The Lebanon--Druses and Maronites--Illness of Herr Sattler--Djebel
or Byblus--Rocky passes--Dog's-river--Return to Beyrout--Sickness--
Departure for Alexandria--Roguery of the captain--Disagreeables on
board--Limasol--Alarm of pirates--Cowardice of the crew--Arrival at
Alexandria.
July 8th.
To-day we quitted our cold hard couch at six o'clock in the morning,
and travelled agreeably for two hours through this romantic valley,
which appeared almost at every step in a new aspect of increased
beauty. Above the village a foaming stream bursts from the mighty
rocks in a beautiful waterfall, irrigates the valley, and then
vanishes imperceptibly among the windings of the ravine. Brooks
similar to this one, but smaller, leapt from the mountains round
about. On the rocky peaks we seem to behold ruined castles and
towers, but discover with astonishment, as we approach nearer, that
what we supposed to be ruins are delusive pictures, formed by the
wonderful masses of rock, grouped one above the other in the most
fantastic forms. In the depths on the one side, grottoes upon
grottoes are seen, some with their entrances half concealed, others
with gigantic portals, above which the wild rocks tower high; on the
other a rich soil is spread in the form of terraces on the rocky
cliffs, forming a lovely picture of refreshing vegetation. Had I
been a painter, it would have been difficult to tear me away from
the contemplation of these regions.
Below the greater waterfall a narrow stone bridge, without
balustrades or railing, leads across a deep ravine, through which
the stream rushes foaming, to the opposite shore. After having once
crossed, we enter upon a more inhabited tract of country, and travel
on between rows of houses and gardens. But many of the houses stood
empty, the inhabitants having fled into the fields, and there
erected huts of branches of trees, to escape the plague. The
Maronites, the real inhabitants of these mountains, are strong
people, gifted with a determined will; they cannot be easily brought
under a foreign yoke, but are ready to defend their liberty to the
death among the natural strongholds of their rocky passes. Their
religion resembles that of the Christians, and their priests are
permitted to marry. The women do not wear veils, but I saw few such
handsome countenances among them as I have frequently observed in
the Tyrol.
On the first mountain-range of Lebanon, in the direction of
Caelosyria, many Druses are found, besides a few tribes of
"Mutualis." The former incline to the Christian faith, while the
latter are generally termed "calf-worshippers." They practise their
religion so secretly, that nothing certain is known concerning it;
the general supposition is, however, that they worship their deity
under the form of a calf.
Our way led onwards, for about six miles from Bscharai, through the
beautiful valleys of the Lebanon. Then the smiling nature changed,
and we were again wandering through sterile regions. The heat, too,
became very oppressive; but every thing would have been borne
cheerfully had there not been an invalid among us.
Herr Sattler had felt rather unwell on the previous day; to-day he
grew so much worse that he could not keep his seat in his saddle,
and fell to the ground half insensible. Luckily we found a cistern
not far off, and near it some trees, beneath which we made a bed of
cloaks for our sick friend. A little water mixed with a few drops
of strong vinegar restored him to consciousness. After the lapse of
an hour, the patient was indeed able to resume his journey; but
lassitude, headache, and feverish shiverings still remained, and we
had a ride of many hours before us ere we could reach our resting-
place for the night. From every hill we climbed the ocean could be
seen at so short a distance that we thought an hour's journeying
must bring us there. But each time another mountain thrust itself
between, which it was necessary to climb. So it went on for many
hours, till at length we reached a small valley with a lofty
isolated mass of rock in the midst, crowned by a ruined castle. The
approach to this stronghold was by a flight of stairs cut in the
rock. From this point our journey lay at least over a better road,
between meadows and fruit-trees, to the little town which we reached
at night-fall. We had a long and weary search before we could
obtain for our sick comrade even a room, destitute of every
appearance of comfort. Poor Herr Sattler, more dead than alive, was
compelled, after a ride of thirteen hours, to take up his lodging on
the hard ground. The room was perfectly bare, the windows were
broken, and the door would not lock. We were fain to search for a
few boards, with which we closed up the windows, that the sick man
might at least be sheltered from the current of air.
I then prepared him a dish of rice with vinegar; this was the only
refreshment we were able to procure.
The rest of us lay down in the yard; but the anxiety we felt
concerning our sick friend prevented us from sleeping much. He
exhibited every symptom of the plague; in this short time his
countenance was quite changed; violent headache and exhaustion
prevented him from moving, and the burning heat added the pangs of
thirst to his other ills. As we had been travelling for the last
day and a half through regions where the pestilence prevailed, it
appeared but too probable that Herr Sattler had been attacked by it.
