THE LANDS OF THE SARACEN
or, Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain.
by
Bayard Taylor.
Twentieth Edition.
1863
To Washington Irving,
This book--the chronicle of my travels through lands once occupied by the
Saracens--naturally dedicates itself to you, who, more than any other
American author, have revived the traditions, restored the history, and
illustrated the character of that brilliant and heroic people. Your
cordial encouragement confirmed me in my design of visiting the East, and
making myself familiar with Oriental life; and though I bring you now but
imperfect returns, I can at least unite with you in admiration of a field
so rich in romantic interest, and indulge the hope that I may one day
pluck from it fruit instead of blossoms. In Spain, I came upon your track,
and I should hesitate to exhibit my own gleanings where you have
harvested, were it not for the belief that the rapid sketches I have given
will but enhance, by the contrast, the charm of your finished picture.
Bayard Taylor.
Preface.
This volume comprises the second portion of a series of travels, of which
the "Journey to Central Africa," already published, is the first part. I
left home, intending to spend a winter in Africa, and to return during the
following summer; but circumstances afterwards occurred, which prolonged
my wanderings to nearly two years and a half, and led me to visit many
remote and unexplored portions of the globe. To describe this journey in a
single work, would embrace too many incongruous elements, to say nothing
of its great length, and as it falls naturally into three parts, or
episodes, of very distinct character, I have judged it best to group my
experiences under three separate heads, merely indicating the links which
connect them. This work includes my travels in Palestine, Syria, Asia
Minor, Sicily and Spain, and will be followed by a third and concluding
volume, containing my adventures in India, China, the Loo-Choo Islands,
and Japan. Although many of the letters, contained in this volume,
describe beaten tracks of travel, I have always given my own individual
impressions, and may claim for them the merit of entire sincerity. The
journey from Aleppo to Constantinople, through the heart of Asia Minor,
illustrates regions rarely traversed by tourists, and will, no doubt, be
new to most of my readers. My aim, throughout the work, has been to give
correct pictures of Oriental life and scenery, leaving antiquarian
research and speculation to abler hands. The scholar, or the man of
science, may complain with reason that I have neglected valuable
opportunities for adding something to the stock of human knowledge: but if
a few of the many thousands, who can only travel by their firesides,
should find my pages answer the purpose of a series of cosmoramic
views--should in them behold with a clearer inward eye the hills of
Palestine, the sun-gilded minarets of Damascus, or the lonely pine-forests
of Phrygia--should feel, by turns, something of the inspiration and the
indolence of the Orient--I shall have achieved all I designed, and more
than I can justly hope.
New York, _October_, 1854.
Contents
Chapter I.
Life in a Syrian Quarantine.
Voyage from Alexandria to Beyrout--Landing at Quarantine--The
Guardians--Our Quarters--Our Companions--Famine and Feasting--The
Morning--The Holy Man of Timbuctoo--Sunday in Quarantine--Islamism--We
are Registered--Love through a Grating--Trumpets--The Mystery
Explained--Delights of Quarantine--Oriental _vs._ American
Exaggeration--A Discussion of Politics--Our
Release--Beyrout--Preparations for the Pilgrimage
Chapter II.
The Coast of Palestine.
The Pilgrimage Commences--The Muleteers--The Mules--The Donkey--Journey
to Sidon--The Foot of Lebanon--Pictures--The Ruins of Tyre--A Wild
Morning--The Tyrian Surges--Climbing the Ladder of Tyre--Panorama of the
Bay of Acre--The Plain of Esdraelon--Camp in a Garden--Acre--the Shore
of the Bay--Haifa--Mount Carmel and its Monastery--A Deserted Coast--The
Ruins of Cæsarea--The Scenery of Palestine--We become Robbers--El
Haram--Wrecks--the Harbor and Town of Jaffa.
Chapter III.
From Jaffa to Jerusalem.
The Garden of Jaffa--Breakfast at a Fountain--The Plain of Sharon--The
Ruined Mosque of Ramleh--A Judean Landscape--The Streets Ramleh--Am I in
Palestine?--A Heavenly Morning--The Land of Milk and Honey--Entering
the Hill Country--The Pilgrim's Breakfast--The Father of Lies--A Church
of the Crusaders--The Agriculture of the Hills--The Valley of
Elah--Day-Dreams--The Wilderness--The Approach--We See the Holy City
Chapter IV.
The Dead Sea and the River Jordan.
Bargaining for a Guard---Departure from Jerusalem--The Hill of
Offence--Bethany--The Grotto of Lazarus--The Valley of Fire--Scenery of
the Wilderness--The Hills of Engaddi--The shore of the Dead Sea--A
Bituminous Bath--Gallop to the Jordan--A watch for Robbers--The
Jordan--Baptism--The Plains of Jericho--The Fountain of Elisha--The
Mount of Temptation--Return to Jerusalem
Chapter V.
The City of Christ.
