.5MEUNIVER% ^lOSANCElfXy^ :lOSANCEl% ,§■ ->; %a3AINi13^V^ .C^tLIBRARYOc. ^ILIBRAR^ '^'' ♦^ -^WEUNIVERi-//, vwlOSANCElfj> o .^OF- ir .<: ^^oFc; A^llIBRARYQ^ -^lUBRARYQc .^\^EUNIVERy/A ^^, -n <_' 3V\V^ %0JITVJJO^ ^OjiwjJO^ '^X?13DNVS01^'^ 1-3UV -< ^OFCAIIFOR^ ^^OFCAIIFO/? ^c'Aavaan-1'^^ A\^EUNIVERy//i %avaa^•^^^ ^lOSANCElfj> ^ ^HIBRARYQ^ ^Wtiiii, > ^.OFCALIFO/?^^ aOFCAIIFOP^ 4? ^OAl ^OFCALIFOff^ ^OFC*^'^-^"' .W^EUNIVERS/A . 57X- 't<^2.-? ^^WEUNIVER% MN(l-3W^ .N^HIBRARYQc, A,OFCAlIF0/?^> '^OAavaaii-^^ ^ o A *\E- )1^ ^/^3AINn-3WV^ ^^WEUNIVERSy^ .sVlO^ ^WEUNIVERy//, sVlOSANCElfXy. ^UIBRARYQ/: ^HIBRARYO/- THE CENTEAL CAUCASUS AKD BASHAN. LONDON: PRINTED BT SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STKEET SQUAEE AND PAELIAMBNT STBEBT £ ^- • TRAVELS IN THE CENTRAL CAUCASUS AND BASHAN INCLUDING VISITS TO ARAEAT AND TABREEZ ASCENTS OF KAZBEK AND ELBRUZ. DOUGLAS W. FRESHFIELD. ' Per Alpium juga Inhospitalem et Caucasiim.' HoR. Epod. I. 12. LONDON : LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1869. The right of translation is reserved. DK 511 PREFACE. The following pages sufficiently explain how the journey described in them was planned and carried out. In the course of our wanderings, we visited two countries, well known, indeed, by name to the general reader, but concerning which vague, and in some respects incorrect impressions are frequently enter- tained. A truthful traveller may do as good service by destroying illusions as by bringing forward fresh information, and I have felt bound to record our con- viction that the belief that there are ' Giant Cities ' in Bashan is as unfounded as the still more prevalent idea that all the men in the Caucasus are brave, and all the women beautiful. Our Syrian travels owed their chief interest to a sudden access of vigour on the part of the Turkish Pashas, which enabled us to visit, with httle risk or expense, the remarkable ruins of the Hauran and Lejah, and to form our own opinion as to their date — a question VI PREFACE. as yet discussed principally by unskilled witnesses, and still awaiting the decision of a competent judge. The exploration of the passes and glaciers of the Central Caucasus, and the ascent of its two most famous summits, formed the chief aim of our journey, and are the main subject of the present volume. I trust that the record of our adventures in the moun- tain fastnesses may prove of sufficient interest to draw the attention of our countrymen to a range surpassing the Alps by two thousand feet in the average height of its peaks, abounding in noble scenery and picturesque inhabitants, and even now within tlie reach of many ' long-vacation tourists,' When tlie Caucasus, as yet less known than the Andes or the Himalayas, becomes a recognised goal of travel, this work will have fulfilled its object, and will be superseded by the production of some author better qualified, both by literary skill and scientific attainments, to treat of so noble a theme. The reader will not find in these pages any pohtical speculations, for which so rapid a journey afforded scant opportunity ; he may more justly complain of the absence of ethnological details concerning the tribes of the Caucasus. My excuse is, that information filtered through an uneducated interpreter is difficult to obtain and little trustworthy ; the subject, moreover, has been fully treated of by German travellers, in w^orks al- ready translated into English, and accessible to those in whom the present account of the natural features of PREFACE. Vll the Caucasian region may raise a wish to learn more of its inhabitants. The Map of the Central Caucasus is reduced from the Five Verst Map, executed by the Eussian Topo- graphical Department at Tiflis, with many corrections suggested by our own experience. The illustrations are derived from various sources ; some liave been engraved from paintings by a Russian artist resident at Tiflis, others are from photographs or pencil-sketches. Two of the smaller plates are borrowed from a privately- printed work of Herr Eadde, our numerous obliga- tions to whom I gladly take this opportunity of acknowledging. I owe my best thanks to Mr. Edward Whymper for the skill he has shown in dealing with the rough materials placed at his disposal, a task for which his well-known knowledge of mountain scenery eminently qualified him. I have also to thank Mr. Weller for the care he has taken to make the maps accurate and intellimble. o I cannot conclude these few words of preface with- out bearing grateftd witness to the constant encourage- ment, and very important aid, which I have received from my companions, Mr. A. W. Moore and Mr. C. C. Tucker, in the preparation of the volume now sub- mitted to the public. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. EGYPT AND PALESTINE. PAGE Introductory — Choosing a Dragoman — Djebel Mokattam — The Nile Steamer — The Mecca Caravan — Sail for Syria — A Poor Traveller — Struck by Lightning — Syrian Sloughs and Storms — The River Kishon — Arrival at Jerusalem — An Idea worked out — ' Vive la Mer Morte ! ' — Jericho — We fall among Thieves — The Jordan Valley — Capture of a Standard-bearer — Ferry of the Jordan .