274 HISTORY OF THE WAHABEES. 



to the sheriff, who had declared himself a proselyte 

 and an ally of Saoud. 



Several months were consumed in negotiations ; 

 for Ghaleb, when he heard of the formidable arma- 

 ment of Ali Pasha, had thought it advisable to enter 

 into a secret correspondence with him, in which he 

 communicated much information as to the actual 

 state and force of the enemy ; and promised to throw 

 off his allegiance to them on the first appearance of 

 a respectable Turkish army in Hejaz. Toussoun, 

 however, soon discovered that the state of the coun- 

 try was by no means such as he had expected from 

 the representations of the sheriff, who was evidently 

 not smcere in his offers of friendship, and only wait- 

 ing to join the stronger party. The inhabitants were 

 too much overawed by the vigilance and power of 

 Saoud to stir without some more decided prospect 

 of ultimate success. A few of the Bedouins in the 

 neighbourhood of Yembo were all he was able to 

 detach from the Wahabees. 



To put an end to this state of fruitless inactivity, 

 Toussoun resolved to attack Medina, wisely judging 

 this step more prudent than marching towards Jidda 

 or Mecca, where the stratagems of the sheriff might 

 have been as fatal to him as the arms of Saoud. 

 Leaving a garrison at Yembo, he set out on his ex- 

 pedition in January, 1812. The towns of Bedr and 

 Safra were taken after a slight skirmish. At the 

 village of Jedeida the road leads through a narrow 

 passage between steep and rugged mountains. In 

 this defile, which extends in length about one hour 

 and a half, the Turkish army was at once assailed 

 by the united force of the Harbs and Wahabees, who 

 thickly covered the precipices on both sides, to the 

 number of 20,000 infantry, and from 600 to 800 

 horsemen, commanded by Abdallah and Faisal, two 

 of the sons of Saoud Instead of retreating to the 

 village, where they might have defended themselves, 

 the invaders, on the first cry of alarm, took to flight ; 



