Loss of journals--Difficulties in learning Eastern
languages--Signor Damiani; his simplicity--Porters--Residence at
the Franciscan convent--Lady Hester’s dress--Not distinguishable
from a Turk--Description of Jaffa--Buildings--Environs
of Jaffa--Orchards--Mohammed Aga: his revenues: his
expenditure--Pilgrims: their sufferings--Object of
their pilgrimage--Departure for Jerusalem--Mr. Pearce
leaves the party--Peasants reaping--Ramlah--Its
monastery--Locusts--Lyd--Departure from Ramlah--Sober
exhortation of a drunken priest--Mountains of Judæa--Abu
Ghosh--Supper--Guards--Selim’s apprehensions--Cold--Brothers’s
prophecy--Jerusalem--Lady Hester’s lodgings--Dragomans--Visit
to the governor--Kengi Ahmed--Emir Bey; his history--Holy
Sepulchre--Mount Calvary--Visit to the Jews’
quarter--Bethlehem--Monastery--Bethlehemites reputed to be
robbers--Horses--Accident to Mr. B.--Mufti’s dinner--Memorable
places.
It was my misfortune, in the year 1813, to ship from Latakia for
England two cases of effects, in which were my memorandums and journals
from the time of quitting Rhodes until our landing in Syria. The
plague at that time was making great ravages in Malta; and these
cases, having been landed there to be reshipped on another vessel, were
lost; and to this cause it is owing that my narrative, up to the period
of our arrival at Jaffa, is for the most part written from letters,
scattered notes, and memory, and must, consequently, be liable to
numerous errors. The foregoing pages may therefore be considered in the
light of an introduction to our future course of proceeding, and the
peculiar mode of life which Lady Hester will hereafter be seen to lead
on Mount Lebanon.
It was now two years and three months since her ladyship had quitted
England. We had become accustomed to the manners and costumes
of the Turks; and our ears, which at first were offended by the
undistinguishable mixture of so many languages, had now learned to
admire the sonorous tones of the Turkish, and to relish the nasal and
guttural ones of the Arabic; nay, we had made that great step towards
speaking them which consists in having a perception of the articulation
of words. From this perception the progress to articulating one’s self
is rapid.
I had likewise surmounted another difficulty, which is apt to stand
in the way of a young traveller’s improvement, and which is said to
accompany the English more than the people of any other nation;--that
of fancying the inhabitants of other countries their inferiors in
breeding, dress, mode of living, and intellectual acquirements. I could
already see that a Turk, however perfidious he might be, was certainly
well bred; and that an Arab, even though he were a liar, had still his
glow of imagination and his eloquence. I had learned too by what scale
to measure the expressions of such a people; and, having once obtained
the customary variation from truth, I found no difficulty in most
instances in arriving at the same degree of correctness as in other
countries. I had discovered that, to view things with a just eye, a
traveller must have neither self-love nor national prejudice: although
it was long before I could conquer a feeling of anger which would
arise when a Turk treated me with disrespect, merely because I was a
Christian. But to return to my narrative.
There was an English agent at Jaffa named Antonio Damiani, born in the
country, but of Frank parentage, his father having been in the service
of the English at the same port before him. Our räis (or captain) had
hoisted an English flag, which anticipated the news of Lady Hester
Stanhope’s arrival: for the intelligence of her ladyship’s intended
visit to Syria had reached Signor Damiani from Egypt long before our
departure. His house, an old roomy building, was immediately prepared
for her reception. The baggage was then landed, and conveyed by porters
from the wharf.[27]
Her ladyship disembarked in the evening, and was received by the
venerable agent with that patriarchal simplicity noticed by a
celebrated traveller (Dr. Clarke), and which Mr. D. no doubt eminently
possessed; since it was confirmed to us by his own assurance: nor
did he fail to tell us that he was actuated in all he did by a
disinterested love for the British nation in general, positively
declaring that his agency was no source of emolument to him but rather
a loss. No credit therefore should be given to those malicious persons
who afterwards informed us that his father and he had made a vast
fortune under the protection of the English. Besides, he assured us
that the honour of having Lady Hester in his house was a sufficient
recompense for any trouble or expense he might be at, and he hoped (as
he told us three or four times) that she would not think of making
him too large a present. Damiani was nearly sixty, and dressed in the
Turkish costume, or, as it is designated among the Levantine Franks,
the long dress, except that, instead of the turban, he wore an old
cocked-hat, with his hair tied in a thick _pig-tail_, so as to
give him the look of a boatswain in Greenwich Hospital. This was the
dress of most of the Franks previous to the French Revolution: and
whilst English commerce flourished in the Levant. He was a widower,
and had a married son about twenty years of age, or somewhat more.