•.....! CHAPTER II. BASHAN. The English Soldier— A Mountain Ride— Es-Salt — Lost on the HUls — The Jabbok — Camp of the Beni-Hassan — Suppressing a Sheikh — The Oak Forests of Gi lead — The Tablelands — An Uxorious Sheikli — Derat — The Roman Road — The Robbers repulsed — Ghusam — Bozrah — Honoured Guests — A Ramble in the Ruins — Kureiyeh — Patriarchal Hospitality — Hebran — A Stone House — Kufr — Ascent of El-Kleib — Suweideh — Kunawat — Noble Ruins — Shuhba — Hades on Earth — Visiting Extra- ordinary— The Lejah — A Lava Flood — Ahireh — Khubab- — A Rush to Arms — The Stolen Mule — A Village in Pursuit — Mismiyeh — The ' Giant Cities ' are Roman Towns — The Wrath of the Beys — A Friendly Sulut — Kesweh — Entrance to Damascus . . . . . . .16 CHAPTER III. LEBANON AND THE LEVANT. Damascus — Bazaars and Gardens — An Enthusiastic Freemason — Snow- storm on Anti-Lebanon — Baalbec — An Alpine Walk — The Cedars — Return to Beyrout — Cyprus and Rhodes — Smyrna — The Valley of the Maeander — Excavations at Ephesus — Constantinople — The Persian Khan — May-Day at the Sweet Waters— Preparations for the Caucasus . 63 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. TRANSCAUCASIA. PAGE On the Black Sea — Trebizonde — Rival Interpreters — Paul — Running a Muck — Batoum — The Caucasus in Sight — Landing at Poti — The Rion Steamer — A Drive in the Dark — Kutais — Count I;everschoff— Splendid Costumes — Mingrelian Princesses — Azaleas — The Valley of the Quirili — A Post Station — The Georgian Plains — Underground Villages — Gori — First View of Kazbek— Tiflis— The Hotel d'Europe— The Streets- Silver and Pur Bazaars — Maps — German Savants — The Botanical Garden — The Opera — Oificialism Rampant — A Palse Frenchwoman — A Paraclodnaia — The Postal System in Russia 74 CHAPTER V. THK PERSIAN POST-ROAD. The Banks of the Kur — Troops on the March — A Romantic Valley— Delidschan — A Desolate Pass — The Gokcha Lake — Ararat — Erivan — - The Kurds — The Valley of the Araxes — A Steppe Storm — A Dangerous Ford — Nakliitchevan — A Money Question — Djulfa — Charon's Ferry and a Modern Cerberus — A Friend in Need — A Persian Khan — Maraud — Entrance to Tabreez — Chez Lazarus . . . , . . .112 CHAPTER VI. TABREEZ, ARARAT, AND THE GEORGIAN HILL-COUNTRY. The City— Brick Architecture — The Shah's Birthday — The European Colony — A Market Committee — Retiu-n to Djulfa — A Dust Storm — Ford of the Araxes — Aralykli — Start for Ararat — Refractory Kurds — A Moon- light Climb — ^Failure — A Lonely Perch— Vast Panorama — Tucker's Story — A Gloomy Descent— Return to Erivan — Etchmiadzin — The Arme- nian Patriarch — A Dull Ride— Eammamly — The Georgian Hills— Dje- laloghlu — A Moist Climate — Schulaweri — Tiflis again — Moore joins us . 141 CHAPTER VII. THE KRESTOWAJA GORA AND ASCENT OF KAZBEK. Start for the Mountains— The Pass of the Caucasus— Kazbek Post Station — The Governors — A Reconnaissance in force — Legends — Avalanches — The Old Men's Chorus— Men in Ai'mour — Our Bivouac — A Critical Moment— Scaling an Icewall — The Summit — The Descent— A Savage Glen — A Night with the Shepherds — Return to the Village — Caucasian Congratulations 179 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER VIII. THE VALLEYS OF THE TEREK, ARDON, AND RION. PAGE A Geographical Disquisition — The Upper Terek — Savage Scenery — Fero- cious Dogs — Abano — A Dull Walk— Hard Bargaining — An Unruly Train — A Pass — Zacca, on the Ardon — A Warm Skirmish and a Barren Victory — An Unexpected Climb — The Lower Valley — A Kussian Koad — Teeb— The Ossetes— The Mamisson Pass— Adai Khokh— A Shift in the Scenery — Gurscha^d — The Boy-Prince — An Idle Day — View from the Khododendron Slope — Glola — The Pine-Forests of the Kion — Chiora 208 CHAPTEE IX. THE GLACIERS AND FORESTS OF THE CENTRAL CAUCASUS. Caucasian Shepherds — A Lovely Alp — Sheep on the Glacier- — A New Pass — A Snow Wall — A Rough Glen — The Karagam Glacier — Bivoiiac in the Forest — An Icefall — A Struggle and a Victory — The Upper Snowfields — The Watershed at last — Check — A Usefid Gully — An Uneasy Night — Glola again — Pantomime — Gebi^Curious VilLigers — A Bargain for Porters — Azalea Thickets — The Source of the Rion — Rank Herbage — Camp on the Zenes-Squali — A Low Pass — Swamps and Jungles — Path-jBnding — The Glen of the Scena—AVide Pasturages — TheNaksagar Pass 245 CHAPTER X. : SU-^ETIA. Free Suanetia, Past and Present — Herr Eadde's Experiences — Physical Features — Fortified Villages — Jibiani — Pious Savages — A Surprise — Glaciers of the Ingur — Petty Theft — Threats of Robbery — Alarms and Excursions^ — A Stormy Parting — The Horseman's Home — The Ruined Tower — A Glorious Icefall — Adisch — Sylvan Scf-nery — The Mushaluliz — Suni — Ups and Downs — Midday Halt — Latal — A Suanetian Farm- house— Murder no Crime — Tau Totonal — A Sensation Scene — The Cau- casian MMterhorn — Pari at last — Hospitable Cossacks . . . 