CHAPTER VI.
Hamah—Inclemency of the weather—Preparations made by Lady Hester for her journey to Palmyra—Conical cisterns—Nazýf Pasha—Abdallah Pasha—Muly Ismael—The governor of Hamah—Appearance of the Plague in Syria—Motives of Lady Hester Stanhope for visiting Palmyra—Price paid to the Bedouins for a safe conduct—Pilfering; particularly by their chief Nasar—Order of march—Sham fights—Tribe of the Sebáh—Arabs on their march—Rude behaviour of Nasar—Gebel el Abiad, or the White Mountain—The Author rides forward to Palmyra—Alarm at Lady Hester’s encampment—Her entry into Palmyra—Inspection of the ruins—A wedding—Dress of the women—Faydán Bedouins made prisoners—The escape of two of them causes Lady Hester to leave the place.
Hamah—Inclemency of the weather—Preparations made by Lady Hester for her journey to Palmyra—Conical cisterns—Nazýf Pasha—Abdallah Pasha—Muly Ismael—The governor of Hamah—Appearance of the Plague in Syria—Motives of Lady Hester Stanhope for visiting Palmyra—Price paid to the Bedouins for a safe conduct—Pilfering; particularly by their chief Nasar—Order of march—Sham fights—Tribe of the Sebáh—Arabs on their march—Rude behaviour of Nasar—Gebel el Abiad, or the White Mountain—The Author rides forward to Palmyra—Alarm at Lady Hester’s encampment—Her entry into Palmyra—Inspection of the ruins—A wedding—Dress of the women—Faydán Bedouins made prisoners—The escape of two of them causes Lady Hester to leave the place.
I paid Hassan the remainder of the sum agreed upon for conducting me, namely, 182 piasters. The whole cost of the journey, including every expense, was no more than 215 piasters, being equal to about £10. I had been absent twenty-eight days. The horse which Hassan had ridden died, from fatigue and the wound on his back, three days after our return. I found that the general theme of conversation in Hamah was the extraordinary weather. It hadrained and snowed alternately from the 2nd of January up to the present time, and the snow had remained on the ground three inches deep. Soon after my return, water, in exposed situations, when still, froze a quarter of an inch thick, yet at mid-day the weather was beautiful and even hot.
As M. and Madame Lascaris were no longer at Hamah, I now occupied an apartment in a building that had formerly been the harým or private dwelling of Yahyah Bey, the governor of the place, who had been spirited away so suddenly, and where Mr. B. was already living.
Having satisfied Lady Hester on the practicability of her journey to Palmyra, she now busied herself very seriously in preparations for her departure, which she fixed for the ensuing month, when we expected that the weather would be settled. Her health, however, was not very robust at that time; and few persons in my situation would have pronounced her equal to such an undertaking. But I had had occasion to observe so frequently the great resources which she had derived from her personal courage and animal spirits against fatigue; and how often on a journey, her state was better than when halting; that I thought myself perfectly justified in consenting to the attempt. On the 10th of February I hired a boy, named Antonio, for my servant. Even then it froze very hard in the night, although the days proved fine and clear. About this time I observed in the markets a speciesof bulbous root, with a grassy leaf, which the inhabitants bought up with great avidity. I desired Ibrahim to procure me some, and, according to the manner of the country, I ate them boiled in milk, and found them exceedingly good. They are called in Arabic (at Hamah) khabbûs, and at Damascus hardyl; but I know not their botanical name.
February 12.—I rode to the west of Hamah one league, where I saw several reservoirs or cisterns of the shape of a sugarloaf, with openings at the apex large enough to admit a man. These, from numberless observations made at different places, I now supposed to indicate the former sites of houses and villages. They are always found on dry elevated ground, and served as repositories for grain;[41]they are always well coated with cement. Upon the hill, likewise, to the west and south-west of the city, on my return, I saw others; and, at the same spot, there were evident traces of a foss, or ditch: by which I was led to conclude that the city originally occupied this eminence, and was not, as at present, confined to the valley beneath.
Lady Hester had already received visits from mostof the first families of Hamah. Among these was that of Nasýf Pasha, who had once been governor of Damascus, and, from dread of the Porte, had been obliged to fly into Europe, as we have already mentioned when speaking of Hadj Ali, (v. i., p. 298.) Nasýf Pasha was one of the most comely men I ever saw. Having expressed a wish to consult me, I went, on the 13th of February, to see him. His conversation turned chiefly on vaccination, concerning which he was anxious to arrive at a certainty as to its alleged preventive powers. He spoke a few words of Italian: and although he had resided at Rome, Naples, Genoa, and Marseilles, he said, (will it be believed?) that he had seen nothing to induce him to alter, in a single instance, his mode of living, his mode of educating his children, his dress, his furniture, his sentiments, or even his agricultural or horticultural pursuits, if we except that he had raised in his garden a few strawberries, before unknown in that neighbourhood.
Another of the great families of Hamah was that of Abdallah Pasha, of the house of Adam, father of Ahmed Bey: but he lived a very retired life. There was the chieftain of thedelibash, ordeláty, (a kind of cavalry, who wear high cylindrical felt caps, and are known throughout Turkey by this distinction) named Muly Ismaël,[42]who proved, from his rank and influence, of the greatest service to Lady Hester, for whom he conceived a great friendship. He had a corps of delibashin his pay, whom he hired out to the neighbouring pashas as mercenaries. His ordinary residence was at Hamah, where he had a large mansion. Besides the number of wives allowed by the Mahometan law, he had several concubines: and these latter it was his custom to marry to those officers of his household whom he distinguished by his particular favour, imitating, in this, his sovereign and the grandees of the country. He was a very fat man. As he was independent of the magistrates appointed by government, he exercised even the power of life and death over his own people. I was consulted by him several times, and he readily made use of all external applications; but I never could induce him to take any medicine; and even though, upon one occasion, I made the experiment of obliging Giorgio first to swallow a pill before him, (being one out of three I held in a box, and of which the other two were intended for him) his distrust of mankind was not to be overcome, and he refused to take them.
The governor, or motsellem, of Hamah, was a certain Abdallah Bey, the son of a pasha: for Hamah is a city of the third rank, and generally has a distinguished person to rule over it. His predecessor was named Yahyah Bey, who had been carried off prisoner to Damascus, upon a suspicion of malversation, a few days before.[43]He was said to be one of the most artful men in Syria. Relying on his spies and his ownacuteness, he had for a long time, without being in open rebellion, set the Porte and the pasha at defiance. Thus, he had detected seven plots in succession to entrap him: but this time the pasha of Damascus was more clever than he. Abdallah Bey never showed more civility to Lady Hester, Mr. B., or myself than was required by the firmáns of which we were bearers.
