BETEDDEIN.
200
were paid at the time of Djezzar’s death, and bills to the amount
of sixteen thousand purses were found in his treasury, secured upon
the revenue of the mountain. At the intercession of Soleiman Pasha, -
who succeeded Djezzar at Akka, and of Gharib Effendi, the
Porte’s commissioner (now Pasha of Aleppo), this sum was reduced -
to four thousand purses, of which the Emir Beshir is now
obliged to pay off a part annually.
By opposing the Druse parties to each other, and taking advantage -
of the Christian population, a man of genius and energy of
the Shehab family might perhaps succeed in making himself the
independent master of the mountain. Such an event would render
this the most important government in Syria, and no military force
the Turks could send would be able to overthrow it. But at present -
the Shehab appear to have no man of enterprise among them.
The Shehab marry only among themselves, or with two Druse families, -
the Merad (o),), and Kaszbeya (). These and the
Reslan (,), are the only Emir families, or descendants of the
Prophet, among the Druses. These Emirs inhabit the province
called El Meten. Emir Manzour, the chief of the Merads, is a
man of influence, with a private annual income of about one hundred -
and twenty purses.
I shall now subjoin such few notes on the Druses as I was able
to collect during my short stay in the mountain ; I believe them to
be authentic, because I was very careful in selecting my authorities. -
With respect to the true religion of the Druses, none but a learned -
Druse can satisfy the enquirer’s curiosity. What I have already ¬
said of the Anzeyrys is equally applicable to the Druses;
their religious opinions will remain for ever a secret, unless revealed
by a Druse. Their customs, however, may be described; and, as
far as they can tend to elucidate the mystery, the veil may be
