Departure from Jerusalem--Arabian characters of horses not to be
trusted--Ramlah--Demand of the governor to inspect Lady Hester’s
firmâns--Alarm of Selim, the Mameluke--Illness of Mr. Pearce
at Jaffa--Janissary dismissed--Departure from Ramlah--Politic
conduct of Dragomans--River Awgy--Harým--Inhabitants
of Galilee--Scorpions, and other venemous reptiles--Um
Khaled--Marble columns--Illness of Yusef the guide--Mountaineers
of Gebel Khalýl and Nablûs--Cæsarea--Remains of the ancient
city--Obstacles to exploring them--Ma el Zerky--Tontûra--Women
carrying water--Beauty of the road--Aatlyt--Mount
Carmel--Häifa--Carmelite convent--River Mkutta, the Kishon of
Scripture--Arrival at Acre.
On the 30th of May, having hired ten camels to Ramlah at six piasters
each, and four horses at eight, we sent off the baggage early in
the morning, escorted by one of the Mamelukes and one of the Jaffa
janissaries, as guards, and arrived there sufficiently early for the
tents to be pitched before sunset. Abu Ghosh renewed all the honours
he had shown before, and was as handsomely rewarded for them. The
guards were again placed; and, having passed the night very securely,
we pursued our journey the following morning, accompanied by Abu Ghosh
in person. I was mounted on a hired bay mare, that seemed to have been
worked hard, but was nevertheless handsome and light in hand. The
conversation ran much upon Arabian horses. Abu Ghosh boasted the blood
and powers of his own, a large mare, gray and flea-bitten. On arriving
in the plain, the road being extremely favourable for galloping, he
was desirous of racing against the mare I rode; and, to his vexation,
I beat him considerably. An Arab is perhaps to be believed implicitly
on no occasion, but certainly not when speaking of his mare. He then
launches out into exaggerated histories of the number of Shaykhs
who have bid money for her, and of the prices he has refused; when,
perhaps, all her merits lie in her master’s praise, and not in her
intrinsic worth, and £15 or £20 would probably be a sufficient price
for her. We reached Ramlah at night, took up our abode, as before, at
the monastery, and Abu Ghosh made haste back to his four wives.
Lady Hester received next morning a message from the motsellem of
Ramlah, saying that his master, Mohammed Aga of Jaffa, had ordered him
to transmit her firmâns for his inspection: a duty he had neglected
on her landing, having first thought it proper to write to Acre for
instructions. It is likely that at first Mohammed Aga had considered
her some devout lady who had come to fulfil her vows at Jerusalem:
but, having learned afterwards in what a distinguished manner Mohammed
Ali Pasha had received her, he probably wished that his own neglect
might be attributed to his ignorance of her rank and consequence, to
be inferred from his not having seen her firmâns. Much parleying took
place between Lady Hester Stanhope and the motsellem of Ramlah on the
necessity there was for complying with his master’s orders; and he soon
found that he had to deal with a person who was as good a judge of
business as himself.
No sooner had the Mameluke Selim, who served in part as dragoman,
observed the anxiety of the Ramlah motsellem to inspect the firmâns,
than, considering that his own name could not be there, since he
came into her service after the firmâns had been sent to Rhodes, and
apprehensive that he had been recognized as one of those who were with
Buonaparte in Syria, his fears got so far the mastery of him that, at
every knock at the door, he thought some one was sent to seize him,
and every loitering person round the monastery gates was a spy. He
double charged his pistols, and declared his determination to sell his
life dearly: whilst his unfounded suspicions, so valiantly acted upon,
almost made us believe that there might be some reason for them.
As the repeated messages, that passed and repassed, seemed to have
established a sort of acquaintance between the motsellem and Lady
Hester, he sent to ask her what the Europeans did to rid their fields
of locusts. We may suppose that her ladyship had not studied this
subject so profoundly as she had politics; and the advice she gave was
not adopted.
The following day we endeavoured to hire horses and camels to pursue
our journey to Acre, as it was not Lady Hester Stanhope’s intention
to re-enter Jaffa: but the people becoming every hour more and more
persuaded of her importance, and, according to their mode of reasoning,
consequently of her wealth, were quite unreasonable in their demands.
