The Contemporary Review, January 1883: Vol 43, No. 1Various
Science
The Contemporary Review, January 1883: Vol 43, No. 1
Various
Arts -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals; Political science -- Periodicals
Mr. Oliphant came upon Circassians re-occupying deserted villages in the
midst of the Bedawîn, and he takes the fact as "valuable evidence that
the problem of colonization by a foreign element, so far as the Arabs
are concerned, is by no means insoluble."[71] He seems to forget that
the traveller with empty pockets may whistle in the face of the
highwayman. The Circassians are settling in abandoned villages by the
wish of the authorities. They have the deep sympathy of all Moslems on
account of their sufferings. Besides, they have nothing to lose which
would compensate the Bedawîn for the alienation of the Turkish
Government.
The case would be far different with a rich and prosperous colony of
foreigners supported by foreign capital.
In his hurried tour beyond Jordan, Mr. Oliphant came upon the Fudl Arabs
with 2,000 fighting men, and in their midst a colony of 300 Circassians.
In another place he came on a colony of 3,000 Circassians in the midst
of the Naïm Arabs, who muster 4,000 fighting men. "The Anezeh Arabs, who
control," he says, "an area of about 40,000 square miles, and who can
bring over 100,000 horsemen and camel-drivers into the field," would be
on the borders of the colony, and the Druzes, who are born warriors, and
who inhabit Jebel-ed-Druze, he places at 50,000. Besides these there are
the Beni Sukhr, and other local tribes, whose fanaticism and cupidity
would be moved by the presence of a prosperous colony of foreigners.
On April 12, 1875, Dr. Thomson and I started from Der'a in a
southwesterly direction over wavy hills covered with splendid wheat, the
sides of the way ablaze with anemones. As we approached Remthey, we saw
what in the miragy atmosphere seemed a row of trees fifteen or twenty
miles long. I had been over the path before, and I was struck with this
new feature in the landscape. Soon it seemed to us that the line, as far
as we could see, was in motion, and as we approached closer to it, we
found that it was composed of camels. We spurred our horses, and soon we
found ourselves by the side of the great living stream of the Wuld 'Aly
Arabs moving from the Arabian Desert to the pastures of Jaulan. The
procession marched six or seven abreast, and in families of from 20 to
150. The camels had curious baskets fixed on their humps, and in these
were stowed women and children, and kids and dogs, while cooking
utensils were hung all round the baskets, and by the sides of their dams
trotted little baby camels. The stream flowed past silent and orderly,
with here and there a spearman riding by the side of his family. At
short intervals flocks of sheep and goats marched parallel with the
living stream.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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