Reflections on the ruins of Palmyra--Wood and Dawkins’s
plates--Fountain of Ephca--Castle--Tombs--Cottage selected
for Lady Hester--Visit to a curious cave--Justinian’s
wall--Climate and diseases--Salt marshes--Causes of
fevers--Air and climate of Palmyra--Gardens, corn-fields,
and trees--Sulphureous waters--Dress of the men; and of the
women--Departure from Palmyra--Lady Hester sends Giorgio
to look for the Author--Fall of snow--The party lose
themselves, and sleep in the snow--Encampment of Beni Omar
Bedouins--Hassan’s unfeeling conduct--Pride of the Bedouins to
ride on horseback--Encampment of Ali Bussal--False notions of
the hospitality of Bedouins--Partridges of the Desert--Emir
of the Melhem--M. Lascaris’s scheme of traffic--Arrival of
Madame Lascaris--Attack of the Sebáh--Wounded Bedouin--Giorgio
goes to Palmyra--The Author returns to Hamah--Ruins of a
triumphal arch--Snow-storm--A night in a cavern--Ruined
village--Selamyah--Ruined mosque--Hardships endured by
Bedouins--Miscellaneous observations on their character and
manners.
I rose with the sun, and, eager to correct the unfavourable impression
which the view of the ruins had made in the dusk of the evening, I
begged of Hassan to reconduct me to them. I sat down, still, as
before, deceived in my expectations. As far as my memory served me,
I found the engravings of Wood and Dawkins faithful; and I began to
consider how it happened that, correct as to delineation, they conveyed
an idea of the remains of Palmyra so much more favourable than the
reality. It has already been stated that the ground on which they stand
is disadvantageous. Edifices require elevation to set them off; and
perhaps it may have struck some travellers, that, of all the vestiges
of antiquity to be seen throughout modern Turkey, the Parthenon at
Athens, and the Temple of Theseus at Sunium, have the most imposing
appearance, owing to their position, each on the summit of a hill. It
is not so with Palmyra. Situate, on the contrary, at the foot of lofty
mountains, whose height renders all the works of art diminutive, its
columns, if seen at the distance of a few hundred yards, dwindle to the
size of tapers. Indistinct from the neighbouring mountains, they are
still more so from the colour of the stone of which they are made: for
it is of a yellow ochrish appearance, and the face of the surrounding
soil is precisely of the same hue. Tints must be opposed to set each
other off; so that, for want of this contrast, these celebrated ruins,
so conspicuous on paper, are scarcely visible where they stand. And
although the two artists had a right to give them as high relief as
they could, yet have they been guilty of that species of deception
which exhibits objects under a false colouring, by representing them
with an appearance of freshness to which they have long since lost
their claim. Yet, when we reflect on the vastness of the materials
which have been collected, as it were, in the midst of a desert, we are
lost in astonishment. There are pillars of granite of a single block,
which (say those who have made researches on these subjects their
study) must have been transported from Upper Egypt. All the buildings
were composed of stones of an enormous size; and there are ceilings yet
remaining of a single slab. Fragments of pillars and their entablatures
strew the ground, and are so numerous that we might imagine all
the inhabitants to have lived in palaces. The building, called by
travellers the Temple of the Sun, alone contains within its walls more
than space enough for the present Palmyrenes.
Passing through the triumphal arch, which terminates the long colonnade
under which I had seated myself, I slowly walked down it, and,
inclining to the left, came, at the distance of about a mile, to the
sulphureous spring, called the fountain of Ephca. There were formerly
five springs at Palmyra; at present this alone remains of them all.
A magnificent edifice might once have adorned its entrance; and the
remains of an altar, as also the broken shaft of a pillar which lies
close to it, lead to that supposition. But at this day the stream,
which is about two feet and a half deep, issues from the mouth of a
rough arched grotto, from five to six feet broad and four feet high;--a
man must stoop to enter it. The banks of the channel near the grotto
are above ten feet high, seeming to be elevated by the accumulation of
rubbish; for, after the stream has run about thirty yards, they sink to
a level with its water.
Although it was the month of January, I stripped off my clothes, and
entered the grotto. It widens from the mouth, and, about five yards in,
is lofty enough for a tall man to stand upright. The smell of sulphur
is faint; the taste of it not perceptible. The heat of the water might
be about 80° of Fahrenheit, communicating the least possible impression
of cold on immersing the body into it. Advancing, the water deepens to
more than the height of six feet, and the roof of the vault lowers; but
there is no increase of heat. My conductor was forward in recounting
all the properties of the water; the chief one was that of imparting
an extraordinary appetite to those who drink of it; but there were
in his enumeration none medicinal, if this be not of that class. I
brought away with me two fragments of the roof; but, learning that they
made the whole conversation of the village, and that it was believed
I had the power of converting them into gold, I threw them away; for
the extraordinary price which some rich travellers have incautiously
paid for fragments of ancient sculpture, intaglios, and the like, has
given rise to the supposition among the Arabs that Franks never would
purchase so dearly mere stones, unless for the purpose of transmuting
them into more valuable materials.