On the 15th, I went to the hamlet of Menäýn, about six miles from Hamah, where the inhabitants use the conical reservoirs, spoken of above, as reservoirs for corn. To the south-west of the city, two leagues off, is Kefferbûah, a Christian village. Mr. B. this day came back from an excursion to Museaf.
February 17th, Mahannah, the Emir of the Bedouins, came to Hamah. We were thrown into some alarm this day by an accident which befel M. Beaudin, the interpreter, who tumbled from his horse on his head, and returned home with his face much disfigured by the fall. Mrs. Fry, Lady Hester’s maid, was also dangerously ill of a pleurisy.
There were epidemic fevers, at this time prevailing throughout the city, of which I make no mention here, because foreign to the object of the general reader. I was called in to the wife of the governor, Abdallah Bey, whom I found dying of a consumption: and it may not be useless to observe that I saw almost as many consumptions in the Levant as in England, although it cannot be denied that this disease is peculiarly fatal to our own country.
Selim, the son of Musa, the governor’s secretary, was just recovered from a bilious remittent fever, and we rode out into the country together. We took a south-south-west direction, and at the distance of two miles we came to some grottoes, in and near to which were several females loitering about. These, he told me, were loose women, who (as we have already seen to be the case at Damascus) were required, from their bad morals, to live out of public view.
On the 25th of February the weather changed, and the nightly frosts ceased. There were occasionally some violent squalls of wind, but the sun was very warm.
On the 26th, Monsieur Narsiat, a French traveller who had filled some post in the suite of General Gardanne when on a mission in Persia, this day passed through Hamah, and dined with us. Lady Hester received from Constantinople fresh firmáns to replace those lost in the shipwreck. This evening it rained a little; and, until the 5th of March, there was cloudy or showery weather, with intervals of clear sky and hot sun.
It will be recollected that on the 10th of February I hired a Christian boy, named Antonio, to wait on me. I caught him, one day, filching some dollars out of a money-bag which lay at the top of a chest, the lid of which I had left open. He had secreted two in his girdle; and, when discovered, fell down, kissed my feet, and uttered such pitiable lamentations, that Imerely turned him away, considering myself somewhat to blame for putting temptation in the way of a youth by neglecting to lock the chest. In his stead I was resolved to try a Turkish servant, and I hired one, named Mohammed, for ten paras a day and his food, which was at about the rate of four guineas a year.
On the 7th of March there were great rejoicings to celebrate the recovery of Mecca from the Wahábys. The people of Syria, but more especially at Damascus, and on the high road to it, might naturally feel exhilarated at the prospect of the re-establishment of the pilgrimage to Mecca, by which their interests would be so much benefitted.
On the 9th there was a tremendous hurricane of wind. Istefán and Hadj Ali, two servants, were seized with remittent fevers. On the 11th there was alternate rain and sunshine, and by the 14th the weather seemed settled, fine, and hot. On the 18th we had the burning wind, or sirocco, when the heat was very oppressive.
It was at this period that we heard of the reappearance of the plague in Syria, after a suspension of ten years, or thereabouts. Its introduction was said to be as follows: in the spring it had broken out at Constantinople; about the 1st of February of the next year, a Tartar, arriving at St. Jean d’Acre from Constantinople, died of it there, and a Jew, buying his clothes, communicated the infection to his whole family. This was its first appearance in Syria; but, as the pasha andthe inhabitants took the alarm, several shops were shut up and some families quitted the town. Other precautions, such as placing a sentinel at the Jew’s door, and preventing communication from without, stopped the disease in its birth. At Beyrout, a vessel came to anchor in the roads, having the plague on board. A barber went on board to shave the people, and subsequently died; but, as his house was put under quarantine, and as no goods were permitted to be landed from the vessel, the evil spread no further. Exclusive of these insulated attacks of plague, a malignant fever was raging at Tripoli, Beyrout, Sayda, and St. Jean d’Acre: and, although no diseases of a malignant character had shown themselves where we had been, still there was so much sickness prevailing, that every person of our party, with the exception of myself, had been ill in one way or another.
The time had now come, when, from the settled state of the weather, and from the completion of the necessary arrangements, Lady Hester resolved on departing for Palmyra. The arrangements, whilst actually going on, may be said to have lasted six weeks. Never had an excursion of pleasure a finer object: we were going to contemplate the most finished productions of art. Seldom, too, was witnessed a caravan of a few individuals on a more magnificent scale. Twenty-two camels were to bear the tents, luggage, firewood, rice, flour, tobacco, coffee, sugar, soap, saucepans, spare horse-shoes, and other provisions; eight carried water, andnine corn for the horses. We were to be escorted by a tribe of Bedouins, headed by a prince’s son; and our own cavalcade amounted to twenty-five horsemen. The most trifling want of the meanest servant was provided for, and the best equipped military expedition could not be more complete in all its parts than this. Although Lady Hester might be satisfied, from what she had herself seen, and from the report I had made her of the practicability of the journey, she nevertheless could not doubt that the risk of it would be great, as she carried with her things of value in the eyes of the Arabs, and went totally at the mercy of her conductors.[44]It was known that the Honourable F. North, afterwards Lord Guildford, Mr. Fazakerley, and Mr. Gally Knight had not thought it safe to venture across the Desert to which we were going, and others in the same way had been deterred by the picture that had been drawn of the dangers they would have to encounter. Even those who effected their purpose had experienced many hardships.
But, besides the wish of beholding broken columns and dilapidated temples, Lady Hester may be supposed to have had other motives peculiar to herself, and which could not actuate travellers in general. These columns and temples owed the greatest part of theirmagnificence to one of her own sex, whose talents and whose fate, remotely akin to her own, no doubt might move her sympathy so far as to prompt her to visit the spot which a celebrated woman had governed. She sought the remains of Zenobia’s greatness, as well as the remains of Palmyra.
I must interrupt the narrative for a moment to insert two letters written by Mr. B. and Lady Hester to one of their friends, that the reader may gather from other hands some particulars of the nature of the journey we were about to undertake.
To Lieut.-General Oakes, &c., Malta.
