CHAPTER IV.

Journey from Tripoli to Abra—Monastery of Dayr Natûr—Grave of Mr. Cotter—Ruins of Enfeh—Batrûn—Renegado priest—Remarks on apostates—Gebayl, the ancient Byblus—Mulberry plantations—Castle—Public-houses—Nahr Ibrahim, the river Adonis—Taberjeh—Ejectment of cottagers in rain and cold—Nahr el Kelb, the ancient river Lycus—Inscriptions—Shuifád—Visit of Lady Hester to the Syt Habùs—Capugi Bashi sent to Lady Hester—Mbârak, the groom—His dexterity—Nebby Yunez, the tomb of Jonah—Arrival at Mar Elias—Precautions adopted against the Capugi Bashi.

Instead of taking the direct road, we proceeded along the sea-shore. About two hours’ march from Tripoli we passed the village of Calamûn, the ancient Calamos: inhabited entirely by sherýfs, or descendants of the Prophet, Mahomet. This was the birthplace of Berber: and he was said to have paid but one visit to it since his elevation to his present greatness, although he often spoke of his humble birth and former occupations: how far he would have liked to hear the same remarks from other people’s mouths is not clear. At Calamûn we turned towards the west, and arrived at Dayr Natûr, where it was proposed to halt.

Dayr Natûr was a monastery of plain and rude construction, with a few small vaulted cells: the one wherein my bed was placed would but just contain it. There was a well of rain water in the middle of the yard, and stabling for horses and mules. The church had a few pictures of very ordinary merit: two monks and a räys (or superior)[22]served it. The monastery stood on a point of land projecting into the sea, and forming one of the horns of the bay of Tripoli. It was at this place that Mr. Cotter, an Englishman, in the month of July, 1813, fell a victim to the climate, having, with his companion, Mr. Davison, and their servant, been seized with a bilious fever, which carried him off, but spared the other two. I visited his grave; and, although I knew him not, dropped over it a tear of sympathy for his fate; which, in the name of fellow-countryman and from our common perils in a foreign land, my melancholy feelings made me readily deplore.

As Lady Hester was somewhat indisposed, we remained here during the 17th, and I took this opportunity of accompanying Mâlem Girius Yanny, who was still with us, to a place called Enfeh, one hour’s ride from the monastery, due south-west. The path was by the sea-side, through a rugged rocky soil admitting of no cultivation, except on one or two patches which were manured for tobacco.

Enfeh[23]was now but a hamlet: formerly the same site had been covered by a large city, probably the ancient Trieris. There was a church still standing, which had been lately repaired, seemingly of Venetian construction: and, on a tongue of land about a quarter of a mile long, at the very extreme point, were to be distinctly made out the ruins of a castle. This tongue of land was cut across, at its root, by a ditch made through the solid rock: the place of the drawbridge was yet visible, and two small chambers likewise hewn out of the rock were yet perfect. One we found with the door blocked up by stones. On pushing them down, it proved to be a storeroom for salt, collected from tanks and hollows close by. The neighbouring rocks were full of excavations, presenting the same appearances as those at Latakia and at other parts of the coast of Syria, having been no doubt sarcophagi.

Mâlem Girius Yanny told me that at the back of Enfeh there was a village called Amyûn, with other similar chambers. All these, most probably, were anterior in date to the castle. We returned to Dayr Natûr, where he finally took his leave of us, and returned to Tripoli.

The next day we left Dayr Natûr, and, keeping by the sea-side, passed, at the distance of three quartersof an hour, Enfeh, seen yesterday, and a spring called Muggr. The soil, thus far, had been rude and rocky, and, where there was mould, had been red: but hereabouts it changed to black, and the mountain on our left receded, so as to leave a small level, as far as the hamlet of Herry, an hour and a half further. Here finished the district of Cûrah, which is a low mountain south of Tripoli, and celebrated for its tobacco, which has the properties of scintillating, like the Gebely tobacco (or tobacco of Mount Lebanon). At Herry began mulberry-tree plantations, for the nourishment of silkworms.

