CHAPTER II.

Lady Hester’s intended journey to Palmyra—Objections to it—Hanah Fakhah—Difficulties of a journey to Palmyra—Illness of Mr. B. on his road from Aleppo to Damascus—The Author goes to his assistance—Osman Aga—Masûd Aga—Village of Yabrûd—Author’s reception by Osman Aga—Carah, burgh—Character of Masûd Aga—Use of Narkýly—Aspect of the Desert—Hamlet of Hassiah—Dûrra bread—City of Hems—River Orontes—City of Hamah—Mûsa Koblán—Visit from him—Arrival of Mr. Barker and Mr. B.—Description of Hamah—Clogs—Waterwheels—Coolness and heat produced by the same means—Costume of the female peasants—Doors of houses—Air—Panoramic prospect—Manufactures—Christians of Hamah—Inundations—Messrs. B. and Barker go to Bâalbec—Description of Hems—Pyramidal sepulchre—Tomb of Khaled—Citadel—Lake of Hems—Orontes river—Cara—March of troops—Yabrûd—Springs of Ras el ayn—Mâlûla—Grottoes and Sarcophagi—Michael Rasáti—Account of M. Lascaris and of Madame Lascaris—Nebk—Dress of M. Lascaris—His character—Return of the Author to Damascus.

From the time of Lady Hester’s arrival at Damascus, her mind had been incessantly busied in the endeavour to bring to bear her intended journey to the ruins of Palmyra. To this end, she had conferredwith every person whom she thought capable of giving information on the subject. The pasha’s bankers, Yusef and Rafaël, endeavoured to dissuade her from an undertaking which they considered very dangerous; but told her that, in case of resolving upon it, the pasha would furnish her with a body of troops for her safe conduct, and that he and they would not be responsible for her safety, unless she went so protected. For it was argued that, although the Arabs would do no violence to her, they would probably make her a prisoner, and demand an exorbitant ransom.

A man named Hanah Fakhah, residing at Damascus, but said to be a native Egyptian, speaking French, which he learned when the French army was in Egypt, and who had accompanied Mr. Fiott[11]to Palmyra, offered himself as capable of conducting us thither in safety, from the friendship and connection he pretended to have with the chief shaykhs of the Desert. For a long time, Lady Hester was inclined to rely on his assumed importance; but subsequent information made her decline having anything to do with him. Distracted with the various reports that were made to her, she knew not what to do. At last she caused letters to be written to the Emir of the Anizýs, Mohammed el Fadhel, desiring an interview with him.

But, in order to understand the difficulties she had to contend with, it is proper to relate in what manner they had proved almost insuperable to other Englishtravellers. Up to this period, the road to Palmyra had been little frequented by Europeans: and, of many Englishmen who had lately been in Syria, we could hear of three only who had accomplished the journey, the rest having been deterred through fear of the Bedouin Arabs, and by the obstacles that present themselves in crossing twenty leagues of desert, exposed to the chance of perishing from hunger and thirst. Of those three who went, one was stripped and robbed, and returned to Aleppo in his shirt and drawers, after a series of sufferings that would form a romance. One performed the journey in the depth of winter, when the Arabs keep their tents, and when the rains saved him from the want of water; and both these went in the disguise of pedlars, or poor merchants. But for Lady Hester, whose intention had been divulged, and whose sex and rank continued to draw much attention to her movements, secrecy was impossible.

She, therefore, seemed inclined to adopt the plan, suggested by the pasha, of going with a formidable escort. At the same time, he gave her to understand that the Emir Mahannah, chief of the Bedouins, was in little or no subjection to the Porte, and that the inhabitants of Tadmûr (as Palmyra is called in Arabic) were completely out of the reach of the arm of justice, in case they should use any foul play against her. The troops had already received orders to hold themselves in readiness to march; the camels were hired, the presents intended for the Bedouins were bought,and the day almost fixed for departure. What Lady Hester’s reflections and plans were will be better understood from two letters which she wrote to an intimate friend about this time.

Lady Hester Stanhope to ——

Damascus, October 10th, 1812.My dear ——,I am here yet, not liking to stir till I see a little what turn things take. The pasha has offended all the cavalry (the Delibashes commanded by the son of the famous deposed pasha, Yousef Pasha): the infantry (the Albanians) are on the side of the present pasha, and every day a battle is expected. A report also has been in circulation that 50,000 Wahabees are within four days’ journey of this city, but I do not believe it. It takes its rise from a letter from Mecca to the pasha, saying several thousand dromedaries mounted by Wahabees have set off they know not where, but not improbably for this place, which they once before attempted to take, but were driven back, after having burnt and ransacked every village upon the road. Why this concerns me is for this reason: the strongest tribe of Bedouin Arabs, my friends, who do not like the present pasha, will probably join any party against him, and there will be a fine confusion in the desert as well as here, and the roads in every direction will be filled with Delibashes, &c., &c. These men are more dreaded in every part of Turkey than you can imagine, as they stick at nothing. But luckily for me I am well known to some of them, who have been in the habit of seeing me with their chief looking at their horses; he has visited me accompanied by them, and they have everywhere treated me with the greatest civility, even when their chief has not been with them; so I have less to fear than any one else, but yet when such disturbances take place few are safe.Should the worst come to the worst, I shall take fifty of them, and set off to my friend, the Emir Beshýr, the Prince of the Mountain, where I shall be quite safe. He has troops at his disposal, which he can assemble at will, and nothing was ever so kind as he has been to me; therefore, hear what you may, believe me better off than any one else. The bey, who commands the Delibashes, took a great fancy to me when at Cairo, and everything he can command is at my disposal, I know; he is a simple, honest soldier, and has no intrigue about him at all, and is extremely beloved by the troops. It is a good thing that old North is safe off, for he would be in a sad fright. I am not at all, knowing my own presence of mind under all circumstances, and that I have excellent friends in this country. Even with the French I am upon terms of friendship and confidence; they command everything upon the coast; for we have nobody in this country but Mr. Barker.I scribble in great haste, as a messenger to Acre is just going off. Be perfectly easy about me; my good luck will not forsake me, when any confusion takes place. All I can say about myself sounds like conceit; but others could tell you I am the oracle of the Arabs, and the darling of all the troops, who seem to think that I am a deity because I canride, and because I wear arms; and the fanatics all bow before me, because the Dervises think me a wonder, and have given me a piece of Mahomet’s tomb, and I have won the heart of the pasha by a letter I wrote him from Dayr el Kamar. Hope will tell you how I got on upon the coast, and if he could make anything of the Pasha of Acre, his ministers, or the rest of them, who were all at my feet. I was even admitted into the library of the famous mosque, and fumbled over the books at pleasure—books that no Christian dare touch, or even cast his eyes upon.Adieu, and believe me ever,most sincerely yours,H. L. S.I sent you, about a fortnight ago, a large packet for England by a respectable Damascus merchant going to Malta. Pray do not put any women or fools into a fright about the state of things in this country; besides, to tell the truth is here often the greatest danger one can run.

