184 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [apR. 30, 
The government of the Bedawin is patriarchal. The lex 
talionis is in full force, and is the potent cause of continual 
wars and raids. In Arabia there is still the possibility, with the 
alliance of central Africa and south-western Asia, of new 
religious moveinents that may shake the world. 
3. The Mutawalis. his is a Mohammedan community of a 
few thousand souls, living in central and southern Lebanon, the 
plain of Coelesyria, and the Anti-Lebanon. They are probably 
of Persian origin, and adhere to the Shiite sect of Islam, which 
holds to the sole legitimacy of the line of Ali, the fourth Caliph. 
They are a dark-skinned, black-haired, ill-favored race. The 
doctrinal distinctions between the Shiites and the Sunnites. 
are abstruse and exceedingly difficult of comprehension to a 
Christian mind, probably not less so to a Mohammedan. In 
such points as the Shiites differ from the Sunnites, it would seem 
to be owing to the incorporation of Zoroastrian, Manichean, and 
other heresies and mysticisms. The true distinction is probably 
a political one. The rancor and animosity is, however, exceed- 
ingly pronounced. A Mutawali will not eat or drink from the 
same vessel as a Sunnite Moslem, or a Christian, or a person of 
any other sect. The state of morality is exceedingly low among 
them. They are the most ignorant and least hopeful of any of 
the non-nomadic races of the land. 
4. The Druzes. There is little agreement as to the origin of 
the Druzes. ‘They have the physiognomy of an Aryan rather 
than a Semitic race, and are by some supposed to have come 
from Persia. They are well-formed, athletic, of fine personal 
appearance and martial bearing, and of determined courage and 
persistency in war. They speak Arabic of great purity, usually 
with a very clear and classical pronunciation. Although num- 
bering but 60,000 or 70,000 souls, they have maintained for 
centuries their independence of both Turk and Arab. In the 
frequent civil wars of Lebanon, the Druzes, although numbering 
only 50,000 souls, were generally able to maintain themselves. 
against six times their number of the native Christians. The 
Druzes of Hauran, although but a few thousand, have been able 
to this day to maintain a sort of autonomy. When hard pressed 
by Turkish regulars, they take refuge in the crevasses of the great. 
lava sea of the Leja, and set at defiance their pursuers. In their 
natural fortification of the volcanic mountain range of Jebel-ed- 
Duruz, they have a retreat for their villages quite secure from 
the imbecile Mohammedans, Christians, and Bedawin of the 
surrounding plains of Hauran, and lay them all under tribute. 
There are also a few Druzes in Mt. Carmel and in Galilee. 
In 1860, after the massacres of the Christians at Deir-el-Somr 
and Hasbeiya, the Druzes were overawed by the French occupa- 