292 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. FROM PARI TO I'ATIGORSK, AND ASCENT OF ELBRUZ. PAGE A Captive Bear — Moore Harangues the Porters — Camp in the Forest — A Plague of Flies— Lazy Porters — A Nook in the Mountains — Cattle- Lifting — Across the Chain in a Snowstorm — A Stormy Debate — A Log Hut — Eaksan Valley — Uruspieh — The Guest House — Villany Eewarded— Minghi-Tau — An Idle Day — An Enlightened Prince — Passes to the Karatchai— Tartar Mountaineers — A Night with the Shepherds — A Steep Climb — Camp on the Eoeks— Great Cold — On the Snowfield — In a Crevasse — Frigid Despair — A Crisis — Perseverance Eewarded — The Summit — Panorama — The Eeturn — Enthusiastic Eeception — The Lower Baksan — A Long Eide — A Tcherkess Village — Grassy Downs — Zonitzki — Patigorsk . . . . . . . . . .337 CHAPTER XII. PATIGORSK AND THE TCHEREK VALLEY. The Caucasian Spas— Their History and Development — View from Machoucha — The Patients— Essentuky — Kislovodsk — The Narzan — Hospitable Eeception — A Fresh Start — A Eussian Farmhouse — By the Waters of Baksan — Naltschik — The Tcherek — Camp in the Forest — A Tremendous Gorge — Balkar — A Hospitable Sheikh — The Mollah — Gloomy Weather — A Solemn Parting — Granitic Cliifs — Karaoid — A Mountain Panorama — Sources of the Tcherek — The Stuleveesk Pass — Koschtantau and Dychtau — A Noble Peak — Our Last Camp. , ,381 CHAPTER Xin. THE URUCH VALLEY AND RETURN TO TIFLIS. Wooded Defiles— Styr Digor — A Halt — We Meet a Cossack— A Eain- storm — Zadclesk — The Gate of the Mountains — Across the Hills and Through the Forest — Tuganova — Novo-Christiansky — A Christian Welcome — A Wet Eide — Ardonsk — A Breakdown on the Steppe — Vladi- kafkaz — A Diligence Drive — The Dariel Gorge — Eeturn to Tiflis — Eeflections on'the Caucasian Chain — Its Scenery and Inhabitants — Com- parison with the Alps — Hints for Travellers 422 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER XIV. TRANSCAUCASIA AND THE CRIMEA : HOME THROUGH RUSSIA. PAOE Borjom — Bad Eoad — Beautiful Scenery — Achaltzich — Across the Hills — Abastuman — A Narrow Valley — The Burnt Forest — Panorama of the Caucasus — Last Appearance of Kazbek and Elbruz — A Forest Ride- Bagdad— MingreHan Hospitality — A French Baron's Farm — The Rion Basin— Kutais — The Postmaster — Poti — A Dismal Swamp— Soukhoum- Kale — Sevastopol — The Battlefields — The Crimean Corniehe — Bakhchi-Sarai — Odessa — A Run across Russia — A Jew's Cart — The Dnieper Steamboat — KiefF — Picturesque Pilgrims — The Lavra — Sainted Mummies — A Long Drive — Vitebsk — St. Petersburg — Conclusion 465 APPENDIX. I. The Elbruz Expedition of 1829 . . .... 497 II. Heights of Peaks, Passes, Towns, and Villages in the Caucasian Provinces ........... 600 lU. Catalogue of Plants 502 LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. MAPS. PAGE I. Route Map of the Haurau To face 16 II. The Caucasian Provinces „ 74 III. The Central Caucasus End of Vol. FULL-PAGE ILLUSTKATIONS. Elbruz from the North Frontispiece Ararat To face 125 Kazbek from the Post Station „ 185 Kazbek from the South „ 197 PAIJOEAMAS. The Caucasus from Patigorsk ,, 381 The Koschtantau Group ^^ 381 WOODCUTS IN TEXT. A Georgian Church 95 The Georgian Castle, Tiflis 104 Mountaineers in Armour I95 An Ossete Village 213 An Ossete 227 Adai Khokh from the Rion Valley 237 Source of the Eastern Zenes-Squali 282 Our Camp-fire in the Forest 288 A Native of Jibiani 3O0 Tan Tbtonal from above Latal 328 Uschba from above Latal 329 Woman of TJruspieh 357 Peak in the Tchcrek Valley 4jl Fort of Dariel 442 Grand-Ducal Villa at Borjom 466 Mingrelian Wine .Tnr 479 TRAVELS IN THE CENTEAL CAUCASUS AND BASHAK CHAPTEE I. EGYPT AND PALESTINE. Introductory — Choosing a Dragoman — Djebel Mokattam — The Nile Steamer — The Mecca Caravan — Sail for Syria — A Poor Traveller — Struck by Lightning — Syrian Sloughs and Storms — The River Kishon — Arrival at Jerusalem — An Idea worked out — -'Vive la Mer Mortal' — Jericho — We fall among Thieves — The Jordan Valley — Capture of a Standard-bearer — Ferry of the Jordan. Before carrying mj readers into tlie primitive wilds of Bashan, and amongst the unknown valleys and ridges of tlie Caucasus, I must give some explanation of the circum- stances which induced me to undertake the journey I am about to describe. In many summer holidaj^s, spent among the Alps, I had acquired a taste for mountain scenery, and when an opportunity of being absent from home for a longer time than usual presented itself, I looked for some country where the zest of novelty would be added to those natural features which chiefly at- tracted me. For many reasons the Caucasus seemed to be the very region I was seeking. Less distant than the Andes or the Himalayas, its mountains were yet unknown to ordinary travellers, and none of our countrymen had B 2 EGYPT AND PALESTINE. explored tlie recesses of the finest portions of the chain, although not a few had crossed the great highway of the Dariel, or followed in the footsteps of the Eussian armies in Daghestan. My journey was to begin in January, at which time it was obviously to6 early to start on a mountaineering excursion, and the ease with which a visit to the Cauca- sian provinces might be fitted on to an Eastern tour induced me to spend the intervening months in Egypt and the Holy Land. The plan was definitely settled when my friend Mr. Tucker agreed to join me in the whole of the proposed journey. I had the good fortune to secure a second comrade for our Caucasian explorations in Mr. Moore, who