Hamah--Inclemency of the weather--Preparations made by Lady
Hester for her journey to Palmyra--Conical cisterns--Nazýf
Pasha--Abdallah Pasha--Muly Ismael--The governor of
Hamah--Appearance of the Plague in Syria--Motives of Lady Hester
Stanhope for visiting Palmyra--Price paid to the Bedouins
for a safe conduct--Pilfering; particularly by their chief
Nasar--Order of march--Sham fights--Tribe of the Sebáh--Arabs
on their march--Rude behaviour of Nasar--Gebel el Abiad, or the
White Mountain--The Author rides forward to Palmyra--Alarm at
Lady Hester’s encampment--Her entry into Palmyra--Inspection of
the ruins--A wedding--Dress of the women--Faydán Bedouins made
prisoners--The escape of two of them causes Lady Hester to leave
the place.
I paid Hassan the remainder of the sum agreed upon for conducting me,
namely, 182 piasters. The whole cost of the journey, including every
expense, was no more than 215 piasters, being equal to about £10. I
had been absent twenty-eight days. The horse which Hassan had ridden
died, from fatigue and the wound on his back, three days after our
return. I found that the general theme of conversation in Hamah was the
extraordinary weather. It had rained and snowed alternately from the
2nd of January up to the present time, and the snow had remained on
the ground three inches deep. Soon after my return, water, in exposed
situations, when still, froze a quarter of an inch thick, yet at
mid-day the weather was beautiful and even hot.
As M. and Madame Lascaris were no longer at Hamah, I now occupied an
apartment in a building that had formerly been the harým or private
dwelling of Yahyah Bey, the governor of the place, who had been
spirited away so suddenly, and where Mr. B. was already living.
Having satisfied Lady Hester on the practicability of her journey to
Palmyra, she now busied herself very seriously in preparations for her
departure, which she fixed for the ensuing month, when we expected that
the weather would be settled. Her health, however, was not very robust
at that time; and few persons in my situation would have pronounced
her equal to such an undertaking. But I had had occasion to observe so
frequently the great resources which she had derived from her personal
courage and animal spirits against fatigue; and how often on a journey,
her state was better than when halting; that I thought myself perfectly
justified in consenting to the attempt. On the 10th of February I hired
a boy, named Antonio, for my servant. Even then it froze very hard in
the night, although the days proved fine and clear. About this time I
observed in the markets a species of bulbous root, with a grassy leaf,
which the inhabitants bought up with great avidity. I desired Ibrahim
to procure me some, and, according to the manner of the country, I ate
them boiled in milk, and found them exceedingly good. They are called
in Arabic (at Hamah) khabbûs, and at Damascus hardyl; but I know not
their botanical name.
February 12.--I rode to the west of Hamah one league, where I saw
several reservoirs or cisterns of the shape of a sugarloaf, with
openings at the apex large enough to admit a man. These, from
numberless observations made at different places, I now supposed to
indicate the former sites of houses and villages. They are always found
on dry elevated ground, and served as repositories for grain;[41] they
are always well coated with cement. Upon the hill, likewise, to the
west and south-west of the city, on my return, I saw others; and, at
the same spot, there were evident traces of a foss, or ditch: by which
I was led to conclude that the city originally occupied this eminence,
and was not, as at present, confined to the valley beneath.
Lady Hester had already received visits from most of the first
families of Hamah. Among these was that of Nasýf Pasha, who had once
been governor of Damascus, and, from dread of the Porte, had been
obliged to fly into Europe, as we have already mentioned when speaking
of Hadj Ali, (v. i., p. 298.) Nasýf Pasha was one of the most comely
men I ever saw. Having expressed a wish to consult me, I went, on
the 13th of February, to see him. His conversation turned chiefly on
vaccination, concerning which he was anxious to arrive at a certainty
as to its alleged preventive powers. He spoke a few words of Italian:
and although he had resided at Rome, Naples, Genoa, and Marseilles, he
said, (will it be believed?) that he had seen nothing to induce him to
alter, in a single instance, his mode of living, his mode of educating
his children, his dress, his furniture, his sentiments, or even his
agricultural or horticultural pursuits, if we except that he had raised
in his garden a few strawberries, before unknown in that neighbourhood.
Another of the great families of Hamah was that of Abdallah Pasha, of
the house of Adam, father of Ahmed Bey: but he lived a very retired
life. There was the chieftain of the _delibash_, or _deláty_,
(a kind of cavalry, who wear high cylindrical felt caps, and are known
throughout Turkey by this distinction) named Muly Ismaël,[42] who
proved, from his rank and influence, of the greatest service to Lady
Hester, for whom he conceived a great friendship. He had a corps of
delibash in his pay, whom he hired out to the neighbouring pashas
as mercenaries. His ordinary residence was at Hamah, where he had a
large mansion. Besides the number of wives allowed by the Mahometan
law, he had several concubines: and these latter it was his custom to
marry to those officers of his household whom he distinguished by his
particular favour, imitating, in this, his sovereign and the grandees
of the country. He was a very fat man. As he was independent of the
magistrates appointed by government, he exercised even the power of
life and death over his own people. I was consulted by him several
times, and he readily made use of all external applications; but I
never could induce him to take any medicine; and even though, upon one
occasion, I made the experiment of obliging Giorgio first to swallow a
pill before him, (being one out of three I held in a box, and of which
the other two were intended for him) his distrust of mankind was not to
be overcome, and he refused to take them.