Having rested an hour at Herry, we ascended the Mesàlah, which terminates toward the sea in a promontory, mentioned above under the name of Ras el Shakâ. This promontory, the Theoprosopon, is considered by Strabo as the termination of Mount Lebanon: and so it is, inasmuch as it is but a western branch at the end of that chain, which, however, appears more properly to finish at that part, where, having attained its greatest height, and being covered with perpetual snow, it abruptly sinks into low hills a few leagues to the north of the Cedars, near Calât Hussn. The soil on the Mesàlah is argillaceous, and, as there had been rain lately, was very slippery; so that the mules and asses were continually falling. In wet weather, this hill, as we were told, was considered by the carriers the most difficult road along the country. The ascent and descent took up about an hour and a half: after which we traversed a narrow valley inwhich stood a castle, perched on a pointed rock in the centre, and at the foot of which ran a river, called Nahr el Joze, a stream of some depth, but narrow. We arrived in one hour more at Botrûn, the ancient Botrus.

Botrûn is a seaport town, used only by small fishing-boats, as it does not afford a safe anchorage for large vessels. It was in the hands of the emir of the Drûzes, and was governed by a bailiff deputed by him. There were few Turkish families in it: the Christians were Maronites and Greeks. There are several excavated tombs; and close to the town the rock shows the marks of the chisel in every direction. Botrûn is a town of the highest antiquity, said to have been built by a king of Tyre.[24]

I was visited in the evening by two persons, both of whom had apostatized to the Mahometan religion, and afterwards recanted. One was a Greek priest, who became a follower of Mahomet for the sake of a sum of money, subscribed by the Turks of Antioch upon his pretended conversion. Having undergone the requisite ceremony necessary on induction to the Mahometan faith, he pocketed the money, fled with it, and recanted. He was now living despised and in wretchedness: nor could he quit the emir’s territory lest he should be seized and impaled. The other, a native of Leghorn, had a more pardonable weakness to excuse his conduct. His name was Ducci, and he gave me the outline of his history as follows. He became acquainted, early in life, with Colonel Capper,an Englishman, who had been sent on some mission to Suez, and whom he accompanied to England: where he remained more than a twelvemonth, and learned the language. By the colonel’s interest he was employed to go overland to India with despatches for the East India Company. There he entered into the Company’s service, in a regiment called “the Europeans,” when Sir T. Rumbold was governor of Bombay, succeeded afterwards by Sir Eyre Coote. He fought in seven engagements against Hyder Ali, when he obtained leave to return to England. In his way overland he stopped at Aleppo, where he married Miss Hayes, the English consul’s daughter: in consequence of which connexion he was made English agent at Latakia, to forward government and other despatches to and from India.

After a lapse of some years, he formed a connexion with one of his maid servants, who became pregnant by him: when, to avoid the reproaches of his wife, he turned Mahometan, obliged his maid servant to do the same, and then married her[25]according to the Turkish law. Afterwards, feeling remorse for what he had done, he recanted: but, dreading lest the Turks should lay hands on him, he fled to the mountain of the Drûzes, the asylum of many others who seek to hide their shame, or dread the retributive hand of justice. His first wife’s relations made many attemptsto induce him to quit his illicit commerce with his maid servant, but in vain.

When I saw him, he was in great distress, and was keeping a small shop to maintain his family, now increased by the addition of three children: yet Signor Ducci had once been the owner of the fine house which we occupied at Latakia. Lady Hester gave him such consolation as she could, and twenty rubías.[26]We passed the evening together. His manners were gentlemanlike; he spoke English remarkably well, and I had reason to think that, for two or three hours at least, in conversation about India and England, he forgot his misfortunes, and was comparatively happy.

