BETEDDEIN.
199
is  Sheikh  el  Nedjem),  a  fanatical  Druse,  and  one  of
the  most  respected  of  their  Akals.  The  Sheikh  Beshir  has  the
reputation  of  being  generous,  and  of  faithfully  defending  those
who  have  put  themselves  under  his  protection.  The  Emir  Beshir,
on  the  contrary,  is  said  to  be  avaricious  ;  but  this  may  be  a  necessary ¬
  consequence  of  the  smallness  of  his  income.  He  is  an  amiable
man,  and  if  any  Levantine  can  be  called  the  friend  of  an  European
nation,  he  certainly  is  the  friend  of  the  English.  He  dwells  on  no
topic  with  so  much  satisfaction  as  upon  that  of  his  alliance  with  Sir
Sidney  Smith,  during  that  officer’s  command  upon  this  coast.  His
income  amounts,  at  most,  to  four  hundred  purses,  or  about  £10.000.
sterling,  after  deducting  from  the  revenue  of  the  mountain  the  sums
paid  to  the  Pashas,  to  the  Sheikh  Beshir,  and  to  the  numerous  branches ¬
  of  his  family.  His  favourite  expenditure  seems  to  be  in  building.
He  keeps  about  fifty  horses,  of  which  a  dozen  are  of  prime  quality  ;
his  only  amusement  is  sporting  with  the  hawk  and  the  pointer.
He  lives  on  very  bad  terms  with  his  family,  who  complain  of  his
neglecting  them  ;  for  the  greater  part  of  them  are  poor,  and  will
become  still  poorer,  till  they  are  reduced  to  the  state  of  Fellahs,
because  it  is  the  custom  with  the  sons,  as  soon  as  they  attain  the  age
of  fifteen  or  sixteen,  to  demand  the  share  of  the  family  property,
which  is  thus  divided  among  them,  the  father  retaining  but  one  share
for  himself.  Several  princes  of  the  family  are  thus  reduced  to  an
income  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  a  year.  It  has  constantly ¬
  been  the  secret  endeavour  of  the  Emir  Beshir  to  make  himself
directly  dependent  upon  the  Porte,  and  to  throw  off  his  allegiance
to  the  Pasha  ;  but  he  has  never  been  able  to  succeed.  The  conduct
of  Djezzar  Pasha  was  the  cause  of  this  policy.  Djezzar,  for  reasons
which  have  already  been  explained,  was  continually  changing  the
governors  of  the  mountain,  and  each  new  governor  was  obliged  to
promise  him  large  sums  for  his  investiture.  Of  these  sums  few