Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/393

Rh settled oil his countenance, and he scarcely uttered a word. This silence was soon broken by the approach of a party of spearmen, bringing with them a large booty in tents, camels, and sheep. Sufoog looked sad and disconcerted at this sight, and hardly spoke while the new comers took their seats among the rest of the assembled Bedooeen. On inquiring from whence the plundering party had come, one of the Arabs gave me the following account of the whole affair. It appears that the Sayeh tribe had been at variance for some time with the Shammar, and that in one of the engagements that had taken place between them a cousin of Sufoog had lost his hand. Peace was finally agreed on, and Sufoog had given his word and oath that the Sayeh might pasture their flocks in perfect security, promising that blood should not be demanded for the injury which his cousin had sustained. In accordance with this understanding a division of the Sayeh had pitched their tents a few miles distant from the encampment of the Shammar, little thinking that the treaty which had been sealed with so high a sanction as Sufoog's oath was so soon to be violated. Without the knowledge of their chief, a party of the Shammar set off during the preceding night, fell upon the unwary Sayeh, killed several of their number, and carried away with them the booty which has already been described. One of the assailants, a Sheikh of Sufoog's tribe, was wounded severely in the neck with a spear, and we hastened to apply such remedies as we deemed most suitable. The unfortunate man sat by the fire, quite unconscious of what was going on, but without uttering a word of complaint. Sufoog was evidently puzzled what course to pursue: his own people were at variance among themselves, and he evidently did not think it prudent openly to condemn the conduct of his cousin's followers. Yet he must take some notice of the complaints which two envoys from the Sayeh had come to lay before him, for these he knew would reproach him with the violation of his oath. He accordingly despatched his son Ferhân to learn their intentions, and told the assembled Bedooeen that if the conquered tribe manifested any design of joining the Aniza, he would immediately attack them; but if they were willing to come to terms the booty should be restored and every possible reparation made. The Shammar sheikhs