'Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys Collected During his Travels in the East, by the Late John Lewis Burckhardt' [‎234v] (259/470)

234
ADDITIONS TO THE
From Kasym towards Mtdinah and Alekka.
Except the space occupied by the Meteyr, and some encamp
ments of the Heteym, this whole extent of country is inhabited by
the mighty tribe of Hard, which in numbers only yields to the
Aenezes, and next to them constitutes the most formidable asso
ciation of Bedouins in Arabia.
The Beni Flarh*
From the aggregate of this tribe, there might probably be
formed a body comprising between thirty and forty thousand men
armed with matchlocks; and such is the numerical strength of
their main tribes, that each of them is rather to be considered as a
distinct body; yet the ties which connect the whole body to
gether are much stronger than those by which the numerous
Aeneze tribes are united. Some of the Harbs are settlers ; some
are Bedouins. Almost every tribe has adopted both modes of
life. They derive considerable profit from the Syrian and
Egyptian pilgrim caravans, and may be styled the masters of
Hedjaz. They were the last tribe in these countries that yielded
to the Wahabys. They have few horses southward of Medinah,
but every boy is armed with a matchlock. The Arabs belonging
to this tribe of Harb frequently make plundering excursions
against the Aenezes in their camps, as far as the plains of Hauran
near Damascus.
* It may be here remarked that the word Harb in Arabic signifies “ war.”