Hamah, March 13, 1813.My dear General,In the month of October last I wrote you a letter from Aleppo, in which I stated that I was then on the eve of my departure to join Lady Hester at Hems, and that we proposed going from thence to Palmyra. Many unforeseen circumstances occurred which rendered it impossible to carry the plan into execution at that moment. From Hems, I went to Damascus, and, after having remained there near a month, I came to this place, where we have passed the winter. As Lady Hester was unwilling to relinquish the journey to Palmyra, we have been occupying ourselves in making the necessary preparations. We do not intend, as at first, taking an escort to guard us against the Arabs, but to put ourselves under their protection. By so doing, we shall gain a double advantage: we shall not only see the ruins of Palmyra, but shall have an opportunity of acquiring some knowledge of the manners and customs of the very curious inhabitants of the Desert. Perhaps you will notthink it very prudent that we should trust ourselves into their power. I am aware that no reliance can be placed on the honour or good faith of so uncivilized a people; but I do not think it is to their interest to be guilty of any act of treachery towards us. We have besides taken every manner of precaution against such an event.Lady Hester has gained the friendship of Ishmael Aga, a great Delibash chief, who has guaranteed our safety. He is one of the most powerful men in Syria, and the Arabs stand in great awe of him. I think, therefore, that you need be under no apprehension of our being detained prisoners in the Desert. Mahannah el Fadel, the chief of all the tribes known by the name of Anizi, comes here to-morrow, in order to escort us. If Lady Hester succeeds in this undertaking, she will at least have the merit of being the first European female who has ever visited this once celebrated city. Who knows but she may prove another Zenobia, and be destined to restore it to its ancient splendour?—perhaps she may form a matrimonial connection with Ebn Seood, the great chief of the Wahabees. He is not represented as a very loveable object; but, making love subservient to ambition, they may unite their arms together, bring about a great revolution both in religion and politics, and shake the throne of the Sultan to its very centre. I wish you would come and assist them with your military counsel. How proud I should feel to learn the art of war under so accomplished a general! I only hope that Lady Hester’s health will be able to resist the fatigue which she will unavoidably be exposed to. It will require, too, great management to keep the Arabs in good order; for, from the specimen that we have already had of them, I am afraid that we shall find them very troublesome. The greater the difficulties, the greater will be our merit in overcoming them. We have spent a most disagreeable winter here: the weather has been extremely severe for this climate.Almost all the fruit-trees in the gardens of Damascus have been destroyed, and a tribe of Arabs, who inhabited the plain, have been overwhelmed, with their wives, children, and flocks, by the snow. The oldest men never recollect so severe a winter. To increase our misfortunes, the plague has come to this country. From the most correct information which we have received, it appears that it has broke out in Acre, Tyre, and Sayda. As there is constant communication, by means of caravans, between the coast and the interior, it will, I am afraid, soon be carried to Damascus, and from thence spread itself over the whole of the country.The Turks take no measures to stop its progress: they are predestinarians, and say, that, as it is the will of God, they must submit to it with patience. I certainly do not admire this resignation; for it never can be the will of God that man should not endeavour to avert an impending evil. Such resignation is the effect of ignorance, and not of piety.Mr. Pisani writes me word that it has made great havoc at Constantinople: upwards of twenty thousand souls have been carried off by it—a most dreadful mortality indeed! I lament the fate of this unhappy country, which suffers enough from the vexatious tyranny of its government, without having this additional scourge from Heaven.As soon as we return from the Desert, we purpose taking refuge at Latakia, as being the most convenient situation in every respect: but if, unfortunately, the plague should come there before we can arrive, in that case we shall only have the alternative of retiring into the mountain, or of shutting ourselves up in Aleppo. Lady Hester dislikes the latter place.[45]She seems to have the same horror against the Franks as against the butter.[46]We must, however, hope for the best, and, like the Turks, submit with patience to the will of God.In a letter which I wrote to you last November from Damascus, I begged that you would do me the honour of accepting half a barrel of wine, which came from the Dardanelles. I had hopes of being able to procure some of the celebrated Vino d’Oro, which is made at Zook, a village in the Keserwan. I gave a commission to a man to prepare a good quantity for me last summer when I passed through that place; but I have heard nothing more of it since that time, and I am afraid that he has forgotten me: I will, however, endeavour to get some before I leave the country.By the last news which we received from Cairo, it appears that Mahomet Ali has been very successful against the Wahabees. He overcame them in a great battle, and has retaken the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. I wish I had an opportunity of gaining some knowledge of the Wahabees. They are a very curious people, and I am inclined to think that, unless thePorte makes some very vigorous efforts to crush them at once, they are destined to bring about a great revolution, both in politics and religion, in the East. They have already extended their conquests with great rapidity over the Nedj country and Yemen. We know, too, that a nation of shepherds have always been looked upon as formidable. With them every man is a soldier; and their very amusements are the images of war. When they take the field, they move about with the whole of the nation. Their force is not diminished by being obliged to leave any of their people behind to cultivate their fields, or to take charge of the women or children. In ancient times, the Scythians and Tartars were feared by the Romans in the very zenith of their glory, and sometimes even overcame their legions.The Turkish empire, which is in so weak and disorganized a state, and which has no regular or disciplined army to oppose them, may at some future period fall an easy prey to these numerous hordes, and the ancient Caliphate may be restored over Egypt, Syria, and Arabia. But I find that I am travelling out of my depth, and I am afraid that your patience is already exhausted. I will, therefore, conclude my letter by requesting that you will believe me,My dear General,Your most sincere friend,M. B.
Hamah, March 13, 1813.
My dear General,
In the month of October last I wrote you a letter from Aleppo, in which I stated that I was then on the eve of my departure to join Lady Hester at Hems, and that we proposed going from thence to Palmyra. Many unforeseen circumstances occurred which rendered it impossible to carry the plan into execution at that moment. From Hems, I went to Damascus, and, after having remained there near a month, I came to this place, where we have passed the winter. As Lady Hester was unwilling to relinquish the journey to Palmyra, we have been occupying ourselves in making the necessary preparations. We do not intend, as at first, taking an escort to guard us against the Arabs, but to put ourselves under their protection. By so doing, we shall gain a double advantage: we shall not only see the ruins of Palmyra, but shall have an opportunity of acquiring some knowledge of the manners and customs of the very curious inhabitants of the Desert. Perhaps you will notthink it very prudent that we should trust ourselves into their power. I am aware that no reliance can be placed on the honour or good faith of so uncivilized a people; but I do not think it is to their interest to be guilty of any act of treachery towards us. We have besides taken every manner of precaution against such an event.