There was, therefore, no immediate prospect of our departure. We heard
likewise that Mr. Pearce, who had quitted us at Jaffa in good health,
was ill in bed at the monastery there; and her ladyship immediately
requested me to ride over and see him. Mr. B. took his janissary, Hadj
Mohammed, and accompanied me, anxious as he was about the health of Mr.
Pearce, and more especially as he knew him to be in a manner alone, not
considering that he could derive any assistance from the monks of the
monastery.
The road, as I have before said, is level, spacious, and through a
fertile country, and Ramlah is little more than two leagues and a
half from Jaffa; so we could travel in the English fashion, galloping
or trotting, and therefore were not long in reaching the monastery.
We found Mr. Pearce convalescent. He had laboured under a remittent
fever, which continued some days: he had been bled, and some doses of
Peruvian bark completed the cure.
We had not been in the monastery long when there came a kowàss,[33] one
of those officials who wait about the palaces of governors to go on
messages, and are known by a cane with a long silver head, which they
carry in their hand, as the emblem of their office. He brought with
him an elegant Cashmere shawl, which he presented to Mr. B. from his
master, the governor. Mr. B. declined accepting presents from a man who
was a stranger to him; which refusal, we heard afterwards, irritated
him exceedingly. We took our final leave of Mr. Pearce, and reached
Ramlah before night.
The following day I called on the aga of Ramlah, to try what could be
done with the horse and camel-owners by means of his influence, in
order to reduce their price to something reasonable. His dwelling was
an old dilapidated stone house, which appeared as if it had been once
large and handsome; but, as the place of governor of small towns is
generally for a term, no one cares to expend his money on repairs which
he shall not profit by. The motsellem received me with much civility;
and the result of our conversation was that he promised to do all
that lay in his power to assist us in procuring means of conveyance
at a reasonable rate. As yet, new to the Turks, we were ignorant that
promises with them mean nothing, if their own interest is not concerned
in the performance of them.
In the course of the afternoon, it was necessary to send to Jaffa
upon some business, and one of the two janissaries who had hitherto
accompanied us since our leaving Jaffa was desired to make himself
ready. He had beheld the preference that was deservedly given to
Mohammed, his companion, and perhaps sought for an occasion to get
dismissed. He said that he was fatigued; that he was a guard, and not a
messenger; in a word he refused to go: upon which Lady Hester desired
him to be paid, and he left her service. Hadj Mohammed was sent to
Jaffa, and returned the following morning.
It was on the 7th of June that we departed from Ramlah. There were ten
camels, eight mules, and six horses, for luggage and mounting. Relying
on the promises of the motsellem, we supposed the _makayris_ (so
muleteers are called) and the camel-drivers were already come to a
reasonable agreement, and we questioned them no more on the subject.
The baggage was loaded, when their spokesman told us that we knew,
he supposed, that the prices were as had been originally demanded.
Provoked beyond measure at the conduct of the aga, we declared that we
would remain a month in the place sooner than be so imposed upon, and
ordered the baggage to be unloaded immediately. When they found that
we were determined, they softened their language.
Nothing is more amusing to a bystander than to observe a European
quarrelling with an Arab. He raves and sputters, heaps abuse and
threats in a language unknown to the object of his passion, and then
desires his dragoman to repeat it, word for word. The dragoman knows
the revengeful nature of the Arabs, even between Mahometans among
themselves, and more especially against Christians from whom they will
not brook a hard word of any kind; he considers that when his present
employers have quitted the country he shall be left at their mercy
without protectors in it; nay, perhaps he is in league with these very
men whom he is employed to vituperate; and lastly, he is generally
aware of this great truth that he who bawls is seldom on the right
side; the dragoman, therefore, repeats, in a moderate tone, about half
of what he has been desired to interpret, and, omitting the harsh
language, substitutes, instead of it, some clever reasoning of his own,
which brings the whole by measure to about the quantity of words that
the enraged man has uttered, and leaves him in the idea that he has
terribly frightened the Arab, when no such effect has been produced. In
a word, no person need flatter himself that what he says is, or ever
can be, faithfully repeated by a dragoman of the country.
