BETEDDEIN.
195
from  Mekka,  where  its  name  is  known,  in  the  history  of  Mohammed -
  and  the  first  Califes  ;  they  are  Mussulmans,  and  some  of  them
pretend  even  to  be  Sherifs.  About  the  time  of  the  crusades,  for
I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  the  exact  period,  the  Shehabs  left
the  Hedjaz,  and  settled  in  a  village  of  the  Haouran,  to  which  they
gave  their  family  name  ;*  it  is  still  known  by  the  appellation  of
Shohba;  and  is  remarkable  for  its  antiquities,  of  which  Ihave  given
some  account,  in  my  journal  of  a  tour  in  the  Haouran.  The  family
being  noble,  or  of  Emir  origin,  were  considered  proper  persons
to  be  governors  of  the  mountain  ;  for  it  was,  and  still  is  thought
necessary  that  the  government  should  not  be  in  the  hands  of  a
Druse.  The  Druses  being  always  divided  into  parties,  a  governor
chosen  from  among  them  would  have  involved  the  country  in  the
quarrels  of  his  own  party,  and  he  would  have  been  always  endeavouring -
  to  exterminate  his  adversaries  ;  whereas  a  Turk,  by  carefully -
  managing  both  parties,  maintains  a  balance  between  them,
though  he  is  never  able  to  overpower  them  completely  ;  he  can  oppose -
  the  Christian  inhabitants  to  the  Druses,  who  are  in  much
smaller  numbers  than  the  former,  and  thus  he  is  enabled  to  keep
the  country  in  a  state  of  tranquillity  and  in  subjection  to  the  Pashas. ¬
  This  policy  has  long  been  successful,  notwithstanding  the
turbulent  spirit  of  the  mountaineers,  the  continual  party  feuds,
and  the  ambitious  projects  of  many  chiefs,  as  well  of  the  Druses
as  of  the  reigning  house  ;  the  Pashas  were  careful  also  not  to
permit  any  one  to  become  too  powerful;  the  princes  of  the  reigning -
  family  were  continually  changed  ;  and  party  spirit  was  revived
in  the  mountain  whenever  the  interests  of  the  Porte  required  it.
About  eighty  years  ago  the  country  was  divided  into  the  two  great
parties  of  Keisy  (),  whose  banner  was  red,  and  Yemeny  (),
whose  banner  was  white,  and  the  whole  Christian  population
*  A  branch  of  the  family  is  said  to  inhabit  some  mountains  in  Mesopotamia,  under  the
command  of  Emir  Kasem.