The history of Signor Ducci and that of the other apostate prove that the lot of such persons is not enviable. Indeed, the Turks, as far as I could learn, never overlook a recantation: but, as a set-off to this, they are never very severe with their new converts, if they will only preserve the external forms of their religion; but such as are really sincere in their conversion they will assist on every occasion. Thus, at Jaffa, as will be mentioned hereafter, I saw a venerable shaykh, who, from a Christian wallet-maker, had become a reverend ulemá among the Mahometans. The Scotch private soldier, who, under the name of Yahyah, became physician to the son of MohammedAli, certainly gained by the change; and, for the general indulgence which converts to Mahometanism are allowed, the whole troop of French Mamelukes in Egypt were standing examples; for they had nothing of Turks about them but the name. To say how far a man may be excused for changing his religion, and whether, upon any grounds, he can be excused at all, is a matter upon which we do not pretend to speak. Pearce, who resided in Abyssinia, seems to have acted on motives of expediency. The groom of Captain H., who purchased horses for the English army, was probably a man of no religion: he became a Mahometan for the sake of gain, and would have made himself pagan for the same reason. Burckhardt had a nobler object in view in his simulation—the advancement of knowledge: yet even his motives have not escaped censure.

We quitted Botrûn on the 19th; and, still keeping the sea-coast, arrived, after five hours’ travelling, at Gebayl. Through the whole of this distance Mount Lebanon came down to the water’s edge, scarcely leaving a mule-path between its foot and the surf of the sea. About two hours before reaching Gebayl, the soil is rocky beyond any part of the coast we had yet passed; but still it was covered with mulberry grounds. The cultivation of these grounds is lucrative, no doubt, but they are disagreeable objects to the eye, as the trees look like so many tall posts; being every year stripped entirely of their branches.

Gebayl was anciently called Byblus.[27]It is now a walled town, containing within its circuit perhaps 300 houses, half of which were at this time in ruins. It has a castle, apparently the work of the Saracens or Crusaders, for Gebayl was taken by them. Over one of the gates was an heraldic shield, with a motto or inscription beneath, but too disfigured and too high up to be legible. The castle is square, with ramparts, and a citadel with double walls. It was repaired by the Emir Abd-el-dyn. Hassan, the last emir but one, resided here, and the two sons of Emir Yusef, successor to Hassan, had their eyes put out here by order of their uncle, the Emir Beshýr, who dispossessed them of the sovereignty. It had one piece of ordnance broken in half. There were also two standards preserved here—white, with a green band in the middle. The walls of the town consist of curtains and bastions. The port is very small, capable of sheltering coasting boats only. By means of a mole it might, as could almost all the ports of Syria, be made fit for large vessels. There is also a church, which I went to see, but found nothing remarkable in it. At a subsequent period, the emir of the Drûzes presented Lady Hester with a figure of Isis on her knees, holding before her, and between her hands, analtar, on which was a scarabæus. This perfect piece of sculpture was presented to the late Lord Lonsdale, and is now in England. It was found at Gebayl, by some workmen whilst turning up the soil. Adonis had temples in the city, but I know not of any Egyptian worship having existed here.

STATUE FOUND AT GEBAYL.

Gebayl had a motsellem, but his power hardly exceeded that of an English constable. He was a Turk, which, considering that the place belonged to the emir of the Drûzes, and that almost all the inhabitants were Christians, was somewhat extraordinary; but the presence of a Turkish governor was in some degree necessary, as many Capugi Bashis and emissaries of the Porte were continually passing this road. The rocks round the town were every where full of excavatedsepulchres; and, in Abulfeda’s time, Gebayl had a port, a bazar, and a mosque.

We remained here the 20th and 21st of January, on account of the weather, which was exceedingly tempestuous: on the 22nd we again moved, although the rain fell in torrents. The road was still uneven and stony. From Tripoli, Lady Hester had adopted the plan of breaking the day’s journey by an hour’s rest at some spot halfway; and, for this purpose, it was generally necessary to cause a peasant’s cabin to be emptied and swept: but the fleas sometimes swarmed to such a degree, that it was impossible to get rid of them. On these occasions the practice of the servant employed on this duty was to go into the middle of the room, bare his leg, and watch how many fleas jumped on him from the floor. Sometimes they might be seen like iron filings drawn to a magnet, blackening the skin. This day the resting-place was on the banks of Nahr Ibrahim, the ancient river Adonis, in a small public-house, close by the bridge. These public-houses, for no more precise name can be given them, generally consisted of small sheds, the walls of which were bare rough stones or mud, no better materials being used in their construction. Adjoining was another large shed, to afford shelter for beasts of burden. Corn, straw, coffee, and tobacco, were sold in them as well as wine and brandy, this being in the territory of the emir of the Drûzes, where Christians might do with impunity what they darednot do in other provinces of the Ottoman Empire; nor is there any road, that I recollect, where these places of entertainment are so numerous as on the coast road from Tripoli to Beyrout.