Lady Hester being accommodated as above mentioned, we took up our
residence at the Franciscan monastery, or, as it is called in the
Levant, the Convent of the Holy Land. No time was lost in making the
necessary preparations for our departure to Jerusalem. Eleven camels
were hired for the luggage at seven piasters twenty paras each, and
thirteen horses for the party, at six piasters each. The governor of
Jaffa, Mohammed Aga, at her ladyship’s request, sent two horsemen to
accompany us.
In addition to her more splendid habiliments, Lady Hester had, whilst
at Cairo, procured a travelling Mameluke dress. It consisted of a satin
vest, with long sleeves, open to the bend of the arm, which reached
to the hips only, and folding over at the chest was attached with a
single button at the throat and waist; over this again she wore a red
cloth jacket, in shape like a scanty spencer, with short sleeves, and
trimmed with gold lace. The trowsers were of the same cloth, gorgeously
embroidered with gold at the pockets, as well before as behind. They
were large and loose, as is the fashion in Turkey, and, when worn,
formed, by their numerous folds, a very beautiful drapery. Over the
whole, when on horseback, she wore the burnooz or white-hooded cloak,
the pendent tassels and silky look of which gave great elegance to her
figure. The turban was a Cashmere shawl, put on with the peculiar
fulness which the Mamelukes affect in their head-dress, and which is
very becoming. This dress, as far as regards the sherwals (or trowsers)
which were of the same colour as the jacket, is peculiar to Egypt: for
throughout Syria the sherwals are almost always blue, and generally
dark. But this Egyptian costume was more proper for her ladyship,
because her saddle and bridle were Egyptian; being of crimson velvet
embroidered in gold.
She was generally mistaken for some young bey with his mustachios not
yet grown; and this assumption of the male dress was a subject of
severe criticism among the English who came to the Levant. Strangers,
however, would frequently pass her without any notice at all; a
strong proof that she felt no awkwardness in wearing a dress which
would otherwise have attracted general attention. The fairness of her
complexion was sometimes mistaken for the effect of paint. I have
already described the superb velvet dress in which she visited the
pasha of Egypt, and afterwards the pashas of Acre and Damascus. It
was as rich as anything of the kind possibly could be. But, after a
longer residence in the country, the distinctions of rank were better
understood, together with the costume affected by each, whether men of
letters, merchants, military or naval officers, or men of independent
fortune: it was then easy to see that she had adopted a dress not
appropriate to her station. It was therefore laid aside some time
afterwards, and long robes were substituted. The riding dress, used by
people of consequence throughout the empire, was nevertheless worn when
requisite.
Jaffa does not rank as a city from its size; for many villages in
Syria are as large: it is, however, the residence of the governor of
an extensive district. This district comprehends four towns, Ramlah,
Gaza, Lydd and Jaffa; besides several large villages. It formerly
composed a part of the pashalik of Damascus, was some time a pashalik
by itself, but had now for many years been ceded to the pasha of Acre,
under whose jurisdiction its natural situation seems to place it. It
embraces the sea-coast of the southern part of Palestine, and is one
of the most beautiful tracts of country in all Syria. Jaffa stands
upon a small rocky eminence close to the sea; and may be a mile or a
mile and a half in circumference. It might, perhaps, contain three
thousand inhabitants. It had an agent for the English, but for no other
nation. It was walled on all sides, excepting on that towards the sea;
and had bastions at the angles where cannon were mounted. The cannon
had painted muzzles, and were pointed through whitewashed embrasures,
in order that they might be distinguished at a distance. The wall
was encompassed by a dry ditch, of no great breadth or depth. The
fortifications were, for the greater part, new, and were the work of
the then governor, who kept them in good repair, and, as it was said,
conceived himself master of a place that was impregnable: but walls not
eight feet thick, and a ditch not as many yards broad, were not likely
to realize his expectations. To the S. W. and S. there are several
eminences which overlook the principal works within musket-shot. The
houses are in terraces, one above another, and crowded together.
The streets are most irregular; and, owing to the inequalities of
the ground, and the steep descent from the land to the sea, the
communication between them is either very circuitous, or by a flight of
fifty or sixty steps.
It must be allowed that the governor had done much toward beautifying
the city. He had built a small but neat mosque; a caravansery; a
bazar; and a town gate (the only entrance to the city), which is much
ornamented, and has a very showy appearance: but all these buildings,
the gate excepted, are on so diminutive a scale, that the whole do
not occupy so much ground as many single edifices in a spacious
metropolis. These structures are of stone, as are the houses. The
Governor had enriched his masonry from the ruins of Cæsarea, Ascalon,
and other cities along the coast, whence he had drawn abundant supplies
of granite, marble, and stone, ready shaped to the hand. There is a
convent of Franciscans, where, at the time of our arrival, resided not
more than six or seven monks: there is also a Greek and an Armenian
monastery. The former is pleasantly situated on the quays that run
along the edge of the harbour, not far from the warehouses of the
merchants, and is the most agreeable residence in the place. The other,
converted into an hospital, is said to have been the grave of many
Frenchmen, poisoned by order of Buonaparte, when he raised the siege of
St. Jean D’Acre.
