“Poverty or riches?”—“Riches!”
“Good or evil?”—“Good!”
“All these advantages we are desirous of securing to you: we wish to release you from slavery to the Wahabees, and from the tyranny of the Osmanlis, by a general confederation which shall make us powerful and free. Why do you refuse to join us?” He answered: “What you say is plausible, but we shall never be strong enough to resist Ebn Sihoud!”—“Ebn Sihoud is a man like yourself; he is moreover a tyrant, and God does not favour oppressors: it is not numbers, but intelligence which gives the superiority; power does not rest in the sabre which strikes, but in the will which directs it.” The conference lasted some time longer; but in the end I convinced him, and persuaded him to accompany me to the Drayhy, who was highly satisfied with the issue of my negotiation.
We next encamped near the mountains of Sangiar, which are inhabited by the worshippers of an evil spirit. The principal tribe of the country, commanded by Hammond el Tammer, is fixed near the river Sagiour, and does not wander like the others. Hammond refused at first to enter into the alliance. I had a long correspondence with him on this subject, and having at length persuaded him to join us, great rejoicings took place on both sides. Hammond invited the Drayhy to visit him, and received him magnificently. Five camels and thirty sheep were slaughtered for the entertainment, which was served on the ground without the tents. Large dishes of tinned copper, resembling silver, were borne each by four men, containing a mountain of rice six feet high, surmounted by an entire sheep or the quarter of a camel. In other dishes not so large, was a roast sheep or a camel’s ham; and a multitude of little dishes, filled with dates and other dried fruits, were distributed in the intervals. Their bread is excellent. They bring their corn from Diabekir, and their rice from Marhach and Mallatia. When we were seated, or rather squatted, round this feast, we could not distinguish the persons opposite to us. The Bedouins of this tribe dress much more richly than the others: the women are very pretty; they wear silk dresses, many bracelets and ear-rings of gold and silver, and a golden ring in the nose.
After some days passed in festivities, we continued our journey and approached a river, or rather an arm of the Euphrates, which connects it with the Tigris. Here we were joined by a courier, who in five days had travelled on a dromedary a distance which takes thirty at the pace of a caravan. He came from the district of Neggde, sent by a friendly sheik to warn the Drayhy of the rage into which his projects and alliances had thrown Ebn Sihoud. He despaired of seeing him ever able to make head against the storm, and strongly recommended him to make peace with the Wahabees. I wrote, in the name of the Drayhy, that he felt no more concern about Ebn Sihoud than he should about a grain of mustard; placing his confidence in God, the sole giver of victory. Then, by a diplomatic ruse, I gave him to understand that the armies of the Grand Signior would support the Drayhy, who was desirous, above all things, of opening the road to the caravans and delivering Mecca from the power of the Wahabees. The next day we crossed the great arm of the river in boats, and encamped at the other side, in the vicinity of the tribe of El Cherarah, celebrated for its courage, and also for its ignorance and obstinacy.
We had foreseen the extreme difficulty of gaining it over, not only on account of these faults, but because of the friendship which existed between its chief Abedd, and Abdallah, the principal minister of King Ebn Sihoud. Accordingly he refused to join the alliance; and in this state of things, the Drayhy, supposing all negotiation useless, declared that the sabre must decide between them. The following day Sahen was sent, with five hundred cavalry, to attack Abedd. He returned in three days, having taken one hundred and forty camels, and two mares of great value: eight men only were killed, but a great number wounded on both sides. I witnessed on this occasion a very extraordinary cure. A young man, a relation of Sahen, was brought back, having his skull broken by a stroke of the djerid, seven sabre wounds in the body, and a lance still fixed in his side. The extraction of the lance was immediately set about, and it was brought out from the opposite side: during the operation the patient turned to me and said—“Do not distress yourself about me, Abdallah, I shall not die;” and extending his hand, he took my pipe and began smoking as tranquilly as if the seven gaping wounds had been in another body.
In about twenty days he was completely cured, and was on horseback as before. The only medicine they gave him was camel’s milk mixed with fresh butter, and his only food was dates dressed in butter. Every third day his wounds were washed in camel’s urine. I doubt if a European surgeon, with all his apparatus, would have made so complete a cure in so short a time.
The war became daily more serious: Abedd collected his allies to surround us, which obliged us to encamp upon the sands of Caffera, where there is no water. The women were obliged to fetch it daily from the river, in leathern budgets carried by camels. The great quantity necessary for watering the cattle rendered this a very heavy labour. On the third day the terrified drivers came to announce that eight hundred camels had been carried off by Abedd’s followers, while they were leading them to the river. The Drayhy, to revenge this outrage, gave orders to strike the tents and to make a rapid advance on the tribe of Cherarah, which he resolved to attack with his whole force. We marched a day and night without halting, and pitched ten thousand tents at about half a league from the camp of Abedd. A general and murderous battle seemed inevitable; but I determined to hazard a last effort to prevent it if possible.
The Bedouins hold women in great respect, and consult them on all their plans. In the tribe of El Cherarah their influence is even more extensive than elsewhere; there the women hold the actual command. They have generally much more sense than their husbands; and Arquia, wife of the Sheik Abedd, in particular passes for a very superior woman. I determined to go to her, to take her some presents of ear-rings, bracelets, necklaces, and other trifles, and to endeavour thereby to bribe her to our interests. Having secretly made all the necessary inquiries to direct my proceedings, I introduced myself to her in the absence of her husband, who was holding a council of war with one of his allies. By dint of compliments and presents, I led her to enter herself on the subject of the war,—the real purpose of my visit, though I did not choose to confess it. I took the opportunity of explaining to her the advantages of an alliance with the Drayhy, solely as a subject of conversation, and by no means as authorised to consult with her upon it: I told her that my visit was solely induced by a natural curiosity to see so celebrated a woman, who governed warriors redoubtable for their courage, but in need of her superior understanding rightly to direct their brutal force. During this conversation her husband returned to the camp, was informed of my arrival, and sent orders to Arquia ignominiously to dismiss the spy she had with her; that as the rites of hospitality would withhold his arm from taking vengeance upon the threshold of his own tent, he should not enter it till the traitor was gone. Arquia haughtily replied, that I was her guest, and that she should not suffer the law to be laid down to her. I got up to take leave of her, asking pardon for the embarrassment I had caused; but she seemed to make a point of convincing me that I had not gratuitously attributed to her an influence which she did not possess, for she detained me by force while she went to confer with her husband. She soon returned, accompanied by Abedd, who treated me very politely, and requested me to explain the intentions of the Drayhy. I gained his entire confidence, by the assistance of his wife, and, before the end of the day, he himself solicited permission to accompany me to the Drayhy; which I opposed, telling him that I should not dare to present him to the emir without notice, because he was so highly irritated against him; but that I would plead his cause and send him an immediate answer. I left them at least as desirous of joining the confederacy as I had been to persuade them to do so.
By the invitation of the Drayhy, Abedd went a few days afterwards to set his seal to the treaty, and to exchange the camels which had been reciprocally taken during the war. This difficult affair thus terminated in so satisfactory a manner, we left the sands to pass eight days in the district of Atteria, at three hours’ distance from the Tigris, near the ruins of the castle El Attera, where the pasturage is abundant. Having here refreshed the cattle, we continued our route eastwards.