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TRAVELS

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LADY HESTER. STANHOPE; mi- /fai

FORMING THE COMPLETION

HER MEMOIRS.

NARRATED BY

HER PHYSICIAN.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. III.

LONDON:

HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER,

GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.

1846.

<^-

^5-7if

Frederick Shoberi, Junior, Printer to His Royal Highness Prince Alliert,
51, Rupert Street, Haymarliet, London.

CONTENTS

THE THIRD VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

Preparations for a journey to Balbec — Precautions against
the plague — Departure from Meshmushy — Heavy attire —
The author loses his road — Cheerless night — Druze hos-
pitality— Baruk — Bur Elias — Village of Malaka — Cottages
in the Bka — Hard dumplings — Grumbling servants — Misery
of villages in the territory of Balbec — Mode of encampment
— Arrival at Balbec ...... 1

CHAPTER n.

Residence at Balbec — Visit to the governor, the Emir
Jahjah — Wretchedness of Balbec — Bath Scene — Encamp-
ment of Lady Hester at Ras el Ayn — Sepulchral caverns —
Greek bishop of Balbec — Catholic priest — Climate — Depar-
ture from Balbec — Any Ayty — Hurricane — Bsharry — Mi-
neral springs — Dress of women — Village of Ehden, conjectured
by some to be the site of Paradise — Resort of native Christians

V CONTENTS.

— Arrival of Selim, son of Malem Musa Koblan, of Hamah —
The Cedars of Lebanon — Maronite monastery of Mar Antanius
— Lady Hester enters it in spite of the monks — Arrival at
Tripoli 15

CHAPTER IIL

Residence at Tripoli — The governor Mustafa Aga — l^ady
Hester's visit to him — Extraordinary civilities paid by her to
Selim — Town and port of Tripoli — Greek bishop — Library —
Paintings in the church — Unwholesome climate — The author's
journey to the convent of Dayr Hamyra — Illness of jNIuly
Ismael's Khasnadar — Miraculous cures performed at the
convent — The Khasnadar's wife — The monks — Castle of El
Hussn — Extensive view — Arrival of Selim at the monastery —
His character — Return of the author to Tripoli — Lady Hester's
plan of an association of literary men and artists — Departure
for Mar Elias 41

CHAPTER IV.

Journey from Tripoli to Abra — Monastery of Dayr Natur
— Grave of Mr. Cotter — Ruins of Enfeh — Batrun — Rene-
gade 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 — Shuifad — Visit of Lady Hester to the
Syt Habus — Capugi Bashi sent to Lady Hester — Mbarak, the
groom — His dexterity — Nebby Yunez, the tomb of Jonah —
Arrival at Mar Elias — Precautions adopted against the Capugi
Bashi . . . . .^ . . . .64

CHAPTER V.

Probability of the existence of Hidden Treasures in the
East — Manuscript pretending to reveal such Treasures,

CONTENTS. V

brought to Lady Hester — She obtains firmans from the
Porte authorizing her to make researches — She sends to
Haroah for Malem Musa — Her letter to the Pasha of Acre —
Her plans for raising money — Journey of the Author to
Damascus — His Visit to Ahmed Bey — Ambergris — Damascus
sabres — Horse Bazar — Horse Dealing and Horse Stealing —
M. Beaudin's night journey to Tyre — His horse stolen —
Detection and punishment of the thieves — Return of the
Author to Mar Elias — His dangerous situation in a snow-storm
— Interior of a Druze Cottage . . • . .86

CHAPTER VI.

Journey of Lady Hester from Mar Elias to Ascalon —
Bussa — Acre — She prevails on Mr. Catafago to accompany
her to Ascalon — Illness of Ali Pasha — Professional visits of the
Author — Abdallah Bey, the Pasha's son — Extraordinary
honours paid to Lady Hester — Her departure from Acre —
Tremendous storm — M. Loustaunau ; his prophecies — His
history — Don Tomaso Coschich arrives with despatches from
Sir Sydney Smith to Lady Hester — Substance of them —
Presents sent to the care of Lady Hester by Sir Sydney
— His character in the East — Cffisarea — Um Khaled —
Village of Menzel — Jaffa — Mohammed Aga, the governor
ordered to accompany Lady Hester — His character — Arrival
at Ascalon . . . . . . . .116

CHAPTER VII.

VI CONTENTS.

Mohammed Aga a fatalist — Return to Jaffa — Derwish Mus-
tafa Aga and Lady Hester's black female slave — Patients —
Mohammed Bey; his story — Return of Lady Hester's
servant Ibrahim from England — Khurby, or the Ruins —
Remains near that spot — Return to Acre — Altercation with
muleteers — Excavations at Sayda — Reflexions on researches
for hidden treasures . . . . . .152

CHAPTER Vin.

Visit of the Author to the Maronite convent in the village
of Joon — Abyssinian man and woman — Black horses — Lady
Hester fixes herself at Meshmushy — Solitary wigwam — The
Author wishes to return to England — He sets out for Egypt
— Destruction of Tyre, not so complete as travellers repre-
sent— A self-taught lithotomist and oculist — Seaweeds used
for dyeing — Embarkation for Egypt in a vessel laden with
wood — Impalement — Passengers on board — Cyprus — Revolt
in Gebel Nablus — Frequency of insurrections there — Arrival
at Rosetta — Smoking during Ramazan — The Author is joined
by Burckhardt, or shaykh Ibrahim — Mutiny of troops at Cairo
— Departure by land for Alexandria — Lake Edko — Stay
in Alexandria — Coasting voyage to Damietta — Burckhardt
not considered as a Turk — Foreigners betrayed by their
speech . . . . . . . .188

CHAPTER IX.

M. Surur, English agent at Damietta — Patients — Excur-
sion to Lake Menzaleh — Mataryah — Melikyn — Pounds for
cattle — Ruins of San — Broken pottery — Conjectures on its
original use — Tennys — Dybeh — Botarga fishery — Fowling —
Running deemed indecorous in a Turk — Menzaleh — Haunted
house — Disdain of pedestrian travellers — False door — Depar-
ture for Syria — ^Vessel, cargo, and crew — Charms to raise the
wind— Arrival at Acre, Tyre, and Abra . . 223

CONTENTS. vil

CHAPTER X.

Disappearance of Colonel Boutin, a French traveller —
Efforts of Lady Hester Stanhope, for investigating his fate —
Mission of Abd el Rasak from Mahannah to Lady Hester —
Manners and character of the Bedouins — Story of Mustafa
Aga, Khasnadar of Muly Ismael, and his wife — Departure of
Abd el Rasak and his companions . . . 254

CHAPTER XI.

Quarrel between a Druze and a Metoualy — Buying of
medals — Imposition practised on Lady Hester — Punishment of
the offender — Illness and death of the Greek patriarch — Fune-
ral ceremonies — Election of a new patriarch — Cottage in the
gardens of Sayda — Long drought — Flocks of birds — Hydro-
phobia— Excursion of the Author to Garyfy — Shems ed Dyn
and his father — Purchase of wine — Decline of commerce in the
Levant — Malem Dubany and his daughters — Extortion of
Eastern rulers — Arrival of IVIiss "Williams — Arrival of Mr.
Bankes — He copies and removes fresco paintings — Failure of
his first attempt to reach Palmyra — Visit of Mr. Buckingham
— Locusts — Lady Hester takes a voyage to Antioch . 267

CHAPTER XII.

Vlll CONTENTS.

Ansary— Motives of Lady Hester's voyage to Antioch — Visit of
M.Regnault, French consul at Tripoli — M. Loustaunau and his
predictions — History of Michael Ayda — Return of Giorgio from
England, with Mr. N., as successor to the Author — Last
visit of the latter to Acre — The governor of Smyrna put
to death — Hawary soldiers — Visit to the Emir Beshyr 310

CHAPTER Xni.

Departure of the Author for Europe — Arrival at Larnaka,
in Cyprus — Hospitality of M. Vondiziano, British vice-consul
— Tours in the island — Leucosia — The Greek archbishop —
City walls — Lepers — Cytherea — Monastery of St. Chrysostom
— Famagusta — Return to Larnaka — Carnival amusements —
Houses — Amour of Signer Baldo — Murder of Prince George
Morusi — History of Signor Brunoni — Cypriote women not re-
markable for beauty — Superstitious notions — The Greek arch-
bishop and his dragoman Giorgaki — Insurrection of Turks —
How quelled by Cara Pasha — Pusillanimity of the consuls —
Thunder-storm — Lenten diet — Malignant fevers — Excursion
in the interior — Idalia — Leucosia — M. Brens — Robbery in the
governor's palace — Proceedings against the suspected — Into-
lerance towards freemasons . . .359

CHAPTER XIV.

Departure from Cyprus, and voyage to Marseilles — Dirti-
ness of the French ship and her crew — Fare on board — Cruel
treatment of a political prisoner — Angora greyhound — Arrival
at Pomegue, the quarantine anchorage of Marseilles . 416

Additional Note . . . , . . 423

TKAVELS

LADY HESTER STANHOPE.

CHAPTER I.

Preparations for a journey to Balbec — Precautions against
the plague — Departure from Meshmushy — Heavy attire —
The author loses his road — Cheerless night — Druze hos-
pitality— Baruk — Bur Elias — Village of Malaka — Cottages
in the Bka — Hard dumplings— Grumbling servants — Misery
of villages in the territory of Balbec — Mode of encampment
— Arrival at Balbec.

A journey to Balbec had been projected for this
autumn ; but obstacles of one kind or another had
caused it to be delayed until the season was very far
advanced. At length, however, every preparation
being made, we set out on the 18th of October.
During the whole of the year, the plague had not
entirely ceased at Damascus, and in several villages of
the Bka, a plain which we should have to traverse
from one extremity to the other. Lady Hester was
strongly impressed with the dread of exposure to its

VOL. III. B

2 TRAVELS OF

contagion' from the carelessness of some of the people ;
to prevent which the strictest precautions were taken,
and the observance of these considerably diminished
the pleasure which such a tour would otherwise have
aflforded. We travelled with tents to prevent the
necessity of sleeping in villages ; and no fire was ever
to be lighted unless where the country supplied fuel
without having recourse to the inhabitants for it,
which was equivalent to a total interdict ; as, with
the exception of a few orchards, there was not a tree
through the whole plain. To supersede the necessity
of cooking or buying provisions, a kind of minced
meat dumplings was made, enough for the consumption
of a week. These, and bread-cakes baked for the
same purpose, were to be eaten indifferently by all.
We carried with us kitchen utensils, tents, beds,
coffee, rice, hiirgol or malted wheat, soap, candles, oil,
wine, vinegar, vermicelli, macaroni, cheese, tea and
sugar, syrups for sherbet, and fuel for Lady Hester,
whose sex and delicate health necessarily prevented
her fi'om submitting to the privations to which men
could willingly subject themselves. It was necessaiy
likewise to be provided with cords, nails, hammers,
axes, hoes, and some other things of this sort ; so
that we had wherewithal to colonize as well as to
travel. For if, as it was reported, the plague still
raged at Balbec, the impossibility of obtaining any-
thing from the town would expose us, if not thus fur-

1 A few years afterwards she became more of a fatalist. See
" Memoirs of Lady Hester Stanhope."

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 3

nislicd, to great inconveniences. All this baggage
loaded fifteen mules. The party consisted of Lady
Hester, the dragoman, myself, eight men-servants,
four women and a black female slave, making alto-
gether fifteen ; and we all rode on asses.

The extraordinary resolution of performing a long
and difficult journey on asses was not a mere fancy in
Lady Hester : it arose from a deep feeling of indigna-
tion at the neglected state in which she found herself
left by her friends and her relations, more especi-
ally by the then Marquis of B********* ; and she
thought, by assuming the mode of travelling common
only to the poorest pilgrims who traverse Syria on
their way to Jerusalem, to direct the attention of the
consuls and merchants of the towns through which she
passed to her deserted condition, imagining, no doubt,
that a report of it would reach England, and call
down animadversions on those from whom she had a
right to claim support and attention to her comforts.

Lady Hester descended the mountain, and I was
preparing to accompany her, when I was detained by
a dispute among the muleteers, who declared that the
fifteen mules could not carry the baggage. Litending
to compel them to it, I desired my servant to lead my
ass down the mountain, saying I would follow ; but,
after some time, I found that another mule was indeed
required, and that there was not one to be had. Im-
patient of the delay, I mounted a horse belonging to
the owner of the house, and rode to the monastery to

4 TRAVELS OF

get one. The monks refused to lend or hire out their
mules ; and, seeing no alternative, I desired the lug-
gage thus left should be taken care of, and hastened
on foot to overtake the party ; but more than an hour
had elapsed, and they were far before me. Descend-
ing into the plain on the north-east side, I continued
along the banks of the Evvely, passing the granite
columns, of which mention has already been made,
over the bridge . called Greser Behannyn. The road
continued for a small distance farther in the ravine,
through which the river runs north and south, when
it turned to the right up an almost precipitous moun-
tain, which overhangs the river, and the indentations
and strata of which correspond exactly with those on
the opposite side. I here became much fatigued
with walking and with the exertions I had made
during the morning, and I sat down to rest myself;
for I had on me a riding dress, with which, in Turkey,
it is scarcely possible to walk ; as the breeches are
very large. I had likewise a brace of pistols in my
girdle, the weight of which was annoying. Whilst
sitting by the road-side, some Druzes, coming in an
opposite direction, passed me, and I questioned them
whether the English lady had been seen by them,
and they pointed out the road by which she had gone.
I then offered them an unusual price if they would
let me have one of their mules to convey me to where
she was ; but they averred it to be impossible, on ac-
count of their business, which took them another way.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 5

Renewing my journey, and ascending in a zigzag
direction, I reached the head of a deep ravine, into
which fell a cascade from the mountain above : I
then resumed a northerly course, and made as much
haste as my heavy attire would allow me. On the
left, but low down and out of hearing, was the river
Ewely, and on my right very high mountains, whilst
my path was, although stony and rugged, along level
ground. In this way I walked till the sun was de-
clining behind the mountains, when I saw the lights
of a village, but at some distance before me, which I
guessed to be Makhtarah, the residence of the Shaykh
Beshyr, as I knew I had been tending towards it.
The path soon became somewhat intricate, in con-
sequence of olive, fig, and mulberry-tree plantations,
which were numerous hereabout. It now grew dark,
and I overtook a man driving an ass, who, as far as I
could discern, seemed somewhat afraid of me and my
pistols, whilst I felt equally so of him ; I therefore
turned out of the path, apprehensive, if I asked the
way, that he might guess my situation, and find means
to rob me ; for, in the hurry of the moment, I had
not loaded my pistols, and my cartridges were with
my servant.

The lights were still before me. I knew that the
place of our encampment would be marked by blazing
meshals (formed by fixing an iron-hooped cylinder on
a pole, and supplying it continually with tarred
canvas), and I thought that, at some distance on the

6 TRAVELS OF

left and beyond tlie village, I observed this very blaze :
I therefore left Makhturah on my right, and inclined
towards them. After I had walked about half an
hour, the blaze suddenly disappeared ; by degrees, the
path, which, from the darkness of the night was now
no longer perceptible, became so uncertain, that I was
almost fearful to advance, when, on a sudden, I found
myself on a descent and within hearing of the sound
of a torrent. Stepping with caution and difficulty,
I came to a bridge over a rushing water, which I
judged to be the river Ewely. I crossed it, but was
no sooner over than I lost all traces of the path, and
found my farther advance opposed by a precipice.

Here my courage and my strength failed me. I
judged it to be three hours after sunset, and the
darkness was not relieved in the abyss into which I
had descended by even the glimmering of a star. The
jackalls howled around me ; and whoever has heard
their night-cry, so like what we may suppose would
be the screams of a child whom robbers are in the act
of murdering, will not wonder if I disliked the necessity
of sleeping in this wild place. I was not sure that
there were not leopards near the spot where I was ;
and the jackalls alone, although they seldom or never
attack a man who is awake and moving, might yet
fall on me when asleep, and do me great injury before
I could rise and defend myself. However, all these
reflections were of no avail against extreme weariness.
I lay down on the ground, fell asleep, and in the

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 7

morning, soon after daylight and not before, awoke
refreshed and unhurt.

I looked round me, and perceived that I was in a
deep ravine ; and, as I observed the path by which
I had descended to the river, I blessed Providence that
had guided my steps ; for it was dangerous even in
open day. About two hundred yards up the stream
was a water-mill. I went to it, and, knocking at the
door, found an old Druze who invited me in ; but my
apprehensions of the plague caused me to refuse ; and
I asked him where I was, told him how I had passed
the night, and inquired if he had seen a large caravan
go by on tlie preceding day. The bridge, I learned,
was called Geser Gedayda.

Having satisfied myself on these points, he directed
me up the mountain to a village, where, on my arrival,
I met another Druze, who was just driving his oxen
to plough. I asked him for something to eat, and he
immediately turned back, and led me to his own door.
His wife was yet in bed. He roused her, and said he had
brought a foreigner for a visitor, desiring her to set out
the table. But, on expressing my apprehensions of
the plague, and on refusing to cross the threshold, she
put out her homely fare on a straw tray.' It consisted
of cheese soaked in oil, a bunch of hung grapes, and
some bad bread-cakes. I had now fasted for twenty -
two hours, and was not disposed to quarrel about
' These trays are made in continuous circles, like the top of
a beehive, and are very common in Syria.

8 TRAVELS OP

trifles ; so she placed it on a stone, and on her re-
tiring I advanced, and ate with my fingers. My
looks, dress, &c., were all examined by the woman
and a neighbour ; but they both scrupulously kept
their faces covered.

Having satisfied my hunger, the man desired his
son and daughter, children of six or seven years old,
to show me on my way ; but when I produced all the
money I happened to have about me, which was seven
paras (about two-pence), and offered it in payment for
my breakfast, his civility relaxed, and he sufiered me
to set off" alone. In the village of Gedaydy, for so this
was called, the inhabitants are Druzes.

As soon as I was out of the village, I came on a
country barren and stony ; hardly was there a tree to
be seen. An hour''s walk brought me to a Druze
village, called Ayu-wy-Zayn. Here, as there was no
plague, I hired an ass and guide to carry me onward.
Soon after we entered among very extensive vineyards,
which continued as far as Baruk, where it will be re-
collected we halted for a night two years before.

Lady Hester had pitched the tents on the very
same spot where she had encamped at that time. She
had been, during the night, apprehensive that some
accident had happened to detain me, and my absence
had been productive likewise of still worse consequences.
For as, in the necessity there was that our provisions
should last us until we reached Balbec, the keys could
not be entrusted to the servants, I had them in my

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 9

pocket. Upon the arrival, therefore, of the party to
the restin<^-place, which they did not reach until eleven
at night, no provisions could be had ; and after so long
a day's journey (the dragoman, who had turned off
the road to go to Makhtarah to bear Lady Hester's
compliments to the Shaykh Beshyr, not being pre-
sent), the mule-drivers and servants broke open the
provision hampers, and unnecessary waste ensued,
and caused us to be afterwards reduced to great straits.

My pedestrian exertion brought on an intolerable
erysipelatous heat and itching in both my feet, which
nothing could appease but sitting with my naked feet
in the stream, just where it issued quite cold from the
rock, — a dangerous mode of cure, only to be justified by
the necessity I was under of pursuing our journey on
the morrow. We passed the whole of the 19th at
this spot, while Pierre went back to recover the lug-
gage which had been left at Meshmushy.

On the 20th, we ascended the last ridge of Lebanon,
and, when at the summit, enjoyed that fine prospect
which has been described in a former place. We
descended into the Bka, and passed the hamlet of
Aaney, a few miserable cottages, whither the husband-
men of Baruk go in the summer to plough and sow,
and, having finished these operations, quit them for
their homes until harvest time.

One mile farther we planted our tents. Here we
remained two nights, waiting for the return of M.
Beaudin ; but, not being come back on the 22d of Octo-

10 TRAVELS OF

ber, in the morning, the tents were struck. We took
a northerly direction, along the plain close to the foot
of Mount Lebanon, and passed some small villages
part on our left in the mountain, and part on our right
in the plain.

After a march of about three leagues we came to
Bur Elias, a small village with a castle of modern
construction overhanging it. It was watered by a
rivulet, which ran with a smart stream through it.
This stream was made to irrigate several well cultivated
gardens and orchards, which so much embellished the
spot, that, until our arrival at Balbec, we saw no place
to compare with it. There were also the remains
of an old mosque, with other evidences that the village
was once more populous than at present. In a rock
on the south-west side are several ancient caverns,
Avhich served as tombs, with sarcophagi hewn in the
stone ; and, at one part, on the face of a small preci-
pice, chiselled smooth for the purpose, was a square
portion of ten or fifteen feet, cut deep enough to admit
of a layer of stucco or marble with which it seemed to
have been coated, having in its centre, towards the
bottom, three recesses, which had probably been filled
up with votive tablets, or basso-relievos, there not
being depth enough for statues.

Leaving Bur Elias, we came next to Malaka, a large
village of two hundred houses, where terminates w-hat
is called the district of Bka,^ and begins the Balbec

^ There are said to be about forty-four villages in the Bka.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 11

territory, which is, however, but a continuation of the
same plain. This village, although so large, is but of
two years"' date, and was transferred from about three
hundred yards off to its present situation, by the emir
of the Druzes, who, having taken, by force of arms,
from the Emir Jahjah, the governor of Balbec, the
village of Khurby, which was just beyond the line of
demarcation of his domain, destroyed it, and made the
inhabitants build Malaka.

The houses in the Bka were not of stone, as on the
mountain, but of mud bricks dried in the sun. They
were low, and had tlie appearance of much misery on
the outside, althougii, as we were told, very comfort-
able within. This we had no opportunity of ascertain-
ing, as the plague reigned about us, and it was by no
means prudent to approach, much less to enter, any
habitations. The dress of the people was different
from that of the mountaineers. No horns were now to
be seen on the heads of the women, who likewise wore
red aprons, which were universally seen towards the
Desert, but never near the sea-coast. The Palma
Christi was cultivated very generally for the sake of
the oil, which is used for lamjjs. As harvest was now
over, we could not see what were the particular pro-
ductions of the plain ; it seemed, however, highly fer-
tile, being of that fine snuff-coloured mould which, at
Hamah and elsewhere, had been pointed out to us as
most useful to the husbandman for agricultural pur-
poses.

12 TRAVELS OF

We encamped near Khurby, which yet had some
cottages among its ruined walls. Our water was drawn
from a spring which, from its vicinity to an ancient
sepulchre assigned by tradition to the patriarch Noah,
is called Ayn Nuah. His body is said to occupy a
length of forty cubits, and his feet, for want of room,
to hang down in the well.

Our appearance here and elsewhere in the Bka
excited much curiosity. Without guards from the
emir or pasha, demanding provisions nowhere, and
boldly encamping in the open plain away from every
habitation, we perhaps awed the very people who
would have attacked others marching with more cau-
tion. For the Bka is entirely open to the incursions
of the Arabs, who overrun the tract of country be-
tween Balbec and Hems, where no mountain inter-
poses to obstruct them, although many maps falsely
lay one down.

The cuby (or dumplings), which have been men-
tioned in setting out on this journey, were now be-
come so dry and hard that the servants and muleteers
refused to eat them. I felt that they were justified
in their refusal ; for I, who, for the sake of example,
was obliged to enforce the order for their consumption by
eating them myself, never suffered more from bad food
than on this occasion : but no representations could
make Lady Hester abate one tittle of her resolution.
The maids cried, the men grumbled and rebelled, and
the fatigue of keeping order among Christians, Druzes,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 1 3

and Mahometans, was more than I had hitherto ex-
perienced: yet no one fell ill. This day Pierre joined
us here, and brought with him the luggage which had
been left behind.

On the 23d we continued our route. The villages
in the territory of Balbec were much less numerous,
and much more miserable, than those in the Bka.
Such as were on the side of the mountain were built
higher up than they had been, as if the inhabitants
feared to be exposed to depredations from the plain.
No gardens or orchards were to be seen. After five
hours' march we arrived at a Tel, where was a fine
rivulet, which, running from the mountain, turned a
mill wheel, and then flowed towards the river in the
centre of the plain, the ancient Leontes or Litanus,
called the Balbec river by our muleteers, and which
becomes the Casraia before it empties itself into the
sea. Here we encamped, in a still more dangerous
situation than hitherto.

I had established a fixed plan of encampment, with
regular distances assigned for each tent, which was ad-
hered to every night ; but here the tents were brought
closer than usual. I was not at ease in my bed, and,
awaking M. Beaudin, the interpreter, he and myself
patrolled the ground alternately through the night.
The moon shone bright, and the scene wore a lonely
appearance. Fortunately we had to deal with a wo-
man whose composure of mind was never ruffled by

14 TRAVELS OF

real danger, and whose sleep was never broken by the
apprehension of false.

The Letanus passed very near the Tel, from which
circumstance it is evident that the slope of Anti- Leba-
non extends across two-thirds of the plain. At this
season of the year, and in this spot, a man might leap
over the river. Higher up, one day ""s journey Avest of
Balbec, there is, according to Abulfeda, (p. 155) a
pool or lake, reedy and stagnant, where this river
takes its source, and the bed of the stream had many
reeds in it where we saw it.

On the 24th we crossed it, and at noon reached
Balbec. The luxuriant scenery which the imagina-
tion readily lent to the city and ruins as seen at a
distance, intermixed with the deep green foliage of
trees, vanished on a nearer approach. The gardens
near the ruins were no more than orchards, sown, in
the intervals between the trees, with maize, turnips,
and other vegetables : nor did the Temple of the Sun
impress us with all its grandeur until close to it.
The inequalities of the soil in a manner buried the
ruins, and their magnificence, at the first glance, seemed,
like that of Palmyra, to be less than, on a farther exa-
mination, it proved to be.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 15

CHAPTER II.

Residence at Balbec — Visit to the governor, the Emir
Jahjah — Wretchedness of Balbec — Bath Scene — Encamp-
ment of Lady Hester at Has el Ayn — Sepulchral caverns —
Greek bishop of Balbec — Catholic priest — Climate — Depar-
ture from Balbec — Ayn Ayty — Hurricane — Bsharry — ]Mi-
neral springs — Dress of women — Village ofEbden, conjectured
by some to be the site of Paradise — Resort of native Christians
— Arrival of Selim, sou of Malem Musa Koblan, of Hamah —
The Cedars of Lebanon — Maronite monastery ofMar Antanius
— Lady Hester enters it in spite of the monks — Arrival at
Tripoli.

We encamped under tlie south-west angle of the
temple, in an open field, through which ran the ri-
vulet that traverses the town ; but, considering that the
water we thus drank was no better than the washings
of the houses, and fearing also, from the concourse of
women and children who were constantly surrounding
our encampment, that the plague might be introduced
among us, it was resolved to remove to a spot of
ground near the spring where the rivulet takes its
rise, called Ras el Ayn, the fountain head, about a
mile from the town to the south-east. Here, in the
ruins of an old mosque, her ladyship's tent was

16 TRAVELS OF

screened from the wind ; for tempests were now ex-
pected ; whilst the rest of the party encamped in the
open fields.

The day after our arrival I paid a visit to the gover-
nor, Emir Jalijah, of the family of Harfush, whose ex-
actions from travellers passing through this place
have been recorded by more than one sufferer. He
was a needy prince, who ruled, indeed, the district,
but was surrounded by too many chieftains as powerful
as himself ever to feel secure. For, on the one hand,
the Pasha of Damascus, to whom he was tributary,
was said to take annually from him sixty purses :
on the other, the Emir of the Druzes, towards the
west, was watching, upon every occasion, to make
encroachments upon him ; and the Emir of Demy, a
neighbouring district of Mount Lebanon, was his
enemy whenever it served his turn to be so. Jahjah
had been on one occasion displaced by his brother, the
Emir Sultan, backed by the Pasha of Damascus : but
he afterwards restored the usurped province to Jah-
jah, and they were now living in amicable relations
with each other.

I found the emir in a house with little appearance
of splendour about it. The room in which he received
me had no more than four whitewashed walls, with a
mud floor covered with a common rush mat. What
his harym was I had no opportunity of judging: but
the harym of one of his relations, to which I went to
see a maid servant who was ill of a tertian ague, was

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 17

very much of a piece with this. His brother, Emir
Sultan, to whom I next paid a visit, seemed somewhat
better lodged : for his sofa was covered with yellow
satin, with a cushion of the same stuff to lean on,
but his guests were obliged to sit on the floor on a
common mat. An earthenware jug to drink out of,
a towel to wipe his face and hands, a pipe and tobacco-
bag, a sword, a pair of pistols, and a gun — these
formed the furniture of his, as they do that of the
rooms of many other chieftains in the East.

I dined with Emir Sultan, a compliment from him
which I did not expect, as the rules of the Metoualy re-
ligion prohibit eating and drinking from vessels defiled
by Christians. Wanting to drink during the repast, I
called for some water, which to the other guests was
handed in a silver cup. To me it was given in an
earthenware jug : and, when we had risen from table,
this jug was broken by the servant close by the door of
the room, that no one of the house might make use of
it afterwards. I felt ray choler rise at this unjust
distinction made between man and man, but I pre-
tended not to observe it. Why it was done in sight
of us all I do not know, unless it were to remove the
imputation which might lie at his door if it could be
surmised that an impure drinking-cup still remained
in his house.

Twice, when I was on a morning visit to Emir
Sultan, the butcher came, weighed his meat at the
door of the room, and minced it in the window-seat

18 TRAVELS OF

before him, in order, as 1 guessed, to avoid all sus-
picion of poison, the constant dread of eastern po-
tentates, or else to fulfil to th(3 letter some precept
of his religion touching meats.

The plague was occasionally making its appearance
in different families, so that I could visit no one with-
out some degree of apprehension. Respecting the
modern town, this is the information I collected. It
contained now no more than from 120 to 150 families,
about thirty of which were Catholics.^ The Maho-
metan inhabitants were Metoualys or Shyas.^ Nothing-
could present a more miserable appearance than the
streets. Five sixths of the old town were now covered
with rubbish. Wretchedness was depicted in the rags
and looks of the inhabitants, and poverty in the palace
of the emir. It is said that the emir himself, rendered
desperate by the little quiet which the pasha of Da-
mascus allowed him, had, of his own accord, destroyed
whole streets, that his town might be no longer an

1 Ttiese had a resident Frank priest, wlio acted also as
doctor. He was well known as having received all the Eu-
ropean travellers, who have passed through Balbec, at his
little monastery.

2 The word Shiys or Shyas marks either the particular fol-
lowers of Ali, who do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the
first three Caliphs, or comprehends, generally, all heterodox
persons, born in the bosom of Islamism, in opposition to the
Sunnys, an expression by which all Moslems of the four or-
thodox sects are designated. — (Tabl. Gen. de VEmp. Ott.
vol. i. p. 95.)

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 19

object ofcovetousnesstohim. Balbec is situated in 33°
50 N. I observed two mosques, Jama el Malak and
Baekret el Cadi, There were four gates to the town,
which was divided into seven parishes. The district
of Balbec contained twenty-five villages.

South and by east of the temple, at the distance of
a quarter of a mile, is an elevation which commands the
town, and affords a beautiful view of the ruins and of
the surrounding covmtry. On the top of this eminence
was a well, hewn out of the rock, of a square form,
but now filled up with rubbish. The quarries, which
supplied the stone for building the temple, are to the
south-west of it. Viewed from this spot, the plain of
the Bka seems to run north-east and south-west. The
last visible point of Anti-Lebanon, seen from hence,
lies north-east and by north half east, and the snowy
summit of Mount Lebanon bore north-north-west.

I forbear to give any description of the Temple of
the Sun. It was in the same state in which Volney
saw it in 1784. The immense stones which form the
escarpment of the south-west corner, and which are
always mentioned by travellers with so much wonder,
somewhat disfigure the edifice ; ' for their monstrous
magnitude is so little in correspondence Vv^ith the stones

' The largest of the stones in the outer (western) wall is said
to be 62 feet 9 inches, that in the quarry 68 feet in length, 1 7
feet 8 inches wide, 13 feet 10 inches thick. Wood and Dawkins,
who aver that they give all their drawings and plans from
measurement, are the best authors to rely on.

20 TRAVELS OP

which form the upper part of the wall that they destroy-
all symmetry, and impress an idea of a building
less in size than its component parts were intended
for.

Lady Hester's first inquiry was generally for a
bath ; and, when she had ascertained that there was
one, having reposed herself for two or three days, she
was desirous of going to it : so it was to be cleaned
out for her reception. It was the afternoon, and, as
is customary, the women, who always bathe from noon
to sunset, were in it. The bathmaster, eager for the
bakshysh, which he already anticipated he should get
from a person reputed so rich as Lady Hester, re-
quested me to wait a little, and said he would order
the women out in a moment, and show it to me. Ac-
cordingly, he went into the centre room, vociferating as
he entered, and then, driving them, undressed as they
were, into a side chamber, he called me in. A few
naked children continued to run about ; whilst the
women, curious to see a Frank, peeped out of their
hiding-place, and cared very little what part of their
person was exposed to view. Had I been anything
but a medical man, neither the bath-man nor I could
have risked such an adventure on such an occa-
sion. Thus the women of the east, veiled from head
to foot, and shut up with bars and bolts, still find
means, under the excuse of doctors, dervises, and rela-
tions, to admit men into places from which their
jealous husbands in vain would exclude them.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE.

HAS EL AYN, BALBEC.

The spot at which we were encamped was one of
the most beautiful that it is possible to behold. It
was at the extremity of a valley, on the first rise of
the Anti-Lebanon, where several copious springs,
bubbling up in a circular basin of antique masonry,
formed a considerable rivulet, which watered the whole
valley down to Balbec, one mile off. The valley was
covered with the dense foliage of fruit-trees, cypresses,
weeping-willows, plane, and fruit-trees of all kinds,
through which a shady path led to the town. Close
to the spring were the ruins of an old mosque, and the
remains of a gateway, the lintel and posts of which were
single blocks of stone. It probably had belonged to

22 TRAVELS OF

the temple ; and the circular basins, which confined
the springs, were once, to appearance, surmounted by
domes. Many large loose stones lay round about.
In looking from the bank, just above the spring, a
variety of objects filled up the landscape. In the
farthest distance were the two most elevated peaks of
Mount Lebanon, covered with snow, contrasted with
a lower chain of the mountain, wooded and dark-
looking. Over the tops of the gardens rose, in mag-
nificent grandeur, the six columns, which were still
standing, of the inner temple. Dispersed in the field
to the left of the mosque were the green tents, with
asses and mules tied up among them. It was but
to turn one's back on these cheerful objects, when the
barren declivities of Anti- Lebanon presented them-
selves, heightening the beauty of the mixed scenery
at their foot by the contrast which they presented.

By an arrangement made previous to Lady Hester's
departure from Meshmushy, Selini, the son of Ma,lem
Musa Koblan of Ilamah, of whom mention has been
made during our stay at that place, was to meet her
here ; but, as he had not come, my servant was de-
spatched on a mule with a letter to him. This
necessarily detained us at Balbec ; and, when the
ruins had been seen, the governor visited, and the
prospects round about admired, a stay here became
somewhat irksome : as the plague was so much in-
creased that it was necessary to abstain from entering
people's houses.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 23

The death of a Sayd or Sheryf of the plague
alarmed the g-overnor so much, that he removed soon
afterwards with his household to a castle at a small
distance. Bat the motive he assigned was not consi-
dered by us as the real one : for we thought that he
was either afraid of Selim's coming, of which he had
heard, considering that he might be an emissary of the
Pasha of Damascus, who had long endeavoured to lay
hold of his person : or else, apprehensive that in our
exposed encampment we might be plundered, he
supposed, by removing himself from the town, he
should not be considered as responsible, or charged by
the Porte with reparation.

In the mean time, as it happened everywhere,
Lady Hester never rode through the streets, or ap-
proached the town, but she was immediately followed
by several persons. Ali, Emir of Derny,i was so far
attracted by curiosity as to depart from his dignity
and ride round our encampment, in the wish of getting
a sight of her. Affairs with Emir Jahjah had brought
him from his principality, which is on the north ex-
tremity of Mount Lebanon, down to Balbec, and his
martial air, as he rode along with a dozen attendants,
struck me very forcibly ; but Lady Hester did not see
him.

^ Of this emir Ali, Burckhardt has these words (p. 168) : —
" the north declivity of JNIouiit Libanus, a district governed
at present (March, 1812,) by Ali Beg, a man famous for his
generosity, liberality, and knowledge of Arabian literature."

24 TRAVELS OF

At the beginning of November it came on to rain
most violently, and successive storms of thunder and
wet confined us much under our tents. In the in-
tervals of fine weather, I rode out in every direction
round the town ; but my researches were unsuccessful
in discovering any remains of antiquity that had not
been before seen by other travellers. About one hun-
dred yards from the north-east wall of the city there
are several caverns, the appearance of which demon-
strated that stone was quarried there for building, and
that, at the same time, or subsequently, these caverns
had been converted into sepulchres for the dead. They
are very numerous, and some were very spacious :
but, in all, the shape was nearly alike, being that of
an arch of six feet from the apex to the floor, and five
and a half or six feet long. They contained from three
to ten pits or sarcophagi, and generally they were just
deep enough for the breadth of a human corpse. Some
had two abreast. Some sepulchres were flat-roofed,
and one had a centre embossment which might ori-
ginally have been sculptured in relief. Many had in
them small niches as if for a lamp ; and in one was an
upright sarcophagus.

We found here some peasants filling sacks with
saltpetre, which they collected from these and other
caverns, in and about the place : they had amassed
four ass loads. On the talus of one of the shafts
of the quarry there were, although with difficulty to
be discovered, some old Grecian characters.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 25

I was sitting one day under a clump of trees, by
the side of a rivulet, smoking, when a Greek caloyer
or priest approached, and saluted me. It proved to
be the bishop of Balbec, whom I had known, in the
autumn of 1812, at Yabrud, the ordinary place of his
residence ; for the fanaticism of the Metoualys, and
the oppression of Jahjah's government, obliged him
to reside in a more tranquil spot. His diocese ex-
tended from Hems to Malula. He was a dark, ugly,
squinting man, but very loquacious, and seemingly a
very good theologian. His name, which, as a layman,
had been Wakyn, was now Cyrillus : and this
assumption of an episcopal name is a common practice
among Eastern divines.'

' Balbec has to boast of having given birth to a famous
physician, named Beder-ed-dyn Balbeky, who lived in the
third century of the hegira.

I marked in charcoal, on the walls of the inner temple, the
name of Lady Hester with this laudatory quatrain : —
Quam multa antiquis sunt his incisa columnis

Nomina ! cum saxo mox peritura siraul.

Sed tu nulla times oblivia : fama superstes,

Esther, si pereant marmora, semper erit.

How many names, else never to be known,
Live for a while, inscribed upon this stone !
But, Hester, thine oblivion shall not fear : —
Fame will transmit it, though not written here.

However, her ladyship requested me immediately to efface the
whole ; and she declared she never had consented, when livhig
with her uncle, to be praised in verse, or portrayed in painting.
VOL. HI. C

26 TRAVELS OF

Giovanni was not yet returned from Ham ah, and
apprehensions were entertained that he had been
plundered by the Bedouin Arabs : yet, as he was
furnished with a paper saying by whom he was sent,
and as he was moreover known as having accompanied
us to Palmyra, it was thought that he would not be
molested. During the whole of this time, the mule-
teers and their mules were at a fixed pay per diem,
which made the delay very expensive.

I occasionally visited the Catholic priest, a Euro-
pean. His house contained the only oven for baking
loaves in the place, and our bread was baked there
every two or three days. I was sitting with him one
day on a stone by the way side, in conversation, when
a sayd or green turbaned Mahometan passed us on
an ass, carrying before him a dish of lentils, which he
apparently had bought for his dinner. " El mejd
lillah — (Glory be to God)" — was his salutation to us j
to which the priest immediately replied, " dayman —
(for ever)"" — and the sayd went on, and the priest
continued the conversation, both quite unconscious
how strange their puritanical language appeared.*

Balbec is an extremely cold and exposed place in
the winter, but must, from the dry air of the neigh-
bouring downs, enjoy a very salubrious climate.

The weather still continuing tempestuous, there was

* In the Syrian monasteries, the customary salutation be-
tween the friars who meet each other is that above mentioned,
and the answer likewise.

LAD^ HESTER STANHOPE. 27

some hazard, should our departure be delayed much
longer, that the route over Mount Lebanon to Tripoli
would become impassable from the snow. Accord-
ingly, we left Balbec on the 7th or 8th of November
at 11 ©""clock, after having remained there a fortnight.
We crossed the plain in a north-west direction.
When we were half over it, we saw on our left, half
a mile out of the road, a single pillar : but, whether one
of many others now thrown down, or a votive column,
I had not time to examine.' About four we reached
the foot of Lebanon, and passed the village of Dayr
Ahmar. We ascended, and, about half past five,
arrived at the narrow valley where stood the village of
Ayn Aty ; so named from a source of water which
springs from the rock just above : and there is, as we
were told, a small lake near the spot.^

The wind was north, and blew very cold, with rain

^ I have since read in some author that this cohimn was of
the Corinthian order, fifty-seven feet high and five feet in
diameter, having a tablet for an inscription, now erased.
I cannot recollect whether it was before or after we arrived at
the column, that there stood a village (called Yyd or Nyd)
not far out of the road, which we were desirous of entering :
but the inhabitants hailed us from the roofs of the houses,
and with muskets in their hands threatened to shoot any one
who should approach them ; for they were determined, they
said, to let nobody, coming from Balbec, where the plague was,
have intercourse with them.

^ For the properties of this lake, see Eusebius de vita Con-
tantini, iii. 55.

Z8 TRAVELS OF

and sleet. Pierre, who had undertaken to be our
guide, had promised that we should arrive before sun-
set at our station : but it was already dark, and
Lady Hester, who suffered much from the inclemency
of the weather, grew impatient and angry with him.
We continued to ascend through a scattered forest of
stunted oaks, with which the whole of the lowest
chain is wooded. Some were of a good circumference
in the stem, but none were high. Whilst it was yet
light, I picked up two specimens of the rock, which
seemed to be a sort of marble in a bed of argil.

We arrived, at length, at the spring-head, Ayn
Aty ;' but such a hurricane of wind and rain came on,
just as the muleteers were unloading, that they, one and
all, threw down tents, trunks, and beds, in confusion,
and betook themselves for shelter to caverns in the
rocks, so that we saw no more of them all night. In
vain did I call and threaten ; they heeded me not.
The tent-men were desired to plant Lady Hester's
tent, and leave the others for the moment to shift as
they could : but, so strong did the wind blow, that,
as fast as they reared it, it was blown down again.
The maids could keep no candle alight : even in a
lantern it was extinguished, and the darkness was
intense. With some difficulty. Lady Hester'^s tent
was at last secured, then that for the women. Her

' Aj^n Aty is called by Burckhardt Ainnete, one word, but
I venture to think that he is incorrect.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 29

ladyship, who had meanwhile taken shelter under a pre-
cipice, was at length comfortably placed under cover.

This was one of the most distressino- nights we

o o

ever passed. When the other tents were fixed, and,
by means of fires, we had somewhat dried ourselves,
a laughable accident occurred from the terrors of
Pierre, who, having gone a short distance from the
camp, could not from the darkness find his way back
again, and was heard amidst the fury of the tempest
bellowing lustily for help. Neither the dragoman nor
myself slept the whole of the night ; as, on several
occasions, the tent-ropes flew, and it required all our
authority to induce the akams or tent-men to brave
the weather and repair them.

November the 9th, as soon as it was light, the mule-
teers re-appeared, confessing that they had hidden
themselves for fear of being employed through the
night. We departed from Ayn Aty, clambering up
the steep paths to surmount the second chain ; and,
in about two hours, we came to the summit, from
which the valley of the Bka, as we looked down
behind us, seemed like a slip of fallow land, so much
were its dimensions narrowed by distance. In ascend-
ing Mount Lebanon, from the plain between Dayr
Alimar and the spring Ayn Aty, the rock is of a
compact limestone, with a portion of iron intermixed :
at least, so I judged from its colour, which was,
where exposed to the air, red, and within flesh-coloured.
On the very summit of the mountain, above the

so TRAVELS OF

Cedars and behind the village of Bsharry, I broke off
a frao^ment of rock, which was limestone also. De-
scending on the other side, we saw the far-famed
clump of Cedars on our right ; and, leaving them,
arrived at sunset at Bsharry. The shaykh, named
Ragel, received Lady Hester into his house, although
he had made some difficulty at first, owing to his
dread of the plague, which we might have brought
with us from Balbec. I was lodged in a house on the
opposite side of the street, and the rest were dispersed
about as the shaykh chose to billet them.

Bsharry is in itself a picturesque spot, and com-
mands views of other spots equally so. It was a burgh
of two hundred houses, furnishing when necessary
five hundred muskets. From the martial character
of the inhabitants, who were hardy mountaineers, and
accustomed from their infancy to carry firearms ; as
also from its elevated situation, difficult on all sides
of access ; it had, at different periods, asserted its in-
dependence by force, although surrounded by Druzes
and Metoualys, Turks, and Ansarys. They spoke of
the present government of the Emir Beshyr with dis-
gust, and pretended that, if the love of liberty, which
was so strong in their forefathers, had still existed,
they should yet have been free.

In the environs of Bsharry, potatoes were cultivated
and eaten by the peasants as an article of daily food.
Their introduction was of a few years' date only. Some
Franks at Tripoli, I afterwards learned, were accus-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 31

tomed to eat them occasionally ; but elsewhere than at
Bsharry I did not observe them to be cultivated.
Lady Hester caused some to be planted at Abra, but
the peasants prognosticated that they would die ; and
indeed they came up very well, but the soil was too
much burnt up, and they could not find moisture
enough to come to maturity.

The inhabitants of Bsharry were of the Maronite
persuasion. They were said to be all good sportsmen.
I found few sick in the place, and was told that per-
sons lived to an advanced age. Among those who
applied to me there were cases of colic, sore eyes, and
old sores, and one of a venereal nature ; but there
were no poitirs, and yet snow-water is the only water
drunk. I collected here a few ancient coins, which
was generally the payment I exacted from the sick.
The river Kadyshy takes its source above this village,
out of a rocky amphitheatre, and is precipitated by
small cascades into a deep ravine, where it runs until
lost among the windings of the mountains.

To the north-east another spring, from the moun-
tains that overhang the environs of the village, fell in
a pretty cascade, and, running close to the east point
of the village, contributed to increase the stream of
the Kadysha. The water, where it formed the cascade,
and before it mixed with other rivulets, was said to
affect goats, drinking of it, with looseness ; whilst men
were exempt from this effect. The roads around were
stony and difficult, rendered wet and muddy by the

S2 TRAVELS OF

constant intersection of rivulets, which, at this season,
were very numerous. To the east of Bsharry there is
a convent dedicated to Mar Serkyz.

The women here, instead of veils of silk crape, wore
over their heads coloured handkerchiefs, principally
red. The tassy on the head was of the shape of a
truncated bell of silver, to which were appended by
the better sort of females jingling gold and silver
coins, to divert (as a lively young woman told me)
their tiresome husbands. Their pantaloons were
red ; and, from the frequent resort of Tripoline
ladies to these heights for change of air, they had
adopted from them the high-heeled slipper with red
soles, affected by the Christian women of that city,
and by them borrowed from the Cypriotes,

In the same house with the shaykh lodged another
shaykh of the same family, named Girius, a man of
better appearance than his colleague. Seeing that I
inquired for antiques, he produced an intaglio, re-
presenting an owl, for which I offered him a con-
siderable price ; but he was quite exorbitant in his
demands. I had every reason to believe, from what
I afterwards heard at Tripoli, that this ring had once
been the property of an Englishman, Mr. Davison,
who, on visiting the Cedars of Mount Lebanon, lost it
in the snow. It was picked up by a man sent by the
shaykh to look for it, after Mr. Davison had em-
ployed a peasant in (as he said) a fruitless search for
it and had departed.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. SS

We staid here the whole of the 10th, but Lady
Hester did not show herself out of doors, nor admit
the females of the house into her room ; and from this
circumstance originated a report, which was circulated
at Tripoli before our arrival, that she had guards to
prevent people from gazing on her as she passed along
the road.

From Bsharryi we proceeded to Ehden. The rainy
season was now set in, and the weather was exceed-
ingly cold in these high regions. Eden, or, as it is
more properly written, Ehden, has been fancifully
supposed by some travellers to be the ancient Paradise ;
but it has no claim whatever to such a pre-eminence,
excepting in name, as there are many villages in the
mountain equally, or even more, romantic. Its
elevated situation renders it a pleasant summer re-
sidence, and the Franks of Tripoli resort to it
annually in the hot months. In their eyes and those
of the native Christians, it is no small recommenda-
tion to these almost inaccessible spots, that they live
here quite away from the Turks, whose gravity and
sobriety in the cities greatly repress their conviviality.
Ehden abounds in lofty and spreading walnut-trees
and mulberry plantations. Meandering rivulets purl
through it in every direction. The cottages are sub-
stantially and neatly built, and we were nowhere

^ For Aphaca, a temple dedicated to Venus, on the top of
Mount Lebanon, see Zosimus, i., 58.

c 5

34 TRAVELS OF

more pleasantly lodged during the journey than here.
The curate's widow gave up her best room for me.
It was a stone-walled house, with a flat roof and a
floor of compact cement. The windows were without
casements. The whole village was much more neatly
built than any of those that we had hitherto seen.

There was a man in this village named Yusef
Kawam, who afibrded much amusement. He might
be said to officiate in the capacity of parasite to any-
body who visited Ehden, and who would pay him for
playing the character.

It was resolved to wait here for Selim, whose de-
parture from home had been announced to Lady
Hester by letter. She was lodged in a small convent,
which had once belonged to the Jesuits ; and every
arrangement for the comfort of so numerous a party
had been made by the shaykh of the village, named
Latiif el Ashy, who, having passed his youth at Tri-
poli, as a clerk in a mercantile house, spoke a little
French, Two days afterwards Selim arrived, accom-
panied by a boy fourteen years old, Sulyman, the
son of Malem Skender, of Hems, of whom mention
was made in a preceding part. Selim had two ser-
vants with him, and Sulyman one. Selim alighted
at the shayklvs door, where an apartment was pro-
vided for him, and where I waited to receive him.
On hearing the noise of his horse's feet, I ran to wel-
come him as an old acquaintance, and conducted him
up the steps into his room. A few minutes after-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 35

wards I was surprised to find Sulyman did not follow,
and desired one of the servants to see if lie had gone
into a wrong room. He returned and whispered to
me that Sulyman was at the foot of the steps, and
would not come in, unless I went and fetched him in
the same form as I had done Selim. Surprised at
this boy''s ridiculous ceremoniousness, I would have
laughed at him, but I found that he was in good
earnest. This circumstance is mentioned as illus-
trative of the pride of Christians in the Levant, which
swells where their demands on people's civility are
likely to be complied with, and shrinks into nothing
before Turks, or where they expect a repulse.

The mornings were spent by Selim and myself in
sitting and smoking by the side of the stream on a
carpet spread for the purpose, or in riding. He had
with him a very beautiful horse, which he backed with
much elegance. Conducted by the shaykh, we went
to view the Cedars ; but they have been too often
described to render it necessary to say anything about
them. The neighbouring convent keeps so far a guard
over these sacred trees, that no native peasant dares
injure and cut them. Travellers, however, did not
scruple to take away as large a branch or piece as
suited their wants ; but latterly some restraint has
been put upon them, and it is now necessary to obtain
an order for that purpose. These Cedars have a very
dubious reputation, and no great beauty to recommend
them. Those which grow in the grounds of Warwick

Sb TRAVELS OF

Castle are (the traditions attached to the others ex-
cepted) ahnost equally worth seeing.

We remained at Eden a week, and went thence to
the monastery of Mar Antanius, (St. Anthony) situate
about half a league to the south of the village, on one
of the most romantic sites that can be found in any coun-
try, halfway down a deep and precipitous ravine : and,
although we could look down upon it from Ehden, yet,
to get there, it was necessary for persons on horseback
to make a circuit of two leagues. At the bottom of the
ravine, which is well wooded, is a river, the Kadyshy ;
and the summits of the mountains quite overhang the
monastery, which stands on a ledge of the rock scarcely
broad enough for its base, and which is only accessible
by a path, so narrow that habit alone could make
persons pass it with indifference. From the rock, in
the very centre of the monastery, issues a stream of
water, that, in summer, must give a delicious coolness
to the cloister, but now produced a cold and comfort-
less chill.

The friars are Maronites, fifty or sixty in number,
including residents and mendicants. Many miracles
are attributed, by the inhabitants of the surrounding
country, to the tutelary saint of the place : such as
the cure of lunacy, epilepsy, and fits ; the incorrupti-
bility of corpses buried in the monastery ; and, more
especially, the certain manifestation of his anger to-
wards anything of the female sex that presumes to
cross the threshold of this holy place. I believe this

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 87

to have been the chief reason that induced Lady-
Hester to turn out of her road to visit it. So tenacious
of violation is Saint Anthony in this respect, that the
hen-fowls are cooped up, lest they should stray into
the sacred precincts, whilst the cocks run at large.

On our arrival, Lady Hester was accordingly lodged in
a house about fifty yards distant, built for visitors ;
whilst we were received into the monastery. As soon
as she had rested a little, she sent a message to the
superior, announcing her intention of trying the Saint's
gallantry, and, saying that she would, on the follow-
ing day, give a dinner to him and to the shaykhs,
who had escorted her from Eden, in a room of the
monastery itself. She hinted at the authority with
which she was furnished from the Sultan to visit what
places she chose ; and that, consequently, any opposi-
tion on their part would be opposition to him. But
there were not wanting some priests who openly-
avowed their abhorrence of such impiety, whilst the
greater number secretly murmured at this sacrilege on
the part of a heretic, and that heretic a woman. Selim,
who was a man of great discernment and knowledge
of the world, which he concealed under a mock
frivolity and gaiety, which made many- persons ima-
gine him to be half mad, pretended that, on such a
grand occasion, nothing less than a Cashmere shawl
must cover the sofa whereon Lady Hester was to sit,
and that no common carpet would serve to rest her

38 TRAVELS OP

feet on.* For he was much afraid that some trick
would be practised by the monks, either on the sofa
or carpet, in order to preserve the miraculous con-
sistency of their saint. My own foresight went no
farther than to desire that the ass should be carefully
watched previous to her riding from the adjoining
house to the monastery : for the path was on the edge
of a low precipice, and a bramble under its tail, or a
pin in the crupper, would have been sufficient to en-
danger the rider^s life. When the dinner hour arrived,
Lady Hester mounted ; and, being determined that
the monks should have no subterfuge, she would not
dismount until she had ridden on her she-ass into the
very hall of the building ; and I verily believe, if the
wiser sort did not, that at least the servants of the
monastery, and her ladyship's own, expected to see
the pavement gape beneath her feet and swallow her
up. She visited the refectory and every place where
she could put her head ; but at one door there was a

^ It must be observed that, in the East, a usual way of
doiug honour to distinguished guests is to spread something
costly for them to tread or sit on. Thus, when it was thought
that her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales would have
visited Damietta, the English agent there, a rich merchant, had
arranged that the path from the side of the Nile to his house
door should be covered with Cashmere shawls. Carpets are
seldom left spread out in a room, but are rolled up and moved
from room to room as wanted, being generally small, and
never made singly to cover a whole room.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 39

momentary altercation between the two parties of
monks, who were for and against her entering. We
then sat down to dinner, and, at the expiration of four
hours, Lady Hester retired. The news of her courage,
as it was construed by some, and her sacrilege, as it
was called by others, soon spread through the moun-
tain, and was long the topic of general conversation.

This monastery had a printing-press, which lay
useless, owing to the recent death of an old monk
called Seraphim, who was the founder and worker of
it, having himself made the font of the types. I was
presented with a specimen of his labours, being a
single sheet containing a notice of the miracles that
had been wrought by the tutelary saint.

The glebe of Mar Antanius produces, as I was in-
formed, to the amount of fifteen purses in silk.

Canubin and other convents in this district,
although well worthy of the traveller"'s attention, were
not visited by us on account of the weather. We left
the friars, who were greatly satisfied with her lady-
ship's generosity, and proceeded, with the rain upon
us, to a village called Keffer-zayny, on our road to
Tripoli. Lady Hester fell from her ass in the way,
but received no hurt, for two lads always walked by
her, one on either side, who supported her knees and
back in craggy and difficult places. The ass was
without a bridle, and was left, with the sagacity for
which that animal is known, to pick his own way. We
were escorted by a guard of armed men. The diffi-

40 TRAVELS OP

culties of the road were more than commonly great.
A man, dressed in a splendid scarlet robe, presented
himself to Lady Hester in the evening, and created a
great deal of merriment by his assumed airs of im-
portance.

On the following day we arrived at Tripoli, amidst
a tremendous storm of thunder and rain. The report
of Lady Hester's approach had spread through the
city, and the streets through which she had to pass
were lined with spectators, whose curiosity must have
been great to induce them to stand the pelting of such
a storm.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 41

CHAPTER III.

Residence at Tripoli — The governor Mustafa Aga — liady
Hester's visit to him — Extraordinaiy civilities paid by her to
Selim — Town and port of Tripoli — Greek bishop — Library —
Paintings in the church — Unwholesome climate — The author's
journey to the convent of Dayr Hamyra — Illness of Muly
Ismael's Khasnadar — Miraculous cures performed at the
convent — The Khasnadar's wife — The monks — Castle of El
Hussn — Extensive view — Arrival of Selim at the monastery —
His character — Eeturn of the author to Tripoli — Lady Hester's
plan of an association of literary men and artists — Departure
for Mar Elias.

The Capuchin convent, an uninhabited building,
was hired for Lady Hester ; and for Sehm, the dra-
goman, and myself, a spacious house, belonging to the
widow of the katib of the governor. The muleteers
were dismissed, and arrangements were made for a
residence of some weeks. As a clue to many circum-
stances which occurred during the time of our stay in
this city, it will be necessary to say something respect-
ing Mustafa Aga (nick-named Berber), the then
governor, a man raised by his conduct and valour from
the very dregs of the people.

Mustafa was the son of a muleteer, whose employ-

42 TRAVELS OF

ment consisted in transporting goods for hire from
place to place ; and he himself, in his youth, followed
the same occupation. He afterwards entered the ser-
vice of Hassan, emir of the Druzes, as an under-
servant of the household. Here he caught the eye of
the emir, and was advanced by him ; but, probably,
not liking to derogate from the character of a true
Mussulman by associating with schismatics, he quitted
his place and returned to Tripoli. Tripoli, at this
time, was divided into two opposite factions, that of
the janissaries and of the townspeople. Mustafa sided
with the latter ; and, having shown himself a man of
talent and courage by his language and demeanour, ten
or a dozen others formed themselves into a sort of
gang under his direction. His followers by degrees
increased ; and at length a plan was formed among
them to strike at the very root of the power of the
janissaries by seizing the castle. This, according to
the nature of the Turkish o;overnment, is the strong-
hold of the military power, and is bestowed generally
on some confidential servant of the Porte as a check
on the civil governor, who is chosen by the pasha of
the department.

The aga of the janissaries, or governor of the castle,
was so little suspicious of the possibility even of so
bold an attack, that he resided in the city, and left
only a few soldiers on guard in the citadel. Some of
these were gained over by the artful Mustafa ; and,
at an appointed signal, ropes were let down at night,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 43

by wliicli lie and about twenty others were drawn up,
and admitted unperceived through a window.

The few soldiers who attempted to oppose them
were despatched or bound, and in the morninoj the
news was spread that Berber had obtained possession
of the castle. The townspeople declared for him im-
mediately ; and his first care was to send to Mohammed,
pasha of Egypt, to request him to write to the Porte
to express his allegiance to his sovereign, and to ob-
tain for him the post of Janissary Aga, or, in other
words, a confirmation of the power he had usurped.
After a lapse of some weeks, during which he main-
tained himself in the citadel, a firman arrived, pro-
claiming him military governor ; but so powerful was
the opposite faction, that he dared never venture
through the streets of Tripoli without a guard of
fifty or sixty persons.

It was said that, as he rode through the streets, his
piercing eyes, which were turned in every direction,
watched the looks of those he met ; and wo to him
whose guilt Avas supposed to be betrayed in his coun-
tenance— that moment was his last.

Next to the governor, a very important person in
every Turkish town is the katib, or government se-
cretary. Mustafa Aga had several ;^ the two chief
were Wahby Sadeka and Mamy Graryb, his son-in-

1 I dined with these gentlemen at different periods, and was
generally expected to give about a crown as vails to the ser-
vants on coming away.

44 TRAVELS OF

law, a youiiiT mau who had ah-eady acquired in his
situation much deserved reputation. M. Guys, grand-
son of the author of a Comparison between Ancient and
Modern Greece, was French consul ; Mr. Catsiflitz,
English agent. These are the public authorities with
whom travellers, generally speaking, have to do.

A day or two after our arrival, Lady Hester re-
ceived Malem Wahby, the public secretary, sent by
Mustafa Aga to compliment her and to offer her his
services.

The visit was returned to the governor a few days
afterwards. He received her ladyship in the most
polite manner to which his rough character could
adapt itself ; for his frank and hearty welcome was
strongly contrasted with the generally formal cour-
tesy of the Turks. Selim sat on the floor at the
govemor''s feet ; for native Christians seldom obtain
the privilege of a seat on the sofa in a great Turk's
presence, and are well content not to be kept stand-
ing. Lady Hester found means, in a short con-
versation, to impress Mustafa Aga with a favourable
opinion of her talents and character ; and ever after-
wards he showed a strong disposition to serve her on
all occasions. Everything about the Aga wore a
martial appearance ; and his black slave, who stood
at a little distance from him, armed with pistols in his
girdle, seemed, by his attitude and air, to be the
faithful guardian of his master's safety.

Mustafa Aira had several Christians amons; his

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 45

soldiers, destined for the service of the police. This
is uncommon in Asiatic Turkey, for examples of it
occurred nowhere else, that I saw.

In coming away, I had an opportunity of judging
of the extreme simplicity of the Aga's mode of living.
His dinner was laid out on a mat, on the floor of a
room which we passed, and consisted of six or eight
messes of pilau and yakhny, which are boiled rice
and a stew of small bits of meat and vegetables, and
these in dishes of common queen's-ware. There were
no knives or forks, and the spoons were wooden. A
man in England, living like a temperate Mahometan,
would pass for a prodigy with some, and with others,
for one who took not enough to support life ; by all,
he would be considered as a most sober liver : for the
food of Mustafa Aga, like that of most of the followers
of Mahomet, was generally confined to rice, boiled
mutton, vegetables, honey, and fruit. Water was his
only drink ; and, on the very afternoon of this visit,
being requested to call on him that he might consult
me respecting some indisposition, when I advised hira
to use a tincture, which he understood from me was
compounded of spirit, he totally rejected it, upon the
plea that, in whatever state he might be, his abhor-
rence of vinous liquors was settled.

In the mean time, Malem Selim was treated with
the most marked civihty by Lady Hester. Tlie
public bath was hired for him an evening or two after
our arrival. Two sumptuous repasts Avere prepared

46 TRAVELS OP

for him every day, and people saw with wonder the
deference that was paid him by her ladyship. But
she had her ends to answer ; and on such occasions it
might be observed, by those in the habit of living
near her, that she often would raise very humble in-
dividuals to an elevation to which they had not been
accustomed, by which they were the more easily led to
forget their natural prudence, and communicate more
readily the information she wanted. She knew that,
when these artificial props were taken away, folks could
very easily be made to drop to their own level again.

In the middle ages, Tripoli was the scene of much
warfare. It was taken by the crusaders after a siege
of seven years, and retaken by the Saracens in 1229
by sap.

