Part 12 (1/2)

The wo athe flocks or collecting fuel They allow their children to remain at the breast until they are nearly two and even three years old, and, consequently, have rarely

Soon after our arrival at the Khabour I bought a deloul, or dro excursions in the Desert Her naha been taken by him from the Aneyza; she ell trained, and swift and easy in her paces The best delouls come frohtlyas great as that between a high-bred Arab lish cart-horse Their powers of endurance are very great

The deloul is much prized, and the race is carefully preserved The Arabs breed from them once in two years, and are very particular in the choice of the male An ordinary animal can work for twenty years Suttu as enerally light brown and white, darker colors and black are ht trot kept up for ue; they can increase it to an unwieldy gallop, a speed they cannot long ood deloul is worth at the most 10_l_, the common price is about 5_l_

After the day's work at Arban I generally rode with Suttureyhounds During these rides over the flowered greensward, the Arab Sheikh would entertain ues, their successful plundering expeditions, and their occasional defeats In the evening Moha until the night was far spent

The grass around Arban having been eaten by the flocks, the Jebours struck their tents at dawn on the 4th of April, and wandered down the Khabour in search of fresh pastures The Boraij, too,the Desert around the ruins was a busy scene; sheep, cattle, beasts of burden,scattered far and wide over the plain By mid-day the crowd had disappeared, and thethings, were now again left lonely and bare Mohammed Emin alone, with a few Sherabeen Arabs, remained to protect us

Soon after our arrival at the Khabour, Adla, Suttum's first wife, cae with Rathaiyah, she had been driven from her husband's tent by the ihamis, her father Her eldest sister was the wife of Suttuest, Maizi, was betrothed to Suttuest brother Midjwell The three were remarkable for their beauty; their dark eyes had the true Bedouin fire, and their long black hair fell in clusters on their shoulders Their cousins, the three brothers, had clai to Bedouin law Adla now sought to be reconciled through me to her husband After much difficulty, all the outward forms of perfect reconciliation between the tives were satisfactorily gone through, although Suttum evidently saw that there was a different reception in store for himself when there were no European eye-witnesses Such are the trials of married life in the Desert![126]

On the sixth of April itnessed a re the day heavy clouds had been hanging on the horizon, foreboding one of those furious storms which at this time of the year occasionally visit the Desert Late in the afternoon these clouds had gathered into one vast circle, whichone of the most extraordinary and awful appearances I ever saw Frohtning Clouds springing up froed hurriedly into the vortex, which advanced gradually towards us, and threatened soon to break over our encae of the storeons'

eggs The great rolling cloud, attracted by the Sinjar hill, soon passed away, leaving in undi sun

_Monday, 8th of April_ The Mogdessi, one ofthree feet in length The Arabs have many stories of the voracity of these anier size, and Suttum declared that a man had been pulled under water and devoured by one, probably an Arab exaggeration

A Bedouin, who had been attacked by a lion whilst resting, about five hours lower down on the banks of the river, came to our encampment He had escaped with the loss of his les of the Khabour, and the Bedouins and Jebours frequently find their cubs in the spring season

_April 9th_ A Bedouin youth, thin and sickly, though of a daring and resolute countenance, sat in ular appearance at once drewwas a kerchief, very dirty and torn, falling over his head, and a ragged cloak, which he drew tightly round hi the end of a knotted club to appear above its folds

His story, which he was at length induced to tell, was characteristic of Bedouin education He was of the Boraij tribe, and related to Suttum His father was too poor to equip him with mare and spear, and he was ashamed to be seen by the Arabs on foot and unarmed He had now become a man, for he was about fourteen years old, and he resolved to trust to his own skill for his outfit as a warrior Leaving in his father's tent all his clothes, except his dirty keffieh and his tattered aba, and, without co his plans to his friends, he bent his way to the Euphrates For threeof hi that ti on roots and herbs, hiding hiht round the tents of the Aneyza in search of a uarded than usual At length the object of his ambition was found, and such a s were bound with iron shackles, and he had brought no file with hi her to so dawned, to avoid detection, he was obliged to leave his prize and return to his hiding-place He was now on his way back to his tents, intending to set forth again, after recruiting his strength, on new adventures in search of ato be wiser in future, and to carry a file under his cloak Suttum seemed very proud of his relative, and introduced hiuished, character[127] It is thought no disgrace thus to steal aas the thief has not eaten bread in the tent of her owner