Damascus, October 10th, 1812.

My dear ——,

I am here yet, not liking to stir till I see a little what turn things take. The pasha has offended all the cavalry (the Delibashes commanded by the son of the famous deposed pasha, Yousef Pasha): the infantry (the Albanians) are on the side of the present pasha, and every day a battle is expected. A report also has been in circulation that 50,000 Wahabees are within four days’ journey of this city, but I do not believe it. It takes its rise from a letter from Mecca to the pasha, saying several thousand dromedaries mounted by Wahabees have set off they know not where, but not improbably for this place, which they once before attempted to take, but were driven back, after having burnt and ransacked every village upon the road. Why this concerns me is for this reason: the strongest tribe of Bedouin Arabs, my friends, who do not like the present pasha, will probably join any party against him, and there will be a fine confusion in the desert as well as here, and the roads in every direction will be filled with Delibashes, &c., &c. These men are more dreaded in every part of Turkey than you can imagine, as they stick at nothing. But luckily for me I am well known to some of them, who have been in the habit of seeing me with their chief looking at their horses; he has visited me accompanied by them, and they have everywhere treated me with the greatest civility, even when their chief has not been with them; so I have less to fear than any one else, but yet when such disturbances take place few are safe.

Should the worst come to the worst, I shall take fifty of them, and set off to my friend, the Emir Beshýr, the Prince of the Mountain, where I shall be quite safe. He has troops at his disposal, which he can assemble at will, and nothing was ever so kind as he has been to me; therefore, hear what you may, believe me better off than any one else. The bey, who commands the Delibashes, took a great fancy to me when at Cairo, and everything he can command is at my disposal, I know; he is a simple, honest soldier, and has no intrigue about him at all, and is extremely beloved by the troops. It is a good thing that old North is safe off, for he would be in a sad fright. I am not at all, knowing my own presence of mind under all circumstances, and that I have excellent friends in this country. Even with the French I am upon terms of friendship and confidence; they command everything upon the coast; for we have nobody in this country but Mr. Barker.

I scribble in great haste, as a messenger to Acre is just going off. Be perfectly easy about me; my good luck will not forsake me, when any confusion takes place. All I can say about myself sounds like conceit; but others could tell you I am the oracle of the Arabs, and the darling of all the troops, who seem to think that I am a deity because I canride, and because I wear arms; and the fanatics all bow before me, because the Dervises think me a wonder, and have given me a piece of Mahomet’s tomb, and I have won the heart of the pasha by a letter I wrote him from Dayr el Kamar. Hope will tell you how I got on upon the coast, and if he could make anything of the Pasha of Acre, his ministers, or the rest of them, who were all at my feet. I was even admitted into the library of the famous mosque, and fumbled over the books at pleasure—books that no Christian dare touch, or even cast his eyes upon.

Adieu, and believe me ever,

most sincerely yours,

H. L. S.

I sent you, about a fortnight ago, a large packet for England by a respectable Damascus merchant going to Malta. Pray do not put any women or fools into a fright about the state of things in this country; besides, to tell the truth is here often the greatest danger one can run.