On the 16th, I visited the Saracen fortress to the west of the ruins.
When it was known where I was gone, I was followed by about thirty or
forty women and children, who pointed out the best path to me, and
climbed up the pointed rocks with an activity that made me tremble for
their safety. The castle is moated, and the bridge which formed the
communication of the opposite sides being broken down, it required
much pains to clamber up to one of the windows, the only entrance
now practicable.--The chief advantage of toiling up the mountain on
which it stands is to enjoy the fine view of the surrounding country.
To the east are seen the ruins; beyond them the salt marshes; and
beyond these a plain, bounded by the horizon, and to which fancy lent
an immeasurable extent: to the north, on the same chain on which the
castle stands, is Mount Ebn Ali--so called from a small chapel erected
on its summit in memory of some Mahometan santon of that name: to the
west is the valley of Abu El Fewáres, and to the south, the end of
Mount Ayûn, a chain which runs almost to Damascus. Descending from the
castle, I entered some of the tombs, which are described so accurately
by Wood and Dawkins. I brought away from them some few pieces of
embalming silk, which showed clearly to what a degree of perfection
the manufacture of that article had reached in ancient times.
The process of embalming has something congenial to filial piety, and
abates the horror which a worm-eaten corpse inspires. Those embalmed,
after preservation for centuries, are sometimes found to have become a
mass of odoriferous gum, and can be handled without disgust.
On the 17th, it rained the whole day. Confined within the walls of the
Temple of the Sun, this opportunity was taken for examining such of the
cottages as might be best adapted for the residence of Lady Hester.
There were three that stood in the north-west angle of the temple, and
these were chosen as the most commodious. The seven pillars are those
delineated in one of the plates of Wood and Dawkins, as occupying the
angle where we still found them.
The people of the village had talked a great deal to me about a cavern
three leagues from the ruins, which contained, they said, several
curious natural productions: accordingly, on the 18th, I joined a party
who were going thither to bring away alum, sulphur, and vitriol. The
company was composed of thirty-nine persons, the greater part armed
with muskets and matchlocks, to defend themselves from the Bedouin
Arabs, should they meet any. They were mounted on asses, and carried
empty sacks. The shaykh accompanied us, purely out of civility, as he
said to me (who had been strongly recommended to his care by Mahannah),
but, in reality, to secure his share of the profits. The cave had been
represented to me as extremely curious; the road to it is due north
from the ruins, parallel with the chain of mountains which runs north
and south from the castle until it unites at right angles with the
White Mountain, at the foot of which the cave in question is situate.
On the highest part of the ridge of this chain, there is a Mahometan
shrine, already alluded to, called Ebn Ali. Upon these mountains are
found hyenas and stags, whose antlers, of which Lady Hester some
months afterwards obtained a pair, show them to be of a prodigious
size. Under the santon’s tomb is, as I was told, another cavern worthy
the examination of the traveller. Nearly abreast of it, and about a
mile distant in the plain, is the _mkatáa_, or quarry, where the
Palmyrenes obtained their stone for building. The rock is quarried with
great regularity: several masses lie hewn as if ready for removal; and
such is their size that they would exceed the power of common machines
of the present day:--they were of a pink-tinted carbonate of lime.
Arrived at the cave, every one pulled off all his clothes, excepting
his shirt and drawers. The mouth of it was perhaps thirty feet in
breadth, and ten or twelve in height: it continued of these dimensions
for a short distance, when two shafts went off in opposite directions:
one of these we entered by a hole, through which we crept on our
stomachs; for it appeared at this point to be choked up by rubbish
from the falling in of the rock. We had with us rudely-made torches
and bees-wax candles, brought for the purpose. The main shaft had been
worked nearly strait, and was rudely arched; the depth of it might
be from thirty to fifty yards. From it issued occasionally lateral
excavations, but apparently of subsequent date to the principal one,
and in some places the matrix of the rock was strongly sulphureous, for
it took fire on holding the candle awhile to it. Beautiful efflorescent
crystals of plumose alum, resembling tufts of snow-white silk, hung
from the roof in certain places, or jutted from the sides, but were
too perishable to bring away. In parts a yellow clay, wet and plastic,
was found. Portions of both the sulphur and the alum were collected
by the Arabs, who sell them in the manufacturing towns for the use of
dyers. In some places, the walls of the cave were nearly pure argil.
Thus the production of alum is constantly taking place in the cave from
the presence of the principles necessary to its formation; viz. sulphur
and alumine. I likewise found some pieces of selenite. The heat was so
suffocating that I could not remain in long. We next visited the shaft
running in an opposite direction to the first two: it was less deep and
more irregular. In this the roof caught fire, wherever a taper was
applied; an experiment I did not choose to see repeated a third time,
for fear of suffocation from sulphureous fumes. The cave is of high
antiquity, according to the tradition of the inhabitants, and probably
coeval with Palmyra. It is well worth examination, and will repay the
curiosity of the general traveller. The asses being all loaded, we
returned in the same order in which we came.