Nahr Ibrahim is two hours’ distance from Gebayl. Its stream was, at this time, about as large and as deep as the river Cherwell, where it empties itself into the Isis at Oxford; but we were now in the very height of the rainy season; the stream, therefore, would probably be very much less in summer. It had over it a light elegant bridge of three arches.

One mile and a half more brought us to Taberjeh,[28]where it was intended to pass the night. Whilst Lady Hester was resting at the bridge, I rode forward, and was told by the servant that the cottagers, with tears in their eyes, begged that they might not be turned out of doors in the wet and cold. This hamlet consisted of a few cottages, and, as usual, we were furnished with an order to select the most convenient forour lodging. Upon these occasions the tenants were sent for the night to the houses of their friends and relations. But we were so many in number, and the cottages so few, that, the rain falling in torrents, a removal seemed an act of cruelty; this, however, I was reluctantly obliged to enforce. In one cottage a young woman had lain-in five days only, but was up, and, though she did not seem to consider her case peculiarly hard, an exemption was made in her favour: thus, by degrees, and from the hope of a handsome recompense, the cottages were vacated, and contentment was restored. So incessant was the rain, that, for this night, it was fortunate we were not sleeping under tents instead of mud roofs.

Taberjeh is a fishing hamlet by the sea-side, close to a small creek, in which were anchored two or three fishing-boats.

On the 23d we loaded our mules, and continued our journey over a rocky soil, and along a most difficult road. In three quarters of an hour we came to Nahr Mahameltayn, over which was a bridge, the work of the ancients. The river was scarcely knee-deep, and, like many others which obtain that name in sultry countries, was, properly speaking, no more than a watercourse. After Mahameltayn, the soil became sandy. Here began the district of Keserwàn (falsely spelt by many authors Castervan), the most populous, it is said, of all Lebanon. The villages certainly stood very thick, with hamlets and cottages at small intervalsbetween them. The monasteries, also, with their belfries, denoted the liberty which the Christians here enjoyed, a bell being in Turkey a distinctive emblem of their religion, which (as prohibited by the Mahometans) they take more pride in erecting than they would an hospital.

Gûnyh (pronounced Jewny), an hour and a half from Taberjeh, is a hamlet by the sea-side, with a small pavilion or pleasure-house to which the emir sometimes resorted. Half an hour farther is a small rocky cape. Passing this, the strand is again sandy, during one hour, as far as Nahr el Kelb, the ancient Lycus, a river somewhat larger than Nahr Ibrahim, and with a bridge over it the precise counterpart of the other, but of a later date. Here commenced the district of Metten. Ascending a rocky cape, which is close to the river on the south side, several inscriptions were seen on the faces of the rock, which had been smoothed for the purpose; but, as it was nearly dark when we passed, I had no time to read or try to read them, and they are very fully described in other books of travel. They are said to relate to the road,[29]which bears marks of having been anciently cut, with great labour, in the solid rock; for in the middle are still seen steps, eight or ten feet broad, each step jagged, to prevent beasts of burden from slipping. There seemed also to have been a causeway on each side, and a parapet on the side next the sea.

After crossing the promontory we again found ourselves on the sandy strand; and, at the distance of one hour and a half from the river Kelb, diverging from the sea-side somewhat into the mountain, we stopped at a village called Kunet Elias, in a small Maronite monastery. The shafts of two granite pillars lay at the entrance; but I am not aware what ancient edifice occupied this spot.