Modern Jerusalem--The Site of the City--Mount Zion--Mount Moriah--The
Temple--The Valley of Jehosaphat--The Olives of Gethsemane--The Mount
of Olives--Moslem Tradition--Panorama from the Summit--The Interior of
the City--The Population--Missions and Missionaries--Christianity in
Jerusalem--Intolerance--The Jews of Jerusalem--The Face of Christ--The
Church of the Holy Sepulchre--The Holy of Holies--The Sacred
Localities--Visions of Christ--The Mosque of Omar--The Holy Man of
Timbuctoo--Preparations for Departure.
Chapter VI.
The Hill-Country of Palestine.
Leaving Jerusalem--The Tombs of the Kings--El Bireh--The
Hill-Country--First View of Mount Hermon--The Tomb of Joseph--Ebal and
Gerizim--The Gardens of Nablous--The Samaritans--The Sacred Book--A
Scene in the Synagogue--Mentor and Telemachus--Ride to Samaria--The
Ruins of Sebaste--Scriptural Landscapes--Halt at Genin--The Plain of
Esdraelon--Palestine and California--The Hills of
Nazareth--Accident--Fra Joachim--The Church of the Virgin--The Shrine of
the Annunciation--The Holy Places.
Chapter VII.
The Country of Galilee.
Departure from Nazareth--A Christian Guide--Ascent of Mount
Tabor--Wallachian Hermits--The Panorama of Tabor--Ride to Tiberias--A
Bath in Genesareth--The Flowers of Galilee--The Mount of
Beatitude--Magdala--Joseph's Well--Meeting with a Turk--The Fountain of
the Salt-Works--The Upper Valley of the Jordan--Summer Scenery--The
Rivers of Lebanon--Tell el-Kadi--An Arcadian Region--The Fountains of
Banias
Chapter VIII.
Crossing the Anti-Lebanon.
The Harmless Guard--Cæsarea Philippi--The Valley of the Druses--The
Sides of Mount Hermon--An Alarm--Threading a Defile--Distant view of
Djebel Hauaran--Another Alarm--Camp at Katana--We Ride into Damascus
Chapter IX.
Pictures of Damascus.
Damascus from the Anti-Lebanon--Entering the City--A Diorama of
Bazaars--An Oriental Hotel--Our Chamber--The Bazaars--Pipes and
Coffee--The Rivers of Damascus--Palaces of the Jews--Jewish Ladies--A
Christian Gentleman--The Sacred Localities--Damascus Blades--The Sword
of Haroun Al-Raschid--An Arrival from Palmyra
Chapter X.
The Visions of Hasheesh.
Chapter XI.
A Dissertation on Bathing and Bodies.
Chapter XII.
Baalbec and Lebanon.
Departure from Damascus--The Fountains of the Pharpar--Pass of the
Anti-Lebanon--Adventure with the Druses--The Range of Lebanon--The
Demon of Hasheesh departs--Impressions of Baalbec--The Temple of the
Sun--Titanic Masonry--The Ruined Mosque--Camp on Lebanon--Rascality of
the Guide--The Summit of Lebanon--The Sacred Cedars--The Christians of
Lebanon--An Afternoon in Eden--Rugged Travel--We Reach the Coast--Return
to Beyrout
Chapter XIII.
Pipes and Coffee
Chapter XIV.
Journey to Antioch and Aleppo.
Change of Plans--Routes to Baghdad--Asia Minor--We sail from
Beyrout--Yachting on the Syrian Coast--Tartus and Latakiyeh--The Coasts
of Syria--The Bay of Suediah--The Mouth of the Orontes--Landing--The
Garden of Syria--Ride to Antioch--The Modern City--The Plains of the
Orontes--Remains of the Greek Empire--The Ancient Road--The Plain of
Keftin--Approach to Aleppo.
Chapter XV.
Life in Aleppo.
Our Entry into Aleppo--We are conducted to a House--Our Unexpected
Welcome--The Mystery Explained--Aleppo--Its Name--Its Situation--The
Trade of Aleppo--The Christians--The Revolt of 1850--Present Appearance
of the City--Visit to Osman Pasha--The Citadel--View from the
Battlements--Society in Aleppo--Etiquette and Costume--Jewish Marriage
Festivities--A Christian Marriage Procession--Ride around the
Town--Nightingales--The Aleppo Button--A Hospital for Cats--Ferhat.
Chapter XVI.
Through the Syrian Gates.
An Inauspicious Departure--The Ruined Church of St. Simon--The Plain of
Antioch--A Turcoman Encampment--Climbing Akma Dagh--The Syrian
Gates--Scanderoon--An American Captain--Revolt of the Koords--We take a
Guard--The Field of Issus--The Robber-Chief, Kutchuk Ali--A Deserted
Town--A Land of Gardens.
Chapter XVII.
Adana and Tarsus.
The Black Gate--The Plain of Cilicia--A Koord Village--Missis--Cilician
Scenery--Arrival at Adana--Three days in Quarantine--We receive
Pratique--A Landscape--The Plain of Tarsus--The River Cydnus--A Vision
of Cleopatra--Tarsus and its Environs--The _Duniktash_--The Moon of
Ramazan.
Chapter XVIII.
The Pass of Mount Taurus.