was, however, unable to leave London until the summer, and therefore promised to meet us, at Tiflis, about June 20th. So far our party was complete, but for moun- taineering work it was evidently necessary to have the assistance of at least one skilled guide. My old com- panion, rran9ois Devouassoud of Chamouni, was jnst the man we wanted, and he proved not only willing but anxious to join us. The only question was whether he should meet us at some point in our journey, or should accompany us from its outset. I finally determined to accede to his wishes, and take him as a travelling servant, having full confidence in his intelligence and readiness to accommodate himself to new scenes and unaccustomed modes of life. We had no reason to repent this decision. After a busy fortnight, spent in getting together the necessaries for our journey — which included a tent, water- proof saddlebags, a portable kitchen, and large quantities of Liebig's soup — we left England on January 4th, 1868. We passed through the South of France in the most intense cold: at Avignon the Rhone was frozen from bank to CHOOSING A DRAGOMAN. g bank, and the fountains at Marseilles were turned into masses of icicles. On January 8tli we sailed for Egypt, on board the Messageries Imperiales' steamer 'Port Said,' with a miscellaneous batch of passengers, in- cluding two French officers who were going to Abys- sinia, two directors of the Suez Canal, Gerome the painter, the Viceroy of Egypt's dentist, two missionary ladies bound for Jerusalem, and a party of Algerine Arabs on their way to Mecca, who lay all day and night on deck, huddled in their cloaks. With such variety on board, and a constantly-changing horizon, we found the voyage by no means monotonous. On the sixth morning the tall lighthouse and low coast of Alexandria came in sight. We landed in a storm of rain, which added to the difficulties of newcomers in an Eastern city. We were at once surrounded by a host of dragomen, and pestered by their persistent attentions, until we at last selected one, whose personal appearance was in his favour, and whose terms and promises were more reasonable than those of most of the men we saw. By the kind assistance of a European resident, a contract was made with him to accompany us during our Syrian tour ; his duties were to begin on our landing at Jaffii or Beyrout. The successful candidate was Elias Abbas, a Maronite of the Lebanon. I have no intention of adding to the already too numerous descriptions of Egypt and the Nile, but I cannot refrain from one hint to all visitors to Cairo. Visit the petrified forest, and make your donkey-boy brino- you back by Djebel Mokattam, or you will lose one of the most wonderful views in the East. After riding for miles over the arid African desert, with a narrow horizon, and nothing to attract the attention save a distant train of camels or a troop of gazelles, the edge of an abruj^t b2 4 EGYPT AND PALESTINE. descent is reached, and the view of Cairo and the valley of the Nile bursts upon the eyes with an almost magical suddenness. The immediate foreground is formed by the quarried heights of Djebel Mokattam, in the centre of the picture rise the taper minarets of the mosque of the citadel, in a valley on its right are the tombs of the Memlooks, a deserted town of the dead, and the vast modem city spreads itself out in the plain below. In the centre of the broad bluish-green ribbon of fertile land, dotted with clusters of pyramids, the Nile itself can be traced to the commencement of the Delta, while beyond, on the west, the yellow sands of the desert mark the limits of its fertilising inundation. At Cairo we were fortunate in falling in with some pleasant Americans, who were making up a party to hire a steamboat for a trip up the river. They asked us to join them, and although the Nile had not formed part of our programme, the opportunity was too good to be lost, and we gladly accepted the offer. Although our company consisted of eleven Americans and only four Englishmen, the majority were not at all disposed to abuse their power, and we gave an example of unbroken harmony to the other steamers going up the river at the same time. Indeed, I believe that on this account, as well as from our being so fortunate as to carry with us some prett}^ and lively Transatlantic cousins, we were an object of envy and heartburning to most of the boats we met. Time could not hang heavy on the hands of those who, when their admiration was no longer called forth by ' the mysteriovis type of beauty' peculiar to the broken-nosed sisterhood of Sphinxes, could turn their eyes on the fresher charms which the Far West had sent to compete with the stony loveliness of the East. On February 14th SAIL FOR SYRIA. 