i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 487 



Hosein, who fell at Karbala. But this distinction of 

 origin is not generally dwelt upon or even known to the 

 people. One of the best informed men in Jeddah insists 

 that the Shereefs are of the blood of Hosein, whose house 

 claims the birthright because Hasan resigned the Caliphate 

 in favour of the Ommayad dynasty. I believe this to be 

 a mistake, but the existence of the mistake shows that 

 the distinction between the stock of Hasan and Hosein 

 is not practically important. The real point is that the 

 Shereefs are the members or kinsmen of the princely 

 house of Mecca, while the Seyyids claim respect as de 

 scendants of the prophet, and are generally saluted by 

 kissing the hand, but do not form a recognised aristocracy. 

 The Emir of Mecca, the head of the Ashraf, is the true 

 ruler of the Hejaz. He is nominated by the Porte, which 

 has sometimes departed from the strict laws of hereditary 

 succession. Indeed, the reigning Shereef Hosein is not 

 the head of the house according to Arabian law. He 

 regularly succeeded two years ago to his elder brother 

 Abdullah, who again followed their father, the celebrated 

 Mohammed Ibn Aun. But Ibn Aun was not the direct 

 representative of the old princes who ruled in Mecca before 

 the Wahhabites overran the holy places, and was opposed 

 throughout his life, and for a time displaced by Abd el 

 Mutaleb, who now lives under surveillance at Constanti 

 nople, and is not without partisans in the Hejaz. But 

 the Porte would not venture to nominate a High Shereef 

 except from one of these two rival families, and as the 

 Arabic theory of succession lays more stress on the kin 

 than on the individual, the office of Emir is recognised 

 by the Arabs as a native and legitimate hereditary 

 dignity in contrast to the hated rule of the Turks, which 

 is viewed as little better than organised robbery. In 

 the desert the Turks have never been able to hold their 

 own. They have again and again suppressed formal 

 rebellions, but they have never been able to set their 

 mark on the country or exact from the Bedouins sub- 