The governor, or motsellem, of Hamah, was a certain Abdallah Bey, the
son of a pasha: for Hamah is a city of the third rank, and generally
has a distinguished person to rule over it. His predecessor was named
Yahyah Bey, who had been carried off prisoner to Damascus, upon a
suspicion of malversation, a few days before.[43] He was said to be
one of the most artful men in Syria. Relying on his spies and his own
acuteness, he had for a long time, without being in open rebellion, set
the Porte and the pasha at defiance. Thus, he had detected seven plots
in succession to entrap him: but this time the pasha of Damascus was
more clever than he. Abdallah Bey never showed more civility to Lady
Hester, Mr. B., or myself than was required by the firmáns of which we
were bearers.
On the 15th, I went to the hamlet of Menäýn, about six miles from
Hamah, where the inhabitants use the conical reservoirs, spoken of
above, as reservoirs for corn. To the south-west of the city, two
leagues off, is Kefferbûah, a Christian village. Mr. B. this day came
back from an excursion to Museaf.
February 17th, Mahannah, the Emir of the Bedouins, came to Hamah. We
were thrown into some alarm this day by an accident which befel M.
Beaudin, the interpreter, who tumbled from his horse on his head, and
returned home with his face much disfigured by the fall. Mrs. Fry, Lady
Hester’s maid, was also dangerously ill of a pleurisy.
There were epidemic fevers, at this time prevailing throughout the
city, of which I make no mention here, because foreign to the object
of the general reader. I was called in to the wife of the governor,
Abdallah Bey, whom I found dying of a consumption: and it may not
be useless to observe that I saw almost as many consumptions in the
Levant as in England, although it cannot be denied that this disease is
peculiarly fatal to our own country.
Selim, the son of Musa, the governor’s secretary, was just recovered
from a bilious remittent fever, and we rode out into the country
together. We took a south-south-west direction, and at the distance of
two miles we came to some grottoes, in and near to which were several
females loitering about. These, he told me, were loose women, who (as
we have already seen to be the case at Damascus) were required, from
their bad morals, to live out of public view.
On the 25th of February the weather changed, and the nightly frosts
ceased. There were occasionally some violent squalls of wind, but the
sun was very warm.
On the 26th, Monsieur Narsiat, a French traveller who had filled some
post in the suite of General Gardanne when on a mission in Persia, this
day passed through Hamah, and dined with us. Lady Hester received from
Constantinople fresh firmáns to replace those lost in the shipwreck.
This evening it rained a little; and, until the 5th of March, there was
cloudy or showery weather, with intervals of clear sky and hot sun.
It will be recollected that on the 10th of February I hired a Christian
boy, named Antonio, to wait on me. I caught him, one day, filching
some dollars out of a money-bag which lay at the top of a chest, the
lid of which I had left open. He had secreted two in his girdle; and,
when discovered, fell down, kissed my feet, and uttered such pitiable
lamentations, that I merely turned him away, considering myself
somewhat to blame for putting temptation in the way of a youth by
neglecting to lock the chest. In his stead I was resolved to try a
Turkish servant, and I hired one, named Mohammed, for ten paras a day
and his food, which was at about the rate of four guineas a year.
On the 7th of March there were great rejoicings to celebrate the
recovery of Mecca from the Wahábys. The people of Syria, but more
especially at Damascus, and on the high road to it, might naturally
feel exhilarated at the prospect of the re-establishment of the
pilgrimage to Mecca, by which their interests would be so much
benefitted.
On the 9th there was a tremendous hurricane of wind. Istefán and Hadj
Ali, two servants, were seized with remittent fevers. On the 11th
there was alternate rain and sunshine, and by the 14th the weather
seemed settled, fine, and hot. On the 18th we had the burning wind, or
sirocco, when the heat was very oppressive.
It was at this period that we heard of the reappearance of the plague
in Syria, after a suspension of ten years, or thereabouts. Its
introduction was said to be as follows: in the spring it had broken
out at Constantinople; about the 1st of February of the next year, a
Tartar, arriving at St. Jean d’Acre from Constantinople, died of it
there, and a Jew, buying his clothes, communicated the infection to his
whole family. This was its first appearance in Syria; but, as the pasha
and the inhabitants took the alarm, several shops were shut up and
some families quitted the town. Other precautions, such as placing a
sentinel at the Jew’s door, and preventing communication from without,
stopped the disease in its birth. At Beyrout, a vessel came to anchor
in the roads, having the plague on board. A barber went on board to
shave the people, and subsequently died; but, as his house was put
under quarantine, and as no goods were permitted to be landed from
the vessel, the evil spread no further. Exclusive of these insulated
attacks of plague, a malignant fever was raging at Tripoli, Beyrout,
Sayda, and St. Jean d’Acre: and, although no diseases of a malignant
character had shown themselves where we had been, still there was so
much sickness prevailing, that every person of our party, with the
exception of myself, had been ill in one way or another.
