo much flraitened in refpect to food as the Bramins; they deny themfelves the ufe of molt leguminous vegetables which are eaten by the other Hindoos; nor will they eat of any difh
* that
that has not been drefled by a man of their own call, or drink water which a Bramin has not drawn. They obferve frequent faffs, infomuch that I was told by a Bramin, that it was almofl Impoffible for any perfon to confine himfelf to a ftricT obedience to the precepts of their religion in refpect to regimen,
Thefe priefts alfo impofe upon the people a multiplicity of minute obfervances in their eating, which are all founded on the chimerical notion of the poffibility of contracting pollution by communication in this way. The Hindoos in common are averfe to ufe the fame difh with a flranger, or with a man of a different call. They will rather ufe broad leaves for plates, and drink out of the hollow of the hand.
All the parts of the Hindoo drefs differ in form from thofe ufed among the Turks and Arabians. Merchants, however, wear a turban, the cap, and a long robe of white cotton cloth. Their flippers are fitted with metal clafps. The lower people go naked, wearing only a piece of linen round the loins, and a turban on the head. Under rain the peafants put on a hood, which is formed of the leaves of the palm-tree. This cuflom of India has been already mentioned by Herodotus.
The drefs of the ordinary women confifls of a large linen cloth, flriped red, which they
wrap
wrap about the loins, and another ftill larger, which they fold round the body and bring over the head. They wear all two wooden cafes upon their breafts j which hinders the neck from being ever drawn down among the Hindoo as among the Mahometan women. Thefe good Hindoo females are very induftrious. At Bombay, I faw women earn a livelihood by the hard-eft labour, who yet wore rings in their nofe, and in their ears, on their fingers, on their arms, and on their feet. But thefe were ornaments of luxury which defcend from generation to generation.
The Hindoos ftill retain the practice of burning their dead. But the European and Mahometan governments prohibit, and the Mahrattas feldom allow the living wife to burn herfelf on the funeral pile of her deceafed hulband. A Bramin told me, that his family had been highly diftinguifhed, by his grandmother having, in honour of her virtue, obtained permifllon to jpum herfelf with her hufband.
CHAP.
NIEBUHft's TRAVELS
CHAP. VII.
Of the Religion of the Hindoos.
An European wifhing to acquire a knowledge of the religion of thefe people, cannot gain much information from the Bramins, who never ftudy any of our languages. I was acquainted with fome Banians who fpoke Englifh, and from them I received fome knowledge on this head.
They all unanimoufly affured me, that the mofl fenfible and enlightened Hindoos acknowledged and worfhipped only one Supreme Being. But the Bramins have found out inferior dei. ties, accommodated to the weak conceptions of the people, who could not comprehend abflracf ideas, if they were not reprefented by images. They agreed too, that the Bramins had, for their own purpofes, clogged, by degrees, the original fimplicity of their religion, with abfurd fables, and ridiculous pieces of fuperflition. I mentioned their paflionate veneration for the cow, and their various reprefentations of her. As to this, they replied, that in thofe images they revered only the divine goodnefs, which had
given
given man an animal fo gentle, and of fuch in-difpenfible utility.
I could learn nothing certain concerning their inferior deities, whom they feem to revere rather as faints and patrons. A Banian compared their three principal deities, Brama, Viftnou, and and Medeoy to the Chriftian Trinity.
The Hindoos believe all in the doctrines of the metempfycofis, and of the purification of fouls by their paffage through feveral different bodies. This doctrine is not however the only caufe of their abflinence from every thing that has life in it. In hot countries, the flefh of animals in general, and of the ox in particular, is thought very unwholefome food. The Rajaputs eat fJefli, and the Mahrattas furnifh the Europeans whom they take prifoners in war, with animal food, without fcruple. It might be fuppofed that the fingular charity of the Indians for animals takes its origin from this opinion.
The precept of purification with water is rigidly obferved through all India. At Surat, I faw every morning crowds of women and young .girls going out to bathe in the Tappi. They gave their clothes to fome Bramins who fat on the banks, and, after warning, changed their wet clothes for thofe dry dreffes, with fuch dexterity, that not the fmaUefl part of the body could be feen.   The Bramins then made a red mark
Vol. II. 3 H on
on the brow of each, and, after a fhort prayer, they returned all to town.
This daily fanctification feems to be the chief employment of the Bramins. They are alfo called in, on the occafion of the birth of a child ; they tie round his arm a fmall cord, which he wears through life as a mark of his extraction. They aflift alfo at nuptials ; but only by fixing the hour which is favourable for the contract, not by pronouncing any nuptial benediction.
The Hindoo feftivals are fufticiently numerous, and are partly civil, partly religious. They celebrate the return of the new year with illuminations, and rejoicings of all forts. The feftival of the cocoa-nut feems to have originated with the moft remote antiquity. At another feftival, in commemoration of a certain hero, they bedaub one another with red paint, to represent the hero returning from battle, covered over with blood.