Lady Hester has gained the friendship of Ishmael Aga, a great Delibash chief, who has guaranteed our safety. He is one of the most powerful men in Syria, and the Arabs stand in great awe of him. I think, therefore, that you need be under no apprehension of our being detained prisoners in the Desert. Mahannah el Fadel, the chief of all the tribes known by the name of Anizi, comes here to-morrow, in order to escort us. If Lady Hester succeeds in this undertaking, she will at least have the merit of being the first European female who has ever visited this once celebrated city. Who knows but she may prove another Zenobia, and be destined to restore it to its ancient splendour?—perhaps she may form a matrimonial connection with Ebn Seood, the great chief of the Wahabees. He is not represented as a very loveable object; but, making love subservient to ambition, they may unite their arms together, bring about a great revolution both in religion and politics, and shake the throne of the Sultan to its very centre. I wish you would come and assist them with your military counsel. How proud I should feel to learn the art of war under so accomplished a general! I only hope that Lady Hester’s health will be able to resist the fatigue which she will unavoidably be exposed to. It will require, too, great management to keep the Arabs in good order; for, from the specimen that we have already had of them, I am afraid that we shall find them very troublesome. The greater the difficulties, the greater will be our merit in overcoming them. We have spent a most disagreeable winter here: the weather has been extremely severe for this climate.Almost all the fruit-trees in the gardens of Damascus have been destroyed, and a tribe of Arabs, who inhabited the plain, have been overwhelmed, with their wives, children, and flocks, by the snow. The oldest men never recollect so severe a winter. To increase our misfortunes, the plague has come to this country. From the most correct information which we have received, it appears that it has broke out in Acre, Tyre, and Sayda. As there is constant communication, by means of caravans, between the coast and the interior, it will, I am afraid, soon be carried to Damascus, and from thence spread itself over the whole of the country.
The Turks take no measures to stop its progress: they are predestinarians, and say, that, as it is the will of God, they must submit to it with patience. I certainly do not admire this resignation; for it never can be the will of God that man should not endeavour to avert an impending evil. Such resignation is the effect of ignorance, and not of piety.
Mr. Pisani writes me word that it has made great havoc at Constantinople: upwards of twenty thousand souls have been carried off by it—a most dreadful mortality indeed! I lament the fate of this unhappy country, which suffers enough from the vexatious tyranny of its government, without having this additional scourge from Heaven.
As soon as we return from the Desert, we purpose taking refuge at Latakia, as being the most convenient situation in every respect: but if, unfortunately, the plague should come there before we can arrive, in that case we shall only have the alternative of retiring into the mountain, or of shutting ourselves up in Aleppo. Lady Hester dislikes the latter place.[45]She seems to have the same horror against the Franks as against the butter.[46]We must, however, hope for the best, and, like the Turks, submit with patience to the will of God.
In a letter which I wrote to you last November from Damascus, I begged that you would do me the honour of accepting half a barrel of wine, which came from the Dardanelles. I had hopes of being able to procure some of the celebrated Vino d’Oro, which is made at Zook, a village in the Keserwan. I gave a commission to a man to prepare a good quantity for me last summer when I passed through that place; but I have heard nothing more of it since that time, and I am afraid that he has forgotten me: I will, however, endeavour to get some before I leave the country.
By the last news which we received from Cairo, it appears that Mahomet Ali has been very successful against the Wahabees. He overcame them in a great battle, and has retaken the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. I wish I had an opportunity of gaining some knowledge of the Wahabees. They are a very curious people, and I am inclined to think that, unless thePorte makes some very vigorous efforts to crush them at once, they are destined to bring about a great revolution, both in politics and religion, in the East. They have already extended their conquests with great rapidity over the Nedj country and Yemen. We know, too, that a nation of shepherds have always been looked upon as formidable. With them every man is a soldier; and their very amusements are the images of war. When they take the field, they move about with the whole of the nation. Their force is not diminished by being obliged to leave any of their people behind to cultivate their fields, or to take charge of the women or children. In ancient times, the Scythians and Tartars were feared by the Romans in the very zenith of their glory, and sometimes even overcame their legions.
The Turkish empire, which is in so weak and disorganized a state, and which has no regular or disciplined army to oppose them, may at some future period fall an easy prey to these numerous hordes, and the ancient Caliphate may be restored over Egypt, Syria, and Arabia. But I find that I am travelling out of my depth, and I am afraid that your patience is already exhausted. I will, therefore, conclude my letter by requesting that you will believe me,
My dear General,
Your most sincere friend,
M. B.
Lady Hester Stanhope to Lieut.-General Oakes.
Hamma, March 15th, 1813.My dear General,Just as I was about to despatch the letters which accompany this, a report of the plague being in different towns in Syria decided us to send expressly to ascertain the fact, which is exactly this, that it is spread all along the coast from Alexandriato Tripoli; Latakia is the only port which is free from it at this moment, and it is making its way towards Damascus into the interior. I have so often talked of setting off that I must be actually mounted before I tell you so again. The Arab chief is now upon his road, and I expect him here in three days.Respecting the plague, I feel no personal apprehension, but it is an anxious moment, as I am not alone. The desert has again been all confusion, but at this moment things are pretty quiet. I have great confidence in the Arab chief; the pasha sent an express for him almost at the same moment when mine arrived, and his answer was, “The Queen must be served first.”Mahanna waits my orders, just as Lord Paget with his cavalry would do yours were you to command a great army. Upon receiving them, he was to dispose of the different tribes under his command, in the way he thought most advantageous in case of an enemy; that is to say, not to leave a space, in a straight line, of more than a few hours, without tents. This settled, he was to set off and repair here with my second messenger.The weather now is delightful, but I have suffered much from the cold this winter; it has been so severe as to have killed the camels and cattle which are not used to it, and for thirty years such weather was never known in this country.March 19th.—To-morrow, my dear General, I mount my horse with seventy Arabs, and am off for Palmyra at last. I am so hurried I cannot write all I wish, but the Sir D. Dundas of Syria I have made a conquest of, and he insisted upon speaking to the Arab chiefs, and said he would cut off all their heads if they did not bring me back safe. I owe much to the kindness of this old fellow, who, since I have resided here, hasthought of nothing but how he could serve me. He tells me every day I must not leave off my Turkish clothes.I have heard a few days ago from Captain Hope; he expects to come out again to the Mediterranean, and wishes to fetch me away from Syria if he can. His letter pray enclose to Admiral Hope at the Admiralty, unless you should have heard Hope has sailed; then send it to the fleet with Sir Sydney’s letter. God bless you, my dear General; I hope on my return from the seat of my empire to find letters from England.Yours most sincerely,H. L. S.