The time had now come, when, from the settled state of the weather,
and from the completion of the necessary arrangements, Lady Hester
resolved on departing for Palmyra. The arrangements, whilst actually
going on, may be said to have lasted six weeks. Never had an excursion
of pleasure a finer object: we were going to contemplate the most
finished productions of art. Seldom, too, was witnessed a caravan of a
few individuals on a more magnificent scale. Twenty-two camels were to
bear the tents, luggage, firewood, rice, flour, tobacco, coffee, sugar,
soap, saucepans, spare horse-shoes, and other provisions; eight carried
water, and nine corn for the horses. We were to be escorted by a tribe
of Bedouins, headed by a prince’s son; and our own cavalcade amounted
to twenty-five horsemen. The most trifling want of the meanest servant
was provided for, and the best equipped military expedition could not
be more complete in all its parts than this. Although Lady Hester might
be satisfied, from what she had herself seen, and from the report I
had made her of the practicability of the journey, she nevertheless
could not doubt that the risk of it would be great, as she carried with
her things of value in the eyes of the Arabs, and went totally at the
mercy of her conductors.[44] It was known that the Honourable F. North,
afterwards Lord Guildford, Mr. Fazakerley, and Mr. Gally Knight had not
thought it safe to venture across the Desert to which we were going,
and others in the same way had been deterred by the picture that had
been drawn of the dangers they would have to encounter. Even those who
effected their purpose had experienced many hardships.
But, besides the wish of beholding broken columns and dilapidated
temples, Lady Hester may be supposed to have had other motives peculiar
to herself, and which could not actuate travellers in general. These
columns and temples owed the greatest part of their magnificence to
one of her own sex, whose talents and whose fate, remotely akin to her
own, no doubt might move her sympathy so far as to prompt her to visit
the spot which a celebrated woman had governed. She sought the remains
of Zenobia’s greatness, as well as the remains of Palmyra.
I must interrupt the narrative for a moment to insert two letters
written by Mr. B. and Lady Hester to one of their friends, that the
reader may gather from other hands some particulars of the nature of
the journey we were about to undertake.
_To Lieut.-General Oakes, &c., Malta._
Hamah, March 13, 1813.
My dear General,
In the month of October last I wrote you a letter from Aleppo,
in which I stated that I was then on the eve of my departure
to join Lady Hester at Hems, and that we proposed going from
thence to Palmyra. Many unforeseen circumstances occurred which
rendered it impossible to carry the plan into execution at
that moment. From Hems, I went to Damascus, and, after having
remained there near a month, I came to this place, where we have
passed the winter. As Lady Hester was unwilling to relinquish
the journey to Palmyra, we have been occupying ourselves in
making the necessary preparations. We do not intend, as at
first, taking an escort to guard us against the Arabs, but to
put ourselves under their protection. By so doing, we shall gain
a double advantage: we shall not only see the ruins of Palmyra,
but shall have an opportunity of acquiring some knowledge of
the manners and customs of the very curious inhabitants of
the Desert. Perhaps you will not think it very prudent that
we should trust ourselves into their power. I am aware that
no reliance can be placed on the honour or good faith of so
uncivilized a people; but I do not think it is to their interest
to be guilty of any act of treachery towards us. We have besides
taken every manner of precaution against such an event.
Lady Hester has gained the friendship of Ishmael Aga, a great
Delibash chief, who has guaranteed our safety. He is one of
the most powerful men in Syria, and the Arabs stand in great
awe of him. I think, therefore, that you need be under no
apprehension of our being detained prisoners in the Desert.
Mahannah el Fadel, the chief of all the tribes known by the
name of Anizi, comes here to-morrow, in order to escort us.
If Lady Hester succeeds in this undertaking, she will at
least have the merit of being the first European female who
has ever visited this once celebrated city. Who knows but she
may prove another Zenobia, and be destined to restore it to
its ancient splendour?--perhaps she may form a matrimonial
connection with Ebn Seood, the great chief of the Wahabees. He
is not represented as a very loveable object; but, making love
subservient to ambition, they may unite their arms together,
bring about a great revolution both in religion and politics,
and shake the throne of the Sultan to its very centre. I wish
you would come and assist them with your military counsel.
How proud I should feel to learn the art of war under so
accomplished a general! I only hope that Lady Hester’s health
will be able to resist the fatigue which she will unavoidably
be exposed to. It will require, too, great management to keep
the Arabs in good order; for, from the specimen that we have
already had of them, I am afraid that we shall find them very
troublesome. The greater the difficulties, the greater will be
our merit in overcoming them. We have spent a most disagreeable
winter here: the weather has been extremely severe for this
climate. Almost all the fruit-trees in the gardens of Damascus
have been destroyed, and a tribe of Arabs, who inhabited the
plain, have been overwhelmed, with their wives, children, and
flocks, by the snow. The oldest men never recollect so severe
a winter. To increase our misfortunes, the plague has come to
this country. From the most correct information which we have
received, it appears that it has broke out in Acre, Tyre, and
Sayda. As there is constant communication, by means of caravans,
between the coast and the interior, it will, I am afraid, soon
be carried to Damascus, and from thence spread itself over the
whole of the country.
The Turks take no measures to stop its progress: they are
predestinarians, and say, that, as it is the will of God, they
must submit to it with patience. I certainly do not admire this
resignation; for it never can be the will of God that man should
not endeavour to avert an impending evil. Such resignation is
the effect of ignorance, and not of piety.
Mr. Pisani writes me word that it has made great havoc at
Constantinople: upwards of twenty thousand souls have been
carried off by it--a most dreadful mortality indeed! I lament
the fate of this unhappy country, which suffers enough from
the vexatious tyranny of its government, without having this
additional scourge from Heaven.
