Part 13 (2/2)
During our journey an Arab joined us, riding on a deloul, with his wife
His two children were cra out of either side He had quarrelled with his kins with his family and little property to another tribe
After a six hours' ride we found ourselves upon the in of a small lake, whose surface reflected the deep blue of the cloudless sky In the midst was a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a narrow causeway, and beyond it a small island On the for walls and toere doubled in the clear waters
The small town of Khatouniyah was, until recently, inhabited by a tribe of Arabs A feud, arising out of the rival pretensions of two chiefs, sprang up aht, many persons were killed, and the place was consequently deserted, one party joining the Tai Arabs near Nisibin, the other the Yezidis of Keraniyah We traced the remains of cultivation, and the dry water-courses, which once irrigated plots of rice and melon beds The lake h brackish, like nearly all the springs in this part of the Desert, is not only drinkable, but, according to the Bedouins, exceedingly wholesome for man and beast It abounds in fish, some of which are said to be of very considerable size, and waterfowl and waders, of various kinds, congregate on the shores
We had scarcely resu e spied Suttu their fleetour encaerously ill, had spread a report[135] in the Desert, that he was actually dead To give additional authenticity to his tale he had minutely described the process by which my companion's body had been first salted, and then sent to Frankistan in a box, on a carief; but when he saw the dead man himself restored to life, his joy and his e country, at the foot of the Sinjar hills, every dell and ravine being a bed of flowers About five miles from Khatouniyah we passed a small reedy stream, called Suffeyra, on which the Boraij (Suttum's tribe) had been encamped on the previous day They had now -place, a brackish rivulet called Sayhel, their tents being about three miles distant from us in the Desert Theirthe whole day there was one endless line of ani to and fro before our enca them from my tent As each mare and horse stopped to drink at the troubled stream, Suttum named its owner and its breed, and described its exploits The enerally followed by two or three colts, who are suffered, even in their third year, to run loose after their daambol unrestrained over the plain It is to their perfect freedo that the horses of the Desert owe their speed and the suppleness of their limbs
It may not be out of place to add a few remarks on the subject of Arab horses The Bedouins, as it is well known, divide their thorough-breds into five races, descended, as some declare, from the five favourite mares of the Prophet The nast different tribes According to Suttum, as better acquainted with the history and traditions of the Bedouins than alinal stock, the Koheyleh, which, in course of time, was divided, after the na five branches:--Obeyan Sherakh, Hedba Zayhi, Manekia Hedrehji, Shouayoub These form the _Kamse_, or the five breeds, froate the race Fro a nuinal five; but the Shammar receive their stallions with suspicion, or reject the the best known are the Wathna Khersan, so called froold; (noble horses of this breed are found a the districts to the east of the Euphrates, the Beni Lam, Al Kamees, and Al Kithere;) Khalawi, thus named from a wonderful feat of speed performed by a celebrated mare in Southern Mesopotamia; Jaiaythani, and Julfa The only estee to Suttuh considered by the Shammar and by the Bedouins of the Gebel Shammar, as one of the noblest, if not the noblest, of all It is divided into three branches, thethe Saklawi Jedran, which is said to be now almost extinct
To understand how a man, who has perhaps not even bread to feed himself and his children, can withstand the tee sums, it must be remembered that, besides the affection proverbially felt by the Bedouin for his ainst such a test, he is entirely dependent upon her for his happiness, his glory, and, indeed, his very existence An Arab possessing a horse unrivalled in speed and endurance, and it would only be for such that enormous prices would be offered, is entirely his own master, and can defy the world Once on its back, no one can catch hio to and fro as he lists No man has a keener sense of the joys of liberty, and a heartier hatred of restraint, than the true Bedouin Give him the Desert, his mare, and his spear, and he will not envy the wealth and power of the greatest of the earth He plunders and robs for the lory afford
A enerally the property of two or ulated by custoest number of horses, as well as those of the most esteemed breeds, are still to be found, as in the tist the tribes who inhabit Mesopotaris These rich pastures, nourished by the rains of winter and spring, the cli to the Arabs--the brackish water of the springs rising in the gypsu of horses The best probably belong to the Shammar and Aneyza tribes
The present Sheikh of the Gebel Shammar, Ibn Reshi+d, has, I am informed, a very choice stud of mares of the finest breeds, and their reputation has spread far and wide over the Desert The Nawab of Oude, the Ekbal-ed-Doulah, a good judge of horses, who had visited e to the holy cities by the little frequented route through the interior of Nedjd, assured me that the finest horses he had ever seen were in the possession of the Shereef of Mecca