The environs of the city are planted with fine orchards; and, although
the soil seems to be nothing but sand, yet, wherever it is watered,
all the productions of the earth thrive. Fine water-melons grow here,
and are sent in smacks to every port in Syria. The soil is irrigated
from wells, by means of wheels of the rudest construction, round which
earthenware pots, fastened to a withy rope, are made to revolve in
the manner of a chain pump. These pots, dipping at the bottom, empty
themselves at the top into a wooden shoot, which conducts the water
to canals of mortarwork, from which it is distributed by trenches to
every part of the orchard. In each of the orchards is generally a stone
cottage, in which resides the gardener with his family. The gardener
does the work either in consideration of a certain proportion of the
profits, or else he hires the garden at an annual rent.[28]
Large flights of storks are to be seen in the fields round Jaffa.
The governor was named Mohammed Aga Abu Nabût, rather a handsome man,
of middling stature, with a florid complexion, and a well-shaped and
becoming beard. He had been a Mameluke of Gezzàr Pasha’s.[29] He
exercised rigorously the administration of justice, and was the terror
of thieves and robbers: his mildest punishment was amputation of the
hand. His retinue was very splendid for his rank, and he already seemed
to act the pasha, which indeed he afterwards became. He was very
religious, either from conviction or policy.
Like other motsellems, or governors of towns, he had no pension;
but, after having transmitted the revenue with which his government
was charged in taxes, customs, and the like, he was then allowed to
make as much as he could of his place. The public officers of the
pasha were sent annually to examine his accounts about April, which
is the commencement of the Mahometan year. These accounts were kept
by Christians, who are everywhere the bankers and secretaries of the
Turkish governors, the highest employments to which a Christian can
rise.
Easter was just over. Jaffa being, as we have seen, a small place,
with little commerce and few buildings, what was our surprise to find
it transformed from a dull fishing-town into a populous mart, by the
arrival of the pilgrims from Jerusalem? The number of those who visit
the holy sepulchre every Easter varies. This year they amounted, we
were told, to about four thousand. As travelling by land subjects the
Christians to some danger and much oppression, those, whose destination
permits, take shipping at Jaffa for their respective homes. The
shipowners of the Levant know the season, and there were vessels of all
sizes daily entering the roads to wait for passengers.
The grotesque figures of these poor wearied pilgrims, as they came into
the town from Jerusalem, were truly ludicrous. Wheel carriages being
unknown in this country, the women are compelled to ride on mules,
asses, camels, or horses; and, from timidity or economy, they generally
put themselves into a kind of panier. Fear of the Bedouins and
mountaineers makes them apprehensive of stopping excepting at Ramlah,
the only large village between Jaffa and Jerusalem; and they sometimes
travel for fourteen hours without rest.
The pilgrims, in the dresses and with the languages of their different
nations, produce a confusion of tongues and costumes that could hardly
be exceeded by the Crusaders themselves. Nor is religion the only
object they have in view. The great fairs at Leipsic and Frankfort are
not more essential to the commercial interests of the Continental Jews
than is this pilgrimage to the trade of the Eastern Christians. It is
here that they procure their precious gums, valuable medicinal drugs,
herbs, &c., for which they barter pearls, precious stones, stuffs, and
the like. There is also a great exchange of Damascus silks, Angora
stuffs, Barbary shawls, against the productions of European Turkey.
In fact, every pilgrim can dispose of what he wants to sell, and can
furnish himself with that of which he stands in need.
The pilgrims this year from the western world were but few. There were
three from Spain, one from Germany, none from France, and, excepting
ourselves, no English.
It will, no doubt, be imagined that, sanctified by the performance of
so holy a vow, and filled with religious sentiments arising from the
contemplation of the scenes of our Saviour’s sufferings, the pilgrim
returns home pure in heart, and with the good resolution of amending
his life. But we were credibly informed that this was not always the
case; and that the promiscuous assemblage of so many persons gave
rise to much depravity of conduct. There is an Arabian proverb which
says--“Beware of pilgrims, of Jerusalemites, and of Bethlehemites.”
Jaffa still boasts of a manufacture of glass. The bottles that are
blown are as fine as Florence flasks. It was on the second day after
our arrival that we quitted Jaffa, accompanied by two horsemen. We
had ten camels for our baggage, and fourteen horses and mules for
the party. Mr. Pearce had declined accompanying Lady Hester any
farther than Jaffa, having planned for himself a different route
from that which she intended to pursue; we therefore left him in the
monastery.[30] The road lies due east, at first through gardens, and
is broad, commodious, and picturesque. After quitting the gardens,
we entered the open country. A mile or two farther we discovered a
number of peasants reaping barley to the tune of a pipe and tabor and
the noise of a great drum. Near them were several tents pitched; and
a number of young Turks, with small sticks in their hands, not used
merely as emblems of authority, were urging them on in their work.