As soon as we return from the Desert, we purpose taking refuge
at Latakia, as being the most convenient situation in every
respect: but if, unfortunately, the plague should come there
before we can arrive, in that case we shall only have the
alternative of retiring into the mountain, or of shutting
ourselves up in Aleppo. Lady Hester dislikes the latter
place.[45] She seems to have the same horror against the Franks
as against the butter.[46] We must, however, hope for the best,
and, like the Turks, submit with patience to the will of God.
In a letter which I wrote to you last November from Damascus,
I begged that you would do me the honour of accepting half a
barrel of wine, which came from the Dardanelles. I had hopes of
being able to procure some of the celebrated Vino d’Oro, which
is made at Zook, a village in the Keserwan. I gave a commission
to a man to prepare a good quantity for me last summer when I
passed through that place; but I have heard nothing more of it
since that time, and I am afraid that he has forgotten me: I
will, however, endeavour to get some before I leave the country.
By the last news which we received from Cairo, it appears that
Mahomet Ali has been very successful against the Wahabees. He
overcame them in a great battle, and has retaken the two holy
cities of Mecca and Medina. I wish I had an opportunity of
gaining some knowledge of the Wahabees. They are a very curious
people, and I am inclined to think that, unless the Porte makes
some very vigorous efforts to crush them at once, they are
destined to bring about a great revolution, both in politics
and religion, in the East. They have already extended their
conquests with great rapidity over the Nedj country and Yemen.
We know, too, that a nation of shepherds have always been looked
upon as formidable. With them every man is a soldier; and their
very amusements are the images of war. When they take the field,
they move about with the whole of the nation. Their force is
not diminished by being obliged to leave any of their people
behind to cultivate their fields, or to take charge of the women
or children. In ancient times, the Scythians and Tartars were
feared by the Romans in the very zenith of their glory, and
sometimes even overcame their legions.
The Turkish empire, which is in so weak and disorganized a
state, and which has no regular or disciplined army to oppose
them, may at some future period fall an easy prey to these
numerous hordes, and the ancient Caliphate may be restored
over Egypt, Syria, and Arabia. But I find that I am travelling
out of my depth, and I am afraid that your patience is already
exhausted. I will, therefore, conclude my letter by requesting
that you will believe me,
My dear General,
Your most sincere friend,
M. B.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to Lieut.-General Oakes._
Hamma, March 15th, 1813.
My dear General,
Just as I was about to despatch the letters which accompany
this, a report of the plague being in different towns in Syria
decided us to send expressly to ascertain the fact, which
is exactly this, that it is spread all along the coast from
Alexandria to Tripoli; Latakia is the only port which is
free from it at this moment, and it is making its way towards
Damascus into the interior. I have so often talked of setting
off that I must be actually mounted before I tell you so again.
The Arab chief is now upon his road, and I expect him here in
three days.
Respecting the plague, I feel no personal apprehension, but it
is an anxious moment, as I am not alone. The desert has again
been all confusion, but at this moment things are pretty quiet.
I have great confidence in the Arab chief; the pasha sent an
express for him almost at the same moment when mine arrived, and
his answer was, “The Queen must be served first.”
Mahanna waits my orders, just as Lord Paget with his cavalry
would do yours were you to command a great army. Upon receiving
them, he was to dispose of the different tribes under his
command, in the way he thought most advantageous in case of an
enemy; that is to say, not to leave a space, in a straight line,
of more than a few hours, without tents. This settled, he was to
set off and repair here with my second messenger.
The weather now is delightful, but I have suffered much from the
cold this winter; it has been so severe as to have killed the
camels and cattle which are not used to it, and for thirty years
such weather was never known in this country.
March 19th.--To-morrow, my dear General, I mount my horse with
seventy Arabs, and am off for Palmyra at last. I am so hurried I
cannot write all I wish, but the Sir D. Dundas of Syria I have
made a conquest of, and he insisted upon speaking to the Arab
chiefs, and said he would cut off all their heads if they did
not bring me back safe. I owe much to the kindness of this old
fellow, who, since I have resided here, has thought of nothing
but how he could serve me. He tells me every day I must not
leave off my Turkish clothes.
I have heard a few days ago from Captain Hope; he expects to
come out again to the Mediterranean, and wishes to fetch me away
from Syria if he can. His letter pray enclose to Admiral Hope
at the Admiralty, unless you should have heard Hope has sailed;
then send it to the fleet with Sir Sydney’s letter. God bless
you, my dear General; I hope on my return from the seat of my
empire to find letters from England.
Yours most sincerely,
H. L. S.
Some days before this, Mahannah, as was said above, arrived at Hamah.
Muly Ismael had warned Lady Hester of the danger there might be in
having no check whatever on the Bedouins, who, in spite of their
promises, might be led by their natural habits to plunder her. He told
her that it was common for them, when they got strangers among them,
to beg for every thing they saw, and piece by piece to reduce them to
the same state of nakedness as themselves: for, in the early part of
his life, having incurred the displeasure of the Porte, he had taken
refuge among them, and could speak as to their habits from experience.
A conference therefore was held with Mahannah in the presence of the
Muly; and, as a price for the escort he was to afford Lady Hester
across the Desert, it was settled that he was to receive a sum of
money, which was to be deposited in the hands of Muly Ismael; and the
deposit was made in Mahannah’s presence. The sum agreed on was 3000
piasters, equal to about £150, of which 1000 piasters were advanced at
starting, and the remainder was to be paid on our safe return.
