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the presentation of the men for "war. Saaoud sends 
Kadis to the towns subject to his dominion; but he has 
no Ka'ids or Governors, Pachas, Viziers, or other 
ministers. The reformer Abdoulwehhab did not invest 
himself with any honour or public character: he was 
only the chief of the sect, and did not require any per- 
sonal distinction. After his death, his son, who suc- 
ceeded him, preserved the same simplicity. 
The person who appears to be the most powerful, and 
to possess the greatest influence after Saaoud, is Abou- 
nocta, Grand Scheik of Yemen, who has a great number 
of troops under his orders. It sometimes happened that 
I asked some of these if they belonged to Saaoud: 
" Not at all, we are Abounocta's soldiers," they replied, 
with an air of pride, which announced the satisfaction 
they felt at belonging to him. This circumstance led 
me to think, that should Abounocta outlive Saaoud, 
there will be a division among the Wehhabites, and 
and that some will submit themselves to him, whilst 
the rest will espouse the. government of the Sultan's 
son, which may cause the power of these reformers to 
decay. Independent of the possibility of this circum- 
stance, I found a great obstacle to the propagation of 
the reform out of the deserts of Arabia, in the extreme 
rigidity of their principles* which are almost incom- 
patible with the manners of nations that have some 
ideas of civilization, and which are accustomed to the 
comforts that consequently follow; so that if they do not 
relax from this severity, it would seem impossible that 
they should make proselytes in the countries surround- 
ing the Desert. Then this great population, which pro- 
duces and consumes almost nothing, will remain always 
in its present state of nullity, in the middle of its deserts, 
without any further relations with other people than the 
