Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Anatomy-Astronomy

348 A R A
Arabia particular classification of the Bedouin tribes. Those who
inhabit northern Arabia he distinguishes into two classes;
namely, the Aenezes, who migrate with the spring and
summer to the fertile parts of Syria, and return with the
winter to the desert; and others, who remain the whole
year in the vicinity of the cultivated tracts. The Aene¬
zes, reckoning their brethren in Nedjed, form one of the
most powerful associations of shepherds in the Arabian
deserts. They levy contributions on the Syrian villages,
as well as on the pilgrim caravan in its passage from the
desert to Mecca; and their numbers are estimated at
from 300,000 to 350,000, and their military force at 10,000
horsemen, and from 90,000 to 100,000 camel-riders.
There are numerous other tribes in northern Arabia,
scattered along the frontiers of Syria and the banks of
the Euphrates. They are not so migratory in their ha¬
bits as the Aenezes, with whom several of them carry
on the most deadly strife, while others pay a yearly
tribute to all the chief Aeneze tribes, and in some cases
to the pacha of Damascus?. Many of them cultivate the
land though they dwell in tents; and those on the borders
of Syria carry their produce of milk, butter, and cheese
to the market of Aleppo. There are other tribes that
range over the country to the south, over the mountains
that run in a direction parallel to the Red Sea as far as
Medina and Mecca, or in the interior plains and moun¬
tains of Djebel Shammar, Kasym, and Nedjed. Some of
those tribes, as the Beni Shammar, can muster from 3000 to
4000 men, armed with matchlocks; others, such as Meteyr,
who occupy the fruitful pastures of Nedjed, 1200 horse, and
from 6000*to 8000 matchlocks. The country from Kasym
towards Medina and Mecca, and the coast southward
from Yembo to Djidda and Leith, for about 250 miles, is
inhabited by the Beni Harb, which, next to the Aenezes,
is the most powerful tribe in Arabia. They can muster
from 30,000 to 40,000 men, armed with matchlocks. The
Harbs are partly settlers and partly Bedouins. They may
be styled the masters of the Hedjaz, and were the last
tribe in those countries that yielded to the Wahaby arms.
They take a yearly tribute from the Egyptian and Syrian
caravans ; and they extend their predatory inroads against
the encampments of the Aenezes to the vicinity of Da¬
mascus. On the sea coast, where the territory is poor,
they derive a subsistence from fishing; and many of them
are sailors, and act as pilots between Yembo and Djidda.
But these tribes, from their intercourse with the inhabi¬
tants of towns, and their maritime habits, are regarded
with disdain by the genuine Arabs. To the east of Mec¬
ca and Tayf, in the fruitful pastures of the interior, resides
the brave and powerful tribe of Ateybe, the inveterate
enemies of the Beni Harb, who can muster a force of
10,000 matchlocks. In the neighbourhood of Mecca are
many well-known tribes, now reduced to about 250 or 300
matchlocks. The tribe of Koreish, so famous in the Ara¬
bian annals, who encamp near Mount Arafat, now amount
only to 300 matchlock-men. The tribe of Adouan, which
40 years ago mustered about 1000 matchlocks, and were
celebrated all over Arabia for their valour and hospitality,
are now reduced to 100 families. It is to this tribe that
the reigning sherifs of Mecca send their children to be
educated. In the mountainous region between Mecca
and Tayf reside the warlike tribes of the Hodheyl,
mustering 1000 matchlocks, famed as excellent marks¬
men, brave soldiers, and daring high-way robbers; the
Toweyrek, who muster 500 matchlocks, and have the
character of dexterous thieves; and the Thekyf, who
possess the garden country around Tayf, and the other
B 1 A.
equally fertile valleys on the eastern declivity of the Arabia,
great Hedjaz chain of mountains. The wealth of these
mountain tribes consists in flocks of sheep and goats.
They suffered severely, especially the Hodheyl, in their
obstinate but unavailing resistance to the Wahabys.
From Tayf southward, along the eastern face of the great
chain of mountains to Sana, are several ancient and
powerful tribes, renowned in Arabian history. Some
are partly cultivators and partly Bedouins. The Beni
Kahtan and the Beni Sad are famous from the most
remote antiquity. The former is exclusively pastoral,
abounding in camels above any other tribe of the desert.
Some of these southern tribes can muster from 500 to
1500 matchlocks. They are brave and warlike, and they
extend from the mountains over the eastern and western
plains. The tribe of Asyr can assemble 15,000 men,
armed with matchlocks. Of the various tribes scatter¬
ed over the mountains of El Shehr or Mahra, and the
countries that are washed by the Persian Gulf, we have no
detailed or accurate accounts. The tribes in the moun¬
tains are, however, in general employed in agriculture ; many
of them live in tents, and descend in spring into the neigh¬
bouring plains for pasture to their flocks. The cultivators
dispose of their produce, w7hich is abundant, in the towns
on the coast.
Arabia has been celebrated from time immemorial as Manners
the seat of independence and of pastoral simplicity, and^d?3™-
it is perhaps the only country in the world which, until^tgths
it was lately overrun by the troops of Mohammed Ah, was
never profaned by foreign conquest. Mountains and de¬
serts, as is well observed by Sir John Malcolm,1 have been
in all ages the sanctuaries of the brave and the free ; and
thither the hardy Arabs, when pressed by powerful armies,
have always fled to enjoy freedom and independence. On
the sea coasts and in the towns the Arab character has
been corrupted by commerce and a free intercourse with
foreigners; but in those secure recesses the ancient
manners of the country are still to be found. The ge¬
nuine inhabitants of the desert unite the character of
shepherds and soldiers. They live in tents, and they
subsist by maintaining flocks of sheep and camels, and
also cows and horses. The larger tribes are chiefly em¬
ployed in rearing camels, which they either sell to their
neighbours, or employ in the carriage of goods or in
military expeditions. The petty tribes maintain flocks of
sheep. They disdain the cultivation of the ground, as an
employment degrading to a pure Arab, and which they ac¬
cordingly leave to the inferior race of peasantry and slaves.
These Bedouins live the usual vagrant life of shepherds,
emigrating from one place to another with the change of
the seasons, in quest of pasturage, and transporting their
dwellings along with them; so that a village arises often
in a situation where, an hour before, not a hut was to be
seen. The genuine Arabs, who live constantly in the open
air, acquire a remarkable acuteness in all their senses.
Their powers of vision and of hearing improve by constant
exercise; and on the vast plains of the desert objects in¬
visible to a less practised eye are at once seen by them.
Their sense of smelling is extremely acute ; and their dis¬
like to a town life is occasioned by the nauseous exhala¬
tions which are produced among such a dense collection of
people. The Arabs possess the same faculty of nicely
distinguishing on the sand the footsteps of men and beasts
which the American Indians distinguish on the grass. To
such perfection have they arrived in this art, that an
Arab will at once recognise the footstep of any one of
his own or of some neighbouring tribe; he will know
1 History of Persia.