Lady Hester Stanhope to ——

Damascus, October 12th.My dear ——,The Wahabees (which were the subject of my last letter) have not been heard of near this town; it is said that a small number of them have arrived at Palmyra, but that is of no consequence. Whether it was the report of their being upon the road for this place, or that the pasha was unable to settle the dispute with his troops, which induced him to send a positive order to an old figure, like Sir David,[12]to come here directly (the head of everything military in Syria), I know not; but this sensible, popular, and active old fellow appeared, and shortly after was commanded to take a strong body of troops, and go over all the pashalic of Damascus instead of the pasha. During the time he was here he expressed a great wish to make my acquaintance, and that I should visit him; “for,” said he, “I shall be very jealous of my young chief if she does not.” Knowing the state of things, the rebellious spirit of the troops, their exultation at his arrival, &c., I considered this visit as an awful thing, yet I was determined to go, as everything military seemed to have set their heart upon it.I first was obliged to ride through a yard full of horses, then to walk through several hundred, perhaps a thousand Delibashes, and then to present myself to not less than fiftyofficers and grandees, the old chief in the corner, and my friend the young bey (Yousef Pasha’s son) next to him, who rose to give me his place. I remained there about an hour; the old fellow was so delighted with me that he gave me his own house upon the borders of the desert for as long a time as I chose to inhabit it; he offered me a hundred Delibashes to escort me all over Syria; he sent off an express to put, as he said, his most confidential officer under my command, that nothing I asked was to be refused. In short, nothing could equal his civility, besides, it was accompanied with a degree ofheartinesswhich you seldom meet with in a Turk. The next day he sent me a very fine little two-year-old Arab horse to train up in my own way.The chief of 40,000 Arabs, Mahanna el Fadel, arrived here about the same time to get 4,000 camels, and several thousand sheep released, which the pasha had seized. His sons have been my friends ever since I came here, but as the father is reckoned as harsh as he is cunning, I little thought to manage him as I have done. He, his eldest son, and about twenty-five Arabs, dined with me, and were all enchanted, and themeleki, (the queen) is in the mouth of every Arab, both in Damascus and the desert. As to the Wahabees, Mahanna assures me that, as one ofhis family, he shall guarantee me with his life, and whether I meet or do not meet with them it is the same thing. To see this extraordinary people is what I wish, but not in the town or environs of Damascus, to be confounded with the crowd of those they wish to injure.B. and Mr. Barker are now upon their road from Aleppo, because they chose to take it into their heads I must go with a caravan to Palmyra. No caravan goes the road I intended to go, and if it had, as I told them, nothing should persuade me to join one. This put them into a fright, so they are coming with a wire thing, a tartavan, which Mr. Barker pronouncesnecessary, but which all the consuls in the universe shall never persuade me to get into. What an absurd idea, in case of danger, to be stuck upon a machine, the tartavangees running away and leaving you to the mercy of two obstinate mules! the swiftest horse one can find is the best thing, and what the Arabs often owe their lives to. My second messenger (saying more positively than the first, that whether they come or not, I would have nothing to do with a tartavan) had only left this place three days when the caravan between Homs and Damascus (composed of several hundred persons, and fifty armed men, I believe) was attacked by Arabs, and sixteen men killed. Who is right, I or the consul-general?The pasha answers for my safety, so do all the chiefs of the Delibashes, and so do the Arabs, but they do not answer for rich, cowardly merchants, who are left to take care of themselves. By this time, Barker must be half-way from Aleppo, therefore, it is right I should think about setting off to meet them at Homs: four armed men is all I shall take, just to keep watch about the tents at night, and to have an eye upon the horses, that no stray robber may make off with them. As to great tribes, &c., I am perfectly secure with them, I know.During my residence here, I have made a great number of very pleasant acquaintances, and have seen all the most famous harems. I believe I am the only person who can give an account of the manner in which a great Turk is received by his wives and women. A particular friend of mine, who has four wives and three mistresses, took me to see them himself. None of his wives sat down in his presence, or even came up upon the raised part of the room where we sat, except to serve his pipe and give him coffee. When he invited me to a dinner, apparently for fifteen or twenty people, I of course thought the poor women were to eat; but not at all; they only presented him with what he wanted from the hands of the slaves, andnever spoke but when he asked some question. Yet this is one of the most pleasant and good-natured men I know, and with me he behaves just like anybody else, and is full as civil and attentive as another man, but in this instance he does not consider his dignity lowered.The other day I was paying a visit to the wife of a very great effendi (who, though not the most agreeable, is perhaps the cleverest man I know here); not less than fifty women were assembled in the harem to see me; when in came the lord and master—all put on their veils, except his wife and his own women, and he made a sign and all retired. He then told me he had sent for my little dragoman, who shortly appeared. We talked some time and then he proposed dining; he had led me into a beautiful court paved with coloured marble, with fountains playing amongst the orange-trees, and in a sort of alcove we found dinner prepared, or rather supper, for it was at sunset. Everything was served in high style by black female slaves, and a black gentleman. Immense gilt candlesticks, with candles nearly six feet high, were set on the ground, with a great illumination of small elegant lamps suspended in clusters in different parts of the court; the proud man talked a great deal, and kept my little dragoman nearly four hours upon his knees, having fetched a great book to talk astronomy, upon which he asked me ten thousand questions. In short, he kept me there till nearly ten o’clock, an hour past the time which, if any one is found in the streets, they are to have their heads cut off; such is the pasha’s new decree. All the gates were shut, but all opened for me, and not a word said. The pasha cuts off a head or two nearly every day; but yet I do not think he has added much to his own security, for he is by no means liked, nor does he command half so much as my friend, the old Delibash.What surprises me so much is the extreme civility of theTurks to a Christian; for Christians they detest much more here than in any other part of the Sultan’s dominions. A woman in man’s clothes, a woman on horseback—everything directly in opposition to their strongest prejudices, and yet never even a smile of impertinence, let me go where I will. If it was as it is in England, it would be quite impossible to get through with it all. Like Doctor Pangloss, I always try to think that everything is for the best; if I had not been shipwrecked, I should have seen nothing here; if I had been born a man instead of a woman, I could not have entered all the harems as I have done, and got acquainted with all the Turkish customs, and seen all that is to be seen of most magnificent—for a Turk’s splendour is in his harem: the rooms, the dresses, the whole air of luxury is not to be described.Adieu, my dear ——. I have written you a long letter, because I thought my last might have put you in a fright. Had the Wahabees come here, it would have been no joke, at least for the inhabitants of this town, for they burn and destroy all before them.When you have read this, will you enclose it to Lord Ebrington, who is so good as always to feel anxious about me, and I have not time to write to him now, and I shall have no opportunity of sending another letter for a long time, most probably. Pray remember me most kindly to Captain Hope, and tell him I prosper.Believe me,Ever yours, most sincerely,H. L. Stanhope.

Damascus, October 12th.

My dear ——,

The Wahabees (which were the subject of my last letter) have not been heard of near this town; it is said that a small number of them have arrived at Palmyra, but that is of no consequence. Whether it was the report of their being upon the road for this place, or that the pasha was unable to settle the dispute with his troops, which induced him to send a positive order to an old figure, like Sir David,[12]to come here directly (the head of everything military in Syria), I know not; but this sensible, popular, and active old fellow appeared, and shortly after was commanded to take a strong body of troops, and go over all the pashalic of Damascus instead of the pasha. During the time he was here he expressed a great wish to make my acquaintance, and that I should visit him; “for,” said he, “I shall be very jealous of my young chief if she does not.” Knowing the state of things, the rebellious spirit of the troops, their exultation at his arrival, &c., I considered this visit as an awful thing, yet I was determined to go, as everything military seemed to have set their heart upon it.

I first was obliged to ride through a yard full of horses, then to walk through several hundred, perhaps a thousand Delibashes, and then to present myself to not less than fiftyofficers and grandees, the old chief in the corner, and my friend the young bey (Yousef Pasha’s son) next to him, who rose to give me his place. I remained there about an hour; the old fellow was so delighted with me that he gave me his own house upon the borders of the desert for as long a time as I chose to inhabit it; he offered me a hundred Delibashes to escort me all over Syria; he sent off an express to put, as he said, his most confidential officer under my command, that nothing I asked was to be refused. In short, nothing could equal his civility, besides, it was accompanied with a degree ofheartinesswhich you seldom meet with in a Turk. The next day he sent me a very fine little two-year-old Arab horse to train up in my own way.

The chief of 40,000 Arabs, Mahanna el Fadel, arrived here about the same time to get 4,000 camels, and several thousand sheep released, which the pasha had seized. His sons have been my friends ever since I came here, but as the father is reckoned as harsh as he is cunning, I little thought to manage him as I have done. He, his eldest son, and about twenty-five Arabs, dined with me, and were all enchanted, and themeleki, (the queen) is in the mouth of every Arab, both in Damascus and the desert. As to the Wahabees, Mahanna assures me that, as one ofhis family, he shall guarantee me with his life, and whether I meet or do not meet with them it is the same thing. To see this extraordinary people is what I wish, but not in the town or environs of Damascus, to be confounded with the crowd of those they wish to injure.

B. and Mr. Barker are now upon their road from Aleppo, because they chose to take it into their heads I must go with a caravan to Palmyra. No caravan goes the road I intended to go, and if it had, as I told them, nothing should persuade me to join one. This put them into a fright, so they are coming with a wire thing, a tartavan, which Mr. Barker pronouncesnecessary, but which all the consuls in the universe shall never persuade me to get into. What an absurd idea, in case of danger, to be stuck upon a machine, the tartavangees running away and leaving you to the mercy of two obstinate mules! the swiftest horse one can find is the best thing, and what the Arabs often owe their lives to. My second messenger (saying more positively than the first, that whether they come or not, I would have nothing to do with a tartavan) had only left this place three days when the caravan between Homs and Damascus (composed of several hundred persons, and fifty armed men, I believe) was attacked by Arabs, and sixteen men killed. Who is right, I or the consul-general?

