[p.24]year; except that in winter they descend from the pastures, and
pitch their tents round the villages of Tanurin and Akoura, which are
situated in a valley, sheltered on every side by the perpendicular sides
of the Upper Libanus. At Tanurin and Laklouk the winter corn was already
above ground. The people water the fields for three or four days before
they sow the seed.
Akoura has a bad name amongst the people of this country; its
inhabitants, who are all Greek Catholics, are accused of avarice, and
inhospitality. The mountaineers, when upon a journey, never think of
spending a para, for their eating, drinking, or lodging. On arriving in
the evening at a village, they alight at the house of some acquaintance,
if they have any, which is generally the case, and say to the owner, "I
am your guest," Djay deyfak [Arabic]. The host gives the traveller a
supper, consisting of milk, bread, and Borgul, and if rich and liberal,
feeds his mule or mare also. When the traveller has no acquaintance in
the village, he alights at any house he pleases, ties up his beast, and
smokes his pipe till he receives a welcome from the master of the house,
who makes it a point of honour to receive him as a friend, and to give
him a supper. In the morning he departs with a simple "Good bye." Such
is the general custom in these parts; the inhabitants of Akoura,
however, are noted for refusing to receive travellers, to whom they will
neither give a supper, nor sell them provision for ready money; the
consequence of which conduct is, that the Akourans, when travelling
about, are obliged to conceal their origin, in order to obtain food on
the road. My guide had a friend at Akoura, but he happened to be absent;
we therefore alighted at another house, where we obtained with much
difficulty a little barley for our horses; and we should have gone
supperless to rest, had I not repaired to the Sheikh, and made him
believe I was a Kourdine (my dress being somewhat like that of the
Kourds) in the service of the
[p.25] Pasha of Damascus, on my way to the Emir Beshir. As I spoke with
confidence, the Sheikh became alarmed, and sent us a few loaves of
bread, and some cheese; on my return, I found my guide in the midst of a
large assembly of people, abusing them for their meanness.
The property of the inhabitants of this village consists of cows and
other cattle, silkworms, and plantations of olive trees.
At Akoura Djebel Libnan terminates; and farther down towards Zahle and
the Bekaa, the mountain is called Djebel Sannin [Arabic]. The Libanus is
here more barren and wild than further to the north. The rocks are all
in perfectly horizontal layers, some of which are thirty to forty yards
in thickness, while others are only a few yards.
October 5th.--We left the inhospitable Akoura before day light, and
reached, after one hour and three quarters, a village called Afka,
situated in the bottom of a valley, near a spring, whose waters join
those of Wady Akoura, and flow down towards Jebail.
The name Afka is found in the ancient geography of Syria. At Aphaca,
according to Zosimus, was a temple of Venus, where the handsomest girls
of Syria sacrificed to the goddess: it was situated near a small lake,
between Heliopolis and the sea coast. [Zosim. l.i.c.58.] The lake
Liemoun is at three hours distance from Afka. I could not hear of any
remains of antiquity near Afka. All the inhabitants are Metaweli, under
the government of Jebail. Near it, towards Jebail, are the Metaweli
villages of Mghaiere, Meneitere, and Laese.
From Afka the road leads up a steep Wady. At half an hour from it is the
spring called Ain Bahr; three quarters of an hour beyond it is a high
level country, still on the western side of the summit of the mountain.
This district is called Watty el Bordj