Modern Tripoli is the head of a pashalik, extend-
ing north and south from Nahr Ibrahim to Bylan,
and bounded on the east by the highest chain of the
mountains which run parallel to the coast. Ali,
a pasha of two tails, held it, but resided at St. Jean
d'Acre as kekhyah of Suliman Pasha, whilst Mustafa
Aga governed in his stead. It is the best built and
cleanest town along the coast of Syria ; perhaps, too,
the largest, certainly, at the time we are speaking of,
the most commercial ; although now superseded by
Bey rout. The castle is at the south-east part of the
city, and is of Saracen or Frank construction. There
are five or six mosques. The Greeks and Maronites
have their churches, and the Franciscans and Capu-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 47

chins their monasteries. A river runs by the city,
which serves to irrigate the gardens. As it is built
at some distance from the sea, (about one mile) there
is a small town, called the Myna, close to the har-
bour, if the insecure anchorage formed by two or three
rocks deserves that name. Between the city and the
Myna are the orchards and gardens, which are the
boast of the place, both for their productions and
beauty. Oranges were now in season, which have been
before mentioned as very juicy at this place. One of
the chief sources of wealth to the city was the ma-
nufacture of silk turbans, sashes, bath waist-cloths,
and saddle-covers, which are in request throughout
Syria. The Christians here were of the Greek
church ; and so violent were they against schismatics,
that it was dangerous for a Grreek Catholic to tarry in
the place for a few hours. The bishop of Tripoli
was an agreeable man, who spoke often in praise of
the English : for he had known many of that nation,
when our army invaded Egypt the second time under
General Eraser, at which period he was residino- as a
priest at the Greek convent of Alexandria.

I had an opportunity of seeing, in the bishop's
house, the library belonging to the see. The books
had been thrown into a lumber room, and left there to
be devoured by the rats, or more slowly consumed by
moths and damp. There were some Greek manu-
scripts. The church was undergoing a thorouo-h
repair, and, to embellish the altar screen, a Caudiote

48 TRAVELS OF

painter had been sent for, whose skill in his art
seemed to me far from despicable. He showed me
some copies from Italian eno;ravings, which were very
well executed : and, when I asked him if he did not
prefer them to the gilded daubs of Virgins and
Saints of his own church, he showed himself per-
fectly aware of the faults of his countrymen's manner,
but said he must paint to please, or he could not live.
The climate of Tripoli is reputed to be the worst
in Syria, and the cadaverous looks of the inhabitants
bore evidence to the truth of the assertion ; for,
although the season was far advanced, it was grievous
to behold and hear of the number of the sick. The
prevailing disease was a bilious remittent fever : this,
if not fatal, generally left an ague, which, ending in
obstructions, brought on dropsy and death. I was
witness here to a fatal mortification from the applica-
tion of leeches by a French doctor to the foot ; to
the only case of gout that came under my observa-
tion in Syria ; to the worst case of epilepsy I ever
saw ; and to hysterical fits, with lunar recurrences,
from seven to fifteen times in the twenty-four hours,
which had now lasted two years. These latter I
cured, and may cite that cure as having led to one of
those ingenious subterfuges, which were not rare in
the Levant, to avoid the weight of an obligation.
When the young lady, who had been thus afflicted,
was found to be relieved by my treatment of her,
she was hurried off to the convent of Mar Antanius

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 49

Kuziyali (famed, as I have already mentioned, for
miraculous cures) from wliicli, in a few days, she
returned, and her parents and friends were loud in
their admiration of the Saint, who took no fees, and
dumb on the merits of the doctor, who they were
afraid would.

We had not been lonsj at Tripoli,' when a letter
reached Lady Hester from her old friend Muly
Ismael of Hamah, requesting she would allow me to
go to a monastery, eight or ten leagues from Tripoli,
where his khasuadar or treasurer, a man whom he
greatly esteemed, was lying grievously afflicted with a
stroke of the palsy. Accordingly, I set off a day or
two afterwards, on the 20th of December, and was
fortunate enough to hire one of the nmleteers, who
had accompanied us on the Balbec journey, to carry
my luggage. 1 was mounted on a mule, and placed
my man, Giovanni, with a few necessaries on another,
whilst the muleteer, named Michael, walked.

As we went out of Tripoli, about noon, the rain fell
in torrents, and we were soon wet through. Our
route lay about east-north-east ; and, after passing a
stony and rugged road, we came upon an extensive

' We heard here, with pleasure, a eulogium passed on two
of our countrymen, by the grateful widow and daughters of a M.
Cuzi, who, in the prosecution of a journey, as intrepreter, with
two English gentlemen, Major C. and Mr. F., fell a victim to a
fever, and left a family who would have seen want staring
them in the face, but for the liberal relief afforded them by
these gentlemen.

VOL. in. D

50 TRAVELS OF

plain, named el Accar. The day closed in very early,
and, from the continued rain and darkness, the beaten
track vfShS by no means clearly visible. We reached
a river, which appeared so swollen that we dared not
ford it, and were puzzled what to do. A light on our
right attracted us, and, after following the course of
the stream for about two miles, it disappeared, and we
resolved to return down again. We accordingly
arrived at the point whence we had turned off, but
still hesitated to ride into the stream, as we could
discern no appearances of a path or of footsteps down
the bank, as of a ford. A light on our left was now
seen : we rode towards it, and after a little time came
to some tents. Huge mastiff dogs rushed out upon
us, and the muleteer had much ado to keep them at
bay with a club stick, until two or three ill-looking
men issued from the tents to discover the reason of
their barking. They were Turkmans, who were
pasturing their flocks and herds on these plains, and,
when they saw we were benighted travellers, they
very strongly pressed me to go no farther, and to spend
the night with them : but I hesitated to do so on
account of my ignorance of their habits of life, and
resolved, on hearing that the river was fordable, to
pursue my journey. One of the Turkmans accord-
ingly led us back to the same place where w^e had been
twice before, and bade us ride through boldly. When
we were safe over he wished us good night. As he
had previously told us that we could reach a car a-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 51

vausery a few miles farther on, we took fresh courage,
and for a time I forgot the rain in musing on the
Turkman dogs and the shepherd's civility ; but, at
last, cold and weariness made me anxious to get
housed. There was no light before us, and the plain
was every where covered with large pools of water
which embarrassed us exceedingly. The mules were
fatigued, and could with difficulty be driven on. The
muleteer finally declared that the servant's mule could
go no further, and that we must sleep in the plain.

Although the rain fell in torrents, as there was no
alternative, I got off; and the best arrangement that
circumstances would admit of was made for the night.
I found a knoll of ground, somewhat drier than the
rest of the soil ; and a small rug, which I Carried with
me in travelling, was opened on it, upon which I
seated myself with my legs doubled under me : and,
with my hood^ drawn over my head, 1 leaned against
my-medicine-chest, and went supperless to sleep. The
muleteer and Giovanni made the best of their situa-
tion.

In the morning, when daylight came, we found, to
our surprise, that a quarter of a mile more would
have brought us to the caravausery which we had
been told of. The mules were re-loaded, and, just at
this moment, a caravan, on its road to Tripoli, passed

^ These hoods are made of cloth, and men use them in
travelling as women use hoods in England : they being, in the
like manner, not attached to a cloak, but worn separately.

52 TRAVELS OF

US. A dozen tongues addressed us at once to inquire
why we had stopped short of the caravansery, and
many jokes were cracked upon our miserable appear-
ance. In twenty minutes we reached Nahr el Kebyr,
a river, on the banks of which was a large, but dilapi-
dated caravansery, where we found a man, who, for a
small recompense, stripped and walked before us
through the ford. The stream was rapid and deep, so
that for a moment I feared we should have been
carried away by it : which, encumbered with dress as
we were, would have been to our inevitable destruc-
tion.

We now advanced with as much expedition as
possible, and at last came to the end of the plain.
A gentle ascent brought us among some low hills,
covered with stunted shrubs, and shortly afterwards we
came to the monastery. The building was of stone,
and seemed of great solidity. I dismounted, and was
made to enter by a door, the lowest, bearing that
name, I had ever seen in my life. For, as this
monastery stands quite away from any town, and is
in the high road from Tripoli to Hems and Hamah,
by which road troops are frequently passing, a diffi-
cult entrance is a necessary precaution to prevent the
refectory from being converted into a stable : which
troopers, not liking to lose sight of their horses,
would often unceremoniously do.

I was put into a neat room, and immediately
presented with a pipe and coffee, followed by a break-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 53

fast ; whilst two garrulous priests told me why I was
come, which they seemed to know better than myself,
and questioned me on the news of Tripoli. With
respect to the khasnadar, my patient, I gathered some
particulars of his life. It appeared that he had been,
as a youth, a favourite of Miily Ismael, who, when
he arrived at manhood, created him his khasnadar,
and gave him in marriage to one of his concubines, of
whom he himself was tired. Soon after their union,
the khasnadar had a stroke of the palsy, which deprived
him of the use of his limbs and utterance. Every
known means had been tried for his recovery ; and, as
a last resource, it was resolved to send him to Dayr
Hamyra, this monastery, which was dedicated to Saint
George, and renowned far and wide for miraculous
cures, effected in the following manner. The afflicted
person was made to sleep in the chapel, his bed being
placed there for that purpose, and round his neck was
put an iron collar, jointed behind, and shutting over
a staple before, in which sometimes a pin was in-
serted. He slept ; and, if the cure was within the
reach or the will of the Saint, the collar was found open
in the morning ; if otherwise, shut. Offerings, or vows
in case of success, were made to propitiate the Dragon-
killer, and it was said that from a rich man a trifle
would not content him. The khasnadar had made-
the trial two or three times without success : when his
wife, who accompanied him, having heard of our
arrival at Tripoli, thought that the request of Muly

54 TEAVELS OP

Ismael would be sufficient to bring me over to the
monastery to see him : and a horse soldier, as has
been said, was accordingly despatched with a letter to
that effect.

After my breakfast I went to see my patient, whom
I found with his wife in an adjoining room. A best
carpet was spread for me ; coffee and pipes were
served. The khasnadar was a plethoric young man
about twenty-five ; and, but for sickness, must have
been very handsome. His wife was veiled at first by
a shawl over her head, and pinched together by her
hand so as to show one eye only ; but by degrees she
let it fall open, and I beheld a masculine woman of
thirty or thereabouts. She was a Georgian, and had
been a slave. I immediately took my patient in
hand, and, as it is alwaj^s necessary in the East,
enacted, in the course of an hour, the parts of phy-
sician, surgeon, and apothecary. I then left him, and
went to look over the monastery.

It was inhabited by three caloyers only, who, ac-
cording to the rules of this Greek monastic order, are
permitted, except on fast-days, to indulge in coffee,
smoking, drinking, and eating, to what extent they
please, with the exception of meat, which is allowed
only twice a year. Hence I was requested to ad-
minister medicines for the corpulence of the one, the
indigestion of the other, the pimples of a third. There
were three or four good rooms on the story which
they inhabited, and beneath were storehouses well

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 00

stocked with wine, oil, wheat, and eatables. There were
two or three servants, and a mule or two ; and thus
this small community lived. As the extreme lowness
of the entrance was still strongly present to my
thoughts, I asked them concerning it. They assigned
the reason I have above given, and added that the
mule of the convent had been taught to crawl through
on his knees, of which I was afterwards an eye-
witness, in consequence of my previous incredulity.

There was an annual festival celebrated at this
place, upon which occasion persons come from Hamah,
Hems, Tripoli, and other towns in great numbers.
At midnight, the image of St. George on horseback
is seen against the wall of the convent, at which vision
the people set up a shout, and rejoicings continue
until morning.

As this road is much frequented, not a night passed
in which travellers or caravans did not stop. A sort
of shed sheltered the horses and mules, and the people,
if respectable, were received into the interior. The
monks supplied them with food, which was good or
bad in proportion to the recompence expected, and
this employment was so lucrative that the monastery
was supported by it. Their funds had been enough
at one period to enable them to build a caravansery,
which they had begun, but were prevented from pro-
ceeding in by an order from the government. This
happened during the rule of Yusef Pasha : and the
half-built caravansery adjoined the monaster}-.

56 TRAVELS OP

I expressed my wonder how a strict Mahometan
could have resorted to the shrine of a Christian saint ;
but the caloyers told me that this was by no means a
rare occurrence, and that, if I stopped a few days
among them, I should see many Ansarys, who had
recourse to them in all their difficulties, and especially
when their wives wished for children ; and, in fact,
there did afterwards come a party of ten or twelve on
account of sickness.

The evening was passed with the khasnadar's wife
in talking over the news of Hamah. On the follow-
ing day I had a visit from the katib of the district
(if so he may be called), the person who was the ac-
credited agent ^ in all transactions between government
and the people. He too was in want of a doctor ; for
it is to be observed, that, although in the East no tra-
veller has such advantages as a medical man, because
he is well received everywhere, yet no one is so much
harassed : and I sometimes thought the people pre-
tended to have maladies either to get English medi-
cines given to them, which they prized greatly ; or to
learn what mode of cure was to be pursued in case
such a disease really affected them ; for at no place
was I secuiie from interruption from morning to
night.

On the 15th I rode up to a castle, which stands on

^ His name was Suliman, the son of Ibrahim, katib of
Hussn and Safyna, which is an adjoining district, and where
he lived.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 57

the highest part of the hills through which the road
passes from the sea-coast to Caile-Syria. From its
position it commands the passage, in a certain degree ;
it is distant from the monastery ahout one mile and a
half, as the crow flies. The road was of no difficult
steepness, and lay through small brushwood. A long,
dark, covered way, filthy with cow-dung and mire, led
to the gate, which appeared to have had a portcullis
and all the apparatus of early fortifications. I entered
through it into a spacious court, in which were living
several Turkish families. The castle was composed
of a keep and outer works, fl^anked with round towers ;
but the whole was in a dilapidaT:ed state.

I was taken to a smoky stone room under the gate-
way, where a man, in a tawdry yellow silk pelisse,
the shaykh of the village, received me with an air
which brought to my recollection JuvenaPs descrip-
tion of the magistrate of Cums. It may be observed
of the Turks and Christians, that the former are often
more gaily dressed than their means warrant ; whilst
the latter, in spite of the humility of garb to which
they are condemned, swell sometimes with the pride
which a full purse gives, and excite the envy of
their better-dressed masters. The name of the castle
was El Hussn, which signifies a walled fortifica-
tion.'

From the top of the keep I enjoyed a most ex-

^ It would appear that this is the place described by Abul-

feda (page 102), under the name of Hussn el Kerad. His

D 5

58 TRAVELS OP

tensive view, wliieh is to be recommended to travellers
as favourable for obtaining a correct notion of the
natural geographical divisions of this part of Syria.
This keep bears from Tripoli north-east and by east-
half-north. I saw from it the wide plains towards
Hamah and Hems narrowing into the vale of the
Bka, the Csele-Syria Proper of the ancients ; whilst the
whole tract of level country to the north and east of
the Bka Avas called Oeele-Syria in general. As I was
now on the highest spot within the pass, I saw the
error into which the generality of maps lead, when
they mark a continuous chain of mountains from one
end of Syria to the other ; for, from the castle, I could
behold the north extremity of Mount Lebanon reach
its greatest height, and descend suddenly into low
hills down to the foot of the castle, upon which I
stood ; whilst, from the monastery, a new chain may
be said to begin, extending, if my information be just,
as far as the river Syr, and forming the ancient
Mount Bargylus, mentioned by Pliny. — (Hist, v., 17.)
I cannot express my sensations as I looked from the
place on which I stood over the Desert. A haze,
raised by the heat of the sun over the surface of the
country, dimmed the sight of objects so as to give the
distant plains a look more boundless and desolate than
usual. I obtained here a few copper coins of no value.

words are : " Hussn el Kerad is a fortified castle, facing Hems
to the west, upon the mountain. This castle is a day's journey
from Hems, and the like distance from Tripoli."

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 59

The shaykli spoke with pleasure of an Englishman,
who had passed a night there some years before, and
who was dressed in scarlet, and slept under a tent.
These Mahometans were in an exposed position, in
case of warfare, as they were surrounded by Ansarys
and Christians.

I returned to the monastery much pleased with my
excursion. Selim and Suliman had now judged their
visit to Lady Hester to have been long enough, and
left her during my absence. Their road lay past the
monastery, and they made it their station on their
way home, arriving here on the 17th at night. Suli-
man showed a pretty watch-chain, with other presents
which Lady Hester made him. The khasnadar and
his wife were well known to Selim ; and Selim''s wife
was a native of a village in this neighbourhood ; so
that the monastery was a scene of festivity on his
arrival, and several cavaliers, whom I had not before
suspected to be in the neighbourhood, came from
different directions to visit him.

But my patient, amidst all this, grew no better,
and I could do no more than draw out a line of cure,
and beg the wife to adhere strictly to it, which she
promised to do ; for Lady Hester had written to me
to request me to return ; and on the 19th, in the
morning, I departed, leaving Selim still there ; and in
him I bade adieu to a man, the strangest compound
of talent, frivolity, liberality, and libertinism, that I
ever met with. He was the most wayward of mortals.

60 TRAVELS OF

He was ever writing sonnets to his mistress's eye-
brow, and carried about with him small bags of silk,
stuffed with ribbon-ends, locks of hair, and scraps of
love-letters. Often would he cut up portions of a
lock of hair, and deliberately eat them, which, I found
from him, is a favourite way in the East of marking
a lover's devotion. It was told me, upon creditable
authority, that he lay a whole night on the grave of
one of his mistresses who had died. He would recite
amatory poetry stanza after stanza, and his own com-
positions were admired by such as pretended to be
judges. Upon one occasion, at the commencement of
our acquaintance, dining with Mr. B. and myself, he
tried a little while to make use of a knife and fork,
but, not managing them well, he threw them away
with vehemence, and declared, if he must not eat
but with them, he would even go without his dinner.
He was an excellent horseman ;^ and one of his feats
on horseback was to throw a stick, of the thickness
of a broom-handle and half its length, on the ground
in a full gallop, and to make it rebound so as to catch
it in his hand again. This is certainly difficult, as
any horseman may prove by experiment, and requires
much force and expertness, but has no use that I know

^ One of Selim's horses continually moved his head up and
down. This is esteemed, in the East, a mark of a high-bred
horse, and is supposed to have something holy in it, I believe
because it resembles the motion which learned and devout
JSIahometans put on when reading the Coran.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 61

of, excepting to teach how to exercise the arm with
violence without losing one's seat. Of his cleverness
there was ample testimony from all quarters ; and of his
intriguing disposition there could be no doubt ; for he
was ever toiling to exalt himself, and pull down some-
body.^

My journey back to Tripoli was more fortunate than
the one out had been. Near the city I observed a
pretty spot by the road side, the name of which I
forget, where I saw certain fish in a pond which were
as tame as gold fish kept in a vase, and would eat out
of one''s hand.

One day (January 12) Lady Hester spoke to me
of a plan, which she had been turning over in her
mind, of forming an association of literary men and
artists, whom she proposed inviting from Europe, for
the purpose of prosecuting discoveries in every branch
of knowledge, and of journeying over different parts
of the Ottoman empire. In fact, she aimed at cre-
ating another Institute, like that which Buonaparte
led with him to Egypt, and of which she was to be

1 It perhaps may amuse some persons to know that parasites,
or toadies, as they are now called, are as common in Syria as
in other countries. Selim, wherever he went, was generally
accompanied by a man, to whom, upon all occasions, he was
accustomed to appeal for a confirmation of his assertions. This
man accordingly would attest, with violent asseverations, any-
thing, however hyperbolical or exaggerated, that Selim
advanced.

62 TEAVELS OF

the head. Chimerical as such an undertaking would
be for an individual, unless of great wealth, it must
be allowed that a society so made up can alone
combine all the requisites for thoroughly investi-
gating the arts, sciences, statistics, geography, and
antiquities of a country imperfectly known, like
Syria.

For a time her mind was entirely engrossed in this
new scheme ; and she even drew up memorials to be
presented to different persons whom she wished to
enlist and engage in the undertaking. Wonderful
was the facility with which she would square every
word to the different tempers and situations of diffe-
rent persons, anticipate their different objections, and
(which was no immaterial part,) show how contribu-
tions were to be levied on the rich ; for she proposed
to do it by subscription. The experiments, likewise,
which she intended to prosecute on the plague, and
on the bites of venemous animals, by means of the
bezoar and serpent stones, were now a favourite
hobby with her ; and she particularly charged me
to write about them to certain persons only, lest
some one should get hints enough to anticipate
her discoveries, and thus rob her of a part of her

renown

As there was nothing to detain us longer at Tripoli,
our departure for Mar Elias was resolved on ; and, on
the 16th of January, fresh muleteers having been hired
at three piasters and a half per day, we proceeded

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 63

on our journey. We were accompanied, during the
first stage, by Malera Yanny, the brother-in-law of
Mr. Catsiflitz, a gentleman who, on several occasions,
had been very attentive to us during our residence at
Tripoli, officiating for Mr. Catsiflitz, the consul, who
was too old to be any longer active.

64 TRAVELS OF

CHAPTER IV.

Jdurney from Tripoli to Abra — Monastery of Dayr Natur
— Grave of Mr. Cotter — Ruins of Enfeh — Batrun — Rene-
gade priest — Remarks on apostates — Gebayl, the ancient
Byblus — Mulberry plantations — Castle — Public-houses —
Nahr Ibrahim, the river Adonis — Taberjeh — Ejectment ofj|t
cottagers in rain and cold — Nahr el Kelb, the ancient river
Lyons — Inscriptions — Shuifad — Visit of Lady Hester to the
Syt Habus — Capugi Bashi sent to Lady Hester — INIbarak, 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 Calamun, the ancient
Calamos : inhabited entirely by sheryfs, or descen-
dants of the Prophet, Mahomet. This was the birth-
place of Berber : and he was said to have paid but
one visit to it since his elevation to his present great-
ness, 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 Calamun we turned towards the west, and
arrived at Dayr Natur, where it was proposed to halt.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 65

Dayr Natur 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 rays (or superior) * 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, J 813, fell a victim to the cli-
mate, 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 re-
mained here during the 1 7th, and I took this oppor-
tunity of accompanying Malem 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.

^ Rays means a captain of a vessel, or the superior of a com-
munity, or the head of any body of persons.

66 TRAVELS OF

Enfeh* was now but a liamlet : 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 draw-
bridge was yet visible, and two small chambers like-
wise hewn out of the rock were yet perfect. One we
found with the door blocked up by stones. On push-
ing them down, it proved to be a storeroom for salt,
collected from tanks and hollows close by. The neigh-
bouring 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.

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

The next day we left Dayr Natur, and, keeping by
the sea-side, passed, at the distance of three quarters

^ Burkhardt spells it Amfy. His words are, " Below, on
the sea-shore, at the extremity of a point of land, is a lone vil-
lage, called Amfy, and near it the convent Dair Natour."

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 67

of an hour, Enfeli, 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 he re-
abouts 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 Curah, which is a low
mountain south of Tripoli, and celebrated for its to-
bacco, 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
Mesalah, which terminates toward the sea in a pro-
montory, mentioned above under the name of Ras el
Shaka. This promontory, the Theoprosopon, is con-
sidered by Strabo as the termination of Mount Le-
banon : 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 Calat
Hussn. The soil on the Mesalah 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 difiicult road along the country.
The ascent and descent took up about an hour and a
half: after which we traversed a narrow valley in

68 TRAVELS OF

which 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 Botrun, the ancient Botrus.

Botrun is a seaport town, used only by small fish-
ing-boats, as it does not afford a safe anchorage for
large vessels. It was in the hands of the emir of the
Druzes, and was governed by a bailiff deputed by
him. Thece 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.
Botrun is a town of the highest antiquity, said to
have been built by a king of Tyre.'

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
sura 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, witii Colonel Capper,
^ Jos. Antiq. Jud. 1. viii. c. 13.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 69

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 coloneFs 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 con-
sequence 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 ^ 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 Druzes, 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 at^jtempts

^ This kind of marriage is called in Arabic El Menmah
— conjugium temper arium.

70 TRAVELS OF

to induce him to quit his illicit commerce with his
maid servant, hut in vain.

When I saw him, he was in great distress, and was
keeping a small shop to maintain his family, now in-
creased by the addition of three children : yet Signor
Dueci 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 rubias.^ We
passed the evening together. His manners were gen-
tlemanlike ; 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 con-
version 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 be-
come a reverend ulema among the Mahometans. The
Scotch private soldier, who, under the name of
Yahyah, became physician to the son of Mohammed

■" About £3 sterling. Roubles, rupees, rubias, are all the
same word in different tongues.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 71

Ali, certainly gained by the cliange ; and, for the
general indulgence which converts to Mahometanism
are allowed, the whole troop of French Mamelukes in
Egypt were staijdiug 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 pro-
bably 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 Botrun on the 1 9th ; 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 lucra-
tive, 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.

72 TRAVELS OF

Gebayl was anciently called Byblus.^ It is now a
walled town, containing within its circuit perhaps
SOO 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 Besh;^^r, who dispos-
sessed 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 Druzes
presented Lady Hester with a figure of Isis on her
knees, holding before her, and between her hands, an

^ Strabo, xvi. 755. 1 Kings, v. Josh, xiii, 5. Ezekiel,
xxvii. 9. Ptolemy places Bj-blus ten miles south of Botrus ;
this agrees very nearly with five hours' march, ass's pace..

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 73

altar, on which was a scarabseus. 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. A donis had
temples in the city, but 1 know not of any Egyptian
worship having existed here.

STATUE FOUND AT GEBAYL.

Gebayl had a motsellem, but his power hardly ex-
ceeded that of an English constable. He was a Turk,
which, considering that the place belonged to the emir
of the Druzes, 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 exca-

VOL HI. K

74 TRAVELS OF

vatecl sepulchres ; 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 Tripoh, Lady Hester had adopted
the plan of breaking the day's journey by an hour's
rest at some spot half way ; 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 afibrd shelter for
beasts of burden. Corn, straw, cofi'ee, and tobacco,
were sold in them as well as wine and brandy, this
being in the territory of the emir of the Druzes, where
Christians might do with impunity what they dared

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 75

not 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 liglit elegant bridge of three arches.

One mile and a half more brought us to Taberjeh,'
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 con-
sisted of a few cottages, and, as usual, we were fur-
nished with an order to select the most convenient for

^ So it is written in my notes, but I am inclined to think the
name of this hamlet is Mynat Bergeh, or the port of Bergeh.
It was in going to this place, that, finding one of the Turkish
muleteers exceedingly careless, I dismounted, and laid a stick
sharply across his shoulders. This was the only time,
thus far in my travels, I ever struck a Mahometan; and,
although he merely vented his dudgeon in words, I was very
apprehensive that, on our arrival at Beyrout, he would take
an opportunity of raising a mob against me. I would not
advise a European ever to strike a Mussulman, whatever the
provocation may be.

E 2

76 TRAVELS OF

our lodging. Upon these occasions the tenants were
sent for the night to the houses of their friends and rela-
tions. But we were so many in number, and the cot-
tages so few, that, the rain falling in torrents, a re-
moval 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 recom-
pense, 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 tliree quarters of an hour we came to Nahr Maha-
meltayn, 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 coun-
tries, was, properly speaking, no more than a water-
course. After Mahameltayn, the soil became sandy.
Here began the district of Keserwan (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 inter-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE, 77

vals between them. The monasteries^ also, with their
b elfries, denoted the liberty which the Christians here
enjoyed, a bell being in Turkey a distinctive emblem
of their religion, which (as prohibited by the Maho-
metans) they take more pride in erecting than they
would an hospital.

Grunyh (pronounced Jewny), an hour and a half
from Taberjey, is a hamlet by the sea-side, with a small
pavilion or pleasure-house to which the emir some-
times 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 Met-
ten. 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,^ 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.
^ Via Antoniana. This road was made by Aurelius. (Pococke.)

78 TRAVELS OF

After crossing the promontory we again found our-
selves on the sandy strand j and, at the distance of
one hour and a half from the river Kelb, diverging
from the seaside 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,'
distant from the city more than a league. The river,
which runs beneath it, is the ancient Magoras.^
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 Shuifad, a large burgh on the first rise
of Mount Lebanon.

Lady Hester^s purpose in going thither was to

^ Beyrout was taken from the Saracens, by Baldwin, in
1111, and lost in 1187. It was anciently a famous school of
civil law.

^ Some say the Adonis (Brown) ; some the Tamyras (Poc.) ;
but Brown seems to have been exceedingly inaccurate in
assigning names to places and things along the coast of Syria ;
and Pococke places the Tamyras, which we shall presently
pass, and which is the modern Damur, some miles too far
North. The similarity of Tamyr and Damur might have
saved Pococke from this blunder.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 79

visit the Syt Habus,^ a celebrated Dr{ize lady, sprung
from a noble family, who had in her own hands the
administration of several villages, which she farmed
from the Shaykh Beshyr ; — a singular thing in this
country, where the women seldom take upon them-
selves or have any other duties but such as are
domestic. Shuifad, 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 Habus 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 iudifierent 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 Beshyr (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 the
^ Dame Habus.

80 TRAVELS OP

military exercise of the musket, to the great amuse-
ment 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 Habus, a talkative old man, but
apparently well read in Arabic literature. He
showed me some common English pocket-handker-
chiefs, 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 Con-
stantinople.

My servant, Giovanni, who had been sent with
M. B., comingback late, I questionedhim on the reason
of his delay, when, to excuse himself, he said, as he
was riding through the streets, his mule was pressed
by 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 his

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 81

poor 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 ray 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, 1 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 Oapugi 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 of katih^ 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 Shuifad.
She had seen Syt Habus 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-like

E 5

82 TRAVELS OF

about her. The interview took place in the presence
of the Shaykh Beshyr, 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 Shuifad, and proceeded to-
wards Abrah. I rode forward with a servant, to find
a restinof-place for her ladyship, half way on the day''s
journey. This man, one of the walking grooms, was
named Mbarak, a native of Bisra, the son of the
curate, of which circumstance he was exceedingly
proud. As he knew this part of the country per-
fectly, 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 ^ throughout Syria. But he gave me a
proof of his cleverness, by cutting a twig of a par-
ticular 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 Nebby
' Vid. Niebuhr or Pococke.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. S3

Yunez,* 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 Damiir, 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. Never-
theless, 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 the

^ Supposed by Pococke to be the Porphirion of the Jeru-
salem Itinerary, eight miles from Sidon : but Nebby Yuncz
is from fifteen to eighteen, being six hours' ride.

84 TRAVELS OF

mountain 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, whichi 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 Za,ym' or Oapugi
Bashi was arrived at Sayda, and wished to see her at
the governor's ; meaning that a Moslem of such con-
sideration 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 nature

^ Zaym means, I believe, the superior of any order : I
should translate it by the word president. Capugi means a
doorkeeper, and Capugi-bashi, a head doorkeeper. But these
appellations do not convey to the mind the nature of the
duties allotted to such persons by the government. A
Capugi-bashi and a Zaym are great men, who are entrusted
with the most important missions.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 85

of 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 bowstring
dangling from under the Oapugi's robe, at least no
use should be made of it whilst we were there.

To account for these seemingly unnecessary pre-
cautions, I ought to premise that, in Turkey, a
Oapugi Baslii 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.

86 TRAVELS OF

CHAPTER V.

Probability of the existence of Hidden Treasures in the
East — Manuscript pretending to reveal such Treasures,
brought to Lady Hester — She obtains firmans from the
Porte authorizing her to make researches — She sends to
Haroah for Malem Musa — Her letter to the Pasha of Acre —
Her plans for raising money — Journey of the Author to
Damascus — His Visit to Ahmed Bey — Ambergris — Damascus
sabres — Horse Bazar — Horse Dealing and Horse Stealing —
M. Beaudin's night journey to Tyre — His horse stolen —
Detection and punishment of the thieves — Return of the
Author to Mar Elias — His dangerous situation in a snow-storm
— Interior of a Druze Cottage.

I will now endeavour to explain the business upon
which the Capugi Bashi (or Zaym, as he was more
frequently called) had been sent by the Sublime Porte
to Lady Hester. In the preceding year, her ladyship,
during her illness, had upon several occasions hinted
at the existence of hidden treasures, a clue to which
she had by some means become possessed of; but,
finding me incredulous on the subject, she dropped it,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 87

and never more spoke of it until the day after the
Zaym's arrival j when, as I was to assist in the
management of the business, she gave me a history of
it, as follows : —

A manuscript was put into her hands, said to have
been surreptitiously copied by a monk, from the
records of a Frank monastery in Syria, and found
among his papers after his decease. It was written
in Italian, and disclosed the repositories of immense
hoards of money, buried in the cities of Ascalon,
Awgy, and Sidon, in certain spots therein mentioned.

Persons, whom a residence in the East has made
acquainted with the usages of Eastern nations, con-
sider such events as very probable and worthy of ex-
amination : for there are causes among them which
induce the concealment of riches, not operating in
other countries. To make this clearer, it may not be
amiss to enumerate the reasons : firstly, the want of
paper currency, or the bulkiness and weight of specie j
secondly, the non-existence of banks, wherein money
may be deposited in safety ; thirdly, the insecurity
of private property ; fourthly, the frequency of wars
and tumults : lastly, the particular circumstances
of the times in which the treasures in question are
supposed to have been buried, combining all these be-
forementioned difficulties.

Firstly, It is only in Europe and America, that the
public confidence in the government and in rich in-
dividuals has been sufficient to give general currency

88 TRAVELS OP

to pieces of paper bearing the value of specie : in
the East, no such paper money exists, unless it be in
China. Governors of towns send their tribute to their
pasha in bags, on mules and other beasts of burden,
guarded by soldiers : whilst private persons generally
pay their debts where they can in goods and by
barter, rather than send specie, which would be too
declaratory of their wealth. A rich man, who has
not the means of investing his money in the purchase
of jewels, houses, lands, &c., feels the hazard of lay-
ing up specie in a trunk or closet, especially as the
locks and keys in the East aflford little security,
and as iron chests are no where seen excepting
in the counting-houses of European merchants, esta-
blished among them. Banks and public funds are,
generally speaking, unknown. He is, therefore,
reduced to concealment, either in a hole, or in some
subterranean place constructed for the purpose : more
especially if, leaving his house on a journey, he holds
his wife so little worthy of trust that he dares not
make even her acquainted with the secret of his
treasures ; a case by no means rare in Turkey, and
not uncommon elsewhere.

Not a year passes that a pasha or governor does
not lay violent hands on some rich man, whether
Turk or Nazarene. Excuses are never wanting,
either from the frequent peculations which persons
employed under government habitually practise, or
from alleged treasonable correspondence with Franks,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 89

or from any other motive which arbitrary injustice
holds good enough for its purposes. To such as have
imprudently made a display of their riches the ransom
will be proportionally high. They have, therefore,
no other means of avoiding similar difficulties than by
carefully hiding what they possess, even from their
nearest connections, among whom instances of trea-
chery have put them on their guard. It is obvious
to every traveller in Turkey, how much the extreme
of indigence is affected in the dress and houses of rich
individuals. The receiving apartment of a Christian,
more especially when visited by a Turk, is generally
the hall of his house, sometimes a bench at his door,
where everything intentionally indicates poverty :
whilst a Turk pursues the same course towards every-
body. Relatives and intimate friends alone see the
interior of each other"'s houses, and it is before these
only that a person displays his smart pipes, his
pelisses, his shawls, and his rich silks ; so that, in
the most tranquil state of such a government, every
possible caution is necessary to escape the invidious
eyes of oppressive masters.

But, when we add to all this the extreme frequency
of popular tumults ; of plunder by troops, who own
no control; of rebellion, and, its consequences, sieges,
pillages, and precipitate flights ; we shall not wonder
if a prudent man never thinks his wealth safe until it is
under ground. Let us take Tripoli for an example.
Within the last twenty years it had undergone five

90 TRAVELS OF

sieges, and every siege had terminated by sacking the
city. The peaceable inhabitant, if he flies, cannot
take his money with him because it is too heavy, if
to any amount, even for a mule to carry (considering
that Turkish coins are very bulky, as are Spanish
dollars, the coin chiefly hoarded) ; and, if he shuts it
up in the strongest chest, he knows that it will ine-
vitably be rifled. He therefore, if obliged to flee,
either throws it into the well, the cistern, or the
water-closet ; or, if he has had prudence and foresight
enough to be prepared for such a calamity, he deposits
it in some hole made with a view to this particular
purpose.

From such like reasoning as this Lady Hester had
no doubt of the possibility of the existence of hidden
treasures. She next examined the manuscript ; and,
on observing that it had no signs of antiquity about
it, she was told this was a copy of the original paper,
which, through fear of losing it, had never been taken
out of the house. Keeping the copy, therefore, Lady
Hester insisted on seeing the original, and pretended
to treat the matter lightly unless she should be con-
vinced by the sight of a more authentic document
than that before her.

The inhabitants are strongly possessed with the idea
that the Franks who come among them have no other
object than to seek treasures concealed in ancient ruins.
They look with indiflerence themselves on the works
of the ancients as specimens of architecture, and do

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 91

not understand how others can be so eager in re-
searches after what they despise. The admeasure-
ment of an edifice, the copying of an ancient inscrip-
tion, is, in their eyes, nothing better than taking the
marks of a golden hoard. Nor can this opinion
have originated in anything else but the certainty,
from their own experience, that treasures are often
discovered.' Can it be wondered at, therefore, that
they should often have asked me these questions l —
" If my lady is not come to seek for treasures, what is
she come for ? Is she banished ? No : Is she on mer-
cantile aifairs ? No : Well, but if she is come, as
you say, for her health, surely in Syria there are
more pleasurable spots to be found than the barren
sides of Mount Lebanon."

With this opinion, therefore, so strongly impressed
upon their minds, she considered that the document
might be no more than a forgery fabricated on pur-
pose by some of the emissaries of the Porte, to make
a trial of her eagerness about it, and thereby assure
themselves whether she were travelling for such an
object, or (which is another very flattering opinion
they sometimes have of travellers) as a spy. To

^ Thus, whilst we were at Acre, there were Roman coins of
the middle empire on sale at the goldsmiths' by threes and
twos : and as one three disappeared another supplied its place.
It was plain that a jar of coins had lately been discovered, and
it was said that Shaykh Messaud of Hartha was the fortunate
finder.

92 TRAVELS OF

accept the paper, then, was a less dangerous course than
to refuse it : for it is better to be considered as a
treasure-hunter than as a secret agent of a govern-
ment.

The original copy was produced, and considered by
Lady Hester as genuine. The donor had, most pro-
bably, looked to the certainty of an immediate present
for his disclosure, as he had often experienced Lady
Hester's liberality : but there were many reasons for
not immediately rewarding him ; and, knowing the
impracticability of a similar attempt without exposing
herself to some risk and to more expense than she
could afford, she determined on making an application
to the Porte, offering them all the pecuniary benefit that
might accrue, and reserving for herself the honour
only. She accordingly submitted a succinct statement
to His Excellency Mr. (afterwards Sir Kobert) Listen,
to be presented by him to the Eeis Effendi. Whether
any correspondence took place on the subject, or
whether the business was prima facie considered so
well worth a trial as to demand no farther inquiries
into it, I do not know : because, as was said before,
the whole affair was matured for execution before I
became acquainted with it.

It may not be improper to add that much reliance
must have been placed on Lady Hester's judgment,
since the manuscript wanted the very essential con-
firmation of a date. Therefore, as no clue could be
obtained, after the priest's death, to the records from

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 93

which it was copied, it was not clear at what period
the treasures were hidden. That they were so, when
the mosque, mentioned in the manuscript, was still
standing, we gathered from the allusions made to pil-
lars, walls, &c. We might go farther back, and con-
clude the deposit to have been made before the edifice
was appropriated to the Mahometan worship — because
Christians are not allowed to enter a mosque, much
less to remain long enough to dig a hole, or take the
precautions necessary for such a concealment. This
therefore carries us back to a period of seven or eight
centuries.

How is it possible that a treasure could so long lie
untouched, when the secret of its existence was known ?
The answer is, that digging and rummaging in ruins
always excites dangerous suspicions in the Turks.
Every traveller in the Levant has heard how certainly
the discovery of a jar of money leads to the ruin of
the finder, if known. In vain he immediately carries
it to the governor : his greedy masters suppose that
he has concealed a part for his own use ; and the bas-
tinado, nay, often torture, compels him to yield up the
supposed remainder by sacrificing all he has in the
world. His property is confiscated, and poverty and
blows are his reward. So much do examples of this
kind terrify, that some, who have fallen accidentally
on jars of coins, have been known to cover the spot
carefully up, and never to speak of it but on their

94 TRAVELS OF

death-bed; a disclosure more likely to do mischief
than good to their heirs.

On the 2Sth of January, 1815, Derwish Mustafa
Aga, the Zaym, arrived, as we have already seen,
after a journey of many weeks, from Constantinople,
deputed to invest Lady Hester with greater authority
over the Turks than was, probably, ever granted even
to any European ambassador ; certainly, than to any
unofficial Christian.

Derwish Aga was a short man, about 50 years old.
As soon as he had supped, Lady Hester requested his
presence in the saloon, to which he moved most slowly,
moaning and whining on entering the door as though
he had been ill. Giorgio acted as the interpreter :
and the aga and her ladyship remained in private con-
versation until past midnight. He was the bearer of
three firmans or imperial orders, empowering her to
demand what assistance she might want for the prose-
cution of her purpose : one was addressed to the
Pasha of Acre ; another to the Pasha of Damascus ;
and a third to all governors in Syria generally. Der-
wish Aga was to })ut himself entirely under the di-
rection of Lady Hester, and was to do nothing without
consulting her.

On the 29th and 80th he had long conversations
with her ladyship, and tried eyerj device to wind
about her, in order to judge what were her motives
for offering to the Porte treasures which others would

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 95

have appropriated to their own use : but he invariably
found them to be such as she had professed. He next
wanted to make the first excavation at the spot said to
be near Say da, but her ladyship insisted on Ascalon, and
it was finally so arranged. Considering that an affair of
this magnitude ought not to be trusted entirely to the
Capugi Bashi, (and those enlisted into this service by
him) she bethought herself of Malem Musa of Hamah,
father of Selim, in whom she had perceived a vast
capacity for business, and on whom she felt she could
rely better than on any other native of her acquaint-
ance. Accordingly a letter was sent off by express
to Hamah nearly in these words : " You know I am
a straitforward person. An affair has happened which
demands your presence at Acre. Be not alarmed ;
there is nothing serious in it : but let nothing prevent
your coming, short of illness. In such a case, send
Selim, and with him some one who reads and speaks
Turkish fluently. But it would be better that you
came together ; you to give counsels, and he to exe-
cute them."

Lady Hester, just returned from a long and fatiguing
journey, felt almost unequal to undertake another :
but the Zaym of course urged the necessity of her
presence, and she probably did not wish him to act
without her ; so it was arranged that he should pre-
cede her to Acre, to make the necessary preparations.
He accordingly departed, accompanied by Giorgio,
who was promoted to be dragoman, and was furnished

96 TRAVELS OF

with the following letter to the pasha : — " I send your
Highness my dragoman, who will acquaint you with
his business, according to the tenor of a paper which
I have put in his hands. In a few days I shall be
with you myself to explain the whole." The paper
was to this effect ; — " A person had put into my hands
certain indications of a treasure. His object was to
get money from me : but, as the benefit was not to be
mine, (since I never seek to appropriate to myself the
property of others,) it was not for me to reward him.
It would have been natural for me to have immedi-
ately acquainted your Highness with it : but I con-
sidered that there might arise a double mischief from
this : first, that, if the treasure did not exist, the
ridicule would fall on you ; and secondly, that, if it
did exist, and you had presented it to the Porte, you
might have been suspected of having appropriated a
portion to yourself, and would have been avanized.'
I therefore addressed myself directly to the Sultan,
assigning to him the same reasons for having kept
you in ignorance that I now give you, and having
spoken of you in such terms as, had you been present,
you would have approved of."

On Wednesday, February 1st, Derwish Aga and
Giorgio departed, and it was fixed for us to follow in
ten days.

Lady Hester had considered how she should be
able to support the expense which this afiair would
^ " Avanized " is the Levant word for " mulcted."

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 97

bring upon lier. Her limited income scarcely sufficed
for her ordinary expenditure, and she had exceeded it
greatly in her late tour to Bcilbec. She therefore
came to the resolution of asking (or, as she expressed
it, of obliging) the English government to pay her ;
.considering that the reputation which she was giving
to the English name was a sufficient warrant for ex-
pecting this remuneration. " I shall beg of you,
doctor" (she said) " to keep a regular account of every
article, and will then send in my bill to government
by Mr. Liston ; when, if they refuse to pay me, I
shall put it in the newspapers and expose them.
And this I shall let them know very plainly, as I
consider it my right, and not a favour: for, if
Sir A. Paget put down the cost of his servants' liveries
after his embassy to Vienna, and made Mr. Pitt pay
him <i£'70,000 for four years, I cannot see why I should
not do the same."

As both Lady Hester and myself were in want
of many articles necessary on a long journey, she re-
quested me to go to Damascus for them, as well as to
pick up some horses for our riding. Two days before
Derwish Aga departed for Acre, I left Abra, taking
with me Mbarak, the lock-picking servant, and a mule-
teer. Our road lay to Bisra, already described, and
from Bisra, ascending the mountain upon which I lost
myself in October, 1814, we came to the cascade. Here
we struck off to the north-east, and ascended another
mountain, at the back of a village called Ayu Matur,

VOL. 111. F

98 TRAVELS OF

from the top of which there is a view of the plain of
Bisra, of the ^len through which the river Ewely
winds, and of the mountains in which these romantic
scenes are embosomed. We then turned to the
east, continuing over a rocky but somewhat level
ridge, and reached, about sunset, a village where
Mbarak, the servant, had some respectable relations.
I was taken to their house ; a warm room was im-
mediately provided, and in due time a hot supper
made me forget the fatigues of the day.

This village was the highest to be seen hereabouts,
before reaching the summit of the mountain. It had
some good substantial stone dwellings, and the in-
habitants, I was told, were all above want, or, in
other words, in comfortable circumstances. The
plague was raging at another village half a mile off,
even at this unusual season of the year. I retired
to rest, whilst, in the adjoining room, Mbarak''s re-
lations sat the greater part of the night listening to
the recital of his adventures in the journey to Balbec,
to which he did not fail to add as many marvels as he
could conveniently invent.

The next morning, having thanked my hospitable
hosts, I proceeded on my journey. Half an hour
brought us to the foot of the last and highest chain of
mountains, where the snow now lay very thick.
When almost at the top, we met two women on foot,
one of whom had neither shoes nor stockings. I
stopped her, and, having a pair of yellow shoes loose

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 99

in a bag, I gave them to her, and received her thanks.
We soon afterwards arrived at the summit, and,
descending rapidly into the Bka, incHned to the left,
until we fell into the same track which we had followed
in 1812. The passage over the mountain by which I
had now come lies two or three leagues to the south
of that of Baruk. Passing .Tub Genyn, we did not
halt until we reached Aita ; and on the third day, we
arrived at Damascus.

We had scarcely reached the precincts of the
orchard grounds, when we were stopped by an officer
of the excise, who, with a follower or two, was lurking
about the road for the purpose of preventing smug-
gling. He was attracted by the sight of my camp-
bed, which, in the manner it was rolled up in its case,
looked like a bale of raw silk. Nothing short of open-
ing the case would satisfy him that it was not silk,
and, after giving me much trouble, he grumbled at
his disappointment, and allowed us to proceed. I
rode straight to the house of M. Chaboceau, the
French doctor, of whom I have spoken in a former
part of my journal, where I had reason to suppose I
should be hospitably welcomed — nor was I mistaken.

One of my first visits was to Ahmed Bey. His
son, Sulyman, of whom mention is made so largely at
my first visit to Damascus, was no more. Some
months before, in looking too eagerly over the edge
of the housetop, he fell forward, and, unable to save
himself, was dashed to pieces. Yet he had survived

F 2

100 TRAVELS OF

the plague in 1813; although Ahmed Bey at that
tune lost tweuty-one persons of his family, among
whom was his amiable wife. But how was I gratified,
yet afflicted, by the visit of the lovely Fatima ! whose
exceeding beauty and amiable character, known to me
during the protracted illness of her mother, whom
I attended when at Damascus before, had almost
made me forswear the faith I was born in, and
become, for her sake, a convert to Islamism. In-
formed of my arrival, she hastened, with the aged
Hadjy Murt Mohammed Aga, to see me. I was
shocked to find her blooming youth poisoned with a
sickly yellow hue, and her large and once brilliant
eyes now deprived of their lustre. She had had the
plague, and was yet, though so many months had
elapsed, labouring under its terrible effects.

I took Shukhr Aga, one of the bey's people, with
rae, and went from bazar to bazar making purchases.
I was shown the largest piece of ambergris I ever saw.
It was of the size and nearly in the shape of a human
skull, which it resembled also in being hollow, this
form being given by the calabashes in which it is col-
lected. It is much used by the wealthy and luxurious
to perfume coffee, which is done by fixing a piece the
size of a pea at the bottom of the coffee-cup. Each
time the boiling coffee is poured upon it, it imparts an
agreeable flavour to the beverage. Ambergris enters
frequently into the composition of aphrodisiacal
stimulants, much used by Mahometans.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 101

I purcliased a Damascus sabre for 172 piasters.
It was of that kind called in Arabic tahane, wliich
means tempered. It will not be amiss here to advert
to the sabres known in Europe by the general name
of Damascus blades, but which are more accurately
distinguished in Turkey, either from their temper,
their metal, their form, or their age. Their temper
is known by the clearness of the waves which cover
the surface and indeed penetrate the metal ; and the
more dense these are, the better is the metal : to
such is applied the term of tabane. If the blades
are very black, then the Turks name them kara
Khorasan (black steel of Khorasan) : if they are of a
lighter hue, tabane Hindy or Indian-tempered, in
which case the waves are farther apart, and their
outline is sometimes broken.

In looking along the blade, the back more especi-
ally, a flaw or crack may sometimes be discovered.
This is caused by hammering out the blade from two
eggs, or balls, of metal instead of one, or from thicken-
ing, or from piecing, the blade where defective. Gilt
letters engraved on them are often placed to conceal
some such defect, and, in Turkey generally, detract
somewhat from their value, unless the legend happens
to mark great antiquity or the name of a celebrated
possessor.

The form most admired, and which peculiarly be-
longs to those blades called Damascene, is the nar-
row blade, curved with an equal bend. The broad one

102 TRAVELS OP

is called the Stambul or Constantinople blade, and is
double-edged from the point up to one-third of its
length. There is a blade of a more silvery gray and
of a broader wave than the Indian tabane, which is
called ueryz, as I conjecture from the name of some
place where a celebrated manufactory was. All the
above mentioned blades are, in a certain degree,
ancient ; for the modern Damascus blades, of which I
possess one, are inferior in every respect, and are
known by looking somewhat like blades made wavy
with aquafortis.

1 was desirous of buying a shawl for a turban ; and,
from the inquiries I was led to make on that occasion,
compared with what I have observed since my return
to England, T have no doubt cashmere shawls are
cheaper here than in Turkey, as are, at this moment,
Damascus sabres, since the peace has thrown a great
many of both into our market.

The horse bazar was held every morning about
half an hour after sunrise, in an open space in the
middle of the town. I resorted thither, and looked
about for such horses as I was in search of. I found
that horse-dealing was a system of cheating as ex-
tensive in Damascus as in London ; but the public re-
gulations to prevent the ignorant from becoming the
dupes of knaves were good, and, as I was told,
generally speaking, rigidly enforced. I saw, among
many ordinary horses which were sold, a Bedouin
filly of two years fetch 500 piasters, or ^£'25.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 103

She was iron-gray, which is rather the prevailing
colour of Arab horses ; and, although not of the
finest breed, still it was evident that she was eagerly
caught up. On coming into the bazar, you are sur-
rounded by several delals (brokers.) These men
endeavour to find out what your wants are, and busily
set about satisfying them. Horses are ridden at a
walk, trot, and gallop, backward and forward between
the double rows of spectators, whilst the delals,
mounted on their backs, cry aloud what has been
bidden, and thus sell them by auction.

Shukhr Aga, always with me, sought out the delal
generally employed by Ahmed Bey, and told him
what I was in search of. Forthwith he brought before
me several steady mares, among which I selected one,
stout, bony, and in good condition ; and, having seen
her tried, after much altercation with the owner, the
bargain was struck, and the mare paid for. The delal
was paid at the regular market agency about one
and a half per cent ; and there was besides a fee to
the bazar. Horses thus bought are subject to three
days'" trial, within which time they may be returned,
and the money reclaimed. But the best illustration
of horse-dealing in Damascus will be in relating the
adventures of M. Beaudin"'s horse, stolen from him,
and sold in that very market.

M. Beaudin had left Mar Elias for St. Jean d'Acre
on business for Lady Hester. He rode a brown
bay mare, and carried under him his saddle-bags.

104 TRAVELS OF

His heavy luggage was on an ass conducted 'by a
driver. Night overtook him near old Tyre, at E^as-
el-ayn, a village in which are the celebrated waters,
called by Pococke and other travellers Solomon's
springs. They turn several water-mills ; and one of
these he entered, with a determination to sleep out the
night, and pursue his journey when day broke. He
tied up his mare, hung the corn-bag to her nose ; and,
putting the saddle-bags under his head as a pillow,
covered himself with his abah, and attempted to
sleep. The miller was attending to his business at
the hopper. M. Beaudin had scarcely made himself
comfortable when he heard the footsteps of persons
entering the mill ; and, lifting the abah off his face,
he saw two ill- looking men, who had come in, as they
said, to escape the rain which was falling very fast.
M. Beaudin thought their appearance suspicious ;
but he argued with himself thus : " JNIy saddle-bags
are under my head, my mare's bridle is almost in my
hand ; they cannot do me much mischief, and let the
miller look to himself;" so he covered up his face,
and went to sleep ; the ass-driver probably had better
secured his own animal, and went to sleep also.

An hour or two afterwards M. Beaudin awoke,
and, looking from under his cloak, saw, to his
utter astonishment, that his mare was gone. He
sprang up, and accused the miller, who was still at
work, of connivance in the theft. The poor man
seemed as much astonished as M. Beaudin at the

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 105

audacity of the thieves, and ran out immediately
iu pursuit of them ; but they were already far away :
and, although Beaudin strongly suspected the miller of
being a party in the crime, it was afterwards proved
that he was altogether innocent.

The night was dark and stormy : M. Beaudin re-
solved, nevertheless, to gain the town of Tyre, and
hire a horse to pursue his journey. Accordingly,
desiring the muleteer, as soon as it should be day-
light, to go forward on the Acre road, he set off on foot
by himself for Tyre, distant about three miles from
Ras-el-ayn. He knew that the way by the sea-
shore was the surest in the dark ; but he had not
proceeded far, when he found himself embarrassed
among several rivulets ; and, inclining inland to
avoid walking through them, he lost his way. He
had a brace of pistols at his girdle, heavy Turkish
trousers, and an abali or cloak. The weight of liis
clothing was increased by the rain, which continued
to fall, while its pattering drowned the roaring of
the surf, and prevented him from regaining the sea-
shore. He wandered about for some time, until at
last he came to a sugar-loaf hill, well known to sucli
persons as have passed near Tyre, which stands iu
the middle of the plain, and has on it a mosque
crowned with a double dome, called, from the simi-
larity of the two. El Ashuk w'el Mashuk (the lover
and the beloved). This mound formerly Avas tlie
site of some ancient edifice, as there are portions of an

106 TRAVELS OF

aqueduct still remaining which led from old Tyre
to it, whilst vast stones which lie scattered about its
foot bear evidence of masonry of no modern date.

From El Ashuk a road leads to Tyre. M. Beaudin
followed it, and arrived at the gates of the town before
they were opened. He seated himself on the outside,
and waited patiently until daylight, when he obtained
admittance. He then proceeded to the motsellem or
governor, and informed him of what had happened.
The motsellem despatched people in search of the horse
and robbers, while M. Beaudin hired a mule and con-
tinued his journey to Acre. On arriving there,
Malem Haym, the pasha's minister, was mformed of
his loss. M. Beaudin (after he had executed his
commission at Acre), was about to depart for Mar
Elias when he was furnished with a buyurdy or
government order to the motsellem of Tyre, enjoining
that officer to give him his own horse until the stolen
one should be found. The particular horse so assigned
was twice as valuable as M. Beaudin''s, who, there-
fore, politely told the motsellem that he did not i-equire
the pasha''s order to be executed to the letter, and
accordingly received a common horse for present use,
until his own could be recovered. Whilst delayed at
Tyre in these arrangements, he received a small scrap
of paper from Lady Hester, whom he had informed
by a letter from Acre of his loss. Upon this scrap of
paper was written, "/S'e vous atez perdu voire jument
trouvez la^ The motsellem promised, and was

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 107

bound, to make every exertion to bring the robbery
to light. M. Beaudin then proceeded to Mar Elias,
and had a severe reprimand from her ladyship for his
negligence !

Some months elapsed, and M. Beaudin still rode the
motsellem's horse, when it happened that he was de-
spatched by Lady Hester on business to Damascus ;
and, on his way back, was stopped by the snow, which
had blocked up the roads. He formed part of a
caravan ; and, as he was sitting in the caravansery,
during the evening, conversing with a horseman who
was one of the number, to pass the time he related the
story of the loss of his mare. A muleteer, who was
listening, asked him to describe her, and then said he
thought he knew where she was.

It appeared that the robbers had immediately taken
her from Tyre to Damascus, where, in the public
bazar, they sold her to a Persian for 600 piasters
(about £30). The laws of the bazar are, that every
horse sold there must be warranted as known not to
have been stolen ; and responsibility, to its full value,
falls on the company of deldls. So the stealers, unable
to produce a security, had her returned on their hands.
In selecting a Persian, who might be setting off imme-
diately for his own country, they thought to have
evaded this requisition : but the dealers, who have
their eyes on everybody and everything that passes,
felt that they might be called upon for the money, and
so prevented the sale. The stealers tried a second

108 TRAVELS OF

and a third time, but without success. At last an
aga or gentleman, who had seen the mare more than
once in the bazar, and who suspected something wrong
in the business, pretended to bid for her, and inquired
where she was brought from. The stealers mentioned
a village in the Metoualy country : but, as some
persons were known to the aga in that very village,
he put some questions respecting them ; and, when
he found that the stealers could not give correct
answers, he seized the mare's bridle, and said — " My
friends, I take this mare home to my stable. When
you can prove to me that you came by her fairly, I
will then restore her." Guilt, we may suppose, made
the men fearful : for, after some words, the aga led
the mare away without any resistance.

M. Beaudin was informed by the muleteer of the
residence of the aga ; but, on account of the inclemency
of the weather, deferred going thither at that moment.
He returned to Mar Elias ; and, in a few days, went
after the mare. The aga, on hearing his story, de-
livered her to him ; and information was laid against
the pretended owners. They were apprehended,
convicted of being the stealers, and one of them
was hanged, without any law expenses whatever.
The peculiar variations, from beginning to end, in the
suspicions, discovery, and punishment of the theft,
compared with a similar event in England, are too
obvious to make it necessary to point them out to the
reader.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 109

To return to my narrative, I was much surprised to
find Malem Musa at Damascus ; and, knowing that
an express messenger had, as I have before men-
tioned, been sent off to him to Hamah, I told him of
it, and repeated from memory the letter, the contents
of which I knew, as having been privy to the writing
of it. The conduct of Musa on this occasion will
show how wary Levantines are in incurring the sus-
picion of being in secret correspondence with Euro-
peans. Although the business concerned nobody but
himself, and was known to nobody else, he immediately
communicated it to the Jew serafs, Ma,lem Yusef and
Eafael, pretending that he was all astonishment at
what Lady Hester could mean by wanting him. I,
however, judged it proper to send off a letter to her
ladyship, informing her that he was here, and
begging a corroboration, under her hand, of the com-
munication I had made him. The muleteer was, on
the 10th of February, despatched with this letter, and
with another from Malem Musa. Dmnng his absence,
which v/as six or seven days, I completed the pur-
chases I had to make. When Sulynian (that was the
muleteer's name) returned, Malem Musa received
permission from the pasha to go to Acre, where he
was to meet Lady Hester ; and, having finished my
business, I set off for Mar Elias.

Much snow had fallen in the interim. There were
two mule loads of baggage, and I was mounted on
my newly-purchased mare. The highest part of the

110 TRAVELS OF

Antilebauon is very elevated ground ; and we suflfered
greatly from the wet and cold, when, on the first
night, we arrived at Halwell, where I slept almost
under my horse's legs, in a place no better than a
shed. The second night we reached Jub Genyn,
where we were informed that the pass of Mount
Lebanon was impracticable, owing to the snow.
However, as my return, I knew, was waited for im-
patiently by Lady Hester, I resolved to attempt it on
the following day.

From Jhh Genyn we arrived at the foot of the
mountain early in the day, when we began to ascend ;
and at noon we had reached the part where the snow
lay. There was no fresh track, by which we plainly
understood that none but ourselves had made the
trial that day. We had nearly reached the summit,
when, as we were advancing, a storm of snow, or
what is called on the Alps a totirmente, came on, and
in a moment the view around us was bounded to
fifteen or twenty paces. Sulyman was a daring and
resolute Driize, and promised yet to carry me through
it. We had advanced about a hundred yards, when
one of the mules slipped into a hole, which the
snow had covered, fell, and could not, from the weight
of his load, rise again. We unloaded him ; and,
when extricated, replaced his burden on his back.
We had not advanced much farther when my mare
sunk in up to her belly ; and, in plunging about,
caught the end of my cloak in her fore-foot, and pulled

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 1 1 1

me off. The inule, that had fallen before, at the same
time swerved from the path, and rolled over. Being
unable to rise, the girths were cut to relieve her.

It has been mentioned more than once, that stock-
ings and gloves are not worn in Syria. Mbarak, from
the exertion he had used in assisting the muleteer,
became afterwards very cold, and now complained that
his feet and hands felt almost frozen. We made many
ineffectual attempts to reload the mule, but the snow
and wind were so rigorously sharp, that we began
to think, if we delayed any longer, we should be lost
altogether. I therefore resolved on abandoning the
luggage, which was accordingly put together in a heap
on the snow ; and on the heap was a species of otter,
alive in a box, which I had brought from Damascus
as a curiosity. As we had evidently lost the track, we
took the direction which we thouo'ht would bring us
to it ; when, after wandering about for half an hour,
every moment tumbling into holes and over stumps of
trees, we found ourselves, to our dismay, close to the
luggage again. Sulyman's courage now became de-
speration, and, drawing his yatagan, he was going to
stab his mules, saying it was better to kill them out-
right than leave them to be frozen to death. This
design I prevented, insisting that we must now try to
retrace our steps to the plain of the Bka as the only
chance we had of saving our lives. Mbarak, by this
time, had begun to complain most bitterly, and could
scarcely be persuaded to advance. We were unable

112 TRAVELS OF

any longer to discern the footsteps we had ourselves
made in coming ; for the snow had already effaced
them. Fortunately, the bend of the trees, caused by
the prevalence of a constant wind, suggested to Sulyman
the direction we ought to take, and, guided by this,
we slowly returned. Providence assisted us. We had
gone on for about half an hour, when the toiirmente
ceased, and a comparative serenity in the atmosphere
enabled us to regain the path by which we had
ascended : but Mbarak was now helpless, and we had
much ado in keeping him from sitting down, for I
opposed his riding, as the only chance of preventing
the fatal effects of the cold on his extremities.

It was dark before we reached the foot of the moun-
tain, and some lights directed us to a few wretched
cottages, which Sulyman knew to be the hamlet of
Khurby,' and where, when at Jub Genyn, we had been
informed the plague was raging 5 but, I believe, if
worse than the plague had then faced us, we should
have thought it preferable to what we had just left :
so we knocked at the first door we came to, and re-
quested that some empty stable or outhouse might be
given us, where, having made a fire, we sheltered our-
selves. We had scarcely entered when Mbarak
fainted away. Sulyman was much astonished Avhen I
insisted on his being laid in the corner farthest from

^ " "We reached the plain near a small village, inhabited only
during the seed time." Burckhardt, v. ii. p. 207. This village
was that where we now sought shelter.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 113

the fire, where we rubbed his limbs and his feet, until
he came to himself, when, from pain and fear, he kept
up a grievous moaning. Sulyman next procured some
barley for the animals, and I endeavoured to find a
dry spot to lie down on, but it was impossible. The
villagers at first refused to give us anything to eat :
but there is a law which subjects any place v/hcrein a
person dies from want to a considerable fine ; and the
apprehension of Mbarak's perishing during the night,
which, as he lay, seemed likely, frightened them, and
they brought us some bread and porridge.