5 we bade farewell to the little steamer in which we had spent three very pleasant weeks on the Mle, and returned to our old quarters in Shepherd's Hotel at Cairo. We witnessed the departure of the Haj caravan for Mecca, admired the holy camel, draped with cloth of gold, carrying the annually renewed covering of Mahomet's tomb, and laughed heartily at a sheikh of extraordinary sanctity and obesity, who, strij)ped to the waist and shining w^ith oil, swayed himself backwards and forwards on his camel with the air of a tipsy FalstafF. A few hours later we bade adieu to Cairo and our Nile friends, and on the next day embarked at Alexandria for Syria. We had been asked to take out from England a Ions: box, labelled ' Delicate instruments — with care,' for the use of Lieutenant Warren, the officer engaged in super- intending the excavations lately undertaken by the ' Pales- tine Exploration Committee.' On our leaving Alexandria the custom-house officer wanted to examine the box, and it was only by loud protests and threats of official ven- geance that we saved the instruments from the risk of being spoiled by the Egyptians. This was the beginning of woes to these 'delicate instruments,' which became celebrated characters with us during the next fortnight. We spent a day at Port Said, an utterly uninteresting town of third-class villa residences, and wide streets lined with hastily-run-up stores, built upon a sandspit. It is probably destined to future importance as the Mediter- ranean port of the Suez Canal. We had not time to see much of the works now in progress there, but enjoyed a ramble on the beach, which is entirely formed of lovely little shells of the most delicate shapes and colours. We re-embarked on Tuesday the 1 7th, and in the evening the sea became very rough. At midnight half the passengers were pitched out of their berths by some terrible rolls j 6 EGYPT AND PALESTINE. tlien tlie cabin-benches got loose, and tumbled about noisily. At 7 a.m. we were off Jaffa, but landing- was out of the question ; an hour later the cabin in which I was dressing was filled with a blaze of light, and the ship shook with a report as if she had fired a broadside. Our foremast had been struck by lightning, but, being provided with a conductor, the vessel escaped injury. All that day we ran on through a big tumbling sea, and anchored at night in the roadstead of Beyrout. On Wednesday morning we disembarked, and went to the ' Hotel de Damas.' Our original plan, to land at JafPa and go up direct to Jerusalem, had been thrown out by the storm, and new arrangements were necessary. Mr. Williams, one of our American friends, was in the same position, and now agreed to join us in our Syrian journey, so that we were a party of three. As attendants, besides the dragoman, Elias Abbas, we had a cook and a waiter, with the usual staflP of muleteers. Elias's preparations took him several days, and it was not till Sunday that we succeeded in leaving Beyrout. Meantime we heard complaints from all sides of the extra- ordinary severity of the season ; Damascus was virtually inaccessible, owing to the heavy snowstorms which had blocked up the passes of the Lebanon. The rain fell almost incessantly, and the mock torrents which poured down the streets of Beyrout augured ill for our chance of pass- ing the formidable streams which intersect the road to Jerusalem. At last we set out. We made a long circuit through the hills to Deir-el-Kamr, to find a bridge over the Damur, the first and most formidable of the rivers we had to cross. Along the coast of Tyre and Sidon we journeyed on through rain and mud, until at A ere the tide of our mishaps reached its highest point. We had pitched our tent beneath a ruined villa a mile outside SYKIAX SLOUGHS AND STORMS 7 the town ; about 9 p.m. tlie wind rose ; an liour later it was blowing a gale, and the ropes began to part ; however, by doubling our fastenings, and by dint of constant sallies, we kept a shelter over our heads all night. At 5 a.m. the outside roof of the tent was in rags, the wooden sup- ports of the sides mostly broken, and the wind generally master of the situation. I was too sleepy to stir out of bed, and lay in momentary expectation that we should be caught up and carried away in a whirlwind. My friends, however, did not wish to try this new sensation, so we roused ourselves to action, and with much difficulty succeeded in lowering and fastening up the canvas ; then we took refuge, with the horses, in a ruinous cellar. Next morning, just outside Acre, the passage of a river, which entered the sea by two mouths, rendered necessary a double loading and unloading of the baggage. We crossed in boats, but our animals had to swim. I shall not easily forget the transit of the three donkeys. They were driven into the stream as far as whips would reach them, but just within their depth, and beyond the reach of their persecutors' weapons, the trio unanimously halted. Never was the vis inertioe more strikingly exemplified. In vain their masters hurled on the patient beasts every form of Christian and Moslem imprecation. The donkeys ' were not a penny the worse' ; they felt they had the best of the situation, and exhibited a stolid contempt for all the uproar of which they were the cause. At last one of the muleteers stripped, and, entering the water, launched the obstinate little brutes, one by one, by main force. Once committed to the deep, they swam bravely, and emerged on the farther bank dripping and shaking their long ears as if, after all, they were the heroes of the day. All hour's scamper over the sandy beach brought us to the mouth of 'that ancient river, the