Luckily the patient himself had not any idea of the kind, and we
took especial care that he should not read our anxiety in our
countenances.
July 9th.
Heaven be praised, Herr Sattler was better to-day, though too weak
to continue his journey. As we had thus some time on our hands, the
French gentleman and I resolved to embark in a boat to witness the
operation of fishing for sponges, by which a number of the poorer
inhabitants of the Syrian coast gain their livelihood.
A fisherman rowed us about half a mile out to sea, till he came to a
place where he hoped to find something. Here he immersed a plummet
in the sea to sound its depth, and on finding that some thing was to
be gained here, he dived downwards armed with a knife to cut the
sponge he expected to find from the rocks; and after remaining below
the surface for two or three minutes, reappeared with his booty,
When first loosened from the rocks, these sponges are usually full
of shells and small stones, which give them a very strong and
disagreeable smell. They require to be thoroughly cleansed from
dirt and well washed with sea-water before being put into fresh.
After our little water-party, we sallied forth to see the town,
which is very prettily situated among plantations of mulberry-trees
in the vicinity of the sea-coast. The women here are not only
unveiled, but frequently wear their necks bare; we saw some of them
working in their gardens and washing linen; they were half
undressed. We visited the bazaar, intending to purchase a few eggs
and cucumbers for our dinner, and some oranges for our convalescent
friend. But we could not obtain any; and moderate as our wishes
were, it was out of our power to gratify them.
By the afternoon Herr Sattler had so far regained his strength, that
he could venture to undertake a short journey of ten miles to the
little town of Djaebbehl. This stage was the less difficult for our
worthy invalid from the fact that the road lay pleasantly across a
fruitful plain skirting the sea, while a cool sea-breeze took away
the oppressiveness of the heat. The majestic Lebanon bounded the
distant view on the left, and several convents on the foremost chain
of mountains looked down upon the broad vale.
We seemed to have but just mounted our horses when we already
descried the castle of the town to which we were bound rising above
its walls, and soon after halted at a large khan in its immediate
neighbourhood. There were large rooms here in plenty, but all were
empty, and the unglazed windows could not even be closed by
shutters.
Houses of entertainment of this description barely shield the
traveller from the weather. We took possession of a large entrance-
hall for our night's quarters, and made ourselves as comfortable as
we could.
Count Berchtold and I walked into the town of Djaebbehl (Byblus).
This place is, as I have already mentioned, surrounded by a wall; it
contains also a small bazaar, where we did not find much to buy.
The majority of dwellings are built in gardens of mulberry-trees.
The castle lies rather high, and is still in the condition to which
it was reduced after the siege by the English in 1840; the side
fronting the ocean has sustained most damage. This castle is now
uninhabited, but some of the lower rooms are converted into stables.
Not far off we found some fragments of ancient pillars; an
amphitheatre is said to have once stood here.
July 10th.
To-day Herr Sattler had quite recovered his health, so that we could
again commence our journey, according to custom, early in the
morning. Our road lay continually by the sea-shore. The views were
always picturesque and beautiful, as on the way from Batrun to
Djaebbehl; but to-day we had the additional luxury of frequently
coming upon brooks which flowed from the neighbouring Lebanon, and
of passing springs bursting forth near the seashore; one indeed so
close to the sea, that the waves continually dashed over it.
After riding forward for four hours, we reached the so-called
"Dog's-river," the greatest and deepest on the whole journey. This
stream also has its origin in the heights of the Lebanon, and after
a short course falls into the neighbouring sea.
At the entrance of the valley where the Dog's-river flowed lay a
simple khan. Here we made halt to rest for an hour.
Generally we got nothing to eat during the day, as we seldom or
never passed a village; even when we came upon a house, there was
rarely any thing to be had but coffee: we were therefore the more
astonished to find here fresh figs, cucumbers, butter-milk, and
wine,--things which in Syria make a feast for the gods. We revelled
in this unwonted profusion, and afterwards rode into the valley,
which smiled upon us in verdant luxuriance.
This vale cannot be more than five or six hundred feet in breadth.