The price was then settled; for ten camels, 150 piasters, six horses,
120, and eight mules, 136: and we set off for the first stage, which
was to be at a village on the seashore, where there is the sepulchre
of a certain Mahometan shaykh, in great repute, called Aly Ebn Aâlym,
who gives the name to the village, which is likewise called Mharrem
(the consecrated spot). Our march was slow, but the beauty of the
country prevented it from seeming tedious. We crossed the river El
Awjy, a considerable stream, which rises at no great distance inland,
and must therefore be supplied by other streams, unless we suppose its
source to be very copious. The soil appeared sandy but very fertile,
and was highly cultivated. It had a rural aspect, spreading in gentle
undulations to the East for four or five leagues.[34]
We reached Mharrem before sunset, and pitched the tents on the downs
close to the village, to the West, and upon the edge of the cliff which
overhangs the sea. Whilst they were planting, we went with a janissary
to look at the village. We found it to consist of about twenty or
thirty huts of mud, with a patch of ground enclosed in the front
of each by a small hedge of prickly acacia. To our application for
chickens, eggs, honey, milk, and wood for firing, the general answer
was by an interrogation: “And, pray, how are we to come by them?” for
the sight of the janissary was sufficient to intimidate the peasants,
and make them suspect that, if they produced what they had, it would
be taken at half price, or for nothing. We were therefore likely to go
without our supper. But, when they learned soon afterwards from the
servants that we were Franks, and paid liberally for what we bought,
they were no longer shy of dealing with us. The shaykh, a dark handsome
man of about twenty-five years, lent us, however, no assistance; for he
found that we had no _buyûrdy_ upon him.
We were scarcely settled, when there came a stranger on horseback,
bearing a letter from a gentleman of Acre, of the name of Catafago,
inviting Lady Hester to take up her abode at his house during her stay
in that city. We made the stranger welcome. He was the brother-in-law
of Mr. Catafago, and was charged to conduct us to Acre.
I have said that the cliff near the village of Mharrem overhung the
sea. A fissure in it, abreast of the village, afforded a small path
down to the shore, where, in the sand, was the well from which came
the fresh water for the supply of the inhabitants. The building over
the tomb enclosed within its walls a mosque, four or five rooms for
lodging pilgrims, and commodious vaults for stabling, besides a well of
tolerable water, where two blind shaykhs sat and wound up the bucket
by turns. The situation is wonderfully pretty, exceedingly cool, and
must be very healthy. The coast, for about two miles to the north of
Jaffa, is flat; it then rises in a bold but not very high cliff, which
continues, with little interruption, as far as the eye can see, from
the village of Mharrem to the north.
The inhabitants of Galilee, as far as we had opportunities of observing
them, both male and female, were not handsome. In the colour of their
skin they differed very little from the Egyptians. The dress of the
men was a cotton shirt, buckled round the waist with a leathern belt;
over which they threw a long woollen cloak, called an abah or meshlah,
without sleeves. The dress of the women consists likewise of a coarse
shift and of the same kind of cloak, with a white veil of coarse
cotton. Both sexes go for the most part barefooted; and, as their
village lanes and the courtyards of their cottages are covered with
dung, their persons become filthy in the extreme.
The village of Mharrem is not of very ancient date. Formerly the shrine
stood by itself, until the government, desirous of affording some
protection to travellers on the road as well as accommodation, caused
a certain number of peasants to establish themselves here, giving
them exemptions from all taxes upon the consideration of supplying
travellers and their horses (if furnished with a buyûrdy) with food and
lodging. These peasants were all Moslems. Probably this was the site
of Erbuf, a place mentioned by Abulfeda as being six miles from Jaffa,
twelve from Ramlah, and eighteen from Cæsarea, a distance which seems
to agree likewise with the site of Apollonius (See Abulfeda, p. 81).
We obliged the shaykh to place guards round the tents during the night,
at the suggestion of Selim, whose prudence often seemed overdone, but
who might know whether there was danger better than we did. His object
was not so much to prevent robbers from coming as to make the shaykh
of the village responsible for our losses if they did come. In the
morning, the guards were well paid for their pains. Just before going
to sleep, when sitting on my bed, I found a scorpion under my pillow.
Having killed it, I put it into a bottle of sweet oil, in order to have
by me a supposed antidote for its bite: for although I felt somewhat
incredulous as to its efficacy, I had had experience enough of the
natives to know that, when they apply to a doctor for a remedy, it is
not for the remedy which he considers adapted to their case, but for
that which is in repute among them. I had likewise the misfortune, in
entering a cave, to be bitten by a species of vermin, which in Syria
is so venemous as by its bite to cause severe indisposition. It is a
bug, called in Arabic _dellem_, resembling to my eye a common
sheep-tick, and which infests all places occasionally frequented
by men and cattle, when left uncleansed of their filth. Yusef, the
Mameluke, alarmed me, but I afterwards found without foundation, by his
asseverations that many persons had died of the venemous bite of these
dellems. A kind of black beetle was to be seen everywhere on the road,
rolling before him round pieces of dung:--the scarabæus pillularius.
