Part 12 (2/2)

_April 18th_ To-day we visited the tents of Moghamis and his tribe; they were pitched about five miles froold Its last change was to flowers of the brightest yellow hue, and the whole plain was dressed with thee and scented air I never saw hiht),” he continually exclaiiven us equal to this? It is the only thing worth living for Ya Bej! what do the dwellers in cities know of true happiness, they have never seen grass or flowers? May God have pity on thehamis clad himself in a coat of chain mail, of ordinary h to resist the coarse iron spear-heads of the Arab lance, though certainly no protection against a well-tempered blade The Arabs wear their armour beneath the shi+rt, because an enemy would otherwise strike at the mare and not at her rider[129]

After we had enjoyed all the luxuries of an Arab feast, visited the women's compartments, where reet us, examined the ”chetab,” or camel saddle, used by the wives of the chiefs, and enquired into various details of the harerass to our tents at Arban

CHAPTER XIV

LEAVE ARBAN--THE BANKS OF THE KHABOUR--ARTIFICIAL MOUNDS--MIJWELL--THE CADI OF THE BEDOUINS--THE THAR, OR BLOOD REVENGE--CAUTION OF ARABS--A NATURAL CAVERN--AN EXTINCT VOLCANO--THE CONFLUENTS OF THE KHABOUR--BEDOUIN MARKS--SULEIMAN AGHA--ENCAMPMENT AT UM-JERJEH--THE TURKISH IRREGULAR CAVALRY--MOUND OF MIJDEL--RUINS OF THE KHABOUR--MOHAMMED EMIN LEAVES US--VISIT TO KURDISH TENTS AND HAREM--THE MILLI KURDS--THE FAMILY OF RISHWAN--ARAB LOVE-MAKING--THE DAKHEEL--BEDOUIN POETS AND POETRY--TURKISH CAVALRY HORSES

The hot weather was rapidly drawing near Enough had not been discovered in the mound of Arban, nor were there ruins of sufficient ier on the Khabour I wished, however, to explore the stream, as far as I was able, towards its principal source, and to visit Suleiha, the Turkish commander, as now encaedthe Sheikh of the Jebours withhimself to place no restraint whatever on the perfect liberty of the chief With such a guarantee, I ventured to invite Moha from a very natural fear of treachery, he consented to do so

On the 19th of April we crossed the Khabour, and on the followingwe commenced our journey to the eastward Mohao withback, he took a desperate resolution, and pushed his mare boldly forward His children commended him, with tears, to my protection, and then left our caravan for their tents

We rode fro its tortuous course Its banks are belted with poplars, tamarisks, and brushwood, the retreat of wild boars, francolins, and other game, and studded with artificial mounds, the reh rich and fertile district must, at one time, have been the seat of a dense population It is only under such a government as that of Turkey that it could ree ruin above Arban, and some miles from it on the left bank of the river, is called Mishnak About one mile and a half beyond is another ruin called Abou Shalah, and three miles further up the stream a third, called Taaban, upon which are the remains of a modern fort After a short day's journey of four hours and a half, we enca Suttu us under the care of his younger brother Mijwell After I had visited the Turkish commander, whom he did not appear over anxious to meet, he was to join us in the Desert, and accompany me to Mosul Mijas even of a h he could neither read nor write, he was one of the cadis or judges of the Shammar, an office hereditary in the family of the Saadi, at the head of which is Rishwan

The old er son, who, by the consent of his brothers, will enjoy it after their father's death

Disputes of all kinds are referred to these recognised judges Their decrees are obeyed with readiness, and the other members of the tribe are rarely called upon to enforce the to follow the words of the Prophet, are rather guided by ancient custom than by the law of the Koran, which binds the rest of the Mohaation is, of course, stolen property They receive for their decrees, payains the suit has to pay the fee Ast the Shaazees, about eight shi+llings; if to a mare, a deloul; if to aa red-iron, are in use, to prove a ue is burnt, no doubt exists as to his guilt

One of theArabs, and one probably of the highest antiquity, is the law of blood, called the Thar, prescribing the degrees of consanguinity within which it is lawful to revenge a ho a man responsible for blood shed by any one related to hiree, may appear to our, and involving almost manifest injustice, it must nevertheless be admitted, that no power vested in any one individual, and no punishment, however severe, could tend more to the st the wild tribes of the Desert As Burckhardt has justly rereater degree than any other circumstance, to prevent the warlike tribes of Arabia fro one another”

If a man commit a homicide, the cadi endeavours to prevail upon the family of the victim to accept a co regulated according to custom in different tribes