On either side high walls rise towering up; and on the left we see
the ruins of an aqueduct quite overgrown with ivy. This aqueduct is
seven or eight hundred paces in length, and extends as far as the
spot where the Dog's-river rushes over rocks and stones, forming not
a lofty, but yet a fine waterfall. Just below this fall a bridge of
Roman architecture, supported boldly on rocky buttresses, unites the
two shores. The road to this bridge is by a broad flight of stone
stairs, upon which our good Syrian horses carried us in perfect
safety both upwards and downwards; it was a fearful, dizzy road.
The river derives its name from a stone lying near it, which is said
to resemble a dog in form. Stones and pieces of rock, against which
the stream rushed foaming, we saw in plenty, but none in which we
could discover any resemblance to a dog. Perhaps the contour has
been destroyed by the action of wind and weather.
Scarcely had we crossed this dangerous bridge when the road wound
sharply round a rock in the small but blooming valley, and we
journeyed towards the heights up almost perpendicular rocks, and
past abysses that overhung the sea.
The rocky mountain we were now climbing juts far out into the sea,
and forms a pass towards the territory of Beyrout which a handful of
men might easily hold against an army. Such a pass may that of
Thermopylae have been; and had these mountaineers but a Leonidas,
they would certainly not be far behind the ancient Spartans.
A Latin inscription on a massive stone slab, and higher up four
niches, two of which contain statues, while the others display
similar inscriptions, seemed to indicate that the Romans had already
known and appreciated the importance of this pass. Unfortunately
both statues and writing were so much injured by the all-destroying
hand of time, that only a man learned in these matters could have
deciphered their meaning. In our party there was no one equal to
such a task.
We rode on for another half-hour, after which the path led downwards
into the territory of Beyrout; and we rode quietly and comfortably
by the sea-side towards this city. Mulberry trees and vineyards
bloomed around us, country-houses and villages lay half hidden
between, and convents crowned the lower peaks of the Lebanon, which
on this side displays only naked rocks, the majority of a bluish-
grey colour.
At a little distance from Beyrout we came upon a second giant
bridge, similar to that over the Dog's-river. Broad staircases, on
which four or five horsemen could conveniently ride abreast, led
upwards and downwards. The steps are so steep, and lie so far
apart, that it seems almost incredible that the poor horses should
be able to ascend and descend upon them. We looked down from a
dizzy height, not upon a river, but upon a dry river-bed.
At five o'clock in the evening we arrived safely at Beyrout; and
thus ended our excursion to the "lovely and incomparable city of the
East," to the world-renowned ruin, and to the venerable Grove of
Cedars. Our tour had occupied ten days; the distance was about 180
miles; namely, from Beyrout to Damascus about 60, from Damascus to
Balbeck 40, and from Balbeck across the Lebanon to Beyrout about 80
miles.
Of four-footed beasts, amphibious creatures, birds, or insects, we
had seen nothing. Count Berchtold caught a chameleon, which
unfortunately effected its escape from its prison a few days
afterwards. At night we frequently heard the howling of jackals,
but never experienced any annoyance from them. We had not to
complain of the attacks of insects; but suffered much from the
dreadful heat, besides being frequently obliged to endure hunger and
thirst: the thermometer one day rose to 40 degrees.
In Beyrout I once more put up at the house of the kind French lady.
The first piece of news I heard was that I had arrived twenty-four
hours too late, and had thus missed the English packet-boat; this
was a most annoying circumstance, for the boat in question only
starts for Alexandria once a month (on the 8th or 9th), and at other
times it is a great chance if an opportunity of journeying thither
can be found. On the very next day I hastened to the Austrian
consulate, and begged the Vice-consul, Herr C., to let me know when
a ship was about to start for Egypt, and also to engage a place for
me. I was told that a Greek vessel would start for that country in
two or three days; but these two or three days grew into nineteen.
Never shall I forget what I had to endure in Beyrout. When I could
no longer bear the state of things at night in the Noah's ark of my
good Pauline, I used to creep through the window on to a terrace,
and sleep there; but was obliged each time to retire to my room
before daybreak lest I should be discovered. It is said that
misfortunes seldom happen singly, and my case was not an exception
to the rule. One night I must have caught cold; for in the morning
when I hastened back to my prison, and lay down on the bed to
recover from the effects of my stone couch, I experienced such an
acute pain in my back and hips that I was unable to rise. It
happened to be a Sunday morning, a day on which my kind Pauline did
not come to the house, as there was no school to keep; and so I lay
for twenty-four hours in the greatest pain, without help, unable
even to obtain a drop of water. I was totally unable to drag myself
to the door, or to the place where the water-jug stood. The next
day, I am thankful to say, I felt somewhat better; my Pauline also
came, and prepared me some mutton-broth. By the fourth day I was
once more up, and had almost recovered from the attack.