What a miserable night did I pass ! Morning at
length came ; and then the person calling himself the
bailiff of the hamlet offered, for a reasonable reward,
four men to assist us in recovering the baggage. These
people are well acquainted with the mountain. They
guided us up, and we were fortunate enough to find
every thing as we had left it. The otter was alive,
nor did he die until some time afterwards. The lug-
gage was carried on the backs of the peasants and of
Sulyman, until we reached the descent to the west j
when, having reloaded, I rewarded the peasants, and
in a short time we reached Baruk, where the snow
disappeared. In order to make up for the loss of time
on the preceding day, Sulyman was told to hurry on.
We left Dayr el Kamar on the right of us, and
arrived at sunset at Ayn-bayl, a Druze village, inha-
bited chiefly by muleteers, among whom was one who
had served Lady Hester in the journey to Balbec.

114 TRAVELS OF

To his house Sulyman led me to pass the night. The
wife gave me the best entertainment in her power j
and to convey some idea of the interior of a Druze
cottage, I will relate how I passed the evening.

A narrow carpet, kept doubled up, excepting on days
of ceremony, was spread on one side of the clay floor,
which, from being well rubbed with a smooth round
boulder, shone like a mirror. The cottage was of
stone, one story high, and flat-roofed, with a shed
close by which served for a stable, and no other out-
houses whatever. The cottage was divided in two, by
a partition not reaching to the ceiling, which was of
beams and rafters, trimmed with an adze only. Round
the room were several sun-baked clay barrels, about
three feet high, but of small circumference: these
were filled with wheat-flour, figs, borgul, lentils, rice,
&c. The muleteer's wife busied herself in preparing
my supper at a fireplace, made of a few rude stones
outside of the door. As she came in and out to
fetch the difierent articles which she wanted, she
carefully concealed her face by pinching together her
veil, which was of long white crape, falling gracefully
from the point of her horn, so that only one eye was
seen. In the same room with me sat Sulyman and
Mbarak, with six or eight Druzes, who dropped in
one by one on the news of our arrival, and to whom
Sulyman was earnestly relating the adventures of the
preceding night. They invariably, as they entered,
civilly saluted everybody, and there was much decorum

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 115

in their manners, which is, however, not peculiar to
the Druzes, but is universal among the different
classes of society throughout Turkey. Whenever the
husband spoke to his wife she answered in low femi-
nine accents, for it would have been discreditable to
her, had she, whilst strangers were by, laughed or
vociferated.

When supper was ready, which consisted of a dish
of boiled rice, some dibs and leben, and a few figs and
raisins for the dessert, it was served up on a wooden
table about two feet in diameter, and six inches from
the ground, with boxwood spoons alone to eat with.
After supper, my own travelling stock afforded coffee,
with which the whole party was regaled, smoking their
pipes, and appearing as soberly merry as pious Christians
round a winter fire ; for nowhere will you see so much
cheerfulness without loud laughter, and sedateness
without gloom, as among this people.

116 TRAVELS OF

CHAPTER YI.

Journey of Lady Hester from Mar Elias to Ascalon — >
Bussa — Acre — She prevails on Mr. Catafago to accompany
her to Ascalon — Illness of All Pasha — Professional visits of the
Author — Abdallah Bey, the Pasha's son — Extraordinary
honours paid to Lady Hester — Her departure from Acre —
Tremendous storm — M. Loustaunau ; his prophecies — His
history — Don Tomaso Coschich arrives with despatches from
Sir Sydney Smith to Lady Hester — Substance of them —
Presents sent to the care of Lady Hester by Sir Sydney
— His character in the East — Ca3sarea — Um Khaled —
Village of Menzel — JatFa — Mohammed Aga, the governor
ordered to accompany Lady Hester — His character — Arrival
at Ascalon.

The next morning we resumed our journey, and
arrived at noon at Mar Elias. I found Lady Hester
busily occupied in preparing for our departure for
Acre, which, now that I was arrived, was fixed for the
next day. In my absence she had purchased a gray
mare from Mr. Taitbout, the French consul of Sayda.
The next morning she departed with nearly the same
attendants, as she had taken with her to Balbec :

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 117

not being quite ready, I followed her the next day,
which was the 16th of February, 1815.

I shall pass over the names of places on the road to
Tyre, as having already described them when coming
this way before. The weather was still tempestuous
and wet ; and, a very few hours after her ladyship's
departure, there was a hail-storm, which, had glass
been in use for windows, would have broken every
pane. She slept at El Khudder. About noon, I
overtook her there, and found the tents just struck
for marching : so, without dismounting, I joined com-
pany.

There are two roads from Sayda to Tyre, as also
from Tyre to Acre, from which circumstance, as being
not generally known to travellers themselves, there is
often an apparent discrepancy in the names of places
and their relative distance. In the winter season, it
is customary to follow the windings of the strand of
the seashore, where the sand always affords a firm
footing for the animals : in the summer, a strait road,
sometimes close to the sea, and sometimes, from the
bends of the coast, two, or three hundred yards, or a
quarter of a mile distant from it, is preferred : but
it is too full of holes and too deep in mire to be
passed in the wet season.

We slept that night at Tyre. The rains still con-
tinued. I departed next morning earlier than Lady
Hester, to provide the evening station. Passing Ras-
el-ayn, I came to the promontory called Kas el Nakura.

118 TRAVELS OF

Ascending this, and riding through a level beyond it
covered with underwood, I came to the GufFer or toll-
house, on the left hand of which, as mentioned in a
former place, is the village of Nakura. This I
thought a convenient distance for a halfway sta-
tion between Tyre and Acre. Accordingly, in-
quiring for the shaykh^s house, I produced the
huyurdy^ by which we were to be furnished with
lodging and entertainment on the road. The shaykh
very civilly professed his willingness to do so, but
said that the station was specified in the order for the
village of Bussa, which was farther on, I thanked
him, perceived my error, and, remounting my horse,
descended the hill by the Burge Msherify into the
plain of Acre. At the foot of the hill, the road to
Bussa turned short to the left. The incessant rains,
for some weeks past, had so soaked the ground that
my horse could with difficulty get along.

Bussa was about one mile from the Burge Msherify,
and was a small village surrounded with olive grounds,
in which it seemed to be particularly rich. The soil
appeared lower than the seacoast ; so that, on my
arrival at the village, the street was fairly flooded.
I was directed to the menzel or khan, as strangers
generally are : but I inquired for the shaykh's house,
and was, as it always happened, followed by three or
four people to learn my business there.

The shaykh, in compliance with the buyurdy,
desired me to choose what cottages I liked best : but.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 119

here the choice was truly puzzling. Each cottage
had a courtyard, where dung and wet lay in the same
manner as in the old-fashioned farmyards in Eng-
land : each cottage likewise consisted of a single
room, half of which contained a yoke of oxen, and
the other half, somewhat raised, the tenant of it and
his family. Finding that they were all alike, I
caused three to be cleared out, and set the peasant
women to work, to sweep and carry off the dung and
other filth. Mrs. Fry, Werdy, and the black slave,
soon afterwards arrived ; and, by the aid of mats,
carpets, and other contrivances, metamorphosed the
sheds into something like a habitation.

But there had been a mistake, on the part of M.
Beaudin, as to the meaning of the buyurdy ; and he
conducted Lady Hester, who departed late from Tyre,
to Nakura, where she was informed that I had gone
on to Bussa. The night had already set in, when she
arrived at Nakvira : but, she was obliged to continue,
on account of the luggage : and, for her protection,
the shaykh of Nakura and two armed horsemen ac-
companied her. I waited anxiously for her, until,
owing to the extreme darkness of the night, I
became alarmed, and resolved to ride back in search
of her. The road, which was no better than a slouo-h,
presented a most formidable obstacle in the dark, and
my horse had already floundered half a mile throuoh
it, when the welcome sound of voices reached my
ears. Nor was Lady Hester herself less glad to

120 TRAVELS OF

hear mine : for fatigue, wet, and appi-ehension, had
agitated her more than I well remember to have seen
on any other similar occasion.

Bussa is inhabited by JNIahometans. The women
had somewhat the appearance of Bedouins, in dress,
more especially in the pointed shift sleeves reaching
almost to the ground. We left this place next morn-
ing for Acre. As the road had now diver oed a mile
from the sea, we had an opportunity of observing the
fertility of the plain. It must, however, be unwhole-
some, since the seashore is plainly higher than the
soil inland, which prevents the rains from running off ;
so that there are many stagnant pools. The plain is
semicircular, and the horns of the mountains which
enclose it are, IMount Carmel to the south, and the
Nakiira, over which we had just passed, to the north.
We soon arrived at Acre. A small house had been
provided for Lady Hester, where she lived with her
female attendants only. M. Beaudin and myself had
apartments in the corn khan.

In order to avoid all foul play on the part of those
with whom she might have to do, her ladyship en-
gaged Signer Catafago, at whose house she lived on
her first visit to Acre, to go with her, as being a
cunning man, and used to the intrigues of the country.
We remained at Acre until the i7th of March. In
the mean time, Malem Musa arrived from Damascus,
having with him two men servants. Lady Hester
saw from day to day Malem Haym, the Jew ; and she

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 121

paid a visit to the pasha, who received her with
peculiar aflabiHty. Whenever she went out, she was
followed by a crowd of spectators ; and the curiosity
and admiration which she had very generally excited
throughout Syria were now increased by her sup-
posed influence in the affairs of government, in having
a Oapugi Bashi at her command.

She was returning one day from the bath, in which
she often indulged, muffled up to keep out the cold air,
and mounted on her favourite black ass, with a groom
on either side to support her, when the ass took
fright, and, turning suddenly round, threw her. The
man on whom the fault chiefly fell was named Harb,
a Mussulman, who had been hired expressly for this
journey, at Sayda, as a janissary, he having been
janissary to the French Consul. Although Lady
Hester was not hurt, the Jew Seraf caused him to be
bastinadoed on the feet, that he might take more care
of his mistress in future. No Turk now paid her a
visit without wearing his beni/sh, or mantle of cere-
mony : and every circumstance showed the ascen-
dency she had gained in public opinion.

I have already described the caravansery in which
I was living (called Khan el Kummah) on a former
occasion. I was lodged in a room the window of
which overlooked the harbour, which is no more than
a small nook sheltered by a dilapidated mole. During
this time there was a most violent storm, and I was
witness to the stranding of a polacca, which,

VOL. in. G

122 TRAVELS OF

although moored by two cables through portholes in
the mole, rode so uneasy that she broke the cables and
drove on shore.

About this time, an order arrived from the Porte to
the pashas of Syria, desiring them to enforce the
wearing of kauks, the cloth bonnet of Oonstanti-
nopolitan Mahometans 5 and which, more especially,
was affected in the Levant by government officers, or by
Turks, in contradistinction to the natives, with whom
the turban was the favourite covering of the head.

On our arrival, a request was made me to attend on
Ali, pasha of Tripoli, whom we have before spoken of
as residing with Sulyman Pasha in preference to re-
siding on his own pashalik, and who was, at present,
dangerously ill of a pulmonary complaint. He had
been treated by eight doctors, all at variance with
each other in their opinions : and, during three weeks
previous to my arrival, the merits of bleeding had been
discussed in consultations held before the pasha''s friends,
whilst the patient's malady was gaining ground. The
casting vote was given to me, and I decided for it. One
of the anti-phlebotomists, however, who performed the
operation, made the orifice too small to give issue to the
required quantity of blood : this was a medium anceps^
which appeased both parties ; the arm was bound up, and
the trial was not repeated. I generally visited him twice
a day ; and never surely had I seen the path of death so
smoothed to a dying man.

He was attended by a certain Shaykh Messaud,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 1 23

spoken of heretofore as head of an ancient family and
governor of Beled Hartha. Seeing this gentleman
and one Hassan Effendi always with Ali Pasha, I
inquired the reason of their close attendance ; and I
was answered — " They are two clever persons who are
kept near the pasha to amuse him, to pacify him
when his temper is ruffled, to give the tone in conver-
sation, and to raise his spirits when depressed by me-
lancholy forebodings." The office of toady in Turkey
at least requires some talent, where an unlucky observa-
tion may lead to a bastinading : but, when this talent is
exerted in alleviating the sufferings of a sick bed, a
toady ceases to be a despicable person.

His complaint was pulmonary, and his intervals of
ease were few. When I paid my evening visits, an atten-
dant, in waiting in the antechamber, would lead me to
the door of the room where he was sitting, and, draw-
ing aside the red cloth curtain embroidered in gold,
would in a low whisper tell me to enter. The salute to a
great personage in the East, on entering his presence,
is by walking up to him, and kissing the hem of
his garment or his hand, when he makes a sign to
him who enters to sit down. All this was dispensed
with from me, as a foreigner ; but J saw it done by
every one else. When seated, I was asked how I did,
and how her Presence, or her Felicity, the dame, the
emiry ' did, which civility I acknowledged by a ivpoa-

^ Emiry is feminine, emir masculine. — These were the titles
the pasha always gave her in speaking of her. I therefore con-

G 2

124 TRAVELS OF

KVPTja-is. ' I might then look round the room, and, in
dumb show, by carrying my hand to' my mouth and
forehead, recognize those whom I knew. There were
generally present the chief men of the place ; such as
the mufti, the divan effendi, some ulemas, and always
Malem Haym, the Jew seraf, the minister, that won-
derful man who was present everywhere, and directed
everything. The pasha was seated in an arm-chair
(a very uncommon thing unless in illness) and on each
side of him stood a page, one holding a pocket-hand-
kerchief, and the other a small vase to spit in. The
rest of the party were seated on the floor : for who

ceived they were what she was legitimately entitled to in that
country. Her Presence is no more an absurd title than her
Highness, her Grace, his Excellency, his Worship, and many
other terms and qualities which use has consecrated to rank.

^ By Trpoa-Kvvrjo-is I understand the salutation, in use among the
Romans, of carrying the points of the fingers to the mouth, and
kissing them, which is the customary mode still practised through-
out Turkey from an inferior to a superior. Our word adoration (os,
oris) is derived from this gesture, and by no means implies prostra-
tion or genufle-xion. Sir R. K. Porter, in his Travels in Persia,
p. 665, I think, makes a mistake, in attributing this mode of sa-
lutation to another cause. His words are — " In front of the
sovereign appears a man in a short tunic and plain bonnet,
carrying his right hand to his mouth, to prevent his breath ex-
haling towards the august personage." Sir R. seems not to have
been aware that the answer to every question put by a great
man to an inferior is accompanied by this very gesture. Facci-
olati (Tot. Lat. Lex.) defines adoratio by " precatio, mauu ad
OS admota et flexo corpore facta."

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 125

would dare sit on the sofas when the pasha himself
did not ? who, so to say, would presume to sit higher
than the pasha !

Awful indeed was the moment of feeling the pulse,
when it was necessary to render an account of every
pulsation : and how is it possible not to dissimulate
on such occasions ? At every favourable turn which
manifested itself, happiness and complacency seemed
to illumine every countenance, and a bystander
would have said, " The pasha will be well to-morrow."
When the visit was over, I was generally taken into
another room by Haym, to confer with Abdallah Bey,
the pasha's son.' Here I found the young lord,
sitting between two venerable shaykhs, who were
expounding to him the Koran, or commenting on
some abstruse points of faith. When with the bey,
pipes and coffee were served to me, the latter of which
alone was given me in the pasha's presence. The
state of his father's health was then inquired into,
plans for the next day were devised, and so the cure
was conducted.

On one occasion, when ushered into Abdallah Bey's
room, I observed an unusual degree of gaiety in the
conversation. Inquiring the reason of this from one
sitting by me, I was told that the bey had, in the
course of that day, made a very clever throw with his
giryd or javelin, on horseback, and that nothing had

1 Afterwards Pasha of Acre, until taken prisoner by Ibrahim
Pasha.

126 TRAVELS OF

since been talked of but his great skill as a perfect
cavalier.

Soon after our arrival at Acre, the weather became
fine for a few days, and it was resolved to remove
Ali Pasha to a pavilion which he had built a few
miles from the city. I rode over to see him, accom-
panied by the kumrukgi or collector of the customs,
Ayub Aga, who was very attentive to me during my
stay at Acre. There was an extensive garden round
the pavilion ; a thing of easy creation in Syria, where,
as was the case here, copious springs and running
streams were found. It was from this spot that the
aqueduct, destroyed by the French in their invasion
of Syria, conveyed water to Acre. But Ali Pasha
received no benefit from his removal, and was soon
conveyed back again.

In relating the case of the pasha, I am forgetting
Lady Hester, who was now ready to depart for As-
calon. In compliance with the orders contained in
the firmans of the Sublime Porte, she was honoured
with distinctions usually paid to princes only. In
addition to her own six tents, about twenty more were
furnished, one of which was of vast magnitude, and
under which Her Royal Highness the Princess of
Wales slept, on her journey to and from Jerusalem.
As a part of the alleged misconduct of that princess
was said to have taken place beneath it, and as its
particular shape excited some discussion in the House
of Lords, a sketch of it is annexed.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE.

127

=5:J3=^ES=-

PIIINCESS OF WALES S TENT.

This tent was double, like the calix and corolla of a
flower inverted, the same post supporting both ; and,
when planted, the distance between the two at the
bottom was about twelve feet. It was of a green
colour on the outside, studded with yellow flowers
and stars. In the centre of the inner tent was placed
a sofa, behind which, and bisecting the tent, was sus-
pended a curtain made of broad bands of satin of the
most vivid colours. Nothing could be more showy or
more elegant. There were twenty-two akams or tent-
pitchers to accompany us, headed by one Mohammed,
a person whose activity, as I afterwards heard, made
him conspicuous in the suite of Her Royal Highness

128 TRAVELS OF

not less than in that of Lady Hester, There was
a meshalgy to bear the nio-ht-torch, being the iron
skeleton of a tub fixed on a long pole, in which
pieces of tarpaulin are thrown from time to time to
burn. A sakka^ with two mules at his disposal carry-
ing vast leather skins, was to supply water. Twelve
mules carried the luggage ; twelve camels the tents.
The attendants were on mules : Mr. Catafago, Malem
Musa, the two dragomans, and myself, on horseback.
Last of all, to Lady Hester was appropriated what,
in Arabic, is called a takhterwan, or tukht, a tilted
palanquin, covered with crimson cloth, and having in
front six large gilded balls, glittering in the sun. The
palanquin was carried by two mules, which were
changed every two hours. In front of the palanquin
were led her ladyship's mare and her favourite ass, in
case she preferred riding. One hundred of the Ha-
wary cavalry * escorted us, and three' treasury mes-
sengers preceded, as couriers to arrange stations and
to make provision for so many persons. I had almost

^ These Hawarys were from Barbary, and the dingy colour
of their complexions distinguished them from soldiers of other
parts of the empire. I know not what pay the colonel, or the
person whose duties answered to those of our colonels, had :
but he was reputed to increase his income in this way. A re-
giment was composed of so many bayraks or standards, each
consisting of four men : but, instead of four, as rated, there
were generally only two or three on actual service; and, in
cases of muster, temporary substitutes were found.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 129

forgotten the Zaym and the persons composing his
suite, who added considerably to our numbers.

On the 18th of March, the cavalcade left Acre, and,
to the astonishment but admiration of every one,
Lady Hester rode her ass ; nor did she, on any future
day, make use of the palanquin. I remained behind
one day to attend to the effect of certain remedies
which I had prescribed for the pasha, who, on my
taking leave of him, ordered his khasnadar or treasurer
to send me a purse of money.*

On the 19th it blew a strong equinoctial gale : but,
as Lady Hester had said she should wait my coming at
the first station, I resolved to depart in spite of the
weather. It was afternoon before I had finished my
affairs, when I set off, taking with me an Hawary
horseman for my escort. As I rode along the sea-
shore, the wind swept the dust in clouds, and the
waves, contending with the swollen streams of the
two rivers which I had to pass, formed quicksands
in their beds, with a counter-current, which made
the fords very dangerous : whilst the hail cut our
horses' faces, so that with difficulty they could be
forced on. The horseman who accompanied me
vented his spleen in muttering complaints against
the English, who always would travel at such ex-

' The word ky$, or purse, means a specific sum of 500 pi-
asters. On the 5th of April, whilst we were at Ascalon, news
was brought of his death.

V40 TRAVELS OP

traordinary seasons, when every sensible person re-
mained in-doors.'

I did not arrive until after sunset, when I found
the encampment, in consequence of the tempest, in
the greatest confusion, which continued to augment as
the night advanced.

The station was at the western gate of Hay fa, on
the outside, being that which we had occupied on our
previous passage. On entering the dinner-tent, I ob-
served a stranger, in a long threadbare Spanish cloak,
whom, by his salutation, I guessed to be a French-
man. He seemed to be nearly sixty years of age, his
hair grizzly and uncombed, and his whole person ap-
parently very dirty. He held under his left arm a
book, which he never seemed to let go or lay down.
We took our dinners in great haste, as the storm in-
creased so much that the lights could not be kept in,
and it was necessary, in the sailor''s phrase, to make
all snug, and prepare for a busy night. The stranger
soon went away ; and I then learned that he was a

' The obstinacy of the English, and of Europeans in general
who visit the East, often leads them into disagreeable and dan-
gerous situations. When endeavours are used to divert them
from any purpose where the difficulties which are represented
are not quite obvious, and can only be foreseen by persons used
to the country, they fancy their advisers are playing with them,
and thus persist in their purpose, until they find themselves
attacked by robbers, carried away by a torrent, or embedded in
snow.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 131

Frenchman, who had now, for two years, lived in a
shed in the orchards of Hayfa, where the alms of the
inhabitants maintained him. The book he carried
constantly under his arm was a Bible, which he read
incessantly, and, whenever questioned by any one who
knew his failings, he would interpret texts from it as
applicable to the existing state of the world. But
Buonaparte was the chief subject of his prophecies.

No sooner had Lady Hester made her appearance
at Acre, and the town-talk of Hayfa had informed
him of the preparations that were making for her
escort, than, ignorant of her real destination to As-
calon, he fancied, like many others, that she could
be going nowhere else than to perform the pilgrimage
to Jerusalem. He accordingly searched out a number
of texts wherein he pretended that her coming was
announced, and was prepared to greet her with them
on her passage through Hiiyfa. Her ladyship had
admitted him just before my arrival, and had treated
him with that kindness which the unfortunate ever
obtained from her. His history has already been re-
lated in a recent publication. •

The storm continued, and the wind was so powerful
that it blew up the tents like so many umbrellas.
Malem Musa's, which was twelve or fourteen feet in
diameter, was thrown down on him, and he lay buried
under it for some minutes, roaring for assistance, until

1 Memoirs of Lady Hester Stanhope, 1st edit., vol. ii. p. 184.

132 TRAVELS OF

extricated by the tentmen. Lady Hester, for better
security, bad betaken herself to her own tent, and had
quitted the large one. In spite of the additional pre-
cautions which were used, by fixing stays on the wind-
ward side of it, and by placing large stones on the
pickets, she was twice half smothered. Anxious for
her safety, I remained on foot the whole of that night,
and was exposed to the fury of the contending elements.
Early in the evening. Signer Catafago had taken refuge
in the town at the Carmelite monastery : Derwish
Aga, the Ziiym, had done the same ; and not a soldier
was left. The mesalgy"'s beacon could not be kept
alight, and the akams or tentmen were worn out by
so often setting up the blown down tents.

About midnight, Werdy, one of the women, came
in haste to inform me that there was a Frank in the
dinner tent, just arrived from Acre : I repaired to him
immediately, and I found a young man in the act of
putting on a British naval uniform coat. I saluted
him in Italian, without reflecting that I was address-
ing him in a language foreign to his dress : but I was
right. He told me in the same breath that he was a
Dalmatian, in the English service, who had accom-
panied the Princess of Wales in the capacity of
dragoman from Palermo to Constantinople, in her
voyage of 1813, and that he was now come to conduct
Lady Hester and all of us to England. I was rather
surprised at his embassy ; more especially when I
learned from whom he came : but, having given

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. ] 83

orders for providing him a supper, which was no easy-
matter in such a storm, I took his despatches, and
carried them to Lady Hester. In the midst of the
hurricane, she immediately read them. They were
from Sir Sydney Smith, and were most volu-
minous, relating to matters very different from Lady
Hester"'s return : but, as they are foreign to this
narrative, I shall not enter into particulars.

Sir Sydney, however, had taken this opportunity
of sending various presents to persons whom he had
known in Syria. These were a pair of pistols to Abu
Ghosh, the chieftain who lived on the mountains
of Judea, in the road to Jerusalem from Jaffa ; a
dressing-box for the Emir Beshyr''s wife ; an English
bible to the public library of Jerusalem (there being no
such institution) ; and a picture of the pope for the
Holy Sepulchre. He likewise displayed his indigna-
tion at cruelty, but not his prudence, in telling the
Emir Beshyr, in a letter which he wrote to him, how
much he regretted that the sons of his brother had been
deprived of their eyesight by his order. The picture
of the pope which he gave was to be in the keeping of
the Copt, Greek, Syrian, and Catholic bishops ; but,
in so doing, he showed little knowledge of the state of
things at Jerusalem. These different sects have
nothing in common among them but their quarrels.

The following memorandums of the correspondence
contained in the despatches which passed between
Sir Sydney Smith and Lady Hester Stanhope, by the

1 U TRAVELS OF

hands of M» Thomaso Coschich, were written down at
the time. They contain the substance of all the
letters.

Sir Sydney Smith to Lady Hester Stanhope, Latakia>

Vienna, Dec. 8, 1814.
My dear Cousin,

1 received yours from Latakia. In my way to England
I spoke to Fremautle, whom I saw at Gibraltar, to send you
a frigate ; for I am at present no longer in command. My
nephew, Thurlow Smith, has got the Undaunted (the ship
which carried B. to Elba), and he will contrive, if possible, to
come to you, as I say all I can of the necessity of guarding
our trade in that quarter.

I send you Don Thomaso Coschich, with despatches, &c.
I have paid his passage, and agreed with him for one dollar a
day, having left forty dollars unpaid (as he is a man of whose
character I am ignorant in a moral point of view), to leave him
something to look to. I shall leave Vienna after the Con-
gress, for Florence and Leghorn, where I hope to meet you
in the month of April.

1 remain, &c.

A second communication begged to charge Lady
Hester with delivering certain despatches to the Emir
Beshyr. They were, to ask him to send the 1,500
soldiers which had been promised him through Mr.
Fiott, who vouched for the prince's having said so in
word and in writing, and to inform him that these
troops were to be employed in attacking the Algerine
pirates. For the purpose of rallying them, he sent
flags of different descriptions, with plans for encamping.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 135

His plan (he added) had been submitted to the
emperors of Austria and Russia, to the kings of Prussia
and (through Talleyrand) of France ; who all approved
highly of it. He had also held conferences with the
crowned heads in ball-rooms and assemblies as well as
he could have done in their closets ; but nobody would
advance money.

He went on to say that, finding his debts pretty
large, he had given up his goods and chattels to his
creditors in England, and had brought his all to
Vienna on eight wheels : that he was so far reduced
as to be obliged to beg a loan from his Syrian friends ;
and he charged Lady Hester with the commission.

He advised Lady Hester not to go to Naples, which
was not orthodox, owing to the presence of a certain
person (the Princess of Wales), whose follies she
recollected at Plymouth. He observed that his
nephew had seen the King of Rome, who was at
Schoenbrun, wearing a wooden sword, and that he
was a pert lad.

To confirm the feasibility of his scheme, he said he
was in correspondence with the Emperor of Morocco,
who would second these views, hemg,par/orce, just then
no pirate. The dey of Tunis had also been consulted
on the business ; but, as he was since dead. Sir Sydney
recommended it to Lady Hester to visit the coast of
Barbary, and see what sort of a man his successor
was. The deceased dey was too liberal-minded for
his subjects, and had been poisoned.

136 TRAVELS OF

There was a letter to the Emir Beshyr, which was
in French, nearly as follows : —

Au tres puissant et grand prince Beshyr. I have heard
with much pleasure from certain Englishmen (Mr. Forhes,
Mr. Gell, who were never there, and Mr. Fiott, now Dr. Lee,
were the names mentioned), of the continuance of your health
and prosperity. It grieves me to learn that the sons of the
Emir Yusef labour under your displeasure, and that they have
lost their eyesight. (N.B. It was the Emir himself who had
blinded them). I hope you will not suffer them to want your
protection. You are answerable to them, and more particularly
to me, for their safety.

The letter then went on in a style which will show
that Sir Sydney's vanity sometimes made him fall
into hyperbole.

I have dismantled my ships, having no farther occasion for
them, owing to the pacification of Europe. I have written to
the Prince Regent of Portugal, whom I had induced to take
refuge in America, that he may now return to his capital :
and, after having paid a visit to the son of the king of England,
I am come to Vienna to assist at the Congress. Mr. Fiott, an
English gentleman, has informed me that you are ready to
furnish me with fifteen hundred men : I have just now occa-
sion for them, to subjugate the Barbaresque pirates, who impede
the transmission of corn from Egypt to Christendom; so
Captain Ismael, Mahomet All's envoy to Malta, has told me.

I send your highness a dressing-box, containing a few
trifles for your ladies (N.B. This dressing-box was in ebony,
studded in steel, furnished with pins and needles, thread,
&c.) ; also a black cloak for yourself, or for the officer you
may choose to appoint commander of your troops. To these

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 137

things I have joined a pair of pistols, with an Arabic inscrip-
tion partly defaced.

Ladj Hester disapproved of the whole plan, from
beginning to end, and answered Sir Sydney's letters as
follows : — She told hiin, that to send for troops from
the Emir Beshyr was endangering that prince's life ;
as he was employing the force of one province against
another, both being parts of the same empire. Such
a thing could only be done by a direct application to
the sultan, enforcing the request by saying that, if he
would not lend his aid to stop the piracy of his sub-
jects, then other measures would be resorted to.
Alluding to the flags which he had sent, and which
were no more than so many German stuflf shawls, she
asked him, who was the king of pocket-handkerchiefs ?
She said, the mountaineers wouldfight very well on their
own dunghill, when they had their mountain to retreat
upon ; but that they would never quit their firesides.

Lady Hester might have added likewise, that the
Emir had too many enemies of his own to dare to
send his troops away ; nor could he, as he wanted a
seaport in his own territory, have embarked them
without permission from the pasha of Acre.

Of her own and Sir Sydney's letters she sent copies to
Mr. Listen, English ambassador at Constantinople ;
and to Mr. Barker, English consul at Aleppo ;
desiring the latter to stop all letters passing through
his hands, which he supposed to come from Sir Sydney
to the Emir Beshyr.

138 TRAVELS OP

She then wrote to the Emir himself, to say, when
her journey to Ascalon was over, she would see him
on business of importance.

There was great indelicacy in Sir Sydney's conduct in
sending such a man, giving out wherever he went
that he was to take charge of Lady Hester, and con-
duct her back to Europe.

The perusal of these papers and the necessary de-
liberation upon them lasted until morning. In the
mean time, Signor Thomaso Ooschich (for so the
Dalmatian was called) had made but a poor supper,
and could not conceal his discontent, when the ser-
vants told him no wine was ever served up at
Lady Hester's table when she was travelling with
Turks.

When daylight came, I gathered, by reports already
in circulation among the people, that Signor Ooschich
had arrived at Acre after my departure ; that he had
addressed himself to Mtilem Haym with an exaggerated
story of the importance of his mission, alleging that
he bore despatches declaratory of war between Turkey
and Russia, in which England would take a part,
and that he was, therefore, come to convey Lady
Hester to a place of safety ; with many other strange
inventions of a hardy cast : upon which Malem Haym
had caused the town gates to be opened after the
usual hour, and a treasury messenger had been ordered
to conduct him to Hayfa. The imprudence of such
conversation induced Lady Hester to get rid of him

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 139

forthwith. She accordingly ordered a halt at Hayfa ;
and, stopping there three days, she wrote answers to
Sir Sydney Smith's despatches, laying open the whole
transaction to Derwish Mustafa Aga, in order to set
his mind at ease on a subject which must otherwise
have excited a multitude of suspicions. When the
answers were prepared, Signer Coschich was ordered to
depart ; and instructions were given him to ship him-
self for Cyprus as speedily as possible. The courage
of this man on the sea, nevertheless, was wonderful.
He had crossed the Mediterranean, in the most
perilous part of the year, in a boat no bigger than a
nutshell ; so that, on entering Larnarka roads, in
Cyprus, seafaring men would scarcely credit their
eyes. He had quarrelled with his guides on the road
from Tripoli, exposing himself more than once to be
assassinated.

Upon examining the different articles which Sir
Sydney Smith had sent as presents, farther incongrui-
ties were discovered. The pistols were of Persian make :
this was sending coals to Newcastle ; for, when Turks
ask for pistols from England, it is English pistols
they want. There was an abah made of black satin,
with Sir Sydney's arms emblazoned on the shoulders
on a white ground. He seems to have known as little
of the dress of the country as he did of its politics
or religion. A satin abah could no more be worn
by a man in Syria, than a pair of chintz breeches
by a man in England.

l40 TRAVELS OF

To have done with this subject altogether, it may
be as well to say here how it terminated. Lady
Hester, on her return to Mar Elias, sent her secre-
tary to the emir Beshyr, who translated to him as
well Sir Sydney "'s letters intended for him as her
ladyship's answers, and then gave him the presents.
The emir, as might be supposed, did not like to be
lectured about his nephews, whom he had barbarously
mutilated. But this was of little note in comparison
with the mischief which a supposed league with Eu-
ropean nations would do him in the eyes of the Porte ;
and, had it not been for Lady Hester''s prudence, he
felt that his head would soon have been no longer on
his shoulders. The presents he received ; but, con-
trary to his usual custom of showing everything that
he had, which was curious or foreign, to people who
went to see him, these he never exhibited to a soul.

Lady Hester thought that the ebony dressing-box
would best befit the Shaykh Beshyr's wife, who was
young and coquettish : but the shaykh, fearful of
being mixed up in such a business, returned it imme-
diately, and never mentioned the giver's name.

Sir S. Smith never passed in Syria for a man of
talent. He spent a good deal of money, and always
carried his point by bakshyshes, or presents. Yet,
with a squadron to back him, he failed in raising him-
self a reputation ; and, as for a politician, he was con-
sidered a miserable one ; for, when he interfered in
Grezzar's war with the Emir Beshyr, and took that

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 141

prince on board his ship, to save him from the hands
of Grezzar, he knew not that he was lending protection
to a man who afterwards showed himself to be one of
the most sanguinary tyrants of modern times. Gezzar
Pasha said, " Here is a man who comes and attempts
to destroy in a day what I have been labouring to
effect for fifteen years," and he was right ; for, now that
the plan was consolidated, the expediency was manifest,
and the emir and shaykli Beshyr were as completely
under the thumb of the pasha as two servants ; which,
however abject a situation in the abstract, is what, by
the nature of their tenure from the Porte, they were re-
quired to be.

Some persons will blame Lady Hester for disclosing
a private correspondence to the Zaym j but, when Sir
Sydney had said that he had written to Constantinople
and to the emir, she knew it must soon be blown.
Besides, from the strange rhodomontades of Signor
Ooschich, it was necessary to tell the truth, or to
incur the suspicion of being an emissary and a spy.

On the 23rd of March, in the morning, we left
Hayfa. The weather was cloudy, and a misty rain
now and then fell. In four hours we arrived at Aatlyt,
but here an accident happened which damped our joy
for the evening. Turkish cavalry are accustomed, on
all occasions of festivity, to show their feats of horse-
manship, one of which is to fire off their carbines at
each other in a full gallop. Just before reaching the
encampment at Aatlyt, a soldier, among others who

142 TRAVELS OF '

were merrily disposed, galloped up close to his com-
rade, when, firing his carbine, the wadding lodged in
the shoulders of a handsome youth of fifteen, the son
of the hill bashi, or colonel, I was immediately called to
him, and found an ill-looking wound in the deltoid
muscle, but it was superficial, and there was nothing
serious to be apprehended. I bound up the woimd,
and the young man went the following morning to his
mother at Nazareth, where, as I afterwards heard, he
speedily recovered. ^

Lady Hester was lodged in a cottage, to avoid the
repetition of the inconveniences suffered at Hayfa.
Whilst supper was cooking by Um Risk, a serpent,
unperceived by her, entwined itself round her naked
leg. I had seen other proofs of courage in this
withered old woman, but was astonished most at this.
She felt the serpent, and, looking down, calmly seized
it by the neck, held it so until she had unwound the
tail, and then killed it.

On the 24th we departed for Tontura, where we
arrived in two hours. We observed several Arabs
under tents pasturing their flocks. Here we experi-

^ I here lost a glass-stoppered bottle, which I had entrusted
to the hands of some one standing near me ; and I observed,
on every occasion where crystal bottles with glass stoppers
once got into the possession of any one in Syria, they were
never to be recovered. It was an article not attainable there
but by gift, and possessed in the eyes of the inhabitants great
value for holding elixirs, essences, &c.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 143

enced much civility from the shaykh. As our en-
campment, next day, was to be among the ruins of
Csesarea, camels laden with rice, bread, fuel, and other
necessaries, were sent forward ; for Csesarea, a ruined
place, could furnish nothing but water. From Tontura
to Osesarea proved a distance of two hours'" march.'
We reached it on the afternoon of the 25th. As the
night threatened to be very tempestuous, Lady
Hester's tent was planted under the vault of a ruin,
our horses were stabled in caves, and every preparation
was made to guarantee us from the inclemency of the
weather. We experienced, in fact, a storm not less
dreadful than that at Hayfa ; and those who had not
ventured to brave it on the former occasion, now, having
no town to flee to, were much worse off. Our
squadron of horse soldiers lay exposed to the wind and
rain, without any covering but broken Avails, and
Signer Catafago was so terrified, that he wished him-
self safe back at his house in Acre. Ruins are very
uncomfortable places to encamp in, under the most
favourable circumstances, owing to the reptiles which
are continuall}- crawling about. ^

The 25th continued too rainy to allow of resuming

^ Yet it had required three hours fifteen minutes to do it in,
on a former occasion.

2 In hot climates, for an encampment no soil appears to me
so good (and I had some experience) as a sandy soil, covered
with tufted grass or turf.

144 TRAVELS OF

the jouruey, or even of examining the ruins among
which we were encamped. One of the Hawary soldiers
took this favourable moment for being bled, having,
as he told me, neglected to undergo his annual spring
venesection before quitting Acre. Accordingly, he
seated himself on a stone in the air ; and, as is
generally pretended to be done by the barbers of the
country when they bleed a person, begged me to let
the blood spout until I saw it change to a good
colour.

On the 26th, we had fine weather, and struck our
tents. We arrived at Um Khaled. The shaykh
called to mind our passage three years before, and
complimented me on my beard. The peasants were
turned out of their cottages, compelled to remove every
article of furniture, and moreover to sweep the cottages
for our reception. I got my breakfast early, and,
accompanied by a courier, proceeded on before to
Mharrem. We passed the sandy tract called Abu
Zaburrah, which, to a traveller in an unprotected state,
is not a place devoid of danger. A pasha named
Ismael was stripped and robbed by the Arabs at this
spot ; and, in Gezzar pasha's time, a patrole was kept
here. It was no slight proof of the good government of
the reigning pasha, that the greatest security pre-
vailed in every part of his pashalik.

At Mharrem, the shaykh immediately pointed out
the sanctuary of the saint as the best place for lodging
us ; and indeed the building was more respectable than

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 145

those which usually cover the sepulchres of the santons
of Islamism. Lady Hester arrived soon afterwards.
I renewed my acquaintance with such of the peasants
as recollected us in our former journey. We now
had an opportunity of judging of the nioroseness of
men, and of their disposition to inflict pain where they
can. On the former occasion we paid largely for every
thing, but were served reluctantly, and were by
no means well treated : whereas now, when every
article was furnished by requisition, the utmost alacrity
and apparent good-will was demonstrated, although
they received nothing but blows in payment.

It seemed an act of oppression, on first thoughts,
thus to oblige a small village to furnish nearly 200
persons and their animals with food and lodging, for
one or more nights ; yet, in reality, it was less so than
it appeared to be. The reason is this. Every village
shaykh has remitted to him so much of the imposts
falling on it, in consideration of the number of per-
sons who may be likely to be guests, from government
orders, or otherwise, during the year ; and, in con-
sideration of this, he is bound to receive and enter-
tain them for the space of three days. In this
way, that noble institution of the menzel or alio-ht-
ing-house is maintained throughout Syria, (where I
have often profited by it,) and elsewhere in Turkey,
as I have been informed : in consequence of which
a traveller, who is a stranger, rides boldly up to the
house of the shaykh, nd, in nine cases out of ten,

VOL. HL H

146 TRAVELS OF

is entertained for the night, and sent off next morning
with a prayer for his safety, without the cost of a
farthing.

The next day we reached Jaffa in three honrs. One
hour from El Mharrem is the river Awgy. The news of
our approach had reached Jaffa already, and curiosity
was awake, as I could perceive, among the inhabitants.
The town-gate was thronged with spectators. This
gate, if I recollect rightly, the only one, was hand-
some, and highly ornamented with a diversity of
colours fantastically painted in arabesque. The
governor had a small kiosk, or pavilion, near it : and,
seeing me pass from his window, requested my pre-
sence the moment of my arrival. He received me with
a very distant air, recalling to mind, in all probability,
the refiisal of his present, which refusal he recollected
to have occurred through me in Mr. B.'s name, three
years before.

When I told him I wished immediately to have
quarters assigned for us, he gave me one of his archers,
with a command to turn out any family at my plea-
sure. Knowing, however, the delay and distress that
always attended these measures of force, I preferred
going to the Latin monastery, but found it too small
for all of us. The Greek monastery (where I had
lodged before) was more spacious, and I here took six
rooms opening on the terrace that overlooks the
port. The English consul's house had been previously
prepared for Lady Hester, and was at once airy and

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 147

agreeable. She arrived in due time (on her gray
mare), and rode strait to Signor Damiani's, who re-
ceived her in the same gold-laced cocked hat which
afterwards so much excited the ridicule of her royal
highness the Princess of Wales and of Signor Ber-
gami.

Jaffa was at this season very dull, as the pilgrims
had already passed to Jerusalem. Their influx and
return from that place, I have already said, are the
chief support of the inhabitants ; for the trade is little
without them.

Much bustle occurred a day or two afterwards, in
consequence of the arrival of a courier from Egypt on
his way to Constantinople, to announce the defeat of
the Wahabys and the imprisonment of Abu Nukta,
their chief. It was reported that there was among
these Wahabys a valiant maiden, named Galy, who
performed prodigies of valour.

Mohammed Aga, the governor, was ordered by the
firman of the pasha to accompany Lady Hester to
Ascalon ; a mission he would willingly have avoided,
as it cannot be supposed he liked her ladyship,
who had before treated him with such contempt : nor
did she now pursue more conciliatory measures;
for never was she known to bend to any man,
neither had Mohammed aught in him to secure her
esteem.

He was astute, false, and insinuating. Bought, as
a Mameluke, by the tyrant Gezzar, he had, like those

14S TRAVELS OF

who had survived of that number, been elevated to
considerable situations, in which the present pasha
had continued him ; but, like them, without relations
or domestic connections to chain him to the soil, he
lived but to enrich himself. Hence he was often
o-uilty of rapine and oppression ; and the energy of his
administration, for which he was sometimes praised,
was nevertheless founded in cruelty. The thief was
punished with the loss of the offending hand, the
libertine with the severest castigations ; yet he was
not disposed to set bounds to the indulgence of his
own depraved tastes and propensities. He was mar-
ried, nevertheless, to the daughter of that Kengi
A.hmed, whom formerly we saw as governor of
Jerusalem, which post he still filled. With all this,
Mohammed Aga was reputed a warlike chieftain, and
was thought by some as likely to succeed the present
pasha.

Signer Damiani, the English vice-consul, had a
budget full of anecdotes tending to prove how per-
fidious and how base the governor was. I noted
down two ; one as serving to show how much the
simplicity of the Mahometan worship had been per-
verted ; such perversions being common in the course
of time to all institutions. He happened to be greatly
taken with a handsome horse belonging to a chorister
in one of the mosques. The chorister liked his horse,
and would not sell it, which refusal Mohammed Aga
pretended not to resent, and seemed to have forgotten

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 149

the matter. On the first day of Ramazan, the new
moon was not visible, upon which the chorister deferred
the commencement of his fast until the morrow.
Mohammed Aga wanted nothing more than a pre-
text to ruin him, and this seemed a good one. He
sent for the singer, reproached him loudly for his
relaxed principles and his breach of public and
divine ordinances, inasmuch as the new moon had
been seen by several persons on the prescribed day ;
fined him in a large sum of money ; and confiscated
his goods and possessions, among which, of course,
was the horse.

On another occasion, a man offended him grievously.
He pretended to have forgiven him ; and a few days
afterwards, as the offending Turk was sitting under a
tree, a servant of the governor's drew his pistol and
shot him. The servant made a pretence of hiding
himself for three or four days, and then resumed his
situation in his master"'s family as if nothing had hap-
pened.

We remained at Jaffa until the 30th of the month ;
and, on the last day of March, set off for Ascalon,
our party being now increased by the addition of Mo-
hammed Aga, Abu Nabut, and suite, and by Signor
Damiani, together with a host of cooks, and loads of
shovels, pickaxes, baskets, and whatever was neces-
sary for excavating the soil. The country from Jaffa
assumed a rural appearance, resembling the cultivated
parts of England ; the undulating soil, covered with

150 TRAVELS OF

wheat in leaf, barley in ear, and high grass, gave
proofs of its fertility. No part of Syria is so beau-
tiful ; which manifests how erroneous is the argument
of Gibbon, who founds on the supposed barrenness of
Palestine, compared with its former population, a
doubt of the authenticity of the bible.

In four hours' time we arrived at Ebna, a village
not less miserable than those to the north of Jaffa.
Three hours' farther was a hamlet. El Lubben or
Lubden. Leaving this, with the village of Haremy
on our right, we arrived, in one hour and a half, at
Mejdel, a populous burgh, ^ whose shaykh bore the
name of Shubashy, which is a Turkish word, indi-
cating a degree higher than simple shaykh. Ascalon
was no more than a league off, and we proceeded
thither on the morrow. Arrived at our destination,
our tents were fixed in the midst of the ruins, whilst
a cottage was fitted up for Lady Hester at the village
of El Jura, just without the walls of Ascalon. Orders
were immediately sent to the surrounding villages
to furnish workmen, in gangs, at the rate of 150 per
day, for the excavations. But, before I narrate the
proceedings which took place, it will be necessary to
say a few words on the history of this once celebrated
city, and on the revolutions to which it has been sub-
ject ; now, last of all, to be the scene of operations of

1 " Two miles south of Majdil are the rums of six Roman
baths of mineral water." — Mangles and Irby's Travels,
p. 299.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 151

a singular and surprising nature, if it be considered
that Mahometan governors were to act under the
commands of a helpless Christian woman, in a bar-
barous and fanatic country.

152 TRAVELS OF

CHAPTER VII.

History of Ascalon — Ruins — Encampments — Forced labour
of peasants — Excavations — Fragments of Columns — Dis-
covery of a mutilated statue — Apprehensions of Signor
Damiani — Lady Hester orders the statue to be destroyed —
Excavations abandoned — Lady Hester's narrative of the mo-
tives and results of the researches — Auditing accounts —
Mohammed Aga a fatalist — Return to JaiFa — Derwish Mus-
tafa Aga and Lady Hester's black female slave — Patients —
Mohammed Bey; his story — Return of Lady Hester's
servant Ibrahim from England — Khurby, or the Ruins —
Remains near that spot — Return to Acre — Altercation with
muleteers — Excavations at Sayda — Reflexions on researches
for hidden treasures.

The antiquity of the city of Ascalon is clear fi'ora
the sacred writings ; for we read of it in the book of
Joshua, 1 the book of Kings,^ and elsewhere ; so that
as early as nineteen hundred years before Christ it
was known as one of the chief places of Palestine. It
became afterwards a part of the Assyrian, then of the
Persian, monarchy ; and was subdued, together with
all Syria, by Alexander the Great. After his death,
it fell to the lot of Ptolemy Lagus, king of Egypt ;

c. xiii., V. 3. ' L Kings, c. vi.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 153

and by Antiochus the Great it was incorporated with
the empire of Syria. In Strabo' it is said that
" Ascalon is a city not spacious, and built in such a
sunk situation as to seem to be in a hole." William
of Tyre informs us that " it resisted our arms for
fifty years and more, after Jerusalem had fallen ;
until, in the year of our Lord 1194, on the 12th of
August, after a bloody siege, it was surrendered to
king Baldwin by its Saracen inhabitants."

Herod, king of the Jews, respected Ascalon as the
native place of his family ; and, from this circumstance,
and from the splendid baths and peristyles which he
built there, he obtained the appellation of Herod the
Ascalonite. William of Tyre informs us that "this
city, from the inaptitude of the seacoast, neither has
nor ever had a harbour or safe anchorage for ship-
ping."2 Abulfeda, quoting from El Azyz, and speak-
ing from his own knowledge, says : " Ascalon is a
city on the seashore, in which there are vestiges of
antiquity :" and again, — " It adjoins the sea on a
bank ; it is one of the most illustrious places of the
plain on the seashore, and has no port." ^V"hat was
the fate of the city from this time I have no docu-
ments to show, excepting that it is probable it fell
gradually to decay, until the time when it was visited
' Lib. 10.
"' The above notices of Ascalon are extracted from Noris, de
Ep. Syromac, to whose learned researches the reader is referred
for more copious information.

154 TRAVELS OF

by d'Arvieux, a Frenchman, who gives us the follow-
ing account of these ruins in 1659. " We departed
from Graza, about eight in the morning. We
kept the shore as far as the ancient city of As-
calon. It is situated on the sea, in a country level
and very fertile. The prodigious thickness of the
walls and towers, which are all fallen, and which
have filled the ditches, show it to have beec formerly
one of the strongest places in Palestine. It is at
present as ruinous as Csesarea or St. Jean d'Acre.
There are only a few spaces of wall still exist-
ing towards the sea, in which are embedded
(endosses) several columns of granite, or, as the vulgar
fancy, cast stone. This city has no port, nor any
houses sufficiently entire to be habitable, so that it is
wholly abandoned We found nothing re-
markable in it but an old well half filled up, and con-
structed in the style of Josephs well in the castle at
Cairo : and, towards the middle of the city, seven or
eight pillars of marble still standing upon their
pedestals, which appeared to be the remains of a
temple. We quitted the seashore, in leaving this
desolated city, and took the road to Rama, over a
most beautiful and highly cultivated country."" I
may add that, so late as thirty years ago, there was
enough of the great mosque standing to afford a
dwelling to a shaykh of Barbary.

The city of Ascalon, as we found it, differed little
from the account of d'Arvieux, excepting that no

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 155

marble columns, or portions of an edifice, were now
standing; and those which formerly strewed the
ground had, for the most part, been carried away.

Palmyra is an instance how long structures will
remain when left to the slow effects of time and natural
decay. It is to the hand of man that they generally
owe their greatest dismemberment : and, thus Asca-
lon was stripped of all that was useful in it to rebuild
Jaffa and Acre. Its neighbourhood to the seashore
afforded great facilities of conveyance : and blocks
ready cut, columns ready shaped, and slabs of marble
that required but to be laid, would not be spared
when so near at hand. Hence rose the seraglio of
Gezzar, the mosque, and the public baths ; where
granite, prophyry, and marble, are huddled together in
rich but bungling confusion. When that which lay on
the surface had been carried off, they proceeded to dig,
and their labour was rewarded by the discovery of ma-
terials equally useful, although less easy to come at.

According to a rough calculation, from the time
required to make the circuit of the walls of Ascalon
on horseback, its circumference is two miles. The
shape is somewhat triangular, and the side towards
the sea is a little longer than the others. The asser-
tion of Strabo, that the city is built as if in a hole,
and Abulfeda's account that it stands on a bank, may
be reconciled on an actual view of the spot. For,
when approaching it from the east, hillocks of drifted
sand, accumulated round the walls, have obtained an

156 TRAVELS OF

elevation almost equal to them, so that the ground
within the walls is lower than that without. But,
towards the sea, the plain closes abruptly in a preci-
pice of some height ; so that, viewed from that
quarter, Ascalon may even be said to stand high.
The coast runs nearly north-east and south-west.
The wall on the seaside rises almost from the water's
edge, and is intended to prop the crumbling precipice.
It was probably raised on an emergency ; for it is
composed of rude masonry, where shafts of granite
columns are stuck in, so as to represent at a distance
the cannon of a ship or the artillery of a fortress. At
certain distances on the walls were towers, which,
by the parts that still remain, appear to have been
of good masonry. The walls themselves are five or
six feet thick. ^

Ascalon is mentioned by Strabo as famous for its
onions, and it enjoys at this day a reputation for the
same root, which is considered by the neighbouring
peasants as a delicious article of food. ^

Within the ruins, all was desolation. Fragments
of pillars lay scattered about, and elevations here and
there showed how many more might lie concealed
beneath the surface of the soil.

^ How far this justifies the epithet of " prodigious thickness,"
used by d' Arvieux, is for the reader to decide. Indeed, they are
so much covered with sand, that I should not wonder if any cur-
sory observer conceived them to be offour times that thickness.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 157

Early on the first of April, ^ Lady Hester, Derwish
Mustafa Ao;a, and Mohammed Aga, accompanied by
the interpreters and myself, rode over the ruins,
seeking for the indications given in the Italian docu-
ment. The mosque was inmiediately recognized by
the malireh^ or niche, looking towards which the imam
stands to direct, as fugleman, the kneeling and pro-
strations of Mahometans in prayer. This was still
standing, but, in other respects, no more than a stone
or two of the foundations remained above ground.
Although there was little doubt that this was the spot
meant, still it was difficult to know at which side or
end, in a building fifty-five paces long and forty-
three in breadth, to begin. At the north-west corner
of the ruins was a santon''s tomb, covered with a
small building. Here dwelt a shaykh,^ the only in-
habitant of the place ; and, seeing his solitary reign
thus molested by horsemen, tents, soldiers, and
corvees of peasants, he very soon became acquainted
with the motive, and readily mixed with the specta-
tors. He was consulted as to what he knew of the
building. He said that formerly a Barbaresque had
visited the shrine, and had lived with him eleven
months, always lurking about, doing he knew not what :
but that, in conversation, he had assigned to two

^ Looking at the result of Lady Hester's search, some wag
may be disposed to say — " Certainly, the fittest day in the year."

- Named Ashur, if there be such a name in Arabic ; for I
do not recollect the like to it.

168 TRAVELS OF

different spots hidden treasures, both within the cir-
cuit of the mosque. It was finally resolved to begin
on the south side.

The tents were then fixed in the following ruanner.
On the east side, close to the mosque, were planted
Signor Catafago's, Malem Musa's, M. Beaudin's and
my own, each as large as an English marquee : and,
close to them, a sewdn^ or open tent, for meals. The
meals were to be served three times a day, consisting
of two services at noon and sunset, and of a light
breakfast at sunrise. No where in Syria did I fare
better than here. At the south side of the mosque,
on an eminence or mound, was fixed a large tent of
observation, in which Mohammed Aga, when present,
sat. But the tents of Mohammed Aga and the Zaym
were without the city walls, close by the Eastern gate,
in a sandy bottom. And here, too, were the tents of the
cavalry, the kitchens, the water-carriers, the horses,
&c. ; presenting a scene of showy gaiety almost as lively
as a race- course. All the tents were either green or
blue: and the principal ones were conspicuous forflam-
ings swords, flowers, stars, and other ornaments, worked
upon them. Couriers were coming and going every
day from and to Jaffa.

It has been said that to the north of the ruins
there was a small village, called El Jura, two hun-
dred yards from the walls. Here two cottages were
swept out, matted, and carpeted for Lady Hester
and her female attendants : for to have encamped in

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 159

the midst of the men would, by Mahometans, so far
as related to women, have been thought improper,
and her ladyship now required the strictest decorum of
behaviour in her women, and on all occasions consonant
to Mahometan usages : so that, not even Mrs. Fry,
her English maid, was suffered to open the door of
the courtyard of the cottage without veiling her face.
Between the village and the ruins was fixed a tent,
and here Lady Hester sat in the day-time, and
received visits from the agas, the malems, &c. At
two she generally mounted her ass, and rode to see
the workmen. On these occasions they would shout,
and renew their digging with fresh activity.

I have mentioned that, for this purpose, the neigh-
bouring peasantry had been put in requisition. These
poor men were pressed by government, and received
no pay, but they were treated well ; for two meals
were served up to them in the day-time, and no
severity was used towards them. They generally came
about one hundred a day, many, where they could,
alleging causes of exemption, and worked until about
an hour before sunset. Signor Oatafago, Signer
Damiani, M. Beaudin, Giorgio, the governor, and my-
self, superintended them, with overseers immediately
among them : and it was no small exertion to sit or
walk six or eight hours, sometimes in the rain, and
sometimes under a burning sun. The peasants, who
laboured and perspired, suffered less. It would seem im-
possible to an Englishman that they could have worked
hard, when told that these men drank nothino- but water.

160 TRAVELS OF

The very day of our arrival, a gang was imme-
diately set to work : and I shall now proceed to detail,
day by day, what the excavations brought to light.
As a beginning, nothing more was done than just to
remove the surface of the ground,

April 2nd. After digging down three or four feet,
some foundations were laid open, running east and
west. On removing the earth between them nothing
was found but mould and loose stones, with two or
three human bones. Three fragments of marble
shafts of pillars were bared and a Corinthian capital.
There were appearances showing that the ground had
been disturbed at some former period, particularly in
the south-east corner, where there was a ditch of a
very recent date, which (it was whispered by the
peasants) had been made by Mohammed Aga himself.
Two small earthen phials, about three inches long,
some fragments of vases, and a bottle of lapis
specularis, or talc, were dug up : shards of pottery
were found here and there, but none of them of fine
workmanship.

On the 3rd day, the excavations were continued
along the south wall. The men worked with great
animation. The idea of discovering immense heaps of
gold seemed to have an effect upon them, although they
could not hope for a share in it. On this day there
was a great fall of rain and hail, and the weather was
so tempestuous as much to impede the labourers. A
pipe and tabor were therefore brought, to the tune of
which they worked, sung, and danced. Cross foun-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 161

dations were met with, running east and west, seeming
to have served for the support of rows of pedestals.
About fifteen feet from the centre of the south wall
were discovered several large fragments of granite
columns, which lay one on another in such a manner
as to render it probable that they were placed there.

On the 4th day the work was continued nearly in
the same direction. At three in the afternoon, the
workmen struck upon a mutilated statue. 1 was im-
mediately called, and felt exultation at the sight of a
relic of antiquity, which I thought might give
celebrity to our labours. The soil around it being
removed, it was drawn up by ropes, without damage.
There were at the same spot some imperfect remains
of the pedestal on which it had stood. The depth of
the mould and rubbish which lay over the statue was
six or eight feet.

On examination, it proved to be a marble statue of
colossal dimensions and of good execution. It was
headless, and had lost an arm and a leg ; but was not
otherwise disfigured. It seemed to have represented
a deified king : ^ for the shoulders were ornamented

^ " Participa ella del colosso, avanzando molto Fordinaria
statura d'uomo; sapendosi per osservanza degli eruditi, che
cosi erano soliti farsi per i re e pergli imperadori." — Statue
antiche e moderns. No. 15.

It appears that the sculpture on the Gate of the Lions, as
it is called, at Mycente, had a strong resemblance to the
centre ornament of the statue. — See Hughes's Travels, v. i.
p. 229.

162

TRAVELS OF

with the insignia of the thunderbolt, and the breast
with the Medusa's head. There was every reason to
beheve that, in the changes of masters which Ascalon
had undergone, the place in which we were now digging
had originally been a heathen temple, afterwards a
church, and then a mosque. The statue probably be-
longed to the age of the successors of Alexander, or it
might be that of Herod himself. At the depth where
the statue lay was a marble pavement and also a tym-
panum of a porch of the Co-
rinthian order. To the East,
close to the South wall, was
found the trunk of another
statue. As the mould was
cleared away, a modius was
discovered, which probably
had surmounted the head
of one of the two statues.
It was chipped off at the
top, and evidently, at the
bottom, had been forcibly
separated from the head to
which it had belonged : it
was nine and a half inches
long. The statue, from the
acromion to the heel, was
six feet nine inches.

sTATDE FODND AT ASCALON.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 163

On the fifth clay the outline of the foundations of the
entire building was made out. It was amusing at this
time to find how many wise men, some calhng them-
selves astrologers, and some fortune-tellers, started up
on all sides to foretel Lady Hester's success. This
was fortunate : for the workmen had begun to relax
in their labours, and their overseers sneered at the
business. Mohammed Aga found his own purposes
answered in the number of marble slabs that were
discovered. These he shipped, in a coasting boat, for
Jaffa. On the outside of the West foundation, three
subterraneous places were opened, which at first, it
was thought, would lead to the object we were in
search of. But they proved to be cisterns or reser-
voirs for rain water, with no appearance of antiquity
about them ; and, both in the round mouth upwards,
and in the conduit which led the water into them,
resembled those in use throughout Syria at the present
day.

In the mean time. Signer Catafago and myself were
much amused by the exceeding apprehension of Signer
Damiani, lest he should be poisoned. The governor
generally dined with us : but Damiani would neither
eat nor drink in our tent. He affected an air of
mystery in every thing, and soberly advised her
ladyship, if she wished to succeed, to sacrifice a cock
of a particular colour, and at a particular hour of
the day, to ensure success. Derwish Mustafa was
too phlegmatic to be acted upon by any hopes or

164 TRAVELS OF

fears. He expected the issue (in appearance at least)
with as much indifference, or, I might say with more,
than he did the uncovering of a dish at dinner : for here
his philosophy sometimes forsook him, and he occa-
sionally showed undue joy. News of Ali Pasha"'s
death reached us this day ; but the Turks did not
mourn outwardly ; yet, where they w^ere not called
upon to do so, there were sometimes touches of feeling
to be observed, rare in more formal exhibitions of
sorrow.

This and the following day produced nothing new.
In riding over to Alegdel, to visit Signor Damiani,
who lived in a dirty cottage there, I observed that the
place had a market which was well attended.

On the following day, which was the eighth from
the commencement of our labours, the cisterns were
emptied. Digging in the line of the West wall, two
stone troughs of considerable length were discovered
about four feet under the surface, and upon them lay,
cross-wise, four gray granite columns, closely packed
to each other, as if done methodically. This dis-
covery revived the people's hopes ; for it was supposed
that huge masses of granite could not have fallen in
such a position accidentally, and would not be labo-
riously placed so, unless to conceal something. The
removing was deferred until the morrow, the men
requiring ropes to do it, because horses are never put
into harness in Syria. Near the North East angle
was also found a marble pavement, and by it seemed

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 165

to have been another door. Under the pavement ran
a continuation of the same canal which conducted
water to the cisterns.

I had by this time made a pen sketch of the statue,
and had represented to Lady Hester that her labours,
if productive of no golden treasures, had brought to
light one more valuable in the eyes of the lovers of the
fine arts, and that future travellers would come to
visit the ruins of Ascalon, rendered memorable by
the enterprise of a woman, who, though digging for
gold, yet rescued the remains of antiquity from ob-
livion. What was my astonishment, when she
answered — "This may be all true; but it is my
intention to break the statue, and have it thrown into
the sea, precisely in order that such a report may not
get abroad, and I lose with the Porte all the merit of
my disinterestedness."