Should the offer of ”blood-money” be refused, the ”Thar” comes into operation, and any person within the ”khoally killed by any one within the sauinity to the victim[130]

Mijwell now took Suttum's place in the caravan, and directed the order of ourthe caravan to pursue the direct road, I struck across the country to the hill of Koukab, accompanied by Moha in the midst of the plain, had been visible from our furthest point on the Khabour Some of the Arabs declared it to be an artificial mound; others said, that it was a mountain of stones Mohammed Emin would tell h to afford refuge to any nu soin of a lake of fresh water The pitchy darkness prevented our ascertaining its size, which could not have been very great, although the Arabs declared that no one could reach the opposite side The cave is frequently a place of refuge for the wandering Arabs, and the Bedouins encamp near it in summer to drink the cool water of this natural reservoir

Leaving the cavern and issuing froe of a wide crater, in the centre of which rose the remarkable cone of Koukab

All around were evidences of the remains of an extinct volcano, which had been active within a coical period, even perhaps within the tist the Arabs denotes a jet of fire or flame, as well as a constellation

I ascended the cone, which is about 300 feet high, and composed entirely of loose lava, scoria, and ashes, thus rese in the craters of Vesuvius and aetna It is steep and difficult of ascent, except on one side, where the summit is easily reached even by horses Within, for it is hollow, it resee, as if a h it Anehtest scarlet hue, covered its sides; although the dry lava and loose ashes scarcely seemed to have collected sufficient soil to nourish their roots It would be difficult to describe the richness and brilliancy of thisthe appearance of a huge inverted cup of burnished copper, over which poured streaazed upon a scene as varied as extensive

Beneath me the two principal branches of the Khabour united their waters

To the left, or the west, was the true Khabour, the Chaboras of the ancients; a name it bears fro) The second streah Nisibin Khatouniyah and its lake were just visible, backed by the solitary hill of the Sinjar The Kurdish mountains bounded the view to the east In the plain, and on the banks of the rivers, rose many artificial mounds; whilst, in the extreuished the flocks and black tents of a large wandering tribe They were those of the Chichi and Milli Kurds, encaha

We found our companions near the junction of the rivers, where a raft had been constructed to enable us to cross the smaller stream I had sent the Bairakdar two days before to apprise Suleiha of my intended visit, and to learn how far I could with safety take Mohammed Emin withfor uarantee for the Sheikh's safety, and had sent an officer, with a party of irregular troops, to receive e body of horsenised in the Turkish coha, as he was generally called in the country He had been Kiayah or lieutenant-governor, to the celebrated Injeh Bairakdar Mohammed Pasha, and, like his fory, and activity Fro connection with the tribes of the Desert, his knowledge of theirtreacheries and stratageainst the Arabs He was now, as I have stated, endeavoring to recover the government treasure plundered by the Hamoud Bedouins

His tents were about sixthe usual salutations, we turned towards them Many fair speeches could scarcely calm the fears of the timid Jebour Sheikh Mijwell, on the other hand, rode boldly along, casting contealloped to and fro in mimic combat The delta, formed by the two streah crowds of sheep, horses, cattle, and caha lived under the spacious canvas of the chief of the Chichi Kurds The tents of the Kurdish tribes, ander in the low country at the foot of the , and seek the hill pastures in the summer, and especially those of the principal men, are remarkable for their size, and the richness of their carpets and furniture They are often divided into as ht cane or reeds, bound together with ant patterns and devices Carpets hung above these screens coreat chiefs there is a separate compartment for the servants, and one for the ha, drank coffee, s discourse on the benefits of _tanziular taxation, especially intended for Mohammed Emin, as however by no means reassured by it I then adjourned to my own tents, which had been pitched upon the banks of the river opposite a ooded island, and near a ledge of rocks for one of those beautiful falls of water so frequent in this part of the Khabour

We were encae artificial Tel called Umjerjeh; and on the opposite side of the Khabour were other an to excavate in the ruins the day after our arrival I remained in my tent to receive the visits of the Kurdish chiefs and of the Hyta-Bashi+s, or coular cavalry From these free-booters I have derivedto the various provinces of the Turkish eled with pleasant anecdotes and vivid descriptions of ent, frank, and hospitable

Although too often unscrupulous and cruel, they unite ood qualities of the old Turkish soldier with , staking their horses, arame of chance Their pay, at the sa a few shi+llings a ed to plunder the peaceable inhabitants to supply their actual wants

The race is now fast disappearing before the Nizaular troops