The 19th and 20th were spent in walking over the ruins. In the plan of
Palmyra, so accurately taken by Wood, as far as it goes, the remains of
the wall of Justinian, to the east and south-east, are not inserted.
They are, however, very distinctly visible, running north and south,
distant a little more than a quarter of a mile from the Temple of the
Sun. This seems to be the quarter of the private residences, as there
are few fragments of columns hereabouts.
Having now gratified my curiosity, though not satisfied it,
circumstances obliged me to think of departing. The ample accounts we
possess of the ruins of Palmyra render it unnecessary to say anything
on that head. The few observations I had time to make on its climate
and present productions, on the manners and dress of the inhabitants,
as well as on their diseases, may be comprehended in a very brief
space, and they can apply only to that season of the year in which I
made them.
Palmyra stands in latitude 30° 20′ north. To the west and north it
is sheltered by mountains. Towards the other two cardinal points it
looks over plains bounded by the horizon. The salt marshes lie to the
east, about one league off, and their extent varies according to the
winter rains. The mountains and plain are bare of trees. To the south
of the Temple there were a few orchards; and a few acres of land were
sown with maize and corn. These are irrigated by the waters of the
sulphureous spring.
As far as my observation went, those places in the Levant are healthy
which are not surrounded with gardens and orchards, whilst such as are
encompassed by them demonstrate in the looks of the inhabitants the
diseases to which they give rise. Thus, at Damascus, at Tripoli, at
Hamah, and such towns as are celebrated for their gardens, the season
is marked by the prevalence of intermittent and remittent fevers,
which are always obstinate, and sometimes, from bad treatment and
other circumstances, assume a malignant character. For, as the manner
of irrigating grounds consists in laying them under water by trenches
dug in a variety of directions, an artificial marsh is thus created,
the evaporation of which, in the great heats of autumn, gives rise to
noxious effluvia and to evening damps which check perspiration. On the
contrary, such places as are built on mountains or at the foot of them,
or in bare plains, enjoy a fine air; and this because the close of the
day brings with it no sudden change of temperature, and no unwholesome
vapours.[34]
Of this latter class is Palmyra: hence it is renowned among the Arabs
for its fine climate. During a residence of six days, from the 14th
to the 20th of January, in the very depth of winter, I found that it
was agreeable to undress and bathe in the open air, and that a few
showers, always succeeded by sunshine, and once a slight fall of snow,
constituted the utmost severity of the season, in the severest winter
that had been known for half a century; whilst, on the same days, the
snow at Hamah, in the same parallel of latitude, was six inches deep,
and covered the ground for some time: nay, the inhabitants of Tadmûr
went so far as to say that the very appearance of snow was a miracle
among them. It is mentioned by Wood that, in the month of March, the
heats were very great: it is therefore likely that in autumn they are
scarcely less intense than those of Egypt.
The few orchards and corn-fields which the inhabitants had, and which
were no more than scraps of ground scooped out among the ruins, served
to show that, with little care, all the plants of Syria might be reared
on this spot. Wood mentions having seen fig-trees there; at this time
there were perhaps a hundred. Palm-trees are numerous, and ripen their
fruit, which they will not do at Damascus; I ate of their dates. To
olive-trees the climate seems peculiarly congenial, as they have a
richness of foliage not observable elsewhere. Pomegranates, sweet
melons, water melons, almond trees, with apples and apricots and some
other fruits, were also to be found.
From these observations it will be concluded that the inhabitants of
Tadmûr are subject to few or no diseases; and this would be the case,
generally speaking, were it not that great filth and great poverty
sometimes engender them. From the latter cause arises the habit of
sleeping on the bare ground, and hence rheumatism is very common. From
the former it happens that ophthalmia, once established, is almost sure
to terminate in blindness; for a constant irritation is kept up (as has
been mentioned elsewhere) from the dust of the streets, as also by the
application of dirty cotton rags and handkerchiefs.
A trial was made by me of the effects of the sulphureous water on the
human body from a constant use of no other beverage; but it produced
no sensible change. That my appetite was unusually good, as it is in
general with all travellers at Palmyra, arose without doubt from the
air of an open country; and the same was the case under the tents of
the Bedouins. Whether the vicinity of the salt marshes has any share in
producing this effect, requires a longer experience than that of six
days to determine. Certain it is that they do not seem to communicate
any bad properties to the air, although so extensive an evaporation is
going on from them.
The inhabitants of Tadmûr are to be considered as natives rather of the
Desert than of the towns. They are the offspring of Bedouins; their
dress is the same; but I thought the Palmyrenes were of a stouter make.