On the 24th, we quitted Kunet Elias, and, in one hour and three quarters, crossed the bridge of Beyrout,[30]distant from the city more than a league. The river, which runs beneath it, is the ancient Magoras.[31]Numerous mulberry plantations in every direction denoted the principal product of the district. To cross the bridge we had been led considerably to the W. of our direct road; and, when over it, we inclined to the S.E., and, leaving Beyrout on our right, in three hours, reached Shuifád, a large burgh on the first rise of Mount Lebanon.

Lady Hester’s purpose in going thither was tovisit the Syt Habûs,[32]a celebrated Drûze lady, sprung from a noble family, who had in her own hands the administration of several villages, which she farmed from the Shaykh Beshýr;—a singular thing in this country, where the women seldom take upon themselves or have any other duties but such as are domestic. Shuifád, where she resided, was a populous burgh, consisting of three large parishes, separated from each other by deep water ravines, worn by the mountain torrents descending through the burgh. It is distant from Beyrout one league, and commands a fine view both of the forest of olive trees which covered the plains of Beyrout, and of the sea beyond.

If the Syt Habûs was an object of curiosity to Lady Hester, the latter was not less so to the Syt. But their meeting did not take place until the 26th, as her ladyship was much fatigued, and wished to enjoy a little repose. The habitation assigned to her in the first instance was so indifferent that her health would have suffered unless a better could be provided: accordingly we were desired to choose one wherever we liked.

It was at this place that Sir S. Smith gave the meeting to the Emir Beshýr (in the year in which the French retreated from Acre), upon occasion of some festivities which the emir made in his honour. With Sir S. landed a corps of marines, who performed themilitary exercise of the musket, to the great amusement of the spectators, some of whom spoke to me of that event as a very remarkable one; for at that period disciplined troops had not been seen on Mount Lebanon.

In the evening I paid a visit to the Emir Yunez, brother-in-law to Syt Habûs, a talkative old man, but apparently well read in Arabic literature. He showed me some common English pocket-handkerchiefs, whereon battles and figures were printed, which he seemed highly to value. There were present the Emirs Hyder, Emin, and Ali, who were all dressed in gaudy silks.

On the 26th of January, M. Beaudin rode down to Beyrout; and, in the afternoon, returned with the news that a Capugi Bashi was at that town on his road to Sayda, who, it was reported, was going to arrest Lady Hester, and carry her prisoner to Constantinople.

My servant, Giovanni, who had been sent with M. B., coming back late, I questioned him on the reason of his delay, when, to excuse himself, he said, as he was riding through the streets, his mule waspressedby a Tartar, to carry the luggage of a Capugi Bashi, going to Sayda from Constantinople. It is usual for all persons travelling on the service of government to have a Tartar with them, who presses horses and mules for the service of his masters as they go along. The muleteer, with Giovanni, deplored the lot of hispoor animal, and entreated him to liberate it: for the Tartars have no compassion, and greatly maltreat the animals furnished them. With tears in his eyes, he begged him to go to the governor’s, where, he assured him, the bare mention of my lady’s name would be sufficient. Giovanni accordingly went, and, on mentioning Lady Hester’s name, was immediately questioned by the great Turk himself (who was sitting with the governor), as to where the English lady could be found, for he had urgent business with her.

As this story agreed with the report which M. B. had brought, I lost no time in telling Lady Hester; but she knew perfectly well what his coming meant; and, having long expected him, was not disturbed by the report. Immediately, although the evening was far advanced, a dragoman was sent for, to write a letter to the Capugi Bashi, appointing a meeting at Abrah; for letter-writing is made a craft in the East, and few are competent to it. Hence comes the name ofkatib, or scribe, as an office in the suite of all governors and great Turks, which is generally filled by Christians. Such a one, indeed, is expected to make himself acquainted with all the forms, official and ceremonial, used in writing letters, petitions, &c.

This event abridged Lady Hester’s stay at Shuifád. She had seen Syt Habûs in the morning, and found her to be a money-getting woman, with her keys by her side; clever, perhaps, but with nothing very lady-likeabout her. The interview took place in the presence of the Shaykh Beshýr, and I acted as interpreter: for, by this time, I understood Arabic, and could express myself tolerably on ordinary subjects.