Hamma, March 15th, 1813.
My dear General,
Just as I was about to despatch the letters which accompany this, a report of the plague being in different towns in Syria decided us to send expressly to ascertain the fact, which is exactly this, that it is spread all along the coast from Alexandriato Tripoli; Latakia is the only port which is free from it at this moment, and it is making its way towards Damascus into the interior. I have so often talked of setting off that I must be actually mounted before I tell you so again. The Arab chief is now upon his road, and I expect him here in three days.
Respecting the plague, I feel no personal apprehension, but it is an anxious moment, as I am not alone. The desert has again been all confusion, but at this moment things are pretty quiet. I have great confidence in the Arab chief; the pasha sent an express for him almost at the same moment when mine arrived, and his answer was, “The Queen must be served first.”
Mahanna waits my orders, just as Lord Paget with his cavalry would do yours were you to command a great army. Upon receiving them, he was to dispose of the different tribes under his command, in the way he thought most advantageous in case of an enemy; that is to say, not to leave a space, in a straight line, of more than a few hours, without tents. This settled, he was to set off and repair here with my second messenger.
The weather now is delightful, but I have suffered much from the cold this winter; it has been so severe as to have killed the camels and cattle which are not used to it, and for thirty years such weather was never known in this country.
March 19th.—To-morrow, my dear General, I mount my horse with seventy Arabs, and am off for Palmyra at last. I am so hurried I cannot write all I wish, but the Sir D. Dundas of Syria I have made a conquest of, and he insisted upon speaking to the Arab chiefs, and said he would cut off all their heads if they did not bring me back safe. I owe much to the kindness of this old fellow, who, since I have resided here, hasthought of nothing but how he could serve me. He tells me every day I must not leave off my Turkish clothes.
I have heard a few days ago from Captain Hope; he expects to come out again to the Mediterranean, and wishes to fetch me away from Syria if he can. His letter pray enclose to Admiral Hope at the Admiralty, unless you should have heard Hope has sailed; then send it to the fleet with Sir Sydney’s letter. God bless you, my dear General; I hope on my return from the seat of my empire to find letters from England.
Yours most sincerely,
H. L. S.
Some days before this, Mahannah, as was said above, arrived at Hamah. Muly Ismael had warned Lady Hester of the danger there might be in having no check whatever on the Bedouins, who, in spite of their promises, might be led by their natural habits to plunder her. He told her that it was common for them, when they got strangers among them, to beg for every thing they saw, and piece by piece to reduce them to the same state of nakedness as themselves: for, in the early part of his life, having incurred the displeasure of the Porte, he had taken refuge among them, and could speak as to their habits from experience. A conference therefore was held with Mahannah in the presence of the Muly; and, as a price for the escort he was to afford Lady Hester across the Desert, it was settled that he was to receive a sum of money, which was to be deposited in the hands of Muly Ismael; and the deposit was made in Mahannah’spresence. The sum agreed on was 3000 piasters, equal to about £150, of which 1000 piasters were advanced at starting, and the remainder was to be paid on our safe return.
The 20th March was fixed for our departure. Each of the party was well mounted, furnished with a leather water-bottle, and a small pair of saddle-wallets to contain provisions. Every one of us carried, secreted about his person, a few sequins, in case of losing company, or of otherwise being separated from the caravan. All were in the costume of the Bedouins, and Mrs. Fry, Lady Hester’s maid, was, like her mistress, dressed in man’s clothes.
About ten in the morning we set off. Spectators lined the road for half a league out of the town; and some janissaries, whom the governor had sent to clear the way, had much ado to keep off the crowd. Of the reflecting part we had commiseration for our supposed folly and prayers for our safe return; many considering that we were going to the certainty of being plundered, if not to our destruction. By degrees we left them behind, and entered upon plains where the solitude that prevailed formed a striking contrast with the scene we had just quitted. Lady Hester was followed by the Bedouin chieftains, who composed her body-guard. Their long lances, plumed with ostrich feathers; their curling hair hanging in ringlets over their cheeks and neck; their gay-coloured keffiyahs, drawn over their mouths like vizors; theirlean mares; every thing about them was novel and calculated to set the fancy of all of us to work, as to where we were going, and what would be the issue of our journey—excepting myself, who had already trod the same ground. As we entered the Desert, those who before had not seen so vast a waste behind them looked as people may be observed to do, embarking on the sea for the first time in their lives, and losing sight of land.
We continued along the right bank of the Orontes for about two hours and a half, until we arrived at a hamlet called Genàn. Here we halted for the night, and were lodged in the cottages. I had scarcely dismounted, when I was led to one of them, where, on a rug, lay a dying man. The bystanders expected I should give him some restorative that would reprieve him from the hands of death; but, whilst endeavouring to make them understand that the case was desperate, the man expired, and I was suffered to depart. In about an hour, four or five women, with their faces whitened, their hair dishevelled, and with sabres in their hands, began, in an open space in the centre of the hamlet, a funereal dance accompanied by occasional howls. The men did not join in it, and seemed very indifferent about it.[47]The corpse wassoon afterwards interred, but I did not see it put into the ground.
There were so many rats in the cottage where Lady Hester slept, that her maid became exceedingly terrified, and, quitting the room, sat in the open air during the greater part of the night.
We resumed our march on the morrow, the twenty-first, and followed, through a rich meadow, the course of a rivulet which empties itself into the Orontes at Genàn. In about seven hours we arrived at an encampment of the small tribe of Beni Hez, where also were a few tents of the Melhem, Mahannah’s family tribe. These had been ordered here for the purpose of affording a station for us.
