ho had
penal jurisdiction. The Yemenite Druses thereupon emigrated in large
numbers to the Hauran, and laid the foundation of Druse power there. The
Turks recognized the _status quo_, and made terms with the Shehab amir
in 1748; but his power was none too well secured against the opposition
of the Kurdish _Jumblat_ family, even though he was supported by the
_Talhuk_, _Abd al-Malik_ and _Yezbeki_ families; and it appears that
some members of the Shehab joined the Maronite faith in the middle of
the 18th century, causing a suspicion of secret apostasy to fall on all
the family.

It is said that the amir Beshir, who succeeded about 1786, was himself a
crypto-Christian. This remarkable man, who ruled the Mountain for
fifty-four years, maintained his power by taking the side of one rebel
pasha after another, betraying each in turn, and cultivating relations
with European admirals. His earliest ally was Ahmed "Jezzar," who
established himself in Acre in contumacious independence late in the
18th century. Beshir supported Jezzar against Napoleon in 1799 and
earned the friendship of Sir Sidney Smith. Falling out with Jezzar,
Beshir fled to Cairo in 1805, attached himself to Mehemet Ali, and
returned to take up the reins. Once more chased out by the Turks, he was
again in the Mountain in 1823, allied with Abdallah, on whom Jezzar's
mantle had ultimately fallen at Acre, and maintaining friendly relations
with the "English Princess," Lady Hester Stanhope. He now finally
worsted the Jumblat. The invasion of Syria by Mehemet Ali in 1831 caused
Beshir to desert Abdallah and throw in his lot with Ibrahim Pasha; but
he was not cordially followed by the Druses in general, and had good
excuse for revolt in 1839, and intrigue with the British admiral in
1840. Ibrahim, however, by his possession of Druse hostages, restrained
the amir, and after the bombardment of Acre, the Turks called him to
account for his record of rebellion and treachery. He fled to Malta on a
British ship, but was induced to go to Constantinople, where he died in
1851.

His successor, Beshir al-Kassim, openly joined the Maronites, and
instigating these against the malcontents of his own people, brought
enmities, which had been growing for a century, to a head, and initiated
a devastating internecine warfare which was to continue for twenty
years. The state of the Lebanon went from bad to worse, and at last, in
January 1842, the Turkish government appointed Omar Pas