"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [و‎‎٩‎٤] (٧٣٨/١٩٢)

DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY OF POPULATION 181
was till recently, the case with the southern, central, and
eastern lands of Palestine. The fellahin at times wander
far in search of such employment.
The principles whereby land is held are very variable, and in
parts of the country were undergoing rapid change in the years
which preceded the war. The tendency is to treat land which
is used for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables or flowers as
private property ; such areas are ordinarily surrounded with
walls and count as the possession of a family. Land which is
used for the cultivation of cereals is the property (normally) of
tribes ; there are cases where such land is annually divided
among the branches of a tribe, with further subdivision
among the smaller groups of these branches. Pastoral land
in contrast to these has a tendency to be treated as ownerless,
though the same tribes from year to year usually bring their
flocks and herds to pasture there; custom does not prevent
a tribe from betaking itself to ground on which it is unfamiliar ;
circumstances will decide whether in such a case it will put
itself under the protection of another tribe more accustomed
to visit the same area, utilizing one of several formulae known
to Bedouin law.
The wealth of the nomad tribes consists mainly in camels,
oxen, sheep, and goats, on which they pay tax to the
Turkish authorities ; from the numbers which are quoted
in official lists their wealth appears often to be considerable,
though doubtless it varies very much from year to year,
especially where owing to inter-tribal raiding it is apt to
change hands frequently. Horse-breeding has largely been
abandoned by the nomads, owing to the prohibition by the
Turkish Government of the exportation of Arab horses.
The purpose of the prohibition was not, of course, to dis
courage the breeding of these animals, but to retain them
for use in the country or the empire.
Increase and Decrease
There are no statistics by which the birth or death rates
or the rate of increase of the population may be determined.