The 20th March was fixed for our departure. Each of the party was well
mounted, furnished with a leather water-bottle, and a small pair of
saddle-wallets to contain provisions. Every one of us carried, secreted
about his person, a few sequins, in case of losing company, or of
otherwise being separated from the caravan. All were in the costume of
the Bedouins, and Mrs. Fry, Lady Hester’s maid, was, like her mistress,
dressed in man’s clothes.
About ten in the morning we set off. Spectators lined the road for
half a league out of the town; and some janissaries, whom the governor
had sent to clear the way, had much ado to keep off the crowd. Of
the reflecting part we had commiseration for our supposed folly and
prayers for our safe return; many considering that we were going
to the certainty of being plundered, if not to our destruction.
By degrees we left them behind, and entered upon plains where the
solitude that prevailed formed a striking contrast with the scene we
had just quitted. Lady Hester was followed by the Bedouin chieftains,
who composed her body-guard. Their long lances, plumed with ostrich
feathers; their curling hair hanging in ringlets over their cheeks
and neck; their gay-coloured keffiyahs, drawn over their mouths like
vizors; their lean mares; every thing about them was novel and
calculated to set the fancy of all of us to work, as to where we were
going, and what would be the issue of our journey--excepting myself,
who had already trod the same ground. As we entered the Desert, those
who before had not seen so vast a waste behind them looked as people
may be observed to do, embarking on the sea for the first time in their
lives, and losing sight of land.
We continued along the right bank of the Orontes for about two hours
and a half, until we arrived at a hamlet called Genàn. Here we halted
for the night, and were lodged in the cottages. I had scarcely
dismounted, when I was led to one of them, where, on a rug, lay a dying
man. The bystanders expected I should give him some restorative that
would reprieve him from the hands of death; but, whilst endeavouring to
make them understand that the case was desperate, the man expired, and
I was suffered to depart. In about an hour, four or five women, with
their faces whitened, their hair dishevelled, and with sabres in their
hands, began, in an open space in the centre of the hamlet, a funereal
dance accompanied by occasional howls. The men did not join in it, and
seemed very indifferent about it.[47] The corpse was soon afterwards
interred, but I did not see it put into the ground.
There were so many rats in the cottage where Lady Hester slept, that
her maid became exceedingly terrified, and, quitting the room, sat in
the open air during the greater part of the night.
We resumed our march on the morrow, the twenty-first, and followed,
through a rich meadow, the course of a rivulet which empties itself
into the Orontes at Genàn. In about seven hours we arrived at an
encampment of the small tribe of Beni Hez, where also were a few tents
of the Melhem, Mahannah’s family tribe. These had been ordered here for
the purpose of affording a station for us.
The next day we filled our skins with good water from the rivulet,
and departed. The ruins of Salamyah[48] were on our left, and we were
near to the ground where M. Lascaris and I had passed the first night
on my former journey. The escort was now augmented by some Arabs from
the Beni Hez. Nasar was unremitting in his attention to Lady Hester’s
commands; but, in all the rest of the caravan, wherever he appeared,
much disputing prevailed. In defiance of all interference and of all
contracts, the Bedouins had begun to pilfer from the moment of quitting
Genàn. Most of the servants were in clothes quite new; and, if one of
them happened to throw off a cloak, Nasar would lay hold of it, and
put it on his own shoulders. In vain the owner would beg for it back
again. Nasar would pretend to be angry, and ask who dared refuse him
anything? In an hour’s time he would make a present of the same cloak
to one of his own people: and then, in a few hours more, by fair or
foul means, would obtain something from somebody else; not to keep it
himself, but to give it away to some one of his people who had none.
This day’s journey brought us to the wells of Keffiyah, four or five
in number, where Mahannah, with his household tents, was encamped.
These wells, which, from the days of Abraham, seem to have existed in
the Desert, supply a brackish water, which necessity alone can render
palatable. We gave it to our horses, in order to preserve the sweet
water for our own drinking.
We rested here one day. Lady Hester received the visits and, we may
say, the homage of the chief shaykhs, who came in from all quarters.
To all of these presents were made, generally of articles of dress.
Her ladyship took for the sentry of her tent a tall black slave, named
Guntar, a fellow of reputed courage and daring, and whose scowling
looks and tremendous battle-axe (his only weapon) almost excited terror
in those whom he was destined to protect.
The Anizy were at this time at war with the Faydân; a tribe that
generally pastured on the borders of the Euphrates. The Faydân were
known to have some strong parties abroad, and it was probable, that,
if they received information of our route, they would attack us. Much
attention was therefore paid to the order of our march with the view
of avoiding a surprise. Soon after daybreak, on the 24th, the tents
being struck and the camels loaded, Lady Hester and her guard, with
Nasar, took the lead, whilst Mr. B. and myself and the armed servants
covered the rear of the caravan. Scouts were sent out ahead of us to
reconnoitre; and, although sometimes we lost sight of them for hours,
and there were no beaten paths, they were still sure to rejoin us.
To beguile the way, the Bedouin horsemen performed sham fights.
Throwing off the keffiyas, which covered their heads, they let their
long hair fly in the wind, which gave them a very wild appearance;
then, resting their lances, and setting up a war-whoop, they would
select an opponent and ride furiously at him. He would avoid the
attack, get the upper hand by a short turn, and then become the
assailant: and this I believe to be generally the way in which Arabs
fight. When they had tired themselves, two bards, who were of the
party, recited pieces of poetry; which, though not understood by us,
evidently had a great effect on the Bedouins.