river Kishon.' It 8 EGYPT AND PALESTINE. was, of course, flooded, and, considering tlie combination of difficulties caused by a gale, a sandstorm, hel^iless ferry- men, and ropes breaking every minute, it was a wonder that we and our mules were not carried out to sea in a body. Altogether our baggage was twelve hours in getting over the nine miles of flat ground between Acre and Caifa. The weather now changed, and continued fine for our ride down the travel-beaten track that leads through Nablous to the capital of Palestine. Our only remain- ing difficulty was the mud, which made the Plain of Esdraelon almost impassable : now one mule, now another, stuck in the treacherous quagmire, but the ' delicate in- struments ' had been confided to an animal equal to his trust, which either kept its legs, or sank in the gentlest and most graceful manner. We reached Jerusalem on February 18th, having been twelve days on the road. We quartered ourselves in the Damascus Hotel, which is fairly comfortable, and commands a fine view of the Mosque of Omar and Mount Olivet from the windows of the salle-a-manger. As soon as possible we enquired for Lieutenant Warren, hoping to deliver to him in person the case of ' delicate instruments,' and to hear how their internal organisation had borne the journey ; but he had already left Jerusalem for the trip to the east side of the Dead Sea, which ended so sadly in the death of one of his companions, of Jericho fever. The English Vice-Consul kindly accompanied me when I went to present a letter of introduction from M. Musurus (the Turkish Ambassador in London) to the local Pasha, who was most courteous, and promised to do anything in his power for us. Thus encouraged, we reflected what boon we should ask. We were all somewhat dis- appointed with the unadventurous character of a ride AN IDEA WORKED OUT. 9 through Palestine, so little realising the common idea of Eastern travel, and were eager to seize the first favour- able opportunity to escape from the beaten track between Jerusalem and Damascus. When, therefore, the map was produced, and the du-ectness of a route via Jerash, Bozrah, and the ' Giant Cities ' of Bashan was pointed out, my proposal to take that course was una- nimously adopted. We had read Mr. Tristram's most interesting description of Jerash, and we purchased, at Jerusalem, Mr. Porter's sensational account of the ruins of the Hauran. We knew, therefore, something of the country we proposed to visit, and were aware that to pass from Jerusalem to Damascus by the east side of the Jordan, with all the impedimenta of a dragoman, was not a matter to be lightly undertaken. Travellers who, like Mr. Tristram, have of late years visited Jerash and Amman, have almost invariably paid large sums of money as ' backsheesh ' to the Adwan and other Bedouin tribes of the Jordan valley ; while those who, like Mr. Porter and Mr. Cyril Graham, have explored the wilds of Bashan have generally been Arabic scholars, and have travelled with little baggage. We could find no record of any traveller since Lord Lind- say, in 1837, who had gone through to Damascus by this route, although several had penetrated eastward from the Jordan valley as far as Bozrah. Our dragoman, greatly to his credit, at once entered into and heartily furthered our plans, although he warned us of a fact we already knew, that an Arab escort was both an expensive and unsatisfactory luxury. An alterna- tive, however, suggested itself. During the past year (1867) the Pasha of Damascus had made an expedition against the Trans-Jordanic Arabs, had thrashed them soundly, and taken prisoner one of the Adwan Sheikhs, who was now in durance at Nablous. The Arab power was in consequence 10 EGYPT AND PALESTINE. somewliat broken, and tlie re-establisliment of Turkish garrisons at Es-Salt and Bozrah kept tlie surrounding dis- tricts in more than the nominal subjection they had previously shown to the central authority. Elias recommended us to have, if possible, nothing to do with the Arabs, but to ask from the Pasha a sufficient escort of Turkish cavalry to insure our safety. Just at the risrht moment he chanced to meet in the bazaars an old acquaintance, a sergeant of Bashi-Bazouks, Khasim by name. The pair discussed our plans, and Khasim en- treated to be allowed to take us in charge. One morning our future guardian was brought, by appointment, to be introduced to us, and first impressions were most favour- able. To describe his personal appearance would require the language of an Eastern story-teller ; I can only cata- logue his beauties like a slave-merchant. Khasim stood at least six feet two inches in height ; he had fine features, and was of a fair but sunburnt complexion, with curly brown hair, and long tawny moustaches, which curled be- hind his ears. We fell in love with him at first sight, and were perfectly ready to promise that we would ask the Pasha to grant him leave to accompany us. An opportunity of making the request offered before we expected it. We were sitting in the salle-a-manger, discussing our plans, when we suddenly observed a com- motion in the street below. In another minute the master of the house dashed upstairs, in breathless