A PILGEIMAGE TO NEJD,
THE CRADLE OF THE ARAB RACE. <...> A VISIT TO THE COURT OF THE ARAB EMIR, AND
"OUR PERSIAN CAMPAIGN."
BY LADY
ANNE BLUNT. <...> AUTHOR OF "THE BEDOUIN TRIBES OF THE EUPHRATES
IN TWO VOLUMES. — VOL. I.
WITH MAP, PORTRAITS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE AUTHOR'S DRAWINGS. <...> READERS of our last year's adventures on the Euphrates
will hardly need it to be explained to them why the present
journey was undertaken, nor why it stands described upon our
title page as a "Pilgrimage." The journey to Nejd forms the
natural complement of the journey through Mesopotamia and
the Syrian Desert; while Nejd itself, with the romantic interest
attached to its name, seems no unworthy object of a religious
feeling, such as might prompt the visit to a shrine. <...> To the Anazeh and Shammar, especially, whose
northward migrations date only from a few generations back,
the tradition of their birthplace is still almost a recollection; and
even to the Arabs of the earlier invasions, the townsmen of such
places as Bozra, Palmyra, and Deyr, and to the Tai Bedouins,
once lords of Jebel Shammar, it appeals with a fascination more
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than equal to that of the Hejaz itself. <...> Nejd is to all of them what
Palestine is to the Jews, England to the American and
Australian colonists; but with this difference, that they are cut
off from the object of their filial reverence more absolutely in
practice than these by an intervening gulf of desert less
hospitable than any sea. <...> It is rare to meet anywhere in the North
an Arab who has crossed the Great Nefûd. <...> To us too, imbued as we were with the fancies of the
Desert, Nejd had long assumed the romantic colouring of a holy
land; and when it was decided that we were to visit Jebel
Shammar, the metropolis of Bedouin life, our expedition
presented itself as an almost pious undertaking; so that it is
hardly an exaggeration, even now that it is over, and we are
once more in Europe, to speak of it as a pilgrimage, Our
pilgrimage then it is, though the religion in whose name we
travelled was only one of romance. <...> Its circumstances, in spite of certain disappointments
which the narrative will reveal, were <...>
A_pilgrimage_to_Nejd,_the_cradle_of_the_Arab_race._Vol._1.pdf
A PILGEIMAGE TO NEJD,
THE CRADLE OF THE ARAB RACE.
A VISIT TO THE COURT OF THE ARAB EMIR, AND
"OUR PERSIAN CAMPAIGN."
BY LADY ANNE BLUNT.
AUTHOR OF "THE BEDOUIN TRIBES OF THE EUPHRATES
IN TWO VOLUMES. — VOL. I.
WITH MAP, PORTRAITS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
THE AUTHOR'S DRAWINGS.
LONDON.1881.
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THESE VOLUMES ARE DEDICATED
TO
SIR HENRY CRESWICKE RAWLINSON,
K.C.B., F.R.S.
BY
THE AUTHORESS.
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CONTENTS TO VOL. I.