These were labourers working for the Aga or governor at the barley
harvest. One of the peasants ran towards us with a wisp of barley in
his hand, and offered it to her ladyship, asking a present. No nation
understands better the art of extorting presents than the Arabs; and
small and great are alike shameless in that respect.
After a march of four hours we arrived at Ramlah, and were received at
the Holy Land monastery by an old monk, who happened on that day to
have made plentiful libations to the rosy god. As the monastery has a
vast number of cells, we were all conveniently accommodated. It is said
to have been founded by Philip the Good.[31] It is a strong building,
having on the ground floor vaulted rooms, serving for the refectory,
kitchen, offices, &c., above which are the cells; and the outer wall is
strong and high enough to secure its inmates from popular tumults, or
the equally unpleasant visits of marching troops.
The country between Jaffa and Ramlah is undulating, and of a rich soil,
as might be judged from the fine crops of barley. We were witnesses,
on approaching Ramlah, to a sight so extraordinary, that the image of
it will never be effaced from my recollection. We had proceeded about
half way, when every now and then we observed, as we thought, a vast
number of grasshoppers: presently they became more numerous. One of the
guides informed us they were called _geràd_, (Arabic,) which
at last we understood to mean locusts. Our attention was immediately
roused at the name of this destructive insect. As we advanced, they
became so thick that they covered the fields to the right and left of
us, and were seen marching in a strait line, not to be stopped by any
impediment. At one place, there was a house and a tree in their way;
they covered both so completely, that neither stone nor trunk could be
descried, and both objects appeared as if cased in bright green. The
young wheat had disappeared before them, and dreadful was the havoc
they had made. To look at them must have filled with despair all who
had aught to lose by these ravages, since their numbers seemed to
bid defiance to human powers of destruction. The observations that
we had an opportunity of making at this time were few; but we shall
have occasion hereafter to speak more largely on the subject. Ramlah,
according to Abulfeda, was founded by Soliman, the son of Abdel Malek,
of the race of the Ommiades, and was the largest city of Judea in the
time of this author.
As we were to rest one day at Ramlah, we took that opportunity of
riding over to the adjoining village of Lyd, the Diospolis of the
Romans. The road was pretty and picturesque, lying between hedges of
the prickly pear shrub, with here and there fields of grain that would
have enriched the prospect, but for the havoc which the locusts had
made. Lyd is a village much smaller than Ramlah; it has a very fine
church, said to have been built by Justinian. Having satisfied our
curiosity, we returned to Ramlah.
We set off the following morning, having handsomely rewarded our
host for the lodging he had afforded us. As I was taking my leave of
him, he, being now sober, addressed me in the following terms: “I
participate in the pleasure you must feel at the prospect of your visit
to the Holy Sepulchre. You have already, young man, travelled a great
deal. To have seen the noblest works of antiquity, to have passed over
the spots distinguished by the exploits of famous men of old, will
perhaps afford you many amusing and instructive reflections, and will
serve to enliven an idle hour with your friends in England. But, in
the decline of life, when worldly objects and pursuits begin to lose
their interest, to be succeeded by others more serious and important,
the remembrance of your pilgrimage will be as a balm to your mind, and
will serve to maintain that wholesome meditation, which, though proper
at all periods of our life, is more peculiarly so when we are about to
quit it. Englishmen, whose country is so remote from the Holy Land,
cannot, in the common course of events, hope to have opportunities
of performing this sacred duty, and they are apt to assign to it no
particular importance; but, in these Eastern countries, where the
enemies of the Christian religion keep alive, by their persecutions,
the ardour of its followers, it is esteemed the principal action of a
man’s life. He acquires the proud title of pilgrim; his manners assume
a sanctity which he is bound to keep up by the strictest morality
and by every religious observance; every honourable distinction is
paid him. I rejoice, therefore, with you in your undertaking; and, in
time to come, whenever, from the weakness of human nature, you swerve
from the line of conduct which a Christian ought to follow, let the
recollection of it lead you back to the path of virtue.” I thanked the
holy father for his good wishes. He then asked me whether I would not
take a little brandy before starting, to keep out the heat; and, on my
refusal, wished me a pleasant journey.
For the first half hour we had a continuation of the same beautiful
country that we had passed between Jaffa and Ramlah; after which we
began to ascend the mountain. We were not yet accustomed to the rugged
and winding paths of the mountains of Syria; otherwise we should not
have been so much surprised as we were at those we encountered. The
French Mamelukes, habituated for so many years to the plains of Egypt,
expressed more astonishment than ourselves, and seemingly felt more
alarmed: yet the road to Jerusalem, as we afterwards found, is much
more practicable than many in Mount Lebanon.
