DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45588#0009
Division III Section A Part 7
406
one, Khabeb, occupied by Christians exclusively. This is the seat of the present Greek-
Catholic Bishop of Bosra.
But even those who live on the rim of the Ledja are usually as unacquainted with
its interior as are the inhabitants of Bosra or Damascus. They were aghast, and looked
incredulous, when we told them whence we had come, and where we had spent the
last few weeks; for they think of the Ledja as a place accursed, and of the inhabitants
as thieves and cut-throats of the bloodiest variety. We, however, had not found it so.
It may be that our hosts of the interior had assumed their best manners for our sakes,
and had accorded to us a degree of hospitality which they would not have extended
to visitors from the Hauran Plain. We were a small party, unescorted, and not heavily
armed; we often went about in groups of two or three, yet we were received, on the
whole, with the utmost cordiality. The Druses are always hospitable to strangers, and,
in the Ledja, so far as their domain extended, they were almost too effusive in their
efforts to entertain us well. Everywhere they assisted us in the search for inscriptions,
everywhere they did their best to lead us to uninhabited ruins which had not been
visited. They urged us to send teachers for their children, and offered to pay the
teachers well if we would only send them. They urgently sought our counsel in matters
of grave moment growing out of their disputes with the people of the Plain and con-
sequently with the Turkish government. They accepted and, strange to say, put in
practice, our advice in one matter of great importance to them, and desired that we
might always remain with them to guide their affairs in relation to their neighbours.
They are fine, healthy, specimens of their kind, living in comparative comfort, and
possessed of considerable wealth, though surrounded by the poorest of neighbours.
The Bedawin also, with one or two unfortunate exceptions, received us well, and
treated us kindly. The Shekh of Sfir, although he takes his title from a place, scorns
to live in a house, and contents himself with a commodious tent which is practically a
fixed abode. He is the dominant figure among the settled and half-nomadic Arabs of
the region. He was our guide on most of our expeditions to sites occupied by the
Bedawin, and our only unpleasant experiences among the Arabs were encountered when
we were so foolish as to make a journey without him, or when we were guided into
Arab territory by an ancient Druse, too old to fear attack at the hands of the Bedawin,
yet powerless to control them, or to convince them of the innocence of our mission.
The Sh£kh of Stir is a man of quiet, courtly, manners, of gracious and distinguished
bearing, and of singular beauty of countenance. On one occasion, when a band of
Arabs showed themselves unfriendly, and began to make a demonstration against us,
he dismounted and walked gravely forward toward the howling mob, and, with hand
uplifted, commanded their attention. He then begged them, with graceful Oriental
hyperbole, if they must do murder, to slay him — their relation ; but at all costs to
spare his friends and guests. He conducted us to a settlement where all the inhabitants
seemed half-witted or wholly mad, explaining that many of the tribes brought their
imbecile members to this secluded spot and left them to shift for themselves — a sort
of open air lunatic asylum-, and kept the half angry, half frightened, creatures at bay
by his mild discourse, while we measured ruined buildings and copied inscriptions. In
most of the places to which he accompanied us the settlers soon became very friendly
and helped us to the extent of their ability; but in some places occupied by Arabs,
which we visited without his guidance and care, we met, at first, with open hostility;
406
one, Khabeb, occupied by Christians exclusively. This is the seat of the present Greek-
Catholic Bishop of Bosra.
But even those who live on the rim of the Ledja are usually as unacquainted with
its interior as are the inhabitants of Bosra or Damascus. They were aghast, and looked
incredulous, when we told them whence we had come, and where we had spent the
last few weeks; for they think of the Ledja as a place accursed, and of the inhabitants
as thieves and cut-throats of the bloodiest variety. We, however, had not found it so.
It may be that our hosts of the interior had assumed their best manners for our sakes,
and had accorded to us a degree of hospitality which they would not have extended
to visitors from the Hauran Plain. We were a small party, unescorted, and not heavily
armed; we often went about in groups of two or three, yet we were received, on the
whole, with the utmost cordiality. The Druses are always hospitable to strangers, and,
in the Ledja, so far as their domain extended, they were almost too effusive in their
efforts to entertain us well. Everywhere they assisted us in the search for inscriptions,
everywhere they did their best to lead us to uninhabited ruins which had not been
visited. They urged us to send teachers for their children, and offered to pay the
teachers well if we would only send them. They urgently sought our counsel in matters
of grave moment growing out of their disputes with the people of the Plain and con-
sequently with the Turkish government. They accepted and, strange to say, put in
practice, our advice in one matter of great importance to them, and desired that we
might always remain with them to guide their affairs in relation to their neighbours.
They are fine, healthy, specimens of their kind, living in comparative comfort, and
possessed of considerable wealth, though surrounded by the poorest of neighbours.
The Bedawin also, with one or two unfortunate exceptions, received us well, and
treated us kindly. The Shekh of Sfir, although he takes his title from a place, scorns
to live in a house, and contents himself with a commodious tent which is practically a
fixed abode. He is the dominant figure among the settled and half-nomadic Arabs of
the region. He was our guide on most of our expeditions to sites occupied by the
Bedawin, and our only unpleasant experiences among the Arabs were encountered when
we were so foolish as to make a journey without him, or when we were guided into
Arab territory by an ancient Druse, too old to fear attack at the hands of the Bedawin,
yet powerless to control them, or to convince them of the innocence of our mission.
The Sh£kh of Stir is a man of quiet, courtly, manners, of gracious and distinguished
bearing, and of singular beauty of countenance. On one occasion, when a band of
Arabs showed themselves unfriendly, and began to make a demonstration against us,
he dismounted and walked gravely forward toward the howling mob, and, with hand
uplifted, commanded their attention. He then begged them, with graceful Oriental
hyperbole, if they must do murder, to slay him — their relation ; but at all costs to
spare his friends and guests. He conducted us to a settlement where all the inhabitants
seemed half-witted or wholly mad, explaining that many of the tribes brought their
imbecile members to this secluded spot and left them to shift for themselves — a sort
of open air lunatic asylum-, and kept the half angry, half frightened, creatures at bay
by his mild discourse, while we measured ruined buildings and copied inscriptions. In
most of the places to which he accompanied us the settlers soon became very friendly
and helped us to the extent of their ability; but in some places occupied by Arabs,
which we visited without his guidance and care, we met, at first, with open hostility;