In quitting Mharrem the following morning, we went along the edge of
the cliff; and, about a furlong or two from the village, our guide
pointed out to us several fragments of spar, lying scattered about, of
the colour of emeralds; which renders it probable that spars of this
kind are abundant near the spot. The face of the country resembled
for some distance that through which we had passed on the preceding
day, until we came to a pool of stagnant water, about a quarter of a
mile long, covered with the nymphæa palustris, and at the farthest
extremity of which is a building like a mill. At the other end, where
we passed, its waters ran off by a shallow stream of a yard or two
broad. Here began a tract of country, composed of sand hills; which,
together with the stream, was named by the guides Abu Zaburra.[35]
This sandy tract lasted for about half an hour, when we entered upon a
scattered forest of oaks (Strabo, xvi. 758), of a very stunted kind,
none being larger than a full grown codling-tree, and so distant from
each other that the soil was everywhere cultivated between them. We
traversed this forest for an hour and a half; and, at its termination,
we found ourselves near a village, called Um Khaled;[36] where, at the
foot of a large sycamore, and within about one hundred yards of the
cottages, our little encampment was placed. Our conductor, Mâlem Yusef,
charged himself with procuring provisions and corn for the cattle: and,
whether by his eloquence or by other means, he soon returned, followed
by several men and women, bearing a supply of everything we wanted,
besides that they were satisfied at a less cost than those of Mharrem.
The village of Um Khaled is the site of some ancient place, as shafts
of white marble pillars are to be seen lying about. Its present state
is miserable. Cattle and human beings lie in the same stall. The ways
are obstructed with ordure and rubbish, and no man seems to care for
anything outside his own walls. Much inconvenience is experienced by
travellers in these villages in the day-time from the dust which flies
about. Hence, soreness of the eyes is a reigning malady; for those who
have once the misfortune to be attacked with it stand little chance
of ever recovering entirely, since the dust keeps the organ of vision
in a constant state of irritation. But the plain around is in high
cultivation, and seemingly very fertile. Um Khaled is about a mile from
the sea. Guards were planted, and the order of this night was the same
as that of the preceding.
Our conductor, Yusef, fell sick of a fever, and was so ill that he
could no longer sit up; but, as there was not a possibility of leaving
him behind, or of stopping so many persons on his account, he was put
on his horse, and we proceeded the next morning on our journey. The
road being considered somewhat insecure, we marched all in a body; for
the mountaineers of Gebel Khalýl and Gebel Nablûs, (the chain which
runs parallel to the sea-coast from abreast of Jaffa northward, to a
distance short of Mount Carmel,) have been known, when in dispute with
the pasha of Acre, to cut off all communication between that city and
Jaffa, or at least to render the intercourse between the two places
very difficult. Our road lay this day by the seashore, which, upon
quitting Um Khaled, soon becomes flat: and, thereabouts, we met with
a party of these mountaineers. They were decently mounted, and their
dress was the same as that of the people of Mharrem, already described.
They had broad tongue-shaped daggers in their girdles, called khanjars,
and spears in their hands. They naturally stared at us, but quietly
rode on. After four hours’ march, we arrived at the ruins of Cæsarea,
and encamped near to one of the gateways on the outside, to the south,
close to the seashore. At a short distance from Cæsarea is a stream
called Nahr Kudâra.
Cæsarea is a city of Roman origin, since its Arabic name, Kysaréah,
is evidently a corruption of its Latin one; whereas Jaffa, Sidon, and
most of the others along the coast, are corruptions of the Arabic or
of languages anterior to the Arabic. The great mass of ruins, which was
to be seen here at the beginning of the last century, exists no longer.