We reached a large village, encompassed by vineyards and fig and
olive-trees, where we were to encamp for the night. The soil was
stoney, and hardly afforded us a smooth place whereon to lay our beds.
We were received very courteously by the chieftain, or shaykh, who may
be said to have the keys of Jerusalem; since no pilgrims can pass from
Jaffa, unless by his permission, as the road lies through his village,
and is at once narrow, difficult, and lonely. Hence it is that he
stands in little awe of the pashas who threaten or would intimidate
him; for, with his mountaineers, though few in number, he can brave
almost any force they can send against him; and the trial has been
made often enough not to leave it doubtful. He exacts a severe toll
from all pilgrims that are Christians, and levies contributions on the
monasteries of Jerusalem almost at his will. His name was Abu Ghosh,
and he had three brothers, shaykhs, nearly of equal rank with himself,
since they participated, to a certain degree, in his power and plunder.
Abu Ghosh, then, received us very courteously, killed a sheep for
us, gave us corn for our animals, and supplied all our wants. He was
naturally curious to see and converse with a lady, who was travelling
so splendidly, and who, he soon observed, was not to be numbered with
the pilgrims in the habit of traversing his territory. For these, even
if Europeans, are ill mounted and accoutred, and are rendered timorous
by the exaggerated accounts that are given them by the monks of this
chieftain’s cruelty. Finding the talents and conversation of her
ladyship, and the dignity of her manners, to exceed anything he had
ever seen in Europeans, his delight was unbounded.
The supper sent from his kitchen was prepared, as he told us, by the
hands of his four wives, who vied with each other in cooking some
delicacy. The reader may be curious to know what these delicacies
were. From one it was a dish of rolled vine leaves, containing minced
meat. From another, kusas (known in England as the vegetable-marrow)
stuffed with rice and minced meat. From the third, a lamb roasted
whole. From the fourth, an immense dish of boiled rice, surrounding and
covering four boiled chickens. Besides these, there was the pilaw of
the country, with morsels of meat stirred up among it. All this made
but a homely supper, yet it is the best that the culinary art of the
temperate Arabs is capable of furnishing.
At nightfall, Selim, one of the Mamelukes, suggested the necessity
of having guards planted round our encampment to prevent any attempt
of thieves. Selim, it was to be conjectured, in the number of years
that he had lived with the Turks and Egyptians, had experienced
nothing but treachery from them; for he beheld every action of a Turk
with distrust. The civility of Abu Ghosh he considered as extremely
questionable; and he asserted that we had everything to apprehend from
men generally robbers and always extortioners, and who must have
filled their imagination with notions of the vast wealth contained
in our trunks. Her ladyship accordingly thought the best plan would
be to ask Abu Ghosh himself for guards; and the old shaykh not only
complied immediately with her request, placing five around the tents,
but said that he should keep watch himself; and, ordering a large fire
to be made, occasionally sleeping, occasionally sitting up smoking, he
kept his post all night. The temperature of the atmosphere was very
different from what we had found it in the plains, and the night was
chilling and misty.
The following morning, on quitting Abu Ghosh, a handsome present was
made him, and his guards were likewise well paid. Her ladyship and he
parted great friends, and it will be seen hereafter that he invariably
entertained a great respect for her. He had known Sir Sydney Smith,
and the prowess of that gallant officer not a little contributed
to heighten his admiration of the bravery of the English. We were
escorted by one of the brothers of Abu Ghosh, and continued our journey
through mountains less wild than on the preceding day, as we were now
apparently on a more level surface, and in a less woody district. But
the view was always rocky, the road stoney, and the soil barren and
unfriendly to cultivation.
At some period of her life, when such an event appeared very
improbable, Lady Hester Stanhope had been told by Brothers, the
fortune-teller, that she was to make the pilgrimage of Jerusalem,
to pass seven years in the Desert, to become the queen of the Jews,
and to lead forth a chosen people. She now saw the first part of the
prophecy verified; and she often openly, but laughingly, avowed that
she had so much faith in the prediction as to expect to see its final
accomplishment. We approached Jerusalem, all more or less awed by the
recollection of the scenes which had been acted on this memorable spot,
a feeling which the appearance of it is well calculated to inspire.
For several miles around it, the mountains are bare, rugged, and
rocky, presenting a uniformly deserted appearance. The city is seen
standing as if cut off from the rest of the world, and its high walls,
on the outside of which no object meets the eye but here and there an
insulated church, add to the gloominess of the prospect. We entered by
the gate of Bethlehem.
