GOVERNMENT OF ARABIA. 181 



The Arabs northward from Palmyra call them- 

 selves Ahl el Shemal, or Northern Nations ; a name 

 which the natives of Hejaz apply,, from their rela- 

 tive position, to the whole of the Aeneze tribes. The 

 El Mauali inhabit the district near Aleppo and 

 Hamah. Their emir or sheik receives an annual 

 sum from the Governor of Aleppo, for which he pro- 

 tects the villages of the pashalic against the aggres- 

 sions of the other Arabs. They are reckoned treach- 

 erous 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, wan- 

 der in that neighbourhood. The mountains from 

 Horns towards Palmyra, the extensive territory of 

 the Hauran, the plains of Leja and Jolan, are 

 traversed by numerous hordes, who are tribu- 

 tary to the Pasha of Damascus; though circum- 

 stances often induce them to throw off their al- 

 legiance, 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 horse- 

 men, who find constant occupation in plunder, or 

 in defending their possessions from the inroads of 

 the Aenezes. The Arabs of Belka, whose camps 

 extend to the eastern margin of the Dead Sea, com- 

 prise about forty small tribes, amounting 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 