The next day we filled our skins with good water from the rivulet, and departed. The ruins of Salamyah[48]were on our left, and we were near to the ground where M. Lascaris and I had passed the first night on my former journey. The escort was now augmented by some Arabs from the Beni Hez. Nasar was unremitting in his attention to Lady Hester’s commands; but, in all the rest of the caravan, wherever he appeared, much disputing prevailed. In defiance of all interference and of all contracts, the Bedouins had begun to pilfer from the moment of quitting Genàn. Most of the servants were in clothes quite new; and, if one of them happened to throw off a cloak, Nasar would lay holdof it, and put it on his own shoulders. In vain the owner would beg for it back again. Nasar would pretend to be angry, and ask who dared refuse him anything? In an hour’s time he would make a present of the same cloak to one of his own people: and then, in a few hours more, by fair or foul means, would obtain something from somebody else; not to keep it himself, but to give it away to some one of his people who had none.
This day’s journey brought us to the wells of Keffiyah, four or five in number, where Mahannah, with his household tents, was encamped. These wells, which, from the days of Abraham, seem to have existed in the Desert, supply a brackish water, which necessity alone can render palatable. We gave it to our horses, in order to preserve the sweet water for our own drinking.
We rested here one day. Lady Hester received the visits and, we may say, the homage of the chief shaykhs, who came in from all quarters. To all of these presents were made, generally of articles of dress. Her ladyship took for the sentry of her tent a tall black slave, named Guntar, a fellow of reputed courage and daring, and whose scowling looks and tremendous battle-axe (his only weapon) almost excited terror in those whom he was destined to protect.
The Anizy were at this time at war with the Faydân; a tribe that generally pastured on the bordersof the Euphrates. The Faydân were known to have some strong parties abroad, and it was probable, that, if they received information of our route, they would attack us. Much attention was therefore paid to the order of our march with the view of avoiding a surprise. Soon after daybreak, on the 24th, the tents being struck and the camels loaded, Lady Hester and her guard, with Nasar, took the lead, whilst Mr. B. and myself and the armed servants covered the rear of the caravan. Scouts were sent out ahead of us to reconnoitre; and, although sometimes we lost sight of them for hours, and there were no beaten paths, they were still sure to rejoin us.
To beguile the way, the Bedouin horsemen performed sham fights. Throwing off the keffiyas, which covered their heads, they let their long hair fly in the wind, which gave them a very wild appearance; then, resting their lances, and setting up a war-whoop, they would select an opponent and ride furiously at him. He would avoid the attack, get the upper hand by a short turn, and then become the assailant: and this I believe to be generally the way in which Arabs fight. When they had tired themselves, two bards, who were of the party, recited pieces of poetry; which, though not understood by us, evidently had a great effect on the Bedouins.
Having passed some wells, close by the ruins of a village, called Jarryat Theap,[49]we halted atMenghiazy, a ruined village, at the edge of the Beláz, a mountainous chain, and just where a forest of turpentine trees begins. We found an encampment of Bedouins, whose shaykh, named Mnyf, was introduced to us as a brave chieftain: and here we passed the night.
The following morning we resumed our journey. The Beláz seems to consist of two parallel chains of low mountains, with deep valleys between them, separated here and there by a transverse chain. We had surmounted the first chain, and, through the Menkûra, or ravine, were descending into the valley, when we were gratified with the sight of an entire tribe of Arabs on their march in search of pasture. This is one of the most pleasing spectacles that we met with in the Desert. The line of march might consist of one thousand camels, some of which were winding down the slope of the opposite mountain, and the rest filing in different directions along the valley, loaded with tents, women, and utensils: whilst the whole valley was absolutely covered with the young or unloaded camels, which followed their respective masters.
These Bedouins were called the Sebàh, and were tributaries of Mahannah’s. The men were very meagre, and unlike any race of beings I had ever seen; and their dress was as ragged as that of gipsies. They wore their hair long, and in curls. The women rode in a species of saddle, shaped like the scull of a ram with the horns on, which I have described before. To the horns were appended gaudy ornaments in coloured worsted. The faces of the women were tatooed. Most of the mares were without saddles, and were ridden with nothing but a hair rope put on as a halter. They stared in astonishment at our cavalcade, and, when they had learned who Lady Hester was, they necessarily thought it still more wonderful.
Her ladyship chose this moment for resting herself, and a small tent was fixed for her on a rising ground that commanded a view of the whole valley, where she reposed for about an hour. Having quitted the Beláz mountain, we entered an open country, and, at a considerable distance before us, we beheld two conical mounts with flattened tops close to each other, at the foot of which we encamped.
It was Lady Hester’s custom, as soon as the bustle of encamping was over, and things were a little quiet, to go to the tent which was set apart for meals, conversation, &c.; where, when we were together, she would summon to her those of the Arabs with whom she wished to converse. Hitherto, Nasar had always obeyed this summons with great alacrity: but to-day,in answer, he sent back word “that Lady Hester might be the daughter of a vizir, but he, too, was the son of a prince, and was not disposed at that moment to quit his tent: if she wanted him, she, or her interpreter, might come to him.” It was in vain to be angry where anger could avail nothing. The Bedouins now began to buz about that Nasar was very moody; that they hoped this boded no mischief; that it would be a sad thing if he should order us back; and a hundred expressions calculated to breed alarm among us. As far as regarded the servants, it had its effect: but that was not Nasar’s object. Either as a frolic, or as an experiment to ascertain whether, by false alarms, Lady Hester would be induced to offer him an increased price to secure her safety, his aim was against her; but he failed altogether; for she showed no symptom of fear: and, although she could not make the reply which would have been so natural in a European’s mouth, but which in a Mahometan’s, by whom respect to females is not held as a duty, has no sense, namely, that his rudeness towards a woman was inexcusable; still she treated him with complete indifference all that evening; and orders were given that all persons should be on the alert against anything that might happen in the night. Nasar, however, remained quiet, but prepared another stratagem for the ensuing encampment, which did not leave us quite so tranquil.
We departed early in the morning, over an undulating country, stony and with scanty herbage. Afterthree hours, we arrived at Gebel el Abiad, or the White Mountain, but at the south-west extremity, where the chain, from lofty mountains, had dwindled into hills only. As we entered upon them, we found some wells, and a neat burying-ground, with ruins of a building. This place is called Wady el Jar. Three hours more brought us to the edge of the hills on the other side, where it was resolved to encamp for the night. Fearing the cottage destined for Lady Hester at Palmyra had not been emptied of its tenants, or would not be ready for her, I resolved to ride on to that place immediately, accompanied by Hassan, my former guide, and another Bedouin, an officer of Mahannah’s, whose duty it would be to put everything in order: but, as it was now four o’clock in the afternoon, and we had a plain of five leagues to pass, having already come seven, no time was to be lost; and, without baiting our horses, we started. I have, in my former journey, described this plain, called the Mezah, as destitute of vegetation, barren, and frightful. Upon it there was a solitary tree only, about five miles from the spot where we quitted our party: this, and the stems of a few bulbous plants, were the only objects on it.
