The second event in the history of the tribe, the "Tale of Abú Rísh,"[96] shall also be told in the words of Furayj:—"After the course of time the Beni 'Ukbah, aided by the Ma'ázah, made war against the Shurafá, who were great lords in those days, and plundered them and drove them from their lands. The victors were headed by one Salámah, a Huwayti who dwelt at El-'Akabah, and who had become their guest. In those ages the daughters of the tribe were wont to ride before the host in their Hawádig ('camel-litters'), singing the war-song to make the warriors brave. As Salámah was the chief Mubáriz ('champion in single combat'), the girls begged him to wear, when fighting, a white ostrich feather in his chain-helmet, that they might note his deeds and chant in his name. Hence his title, Abú Rísh—the 'Father of a Feather.' The Sherifs, being beaten, made peace, taking the lands between Wady Dámah and El-Hejaz; whilst the Beni 'Ukbah occupied Midian Proper (North Midian), between 'Dámah' and 'Shámah' (Syria).
"Abú Rísh, who was a friend to both victor and vanquished, settled among the Sherifs in the Sirr country south of Wady Dámah. He had received to wife, as a reward for his bravery, the daughter of the Shaykh of the Beni 'Ukbah; and she bare him a son, 'Id, whose tomb is in the Wady Ghál, between Zibá and El-Muwaylah. On the Yaum el-Subúh ('seventh day after birth'), the mother of 'Id followed the custom of the Arabs; and, after the usual banquet, presented the babe to the guests, including her father, who made over Wady 'Aynúnah in free gift to his grandson. Now, 'Id used to lead caravans to Cairo, for the purpose of buying provisions; and he was often plundered by the Ma'ázah, who had occupied by force the Wadys Sharmá, Tiryam, and Surr of El-Muwaylah.
"This 'Id ibn Salámah left, by a Huwayti woman, a son 'Alayán, surnamed Abú Takíkah ('Father of a Scar') from a sabre-cut in the forehead: he was the founder of the Tugaygát-Huwaytát clan, and his descendants still swear by his name. Once upon a time, when leading his caravan, he reached the Wady 'Afál, and he learned that his enemies, the Ma'ázah, and the black slaves who garrisoned El-Muwaylah, were lurking in the Wady Marayr. So he placed his loads under a strong guard; and he hastened, with his kinsmen of the Huwaytát, to the Hismá, where the Ma'ázah had left their camels undefended: these he drove off, and rejoined his caravan rejoicing. The Ma'ázah, hearing of their disaster, hurried inland to find out the extent of the loss, abandoning the black slaves, who, nevertheless, were still determined to plunder the Káfilah. 'Alayán was apprized of their project; and, reaching the Wady Umm Gehaylah, he left his caravan under a guard, and secretly posted fifty matchlock-men in El-Suwayrah, east of the hills of El-Muwaylah. He then (behold his cunning!) tethered between the two hosts, at a place called Zila'h, east of the tomb of Shaykh Abdullah,[97] ten camel-colts without their dams. Roused by the bleating, the negro slaves followed the sound and fell into the ambush, and were all slain.
"'Alayán returned to the Sirr country, when his tribe, the Huwaytát, said to him, 'Hayya (up!) to battle with these Ma'ázah and Beni 'Ukbah; either they uproot us or we uproot them!' So he gathered the clan, and marched to a place called El-Bayzá,[98] where he found the foe in front. On the next day the battle began, and it was fought out from Friday to Friday; a truce was then made, and it was covenanted to last between evening and morning. But at midnight the enemy arose, left his tents pitched, and fled to the Hismá. 'Alayán followed the fugitives, came up with them in the Wady Sadr, and broke them to pieces. Upon this they took refuge in Egypt and Syria.
"After a time the Beni 'Ukbah returned, and obtained pardon from 'Alaya'n the Huwayti, who imposed upon them six conditions. Firstly, having lost all right to the land, they thus became 'brothers' (i.e. serviles). Secondly, they agreed to give up the privilege of escorting the Hajj-caravan. Thirdly, if a Huwayti were proved to have plundered a pilgrim, his tribe should make good the loss; but if the thief escaped detection, the Beni 'Ukbah should pay the value of the stolen property in coin or in kind. Fourthly, they were bound not to receive as guests any tribe (enumerating a score or so) at enmity with the Huwaytát. Fifthly, if a Shaykh of Huwaytát fancied a dromedary belonging to one of the Beni 'Ukbah, the latter must sell it under cost price. And, sixthly, the Beni 'Ukbah were not allowed to wear the 'Abá or Arab cloak."[99]
The Beni 'Ukbah were again attacked and worsted, in the days of Sultan Selim, by their hereditary foe, the Ma'ázah. They complained at Cairo; and the Mamlúk Beys sent down an army which beat the enemy in the Wady Surr. They had many quarrels with their southern neighbours, the Baliyy: at last peace was made, and the land was divided, the Beni 'Ukbah taking the tract between Wadys Da'mah and El-Muzayrib. Since that time the tribe has been much encroached upon by the Huwayta't. It still claims, however, as has been said, all the lands between El-Muwaylah and Makná, where they have settlements, and the Jebel Harb, where they feed their camels. They number some twenty-five to thirty tents, boasting that they have hundreds; and, as will appear, their Shaykh, Hasan el-'Ukbi, amuses himself by occasionally attacking and plundering the wretched Maknáwis, or people of Makná, a tribe weaker than his own.
Chapter VI. — To Makná, and Our Work There—the Magáni or Maknáwis.
After a silly fortnight at old Madiáma, I resolved to march upon its seaport, Makná, the of Ptolemy, which the people call also "Madyan."[100] We set out at seven a.m. (January 25th); and, after a walk of forty-five minutes, we were shown by Furayj a Ghadír, or shallow basin of clay, shining and bald as an old scalp from the chronic sinking of water. In the middle stood two low heaps of fine white cement, mixed with brick and gravel; while to the west we could trace the framework of a mortared Fiskíyyah ("cistern"), measuring five metres each way. The ruin lies a little south of west (241 deg. mag.) from the greater "Shigd;" and it is directly under the catacombed hill which bears the "Praying-place of Jethro." A tank in these regions always presupposes a water-pit, and there are lingering traditions that this is the "Well of Moses," so generally noticed by mediæval Arab geographers. It is the only one in the Wady Makná, not to mention a modern pit about an hour and a half further down the valley, sunk by the Bedawin some twenty feet deep: the walls of the latter are apparently falling in, and it is now bone-dry. But the veritable "Moses' Well" seems to have been upon the coast; and, if such be the case, it is clean forgotten. True, Masá'íd, the mad old Ma'ázi, attempted to trace a well inside our camp by the seashore; but the Beni 'Ukbah, to whom the land belongs, had never heard of it.