_April 11th_ The waters of this river had been rising rapidly since the recent storm, and had now spread over the e on the mound, which stood like an island in the ht three of their young to us alive They had been driven froerly accepted the s, which are much valued as _e price in the towns Beavers were fore numbers on the Khabour, but in consequence of the value attached to the , they have been hunted almost to extermination by the Arabs Mohammed Emin assured me that for several years not reat Sha of a beaver the most acceptable present he could send to a Turkish Pasha, whose friendshi+p he wished to secure

_April 12th_ We rode thisto the tents of the Jebours, which had now been moved soe tents and the workmen were left under the care of the Bairakdar

About three miles from Arban we passed a small artificial mound called Tel Hamer (the red); and similar ruins abound on the banks of the river Three hours from Arban we reached a remarkable artificial mound called Shedadi, washed by the Khabour It consists of a lofty platfors a cone On the top are the tombs of several Jebour chiefs, marked by the raised earth, and by sments of pottery and bricks, but no trace of inscriptions

We did not reach the enca the Khabour, until after sunset The chief's tents were pitched near a mound called Ledjmiyat, on a bend of the river, and opposite to a very thick _zor_ or jungle, known to the Arabs as El Bostan ”the garden,” a kind of stronghold of the tribe, which the Sheikh declared could resist the attack of any nuular troops), if only defended by Jebours Sutturove rather as a delicious retreat from the rays of the summer's sun, to which the Boraij occasionally resorted, than as a place for war

During the evening, the different Sheikhs asse expedition, for the following day, against the Agaydat, enca, Mohammed Emin, with two of his sons, the horseuests, started on their _ghazou_ The plain, like all the country watered by the Khabour, was one vastwith flowers Game abounded, and the falcon soon fleards a bustard, which his piercing eye had seen lurking in the long grass The sun was high in the heavens, already soaring in the sky, was the enele, whose na ”butcher,” denotes his bloody propensities[128] Although far beyond our ken, he soon saw Hattab, and darted upon hihted falcon immediately turned from his quarry, and with shrill cries of distress fleards us After circling round, unable froht, he turned towards the Desert, still followed by his relentless ene as his mare could carry him, waved the lure, and called the hawk by his name; he saw him no more

Whether the noble bird escaped, or fell a victim to the ”butcher,” we never knew

Suttum was inconsolable at his loss He hen he returned without his falcon on his wrist, and for days he would suddenly exclaim, ”O Bej!

Billah! Hattab was not a bird, he was my brother” He was one of the best trained hawks I ever saw ast the Bedouins, and was of some substantial value to his owner, as he would daily catch six or seven bustards, except during the hottest part of summer, when the falcon is unable to hunt

About a mile and a half below Ledje hami We reached Shemshani in an hour and three quarters It is a considerable ruin on the Khabour, and consists of one lofty mound, surrounded on the Desert side by slazed and plain pottery, bricks, and black basaltic stone, but I could find no traces of sculpture or inscription

Leaving Mohammed Emin to continue his journey we returned to our tents On our road we e party of Bedouins on their way to join the Jebour horsemen, for they also had been invited to take part in the attack on the Agaydat, and to share in the spoil They rode their swift dro the mare of his companion; that of the Sheikh was of the Obeyan race, and far famed in the Desert She ithout saddle or clothes, and we could admire the exquisite symmetry and beauty of her fored a feords The Bedouins then continued their rapid course over the Desert We passed other riders on delouls andto join the main body, or to ht near Abou Psera The attack on the tents was to be , the true Bedouin never taking an unfair advantage of his enemy in the dark

On the 16th of April, Moha before theaydat were taken by surprise, and made but a feeble defence; there was, consequently, little bloodshed, as is usually the case when Arabs go on these forays The fine horse of the Jays chief had received a bad gunshot wound, and this was the only casualty ahtThey were, of course, returned, but they involved the present of silk dresses to the Sheikh and his sons