The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-03-16


hundred feet below tho level OF the plain. has
rs little natural connection with tho latter ms q
railway threading an agricultural district
In England. The river receives nothing.
wo ar0 told. from the ncighborng lands
In the way OF tributaries. nor does ii
give anything out OF its own valley in ir-
rgation. To tho naturalist IL exhibits n
fora and fauna OF its own which differ rs dis
tinctly from those OF the adjoining pateaux
rs do tho vegetation and animals OF tho
tlerras calientes in Mexico from those
OF tho tierras templates. II the gazee
creeps down to drink Mt the Euphratcs
in summer 1t is by night. and she soon quits
the valley. The sand grouse may fly over It,
but hardly stop, and only the little desert par
fridge is found frequenting both sides OF the
cliff. On the other hand. its lions. wolves. and
jackas are rarely seen beyond the river bot
tom. and its wild boars bide snugy within tho
tamarisk bods. Its birds arc those OF Europe
or OF Anatoli0-the francolin. the maybe. ducks
geese. sniD"s, and woOdcOcks. All these abound
10y the river, but are never encountered even so
lar as mile beyond its precincts. There ap.
gears to be. also. far moro than the normal diff
ference engendered bv varying occupation be-
tween the dcnzens Of the bottom lands and the
rovers the plains. There is little intercourse
between them, the nomad rarely descending 10
the river. except in seasons OF great drought.
although his tent may bo pitched within easy
rcach while the fellah tribes. with their horned
cattle and rude attempts at cultivation. stick
closely to their mud novels beside the shore.
and speak under their breath Of their master
full ncghbors.
It seems that the modern history OF northern
most Arabia dates from tho conquest OF that
country by the Shammar Bedouins Of Mold.
uulpr thpir lpu1pr Eurfa tu-n Inn
bred years ago. Up 10 that time Meso-
po;amia and tho upper Syrian desert
lying north Of the military highroad
then linking Dcyr on the Euphrates with
Damascus were inhabited by various shepherd
tribes; some Of them Arabs Of the first invasion
under the Caliph Omar. others Of Kurdish
origin. pushed forward by counter pressure
from the north in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries and one Of mixed race. tho Moai
said TO owe their origin 10 Greek slaves. At the
time Of the Shammar conquest. the Moali we're
dominant among the nomads OF the upland
plains. but do not seem to have disturbed the
valleys. which, although partially ruined by the
Tartar and Ottoman dynasties. were still agri-
cultural districts. and through which the trade
with India passed. Benjamin Of Tudela. who
visited them in the twelfth century. mentions
numerous nourishing towns on the Euphrates
OF which two alone had in his day population
besides their other inhabitants Of four thou
sand Jews while there were fifteen thousand in
III Haddr. city OF Greek origin in upper Mes
opotamia. Most OF these cities have now van
ished and 1t is certain that their final extinction
soon followed the successful inroads Of the
Shammar This occurred at the precise time
when Sultan Mohammed ". was urging the
siege OF Vienna. and the southern frontier Of
his empire. then broken by these Bcdouins
was never recovered until Omar Pasha effected
apartal restoration in 1862. Tho vcstges OF
cultivation gradually disappeared from the
right bank OF the Ruphrates and Bed
ouin law became supreme as far north
as the thirty-seventh parallel. The Sham
mar however. were soon driven across tho
river into Mesopotamia by the Anazeh. an
other tribe Of the Nold, who hearing the report
OF the rich pastures acquired by their prede-
cessors. came 20 share in the spells. The new
corners remained masters Of all the land to the
right OF the Euphrates, while the defeated
tribes occupied the country which had once
formed the empire OF Assyria proper. During
the two centuries while these startling events
were in progress. and the most fruitful soil OF
antiquity was transformed into a wilderness
the Pashas OF Mosul and Bagdad contented
themselves with mending tho walls OF their
cities. and the Ottoman Government made no
known as the commerce OF the desert wholly
ceased. and caravans abandoning the old direct
routes now followed the circu.tous track which
runs eastward Of the Tigrs till 1t crosses that
river in tho secure latitude Of Mardin and ORA.
Even lrak Che interiluvial strip Of rich alluvial
ground lying south OF Bagdadl which had been
n garden Of fertility under tho Abass.d Caliphs
was converted into pastures by other tribes Of
nomads. and thus. with tho exception Of few
isolated towns. the whole broad region between
the Persian border and the Syrian high lands.
which had once nourshed u population OF
twenty or thirty millions. became portion Of
untitled. uncivilized. sparsely-peopled Arabia.
II We deduct the inhabitants Of Bagdad and
Mosul. and othalfa dozen decaying villages we
cannot now ASSIGN TO this vast tract more than
100000 denlzens. This computation is based
upon data now nrst collected by Mr.. Blunt who
comedies - 800 tents TO the Shammar and 81. 900
10 the Ana2eh. while he allows four persons 10
tent These, with the members OF a few other
herdsman tribes. either independent or nomi-
nally controlled by the Pasha OF Bagdad. con-
stitute the sole inhabitants Of valleys whose
granaries once riyalled those Of the Nile
As regards physical qualities and religious.
moral. and social traits these great camel own
ing tribes Of the northern deserts undoubtedly
represent the types Of ancient Arabia far moro
closely than do the Mohammedanizel populn-
ton Of the south ,at Mecca and Medina. for in
stance). and me moro nearly connected In
thought and manners with the patriarchs Of
primeval history. from whom both races claim
10 descend Suppose we glance briefly therefore.
at the features which our author asrribes TO
these curious survivors Of prehstori time. 1t
seems that the Bedouin Arab OF pure blood is
seldom more than five feet six inches high but
is long limbed for his siZ', In figure light and