With both, open violence or craft are considered as legitimate means
for effecting their purposes. The men and women occasionally bathe in
the warm spring. The women are celebrated for their comeliness; and it
is not unusual for the chiefs of the Bedouin tribes to give a very rich
dowry of camels and sheep for a Palmyrene maiden. It was remarkable
that the women, in the month of January, wore only a shift, covered in
a few instances with the woollen cloak, or abah: it is likely therefore
that in summer they almost dispense with this slight covering. Their
shifts are of coarse cotton, coquelicot-coloured, like Indian-silk
handkerchiefs with white spots. They are fond of beads, and pride
themselves on an enormous gold or silver ring (representing a coiled
serpent) which is passed through the cartilage of the right nostril,
and which, from its exposed situation, is often torn out. Some of these
rings are three inches in diameter. They wear rings also on all the
five fingers; likewise glass and silver bracelets and jamblets.[35] The
lips, the cheeks, the fore-arms, the hands, and sometimes the feet,
perhaps too the chest, and even the abdomen, are tatooed.
They feed very grossly, but less so than the Bedouins: husked wheat,
raisins, dibs, eggs, and sometimes rice, are their common dishes. They
set pounded wheat to stew in a small-mouthed pipkin, or in a covered
jar, all night, and then eat of it: this they call bûrma. They make
_kubby_ by pounding together husked wheat and minced mutton, or
goats’ flesh, in a mortar: this they mould into hollow spheres, and
boil or fry.[36] Whilst I was at Palmyra, Mfáthy, one of Mahannah’s
shaykhs, came after me, furnished with a letter from Mahannah, in which
I was enjoined to cure Mfáthy of a chronic complaint as speedily as
possible. The letter was a curiosity, since few persons, I believe,
have seen the handwriting of a Bedouin chieftain: and his style was not
very courtly.
Having made such examination as I thought necessary at Palmyra, Hassan
and I, accompanied by four Bedouins of the tribe of the Beni Omar, who
were going to the same point of the compass as ourselves, left Palmyra
on the 21st of January. The sky was cloudy, and it was unusually cold.
We watered our horses at the spring of Ephca, and, taking a north-west
direction, crossed the vale where is seen the reservoir of Abu el
Fawáres. About noon we reached the small chain of mountains which
bounds the valley, and entered upon the Mezah, that extensive plain
which has been already mentioned in the road to Palmyra. Crossing
the north-east angle of it, we arrived in one hour at the foot of
Gebel-el-Abiad.
Here it is necessary to carry the reader back a little, that we may see
what Lady Hester had been doing during my absence from Hamah. I had
promised her to write whenever an occasion presented itself; but the
season of the year had prevented any one from going to Hamah, and I had
had no opportunity. She therefore began to grow uneasy about me, and
resolved to despatch Giorgio, in order to ascertain what had become of
me. An Arab or two of Mahannah’s tribe, then at Hamah, were hired to
conduct him, and it was given out that the object of his journey was
to carry me some medicines, which I stood in need of for Mahannah’s
cure. His guides accordingly brought him safely to the tents of that
chieftain, who informed him whither I was gone. Giorgio’s instructions
being to find me out, and to go on to Palmyra, he was furnished by
Mahannah with another guide, a black, named Selûm, who rode before him
on the same camel, with a horseman by his side.
I had scarcely begun to ascend the mountain with my party, when Hassan
and his companions descried, at some distance, descending in the
direction we were going, what appeared to be two or three horsemen. In
a quarter of an hour we were come so near to each other that I could
distinguish two men mounted on a camel, who presently stopped the
camel and got off, whilst the beast remained kneeling. With them was
a horseman, who kept his seat. We were more numerous than they, yet
Hassan and the Beni Omar Arabs advanced very cautiously. When within
hailing distance, the Bedouin with the camel called out to us, and
at the same time posted himself behind the camel, with his matchlock
lighted, and taking aim at us. Hassan knew his voice, and halloed to
him by name:--it was Selûm, the black; and immediately both parties
recognized each other. But what was my surprise to find Lady Hester’s
servant, Giorgio, there, dressed in the Bedouin costume, and as much
metamorphosed as myself.
He explained to me, in a very few words, the object of his journey,
and showed me the box, containing medicines and other articles for
me, which was fastened on the camel’s back. But, when I told him he
must return with me, Selûm, his guide, and the horseman with him,
said that they were bearers of a letter from Emir Mahannah to Tadmûr,
and that they could not turn back until they had delivered it. What
was to be done? there was no time left for deliberation; for our four
companions, the Beni Omar Arabs, had kept on their way, and it was
absolutely necessary not to let them get out of sight, as the track we
were going was infested by robbers, and parties of a hostile tribe,
it was reported, were abroad. I resolved, therefore, that the lad,
Giorgio, should mount behind me, as Hassan’s horse was weaker than mine
and could not carry double, and that Hassan should take the box; nor
did it cost little pains, deprived as we were of cords or straps, to
fasten the box on: indeed, it could not be done without transferring to
my horse our barley and tethering pins. Selûm then informed us in what
direction Mahannah was encamped; and, wishing him good by, we hastened
after our companions.