The pasha answers for my safety, so do all the chiefs of the Delibashes, and so do the Arabs, but they do not answer for rich, cowardly merchants, who are left to take care of themselves. By this time, Barker must be half-way from Aleppo, therefore, it is right I should think about setting off to meet them at Homs: four armed men is all I shall take, just to keep watch about the tents at night, and to have an eye upon the horses, that no stray robber may make off with them. As to great tribes, &c., I am perfectly secure with them, I know.

During my residence here, I have made a great number of very pleasant acquaintances, and have seen all the most famous harems. I believe I am the only person who can give an account of the manner in which a great Turk is received by his wives and women. A particular friend of mine, who has four wives and three mistresses, took me to see them himself. None of his wives sat down in his presence, or even came up upon the raised part of the room where we sat, except to serve his pipe and give him coffee. When he invited me to a dinner, apparently for fifteen or twenty people, I of course thought the poor women were to eat; but not at all; they only presented him with what he wanted from the hands of the slaves, andnever spoke but when he asked some question. Yet this is one of the most pleasant and good-natured men I know, and with me he behaves just like anybody else, and is full as civil and attentive as another man, but in this instance he does not consider his dignity lowered.

The other day I was paying a visit to the wife of a very great effendi (who, though not the most agreeable, is perhaps the cleverest man I know here); not less than fifty women were assembled in the harem to see me; when in came the lord and master—all put on their veils, except his wife and his own women, and he made a sign and all retired. He then told me he had sent for my little dragoman, who shortly appeared. We talked some time and then he proposed dining; he had led me into a beautiful court paved with coloured marble, with fountains playing amongst the orange-trees, and in a sort of alcove we found dinner prepared, or rather supper, for it was at sunset. Everything was served in high style by black female slaves, and a black gentleman. Immense gilt candlesticks, with candles nearly six feet high, were set on the ground, with a great illumination of small elegant lamps suspended in clusters in different parts of the court; the proud man talked a great deal, and kept my little dragoman nearly four hours upon his knees, having fetched a great book to talk astronomy, upon which he asked me ten thousand questions. In short, he kept me there till nearly ten o’clock, an hour past the time which, if any one is found in the streets, they are to have their heads cut off; such is the pasha’s new decree. All the gates were shut, but all opened for me, and not a word said. The pasha cuts off a head or two nearly every day; but yet I do not think he has added much to his own security, for he is by no means liked, nor does he command half so much as my friend, the old Delibash.

What surprises me so much is the extreme civility of theTurks to a Christian; for Christians they detest much more here than in any other part of the Sultan’s dominions. A woman in man’s clothes, a woman on horseback—everything directly in opposition to their strongest prejudices, and yet never even a smile of impertinence, let me go where I will. If it was as it is in England, it would be quite impossible to get through with it all. Like Doctor Pangloss, I always try to think that everything is for the best; if I had not been shipwrecked, I should have seen nothing here; if I had been born a man instead of a woman, I could not have entered all the harems as I have done, and got acquainted with all the Turkish customs, and seen all that is to be seen of most magnificent—for a Turk’s splendour is in his harem: the rooms, the dresses, the whole air of luxury is not to be described.

Adieu, my dear ——. I have written you a long letter, because I thought my last might have put you in a fright. Had the Wahabees come here, it would have been no joke, at least for the inhabitants of this town, for they burn and destroy all before them.

When you have read this, will you enclose it to Lord Ebrington, who is so good as always to feel anxious about me, and I have not time to write to him now, and I shall have no opportunity of sending another letter for a long time, most probably. Pray remember me most kindly to Captain Hope, and tell him I prosper.

Believe me,

Ever yours, most sincerely,

H. L. Stanhope.

Things were in this position when a messenger arrived from Mr. B. to say that he had quitted Aleppo, accompanied by Mr. Barker, the English consul, and,on his road to Damascus, had been taken ill at an obscure village, but was not so bad as to be incapable of travelling. This account induced her ladyship to request me immediately to go to his assistance. I accordingly departed, October 15th, on horseback, with a mule carrying my bed and medicine-chest, and with Ibrahim, my groom, on another horse.

On the road I was going there lay a village, called Yabrûd, the Shaykh of which, Osman Aga, had sent to Damascus to obtain my advice concerning a troublesome complaint with which he had been afflicted for some years. He was the brother-in-law of one Masûd Aga, Shaykh of Carah, a considerable burgh on the skirts of the Desert. In Masûd Aga was vested whatever authority the pasha had over Palmyra. This was little indeed; since the Bedouins, by their proximity, had considerable influence over the movements and the conduct of the inhabitants. However, it was proposed to Lady Hester, that, in case of her going to Palmyra, Masûd Aga should escort her. She was therefore anxious to do an act of civility to his relation, Osman Aga; and it was agreed that I should stop at Yabrûd in my way. There happened to be at Damascus one of Masûd Aga’s people, named Yahyah, who had been sent by his master to inquire when Lady Hester proposed setting off for Palmyra. He undertook to be my guide; and we departed from Damascus on the morning of the 15th October, and at nine in the evening arrived at Yabrûd, after beingon horseback thirteen hours. The road had been good the whole way, excepting where we ascended Gebel Yabrûd.

VILLAGE OF YABRÛD.

Yabrûd is a large village of great beauty, situate in a plain as you emerge from a narrow pass between two ridges of rock, and having many orchards and gardens extending as much as a mile from the village, and watered by a stream which runs from a spring called Ras-el-Ayn.[13]Several sepulchres, excavated in the neighbouring rocks, denoted the antiquity of the place. The inhabitants are Mahometans, Greeks, and Christians. There are the ruins of a church of the middle ages: and it is the residence of a Greek bishop.

Osman Aga received me in his own house; ofwhich however I saw nothing but the room where I was lodged, on the floor of which he caused a bed to be spread, his troublesome civility not allowing my own to be used. This receiving-room for strangers is generally the nearest to the door; and as many strangers as arrive sleep in it. A dish of rice, some soup, or a chicken, is commonly served up for supper, with a cup of coffee and a pipe on arriving, and the same after supper, and this makes up the entertainment of the evening. The master of the house keeps his guests company for an hour or two, and then leaves them to themselves. But, as my visit had his own health for its object, the evening was spent chiefly in conversation with him on this topic.

