February 21st--Howash Is The Principal Village Of The Ghab; It Is
Situated On The Borders Of A Small Lake, Formed By The Rivulet Of Ayn El
Howash.
The surrounding country was at this time for
[P.135]the greater part inundated, and the Arabs passed in small boats
from one village to another; in summer the inundation subsides, but the
lakes remain, and to the quantity of stagnant water thus formed is owing
the pest of flies and gnats abovementioned. There are about one hundred
and forty huts at Howash, the walls of which are built of mud; the roofs
are composed of the reeds which grow on the banks of the Orontes; the
huts in which these people live in the mountain during the summer are
formed also of reeds, which are tied together in bundles, and thus
transported to the mountain, where they are put up so as to form a line
of huts, in which the families within are separated from each other only
by a thin partition of reeds.
The Arabs of Howash cultivate Dhourra and wheat, and, like all the Arabs
of the Ghab, rear large herds of buffaloes, which are of a small kind,
and much less spirited than those I saw in the plains of Tarsous. It is
a common saying and belief among the Turks, that all the animal kingdom
was converted by their Prophet to the true faith, except the wild boar
and buffalo, which remained unbelievers; it is on this account that both
these animals are often called Christians.
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