When I heard what her intentions were, I made
use of every argument in my power to dissuade her
from it ; telling her that the apparent vandalism of
such an act could never be wiped away in the eyes of
virtuosi, and would be the less excusable, as I was
not aware that the Turks had either claimed the
statue or had forbidden its preservation. It was true,
that, whilst sketching it, the people liad expressed
their surmises at what I could find to admire in a
broken image; and I heard some of them conjecture that
it might be a deity of the Franks, as it had been of the
Romans and Greeks. But no idle notions, I insisted,

166 TRAVELS OF

ought to have weight on her mind ; and I begged hard
that, if she could not with decency cany it away, she
would at least leave it for others to look at. She re-
plied, " Malicious people may say I came to search
for antiquities for my country, and not for treasures
for the Porte : so, go this instant ; take with you
half a dozen stout fellows, and break it in a thousand
pieces !" Her resolution was not a thing of the mo-
ment : she had reflected on it two days ; and knowing
her unalterable determination on such occasions, I
went and did as she desired. When Mohammed
Aga saw what had been done, he could not conceal his
vexation : for it is probable that Lady Hester had read
what was passing in his mind, and had thus prevented
many an insinuation against her. Indeed, reports
were afterwards circulated that the chest of the statue
was found full of gold — half of which was given to the
pasha, and the other half kept by Lady Hester. Li
England, where her motives were unknown, people
naturally have decried her conduct, although it is plain
that her strict integrity ought to prove her justification.
On the 9th, when the granite pillars were removed,
a work of no trifling magnitude, considering the means
by which it was effected,^ the troughs were found

^ The labours of Mr. Belzoni, in removing and embarking
the head of Memnon in a barge, entirely set at naught all
boasting of what was done at Ascalon. Columns of granite,
indeed, are much heavier than Memnon's head ; but they are
round, and may be made to roll easily in any direction.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 167

empty. The disappointment was very great : and, the
more so, as the excavation of the four following days
produced nothing but two granite columns at the
North West angle, six or eight feet below the surface,
a white marble pedestal, some bones of animals, and
two earthenware lamps. A small excavation was
likewise made in one of the towers of the East wall of
the city. With respect to the area of the mosque,
almost all of it had been turned up. The North foun-
dation wall had been traced throughout its whole
length ; and, in that direction, the shafts of two small
marble pillars, about six feet in length, and with rude
capitals, had been the only reward. Other masses
had been broken up, to see if they had concealed any-
thing. But, when every research was fruitless, the
closing hand was, by Lady Hester's consent, put to
our labours on the 14th of April, being a fortnight
from the commencement. The conclusion that her
ladyship came to was, that when Gezzar Pasha em-
bellished the city of Acre, by digging for marble and
other materials in the ruins of Ascalon, he was fortu-
nate enough to discover the treasure. That Gezzar
enriched his coffers by wealth so got was generally
affirmed : and it is probable that his pretended mania
for building was no more than a cloak to conceal this
real motive for excavating. Thus ended this most
interesting experiment ; which failed in its primary
object, but had the desirable effect of establishing Lady
Hester's popularity throughout Syria, and of con-

168 TRAVELS OP

firming the belief, already grown up, that she was a
person of some consideration, even in the eyes of the
Sublime Porte.

I am enabled to subjoin Lady Hester's own account
of these excavations, which she sent to Lord Bathurst,
then Secretary of State,

Lady Hester Stanhope to the Right Hon. the Earl
Bathurst, S^c.
My Lord,
A curious document, once in the hands of the church, fell
by accident into mine. It was an indication to considerable
treasures in Syria. Having made this known to the Porte, a
confidential person belonging to the sultan's household was
sent from Constantinople to investigate the business. I pro-
ceeded with him to Ascalon : but the mosque, in which
the treasure was said to be hidden, was no longer standing.
One wall only remained of a magnificent structure, which had
been mosque, church, and temple at different periods. After
having traced out the South West and North foundation walls,
and after digging for several days within them, we came to the
under-ground fabric we were looking for : but, alas ! it had
been rifled. It was, as nearly as one could calculate, capable
of containing three millions of pieces of gold — the sum men-
tioned in the document. Whilst excavating this once mag-
nificent building — for such it must have been by the number
of fine columns and fine pavements we discovered under ground
— we found a superb colossal statue without a head, which
belonged to the heathens. It w^as eighteen feet below the
surface. Knowing how much it would be prized by English
travellers, I ordered it to be broken into a thousand pieces,
that malicious people might not say I came to look for statues
for my countrymen and not for treasures for the Porte.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 169

This business has taken up a good deal of my time for
these three months past. I have had a thousand honours paid
me, which it is not worth while to enter upon. The authen-
ticity of the paper I do not doubt ; but, as many centuries
have elapsed since the Christians hid treasure there, it is not
very surprising that it should have been removed. Had it
escaped observation, in the same way the statue did the eyes of
the Turks, when this spot was converted into a mosque, it
would have been a fine thing for the Turkish government.
I have the honour, &c.

H. L. Stanhope,

During these fourteen days many circumstances
took place which were not mentioned, in order that no
interruption should take place in the narrative. It
happened that the time of auditing the accounts of
the district over which Mohammed Aga was governor
occurred during this period ; and the katibs, or under-
secretaries, of the pasha were sent for that purpose.
They and the katib of Mohammed Aga were for two
days closely at work. When they had concluded,
and all was found right, the two secretaries were dis-
missed, with a present from Mohammed Aga, between
them, of 700 piasters, and their servants with 100. It
is certainly matter of surprise with how few books they
manage very extensive concerns ; such as must be
those of the civil and military command of a district
vested in the same person ; and it is equally a cause
of astonishment to an Englishman to hear gentlemen
put the question one to another, at the close of a

VOL. ni. I

1 70 TRAVELS OF

pecuniary arrangement, of " Well, how much did the
governor give you, and what did your servants get f

On the i2th, Signor Catafago left us, upon pretext
of business at Damascus.

It was said, in a former page, that Mohammed
Aga was a fatalist : a conversation, which took place
in the presence of Malem Musa, the dragoman, and
myself, will prove it. I had attended professionally
on him and one or two of his people ; and I observed
to him, '' One of your Excellency*'s servants has the
itch ; it would be well if you kept him at a distance
from your person.*" " Oh, my good sir," he replied,
" I take no precautions against this sort of thing ; it
were a matter of indifference to me if I even wore the
shirt just pulled off his back. Who created that
disorder, if you please? — was it not God? and, if so, it
is of very little consequence what precautions I take ;
for, if God intends me to have it, &c., &c," At this
time, there were so many of his people infected with it,
that I avoided feeling any one's pulse until I had
first closely inspected his fingers.

The race of peasants in the villages near Ascalon
is ugly, with skins of a dirty brown. I saw not one
pretty nor even one engaging woman ; a rare occur-
rence in those parts, where the human form has
generally some one feature to boast of, and where all
the females strove to be pleasing in their manner of
dng.

Lady Hester lodged in a cottage in a village two

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 171

or three Iiuudred yards from the ruins. To get to it
there was a path, of course little trodden until our
coming : to return home from it after dark was always
at tlie hazard of broken shins.

There being nothing farther to detain us at
Ascalon, on the 15th we returned to Jaffa. An un-
lucky accident happened through the negligence of
Mbarak, who, being caffegi, or coffee-server, laid a
complaint against a peasant for stealing a silver coffee-
cup stand, or zerf, which was missing. The peasant was
bastinadoed at Mejdel ; when, on our arrival at Ebna,
the cup was found. I made Lady Hester acquainted
with the circumstance, and reprimanded Mbarak
severely. A sum of money was sent to the poor
peasant to recompense him for the injustice that had
been done him ; but the soles of his feet were not to
be healed by money. Oh ! ye men in authority, be
not too hasty in awarding stripes !

I bought a few coins at Mejdel, but of no value :
none were found during the excavations. Silver or
gold coins of Ascalon are so rare that it is said one of
either of these two metals would be Avorth from ten to
fifteen guineas.

When we returned to Jaffa, Lady Hester wished to
enjoy a little quiet ; and a cottage belonging to Signor
Damiani, and situate in a garden half a league from
the town, was made comfortable for her as far as
time and its ruinous condition would allow. I lodged
as before in the monastery.

1 72 TRAVELS OF

One thing had troubled Lady Hester very much
during the whole journey, which may be mentioned
as showing the system, pursued universally through-
out the Turkish empire, of making it impossible for
Christians, however favoured, to enjoy tranquilly the
concession of any right or immunity ordinarily be-
longing to Mahometans only. One of these was to
have black slaves, whom Christians are not allowed
to buy, but which Lady Hester had been privileged
to do. Derwish Mustafa Aga had not been many
days acquainted with Lady Hester, when he heard of
her possessing a black slave, and her ladyship told
him how much pains she had bestowed in having her
instructed in the principles of her religion ; adding,
that he might question her, if he would, to see if she
had profited by the lessons she had received. The
Zaym did so, and expressed himself so satisfied with
her progress, that he thought it a pity (he said) she
should be left among Christian servants, who would
contaminate her mind and expose her to the tempta-
tion of wine, &c. The fact was, that the old man
found her young and beautiful, though black, and,
according to the usages of his country, would have
very willingly made her his concubine. He, there-
fore, often renewed the subject : and, half joking half
seriously, would say to Lady Hester that she was
aware that the first duty of a Mussulman was to get
a true believer out of the hands of infidels ; and that,
when the business was over, he should require her at

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 1 73

her hands. Then he would say, " Tell me her price,
that you may not be a loser by her ;" and would con-
tinually be making many similar speeches. Lady
Hester used to remark upon this subject : " This
man puts me in an awkward predicament : — what
can I do ? He will make me give her to him at last,
for, when he says that he will buy her of me, that
means nothing ; I can't take money of him. To give
her to a man like Muly Ismael, who has wives and
a harym, might be harmless ; but to this man, who
I know will make use of her for his own purposes on
the road, it is a disgrace, and I cannot do it." Nor
did she ; but it will be seen how, to the last, he tena-
ciously persisted in demanding her ; and, in her
stead, obtained one of less beauty and value indeed,
but still recommendable for both.

Among the merchants of Jaffa, I had a few patients,
and in visiting their houses I saw somewhat of the
domestic society of the place. One of these was a
blind Turk, whose conversation I found very interest-
ing. He had been converted to Islamism from
Christianity, and passed for a learned man. Not
thinking that his apostacy from the religion of Christ
ought to make me decline his visits, we often saw
each other ; although some people in England, for
whom I have a great respect, and to whom I men-
tioned the subject, were of opinion that I ought to
have done so.

One day, whilst I was sitting in my room at the

174 TRAVELS OF

convent, Mai em Musa and M. Beaudin being with
me, a young man, about twenty-two years old, en-
tered, and, giving me the salutation, used between
friends when they meet, of a kiss on each cheek, set
himself down in the highest place, with the air of a
man who knew that he had a right to it. He was
handsome and of a pleasing countenance. It is cus-
tomary in the East not to ask the business of a person
who presents himself as a stranger, until he has been
welcomed by some refreshment. Conformable to this
usage, I bade the servant bring coffee and pipes, and
stared with some degree of inquisitiveness, trying to
guess, in my own mind, who he could be. Malem
Musa, I have said, was a man acquainted with the
world, and he saw at once that the stranger was un-
fortunate : thinking, therefore, to relieve the young
man's chagrin, he began a long story on the fickle-
ness of fortune. The youth, encouraged by his appa-
rent sympathy, by degrees took courage and told his
tale. He said his name was Mohammed Bey, son of
Daher Tabii, and nephew of a pasha ; that he had
been motsellem of Killes, near Aleppo, but had
baen driven from his home by the persecution of
Gelal-ed-Dyn, pasha of Aleppo. The account he
gave us of his misfortunes was as follows.

This Gelal-ed-dyn had been sent on a mission from
the Porte, commissioned to punish the rebels at
Aleppo. He passed the night, on his way thither,
at Killes, and was magnificently entertained by Mo-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 1/5

hammed Bey, whom in return he honoured with great
apparent civihty ; and professed so much satisfaction
with his treatment that he invited the bey to accom-
pany him on his expedition. The bey went. During
the whole of the siege of Geser Shogr, which pre-
ceded the attack on Aleppo, he manifested an unusual
liking to him. Topal Ali and Sayd Aga having fled
from Geser Shogr, Gelal-ed-dyn marched for Aleppo,
where by artifice he succeeded in prevailing on the
chiefs of the rebels to trust their persons within his
camp, and then massacred them. The bey told us he
was witness to the massacre, and that he stood by,
his knees trembling and his teeth chattering, in an
indescribable way, whilst the pasha''s only remark
was : " Well, now it's over, what do you think of all

this r

In the evening of the same day, the kekhyah sent
for him, and he immediately repaired to his tent. " I
want," said the kekhyah, " thirty-three purses of you."
The youth was astounded, and cried " where am I to
find such a sum V — " You best know," replied the
kekhyah ; and he was led from the tent to prison,
where he was chained. Here he found liimself in
company with several others in a similar situation.
The prison doors were opened in the night, and, soon
after, two or three reports of guns gave the signal of
the death of more victims of the pasha''s sanguinary
cruelty. This uncomfortable scene was renewed for
several nights. At last the bey's turn came. He

176 TRAVELS OF

was conducted by some Albanian soldiers into a room,
where he was again told he must find the sura of
money demanded of him. Upon declaring it to be
impossible, he was put to the torture by means of a
rope, twisted tight round his head, and pressing on
two phalangeal bones placed on his temples. Over-
come by extreme pain, he promised to do all they
asked, though he knew not how. He returned again
to prison, and time was given nim to raise among his
friends what he could. Half the sum required was
finally paid, and he was set at liberty.

He fled from Aleppo to Antioch, from Antioch to
Hamah ; thence to Damascus, Acre, and Jaffa.
" Here, gentlemen," he continued, " I am come to
throw myself at the feet of the English lady, and
ask succour at her hand." He then exhibited his
sherwals, (brogues) and the other parts of his dress
torn and dirty, as proofs of his situation. He said
that Muly Ismael had given him 200 piasters ; Bekyr
Aga of Antioch 500 ; and that Kengy Ahmed Aga
had, since his arrival at Jaffa, taken care that he
should not want for a meal.

By this little history, it will be seen that the pride,
which forbids an Englishman well-born to demand
charity, however great his distress, is unknown to the
Turks ; but what we wondered at was that he could
submit to beg from a Christian. Lady Hester gave
him ten guineas, which sura enabled him to embark
for Egypt, where he hoped, at the court of Mohammed

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 177

All Pasha, to find some honourable employment.
Throughout his story there was occasionally an ap-
pearance of falsehood. But, whether true or false, it
serves as a picture of the measures of arbitrary govern-
ments ; since no man who wishes to be believed in-
vents occurrences that have not a similitude to truth,
and to the usages of the people of whom he is speaking.
Lady Hester was much surprised one day to find
that a man, who had sent in to say he wished to be
admitted to her presence, should prove to be that
same Ibrahim who went from Egypt to England with
two horses as a present from her to H.E,,H. the Duke
of York. He had saved a considerable sum of money
whilst there, arising from the generosity of the
Duke and of several other distinguished persons.
This money he had converted into cutlery previous to
his return to Egypt ; but, arriving at Malta when the
plague was raging, he got into difficulties, was de-
tained a long time in Sicily, where he lost his mer-
chandize, and was reduced, by the time he reached
Jaffa, to a penniless state. He related many amusino"
stories of what he had seen in England, by which it
appeared that he had been much caressed by the great ;
but his astonishment at the novel and wonderful sight
which a metropohs Hke London would be supposed to
excite in the eyes of an untutored ^Mahometan did
not appear to have been remarkable. Two things,
however, had struck him as scarcely credible ; he
never saw a flea, and very few people told lies.

178 TRAVELS OF

Whilst Lady Hester sojourned in the gardens of
Jaffa, Malem Musa could not resist the temptation of
performing the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, now that his
vicinity to that place afforded him the opportunity.
We do not in Europe feel the same ardour with those
in the Levant to pay this meritorious debt. I believe
that Malem Musa would have wept like a child, could
he not have gone. As my servant, Giovanni, had
never been there, he was allowed to accompany him.

There was another place mentioned in the MS.
given to Lady Hester, where a second great treasure
was said to be concealed, viz. in the ruins of Awgy,
and it was resolved that I should go alone, and
examine it. Upon the edge of a river, still known
by the name of Awgy, and at the distance of an hour
and a half from Jaffa, bearing north-east and by
east, once stood this city. Its site is called El
Khurby or The Ruins ; and, when I visited it, a
peasant was ploughing over it. Loose stones, thickly
scattered on the surface, marked the spot : an indica-
tion the mor6 certain, as the surrounding country was
of a fine mould, and stoneless. To the right of the
ruin was a hillock called Tel Abu Zytun. The river
Awgy empties itself into the sea three miles north of
Jaffa. Its source is about a mile and a half from the
foot of the mountains in ten or a dozen springs : these,
uniting, form at once a river from twenty-five to thirty
feet broad. It is augmented on the left side by the
river Messalelah, (which is much swollen in the rainy

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 1 79

season), and perhaps on the right bank by other
streams. There was a villaoe just above the Messa-
lelah on the right bank, called Shajkh Geraas. Over
the Awgy, distant one hour from Jaffa, were the re-
mains of a lonof brido-e with the centre arch broken
down, which arch seemed to have been built subse-
quent to the two ends. At the extremity of the
bridge were several ruined buildings that appeared
either to have been water-mills, or portions of a castle,
they being surrounded by a moat. Close by was a
hamlet of wretched cottages. Ascending the stream,
three quarters of an hour higher up, was the village of
Mlebbes ; and three quarters of an hour farther,
Kalat Ras el ayn, (or the Fountain Head Castle) close
to the sources of the river. The castle was in tolerable
preservation, and worthy of being visited : it appeared
to be of Saracen construction, from having a mosque
in the centre : it was of a square form, with a tower at
each angle, and had two rows of long narrow apertures
for bow-shots and musketry : it was now used for
folding cattle. The mosque was so full of fleas, that
above a hundred leaped upon me the first step I set in
it. I was consequently unable to look for inscriptions,
commemorative of its date. The country, hereabouts,
is of a red soil, and very rich. Near the Awgy, I saw
abundance of colocynth plants, and of what 1 thought
to be stramonium. The Messalelah had also the ruins
of a bridge, makins; a line from the bridire of the
Awgy to Jaffa. There were many proofs that this

1 80 TRAVELS OP

district was once liiglilv populous ; but, with respect to
Lady Hester's particular object, uo one indication was
left, and I ventured to assure her that her attempts
at a search on these ruins would necessarily be
fruitless.

Under these circumstances, she had nothing to do
but to return to Acre. Before quitting Jaffa, the
governor attempted to effect a reconcihation with her ;
but she always treated his advances with neglect.
How justly Lady Hester appreciated this man's charac-
ter will be seen from what took place shortly after.

Sulyman Pasha and Mohammed Aga Abu Nabud
had been bred up together, and, no sooner was Suly-
man raised to the pashalik of Acre, than he advanced
his friend by degrees to power, until he made him
governor of Jaffa, a post of considerable importance,
and which at some former period had been designated
as a separate pashalik, although latterly merged in
that of Acre and Sayda, Sulyman Pasha was
desirous that Abu Nabud should attain yet greater
honours, and it was thought by many, now that All
Pasha was no more, that he looked to him as his
successor. Accordingly, as a preparatory step, he
wrote to the Porte to ask for him the dignity of Two
Tails. At this very time Abu Nabud had secretly
written to the Grrand Vizir, and, after pointing out
the incapacity of Sulyman Pasha on account of his
advanced age and bad health, had offered to raise a
much more considerable revenue than Suliman Pasha

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 181

now remitted, if he were made pasha in his place.
The Porte had known from many years' experience
the fidehty of the old pasha, and, feeling satisfied
that a person so treacherous towards his benefactor
was little to be relied on, enclosed Abu Nabud's com-
munication under cover to him, with the simple ob-
servation of — " This is the man for whom you ask
the title of pasha of two tails."

Sulyman Pasha, enraged at such duplicity, de-
spatched Abdallah Bey with a body of troops to
Jaffa. Abu Nabud happened just then to be absent
on a circuit, and the news soon reached him that he
was shut out from the city. Suspecting, probably,
that his machinations were discovered, he had the
sagacity not to trust himself to require an explanation
or attempt to recover the place, and fled to Egypt.
It was surmised that this traitor was the first who
suggested to Mahomet Ali the feasibility of con-
quering Syria, afterwards efiected through the in-
trigues of the Emir Beshyr, a greater JSIachiavelian
than either.

It may be supposed that Lady Hester felt some
disappointment in the unsuccessful results of her re-
searches, which tended to vex her. The tone of one
of her letters, written whilst here, sufficiently indicates
a feeling of fallen greatness, and a sense of her loneli-
ness, which fresh schemes from time to time made her
forget .

182 TRAVELS OF

Lady Hester Stanhope to ■

Jaflfa, April 25th, 1815.
My dear

You must not think that I am ungrateful, or that the in-
terest I felt in your concerns is in the least diminished,
although I am less anxious about you, knowing you to be
in the midst of friends who love you. I received your kind
letter written at different periods, just as I was about to
leave Mount Lebanon for Balbeck. I returned to my con-
vent the end of January, having made a long tour. Upon
the very night of my arrival there, the great person men-
tioned in the enclosed paper paid me a visit, indeed took up
his abode in my comfortable mansion for some time. Then
I proceeded to Acre, to pay my respects to the pasha, and my
guest from the Porte accompanied me to Ascalon. Therefore
you see that from last October I have never had a quiet mo-
ment I could call my own; and besides, occasions either by
sea or land are scarce and unsafe in the winter season, and,
intending to send a person to England when all my business
was over, I have deferred answering most of my letters to
profit by this conveyance.

I have at last decided upon sending for James to take
me away from this country ; for I know so little of the state
of the Continent, and feel in my own mind so doubtful of its
remaining quiet, or, if it does, that I shall like it as formerly, that,
before I break up a comfortable establishment to form another at
random, I wish to have the opinion of one who knows my
taste, and whom I can depend upon.

If Lord Mulgrave ever mentions me, pray remember me
kindly to him: for I really believe he had a friendship for
Mr. Pitt, though artful Canning formerly used to take great
pains to make me believe it was all affected ; but, since he has

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 183

turned out himself a perfect political chameleon, one may be
permitted to mistrust a few of his opinions. How unhappy it

makes me to hear that the dear duke of is over head and

ears in debt. With such a fine family just coming into the
Avorld, it must hurt him very much, not to be in a situation to
give them all those advantages which they are born to.

The Pasha of Acre and all the leading people in this
country continue to be vastly kind to me, even more so than
before, if possible ; and I am upon the whole as comfortable as a
hermit can be.

Believe me,

Yours sincerely and affectionately,

H. L. S.

On or about the 1st of May, we reached Acre,
having, on our route back, enjoyed very fine weather.
The same honours were paid Lady Hester on her re-
turn as when going.

The night we arrived at Um Khaled I had well
nigh embroiled myself with Derwish Mustafa Aga in
the following manner. A servant happening to be
very impertinent, I had recourse to the usual remedy
for this in Turkey, which was laying my stick about
his shoulders. The man was one Ayd, a muleteer,
who, it will be recollected, was dismissed from Lady
Hester's service on a former occasion, and who had
been afterwards taken back for the purpose of this
journey. Upon being beaten, he flew to the tent of
the Zaym, claiming protection. I desired the Zaym's
servants to send him out, which they refused to do,
saying that no gjiur (or infidel) should touch those
whom Moslems protected. The Zaym took the part

184 TRAVELS OP

of his servants, and kept A^^d in his tent the whole
evening ; which assumption of so extraordinary a right
led to a warm discussion between him and Lady-
Hester, who took my side in the dispute.

From Acre, Malem Musa was allowed to depart for
Hamah, with a present from Lady Hester of 1000
piasters. His way home was through the district
of Suffad to Damascus. Hadj Mohammed, the Akam
Bashi, was handsomely rewarded for his extreme care
and attention with 300 piasters. The captain of the
Hawarys and the officers divided about 1000 more
among them.

When the time came to quit Acre, I was curious to
observe whether the subtraction of the numerous suite
and the loss of tents, palanquins, and other emblems
of greatness, would aflfect Lady Hester''s looks or
spirits. But neither was there to be observed morti-
fication nor melancholy, and she rode out of the city
gates with as much serenity as any human counte-
nance could put on. Being now reduced to eight or
ten persons, we encamped in a field close by the
Nakiira ; and, on the following morning, resumed our
march for Tyre. From Tyre we departed the next
day for Abra. Wishing to arrive somewhat early at
Abra, I rode on alone, and overtook the baggage
mules, stopping at a place short of that where our
people had been desired to unload, and I commanded
them to go onwards. Some expressions, which escaped
one of the muleteers, of the great hardship of loading

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 185

and unloading so frequently, led me to think that they
would stop here if I left them, I therefore desired
them to proceed before me, when one of them refused,
and, letting his cords slip, threw down his load.
Upon this, wishing to punish him in a way not un-
common there, I drew a sort of small yatagan from
my girdle, and in stooping from my horse, to cut the
breast-band of the mule's harness, so that his saddle
might for the time become useless, and he be left alone
on the road until a saddler should repair it, I drew
the knife with such force, that it came home, and ran
into my own horse's neck to a great depth just under
the vertebrae, by the mane. The horse shook his ears —
the other muleteers were frightened — and at last went
on. Farther on I halted them, and, leaving them
there, rode on to Abra, The wound of my horse bled
freely, but he showed no symptoms of weakness : it
was, however, some weeks before it healed entirely.

Lady Hester arrived on the following day. When
she was refreshed from the fatigue of so long a journey,
the Zaym proceeded, under her direction, to excavate
near the river Ewely, close to Sayda. Two hundred
yards above the present modern bridge are the
remains of an ancient one, which, as hid from the view
of travellers, who pass the usual road, is never men-
tioned by them. Hereabouts, the manuscript signified
that there were treasures, and here, by corvees of
peasants, the digging was renewed, but with much
less alacrity than at Ascalon, and with no better sue-

186 TRAVELS OF

cess. After a few days it was therefore abandoned ;
and, Lady Hester having written the despatches which
occupied her a short time, and having presented the
Zaym with a black slave and a Cashmere shawl,
which, added to the presents, he had received at Jaffa
and at Acre, made up something considerable, he
departed with his suite for Constantinople.

Thus ended this very extraordinary affair, which,
however, I should not have ventured to introduce into
my narrative at such length, or accompanied with so
many comments, had I not thought that it related
closely to a subject always treated much too lightly
by travellers. There is every reason to suppose that
hidden treasures in plate, coins, or jewels, are fre-
quently found under old buildings, in gardens, and in
the open country. But, whether they are or are not,
this is certain, that no European traveller in Turkey
is seen wandering among ancient ruins, without being
suspected by the natives to be in search of such de-
posits ; for it is imagined that he bears with him pri-
vate marks or indications written at the time of con-
cealment, and which have been since handed down
from generation to generation as family papers, until
a fit moment presented itself for going in search of
them. It is therefore necessary he should be apprised
that, although he may one day be angry and another
laugh at this unjust suspicion of the motives of his
researches, still he will never alter their belief; and a
true relation of the manner in which the Turks of all

LADY HESTER STANHOPE.

]87

ranks lent a willing hand to such researches in our
case puts this past doubt. In a word, it is the part of
a prudent traveller to take this notion into account in
all his dealino-s with the natives, that he may under-
stand much of their conduct, which will otherwise be
seemingly mysterious.

Lady Hester, in providing for the expenses which
the Ascalon affair brought on her, had, as we have
seen, recourse to Mr. Barker for a loan of money.
As she had throughout proposed to herself no advan-
tage but the celebrity which it would bring on her own
and, as she thought, the English name, and had acted
with the cognizance of our minister at Constantinople,
she fancied that she had a claim on the English
government for her expenses : she accordingly sent to
our Ambassador at Constantinople a succinct account
of her proceedings, and, in showing that all which
had been done was for the credit of her country, she
asserted her right to be reimbursed.

She, however, was unsuccessful in her application,
and the expenses weighed heavily on her means.
Yet hitherto she never had been in debt, and by great
care and economy contrived still to keep out of it.

188 TRAVELS OF

CHAPTER VIII.

Visit of the Author to the Maronite convent in the village
of Joon — Abyssinian man and woman — Black horses— Lady
Hester fixes herself at Meshmushy — Solitary wigwam — The
Author wishes to return to England — He sets out for Egypt
— Destruction of Tyre, not so complete as travellers repre-
sent— A self-taught lithotomist and oculist — Seaweeds used
for dyeing — Embarkation for Egypt in a vessel laden with
wood — Impalement — Passengers on board — Cyprus — Revolt
in Gebel Nabliis — Frequency of insurrections there — Arrival
at Eosetta — Smoking during Ramazan — The Author is joined
by Burckhardt, or shaykh Ibrahim — Mutiny of troops at Cairo
— Departure by land for Alexandria — Lake Edko — Stay in
Alexandria — Coasting voyage to Damietta — Burckhardt not
considered as a Turk — Foreigners betrayed by their speech.

The supernumerary servants were again dismissed,
and Lady Hester resumed the retired mode of life
which she had adopted in the spring of last year.
There was no plague, consequently nothing to inter-
rupt those pursuits which are most interesting to a
traveller. Professionally, I was about this time
chiefly called upon to vaccinate the children of the
neighbouring villages.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 189

It was about this period that I rode over, one day,
to pay a visit to the patriarch of Antioch at the
monastery of Dayr Mkallas, near the village of Joon.
I had retired to rest in one of the cells, when I was
wakened, in the middle of the night, by the noise of
horses fighting. I called my servant. Receiving no
answer, I descended into the stableyard myself, when
I was somewhat startled by seeing a black man
separating the horses. He told me in bad Arabic
that he was an inmate of the monastery, and, when I
had seen him tie them up, I returned to my chamber.

In the morning my first inquiry was to know who
this man of colour could be. The superior of the
monastery told me he was an Abyssinian, who, to-
gether with his sister, had, when on their pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, been shipwrecked at Suez, and with
difficulty escaped with their lives. Having found
their way to the tomb of Jesus, they were, by the
charity of a few countrymen, enabled to reach Dayr
Mkallas, in which they sought an asylum, until, as
they said, they could receive aid from Abyssinia.

With this story I returned to Mar Elias ; and
Lady Hester, on hearing it, asked me to bring them
over that she might see them. On the following day
I again rode over to Dayr Mkallas, and went to the
cell in which the woman lived. She was of a dark
colour, approaching to black, with regular features,
lively intelligent eyes, and white teeth. I told her.
through her brother, what the object of my visit was ;

1 90 TRAVELS OF

and she consented to accompany me the next day. I
visited her again in the afternoon, and the interest I
seemed to take in their welfare induced them to be
open in their conversation with me. They gave me
to understand that in their own country they were
people of rank,i and that their shipwreck had de-
prived them of much property in money and slaves,
of which latter they pretended to have had several.

When the morning came, Mariam (that was the
name she chose to go by, although it afterwards
proved not to be her real one)^ was put upon an ass ;
and, with her brother Elias by her side, accompanied
me to Mar Elias. Lady Hester received them with
much kindness, and with her accustomed humanity
told them they should no longer be dependent on the
priests, for she would feed and clothe them, until

^ Those who have read Bruce's and Salt's travels will re-
collect that both of them speak of a particular rotundity in a
certain part of a woman as a criterion of noble birth, and as
giving an air of high breeding and gentility to the happy
possessor. In this respect it must be allowed that Mariam
might lay claim to a descent from a distinguished race.

^ For Mariam, the Abyssinian woman's parentage, see at
page 164 vol. 3rd Lord Valentia's travels, Avhat is said of Eas
Ayto, who raised Tecla Georgis to the throne. Subsequently,
Elias gave me his Abyssinian name as Elias Jegurgos lidj,
or Elias the son of George, and hers as Trungore Rashyelo
lidj — urarefs or curnakyb Dinkanesh Rashyelo lidj — yeroda
midjt — confusing all these terms in a way that left me in the
dark as to which of them was her own name, and which that
of her parents.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 191

they could find means to return to their native
country. They were accordingly put into one of the
rooms of the house.

Having with me at this time an abridgment of
Bruce's travels in Abyssinia, I questioned the Abys-
sinian on all those passages in it which, as descriptive
of the manners and usages of the country, admitted of
affirmation or negation : and it is just to say that
every allusion, or name, or description, was perfectly
intelligible to him. He spoke of Mr. Salt as a per-
son whom he had seen very frequently in Abyssinia.

Ibrahim was now raised to the post of cook, which
he filled with considerable credit, and his residence in
England had made him less delicate in the use of
lard and other parts of hog's flesh, which circumstance
is generally a great obstacle to the employment of
Turks in European houses.

It was during this summer that Lady Hester was
for the first time enabled to obtain a true, thoroughbred
Arabian horse. On my journey to Damascus, I had,
at her desire, looked through Ahmed Bey's stables,
to ascertain whether a tall black stallion, which had
caught her attention when at Damascus, was still alive.
When on my return she learned that he was, and
that Ahmed Bey had, from ill health, grown less fond
of his steed than formerly, she resolved to endeavour
to get this horse for herself. Accordingly, M. Beau-
din was sent to ofier a reasonable price for it : and,
not many days afterwards, he returned, bringing it

192 TRAVELS OF

with him, mounted by the Abyssinian, who had gone
with M. Beaudin for the purpose. What price
Lady Hester gave she would never tell me : but it
was something considerable,

Madame Lascaris, of whom nothing had been heard
for more than a year, came one day to Abra. It
appeared that her husband had left her, and was gone
to Constantinople ; and she was now living on the
liberality of her friends, more especially of the pasha
of Acre ; that viceroy being a fellow-countryman of
hers, carried away, as she had been, in his childhood,
to be sold as a slave. But fortune put him in the
road to greatness ; and, like many others in the East,
he had no reason to regret the chance that removed
him from his native soil into a strange country.
Madame Lascaris obtained a small sum of money, and
I afterwards heard that, on leaving Mar Elias, she
embarked for Cyprus, where she put the society of
Freemasons under contribution, as being of that order
herself.

At the beginning of June, Lady Hester had found
the weather extremely hot ; for she could not live
comfortabl}* but in a temperature of from sixty to eighty
degrees ; and, now that it was higher, she resolved to
repair to a more elevated situation, as she had done the
preceding year. Meshmushy was accordingly chosen,
and three cottages were taken for the accommoda-
tion of servants, the Abyssinians, &c. On the road, a
romantic spot was selected for the first day's halt, at

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 193

a hamlet overhanging the river Ewely, in the deep
ravine through which it runs after quitting the vale of
Bisra. The hamlet is named Musrat et Tahun, or the
mill-field. Here dwelt a miller named Abu-Tanus,
who became from this time a sort of purveyor to her
ladyship ; until, by making an improper use of her
name at Acre, to gain preferment to the place of
shaykh of the hamlet, he fell into disgrace.

On arriving at Meshmushy, Lady Hester fixed
herself quietly for the autumn, resolved to find
amusement in wandering among the rocks and preci-
pices and in beholding the beautiful and magnificent
views which surrounded us. The Abyssinians also
occupied much of her time ; and, in the numerous
anecdotes she heard of the chief men of that nation,
and of the productions of the country, she found her-
self almost induced to undertake a journey to it, and
revolved in her mind the practicability of the scheme.
Her success would not have been doubtful, had she
undertaken it ; since her plans were generally laid, as
a prudent builder raises an edifice, upon a sound foun-
dation ; but other events intervened.

Towards the end of July, to amuse myself, and
relieve the sameness of our rides, I caused a sort of
rural wigwam to be constructed of stakes and branches
of trees, in the midst of the forest of firs which lay at
the back of Meshmushy. For, although on the side
of Bisra plain the mountain seems like a sugar-loaf,
it is in fact no other than a promontory belonging to

VOL. HL K

194 TRAVELS OF

a lofty ridge, which runs south, with a gradual as-
cent, until it reaches the province of Suftad, where it
begins to decline. This ridge afforded pleasing excur-
sions for a great distance. To this wigwam an occa-
sional ride in the course of the morning diversified the
monotony of the life we led, where, sitting for an hour
or two, one might peruse a favourite author, or indulge
in one's own reflections, for which there was ample
food. Meshmusln- i? by nature so inaccessible, that
no person, from mere idle curiosity, would think of
ascending to it. There, her society was literally con-
fined to myself; for the priests were too unmannered
to gain access to her presence, and the shaykh of
the village was a farmer, without any other know-
ledge than that required for his agricultural occu-
pations.

That Lady Hester had no thoughts at this time of
going to Europe, much less of returning to England,
is pretty evident. It might be supposed that she had
almost now resolved to spend the remainder of her
days in the East. I therefore, with much reluctance,
had communicated to her my wish, as soon as some
one could be procured to supply my place, of returning
to ray native country, from which I had now been
absent nearly six years ; and it was resolved that
Giorgio, the Greek, should be sent to England both
for the purpose of bringing out my successor, and also
to execute a variety of commissions for his mistress,
which could not be accurately made known by letter.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 195

On the 80th of June, he sailed from Beyrout to
Cyprus, where he found a vessel to Malta, and
thence took his passage to England. He was charged
with several presents, in sabres, wines of Mount
Lebanon, brocades, and other productions of the ma-
nufactures and soil of the Levant.

It was about this period that a malicious paragraph
found its way into the English newspapers, copied from
the French, stating that Lady Hester was surrounded
by children whom she educated. The fact was, that she
had three servant boys of from ten to twelve years
old, sons of peasants of Abra, who were useful to run
on messages, where the different parts of the family
were scattered in different cottages, and who took
it by turns to walk by the side of her ass when she
rode out, to hold it when she alighted, and to per-
form the duties of groom-boys in the stable.

When not animated in the pursuit of some interest-
ing affair. Lady Hester now sunk into an extraordi-
nary lassitude and inactivity of body, but never of
mind. She had been accustomed ever since her ill-
ness at Latakia to be carried up stairs by two men-
servants, and could, on no occasion, support the
slightest exertion of an unusual nature.

Time passed on in this way. Her ladyship was
in constant correspondence with Malem Haym Shady
at Acre, to which end M. Beaudin was continually
going backward and forward. The project of my
journey to Egypt, so often put off, was now defini-

196 TRAVELS OF

tivelj- arranged ; and on the 1st of August I left
Meshmusliy for Abra, in order to embark.

Signer Volpi, an Italian, professing medicine at
Tripoli, was sent for, and engaged by Lady Hester to
attend on her until my return.

As there was a constant resort of vessels from
Egypt to Tyre, for the purpose of loading with wood,
I resolved not to wait at Sayda for an occasion, which
was at best very uncertain, but to go to Tyre. Ac-
cordingly, on the 6th, accompanied by my man
Giovanni, I departed, and arrived at Tyre in the
evening. I took up my abode at the house of the
Greek bishop, and, sending Giovanni to the captain
of the port, desired him to inform me as to the
Egyptian craft I saw lying at anchor. He soon
afterwards brought to me the rais of a sliekyf^
burden 250 ardeps of rice, not decked, and with a
crew of twelve men — the master named Mohammed el
Ketab. As he was not to sail until the 8th, I em-
ployed the whole of the 7th in examining the town,
about the miraculous decadence of which so much has
been said, and continues to be repeated by travellers.
Yet, to an unbiassed observer, it appeared to share
only in the general fate of all the cities of the coast,
and could indeed claim a more prosperous fortune
than Gaza, Ascalon, or Csesarea, all famous cities in
their time.

Tyre therefore, described as so ruinous by some
travellers, was now a flourishing town, to which addi-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 197

tions were daily making in houses and inhabitants. Its
population might be estimated at 2,000 souls, con-
sisting of Metoualys, Grreek Catholics, and Greeks.
The quarter of the Metoualys was on the isthmus
near the gate ; that of the Christians to the nortli-
west side of the town. The Grreek families amounted
to no more than a dozen : they had, however, a mo-
nastery, in which there was but one secular priest,
who had now resided twenty years in Tyre ; and
there I was lodged. I had before heard of this man,
who was remarkable, as I was told, for the retired life
he led, and for his spare diet. On obsorving him, I
remarked that he ate everything but fruit, sweets, and
pastry, which he refrained from, not because he did
not like them, but because he was a martyr to flatu-
lence, for which he consulted me. I found him
to be a complete valetudinarian, to which state he had
brought himself by gross feeding, wine-drinking, and
absolute inactivity. So much for worldly reputation !
The walls of Tyre, in the state in which I saw them,
were a very recent and insignificant work ; but in
parts might be discerned the remains of a wall of older
date. There was also a dilapidated palace, in a corner
of which the governor still contrived to reside : this
might be considered as the castle. The houses were
of stone, and some of them had very handsome upper
apartments, commanding an extensive prospect. At
this time houses and warehouses were building on the
strand to the north, facing the basin. The isthmus

198 travf:ls of

was, in appearance, a heap of sand ; beneath the
surface, however, according to the report of the in-
habitants, were hidden masses of ruins. So lately as
fifty years before, this part was covered with gardens ;
now it was built upon. To the south and to the west,
on the sea-shore, the rock, which forms the peninsula,
was bared by the continued action of the sea, impelled
by the western gales ; but to the north, wherever
workmen dug for the purpose of laying foundations,
the rock was never met with.'

' Pococke, who saw the flourishing state of Tyre, even in
1737, not knowing how to reconcile with it the words of
Ezekiel, xxvi. 14 ; and xxviii. 19, says, that the prophecy must
be understood of the ancient city on the continent. He adds,
" It is a place where they export great quantities of corn, and
Malta itself is supplied from this place." Vol. ii. p. 82, fol. Surely
a port which supplies Malta must be a populous and thriving
one ! I know that evidence contrary to this may be brought
from the relations of other travellers, and I believe the par-
ticular bias of a person's mind has much to do with the colour-
ing which he gives to objects. It would be well if commen-
tators on prophecy would consider that Antioch, Ascalon,
Berytus, Cssarea, Decapolis, Emesa, Famagusta, Gebayl, He-
liopolis, or Balbec, Laodicea, Palmyra, or Tadmur, and other
cities, the rivals in commerce and luxury of Tyre, will be
found fallen from their flourishing greatness, many of them
lower than it ; and yet against the greater part of them there
is no denunciation at all in the prophetic writings. On the
other hand, we read (Isaiah v. 1, c. xviii) — "Behold,
Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a
ruinous heap :" yet, in spite of its doom, so emphatically pre-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 1 99

Tyre has two ports. The inner seemed to have been
formed by two moles, enclosing a basin perhaps 250
yards across. The moles were now partly washed
away by the sea, and the towers which flanked them
were tumbling down. The basin contained at most
half a fathom of water. On the outside of the mole,
running West and East, were to be seen, under the
surface of the sea, on a fine day, about a dozen fallen
pillars, which probably formed a colonnade to some
ancient edifice. To the West, likewise, were various
fragments. There were men whose occupation it was
to dive to the bottom of the basin, or to rake the strand
for whatever they could find. They came to me, at
dieted, Damascus has flourished from that time until now.
The editor of " The Monthly Review " for November,
1822, looking at the account of Tyre given by Mr. Bucking-
ham, whose Travels he is reviewing, and who states that he
saw 800 substantial houses, containing full 5,000 inhabitants, is
staggered at the assertion, and confronts with it the testimony
of Maundrell, Bruce, Jolliffe, and some others. He observes,
very justly, that what were good comfortable houses in the
eyes of Mr. Buckingham, accustomed from the age of nine
years to roam about the world, might not be so in reality. But
perhaps a means for settling his doubts may be found when he
is told that the houses of Tyre were equally good with those at
Jaffa and Acre, two neighbouring towns, Avhich have not fallen
under the prophet's interdict, and that therefore no manifesta-
tion of the Divine wrath can be said to have descended more
on it than on the two others. Csesarea, where the good Cen-
turion lived, has not now one house standing ; yet the walls
which encompass it were built by Saint Louis : — but then he was
a Catholic.

200 TRAVELS OP

the instigation of the harbour-master, and produced,
out of their findings, about a hundred and fifty copper
coins, some agates and cornehans, pieces of lead, hke
the heads of arrows, or the balls of slings or of the
balistse, &c. The coins were so corroded by the salt
water as to be totally defaced. Among the stones
was the frao-ment of an intaolio of a horse, the head
only and the end of the warrior's spear remaining :
but this portion was so beautifully cut, that, had it
been entire, it would have been invaluable.

The outer port or road is considered as one of the
best along the coast of Syria. It is formed by a
broken ledge of rocks running North from the peninsula.
Were the intervals between the rocks filled up, so as
to make a continued breakwater, a capacious and
nearly a safe port might be formed. The depth of
water between the rocks varies from a fathom and a
half to three fathoms. In this road the bottom is
sand as far out as the ledge runs. To the South of
Tyre, there is a bay which is very deep and dangerous,
having at places sixty fathon)s of water. The trade
of Tyre was, in 1815, in corn, tobacco, wood, and char-
coal, all exported to Egypt.

For two piasters I hired a boat with four men,
for the purpose of obtaining, if possible, some speci-
mens of the Tyrian dye. The man who steered her
was the harbour-master, Riiis el myna, who, brought
up to the trade of a fisherman, had, nevertheless, ac-
quired considerable celebrity along the coast of Syria

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 201

for his skill in lithotomy. His name was Bulus Abu
Hanah. From the moment of my arrival at Tyre, he
had hung about me, hoping to obtain from me an
English penknife, that being the instrument with
which he operated. He showed me a stone of seven-
teen drachms Turkish, or an ounce and a half English,
and another a little smaller, which he had extracted.
His operations amounted to twenty-five, and his average
of deaths was not different from those on record by
some celebrated European surgeons. He acknowledged
that no previous study had led him to undertake this
bold operation ; but that, having observed with Avhat
facility it had been done by some itinerant lithotomists
who came to Tyre, he ventured to undertake it
first upon his own nephew. His success in that
instance emboldened him, and he now refused no case
that presented itself, where he saw a prospect of cure.
It will scarcely be believed that the very delicate
operation for the cataract is likewise performed in
Syria by itinerant oculists.

Our search after the Tyrian dye was unsuccessful :
this not being, it was said, the proper season for fish-
ing for it. But a promise was made me that I should
be supplied with some in the spring of the ensuing-
year ; in return for which I was to send the harbour-
master an English penknife. He did not execute his
promise the following year, but I did mine.

As I desired him to bring to me everything that his
nets caught, one of the men bethought himself that a

K 5

202 TRAVELS OF

collection of sea-weeds would interest me. He showed
me thirteen sorts. Two of them are used for dyeing;
of these one, called hashysh ed dudy^ or' sindean el halir^
dyes a crimson, and is of a purple hue. Although the
history of the Tyrian dye is a certain one, I would
nevertheless ask whether there might not have been
a crimson extracted from a sea-weed as well as a fish.^

On Monday, the 8th of August, I embarked, about
one in the morning. At sunrise we weighed anchor,
and, coasting the shore, came to the Nakura (of which
mention has been made in former passages) about four
leagues South of Tyre. Here the vessel was anchored
in a nook close in to the shore, for the purpose of
receiving her cargo of wood, consisting of cordbats as
thick as a man's leg, and about a yard long, which
were cut on the mountain close to the villages of
Nakiira and Alma, and sold on the spot for from five
to eight piasters the hundred.

AVhilst the vessel was loading, which was done by
tlie crew, who carried the wood on their shoulders
througli the surf, the passengers went on shore, and I
among the number. We were about one mile to the
North of the Nakura toll-house, when, at a httle
distance from the sea-shore, I observed two pillars
standing, the remains of some ancient building. The
name the ruin goes by is Um el Hamud ; but I was
surprised to find that two such objects should have
hitherto escaped my notice, when 1 had now passed
^ Murex.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 203

this road three times. I have not, therefore, inserted
them in our itinerary, in their proper place. On a hne
with the pillars, close to the sea-shore, so as to be
washed by the surf, were two or three small springs of
water, which from their situation are constantly
brackish.

Some Metoualys, who were inhabitants of the
mountain hereabouts, came down to look at us. They
had muskets, the use of which Gezzar Pasha had pro-
hibited at the time when, he laid waste their country,
and put their chiefs to death. But their rough and
almost insolent manner towards Moslems here argued
very clearly that they had in a certain degree recovered
their independence.

Gezzar persecuted this race of people almost to
extermination. The troops which he sent against
them were commanded by Selim Pasha, a Mameluke,
who afterwards headed the insurrection of the Mame-
lukes against that pasha. Upon this occasion, Paris
and Nasyf, two chieftains of a Metoualy family, in
which had been vested the government from time
immemorial, were put to death, and others were im-
prisoned at Acre. Selim Pasha sent 745 heads to his
master, which were piled up outside the gate of
Acre.

But the greatest cruelty was exercised on those who
were led to Acre as prisoners ; for Gezzar Pasha
ordered them to be impaled immediately. This
horrible massacre was recounted to me in the followinir

204 TRAVELS OP

niauner. It was two or three hours past sunset when
the prisoners were brought in. Pierre, one of our
servants, whom I have often mentioned, was Hving at
Acre at that time ; and, happening to be walking to-
wards the city gate on his own affairs, with his lantern
in his hand, he was laid hold of, as were many others,
by the soldiers, to stand by and guard the prisoners,
whilst the others were executed. Of these there were
twenty-seven. Three, bound hand and foot, were his
charge : and, when he saw the horrid work that was
preparing, he trembled not much less than did the
prisonei's themselves. Several were already impaled
on rough stakes hastily sharpened, when at length a
man, whom Pierre described as of great strength,
feeling the first blow of the mallet which drove the
stake into his body, (his legs having been untied pre-
viously to stretch them wide open,) gave a sudden
spring, extricated himself from the grasp of his execu-
tioners, and ran off. He plunged into the sea, and in
the darkness of the night saved himself or was
dro\vned ; for he was heard of no more. The execu-
tions continued until the night was far advanced :
some of these miserable creatures lived until the next,
and some until the third day.

At night our cargo was completed, and the shekyf
(so the little craft was called) was hauled off into deep
water. After midnight, as soon as the land breeze
was felt, we set sail for Rosetta, our course being
West South West. A shekyf resembles somewhat,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 205

in size and construction, a smuggler''s lugger, being
without a deck. The wood filled her up to the very
gunwale ; and, upon this hard and uneven material,
twelve passengers, with a crew of the same number,
were to find berths. The small boat, which was lifted
in, was awarded to me by the captain, against the pre-
tensions of a Turk, who, however, did not yield so
advantageous a situation without much grumbling.
There was a soldier with one hand, with a military
voice and very haughty demeanour, but whom the
rais smoothed into a most obliging person by fre-
quently applying to him the title of aga : although
his pride never could submit to be civil to two Jews,
who were driven from side to side until the rest of the
passengers had accommodated themselves : yet one
of these was a rabbin, a man of learning, and whose
conversation afterwards was my greatest comfort on
the passage. There was, likewise, an Egyptian
shaykh, whose neck was ornamented by three rows of
large Mecca beads : and with him were his wife and
daughter, both dreadfully sea-sick, with an old man
servant, seventy years of age, infirm and helpless.
Two Alexandrian pedlars, and two poor creatures of
no trade or craft whatever, with Giovanni, who was
like a corpse from the moment he got on board, com-
pleted our heterogeneous party.

During the whole of Monday, our course was
nearly the same, with a capful of wind. In the
nio-ht it fell calm. The land breeze was then felt, and

206 TRAVELS OF

with that we advanced a little. But, on Tuesday, the
9th, a West wind, the prevailing one of the season,
sprung up, and obliged us to alter our course to North
and by West, upon which rhumb we kept the whole
of the day and the following night. The wind fresh-
ened considerably, and we furled our niizen, Giovanni
was very ill, and incapable of doing anything for me ;
and, in the usual strain of the sea-sick, recommended
himself to the Virgin, and considered his case as
desperate.

On the 10th, about ten in the morning, we got
sight of Cyprus, bearing North. Through the day
we had a fresh breeze, and went, as I suppose, at the
rate of five knots. Our vessel was leaky, and the
crew baled her twice (for there was no pump) before
noon. Every passenger was sick but the soldier, the
Egyptian shaykli, and myself. A little before sunset,
we anchored in a nook to the East of the island.
After sunset the wind freshened ; but we were in per-
fectly smooth water.

On the 12th we Aveighed, and coasted the island
towards the south. We doubled a small cape, and
came in sight of the bay of Limasol, into which a
gentle breeze brought us after sunset. Smooth water
and the sight of the lamps in Limasol (for it was Ra-
mazan) had revived the passengers, and Giovanni
begged to be permitted to go on shore with the boat
which was hoisted out to fetch water. When he re-
turned, he brought me a supply of grapes, honey, fresh

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 207

bread, eggs, and other articles, which made the rest of
the passage very tolerable : but the water we took iu
here was extremely bad.

The island of Cyprus looks from the sea very pic-
turesque and of varied scenery. Its grand features
are a chain of mountains which runs through its whole
length, and which is rendered remarkable by a sugar-
loaf elevation in one part, and a lofty long summit in
another. These large mountains detach themselves
into smaller ones, and these into hills, of conical and
other shapes, which come down to the sea-coast. The
point, that forms the bay of Limasol, is a cape of flat
land, running into the sea to a considerable length.
As we coasted the island, the face of it appeared varie-
gated with trees and pastures, and rising in fair slopes.
Haifa leao-ue from the shore, near our first anchorino-
place, we saw a village, which resembled those I had
left in Syria. ,

, About midnight, a light breeze sprung up : and,
taking advantage of it, we set sail for Egypt. It may
be remarked that, at this season of the year, when the
west winds prevail ^ very constantly, the country
vessels seldom attempt to beat down by short tacks :
but they make a long tack to Cyprus, and a second
brings them to Egypt.

Saturday, the loth, was a cloudy day. Sunday,

^ The Arabic saying is, " The month of August, the month
of wind and wave."

208 TRAVELS OF

Monday, and Tuesday we kept close-hauled, our course
being S.W. and S.W. and by W. At sunrise there
was generally a calm, and a sea as smooth as a mirror :
about ten a breeze would come on, which would freshen
until about sunset, when it usually became as strong
as the vessel could well bear. The captain, one morn-
ing, frightened me somewhat by leaping into the sea :
but I found that his intention was only to bathe, and,
after swimming about the vessel, he returned on board.
I was not tempted to follow his example, although
very fond of swimming.

As my provisions failed me somewhat, I was sur-
prised to find that the Jew produced from his store
many excellent things, such as sweet biscuits, cakes,
dried fruit, Szc. He was a native of Tiberias, and
was now on his way to Gibraltar, and perhaps to
England, to beg for the Holy City. I found some
relief to the tiresomeness of the passage in his conver-
sation. His name was Yudy (Judas i) Among other
things, he gave me the details of a revolt which took
place in Gebel Nablus during the preceding year, at
which he was present in the capacity of secretary to
Malem Sulymau, who was seraf to the forces on the
occasion : which I thought it worth while to write
down, as descriptive of the petty wars which often
take place in the Turkish provinces.

In the autumn of each year, jSIuly Ismael and his
mercenaries were generally hired by the pasha of Da-
mascus for the purpose of marching through the

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 209

soutliern districts of the pashalik, where there had
been for many years past a refractory spirit, and a
disposition to throw off allegiance to the reignin^
pasha. This had more particularly manifested itself
on Gebel Nablus, the ancient Samaria. The Muly
proceeded on his march, as was customary ; but, on
approaching Suffyn, a village that could raise 400
muskets, he was told to retire, or he should be received
as an enemy, as they would no longer submit to the
oppressions of the government. The Muly accordingly
halted and encamped. He did not attack the village,
but sent a courier to acquaint the pasha with the re-
sistance which was opposed to him, and to demand
fresh troops. In the mean time, it was Avhispered that
Muly Ismael had received a bribe to induce him to
remain passive. Fresh troops, however, were sent
from Damascus ; and, lest these should not be enough,
aid was required from the pasha of Acre and afforded.
With these latter troops, Sulyman, the banker, went,
and with him his secretary, Yudy. Thus the forces
of two pashas were united against one village.

No sooner did these reinforcements reach the en-
campment, than, on a sudden, their leaders also be-
came pusillanimous, and declared it impossible to
attack the village. An interrupted cannonade was
carried on from a great distance, but no demonstration
of resistance was made by the village, unless when the
troops approached too near, on which occasions they
were warmly received. The peasants had no other

210 TRAVELS OF

protection than a trench carried round their village :
but the place itself was on an elevated situation, and
presented natural difficulties. This warfare continued
several days. Despatches from the pashas cried shame
on their conduct, sayinp; that they would be loaded
with infamy if they suffered themselves to be baffled
hj so few men, and those not soldiers.

During this suspense, the regular forces were more
than once on the point of running away. On one
occasion a report was industriously circulated that the
peasants intended to attack the camp by night. Ac-
cordingly, the horses were kept bridled, the troops lay
on their arms, and the seraf Sulyman was seized with
a diarrhoea from fright, and had taken his measures
to escape with the gold, intending to drop some silver
about on the road, as a trap to stop the pursuit, ^

It will be recollected that, in relating the occurrences
at Damascus, a certain Hamed Bey, son of Yusef
Pasha, was mentioned, as commanding a corps of mer-
cenaries. This man had now been sent by the pasha
of Damascus, and, not having shared in the bribes
given to the other leaders, resolved on distinguishing
himself by a spirited attack on the village. He was
joined by an aga, who was also aware of the treachery
of Muly Ismael and his colleagues. These two, then,
forming a body of horse and foot, advanced to the

' Yet it may be safely affirmed that this gentleman had never
read the story of Hippomenes and Atalanta.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 211

trench. The peasants received them by a general
discharge along their whole line, which threw Hamed
Bey's cavalry into disorder : but, whilst they were re-
loading, the infantry rushed forward sword in hand,
passed the trench, and mixed pell-mell among the
peasantry. It being harvest time, there was a great
quantity of straw lying near the spot where the attack
was made ; and, the wind being high, the Turks got
to windward, set fire to it, and, following the smoke
which blinded their adversaries, they discomfited them
completely. Thirty- one heads were cut off; for which
a reward of 100 piasters each was given, and, as is
customary, a stamped piece of tin, which the gainers
wear afterwards in their caps or somewhere about
them, as a sign of their prowess. Two shaykhs and
several peasants were made prisoners, and for them
150 piasters each was awarded,^ The Albanians di-
rected their attention chiefly to the women, whom
they violated wherever they caught them : the deldty
plundered for effects. ^ The prisoners were conducted

^ Mohammed Aga Abu Nabut, actuated by a more sangui-
nary feeling, was accustomed, in his petty wars, to give 150
for a head and 100 for a prisoner. The consequence was
natural.

^ The mode used by the soldiers, when plundering a village,
to discover where the peasants have hidden their corn and ef-
fects, is ingenious enough. They know that such things are
generally concealed in holes in their cottages, but the diiBculty
is to discover where to dig. The floors are of clay mixed up

2J2 TRAVELS OP

to the camp, and, on as many as chains could be found
for, chains were put. The rest were tied with their
hands behind them, and made to lie on their backs :
from which position, if they dared to stir, a soldier with
a whip lashed them cruelly. Others were bound to-
gether with a long cord in nooses round their necks :
so that if one attempted to stir he tightened the noose
round the neck of the man next to him, and might
eventually strangle him. The women, who were not
comely, or who were somewhat old, were sold back to
the old men for five, ten, or fifteen piasters : and thus
the afiair terminated.

There was not a year, during our stay in Syria,
that some part of Gebel Nablus was not in insurrec-
tion. This spirit of resistance to the lawful autho-
rities we may suppose to be often fomented by persons
attached to the government. The rabbin Yudy told
me an anecdote in confirmation of this, which was as
follows. When Abdallah Pasha was governor of
Damascus, an attack was made by one of his officers
on a village of about twenty houses in the district of
Nablus, which was unsuccessful. Enraged at this
repulse, the pasha in person assaulted the place at
the head of seventeen men and took it. He found in

with chaff. The soldiers make three or four piles of stones in
different parts of the room, each pile consisting of several large
stones placed one upon another. They then jar the floor by
jumping or stamping on it, and wherever a pile falls there is
the hole, because the jar is felt only where there is a hollow.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 213

it one of his own ammunition chests which had been
sold by his gunners to the enemy, whilst encamped
before the village. Such treachery the rabbin said
was common in Turkish warfare.

On the 15th of August, at sunset, our riiis suspected
we were approaching the land, and hove the lead to see
what bottom it was : by it, and by the freshness of
the water, he knew that we were near the Egyptian
shore. He accordingly shortened sail, stood cautiously
in, and anchored late in the evening in sight of land,
which he distinguished, no doubt, easily enough : but
my eyes, less used to reconnoitring a flat coast, more
especially in the dark, beheld nothing but a heavy sky
and a gloomy sea.

In the morning of the 1 6th, I was turned out of the
small boat, which was my berth, just as we were
coming upon the bar of Rosetta, and, to lighten the
vessel, it was lifted out, and loaded with wood : but,
in going over the bar, it swamped, and the painter was
cut in an instant to prevent the hindrance it caused to
the progress of the sliekyf. We touched several times
in crossing the bar ; and signs were made to us by
vessels within that our course was too far south : but
the rais appeared to rely on his own skill, and we
finally got into smooth water.

The Delta was now flooded, as the Nile was at its
height, so that the houses and villages seemed to be
inaccessible but to boats. There were, however,
children, who kept up with us by the river side.

214 TRAVELS OF

sometimes on a dry knoll, sometimes up to their
in water, and sometimes wading and swimming over
canals, eagerly following us, to catch the bread and
other refuse provisions which were thrown to them
from the vessel. A cap was handed round to collect
coffee- money for the crew, in consideration of our safe
passage over the bar.

On arriving at the quay of Rosetta, the busy scene,
though not iiuvel to me, had lost none of its attrac-
tions. I had seen the Nile before when empty : I
now beheld it brim-full, and enlivened with an in-
creased degree of activity from the number of vessels
and from the animation that commerce excites.

It was Ramazan time, and I sat on the quarter,
smoking, and viewing the scenes around me. But,
had the vessel not been from the sea, and of course the
passengers considered as persons travelling, I could
not thus, in the face of everybody, have presumed to
smoke. For travellers and for the sick there is an
exemption in the Koran. ^

I had sent a letter on shore to the English
agent, Signor Lenzi, requesting him to provide
me a lodging. His dragoman came instantly down to
inform me that the plague was in the town, otherwise
Signor Lenzi would have accommodated me at his own
house, but that he had secured apartments for me at

^ This fact, and what occurred to me at Latakia, will enable
travellers to judge when and where they can smoke openly in
Ramazan time.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 215

the Terra Santa monastery, where Padre Luigi would
entertain me. To prevent the danger of contagion,
the dragoman had provided some rush mats, in which
the whole of my baggage was wrapped, and then
carried by porters to the monastery, where they put
down their burdens at the door and took away the
mats. Thus, they having touched nothing that re-
mained, all danger of infection was prevented.

I retired to a gloomy cell, where I was devoured
by fleas ; and resolved to escape as speedily as possible
to Alexandria. So I went to rest, deliberating how
this was to be managed ; as both land and sea con-
veyances would expose me to the contact of the in-
fected. In this mood I fell asleep, and was wakened
next morning by a violent knocking at my door ;
when who should enter but shaykli Ibrahim, better
known as Mr. Burckhardt, who was on his way from
Cairo to Alexandria. We renewed our acquaintance,
(which had been but momentary at Nazareth) and
agreed to go thither in company. He was glad, I
believe, to have me for a companion, as his health was
far from re-established since a dangerous fever that
had attacked him at Mecca : and, in return, I was
pleased to study the character of a man who was re-
puted to be an adventurous and enterprising traveller,
and, moreover, highly gifted with the talents neces-
sary for rendering his researches useful to the
world.

As we could not depart immediately^ we were com-

216 TRAVELS OP

pelled to be very careful in our walks and visits about
Rosetta.

On the 18tli of August, in tlie evening, we departed
for Alexandria by land, mounted on asses. Shaykh
Ibrahim had with him a black slave ' named Fadl
Allah, and Giovanni and he, both accustomed to tra-
velling, left us nothing to do but to smoke, eat, converse,
and sleep. Arrived at Lake Edko, we hired a boat
to cross it, and here I was determined to leave the
whole conduct of the passage to the shaykh, who
knew so much more of Egypt than I did. But he
could not be a match for the cunning of an Egyptian.
The director of the ferry deceived him both as to
price and as to the nature of our passage. He had bar-
gained for a boat to be occupied by ourselves only ; yet,
we found, on getting on board, that it was already full
of passengers ; and, whilst he was charging the director
with duplicity and cheating, the boatmen were setting
the sail and seemed not to heed us. For, it must be
observed, these lakes are very shallow, and a boat that
draws only three feet water cannot approach within
fifty yards of the shore. Hence it is customary for men
to ply at the landing places, to carry passengers and
luggage to and fro on their shoulders. They wear
nothing but a blue smock frock, and this they tuck up,
even if there are females on board, as high as the waist.

