Beni Timim, two small Arab tribes in the Baghdad province, engaged in cultivation. They have 150 tents, and dwell between Sindiyeh and the Atheitn, and in Balad Ruz.
Dellim occupy both banks of the Etiphrates, from west of Baghdad northwards to fat as the town of Hit. They have thirteen families and 1700 tents, and are warlike and agricultural. If united, they could muster 10,000 fighting men.
Khezail, a large Arab tribe in the Lamlun marshes near Baghdad ; fierce and independent. They aro stout, fair, and comely ; their women very beautiful. They arc the only Shiah tribe of Arabs.
Madan, an Arab tribe settled in small reed huts in the province of Baghdad. They have buffaloes, sheep, and goats. They are of uncouth and brutal habits, and thievish. They use scant apparel. Captain Jones says they have nine families, with 1900 tents and huts. They arc strong in guns.
Majma, a collection of small Arab tribes on the left bank of the Tigris, in the province of Bagh dad, partly pastoral, partly settled. They are very thievish.
Montafik, a powerful Arab tribe near the banks of the Euphrates from Korna to Samvat, in the province of Baghdad. The Shaikh can bring into the field 4000 horse and 4000 foot. About A.D. 1744, they obtained th'e right of dominion over a small tract of country above and below Suk-u Shaikh, paying tribute to the Sultan. But, on one of their shaikhs refusing to pay, a Mameluk officer attacked and destroyed them. They have since then again risen.
Anizeh and Dhiffyr are Bedouins. They gene rally locate themselves in the desert about the Montafik territory to the west of the Euphrates, and make occasional forays into Mesopotamia.
Sherabin, a tribe of Fellaheen Arabs who inhabit the neighbourhood of Nisibin, in the province of Baghdad. They number 600 tents, and pay a money tribute to the Shamr.
The Mahrah, a sea-coast tribe, dwell in the S.E.part of Arabia, from the opening of the great Wadi Masilah on the S.W., in long. 51° 13' E., and the town of Damkot, in the Bay of Al Kamar, on the N.E., in long. 52° 47' E., with a coast-line of about 135 miles. Their country contains many Himyaritic inscriptions. They are descended from the ancient Ilimyari of Hadra maut. They have their divisions, subdivisions, or families, i.e. bait. They are of small, almost dimin utive, stature, and are always at war with each other. They are not a handsome race ; their
features are short and irregular, eyes small, black, sunken, and piercing, with a cunning expression. They and the Gara touch each other's fingers in saluting, but instead of kissing them afterwards, as the Gara do, the Mahrah place each other's noses side by side, and audibly sniff iu the air. Inland they live on milk and flesh, with dates and sorghum millet ; on the coast, on fish and dates. They are said to have no religion. Their language is very soft, and they say of it, Kai= d'Mhari mist "rho Mahrah tongue is like the singing of birds.' The Mahrah dialect, as spoken by the Mahrah themselves, is described by Dr. Carter as the softest and sweetest language that he had ever heard. A dialect of the Mahrah, called Shchri, is spoken by a tribe around Mor baat, and with this the language of the Curia Muria islanders is almost identical, and that of Socotra appears to resemble it.
The maritime part of Hadramaut is known as Joor Shihr. The Mahrahs to the westward are said to be descended from the more ancient and original tribes of Gara, and both declare they are descended from the Himyari race.
The Gara or Hakili race, in the S.E. of Arabia, occupy exclusively the Sabhan mountains, which extend from Marbat to Hasek. They claim descent from the Himyari. They border on the Mahrah race, but near them are remnants of the Afar tribe of the Hassarit, and the Bararna, While in most of the towns in Dofar are the Al-Kathiri, who originally came from Hadramaut, and are at war with the Gara. The Kahtan family is the head of the Gara tribe.
At Hasek is the tomb of the prophet Hod, the fourth in descent from Shem.
The language of the Gara, called Hakili, or Ekhili, or Ehkyly, appears to be a purer or more archaic dialect than Mahrah. Dr. Carter says the Gara is the Bedawi dialect of the south-east of Arabia, and, like that spoken by the Socotrans and the Curia Muria islanders, is intensely guttural. They understand the Arabic of the towns only after much intercourse. It is spoken at Marbat and Zafar, and throughout the district of Shajr, by the Hakili (Gara of the Arabs), and Baratna tribes, whose coast is from Damgut to Nus.