Next morning I left Yabrûd, accompanied still by Yahyah and by Osman Aga, and, after a ride of five hours, reached Carah. This is a poor and slovenly village. It seems to have formerly had very extensive gardens, but which now lie entirely waste.[14]There is a monastery of Greek caloyers. The situation of Carah is high, and the temperature of the air was many degrees lower than at the place we had come from. As a proof of this, all the houses which I entered had fireplaces, which are not seen at Damascus. There wasno public bath in the place, and the absence of this very necessary article of cleanliness and religion is always a proof of the meanness of a Mahometan town.

We found in Masûd Aga a laughing, plethoric, unwieldy Turk, who gave himself airs of importance which almost imposed on my simplicity. He desired me to tell Lady Hester that, if she would put herself under his guidance, he would carry her safely to Palmyra; when, as we learned afterwards from the Arabs themselves, he himself did not dare to stir out of his own village for fear of them: and it was the assurance of the insufficiency of any solid protection which he could give that induced the Jews, Yusef and Rafaël, to dissuade us from going at all.

On the 18th, I took my leave of Masûd Aga and Osman Aga, having first taken coffee and a pipe with them. I cannot help expressing the astonishment I felt at observing the continued use that Masûd Aga made of the narkýly, a pipe by which the smoke is inhaled through water in the manner of the hooka; he was never without it for a moment, and it was the employment of one man to prepare it for him.

From Yabrûd towards Carah, the face of the country had assumed a more lonely aspect than hitherto; and, on leaving Carah, I could plainly perceive that we were on the skirts of the desert, if not in it. Cultivation, and the appearance of it, had ceased altogether. To the east of us, the eye wandered over plains bounded only by the horizon. We met fewpeople, and those we did meet were generally in parties: there was a look of suspicion given and exchanged on both sides, and thesalàm alëikûmwas always muttered in a hollow tone, which, from the whistling of the wind across the desert, was scarcely audible: the ample abah, the kefféya tied over the bottom of the face, leaving, like the vizor of a helmet, the eyes alone visible, the long spear borne on the shoulder, all wore an air of defence and distrust, which rendered me, in spite of myself, thoughtful and cautious. On our left was a chain of barren mountains, which seemed to shut us out from the habitable world. This chain was about four or five miles off, and I conceived it to be a branch of the Antilebanon. At one place, we saw men employed in burning kali, which grows abundantly hereabout.

About two o’clock, we arrived at Hassyah, a village enclosed by a mud wall: it contained a large caravansery and a mosque: a hundred yards from the wall, there was likewise a detached caravansery with a well; but this seemed to be totally neglected. In the middle of the village, there was a large basin, supplied with water from a spring, brought to it in earthenware pipes from without: it was nearly dry just now, and looked like a stagnant pond; so that the water we had to drink was quite foul and bad tasted.

I made use of mybuyurdy, or pasha’s order, with the shaykh of Hassyah, to obtain a better supperthan I thought I should get of the villagers for money: but I was deceived, for I supped on treacle and dûrra bread;—and bread from dûrra, or Indian corn, is worse than that made from oats and barley, and is not to be eaten unless immediately after it is made.

There was a small caravan going the same road with ourselves, and it was thought prudent, for greater safety, to march with it. Accordingly, we departed the next morning, the 19th October, before one o’clock, by the light of the moon, and in the evening we reached Hems.

I was conducted to the house of Mâlem Skender, a gentleman well-known in those days to most English travellers for his hospitality. Yahyah had accompanied me thus far, and I rewarded him with a present of twelve piasters and a half. Mâlem Skender sent a guard forward with me, and about nine o’clock we reached Tel Byssy, a village on an eminence, the houses of which were for the most part exactly in the shape of a sugarloaf, and built of unbaked bricks.

Soon after passing the village of El Rosten, we came to the banks of the river Orontes, called in Arabic El Aâsy, over which is a bridge, with a large caravansery adjoining. The sight of this river, which our earliest studies make so familiar to us by name, caused considerable emotions of pleasure. The river is here about ten yards broad.[15]

BRIDGE OVER THE ORONTES.

Pursuing our route, we passed Ibsarýu, a hamlet with sugarloaf houses. Between the bridge and this hamlet there was a burying-ground, where were many tombstones and one mausoleum. This cemetery was called Kubt el Habázeh. At first, the road was stony, as was generally the soil about it, but afterwards it changed to a fine blackish red mould. At twenty-seven minutes to five, we saw another burying-place called Kubt el Kaireen: we arrived about five in the evening at the gate of Hamah.

I paid my muleteer and dismissed him, and, giving Mâlem Skender’s man his present, dismissed him also. He had conducted me to the house of Mâlem Mûsa Koblan, his master’s relation, the governor’s kateb or secretary, and consequently the chief Christian of the place. I was lodged in a room, detached from the house, and in which it was necessary to make a great sweepingbefore it could be rendered clean enough to receive me. Some dirty mats were placed on the floor, over these a carpet somewhat broader than a bed-carpet, and a dish of rice was served up for my supper; but I saw nobody.

When the evening was somewhat advanced, Mâlem Mûsa, who pretended that he was just returned from the governor’s, came to see me. He complained of his asthma, grunted at every word he said, hoped I had supped well, and then left me, after having begged me to await Mr. Barker and Mr. B. at Hamah, since they must pass through on their way to Damascus.

In fact, the next day they arrived. Mr. B.’s indisposition had not lasted, and he felt now quite well. Mr. Barker’s establishment being equally large with Mr. B.’s, the house, from the quantity of luggage and number of servants, became a scene of great confusion. For his dragoman he had brought with him a young Frenchman, named Beaudin, residing from his fifteenth year at Aleppo, and speaking Arabic almost like a native. Mâlem Mûsa had a son, well known to Mr. Barker, named Selûm, which name he had warped from its original sound into Selim, this last being a Turkish appellation, which Christians are not generally allowed to bear. For Selim was on all occasions very desirous of assuming the garb and air of a Turk; and his situation in the employ of the governor enabled him to take many liberties of that kind. He was at present from home: but his name will be often mentioned hereafter.

Hamah is a large but straggling city on the Aâsy or Orontes, which may be here from twenty to thirty yards broad. It is built in a bottom between two hills. There is a conical mound, evidently the work of human hands, upon which once stood a citadel, although now one stone is not left on another. Nor could this elevation, since the invention of cannon, have served for defence, as its highest part is only on a level with the downs which surround the city. The streets are filthy and stinking both in winter and summer; and, as they are not paved, the winter rains render them almost impassable; so that here I beheld, what I believe is not seen in any other country, men of all ranks walking from house to house in clogs, such as brewers’ men wear in England, but much higher.

