Towards noon, the look of the country, from having been like the Sussex Downs, changed to a rocky appearance. And here we may correct an erroneous idea as to the nature of these Deserts: that name does not (as is generally imagined) imply always a sandy barrenness and unfitness for culture, but rather the absence of towns and villages, and the want of water and cultivation; many portions of the Syrian desert being, as in the present instance, as productive under tillage as other places are. The Arabs make use of a word beréah, which, literally translated, means “waste;” and the term Desert can only be applied with precision to the sands of Africa. The want of water is the effect of the policy of the Bedouins; who choke up what springs and wells they can, in order to render the lodgment of troops impossible, and thus to maintain their own independence; trusting for themselves to a knowledge of remote springs, and to a precarious supply from holes in the rocks; or drinking the milk of their camels. Nor would the possession of the Desert be a matter of difficulty to troops furnished with the means of digging wells, which Ottoman troops never are: for water, I understood, was to be found at twelve feet deep nearly throughout the whole tract which we passed. And it is remarkable that, at the entrance on the vast plain to the East of Palmyra, which Wood and Dawkins pronounced to have been eternally desert, water is found at a depth of three feet only, according to an experiment made under my own eyes, during our second journey. The Desert, then, of Syria is to be figured in the mind as a country of hills, mountains, and plains: in the spring covered with verdure, in the autumn burnt up with heat. But to return from this digression.
We here found rain-water lodged in holes, and, alighting, drank, and unbridled the horses, that they might do the same. It was an affecting sight to observe the poor animals, after twenty four hours’ thirst, eagerly attempting to get at the puddles, which, being sunk in holes, were difficult to come at. One gave it up; the other fell on his knees, and contrived to moisten his mouth, but could not succeed in slaking his thirst. Hassan, in the mean time, observed all this with indifference, whilst we, commiserating our poor animals, could have almost wept at the sight. The former knew, that, if we were not unusually fortunate, we might have to endure hunger and thirst for double that period: whilst we, new to the scene, saw every thing with the eyes of persons used to the comforts of civilized life. Our wallets were now examined, and we made a very humble dinner on dry bread, raisins, and water, and some fragments which Hassan had secured.
Remounting, we continued our journey. Our route was very zigzag, as we crossed in every direction where Hassan thought we might fall in with the tribes we were in search of. The soil was still rocky. At two o’clock we passed over the foundations of a ruined town, once inhabited (as Hassan told us) by Turkmans. The remains of an aqueduct and a cistern were visible. A short distance farther, we came to the foot of a chain of low mountains, running north and south, where we found abundance of water lodged in holes as before, but easy to get at. Here the horses drank abundantly, and appeared to acquire fresh spirits and vigour. On the left, about two miles off, Hassan pointed to the ruins of a town, where he said there existed a reservoir of water in good preservation. The mountains were covered with a scattered forest of the turpentine tree, and these were the first trees we had seen since leaving Hamah.
We ascended a circuitous path through a defile, and came to the summit. Passing by a way seemingly cut by the hand of man at some early period through the rock, the view, on a sudden, opening before us, we espied, about a league off, a herd of goats browsing: an indication that there were tents not far off. We descended into a valley, wanting, apparently, nothing but the assistance of the husbandman to render it as fertile as the vale of the Bkâ, or any of the celebrated plains of Syria. Crossing it, and reascending the opposite mountain, we came to an elevated tract of downs. Here was encamped a party of the tribe of the Hadýdy, whom Hassan immediately recognized by the number of asses grazing round the tents. They were Bedouins, paying no tribute. They rode on asses, and used firearms, then chiefly matchlocks. Their riches consisted principally in sheep and goats; having few camels: and on this account they were considered as a degenerated tribe; the true Bedouin despising all animals but horses and camels.
Hassan deliberated whether it would be proper to pass the night with them or not: for he gave us to understand that they were inhospitable and of a thievish disposition. Night, however, was coming on; and learning, upon inquiry, that the Melhem, the tribe to which we were going, was some leagues off, he led the way to the tent of the shaykh or chieftain, where we alighted.