The celebrated pasha, El Gezzàr, carried off whatever was removeable
to beautify his favourite fortress of Acre. Many of the granite and
marble columns that adorn the edifices which he built were taken from
this place. The city was of an oblong form, with its outer sides, from
north to south, surrounded with walls thicker at their base than their
summit, and defended at equal distances by square bastions. These walls
were built by the crusaders under Louis the Ninth, of France.[37]
To the south-east angle, towards the sea, are the remains of a castle
that defended the port, a small and shallow harbour, since it never
could have been broader than the distance which separates the two
jetties that formed it, and which distance corresponds with the base of
the city.[38]
Within the walls two or three indistinct fragments of buildings are
still upright, and the vaults which abound throughout serve by turns
to shelter travellers or robbers, according as the vigilance of the
reigning pasha represses crime with a vigorous hand, or is remiss in
the punishment of it.
There is still a well of good water, from which travellers draw their
supply, and there seem to have been many others that are now choked up:
but the ancient city was supplied from a shallow river that empties
itself into the sea, a mile and a-half north of the ruins. This river
goes at present by the name of Ma el Zerka,[39] or the Blue waters,
and flows winter and summer. The arcades that supported the aqueduct
are still standing, but are almost covered by the sand, which shelves
against them from the sea-side; they run parallel with the shore and
with the road that travellers generally take going or coming from
Cæsarea. Owing to the shelving sand, the traveller is not aware, unless
at intervals, of the nature of the mound which he observes by the
side of him, and fancies it to be a sand-bank. Hence, those who take
pleasure in examining similar antiquities ought (the moment they arrive
at Ma el Zerka, if coming from the north, or else on quitting the gates
of Cæsarea in coming from the south) to follow the track that turns
somewhat inward, and they will find themselves close to the aqueduct
through its whole length.
To the east of the ruined city, which is walled in, are other ruins
said to be still more extensive, and to have formed a part of the
Roman Cæsarea. Being in a great measure ignorant of the existence of
these several heaps of stones, which were now so overgrown with grass
and weeds as not to be visible, we did not chance to hit upon them;
but there exist, among other vestiges of ancient edifices, those of
an amphitheatre which are perfectly distinct. The dreariness of the
place, the fear of robbers and of wandering Arabs, are the causes that
have deterred many from going far out of their path to examine them.
Here and there may be seen a Bedouin shepherd tending a flock of sheep;
and, if properly questioned, such a person is more capable of giving
information where fallen pillars, sculpture, or inscriptions are to be
found than he would at first be supposed to be; for his habits of life
lead him from spot to spot in search of pasture, and he knows every
foot of ground for miles, and perhaps leagues, around.[40]
Our conductor, Yusef, in the mean time, continued very ill. He had
taken several remedies with very little benefit. He was placed on
his horse; and, had not his situation, coupled with ours, called for
great exertions on his part, he would not have been able to support
himself. We, however, pursued our journey, and followed the line of
the sea-coast, having close to our right what (as has been before said)
seemed to be a sand-bank, but which was no other than the ancient
aqueduct, covered by drifted sand. After an hour and a half, we arrived
at Ma el Zerka. Lady Hester here rested under a small tent, which was
carried with her generally for that purpose, and where she proposed
remaining until the evening. This river, of which a few words have been
said above, has the remains of a bridge over it, about a furlong from
the sea; and, at the very mouth, on a rocky eminence, there appears to
have been a tower. Somewhat east of this ends Gebel Nablûs, the ancient
Samaria.
We continued our road with the camels, and in two hours and a half
more, reached Tontûra, which was in sight at quitting Ma el Zerka. As
water was the main object to be secured in making our encampment, it
was the thing always first inquired for; and we were directed to a spot
about half a-mile north of the village, close to the sea. We there
found a circular basin, hewn out of the rock within about twelve feet
of the water’s edge, from the bottom of which bubbled up a crystal
spring. The spray of the sea (as there was a fresh breeze) occasionally
broke into it; but the villagers told us that, at sunset, when the wind
had sunk, we should find it to be limpid and sweet, which proved to
be the case. Close to this spring the tents were pitched upon a crisp
turf; whilst a delicious breeze from the sea recruited our spirits,
and prevented the lassitude which great heat so generally produces.
Tontûra is the ancient Dora. Here the flat land, extending from the
coast east to the mountains, narrows to the width of half or three
quarters of a mile. The foot of the mountain is quarried considerably,
which evidently demonstrates the greater extent of the ancient than
of the modern town. Tontûra, in its present state, is a village of
stone cottages, no better than cow-lodges, as in fact they are. The
inhabitants are Mahometans. It has a building, constructed of stone,
which goes by the name of a castle; a very rude and modern edifice.