On the 27th we left Shuifád, and proceeded towards Abrah. I rode forward with a servant, to find a resting-place for her ladyship, half way on the day’s journey. This man, one of the walking grooms, was named Mbàrak, a native of Bisra, the son of the curate, of which circumstance he was exceedingly proud. As he knew this part of the country perfectly, he pointed out to me a retired cottage, in the midst of a mulberry plantation, very proper for our purpose. It was found to be empty, and the door locked with one of the wooden locks used very generally[33]throughout Syria. But he gave me a proof of his cleverness, by cutting a twig of a particular shape, by means of which he picked the lock, and we entered. Suspecting that this invasion of private property would not escape notice, I waited in the orchard, smoking my pipe, to see the issue of it; when a man came running from a village on the slope of the mountain, whence he had seen us enter his grounds. A promise, however, of half a crown for the use of his cottage pacified him; the more particularly as I told him we had an order from the emir for free quarters. I then rode on to NebbyYunez,[34]a mosque built over the tomb of Jonas, him of Nineveh, said by the Moslems to have been vomited up, and also, after his death, to have been buried here. At this place the arrangements for the night were somewhat difficult; for the rooms, though good, were not sufficient to hold the whole party; and there were, besides, a few pilgrims seeking lodging, many of whom, for the sake of devotion, occasionally resorted thither. The water from the well of the mosque was brackish and unpalatable: but we caused a supply to be brought from Berdja, a village close by, from which likewise fuel was sent to us.

Lady Hester did not arrive; and, somewhat alarmed, I rode back to meet her. She had been delayed by the river Damûr, the ancient Tamyras, which was to be forded; and, not then having a bridge, this was no easy matter on asses. There is, also, great danger from giddiness to those who, in crossing a rapid stream, look down on it. Nevertheless, Werdy, one of the maid servants, a native of Acre, was so intrepid in dangers of this sort, that she often put the very men to shame. I forded the river seven times on this occasion, in assisting Lady Hester and the maids.

On the 28th, we resumed our journey. As themountain rises close to the sea-shore, the road is on the sands. We arrived in four hours at Mar Elias. I hastened to my cottage, which I now looked on as my home. The peasantry came, and crowded round my door. Their felicitations, though unpolished, seemed to have too much sincerity not to please me: and if, as I have grown older, I have since thought that interest might have had some part in them, I still recollect with pleasure their expressions of welcome at my return.

We were scarcely settled, when a messenger came to inform Lady Hester that the Zâym[35]or Capugi Bashi was arrived at Sayda, and wished to see her at the governor’s; meaning that a Moslem of such consideration as a Capugi Bashi never could demean himself so far as to go to a Christian’s house. But Lady Hester sent such an answer, that the Capugi Bashi, who best knew his own affairs, suddenly ordered horses; and our dinner was just over, when a great bustle was heard in the courtyard, with the trampling of horses’ feet and the voices of the servants. The Capugi Bashi was soon afterwards announced. Not yet apprized of the precise natureof his mission, I must confess I felt some inclination to believe, with the people, that his arrival portended no good. M. Beaudin, the secretary, was of the same opinion; and when, to my inquiry of Lady Hester whether she apprehended any mischief from his presence, her answer was intentionally equivocal, I communicated my suspicions to M. Beaudin, and we agreed to put our pistols in our girdles, fresh primed, determined that, if we saw the bow-string dangling from under the Capugi’s robe, at least no use should be made of it whilst we were there.

To account for these seemingly unnecessary precautions, I ought to premise that, in Turkey, a Capugi Bashi never comes into the provinces, unless for some affair of strangling, beheading, confiscation, or imprisonment. These are the missions upon which the emissaries of a secret court are sent; and their presence is always dreaded, as it is seldom known where the blow will fall, and as their presence rarely portends any good. Various were the whispers which went about: some thought that he was sent to arrest Lady Hester, others to order her out of the country; some to give her money for secret service to the Porte. But his real object will be known in the succeeding chapter.

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