Among the Druzes of Lebanon and Bashan. By Joseph T.
Parfit. (Hunter and Longhurst. 5s. net.)—Canon Parfit, who has worked for years as a missionary in the Lebanon, has written a highly interesting little book on the Druzes and the other curious little peoples or sects of Syria. The Druzes were originally a sect of the Shiah Moslems, founded early in the eleventh century by Hamza and Derazi, the religious mentors of the Caliph Hakim, who pro- claimed himself divine. After Hakim's death, the Druzes, or followers of Derazi, ceased to admit any new converts, and the sect thus became a race or clan. They have always maintained their independence in the Lebanon, and of late in the Hauran, the ancient Bashan, and they have suffered much at the hands of the Young Turks. Canon Parfit's account of this virile little people is well worth reading.
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