We enter the Taurus--Turcomans--Forest Scenery--the Palace of Pan--Khan
Mezarluk--Morning among the Mountains--The Gorge of the Cydnus--The
Crag of the Fortress--The Cilician Grate--Deserted Forts--A Sublime
Landscape--The Gorge of the Sihoon--The Second Gate--Camp in the
Defile--Sunrise--Journey up the Sihoon--A Change of Scenery--A Pastoral
Valley--Kolü Kushla--A Deserted Khan--A Guest in Ramazan--Flowers--The
Plain of Karamania--Barren Hills--The Town of Eregli--The Hadji again
Chapter XIX.
The Plains of Karamania.
The Plains of Karamania--Afternoon Heat--A Well--Volcanic
Phenomena--Karamania--A Grand Ruined Khan--Moonlight Picture--A
Landscape of the Plains--Mirages--A Short Interview--The Village of
Ismil--Third Day on the Plains--Approach to Konia
Chapter XX.
Scenes in Konia.
Approach to Konia--Tomb of Hazret Mevlana--Lodgings in a Khan--An
American Luxury--A Night-Scene in Ramazan--Prayers in the
Mosque--Remains of the Ancient City--View from the Mosque--The
Interior--A Leaning Minaret--The Diverting History of the Muleteers
Chapter XXI.
The Heart of Asia Minor.
Scenery of the Hills--Ladik, the Ancient Laodicea--The Plague of
Gad-Flies--Camp at Ilgün--A Natural Warm Bath--The Gad-Flies Again--A
Summer Landscape--Ak-Sheher--The Base of Sultan Dagh--The Fountain of
Midas--A Drowsy Journey--The Town of Bolawadün
Chapter XXII.
The Forests of Phrygia.
The Frontier of Phrygia--Ancient Quarries and Tombs--We Enter the Pine
Forests--A Guard-House--Encampments of the Turcomans--Pastoral
Scenery--A Summer Village--The Valley of the Tombs--Rock Sepulchres of
the Phrygian Kings--The Titan's Camp--The Valley of Kümbeh--A Land of
Flowers--Turcoman Hospitality--The Exiled Effendis--The Old Turcoman--A
Glimpse of Arcadia--A Landscape--Interested Friendship--The Valley of
the Pursek--Arrival at Kiutahya
Chapter XXIII.
Kiutahya, and the Ruins of OEzani.
Entrance into Kiutahya--The New Khan--An Unpleasant
Discovery--Kiutahya--The Citadel--Panorama from the Walls--The Gorge of
the Mountains--Camp in a Meadow--The Valley of the
Rhyndacus--Chavdür--The Ruins of OEzani--The Acropolis and
Temple--The Theatre and Stadium--Ride down the Valley--Camp at Daghjköi
Chapter XXIV.
The Mysian Olympus.
Journey Down the Valley--The Plague of Grasshoppers--A Defile--The Town
of Taushanlü--The Camp of Famine--We leave the Rhyndacus--The Base of
Olympus--Primeval Forests--The Guard-House--Scenery of the
Summit--Forests of Beech--Saw-Mills--Descent of the Mountain--The View
of Olympus--Morning--The Land of Harvest--Aineghiöl--A Showery Ride--The
Plain of Brousa--The Structure of Olympus--We reach Brousa--The Tent is
Furled
Chapter XXV.
Brousa and the Sea of Marmora.
The City of Brousa--Return to Civilization--Storm--The Kalputcha
Hammam--A Hot Bath--A Foretaste of Paradise--The Streets and Bazaars of
Brousa--The Mosque--The Tombs of the Ottoman Sultans--Disappearance of
the Katurgees--We start for Moudania--The Sea of
Marmora--Moudania--Passport Difficulties--A Greek Caïque--Breakfast with
the Fishermen--A Torrid Voyage--The Princes' Islands--Prinkipo--Distant
View of Constantinople--We enter the Golden Horn
Chapter XXVI.
The Night of Predestination.
Constantinople in Ramazan--The Origin of the Fast--Nightly
Illuminations--The Night of Predestination--The Golden Horn at
Night--Illumination of the Shores---The Cannon of Constantinople--A
Fiery Panorama--The Sultan's Caïque--Close of the Celebration--A Turkish
Mob--The Dancing Dervishes
Chapter XXVII.
The Solemnities of Bairam.
The Appearance of the New Moon--The Festival of Bairam--The Interior of
the Seraglio--The Pomp of the Sultan's Court--Reschid Pasha--The
Sultan's Dwarf--Arabian Stallions--The Imperial Guard--Appearance of the
Sultan--The Inner Court--Return of the Procession--The Sultan on his
Throne--The Homage of the Pashas--An Oriental Picture--Kissing the
Scarf--The Shekh el-Islàm--The Descendant of the Caliphs--Bairam
Commences
Chapter XXVIII.
The Mosques of Constantinople.
Sojourn at Constantinople--Semi-European Character of the City--The
Mosque--Procuring a Firman--The Seraglio--The Library--The Ancient
Throne-Room--Admittance to St. Sophia--Magnificence of the Interior--The
Marvellous Dome--The Mosque of Sultan Achmed--The Sulemanye--Great
Conflagrations--Political Meaning of the Fires--Turkish Progress--Decay
of the Ottoman Power
Chapter XXIX.