At the corner of a private house I observed a stone let into the wall, with figures and hieroglyphics upon it; but my interpreter had given me to understand that much curiosity would be excited if I were seen drawing it, with some danger to my person, and I therefore merely mention its existence there to invite other travellers to examine it, now that the Syrians are become more civilized than formerly.

The wheels used for raising water from the bed of the river, are among the greatest curiosities in Hamah. They are of that kind called Persian wheels, and are of a bold, although rude, construction. One is said to be sixty feet in diameter. An adventurous fellow was accustomed to make the circuit of this wheel,holding by the extremity of one of the spokes, and to undergo the dip through the water. The 41st question of Michaelis relates to the word, which I believe to mean water-wheels, such as here described. To the circumference are fastened leathern buckets or earthenware pots, which fill from below, and, as the wheel goes round, empty themselves at the highest point into aqueducts raised on arcades. By these the water is carried inland, and the grounds are irrigated, for all the purposes of gardening and husbandry.

The houses of the poor are of mud and unbaked bricks: those of the rich are of stone, and, for the most part, built in the form of vaulted chambers. Many of these rooms have no windows, the light being admitted by the door only, which it is scarcely necessary to keep shut in the coldest season of the year: whilst, by these means, a degree of coolness is preserved in the summer heats not attainable in any other manner. There is one trifling inconvenience which arises from this mode of excluding the light. In the middle of the day, when the glare of the sun is almost intolerable, on entering these rooms, one seems for a moment in total darkness. I cannot but suppose that this sudden abstraction of light must in some degree enfeeble the organs of vision. Hamah, indeed, like Damascus, abounds in one-eyed and blind people.

The dress of the poor female inhabitants may be said to consist of four pieces; the veil, the gown, the shift, and the apron. The veil is green, the gownblue, and the apron red. This costume, on a pretty woman, looks well. The veil is drawn so as to form an oval outline on the face, falling over the shoulders down to the middle.

As Hamah lies on the high road from Aleppo to Damascus, and is constantly exposed to the passage of troops, among whom, in addition to a very relaxed discipline, obtains the custom of quartering themselves at will in the towns through which they march, the inhabitants have been taught by experience that even their saloons might on such occasions be converted into stables. Hence a usage which is very general here, and more especially in the Christian houses, of making the street doorway no more than from three to four feet high, so that a horse or mule cannot enter. Indeed, it requires much stooping for even a man to do so: and when, on my arrival at Hamah, I was led, through a filthy lane, down a blind alley to the door of Mâlem Mûsa’s house, I could not persuade myself that I was entering a respectable habitation.

From the low situation of the city, the air is bad, and autumnal diseases are here often very fatal, always very common; but the climate is mild beyond measure in the winter. Seen from the neighbouring hills, Hamah presents one of the most beautiful prospects I ever beheld, arising from the joint effect of the windings of the river through the straggling streets, the noble arcades, the great wheels, and the rich foliage of its orchards.

The chief manufacture of the place is that of sheepskin pelisses, which are worn by the Bedouin Arabs and by the people of the villages on the skirts of the Desert. Printed muslin handkerchiefs, felt for saddle-covers, silk napkins for covering the waist in the bath, and silk handkerchiefs, are likewise made here. The town is famous also for towels and napkins, in appearance like huckaback.

There are about fifty families of the Greek church, who, with the Syrians, comprehend all the Christians. These, generally speaking, are subjected to more humiliations here than on the coast; for they are always in awe of a licentious soldiery, and are never permitted to wear any other coloured clothes than blue, black, or what we call quakers’ colours. The Greeks have a bishop, ordespotes.

The river is liable to great inundations in the winter season, which sometimes rise as high as the top of the parapet of the bridge which joins the streets and suburbs on the right and left bank. It produces fine fish. The valley in which the river runs is not wide; and, where it is bounded on the left side by almost perpendicular ascents to the downs overlooking the town, the poorer inhabitants have made themselves caves, in which, to appearance at least, fifty families had taken up their abode. Hamah would make a most beautiful panorama.

Mr B. was desirous of visiting the ruins of Bâlbec, and therefore he and Mr. Barker departed onthe following morning. I accompanied them only as far as Hems, where they left me to return to Damascus by the way I came. This I was obliged to do, as I had to seek out a European gentleman, who was said to be living in obscurity at a village close by Yabrûd, and concerning whom Lady Hester was curious to learn some particulars. Mâlem Skender received us in his house, and the next morning my companions set off for Bâlbec. The weather had been much colder at Hamah than at Damascus, for I found myself obliged to buy a lamb-skin pelisse, which proved of great comfort to me; and on this day it rained, being the first wet we had had since the month of May.

Hems is the ancient Emesa. It is a neat, compact town,[16]with streets paved, and wider than is customary in Turkey. It contains fourteen or fifteen mosques, and is about a mile and a half in circumference. It is said to contain 15,000 souls, about 300 of whom are Christians. Just outside the town there is a ruinous piece of ancient masonry, square at the base, which is surmounted by a pyramid. It has probably served for a mausoleum. The pyramid wassupported by pilasters, and the frieze shows the remains of the festoons which once ornamented it. On one side is an inscription, which was too high to be read by me. This mausoleum contained two chambers, one over the other, with small windows. It is built of brick, and faced with gray stones, lozenge-shaped.

Without the walls, also, is the tomb of Khaled Sayf Allah, one of Mahomet’s first disciples, his relation, and the conqueror of Syria. In riding out on the 26th, I was tempted to try the experiment of passing for a Turk; and, dismounting from my horse at the door of the mosque, I walked boldly in, and requested to see Khaled’s tomb, which is an object of great veneration to those who perform pilgrimages to the shrine. My bad Arabic went for nothing; for the doorkeeper had only to suppose me to be an Albanian, or some native of the European provinces of Turkey. I saw the tomb, which, similar to other Mahometan tombs of ancient date, was shaped like the roof of a house. He gave me some holy water to drink, and threw over me a veil, or scarf, during which ceremony he pronounced a long prayer, whilst I felt somewhat alarmed at the risk I ran in assuming a feigned character. In going out, the unusual present which I gave him of two piasters and a half was enough to betray me; for a devout Mussulman probably never exceeded twenty paras, or half a piaster.

I visited the citadel of the town, which seemed tohave been the work of the Saracens, or crusaders, but was now altogether in ruins. It stood on a truncated mound, the sides of which were faced with neat gray stone from top to bottom. Round it was a ditch from twenty to thirty yards broad, with a counterscarp faced also in stone. On the table of the eminence there appeared the remains of a series of vaults that had gone round the circumference of the citadel, and communicated with each other by small doors. There had been towers at equal distances. Fragments of granite and stone pillars were lying about, and in one place some of these were let into the walls.