Having passed some wells, close by the ruins of a village, called
Jarryat Theap,[49] we halted at Menghiazy, a ruined village, at the
edge of the Beláz, a mountainous chain, and just where a forest of
turpentine trees begins. We found an encampment of Bedouins, whose
shaykh, named Mnyf, was introduced to us as a brave chieftain: and here
we passed the night.
The following morning we resumed our journey. The Beláz seems to
consist of two parallel chains of low mountains, with deep valleys
between them, separated here and there by a transverse chain. We had
surmounted the first chain, and, through the Menkûra, or ravine, were
descending into the valley, when we were gratified with the sight of
an entire tribe of Arabs on their march in search of pasture. This is
one of the most pleasing spectacles that we met with in the Desert. The
line of march might consist of one thousand camels, some of which were
winding down the slope of the opposite mountain, and the rest filing in
different directions along the valley, loaded with tents, women, and
utensils: whilst the whole valley was absolutely covered with the young
or unloaded camels, which followed their respective masters.
These Bedouins were called the Sebàh, and were tributaries of
Mahannah’s. The men were very meagre, and unlike any race of beings
I had ever seen; and their dress was as ragged as that of gipsies.
They wore their hair long, and in curls. The women rode in a species
of saddle, shaped like the scull of a ram with the horns on, which I
have described before. To the horns were appended gaudy ornaments in
coloured worsted. The faces of the women were tatooed. Most of the
mares were without saddles, and were ridden with nothing but a hair
rope put on as a halter. They stared in astonishment at our cavalcade,
and, when they had learned who Lady Hester was, they necessarily
thought it still more wonderful.
Her ladyship chose this moment for resting herself, and a small tent
was fixed for her on a rising ground that commanded a view of the whole
valley, where she reposed for about an hour. Having quitted the Beláz
mountain, we entered an open country, and, at a considerable distance
before us, we beheld two conical mounts with flattened tops close to
each other, at the foot of which we encamped.
It was Lady Hester’s custom, as soon as the bustle of encamping was
over, and things were a little quiet, to go to the tent which was set
apart for meals, conversation, &c.; where, when we were together,
she would summon to her those of the Arabs with whom she wished to
converse. Hitherto, Nasar had always obeyed this summons with great
alacrity: but to-day, in answer, he sent back word “that Lady Hester
might be the daughter of a vizir, but he, too, was the son of a prince,
and was not disposed at that moment to quit his tent: if she wanted
him, she, or her interpreter, might come to him.” It was in vain to
be angry where anger could avail nothing. The Bedouins now began to
buz about that Nasar was very moody; that they hoped this boded no
mischief; that it would be a sad thing if he should order us back;
and a hundred expressions calculated to breed alarm among us. As far
as regarded the servants, it had its effect: but that was not Nasar’s
object. Either as a frolic, or as an experiment to ascertain whether,
by false alarms, Lady Hester would be induced to offer him an increased
price to secure her safety, his aim was against her; but he failed
altogether; for she showed no symptom of fear: and, although she could
not make the reply which would have been so natural in a European’s
mouth, but which in a Mahometan’s, by whom respect to females is not
held as a duty, has no sense, namely, that his rudeness towards a woman
was inexcusable; still she treated him with complete indifference
all that evening; and orders were given that all persons should be
on the alert against anything that might happen in the night. Nasar,
however, remained quiet, but prepared another stratagem for the ensuing
encampment, which did not leave us quite so tranquil.
We departed early in the morning, over an undulating country, stony
and with scanty herbage. After three hours, we arrived at Gebel el
Abiad, or the White Mountain, but at the south-west extremity, where
the chain, from lofty mountains, had dwindled into hills only. As we
entered upon them, we found some wells, and a neat burying-ground, with
ruins of a building. This place is called Wady el Jar. Three hours
more brought us to the edge of the hills on the other side, where it
was resolved to encamp for the night. Fearing the cottage destined for
Lady Hester at Palmyra had not been emptied of its tenants, or would
not be ready for her, I resolved to ride on to that place immediately,
accompanied by Hassan, my former guide, and another Bedouin, an officer
of Mahannah’s, whose duty it would be to put everything in order:
but, as it was now four o’clock in the afternoon, and we had a plain
of five leagues to pass, having already come seven, no time was to
be lost; and, without baiting our horses, we started. I have, in my
former journey, described this plain, called the Mezah, as destitute of
vegetation, barren, and frightful. Upon it there was a solitary tree
only, about five miles from the spot where we quitted our party: this,
and the stems of a few bulbous plants, were the only objects on it.
I was mounted on the white horse which the pasha of Acre had given to
Lady Hester, and which she subsequently presented to me. He was a noble
animal, and had been much admired by the Bedouins. There was now an
occasion of trying him, and of comparing his strength with that of
the mare on which the Bedouin was mounted: which poor animal seemed
entirely skin and bone, with her hoofs grown to an enormous length, so
that the point of them turned up.
We had not passed half the plain when night came on, and my companions
began to quicken their pace. I was obliged to follow. By degrees they
got into a gallop and pressed onward. I kept up with them for some
time, until I found that my horse grew sluggish. The night was so dark
that sometimes I thought I had lost sight of them, and I feared they
would outride me, and leave me to find my way on a plain where there
was a certainty of going astray. I hallooed to them, but they would
not pull up, and I found that I had no resource but in the use of
my stirrups, whose sharp corners I drove repeatedly into my horse’s
sides: yet I am certain, had I been alone, no force of blows could have
compelled him to go on: it was only the noise of the horses before
him, or the sight of them, which induced him to proceed. In the Valley
of the Tombs they pulled up, and there told me they could not pay
attention to my calls: for our safety depended on our swiftness over
those dreary wilds, where we might have been stopped and plundered. We
arrived at last at the ruins, and, traversing them to the Temple, went
strait to the house where I had lodged before.