The monastery of the Franciscans generally receives all European
travellers, excepting women, who, by a rule of the order, are not
allowed to lodge within its walls: and Lady Hester Stanhope was
conducted to a house that adjoined it.
This consisted of a few rooms, bare of everything but fleas, which,
in Syria, always abound in places where the inmates are so often
changing, and which hours of sweeping could not destroy. Mr. B. and
myself were accommodated with two chambers in the monastery. These,
adjoining each other, seemed to have been long appropriated to this
purpose, as on the doors, especially of one, were carved the names of
different Europeans who had visited the Holy Land. The oldest name on
the oak door is as early as 1690. It showed no great consideration in
the superior of the monastery to consign his guests to rooms, which, we
learned, are at other times the hospital of the sick, and consequently
may abound in malignant effluvia.
The first day was devoted to repose, and to such arrangements as were
necessary to make our stay comfortable. We were very soon surrounded by
the dragomans of the monastery, the greatest harpies that Jerusalem can
boast of, and, as we had reason to think, equally devoid of principle
and of morality. But Lady Hester, with her accustomed promptitude and
decision, immediately ordered the house to be cleared of them, as a
set of hangers-on that would be very troublesome; and so indeed they
afterwards proved; for it was impossible to stir out of doors without
being immediately followed by them, and their company was a sufficient
indication to the Turks that we were fair game for plunder, which, had
we been alone, would have been less evident; since it only depended on
ourselves to remain silent, and then our dresses disguised us very well.
On the second day Lady Hester Stanhope sent word to the motsellem, or
governor, that she was desirous of paying him a visit. We mounted hack
horses, which were hired at fifty paras per diem. These horses are
plentiful in Jerusalem, and the cavalcade, amounting to nearly twenty
persons, wore a very respectable appearance. I may venture to assert,
that no European travellers had then ever made so splendid a show. The
governor, whose name was Kengi Ahmed, father-in-law of the governor of
Jaffa, received us very formally, in a saloon at the top of his palace,
where a window opened on the court of the Great Mosque, the supposed
Temple of Solomon. On coming away about two guineas were distributed
among the servants, whose cupidity was so unceremonious, that we ran
some risk of being knocked down from the eagerness with which they
pressed forwards to get a share of the vails.
There was residing at Jerusalem a Bey of the Mamelukes, who had escaped
from the massacre of his brethren by Mohammed Ali Pasha at the castle
of Cairo. He was living in a small house, in a very retired way, and
chiefly upon the alms of benevolent Turks. Lady Hester had informed
him, by a servant, that she should visit him; and from the governor’s
house we accordingly passed to his. The entrance announced his poverty.
We found him in a small room, which was matted, and had a carpet with
two or three cushions at one end. His horse’s bridle and a pair of
pistols hung on a peg.
He received his visitors without any embarrassment, and, in the course
of conversation, related a part of his extraordinary history. He was
a purchased slave of Elfy Bey’s, whom he accompanied to England, and
he still recollected several words of English. On his return from
that country, he was created a Bey by Elfy, his master. On the bloody
day in which so many Mamelukes were cut off by Mohammed Ali, he was,
like the rest, advancing through the avenues to the castle, when he
perceived that they were fired on by Albanian soldiers from the walls.
His presence of mind was sufficient to tell him that to remain was
certain death, and that any risk, however great, was to be run for the
chance of escape. The avenue, leading from the great entrance of the
castle, goes upon an ascent until it terminates in a platform. Round
the platform, breast high, runs a wall that looks down on the open
space before the castle gates. Its height from the ground must be very
considerable. He drove his horse at it, and leaped over.
By what chance he was not killed on the spot is unimaginable. He
secreted himself some days in Cairo; and then, in disguise, he
attempted to fly into Syria across the Desert. His guides waited for
a favourable opportunity, and attempted to murder him. Supposing him
dead, they plundered and stripped the body, threw it into a cemetery
which was near at hand, and then fled. When he recovered his senses
sufficiently to know where and in what state he was, he crept under
the shade of a tomb from the scorching rays of the sun, and was found
in this lamentable situation by a Bedouin, who had compassion on
him, carried him to his tent, and concealed him until his wounds were
healed. The bey then continued his flight across the Desert: and,
arriving at Jerusalem, there sought the protection of the pasha of
Acre. He still complained of great pain in his loins from the wounds he
had received, and his wrist was yet bound up.
Lady Hester Stanhope administered to his pecuniary wants, and desired
me to afford him whatever assistance lay in my power. He gratefully
received her present with less scruple than an Englishman in distress
would have done, because the acceptance of alms by Mahometans has
nothing degrading in it. Emin Bey, for that was his name, was a man
with an expressive but not a handsome countenance; and the loss of
two or three front teeth, which were beaten out by his assailants,
contributed greatly to disfigure him. He expressed much admiration
of the English as a people, and of their arts and manufactures: he
professed a great regard for all of us. His servants, who were two
only, one of whom seemed to be hired for the occasion, partook, as well
as their master, of Lady Hester’s bounty.
