Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates Vol 2 - The Search For Mecca

1 84 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [en. xxiv.
delav returned to tlie desert. Several of these mud
villages may still be seen in tlie valley, roofless and
tenantless, the only result of Asian Pasha's experiment.
There are many, however, who are of opinion that
in time the Porte will succeed in its efforts, and
without doubt it would be a great advantage for the
security of the country if some hold could be gained
over the
Anazeh and Shammar which should bring
them within the power of the law, for as long as
they have no fixed abodes the Government, even
supjDorted by the most powerful army, can neither
levy tribute
on them nor enforce its decrees against
them. It is only now and then that the Bedouins
allow themselves to be surprised, as the Sebda were
by Asian Pasha. They are usually well informed
of all that happens or is going to happen in the
towns and, on news of any expedition moving
in their direction, hastily decamp. Once in tlie
desert, no troops in the world could control them.
Scattering into small groups, their track becomes
speedily lost in the waterless inhospitable plains.
With the small tribes it is easy to deal. They
are nomadic only to the extent of moving about
with their tents and their
sheep a few miles further
up or further down the valleys, but they never go
far from the rivers. They are already aware of
some of the advantages of living under settled authority,
Turkish though it l>e,
and now that they are
secured against systematic molestation from the