The Arab horse is more remarkable for its exquisite symmetry and beautiful proportions, united onderful powers of endurance, than for extraordinary speed I doubt whether any Arab of the best blood has ever been brought to England The difficulty of obtaining thereat, that they are scarcely ever seen beyond the liht or dark grey, light chestnut, and bay, hite or black feet Black is exceedingly rare, and I never remember to have seen dun, sorrel, or dapple I refer, of course, to the true-bred Arab, and not to the Turcoman or to Kurdish and Turkish races, which are a cross between the Arab and Persian
Their average height is fro 15; I have only seen onethe sth and courage But their most re and arduous marches upon the smallest possible allowance of food and water It is only the ular feed of about twelve handfuls of barley, or of rice in the husk, once in twenty-four hours During the spring alone, when the pastures are green, the horses of the Arabs are sleek and beautiful in appearance At other tiathered frohtly They are never placed under cover during the intense heat of an Arabian su cold of the Desert winds during the winter The saddle is rarely taken froroolected, they are but skin and bone, and the towns an animal, which he would scarcely take the trouble to ride hoive their horses, particularly when young, large quantities of ca raw flesh, and dates are frequentlynear the mouth of the Euphrates The Sha farriers regularly visit their tents The Arab horse has but two ordinary paces, a quick and easy walk, so between four and fivecanter
The Bedouin rarely puts his
In the evening, as I was seated before e party of horse our encae pavilion reserved for guests, and picketing their ay trappings, seated themselves on the carpets The chiefs were our old friends, Mohareat Shammar Sheikh We cordially embraced after the Bedouin fashi+on I had not seen Ferhan since the treacherous hdad[136], to which he alluded with touching expressions of grief, bewailing his own incoovern the divided tribe He was now on his ith the Jebour Sheikh to recover, if possible, the government treasure, plundered by the Hamoud, for which, as head of the Shammar, he was held responsible by the Porte
After they had eaten of the feast ere able to prepare for them, they departed about sunset for the tents of the Jebours I embraced Moha my residence in assyria
On the 4th of May we made a short day's journey of five hours to a beautiful streae of Khersa or Chersa A Bedouin of the Boraij tribe acco on a shite dromedary of a true Nedjid breed This anilish horse
Leaving the plain, which was speckled as far as the eye could reach with the flocks and tents of the Bedouins, we skirted the very foot of the Sinjar Khersa had been deserted by its inhabitants, who had rebuilt their village higher up on the side of the hill
Since the loss of Hattab, Suttu for a falcon worthy to take his place He had been counting the hours of his visit to this part of the Sinjar, known only to yield to the borders of the Persian Gulf in producing the finest and bravest hawks for the chase He was not successful, however, in pleasing himself with those which were offered to hi near a spring under the village of Aldina, whose chief, Murad, had now returned from his captivity Grateful for ht us sheep and other provisions, and met us with his people as we entered the valley
At his urgent request, I aided atherer as at that tiociations, Suttu in the shade, exath three were dee pretty well advanced in days was sent to his tent for education, under the charge of the rider of the Nedjd deloul The others, being yet in a weak state, were restored to the nest, to be clai a very proazees or 1_l_; the others, three gazees and a half, as the tient for readyday for about an hour along the foot of the Sinjar hill, which suddenly subsides into a low undulating country The narrow valleys and ravines were blood-red with gigantic poppies The Bedouins adorned the camels and horses with the scarlet flowers, and twisted thearaudy trappings of nature, and as we journeyed chanting an Arab war-song, we resembled the return of a festive procession fro our wearysun, it required so spirits of the men, who toiled on foot by our sides Poetry and flowers are the wine and spirits of the Arab; a couplet is equal to a bottle, and a rose to a dram, without the evil effects of either Would that in more civilised climes the sources of excitehed bitterly against a habit of soers I endeavoured to explain the object and to remove his fears ”It is all very well,” said the Sheikh, ”and I can understand, and a the Turks, or any body else, should hereafter coainst us, there are many foolish and suspicious men in the tribe, and I have eneht the You knoould be the consequences to me of such a report As for you, you are in this place to-day, and 100 days' journey off to-rass or a spring that thatto one of our party) does not write down”
Suttum's complaints were not unreasonable, and travellers cannot be too cautious in this respect, when a difficulties upon themselves, they may do so upon others