^ This slave was bought in Upper Egypt and cost fifty
dollars — four dollars were paid as dues at the towns coming
down the Nile, and two at Cairo : making the total cost fifty-six.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE, 217

We crossed Lake Edko and the isthmus, and then
re-erabarked in another boat of a similar build. We
were finally landed at the block-house, on the dyke
between Lake Madia and Lake Moeris, where, three
years before, I passed, in company with Mr. Henry
Pearce, so disagreeable a night. We here hired asses,
which were waiting on the shore for the arrival of
boats, and proceeded strait to Alexandria, which we
reached at sunset. Colonel Missett, the British
Resident, received us both into his house, and expressed
his oblio-ations to me for coming; so far on his account.
The plague had committed some ravages in Alex-
andria this year, but they were now over, and, in the
language of the Levant, people had opened their
houses ; that is, those who had shut themselves up in
rigid quarantine had now resumed their accustomed
occupations and intercourse.^

Shaykh Ibrahim showed a strong disposition to re-
visit Syria at this time, and expressed himself as half
inclined to accompany me when I should go back.
My time passed away most delightfully in Alexandria.
Eanished so long as I had been from European
society of all sorts, I entered again, with infinite re-
lish, into the parties and evening conversazioni, which
were both gay and instructive. Colonel Missett's
urbanity drew to his house whatever was respectable
in talent or rank. So great was the esteem in which
the British Resident was held, that the greatest title

^ The Gazette of the battle of Waterloo reached Egypt a
day or two after our arrival.

VOL. III. L

218 TRAVELS OF

to consideration and gratitude, from all ranks at
Alexandria, for me would have been in restoring to
the Colonel that health of which he had been long
deprived. But some dietetic rules, with a few re-
medies as palliatives in the most distressing symptoms,
were all the relief that a confirmed paralysis of the
lower extremities, now of seven years' standing, would
admit of.

As it was Ramazan, Shaykh Ibrahim, in the
character of a Moslem, was bound to fast from sun-
rise to sunset : but, when he got to Colonel Missett's,
he thought he might resume his Frank habits with-
out the risk of being detected. We were seated one
morning at one of those sumptuous breakfasts for
which the Colonel's table was celebrated, when a
young Turk, named Sadiz Effendi, and well known
to Shaykh Ibrahim, suddenly entered, and caught the
shaj^kh with his mouth full. Evasion or denial was
useless : and this discovery, no doubt, did the shaykh
great harm among those Moslems who had almost
made up their minds to identify him with themselves.
Much amusement was aitorded us about this time
b}' the facility with which some French gentlemen,
presuming on the restoration of the old nobility by
the return of Louis XVIII. , assumed pretended dor-
mant titles in their families ; so that Cairo and
Alexandria had on a sudden many noble names to
boast of.

M. Drovetti, ex-consul of France, was residins: at

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 219

Alexandria, and gratified us with a sight of his col-
lection of antiquities, which he hoped one day to sell
in Europe. He estimated it at three thousand
guineas, probably somewhat more than its value. ^

The commerce of Alexandria had revived since
Buonaparte's downfall. There were more than a hun-
dred European ships in the west harbour during my
stay. Of these, a few came fully laden with European
commodities ; but as yet there was not a market for
them.

Signor Belzoni, who afterwards rendered himself so
celebrated for his discoveries in Egypjt, was, at this
epoch, just arrived there in search of employment.
But the person who excited most conversation
among the Franks was Mr. J. Silk Buckingham,
who to considerable natural abilities united much
activity and research, which, not being well seconded
in Egypt, obliged him subsequently to repair to India,
where he found his talents better appreciated. There
was also a Scotchman here, who was left after the
affair of Rosetta, and from a soldier had made a
doctor of himself. He secretly told me that he
wanted to abandon Egypt and his religion ; but
Shaykh Ibrahim dissuaded him from doing so.

Towards the end of September, after a stay of five
weeks, I quitted Alexandria. As Shaykh Ibrahim
had never seen Damietta, he resolved to accompany

* This collection was afterwards bought for the Royal
Museum at Munich.

220 TRAVELS OF

me thither ; and we jointly hired a coasting boat to
convey us to that city, for which we were to pay
100 piasters.

We embarked in the evening of the 25th, but the
wind was fresh, and we could not quit the port until
the next day. Our boat was roomy, and we had it
entirely to ourselves, such being the agreement. Both
our servants became so ill the moment they were em-
barked, that we were obliged to dress our dinner for
ourselves. The passage was favourable. Shaykh
Ibrahim performed his prayers on board, but the riiis
never could make up his mind to address him as a
Turk, and through the whole passage persisted in
calling him Khawagy^ Shaykh Ibrahim, ludicrously
mixing the Christian appellation with his JNIahometan
designation.

Shaykh Ibrahim, it is generally believed, passed
everywhere, unsuspected, as a Mahometan. That is
possible. All Turkey is full of Italian and French
renegadoes, who, of course, speak but indifferently a
Linguage which they generally attempt to acquire
when the organs of speech have no longer the pliabi-
lity of childhood ; and, exclusive of these, Syria,
Eo-ypt, and Arabia, abound with Albanians and other

' Khawagy is the appellation given to Christian mer-
chants or gentlemen ; its meaning is merchant, and it is the
most civil title that Christians, whether subjects of the Porte
or Europeans, ever get from Mahometans. Aga, Bey, Muly,
Shaykh, &c., they reserve for themselves.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 221

natives of European Turkey, who have, of course, nearly
the same difficulties to encounter in learning Arabic
as a Swiss or an Englishman, It was, therefore, no
cause of suspicion that he had an accent, or that he
could not pronounce certain letters, and overcome
those (we may call them) insurmountable difficulties
for grown persons in speaking in Arabic. But, that he
ever passed as a native is not true ; and, although he
spoke Arabic better than any European traveller upon
record, still he was incapable of opening his mouth for
ten sentences without being detected as a foreigner.

Mr. Burckhardt himself often related an anecdote,
which went to prove the belief of the pasha of Cairo
that his character of a Moslem was an assumed one ;
but this anecdote rather regards the purpose of his
disguise. It was, that, on having obtained permission of
the pasha to go to Mecca, the pasha sent a message
to him by his hakym bashi or chief physician, (Hanah
Bozaro) desiring him to keep his own counsel, and
not to go and say he had made a fool of the pasha.

After quitting Alexandria, and before reaching
Aboukir bay, we passed an eminence called Tel Agul ;
and farther on is Nelson's Island, as it has been
named by the English, but which the native sailors
called Gezyra Ghoro.

We arrived at that mouth of the Nile, marked, on
d'Anville's map, Ostium Taniticum, crossed the bar, and
reached the custom-house, where a party of Albanian
soldiers was put on board to be conveyed gratis to

222 TRAVELS OF

Damietta. The shaykh, as well as myself, had enough
experience of this sort of gentry to know that, if they
discovered us to be Franks, they would probably
usurp our places, aud send us to the forecastle. We
therefore seated ourselves in a sort of authoritative
manner, smoked our pipes, spoke little, and carried on
the farce of Turkish gentlemen (to which, so long as
our tongues betrayed us not, our costumes lent every
assurance) so well, that when we arrived opposite to the
quay of the town, and were inquired after by the dra-
goman of the English agent, who was apprized of our
coming by letter, the Albanians were furious to think
how they had been imposed upon.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 223

CHAPTER IX.

M. Surur, English agent at Damietta — Patients — Excur-
sion to Lake Menzaleh — Mataryah — Melikyn — Pounds for
cattle — Ruins of San — Broken pottery — Conjectures on its
original use — Tennys — Dybeh — Botarga fishery — Fowling —
Running deemed indecorous in a Turk — Menzaleh — Haunted
house — Disdain of pedestrian travellers — False door — Depar-
ture for Syria — Vessel, cargo, and crew — Charms to raise the
wind— Arrival at Acre, Tyre, and Abra.

We were taken to the house of Malem Michael
SurAr, the English agent, a young gentleman of con-
siderable abilities and property, who did everything
that Oriental hospitality, so fertile in resources, dic-
tated, for the entertainment of his guests. He had
several fine horses, upon which we rode out daily.
Mounted himself on a superbly caparisoned stallion,
his grooms preceded him on foot, bearing perpen-
dicularly each his zan, or white staff, in the right
hand, with which, as he went along, they beat the
walls, and, at every curvet which his horse gave,
cried, Mashallah, how wonderful ! This, being the
style of the principal Mahometans, and absolutely

224 TRAVELS OF

prohibited to Christians, becomes one of the dis-
tinguished privileges of a Consul ; and it is only to
be regretted that the restraint under which the Chris-
tians live should have given a value to such empty-
distinctions.

I became acquainted here with the most fascinating
lady that I had known during my long residence in
the Levant. Her name was Syt Fersun (or Euphro-
syne) Karysaty. She and her infant daughter Benba
came daily to Malem Surur's to consult me ; and
Shaykh Ibrahim used to express very pathetically
his chagrin that, whilst I was admitted into the
harym to" converse with these ladies, he was excluded.
I had several patients at Damietta, and a consideration
of some of the cases which fell under my care leads me
to say, that I am not disposed to accede to an assertion
made by Mr. Brown in his travels — " that in no
country are pulmonary diseases so rare as in Egypt."
Mr. Brown was not a medical man, and, therefore,
of course makes similar remarks as the result of what
he heard from the natives. It would seem that there
is as large a proportion of them here * as in some or
any European countries.

* My stay at Damietta was short, yet, among the sick whom
I was called upon to see, were six with pulmonary complaints.
These were Hylaneh Karysaty, with spitting of blood ; Kha-
wagy Isaac, with asthma ; the brother of Hylaneh Karysaty,
with consumption ; Michael Surur, bronchitis ; his sister, with
that disposition confirmed ; Khawagy Kharysaty, the husband

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 225

Malem Surur had three black slaves and fifteen
servants in all.

Shaykh Ibrahim had meditated, among the objects
of his visit to Damietta, an excursion on the lake
Menzaleh, and I agreed to join him in it ; the more
especially as there was no vessel ready to sail for
Syria, to which country I was now anxious to return.

Lake Menzaleh is not of great antiquity : Macrisi
speaks of it as having been made to prevent the re-
currence of invasions on the side of the Syrian desert.
The ruins which are still to be found in and about it
have rendered it an object of curiosity. In my first
visit to Damietta, in company with Lady Hester,
I was prevented from indulging the wish I entertained
to see it, owing to the shortness of our stay, and to
the hurry which our preparations for the voyage to
Syria occasioned.

Malem Surur made such arrangements as he thought
would render us comfortable, in furnishing us with
a basket of provisions, and sending his janissary as
our guard. Just before sunset, on Sunday evening,
the 30tli of September, we traversed the beautiful
environs of the city, for about two miles, down to the
edge of the lake at the place of embarkation, called

of the lady, with spitting of blood. In Alexandria, Mrs. Schutz
died of consumption ; her sister was ill, and lived in daily ap-
prehension of sharing her fate : Miss Maltass, an English lady,
died of it ; and there were other examples, both of natives and
foreigners, which I neglected to note.

L 5

226 TRAVELS OF

Mehub, where we found a small barge, of the kind
common to these waters, waiting for us. It had a
temporary awning made of rush mats. The solid
construction of the boat itself rendered it so far from
crank that we could walk or sit in it anywhere without
rendering it lapsided. Our boatmen were three bro-
thers : two men, Ahmed and Segawy, and Metwelly,
a lad. Shaykh Ibrahim had with him his black
slave, Fadl allah and Shaaty, a servant he had hired
at Damietta, and I had Giovanni. The crew were
furnished with poles, to push the boat over the shal-
lows, and to force her onwards when there was no
wind. In this operation, the poles are rested against
the shoulder ; and, considering the great force occa-
sionally used, it is wonderful that no injury ensues.
The servant, with the provisions, not having yet ar-
rived, we amused ourselves in observing Malem
Surur, who, mounted on a Mameluke saddle, exhi-
bited more skill in horsemanship than Christians in
these countries are generally possessed of. His youth,
he not being more than nineteen years of age, gave him
every disposition to enjoy the privileges attached to
his situation.

At nightfall, Malem Surur took his leave. We
embarked, and had not got far from the shore
when the shaykh recollected that he had brought
away certain letters, prepared for Alexandria,
which he had forgotten to leave. We therefore
put about, and returned to Mehub, the place of
embarkation. At each place of embarkation, of

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 227

which there are many on the borders of the lake, a
soldier is generally stationed to levy the customs,
which he farms from the chief officer at Damietta.
It is not necessary to ascertain what his claim was on
our boat ; but no sooner had Ahmed, accompanied by
his brother, stepped on shore to find a boy to carry
the letters to Damietta, than he was seized by the
soldier, and desired to pay the dues. It was now
quite dark. Ahmed assured the soldier he had no
money, as he had yet received nothing from his
passengers ; but, not being believed, he was forcibly
thrust into the guard-house, where the soldier began
to beat him most unmercifully. His cries induced
his brother to beseech Shaykh Ibrahim (who was on
shore delivering his instructions to the messenger
about the letters) to go to Ahmed's assistance. The
shaykh went ; and with great promptitude broke
open the door, and rescued him from the grasp of his
enraged assailant, who had, in addition to a beating,
drawn his ^^atagan, and was threatening his life. The
soldier was promised a bastinadoing on our return to
Damietta.

It was some time before Ahmed could now be made
to hold his tongue, when he found he could vociferate
without fear of reprisals ; at last quiet was restored,
and finally we re-embarked. We supped, and lay
down to rest in our clothes, under our rush tent,
and at three in the morning were disturbed by the
boatmen, who told us we had arrived at Mataryah.
We had passed during the night two islands, el Usbeh

'^za . TRAVELS OF

and el Luskeh ; but at what distances, and in what
direction of the compass, we had not observed.

When day dawned, we found Mataiyah to be a
large fishing village. Of the houses which faced the
lake, some were of brick, and others mud ; but, as it
is customary in Egypt, the buildings seemed rather
decaying than improving. The shaykh's name was
Hassan el Faal. The water-side exhibited, as usual,
a scene of women filling their water-jars, men washing
themselves for prayers or other causes, and naked
children paddling about. We endeavoured to pur-
chase a little milk ; and, having waited until Ahmed,
whose family lived here, had gone to his house and
returned, at seven ©""clock on the first of October, we
loosened our sail, and stood south and by east.

Continuing in this direction for one hour,
about nine we entered the canal, called Toret el
Moez, and the mouth itself was named, by the rais,
Ahmed, Ilalc el Naby. JSIataryah bore from this
point north-east and by north. As the current ran
out very strong, and there was no wind, we made the
boat fast to a pole thrust into the mud, and break-
fasted. Close to us was a fisherman's seat, in which
he sat to watch his nets ; many more of which we
saw up the canal. These were made of layers of
rushes, pressed down between four stakes, and formed
the apex of two converging sets of stakes. The net
was placed between thera ; and the current, as it
brought down the fish, drove them into the enclosed

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 229

part, where they were entrapped. The mouth of the
canal was single ; but, immediately within it, the
course of the canal itself was no longer distinguishable
to a person unacquainted with its navigation, as
various streams were seen coming in different direc-
tions to the same point ; which was occasioned by the
retiring of the Nile waters, now just on the decrease.

About half an hour before noon the breeze
freshened ; and we, fancying that our riiis was only
gaining time in order to make money, since his agree-
ment was at a certain rate per day, obliged him to
cast off. In about two hours, we arrived at Meli-
keen, a square mud hamlet on the east bank of the
canal. This hamlet now stood insulated 5 for in front
of it was the canal, and round it were meadows over-
flowed ; so that the children were seen dabbling in
the water like amphibious creatures, and men were
going from hamlet to hamlet wading up to their waists,
either with their clothes pulled up or entirely naked.

The inhabitants of Melekeen, our rais told us, ranked
themselves in the class of dervises, and assumed the
name of fakirs. They were known, when they wan-
dered from their native town, by a bit of white rag,
going under the chin and over the head, and tied
down by the turban. They carried a cruise of water
by their sides, to give to drink to whosoever asked
them ; this was their principal vow. They were
bound, if beaten, to make no resistance, not to steal,
and to some other observances which I now foro-et.

230 TRAVELS OF

About three we arrived at another hamlet, similar
to the first, but on the opposite bank of the canal,
called Melikeen el fokany, or Upper Melekeen, in
contradistinction to that below it. The banks hitherto
had been lined with reeds and rushes ; nor could we
distinguish what was behind them, excepting here
and tliere through openings which discovered an
almost entire inundation. Here we found the mo-
notony of the scene a little relieved by tamarisk
bushes {tnrfij) growing in hedges. The banks here-
abouts emerged from the waters, and might be about
fifty yards apart, as far as we could judge by the eye.
Our rais had pretended that the depth of the canal
was greater than the length of the pole which he held
in his hands — perhaps twenty feet long ; and upon
his assertion we had already noted it ; but, wishing to
assure myself farther, I sounded, and found only nine
feet water.

In the afternoon we arrived at a third hamlet,
called Weled Ali, much the same in appearance as the
others. Indeed the square walls of mud in which they
v/ere enclosed concealed the interior from us ; but it is
sufficient to be familiar with one of them to know them
all. Our course soon changed to South West. The
canal here divided, and we kept the left branch : but
we observed the two branches again to join, liaving
thus formed a small island. From JSIelikeen upwards,
we had remarked, besides the hamlets, certain little
pounds, or pens, made of mud walls about four or five
feet high, upon knolls of ground, which remained dry

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 231

here and there on the banks : these, we were told,
were the retreats of the buffaloes and herdsmen at
night ; for, the moment the retiring waters leave the
grass and rushes visible above the surface, these
meadows are resorted to by the peasantry, who pasture
their buffaloes on them while yet swampy ; such
swamps, it would seem, being best suited to the nature
of those beasts. To protect them by night, they are
penned in these enclosures of a few yards'* breadth ^
and man and beast here live more together certainly
than we had ever yet witnessed in brute and reason-
able animals.

Towards evening we came to another hamlet, called
El Way, and from El Way might be seen another,
called El Bekashy. A little distance beyond brought
us to the foot of the height on which San ^ formerly
stood, and where we were now to seek for its ruins.
On landing, we accosted an old man with a dark brown
rusty skin, and asked him to point them out to us.
He was a very fit person for the purpose, as he
proved to be one of many others who gained a live-
lihood by digging for the foundations of these ancient
edifices, which they sold for limestone, and was then
watching several heaps, collected on the banks of the
canal, ready to be embarked. He led us on for about
a quarter of a mile, until we found ourselves on a flat,
partly surrounded by a hill in the form of an aniplii-

^ San, the ancient Tanis, capital of Tanites, a province of
Egypt.

232 TRAVELS OF

theatre, where several huge granite masses were lying
in confusion.

The site of San is what would be called in military-
language a height ; which, at a rough guess, may be
two or three miles in circumference, and rises out of
a country otherwise totally flat. It is composed of
several monticules, which, combined, have the shape
of a horseshoe, but are separated from each other by
deep gullies, apparently worn by the waters in the long
course of ages. In the centre of the horseshoe is a
level, and at the entrance of it were some masses of
granite. The soil about us was of the same nature as
that which the Nile leaves, and must, therefore, have
been brought hither by the wind or by men's hands ;
being above the level of the annual inundations.

Proceeding a little further, we found a granite
obelisk, entirely perfect, but fallen. It measured
about seventy feet in length and six in breadth.
Beyond it were three more fallen obelisks, with hiero-
glyphics, but less distinct than those on the first.
Close to the last was a hole in the ground, dug by the
workmen, at the bottom of which we discovered a part
of a granite colossal statue. What was bare seemed
to represent the folds of drapery ; but, not being able,
for want of time, to dig round it, (although the means
were at hand) we could not decide exactly to what it
belonged.

By this time the whole squad of peasantry had left
their work, out of curiosity to see what we were doing.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 233

Two among them offered to lead us to other ruins, if
we would promise to reward them. They accordingly
took us to the top of the height, where was a small
crumbling shed, the sanctuary of a Mahometan saint,
called Shaykh el Garyby, Near it was a broken
granite sarcophagus without a lid. Descending the
hill, on the side towards the canal, we came to the
stumps of an immense colonnade of granite, which
seemed to have belonged to some vast edifice. The
fragments of the shafts of these pillars measured nine
spans in diameter : but the upper parts had either
been entirely removed or were buried in sand, as
nothing remained but these lowest portions, which
seemed to occupy their original situations.

Having on a boot which chafed my foot, I was com-
pelled to halt, whilst Shaykh Ibrahim ran forward to
some heaps where he thought he might discover other
fragments. Whilst he was gone, I found a part of a
granite statue, of the proportions of a youth, in alto
relievo, with the right foot, up to the ancle, still entire.
I loaded some workmen with it down to the boat, whither
we were obliged to hasten, as the evening had now
closed on us : for, although we could have wished to
make some farther examination of this interesting
spot, yet the character we had heard of the people
about San made us desirous not to sleep where we
should be exposed to be plundered. While peram-
bulating the ruins, their rude jocularity, and the
half insolent, half inquisitive way in which they looked

234 TRAVELS OF

at us, led us to believe their intentions might not be
good. We accordingly loosened our sail, and re-
turned nearly down to Weled Ali, where we slept.

The disjuucted elevations which form the heights of
San are covered with broken bricks and pottery.^
Unless the conformation of these monticules be en-
tirely changed, and the rains have worked out gullies
between them, these never could have been the site of
a connected town. It is rather to be inferred that the
city was built on the flat ; and particularly as at the
foot of the elevation there was still remaining a portion
of a wall of sun-baked bricks. Perishable as such
materials might be supposed to be, we yet observe
them, in this instance, surviving the fall of columns of
marble and of obelisks of granite ! Their duration,
however, must not be ascribed alone to their durability ;
for, whatever could attract the cupidity of the Moslems
and was portable has been removed by them. Sun-

^ Burckhardt, in one of his works, amongst the various theo-
ries that have been advanced by different travellers to account
for the enormous heaps of broken pottery which are found
among the ruins of Egytian and other cities, has alone given a
plausible one. He supposes (I quote from memory) the ancient
Egyptians to have built their walls of those cylindrical pots
(like English chimneypots) which, placed horizontally one
upon another, are still very generally used throughout Syria
for the parapets of terraces of houses ; whereby air is admitted,
the view excluded, and little weight added to the subjacent
walls. Broken into shards, they would be sufficient to account
for the vast heaps in question.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 235

baked bricks can be made cheaper than transported :
and to this, perhaps, it was owing that the wall still
remained.

The wind blew fresh during the night. On the
morning of October the 2d, in descending the canal,
we bought some cheese and milk at one of the pens on
the banks, and stopped at Melikeen, to give an
account of ourselves to a subaltern officer stationed
there in a canja^ or barge, for the purpose of levying
the duty on salt passing down the canal. This duty
our rais told us was 8000 medini (equal to £^ 10s.)
on a large load : but we had reason to believe that his
information was not to be relied on.

About noon, we left Hale el Naby, and in three
hours arrived at Mabed, one of many other small
islands lying East North East of the mouth of the
canal. We went on shore, and found fragments of
bricks enough to testify that a village had once existed
there. The island is not more than half a mile in
circumference. Shaykh Cheleby, the present chief
of Menzaleh, had carried off the greater part of the
ruins to build with. We departed from Mabed ;
and, about five o"'clock, passed the extreme point of
the island, where the Marabut of Shaykh Abdallah
stands. This island is called El Canili. Having
weathered the point of El Carah, we wore, and stood
East half South ; and, keeping this course, arrived
after dark at Tennys. It was too late to go on shore,
BO we made fast to a pole, stuck in the bottom of the

236 TRAVELS OF

lake, at some distance from the shore, to avoid the
musquitoes ; and, having smoked our pipes, to which
we were both very partial, went to sleep.

At daylight (October 3rd) we visited the ruins.
We found a brick wall still standing, about 1 000 paces
long, and, within it, several cisterns of curious con-
struction. The largest of these was twenty paces in
breadth and thirty-one in length. The roof was
supported by brick arcades, the pilasters of the arches
being about ten feet distant from each other. Except-
ing in these cisterns (none of which, moreover, were
entire), and on the walls, we found not one entire brick
left on the ground ; the neighbouring shaykhs having
carried them away for building. The whole area was
one continued quarry, from excavations made to find
the stones of foundations. In the North West corner
might be distinguished the remains of a fortress or
castle : and, close to it, a canal divided the corner
from the rest of the city, which, it is most probable,
was a continuation of some one of the great canals
leading from the Tanitic branch of the Nile. The
island is elevated a few feet only above the level of the
lake. The soil is of the same fine mould as we ob-
served at San, but certainly could not get there by
the same means. Innumerable swarms of mus-
quitoes pestered us on the island, and for some time
afterwards.

Having spent about three hours at Tennys, we left
it ; and, keeping a North North West course, with a

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 237

String of small islands constantly on our right hand,
we arrived, at three o'clock in the afternoon, at the
bogaz of Pyby Castle, one of the openings by which
Lake Menzaleh communicated with the sea and the
ancient Tanitic branch of the Nile. The canal, as we
entered it from the side of the lake, was called by the
rais Dunet El Sharay, and was about thirty yards
broad. After running 200 or 300 yards, it opened
into a broad water, and then continued for perhaps half
a mile, until it emptied itself into the sea, South West
and North East.

Between the broad water and the sea was a fishing
hamlet, called El Tat, on the right hand side ; and,
facing it, branched off a gut, leading into the lake in a
South East direction, named Ishtum ed Dybah, down
which we sailed. Upon the point of junction between
Ishtum ed Dybah and Dunet el Sharay stood the
castle of Dybah, a fortress of brick, built by the French
for the defence of this entrance.

Our object in visiting the Dybah bogaz was to
learn something of the Botarga fishery. Botdrekh in
Arabic, Botarga in Italian, is considered throughout
the Levant, by Turks and Christians, as a very great
delicacy : and in Lent the consumption by the latter
is enormous. It is the roe of a fish, salted and dried.
There are three places where this fishery is carried on ;
namely, Mferdjv, Gemayd, and Dybah. It would
appear that the fish leave the open sea in search of a
tranquil place where to deposit their spawn, in the

2S8 TRAVELS OF

nionths of August, September, and October, and are
then caught. The fish is called, in Arabic, lebt^
and is from a foot to two feet long.

On the side next the lake, the fishermen ply day
and night with circular hand-nets, which, from habit,
they throw with great expertness ; and, from the
number caught each time, the fish must be very
abundant. They are carried on shore, ripped open
with a knife, and the roes taken out, salted, and ex-
posed to the sun for three successive days, when they
are fit for the market. There is also a kind of botarga
prepared by simple drying only : and a third sort,
where the fish, when caught and salted, are sent
to a distance ; after which the roes are there taken out
and dried.

The botarga fishermen form almost a distinct race.
They are all natives and inhabitants of Mataryah,
and reside at the Ishtums only during the fishing
months, when they build themselves cabins of mats,
spread over ribs of palm branches. Each hamlet may
contain forty or fifty families ; and, at the close of the
season, they strike their cabins, and return to
Mataryah. The men appeared to be a very fine
race : and, to convince us of the purity of their clan,
pretended that they intermarried only with each
other. The children were naked, and wanted not
beauty in their shape : and there was a young man,
the fineness of whose person, much above the common
size, particularly attracted our attention. Indeed we

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 239

were of opinion that the Egyptians employed on the
lakes and on the Nile wei'e of as symmetrical and
robust a make as any men that we had ever seen or
read of.

The fishery, like every other profitable business
under the existing government of Egypt, was in the
hands of the pasha, who farmed it out to the shaykh
of Menzaleh. The shaykh sent an overseer to every
hamlet, to whom was delivered whatever fish were
caught, and an account was kept of them. At the end
of the season, the whole amount was summed up :
two thirds of the profits were given, in fixed portions,
to the fishermen, and the remainder was the farmer''s.
No fish could be sold, no botarga cured, except by
the order of the bailiff; and a severe bastinado was
the immediate consequence of detection : so that the
poor fishermen might be said to be miserably off.
Their gains for a season (as they told us) amounted to
from 50 to 125 piasters a man.

On our arrival at the hamlet, our dress and our
beards, in everything corresponding with those of
Mahometans, had imposed on the bailiti", who, as
soon as the boat grounded, advanced into the water
up to the waist to salute us: but, the moment we
spoke, finding we were khawagys ^ (or Christians) he

^ An explanation of this term has already been given. This
appellation, with that of malem, or master, and khodja, or
goodman, is what is bestowed on Christians, when spoken of or
to in a civil manner. A proud, an angry, or a rude Mahometan
addresses them generally by the term Nusrany, Nazareen,

240 TRAVELS OF

very coolly returned to the shore ; and, when we were
landed, whilst we sat smoking our pipes and making
our inquiries respecting the fishery, he was snoring at
his length on the ground, close by us. We bought four
fish, each about one foot and a half long, for a shilling,
and paid very dear for them. They were lehts, and
were, when boiled, of a good flavour. The roes had
little taste done in this manner.

These fishermen employed themselves likewise in
catching wild fowl, which was done, at particular
seasons of the year, in the following manner. The
fowler strips himself, and puts on his head a black
woollen cap. When night comes, he wades into the
lake, taking care that his head only is visible. The
birds at this time are all sleeping. The main object
of the fowler is to seize the leader of the flock : with-
out securing him he can do nothing. The leader is
called on the Lakes the cadi, and is known, we were
told, by a white head and large mouth. The fowler
gets hold of the cadi by the neck, and draws him under
water, where he holds him, and then he gently serves
four or five more in the same way, until his hands are
full, when he wades back to the shore. Another way
of catching them is to throw the circular hand-net

or Christian ; Kafir, or infidel ; and gaur, signifying the same
thing. To true believers only belong the titles of aga or
elFendi (which are Turkish words), and shaykh or sayd ; much
less would an infidel dare to usurp the loftier titles of bey,
muly, emir, &c. Ga in gaiir is like ga in gander. The word
is pronounced ga-oor, and not jaoor, as Lord Byron seems
erroneously to have sounded it.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 241

over the flock, and envelop as many as possible. We
did not see many flights of ducks. At this time of
the year, gulls, ox-birds, and pelicans, seemed the most
numerous.

A little before sunset we set sail with a fresh wind
through Ishtum el Dyby in a north-west direction.
On our right, on entering the gut, was El Weranyah,
a fishing hamlet : farther, on the same side, El Ar-
kim ; and beyond it El Malaca. The canal here was
a quarter of a mile broad ; and somewhat farther on,
opened into the lake, between several small islands
on the right, and the hamlet of Sunara on the left ;
close to which is a triple marabut of Shaykhs el Mo-
graby. El Bugdady, and Abu el Wafy. We then kept
a south and by west course, and anchored, after a short
run, at an island called Zubbar.

Much amusement was here created by Shaykh
Ibrahim's objections to anchoring and the rais''s de-
termination to do so. The wind, it is true, was very
fresh, and our bark without ballast : the rais also
said that he could not answer for his course in the
night : but we had every reason to believe that he
availed himself of these excuses only to lengthen out the
voyage ; since the pay that he received from us (seven
piasters a day) was much more than he could gain by
his ordinary work. Nor is it unnecessary to observe,
that nothing is ever gained from these people, except
by seeming desirous to have, in the com.mon phrase,
as much for one's money as can be got. For if, out

VOL. III. M

242 TRAVELS OF

of compassion to their poverty, you seem disposed to af-
ford them indulgences, they immediately become either
importunate beggars, or insolent cheats. Although,
therefore, we passed the night at Zubbar, it was not
done until we had urged the point with much seem-
ing vehemence, threatening to throw Ahmed into the
lake, to cut off a day's pay, with many other menaces,
for the purpose of ascertaining if there really were a
necessity for staying.

Next morning it was calm, and our crew were re-
warded for their delay by being compelled to push the
boat on with poles. We left Zubbar at half past four,
and scarcely advanced more than a mile in an hour.
The lake was very shallow hereabout, and around us
were a number of small islands, with several more to
the north-east.

At ten we reached the border of the lake, and en-
tered the canal, called Turet el E-usweh, which leads
up to Menzaleh. Although the lake itself, during the
rise of the Nile, almost touches the town, yet its
shallowness prevents boats of any size from approach-
ing, and is the cause that the natives have dug a
narrow canal more easily navigable. It is crooked ;
and, in its whole length from the lake to the town,
may be a mile. When we were half way up, the
boat grounded, and we disembarked to walk the rest
of the way. We observed here three barges,
laden with gypsum, collected at an island near El
Usby J which we regretted not having seen. The

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 243

gypsum was iu coarse powder, and looked like so
much salt.

As we had been cramped up in the boat nearly
twenty hours, and were consequently desirous of
stretching our legs, we had scarcely got on shore when
we started off in a sort of trot, but had reason to re-
pent of this gross deviation from Turkish gravity : for
our rais and the janissary, on their return to Dami-
etta, roundly asserted that we were either mad or pos-
sessed of an evil spirit : since no gentlemen with beards,
and in their senses, would think of running !

On arriving at the town we desired to be conducted
to Shaykh Cheleby's house. The shaykh was absent,
but we were introduced to his son, Hassan, a man
seemingly about thirty-five years old, to whom we
presented our letter from Malem Surur. He received
us with civility, gave us coffee : and, soon afterwards
we sat down with him to a very comfortable noon
repast of pilaw, roasted chicken, botarga of two kinds,
and cheese. He left us to go on a party of pleasure
to some orchards in the neighbourhood, to which we
would not accompany him, intending to depart as soon
as possible for Damietta. Shaykh Hassan was dressed
in the costume peculiar to the Egyptians : — a camlet
black smock-frock, and, beneath it, a showy-coloured
(generally yellow, orange, or red) jubey and silk
kombaz. The turban is worn by the Egyptians
arranged more fantastically than by the Turks and
Syrians.

M 2

244 TRAVELS OF

Menzaleh, in the state we found it, was a large
buvgli, with four mosques, and with several small
buildings having cupolas, which I presumed to be ora-
tories. With the exception of one large block of
granite, converted into an olive mill-stone, we saw no
remains of antiquity ; it is evident nevertheless that
this was once a very large place. Its population was
perhaps more than 8,000 souls. The houses were
chiefly of brick, and many of them tolerably good.
The streets, as is customary in Egypt, were unpaved ;
and, during the day, when the usual wind blew, the
dust filled the eyes which way soever they turned.
There was a rudely-constructed bridge over the canal,
on the inner side of which were lying ten or twelve
barges, carrying on the trade inland to Mansura.
There was a coffee-house, and a small bazar for the
first necessaries of life. Within the town and in the
environs there were sycamore and palm-trees. Rice
was cultivated around : but the Nile had not yet de-
creased enough to begin tilling the soil, excepting in
some fields close to the town. The magistracy of this
place and district had been, for many generations, in
the family which then held it, and which derived its
origin (as Shaykh Hassan told us) from Tabariah
(Tiberias), and hence had gained its surname of
Tabiir. Menzaleh was the principal town of an akalym,
(district or sub-division) containing about twenty vil-
lages.

Shaykh Hassan el Tabar told us, in reply to some

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 24-5

remarks which we made on the goodness of his house,
not inferior to many of the best in Damietta, that it
was new ; as he was obliged to desert his old one, be-
cause it was haunted by an afr;^t, or ghost, in the shape
of a Frank ! He added that he had himself seen the
ghost, which spoke in broken Arabic, generally beat a
drum, knew most of the persons who addressed him,
and called them by their names. Such was the terror
created by this apparition, particularly among the
women, that the house which it haunted, although
spacious and handsome, was without a tenant. We re-
mained in Menzaleh until four o''clock, and then, riding
down to our boat on miserable asses, quitted the
canal and set sail for Damietta.

Arriving at a landing-place, called Gut el Nussara,
about midnight, and asleep, towards morning I awoke ;
and, looking out from under the tent, found our boat
driving fast in the direction from which we had come,
her painter having slipped. I roused Ahmed, who,
with much cursing and grumbling at the day he had
ever taken Franks on board, pushed her back. At
daylight we landed, leaving the servants to hire a
camel and bring the baggage to Damietta. We then
set off on foot for the city.

The walk in the cool of the morning, through fields

presenting, in the mouth of October, the verdure of

spring, > whilst above them the yellow and crimson

clusters of dates hung in rich luxuriance, Avas no

* The rice was now in ear.

246 TRAVELS OF

less agreeable than salutary. Yet, when we arrived
at Malem Sur^ir's house, and presented ourselves to
our host, who was lolling over his morning pipe, with
half a dozen servants humbly standing before him, he
could not conceal his astonishment and chagrin, that
we should exhibit ourselves with feet covered with
dust and the perspiration running down our faces, in
the guise of foot-travellers. And his Eastern pride
was wounded to the quick at the surmises that must
have been made, as we came through the streets, upon
such extraordinary conduct. We took no pains to
combat his false ideas of gentility. A servile people,
restricted in their actions by their fanatic masters,
fancy those only to be happy who are privileged to be
inactive : although such inactivity leads to the ruin
of their health, and excites commiseration in those
who know better.

Shaykh Ibrahim and myself went to view the
mosque of Abu el Alal, full of beautiful columns,
among which were some of verd-antique. There was
an inner part, into which I would not go, fearing, as
T was no Turk, they would compel me to become one.

On the 7th, we were invited to dine with Monsieur
Basil Fakhr, the agent of the French nation at this
place, a man of great talents, both literary and poli-
tical. Malem Surur was dressed in a lilac silk kombaz
and a salmon-coloured jubey.' There was a variety of

^ Young and handsome, he looked extremely well. Malem
Surur one day showed me his wardrobe, which was exceedingly

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 247

dishes, and among the rest a roasted pig, which was
probably put there purposely to see whether Shaykh
Ibrahim would eat of it : but he did not.

Shaykh Ibrahim and myself slept in the same bed-
room at JSIalem Surur*'s, and, when going on the lake,
we had deliberated, as our books and clothes were
lying loosely about, whether we should lock the door,
or whether such caution in the house of a gentleman
would not be indelicate. We at last determined for
the safe side, and actually took the key with us. This
proceeding, so strange, if done in England, was not
equally so there : for bed-rooms are not washed as
with us, neither are they regularly swept : and, when
once an inmate in a house, your room is entered by
none but your servant. On our return we found the door
locked as we left it ; but, on entering, we saw at once
that our effects were not as we had left them. Malem
Surur, when we joined him at dinner, asked us if all
was in its place, with a sort of cunning look that caused
us to say no. He then informed us that the open
beaufetin the wall, with shelves, the borders of which
were so neatly worked, and which were decked with
china and glass, was no more than a false door, but so
artfully made, that it was impossible to distinguish it

well furnished. The Levantines are as nice, and perhaps nicer,
in their distinction of colours than the French. Take, for ex-
ample, Shems el Aser (the setting sun) ; mantura, rosy pink ;
zinjaby, between dove and ash-colour, &c., all tints exceedingly
delicate.

248 TRAVELS OP

from a cupboard. Of this his mother had a key, and
entered the room several times during our absence.

Shaykh Ibrahim now wished to depart for Cairo,
seeing that I had taken my passage for Syria. On
the same afternoon we entered together into a boat,
which took him to the mash that was to convey him
up the Nile, and me to the long-boat of my vessel.
Here we bade adieu to Malem Surur and to each
other. I was immediately rowed over the bar, and
found in the offing a polacca brig, so crazy-looking as
to frighten me, and so deeply laden as to float but two
feet above the surface of the water. Her decks were
covered with cuffases or flagbaskets of salt fish, which
had a very offensive smell, with mats, and with six
new cables. The cables were green as grass, being
made either of the filaments of the bark of some tree
or of rushes : and two thirds of the cordage used on
board the Egyptian and Syrian vessels are of this
kind. All these are articles of trade with Syria ;
but the bulk of the cargo was rice : besides which, the
sailors had filled every nook and space with baskets
of parched peas, called hammas, (which are as much
sought after by the common people throughout Turkey
as Barcelona nuts are in England), and with linen and
cotton cloths. The salt fish and mats, it appeared,
belonged to the ship''s own cargo. From the multi-
plicity of articles on the deck itself, it was impossible
to move from one part to another. I too had a heap
of luggage; and, among other things, I had brought

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 249

with me a bedstead made of palm-branches. These
bedsteads are so firmly yet lightly constructed that
they can be lifted easily with one hand. Mine was
lashed over the stern.

Our crew was Greek, and the captain's name Tan us
el Bawab. Every thing was in such confusion that
Giovanni could find»no where to make my bed : so I
slept on a mat on the deck without bed or covering,
and when I awoke I was nearly soaked with the dew.

In the morning, at sunrise, the sailors, standing on
the forecastle, the ship's head being towards the east,
made the sign of the cross repeatedly, bending the
body forward at each sign, and mumbling their prayers.
We remained the whole of this day in the offing at
anchor ; partly because the wind was foul, and partly
to receive on board other things, so that I expressed
my fears that the ship would sink from the weight
she had in her. Nor was my alarm diminished,
when, in conversation, I discovered that this was the
very polacca, which, whilst we were at Acre in March,
was driven on shore under the window of the cara-
vansery and bilged.

If the Greek sailors are generally more attentive to
Europeans, when passengers, than the Turks, (al-
though I am not disposed to allow this to the same
extent that many are) still there is something dis-
gusting in the filth and nastiness of the former com-
pared with the clean hands and persons of the latter.

On the 14th of October, we weighed anchor at

M 5

250 trjWels of

half-past eleven ; and I bade adieu, for the second
time, to the shores of Egypt. There was little
wind, and we advanced but slowly. The whole of
Saturday the wind was east, and we made scarcely
any Avay : on Sunday and Monday it was the same.
This constant calm became at last extremely irksome.
On Tuesday and Wednesday the. ship lay like a \o^
in the water : so that the sailors bathed around her.
The shore was visible, and it was judged that we were
yet below Gaza. Gebel Ky was likewise in sight.
Sometimes the sailors fancied there was a mummy on
board, which, according to their superstitions, brings
ill luck. Many schemes were resorted to for raising
the wind. Night and morning, incense was burned
from stem to stern : and a contribution was levied for
St. Elias of Mount Carmel. When these means
were ineffectual, application was made to me to write
a charm on a piece of paper, to be suspended to the
boom-end. As I expressed my doubts whether I had
any control over the winds, they told me a story to
prove how a Mograbyn (a native of Barbary, which
country produces all the conjurors in Turkey) had,
when they were becalmed, by a few written mystical
characters, produced not only a fair wind but almost
a storm. I answered to this that I really was afraid
I could not do so much : but, if a breeze would con-
tent them, fair or foul, I ventured to say I could pro-
mise it. Accordingly, I invoked " Libs, Notus
Auster," in verses as musical as those from which 1

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 251

borrowed their names : and, to the great delight of
every one, towards evening a breeze sprung up from
west-south-west, and we advanced rapidly towards our
destination.

We saw Tontura at a distance as we sailed along,
and, on Friday the 21st, we entered Acre. I went on
shore, and betook myself to Signor Catafago''s, who
gave me a lodging at the house of a fi-iend.

On the following day, I called on Malem Haym,
who was confined to his house by an inflammation in
his only eye. He talked on the state of Europe :
and, if any one be curious to know what his sum-
mary of politics was, he concluded by saying that
England had gained nothing by a bloody and expen-
sive war but a rock — meaning Malta.

Signor Morando, the pasha's doctor, showed me his
collection of intaglios. One, which was an agate, had
more than a dozen figures, representing the heathen
gods assembled, with a long Greek inscription, and on
the back of it a number of alphas in a row. This I
considered very curious and valuable. He had like-
wise a votive leg of exquisite workmanship in marble.
I became acquainted with Abuna Yusef Maron, a
Maronite priest, who for a certain jSum procured for
me a catalogue of the library at the new mosque, which
had been collected at a very great expense by Gezzar
Pasha, consisting of eleven thousand volumes.'

* This catalogue, on my return to England, I lent to Dr.
Nichol, Hebrew professor at Oxford : at his death it probably
■was burnt, as a paper of no value.

252 TRAVELS OF

At sunset, on the 24th, as the harbour gate shuts at
that hour, I went on board to sleep : and the next
morning the vessel was warped out of port, not with-
out considerable difficulty.

When getting under way, our rudder caught on a
cable, and we nearly drove on a rock, which would
surely have wrecked the vessel. The harbour-master,
All Shemass, and his companion, Abu Katur, fol-
lowed me on board with the customary request of a
bakhshysh.' We had light airs all day. Just before
sunset we were near Tyre. We supped, and every
body went to sleep, not excepting the man at the
helm ; for, although we were destined for Tyre, he
suffered the ship to pass the port during the night,
and in the morning we were eight or ten miles beyond
it. We put back ; and, after losing nearly twenty-
four hours through the steersman's negligence,
anchored in the harbour of Tyre.

I landed my luggage ; and was somewhat surprised
when the captain demanded payment for my passage,
Malem Suriir having insisted, before my departure,
that no mention should be made on that subject, the
vessel being his. However, when he afterwards

^ The word bakhshysh is so often in the mouths of the Syrians
and Egyptians, that the reader will be anxious to know its
precise meaning. The verb bakhshesh means " to give gra-
tuitously :" and the native of these countries, after every thing
he does for you, generally says — Please to give me a bakhshysh,
or please to bakhshysh me. It is the first word that a
stranger learns and the last that he hears : so that it is not
astonishing if very soon it becomes familiar to his ear,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 253

heard what the rais had done, he made him refund
the money, and sent it back again to me. I hired
some mules ; and, on the following evening, reached
Abra, after an absence of three months.

Having made some few arrangements at Abra, I
rode up to Meshmushy, where Lady Hester still was,
on the fifth of November, accompanied by Abu
Yusef Jahjah, the proprietor of the house at Mesh-
mushy, who happened to have been at Sayda on busi-
ness. At Kejfferfelus, a village on our road, he said
he had an old acquaintance where we might breakfast :
but the good lady (for her husband was away) pro-
duced nothing but eggs fried in oil, which she boasted
of as some of the best tefdh oil in the country.
Tefah oil means oil skimmed ofi" by the Jiands from
the surface of the water in which the olives have been
boiled, in opposition to the other manner, in which it
is pressed, and supposed to be less pure.

254 TRAVELS OF

CHAPTER X.

Disappearance of Colonel Boutin, a French traveller —
Efforts of Lady Hester Stanhope, for investigating his fate —
Mission of Abd el Easak from Mahannah to Lady Hester —
Manners and character of the Bedouins — Story of Mustafa
Aga, Khasnadar of Muly Ismael, and his wife — Departure of
Abd el Rasak and his companions.

I found Lady Hester in tolerable health : but her
mind was at this time wholly intent on avenging the
death of Colonel Boutin, a Frenchman, whose name and
destination will be seen by referring to the occurrences
in ]\larch of the preceding year, and who had been
made away with in his journey from Hamah to
Latakia. As one of the most useful purposes to
which Lady Hester turned the influence which she
enjoyed in this country is connected with his fate, it
would be inexcusable were this affair not to be related
at length.

Colonel Boutin departed from Hamah for Latakia,
accompanied by his Egyptian groom and by another
Mahometan servant. He had written to M. Guys,
French consul at Latakia, to intimate that, to avoid

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 255

the circuitous route of Geser Shogr, he should cut
strait across the mountains inhabited by the Ansarys.^
He slept at Shyzer, departed on the following morn-
ing, and was heard of no more.

For many weeks, M. Guys supposed that, like other
travellers, he had loitered on the road, or had turned
aside to view objects which had taken his attention ;
but, at last, when no information was received of him
from any quarter, rumours of his death began to spread,
and reached Lady Hester''s ears. She expected, for
some time, that an application would have been made
to the pasha to order an inquiry into the circum-
stances which attended his mysterious disappearance ;
but, when it was evident that no steps had been
taken, she resolved to investigate the matter herself.
For she considered that the common cause of tra-
vellers, without regard to nation, required that
robbery, and much more murder, should not be
suffered to pass unpunished ; and she respected
Colonel Boutin individually as a man of distinguished
abilities.

For this purpose she resolved on employing Signor
Volpi, the Italian doctor, who had been left to supply
my place on my departure for Egypt. Signor Volpi,
it was reported, had been originally bred within the
pale of the church, but, taking advantage of the

^ I conceive these Ansarys to be descendants of the Iturei
spoken of by Strabo in his 16th book, and who were in part
subdued by Pompey.

256 TRAVELS OP

tumults of the French revolution, had danced round
the Tree of Liberty, and had quitted the cell for the
more lucrative employment of the law : which,
together with his country, he had finally deserted for
physic and Syria. There, not meeting with the en-
couragement which he thought he merited, he had
recourse to his pen, and was for some time clerk to
Signer Catsiflitz, English agent at Tripoli. Lady
Hester had, during my absence, observed in him a
great knowledge of the bad side of men, and she
pitched on him as a proper person to go to Hamah to
find out what he could respecting Colonel Boutin's
fate.

She had retained in her service, as muleteer to the
house, ever since her journey to Balbec, a Driize
named Sulyman, a hardy and resolute fellow, fit for
dangerous enterprises. This man she resolved to
send in the very track, through the Ansary moun-
tains, that Colonel Boutin was supposed to have
pursued, accompanied by Pierre, who was well
adapted, under a feigned object of pedlary or of buy-
in o- oil, to pass as a poor Christian gaining a liveli-
hood by such traffic.

These three persons, so instructed, had already
fulfilled their missions : and, on my arrival from
Egypt, Lady Hester was disposed to have made me
acquainted with the progress of this affair, and to
have requested my help ; when I, perhaps too offici-
ously, took upon me to dissuade her from prosecuting

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 257

it ; saying that the French consuls were bound to sift
it to the bottom : whilst she, in taking so active a
part, was exposing herself, in her excursions about
the country, and even in her rides, to the vengeance
of these mountaineers, who, there was every reason
to think, were as likely to have emissaries sworn to
•their deadly purposes now as of old.'

The only effect of my exhortation was that she
never said anything more of the matter to me, and
steadily pursued her own humane purposes. I shall
dismiss the subject for the present, and will, in the
order of events, recur to it hereafter.

During my absence in Egypt, Lady Hester had
been visited by M. Otto de Richter, an enterprising
Russian, who was travelling through Syria : he after-
wards died at or near Ephesus.

Mrs. Fry, Lady Hester's maid, fell ill of an ague.
On the 6th of November, there arrived at Mesh.
mushy two Bedouins of the tribe of Mahannah,
sent by him with a letter to Lady Hester, which
contained much complimentary language and in-
quiries after her welfare. Their real object was to
get money, which the emir, always needy, was al-
ways using shifts to obtain. One of the Bedouins
was named Abd el Rasak, and was a relation of
Mahannah's.

^ This is supposing the Ansarys to be those same moun-
taineers, one of whom stabbed our crusading king, and hence
introduced the word assassiti into our language.

Zo8 TRAVELS OF

Abd-el-Rasak was an entertaining person, disposed
to answer all my questions ; and I now satisfied my-
self on some subjects touching the customs of the
Bedouins, which, from my little knowledge of the
language when in the Desert, I could not understand.
Those which related to the victor and vanquished in
battle seemed dictated by motives of humanity, to
disarm the strong and ferocious, and give the prisoner
a chance of freedom. They are comprehended under
the word dukliyl^ a term for which (from not having
a clear notion of its meaning) I cannot find an equi-
valent in the English language.^ It comprehends the
pleas and rights of hospitality.

Sometimes a Bedouin loses all his camels by a
marauding party ; and, finding himself reduced to
poverty, resolves to recover his possessions by duck-
hyl. For this purpose he quits his home, and seeks,
unperceived, his enemy*'s encampment. He secretes
himself near the path by which the despoiler must
pass. He bears with him a ball of twine (guzzle)^
which he spins as he stands. His enemy passes him,
and he throws the ball of thread at him. If, as it un-
winds, it hits him, the thrower is safe, and he then
claims his property ; but, if it misses, his enemy
turns on him, and, unless he can escape, he loses his
liberty or his life.

Again, if one Bedouin, under any circumstances
of peril or supplication, can approach so near and

^ Dukhyl means a suppliant, according to the dictionary.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 259

unexpectedly to another, as to tie a knot in his
keffjah (the silk handkerchief which generally en-
velops his head), there is no favour that he may not
claim : likewise, if the captured can at any time
enter into the tent of the captor, or eat of the same
mess with him, he is entitled to his liberty. It may
be said, with all these strange usages, that no Bedouin
is secure for a moment in the enjoyment of his plunder,
or in his right over his prisoner. But let it be re-
collected that he has many ways of immediately get-
ting rid of the one and the other, so as never to be
exposed by any possibility to the consequences of
dukhyl ; and likewise, that, under all circumstances,
if any of the women or children, or if he himself, sees
a prisoner seeking to obtain his ends in this manner,
he has but to cry nefali^ which destroys the intended
grace.

The character of the Bedouins is not destitute of
traits of great magnanimity. A certain Ali, in a
dispute, killed Ershyd, an ancestor of Mahannah's.
Ershy'd's son, Fadl, was bound to revenge his death,
and he steadily sought for an opportunity. The mur-
derer, knowing how certainly his hour would come by
FadPs hand, unless he could for ever shun him, ab-
sented himself in a distant tribe for many years.
Tired, at length, of banishment, he deemed life not
worth preserving on such terms, and resolved to
present himself before his foe, and see if he could not

260 TRAVELS OP

prevail on his generosity so far as to obtain his for-
giveness.

One night, Fadl was in the division of his tent set
apart for the women, when he heard a footstep and
a man cough. " Up, fellow !" he cried out to one of
his slaves ; " there is a guest in the tent ; make some
coffee."' He rose himself, went to him, and in the
accustomed friendly terras of the Arabs welcomed
him. It was very dark. The slave raked the ashes,
and threw on some roots to make a blaze. Fadl
looked at his guest, and stared, like one thunder-
struck ; for he knew Ali. " Ali !" said he. " It is
even so," replied the stranger, " and your sword is
hanging over me." Fadl was, for a moment, like one
convulsed : but by degrees he calmed his emotions,
and, when he found himself master of his expressions,
he said, " Make yourself easy ; you are no longer my
father's murderer, but my guest ;" and he forgave
him.

FadFs friends assembled round him ; they said to
him, " Can you admit your father's murderer into
your tent ? Kill him, and revenge your wrongs."
But Fadl replied, " Shall I kill the man who judges
so nobly of me ?" He called his secretary, and bade
him write an engagement to pay every year to Ali
and his descendants 50 piasters, which continued to
be done until the time that Abd-el-Rasak related the
story.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 261

The following story will show from what trivial
beginnings their deadly feuds may sometimes arise.
Sidad is a village between Hems and Carietain, on
the road to Palmyra, The inhabitants are Chris-
tians, and therefore, generally speaking, considered as
fair objects of oppression hy the Bedouins, who often
vex them greatly. Their insulated situation in the
Desert thus obliges them to depend on themselves for
protection, and hence they have a martial and inde-
pendent character unknown to the Christians of
towns.

An Anizy, who was in a house at Sidad, wishing
to fill his pipe, asked his host to lend him his tobacco-
bag. " Stop," said the host, " there is no tobacco in
it, but I will go to my neighbour and borrow some."
He went out, and soon returned with his bag appa-
rently replenished, and handed it to the Bedawy ;
who thrust the pipe-bowl into the bag, and drew it
out full of dry dung. " Do you mean to affront me V
said the Arab, his bosom swelling with indignation ;
'■'• Kata ardah — we are twain from this moment."

He mounted his mare, and rode oflf. When he
arrived at his tents, he assembled his friends, and
explained to them the gross insult that had been put
upon him, inviting them to assist him in revenging
his cause. An opportunity was not long wanting.
One of the Sidad caravans was reported by the scouts
of the Bedouins to be on its way to Palmyra. The
Bedouins rode forth and attacked it. The caravan

262 TRAVELS OF

was well armed, and made a stout resistance, but at
last was dispersed and plundered. How many of the
same caravan were killed or wounded, Abd-el-
Rasak would not tell rae ; but Madame Lascaris, who
happened to be on her return from Palmyra in the
same caravan, and who gave me some particulars about
it, said that all the men were stripped naked, and in
that way entered Sidad. Hamed, son of Mahannah,
was at the head of the party ; and, knowing Madame
Lascaris, respected her and her baggage ; but her
intercessions could do nothing for saving the effects of
the caravan in general. She said that the attack and
resistance were of short duration. One Bedawy was
killed by the fire ; and, before they could load again,
the Bedouins rode in upon them ; and she saw two
or three who resisted speared, but the others ran or
surrendered. For the one Bedawy killed, Mahannah
demanded from the village of Sidad the price of his
blood ; and, to save themselves from a perpetual feud,
they paid 2,000 piasters.

In one of my conversations with Abd-el-Rasak, I
inquired after Mustafa Aga Duz Oglu, khasnadar of
Muly Ismael, the man who was under my care for a
palsy at Mar Giorgius, or Dayr Hamyra. "He is
dead," said Abd-el-Easak. " Did you know his
wife, Aysliaf I asked. " She is dead, also," cried
he. " Heavens ! and how V I rejoined.

His story was as follows : — " You know she was
once ]\Iuly IsmaeFs concubine {saryah), and that he

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 263

gave her, when tired of her, in marriage to Mustafa
Aga. He, poor fellow, was seized with apoplexy ;
and, after lingering some time, died. As he had
amassed vast sums in his employment of treasurer,
she feared that these, now become her own, would be
taken from her by the Muly, under some pretext, and
she resolved to secure them by poisoning him.

" It is necessary to inform you that she had a
paramour, one of the deldty dragoons, who instigated
her, it was thought, in her foul purposes." " I recollect
such a man" (I observed) " coming to Dayr Hamyra
whilst I was there, and seeming to be on a very
familiar footing with Aysha." " It is the same," re-
plied Abd-el-Rasak. " It was concerted between this
man and herself that the poison should be bought at
Aleppo, in order not to excite suspicion in Hamah.
When it was procured, she endeavoured to bribe
Merjan, one of the Muly's black slaves, ' promising to
give him 500 piasters, if he would hand the Muly a
cup of coffee in which she should have previously put
something ; which he had agreed to do.

" The Muly came one day to see her. Aysha made
the coffee with her own hand, and contrived, unper-
ceived, to drop in the poisonous powder. Merjan
took the cup, and, whilst in the act of presenting it to

^ Black slaves often are named from substances in colour and
quality very unlike themselves. Thus merjan means coral,
and anbar or amber was another name of one of Ahmed bey's
black slaves.

264 TRAVELS OF

his master, felt the terrors of a guilty conscience, and
suddenly dashed it on the ground. ' What do you
do that for, you son of a w...V said the offended
Muly. ' Effendim, there was brandy in the cup."
' What !' said the Muly, whom a life of reverses had
made readily suspicious, ' there was something else :
tell me, instantly, or I'll have you bastinadoed to
death/ Merjan, terrified, confessed the plot. Aysha
was immediately seized and strangled, and then
hanged upon a tree. The slave was rewarded by a
large sum in money, and (which to an Osmanly is
even more agreeable) was clad in a splendid suit of
new clothes."

Sionor Volpi, coming at this time to Meshmushy,
dined with the Arabs and me. He still retained his
European habits, and could not eat without a knife
and fork. Long custom had now reconciled me,
whenever there were Mahometans present, either to a
spoon or even to my fingers, like them. Signor
Volpi expressed a wish to see how the Bedouins ate
in the Desert. I laid aside my spoon, and begged
the Arabs to put themselves at their ease and do the
same. They readily complied ; and, forming the rice
into pellets, they delivered it into their mouths
quickly, and with more ease than with a* spoon,
which to them is a troublesome article. Not suspect-
ing that there was anything extraordinary in their
manner, they attached to my request another mean-
ing : they thought that I was willing to seal the bonds

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 265

of friendsliip between us still closer, tlian merely eating
with a spoon out of the same dish together. He is
determined (they whispered to each other) that it should
be complete : hyn-el-yedayn — " between both hands "
will alone satisfy him.

On the 10th of October, the Arabs took their leave,
furnished with letters to Mahannah ; and, as to
themselves, their pockets and even their wallets were
filled. For the Bedouins, indeed I may say all the
Turks in general expect, on quitting you, to have
their tobacco-bags replenished, provisions given them,
and to have nothing to dread from the contingencies of
the day. I accompanied them to Abra, where they
were to sleep : and, whilst we were smoking in my
cottage, I made Abd-el-Rasak sit still, that I might
endeavour to sketch his costume. Such was his wish
to oblige me, that I saw huge drops of sweat
running down his face from the fatigue of keeping the
same posture : and he did not change it, until, out of
pity, I begged him to do so. The next morning they
took the coast road to Tripoli.

I was, for many reasons, compelled to question the
accuracy of Volney's account of the sensations expe-
rienced by the Bedouins on entering large towns, and
approaching the sea. First of all, they are a race in
whom you never can witness marks of sudden emotion,
whether of astonishment or otherwise : and, in the
next place, these very Bedouins, who came from a
more inland Desert than those whom Daher brought

VOL. HI. N

266 TRAVELS OF

to Acre, still led me to think, in answer to my ques-
tions, that there were as few sights for them as for
any one else. For had they not heard people often
enough describe a ship, the sea, and whatever wonders
they are thought to be ignorant of in the Desert I

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 267

CHAPTER XI.

Quarrel between a Druze and a Metoualy — Buying of
medals — Imposition practised on Lady H ester — Punishment of
the offender — Illness and death of the Greek patriarch — Fune-
ral ceremonies — Election of a new patriarch — Cottage in the
gardens of Sayda — Long drought — Flocks of birds — Hydro-
phobia— Excursion of the Author to Garyfy — Shems ed Dyn
and his father — Purchase of wine — Decline of commerce in the
Levant — Malem Dubany and his daughters — Extortion of
Eastern rulers — Arrival of Miss Williams — Arrival of Mr.
Bankes — He copies and removes fresco paintings — Failure of
his first attempt to reach Palmyra — Visit of Mr. Buckingham
— Locusts — Lady Hester takes a voyage to Antioch.

Nothing particular occurred to interrupt our cus-
tomary mode of living until a serious dispute happened
at Hara, a village on the road from Abra to Sayda,
between a Druze and a JSIetoufdy. The Druze,
named Wahab, was watching his olive-grounds, when
he observed the Metoualy wantonly strike a branch,
and knock down several olives. This created some
words, which produced a quarrel j and the DrAze, who

268 TRAVELS OF

wore a short battle-axe in his girdle, cut a gash in the
Metoualy's leg and in his back. The Metoualy fled
to Sayda, and complained of the assault to Musa Aga,
motsellem of Geba, and at this time governor of the
Metoualy district, who was exasperated to the highest
degree that such an aggression should have been com-
mitted in his immediate neighbourhood. Armed
with a spear, and taking with him some of his people,
he rode out blind with rage ; and, encountering, near
Hara, a mountaineer, who wore the Drtize dress,
without inquiring whether this was the offender, he
was about to run him through the body : when his
secretary interposed, but could not save the man from
a most severe beating given him on the spot. The
real Druze, in the mean time, had concealed himself
at Heleleyah, a village near Mar Elias.

The fury of Musa Aga created some alarm among
the peasantry at Abra : for, although Christians,
they would not go to Sayda the whole of the next
day. They feared lest, in the absence of the real
offender, they might be maltreated : a strange way of
doing justice ! But on the third day some soldiers
came down from the Shaykh Beshyr, and, arresting
Wahab, carried him to Mukhtara.

The conversation of the villagers showed what a
rancour those of the Druze districts harboured against
the Turks in the plain. They said that tiie shaykh
was unjust, who thus, at the representation of Musa
Aga, would punish a Druze ; and it appeared to me

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 269

that both Christians and Drilzes would ill brook
affronts from the Turks, if their leaders were disposed
to encourage this disposition in them.