Just at this time it began to snow. Our road wound through the
mountain, in the dry bed of a torrent. A forest of scattered
turpentine trees grew in and about it. As we ascended, the cold and
snow increased; and, the atmosphere being obscured, our Bedouins,
having no longer their landmarks to guide them, were considerably
embarrassed. We still kept in the torrent bed, and at last reached the
summit of the mountain, whence we proceeded to descend, by a rapid
declivity, into the plain on the other side.
The sun had now set. The servants’ luggage chafed the horse of my
conductor so much, that he refused to advance; whilst my own, burdened
with two riders, three pecks of barley, tethering irons, a small
medicine-chest, and the little linen I had, seemed to support himself
with difficulty. At last Hassan’s horse made a dead stand, and neither
words nor beating could urge him on; so he dismounted and carried the
luggage on his shoulder, whilst Giorgio got off from behind me, and
led the horse. As it grew dark, the glare from the snow, which now
covered the ground, served but to confuse the appearance of surrounding
objects. Hassan and Giorgio again mounted. For a time a faint path
served to guide us, until, losing this, we gave ourselves up to the
guidance of chance. Our troubles increased. Watercourses, steep
acclivities, and burrows of the jerboa, which cover all the Desert,
continually obstructed us. Cold and wretched, I feared that every trip
my horse made would throw one of us off, and knew not how we should
remount, benumbed as our joints had now become.
Hassan’s horse was quite exhausted, and we deliberated on what was
to be done. The other Bedouins, seeing no chance of bettering their
situation, pulled up, and it was concluded that we must make our beds
on the snow. The prospect was dismal. We had no water, no firewood,
and only a few cakes of dry bread to eat. We had nothing to sleep on,
nothing to cover us; no cave, no hole to creep into; no bush to lie
under. These are moments when the imagination pictures nothing but
dismal things. We were perhaps surrounded by enemies, perhaps removed
leagues and leagues from any human being. The very Bedouins who had
accompanied us were by trade mere robbers; and, whatever may be said of
the protection they afford to such as have once put themselves under
their care, I must confess I was not sure in my own mind that they
would not be tempted to plunder us during the night. We gave our horses
their feed of corn. I made Giorgio take his seat on one end of the deal
box, with his back to me, placing myself on the other end, that from
leaning against each other we might derive some mutual support and
warmth. Hassan sat down by us, with the corn-bags under him. He and
Giorgio soon fell into a doze, from which I occasionally awoke them, to
prevent the danger of freezing to death. For my part, I could not get
a wink of sleep; and the want of rest gave me a feverish heat, which
saved me, in some measure, from the effects of the inclemency of the
weather.
The morning of the 22nd was looked for with an impatience that can only
be known to those who have found themselves in similar situations: it
came at last. We resolved to diminish our luggage as much as possible.
To this end we unpacked the deal box, threw the case away, and put its
contents into the corn-bags; and, to relieve Hassan’s horse, which
seemed hardly capable of standing on his legs, these were added to
the burden of mine. We now mounted, the servant being behind me, as
before. The snow had ceased, but a thick fog darkened the atmosphere.
Our Bedouins, however, had found out where they were, and could, in a
manner, judge what their course should be. They hurried on, as on the
preceding day, whilst we did our utmost to keep up with them: but the
animals, exhausted by such continued suffering, were no longer equal to
the task. The Bedouins continued to gain on us, and at length we lost
sight of them, and saw them no more.
At this distressing moment, the fog cleared up, and our delight may be
conceived, when, on a neighbouring hill, we saw a drove of camels. We
made towards it, and were informed by the herdsman, that the Beni Omar
Bedouins were encamped in a bottom hard by. Our spirits cheered up. We
met other herds; and at last saw a woman grubbing roots for fuel, a
certain sign that we were close to the tents. In a few minutes we came
to the edge of a glen, where was a large encampment. In the spirit of
Eastern hospitality, we alighted at the first tent we came to, which
was that of Shaykh Hamed, where we were civilly received. We warmed
ourselves over a blazing fire: and, whilst we recounted the history of
our night’s sufferings, the shaykh listened to the tale with all the
unconcern imaginable; these being, with the exception of the snow, the
everyday adventures of this hardy people.
Our horses, too, more to be pitied than ourselves, met with as little
compassion. As they had not drunk since leaving Palmyra, I urged the
necessity of melting some snow for them: but Hassan forgot, over the
fire, the misery of his beast, who, tethered in the front of the tent,
stood shivering with the cold, and was so enfeebled that he could
scarcely stand. “The horse is done for,” was his expression,--“Yedebber
Allah, the Lord will provide for him.” This trait of inhumanity may
serve as an example (among many others that I could quote) of the
false notions that travellers propagate of the tenderness of Arabs
for animals. “God is bountiful,” they cry, and, tying the halter to
the hind-leg of their mares, they turn them loose to find pasture and
water where they can. Thus, the exhausted horse, tied close to us,
came and almost licked our faces in token of thirst. The sight was too
affecting; and I declared I would have some snow water, if no other was
to be had. A boiler at length was produced, and enough snow was melted
to assuage the most pressing calls of the poor animal.