Farewell to the Orient--Malta.
Embarcation--Farewell to the Orient--Leaving Constantinople--A
Wreck--The Dardanelles--Homeric Scenery--Smyrna Revisited--The Grecian
Isles--Voyage to Malta--Detention--La Valetta--The Maltese--The
Climate--A Boat for Sicily
Chapter XXX.
The Festival of St. Agatha.
Departure from Malta--The Speronara--Our Fellow-Passengers--The First
Night on Board--Sicily--Scarcity of Provisions--Beating in the Calabrian
Channel--The Fourth Morning--The Gulf of Catania--A Sicilian
Landscape--The Anchorage--The Suspected List--The Streets of
Catania--Biography of St. Agatha--The Illuminations--The Procession of
the Veil--The Biscari Palace--The Antiquities of Catania--The Convent of
St. Nicola
Chapter XXXI.
The Eruption of Mount Etna.
The Mountain Threatens--The Signs Increase--We Leave Catania--Gardens
Among the Lava--Etna Labors--Aci Reale--The Groans of Etna--The
Eruption--Gigantic Tree of Smoke--Formation of the New Crater--We Lose
Sight of the Mountain--Arrival at Messina--Etna is Obscured--Departure
Chapter XXXII.
Gibraltar.
Unwritten Links of Travel--Departure from Southampton--The Bay of
Biscay--Cintra--Trafalgar--Gibraltar at Midnight--Landing--Search for a
Palm-Tree--A Brilliant Morning--The Convexity of the
Earth--Sun-Worship--The Rock
Chapter XXXIII.
Cadiz and Seville.
Voyage to Cadiz--Landing--The City--Its Streets--The Women of
Cadiz--Embarkation for Seville--Scenery of the Guadalquivir--Custom
House Examination--The Guide--The Streets of Seville--The Giralda--The
Cathedral of Seville--The Alcazar--Moorish Architecture--Pilate's
House--Morning View from the Giralda--Old Wine--Murillos--My Last
Evening in Seville
Chapter XXXIV.
Journey in a Spanish Diligence.
Spanish Diligence Lines--Leaving Seville--An Unlucky Start--Alcalà of
the Bakers--Dinner at Carmona--A Dehesa--The Mayoral and his
Team--Ecija--Night Journey--Cordova--The Cathedral-Mosque--Moorish
Architecture--The Sierra Morena--A Rainy Journey--A Chapter of
Accidents--Baylen--The Fascination of Spain--Jaen--The Vega of Granada
Chapter XXXV.
Granada and the Alhambra.
Mateo Ximenez, the Younger--The Cathedral of Granada--A Monkish
Miracle--Catholic Shrines--Military Cherubs--The Royal Chapel--The Tombs
of Ferdinand and Isabella--Chapel of San Juan de Dios--The
Albaycin--View of the Vega--The Generalife--The Alhambra--Torra de la
Vela--The Walls and Towers--A Visit to Old Mateo--The Court of the
Fishpond--The Halls of the Alhambra--Character of the Architecture--
Hall of the Abencerrages--Hall of the Two Sisters--The Moorish Dynasty
in Spain
Chapter XXXVI.
The Bridle-Roads of Andalusia.
Change of Weather--Napoleon and his Horses--Departure from Granada--My
Guide, José Garcia--His Domestic Troubles--The Tragedy of the
Umbrella--The Vow against Aguardiente--Crossing the Vega--The Sierra
Nevada--The Baths of Alhama--"Woe is Me, Alhama!"--The Valley of the
River Vélez--Vélez Malaga--The Coast Road--The Fisherman and his
Donkey--Malaga--Summer Scenery--The Story of Don Pedro, without Fear and
without Care--The Field of Monda--A Lonely Venta
Chapter XXXVII.
The Mountains of Fonda.
Orange Valleys--Climbing the Mountains--José's Hospitality--El
Burgo--The Gate of the Wind--The Cliff and Cascades of Ronda--The
Mountain Region--Traces of the Moors--Haunts of Robbers--A Stormy
Ride--The Inn at Gaucin--Bad News--A Boyish Auxiliary--Descent from the
Mountains--The Ford of the Guadiaro--Our Fears Relieved--The Cork
Woods--Ride from San Roque to Gibraltar--Parting with José--Travelling
in Spain--Conclusion
The Lands of the Saracen
Chapter I.
Life in a Syrian Quarantine.
Voyage from Alexandria to Beyrout--Landing at Quarantine--The
Guardiano--Our Quarters--Our Companions--Famine and Feasting--The
Morning--The Holy Man of Timbuctoo--Sunday in Quarantine--Islamism--We
are Registered--Love through a Grating--Trumpets--The Mystery
Explained--Delights of Quarantine--Oriental _vs_. American
Exaggeration--A Discussion of Politics--Our
Release--Beyrout--Preparations for the Pilgrimage.
"The mountains look on Quarantine,
And Quarantine looks on the sea."
Quarantine MS.
In Quarantine, Beyrout, _Saturday, April_ 17, 1852.