JOURNEY FROM BEYROUT TO CAIRO AND ALEXANDRIA.
It was not until the 28th of July that a Greek brig set sail for
Alexandria. At ten o'clock in the evening I betook myself on board,
and the next morning at two we weighed anchor. Never have I bid
adieu to any place with so much joy as I felt on leaving the town of
Beyrout; my only regret was the parting from my kind Pauline. I had
met many good people during my journey, but she was certainly one of
the best.
Unhappily, my cruel fate was not yet weary of pursuing me; and in my
experience I fully realised the old proverb of, "out of the frying-
pan into the fire." On this vessel, and during the time we had to
keep quarantine in Alexandria, I was almost worse off than during my
stay in Beyrout. It is necessary, in dealing with the captain of a
vessel of this description, to have a written contract for every
thing--stating, for instance, where he is to land, how long he may
stay at each place, etc. I mentioned this fact at the consulate,
and begged the gentlemen to do what was necessary; but they assured
me the captain was known to be a man of honour, and that the
precaution I wished to take would be quite superfluous. Upon this
assumption, I placed myself fearlessly in the hands of the man; but
scarcely had we lost sight of land, when he frankly declared that
there were not sufficient provisions and water on board to allow of
our proceeding to Alexandria, but that he must make for the harbour
of Limasol in Cyprus. I was exceedingly angry at this barefaced
fraud, and at the loss of time it would occasion me, and offered all
the opposition I could. But nothing would avail me; I had no
written contract, and the rest of the company offered no active
resistance--so to Cyprus we went.
A voyage in an ordinary sailing-vessel, which is not a packet-boat,
is as wearisome a thing as can be well conceived. The lower portion
of the ship is generally so crammed with merchandise, that the deck
alone remains for the passengers. This was the case on the present
occasion. I was obliged to remain continually on deck: during the
daytime, when I had only my umbrella to shield me from the piercing
rays of the sun; at night, when the dews fell so heavily, that after
an hour my cloak would be quite wet through, in cold and in stormy
weather. They did not even spread a piece of sailcloth by way of
awning. This state of things continued for ten days and eleven
nights, during which time I had not even an opportunity to change my
clothes. This was a double hardship; for if there is a place above
all others where cleanliness becomes imperative to comfort, it is
certainly on board a Greek ship, the generality of which are
exceedingly dirty and disgusting. The company I found did not make
amends for the accommodation. The only Europeans on board were two
young men, who had received some unimportant situation in a
quarantine office from the Turkish government. The behaviour of
both was conceited, stupid, and withal terribly vulgar. Then there
were four students from Alexandria, who boarded at Beyrout, and were
going home to spend the vacation--good-natured but much-neglected
lads of fourteen or fifteen years, who seemed particularly partial
to the society of the sailors, and were always talking, playing, or
quarrelling with them. The remainder of the company consisted of a
rich Arab family, with several male and female negro slaves, and a
few very poor people. And in such society I was to pass a weary
time. Many will say that this was a good opportunity for obtaining
an insight into the customs and behaviour of these people; but I
would gladly have declined the opportunity, for it requires an
almost angelic patience to bear such a complication of evils with
equanimity. Among the Arabs and the lower class of Greeks,
moreover, every thing possessed by one member of the community is
looked upon as public property. A knife, a pair of scissors, a
drinking-glass, or any other small article, is taken from its owner
without permission, and is given back after use without being
cleaned. On the mat, the carpet, or the mattress, which you have
brought on board as bedding, a negro and his master will lie down;
and wherever a vacant space is left, some one is sure to stand or
lie down. Take what precautions you may, it is impossible to avoid
having your person and garments infested by certain very disgusting
parasitical creatures. One day I cleaned my teeth with a
toothbrush; one of the Greek sailors, noticing what I was about,
came towards me, and when I laid the brush down for an instant, took
it up. I thought he only wished to examine it; but no, he did
exactly as I had done, and after cleaning his teeth returned me my
brush, expressing himself entirely satisfied with it.
The diet on board a vessel of this kind is also exceedingly bad.
