It is said that, in the official report of M. Desméloises, then a French Consul in Syria, this belief of the Druses that they were allied to, and descended from, noble European families, was found serviceable to the French agents, when the allied forces appeared off the coast of Syria, for the purpose of expelling Ibrahim Pasha and the Egyptian troops; and they acted upon the imagination of the Druses so powerfully, that little or no inducement was requisite to cause them to side with the Europeans.
There is one thing to which the Druses are much addicted, and which sadly deteriorates from their general character for civilization—this is, their fondness for raw meat. Whenever a gazelle is shot, or a kid killed, the raw kidneys and heart are luxuries for which the Druse epicure will contend with angry words; and such is the
force of example, that even Christians in the neighbourhood have adopted this system of cannibalism, washing down every mouthful with a glass of strong arakey. European authors accuse the Christians of the plains, and especially the women, of being guilty of a like atrocity, saying that they eat meat in their kubbas, but the fact is what meat they use in these is first so finely sliced up, and then so unmercifully thumped, that it becomes a perfect paste, and the very friction and heat more than half cook it; besides which, this meat is mixed with chillies, onions, and borghol, and the proportion of meat to wheat is one to ten.
Outwardly the Druses keep up the appearance of friendship with their neighbours, but the intrigues of political agents, and the wary cunning of Roman priests, have of late years tended sadly to interrupt the harmony that existed between the Druses and the Maronites.
The Yezidees, of whom there are some thousands in the country next claim attention. They are most numerous in Koordistan, where they are all comprised in one general body. In Syria, however, we are accustomed to divide them into three tribes—the worshippers of the sun, the Shemisees; the worshippers of the devil, the Sheytanees; and the cut-throats. I do not mean to say that the latter portion are greater cut-throats than their co-religionists of the other two sections, for like the Mahommedans, with whom they come chiefly into collision, the whole of the three divisions are equally distinguished by the same murderous inclinations. Like the religion of the Druses, that of the Yezidees is an indescribable mixture of nearly all the religious creeds of the East and West. They respect Christ and the Christian saints; but they do not disavow
Mahommed and Moses. They baptize their children, but they conform also to the Hebrew practice of circumcision. They commemorate the birth of the Saviour, but they also celebrate the feast of the Passover with all the forms and solemnities customary among the Jews; and they also abstain from all the food which is considered unclean by the Israelite. While worshipping but one God, they profess profound veneration for Ahriman, the prince of darkness, and they also adore the fiery element, bowing before the rising sun. In praying, they are careful to kneel with their faces towards the East. Indeed, it would seem as if, doubtful of salvation under a simple faith of their own, the presiding minds of the Yezidees had collected the principal points from all religions in the world, in order to make sure of the right one. Some of them even do not hesitate to make an avowal of this kind. The most peculiar feature of their religion, is the extreme respect which they pay to the devil, who is never mentioned by his right name, but is always mysteriously spoken of as the great incognito, the bird of Paradise, and whose worship is always carried on after sunset. I am assured too, that his Satanic eminence is always present on these sacred occasions, and is accustomed to acknowledge the honours paid to him by his credulous worshippers by a yell or scream of a most unearthly kind, its effect being to prostrate on their faces the whole of the parties present. Their head-priest possesses an extraordinary amount of influence over the whole body.
The Yezidees are a brave, open, confiding, honest, industrious, civil race, combining with these good qualities, however, an inordinate passion for warfare, civil and national, and a great proneness to robbery and
pillage on a large scale. They are actuated by their intense contempt and hatred towards the Mahommedans to the committal of many excesses against the followers of the Prophet. Indeed, they are firmly convinced that they cannot perform a more meritorious action—an action more advantageous to themselves, both in this and the next life, and they absolutely take pleasure in ridding the world of a Mahommedan. This spirit of hatred is fully returned by its objects, who detest the Yezidees, and who consider the very name to be synonymous with all that is evil and treacherous.
It has been stated of late years, that the traditions which exist among this people, and which tend to establish their descent from the ancient Hebrews, are founded on fact, that they are in reality a remnant of the lost tribes of Israel. I am not sufficiently learned on this subject to trace the links of the connection, but I may unhesitatingly state, that the conviction of its truth is rapidly spreading among the people themselves.
I shall close this account of these sects in Syria with a brief mention of the Ansyreeh or Nosairiyeh and I am more inclined to say a few words about them, from the fact that a systematic effort is likely to be made for their conversion. These tribes also inhabit the mountain districts; but they live in much greater isolation than the other religious bodies, and in consequence, their numbers are not to be ascertained with anything approaching to precision. They do not inhabit any particular province, but I am perfectly well aware, as has been stated by one writer on this subject, that there are several hundred Nosairiyeh resident in the small village of Salahiyeh, about one mile from Damascus. They are most numerous in the range of mountains north of