They have likewife two orders of Fakirs or mendicant pilgrims, the Bargais and the Guf-fcinsy who travel about armed, and in troops of fome thoufands. Thefe two orders are fworn enemies ; and whenever they meet, bloody combats enfue. During my ftay at Surat, a little amy of thefe Fakirs encamped near the city. The government did not like their vifit; and
would
\
would permit them to enter only in fmall numbers.
The flories of the ridiculous penitence of the Fakirs are well known. Their fanaticifm has not yet become cold \ and there died lately at Surat one of thefe madmen, who had lived fhut up in a cage for twenty years, with his arms conftantly raifed above his head.
CHAP. VIII.
Of the Perfees.
At Bombay, at Surat, and in the vicinity of thefe cities, is a colony of ancient Perfians, who took refuge in India, when their country was conquered by the Mahometan Arabs, eleven centuries fince. They are called Perfees. Being beloved by the Hindoos, they multiply exceedingly ; whereas their countrymen in the province of Keman are vifibly diminifhing under the yoke of the Moflem Perfians.
They are a gentle, quiet, and induflrious race. They live in great harmony among themfelves, make common contributions for the aid of their poor, and fuffer none of their number to alk alms from people of a different religion. They are equally ready to employ their money
and
and credit to fcreen a brother of their fraternity from the abufes of juftice. When a Perfee behaves ill, he is expelled from their communion. They apply to trade, and exercife all forts of profeflions.
The Perfees have as little knowledge of circumcifion as the Hindoos. Among them, a man marries only one wife, nor ever takes a fe-cond, unlefs when the firft happens to be barren. They give their children in marriage at fix years of age; but the young couple continue to feparate, in the houfes of their parents, till they attain the age of puberty. Their drefs is the fame as that of the Hindoos, except that they wear under each ear a tuft of hair, like the modern Perfians. They are much addicted to aflrology, although very little (killed in aftronomy.
They retain the fingular cuftom of expofing their dead to be eaten by birds of prey, inftead of interring or burning them. I faw on a hill at Bombay a round tower, covered with planks of wood, on which the Perfees lay out their dead bodies. When the flefh is devoured, they remove the bones into two chambers at the bottom of the tower.
The Perfees, followers of the religion of Zer-dujl or Zoroqfler, adore one God only, Eternal and Almighty, They pay, however, a certain worfhip to the fun, the moon, the flars, and to
fire.
lire, as vifible images of the invifible divinity. Their veneration for the element of fire induces them to keep a facred fire conftantly burning, which they feed with odoriferous wood, both in the temples, and in the houfes of private perfons, who are in eafy circumftances. In one of their temples at Bombay, I faw a fire which had burnt unextinguifhed for two centuries. They never blow out a light j left their breath fhould foil the purity of the fire.
The religion of the Perfees enjoins purifica* tions as flricf ly as that of the Hindoos. The dif-ciples of Zerduft are not, however, obliged to abftain from animal food. They have accuftom* ed themfelves to refrain from the flefh of the ox, becaufe their anceftors promifed the Indian prince who received them into his dominions never to kill horned cattle. This promife they continue to obferve under the dominion of Chriftians and Mahometans. The horfe is by them confidered as the moft impure of all animals, and regarded with extreme averfion.
Their feftivals, denominated Ghumbars, which return frequently, and laft upon each occafiort five days, are all commemorations of fome part of the work of Creation. They celebrate them not with fplendour, or with any particular ceremonies ; but only drefs better during thofe five
days,
days, perform fome acts of devotion in their houfes, and vifit their friends*
Not having had opportunity to make any continued train of obfervations on the manners and religion of the Perfees, I muft refer the reader to the memoirs fubjoined by Mr Anquetil du Perron to his tranflation of the Zendavejia, or facred book of Zoroajier. It is well known that this learned Frenchman went to India of purpofe to ftudy the lan0uage and religion of the Perfees.
The diverfity of opinions and manners among the inhabitants of India is inconvenient for Europeans, who cannot have countrymen of their own for fervants; which is the cafe with aimoft all foreign merchants. An European, who has none but natives of the country in his fervice, if he fhould wifh to eat a hare and bacon, would find it no eafy matter to procure thefe difhes. The Hindoo would not bring them to him, for he dares not touch a dead body; nor the Perfee, becaufe the hare is an unclean animal j nor yet the Muffulman, for he dares not touch fuch difhes.
NOTES
NOTES TO VOL.IL
note a.  p. 5.