I was mounted on the white horse which the pasha of Acre had given to Lady Hester, and which she subsequently presented to me. He was a noble animal, and had been much admired by the Bedouins. There was now an occasion of trying him, and of comparinghis strength with that of the mare on which the Bedouin was mounted: which poor animal seemed entirely skin and bone, with her hoofs grown to an enormous length, so that the point of them turned up.
We had not passed half the plain when night came on, and my companions began to quicken their pace. I was obliged to follow. By degrees they got into a gallop and pressed onward. I kept up with them for some time, until I found that my horse grew sluggish. The night was so dark that sometimes I thought I had lost sight of them, and I feared they would outride me, and leave me to find my way on a plain where there was a certainty of going astray. I hallooed to them, but they would not pull up, and I found that I had no resource but in the use of my stirrups, whose sharp corners I drove repeatedly into my horse’s sides: yet I am certain, had I been alone, no force of blows could have compelled him to go on: it was only the noise of the horses before him, or the sight of them, which induced him to proceed. In the Valley of the Tombs they pulled up, and there told me they could not pay attention to my calls: for our safety depended on our swiftness over those dreary wilds, where we might have been stopped and plundered. We arrived at last at the ruins, and, traversing them to the Temple, went strait to the house where I had lodged before.
Immediately the shaykh was sent for, and I informed him of Lady Hester’s approach. On the followingmorning, the cottages, being three in number, at the north-west angle of the Temple, built against the seven pillars still standing, were cleared out, swept, and left with their bare walls. They were very rudely constructed of unshapen stones, cemented by mud: the floors were of yellow clay, and the walls within of the same. A flight of steps went up to the first story, where was an airy room that looked over the ruins, and this I set apart for Lady Hester’s chamber. I sat and smoked my pipe throughout the morning, in company with the shaykh, explaining to him what things we should stand in need of; but I observed that there was a vast bustle through the village of men, women, and girls, running in all directions; and it was not until afterwards that I learned what all this meant.
When I had left Lady Hester, in whom Nasar’s conduct on the preceding evening had caused some diminution in the confidence which had previously been reposed in him, the conversation after dinner naturally turned upon what should be done in case he was guilty of any treachery. In the midst of the conference, Pierre came in to say that some of the Bedouin mares had been stolen, and that it was supposed there were some of the Faydân Arabs lurking about the encampment. Soon after, other servants came running to say that enemies had been seen; and that all the Bedouins, whose mares were yet safe, were mounting, and going to reconnoitre; and, in fact,much noise of horses and much bustle were heard.
It is necessary to observe that, when encamped, each Bedouin usually ties the halter of his mare to her hind-leg, and then turns her loose to graze, excepting when an enemy is supposed to be near. To have a mare stray in the night was therefore no extraordinary thing; and at first it was conjectured that this was another of Nasar’s tricks to breed alarm. But when it was evident that he and his people had armed and mounted, and had ridden off, Mr. B. and Lady Hester knew not what to think of it. They immediately gave orders that every person should take his pistols and musket, with which all were provided; and they stationed them at different points; she herself, as I was afterwards assured by Mr. B., remaining as calm as if in a ball-room. Some readers will say, “And what was there to frighten her?” But let them rest assured that the stoutest heart might tremble under the conjoined circumstances of being in a Desert, among freebooters, treble in number to one’s own people, and charged with luggage most tempting in their eyes. In about twenty minutes the horsemen returned, and Nasar among them. They pretended that there had been a small party of the enemy, which had fled.
It was afterwards conjectured that Nasar had only withdrawn a few hundred yards from the encampment, and there waited to discover what effect the alarmwould have on Lady Hester, in order to act as he might think expedient; but, finding that he should have some trouble to do mischief, he probably judged it better to leave it alone.
About twelve o’clock, I rode by myself out of Palmyra to meet Lady Hester. I traversed the Valley of the Tombs, and, at the extremity, I ascended to the summit of a small mountain on the south side of the valley, overlooking the plain, some miles in length, through which runs the aqueduct of Abu el Fewàrez. The day was hot and fine. I was surprised, on casting my eyes in the direction in which Lady Hester was to come, to see an appearance of a great cloud of dust. It was at first too far for me to distinguish objects, but, after waiting about an hour, I could plainly observe horsemen riding to and fro, and the smoke of firearms, of which sometimes I could hear the report. I knew not what to imagine; but my mind misgave me, and I thought that Lady Hester and her party were attacked by the enemy. As they approached nearer, I could distinguish more plainly the same skirmishing, but I thought I could descry pretty clearly that they advanced steadily, and that no dead or wounded were left by the way. I descended into the plain to meet them, and my apprehensions did not subside until I joined them; I then understood the reason of the skirmishing and of all the bustle that had taken place at Palmyra in the morning.
The inhabitants had resolved on welcoming Lady Hester in the best manner they could, and had gone out in a body to meet her. There might be altogether fifty men on foot, who, naked down to the waist, without shoes or stockings, and covered with a sort of antique petticoat, ran by the side of as many horsemen, galloping in all directions, with rude kettle-drums beating and colours flying. The tanned skins of the men on foot formed a curious contrast with the cowry shells, or blackamoor’s teeth, studded on the two belts which crossed their shoulders, and to which were suspended their powder-flasks and cartouch-boxes. These Palmyrenes carry matchlocks, slung across their backs, and are very skilful in the use of them. They are huntsmen by profession, and they are often engaged in petty warfare with the Bedouins, for the protection of their caravans.
For the amusement of Lady Hester and Mr. B., they displayed before them a mock attack and defence of a caravan. Each party, anxious to distinguish itself in the eyes of the English lady, fought with a pretended fury that once or twice might almost have been thought real. The men on foot exhibited on the person of a horseman the mode of stripping for plunder, and no valet de chambre could undress his master more expeditiously.