Everybody has heard of Quarantine, but in our favored country there are
many untravelled persons who do not precisely know what it is, and who no
doubt wonder why it should be such a bugbear to travellers in the Orient.
I confess I am still somewhat in the same predicament myself, although I
have already been twenty-four hours in Quarantine. But, as a peculiarity
of the place is, that one can do nothing, however good a will he has, I
propose to set down my experiences each day, hoping that I and my readers
may obtain some insight into the nature of Quarantine, before the term of
my probation is over.
I left Alexandria on the afternoon of the 14th inst., in company with Mr.
Carter Harrison, a fellow-countryman, who had joined me in Cairo, for the
tour through Palestine. We had a head wind, and rough sea, and I remained
in a torpid state during most of the voyage. There was rain the second
night; but, when the clouds cleared away yesterday morning, we were
gladdened by the sight of Lebanon, whose summits glittered with streaks of
snow. The lower slopes of the mountains were green with fields and
forests, and Beyrout, when we ran up to it, seemed buried almost out of
sight, in the foliage of its mulberry groves. The town is built along the
northern side of a peninsula, which projects about two miles from the main
line of the coast, forming a road for vessels. In half an hour after our
arrival, several large boats came alongside, and we were told to get our
baggage in order and embark for Quarantine. The time necessary to purify a
traveller arriving from Egypt from suspicion of the plague, is five days,
but the days of arrival and departure are counted, so that the durance
amounts to but three full days. The captain of the Osiris mustered the
passengers together, and informed them that each one would be obliged to
pay six piastres for the transportation of himself and his baggage. Two
heavy lighters are now drawn up to the foot of the gangway, but as soon as
the first box tumbles into them, the men tumble out. They attach the craft
by cables to two smaller boats, in which they sit, to tow the infected
loads. We are all sent down together, Jews, Turks, and Christians--a
confused pile of men, women, children, and goods. A little boat from the
city, in which there are representatives from the two hotels, hovers
around us, and cards are thrown to us. The zealous agents wish to supply
us immediately with tables, beds, and all other household appliances; but
we decline their help until we arrive at the mysterious spot. At last we
float off--two lighters full of infected, though respectable, material,
towed by oarsmen of most scurvy appearance, but free from every suspicion
of taint.
The sea is still rough, the sun is hot, and a fat Jewess becomes sea-sick.
An Italian Jew rails at the boatmen ahead, in the Neapolitan patois, for
the distance is long, the Quarantine being on the land-side of Beyrout. We
see the rows of little yellow houses on the cliff, and with great apparent
risk of being swept upon the breakers, are tugged into a small cove, where
there is a landing-place. Nobody is there to receive us; the boatmen jump
into the water and push the lighters against the stone stairs, while we
unload our own baggage. A tin cup filled with sea-water is placed before
us, and we each drop six piastres into it--for money, strange as it may
seem, is infectious. By this time, the _guardianos_ have had notice of our
arrival, and we go up with them to choose our habitations. There are
several rows of one-story houses overlooking the sea, each containing two
empty rooms, to be had for a hundred piastres; but a square two-story
dwelling stands apart from them, and the whole of it may be had for thrice
that sum. There are seven Frank prisoners, and we take it for ourselves.
But the rooms are bare, the kitchen empty, and we learn the important
fact, that Quarantine is durance vile, without even the bread and water.
The guardiano says the agents of the hotel are at the gate, and we can
order from them whatever we want. Certainly; but at their own price, for
we are wholly at their mercy. However, we go down stairs, and the chief
officer, who accompanies us, gets into a corner as we pass, and holds a
stick before him to keep us off. He is now clean, but if his garments
brush against ours, he is lost. The people we meet in the grounds step
aside with great respect to let us pass, but if we offer them our hands,
no one would dare to touch a finger's tip.
Here is the gate: a double screen of wire, with an interval between, so
that contact is impossible. There is a crowd of individuals outside, all
anxious to execute commissions. Among them is the agent of the hotel, who
proposes to fill our bare rooms with furniture, send us a servant and
cook, and charge us the same as if we lodged with him. The bargain is
closed at once, and he hurries off to make the arrangements. It is now
four o'clock, and the bracing air of the headland gives a terrible
appetite to those of us who, like me, have been sea-sick and fasting for
forty-eight hours. But there is no food within the Quarantine except a
patch of green wheat, and a well in the limestone rock. We two Americans
join company with our room-mate, an Alexandrian of Italian parentage, who
has come to Beyrout to be married, and make the tour of our territory.
There is a path along the cliffs overhanging the sea, with glorious views
of Lebanon, up to his snowy top, the pine-forests at his base, and the
long cape whereon the city lies at full length, reposing beside the waves.
The Mahommedans and Jews, in companies of ten (to save expense), are
lodged in the smaller dwellings, where they have already aroused millions
of fleas from their state of torpid expectancy. We return, and take a
survey of our companions in the pavilion: a French woman, with two ugly
and peevish children (one at the breast), in the next room, and three
French gentlemen in the other--a merchant, a young man with hair of
extraordinary length, and a _filateur_, or silk-manufacturer, middle-aged
and cynical. The first is a gentleman in every sense of the word, the
latter endurable, but the young Absalom is my aversion, I am subject to
involuntary likings and dislikings, for which I can give no reason, and
though the man may be in every way amiable, his presence is very
distasteful to me.