CHAPTER I. ......................................................................................2
THE CHARM OF ASIA — A RETURN TO OLD FRIENDS —
DESERT NEWS — THE PALMYRENE COLONY AT DAMASCUS
— NEW HORSES AND CAMELS — MRS. DIGBY AND HER
HUSBAND MIJUEL THE MIZRAB — A BLOOD FEUD — ABD
EL-KADER'S LIFE — MIDHAT PASHA DISCOURSES ON CANALS
AND TRAMWAYS — HE FAILS TO RAISE A LOAN. ..............................2
CHAPTER II....................................................................................15
BROTHERLY OFFICES — WE PREPARE FOR A CAMPAIGN —
MOHAMMED DUKHI COMES TO COURT — A NIGHT ROBBER
— WE START FOR NEJD — TALE OF A PENITENT — THE
DUTY OF REVENGE — WE ARE ENTERTAINED BY POOR
RELATIONS — THE FAIR AT MEZARIB. ...........................................15
CHAPTER III. .................................................................................31
BEATING ABOUT — BOZRA — WE LEAVE THE TURKISH
DOMINIONS — MOHAMMED VOWS TO KILL A SHEEP — THE
CITADEL OF SALKHAD AND THE INDEPENDENT DRUSES —
WE ARE RECEIVED BY A DRUSE CHIEFTAIN — HISTORICAL
NOTICE OF THE HAURAN.................................................................31
CHAPTER IV. .................................................................................43
WE START IN EARNEST — THE HARRA — A THEORY OF
MIRAGE — CAMP OF THE BENI SOKKHR — WADY ER RAJEL
— A CHRISTMAS DINNER IN THE DESERT — SAND STORM —
WE REACH KÂF. .............................................................................43
CHAPTER V....................................................................................57
KÂF AND ITHERI — MORE RELATIONS — THE WADY
SIRHÁN — LOCUST HUNTING — HANNA SITS DOWN TO DIE
— TALES OF ROBBERY AND VIOLENCE — WE ARE SURPRISED
BY A GHAZÚ AND MADE PRISONERS — SHERARÂT STATISTICS
— JÔF.............................................................................................57
CHAPTER VI. .................................................................................76
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THE JÔF OASIS — WE ARE ENTERTAINED BY. IBN RASHID'S
LIEUTENANT — A HAUNCH OF WILD COW — DANCING IN
THE CASTLE — PRAYERS — WE GO ON TO MESKAKEH. ................76
CHAPTER VII.................................................................................87
THE IBN ARÛKS OF JÔF — MOHAMMED CONTRACTS A
MATRIMONIAL ALLIANCE — LEAH AND RACHEL — WE
CHEAPEN THE BRIDE'S DOWER — A NEGRO GOVERNOR AND
HIS SUITE — A THUNDER-STORM. ..................................................87
CHAPTER VIII. ............................................................................101
MOHAMMED IN LOVE — WE ENTER THE RED SAND DESERT
— GEOLOGY OF THE NEFÛD — RADI — THE GREAT WELL OF
SHAKIK — OLD ACQUAINTANCE — TALES OF THE NEFÛD —
THE SOLDIERS WHO PERISHED OF THIRST — THE LOVERS —
WE NEARLY REMAIN IN THE SAND — LAND AT LAST. ..................101
CHAPTER IX. ...............................................................................125
JOBBA — AN UNPLEASANT DREAM — WE HEAR STRANGE
TALES OF IBN RASHID — ROMPING IN THE NEFÛD — A LAST
NIGHT THERE — THE ZODIACAL LIGHT — WE ENTER NEJD
— THE GRANITE RANGE OF JEBEL SHAMMAR. .............................125
CHAPTER X..................................................................................142
HAÏL — THE EMIR MOHAMMED IBN RASHID — HIS
MENAGERIE — HIS HORSES — HIS COURTIERS — HIS WIVES
— AMUSEMENTS OF THE LADIES OF HAÏL — THEIR
DOMESTIC LIFE — AN EVENING AT THE CASTLE — THE
TELEPHONE...................................................................................142
CHAPTER XI. ...............................................................................171
POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL — SHEPHERD RULE IN ARABIA
— AN HEREDITARY POLICY — THE ARMY — THE LAW —
TAXATION — THE FINANCES OF JEBEL SHAMMAR — IBN
RASHID'S AMBITION......................................................................171
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PORTRAIT OF LADY ANNE BLUNT IN ARAB COSTUME (BY
MOLONY).
PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.
READERS of our last year's adventures on the Euphrates
will hardly need it to be explained to them why the present
journey was undertaken, nor why it stands described upon our
title page as a "Pilgrimage." The journey to Nejd forms the
natural complement of the journey through Mesopotamia and
the Syrian Desert; while Nejd itself, with the romantic interest
attached to its name, seems no unworthy object of a religious
feeling, such as might prompt the visit to a shrine. Nejd, in the
imagination of the Bedouins of the North, is a region of
romance, the cradle of their race, and of those ideas of chivalry
by which they still live. There Antar performed his labours of
Hercules, and Hatim Tai the more historical hero entertained
his guests. To the Anazeh and Shammar, especially, whose
northward migrations date only from a few generations back,
the tradition of their birthplace is still almost a recollection; and
even to the Arabs of the earlier invasions, the townsmen of such
places as Bozra, Palmyra, and Deyr, and to the Tai Bedouins,
once lords of Jebel Shammar, it appeals with a fascination more
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