On entering the Valley of the Tombs, Lady Hester’s attention was absorbed in viewing the wonders around her, and the combatants desisted. Butanother sight, prepared by the Palmyrenes, here awaited her. In order to increase the effect which ruins cause on those who enter them for the first time, the guides led us up through the long colonnade, which extends four thousand feet in length from north-west to south-east, in a line with the gate of the temple. This colonnade is terminated by a triumphal arch. The shaft of each pillar, to the right and left, at about the height of six feet from the ground, has a projecting pedestal, called in architecture a console, under several of which is a Greek or Palmyrene inscription; and upon each there once stood a statue, of which at present no vestige remains excepting the marks of the cramp-iron for the feet. What was our surprise to see, as we rode up the avenue, and just as the triumphal arch came in sight, that several beautiful girls (selected, as we afterwards learned, from the age of twelve to sixteen) had been placed on these very pedestals, in the most graceful postures, and with garlands in their hands; their elegant shapes being but slightly concealed by a single loose robe, girded at the waist with a zone, and a white crape veil covering their heads. On each side of the arch other girls, no less lovely, stood by threes, whilst a row of six was ranged across the gate of the arch, with thyrsi in their hands. Whilst Lady Hester advanced, these living statues remained immoveable on their pedestals; but when she had passed they leaped on the ground, and joined in a dance by her side. Onreaching the triumphal arch, the whole in groups, together with men and girls intermixed, danced around her. Here some bearded elders chanted verses in her praise, and all the spectators joined in chorus. The sight was truly interesting, and I have seldom seen one that moved my feelings more. Lady Hester herself seemed to partake of the emotions to which her presence in this remote spot had given rise. Nor was the wonder of the Palmyrenes less than our own. They beheld with amazement a woman, who had ventured thousands of miles from her own country, and had now crossed a waste where hunger and thirst were only a part of the evils to be dreaded. The procession advanced, after a pause, to the gate of the Temple, being by this time increased by the addition of every man, woman, and child, in the village. At length she reached the cottage which had been prepared for her.
The next day her ladyship gave to repose, but Mr. B. devoted it to walking over the ruins. He had brought with him Wood and Dawkins’s plates. Fifty years had made little difference in Palmyra, excepting that a column or two, then standing, were now fallen down. The keystone of the triumphal arch likewise was loose, and seemed as if it would fall. In looking about among the fragments which lie towards the north-west extremity of the colonnade, I found a portion of a statue, in alto relievo, represented as sitting in a chair. With the exception ofthis, of the heads on a ceiling in the sanctuary and on some of the sepulchres, and of a small bas-relief of a naked woman reclining on a sofa, which is on one of the walls of an old mosque about five hundred feet from the Temple, and which is not mentioned by Wood and Dawkins, I know of no other figures that have been discovered in or about Palmyra.
March the 29th, Lady Hester mounted her horse, and went to see the ruins. She knew the report that was current of her being in search after treasures, and took an ingenious mode of curing the shaykh of the village of such a belief. She told him she would have him go with her; and she, being on horseback, led him, who was on foot, such a round, that the poor man, little curious about places in which he had lived all his life, begged her at last to excuse him, as he could walk no farther.
To examine the interior of the sanctuaries which compose the centre building of the Temple, and where are two beautiful ceilings of the zodiac, and several bas-reliefs, torches were made; and by the help of these we were enabled to see them with a stronger light than I suppose any other travellers had done; for there is no window whatever to let in the day, and only a low hole to crawl in by.
On the 30th of March, as there was to be a wedding on the morrow, and it is customary for a Mahometan bride to go to the bath the day before her marriage, the hot spring of Ephca was used for that purpose.Lady Hester went to see the washing: but, of course, gentlemen could not be present. More than a dozen women, together with the bride, stripped and entered the grotto, and then came swimming and floundering out in a string. It cost them but little trouble to strip; for they wore only one covering, which was a shift of coquelicot coloured silk, with white diamond spots like India handkerchiefs; for this, as being next the skin, may as well be called a shift as a robe. It is confined by a girdle, fastened by large silver clasps. It was said, in the former journey, that women generally wore rings through the cartilage of the nose: but we now discovered that it was an ornament affected by married women only.
How long we should have remained at Palmyra I cannot tell, had not an unforeseen event somewhat hurried our departure. Four Bedouins of the tribe of the Faydân had come, for some sinister purpose, into the environs of Palmyra, where they lay concealed. The want of water obliged them to leave their hiding-place to drink at the spring. It happened that four of our Bedouins had strayed that way upon the look-out, and, spying the men, pursued and took them. In what way four of one tribe were better than four of another I did not learn. It was discovered that they were Faydân,[50]and Nasar ordered them into confinement. In the night two of them eluded the vigilance of their guard, and escaped.When Nasar heard of it, he raved like a madman, and could with difficulty be prevented from taking the life of the shaykh of Palmyra who had suffered them to escape. Nasar then told Lady Hester what had happened. He said that these men, no doubt, would hasten back to their tribe, and give information of her presence in Palmyra, and of the rich booty that was to be made. He therefore begged of her to consent to return to Hamah immediately, signifying that if a party stronger than their own should, by forced marches, overtake us, we must inevitably fall into their hands. Lady Hester, in consequence of this representation, fixed on the following day: but I shrewdly suspected the whole to be a trick invented by Nasar for the purpose of getting her away. She saw deeper into it, perhaps, than I could do, but did not tell her thoughts: perhaps Nasar did not think the deposit in Muly Ismaël’s hands quite safe, and felt uneasy until he had it in his own possession.
Lady Hester was curious to see the Faydân whilst they were yet in custody. They said to her, “Be not alarmed lest our people should come against you. Your name has already reached the ears of the Emir of the Faydân; and, wherever his subjects meet you, you will be respected. It is our enemies, the Anizys, we seek; but you we set upon our heads”—(an expression much used among the Arabs to denote an absolute devotion to the service of another). We did not, however, think it proper to risk the safety ofNasar and his people, even though our own was not in danger, and therefore continued in the resolution of departing.
Lady Hester’s name was cut out in a conspicuous place as a memorial of her visit to future travellers. At night there was much merriment among the servants. They had selected an open space in the ruins of the Temple, where, seated round a blazing fire, they amused themselves with dancing to the kettle-drum, smoking, and telling stories—and, having as much coffee as they could drink, they remained until the night was far advanced. All the men in the village assembled with them; but the women stood aloof, never daring to mix promiscuously with the other sex.
In order to obtain antiquities in coins and intaglios, I gave out that every engraved stone or coin that was brought to me, of whatever description it might be, should be paid at the rate of 10 paras, about 2d.; and in this way I spent several piasters, but without any success.