We take a pipe of consolation, but it only whets our appetites. We give up
our promenade, for exercise is still worse; and at last the sun goes down,
and yet no sign of dinner. Our pavilion becomes a Tower of Famine, and the
Italian recites Dante. Finally a strange face appears at the door. By
Apicius! it is a servant from the hotel, with iron bedsteads, camp-tables,
and some large chests, which breathe an odor of the Commissary Department.
We go stealthily down to the kitchen, and watch the unpacking. Our dinner
is there, sure enough, but alas! it is not yet cooked. Patience is no
more; my companion manages to filch a raw onion and a crust of bread,
which we share, and roll under our tongues as a sweet morsel, and it gives
us strength for another hour. The Greek dragoman and cook, who are sent
into Quarantine for our sakes, take compassion on us; the fires are
kindled in the cold furnaces; savory steams creep up the stairs; the
preparations increase, and finally climax in the rapturous announcement:
"Messieurs, dinner is ready." The soup is liquified bliss; the _cotelettes
d'agneau_ are _cotelettes de bonheur_; and as for that broad dish of
Syrian larks--Heaven forgive us the regret, that more songs had not been
silenced for our sake! The meal is all nectar and ambrosia, and now,
filled and contented, we subside into sleep on comfortable couches. So
closes the first day of our incarceration.
This morning dawned clear and beautiful. Lebanon, except his snowy crest,
was wrapped in the early shadows, but the Mediterranean gleamed like a
shield of sapphire, and Beyrout, sculptured against the background of its
mulberry groves, was glorified beyond all other cities. The turf around
our pavilion fairly blazed with the splendor of the yellow daisies and
crimson poppies that stud it. I was satisfied with what I saw, and felt no
wish to leave Quarantine to-day. Our Italian friend, however, is more
impatient. His betrothed came early to see him, and we were edified by the
great alacrity with which he hastened to the grate, to renew his vows at
two yards' distance from her. In the meantime, I went down to the Turkish
houses, to cultivate the acquaintance of a singular character I met on
board the steamer. He is a negro of six feet four, dressed in a long
scarlet robe. His name is Mahommed Senoosee, and he is a _fakeer_, or holy
man, from Timbuctoo. He has been two years absent from home, on a
pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, and is now on his way to Jerusalem and
Damascus. He has travelled extensively in all parts of Central Africa,
from Dar-Fur to Ashantee, and professes to be on good terms with the
Sultans of Houssa and Bornou. He has even been in the great kingdom of
Waday, which has never been explored by Europeans, and as far south as
Iola, the capital of Adamowa. Of the correctness of his narrations I have
not the least doubt, as they correspond geographically with all that we
know of the interior of Africa. In answer to my question whether a
European might safely make the same tour, he replied that there would be
no difficulty, provided he was accompanied by a native, and he offered to
take me even to Timbuctoo, if I would return with him. He was very curious
to obtain information about America, and made notes of all that I told
him, in the quaint character used by the Mughrebbins, or Arabs of the
West, which has considerable resemblance to the ancient Cufic. He wishes
to join company with me for the journey to Jerusalem, and perhaps I shall
accept him.
_Sunday, April_ 18.
As Quarantine is a sort of limbo, without the pale of civilized society,
we have no church service to-day. We have done the best we could, however,
in sending one of the outside dragomen to purchase a Bible, in which we
succeeded. He brought us a very handsome copy, printed by the American
Bible Society in New York. I tried vainly in Cairo and Alexandria to find
a missionary who would supply my heathenish destitution of the Sacred
Writings; for I had reached the East through Austria, where they are
prohibited, and to travel through Palestine without them, would be like
sailing without pilot or compass. It gives a most impressive reality to
Solomon's "house of the forest of Lebanon," when you can look up from the
page to those very forests and those grand mountains, "excellent with the
cedars." Seeing the holy man of Timbuctoo praying with his face towards
Mecca, I went down to him, and we conversed for a long time on religious
matters. He is tolerably well informed, having read the Books of Moses and
the Psalms of David, but, like all Mahommedans, his ideas of religion
consist mainly of forms, and its reward is a sensual paradise. The more
intelligent of the Moslems give a spiritual interpretation to the nature
of the Heaven promised by the Prophet, and I have heard several openly
confess their disbelief in the seventy houries and the palaces of pearl
and emerald. Shekh Mahommed Senoosee scarcely ever utters a sentence in
which is not the word "Allah," and "La illah il' Allah" is repeated at
least every five minutes. Those of his class consider that there is a
peculiar merit in the repetition of the names and attributes of God. They
utterly reject the doctrine of the Trinity, which they believe implies a
sort of partnership, or God-firm (to use their own words), and declare
that all who accept it are hopelessly damned. To deny Mahomet's
prophetship would excite a violent antagonism, and I content myself with
making them acknowledge that God is greater than all Prophets or Apostles,
and that there is but one God for all the human race. I have never yet
encountered that bitter spirit of bigotry which is so frequently ascribed
to them; but on the contrary, fully as great a tolerance as they would
find exhibited towards them by most of the Christian sects.