Immediately the shaykh was sent for, and I informed him of Lady
Hester’s approach. On the following morning, the cottages, being three
in number, at the north-west angle of the Temple, built against the
seven pillars still standing, were cleared out, swept, and left with
their bare walls. They were very rudely constructed of unshapen stones,
cemented by mud: the floors were of yellow clay, and the walls within
of the same. A flight of steps went up to the first story, where was
an airy room that looked over the ruins, and this I set apart for Lady
Hester’s chamber. I sat and smoked my pipe throughout the morning, in
company with the shaykh, explaining to him what things we should stand
in need of; but I observed that there was a vast bustle through the
village of men, women, and girls, running in all directions; and it was
not until afterwards that I learned what all this meant.
When I had left Lady Hester, in whom Nasar’s conduct on the preceding
evening had caused some diminution in the confidence which had
previously been reposed in him, the conversation after dinner naturally
turned upon what should be done in case he was guilty of any treachery.
In the midst of the conference, Pierre came in to say that some of the
Bedouin mares had been stolen, and that it was supposed there were some
of the Faydân Arabs lurking about the encampment. Soon after, other
servants came running to say that enemies had been seen; and that all
the Bedouins, whose mares were yet safe, were mounting, and going to
reconnoitre; and, in fact, much noise of horses and much bustle were
heard.
It is necessary to observe that, when encamped, each Bedouin usually
ties the halter of his mare to her hind-leg, and then turns her loose
to graze, excepting when an enemy is supposed to be near. To have a
mare stray in the night was therefore no extraordinary thing; and at
first it was conjectured that this was another of Nasar’s tricks to
breed alarm. But when it was evident that he and his people had armed
and mounted, and had ridden off, Mr. B. and Lady Hester knew not what
to think of it. They immediately gave orders that every person should
take his pistols and musket, with which all were provided; and they
stationed them at different points; she herself, as I was afterwards
assured by Mr. B., remaining as calm as if in a ball-room. Some readers
will say, “And what was there to frighten her?” But let them rest
assured that the stoutest heart might tremble under the conjoined
circumstances of being in a Desert, among freebooters, treble in number
to one’s own people, and charged with luggage most tempting in their
eyes. In about twenty minutes the horsemen returned, and Nasar among
them. They pretended that there had been a small party of the enemy,
which had fled.
It was afterwards conjectured that Nasar had only withdrawn a few
hundred yards from the encampment, and there waited to discover what
effect the alarm would have on Lady Hester, in order to act as he
might think expedient; but, finding that he should have some trouble to
do mischief, he probably judged it better to leave it alone.
About twelve o’clock, I rode by myself out of Palmyra to meet Lady
Hester. I traversed the Valley of the Tombs, and, at the extremity, I
ascended to the summit of a small mountain on the south side of the
valley, overlooking the plain, some miles in length, through which
runs the aqueduct of Abu el Fewàrez. The day was hot and fine. I was
surprised, on casting my eyes in the direction in which Lady Hester was
to come, to see an appearance of a great cloud of dust. It was at first
too far for me to distinguish objects, but, after waiting about an
hour, I could plainly observe horsemen riding to and fro, and the smoke
of firearms, of which sometimes I could hear the report. I knew not
what to imagine; but my mind misgave me, and I thought that Lady Hester
and her party were attacked by the enemy. As they approached nearer, I
could distinguish more plainly the same skirmishing, but I thought I
could descry pretty clearly that they advanced steadily, and that no
dead or wounded were left by the way. I descended into the plain to
meet them, and my apprehensions did not subside until I joined them;
I then understood the reason of the skirmishing and of all the bustle
that had taken place at Palmyra in the morning.
The inhabitants had resolved on welcoming Lady Hester in the best
manner they could, and had gone out in a body to meet her. There might
be altogether fifty men on foot, who, naked down to the waist, without
shoes or stockings, and covered with a sort of antique petticoat, ran
by the side of as many horsemen, galloping in all directions, with rude
kettle-drums beating and colours flying. The tanned skins of the men on
foot formed a curious contrast with the cowry shells, or blackamoor’s
teeth, studded on the two belts which crossed their shoulders, and to
which were suspended their powder-flasks and cartouch-boxes. These
Palmyrenes carry matchlocks, slung across their backs, and are very
skilful in the use of them. They are huntsmen by profession, and
they are often engaged in petty warfare with the Bedouins, for the
protection of their caravans.
For the amusement of Lady Hester and Mr. B., they displayed before
them a mock attack and defence of a caravan. Each party, anxious to
distinguish itself in the eyes of the English lady, fought with a
pretended fury that once or twice might almost have been thought real.
The men on foot exhibited on the person of a horseman the mode of
stripping for plunder, and no valet de chambre could undress his master
more expeditiously.