As winter was now approaching, the convent was,
as usual, put in repair against the rains. This was a
very necessary precaution ; but was never a complete
remedy : for there was not a year in which the wet
did not penetrate more or less through the roofs into
the rooms.

On the 21st of November, a young Russian passed
through Sayda. The nature of medal-buying in these
countries may be understood by what happened be-
tween him and a silversmith of the place, who gave
me a laughable account of the traveller''s eagerness,
and of the advantage which, in a matter of buying and
selling, he thought himself authorized to take of it.
The Livonian, as most travellers do, had no sooner
arrived at Sayda than he inquired if there were any
medals to sell in the place. A silversmith, who made
a traffic of them, was summoned immediately ; and for
a silver coin (which, from his description, I judged to
be a Jupiter holding an eagle), asked the very rea-
sonable sum of six piasters, the silver weighing nearly
to the value of five. The Livonian was not accus-
tomed to have them presented to him so cheap, and,
at a word, said Fll take it : upon which the silversmith
asked time to consider. He went to his shop, and was
followed by the Livonian, who kept rising in his
offers, which were as regularly refused by the silver-

270 TRAVELS OF

smith, who now pretended he had been told it was a
most rare coin, and demanded fifty piasters. On the
third day the Livonian departed ; and, in passing the
shop where the silversmith, apprized of his going,
took care to be, once more made a still greater offer
than he had done, of thirty-six piasters, which was
taken by the exulting silversmith ; who, had the Li-
vonian showed some reluctance to pay the original
price of six, would have been glad to have disposed of
it, as he had done of some others of the same kind,
for even a less sum.

A curious trick was at this time played off on Lady
Hester by a needy adventurer. The Pasha of Acre,
with a harym full of concubines, had never been
blessed but with one son, who died of the plague. It
was very well known throughout the pashalik that
the birth of another would give rise to considerable
rejoicings : and it is customary in the East that who-
ever brings the first news of any joyful event should
be handsomely recompensed. There was not indeed
much likelihood of offspring : for the pasha was old,
and had abused his constitution in indulgences. One
day that I had ridden down to Abra from Mesh-
mushy, I received a note from her ladyship, in which,
among other things, she mentioned that an officer of
the pasha''s had been sent to announce to her the birth
of a sou, and that she had made a present to him in
consequence. It happened that Hadj Ali, our old
janissary, had called at the convent to see the syt, his

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 271

mistress (as he always named Lady Hester) ; and, as
lie was recently from Acre, I questioned bim why he
had not brought the news himself. He declared that
such an event was not expected and could not have
happened : and he immediately guessed that there must
have been some imposture practised. I accordingly
wrote to caution her ladyship, and kept Hadj AH
until the messenger returned, which was in about nine
hours, when he informed me that the officer who had
brought the news styled himself Hassan Aga ; that
he had not only brought tidings of the birth of a son,
but had said that the pasha had charged him to add
that there was not a village in his pashalik, or a horse
in his stable, which Lady Hester might not claim of
him on such a happy day. On hearing the name,
Hadj Ali knew him to be an adventurer, one Hassan,
alias Hassan Nykhu.' In El Gezzar's time he was
captain of a guard of twenty-five men, stationed at the
bridge of the Casmia river for the security of the public
road : since the death of El Gezzar he had been out
of employ, and lived by his wits.

I immediately sent off this account to Lady Hester,
who was highly irritated at the man's impudence : for
it had nearly led her to send a letter of congratula-
tion, and to order rejoicings to be made in her house.
Accordingly, Sulyman, the Druze, was despatched,

^ The very adjunct of Nr/khu, a nickname the most offensive
to delicate ears in the Arabic language, would have been suffi-
cient to designate this man as an impostor.

272 TRAVELS OF

to try and secure his person, and to deliver him
over to Hadj Ali at Mar Elias. Suljmau went in
pursuit of him, and traced his route : but, fearing
that he might escape from him if he attempted to use
force, he inveigled him back to Mar Elias, by saying
that Lady Hester had sent after him in order to pre-
sent him with a new suit of clothes as a farther recom-
pense for his joyful tidings.

No sooner was he arrived at Mar Elias than Hadj
Ali and Sulyman seized him, and bound him hand
and foot. Hadj Ali reproached him with his lies, and
he was locked up in the woodhouse until the morrow.
The next day Lady Hester came down from Mesh-
mushy : and, on alighting at the door, she saw Hassan
tied to a tree, with Sulyman keeping watch over him.
She desired Hadj Ali to bastinado him, and then went
in ; but she little thought to what lengths these men
would go : for, throwing the poor wretch on the ground
on his back, with his hands tied as they were, one held
up his feet whilst the other beat him most unmerci-
fully on the soles ; and when, at length, Sulyman's
strength failed him from passion, Hadj Ali seized a
broom bat which lay near at hand, and struck the
helpless man across the legs and thighs in a manner
that I thought would have broken them. I had cried
" enough !" several times ; but at last seeing that
they heeded me not, I forcibly held their hands, and
with difficulty drew them off, pale, breathless, and
tremblinsr. Oh ! how vile a beino- seemed to me then

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 273

an infuriate and passionate man ! They would have
renewed the beating, had not I compelled them to
desist.

Hassan was left bound to the tree, and afterwards
thrown into the woodhouse for the night. On the
following morning Hadj Ali departed for Acre ;
driving Hassan, lame and bruised, before him. He
was furnished with the following letter from Lady-
Hester to Malem Haym. " A certain impostor,
called Hassan, came to me at Meshmushy in the name
of the pasha and yourself, pretending that the pasha
had been blessed with a son. Hadj Ali knew him,
went in search of him, and put him in prison. He
will tell you the rest."'

Hassan, however, could not walk so great a distance,
and Hadj Ali was compelled to leave him by the way,
lying down in the middle of the road. The affair was
not made a serious one at Acre ; for the Turks hold
living by one's wits to be a fair mode of gaining a
livelihood : and they thought that the loss of the
money, which Hadj Ali had taken from him, and
the beating he had received, were punishment enough.
Hassan however limped on, and reached Acre three or
four days afterwards. He went immediately to Hassan
Aga, a favourite Mameluke of Sulyman Pasha, who
knew him, and there complained bitterly of the treat-
ment he had received at Mar Elias. Hassan Aga
espoused his cause ; and, had the matter been pursued
by her ladyship, would have stood forth as his pro-

N 5

274 TRAVELS OP

tector. For, in this respect, I observed on several
occasions such a relation between client and patron
as I suppose to have existed in ancient Rome. Thus,
whenever a person of inferior station in life was in
jeopardy, from the oppression of the great, it did not
follow that he became their victim ; for either his cause
was espoused by some great man, whose creature he
was, or, if he had not the means of interesting such a
one directly, he found some channel through which to
come at him, and thus would often transfer his own
quarrel to the shoulders of the patron. By these
means men of consequence in Turkey form parties,
which they often use for the furtherance of their
own ambitious views, or to repress those of their
rivals.

This business was hardly over when a letter came
to me from Macarius, patriarch of Antioch, praying
my attendance on him, inasmuch as he was very ill.
Exclusive of my readiness on all occasions to visit
sick people of the country, the patriarch was entitled
to my attendance on the score of obligations owed to
him for having lent his house to Lady Hester, and
for having put the village of Abra under her control.
I rode over immediately to the monastery of St.
Saviour (Dayr Mkhallas) where he resided ; but I had
been called in too late to be able to save him.

He had now been ill ninety-five days. His malady
had begun in an intermittent fever, which left him,
and was renewed in making his annual rounds through

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 275

his diocese in the month of October. A violent pur-
oative remedy, administered to him by one Hanah
Zahar, a silversmith of Sayda, who was much in re-
pute as a doctor in the neighbourhood, had reduced
him to a state of great debility, from which he never
recovered. His subsequent treatment had tended to
bring on a dropsical affection, the insidious approaches
of which had not been strictly guarded against ; and,
now that his dangerous state became too apparent,
Malem Hanah Zahar had been dismissed, and my aid
was solicited,'

I found him under the influence of a medicine which
had been administered as tincture of bark, but which
was in fact an opiate. His sister-in-law, Helayny, an
Egyptian woman, was supporting his pillow, and two
priests were fanning him. There was much simplicity
in the appearance of his bed and room.

He died on the Friday following, at midnight, in
the arms of Tanus, an old servant. As "soon as the
breath was out of his body, he was dressed in his most
splendid robes, the mitre was placed on his head, and
he was carried in an arm-chair into the church of the
monastery. From the time he became my patient I was
accustomed to ride over almost every day. On Thurs-
day I had left him in bed with no hope of recovery,

^ Among the remedies which had been used to remove the
anasarcous swelling of his feet and legs were the actual cautery
on the instep and the application of pounded small white
(called in Arabic halazony), in poultices to his feet.

276 TRAVELS OF

On Saturday, wliat was my surprise, on approaching
the monastery, to find a crowd of people assembled at
the church doors ; and, on enteriug it, to see the dead
patriarch sitting in a chair, with a crosier in his left
hand and the New Testament in his right, whilst an
incense-pan smoked by his side. Prostrate, before
and around him, were men and women, some of whom
religiously approached the corpse, plucked a hair from
the beard, or kissed the hand.

Messengers had been sent to the bishops of Sayda,
Acre, Beyrout, and the other sees in the district.
Theodosius, bishop of Acre, happening to be at Bey-
rout, arrived about eleven in the morning just l)efore
me, and was giving the necessary orders for the fune-
ral. I went into the room where he was. It is cus-
tomary for the Greek catholic church to embalm its
patriarchs : and this is generally done by the priests :
but, as the offensive smell, which continued to arise
from the last patriarch, whose body was deposited
under the staircase in the chapel of Mar Elias, had
convinced me that little or no care was used by the
priests in doing it, I volunteered my services, which
were accepted. I expected that some objection would,
have been made on the score of my being a heretic ;
but perhaps the priests were glad to get rid of a pro-
cess so disagreeable to eyes unused to the dissection
of dead bodies.

There was a receipt for preparing the drugs used in
embalming kept at the see, which was forthwith sent

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 277

to Sayda to be made up.^ The corpse was imme-
diately carried into a vault or cellar near the door of
the church. I was assisted by two peasants, who,
too-ether with the monks, showed as much indecency
in the treatment of the body now lifeless as they had
manifested obsequiousness and servility to it when
breathing. I proposed that a flat table should be put
upon trestles (such being the bedsteads of the monks
themselves) to lay the corpse on : but their reply was,
" Why not on the ground V I asked for silk thread
to sew up the body : but they produced cotton, and
said that would do well enough. I required a sponge
and hot water : the latter they would not give -them-
selves the trouble to bring, and the sponge they pro-
duced was as black as a coal. Who would be the
future patriarch, not what would become of the dead
one, was now all their consideration.

I opened the body. I removed each viscus, one by
one, observing the external phenomena only, fearing
to cut into them, lest the bystanders should speak of
it among the populace, and I get stoned. Not one
monk would attend, each declaring that he could not
bear the sight : a lay brother came in once, to ask

' It was as follows : — Aloes and myrrh in powder, three
parts: pitch and frankincense, two parts. Some time subse-
quently M. Belzoni observed, on my showing him this receipt,
that frankincense formed no part of the embalming powder
used by the Egyptians, it being forbidden by their religion.

278 TRAVELS OF

when the process would be over, and, having stolen a
handkerchief, disappeared. The contents of the ab-
domen and chest being removed, I rubbed in the pow-
dered ingredients over the interior surface oT these
cavities just as one salts down meat. Then, stuffing
the whole with bran, I sewed up the body with the
usual stitch ; and, the thread being blue, the suture
looked neat, which was the principal thing that ex-
cited admiration in the peasants, I took out the
brains and filled the skull with powdered drugs.
The integuments were then carefully drawn over and
sewed up.' The body was afterwards washed as clean
as I could do it ; for the bystanders were extremely
indifferent to my reproaches for their irreverent con-
duct,2 and would afford me no assistance.

^ In examining the head of a mummy opened by M. Belzoni
at the Egyptian Museum in Piccadillj^ I mentioned to him the
way in which I had extracted the brains of the patriarch ; which
led to an examination of the skull of the mummy before us, to
see if it were possible to find out by what means the Egyptians
extracted the brains previous to embalming. No division of the
scalp or inequality of the bone, as if it had been forcibly opened,
could be discovered on any part of the head. There was no pas-
sage even for a probe up through the palate or the substance of
the sphenoidal bone; but the right nostril was larger than the left,
and, on introducing a crooked probe, I could carry it up into
the cavity of the skull, and I suspect that to have been the
opening by which the brain was extracted.

- In this respect the Mahometans are exceedingly praise-
worthy. A body, previous to interm.ent, is carefully Avashed,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 279

They now dressed the corpse in a pair of drawers, a
kombaz (or gown) of white silk, with gokl tinsel running
through it ; a silk band or cope, in the shape of a
horse-shoe, which came over the shoulders from behind
and reached to the ground, and a smaller one of the
same kind overit,which two latter are episcopal emblems.
To the right side in front was suspended a square
board, covered with silk, resembling a dragoon's
despatch bag. The mitre was then placed on his
head ; and the body, being tied in an arm-chair to
keep it erect, was carried into the church, which was
lighted up for the mass of the dead. It was eight
o"" clock in the evening, and I had been employed just
five hours. A great concourse of people was assembled
from the neighbouring villages. Not sure how some
of them might be disposed to consider my interference
in the religious rites of their church, I declined to
attend the service. On the following morning, I
mounted my horse, and rode back to Mar Elias.

I heard afterwards that, having been exposed to
the devout and curious all night, he was buried the next
day., seated in an arm-chair, in a place excavated be-
neath the pavement of the church, which was well
done ; for, in such an imperfect mode of embalmino-
as that just related (in which I had necessarily fol-
lowed the custom of the monks), there was no reason

and prepared for going to the grave with scrupulous attention
to cleanliness.

280 TRAVELS OP

why a corpse should not corrupt almost as soon as if
it had been left to natural decay.

Four patriarchs had now died within the last six
years. Agapius, after ruling his flock for twenty
years, was succeeded by Athanasius, who died, as has
been mentioned, at Mar Elias, a week or two before
Lady Hester took possession of that residence. He
was succeeded by Ignatius, who was murdered by a
band of Greeks, set on by the heads of the Greek
church in and about the mountain, on account of his
exertions in converting the Greeks to the Catholic
persuasion. The death of the last has been just re-
lated. This rapid succession had, it was thought, re-
pressed the ambition of some of the bishops : and it
was the belief of many that both Athanasius and
Macarius had died of slow poison. In consequence of
this surmise, I was mysteriously questioned by many
persons as to the appearances I had discovered in
opening the body.

Amongst those spoken of as likely to succeed to
the vacant dignity was Abuna (Father) Saba, now
superior of the monastery of Dayr Mkhallas. He had
been educated at Eome, where he remained ten years,
and was well versed in theology and intrigue ; speak-
ing Italian like a native, and reputed of much learning
in his own tongue. He was of a remarkable vivacity,
most simple in his habits, and of very entertaining dis-
course: so that Malem Haym,thebanker of Acre, would
often invite him to that city in order to enjoy his society.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 281

It is true that a patriarch must be chosen from the
synod of bishops, and Saba was only a priest : but it
was thought that he would be preferred to a see, and
forthwith created head of the church.

To the astonishment of all persons, an obscure and
aged curate, an octogenarian, was selected. For
party disputes had run extremely high, and the synod
not agreeing on any of those who were nominated, it
was thought best to elect one who could not remain
long ; whilst, in the interim, each party would have
time to strengthen its separate interests against a
succeeding contest.

On the 27tli of November, Signor Volpi left us.
About this time Mr. William Bankes, an English
gentleman, was reported to be on his way from Egypt
to Syria: and, as Lady Hester was well acquainted
with him, she wrote to St. Jean d''Acre to secure a
proper reception for him. Winter now had set in ;
we had returned to Abra for many weeks. The even-
ings generally were spent by Lady Hester in listening
to me, who read to her, or in regulating the manage-
ment of her household and stables, the whole of which
she took entirely on herself

On the 5th of December, a lady, the daughter of
Malem Dubany, my nearest neighbour, died in child-
birth. Although her danger was evident to her
husband and family for many hours previous to her
decease, no inducement could persuade them to call
in a physician or surgeon ; for the Mahometans are
so averse to the interference of men in cases of mid-

282 TRAVELS OF

wifery, that a Christian, even if he were so inclined,
dares not oppose the reignino- prejudice. I ought,
however, to remark, that this is the only case of death
in labour that came to my knowledge during two years
that I resided near Sayda.

A cottage, in one of the gardens of Sayda, was
fitted up against the approach of spring for Lady
Hester, in order that she might occasionally ride
down to spend the day. It belonged to a Turk,
named Derwish-el Seghyr,' who was endowed with
sagacity enough to see that the way to get well paid
was to give satisfaction to his employer. Hence he
neglected no means of pleasing her ladyship : and the
unremitting attention of this man to her con-
firmed her in the dislike she had long since conceived
to the Christians of the country, whom she treated
with open contempt. This cottage was an extremely
pleasing retreat : before the door was a row of bananas,
and some tall trees threw a delicious shade around it.
A lad, about twelve years old, had been sent to
Lady Hester as an object of charity ; and as he spoke
Italian very well, he was given to me for my servant.
His story was — that his brother had been forced to
embrace the Mahometan religion ; and that he, to
avoid the same fate, had been secretly sent away from
Cairo, his native place. His name was Musa. On
arriving in Syria, he had been kept for some months

^ Derwish el Seghyr was an ear-sucker ! Ear-sucking is
practised in deafness, abscess of the ears, and in other com-
plaints of that organ.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 283

in the monastery of the Franciscans at Jerusalem,
where he had become apparently a very pious youth.

There had been no rain up to the 22nd of December,
since the month of May, with the exception of one
shower ; consequently the drought, in some parts,
was very distressing. The first symptom was in the
unusual appearance of immense flights of birds, in
Arabic kuttct. The flocks in which they came were
truly terrific, covering the sun like a black cloud.
This unusual state of the weather called forth many
ejaculations from the mouths of the Mahometans as
they walked the streets, and a fast of three days was
instituted for averting the evils which a continuance
of it must bring on.

I had procured for Shaykh Ibrahim a copy of the
gospels ; also the Psalms of David, and the miracles of
St, Athanasius, all printed in Arabic on Mount Lebanon.
These I forwarded to him about this time, -and in
return he sent me a ring, with my name engraved on
it in Arabic characters : but here our correspondence
dropped until his death.

A person in the country, having got into his pos-
session a certain cure for the rheumatism, was at a
loss how to use it. Being unable to get the directions,
which were in English, translated into Arabic, he
applied at last to me ; and I found that he had
obtained from the master of a merchantman
" Whitehead's essence of mustard." He was
astonished, when, at the bottom of my translation,

284 TRAVELS OP

(relying on Dr. Paris's assertion) I added an N.B. —
that there was not an atom of mustard in the prepara-
tion : the delusion would have proved more agreeable
to him than the truth.

M. Beaudin was now frequently going to Acre
respecting M. Boutin's murder, and for other schemes
which were constantly floating in Lady Hester''s
brain. He was also desired to put himself in readi-
ness for a journey by land to Egypt ; and, on
Sunday, the 14th of January, departed for Acre on his
road thither. He was accompanied by a little peasant
boy, named Oabur, who had been taken from tending
sheep into Lady Hester's service, and had become
a great favourite with her from his bold and indepen-
dent character ; so that he was now permitted to go
to Egypt to see a little of the world — seeing Egypt
being, in the eyes of the Syrians, about what going
to Paris is to an Enolishman.

On the 29th of January, I was requested to give
assistance to a man attacked with hydrophobia, who
had been bitten some weeks before (T think five) by a
dog running by the sea-shore ; it was suspected that
the dog was rabid, and he was pursued and killed ;
and the leg of Mohammed (that was the man's name)
was enclosed in his reeking skin, this being a supposed
cure for the bite. The man died six days after the
symptoms manifested themselves. He appeared to be
about thirty-five years old. It was expected that I
should have suggested some remedy for a cure j but I

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 285

had none to offer. I sat in the room with him for
about twenty minutes : a native doctor proposed ad-
ministering onions. The man tried in vain to swallow
a piece, and then some water, which he equally reject-
ed ; not being so much terrified at the sight of it, for
he carried it to his mouth, as having a dread, appa-
rently, of the painful effort which he was compelled to
make in attempting to swallow anything. The season
of the year is the most remarkable part of this case.

On the 14th of February, I made a very agreeable
excursion to the village of Garyfy, situate between
Abra and Dayr el Kamar, in a very romantic glen,
through which runs a river that empties itself into the
Ewely. The vineyards and olive plantations around
Garyfy are not to be exceeded in beauty or extent by
those of any other village of the mountain. *

On my arrival about sunset, I rode straight to the
menzel, or room assigned for the reception of tra-
vellers, who are entertained at the expense of the
shaykh of the village with a supper and night's
lodging. My horse was taken to the adjoining stable.
On entering the menzel, I found it to be a large,
square, paved room, with a fire in the centre, around
which were seated some poor travellers. I lighted*
ni}^ pipe, and joined in conversation ; when, after

' Near the village of Garyfy there is abundance of quartz
lying on the surface of the soil. This village is nearly iu the
centre of Mount Lebanon.

286 TRAVELS OF

about ten minutes, I was told that the son of the
shajkh was coming to welcome me ; and I was shown
into an adjoining room. A handsome young man
soon afterwards entered, whose name was Shems-ed-
Dyn. He very civilly gave mo to understand that
he had often heard my name mentioned, and, for my
own sake, and for the sake of her ladyship, he was
bound to make my stay agreeable. Supper was
served up, which, after all his fine speeches, proved to
be a dish of pilau only. We then smoked our pipes,
and he left me to go to rest. I was here greatly tor-
mented by fleas.

On the following day, almost at daylight, his father,
an aged and venerable-looking Druze, came down to
see me, and we drank our coffee and smoked our
pipes under some fir-trees in front of the house, where
we overlooked the valley beneath. It appeared that
the Honourable Frederick North' had once paid a
visit here, with two other Englishmen, Mr. Gaily
Knight and Mr. Fazackerley. The object of my
visit was to make a purchase of wine, for which
Garyfy was in repute. I went into several peasants'
houses, where I found jars, some four or five in a
■ row, each holding from eighteen to thirty-six gallons,
full of wine, and merely covered with a piece of board,
roughly cut to the shape of the mouth, and luted with
clay. These they would break open, and lade out the
wine in a calabash, cut longitudinally, so as to repre-
^ Afterwards Lord Guildford.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 287

sent a ladle, for me to taste. There was both red
and white ; and, having purchased two ass-loads,
each ass carrying two goat- skins full, I departed from
Garyfy on the following morning.

I was much entertained with the conversation of
Shaykh Shems* and his father Beshyr. But the
greatest amusement was derived from a native of the
village, who had when young quitted the country with
a European priest, and spent twelve years at Rome ;
having brought away, as the sum total of the benefit
derived from his travels, about as many words of
Italian, and the love of drink, which his pre-
sent employment of taster allowed him fully to
gratify.

The wines of Mount Lebanon are rarely exported
to Europe, with the exception, occasionally, of a cask
of the golden wine, which is the growth of certain
villages, and is now and then sent by merchants to
their correspondents. Lady Hester shipped a few
casks for England, as presents to two or three friends ;
but some of ifc soured on the voyage ; and that which
retained its taste had not flavour and body enough
for the climate of England. Yet, with proper pre-

i When a person is named Shems, it does not mean that he
bears simply that name. Shems-ed-dyn (or the sun of reli-
gion) is his true appellation. So no man in Turkey is com-
monly called Aladdin, or Ali-ed-dyn, as it should be written,
but Ali only ; and Aladdin, his name in full length, would be
inserted in writing only.

288 TRAVELS OF

paration, there are many wines which would suit the
English market as well as the wines of Sicily.

It was impossible to mix in European society in
Tripoli, Acre, or Sayda, without hearing continual
lamentations on the low ebb to which the commerce
of the Levant with Europe had sunk. We have
only to look into the journals of travellers, who
visited these countries a century ago, to find them at
every town recording the hospitality of some English
merchant. Aleppo had a flourishing factory, and
even maintained a chaplain and physician ; and
several English houses of commerce existed at Lao-
dicea, Tripoli, Beyrout, Sayda, and Acre. But, for
some years before the French revolution, this state
of prosperity had been manifestly declining, and
the commodities formerly sought for in Turkey were
brought at a less expence from our colonies and by
other routes. The French, however, still maintained
large establishments at all the above mentioned places,
and Marseilles was enriched by the Levant. Even
the coasting trade of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt,
was performed by French vessels, and called the
caravan trade. A master of a merchant vessel would
sail from Marseilles, Toulon, Cette, or some one of the
ports of Provence or Languedoc, and would remain
two or three or more years at a time in the Turkish
seas, until he had made a considerable sum for his
owners and himself, when he would return home for

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 289

awhile, and again make another voyage with the same
views.

When the French revolution broke out, and war
was declared between England and France, the Eng-
lish cruizers in the Mediterranean rendered it im-
possible for the French merchant- ships to traverse
that sea ; and the factors of that nation at Acre,
Sayda, and Aleppo, found themselves so utterly
ruined, that many were obliged to descend to occu-
pations for which they were never intended, to save
themselves from want. To this might be added the
vexations of Ahmed Pasha, el Gezzar, of Acre,
who indulged himself in a singular hatred and per-
secution of the French who dwelt in his pashalik.

Upon the restoration of Louis XVII I. to the
throne of his ancestors and the pacification of Europe,
many of the old captains resumed the Levant trade,
but without any great success. Formerly, the ex-
ports consisted in raw silk, cotton, gall-nuts, scam-
mony, drugs, wax, old copper, wool, &c. ; but, in
1815, the few French houses which had attempted to
revive the trade had hitherto shipped nothing but
cotton, a little wheat, and some drugs. With regard
to England, I think I may affirm that scarcely a
single vessel had gone to that country direct, freighted
from Cyprus or Syria. Several reasons were assigned
for this. One was, as I have said above, that the
articles derived heretofore from the Levant were now
obtained from a diSerent quarter of the globe ; a

VOL. in. o

290 TRAVELS OF

second, that the restrictions of the Levant Company
were oppressive ; a third, that there was unusual risk
incurred, in long quarantines, by exposure of goods
to damp and rot in the quarantine houses ; and that
much inconvenience arose from the necessity of em-
ploying hireling interpreters,* by which ways were
opened for cheating, and for collusion between the native
merchants and the interpreter ; whilst constant dan-
ger attended the vessels and crews from the insecurity
of the ports and the frequency of the plague.

At the time that this was written, the imports
most saleable were said to be hardwares, American
coflee (which the natives mixed with Mocha coffee in
adulteration, or sold separately as a cheap article),
sugar, cloth, English printed cottons, muslins, fire-
arms, watches, Geneva jewelry, peppers, cochineal,
indigo, lead, iron, tin, French earthenware, German
glass, &c.

It is to be observed that, so totally does the sale
depend, especially in articles of jewelry, fire-arms,
and Manchester goods, on an adaptation to the taste
and usages of the people, that no person who has not
resided among them can judge what is saleable mer-
chandize ; for example, the best duelling pistols,
brown barrelled, and unornamented, without knobs at
the ends of the stocks, would not fetch five pounds ;
whilst a brace of trumpery pistols, made by the di-

1 In 1815, there was not in all Syria a factor (unless the
English consul may be styled one) who spoke English.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 291

rection of a person who knew what the Turks fancied
would sell for treble that sum : yet, with this ex-
ception, one general rule with them is to prefer solid
to fancy goods .

I did not hesitate to ask shaykli Shems many
questions respecting his religion. From him I was
confirmed in the received opinion that Hakem by
Omrhu was the founder of their sect, and beyond this I
could get no new light. But it was evident that he
had read with attention the Bible and New Testament,
and was as well versed in the Koran as the Mahome-
tans themselves.

My neighbour, ]\Ialem Dubany, had two daughters,
Tuckly and Haneh ; the eldest, Tuckly, was about
seventeen years old. As I was a doctor, and an old
friend, I was admitted into the family upon all occa-
sions, and the young ladies were suffered by their
mamma to remain when I entered the room, and
would sit down by me unveiled. Tuckly was grave
and majestic, and of dazzling beauty, her skin being
of a higher polish than 1 had ever seen : Haneh, on
the contrary, was a laughing girl, with large black
eyes, lips somewhat thick, but as red as coral : and all
the decorum which custom required of females before
men could scarcely keep down her natural vivacity.

I had at this time a patient from Aleppo, named
Gibrael el Anhury, a merchant, who had brought a
letter of introduction to me from Mr. Barker, our
Consul at that place. With him came his nephew, a

o 2

2^2 TRAVELS OF

young man about twenty- three or twenty-four years
of age, who had resolved on demanding one of Malem
Dubany's daughters in marriage. As he never was
permitted to see either, of course he could only judge
by report as to the respective merits of the two. His
go-betweens were a female cousin, who lived at Sayda,
and his uncle, a respectable priest, living at Sayda
also, both of whom (for priests have the privilege
of entering the haryms) were in habits of intimacy
with Dubany''s family. They united in extolling
Haneh, the youngest, and Haneh was finally de-
manded in marriage.

But there is a custom among the Levantines of
never allowing a younger sister to marry before an
elder. 1 In the marriage of Malem Surur, the British
consul at Damietta, to the second daughter of Batrus
Anbury of Mount Lebanon, this custom was violated,
it is true, inasmuch as he took the younger, the elder
being yet unmarried. But this was considered as
conduct worthy of blame in the father, and he was
said to have been induced to do so from the fear of
losing so good a match in his family. Malem Dubany,
therefore, refused his consent. It must be observed
that the Benat Dubany (or the Misses Dubany)
were never consulted ; and the father, whilst relating
to me the negociations which had taken place, suffered
his daughters to listen to the conversation, without

^ " And Laban said, it must not be so done in our country,
to give the younger before the first born." Genesis, xxvi. 29.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 293

imagining for a moment that his omnipotent decrees
could ever excite a murmur in their bosoms.

Young Auhury was, therefore, driven to take Tuckly
or neither. But it had been whispered to him by his
matronly cousin, that she suspected Tuckly was of a
complexion too much like alabaster to be in sound
health, and that she was well assured that something
was wrong in her constitution, as my lady's doctor
had been prescribing for her. This was true ; although
the cousin's alarm was groundless as to anything seri-
ously faulty in the state of her health, for she was
possessed of an excellent frame of body. One day,
therefore. Anbury, the nephew, called on me, and, after
many roundabout questions, asked me what I thought
of Miss Tuckly, and I, as in truth I might, eulogized
her in the discreetest manner I could.

The following day, when visiting Malem Dubany,
he, in his turn, interrogated me whether I was not of
opinion that bad eyes argued bad humours in the con-
stitution, and whether Mr. Anbury did not seem to me
to have bad eyes. Here, too, I endeavoured to say
nothing that might hurt the young man's suit ; but
Malem Dubany was so often recurring to the sore
eyes of Anbury, that he persuaded himself a person so
afflicted could not have healthy children ; and the
suitor was finally dismissed.

Will it, after this, be thought wonderful that there
should be a purity of blood in the different races of
people in Syria and other parts of the East, unknown

29^ TRAVELS OF

to Northern climates, when so slight a motive as this
could cause a young man, respectable, rich, and comely,
to be rejected ?

I cannot dismiss the subject of Dubany and his
family without saying a few words on an incident in
liis life, which explains the meaning of the term
avany, a word that has been adopted into the English
and French languages, by travellers in the Levant, to
express the extortion of money on frivolous pretexts.
Malem Dubany acquired his little fortune in Egypt,
and, whilst a resident merchant there, was, with eight
others, made the subject of an avany^ under the
following circumstances, during the reign of INIurad
Bey. He was reputed rich ; and the bey, desirous of
appropriating a portion of his wealth to himself, was
not long in inventing a crime whereof to accuse
him.

There was a place in Damietta, which had been
used as a French chapel ; and, after the evacuation of
the French, some few persons, Greek Catholics, were
accustomed to resort to it, to worship. It had beneath
it a dwelling or magazine, used by some Mahometans.
One day an officer of justice seized on Malem Dubany,
and hurried him to prison, where he found himself in
company with seven others, his acquaintances, and
respectable merchants like himself. They were accused
of having said prayers over the Turks' heads, which
was construed into an arrogation of superiority ; and
of having heard mass in the French chapel, without a

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 295

firman from the Porte, authorising them so to do ;
for wliich offences they were ordered to pay eighty
thousand piasters among them, or about .f'oOO
each.

They naturally protested their innocence of the
charge, and that they had not such a sum at their
command ; and, persisting in their assertions, they
were taken out and bastinadoed, ten pair each^ They
were then remanded to prison, and given to under-
stand that this Avas only a prelude to what would
follow, if they did not produce the money. During
this time, although in confinement, they were treated
with much attention. Their meals were as good as if
at home. Coffee and pipes were regularly served to
them, and the domestics stood before them, with
crossed hands in the attitude of respect. At last, being
threatened with a second bastinadoing more severe than
the first, they raised the fine, and, having paid it, were
liberated with a polite message from Murad Bey, that
they might now go and hear mass if they pleased,
and not fear any molestation from him. But they did
not think it advisable to expose themselves to be
beaten and avanized a second time.

In the middle of March of this year, Lady Hester
received information that Miss Williams, a young
person strongly attached to her, had ventured from
Malta to Cyprus, in a vessel alone, on purpose to
join her. Miss W. owed her education and the care of
^ Two blows, one on each foot, make a pair.

296 TRAVELS OF

her younger years to the protection of Mr. Pitt. Lady
Hester afterwards took her near her person, and she
left England with her ladyship in 1810.

At Malta she found her sister married to an officer
of the commissariat, with whom, at Lady Hester's
departure from that island, she remained ; but her
attachment was so great to her protectress, that, after
residing at Malta four years, she determined to follow
her into the East. She accordingly embarked on board
an Italian merchant-vessel, and alone braved the
hazards of a voyage which proved particularly dis-
tressing ; for the autumnal gales were so violent that
the ship sprung a dangerous leak, and the captain Avas
obliged to put into Rhodes to refit. Here Miss
Williams remained two or three months, whilst the
ship, which was found to be much damaged, under-
went a thorough repair.

They sailed from Rhodes at the commencement of the
new year. The captain, named Fanuggia, was a man
of violent language and conduct ; so that his crew,
which was composed of very bad subjects, mutinied.
The two parties came to blows more than once ; and
Miss Williams, oppressed with sea-sickness, and lying
in her cot, from which she was unable to move, often
"heard upon deck the clashing of swords, and thought
every moment that murder was perpetrating. At
length they reached Cyprus, where some of the crew
were put into prison ; and, other men being shipped,
they crossed to Bey rout, in the middle of March.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE 297

Here Miss Williams landed, after a voyage of three
months and a half, and was entertained by Mr. Lau-
rella, the British agent, until recovered from her
fatigue. Mrs. Fry was sent immediately to her, to
isastruct her how she was to dress herself — how wear
her veil in travelling — and how conduct herself in this
new world. About the 10th of March, she left Bey-
rout, escorted by Mr. Laurella, and I went to meet
them on the road.

The day was exceedingly fine and warm. I was
riding along in the wash of the sea ; and, the sands
being broad hereabout, there was a mirage playing
along them, which seemed somewhat to lift objects
above the ground and to confuse them. I had passed
several small parties of travellers ; and, tired of look-
ing at what was coming, I let the bridle fall on my
mare"'s neck, and began to muse on the effects of my
long residence in Syria. When first I entered the
country, had I undertaken a day's journey in any
direction, it would have been thought necessary to
have with me an interpreter, a janissary, and a mule
or two for my baggage. My bed would have been
indispensable, and my portmanteau loaded with the
numerous articles which a European carries along
with him. Now I was alone, a fowling-piece, lying
across my saddle-bows, was my only protection ; I.
my own interpreter ; I had no bed but my cloak ; and
all the articles of my dressing-box were reduced to a
comb for my beard, and my tooth-brushes, which

O 5

298 TRAVELS OF

generally I concealed from the view of Mahometan
natives, lest the materials, being of hog's bristles,
should render me unclean in their eyes. And this is
the unincumbered way in which everybody travels in
Turkey.

A mile or two beyond the river Damur I met them.
Mutual salutations having been exchanged, I turned
back with the party. We stopped to sleep at Nebby
Yunez. Whilst at supper, a circumstance occurred,
which must have seemed somewhat extraordinary to
a new comer. Mr. Laurella''s servant had furnished
the provision basket, but had neglected to put up a
candlestick ; and such things are not to be met with
in Turkish caravanseries, where oil is generally
burnt. He therefore invented a substitute : cutting
off the crown of a loaf of bread, part of our meal,
and, making a hole in the crumb with his finger,
he stuck the candle in it. Miss Williams stared
in astonishment.

The next day we resumed our journey, and about
noon reached Mar Elias. Lady Hester was very
sensible to this mark of attachment on the part of
Miss Williams. It was shortly afterwards, although
I neglected to note down the day, that Mr. W. J.
Bankes* came to Mar Elias. Lady Hester had been
long in expectation of him. Of all the travellers who

^ In 1824, member of parliament for the University of
Cambridge.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 299

had passed that way previously for many months, he
was the only one who could give her any news of her
friends and acquaintance. When he arrived, he was
lodged at Mar Elias. A day or two afterwards, I
took him on a two days'' tour round by Meshmushy.
Gezyr, and Geba, three villages on the heights of
Mount Lebanon, situated so romantically that Mr.
Bankes professed not to have seen any thing like them
elsewhere.

On another occasion, I accompanied him to Dayr
Mkhallas, to see the monastery, and to make the
acquaintance of Abiina Saba, the superior or rais.
In going, Mr. Bankes's horse, probably unused to our
mountain tracks, slipped up on his side on a rock,
and it was a fortunate escape for that gentleman that
he received no hurt.

When Mr. Bankes had favoured me with a sight
of the drawings which he had made in his progress
through Egypt and Syria, I conceived him to be a fit
person to lead to the sepulchre discovered at Abu
Ghyas, as has been related, since he could copy the
paintings, and thus preserve a memorial of a valuable
monument of antiquity. I accordingly provided a
couple of peasants and some tapers, and took him to
the spot.

The paintings appeared to him of considerable ex-
cellence, and he made two large drawings of them.
Mr. Bankes, when in Italy, had seen paintings in
fresco removed from the walls entire, and he conceived

300 TRAVELS OF

that he could pursue the same method with these.
I witnessed with regret his preparations and success
in removing two, because I feared that succeeding
travellers would blame the act : and yet, on the other
hand, two such pieces of antiquity would be highly
esteemed in England, and I knew that an idle boy or
a fanatic Turk might destroy them for ever, if left
where they were.

Mr. Bankes left Mar Elias immediately afterwards
for Dayr el Kamar, to pay a visit to the emir Beshyr.
He had brought with him from Egypt a renegado
Italian in the Albanian costume, who acted as his in-
terpreter. As a private soldier is not a proper person
to come into the presence of people of rank, Mr.
Bankes was advised to obtain the services of M.
Bertrand in his interview with the prince, which he
did. They proceeded to Btedyn, the emir's resi-
dence. After visiting the emir, Mr. Bankes pursued
his journe}', and M. Bertrand returned to Sayda.

Soon after Mr. Bankes's departure, we heard that he
had made an attempt, in the month of April, to go to
Palmyra, but had failed. Lady Hester had told him
how many difficulties he would have to encounter in
the passage of the Desert, unless he went under the
escort of the Bedouin Arabs ; and, to secure him a
favourable reception from them, she offered him letters
of introduction to Muly Ismael of Hamah and to
Nasar, son of Mahannah ; soliciting him likewise, for
his own sake, and for the sake of his parents, who

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 301

would lay much to her charge, should any misfortune
happen to him, which a prudent foresight on her part
might have prevented, to take as a guide her servant,
Pierre, who had already been twice into the Desert,
and was personally known to all the Arabs. But Mr.
Bankes seemed inclined to trust to his own resources
and management, which had hitherto brought him thus
far in safety : and unwillingly accepted both the
letters and the man.^

^ When Lady Hester was in the Desert, she entered into an
arrangement with the emir and his son Nasar, that, whatever,
person applied to them for a passage to Palmyra, and made
use of her name without being furnished with a letter from
her, such a one was no friend of hers. Of those who pro-
duced letters from her she wished them to understand there
might be two classes, who would be distinguished by a double
seal or single seal. " If there comes to me," said Lady
Hester, a great man, on whom I can rely, and Avhose word you
may trust as my own, who wants to live among you, to see
your mock fights or a camel killed and eaten, to ride on a
dromedary in his housings, &c., I will send him with two
seals : but if it be another sort of person, I will send him with
one."

Lady Hester had mentioned this conversation to Mr. Bankes.
When therefore Mr. Bankes was furnished with a letter by her
ladyship, curious to know under which denomination he was
sent, he caused his letter to be read to him by a man at Hamah,
a stranger whom he accidentally met ; and, finding that there
was but one seal, and that he was mentioned neither as a prince
nor nobleman, he would not present it.

Some persons, who heard of this, went so far as to say that

302 TRAVELS OP

Soon after Mr. Bankes's departure, I had one nio;ht
retired to bed in my cottage, when I heard the
tramphng of horses near my door, with a talking, as
of persons who were strangers. To this succeeded a

Lady Hester wanted to shut people out of the Desert ; but it
must be evident that all she wanted was not to compromise
herself.

So much was ]VIr. Bankes's pride hurt by this adventure that,
when finally he had achieved his journey to Palmyra, he left
Lady Hester's letters with Mr. Barker, as a deposit, — to show
(he said) that her influence had nothing to do with his getting
thither.

Arrived at Hamah, he neither delivered the letters to Muly
Ismael and to Nasr, nor suffered Pierre to remain with him ;
but, having met there the Pasha of Damascus, Hafiz Ali, who
showed him great civility and wrote to the Bedouins to recom-
mend him to their protection, he set off with his customary
guard, the renegado Albanian. He was arrested in his progress,
at the Belaz mountain, by Shaykh Nasar, who demanded of
him who he was, and whither he was going. Mr. Bankes in
vain said that the pasha would punish those who molested him.
Nasar required of him a vast sum of money, as the price of his
passage ; and, on Mr. Bankes's refusal, conducted him back to
Hamah, without doing him any harm. Mr. Bankes afterwards
made a second attempt, which also was not attended with com-
plete success. Hearing that Sir William Chatterton and Mr.
Leslie were on their way to Hamah, he waited some time for
them ; but, eager to effect his purpose, he at last departed alone,
having agreed to pay 1,100 piasters (£45 sterling). On his
arrival at Palmyra, Hamed, another son of Mahannah, insisted
on having an additional present ; and, on Mr. Bankes's refusal,
imprisoned him. It was also said that Mr. Bankes was forced to

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 303

knocking, and then a parley with my servant : the
result of which was that a voice, in English, made
known that it was Mr. Buckingham, who was
bending his way to the monastery, where he had been
expected some days, yet was afraid to present him-
self, as it was so late. Finding, however, on looking
at my watch, that it was only two in the morning,
and knowing that Lady Hester was seldom in bed at
that hour, I urged him to go on, which he did.

On the morrow I found him safely housed. Mr.
Buckinghara''s Turkish dress became him, and he
looked very much like a Mahometan. Lady Hester
found much pleasure in his conversation, and detained
him until the 18th of April.

As soon as Mr. Buckingham was gone. Lady
Hester, who had deeply reflected on the then recent
events which had anew convulsed Europe, gave vent
to her indignation in a letter which is couched in such
energetic language as to be worthy of standing as a

pay thirty ikliks to be permitted to copy an inscription over
the gate of the Temple of the Sun : but Nasar restored the
money to IMr. Bankes on his return to Hamah.

Some time before this, a rupture had taken place between Lady
Hester and Mr. Bankes ; and, on Mr. Bankes's writing to me a
request that, in case of going to England, I would take charge
of a tin box containing some of his drawings and his fresco
paintings, both which were still at Mar Elias, Lady Hester ad-
vised me to have nothing to do with them, but to transmit them
to him, which I did, with an excuse on the score that the trust
was too great.

304 TRAVELS OP

record of her opinions on men, whom, perhaps, she
had a better opportunity of knowing than most per-
sons of her times.

Lady Hester Stanhope to the Marquis (afterwards Duke) of
Buckingham.

Mount Lebanon, April 22, 1816.
My dear Cousin,

For years, in writing to you, I have been silent on pohtics :
but as it is probable that this letter will reach you, I avail
myself of this opportunity to give you my real opinions.

You cannot doubt that a woman of my character, and (I
presume to say) of my understanding, must have held in con-
tempt and aversion all the statesmen of the present day, whose
unbounded ignorance and duplicity have brought ruin on
France, have spread their own shame through all Europe,
and have exposed themselves not only to the ridicule but to
the curses of present and future generations. One great
mind, one single enlightened statesman, whose virtues had
equalled his talents, was all that w^as wanting to effect, at this
unexampled period, the welfare of all Europe, by taking ad-
vantage of events the most extraordinary that have ever
occurred in any era. That moment is gone by : an age of
terror and perfidy has succeeded. Horrible events will take
place, and those who find themselves farthest from the scenes
which will be acted may consider themselves the most
fortunate.

Cease therefore to torment me : I will not live in Europe,
even were I, in flying from it, compelled to beg my bread.
Once only will I go to France, to see you and James, but only
that once. I will not be a martyr for nothing. The grand-
daughter of Lord Chatham, the niece of the illustrious Pitt,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 305

feels herself blush, as she writes, that she was born in Eng-
land— that England, who has made her accursed gold the
counterpoise to justice; that England who puts weeping
humanity in irons, who has employed the valour of her
troops, destined for the defence of her national honour,
as the instrument to enslave a free-born people ; and who
has exposed to ridicule and humiliation a monarch who
might have gained the good will of his subjects, if those
intriguing English had left him to stand or fall upon his own
merits.

What must be, if he reflects, the feelings of that monarch's
mind? but it is possible that his soul is too pure to enable
him to dive into the views of others, and to see that he has
merely been their tool. May Heaven inspire him with the
sentiments of Henry the Fourth, (a name too often profaned)
who would have trod the crown under his feet rather than
have received it upon the conditions with which your friend
has accepted it !

You will tell me that the French army — the bravest troops
in the world, they who have made moi'e sacrifices to their
national honour than any others — would not listen to the
voice of reason : and you think I shall believe you. Never !
If an individual, poor and humble like myself, knows how to
make an impression (as I have done) upon thousands of wild
Arabs, without even bearing the name of chieftain, by yield-
ing somewhat to their prejudices and by inspiring confidence
in my integrity and sincerity, could not a king — a legitimate
king — guide that army, to which he owed the preservation of
his power, to a just appreciation of their duty? Without
doubt he could, and would have done too, if he had been left
free to act. What was to be expected from men, naturally in-
censed at the interference of those who, for twenty-five years,
were held up to their minds as their bitterest enemies, but that
which has happened ? In a word, never did tyrant, ancient or

306 TRAVELS OP

modern, act so entirely against the interests of humanity as
those insensate dolts of our day, who have violated the holy
rights of peace, and have broken the ties, which, mider any
circumstances, should connect man and man.

And pray consider all I say as the real expression of my
thoughts. Oh ! if I said all I feel, I could fill a volume !
but, just now, I am not very well in health, and to take a pen
in hand confuses my head, as it has done ever since my attack
of plague at Latakia. I have therefore begged the doctor to
write this for me.

You and James must let me know if you can come and
meet me in Provence : for to Paris I will not go. The sight of
those odious ministers of ours, running about to do mischief,
would be too disgusting. Recollect that it is not what is
called " Love" which takes me now to a prison, but that senti-
ment which I shall always feel for those whom I have loved :
— a sentiment, which, in my bosom, is not inferior in intensity
to the passion itself in the bosom of another. You may make
faces or not — I care not a farthing ; for there is no soul on
earth who ever had, or ever will have, any influence on my
thoughts or my actions.

If you wish to write to me, send your letters to Paris,
addressed to James, or to the care of Messrs. Lafitte et C'^,
Coutts's correspondents, I shall take care that the bearer of
this letter applies there before he leaves Paris to rejoin me.
His stay will be from fifteen to twenty days.

Adieu, my dear cousin. Be as proud and as angry as you
please at my politics, but you will never change them : do not
however, on that account, cease to love me, or forget
Your ever affectionate

L. H. S.

Visitors of another kind made their appearance this
year, but were not so cordially received. These

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 807

were swarms of locusts, which came to add to the dis-
tress in which the country was then plunged from the
unusual drought of the season. The locusts first
showed themselves in the middle of March, and flew
chiefly along the border laud between the mountains
and the sea, forming a swarm of some miles in length.
They would have gone onward, but the north wind
happened to set in, and blew so strongly that, when
they came to a point of land a few miles north of
Sayda, past which there was no screen from the wind,
they could not advance any farther ; for once on
the wing, so slight of body are they, that, whichever
way the wind blows, they are carried irresistibly with
it.

The poor husbandman slept for a few hours, and, on
waking, found a track of stalks where lately he left a
corn-field in full blade. Winter seemed suddenly to
have succeeded spring, so completely were the trees
and fields stripped of their verdure.

Locusts on the wing can be compared to nothing so
well as a fall of snow. Their swarms obscure the air
in just the same manner and as far as the eye can
reach.

About this time news was brought that Her Royal
Highness Caroline Princess of Wales had landed at
Acre. Lady Hester had heard many weeks before of
her approach, and, not intending to come in contact
with her, had given out that she had meditated for
some time past a journey to Antioch, and was resolved

308 TRAVELS OP

to put it in execution this summer. Preparations
and arrangements had therefore begun as early as the
mouth of May ; and she had written to Mr. Barker,
British consul at Aleppo, to meet her at Antioch, for
the purpose of settling their banking accounts and other
matters. Many persons thought it an instance of great
rashness on the part of Lady Hester to go into a dis-
trict inhabited entirely by Ansarys, a race which had
lately seen such mischief accruing to it at her instiga-
tion, on account of M. Boutin's assassination.

Lady Hester's preparations for her departure were
now so far advanced that the vessel in which she in-
tended to sail had been hired. I know not whether
her ladyship had any reason, other than the mere pro-
bability of such a thing, for believing that Her Royal
Highness would extend her journey towards Say da ;
but, as she had resolved not to remain herself at Mar
Elias to await the result of the princess's movements,
it was thought proper that I should do so, to offer
her such accommodations and entertainment as the
monastery could affbrd. Miss Williams was left for
the purpose of household arrangements, and Hanyfy,
the black slave, likewise stopped behind j probably
to prevent her from forming an acquaintance with
so fanatic a people as the Autiochian Mahometans,
who hold it to be a sin for any believer to be bought
and kept in servitude by a Christian. Lady Hester
furnished me with a letter of introduction to Her
Royal Highness ; and desired me to go and meet

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 309

her as far as Tyre, supposiug she came that way by
land.

Lady Hester spent a few days, previous to her de-
parture, in her cottage in the gardens of Sayda ; and
on the 18th July embarked on board of a shaJctur^
which had been fitted up for the voyage. The vessel
put into Tripoli, where she saw Mustafa Aga Berber,
and other persons with whom she was in correspon-
dence of business and friendship. Re-embarking, she
arrived safely at Swadiah, and thence went to Antioch,
•where she was received with great honours by the
authorities of the place.

310 TRAVELS OF

CHAPTER XII.

Journey of the Princess of Wales to Jerusalem — Burial at
Abra — Dismissal of Ibrahim — Padre Nicolo — M. Ruffin ap-
pointed French consul at Sayda — Great drought — Festival of
St. Elias — Alarm of robbers — Visit of the Author to the
Shaykh Beshyr's wife, and to Syt Frosyny Kerasaty — Further
alarms — Festival of Byram — Cottages taken for Lady Hester
at the village of Rum — Depilation — Flight of Malem Dubany
— Return of Lady Hester from Antioch — Result of researches
after the murderers of Col. Boutin — The Ansary refuse to give
them up — Mustafa Aga Berber collects troops to punish the
Ansary — Motives of Lady Hester's voyage to Antioch — Visit of
M. Regnault, French consul at Tripoli — M. Loustaunau and his
predictions — History of Michael Ay da — Return of Giorgio from
England, with Mr. N., as successor to the Author — Last
visit of the latter to Acre — The governor of Smyrna put
to death — Hawary soldiers — Visit to the Emir Beshyr.

In the mean time, it was told me by Abuna Saba,
the superior of the monastery of Dayr Mkhallas, who
was just returned from Acre, that Her Eoyal High-
ness the Princess of Wales had reached Acre under
the folio wins: circumstances. The vessel, on board of

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 311

which she was, had put into Jaffa, as being the nearest
port to Jerusalem. Mohammed Aga, the governor,
was not there, and the vice-governor, Kengi Ahmed,
(his father-in-Law) refused to let Her Eoyal Highness
land, saying that he respected her firmans, but dared
not act upon them until they had been presented to
his master, Sulyman Pasha.' Upon this the vessel
sailed for Acre. Here the Princess inquired for
Signor Catafago, of whom she had probably heard
at Jafla ; but, on learning that he was absent, Her
Royal Highness sent for Signor Malagamba, the Eng-
lish agent.

A complaint was laid against Kengi Ahmed Aga
for having refused her entrance at Jaffa ; but his
conduct was justified by the pasha, who said that it
was Her Royal Highness who had gone wrong by
trying to get in at the window instead of the door ;
meaning that she had presented herself at a port which
was not the seat of government. The pasha judged
Signor Catafago to be the fittest person to act as Her
Royal Highnesses conductor to Jerusalem : he there-
fore sent for him to Nazareth, ordering him to come
immediately.

Soon after his arrival, which was on the same day,
the princess landed, and paid a visit to the pasha, who
received her with distinction, but in his common saloon ;

^ Lady Hester Stanhope, under precisely the same circum-
stances, contrived to effect her entry. These difficulties were
never raised against common persons.

S12 TRAVELS OF

after which the necessary orders were issued by him
that she should be furnished with tents, horses, and
mules, for her suite and luggage, and with a takhtar-
wan, or covered palanquin, and his own double tent for
herself; and, likewise, that she should be entertained
at the pasha's cost at the different stations on the
road. Abuna Saba told me that, on the princess''s
visit to the pasha, she walked through the streets to
the palace, taking the arm of two of her officers who
wore red coats. There was one great piece of neglect
in her people : they never officially advised the pasha
that she proposed to visit him, otherwise he would not
have received her in the room that he did.

Signor Malagamba, the English agent, had, it
appears, so little polish in his manners, that he was
entirely neglected by her Eoyal Highness, who found
in Signor Catafago all the attention to her wishes that
she could desire. Accordingly, in arranging the plan
of the journey to Jerusalem, he obtained from her
E-oyal Highness her consent that she should go by the
way of Nazareth, and across Samaria, to Jerusalem.
On quitting Acre, her Royal Highness presented the
pasha with a snuff-box (my narrator told me) worth
one hundred purses — more than .£'1500 ; but here the
customary exaggeration of the Levantines probably
added seven eights to the real value.

On the road to Nazareth there is a large village,
called Shuf Omar. I conceive this to have been the
place meant, in the evidence adduced against her

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 813

Royal Highness in the House of Lords, in 1820,
under the name of Aum : for there is no place called
Aum on the road from Acre to Nazareth, and none
the sound of which comes so near it as Omar. Here
her Royal Highness made her first station. As, in so
large a cavalcade, composed of so many persons ignorant
of Arabic, there was necessarily much confusion, it
happened that one of her Royal Highnesses trunks,
containing effects she would have been unwilling to
lose, was stolen hereabouts. No sooner was it missed,
than Signor Catafago set his people to work to discover
the thief. This is not very difficult in a country,
where, between town and town, or between village and
village, there are no single houses, no extensive forests,
and few places of concealment, except caverns, to issue
from or return to ; and where a single individual, not
present at the customary evening conversation of his
neighbours, would necessarily be compelled, from the
usual interrogatories of his friends, to assign a sufficient
reason for his absence. Signor Catafago immediately
sent for the bailiffs of the village, and told them that,
if the trunk were not produced forthwith, the village
should be avanized. This is a common way of finding
out a delinquent : for the peasants, rather than suffer in
their own pockets, will soon discover the ofienders and
bring them to justice. Accordingly, on the following
morning, Signor Catafago was told that the trunk would
be found lying in a cavern by the side of the road.
VOL. in. P

314 TRAVELS OF

It was found and restored to the princess : and although
it had been broken open, the contents were left in it.
At Nazareth her Royal Highness was lodged in Signor
Catafago's house. When she departed, he requested
her to excuse him from accompanying her farther, and
deputed his son, Lewis Catafago, in his place. Her
Royal Highness offered him a handsome present for
his trouble and hospitality, which he refused, pro-
bably out of fear, under the plea that he was but a
servant of the pasha's, and could not accept anything.
Her Royal Highness pursued her journey, and
arrived safe at Jerusalem. The same house was
assigned to her which Lady Hester had occupied when
there. Thence she went to the river Jordan, and,
returning to Jerusalem, took the road to Jaffa, where
the vessel awaited her. Among the persons appointed
to attend her Royal Highness on this interesting tour
in the Holy Land was Hadj Ali, whose name has already
occurred so often in these pages. He filled the same
situation with her Royal Highness v/hicli he had done
with Lady Hester ; and it is chiefly from him and
Abuna Saba that I have collected these trifling details.
About this time, an old man in Abra (nicknamed
the doctor), but whose real name was Abu Daud, died.
As soon as the breath was out of his body, the women
stripped the corpse, and put on it what had been his
Sunday clothes. His son, with much wailing (for
custom allows not silent grief), set up the usual cry of
' Oh, my father ! oh, my father !*''' Friends of the

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 315

family were then despatched to all the villages within
distance, to assemble the villagers, who make it a
point of good neighbourhood to attend on these
melancholy occasions. They flocked in by small
parties ; and, as soon as they came within hearing of
the house where the corpse lay, they began to cry
aloud, continuing in one breath and one tone from be-
ginning to end — " Thou art gone, cousin : our tears are
hot : parting is bitter, but such is the will of God !"
This cry was continued up to the door. To a person
unacquainted with Arabic, the cry for a marriage and
for a death (by the men) appears the same : the
tones are one, the words only are difierent.

Ibrahim, the Egyptian, who had been sent to
England with a couple of Arabians, as a present to his
Royal Highness the late Duke of York, had, under
my hands, recovered his health from a severe pul-
monary attack : but, not liking the monotonous life of
Abra, he threw up his service, and went to Damascus.
Here poverty overtook him, and he returned to me
begging. I gave him a small allowance on Lady
Hester's account, merely to keep him above want until
her return : for I did not wish to use harsh measures
with a man just rescued from the jaws of death, and
for whom I supposed Lady Hester would have some
consideration, as having been in England, and for
some time groom in the Duke of York's stables.
However, to finish what I have to say of this man,
when Lady Hester returned from Antioch, she found

p 2

S16 TRAVELS OF

it impossible to keep him, I took him, therefore,
before the cadi of Sayda, to whom I made known the
kindnesses which had been wasted on this ungrateful
fellow. I dwelt particularly on his habits of drunken-
ness, which were hardly pardonable in any one, more
especially in a Mahometan ; and I then begged, in Lady
Hester's name, that he might be shipped off to
Egypt, his own country, by the first opportunity.
This was done. His loose habits there brought on a
repetition of his cough ; and he finally died of phthisis.
I discovered afterwards that this man had acted as
sheriff's officer at Alexandria on the occasion of an
execution of a thief, who was hanged by the English
from the top of the gateway that overlooks the parade.
AVhat would the Duke have thought, if he had known
that one of his grooms was a hangman !

On the 26th of July I had an attack of fever,
which, however, left me in four days ; but I felt feeble
for some time afterwards. At the commencement of
this fever I happened to have taken an emetic, and
was under its influence, when a holy father was an-
nounced to me. He proved to be Father Nicholas, a
friar of the order of St. Francis, who had resided for
many years at Zeluma, a village on the very summit
of Mount Lebanon ; where, in the midst of the Druzes
and some Christian families, he enjoyed such consider-
ation as his convivial qualities entitled him to. He an-
nounced himself as the envoy of the Emiry (feminine for
emir) Meleky by name, sister to the Emir Hyder, who,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 317

having run the gauntlet through all the medical practi-
tioners of Syria for some female complaint with which
she was afflicted, now wished me to undertake her cure.
I entertained the jovial friar until the next morn-
ing, as well as my sick state of body would permit
me, and then dismissed him with a letter to the
princess, excusing myself on the score of ill health.

Monsieur Taitbout, the French consul at Sayda,
had been superseded by Monsieur Ruffin, son of a
gentleman at Constantinople, who had, on one occa-
sion, held for a short time the situation of charge
d''affaires of the French government to the Porte. Mon-
sieur Euffin arrived about this period. He was accom-
panied by Madame Ruffin, a Parisian, who expressed
much disgust at the want of gallantry to the ladies
which so strongly marked the Levantine manners.

On the 28th of July Miss Williams fell ill, as it
seemed, from excessive heat. The customary heat of
the climate had received an adventitious augmenta-
tion from the great drought which had parched up the
soil. The spring, which usually supplied the con-
vent with water, was dried up. Peasants were seen
transporting their sacks of corn from places ten or
twenty miles distant, to be ground at the water-mills
on the river Ewely, where the stream had yet power
to turn the wheels : for, in most places, even the rivers
had ceased to flow. Wheat had become exceedingly
dear ; and in Abra the peasants ate barley bread.

It had been an annual custom, with the bishops and
patriarchs who had made Mar Elias their residence,

318 TRAVELS OF

to celebrate the festival of that saint by a solemn mass
at the chapel of the convent. Lady Hester had found
that she could not dispense with this practice ; and,
accordingly, on the 2nd of August, the peasantry of
the neighbouring villages and many persons from
Sayda were seen flocking into Abra and spreading
their carpets on the village green, for bivouacking pre-
paratory to the morrow. In the morning, mass was
said ; upon which occasion the priest collected from a
farthing to twopence or threepence from each indi-
vidual ; and if he made ten piasters by the festival he
considered himself well paid.

These festivals, as I have said before, are looked
upon by the village girls and young men as fairs are
in England, and are attended often with consequences
as pernicious to their morals.

On the 1st of August it was reported that some
Nablusians (Samaritans), compelled by the dearth
which prevailed throughout the southern district, had
resorted to robbery and plunder for subsistence, and
were then marauding in Ahlym-el-Khar{ib, within a
few leagues of us. Upon more strict inquiry, I found,
however, that they were rather to be denominated a
gang of horse and ass stealers, as they hitherto had
confined their depredations to the brute species. I,
nevertheless, thought it necessary to use more than
common vigilance, knowing that Lady Hester's
bountiful conduct on several occasions had caused her
to pass for a person extremely rich. And as the
common people of the countiy conceived all riches to

LADY HESTER STANHOPE.

319

be either such as are in possessions or in solid cash,
they concluded that chests of o;old were locked up in
the convent.

I, therefore, resolved to transfer my bed to the
convent ; and I appointed one of the servants to watch
on the roof of the chapel, where he could, in the still-
ness of the night, hear the footsteps or voices of persons
prowling about.

On the 4th of August, I rode over to Muktarah, the
palace of the ShaykliBeshyr, to see his wife, who was ill.

PALACE Of THE SHAYKH BESHYR.

1 arrived early in the afternoon ; but, as it was
now Rainazan, and the shaykh, although a Druze,
chose to keep that fast, he was still in bed. Before
sunset he quitted his room, and at sunset I dined

820 TRAVELS OF

with him. As his manner of living accords more
with the primeval simplicity of the Arabians than
what is practised in towns, it will not be amiss to
describe the meal.

About four o"" clock, it being now the hottest part of
the year, the servants began to throw pails of water
over the paved court, which occupied the centre of the
lower rooms of the palace, and from which there was,
on one side, which was open, a beautiful and extensive
view of the adjoining mountains. In the midst of this
watering the shaykh appeared, dressed in a silk
kombdz, or tunic, and a lemon-coloured ^2/^^?/, or cloth
mantle : for he loved finery and bright colours, which,
it appeared to me, these mountaineers generally do.
Whilst the watering was going on, he walked about
in the wet, barefoot, to enjoy the cooling and refresh-
ino- sensation. Persons who had business, suitors, com-
plainants, &c., formed a large ring round him. Calling
these to him, one by one, he discussed and despatched
their affairs whilst walking. I stood by, as a looker-on.