This morning a paper was sent to us, on which we were requested to write
our names, ages, professions, and places of nativity. We conjectured that
we were subjected to the suspicion of political as well as physical taint,
but happily this was not the case. I registered myself as a _voyageur_,
the French as _negocians_ and when it came to the woman's turn, Absalom,
who is a partisan of female progress, wished to give her the same
profession as her husband--a machinist. But she declared that her only
profession was that of a "married woman," and she was so inscribed. Her
peevish boy rejoiced in the title of "_pleuricheur_," or "weeper," and the
infant as "_titeuse_," or "sucker." While this was going on, the
guardiano of our room came in very mysteriously, and beckoned to my
companion, saying that "Mademoiselle was at the gate." But it was the
Italian who was wanted, and again, from the little window of our pavilion,
we watched his hurried progress over the lawn. No sooner had she departed,
than he took his pocket telescope, slowly sweeping the circuit of the bay
as she drew nearer and nearer Beyrout. He has succeeded in distinguishing,
among the mass of buildings, the top of the house in which she lives, but
alas! it is one story too low, and his patient espial has only been
rewarded by the sight of some cats promenading on the roof.
I have succeeded in obtaining some further particulars in relation to
Quarantine. On the night of our arrival, as we were about getting into our
beds, a sudden and horrible gush of brimstone vapor came up stairs, and we
all fell to coughing like patients in a pulmonary hospital. The odor
increased till we were obliged to open the windows and sit beside them in
order to breathe comfortably. This was the preparatory fumigation, in
order to remove the ranker seeds of plague, after which the milder
symptoms will of themselves vanish in the pure air of the place. Several
times a day we are stunned and overwhelmed with the cracked brays of three
discordant trumpets, as grating and doleful as the last gasps of a dying
donkey. At first I supposed the object of this was to give a greater
agitation to the air, and separate and shake down the noxious exhalations
we emit; but since I was informed that the soldiers outside would shoot us
in case we attempted to escape, I have concluded that the sound is meant
to alarm us, and prevent our approaching too near the walls. On inquiring
of our guardiano whether the wheat growing within the grounds was subject
to Quarantine, he informed me that it did not ecovey infection, and that
three old geese, who walked out past the guard with impunity, were free to
go and come, as they had never been known to have the plague. Yesterday
evening the medical attendant, a Polish physician, came in to inspect us,
but he made a very hasty review, looking down on us from the top of a high
horse.
_Monday, April_ 19.
Eureka! the whole thing is explained. Talking to day with the guardiano,
he happened to mention that he had been three years in Quarantine, keeping
watch over infected travellers. "What!" said I, "you have been sick three
years." "Oh no," he replied; "I have never been sick at all." "But are not
people sick in Quarantine?" "_Stafferillah!_" he exclaimed; "they are
always in better health than the people outside." "What is Quarantine for,
then?" I persisted. "What is it for?" he repeated, with a pause of blank
amazement at my ignorance, "why, to get money from the travellers!"
Indiscreet guardiano! It were better to suppose ourselves under suspicion
of the plague, than to have such an explanation of the mystery. Yet, in
spite of the unpalatable knowledge, I almost regret that this is our last
day in the establishment. The air is so pure and bracing, the views from
our windows so magnificent, the colonized branch of the Beyrout Hotel so
comfortable, that I am content to enjoy this pleasant idleness--the more
pleasant since, being involuntary, it is no weight on the conscience. I
look up to the Maronite villages, perched on the slopes of Lebanon, with
scarce a wish to climb to them, or turning to the sparkling Mediterranean,
view
"The speronara's sail of snowy hue
Whitening and brightening on that field of blue,"
and have none of that unrest which the sight of a vessel in motion
suggests.
To-day my friend from Timbuctoo came up to have another talk. He was
curious to know the object of my travels, and as he would not have
comprehended the exact truth, I was obliged to convey it to him through
the medium of fiction. I informed him that I had been dispatched by the
Sultan of my country to obtain information of the countries of Africa;
that I wrote in a book accounts of everything I saw, and on my return,
would present this book to the Sultan, who would reward me with a high
rank--perhaps even that of Grand Vizier. The Orientals deal largely in
hyperbole, and scatter numbers and values with the most reckless
profusion. The Arabic, like the Hebrew, its sister tongue, and other old
original tongues of Man, is a language of roots, and abounds with the
boldest metaphors. Now, exaggeration is but the imperfect form of
metaphor. The expression is always a splendid amplification of the simple
fact. Like skilful archers, in order to hit the mark, they aim above it.
When you have once learned his standard of truth, you can readily gauge an
Arab's expressions, and regulate your own accordingly. But whenever I have
attempted to strike the key-note myself, I generally found that it was
below, rather than above, the Oriental pitch.