On approaching Hems, when coming from Damascus, the rising sun was reflected strongly on a lake, to the left of the road, formed by the waters of the Orontes, not far from where it takes its rise. As I proposed remaining a day or two at Hems, I resolved to visit it, and for the value of eighteen pence a guide conducted me thither.

After passing through Katâny, a miserable village, not unlike a nest of hogsties in England, and about half a mile from the lake, I soon reached the margin of the water, and beheld before me an expanse, apparently about three miles across in its broadest part, but in most places less, and about twelve long, or perhaps much more; for a sheet of water is liable to deceive the eye greatly.[17]It narrows at the Eastern extremity, whereI was, and is banked in by a dyke about a quarter of a mile long,[18]appearing not of very ancient construction, although Abulfeda attributes it to Alexander the Great. I walked on the dyke, and the first outlet for the waters that presented itself was a small stream that I had crossed in my way: then came the mouth of the aqueduct for supplying Hems. This aqueduct is of rough workmanship, and it seems to have been constructed in the place of one now dilapidated, but of equally indifferent construction. But, from the sight of this aqueduct and the elevation of the embankment, it may be concluded that the object, or the principal object, of it was to raise water to a sufficient height to enable it to flow to Hems.

At the northern extremity of the dyke stands a ruined tower, and, between it and the aqueduct, about half way, the lake runs over, and falls down in cascades to form the river Orontes. A meadow beneath the dyke, and much below the level of the lake, shows where once the waters ran unchecked: a small mulberry plantation now occupies its place. Wild fig trees grew out of fissures of the dyke. Close to the tower a small aqueduct commences, by which a village two hundred yards off is supplied with water. Under the dyke,and at the foot of thetelor mount, are many loose stones, but none of them seemed to be of a Grecian or Roman character: nor were there any fragments of pillars or of buildings of ancient date.

I returned to Hems much pleased with my excursion, having first followed the course of the Orontes for some distance, until I came to a very large Persian waterwheel, and a mill; both put in motion by the stream, which was nearly dammed across to give it a greater impetus. This place was called El Memas, and here are the gardens of Hems, which, for want of water for irrigation, cannot thrive close to the town. But this, although a privation, contributes greatly to the salubrity of the place, the air of which is much superior to that of Hamah.

Having seen everything worthy of curiosity at Hems, I left it on the 28th of October, accompanied by the same man as guide who had before conducted me from Hems to Hamah.

Here I staid the whole of the 30th, in consequence of the marching of some troops. The inhabitants were apprised of the coming of these troops, who were a corps of Deláti, mercenaries in the pay of Hamed Bey: and, from the conversation of the villagers, I could easily perceive that their passage was exceedingly dreaded. I therefore requested Masûd Aga to grant me a soldier, to remain at my door and protect me from insult. He candidly told me that his soldiers could do nothing at such a moment, wheneven his own house would be scarcely exempt from intrusion. I therefore resolved to depend on my own scheming. I dressed myself in my smartest clothes, with a cashmere shawl round my head and one round my waist, girded on my sabre with its silver scabbard, and, seating myself in the corner of the cottage, on my travelling carpet, I assumed an air of importance as great as I could put on. My host, I had observed, had removed out of the way every thing that could serve as fuel or food, and then went out, leaving the soldiers to expend their fury on the bare walls; “for, if they get hold of me,” he said, “it will be in vain to declare that I have nothing to give them: they will beat me until I produce my all.”

About ten o’clock, I heard the noise of horses and the clamour of many voices. Presently a soldier alighted at my door, and said—“Holloa, rascal; come here and take my horse:” then, thrusting his head in, and seeing me seated, he begged my pardon and moved on to the next cottage. Another came; I kept my seat, and telling him “This is my house, friend,” he too went away. A third and a fourth presented themselves, and fortunately no one, in the hurry of the moment, discovered me to be a Frank. My groom Ibrahim was of great service, who, leaning negligently against the outer door, told every one not to enter or shout so, as there was an Aga within.

The troops merely baited at Carah, and then went for Hassiah: and the rest of the day was employedby the cottagers in replacing their furniture, and lamenting the hardships to which they were subjected from such a lawless soldiery.

On the 31st I went from Carah to Yabrûd, where I took up my lodging at an old Christian’s house. The man was a farrier, and, being ill, had entreated Osman Aga, if I passed through again, to billet me upon him: so that I had an importunate patient, labouring under asthma, close at my elbow.

I amused myself, on Sunday, Nov. 2nd, in a ride towards the springs that supply the brook by which the gardens of Yabrûd are irrigated. At twenty minutes’ distance from the gate of the town, there are two of them, both gushing from the foot of a rock: and, just before reaching them, there is a sarcophagus, hewn out of a mass of rock, and covered by a huge lid, having had on it two circular reliefs sculptured, but now indistinct. The valley is highly cultivated,[19]and terminates, beyond the farthest spring, by a small meadow, where the two chains of mountains approach to within a hundred yards of each other.

My landlord, the farrier, having said much about the curious excavations in the rocks at a village called Mâlûla, I induced him, the next day but one, whichwas the 4th, to accompany me thither. On reaching the place, my conductor took me to a small monastery, built on the brow of the precipice, which overhangs the bogáz or ravine in which the village stands. On the rock where we were, and in those rocks which to the right and left were still overtopping us, are numerous grottoes cut out of the solid stone. In the ravine beneath is the village: and, beyond it, we looked over the Desert as far as the eye could reach. I was eager to enter some of these grottoes, and did then for the first time believe in the stories of the troglodytes: for many of them had evidently been inhabited; and some of them showed for what purposes they had been used, as for wine-pressing, baking, sleeping, &c. Yet a little reflection told me that they originally must have been intended for sepulchres only: inasmuch as many of them contained sarcophagi, like similar caverns that I had seen elsewhere: and in those that had them not, it was not difficult to imagine that they had been disfigured and enlarged for the purposes of pressing oil and wine, or had been converted into magazines after they had ceased to serve as sepulchres.