To do me honour, a lamb was killed and served up at sunset, cut in
pieces, and boiled with bread. The shaykh, to mark his respect still
more, would not sit down till we had eaten, but, placing Hassan and
Giorgio with me, insisted on waiting upon us: and Hassan, that he might
not be outdone in politeness, raked over the dish with his hand, to
find a tit-bit to present to him as he stood by, whilst I did the same
to his son: and thus they amused themselves until we rose, when they
sat down to devour the remainder.
The next morning was snowy. The Beni Omar found no pasture for their
flocks, and gave us to understand that they were about to decamp.
Their course was contrary to ours, and we were at a loss how to act.
I stated my difficulties, that our horses were no longer serviceable;
our baggage heavy; and begged for a camel to carry it, offering to pay
for the hire: but there was none to be had, and we set off in the same
order as we had arrived on the preceding day. Consideration for the
state of the horses induced me to walk, and to order Giorgio to do the
same. Hassan, it will be allowed, had double cause for doing so too:
but the pride of a Bedouin is to be on horseback; and, in order that
the answer to the question, so often put from one to another among
them, “Are you mounted, or on foot?” might be in the affirmative,
nothing could ever persuade him to walk, though the groans of his
suffering horse reproached him at every step.
We were, however, unusually fortunate this day; for in half an hour
we reached another encampment of the Beni Omar, and alighted at the
tent of the shaykh himself. He was called Ali Bussal; and I was
pleased that an opportunity presented itself of seeing a chieftain so
renowned among the Bedouins for his prowess, and so dreaded in the
neighbouring provinces, as the most formidable enemy to caravans that
the Desert could produce. We passed the night with him. He was of a
grave character in conversation; and his long white beard, joined with
the solemnity of his manner, gave him the appearance of a saint more
than of a robber. To compensate for his crimes, he was very religious,
and was polite enough to insinuate to me that he esteemed Christians
no better than dogs. Moslems are so accustomed to insult the followers
of Christ, that it is always an effort when they condescend to put
themselves on an equality with them.
Whenever Mahannah was at variance with the Turks of the towns bordering
on the Desert, he sent Ali Bussal to plunder the caravans. Ali Bussal
was caught on one occasion, and soundly bastinadoed by the governor of
Hems: this, it may be supposed, had not increased his liking for the
Osmanlis.
We had now obtained instructions where to find Mahannah; and, though
the snow was deep, and the wounds on the back of Hassan’s horse were so
fetid as to infect the air around him, it was necessary to proceed; for
a Bedouin extends his hospitality through the night, but not willingly
longer. Hospitality is a virtue of poor nations; a sort of convention
for one party, where there are no inns, no houses, no towns, to offer
what they would expect in return, should their own affairs lead them
from home: otherwise, the stranger must starve. On these conditions,
they share their mess with him; and it is a received usage, now strong
as a law, that whoever presents himself during a meal, is invited to
partake of it. Still it is often likely that him whom they feed they
will finish by plundering--not openly; but they will continue to beg
from him; or, operating on his fears, to induce him to give more than
the value of what he has cost them.
We travelled about a league, and found some other tents, where we
stopped for the night.
On the 25th, we quitted our host; and, after an hour’s ride, reached
the advanced tents of the Melhem. We continued in a south-west
direction for two hours more, when we alighted at Mahannah’s tent. On
the way, Giorgio, who had a gun, killed two partridges of the Desert.
They are seen in flights that may almost be mistaken for clouds: they
are birds of passage; but I did not learn at what season they quit this
country: they fly somewhat like plovers, and have pointed wings.
I was met by the emir with many kind expressions of the anxiety he
had felt for my safe return. He was so far sincere, that, as he knew
the case brought by the servant contained some trifling presents
for himself, he was indeed anxious to have them in his possession.
For when Giorgio, in his presence, on first reaching his tent, had
inadvertently said as much, he did all in his power to induce him
to open the box, although addressed to me. In a quarter of an hour
after our arrival, he begged to be gratified with a sight of them:
and when the sack was emptied, he grasped at them as a child would at
sweetmeats. The cupidity of the Bedouins knows no bounds: and, during
my absence, M. Lascaris had experienced the truth of this observation.
He had conceived a plan of carrying on a traffic in goods useful to the
Bedouins, by establishing himself at Palmyra. Other views of a more
extended nature also may be attributed to him, if we may believe M. de
Lamartine. Be this as it may, in sending for his wife, he had desired
her to bring with her a supply of such articles as were saleable
in the Desert, and to be accompanied by an Aleppo Christian, named
Fathallah,[37] whose knowledge of the language and of pedlary was to be
useful, whilst his presence was to be a protection for her on the road
from Hamah to the tents.
Madame Lascaris and this Fathallah happened to arrive a few hours after
my return to the tents, on one of the most wet and windy days that I
had ever seen. An interesting young creature of thirteen years, named
Katinko, or Catherine, (who passed as Madame L.’s servant, but whose
genteel look and resemblance to M. L. raised a suspicion that she was
his daughter) was likewise with her. Cold and drenched with rain, after
having passed two nights on the wet ground with no tent to cover them,
they were overjoyed at last to find themselves among friends.
