160 CIVIL HISTORY AND 



ter about 400 horsemen. The Howeytat, tlie Mo- 

 waH, the Omran, Debourt, Bedoul, Hekoiik. and 

 various others, occupy the desert from Suez to 

 Akaba. The Omran are a strong clan, and of very 

 independent spirit. Their frequent depredations 

 render them objects of terror to the pilgrims pro- 

 ceeding to Mecca, who are under the necessity of 

 passing through their territories. Five tribes, called 

 the Towara, or Arabs of Tor, inhabit the peninsula 

 of Sinai ; these are the Sowaleha, the Mezeyne, the 

 Aleygat, the Tayaha, and the Terabein, who feed 

 their flocks in the Petrsean deserts. They maintain 

 very little intercourse with their eastern neighbours, 

 and can muster together a force of more than 600 

 matchlocks. In dry seasons they occasionally ap- 

 proach towards Gaza or Hebron ; and some have a 

 caravan called Kheleit, of more than 4000 camels, 

 which sets out every year to Cairo, where they pur- 

 chase wheat, barley, and articles of dress. 



Most of these, with various other branches, called 

 the Sherkyeh Arabs, have colonized the western 

 shore of the Red Sea, from Suez as far as Nubia. 

 During the time of the Mamlouk reign in Egj'pt, 

 they might be said to have been masters of a con- 

 siderable part of the country. They exacted tribute 

 from the peasants, and engrossed a great share of 

 the transport-trade. The Maazy sometimes pasture 

 their cattle near the Nile, but generally reside in the 

 mountains. From 500 to 600 horsemen constitute 

 the utmost force of all the Sherkyeh tribes. Some 

 years ago, if their own reports are to be credited, 

 they could muster at least 3000 ; but their numbers 

 have been considerably reduced by their wars with 

 the Pasha of Egypt, who at present levies a tribute 

 on them, and observes their movements with so 

 much vigilance that they are not even permitted to 

 make war upon each other, — the most galling re- 

 striction under which an Arab can be placed. 



On the eastern coast of the Gulf, the Bedouins 