The same day was destined for visiting the Holy Sepulchre. The monks,
as also the Turks who are stationed there to take the accustomed fees,
were apprized of our coming. To make the ceremony more pompous, they
shut the church doors, which on the moment of our arrival flew open,
and the monks appeared with candles in their hands, and preceded her
ladyship to the sepulchre, as in a procession. Curiosity had likewise
attracted a vast concourse of people; and the Turks, using their whips
and sticks to keep them from pressing on, not less dishonoured the
sacredness of the place than did the monks by their garrulity and
mummery: whilst the tumultuous behaviour of the native Christians
deserved all the chastisement it received. As the sanctuary or chapel
that is built over the Holy Sepulchre is but small, her ladyship, Mr.
B., myself, Giorgio, and one priest only entered, after we had first
observed that it was decorated externally with tapestry, sculptures,
and pictures. It consisted of an outer and inner chamber or cell, each
of which might have been four feet by six, with no other light than
that given by the silver lamps suspended from the ceiling. These lamps
are presents from divers potentates of Europe, and generally of elegant
shape. Vases of flowers fill up the intervals. The effect of the whole
was solemn and beautiful. The grave itself of Jesus Christ is not seen:
an oblong marble slab covers it. I placed several strings of beads
with crosses on this lid or cover, as thereby I had been informed they
acquired a degree of sanctity which would make them more acceptable to
devout Catholics in Europe.
Disturbed as one’s thoughts were by the tumult without, still the
solemnity of the place, coupled with the reflections to which it gave
rise, was inconceivably imposing, far exceeding anything I had ever
felt before. We all kissed the sepulchre. The Greek dragoman, Giorgio,
giving way to the impulse of his devotion, took off his turban,[32]
and, with several prostrations with his forehead touching the ground,
showed how profoundly he was impressed with what he beheld. The priest,
like one too much accustomed to it, and in whom the feeling had worn
off, was indecorously deficient in gravity.
From the Holy Sepulchre we were conducted up about forty steps to the
top of Mount Calvary, where the different spots made memorable by
Christ’s sufferings are shown; where he was scourged, where he was
crucified, and some others; all which events, as being here said to
have happened within the compass of a few yards, carry such an air of
improbability with them, that the spectator is led to believe that
distant places have been approximated for the greater convenience
of worship; in the first instance, perhaps as emblematical of the
real ones, which, because covered by Mahometan houses, it might be
impossible to see or get at; but afterwards, by priestcraft, held
forth to the pilgrims as the very places that had been sanctified by
the sufferings of the Redeemer.
In the year 1809 or 1810 the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was burned to
the ground, having been, as was said by many, maliciously set on fire
by the Turks, in order to extort money for the permission of rebuilding
it; but different professions of Christians charge each other with the
act; by the Catholics it is imputed to the Greeks, and by the Greeks to
the Catholics. Be this as it may, the Greeks have been at the expense
of rebuilding it, in a style of architecture that no doubt appears more
beautiful to the Oriental pilgrims than that of the pristine church. It
has now white walls, with blue and red mouldings, and unmeaning flowers
and gilding in abundance.
Lady Hester was not forgetful of whatever might be curious in
Jerusalem. Supposing that the Jewish nation could no where be seen to
so great an advantage as in the city which they reverence as their holy
place, she inquired who were the principal families, and sent a message
expressing a wish to see them at their own houses in their own fashion.
From the house of Emin Bey we proceeded to the quarter of the Jews;
and, so disgraceful is the commerce with that people held by the Turks
and even Christians, that our janissary, Mohammed, and the dragoman of
the convent, made as many wry faces as if they were going to prison,
and frequently looked behind them to see who observed us. It is not
unknown to our readers that the Jews, in the Turkish dominions, live in
a particular quarter assigned to them, which in many places is without
the walls of the town; but, whether within the walls or without, it
is always remarkable for the narrowness of its streets, and the dirty
exterior and ruined state of its houses. It was thus it proved in
Jerusalem, the metropolis of the nation, where we were conducted into
a small, mean, dilapidated house, and found no less a person than a
Venetian Jewess dressed in much Italian finery, who had been selected
in preference to others to receive Lady Hester, because she spoke bad
Italian. They had prepared a tray of sweetmeats, which, with coffee,
and some desultory conversation, finished the amusements of this day;
to be numbered as one of the most busy that will be described in these
pages.