To win Mahannah’s favour, Madame Lascaris had brought with her presents
for him in dress to a considerable amount. These were formally given to
him, and in a moment the prince was equipped in his new habiliments.
His sons likewise came in for their share, and it was evident that M.
Lascaris had gone to the extent of his means to satisfy them all.
The weather, as I have observed, was very wet when Madame Lascaris
arrived. Next day being fine, the travellers hung their wet clothes to
dry. The emir, in the evening, finding himself warm by the fireside,
threw off his pelisse, and, according to the usage common among
Bedouins, gave it as a present to one of his people. He soon felt cold
again, and, observing a pelisse which was hanging up to dry, he took
it, and, putting it on, made it his own property. There was no remedy
but to secure as quick as possible what remained.
It rained in the afternoon of the 27th. As there was no pasture for
the camels, Mahannah was obliged to change his ground. We advanced in
a north-east direction, about one league; having, before the tents
were struck, eaten some dry bread: and we had nothing but dry bread and
treacle for supper.
The day was more uncomfortable than the preceding, and the rain
penetrated the tent in every direction. Soon after sunset, an alarm
was given that an enemy’s party had suddenly appeared, and had already
seized a drove of camels. In about five minutes, near fifty horsemen
were mounted, and galloped off at full speed. Hassan, unobserved by
me, had untied my horse, mounted him, and was galloping off too, when,
catching sight of him, I told Mahannah, that if he did not order him
immediately back, I would not fail to complain of his conduct. This
menace had the desired effect, and the horse and Hassan returned.
Fatigued as my horse was with his late sufferings, such an exertion
would have killed him outright.
It seems that Mahannah had been apprised of the approach of this party,
as the tents this day had been planted close to each other: whereas,
on the preceding occasions, they had been scattered over a space of
a square league. Half an hour had not passed when news was brought
that the two parties were engaged. Sundry reports stated the number
of wounded, how many mares were lost and taken, &c. The night was
dark, and it rained incessantly. The Emir’s son had started as he was,
without even boots on his feet, and others without their pelisses. All
the night we remained in suspense; and M. Lascaris and I figured to
ourselves the inconvenience we should experience, (to say no worse of
it), if the hostile party should prove victorious.
In the morning, Nasar returned, and by degrees the other horsemen
dropped in: we thus received a more correct account of what had
happened. The Bedouin tribe of the Sebáhs were at war with some Arabs
of the district of Horán. These latter had made an incursion on the
Sebáhs, whose tents adjoined ours; and, although the Anizys were not
implicated in the feud, several persons had been wounded on both
sides, before an explanation could take place. The Arabs of the Horán
had seized some camels of the Sebáh; but, by the intercession of the
Anizys, they were given up.
I visited one Bedouin who had received a wound in the calf of his leg
from a lance. Alum, powdered with crumbs of bread, was his remedy. He
refused to suffer me to handle the wound at all, and said he should
soon get well. In fact, the extreme temperance and spare diet of the
Bedouins render their wounds less dangerous than the same would be to a
European.
The mare of one of the emir’s sons could scarcely stand from fatigue.
He wrapped her body in a piece of carpeting, with which he generally
covered himself when he slept. Nasar caught a most severe rheumatism
from head to foot, and I observed that this was one of the commonest
maladies among them.
The inclemency of the weather, beyond what had been known for many
years, obliged me to remain a day longer with them. It was arranged
that Giorgio should make another attempt to reach Palmyra in company
with M. Lascaris;[38] and I, accompanied by my former guide, Hassan,
set off on the 28th of January, to return to Hamah.
The weather was very cold, and sleet fell occasionally. We rode all
day, and here a chasm in my journal obliges me to trust to my memory:
for my fingers were so benumbed that I could not make notes. I
recollect, that, while we were crossing that chain of mountains which I
have called the Beláz, we passed the ruins of an edifice which looked
something like a triumphal arch, and of Roman architecture. That part
which I particularly observed was the portico, the pillars of which lay
on the ground in the same order in which they had stood. There was an
inscription, in very large letters, but of which I could only make out
the letters IMP....[39]
Hassan was not willing that I should loiter, and I was too benumbed and
fatigued even to feel the curiosity natural to me on such occasions.
Hassan had moreover told me several stories of the ferocity of hyenas
and tigers in seasons so inclement as this; so that I expected to
see one rush out upon us from every bush. Towards the afternoon, the
severity of the cold augmented. We were still in the mountains, among
a scattered forest of turpentine trees; but the sleet and snow, which
drove directly in our faces, made it impossible to advance quickly.