I know not if we mould find a complete detail of the hiftory of Arabia of fuch importance as may at firft be imagined. Their local circumftances feem to have given a degree of permanency to the character of the inhabitants of this country; in confequence of which, the hiftory of one or two centuries may be fairly efteemed equal to the hiftory of the whole period of their national exiflence. Yet, as it feems probable that many of the circumjacent countries have received their firft fupplies of population from Arabia; it were, on this account, indeed, a defireable object to trace the
progrefs
434
NOTES.
progrefs of their colonies, and the circumftances which excited amon , them the fpirit of colonization. The Sabaeans were probably a powerful nation in Arabia; and hiftory relates, that Melek-Yafrik, one of their Monarchs, conducted the colony which firft occupied the north-weftern divifion of Africa.
note b. p. 7.
Some valuable information concerning the Arabians in the eaftern parts of Africa may be feen in Bruce's trave ; a book which I am happy to a ree with the moft refpectable Reviewers, in confidering as one of the mofl; valuable prefents that any travtller has for a long while made to the Britifh Public.
note c. p. 8*
To Ludolff, Lobo, and efpecially to Bruce, I muft refer the reader for the hiftory of Abyf-finia.
note d. p. 10.
Bailxi, late Mayor of Paris, in his Hiftory of Aftronomy,
ti O t £ |.
435
note e. p. II.
Perhaps the reader of Colonel Vallancey*s writings may be perfuaded that thefe infcriptions found at Perlepolis, and in the interior parts of Arabia, are in the Ogham character of the old Irifh.
note F. p. 12.
These remarks are ingenious. But, from the tenor of Sacred Hiftory, it fhould feem that the origin of the Jews is not lefs ancient than that of the Arabians. They are both from the fame ftock, and are collateral branches.
note G.  p. XI*
Every reader will here think of the Hiftori-cal Difquifition concerning India, with which the firft Hiftorian of the prefent age has lately favoured the world, in addition to his other works. The different channels through which the trade between Europe and Afia was fuccef-fively carried on, are there ably traced ; and the effects pointed out which its fluctuations produced upon the intermediate countries.
Vol.. If
NO'l'H
4j6
notes*
note ii.   p. IJ.
There is very little probability, indeed, that any confiderable number of the Arabians were ever converted to Chriftianity. They have always been chiefly idolaters, or Mahometans.
note 1. p. 14.
Perhaps the Caliphs might have been more fuccefsful in fubjugating their fellow-countrymen, if Syria, India, Egypt, and Spain had not prcfented more inviting fcenes of conquefl: and of empire.
NOTE J. p. 20.
The Mahometan religion was introduced ar mong the Moors nearly about the middle of the fevcnth century. The Moors, defcendents of thofe Sabasans, who had anciently fettled in that part of Africa, were fubdued and incorporated with the victorious Moflems. Ever fince that period, paltoral tribes of wandering Arabs have occupied Mount Atlas, and a confiderable extent of the north-weft divifion of Africa.
NOTE Si
437
note  k.   p. 39.
For an account of the rites and ceremonies of the pilgrimage to Mecca, I muft refer the reader to Recueil aes Rits Ceremonies du Pelcri-nage de la Mecque ; par M. Galland.—A Am-jlerdam, 1754. — A mofl curious little work, which Galland has tranflated from the Arabic, and which I once intended to tranilate from the French, and infert here.
9
note l.   p. 89.
See the Elder Pliny's account of Arabia in Book VI. of his Natural Hiftory.
note M.   p. 92.
It is folly to fuppofe that any literary art can make progrefs among the Mahometans, while defpotifm, indolence, and fuperflition, the great enemies of literary improvement, continue to maintain their ground among them.
note m. p. 107.
One cannot read fuch an account as this2 without reflecting with pleafure, that the fupe-
rior
rior activity and fcience of the Europeans have enabled them to engrofs the commerce of the univerfe.
note n.   p. Il6.
Mas kat enjoys advantages of fituation, which, under an enlightened government, might render its native inhabitants among the moft en* terprifing and the ricbeft merchants in the world.
note o. p. 140.
Hanway, and the travellers in Perfia, may be confulted for the hiftory of Nadir-Shah.
note p. p. 203.
It mould feem, from what is here related, that the Arabians, notwithftanding the fimplicity of their modes of life, are little lefs fantaftic in their point of honour than our duellifts of Europe.
note q. p. 265.
The comparifon is indeed fair and natural; and, after all the contefts which have been agitated concerning the primary modes of government,
merit, the patriarchal has undoubtedly been the next after the paternal. By the paternal I mean the government of a Father over his Children ; by the patriarchal, that of a Head over a Family of relations.
note r. p. 230.
The ufe of this Bufa or Bouza, is one proof, among innumerable others, that mankind have been, in all ages, and in all ftates of fociety, pafTionately fond of fermented liquors. To what naflinefs has not this tafte occafionally prompted them ?—,Witnefs their ufe of Kava and Koumifs.
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