The following day horses were hired, at two piasters a piece, to go
to Bethlehem. Our guide was a Christian shaykh, an inhabitant of that
place. The road was, similar to that which we had passed in coming from
Abu Ghosh’s village, stoney and rocky. After three or four hours’ ride,
we arrived at the monastery. We were much struck with the beauty of
the portico or stoa, which, though disfigured and blocked up in front,
forms an imposing colonnade of lofty granite pillars. Having reposed
a little, and listened to the conversation of a monk, who, during
Buonaparte’s stay in Egypt, had thrown aside the cowl and fought under
the French, we were conducted down some dark steps to the manger in
which our Saviour was born. Like his tomb, it is so much disguised with
silks and velvets, crucifixes and lamps, as to be hardly recognized
for, what it seemed really to be, a trough hewn out of the solid rock.
Such mangers are not uncommon in Syria at this day. The altars round
the manger were more splendid than that at the sepulchre, as his birth
was a more joyful event than his death. We here likewise saw the tomb
of Nicodemus.
We were much pestered by the inhabitants of the village to induce
us to buy their crosses and beads; but, as we had come just after
Easter, we found that every good article had been carried off. This
did not prevent us from purchasing as many rosaries as would suffice
for a host of friends: for a trifle, however ordinary on the spot,
has an inconceivable value a hundred leagues off. The inhabitants of
Bethlehem have the mien and appearance of robbers; and their broad
stilettoes stuck in the girdle, which they make use of very readily,
contribute much to the impression, that, we were told, is by no means
unfounded. After taking refreshment, we prepared to return; and,
although the steward of the convent received a present of one guinea
for the few hours we were there, he was very discontented; and our
dislike seemed to be mutual, since we had no reason to be pleased with
the difficulties which had been opposed to every arrangement for our
gratification.
Her ladyship caused several horses to be brought her to look at; but
a numerous retinue and the reputation of being rich made it extremely
difficult to buy, unless at an exorbitant rate. Nevertheless, from
observations made since, on going through Syria, there is no place
where better horses are to be obtained than at Jerusalem, Jaffa, and
their environs. This is owing to the annual resort of the pilgrims,
which induces the Arabs of the interior, from the neighbourhood of
the Dead Sea, to bring their spare horses and mares to a market where
they are sure to find a ready sale. In like manner, the shaykhs of the
villages round Jerusalem are glad to dispose of their horses as soon
as Easter is over, as they cannot expect to let them out to advantage
until the ensuing year.
An unpleasant accident had nearly happened in our way back. Giorgio,
the dragoman, who was but a lad not more than sixteen years old, was
amusing himself with a gallop; and the horse, having a great deal of
mettle, ran away with him. The saddle was one from Cairo, with stirrups
like an iron shovel, sharpened at the ends. The horse, not obeying the
rein, went furiously on, and passed Mr. B., who was not aware of his
approach, so close, that the stirrup would have cut the calf of his
leg in two, had not the cloth brogues performed the use they were, no
doubt, in some degree intended for, of turning the edge of the stirrup
and deadening the blow. The shock, however, threw Giorgio from his seat
to the ground, with no other consequences than a fright and a severe
reprimand.
Mr. B. and myself were invited to dinner, on the following day, by the
mufti of the place; and at about noon we betook ourselves to his house.
The dragoman of the convent accompanied us as interpreter. Omar Effendi
received us with civility. Emin Bey was likewise present. The dinner
was served, as is the custom of the Mahometans, on a large copper tray
tinned over; and we placed ourselves around it on the floor. The dishes
were savoury, but what in England would be esteemed very homely. A
boiled chicken was taken up by one of the servants, who was waiting,
and torn with his hands joint from joint; it was then replaced on the
dish; and this was instead of carving. The dinner went off with much
merriment, and when we rose from table it was removed a little to one
side, and several dervises or beggars (for in dress and in asking
alms they are quite the same, glossing over their trade of mendicants
with the knowledge of a few scraps of the Coran) took our places;
and, between each mouthful, extolled the liberality of Omar Effendi.
Indeed the mufti was reputed to be a very benevolent man: he kept open
table for rich and poor. We left him, extremely well pleased with his
entertainment.
There now remained nothing more to be seen in Jerusalem than those
particular spots which had been rendered famous by some miracle,
action, or saying, of Jesus Christ, or of his disciples. But disgust
succeeds to curiosity, when, instead of being led from place to place
with the satisfaction of fancying that, however uncertain traditions
may be when handed down through so many generations, there is still
nothing impossible in them, we are conducted to view the print of the
Virgin Mary’s foot, the impression of Elijah’s body where he slept,
and a hundred such sights, which shock common sense and do no service
to true religion. But the dragomans and showmen find, no doubt, such
tales best suited to the majority of their visitors, or they would not
persist in telling them.
I procured at Jerusalem a specimen of the fetid carbonate of lime
brought from the Dead Sea. It is remarkable, in its fracture, for a
degree of blackness and evenness greater than in most other fetid
carbonates.