The environs of the village are totally bare, neither beautified by
trees nor gardens, the want of which gives them a desolate and forlorn
appearance. There is a large pool of water not far from the back of the
town. The ancient city stood a few hundred yards to the north of the
present village, if we may judge from a wall yet standing, seemingly
the portion of an old castle, and from a column or two lying about.
The port, if it deserves that name, is formed by two or three islets,
between which and the main land a masted boat of twenty tons could
barely float, inasmuch as I observed fishermen wading across it with
ease, not having the water above their waists.
The bucket and lever, a mode by which the land is irrigated from Egypt
up to Tontûra, are used no farther; in their stead, the peasants
substitute a rude kind of wheel, which we shall find, on reaching the
Orontes, to be in its turn replaced by the true Persian wheel. Lady
Hester arrived in the cool of the evening. Guards were placed round the
encampment; supper was served, and the season of the year rendered the
tents much more agreeable than houses.
Towards the close of the day, the women, taking advantage of the
coolness of the evening and the stillness of the sea,[41] came down,
with their jars borne on their heads, to fetch water. As our people
had nothing particular to do, they very naturally amused themselves in
observing the women pass; but still in that discreet manner which is
peculiar to the Levant when other persons are within hearing; and, at
the utmost, hazarding an ogle, or a question respecting the goodness of
the water. However, a young girl, of about fourteen, loitered behind
at the spring, and showed herself to be, although not very pretty, yet
very frolicsome. Her light behaviour made her pass, in the eyes of all
those who observed her, for a girl of bad morals, and yet the utmost
she said and did would not amount to half what an English or French
maid-servant considers herself permitted to do every hour of her life.
Nothing contributes so much to the uprightness and elegance of figure
so remarkable in the peasant-women of Syria and Egypt as the common
practice of carrying water on their heads. So far from giving a curve
to the spine, depressing the neck, or in any wise shortening the
growth of the body, the resistance of the muscles seems to increase
in proportion to the pressure, and much elasticity of action is the
result. In some places, the springs are often a quarter of a mile
from the villages, and much below them, so as to render the ascent
very toilsome: yet every day in the week may be seen girls and women
carrying these jars, containing not less than fifteen quarts of water,
on their heads, with a natural grace not exceeded by the studied walk
of a stage dancer. A favourite manner with them, when seen by men and
when wishing to be coquettish, is to place both thumbs through the jar
handles, which has a very statue-like appearance. When unobserved, they
generally tuck up their gowns all round, showing their pantaloons. If
in their best clothes, they are seen with silver bracelets instead of
glass ones, and with similar rings round their ancles; with a silver
relic case hanging at their bosom; with long sleeves to their gown; and
over it, if in winter, a cloth vest, if in summer, one of bombazeen;
with earrings; and with a species of ornament not known in England or
France, silver rims of mail or of coins which take in the oval of the
face from the temples to the chin, and have a very pretty effect. The
girdles are fastened by two silver bosses as large as the bottom of a
tumbler, and they wear on their feet a pair of yellow slippers.
We passed the following day at Tontûra. I amused myself in walking over
the rubbish of the ancient Dora. There is a part of it which seems to
have been built on a rocky projection into the sea. Much industry is
exhibited in the levelling of the surface of the rock for foundations
to some superstructures that once stood there. To the east of the
spring, near the burying-ground of the village, I likewise discovered
a sepulchral vault with cells on either side for the sarcophagi; and
these sepulchral chambers will be found to exist, wherever the soil in
a large neighbourhood is rocky, throughout Syria.
A very fine chestnut stallion was brought to me for sale by one of the
inhabitants. The horse was made to exhibit his different paces before
me, and I was willing to purchase him at the price at which he was
offered, which was 315 piasters, or about £15: but Hadj Mohammed, the
janissary, considered it too much, and I therefore declined the offer.
We were now approaching fast to Acre, and it seemed that Lady Hester’s
coming had excited much curiosity there. The shaykh of Tontûra,
accompanied by six horsemen, solicited permission to escort her to the
next town; for the pasha, his master, he said, would surely reprimand
him if he were wanting in respect to so illustrious a person, whom they
were charged to receive with all the honours their means allowed of.
Accordingly, on the following morning, well armed and mounted, they
took the lead in the van of the cavalcade, along a smooth road.