Hassan had underrated their civility on this occasion; for the shaykh, when he knew who we were, showed us much attention. This was owing to a circumstance which contributed greatly to the kind treatment we received throughout the Desert, and which it is worth while to mention. When Lady Hester, during the month of December, had paid a visit to the Emir of the Anizys, at that time encamped near the ruins of Salamyah, she had made him several presents: and the reputation of her generosity being spread about, ensured a kind reception to any one who now came in her name, from the hopes of a participation in her future favours on her proposed journey to Palmyra; for the Arabs are poor and covetous, and never neglect any channel that may lead to gain, however circuitous it may appear to be.
A dish of melted butter, with bread soaked in it, was served for supper, and we slept as on the preceding night. On the 4th, soon after sunrise, we bridled our horses, and proceeded on our way. People who have no fixed habitation are not always immediately to be found. It is indeed a wild-goose chase to go in search of an Arab’s tents; and, though inquiry had been made of every person that could afford information, all that could be learned was that Mahannah was encamped somewhere at the foot of Gebel el Abyad, a chain of mountains of some leagues, which extends east and west, wide of Palmyra. The White Mountain (so Gebel el Abyad means) was in sight, and Hassan took the lead towards it in an east-south-east direction, as I guessed the point of the compass to be from the sun. The weather was clear and mild, having favoured us thus far from the day of our departure. We had proceeded but a short distance before we crossed a drove of camels, led by a Bedouin girl mounted on the bell camel, whilst the herdsman, mounted also, brought up the rear. Hassan recognized him as one of his own tribe, and, salutations having passed, inquired where the Emir Mahannah was. The herdsman informed him that the emir was that day moving his tents to fresh pastures.
Inclining to the south-east, we encountered other herds and several Bedouin horsemen. The plain now wore a barren appearance, being gravelly, with patches of moss that seemed to destroy vegetation. The horsemen, however distant they might be from us, never failed to ride up and ascertain who we were; and, when Hassan made himself and us known, still they would unceremoniously fumble our wallets with the points of their spears to feel what they contained, as if lamenting that the protection of our conductor prevented them from appropriating the contents to themselves. Some, with gloomy insolence, demanded a pipe of tobacco; which, as we had been previously instructed to do, we always refused or denied having: for it is the maxim of the Bedouins to try a person’s fears by a small demand, with which, if he complies, they proceed to a greater, and finish, if they think it safe, by stripping him of all he has. Their scowling looks, rendered more suspicious by the vizor of their handkerchiefs, made their questions very unpleasant, and we felt uneasy, although we knew, or at least felt assured, that nothing could happen to us, protected as we were by Hassan, the Emir Mahannah’s officer.
Obtaining fresh information as we proceeded, we continued inclining to the right, and, at the close of the day, had made nearly a semicircle, finishing in the west. The whole of the way this day we met with no water, and our only repast was dry bread and the remains of the supply in the water-bottles. About four o’clock we found ourselves in the midst of several droves of camels, and a quarter of an hour more brought us to the encampment. Some tents were already pitched without order either as to precedence or regularity; and, on subsequent occasions, it was observable that every Bedouin chose the spot he liked best, with this exception, that the relations and slaves of the emir generally occupied the ground immediately about him. We advanced towards the emir, and alighted. Whilst his tent was pitching, he had seated himself on the ground; and his slaves, having lighted a blazing fire, were preparing coffee. He rose to receive us, being apprised of our coming by certain Bedouins, who had passed us. Nasar, the eldest son of the emir, whom I had known at Hamah, saluted me with a kiss on each cheek, the common salutation between friends among them. Being seated, coffee was served, and a moment was given for observing the physiognomy and dress of the emir, prince at that time of all the desert tract of country which extends, in the rear of Syria, from Aleppo down to Damascus and as far back as the Euphrates.
He seemed to be about fifty-five years old, with a piercing eye, which amply made up for the defect of hearing under which he laboured. His beard was ragged and shaggy, as were his eyebrows. His face and hands, apparently strangers to the use of water, were begrimed with dirt. On his head he wore a shawl of stuff, coarse as a towel, put on with the superlative carelessness of a Bedouin toilet. In other respects his dress resembled that described above as the costume of this people, excepting that he had no breeches or drawers, and no boots or shoes; his feet having for their only covering a pair of worsted socks. His body vest or frock, however, was of fine striped satin of Damascus, red and yellow, originally perhaps the plunder of some traveller, but now exhibiting all the magnificence of Rag-fair.[29]