Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/388

334

May 24th.—Hearing that a large force of the Shammar, under Sufoog, was encamped at a short distance from Harrân, we availed ourselves of the escort of Husein, one of the tribe who had been sent to Urfah, on important business, to visit this renowned Arab chieftain. Husein, on learning my relationship to Mr. Rassam, who is a great friend of Sufoog, readily engaged to conduct us to the encampment, on condition that we went unattended by any guards from the local authorities, whose presence, he said, might excite suspicion among the Arabs, and give them the idea that we distrusted their good-will and fidelity. He informed us that the Shammar had come into these parts, at the request of government, to chastise a section of the great Aniza tribe who had lately crossed the Euphrates, joined some rebellious Berazîa Coords in the Serooj, and committed great depredations in that district. The Turks not being able to cope with these wandering marauders themselves, had called upon Sufoog, the recognized Sheikh of the desert east of the Euphrates, to undertake the task. With the assistance of a company of infantry, the Shammar had chased the Aniza back to their haunts, and the Berazîa had laid down their arms, promising obedience for the future.

Mrs. Badger, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Rassam's brother, and I, accompanied by our Greek servant, and an Armenian pedlar, who seized the opportunity to ply his trade among the Arabs,