This scene continued until sunset. He then washed
his feet and hands, and we sat down to dinner. I
was on the shaykh's left hand. The dinner was very
plentiful, the dishes of excellent flavour ; and unlike
the manner of the Turks, they were all put on at
once. The shaykh selected a few good morsels with
his fingers, and placed them on my plate. We ate
with our fingers, or with box-wood spoons, the handles
tipped with coral. We were six in party, and each,
when he had done, rose, and removed to the carpet

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 321

spread out for sitting, where a servant brought him
water and a basin, and he washed his mouth and
hands, with much soaping of the beard, garghng of
the throat, and rinsing of the mouth ; all which are
received usages. The shaykh, in the mean time, kept
his seat ; and, as one guest moved off, desired another to
take his place. Tliese consisted of his secretaries :
but, when they had done, the very servants, who
had waited on us, were told by the shaykh to sit
down, and they too dined — Giovanni, my servant,
among the rest. All this was done with much de-
corum, and little or nothing was said during eating.
When every one had finished, the tinned copper tray
was lifted off; the heptangular stool, or low table, on
which it had stood, was carried away ; the spot was
swept, and in a few minutes there were no traces of
dinner to be discovered, excepting in the occasional
eructations of the shaykh and of some others, who
made no scruple of giving a free escape to the gas
bubbles from their overcharged stomachs. We then
smoked our pipes, that of the shaykh being of jessa-
mine wood, and about ten feet long. The shaykh
then resumed the transaction of business, which,
during Ramazan, is chiefly done in the first part of
the night. An hour before sunrise another meal is
served up, and rest is taken in the day-time to relieve
the ennui of fasting.

Being now relieved from the effects of my ride,
I was taken to the harym to see the shaykh's wife,

P 5

322 TRAVELS OF

my patient. The entrance to the harym, or the
women's side, was by so circuitous a way, that it
took up ten minutes to arrive at her chamber, which
was at the very top of the palace. We entered on a
terrace paved with coloured stones, in the centre of
which was a circular basin, with a fountain in the
middle. On the side fronting the entrance was a dome,
supported b}'- four pillars, painted in lively colours,
and not without taste. Under it the women would
sit in the day- time, and overlook the courtyard below,
where all the busy scene, of cavaliers and men on foot,
was open to their view. One side of the terrace had
a large saloon, the other an alcove, with an open divan
between two rooms, in one of which was the fair Druze,
sitting up in bed, dressed, and with her horn on her head,
which the Druze women never lay aside, up or in bed.

I was much struck with her beauty, and with a
pair of rosy cheeks on a very fair and clear skin,
which looked very little like a person in ill health.
I was somewhat surprised at finding that the person
in waiting was the wife of Jahjah Atmy, our former
host at Meshmiishy. Coflee and a narkily were
brought to me, and, whilst smoking, her case was
examined. I left her, and retired to rest, saw her
the next morning, and then departed for Abra, where
I arrived about eight at night.

My servant-boy, Musa, tired of work, had con-
trived, during my absence, to excite the pity of a
woman traveUing to Tyre, to whom he told a story

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 323

of his wish to return to his distressed mother. In
this way he reached Tyre, and betook himself to the
house of the bishop. The bishop suffered him to
remain with his family, but secretly wrote to me a
letter, desiring to know whether he should send him
back. As, however, he had stolen nothing, and was evi-
dently tired of his service, I only requested the bishop
to endeavour to forward him by safe hands to Jerusa-
lem, whither he had often expressed a wish to return.

During my absence, also, the alarm of robbers had
increased ; so I distributed among the servants what
arms were in the convent. In the mean time, I began
to be anxious about her ladyship, from whom no
letter had yet been received, nor could I hear any-
thing certain of the movements of her royal highness
the Princess of Wales. Miss Williams had recovered
from her indisposition, but sickness and alarm had
already begun to make her discontented with her
position.

Although the following letters relate to a date
posterior to the close of this narrative, they are never-
theless not altoo-ether irrelevant, as affordino; a strong
illustration of Lady Hester Stanhope''s character. It
is Dr. Wolff himself who has related all these circum-
stances to me, and who has favoured me with the
copies of the letters.

" In the year 1823 I travelled with Captain the
Honourable John Caradoc, now Lord Howden, from
Jerusalem to Sayda, from which latter place, as being

324 TRAVELS OF

near to Lady Hester''s residence, I forwarded to Miss
Williams a letter from her sister, Mrs. David, which
had been entrusted to me by that lady, and to which
I added a note from myself, saying that I should be
happy to forward her answer to her sister, at Malta.
One hour after, a letter arrived from Lady Hester
herself, the contents of which were as follows : —

"' To Dr. Wolff.
" ' I am astonished that an apostate should dare to thrust
himself into notice in my family. Had you been a learned
Jew, you never would have abandoned a religion, rich in itself
although defective, to embrace the shadow of one. Light
travels faster than sound : therefore the Supreme Bemg could
never have allowed his creatures to be left in utter darkness,
until paid and speculating wanderers deem it proper to raise
their venal voice to enlighten them.

" ' Hester Lucy Stanhope.' "

Dr. Wolff immediately returned the following-
answer: —

To the Lady Hester Stanhope.

Saida, June, 1823.
Madam,

I have just received a letter which bears your
Ladyship's signature ; but I doubt its being genuine, as I never
wrote to your Ladyship, nor did I mention your name in my
letter to Miss Williams.

With regard to my views and pursuits, they give me perfect
tranquillity and happiness, and they must be quite immaterial
to your Ladyship.

Your humble servant,

Joseph Wolff.

LADY I1E:STER STANHOPE. 325

At the time this correspondence took place, Miss
Williams may be supposed to have grown disgusted
with an Eastern life, and to have wished to return to
her sister. This feeling Lady Hester was probably
fully aware of; and to have admitted Dr. Wolff, who
had seen that sister, as a visitor at her house, was
to open a means of communication which might have
led to Miss Williams's return. With her custo-
mary energetic tactics, Lady Hester therefore put an
end to all such contingencies.

That the reverend gentleman, whose philanthropic
exertions in the cause of humanity have already
raised him to a height in men"'s esteem, where no
praises of mine can reach him, does not feel the term
" apostate," so harshly applied to him by Lady
Hester Stanhope, as a reproach, is evident from the
readiness with which he made the communication,
and is a proof, if any were required, of his firm
belief in the truths which he preaches.

Dr. Wolff informed me, in furnishing me with these
particulars, which I had begged for insertion in my
Travels, that the bearer of his letter was bastinadoed
by Lady Hester and kicked down stairs ; and that the
poor fellow returned to Sayda lame, and told him that
" the daughter of the King of England had beaten him."

I received, on the 9th of August, a letter from the
village of Joon, requesting my attendance on Syt
Frosiny Kerasaty, the lady of Damietta, of whom
mention has already been made, when speaking of

826 TRAVELS OF

that city. I went on the following day, and found
that this lady, having lain in of a boy, in Egypt, had
thought it prudent to embark for Syria, there to bring
up the child. Syt Frosiny's husband was by birth a
Damascene ; and there is a common belief that the off-
spring of Syrians, born in Egypt, if left there, never
arrive at puberty. This was certainly verified in the
case of Malem Kerasaty''s family ; for she had already
borne him three children, which had died in infancy.
When pregnant with this last, her husband had be-
come paralytic, and she had no hope, if this one did
not survive, of bearing him another. Accompanied,
therefore, by her mother, who was blind, she em-
barked for Sayda, and had arrived a few days before
at the village of Joon, in the house of Malem Jusef
Sewayeh, whose father Malem Kerasaty had once
served as clerk.

I was fearful of sleeping away from the convent, and
returned to dinner. Whilst dining at my cottage,
the peasants came to inform me that the gang of
robbers had been seen passing the village. As it was
now dark, I recommended to them weat vioilance,
and, retiring to Mar Ehas, went to bed. Not very
long afterwards, the man on the roof of the chapel
saw a person coming up a footpath at the back of the
convent. He hailed him ; and, as he received no
answer, fired. It was not known until the day after
that this was a poor pedlar, travelling towards the
mountain, totally ignorant why he was fired at, and

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 327

not aware that any one could possibly want an an-
swer from him.

Thus did this alarm continue night after night for
a fortnight ; but no banditti ever attacked us : still
I could not absent myself for twenty-four hours to-
gether, since Miss Williams, unacquainted with the
language, necessarily felt much inquietude when 1
was away. One night, I was awakened suddenly
by the old Druze woman, Um Riskh, who entered
my chamber, and begged me, for God's sake, to get
up. The robbers immediately came into my mind ;
1 seized the brace of pistols, which I kept constantly
at my bedside, and followed her into the court. I
opened the great door. " There he is !"" she said.
I looked, expecting to see a man ; but, to my asto-
nishment, found that her agitation had been
caused by her having seen, from her window, her
favourite pack-horse cast, by having entangled his
legs and neck in his halter, so as nearly to have
strangled himself. The rope was immediately cut,
and the kedysli saved ; but, as we had made some
bustle, I hastened in doors, and found Miss Williams
and the black slave trembling and expecting every
moment to see some huge, ferocious ruffian enter to
cut their throats. By degrees, the report of robbers
lost ground, and at last died away entirely. On the
10th of August, I went again to Joon, to see the Syt
Frosiny, who had caught an ague. Another lady
was added to the inmates of Joon Place, by the arrival

328 TRAVELS OF

of Yusef Sewayeh's wife, married from a family well
known to English travellers as occupying a house in
Damascus, which is shown as one of the best in the
city. But the contrast between the manners and
dress of these two ladies was much in favour of the
Damiettan. Frosiny was in person somewhat small,
but well made, with an engaging smile ever on her
countenance, a playful wit, and with features that
everybody pronounced charming. Syt Sewayeh was
stout even to fatness, heavy in conversation, formal,
bedecked from her head to her fingers' ends with
jewels and precious stones. But what seemed most
unbecoming to her was the form of the turban, which
is worn by the women of Damascus of a prodigious size.

I was now revelling in all the abundance of the
fruits growing in the gardens of Sayda. The autumn
was always to me the most delightful season of the
year ; and, but for the musquitoes, would have left
little to desire as far as the enjoyment of the senses
goes. Having now so much leisure time oii my hands,
I delineated several fish which were brought to me
fresh from the nets ; but, such was the heat of the
weather, that they often smelt before I could finish
the drawing.^

1 These fish were afterwards shown to Monsieur Cuvier,
but, as being common to all the Mediterranean, proyed not to
be curious. The traveller in those countries should be ap-
prized that drawings of the fish of the Syrian rivers, and of
the inland seas and lakes, would be esteemed a great curiosity.
Dr. Clark says, " An Arab fisherman at Jaffa, as we were stand-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 829

About this time, Sulyman Pasha sent off Hassan
Ao-a as bearer of some very rich presents to Mo-
hammed Ah, pasha of Egypt. This is the mode of
keepino- up a friendly intercourse between potentates
in the East. In the same way, he was accustomed
to send annually to Muly Ismael a caravan of camels,
loaded with rice, preserved dates, raisins, figs, and
such other articles of consumption as were with diffi-
culty, or at an increased price, to be had in Hamah
and its neighbourhood.

M. Beaudin, Lady Hester''s dragoman, arrived also
on the same day, with news that her ladyship was on
her return by sea. Fearful of the continued heats of

ing upon the beach, came running to us with a fish he had
just taken out of the water ; and, from his eagerness to show
what he had caught, we supposed it could not be very com-
mon. It was like a small tench, but of a dark and exceed-
ingly vivid green colour, such as we had never seen before nor
since ; neither is it described by any author we are acquainted
with. We had no means of preserving it, and therefore would
not deprive the poor man of an acquisition Avith which he
seemed so delighted; but gave him a trifle for the gratification
its very extraordinary appearance afforded us, and left it in
his hands." — Dr. Clark's Travels : vol. ii., chap, xviii., p. 643 :
quarto edition.

Dr. Clark, on seeing a drawing I had made of the Aroos,
in French Demoiseau, declared it to be the same fish that he
speaks of in the above extract. He is, however, mistaken in
supposing it to be rare on the coast of Syria. I have seen
five at a time for sale, and his assertion is totally incorrect.

330 TRAVELS OP

the season, she determined to pass a few weeks higher
up in the mountain, and had requested the Shaykh
Beshyr to assign her a village as her residence. Rum
was fixed on, and on the 20th I rode up to see if
there was a house fit for her reception. Rum is a
village of about forty families, Metoualis and Chris-
tians, occupying the peaked summit of a conical
mountain, about three miles south-west of Mesh-
mushy. The road to it is most difficult, by a path
where it is necessary to clamber up rather than
walk. Having inadvertently quitted the path, I
lost my way, and wandered about among the
rocks for some time, being obliged to dismount
and lead my horse. The place was in sight and over
my head, but I still had much difficulty in getting
to it.

On my arrival, I addressed myself to the shaykh
for whom I had a letter and a buyurdy, and whom
I found to be a most venerable old Druze, cousin
of the shaykh Beshyr, and consequently a man
of importance. He received me with much civility.
He ha:l a son, named Habyb, a most beautiful
boy seven years old, who attached himself to me
the moment that we met. The shaykh's name was
Kelayb. As it was just breakfast time, (noon) I
sat down with him to four dishes, viz., melinjans'

' The melinjan is a vegetable of a pear shape and of a deep
lilac colour, as large as a bon-chretien pear, called in French
auhersrine.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. o31

boiled and beat up with oil, eggs fried in oil, nielin-
jans sliced, fried in oil, with some sour cream cheese.
Custom had now reconciled me to such a repast as
this.

The houses of Rum were of stone, but with mud
Hoors, as elsewhere on the mountain. The chief pro-
duce of the village was tobacco, which was considered
as the best in the district of Aklym el Tufah, that being
the name of the district. Charcoal was likewise made
from the stunted oaks, arbutuses, turpentine trees,
and underwood, in which the mountain hereabouts
abounded, and was an article of trade between the
village and Sayda,

I took three cottages for Lady Hester, desiring
that the one belonging to Joseph the Ironmonger
( Yusef el Hadad) should be fitted up for her. For
these three the rent was fixed at thirty- eight piasters
for the season, and I paid eight more to a cottager,
who was to admit Yusef el Hadad as a lodger in the
interim. The houses were all built on the east side
of the summit, to avoid the cold.

I returned in the evening, and on the following day
sent up Miss WiUiams and Hanyfy, the black slave,
under the care of a servant, to put the cottages in
order. It was my custom to go almost weekly to the
public hot bath at Sayda. On entering the sudatory
from the tiring-room, the bathman would always ask
me " Do you use deica to-day V I knew very well
that he meant " Do you depilate to-day V As I con-

332 TRAVELS OF

stantly said no, he suggested to me that a want of
cleanliness in this respect would not be excusable in a
pauper if a Mahometan, and, although I was a Chris-
tian, he was sure I should be more comfortable for
adopting the custom. As I knew how much im-
portance was attached to such matters, I did not like
to persist in my refusal, and, on the 22d of September,
for the first time I depilated. The preparation with
which this is done is a mixture of orpiment and quick
lime, smeared on for three or four minutes, or sometimes
for a less time, whilst the body is in a state of per-
spiration. As I was unused to the application, I kept
it on too long, and inflamed my skin most severely,
so as to be incommoded with the heat and redness for
nearly a week. This application does not prevent the
return of hair where removed : it merely corrodes or
burns it off" for a couple of months.

September 25th. In returning from Sayda I
called at Malem Dubany's house on my way, and
found that the master of the house had just fled
from his home, in consequence of a dispute with an
aga of Sayda arising from the following circumstances.
Malem Yusef Dubany^s warehouse and counting-
house were in the caravansery, called Khan el Hum-
mus, at the gate of which a man had planted himself
selling rice by retail, which was an obstruction to the
entrance. Dubany turned him away, and Mustafa
Aga replaced him. As some anger had been shown
by both parties in the dispute, Dubany thought pro-

LADV HESTER STANHOPE. S33

per to take refuge in the interior of Mount Lebanon
until the decision on the rights of the caravansery
could be obtained. Next day I learned that he was
gone no farther than Khuska, a village one league off.
On the 28th an order came from the pasha, confirm-
ing Dubany in what he had done, and he returned to
his home. But this anecdote will serve to prove how
precarious personal liberty is under the Turks, when
an aga — a simple gentleman — not properly vested
with the authority of a magistrate, could venture to
menace a Christian who had offended him, and might
do him some personal harm, as the sudden flight of
Dubany out of his reach plainly argued.

On Sunday, the 29th, a polacca brig came to an
anchor in the outer harbour, and about five o*'clock
Lady Hester arrived at the convent. She had
almost freighted the vessel with oats, for Antioch is
the only place that I heard of in Syria where they
grew : nevertheless, oats were not approved of for
horses by those natives who could get barley, which
was preferred as more nourishing.

It will be necessary here to give a little account of
Lady Hester's voyage to Antioch, and of her resi-
dence there. But we will first bring the history of
M. Boutin's assassination to a conclusion, since it
was much connected with this voyage.

It will be recollected that Lady Hester had sent
into the Ansary district, which is wholly moun-
tainous, three persons who, after having made such

834 TRAVELS OF

researches as they could, returned to communicate
their information to her ladyship. I never heard
precisely what this information was ; but she thought
it sufficient to ground upon it an application to the
pasha, that measures should be taken to bring the
murderers to punishment. She had not, perhaps,
reflected how very reluctant the pasha might be to
require persons to be given up who would be refused
to him : in which case, if he did not compel their
obedience, his authority Avould be compromised.

The Ansarys inhabit that chain of mountains
which runs as a continuation of Mount Lebanon, from
Dayr Hamyry to Antioch, comprehended between
the two parallels 34° 40' and 36° 20' north latitude.
They are tributary to the pashas of Tripoli and
Damascus, but their obedience is uncertain and their
contempt of authority general, because necessarily
suffered to go unpunished. In the centre of their
mountains, they have certain strongholds, where
the troops of the plains, which had been occasionally
sent against them, had always been foiled. It was
known in what village the murder had been com-
mitted ; but to every order to give up the murderers
some evasive answer had been returned. To Lady
Hester"'s urgent request, therefore, that more
strenuous measures should be resorted to, the pasha
repHed civilly, but evasively, that the troops could
not endure the cold mountains in the winter, but,
when spring came, her wishes should be complied with.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 835

When spring did come, Lady Hester failed not to
remind the pasha of his promise ; and I heard after-
wards that an order to the same effect, originating in
the French authorities at Constantinople, was sent
him. But to the French none of the honour of
revenging their countryman's death belonged, for
Lady Hester alone, by the information she had col-
lected, could direct them where to march. ^ Whether,
however, moved by her ladyship or by others, at last
the pasha was roused to action ; and, towards the
middle of the year, troops were seen marching on the
road to Tripoli. These troops were very generally
impressed with the idea that it was Lady Hester who
had caused them to march : for they said in the towns,
as they went along, that they were ordered on the
Syt's business.

' As a proof of this we here subjoin the translation of an
extract from the Courrier Frangois, under date of April 29,
1830, and part of a sketch of Colonel Boutin's life, which
appeared in that newspaper. — "Towards the year 1811,
Colonel Boutin received orders from the Emperor to visit
the East. He was entrusted with a mission to explore
Syria, to learn Arabic, and, at a fit opportunity, to penetrate
into Arabia and describe that country. On that occasion he
made the acquaintance of Pitt's niece, Lady Hester Stanhope,
subsequently crowned Queen of Palmyra by the Bedouins in
1821. He met from her with a most honourable reception,
and, proud of her powerful protection, he was on the point of
succeeding in his enterprise, when he was assassinated in the
neighbourhood of Damascus by the Arabs, who sought to rob

336 TRAA'ELS OF

It was evident that the pasha meditated a formid-
able irruption into the Ansary mountains; and the
command was given to Mustafa Aga Berber, as
o-overnor of their district, and as, moreover, a brave
officer, fit to cope with these mountaineers. The
Ausarys are that people who, during the crusades,
furnished those assassins who devoted themselves to
certain death for the sake of destroying the enemies
of their faith. The reader will recollect the old man
of the mountain and all the traditions connected
with that mysterious person, and he will then know
those whom Berber was to attack.

Mustafa Aga Berber at last marched, and, entering
the Ansary mountains, carried fire and sword into
their villages. It is supposed that, to the motives
furnished him by the cause on which he went, he
added personal hatred, on account of their religion ;

him of a bag of coins which he had in his possession. France
knows how the murder of this illustrious traveller was
avenged by her ladyship, who caused his assassins to be de-
capitated and obtained the restitution of his baggage, which
she effected purely by her personal influence and efforts."
To this extract may be added another mark of the gratitude
of the French nation, by whom her noble conduct was better
appreciated than by her own countrymen. She received the
thanks of the French Chamber of Deputies, after a speech
made relative to this affair by the Comte Delaborde, and I
regret that I have not been able to meet with the notice of it
in the French newspapers of the day.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 387

for Berber was a rigid Mahometan, and the Ansarys,
being out of the pale of the Mahometan faith, are
hated by the Turks so cordially that they are said to
consider it meritorious to put an Ansary to death.
Berber, therefore, was going to a work of faith. I
am ignorant of the details of his proceedings, but it
came to my ears by general report that he burnt the
villages of the assassins, sent several heads to the
pasha as trophies of his victories, and several women
to Tripoli as slaves. There was the tomb of a shaykh,
who, for his sanctity, was held as a saint by the
Ansarys : this he caused to be broken into, and the
body or bones to be taken out and consumed by fire.
He burnt also the house of shaykh Khalyl, who was
a considerable personage among them. One of the
places which he besieged was called Hamam. By
some it was said that he was never able to get hold of
the assassins themselves, and had substituted other
heads for them, whilst others affirmed that the
assassins were taken and put to death. Berber, how-
ever, returned triumphant to Tripoli : and it was soon
afterwards that Lady Hester set out for Antioch.

When Berber was about to depart on this expedi-
tion, he wrote a letter to Lady Hester, saying that,
, as he was going to fight for her, it was but fair that
she should arm her knight : accordingly, Lady Hester
sent him a brace of handsome English pistols. Now
that he was returned, we may suppose that Ladv
Hester was desirous of seeing him, and of learning

VOL. HI. Q

.338 TRAVELS OF

the details of his expedition. On the 18th of July
she embarked. The voyage was considered by most
persons as connected with the Ansary affair ; but such
as knew some circumstances of Lady Hester''s life ima-
gined that she absented herself from Sayda to avoid the
Princess of Wales. She herself always said that the
real object of her journey to Antioch was to see Mr.
Barker, in order to settle her money affairs : but, as
on many other occasions, so on this, I was quite able
to satisfy my mind as to her real motive, although she
judged it prudent not to avow it. The hope of a
little diversion to her mind might have formed a
part ; the wish of seeing Mr. Barker also had its
weight ; but the reason assigned respecting the Princess
of Wales seems to me most correct : for Lady
Hester probably knew, long before, that the Princess
was coming to Jerusalem, and she might fear that,
once in the country, she would extend her journey to
Mar Elias ; where such a visit would also have
brought upon her so much expense as to induce her to
go out of the way. But certainly no one but herself
would ever have thought of taking refuge in the
midst of the very people upon whose countrymen, per-
haps whose relations, she had been the means of bring-
ing such calamities.

When Lady Hester embarked at Sayda, the strand
was covered with spectators. The vessel she had
hired was a large shaktur. Upon the ballast, which
was sand, were laid some mats, and upon these her

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 339

ladyship's bed without any bedstead. At the head
and foot, mats were put up as screens. Towards the
stern was the heavy luggage, where lay the three
women, and towards the stem was the favourite black
horse, with the ass she was accustomed to ride.
The vessel sailed the same evening, and on the fol-
lowing day at sunset Lady Hester was on shore
at Tripoli, in the house that had been prepared
for her at the strand, which is about a mile from
the city.

As the consideration in which the government held
Lady Hester was very well known, all those who
generally take their tone from the great man hastened
down to pay their respects. Besides these, came the
English Consul, the Greek bishop, and the French
Consul. Having seen the governor, and heard the
particulars of his expedition, after a stay of five days,
Lady Hester re-embarked, and sailed for Antioch.
The rais (or captain) objected to enter the port of
Swadiah, which is nearest to Antioch, and dropped
anchor at Bussyl, the ancient Posidium, a small port
to the south of it. Mr. Barker, who had been wait-
ing at Swadiah twenty days, living under tents,
hastened immediately to Bussyl, and mules were
provided for the luggage. Lady Hester landed, and,
in a short time, arrived on her ass at Antioch, which
is distant six or seven leagues from Bussyl. Mr.
Barker had caused a house to be prepared for her,
and another for himself, but staid only five days at

340 TRAVELS OF

Antioch, and then departed for Aleppo, bein^ oblioed
to return on account of the Prince Regent's birthday,
which he wished to celebrate in his consular house.
Here Lady Hester spent seventy days, and the
language she held after her return, when speaking of
the Ansarys, was, that she considered them as an in-
dustrious but oppressed people. Few Europeans had
at that epoch ever met with common civility at
Antioch, much less with honours and consideration.
It seems, however, that Lady Hester was not less re-
garded there than elsewhere.

She visited whatever was curious. Much of the
time that she was there was spent in a retired cottage
out of the town, where she might be truly said to show
a fearless disposition and much courage : for a few
Ansarys, had they been so disposed, could have
carried her off or murdered her any hour of the
night or even of the day ; and some well disposed
persons secretly informed her, when there, that her
life was in danger. But the terror excited by the
late severe vengeance exercised on their nation pro-
bably saved her ; and, more than all, the magna-
nimous conduct which she pursued towards them ;
for, at her cottage in the woods, she took an occasion,
when several peasants were around her, to harangue
them ; telling them that she had indeed revenged the
death of a Frenchman, and of a man who was her
country's enemy, because she knew that all just persons
abhorred the deeds committed against the defenceless

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. Ml

in the dark — deeds such as must be disowned by the
brave and the good everywhere.

Lady Hester returned to Sayda in a polacca brig,
wiiich she found lying in Latakia harbour waiting for
a freight. As the heat was still too great to remain
at Abra, she set off on the 6th of October for Rum.
On the 13th she returned from Rum to receive M.
Regnault, the French consul at Tripoli, who was, by
invitation, come on a visit to her. He was a short,
humpbacked man, formerly one of the twelve of the
Institute of Egypt. His language and manners were
pleasing. He was somewhat facetious, and had ami-
ability enough to make his ugliness forgotten in the
course of a few hours' conversation.

M. Loustaunau, a sketch of whose life has been
given in another work, and whom Lady Hester had
long since dubbed the Prophet, was still living on her
bounty. He was ever brooding over portentous events
about to happen to her ladyship : of whom he now always
spoke as a person destined by the Almighty to play
a great part in the world. On all subjects he dis-
covered remarkable good sense, excepting on the Bible,
the texts of which he perverted in a most extraordi-
nary manner, to accommodate them to the events of
her life, past, present, and future.

Lady Hester and M. Regnault visited the French con-
sul at Sayda. She wore a splendid black abah, with gold
brandenburghs and tassels, and, whilst sitting on a carpet
on the ground, after the Turkish fashion, she reclined

34<2 TRAVELS OF

on a short crutch beautifully inlaid with mother of
pearl, after the manner of the great personages of the
East. Such was the crowd which assembled round
er when she entered the town that one would have
said it was the first time they had ever seen her.
Adults and children, Turks and Christians, all were
actuated by the same spirit of curiosity to behold
the woman who could stir up a whole province to
take revenge upon the Ansarys for the death of a
Frank.

Lady Hester's acts of beneficence to a number of
individuals, coupled with this last generous and dis-
interested labour for M. Boutin, had caused her name
to spread very widely through the country, and herself
to be regarded as the protectress of the unfortunate
and the almoner of the poor. On her return to the
convent, she found a suppliant at her gate, whose
history will claim some sympathy.

Michael Ayda was the son of an Egyptian mer-
chant, whose father was receiver of the customs at
Damietta, and afterwards katib to Gezzar Pasha,
by whom, in a fit of bloodthirstiness, he was put to
death. Michael and his sister, ,with another brother,
were left orphans to the care of their uncle, Girius
Ayda, who, having been an active adherent of the French
when in possession of Egypt, was obliged, on their
evacuation of his country, to abandon it, and retired
with them to France He there obtained a pension from
Buonaparte and the rank of general in the army.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 843

Michael was then about nine years old. He was
young and apt for literary acquirements, so that, as
he grew up, he retained the Arabic language and ac-
quired the French. At the age of seventeen, he became
a teacher of Arabic, and copyist at the royal library in
Paris, where he read the best authors in his native
tongue, and acquired a correct knowledge of the Arabian
poets. He had often heard speak of the great wealth
which his father possessed ; and he cherished the re-
solution within himself that, when arrived at man''s
estate, he would go to Egypt, and try if any of it could
be recovered from the hands of those who, he was told,
unjustly kept possession of it. Accordingly, in May,
1816, he carried his resolution into effect, and sailing
from Marseilles landed at Alexandria.

Another uncle, who was living at Alexandria, had
opposed by letter, and with all the means in his power,
this voyage to Egypt. Michael Ayda therefore ima-
gined that his relations in Egypt were in a league
together, to prevent the recovery of his property.
After his arrival at Alexandria, he brooded over
this idea so deeply that, added to the strangeness of
the people among whom he found himself, and the
stories which he had heard from his boyhood of the
barbarity of the Turks, it turned his brain. He fancied
that the object of his journey was known to everybodj%
and that persons set on by his uncle were conspiring
against his life.

Being, therefore, on the way from Alexandria to

,344 TRAVELS OF

Damietta by land, he one night thought that he ob-
served one of the mule-drivers secretlj' approaching
him with a knife in his hand, and fancied that it could
be with no other intention than to murder him.
Frantic almost to madness, he sprang upon his feet, fled,
and, after wandering about for nearly twenty-four
hours, arrived, worn out with fatigue and hunger, at
Damietta. The cousin in some way heard that a
person of his own name was arrived from France, and,
finding him out, received him with the kindness of a
near relation, clothed him, and expressed himself
willing to give him every information respecting his
father's property. But Michael Ayda was too deeply
impressed with the supposed cruel intentions of his
cousin ever to feel at peace, and, in the course of a
couple of days, he entered a mosque, and proclaimed
himself in the middle of the assembled congregation
as one resolved to become a Mahometan.

As his air was bewildered, some of the shaykhs
took him into a room, conversed with him, found out
who he was, and sent to the cousin to know whether
it was with his knowledge that Michael Ayda was
about to take so important a step. The cousin has-
tened to the spot, and did all in his power to dissuade
him, but in vain. The young man persisted in his
purpose, submitted to the necessary but painful opera-
tion which his new faith required, and, at his own
desire, was shipped for Syria in order to be out of the
reach of his ideal enemies. He landed at Beyrout,

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 345

and his story soon reached Dayr el Kamar, where
his uncle, named Nicola Turk, resided. This gentle-
man employed two stout and trusty men, who inter-
cepted the caravan, by which he was going from Bey-
rout to Damascus, at Hamel-merge, in the Bka, and,
by persuasions and threats, induced the muleteers to
whose care he was entrusted to give him up. They
carried him to Dayr el Kamar. He was there made
by his uncle to abjure the Mahometan religion before
the patriarch, and was restored to the privileges of a
Christian,

This last act rendered his life forfeit to the Turk-
ish law, and he now dared not stir beyond the pre-
cincts of the emir's district without running the
hazard of being seized and impaled. His object,
therefore, in throwing himself at Lady Hester's feet
was to solicit her protection, and to beseech her to
afford him an opportunity of embarking for Europe :
but Lady Hester held it as a rule of conduct never to
interfere in the religion of other persons, and, althouo-h
she was willing to assist him, it was not in abetting
his double apostacy. She endeavoured to show the
young man, however, that his real interests lay in
adhering to the Turkish religion, if indeed he was de-
sirous of prosecuting the business which had brought
him from France. If he remained a Christian, he ran
the risk of being impaled, and must abandon the hope
of the recovery of any of his father's property. Ayda
was irresolute, half inclining to the faith of his family

Q 5

846 TRAVE1.S OF

and relations, and yet desirous of avoiding the life of
misery and apprehension to which he should be ex-
posed. Lady Hester told him finally that she could
receive him only as a Turk, and that, once a confirmed
Mahometan, he could not return again to the church
through the medium of a priest of this country. He
became, for some time, a tenant of one of her cottages ;
but melancholy had taken such deep possession of
him that he was totally unfitted for active life. Here
he devoted himself to Arabic poetry, and, by the aid
of some books which I lent him, he speedily acquired
a knowledge of Italian and English : but he was
grievously superstitious ; much imbued with the pre-
judices of the Levantines, although he had as yet never
lived among them ; and a believer in magic, alchemy,
and all mystic sciences.

On the 28th of October, M. Didot, son of the cele-
brated printer, Firmin Didot of Paris, being on his
travels through Sayda, was invited to the convent-
With him was M. Le Grange, who had been studying
Arabic two or three years at Zuk, a large village in
the Keserwan, in order to qualify himself for the situa-
tion of interprete de la cour pour les Icmgues Orientales.
It may be illustrative of the characters of the moun-
taineers on Lebanon to observe, that, about this time,
the story of the Wapping baker, who appeared to a
ship's crew in the flames of Mount ^tna, as they
were sailing past Sicily, and was afterwards found to
have died on the day on which he had been seen, had

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 84-7

2;ot into circulation, and seemed to have made a deeper
impression on the minds of all ranks of people than
any piece of European news I ever heard discussed
among them.

Lady Hester grew every year more fond of the hot
bath. She would go into it two days following, stay-
ing in three or four hours at a time.

November the 15th, one of the little running foot-
boys came panting up to me, crying, A7ia abaskerak.
Ana abaskerak — / bri7i^ you good tidings. This is a
common way with persons of all ranks in the East, to
endeavour to be first to tell good news ; in which ease
a recompence is generally expected and given. The
news was, that Giorgio Dalleggio, the Greek servant,
sent to England, in June, 1815, was arrived in Sayda
harbour, and that Mr. N., surgeon, who was come out
as my successor, had arrived with him.

Giorgio had brought with him twenty-seven cases,
which were all landed without examination by the
custom-house officers of the place, a mark of civility
invariably shown to Lady Hester during the whole
of her residence in Syria ; and which she returned
twofold by an occasional present to the kumrukgy, or
collector of the customs. Their voyage had been favour-
able, having left the River Thames on the 2nd of
August. West of Malta they were fired into three
times by the Tagus frigate, Captain Dundas, owing to
some breach of the regulations existing between mer-
chant vessels, when under convoy, and king's ships : be-

348 - TRAVELS OF

cause masters of merchant vessels, for the sake of gain-
ing a few leagues in a long voyage, will often expose
their freight and passengers to the danger of capture.

When Giorgio Dalleggio gave the history of his
reception in England, it appeared that he had been
much caressed. This had caused him to forget the
benefits he had received from his mistress and to
despise her service. He said that his Royal High-
ness the Duke of York was his intimate friend, and
that everything he saw in England was inferior to
what he had seen in Constantinople. The Princess
Charlotte of Wales, on his delivering a letter from
Lady Hester, gave him a silver chain. He remarked,
when speaking of it, that, if these were the presents
English princesses made, what was he to think of such
mean people : he accepted it, he declared, only not to
give her pain by his refusal. And soon after, when
setting out for Damascus, he asked Lady Hester
Avhether he should take the chain with him or not,
and then answered himself by saying, " Well, I shall
take it, but I will not say it was from her, lest I
should give the Turks a mean opinion of English
royalty." He asserted that the palaces in England
were not so good as the prisons in Turkey.^

' In the same manner, Ibrahim, a groom who took over two
horses which Lady Hester sent to the Duke of York and to
Lord Ebrington, used to affirm that his Royal Highness the
Duke shook hands with him, and that the Duchess danced
with him.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. S49

Two Bedouins arrived on the 17th, with a letter
from the emir of the Anizys, Mahannah-el-Fadel,
bringing with them a colt, as a present to Lady-
Hester. The object of their mission was of some im-
portance. Shaykli Nasar, in some dissensions that
had sprung up between Mahannah and the governor
ofHamah, had plundered the granaries of the governor
of that place, after a battle in which Farez (Mahan-
nah's son) was slain. The governor complained of
the aggression to the pasha of Damascus ; upon
which the pasha vowed he would have Nasar''s life, if
ever he should be caught. Nasar, therefore, suppli-
cated Lady Hester to intercede with the pasha for
him ; and hinted that, in case of her succeeding, it
would be well to demand some pledge of his good faith
in the performance of his promises ; adding that,
although the pasha's words were honeyed, there was
always a sword under them. It was a fine sight to
behold the Bedouins come and seek protection of a
woman and a stranger.

This letter is not devoid of interest, as showing the
style of Bedouin writing : for, although it is probable
that some itinerant writer penned it, Mahannah dic-
tated it.

To our dear Sister the Syt Hester, whom may the Almighty
save, and whose days may he prolong unto us, whom she has
breathed upon — this letter, with our most profound respect,
comes greeting — Amen, O God of the Universe ! Next,
shouldst thou, our sister, inquire after us, thy brother, we,

350 TRAVELS OP

praise be to God, are well, but ever anxious after thy perfect
safety, which is the sum of our wishes and prayers.

From the time that you were with us, we have been in
bloody affrays with the pasha. He it is that slew our son
Farez and our men. This was God's doings, but we stopped
the rout, and God, the most High, scattered them ; so that we
are, just now, quiet. But it behoves us that we should inform
your Felicity, and give you tidings also of the state of ISTasar.
For two years past he has escorted the pilgrims (to Mecca) :
but we have no news that you are coming unto us. The
bearer of this is our chieftain, Abd-el-Rasak, and if you wish
for a mare, send word by him, and let us know : for we wait
the commands of your Felicity.

Mahannah-el-Fadel.

Whilst the Bedouins were sitting with me, on
Tuesday, the 19th November, about half past eleven
in the morning, the sky became by degrees overcast,
and, unapprized of such an event, I did not at first
perceive that the sun was eclipsed. I blackened a
piece of glass with smoke, and made the Bedouins
look through it ; but they seemed to me to express no
irrational astonishment whatever. The cottagers in
the village brought out pans and kettles, and beat
them to avert the evil influence of the heavens.

The twenty-seven cases which Giorgio had brought
out from England for Lady Hester contained numberless
articles of every kind, which she had ordered to be bought
for her, to distribute as presents amongst her various
friends and acquaintances in Turkey. ' With her usual
method and oxpedition in business, these difierent objects

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 351

were, in a week's time, unpacked, ticketed, and
arranged, so as to require nothing but the delivery of
them to those for whom she intended them. My
attention was chiefly occupied by Mr. N., to whom the
country and its inhabitants were to be made famihar
as speedily as possible, and who looked to me for
such information on the climate and the diseases inci-
dent to it as my long residence in it might be sup-
posed to have given me.

It was now finally resolved that I should embark
by the earliest occasion for Europe : but, as there
was a thermometer and a barometer, among some
other things, which Lady Hester intended to give to
Malem Haym, of Acre, I made one more journey to
that place, as well to take leave of my friends there,
as to explain to the Malem the nature of these two
tubes, and where best to suspend them. Accordingly,
on the 24th of November, I set off for Acre at noon,
and slept that night at the Khudder, opposite Sarfend.
I reached the Guffer Naktira the next day, and, early
on the third, arrived at Acre.

Having finished my business with Malem Hayra, I
then paid my last visits to my acquaintance. At one
of their houses I met with a native of Acre, who,
having accompanied the French in their flight from
Syria, under Buonaparte, had become a soldier, and,
by bravery and conduct, risen to be captain in the
Imperial guard, and member of the Legion of Honour.
Yet this man, had he remained in his native place,

S52 TRAVELS OF

would have been at best an humble shopkeeper, subject
to the abuse, and occasionally to the blows, of his
masters, the Turks.'

There was a strong feelins; of party excited through-
out the sea-ports of Syria about this time, by the
death of the governor of Smyrna. It was a useful
lesson to consuls and to other Europeans, not to hold
out inducements to a Mahometan to violate the pre-
cepts of his religion. A Turk, who drinks, goes to
balls and parties at European houses, flirts with Greek
women, and forgets the gravity peculiar to his nation,
may go on thus for a time ; but eventually the Poi-te
never pardons such flagrant violations of the precepts
of the Prophet, and deprives him of his place or of his
life. His successor is then chosen from those who are
known to be very anti-Christian ; or, if not naturally
so disposed, he is obliged, in self-defence, to keep the
Franks at a great distance, marking them as objects of
contempt in every thing he does. This real or appa-
rent severity is adopted throughout the country, and
thus is generated mutual hatred, which, had that
reserve been practised which is proper between people
who can never thoroughly amalgamate, would not have
happened.

Mr. Lewis Catafago, of Acre, who had conducted
her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales to Jerusa-

' His name was Seraphim ; and he spoke of Colonel Camp-
bell as a person he knew at Elba, whither he had accompanied
the Emperor Napoleon.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 853

lem, bore testimony to her condescension and affability
during the journey. The priests of the monastery
there had circulated reports in prejudice of her gene-
rosity, by declaring that the corn supplied for her
horses had been left unpaid for ; although it was very
well known that, besides paying very liberally for
whatever was consumed by herself and suite, she
settled an annual sum on the monastery.

On the 29th, I left Acre, and slept a few hours at
Ras-el- Ayn. Whilst it was yet dark, I resumed my
journey, and reached the river Khasmia about two
hours before sunrise. Giovanni spread my carpet in
the open field, in front of a ruined caravansery, where
I lay down, in the hope of getting another nap : but I
had hardly composed myself to rest, when the noise
of horses' feet and of loud and dissonant voices startled
me, and I sat up. Soon afterwards, about a hundred
Hawary horse soldiers rode up to the spot where I
was ; and it was so very dark that I cried out to pre-
vent them from riding over me. As Giovanni was
seated against a ruined wall, where he had made a fire
to boil me some coffee, I was taken for a traveller,
and not the slightest molestation was offered me.
Each soldier dismounted at the place he hked best,
unstrapped the foot-ropes from behind his saddle, to
tether his horse ; and immediately a hundred voices
were heard of Mohammed, Yusef, Mahmoud, Selim,
Ali, &;c„ crying, " Hand me a stone, to drive in
my tethering-piu !" — " Will you lend me yours.

354 TRAVELS OF

when you have done ?" — with the like excla-
mations ; and the iron pins were heard yielding a
clang through the field to the strokes which drove them
into the ground. Thus, in ten minutes, the whole
troop was encamped. Then followed the noise of
fighting and neighing among some of the horses, which
had been tied too near to each other ; for these soldiers
ride chiefly stallions : but silence succeeded as soon
as each soldier had unstrapped his corn-bag, and had
hung it on his horse's head, whilst the riders drew
from their wallets such provisions as they had brought
from their last station. As each man carries his all
on his horse, there were no baggage animals, and no
tents to pitch. All squatted on the ground, to eat
and smoke their pipes, and many lay down to sleep
on the ground in their cloaks or sheepskin pelisses.

They took little or no notice of me ; some few made
acquaintance with Giovanni, whose pot of cofiee they
soon emptied, but not before he had given me what I
required for myself. By their conversation, which I
overheard, I found that they were a part of the troops
who had assisted in ravaging the Ansary territories
under Mustafa Aga Berber, and Lady Hester's name
was often mentioned.

As soon as day dawned, I left them, and continued
on my way to Abra. This rencontre will serve to
show that the alarms and descriptions of travellers
respecting the Turkish soldiery may sometimes be
exaggerated.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 355

On the Srd of December, I went down to Sayda.
At about an liour before sunset, there came on a most
heavy fall of rain ; so that, using all the haste I could
to quit the city, I found a little rivulet, which crossed
the road on ^oing through the orchards, so swollen
that my horse could hardly ford it without falling.
Such are the rains in these countries. M. Beaudin de-
parted the same day for Acre, with five camel-loads of
presents, for the pasha, for Malem Haym, and other
individuals. The rain continued, without intermission,
until the 8th.

On the 9th, Lady Hester had a suppliant at the
convent, in the person of Mohammed Aga Tersyty,
who came to demand money. He had been driven out
of one of the towns between Hamali and Damascus
by the new pasha, who had cut off his uncle's head,
and avanized his family. I omitted to mention,
in its proper place, that the pasha of Damascus,
Sayd Solyman, had been replaced by Hafyz Ali
Pasha, formerly Lord High Admiral. This pasha
took the road for Damascus, through Asia Minor,
with his myrmidons, and had no sooner arrived on the
skirts of his pashalik beyond Hamah, than he began
to reform many abuses that had crept into the ad-
ministration. A new pasha generally enters into
office with sanguinary measures. As he advanced, he
confiscated the property of some, put others to death,
and made the guilty of all sorts (or perhaps the rich)
tremble.

356 TRAVELS OF

of these : and the nephew probably had his reasons for
flight.

On the 13th, I took Mr. N. into the mountain,
to show him a little of the country, and to introduce
him to some of the persons who were occasionally
in correspondence with Lady Hester. On our way,
hearing that the Emir Beshyr was not at Dayr-el-
Karaar, we turned from the road through the village
Aynut to another, called Hazrus, whither he had
gone. He was out with his falcons, and we went on
to Garyfy, where we passed the night at Shaykh
Shems's. Mr. N. was so dreadfully tormented with
the fleas, that, in the morning, his body looked
as if he had the measles. This arose from his unwil-
lingness to forego the English habit of undressing to
his shirt, and sleeping on a bed. For myself, I slept
on my small carpet, with my clothes on.

The next morning we returned to Hazrus. Here
we saw the emir, of whom I took leave preparatory to
my voyage to England ; and, having told him that we
wished to see his palace at Bteddyn, which he requested
we would do with all liberty, we left him. We took
a different road from that which we had followed on
the preceding day through Ayn Bayl, and Zimaruka,
where reside some of the family of Zayn ed Dyn,
Druzes who have enjoyed the enviable privileges of
supplying for many generations the common execu-
tioner. But it will hardly be believed that this fa-
mily derives much importance from the office ; so

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 357

that they would no more wish to lose it than a chief-
tain his fief. Nothing could exceed the romantic
scenery we this day saw. The path lay principally
by the side of the bed of a torrent, in a deep
ravine between two lofty mountains, from which, in
the lapse of ages, large fragments of rock had detached
hemselves, and lay below in majestic confusion. The
late rains had somewhat swelled the stream, and it
occasionally foamed in cascades over the broken masses.
Arriving at night at Dayr el Kamar, we were pro-
vided with lodging in the old palace, the residence of
the emir before building that of Bteddyn,

I sent for Pierre, who proceeded to see that our
supper was provided in the best style, and M. Ay da
came to spend the evening with us. The next day
we visited Bteddyn palace, which is really a very
pleasing specimen of the irregularities and decorations
of the present Syrian architecture. Tlie most beauti-
ful room is the hcia^ which is not inferior in richness
of ornament to some of the first rooms at Damascus.
We made the acquaintance of Abuna Stefiin (or
Father Stephen), a priest and a physician, in which
latter capacity he was now in attendance on the emir's
lady. We were however called upon to intrude on
his department by a request from the princess to enter
the harym and prescribe for one of her women. But,
as we saw only one room in the harym, our visit did
not answer the purposes of curiosity whicli we had

858 TRAVELS OF

hoped to derive from it. We returned the next day
to Abra.

Christmas-day now came, and my departure was
fixed for the next week ; but the necessary preparations
for a long voyage, and the number of letters which
Lady Hester had to write, detained me until the 18th
of January. It was not without great melancholy that
I beheld the day arrive, which was to separate me from
a country, where I had seen so many strange things,
and from a person whose exalted courage, talents, and
character, had gained an entire ascendency over ray
mind.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 359

CHAPTER XIII.

Departure of the Author for Europe — Arrival at Larnaka,
in Cyprus — Hospitality of M. Vondiziano, British vice-consul
— Tours in the island — Leucosia — The Greek archbishop —
City walls — Lepers — Cytherea — Monastery of St. Chrysostom
— Famagusta — Return to Larnaka — Carnival amusements —
Houses — Amour of Signor Baldo — Murder of Prince George
Morusi — History of Signor Brunoni — Cypriote women not re-
markable for beauty — Superstitious notions — The Greek arch-
bishop and his dragoman Giorgaki — Insurrection of Turks —
How quelled by Cara Pasha — Pusillanimity of the consuls —
Thunder-storm — Lenten diet — Malignant fevers — Excursion
in the interior — Idalia — Leucosia — M. Brens — Robbery in the
governor's palace — Proceedings against the suspected — Into-
lerance towards freemasons.

On Saturday, January IStli, 1817, at two o'clock
in the morning, I took leave of Lady Hester, Miss
Williams, and Mr. N. ; and, after a short night's
rest, mounted my horse soon after sunrise, and
departed from Abra (may I be excused for saying
it ?) amidst the tears and good wishes of the peasants,
who followed me with blessings to the end of the vil-

360 TRAVELS OF

lage green. M. Beaudin accompanied me, he having
returned from Acre on the 29th of December.

We passed the tomb of Nebby Yunez (the Prophet
Jonas), after it the river Damiir, and, at sunset,
stopped at the Guffer el Naamy, abreast of the village
of Naamy, which is on the hill, and from which the
Guffer, or toll-house, takes its name. Our provision
mule was better stocked than usual, and we made an
excellent dinner on cold pasty of gazelle-venison, tarts,
and plum- cake, besides cold fowls, and some other
good things, with which Miss Williams was desirous
of making my last day's travelling in Syria agreeable.

Next morning at daylight we mounted our horses,
and, about a quarter of a mile from the Guffer, we
passed a cemetery, which is called Kebur el Yahud
(the Jews' tombs). It is nearly facing a ruined tower,
called Burge el Rehan (the myrtle tower). The
greater part of these tombs are oblong parallelograms,
simply hollowed out of the rock ; but others were
elevated above its level, by having the rock cut away
around them.

To go from Guffer el Naamy to Beyrout took us
four hours. The ride was very beautiful during the
last two hours, on a sandy soil, amidst olive planta-
tions, and where the cultivation of the land was evi-
dently attended to.

We were received in the house of the British agent.
I was fortunate enough to find a schooner in the roads,
bound for Cyprus, on board of which I took my pas-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 861

sage. The vessel was Greek, from Eno, commanded
by Captain Gregorio ; but, as she was not to sail im-
mediately, I returned on shore. M. Beaudin left me
the next day. The British agent had just been very
properly exercising his consular authority on a Vene-
tian adventurer, who had endeavoured to pass himself
off as a British officer of infantry, wearing regimentals.
His right to the dress was disputed, and he was
obliged to doff it.

On Tuesday, January 21st, just before sunset, I
embarked. There were on board thirty-five passen-
gers, Turkish pilgrims on their return from Mecca.
I had paid for a berth in the cabin, which was only
nine feet square ; but, as my luggage was stowed away
there, and there were four Turks cabin passengers
besides myself, I resolved to sleep on deck, although
the season was not that in Avhich exposure to the night
air is agreeable. The long-boat was hoisted in and
put amidships, into which also four Turks immediately
got, two of whom seemed to be very sick from the
motion of the vessel, as I then thought. We put to
sea with little wind. About three in the morning, a
northerly breeze sprung up, and carried us on under
reefed topsails. I lay down on the lee-side of the
deck, wrapped up in mj^ lambskin pelisse, which made
an excellent bed.

On Wednesday, the 22nd, Avhen daylight broke,
everybody was sea-sick. About two o'clock in the
afternoon, we saw Cyprus. The wind continued fresh,

VOL. 111. R

362 TRAVELS OF

and at sunset we were within five or six leasjues of
Larnaka. We hauled off for the night. I lay down
on the deck as before, but was prevented from sleeping
by groans which came from the long-boat, and, on
inquiring what was the matter, I found that the two
Turks who were ill had the dysentery. Soon after-
wards one died ; and the melancholy situation of the
other was augmented by the intolerable efiluvia, which
it was impossible to prevent. A young Turk, ragged
and poor, but of very interesting mien, was remarkable
for the attention which he had paid to the two sick
men, and now continued to the survivor, although he
was himself dreadfully sea-sick : nor shall ever my
testimony be wanting to the exemplary conduct and
obedience which old age invariably receives from the
Mahometan youth, relation or not, known or un-
known.

At daylight we anchored in Larnaka roads. The
dead Turk was immediately conveyed on shore, but
not to the usual landing-place, lest the knowledge of a
death in so short a passage should excite suspicions of
plague, and cause the vessel to be put under quarantine ;
a precaution, which the preponderance the Greeks and
Franks had in the island enabled them to enforce, but
which was ao easily evaded. I did not, however, wish
to leave any uneasiness, from subsequent discovery, in
the mind of the gentleman to whose house I was going,
and I accordingly wrote a note to say that a Turk
had died of dysentery during our passage, and that

LADY HESTER STANHOPE.

363

there was no suspicion of plague in the case. Mr.
Anthony Vondiziano, the British vice-consul, relied
on my assertion, and received me forthwith into his
house at Larnaka.

A Cephalonian by birth, he settled early at Cyprus,
where he married the daughter of the English dra-
goman, by whom he had now six daughters. This
increase of famil}^ induced him to build a pavilion,
over the gateway of his courtyard and away from the
house, entirely for the reception of strangers ; and
as so many English have lived in it, and as besides
it may serve for a specimen of the modern edifices of
Cyprus, a drawing of it is given.

I'NGIISH CONSUl, S HOUSR AT LARNAKA.

364 TRAVELS OF

M. Vondiziano has often been mentioned by tra-
vellers for the hospitable reception which he gave to
the English. An ample fortune enabled him to do this
with less inconvenience than some others who repre-
sented the British nation : but this circumstance ought
not to diminish the feeling of obligation for hospitality
exercised sometimes (as in my own person), for weeks
and even months together.

The arrival of a traveller at the consular house is
generally a signal for visits from all those who are in
habits of friendship with the consul, impelled by cu-
riosity and the desire of news. Four or five days were
thus consumed, in which time I had made the ac-
quaintance of half the people of the place.

A common subject of conversation for the entertain-
ment of travellers is the history of those who have
preceded them in the same route. Some gentlemen
would be pleased to hear the things that were said of
them ; but 1 shall be excused from mentioning per-
sonal anecdotes, excepting where they have some
reference to Eastern customs.^

As there was no vessel about to sail for Europe, I
resolved to make an excursion into the interior of the
island.

On Monday, January 28th, accompanied by Gio-
vanni, (whom I had brought with me from Syria) I

^ Messieurs Stratton, Fuller, Idliff, and Rennell, had been
here in their way from Greece to Egypt ; as well as Lord Bel-
more and family.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 365

left Larnai'ka for Leucosia, the capital of the island,
and called by the Franks Nicosia. The weather was
cold, and, although I was clad in my lambskin pe-
lisse, my fingers became quite benumbed. The first
part of the road lay through a few fields of onions,
artichokes, and other vegetables, cultivated for the
supply of Larnaka market and of the vessels in the
roads : but there were no trees whatever, and the
soil had a bare appearance, being half covered with
shingles. Two leagues from Larnaka we crossed the
river Parthenia, and reached some low hills running
apparently from the north-east side of the bay of Lar-
naka to the conical mountain now called the Mountain
of the Cross. At the distance of four leagues, we arrived
at Athegainos (pronounced by the modern Greeks
Atheyanos), where we were to sleep.

Athegainos was a straggling village, containing
probably seventy or eighty houses : it was neverthe-
less one of the largest on the island, the whole popu-
lation of which it is said does not exceed 15,000 souls.
Each cottage was enclosed by a very large yard,
hedged in by a fence of prickly acacias, forming three
sides of it, the fourth being buildings. The entrance
was by large folding gates. Within, was a small room
for travellers, the only furniture of which was a deal
table placed on trestles to sleep on, with a cushion and
mat on it. The floor was mud, uneven as the soil out
of doors. Beyond this was a cow-lodge ; then the
cottage for the family, a stable for the mules, a

dbb TRAVELS OF

Straw room, and a lodge ; in all five : the whole built
of sunburnt bricks, with flat roofs on rafters covered
with canes laid close together. There was a well in
the yard. Such was the construction of all the houses
in the village. The peasants there had but one occu-
pation, that of carriers, owing to their central situa-
tion between Larnaka and Leucosia. They, their
wives, and children, seemed filthy in their persons
and habits. They however ate with knives and forks,
sat on chairs, and slept on beds raised from the
ground : in all which circumstances they differed from
the Christians and Turks of Syria, and by some
persons will, on that account, be supposed to be
further advanced in civilization.

We left Athegainos early in the morning, and, at
a small distance on the left, passed a mountain of
about a mile long, in shape like an inverted hog-
trough. Two or three others, of the same form,
might be seen in different directions. On the left
was a small conical mountain, the top of which looked
like a ruin, but it was the strata of the rock which
assumed that appearance. Beyond it was a stream,
called Zalia ; but neither this nor the one passed on
the preceding day flows in summer.

A long range of mountains lay before us, stretching
from the north part of the island to the level of
Leucosia. Our road was west, somewhat northerly.
Near the stream of Zalia was a Turkish village, and
over the stream a small but neat bridge. The valley

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 367

througli which the ZaHa runs had scattered olive
trees planted in it ; and we saw near the road, on the
rioht and on the left, two single houses of three
stories high, larger and better-looking than any we
had yet observed out of Larnaka. These, my guide
told me, belonged to Turkish agas, or gentlemen.

The face of the country had hitherto varied but
little from a level, and the chain of low hills over
which we had come was approached by so gradual a
rise, and quitted by so gentle a descent, as to be
almost imperceptible. In about two hours, we came
in sight of the minarets of Leucosia, of which I
counted seven. Two of these, belonging to the
church of St. Sophia, towered above the others.
Within a quarter of a mile of the city, upon the
brow of an elevation, we enjoyed a full view of the
place, which, from the number of palm and cypress
trees interspersed among the houses, wore a pic-
turesque appearance. The walls, I observed, were
broader at the base than the summit. Close to the
gate of the city was an infirmary for lepers — a small
house, from which pitiable objects, consuming with
disease, issued, to the number of thirty or forty, im-
portuning for alms. A long, vaulted gateway, lighted
half way through by a pierced dome, led us into the
streets. The custom-house officer, placed at the en-
trance, questioned me on my luggage, but suffered me
to proceed. We turned short to the left into the
Christian quarter, where lived the archbishop, to

368 TRAVELS OF

whom I had a letter of introduction. On ali2:htinof,
I was ushered into his presence by several priests, and
found a man about forty-five years old, handsome in
person, and richly attired in a sable pelisse. His
address was pleasing ; and, when he had read the
letter I presented, he received me with much polite-
ness, expressing great regard for the British nation.
But, as French travellers, and those of other nations,
relate that the like expressions have been used to
them, it will be excusable if we suppose that the na-
tural urbanity of the priest caused him to give an
equal share of civility to all strangers. His name
was Cyprianus, and he had sprung from a peasant
family.

Coffee and pipes were served, after which, it being
now noon, the time of the first repast of the Orientals,
we went to table. If a number of servants could con-
stitute greatness, this prelate might vie with the first
duke in England ; for we had no fewer than twenty to
wait at table, and I was told that he had fifty in the
palace. The repast was what is called excellent in
Turkey, but would seem strange to a European.

The archbishop received great reverence from his
followers. No Greek sat down in his presence, ex-
cept when commanded to do so. Such as entered the
room prostrated themselves (which means that they
bent forward until they touched the floor with their
hands), and bared the head, a degree of servility which
the Turks, their masters, have not exacted from

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 369

them, proving that men, when tyrannized over, be-
come themselves vile, and exercise the same or even
more, tyranny towards their inferiors. The Eng-
lishman thinks he degrades himself when he kisses
the pope's toe ; the Greek licks the very dust on
which the archbishop walks. I say nothing of the
archbishop"'s privilege of signing his name with red
ink, and of wearing the purple, so often mentioned by
other travellers ; or of his having two janissaries at
his gate, wihch latter distinction is a concession made
to him by the Turkish government, as head of the
only recognized Christian church. Eastern enjoy-
ment, or a priesfs idleness, was exemplified in the
mode in which the archbishop washed his hands after
dinner. The chair in which he sat was swung round
by his attendants (grace having been said), and ano-
ther arm-chair was brought, with the back between his
knees, on the seat of which was placed a broad basin.
The arms of the chair afforded support to his arms ; and,
whilst the water was poured on his hands, the back
prevented the wet from falling on his clothes. His
palace was roomy, but old and patched. Facing the
palace was a handsome new building, that would do
honour to any potentate in Europe. This was a
college, founded from the funds of the church, for the
instruction of youth, having professors of ancient and
modern Greek, of Arabic, of Italian, and of church
music. The exercises of some of the scholars were
shown to me, and I listened with advantage to a

R 5

370 TRAVELS OF

lecture of one of the professors. One scholar, a
student principally in Italian, had made a progress
that was quite astonishing ; and I read a very clever
Italian composition, written by him in his capacity of
secretary to the archbishop, the fruits of knowledge
acquired in one year. The edifice consisted of a ves-
tibule, from which branched two saloons, with sofas at
the extremities and tables in the middle. Out of
these saloons, to the left and right, were four apart-
ments, making eight altogether, where the professors
taught. The latter rooms had desks and benches for
the pupils.

I visited, in the afternoon, the church of St.
Sophia, converted into a mosque by the Turks when
the Venetians lost Cyprus to them. The interior
was lofty, consisting of a nave, supported by five mas-
sive Saxon-like pillars on either side. At the bottom
was a semicircular windovv, where, as well as up the
side aisles, the pillars were of less dimensions. There
were several old carpets spread on the ground, one
of which was very large.' The governors palace,
whither I next went, was an irregular building, with
a large courtyard, and a corridor round the first and
upper story. Such private houses as I entered were
commodious, spacious, and of great neatness.

The walls of the city were of considerable thick-

1 It never happened to me to see carpets in Turkey so large
as those which, under the name of Turkey carpets, cover Eng-
lish dining-rooms.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 371

ness, broad enough, on the ramparts, to admit two
carriages abreast. They had bastions at small dis-
tances, faced with sunburnt bricks, whilst the cur-
tains were faced with stone. The bastions probably
had been repaired since the time of Pococke, for they
no longer represented a semicircle, as he describes
them, but were an imperfect triangle, with truncated
corners. On the three bastions nearest to the Fania-
gusta gate were eight or ten pieces of cannon. There
were three gates — that of Paphos, that of Famagusta,
and a third which I did not note down. Some embra-
sures of turf, very recently made, were observable, and
were constructed probably during the time of a recent
insurrection in Cyprus, to which I shall presently
advert. In Leucosia the guard was set every niglit
on the walls, and the watches were cried.

On Wednesday, the oOth, I went to see the
lepers at the city gate. There were among them
persons of both sexes and of all ages ; some with the
joints of the fingers gone, some with blotches, and
all more or less deformed. Most of them were people
of low birth, generally peasants ; some were ^Moslems
a,nd some were Christians. The little information I
obtained from them amounted to this ; that those
who lost the first joints of their hands had nails
growing on the second ; that the heat of a fire was
invariably pernicious, visibly increasing their com-
plaint ; that sleep and appetite were not diminished
generally by it ; that hot water had not the same

872 TRAVELS OF

effect on tbera as the heat of a fire. One told me
that, when first attacked in the fingers, he thought he
saved them by having the actual cautery applied to
both his arms. Another said he bad been in the
leper-house thirty-five years. Men and women lived
promiscuously, but I could not learn whether any
children had resulted from this intercourse. It may,
however, here be observed, that there was a woman
in the village of Abra who had lost the first pha-
langes of both hands by leprosy, yet this woman had
a daughter, who was well-looking, healthy, and the
mother of five most beautiful children, all free from
every symptom of the grandmother's complaint.

I spent the evening with the archbishop. The
title of the prelate is iMaKaptoTdros (most blessed.) His
archimandrites was a man of peculiarly venerable
appearance. But the most learned person that it
was my fortune to see in Leucosia was Andreas, dra-
goman to the archbishop, whose business lay in
transacting the affairs of government between the
governor of the island and the archbishop. There
were numerous baths in Leucosia.

