ABSTRACT
March 30.—Mohammed's family consists first of all of his father Abdallah, Sheykh of the village of Tudmur, an old man of seventy, who, as is usual among the Arabs when they get infirm, gives in to his son in all things and leaves him practically at the head of the house. Then there are Mohammed's two wives, who of course occupy a separate apartment, and his mother and some sisters. He has only one child, a little girl of three, and is very downhearted at having no son, for it is a disgrace to be what they call childless in these countries, that is without male offspring. He talks of going next year in consequence to the J6f and getting a third wife of his own people, the Beni L£am. He complains that there are very few "noble" families in Tudmur, and hardly any choice for him of a bride among them, for though common wives are to be had in plenty, and at the price of only ten pounds apiece as compared
with the forty pounds payable for one of noble birth, he scorns to ally himself basely, and would not take a bourgeoise " even as a present." His mother was a Mo&li, though not of the family of the Sheykhs, and he considers himself at least half a Bedouin. The " noble families " of Tudmur are those which trace their origin from the Nejd, having come in, as we say in England, " with the conquest," while the rest are mere Syrians, or, at best, Arabs from the Euphrates. Of the former Abdallah is Sheykh, and there is a second king in this Brentford, a Sheykh of the base-born. In old times, that is to say twenty years ago, before the Turks got possession of the town, the two classes were at constant feud and often at war. One of Mohammed's uncles was killed in a fray of this sort, and most of his ancestors seem to have met with violent deaths.*
Abdallah's house, to which we were taken early this morning, is just inside the gate of Tudmur, forming in fact almost a part of it, for several of the rooms, used as stables and for stowing away goods, are built into the masonry of the old tower. It commands a fine view of the inner town, which is to me all the more interesting from being filled with modern houses, as these from their meanness set off the ancient walls and temples to advantage. This inner town was in old times no doubt a fortified palace after the fashion of the building we
4 4 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates. [CH. XVHI.