haste, and an- nounced ' His Excellency the Pasha,' who had come, attended by fifteen soldiers and six attendants, to return our visit. Unprepared for such an honour, we received him as well as we could, but it was not easy to get the coffee and sweets proper for the occasion on the spur of the moment. Nothing could exceed the Pasha's polite- ness j he accorded us any guard we might choose, and ' VIVE LA MER MORTE ! ' ] 1 promised us letters to the commanders of tlie garrisons at Es-Salt and Bozrali. We now definitely concluded our arrangements, and secured the escort of Khasim, who was to bring with him a second soldier : these two formed our guard to Es-Salt, where the officer in command would, we were told, give us further protection, if necessary. For the last day or two of our stay at Jerusalem, we were the objects of much misplaced pity and well-meant advice. Certain undeniable facts were thrust down our throats at every public meal. We were reminded that Lieutenant Warren was at that moment paying the Adwan for permission to travel on the east side of the Jordan, we were treated to all the details of the bargain then being made, at the rival hotel, between Goblan, the young Sheikh of the Adwans, and two American gentle- men, who were anxious to visit Jerash, and all the threats which the former had uttered, on being told that some Englishmen meant to pass through his territory without paying blackmail, were repeated for our benefit. Despite all this, we managed to keep up our spirits, and even to find a companion who was ready to share our luck, in Mr. Cross, an old Oxford acquaintance, who made a most welcome addition to our party. On Thursday, March 12th, we defiled, an imposing train, through the narrow streets of Jerusalem — Cross, Williams, and the dragoman armed with double-barrelled guns. Tucker and I with revolvers, and the two Turkish irregulars bristling with a whole armoury of guns, swords, and pistols. We rode over to Bethlehem, to my mind one of the most satisfactory of the ' holy places ' of Palestine, despite the crowds of pert children, who, fearless of another Herod, demand ' backsheesh ' with Egyptian pertinacity. As we rode on over the bare hills to the Convent of Marsaba, the 12 EGYPT AND PALESTINE, beauty of the first view of tlie Dead Sea so roused Fran9ois' enthusiasm that, with somewhat Irish bril- liancy, he exclaimed, ' Vive la Mer Morte ! ' We slept in the convent. Friday was a gloriously fine but very hot day. No one can fail to be struck by the views of the bright blue lake surrounded by red and yellow rocks, and the wastes of sand, every now and then relieved by strips of verdure. Some of the party, of course, bathed in the Dead Sea, and we lunched at the ford of the Jordan, which had as little the appearance of a ford as possible. A turbid stream three feet deep was pouring round the tree, under the shelter of which travellers generally make their midday halt. A hot ride, across a ^^lain covered with brushwood, brought us to the modern Jericho. In the course of the evening a troop of villagers, men and women, came to dance before us ; the women exhibited first, then the men, but the performances were very similar — a perpetual swinging of the body and clapping of hands, accompanied by a monotonous chaunt of ' Iwa backsheesh 0 Howadji ! ' The people of Jericho bear a very ill name, and we took the precaution to station Francois at the door of the second tent, to prevent robbery. While he was keeping a look-out in front, some rascal, peering through the opening at the back, where the sides of the tent join, saw Cross's watch lying on the bed close by, put his arm through, and abstracted it. Fortunately, the Sheikh of Jericho, Mahmoud, had been ordered by the Pasha to send two of his men with us from Jerusalem, as a pledge of his protection during our journey through his territory. The Sheikh's brothers were now in the village ; their responsibility, therefore, was clearly fixed, and we sent off news of our loss next mornme: to the Eng-lish Consul and the Pasha, by the dragoman of a Scotch CAPTURE OF A STAXDARD-BEAEER. 13 party wlio "were encamped near us on their way back to Jerusalem. In justice to the Turkish authorities, I must narrate the result of our letters. So effectual a pressure was put on the Sheikh, that he was compelled to disgorge his prey, and on our arrival (five weeks later) at Beyrout, we found the watch awaiting us. Our ride on Saturday led us off the beaten track of eastern travel. We passed the mounds supposed to mark the site of Herodian .Tericho, which a body of Lieutenant Warren's workpeople were emplo3"ed in excavating. Their labour, as we heard afterwards, was attended with but trifling results. Our track skirted the face of the hills on the west side cf the Jordan valley — now crossing low spurs, now passing through flowery dells. After traversing a wide plain we approached the base of a bold hill, which in form reminded me of Snowdon ; its sides were clothed in verdure of the most vivid green. By the roadside were seated a group of twenty Bedouins armed only with clubs. To our intense surprise, Khasim dashed in amongst them, and pounced on one ragged old fellow. The man