The slip of land between the mountains and the coast still continued to
narrow. There is a chain of rocky hills which is seen from the road,
and which at first seems to be the foot of the lofty mountains in the
background; but behind it will be found another valley, running from
Tontûra up as far as Mount Carmel. Our path wound between low shrubs,
which gave it sometimes the appearance of a serpentine walk in a
garden. After about one hour’s riding, the shaykh and myself hurried on
in order to mark out a proper spot for our encampment.
Aatlýt, the place to which we were going, had been in sight from the
time we quitted Tontûra. When we were within about a mile of it, the
road became still more picturesque. On our left was a vast pool of
water, about which were flocks of storks: before us, on a promontory
jutting into the sea, were the ruins of the castle of Aatlýt (the
Castel Pellegrino of the Venetians); and, on the right, lofty mountains
which crowned the whole view with their majestic appearance. We arrived
at the walls of the place; and, entering by the south gate, crossed a
bare space, the site of the ancient city, but now entirely covered with
turf and mould; then, passing to the north-west angle, we ascended for
a few yards a road both rough and uneven, and strewed with hewn stones
of a vast size. Here we entered the gateway of the ancient castle,
within the ruins of which is built the modern village. The shaykh,
having regaled me with a cup of coffee and a pipe, and satisfied
himself as to who we were, whither we were going, and about such
matters as concerned him, gave me to understand that we could encamp in
security anywhere within the confines of the walls below; accordingly,
on the arrival of the camels, Lady Hester having stopped, as usual, on
the road, the tents were pitched, and everything was made comfortable
for the night.
Thus far, the sea-coast of Syria (wherever we had seen it) has,
generally speaking, a sandy strand; but from Aatlýt northward to
Latakia it is rocky, with the exception of the deep bays, such as that
of Acre.
Aatlýt was once a considerable city.[42] The ancient walls are still
standing, and are built of rustic stones of a vast size. They have no
battlements or embrasures.[43] Facing the site of the city is a small
inlet of the sea, enclosed to the south by the city wall, and to the
north by the small promontory on which the modern village stands.
Close to the strand is a well, from which the present inhabitants
drink. Round the walls was anciently a ditch, probably filled from the
lake which has been mentioned as existing to the south of the place.
Within the walls of the present village are many fragments of columns
scattered about. There is likewise part of a beautiful church still
standing, attributed to the Venetians. The mud cottages in the midst of
the ruins demonstrate forcibly the decline of the arts under the Turks;
for the walls are composed of such rubbish as lies scattered on the
ground, cemented with common mould.
The shaykh of Aatlýt at this time was brother to the shaykh of Hartha,
a district of which I shall speak presently. Nothing happened to
disturb the tranquillity of the night, excepting the molestation caused
by musquitoes, which, as the weather was become exceedingly hot,
rendered it impossible to sleep without a musquito net.
Our road was now no longer considered insecure. On the following
morning we departed for Häyfa.[44] As we advanced along the seashore,
the mountain on our right drew nearer and nearer. The plain was
well cultivated. About two leagues from Aatlýt, on this mountain,
we perceived a village, distinguished by a white building near to
it, which was the _jamâ_ or mosque of the inhabitants, who are
Mahometans. On inquiry, the camel-driver gave it the name of Tooty.[45]
In about four hours’ time we arrived at the promontory of Mount Carmel,
where the flat land, which had hitherto continued along the seashore,
comes to a point, leaving just room enough at the foot of the precipice
to pass round. Beyond it the spacious bay of Acre opened upon our view,
and the mountains again receded some leagues inland: for Mount Carmel
runs E. and W., and the mountains which we had observed on our right,
extending N. and S. parallel to the seashore, seem as if they issued
from its side. What is called Mount Carmel by Europeans is a part
of a district which goes by the name of Beled Hartha, comprehending
the mountain and plain from Häyfa down to Mharrem. This district was
commanded by Shaykh Messâd, a man of ancient family in these parts, and
who resided at Yethem, his principal burgh.
The road, after passing the foot of the promontory, turns to the right
or E. over a level and well cultivated soil of a fine black mould.
One hour more brought us to the gate of Häyfa. Our conductor, Yusef,
accompanied me to the governor, who, when he learned our business,
immediately gave orders to his people to see that we were provided with
what we wanted. The tents were pitched close to the W. gate, on a plot
of sand by the sea-side beneath the shade of some fig-trees. The heat
was excessive. There were two or three of the poor inhabitants who
spoke Italian, and who, for a trifle, made themselves useful in what we
wanted.
