CHAP. IV. A LADY ON CAMEL. 63 kids or lambs tied on the opposite side; young girls clothed only in the close-fitting Arab shirt, which displayed rather than con cealed their graceful forms; mothers with their children on their shoulders; boys driving flocks of lambs; horsemen armed with long tufted spears, scouring the plain on their fleet mares ; riders urging their dromedaries with short hooked sticks, and leading their high-bred steeds by the halter; colts galloping among the throng; high-born ladies seated in the center of huge wings, which extend like those of a butterfly from each side of the camel's hump, and are no less gaudy and variegated.* Such was the motley crowd through which we had to wend our way for several hours. Our appearance created a lively sensa-tion; the women checked our horses; the horsemen assembled round us, and rode by our side; the children yelled and ran after the Franks. It was mid-day before we found a small party that had stopped, and were pitching their tents. A young chestnut mare belonging to the sheikh, was one of the most beautiful creatures I ever beheld. As she struggled to free herself from the spear to which she was tied, she showed the lightness and elegance of the gazelle. Her limbs were in perfect symmetry: her ears erect, slender, and transparent; her nostrils high, dilated, and deep red; her neck gracefully arched, and her mane and tail of the texture of silk. We all involuntarily stopped to gaze at her. "Say Masha-Allah," exclaimed the owner, who, seeing not without pride, that I admired her, feared the effect of an evil "That I will," answered I," and with pleasure; for, O Arab, you possess the jewel of the tribe." He brought us a bowl of camel's milk, and directed us to the tents of Sofuk. eye. We had still two hours' ride before us, and when we reached the encampment of the Shammar sheikh, our horses, as well as ourselves, were exhausted by the heat of the sun, and the length of the day's journey. The tents were pitched on a broad lawn *These wings are formed by a light frame-work of cane, varying from sixteen to twenty feet in length. covered with parchment, and ornamented, as is also the body and neck of the camel, with tassels and fringes of worsted of every hue, and with strings of glass beads and shells. The lady sits in the center in a kind of pavilion, covered with gay carpets, by which she is shaded from the sun. This singular contrivance sways from side to side, and the motion is very disagrecable to one not accustomed to it. CHAP. IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE SHAMMAR. 65 in a deep ravine; they were scattered in every direction, and among them rose the white pavilions of the Turkish irregular cavalry. Ferhan, the son of Sofuk, and a party of horsemen, rode out to meet us as we approached, and led us to the tent of the chief, distinguished from the rest by its size, and the spears which were driven into the ground at its entrance. Sofuk advanced to receive us; he was followed by about three hundred Arabs, including many of the principal sheikhs of the tribe. In person he was short and corpulent, more like an Osmanli than an Arab; but his eye was bright and intelligent, his features regular, well formed and expressive. His dress differed but in the quality of the materials from that of his followers. A thick kerchief, striped with red, yellow, and blue, and fringed with long plaited cords, was thrown over his head, and fell down his shoulders. It was held in its place, above the brow, by a band of spun camel's wool, tied at intervals by silken threads of many colors. A long white shirt, descending to the ankles, and a black and white cloak over it, completed his attire. יין He led Rassam and myself to the top of the tent, where we seated ourselves on well-worn carpets. When all the party had found places, the words of welcome, which had been exchanged before we dismounted, were repeated. "Peace be with you, O Bey! upon my head you are welcome: my house is your house," exclaimed the sheikh, addressing the stranger nearest to him. "Peace be with you, O Sofuk! may God protect you was the answer, and similar compliments were made to every guest, and by every person, present. While this ceremony, which took nearly half an hour, was going on, I had leisure to examine those who had assembled to meet us. Nearest to me was Ferhan, the sheikh's eldest son, a young man of handsome appearance and intelligent countenance, although the expression was neither agreeable nor attractive. His dress resembled that of his father; but from beneath the kerchief thrown over his head hung his long black tresses plaited into many tails. His teeth were white as ivory, like those of most Arabs. Beyond him sat a crowd of men of the most ferocious and forbidding exterior—warriors who had passed their lives in war and rapine, looking upon those who did not belong to their tribe as natural enemies, and preferring their wild freedom to all the riches of the earth. Mrs. Rassam.had been ushered into this crowded assembly. The scrutinizing glance with which she was examined from head to foot, by all present, not being agreeable, we requested that she might be taken to the tent of the women. Sofuk called two black slaves, who led her to the harem, scarcely a stone's throw distant. The compliments having been at length finished, we conversed upon general topics. Coffee, highly drugged with odoriferous herbs found in the desert, and with spices, a mixture for which Sofuk was celebrated, was handed round before we retired to our own tents. Sofuk's name was so well known in the desert, and he so long played a conspicuous part in the politics of Mesopotamia, that a few words on his history may not be uninteresting. He was descended from the sheikhs, who brought the tribe from Nedjd in Arabia Proper. At the commencement of his career he had shared the chiefship with his uncle, after whose death he became the great Sheikh of the Shammar. From an early period he had been troublesome to the Turkish governors of the provinces on the Tigris and Euphrates; but gained the confidence of the Porte by a spirited attack upon the camp of Mohammed Ali Mirza, son of Feth Ali Shah, and governor of Kirmanshah, when that prince was marching upon Baghdad and Mosul. After this exploit, to which was mainly attributed the safety of the Turkish cities, Sofuk was invested as Sheikh of the Shammar. At times, however, when he had to complain of ill-treatment from the Pashaw of Baghdad, or could not control those under him, his tribes were accustomed to indulge their love of plunder, to sack villages and pillage caravans. He thus became formidable to the Turks, and was known as the King of the Desert. When Mehemet Reshid Pashaw led his successful CHAP. IV. SOFUK'S HISTORY. 67 expedition into Kurdistan and Mesopotamia, Sofuk was among the chiefs whose power he sought to destroy. He knew that it would be useless to attempt it by force, and he consequently invited the sheikh to his camp on the pretense of investing him with the customary robe of honor. He was seized and sent a prisoner to Constantinople. There he remained some months, until deceived by his promises, the Porte permitted him to return to the tribe. From that time his Arabs had been the terror of the pashawlics of Mosul and Baghdad, and had even carried their depredations to the east of the Tigris. However, Nejris, the son of Sofuk's uncle, had appeared as his rival, and many branches of the Shammar had declared for the new sheikh. This led to dissensions in the tribe; and, at the time of our visit, Sofuk, who had forfeited his popularity by many acts of treachery, was almost deserted by the Arabs. In this dilemma he had applied to the pashaw of Mosul, and had promised to serve the Porte, and to control the Bedouins, if he were assisted in re-establishing his authority. This state of things accounted for the presence of the white tents of the hytas in the midst of his encampment. His intercourse with the Turkish authorities, who must be conciliated by adequate presents before assistance can be exected from them, and the famine, which for the last two years had prevailed in the countries surrounding the desert, were not favorable to the domestic prosperity of Sofuk. The wealth and display, for which he was once renowned among the Arabs, had disappeared. A few months before, he had even sent to Mosul the silver ankle-rings of his favorite wife-the last resource to be exchanged for corn. The furred cloaks, and embroidered robe, which he once wore, had not been replaced. The only carpet in his tent was the rag on which sat his principal guests; the rest squatted on the grass, or on the bare ground. He led the life of a pure Bedouin, from the commonest of whom he was only distinguished by the extent of his female establishment-always a weak point with the sheikh. But even in his days of greatest prosperity, the meanest Arab |