For dinner we have pilau, stale cheese, and onions; in the evening,
we get anchovies, olives, stale cheese again, and ship-biscuit
instead of bread. These appetising dishes are placed in a tray on
the ground, round which the captains (of whom there are frequently
two or three), the mate, and those passengers who have not come
furnished with provisions of their own, take their places. I did
not take part in these entertainments; for I had brought a few live
fowls, besides some rice, butter, dried bread, and coffee, and
prepared my own meals. The voyage in one of these agreeable ships
is certainly not very dear, if we do not take the discomforts and
privations into account; but these I can really not estimate at too
high a price. For the voyage to Alexandria (a distance of 2000 sea-
miles) I paid sixty piastres; the provisions I took with me cost
thirty more; and thus the entire journey came only to ninety
piastres.
In general the wind was very unfavourable, so that we frequently
cruised about for whole nights, and awoke in the morning to find
ourselves in almost the same position we had occupied the previous
evening.
This is one of the most disagreeable impressions, and one which can
scarcely be described, to be continually driving and driving without
approaching the conclusion of your journey. To my shame I must
confess that I sometimes shed tears of regret and annoyance. My
fellow-passengers could not at all understand why I was so
impatient; for, with their constitutional indolence, they were quite
indifferent as to whether they spent their time for a week or a
fortnight longer in smoking, sleeping, and idling on board or on
shore--whether they were carried to Cyprus or Alexandria. It was
not until the fourth day that we landed at
LIMASOL.
This place contains pretty houses, some of which are even provided
with slated roofs, and resemble European habitations. Here, for the
first time since my departure from Constantinople, I saw a vehicle;
it was not, however, a coach, but simply a wooden two-wheeled cart,
and is used to transport stones, earth, and merchandise. The region
around Limasol is barren in the extreme, almost like that of
Larnaca, except that the mountains are here much nearer.
We stayed in this port the whole of the day; and now I learnt for
the first time that the captain had not put in here so much on
account of scarcity of provisions, as because he wanted to take in
wine and endeavour to take in passengers. Of the latter, however,
none presented themselves. The wine is very cheap; I bought a
bottle containing about three pints for a piastre. As soon as we
were again at sea, our worthy captain gave out that he wished to
call at Damietta. My patience was at length exhausted. I called
him a cheat, and insisted that he should bend his course to no other
port than to Alexandria, otherwise I should have him brought before
a judge if it cost me a hundred piastres. This remonstrance
produced so much effect upon the captain, that he promised me not to
cast anchor any where else; and, marvellous to relate, he kept his
word.
One other circumstance occurred during this journey which is
interesting as furnishing a sample of the heroism of the modern
Greeks.
On the 5th of August, about noon, our sailors discovered a two-
masted ship in the distance, which altered her course immediately on
perceiving our vessel, and came sailing towards us. It was at once
concluded by all that this ship must be a pirate, else why did she
alter her course and give chase to us? The circumstance was indeed
singular; yet these maritime heroes ought to have been used to all
kinds of adventures, and not at once to have feared the worst,
particularly as, so far as I am aware, the pirate's trade is very
nearly broken up, and attempts of this kind are unprecedented--at
least in these regions.
A painter like Hogarth should have been on board our ship, to mark
the expression of fear and cowardice depicted on the several
countenances. It was wonderful to behold how the poor captains ran
from one end of the ship to the other, and huddled us travellers
together into a heap, recommending us to sit still and keep silence;
how they then hurried away and ran to and fro, making signs and
gestures, while the pale sailors tumbled after them with scared
faces, wringing their hands. Any one who had not witnessed the
scene would think this description exaggerated. What would the
Grecian heroes of antiquity say if they could throw a glance upon
their gallant descendants! Instead of arming themselves and making
preparations, the men ran about in the greatest confusion. We were
in this enviable state when the dreaded pirate came within gunshot;
and the reason of her approach turned out to be that her compass was
broken. The whole scene at once changed, as though a beneficent
fairy had waved her wand. The captains instantly recovered their
dignity, the sailors embraced and jumped about like children, and we
poor travellers were released from durance and permitted to take
part in the friendly interview between the two heroic crews.
The captain who had spoken us asked our gallant leader in what
latitude we were, and hearing that we were sailing to Alexandria,
requested that a lantern should be hung at the mainmast-head, at
which he might look as at a guiding-star.
With the exception of Cyprus, we had seen no land during all our
weary journey. We could only judge when we arrived in the
neighbourhood of Damietta by the altered colour of the sea; as far
as the eye could reach, the beautiful dark-blue wave had turned to
the colour of the yellow Nile. From these tokens I could judge of
the magnitude and volume of that river, which at this season of the
year increases greatly, and had already been rising for two months.
August 7th.
At eight o'clock in the morning we safely reached the quay of
Alexandria.