OOVERNMF.NT OF ARABIA. 159 



The Arabs northward from Palmyra call them- 

 selves Ahl el Shemal, or Northern Nations ; a name 

 which the natives of Hejaz apply, from their relative 

 position, to the whole of the Aeneze tribes. The 

 El Mauali inhabit t he district near Aleppo and Hamah. 

 Their emir or sheik receives an annual sum from the 

 Governor of Aleppo, for which he protects the vil- 

 lages of the pashalic against the aggressions of the 

 other Arabs. They are reckoned treacherous and 

 faithless ; an example of which is recorded in one of 

 their chiefs, who murdered at a convivial feast in 

 his own tent above 200 Aeneze guests, that he might 

 get possession of their mares. The Hadedyein, the 

 El Seken, who reckon about 600 tents, the El Berak, 

 and various other tribes, wander in that neighbour- 

 hood. The mountains from Horns towards Pal- 

 myra, the extensive territory of the Hauran, the 

 plains of Leja and Jolan, are traversed by numerous 

 hordes, who are tributary to the Pasha of Damascus ; 

 though circumstances often induce them to throw off 

 their allegiance, and appropriate to their own use 

 the miri, or tax from the peasants, and other dues 

 they are employed to collect. The Beni Sakkar, a 

 tribe of free Arabs, are celebrated for their courage 

 and their robberies. They have a force of about 

 500 horsemen, who find constant occupation in plun- 

 der, or in defending their possessions from the 

 inroads of the Aenczes. The Arabs of Belka, whose 

 camps extend to the eastern margin of the Dead 

 Sea, comprise about forty small tribes, amountmg 

 in all to between 3000 and 4000 tents. They drive 

 cattle for sale to Jerusalem ; and their great sheik 

 pays an annual tribute of 2000 sheep to the Pasha 

 of Damascus. The plains about the Dead Sea and 

 the Lake of Tiberias are inhabited by the Ghour 

 Arabs. The Ahl el Kebly, or Southern Nations, 

 comprehend the various tribes that dwell south of 

 Palestine, and along the borders of the Red Sea 



Gebel Shera is peopled by the Hejaje, who num- 