Häyfa is a walled town; but the mountain rises at the back of it so
steep and rapidly as to enable a person, at half pistol-shot distance,
to look down into the courtyards of the houses. It consists of one
long street, with a few shops, and derives its principal traffic
from vessels that anchor in the bay. The bay, although open to the
W., is considered one of the most secure in all Syria, and, as Acre
has but a small and very shallow port, all European vessels bound
thither ride at Häyfa. It is of a semicircular form. Acre is plainly
distinguishable across it. There was a monastery, if a house of two or
three rooms can be so named. One Carmelite priest was residing there:
but the monastery, where that order of cenobites flourished, is on
the promontory itself. It was much damaged by the French during their
invasion of Syria, and has since been rebuilt on a very extensive
plan. In the summer months, several European and other families resort
thither for the benefit of the air, which, as in other elevated
situations, is preferred to the low, hot, and contaminated atmosphere
of Acre. Half down the promontory is a large grotto or cave, hewn out
of the rock, and said to have been a hiding-place of St. Elias. Häyfa
has a mosque, and a building called a castle. The town walls are thin,
and only sufficient to secure the inhabitants from Bedouin Arabs, or
other enemies who have no artillery. At nightfall guards were placed
around our encampment.
On the following day Mr. B. and myself, accompanied by one of the
Mamelukes, set off early to announce Lady Hester’s approach to Mr.
Catafago, to whose house, as we have mentioned above, she had been
invited. Her ladyship and the luggage were to follow us later. We
traversed the town of Häyfa, and, going out at the eastern gate,
crossed a Turkish burying-ground: then, following the sands of the
seashore, we pursued an E. and by N. and then a Northerly direction.
In about an hour we came to a river, which we forded. It is called in
Arabic _Mkutta_ (the Kishon[46] of the Bible); in the summer an
inconsiderable stream, but in the winter a dangerous torrent, as is the
case with most of the rivers of Syria. To the right of us were sand
hillocks which obstructed the view, and prevented us from observing
the face of the country in the interior, but which, we were informed,
consisted of fertile plains. The mountains seemed to be four or five
leagues off.
We had not proceeded a great way farther when we met two young
gentlemen mounted on beautiful Arabian mares and followed by a groom,
who made themselves known to us as the son[47] and nephew of Mr.
Catafago, come to meet us. As they were lively boys and good riders,
they continually exhibited their skill, in the Eastern way, by starting
forth from the party on a sudden at a full gallop, and then by pulling
up as suddenly. From the violence of this exercise, their horses’
mouths were besmeared with a mixture of blood and foam, whilst their
sides were gashed with the cuts of the stirrups. This seemingly cruel
practice is common, and passes unnoticed.
We soon beheld the palm-trees of Acre, rising above the walls. A
quarter of an hour before reaching Acre, we forded a second river,
called in Arabic El Naâmány,[48] whose source is from a lake some miles
inland, called in d’Anville’s map Cenderia Palus. Our direction had
been N. W.; and, after fording the river, became W. A burying-ground,
with its white grave-stones, was, as is usual, the first thing we
encountered in the suburbs; then skeletons of horses and asses and
camels, whose carcases had been dragged a small distance from the
town to be devoured by the dogs.[49] These animals would not let us
pass peaceably, as if apprehensive that we should rob them of their
carrion. The road seemed much frequented, as loaded camels and asses
in numbers were going out and in; which appearance of bustle was
afterwards accounted for by the circumstance that Acre has but one
gate. We entered it before noon. Many well dressed Turks, seated under
the gateway, demonstrated the presence of a Pasha. About two hundred
yards farther on we passed through a second gateway; and, entering
into some narrow and badly paved streets, where our heads were every
moment in danger of striking against the frames of the matting, which
is suspended over the shops for the sake of shade, we arrived at a
quadrangular court, in which was Mr. Catafago’s house, considered, as
we afterwards learned, one of the best in Acre.
The friendly and hospitable reception which that gentleman and his lady
gave us was highly pleasing. When Lady Hester arrived in the evening,
it was repeated to her with increased warmth, and was succeeded by
offers of service, which, however dependent on received usages of
civility and good breeding, set the courteousness of the Syrian
Christians in a most favourable light.