selected endeavoured, in vain, to kiss his captor's hand and soften his heart ; in a minute his 'kefiyeh ' was plucked off his head, and his hands were tied with it behind his back. Khasim then galloped off in pursuit of the rest of the party, who had scattered in all directions ; he soon returned with a second prisoner, and we rode on, driving the two men before us. We were naturally anxious for an explanation of the scene, but it was some time before we could come to a clear understanding of the facts of the case. We gathered at last the following particulars. In the war last year the Turks took away their arms from some of the Adwau, and strictly forbad them to appear on the west bank of the Jordan. The i^arty we had come upon were thus on for- 14 EGYPT AND PALESTINE. bidden ground, and were doubtless on the look-out for some defenceless donkey-rider going down to Jericlio, whom they might rob. The old gentleman first seized had been the standard-bearer of the tribe during the war, and was a well-known reprobate. After driving our prisoners for several miles, as a warning to them not to be again found on the road, we, reflecting that the men might be an awkward encumbrance on the other side of the river, inter- ceded for them with their captor; the Bedouins were liberated, and, having sufficiently demonstrated their grati- tude to us by repeatedly kissing our boots, made off in the direction taken by their companions. The ford of the Jordan we were now approaching is on the direct road from Nablous to Es-Salt, and is guarded by a few Turkish soldiers, who keep in repair the old ferry- boat, which has been stationed here to maintain the com- munication of the outlying garrison at Es-Salt with the rest of Palestine. The river flows in a deep trench, a quarter to half a mile broad, and at least 200 feet below the level of the rest of the valley. At the foot of the sharp descent, on a knoll overlooking the turbid stream, we found the tents of the American gentlemen, who, like our- selves, had made up their minds to visit the east side of the Jordan. They had contracted with young Goblan to pro- vide an Arab escort for thirty napoleons — a moderate sum compared with those paid to his father by former travellers. The old Sheikh of the Adwan had, however, failed to appear, according to the contract, to ratify his son's bargain, and our acquaintances naturally hesitated to cross the river without him. It was still early in the afternoon, and we ordered our baggage forward to cross at once, while we spent a pleasant half -hour in the tent of the Americans. They were most luxuriously provided for by their dragoman, a young THE JORDAN FERRy. 15 and inexperienced man, who seemed somewhat terrified at the prospect of carrying his elaborate hatterie de cuisine among the Arabs. The transit was, as usual, a long business, and was made really troublesome by the swollen state of the river, which had lately overflowed its banks and cut off the ferry-boat from the shore by creating between them several yards of mire and water, across which we and all our luggage were carried on men's backs. rran9ois was a heavy load ; his porter was not up to the work, and the unlucky burden was deposited in the thickest of the mire. He however, as usual, was not at a loss for consolation, and prided himself on being the only one of the party who had fulfilled the duties of a pilgrim by immersion in the Jordan. 16 BASHAX, CHAPTER 11. BASHAN. The English Soldier— A Mountain Eide— Es-Salt — Lost on the Hills — The Jabbok — Camp of the Beni-Hassan — Suppressing a Sheikh — The Oak Forests of Gilead — The Tablelands — An Uxorious Sheikh — Derat — The Eoraan Road — The Robbers repulsed — Ghusara — Bozrah — Honoured Guests — A Ramble in the Ruins — Kureiyeh — Patriarchal Hospitality — Hebran — A Stone House — Kufr — Ascent-ofEl-Kleib — Suweideh — Kunawat — Noble Ruins — Sbuhba — Hades on Earth — Visiting Extraordinary — The Lejah — A Lava Flood — Ahireh- — Khubab — A Rush to Arms — The Stolen Mule — A Village in Pursuit — Mismiyeh — The ' Giant Cities ' are Roman Towns — The "Wrath of the Beys — A Friendly Sulut^Iiesweh — • Entrance to Damascus, OuE tents were pitched, close to the river, in a pictur- esque situation on the eastern bank. In this our first camp beyond Jordan, we felt, if not all the emotions so eloquently described by the author of ' Eothen ' on finding himself in the Arab territory, at least a pleasant sensa- tion of having escaped from the everyday track of travel, and of being on the edge of a fresh and unspoilt country. During the evening our dragoman was exposed to the tender solicitations of Groblan junior (or ' young Gobbler,' as Williams preferred to call him), who had, when at Jeru- salem, declared that we might cross the Jordan, but that our coming back again was a diflPerent matter. He was now perfectly civil, but represented that we were robbing his tribe of their prescriptive dues, by refusing the escort they would be hajDpy to furnish, and that any harm which might happen to us would be on our own heads. Our 36°i30' 3 7"^ ROUTH MAP of the H X U R A N Atilhors ftxjiU^ — — ■" - EngJisk Miles. Geographica] Miles. >""""•"!■'' "I|- 36°30' L*yndoto.Longm