I took leave of my host over- night, and, on the
morning of the 31st January, prosecuted ni}'- journey
for Cytherea, now called Cherki, the true situation of
the ancient Cytherea being assigned to a spot one
league south of Cherki. After riding half an hour,
we passed the river Pedias, close to which was a
small Turkish village, called Miamillia. The bed of

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 373

the river was deep ; for the soil through wh'cli it ran
was loose and sandy, and easy to be washed away by
a rapid stream. At that time, as the rains had
ceased some days, the water that flowed was no more
than a rivulet. The road was parallel to the chain of
mountains, called (from a five-fingered inequality on
the ridge which was on our left) Pentedactylus. In
two hours'* time we reached Cytherea.

I had a letter of introduction to a farmer, named
Petraki, the chief person in the village. Though a
rustic, he had nevertheless a spacious house and
six house-servants, always a serious consideration
to the traveller, who, as he casts his eye over
them, and marks the alacrity with which they run to
serve him and neglect their master, is obliged to
check his self-complacence, by the recollection that
all this is but a larger draft on his purse when he
departs. I ate some excellent pork, boiled down to a
jelly and dressed with a sour sauce in the manner of
the French. The female part of the family, although
seen occasionally bustling about in the duties of the
house, did not sit down to table with us.

Cytherea was a long, straggling village, producing
a great quantity of cotton and oil, and making abun-
dance of silk. The oil was esteemed the best in the
island. From the foot of Mount Pentedactylus issued
a copious spring, in a stream which, in its course,
turned twenty-four mills, besides irrigating tlie
grounds and orchards. My host told me that the

374 TRAVELS OF

delicious atmosphere of Cytherea brought on hiiu
frequent visits from the Turks of Leucosia, who came
as often as two or three times a week to take the air,
and were generally entertained at his expense. He
expressed himself an ardent well-wisher to the cause
of the Franks, and prayed for the moment when
they would relieve Cyprus from the yoke of the
Turks : but his prayers for the emancipation of the
Greeks, I fear, were mercenary ; for he said he should
like to know whether any great changes threatened
the Turkish empire, as, in that case, he might be
spared the expence of a barattery^ or license, which
he was about to purchase.

A barattery was formerly a patent, which might be
purchased from the Turkish government by Chris-
tian subjects. It cost 3000 piasters ; and by it the
purchaser was entitled to leave his property to his
children, to wear certain coloured clothes and yellow
shoes, and to some other privileges, not permitted to
rayahs or unredeemed Greeks. It was the practice in
the golden days of the European ambassadors at Con-
stantinople to make a traffic of these baraterries ; but
the evil grew to such a height, that the Porte was
obliged to interfere.

The peasants' cottages were built of bricks dried in
the sun, and, apparently, were comfortable enough.
I could discover no antiquities or inscriptions.

Early in the afternoon, we remounted our mules,
and, partly retracing our steps, proceeded in a north-west

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 875

direction to the monastery of Chrysoston^us, up the
side of Pentedactylus, at the summit almost of which
is built the monastery. The foot of the mountain is
of a barren argillaceous soil, producing nothing but a
few stunted firs, and some oleanders in the water-
courses. This whitish gray coloured soil ceased, and
after it came the upper chain, which was of a reddish
coloured rock.

We arrived at St. Chrysostom's about sunset.
The spot was not devoid of beauty, being a semi-
circular flat, indented in the side of the mountain.
In front of it was a miserable hamlet. Two or three
cypresses, with some vines and lemon trees, made
up an orchard, which could not fail of being an em-
bellishment to the place in the summer season : at
present, it was robbed of its verdure. We found in
the monastery one monk, an old woman, and a boy.
Some rice, which I had with me, a little leben, pro-
cured from the hamlet, and some rammakins, dressed
in oil, afforded a comfortable supper : and, after the
priest had entertained me with a description of the
milordi who had been there, my guide, the muleteer,
produced from his wallet a violin, which he played on
in a manner by no means disagreeable — yet he was
but a rough peasant. I was then left to repose,
wrapped up, as was my custom, in my lambskin
pelisse, and without bed or covering. In this way no
fleas molested me.

376 TRAVELS OP

The following morning, at sunrise, I visited the
ruins that overhang the monastery, and which go by
the name of to. aTrrjna TTji peavos. The ascent was dif-
ficult, and, for nearly the whole way, impracticable
to mules. On reaching the summit, which here was a
peak, I enjoyed an extensive prospect both to the south,
over the land I had traversed, and to the north along
the coast. Between the mountains and the sea, to the
north, there was a sloping plain from one to three
miles in breadth, and running east and west as far as
the eye could see. Towards the west it appeared to
be well wooded ; and it had already been described
to me as affording the most beautiful scenery in the
island. From this point was seen Lapithus, whose
true name is Larapua. It is called, by the Turks,
Lapta. The high mountains seen to the west are
called TpvywSo?, pronounced Truothos.

Having satisfied myself with the view, I turned to
the ruins. They consisted of four or five stone houses,
of tolerably solid but modern structure, built one
above the other, and which once were connected by
steps in the rock, now crumbled away. The upper-
most was a church, and those beneath seemed to have
been parts of a monastery ; both because such places
were commonly built on the most elevated spots, and
because there was nothing castellated in the walls.
The situation was certainly as well fitted for a place
of strength as for a monastery ; but ruins, in Syria at

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 377

least, of the nature of a fortress always showed cre-
nelated battlements, loopholes, or something appro-
priate to defence, of which this had none.

We descended to the monastery, where I break-
fasted, and then departed for Famagusta. Cytherea
lay in my route ; and, in passing through it again, as
I beheld its verdant foliage and its purling rivulets,
there seemed to be nothing but the hand of love and
refinement wanting to make it yet one of the most
picturesque spots in nature. Its situation, at the foot
of a mountain, on a slope, with an extensive plain in
front, is not unlike Balbec, but in more diminutive
proportions.

We kept along the lower chain of hills, in an easterly
direction, and passed through two Turkish villages.
Round one of these the land was cultivated with the
utmost neatness. In Cyprus the husbandman''s annoy-
ance is the squill plant, which springs up amidst the
corn almost every where. Here it had been so care-
fully destroyed, that not one was to be seen. My
guide lost his road, and it was necessary to make in-
quiries at one of the cottages ; but, wherever we
knocked, a voice from within cried out either — "There
are no men at home ;" or, " The men are at plough ;"
and, as Turkish women do not appear before strangers,
we were considerably embarrassed. At last, however,
we met an obliging peasant, who, taking me for a
Mahometan Arab, walked nearly a mile to put us

378 TRAVELS OF

right, and excused himself that he could go no farther,
on the plea of having his cattle to drive in.

About one league farther on, in a south-easterly
direction, we reached a Christian village, called
Marathon. The sun had set, and there was a gleam
across the landscape, just enough to give to every
thing around an illusive appearance. The women
were returning from the well with water on their
heads ; and their white dresses, as they floated in the
wind, gave them a look not unlike what my imagina-
tion pictured the maidens of earlier times to have
been on this once happy island. Alas ! an unseemly
reality soon dissipated these visions of fancy. I was
led to the house of a Greek papas, who, seeing the
guest with whom he was about to be burdened for the
night, bawled, in a stentorian voice, to a dirty wife
and half a dozen children, and, by his rough hands,
uncombed beard, and the dexterity with which he
housed his cows, showed himself to be more of a
labourer and husbandman than of an ecclesiastic. His
lodging, nevertheless, was commodious, and, when he
found that he should be paid, his welcome was
hearty.

As it was now full moon, we took advantage of its
light, and departed next morning two hours before
daylight. We passed several little villages and ham-
lets on our way : and, keeping an easterly direction,
we reached the sea-shore about eleven o"" clock, near to

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 379

a large red brick monastery, called St. Barnabas.
We then turned short to the right, towards Fama-
gusta, compelled to take this circuitous route, owing
to the swamps made by the River Pedias in this
season of the year. These were so extensive, that the
former possessors of the country had constructed a
long causeway and bridge over the extremity of it,
where the water of the river discharged itself by an
outlet into the sea.

When we were safe over the bridge, we arrived, in
about half an hour, at the monastery of St. Luke,
which is abreast of the city of Famagusta. It belonged
to the Greeks, and was a sort of spacious cottage,
kept by a single monk, who received us with a forced
smile, not having the most distant idea that I was a
Frank, Nor could I, for some time, persuade him
that I was one, so much did my dress, my tanned
face, and the language I spoke in to my servant, dis-
guise me : for the priest did not understand Arabic,
and therefore was not able to detect my foreign
accent.

It was customary for Christians to take up their
lodgings either there or in the village of Merash, close
by, there being, as I was told, a law that no Christian
should lodo-e in the town of Famagusta. Prohibitions
of this sort, however, were probably not strictly en-
forced towards Franks ; as no inhabitant of Famagusta
would, I am persuaded, have been so uncivil as to

880 TRAVELS OF

eject a Frank traveller, who demanded merely a
night's lodging.

After dinner, I walked with the priest to the town.
We made the circuit of the fortifications, which are
very considerable. We then visited the port, the
ancient church of St. Sophia, now a ruined Gothic
edifice, and afterwards betook ourselves to the coffee-
house, to smoke a pipe. Some Turks, who were
sitting on the benches at the door, made me welcome,
and severally desired the waiter to present me with a
cup of coffee, which is a mark of civility they show to
a friend, or to one whom they have not seen for some
time. I came away with much good will in my heart
towards them.

On the following morning, the 2nd of February, we
departed betimes, in order to arrive early at Larnaka,
as the appearance of the sky indicated the approach of
a storm. We marched two hours by moonlight, as on
the preceding day, over an uncultivated champaign
country. When the sun rose, we found ourselves
abreast of a Christian village. The land around it
attracted my notice by the high state of its cultivation.
The soil itself seemed rich, being of a fine red mould.
Soon afterwards, we again came upon uncultivated
plains, which lasted for two leagues more, and then
reached the village of Ormethia, on the sea-shore,
where the English consul had a country-house, at
which I alighted. Giovanni procured such provisions

LADY HESTER STANHOPE, 381

as the place afforded, and I rested and ate something.
One league before coming to Ormethia, there grew a
low shrub like the juniper, which covered the soil as
far as the village. From Ormethia to Larnaka, the
road lay by the sea-side. At three o'clock I reached
Mr. Vondiziano's, having been absent seven days.
Cyprus afforded more accommodation for travellers
than Syria ; for at every little distance there generally
was a convent, where was to be found a sufficiency of
most necessaries. In most parts, the roads were good.

I had arrived in Cyprus in the middle of carnival ;
and, as the Catholics formed the greater portion of the
Franks, this festival was celebrated with much gaiety.
There were two faro-tables constantly open, to which
fathers, mothers, and children, resorted together. In
adjoining rooms were balls ; and dissipation exerted its
most baneful effects on the morals and constitutions of
young and old. At the end of the faro-room, an
elevated sofa afforded the spectators an opportunity at
once of smoking and of enjoying the game. The
transition from the sober and grave habits of those
I had just left in Syria to the tumultuous assemblies
of those I was now among, formed a striking contrast,
which somewhat shocked me, and was, upon the
whole, favourable to the Mahometans,

The Frank society was composed of a few indi-
viduals of every nation in Europe. In Europe, the
Turks are cried down as barbarians ; no doubt because
arts, and sciences, and polite letters, are so little cul-

o82 TRAVELS OF

tivated among them ; but in Cyprus the epithet was
applied to them because they did not gamble, dance,
and drink wine : and, affecting an opposite extreme,
the Franks ran into excesses unknown in the countries-
they sprang from. But, in a society made up of parts
so heterogeneous, and which could never, from the
constant clashing of its religious and social institutions,
amalgamate, no wonder that the whole had a tendency
to confusion, which could only serve to let loose mens
vicious propensities without confirming their virtuous
dispositions.

Each consul was the head of the subjects of the na-
tion he represented : he Avas a king to them, and
nothing to others. Hence the friendship of the consul
was immunity from laws, and his enmity a bugbear to
the poor only ; for the wealthy did not hesitate to
change masters, when those they acknowledged were
no longer sufficiently complaisant ; and there were
persons, who, by what is called " changing protec-
tion," had been English, French, Swedish, Ragusan,
and Danish, subjects, in the course of a few years.

Larnaka, as to its buildings, represented, in some
manner, a large country village in England. The
houses were straggling, and built of sun-dried bricks ;
they were, nevertheless, not devoid of neatness in
their exterior ; and, in their interior, they were com-
modious, spacious, and, in some instances, handsome.
They were mostly of two stories, having generally a
laro-e courtvard, with a coach entrance for their

LADY HESTER STANHOPE, S8S

caliches. All had window casements, with weather-
board blinds. There were no fireplaces in their rooms,
nor was it ever cold enough for two days following to
make a fire desirable. In some of the best furnished
houses, there was much richness and even elegance
displayed in the furniture, as far as French clocks,
fine chandeliers, lamps on pedestals, good prints,
tables, beaufets, and sofas, can be so considered,

I made a ground-plan of a house at Citi, near
Larnaka, considered as one of the best country-houses
in the neighbourhood. It was built of sun-dried
bricks ; and, being neither plastered nor whitewashed
externally, had a sombre appearance, like the cottages
on the banks of the Nile ; indeed, throughout Cyprus,
there were many marks of its intercourse with Egypt.
This house was two stories high. The whole of the
buildings were walled in. A garden, containing orange
and lemon trees, attached to it, was irrigated by a
Persian wheel, turned by a mule. Citi is about two
leagues and a half from Larnaka ; and its name is a
corruption of the ancient Citium.

The caleches in use in Cyprus were like clumsv
cabriolets, being a rude single-horse chaise, without an
apron or splashing board, guided by a driver who sat
on the shaft. All the houses had large ovens. The
water of Larnaka is not what I should call bad, but
Pococke has pronounced it to be so. Lamb, mutton,
game, and pork were plentiful, and beef was generally
to be had.

SS4 TRAVELS OF

The Christian inhabitants of this island had little
purity of blood. The Franks were not Europeans,
and the Greeks, intermarrying perpetually with the
Franks, had ceased to have the characteristics of their
own nation. I do not, however, wish to speak dis-
respectfully of persons who were generally so very kind
to me.

The habits of living of a Greek family in Cyprus
may be gathered from that with which I was staying.
Many Greek families, although mixing in free inter-
course with Europeans, retained much of their nation-
ality. Their wives very seldom frequented places of
diversion, had fewer parties, and, when at home,
confined themselves to the gynseceum and nursery,
where they were employed in household affairs, and
the care of their children. During more than a
month, there were two persons only who came and
dined in a family way with Mr. Vondiziano, and these
were relations. His wife's brother was preceptor to
his eldest girl ; and for the three next there was a
priest, who taught them to read the Ne_w Testament
and some homilies, which works were in Hellenic
Greek. They learned to write likewise, and I believe
a little ciphering. We retired to our separate rooms,
generally about seven o'' clock at night, and the whole
family was often in bed at eight, to rise with the sun
next morning.-

There is a story of somewhat ancient date, which
was told me by Mr. Vondiziano, touching two mer-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 385

chants, Englishmen, who, when residents in Larnaka,
finding their affairs unprosperous, resolved to quit the
island with eclat. Their names I will conceal out of*
delicacy to their children. They invited a very large
party to a splendid fete, and, in the midst of it, dis-
appeared, and, embarking on board a vessel prepared
for the purpose in the roads, they sailed for Europe,
leaving their creditors all the spoils in biscuits, wax-
candles, and French wines.

I was fortunate enough to procure some antiquities
at Larnaka, one of which, of whitest marble, in shape
like a tailor's goose, the handle finished off by two
lions' heads, was dug out of the ruins of Oitium,
and seemed to intimate that the ancients confined
their doors against blasts of wind in the same way
that is done now-a-days. It is now in the possession
of Newman Smith, Esq. of Croydon Lodge.

Soon after my arrival, the whole island was thrown
into commotion, by an event which it will not be
amiss to relate, as illustrative of the state of society in
Cyprus. The dragoman of the Austrian consul, a
Greek by birth, and of the Greek persuasion, but
enjoying by his post a Frank protection, had an only
daughter twelve years of age, beautiful as the day.
Her father, adhering to the customs of his nation,
kept her confined to the house, secluding her from
the sight of everybody but her relations, and allowing
her the privilege of going to mass three times a year
only, in company with them, on the grand holydays

VOL. III. S

o86 TRAVELS OF

of their religion. Her charms, however, were the
talk of every circle. She was sought for in marriage
by several Greek gentlemen ; but the father's ambi-
tion led him to hope for still more advantageous pro-
posals, and each suitor was declined in turn.

There was a Ragusau merchant resident in Larnaka,
about thirty-five years of age, very rich, and, from
his wealth, held in much consideration. He was the
brother of one of the consuls. The maiden excited
his desires, and he resolved to attempt the illicit
gratification of them. The father possessed a little
farm in the countrj^, to which he went occasionally to
superintend his agricultural business. Constantine, (for
that was the Ragusan's name) had secured in liis in-
terests a Turkish woman, who, under the cloak of a
suppliant, obtained admission into the house. She
made known his passion to the girl, whose vanity was
gratified by the admiration of a man so distinguished
in her eyes, whilst she felt besides a predilection to-
wards Franks, because they were known to allow their
wives greater liberty than the Clreeks.

During the absence of the father at his farm, the
maid-servant, who was her duenna, betrayed her
trust, and Constantine was introduced into the house,
where he effected his dishonourable purposes. He re-
peated his visits, as occasions offered, for some time,
until she found herself pregnant. Alarmed at her
condition, she informed her lover of it, and begged him
to bring her a potion to procure abortion. He soothed

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 887

lier alarms, and desired her to be under no apprehen-
sion ', assuring her that, in bearing him a child, she
would but secure a testimony of their love, and a
pledge of the promise he had given her of soon making
her his wife.

Her increasing size could not escape the observation
of her father, who, unsuspicious of the real cause, was
amused with a story of female complaints, for which
some old woman's nostrum was pretended to be ap-
plied. Some months passed on in this way, until, on
the 8th of February, a few days after my landing on
the island, the distressed girl escaped from her father's
house to that of a friend, and there, Avith tears in her
eyes, and overwhelmed with shame and confusion,
disclosed her situation.

The news spread like wildfire, and the outcry
against Oonstantine knew no bounds : but, with the
assurance of impunity, he appeared at a public ball
the same evening, and, as some persons maliciously re-
marked, was the admiration of the fair sex more than
he ever had been. The Greeks, however, in a body,
took up the cause, with a determination to make him
their victim, unless he rendered ample satisfaction to
their injured honour. They made a party affair of it :
for, of seven vice-consuls who resided at Cyprus, three
were Greek, who held together against those who
were of Frank extraction. Constantino was called upon
to repair the dishonour done to the young lady, and,
through her, to the Greek nation, by marriage. The

oSS TRAVELS OF

arclibisliop of the island was written to, and applica-
tion was made to the Turkish governor, who put
Constantine under arrest, so that he seemed to have no
alternative but to comply.

He alleged, however, in excuse of what he had done,
that he was not the only one who had enjoyed the
favours of the girl — that the father, who lived in con-
cubinage with his maid-servant before the eyes of this
young creature, could not expect her to escape the
influence of so bad an example. He cited the Ger-
manic law, to which they were both amenable, and by
which a fine of money only was awarded to the
aggrieved party, in case of seduction, which he was
ready to pay. He asserted that he had made no
promise of marriage, and, consequently, could not be
compelled to take her for his wife. He insinuated that
the girl was artful enough to have planned the whole
affair, in the hope of thus ensuring herself a good
match, aware that, both in the order of events and
from her father's situation and small fortune, she
could not expect to be so well married in any other
way. Finally, he declared, that, whatever might be
the consequence, he repudiated her. He knew, he
said, the vindictive spirit of the Greeks ; and, if they
had resolved on assassinating him, why, let the worst
liappen : he had made his will, and Avould abide by
the event. Added to all this, several of the in-
habitants spoke of the practice the young lady had
of secretly going to the house-door, and of saluting

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 389

young men as tliey passed by ; whilst, whenever she
saw ladies coming, she disappeared, as if conscious of
doing something improper.

The father and the Greek party, on the contrary
side, said that the girl was too young and too inno-
cent to have acted otherwise than from the impulses of
nature and the suggestions of her seducer; whilst
the go-between, when interrogated, testified to the ad-
mission of Constantino only to the house. They pro-
duced two rings given by him as tokens of a promise
of marriage.

The affair was thus advocated with the utmost
bitterness of party spirit on both sides. Constantine,
finding that threats were thrown out against his life,
stirred very little from home : and it was thought that
resort would be had to the ambassador of Austria at
Constantinople to decide on the case : but here another
difficulty intervened. Whenever the consuls were at
variance, the Turks took advantage of their quarrels,
and it was only by their union that they could make
a stand against them. The girl, therefore, was at last
sacrificed to political reasons, and Constantine con-
sented to pay a certain sum as her dowry to any one
who would marry her. This, with the distribution of
a few douceurs, quieted the outcry. A person was
not long wanting, who offered himself as her husband ;
but his low rank in society and mercenary charactei-
precluded the unfortunate victim from iho hopes of
happiness for the rest of her life.

S90 TRAVELS OP

In 1812, when, as it was said at the instigation of
the French ambassador, much persecution was exer-
cised against the family of the Morusis, at that time
enjoying the highest dignities which the Porte awards
to her Greek subjects, one of them. Prince George
Morusi, was banished to Cyprus, where he lived for a
few weeks unmolested, and in great privacy. I was
making a visit with Signer Vondiziano to a person
named Bosovitch, inhabiting a large house at the
strand of Larnaka, when, the conversation turning on
beheading, a person who was present said, " It was on
this sofa I saw the Prince George Morusi so bar-
barously murdered ;" and he proceeded to relate the
way in which it was done. " We had just risen from
dinner, and the prince had reseated himself to smoke
his pipe, when a slight bustle was heard on the stair-
case, and an armed Turk, with two others behind,
entered the room. They looked steadily for half a
minute at us, and the prince, who beheld them,
dropped his pipe, turned pale as ashes, and fell back
almost inanimate : for he apprehended immediately
what business they were come upon. The first Turk
advanced to him, and shot him through the body.
We were three of us present : we leaped from the
sofa, and, as the murderers paid no attention to us,
we got out of the room into the passage. There every-
thing was in confusion ; and, in the midst of it, the
chaplain of the prince pulled me aside. ' Secrete these
things immediately,"' he said, and gave me a watch

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. S91

with some jewels and rings ; all which I afterwards
restored to the family at a proper time. Whilst this
was doing, the Turks, to make their work sure, had
strangled the prince with a girdle, and had dragged
the body into the passage. They then retreated by
the street door, no one daring to follow or cry after
them.

" When they were out of sight, we went immediately
to the governor, and told him what we had seen. He
pretended astonishment and horror at the deed, and
immediately gave orders to his police officers to search
the town and bring the assassins before him. This
farce was carried on some days, although every one
knew that the soldiers were the governor's men, and
that he had authority from the Porte for what he had
done."

Let me now narrate a story of a different nature,
and of a more innocent and enlivening cast. The
conversation of Larnaka turned much upon it, as
soon as Signor Constantine's afiair had blown over.
Signor Brunoni's history was singular. He was about
to quit Cyprus for Italy, and was reputed to carry
with him a fortune estimated at half a million of
piasters, or .£'15,000 sterling.

An Italian by birth, he belonged originally to the
fraternity of monks of St. Francis, called in the Le-
vant the monks of the Holy Land. He was a lay
brother ; and, it is said, disgusted with his calling, he
obtained from Rome a dispensation to throw off his

392 TRAVELS OF

frock. As soon as he returned to the world, he pro-
fessed himself a doctor ; and, being of a handsome
presence and of insinuating manners, he established
himself so effectually in the good-will of the people
of Leucosia, the capital, that, at the end of twenty-
five years, when he left the place to reside at Larnaka,
on the sea-coast, he was escorted on his way to town
by the principal inhabitants, as a testimony of the
respect they bore him.

On coming to Larnaka he continued to exercise his
profession, and, at the same time, turned merchant.
But his neighbours were surprised to see that, on a
sudden, he threw a capital into his business, supe-
rior to that of the oldest and wealthiest merchants.
Shortly afterwards he sent his eldest son, a lad, to
Italy, under pretence of giving him a good education ;
but reports soon reached the island that the son had
purchased, in his father"'s name, a large estate for
some thousands of pounds. Many were the surmises
and conjectures how he had amassed so much wealth,
when at last a trifling circumstance led to the dis-
covery. Signor Brunoni offered for sale to a friend a
large silver lamp, saying it had been the property of
the pope, but was sold during his holiness's troubles,
and had, from hand to hand, come into the possession
of his son, who, thinking it would suit some devout
person of Cyprus, had sent it to him. Some one, to
whom it was shown, on examining the lamp, disco-
vered on the back of it the name of Seneca, and re-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. oiio

collected that a wealthy Venetian family of that
name once flourished in Cyprus. He talked of the
coincidence, until it was asked whether Signer Bru-
noni might not have found a hidden treasure : and
then it was that, by degrees, the following account
came to light. It appeared that, adjoining to his own
residence at Leucasia, lived a poor single woman, in a
small house, but which was her own property. This
woman hired herself to Signer Bruuoni as a servant ;
and, after living with him some years, she, in a mo-
ment of confidence, showed him some papers she had
in a chest, which she had inherited from her fatlier
with the house. One of these was an indication to a
treasure buried under the house. Brunoni pretended
to take time to look over them, copied them, and .se-
cretly resolved to make the search. He first pur-
chased the house for a trifle, then joined it to his own
as a surgery, and succeeded, to his great joy, in find-
ing what he was in search of.

The woman lived with him always afterwards, and,
when he quitted the island, he settled a pension on
her. But what renders the truth of the story more
probable, if confirmation were wanting, is, that dis-
coveries of this sort were by no means rare. Vene-
tian families would transmit from Venice notices of
treasures concealed by their ancestors in Cyprus, and
left by them at their expulsion by the Turks in the
fifteenth century. But a griping government, and
the impossibility of searching houses and places whicli

S 5

894! TRAVELS OF

had passed into the hands of strangers, had pre-
vented those entrusted with these documents from
acting upon them. Instances occurred very frequently
of several coins of the same stamp being offered for
sale in quick succession. Many a man had been known
to disappear on a sudden from the island, and it had
been ascertained afterwards that he had fled from his
country, to enjoy, without risk, the fruits of a fortu-
nate discovery. For if it were but whispered that an
Ottoman subject had found concealed treasures, the
government claimed them ; and the distrust which
existed in the official authorities, lest a part should be
withheld, often subjected the finder to blows and
even torture.

It would appear affectation in my readers to say,
that they do not feel a desire to know whether the
women at Cyprus retain any of those charms and of
that amiability which once drew down the protection
of the goddess of beauty on the isle. I reluctantly
confess that the favours of that deity were no longer
so manifest as of old, although votaries were not
wanting at her shrine ; but yet some exceptions
ought to be made.'

^ I was informed that, in the village of Trisolias, there was
a woman, thirty-five years of age, with a tail. She was the
daughter of a papas, named Yennion. My informant was the
archimandrites, a man respectable from his situation and age.
"When entreated by me to allow me to make use of his name
or to furnish me with a letter, as a meaus of seeing her, he
refused both requests.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. S95

The voices of the Cypriot women had somethino- in
them peculiarly dissonant, and they all seemed to
speak in a false tone, nor did use ever make these
shrill accents agreeable. They were not, in general,
beautiful, nor was their dress graceful, being in no
sense calculated to display their shapes. Seen from
behind, they resembled nothing so much as a horse in
a mantua-maker's show-room, with a dress appended
to it. In their habits they were indolent ; they were
not good although niggardly housewives. They were
oftener to be seen at the windows and doors of their
houses than elsewhere, looking at passengers with
the most idle curiosity. They were addicted to the
grossest superstitions. For example : when oil is
spilt from a lamp, a cruet, or otherwise, some dire
misfortune is supposed to overhang the family ; and,
upon one occasion, having the misfortune to upset a
lamp, I saw the eyes of the servants turned upon me,
as on one whose presence foreboded evil. A neigh-
bour would in vain attempt to obtain a light from the
adjoining house, if applied for after sunset. These
superstitions are harmless enough ; but they become
hurtful when they interfere with the cultivation of a
useful study. Thus, a labourer on the estate of a
gentleman of Larnaka struck upon the head of a
statue, as he was ploughing. Curiosity induced him
to clear away the soil from it ; but when he saw the
features (as it was of remarkably white marble), he
took them for those of a spirit, and ran away. He

896 TRAVELS OF

bethought himself of going to the priest, who, hearing
his story, accompanied him to the spot, and there
found the head ; which, under pretence of exorcising,
he carried home, and presented to his patron, a Greek.
His patron was proud of a handsome piece of ancient
sculpture, and gave it a conspicuous situation in his
house. It so happened, that, immediately afterwards,
there was an epidemical disorder in Cyprus. The
effects of it were felt in every house, and the pos-
sessor of the marble head did not escape. At last his
sisters, unmarried ladies, who lived with him, conceived
that the bust had brought the malady upon them. In
vain he attempted to convince them of the absurdity
of such a notion : they persisted, and he was obliged
to give the bust away.

TJiey rule their servants by caprice, and educate
their children by fits of anger and indulgence.

The manufactures of Cyprus are chiefly coarse
printed cottons for furniture, which are of lively
chintz patterns, and remarkably cheap. The prin-
cipal articles imported at this time into Cyprus were
German looking-glasses, queen'^s and other earthen-
ware, sugar, syrups and liqueurs, cloth, Lyons' stuffs,
Manchester goods, glass, &c.

The Greek spoken at Cyprus is as corrupt as that
in any part of the Turkish empire. An attempt to
enumerate the words that have been introduced into
it from other tongues would be to select almost all
the expressions of eating, drinking, visiting, and bu-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 397

siiiess, common to the Turkish, Arabic, Italian, and
French languages. An example of each will suffice.

Arabic. — Ti x«/^«P' ^X«' 5 what news is there ? from
kaber, news.

Italian. — Kanveiv inav jSia-iTav, to pay a visit : from
msifa.

French. — To eKafiev e^aKTafifVTei we have done it ex-
actly : from exactement.

Turkish. — VoKo-a; or not? ivom y ok.

Ditto. — Ve^CKes^ disputes.

The p is aspirated in pronunciation at Cyprus,
which is not done, I believe, elsewhere in the Greek
islands.

Living at Cyprus was extremely cheap : but the
terra means nothing, when applied as relative to Eng-
land ; for all countries almost are cheap in comparison
with it, and hence to Englishmen a great advantage
is afforded wherever they travel. Compared with the
adjacent districts of Syria and Caramania, living in
Cyprus was cheap even then.

Cyprus still felt the eff'ects of an insurrection which
had convulsed the island some time before. To un-
derstand the causes of it, it is necessary to pre-
mise, that the Greeks enjoyed so much influence
in Cyprus, as to be able often to displace a gover-
nor who had become obnoxious to them ; not by an
act of authority (for they had none in the eye of the
law), but by representations to the Porte, backed by
money. At the head of the Greek party was the

S98 TRAVELS OP

archbishop. The one who held the crosier before the
reigning archbishop was so infirm, that he emploj'^ed,
in all transactions with the government, his drago-
man, named Hadji Georgaki, a man of great talents,
which he perverted to the purposes of intrigue. To
such a height had this man''s power grown, that he
was suj^osed, by his machinations, to have removed
more than one motsellem, or governor ; and it was
thought that no one could hold that dignity long, who
had not previously entered into a friendly under-
standing with him.

In this way, Hadji Georgaki's measures were
generally uncontrolled, and he proceeded to the length
of oppressing Turks and Christians indiscriminately,
which was ill borne by the Turks, who submit re-
luctantly to authority- exercised over them by an
infidel ; but not unwillingly by the Greeks themselves,
who cared not to lose a portion of their substance,
if their oppressors were to be fellow-sufferers. At
length, however, the complaint of the Turks found
its way to Constantinople, and Hadji Georgaki
thought fit to go in person to the capital to counteract
the machinations of his enemies ; which, by force of
bribes, he succeeded in doing, and returned trium-
phantly to Cyprus.

The hatred of the Turks against the dragoman
now knew no bounds ; and, finding they could not
obtain justice from the Porte, they resolved to take the
cause into their own hands. They accordingly laid a

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 399

plot to seize the person of Hadji Georgaki, and to take
away his life, but he was apprized of it in time to
escape to Laruaka, where (after concealing himself
some days in a consular house) he embarked for the
Archipelago, and betook himself again to Constan-
tinople, The Turks, having lost their victim, and
committed themselves too far to recede, hoisted the
standard of rebellion, and were headed by the
governor. The Greeks were oppressed without appeal,
and complaints poured into Constantinople, demand-
ing relief.

The Porte now saw that energetic measures must
be resorted to, and looked about for a proper man to
execute its commands. Cara Pasha, a subtile chieftain,
versed in intrigue, and who would stick at no means
to effect his ends, was selected for the purpose. He
embarked from the opposite coast of Asia with a
large body of troops, and, landing, marched strait
for Leucosia : but Leucosia, a fortified place, was so
well defended by the rebels, that he found himself
unable to carry it by assault. He accordingly sat
down before the city, having seized on the flour-mills
at Cytherea as the best means of straitening the
besieged, who had no means, except by hand and
mule-mills, of grinding corn within the walls. The
archbishop and the chief Greeks found themselves
shut in with the rebels. The former, fearing for his
personal safety, and pretending to be alarmed only
for that of his flock, wrote letters to the difterent

400 TRAVELS OP

consuls at Laruaka, begging them to intercede with
the pasha for a truce, and to endeavour to settle the
affair any how so that he might escape ; signifying
that, if hostihties commenced, he and the Greeks
should be massacred. For it was the artifice of the
rebels to hold out the threat, knowing how much
could be done by the archbishop, if made a party in
the affair.

The consuls, pleased with the importance they
were likely to acquire in becoming mediators, set off,
to the number of five, for Leucosia. They made
known their business to the pasha, who eagerly
availed himself of an opportunity which he thought
was thus afforded him of getting within the walls.
He accordingly treated them with great distinction,
and expressed himself disposed to accede to any
thing which their negociations might effect. A
correspondence was immediately entered upon, and
thirty days passed in messages to and fro ; the rebels
endeavouring to obtain permission to leave Leucosia
with their property, and the pasha, on his side,
offering them their lives and property, but with the
condition that they should remain where they were.
The rebels were at last brought to consent to these
terms, on a solemn promise being made to the consuls
by the pasha that their lives should be saved.

On an appointed day the gates were thrown open,
and the pasha and the consuls marched in together in
procession. The day was spent in merriment, and

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 401

most persons tlioutrht the pasha honourable in his
intentions. Night came, and the consuls retired to
their respective houses, where they were to sleep. It
was then that the pasha began to play his treacherous
game. Despatching soldiers in difierent directions,
he secretly caused to be seized, at the same moment,
thirteen rebels, who were brought to the palace and
beheaded immediately. Their relations flew to the
consuls, whilst these executions were yet going on,
and told them that the pasha had not respected the
compact made between them. Monsieur Eegnault,
the French consul, as first in rank among them, de-
spatched his dragoman to the pasha, and bade him
hold his hand and respect the treaty. The dragoman,
a timid Levantine, arrived whilst the bow-string was
yet at work. Fainting and trembling, his tongue
faltered, and his representations were unheeded by a
man, who, in having made the consuls the tools of his
perfidy, could well ask them why they meddled
between the Porte and its subjects.

The next morning, when the day dawned, the pasha
sent for the consuls. Monsieur Regnault at first
refused to attend on him, but his timid associates
advised him not to offend so sanguinary a man, and
he accompanied them. The pasha received them not
like one convicted of treachery, but as a magistrate
vested with an authority in which they had no part.
He read to them the firman of the Porte, commanding
him to exterminate the rebels ; and excused the mode

402 TRAVELS OF

in which he had effected it, by saying that no faith
could be kept with them. He then invested each
consul with a pelisse of one thousand piasters value,
and, when they had suffered this, they went away,
held their peace, and returned humbled to Larnaka.

To add to the disgrace which this whole transaction
brouoht on the consuls, when the pasha afterwards
came to Larnaka, previous to his embarkation for
Latakia, they invited him alternately to their houses,
where he made himself drunk with brandy, which he
asked for incessantly ; and, retiring to vomit, returned
to drink again. These scenes were renewed from
house to house, and often lasted through the night.
And here Monsieur Regnault was destined to betray
a second time the folly of meddling in affairs that did
not concern him, however good and honourable the
motive ; for when, on the evening of the massacre, he
had favoured the escape of certain rebels, and had
caused them to be secreted in his house at Larnaka,
the pasha sent a detachment of troops, and compelled
him to give them up. Two, however, of the leaders,
named Hadj Mustafa and Delli Omar, escaped. The
latter was for some time secreted at Signor Vondizi-
ano"'s, until an opportunity offered for stealing on
board a ship and sailing for Syria. The whole affair
cost a vast deal of money to the island, which was
obliged to maintain so many troops ; and the pasha
enriched himself individually by presents extorted by
terror, and by avanies levied on each rich person who

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 403

could in any manner be implicated in the rebellion.
The troops themselves departed with their arms
covered with gold.

Will it then be said, after this, by writers and
travellers, that the Turks are a nation devoid of ani-
mation, activity, or enterprise ? Rather let us look
on them as unmoved by the tranquil occupations of
virtuous minds, and by the ordinary pursuits which
agitate a Christian''s bosom, because they play a
deeper game, and are to be excited to energy only
where the stakes are fortune and life : but we must not
charge them with dulness or inactivity.

The information acquired respecting Hadji Georgaki
induced the pasha to denounce him to the Porte.
On his arrival at Constantinople, after his flight, he
had concealed himself at the village of Arnautkui on
the Bosphorus, until by fresh bribes he could judge
himself sufficiently protected at court ; after which he
appeared in public. But, his work not having been
well done, one day he was seized and beheaded. His
house was despoiled at Leucosia, and in the floor of
one room was found a trap-door leading by steps to a
stone vault, where immense treasures were discovered.
When at Leucosia, I descended into this place, and
was satisfied more than ever that such means of con-
cealment were often resorted to by the natives of these
countries.

The archbishop, in this conflict, saw himself de-
prived of half the authority which before, by peculiar

404 TRAVELS OF

privileges, had belonged to the see of Cyprus. For,
up to this time, no judicial proceedings could be en-
forced against a Greek subject without his presence,
personally or by deputy : now the motsellems of
Leucosia, Larnaka, and Famagusta, were vested with
the same authority as the governors of other cities of
the empire.

The archbishop had once been an oikovoiios, or com-
missary, and served as purve^-or in the camp of the
vizir, who conducted an army against the French in
Egypt.

From the 3rd of February continued rain had
fallen. The weather had become exceedingly tem-
pestuous, and a succession of storms rendered it im-
possible for vessels to take in their cargoes ; for
Larnaka has no harbour, and vessels coming for a
fi'eight lie at anchor in the bay, and receive their
merchandize by boats from the shore. There was a
polacca brig loading for Marseilles, by which I had
resolved to take my passage : but there was little
prospect that she would be ready for some time, for
the reasons assigned above.

On the 24th of February, after a very tempestuous
night, the house of Mr. Caridi, (whose wife was sister
to Mr. Vondiziano) was struck by lightning, which,
after taking an irregular course through four cham-
bers, breaking in its way a looking-glass, singeing a
coverlet, and bursting a door, entered the wall of
the house, which wall was of burnt brick. It so hap-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE, 405

pened that there was a New Testament in Greek lying
by the mirror ; the mirror was broken, but the Testa-
ment remained uninjured. This book immediately
acquired a degree of sanctity equal to what a reVewf,
{temenos) would have done among the ancients. But
what amused me greatly was to see Mr. Oaridi obliged
to keep open house for three days, that people might
view the book and compliment him on the miracle.
His wife was much inclined to make a vow to go to
Mount Athos, and return thanks for the signal deli-
verance. The same house was soon afterwards visited
by another hurricane, when a gust of wind carried
away a staircase, which led from the ground floor to
the upper story, and which was on the outside, as is
customary in the island.

Lent had now begun, and I resolved to live with
Mr. Vondiziano's family as if T had been of their own
religion, in order to see how I could bear a meager
diet. Yet he would not suffer me to do so entirely,
apprehensive that it would not agree with my consti-
tution. Tlie eldest of Signer Vondiziano's daughters,
about twelve years old, had been so schooled by their
confessor, that she fed on bread and olives only.
Our meals consisted generally of rice soup, made
with oil, instead of meat or butter ; fish done
in oil ; wild and garden artichokes ; salads, peas,
beans, or other vegetables, fried in oil ; botarga,
caviare, olives, anchovies ; and some other things,
which I forjret. The children vied with each other

406 TRAVELS OF

in undergoing privations of this kind : and tlie maid-
servants were their abettors. Signor Vondiziano,
under the plea of a weak stomach, obtained an ex-
emption for himself twice a week.

In this way time wore on, but the weather did not
change for the better : even the passage between
Syria and Cyprus was interrupted. The drought of
the preceding year was now more than overbalanced
by the flooding rains ; and, from the standing pools
M^hich they made, fevers and endemic maladies were
anticipated.

The inhabitants of Larnaka, and, after them, tra-
vellers, have attributed the malignant fevers, which
almost annually infest that town to a small lake of
stagnant water, which lay between Larnaka and the
Marina. As this lake is not more than a few hundred
yards across in its longest diameter, it seems inade-
quate to the production of such extensive effects.
There would appear to be sufficient reason in the
sudden change of temperature which takes place at
sunset, wherever in these latitudes there are low
flats, in which heat is confined by day, and vapours
are condensed by night. Even in the winter, after a
sunny day, there was, at the close of it, such a chill sud-
denly pervading the atmosphere, as to give an instan-
taneous check to perspiration in any one incautiously
exposed to it. In the spring and autumn, this must
necessarily be more sensibly felt ; as the quantity of
vapour carried into the atmosphere is greater from

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 407

the greater heat, and the system is then more easily
acted upon, at one time from the sudden cessation of
a renovated circulation, at another from the sudden
contraction of relaxed pores.

Tired of waiting for the vesseFs departure, I resolved
on another excursion into the interior ; and, on the
21st of March, I set off with two mules, which cost
me eleven piasters and a half per diem, for Leucosia.
I was desirous, this time, of taking the road through
Idalia ; but my guide, who wished to pass the night
at his own village, turned from the road which led to
Idalia into that to Athegainon, imagining that, when
once there, I could do no more than fume and talk,
without any positive mischief to him. But I knew a
Greek''s shifts well enough to suspect that the direction
he took was not the right one, as I had previously
instructed myself respecting the way. Accordingly,
I suffered him to take the lead for about two hundred
yards, and then suddenly, without apprizing him,
turned off in a northerly direction. He did not look
round, until I and my servant were almost out of
sight ; when, discovering what I had done, he came
hurrying after me.

Idalia, now called Dali, is five leagues from Larnaka,
west by north. It proved to be a village of eighty houses,
twenty of which were Turkish, and sixty Christian.
It had four papases, or priests. I was lodged at
the $fvo8oKuov, or public lodging, than which nothing
could be more wretched. I went the following morning

408 TRAVELS OF

to see the site of ancient Idalia, to the south-east, over a
fine plain of whitish soil. Half a dozen stones of rude
workmanship, at a spot where the hills form a bogaz,
or ravine, were all that now remained. My guide
was very anxious that I should sit down and look
around me ; because, he said, the last Englishman
who had been there had done the same : and I was
inclined, therefore, to believe, that he had no other
reason for calling these scattered stones ruins of Idalia,
than because this Englishman had told him so. On
my return to the village, I inquired for coins and
statues, as is customary with travellers, and found, at
a papas's, a small woman's head, in marble. I
mounted my mule to depart, and, in passing a heap
of stones and rubbish by the church, I observed what
I thought to be the drapery of a statue peep out. I
alighted, and found a statue in high relief, about
twenty inches long, without a head, done in ala-
baster. This I brought away with me.

The road lay through hills, where I occasionally
caught a glimpse of Leucosia ; but did not enjoy the
complete view until within a quarter of an hour's dis-
tance from it. The day was beautifully fine. On my
arrival at the monastery, the archbishop received me
civilly, but with a settled gloom on his countenance,
the cause of which will be presently shown. His
dinner, as being Lent fare, was no better than the
repasts which I had left behind me at Larnaka.

I visited, on the following day, Malem Anthony

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 409

Brins, a native of Tripoli in Syria, who may pass as
a person of some mark in the eyes of Europeans, as
having been Monsieur Vohiey''s teacher in Arabic,
when living at Mar Hanneh, on Mount Lebanon.'

Brins was now a merchant, living in affluence at
Leucosia. His house was spacious and agreeable.
Ali Bey had paid him a long visit during his stay at
Leucosia. He spoke of that traveller as ill able to
support the character of a Moslem, either by his
exercise of the rites of the Mahometan religion, or by
his general language and demeanour.

Let us now revert to the cause of the archishop's
gloominess. About a week before this my second
visit to Leucosia, a large sum of money, amounting to
about twenty purses, or nearly ,^500, had been stolen
in the night from the room where Andrea, the arch-
bishop's dragoman, sat every day for the purpose of
transacting the business of the island between the
governor and his master. In the bottom of the chest
which was rifled, human ordure was left, as if to add

' He was, likewise, a knight of the holy sepulchre ; having
made good his pretensions to a noble descent (by money of
documents) in the following manner. He asserted that his
name, Brins, is but the Arabic manner of spelling Prince;
there being no letter P in the alphabet of that language : and
that his ancestors were princes of Tripoli, a principality erected
in the time of the crusades. His plea Avas thought so good,
that he was created a knight ; and, as a proof of it, he shoAved
me his diploma to that effect.

VOL. HI. T

410 TRAVELS OF

insult to thejft. It is to be observed that the palace
of the governor, in which this room was situated, was
enclosed in a quadrangular court, and had but one
outlet.

At break of day, Andrea"'s servant went, as was his
custom, to put the room in order, when, finding the
door forced and papers scattered in confusion on the
floor, he ran back in dismay to inform his master,
who hastened to see what had happened. The palace
was soon in an uproar, and the extrordinary event of
burglary committed in the very residence of the go-
vernor was considered as without a parallel.

When the first tumult was over, Andrea's servant,
the porter of the gate, who was a Turk, and three
Christians, employed near these rooms, were appre-
hended. The tufenkgi hashi (or head of the police,
whose apartment was immediately under the treasury,
and where it was supposed no noise could have
been made without his hearing it), was suspected ; as
was Signor Andrea himself. Over these two persons,
though not imprisoned, a guard was set to see that
they did not escape.

It is usual with the Turks, when suspicion rests on
particular persons, to resort to torture for a confirm-
ation of their doubts. Accordingly, after four or five
days, persons, to the number of thirty-two, having
been arrested, and all these but six having proved
their innocence (which six were, the porter, Andrea's
servant, and three Greeks, with a woman, the wife of

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 41 1

one of them), the suspected were confined in separate
rooms, and the investigation was begun in the fol-
lowing manner. Meal barley, wetted, was made up
into boluses of a large size, and one of these was
given to each of the accused. If he swallowed it, he
was innocent ; if guilty, it was supposed to be im-
possible to do so. Let it not, however, be imagined
that the Turks place more reliance on evidence of
this sort than we do. But they know that guilt
sometimes betrays itself in superstitious trials, where
the regular process of justice would be balked. An-
drea's servant was most cruelly tormented. He was
placed on a cross, like that on which we represent
St. Andrew to have been crucified. His temples
were screwed by the pressure of a diadem of what are
vulgarly called knuckle bones. Hot stones were
applied to his head, hot irons to his flesh. Inflam-
mable matter was smeared on him, and then ignited ;
and he was prevented from sleeping by persons placed
near him for that purpose. On the other Greeks and
on the gatekeeper the same torture was exercised.^

1 One of the servants accused Andrea, the dragoman, as
having prompted him to the theft. He described how he had
eflfected it, how he carried the money to his house, and deli-
vered it into Andrea's hand, who recompensed him imme-
diately for his trouble. Fortunately for Andrea, his wife that
very night lay-in, and, as is usual in Greece, his house was full
of friends, who bore witness to the falsehood of such testi-
mony.

T 2

412 TRAVELS OF

For the woman, a mode of torture was resorted to
which may be called a refinement on cruelty. The
trousers worn by women in these countries are ex-
ceedingly large, and tied at the ancles and waist.
The plan pursued with her was this. A cat was
put into the trowsers, which, being pricked and
beaten, and unable to escape, grows furious, and tears
the thighs and legs of the sufferer with his teeth
and claws.

It was in the midst of this dreadful investigation
that I arrived at Leucosia ; and, walking the next
day by the palace, I was startled by the sight of a
man dangling by the neck to the iron grating of one
of the palace windows, from fifteen to twenty feet
from the ground. This was the porter, who had been
hanged in this way, just as he was about to expire
from the tortures he had undergone. As the inves-
tigation advanced, it was rumoured that an Armenian
seraf (banker to the governor, and the rival of Andrea's
influence among the Turks) had invented this ne-
farious plot for the purpose of ruining Andrea. The
servant of the latter died soon afterwards of his suffer-
ings.

In the mean time, Andrea himself was exposed to
the greatest danger, for his enemies were powerful ;
and, although the proofs of his innocence were satis-
factory at home, he knew that such representations
might be made at Constantinople as would totally
change the face of things. And the event justified

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 418

his apprehensions ; for, although the cause was still
under investigation when I left Cyprus, and the cer-
tainty of the Armenian"'s plot became every day more
apparent, the affair was not finished without a great
sacrifice of money on the part of the archbishop ;
whilst Andrea, to avert a continuance of the per-
secution, sold off his household furniture and pic-
tures, which he had recently imported from Italy, and
reduced his establishment and his dress to so humble
a guise, that envious and malevolent people should
not have it in. their power to allege anything against
him.'

I got back to Larnaka just before Easter day. It
fell this year on the 6th of April, and to a dull Lent
succeeded visiting and festivities. Mass was cele-
brated at midnight, and, this over, the ceremony of
kissing the cheek and saluting each other with
"Christ is risen," began. By 10 o"* clock, Mr. Von-
diziano's courtyard was filled with drums and dancers,
whilst in the saloon was the bishop with a party of
priests chanting.

A circumstance, however, somewhat interrupted
the harmony of the inhabitants. On the restoration
of Louis XVIIL, and the arrival of a new ambas-
sador at Constantinople, religion had again raised her

' About this time, by the Trieste newspapers, the news of
Lord Stanhope's death (on the 26th December, 1816) came to
Cyprus. I forwarded the melancholy information to Lady
Hester on the 2nd and 3rd of April.

414 TRAVELS OF

head, and the Catholic priests attempted to resume
the influence which they had once so extensively en-
joyed, even in these distant colonies. The freemasons
were supposed to have been the fomenters of all the
insults which the priests had suffered for so many
years during the revolution, and the anathemas of the
preachers were now levelled principally against them.

This spirit of persecution was encouraged by the
arrival of the Abbe de Masure, almoner to the French
ambassador, who denounced them as the machinators
of all evil, political and moral. It is customary for
Roman Catholics to confess themselves before re-
ceiving the sacrament at Easter ; and, according to
the new order of things, the French consul and the
nation (for so the few individuals of each country
style themselves) went to confession. Three, who
were freemasons, were sent back, unless they would
give up their masonic diplomas, which, of course,
they refused to do. Nor was the matter settled until
the consul threatened to imprison the priest, if he
withheld absolution any longer from the individuals
in question.

I dismissed my servant Giovanni, who was to re-
turn to Syria, where he proposed marrying a young
person to whom he had been affianced three or four
years. Wishing to make the best recompence in my
power to a man, who, though he sometimes gave me
reason, as has been related, to be angry with him,
still had served me faithfully, 1 had previously pre-

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 415

sented him, on quitting Abra, with the best part of
the furniture my cottage contained ; and I now made
him a present of a few articles for his bride, and of a
sum of money for himself.

416 TRAVELS OF

CHAPTER XIV.

Departure from Cyprus, and Voyage to Marseilles — Dirti-
ness of the French ship and her crew — Fare on board— Cruel
treatment of a political prisoner — Angora greyhound — Arrival
at Pomegue, the quarantine anchorage of Marseilles.

The Jean Baptiste brigantine polaccaofl50 tons being
now ready to sail, I embarked for Marseilles on the 9th
of April, in the afternoon. It was not without consider-
able regret that I took leave of a gentleman whose un-
abated hospitality I had partaken of for seventy-six
days. The vessel was laden with cotton, of which
she had nearly 600 bales, so that they were stowed on
the quarter-deck, in the waist, and on the forecastle ;
besides which the cabin was so full, that between the
bales and the ceiling there was only room enough to
creep to the sleeping berths. I was to pay for the
state-room and my board 850 francs. Much had
been said to me beforehand of the bad food and bad
usage which passengers generally meet with on board
of Proven9al vessels ; I therefore prepared myself
contentedly for the worst.

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 417

On Friday the 10th of April, before sunrise, we
j^ot under weigh, with the wind at west ; but, after
tacking off and on, we found ourselves, at sunset,
where we started from in the morning. We had on
board a prisoner in chains, named Candie, who had
been arrested at St. Jean d'Acre, by an order from
Constantinople ; and, as far as I could collect, was
accused of having taken part in some of the troubles
at Grenoble at the return of the Emperor Napoleon
from Elba. The place assigned him was on the cables,
which lay on the cargo close to the main hatchway ;
but, complaining that he feared being stifled when the
hatches were closed in bad weather, he was transferred
to the long boat ; and, when the vessel was distant
from the land, his chains were taken off. The Captain,
the owner, his two sons, the mate, and a Maltese pas-
senger, slept in the cabin ; and, there being no room to
sit, we ate constantly on deck, fair weather and foul.
As there was no space for stools, or chairs, or benches,
they all stood to eat, and to this position I should
have been myself condemned, had not my habits of
sitting in the Turkish fashion made a bale of cotton
a very good sofa.

On the ] 2th, a strong wind from the East carried
us on our course seventy or eighty miles. On the ISth,
the wind again shifted to the west, and, up to the 23d,
we were still beating to windward.

May set in with a change of wind to the north-
east. For the first time, studding sails were set.

418 TRAVELS OF

We now got on rapidly, and on the night of the 3rd,
we passed between Malta and Sicily.

On the 8th, the coast of Barbary was in sight the
whole day. On the 11th and 12th we made little way ;
and on the 13th and 14th we were becalmed on the
Casse, a bank over which ships of large burden cannot
pass without danger. Here one of the sailors speared a
fish, between three and four feet long, of a deep purple
colour on the back, and with a snouted head, which
some called a paron and others a requin (shark).

On the 15 th we had an easterly wind, and advanced
very fast towards our destination. On the 16th, at four
o'clock in the afternoon, we discovered the high land
over Toulon, and about sunset we descried the church
of Notre Dame de la Garde, the village of Sinfours,
and the rock at the entrance of Toulon harbour. We
stood off during the night ; and, on quitting the cabin
in the morning, I found the vessel at the mouth of Mar-
seilles harbour, just where the rocky land, so rugged
and bare, presents itself to the sight. In an hour we
Avere anchored at Pomegue, an inlet in a small island
not altogether safe in blowing weather, but destined
for vessels that have to perform quarantine. Thus we
had been thirty-seven days on our passage ; ten of
which were spent in reaching Candia, thirteen more
to Malta, six to Sardinia, and eight more to our
anchorage.

In taking a review of the circumstances of the
voyage, I cannot say that anything could have made

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 419

it tolerable but the prospect of soon landing in Chris-
tendom. I was shut up in a vessel, and obliged to
live in close society with men, whose habits, occupa-
tions, and education, differed entirely from my own :
and, although a philosophic mind will not suffer its
happiness to depend on such temporary inconveniences,
I confess I found mine sometimes greatly affected by
them.

The Proven9al sailors are superstitious to excess ;
and, whenever the weather was bad, there was always
a disposition to throw the blame of it on me, whom,
as a Protestant, they reckoned no Christian. They
were totally wanting in cleanliness. The cabin was
full of fleas, and was never swept during the whole
voyage. This however was perhaps more owing to
the remissness of the captain, who did not enforce it,
than to the cabin-boy and men, who themselves, when
ill-humoured with the captain, complained of the dirti-
ness of the vessel. The Proven^aux seem to have a
habit of spitting not exceeded by the Spaniards or
Americans, and, what is worse, they spit in every di-
rection and on every spot, so that I had not a single
resting-place on the deck, nor could I go one step with-
out the apprehension of brushing with my long dress
the saliva that was scattered and conglobated in every
direction. This habit appeared more disagreeable to
a person coming from Turkey, where the meanest
pauper is never seen to spit, even when smoking.

Their cookery was to me extremely disagreeable.

420 TRAVELS OF

The principal ingredients in it were oil and garlic,
the latter of which is considered so great a delicacy,
not only by the seafaring people of Provence but by
those who live on shore, that women even of respec-
table condition often carry the odour of it in their breath
into society.

It will not be misplaced here to give a list of
the dishes on which we chiefly lived during the
passage, that other travellers may be induced from it
to take the precaution of laying in their own provi-
sions on a similar voyage. On Wednesdays and Fri-
days we lived on meagre fare, such as lentils or rice
done in oil,/ or salt fish soup, or salt fish plain boiled ;
artichokes stuffed with onions, and parsley stewed in
oil ; or on split peas and slices of bread boiled into a
soup with oil and water ; or on cold boiled peas with
oil. Hard Dutch cheese, or, which is still harder,
Cyprus cheese, with two dates and a few raisins for
each person, made up the dessert. On other days,
there was rice boiled, or rice soup ; ham and bacon
omelettes ; stockfish always ; broad beans raw, which
were to be eaten as children eat peas in England ;
boiled garden snails, which were considered a delicacy,
and of which we had a bushel basket full. Two lambs
were taken on board at Cyprus, and killed on the
voyage. They were eaten in the following manner.
On the first day the blood caught from the neck
was fried, which looked like pieces of liver ; but this I
could not eat. Next the liver itself was fried or

LADY HESTER STANHOPE. 421

roasted, and the tripe done in fricassee^ but so badly
washed that it was impossible to touch it. After this
we fared well for two or three days on lamb chops,
vermicelli soup, houilli of lamb, &c., until the lamb
was eaten. Towards the latter part of the voyage,
when all the provisions were nearly gone, we were
reduced to ham and salt fish soup, and boiled horse-
beans in salad ; whilst the water we drank came from a
wine barrel, with a smack of the vinous sourness in it.

There was no remedy for these evils when once
embarked ; for the desire of avoiding anchorage dues
prevents these vessels from entering any port on their
way home.

But when it is considered that some regard was paid
to my English habits, and that I had the liberty of dis-
liking what did not please me, my situation was good
compared to that of the poor prisoner, confined to the
long-boat, and with no covering but an old sail. His
food was always of the worst ; and the spray of the sea,
in bad weather, constantly flew over him, so as to wet
him. In this man's conversation I found the only
resource I had in the ship. He had been bred to, and
followed, the trade of a turner ; but, in the revolution,
he had signalized his love of liberty, and bore with
him a medal equivalent in its import to what in ancient
times a civic crown would have been. His conduct on
the return of Napoleon had made him obnoxious to the
royalists, and he had absented himself with a view to
escape persecution, which however pursued him into
the heart of Syria : for, at St. Jean d'Acre, whilst

422 TRAVELS.

gaining a scanty livelihood by portrait painting, he
was seized and shipped off for France.

He was more attached than any person I ever saw
to freemasonry, which he seemed to have studied deeply,
and his object in going to Palestine was, he said, to
visit Jerusalem, as the place which gave birth to this
singular fraternity. Whatever his motives were, he
did not effect them.

The Proven9al language (on board ship) is a most
disagreeable jargon, as unintelligible even to those
who understand French as to those who do not, and
delighting in intonations of the voice, which always-
reminded me of a crying child.

I had brought with me an Angora greyhound. The
beauty of a dog from that country consists in long-
silky hair at the ears and on the tail, the peculiar fea-
ture of all animals, whether goats, cats, or dogs, which
come from Angora and its neighbourhood. Never did
1 feel so forcibly the proverb of " love me, love my
dog," as then ; for the whole of the crew, when my
back was turned, were constantly beating him, and
worried him cruelly.

As soon as the vessel was moored, the captain pro-
ceeded to Marseilles (which is a league from Pomegue)
with his papers ; and next morning I was conveyed,
with my effects, to the Lazaretto, thankful to the
Almighty, for having permitted me, after so man^'
perilous voyages and journeys, once more to revisit
Europe,

ADDITIONAL NOTE.

" Beaten him." — p. 325.

I have preserved the exact words in which Dr. Wolff told
the story ; but, in justice to Lady Hester Stanhope, I ought
to observe that, in her ladyship's residence at Mar Elias, there
were no steps either in the house or at the entrance, and con-
sequently the bearer of the letter could not be " kicked down
stairs." Neither am I disposed to believe that her ladyship
bastinadoed him : she might have desired the porter to say
that, if he returned again, he would be bastinadoed. In this way
were many strange tales circulated, for which there were no
other grounds than the assertion of some poor devil, who made
out a pitiful case in order to get a bakshysh for his supposed
sufferings. A Syrian thinks a few piasters are fairly gained by
a plausible lie.

Frederick Slioberl, Juuior, Printer to His Royal Highness Prince Albert,
51, Rupert Street, Haymarket, London.

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OR,

ROMANCE AND REALITIES OF EASTERN TRAVEL.

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Mr. Warburton has fulfilled the promise of his title-page. The "Realities "
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By JOHN BURKE, Esq., Author of "The Peerage and Baronetage," &c.

AND

JOHN BERNARD BURKE. Esq., of the Middle Temple, Barrister-

at-law.

This work relates to the Untitled Families of Rank, as the " Peerage
and Baronetage" does to the Titled, and forms, in fact, a Peerage of the
Untitled Aristocracy.

MR. BURKE'S EXTINCT, DORMANT, AND
SUSPENDED PEERAGES,

OP ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND.

A COMPANION TO ALL OTHER PEERAGES.

It should be particularly noticed, that this new work appertains nearly
as much to extant as to extinct persons of distinction ; for, though
dignities pass away, it rarely occurs that whole families do.

New and cheaper Edition, beautifully printed, in double columns, 1 vol.
8vo. With Emblazoned Title-page, 6i.c. price 28s bound.

NEW EDITIONS

OF
INTERESTING TVORKS,

JUST PUBLISHED BY MR. COLBURN.

I.
A SECOND EDITION of LADY HESTER

STANHOPE'S MEMOIRS. 3 vols.
II.

A THIRD EDITION of REVELATIONS OF

RUSSIA in 1846. 2 vols. 21s,
III.

A THIRD EDITION of MR. DISRAELFS

SYBIL. 3 vols.

IV.

A SECOND EDITION of MEMOIRS OF PRINCE

CHARLES STUART. By C. L. Klose, Esq. 2 vols.

A THIRD EDITION of THE NEW TIMON. A

Poetical Romance of London. Post 8vo., elegantly bound, 7s. 6d.
VI.

A SECOND EDITION of the DUKE OF WEL-
LINGTON'S MAXIMS AND OPINIONS. 8vo. 12s.
VII.

A SECOND EDITION of the DIARY AND

MEMOIRS OF SOPHIA DOROTHEA, CONSORT OF
GEOR-GE I. 2 vols.

VIII.

A SECOND EDITION of REVELATIONS OF

SPAIN in 1846. 2 vols. 21s.

A SECOND EDITION of MAJOR LAWRENCKS

ADVENTURES IN THE PUNJAB. 2 vols.
X.

A SECOND EDITION of LETTERS OF MARY

QUEEN OF SCOTS. Edited by Miss Strickland. 2 vols, 21s.
XI.

A THIRD EDITION of the REV. R. COBBOLD^S

HISTORY OF MARGARET CATCHPOLE. 1 vol., with Plates.
10s. 6d.

A SECOND EDITION of MR. WHITE'S THREE

YEARS IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 3 vols., with 34 Illustrations.
24s.

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Full text of "Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope; forming the completion of her memoirs"

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