The Shekh had already informed me that the King of Ashantee, whom he had
visited, possessed twenty-four houses full of gold, and that the Sultan of
Houssa had seventy thousand horses always standing saddled before his
palace, in order that he might take his choice, when he wished to ride
out. By this he did not mean that the facts were precisely so, but only
that the King was very rich, and the Sultan had a great many horses. In
order to give the Shekh an idea of the great wealth and power of the
American Nation, I was obliged to adopt the same plan. I told him,
therefore, that our country was two years' journey in extent, that the
Treasury consisted of four thousand houses filled to the roof with gold,
and that two hundred thousand soldiers on horseback kept continual guard
around Sultan Fillmore's palace. He received these tremendous statements
with the utmost serenity and satisfaction, carefully writing them in his
book, together with the name of Sultan Fillmore, whose fame has ere this
reached the remote regions of Timbuctoo. The Shekh, moreover, had the
desire of visiting England, and wished me to give him a letter to the
English Sultan. This rather exceeded my powers, but I wrote a simple
certificate explaining who he was, and whence he came, which I sealed with
an immense display of wax, and gave him. In return, he wrote his name in
my book, in the Mughrebbin character, adding the sentence: "There is no
God but God."
This evening the forbidden subject of politics crept into our quiet
community, and the result was an explosive contention which drowned even
the braying of the agonizing trumpets outside. The gentlemanly Frenchman
is a sensible and consistent republican, the old _filateur_ a violent
monarchist, while Absalom, as I might have foreseen, is a Red, of the
schools of Proudhon and Considerant. The first predicted a Republic in
France, the second a Monarchy in America, and the last was in favor of a
general and total demolition of all existing systems. Of course, with such
elements, anything like a serious discussion was impossible; and, as in
most French debates, it ended in a bewildering confusion of cries and
gesticulations. In the midst of it, I was struck by the cordiality with
which the Monarchist and the Socialist united in their denunciations of
England and the English laws. As they sat side by side, pouring out
anathemas against "perfide Albion," I could not help exclaiming: "_Voilà,
comme les extrêmes se rencontrent_!" This turned the whole current of
their wrath against me, and I was glad to make a hasty retreat.
The physician again visited us to-night, to promise a release to-morrow
morning. He looked us all in the faces, to be certain that there were no
signs of pestilence, and politely regretted that he could not offer us his
hand. The husband of the "married woman" also came, and relieved the other
gentlemen from the charge of the "weeper." He was a stout, ruddy
Provençal, in a white blouse, and I commiserated him sincerely for having
such a disagreeable wife.
To-day, being the last of our imprisonment, we have received many tokens
of attention from dragomen, who have sent their papers through the grate
to us, to be returned to-morrow after our liberation. They are not very
prepossessing specimens of their class, with the exception of Yusef Badra,
who brings a recommendation from my friend, Ross Browne. Yusef is a
handsome, dashing fellow, with something of the dandy in his dress and
air, but he has a fine, clear, sparkling eye, with just enough of the
devil in it to make him attractive. I think, however, that, the Greek
dragoman, who has been our companion in Quarantine, will carry the day. He
is by birth a Boeotian, but now a citizen of Athens, and calls himself
François Vitalis. He speaks French, German, and Italian, besides Arabic
and Turkish, and as he has been for twelve or fifteen years vibrating
between Europe and the East, he must by this time have amassed sufficient
experience to answer the needs of rough-and-tumble travellers like
ourselves. He has not asked us for the place, which displays so much
penetration on his part, that we shall end by offering it to him. Perhaps
he is content to rest his claims upon the memory of our first Quarantine
dinner. If so, the odors of the cutlets and larks--even of the raw onion,
which we remember with tears--shall not plead his cause in vain.
Beyrout (out of Quarantine), _Wednesday, May_ 21.
The handsome Greek, Diamanti, one of the proprietors of the "Hotel de
Belle Vue," was on hand bright and early yesterday morning, to welcome us
out of Quarantine. The gates were thrown wide, and forth we issued between
two files of soldiers, rejoicing in our purification. We walked through
mulberry orchards to the town, and through its steep and crooked streets
to the hotel, which stands beyond, near the extremity of the Cape, or Ras
Beyrout. The town is small, but has an active population, and a larger
commerce than any other port in Syria. The anchorage, however, is an open
road, and in stormy weather it is impossible for a boat to land. There are
two picturesque old castles on some rocks near the shore, but they were
almost destroyed by the English bombardment in 1841. I noticed two or
three granite columns, now used as the lintels of some of the arched ways
in the streets, and other fragments of old masonry, the only remains of
the ancient Berytus.
Our time, since our release, has been occupied by preparations for the
journey to Jerusalem. We have taken François as dragoman, and our
_mukkairee_, or muleteers, are engaged to be in readiness to-morrow
morning. I learn that the Druses are in revolt in Djebel Hauaran and parts
of the Anti-Lebanon, which will prevent my forming any settled plan for
the tour through Palestine and Syria. Up to this time, the country has
been considered quite safe, the only robbery this winter having been that
of the party of Mr. Degen, of New York, which was plundered near Tiberias.
Dr. Robinson left here two weeks ago for Jerusalem, in company with Dr.
Eli Smith, of the American Mission at this place.