About four or five o’clock, we came to the mouth of a cavern, where we
dismounted, and led our horses into it. They could just stand upright,
but the water oozed through the roof upon them; and, for ourselves, we
could hardly find a place free from wet whereon to sit. We had with us
no provisions but unleavened bread and raisins. My pipe, which, under
all difficulties, had been my greatest solace, served to beguile many
hours of this night. Hassan would not light a fire, much as we stood
in need of it; assuring me that there were too many robbers about to
be able to do it with safety, as the blaze would betray us. It may be
supposed what comfortless hours we passed in this situation.
Several times in the night Hassan peeped out of our den to see what
turn the weather would take. As soon as the morning star was up, he
told me we must start, as we had far to go. We tied on our wallets
behind the saddles, which had not been taken off, and, on emerging from
the cavern, I found that the sky promised a fine day, and that the
morning star was shining brilliantly. We rode along through scattered
turpentine trees. The sun rose, and yesterday’s snow, now thawed into
drops of water, shone like diamonds on the branches. On a sudden we
came on a low Bedouin tent, and, before Hassan could decide whether we
were to advance towards it, or to shun it, a Bedouin, who knew Hassan,
immediately made his appearance. They saluted each other, and talked
together about ten minutes, when we continued our journey. A little
farther on we saw a ruined village of comparatively modern date.
We soon quitted the forest and mountains, and entered on an almost
level country. The day proved mild, and we travelled on briskly. Soon
after mid-day, we saw, about a league distant, some camels, mounted by
Bedouins. We inclined towards them, and I suspected that Hassan had
been informed of their march by the Bedouin we spoke to in the morning,
as he showed no suspicions respecting them. We joined them in half an
hour. They were four Bedouins going to Hamah; and, accommodating our
pace to theirs, we marched with them the rest of the day. We soon came
in sight of the ruins of Salamyah, which we passed, leaving them six
miles to the south of us: then the Castle of Shumamys, which we left
behind us; and after sunset, reached a ruined mosque, where, amidst the
dung of animals, that had, no doubt, under circumstances like our own,
sought shelter here, we seated ourselves, supped on figs, which the
Bedouins gave us, and, wrapped in our abahs and sheep-skins, slept out
the night.
The next day, about two or three in the afternoon, we reached Hamah.
The Orontes had overflowed its banks, and on the bridge of Hamah the
water reached up to our horses’ hocks.
Thus, during the twenty-eight days which I passed in the Desert, for
fifteen I never washed my hands, never changed my clothes, and slept
in a tent open on one side to the snow, the rain, and the wind: often
did I awake with my feet soaked in wet. Excepting the six days I passed
at Palmyra, it was seldom I ate anything but unleavened bread, figs,
raisins, treacle, and rice. People may marvel at the extraordinary
hardships of the Bedouin Arabs, who support life with a pinch of flour
and a few dates, and at the hundred other wonders related of them. That
which is most difficult to bear is the want of water, which, even when
it abounds, being collected from holes in rocks and puddles, is quite
muddy; yet, in my case, novelty and hunger made me tolerate, if not
relish, everything. These are the sources of the liberty of the Arab.
Brought up from his birth to bear privations, to which the inhabitants
of towns and villages would not submit, he reigns the lord of a
territory which nobody envies him: and, whilst he plants his tent at
pleasure over a measureless waste, enjoys a freedom bought at a price
that few are willing to pay for it.
I felt proud to have contemplated the Bedouins, not as most travellers
do by a cursory sight of some stragglers whom chance throws in their
way on the high road, or in the market-towns to which they resort; but
in their own homes, in their most numerous encampments, and under the
roof of the Emir, Mahannah el Fadel.
A few observations, which presented themselves in the course of my
stay among them, and which would have interrupted the thread of the
narrative, will not be altogether misplaced here. The Bedouins are very
ceremonious. Whoever joins a party generally makes three salutations,
to which every person replies, “Salám Alëikûm, peace be unto you: Allah
messekûmbel khyr, the Lord give you a good night--strength to you.” To
which the answers are, “Unto you be peace: A hundred good nights to
you: God strengthen you also.” When a person of consequence enters, all
rise; and as, from the nature of a tent where the entry and exit is
but a step, this takes place very frequently, the repetition of this
ceremony becomes extremely tiresome. Whenever any one drinks, he says,
“In the name of God;” and, as he removes the cup from his lips, he is
saluted on all sides by “_Hannean_” (much good may it do you), He
puts it down with “El hamd lillah--Praise to God.”[40]
I have seen an Arab, in selling a measure of barley, take God to
witness in every shape in which an oath can be worded of his being a
loser by the bargain; adding, as he measured it out, “In the name of
God the merciful:”--yet, to the certain knowledge of the bystanders,
he was making fifty per cent. by his goods. Their thieving disposition
allows not a moment’s peace to the traveller who is among them. His
saddle-bags must always be with him, or they will be rifled: and,
though he may sleep upon them, sit by them, and leave them only on
pressing occasions for a moment, he may expect to find something
missing. A plated curb to my bridle disappeared on the second night: my
provision of barley for my horse soon followed, and I was obliged to
content myself with the scanty pittance allowed me by the emir.