We were very civilly received at the convent by Mâlem Michael Rasáti, a native of Damascus, sent hither to collect money for Mâlem Rafaël the Jew, to whom the village belonged:i. e.who, for a certain sum, farmed it from the pasha, to make of it as much as he could by his exactions. Persons, so sent, liveon the people of the village until they have completed the collection of the imposts. He had with him his wife and sister, who, as being in a retired Christian village, enjoyed themselves with nearly as much liberty in their walks and amusements as ladies in England would do. Soon after my arrival we dined,[20]drank our coffee, and smoked our pipes: and, whilst Mâlem Rasáti took his afternoon nap, I revisited the excavations. In several there were remains of mouldings and other ornaments in bas-relief, and some appeared to have been stuccoed. About four o’clock we all walked down into the village. A spring from the hills above, carried by a grooved ledge down the ravine, supplied the inhabitants with water. A large shady tree or two afforded them shelter from the rays of the meridian sun, which, when declined from the perpendicular, are shut out by the high precipices on either side. Upon the whole, I would recommend the traveller in Syria to turn from his road to visit Mâlûla. Thesummagorsumaktree, the leaves of which are used in dyeing, is much cultivated on this spot, and some of the sepulchres were converted into store-rooms for holding them.

Mâlem Rasáti urged me strongly to remain all night, in which my landlord, who found hisraki, orbrandy, good, joined him: so that, when nothing I could say would persuade them to let me go, I stole out unperceived, bridled my horse, and rode off alone, although not sure of the way. I had not, however, got a mile when my landlord came galloping after me; and could not refrain, when he had overtaken me, from muttering a great deal about the obstinacy of Franks, and of the folly of riding after it was dark. We reached Yabrûd in safety.

Within a few miles of Yabrûd is Nebk, a small village, where resided a person whom Lady Hester wished me to seek out. His name was Lascaris, and his history is singular. He considered himself a descendant of Lascaris, emperor of Trebizond: but, not to go so far back, his uncle was Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem at Malta, and of the Piedmontese family of Lascaris de Ventimiglia. He himself was a knight, and one of those, who, after the capitulation of the Island of Malta, followed General Buonaparte into Egypt. He then held a post of considerable emolument as receiver of imposts; and, being an ardent favourer of universal fraternization, he married a Georgian slave, who had belonged to the harým of a kashef of Murad Bey. She was stolen from Georgia at the age of fifteen, and pretended that she never had changed her religion.

The history of her bondage, as related to me by herself, may, if true, serve to give an idea how slaves are carried off from the countries which supply themarket of Turkey. She was walking from the village of Warran, her native place, to an adjoining town, when, in an unfrequented part of the road, five men sprang out from an ambush and seized her. They stuffed her mouth with a pocket handkerchief, and carried her to a retired cottage in the mountains near at hand. A master of a merchant vessel awaited them, to take off whatever prey they might make; and, her price being settled, she was conveyed to the sea-side, and embarked. Until they reached the sea, they always travelled by night, and by day remained concealed in unfrequented places, at which time they tied her by the leg, but otherwise treated her well. She was transported to Constantinople, but, the market being dull, was re-embarked for Grand Cairo. Mohammed Kashef bought her; and his harým being dispersed after the defeats of the Mamelukes by the French, she fell into the hands of the Chevalier Lascaris, who married her. She was a large masculine woman: she seemed to have been handsome, but her beauty was now gone; for, in these climates, women at thirty are in their wane.

On the evacuation of Egypt, M. Lascaris took his wife to Paris; but her manners and education were so little adapted to the society of the French capital, that, after an exhibition of her shawls, her Turkish dress, and the few novelties she had to show, the lady found herself out of her sphere, and, we may suppose, worried her husband to return to a country where shecould meet with people like herself. The aunt of M. Lascaris wasdame d’atourto the Empress Josephine;[21]and, for this or some other reason, he aspired to a post of importance, which not being able to obtain (for it is said he rejected with disdain that of sous-prefet of a department), his own dudgeon, joined with his wife’s, induced him to depart for Constantinople. They there planned a journey into Georgia, to her native place, where M. Lascaris, who was extremely visionary, proposed civilizing the inhabitants and introducing a new system of agriculture. An Armenian, who found out that the projector had a good deal of money at his disposal, undertook to conduct his affairs, to provide articles of barter, implements of agriculture, &c. They embarked together on the Black Sea, landed in the Crimea, and were proceeding on their way to Georgia, when they were arrested as French spies, by the Russians; and, the Armenian having plundered and deserted them, M. Lascaris and his wife were conveyed as prisoners to Petersburg, with the loss of the greatest part of their fortune.Their innocence being proved, they were set at liberty. I forget what next became of them, but gradually M. Lascaris frittered away all that he possessed, and, in 1811, became a school and music-master at Aleppo. I recollect, however, that one of his intermediate schemes was a copartnership with the shaykh of a village near Latakia, where he proposed to raise double crops from the soil by the use of European agricultural instruments, &c. He had not been long there when some unguarded expressions on politics caused his intentions to be suspected; and, had he not retired in haste to Latakia, he would probably have been the victim of the suspicions of the natives. At the time when, as will be presently related, I found him at Nebk, he had just come from Aleppo with a bale or two of red cotton stuffs, which he hoped to sell to the women of the neighbouring villages for petticoats and aprons, at a great profit, and thus make his fortune.

On the 3rd of November, according to my instructions, I rode over to the village of Nebk. On entering it, I inquired for the house of the bishop, to which I had been directed. As I went up the street, a girl about twelve years old, looking out at a door, stared very hard at me. I repeated the question as to the bishop’s residence, when she immediately begged me to stop, and called her master. It was the servant girl of M. Lascaris himself, who, on her calling him, came to the door in a peasant’s dress. He wore astriped black and white woollen abah, in shape like the coats of Robin Hood’s days: beneath it a pair of loose, blue cotton Turkish brogues, no stockings, and peasants’ red shoes. His beard was long and very handsome, his turban like that of the peasantry.

I made myself known to him, dismounted, and was introduced to his wife, who, with her own hand, set about preparing some coffee. They occupied a small cottage, with a yellow clay floor, polished until it shone like a looking-glass: and everything in the room was arranged with great neatness.

I spent two most agreeable days with them. M. Lascaris was a man whose conversation was always particularly pleasing, and, as far as regarded the fine arts, very instructive: for he had seen and read a great deal. The consciousness of his own superior merit was perhaps the cause of all his misfortunes, in having made him lay claim to higher offices in the state than he could obtain: and hence, assuming the tone of an injured man, he had irretrievably embroiled himself with the Emperor Napoleon.[22]

At the close of the second day, I received a letter to hasten my return to Damascus, Mr. Barker having arrived there very ill. On the 5th of November, I quitted Nebk for Yabrûd, where I left some medicines and a small recompense with my host, the farrier; and, on the 6th, I departed for Damascus. I slept on the road at Marra, and arrived at Damascus on the 7th, after an absence of twenty-five days.

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