On entering the Valley of the Tombs, Lady Hester’s attention was
absorbed in viewing the wonders around her, and the combatants
desisted. But another sight, prepared by the Palmyrenes, here awaited
her. In order to increase the effect which ruins cause on those who
enter them for the first time, the guides led us up through the long
colonnade, which extends four thousand feet in length from north-west
to south-east, in a line with the gate of the temple. This colonnade
is terminated by a triumphal arch. The shaft of each pillar, to the
right and left, at about the height of six feet from the ground, has a
projecting pedestal, called in architecture a console, under several
of which is a Greek or Palmyrene inscription; and upon each there once
stood a statue, of which at present no vestige remains excepting the
marks of the cramp-iron for the feet. What was our surprise to see, as
we rode up the avenue, and just as the triumphal arch came in sight,
that several beautiful girls (selected, as we afterwards learned, from
the age of twelve to sixteen) had been placed on these very pedestals,
in the most graceful postures, and with garlands in their hands; their
elegant shapes being but slightly concealed by a single loose robe,
girded at the waist with a zone, and a white crape veil covering their
heads. On each side of the arch other girls, no less lovely, stood by
threes, whilst a row of six was ranged across the gate of the arch,
with thyrsi in their hands. Whilst Lady Hester advanced, these living
statues remained immoveable on their pedestals; but when she had passed
they leaped on the ground, and joined in a dance by her side. On
reaching the triumphal arch, the whole in groups, together with men and
girls intermixed, danced around her. Here some bearded elders chanted
verses in her praise, and all the spectators joined in chorus. The
sight was truly interesting, and I have seldom seen one that moved my
feelings more. Lady Hester herself seemed to partake of the emotions
to which her presence in this remote spot had given rise. Nor was the
wonder of the Palmyrenes less than our own. They beheld with amazement
a woman, who had ventured thousands of miles from her own country, and
had now crossed a waste where hunger and thirst were only a part of the
evils to be dreaded. The procession advanced, after a pause, to the
gate of the Temple, being by this time increased by the addition of
every man, woman, and child, in the village. At length she reached the
cottage which had been prepared for her.
The next day her ladyship gave to repose, but Mr. B. devoted it to
walking over the ruins. He had brought with him Wood and Dawkins’s
plates. Fifty years had made little difference in Palmyra, excepting
that a column or two, then standing, were now fallen down. The keystone
of the triumphal arch likewise was loose, and seemed as if it would
fall. In looking about among the fragments which lie towards the
north-west extremity of the colonnade, I found a portion of a statue,
in alto relievo, represented as sitting in a chair. With the exception
of this, of the heads on a ceiling in the sanctuary and on some of the
sepulchres, and of a small bas-relief of a naked woman reclining on a
sofa, which is on one of the walls of an old mosque about five hundred
feet from the Temple, and which is not mentioned by Wood and Dawkins, I
know of no other figures that have been discovered in or about Palmyra.
March the 29th, Lady Hester mounted her horse, and went to see the
ruins. She knew the report that was current of her being in search
after treasures, and took an ingenious mode of curing the shaykh of the
village of such a belief. She told him she would have him go with her;
and she, being on horseback, led him, who was on foot, such a round,
that the poor man, little curious about places in which he had lived
all his life, begged her at last to excuse him, as he could walk no
farther.
To examine the interior of the sanctuaries which compose the centre
building of the Temple, and where are two beautiful ceilings of the
zodiac, and several bas-reliefs, torches were made; and by the help of
these we were enabled to see them with a stronger light than I suppose
any other travellers had done; for there is no window whatever to let
in the day, and only a low hole to crawl in by.
On the 30th of March, as there was to be a wedding on the morrow, and
it is customary for a Mahometan bride to go to the bath the day before
her marriage, the hot spring of Ephca was used for that purpose. Lady
Hester went to see the washing: but, of course, gentlemen could not be
present. More than a dozen women, together with the bride, stripped
and entered the grotto, and then came swimming and floundering out
in a string. It cost them but little trouble to strip; for they wore
only one covering, which was a shift of coquelicot coloured silk, with
white diamond spots like India handkerchiefs; for this, as being next
the skin, may as well be called a shift as a robe. It is confined by
a girdle, fastened by large silver clasps. It was said, in the former
journey, that women generally wore rings through the cartilage of the
nose: but we now discovered that it was an ornament affected by married
women only.
How long we should have remained at Palmyra I cannot tell, had not
an unforeseen event somewhat hurried our departure. Four Bedouins of
the tribe of the Faydân had come, for some sinister purpose, into
the environs of Palmyra, where they lay concealed. The want of water
obliged them to leave their hiding-place to drink at the spring. It
happened that four of our Bedouins had strayed that way upon the
look-out, and, spying the men, pursued and took them. In what way four
of one tribe were better than four of another I did not learn. It was
discovered that they were Faydân,[50] and Nasar ordered them into
confinement. In the night two of them eluded the vigilance of their
guard, and escaped. When Nasar heard of it, he raved like a madman,
and could with difficulty be prevented from taking the life of the
shaykh of Palmyra who had suffered them to escape. Nasar then told
Lady Hester what had happened. He said that these men, no doubt, would
hasten back to their tribe, and give information of her presence in
Palmyra, and of the rich booty that was to be made. He therefore begged
of her to consent to return to Hamah immediately, signifying that if a
party stronger than their own should, by forced marches, overtake us,
we must inevitably fall into their hands. Lady Hester, in consequence
of this representation, fixed on the following day: but I shrewdly
suspected the whole to be a trick invented by Nasar for the purpose of
getting her away. She saw deeper into it, perhaps, than I could do, but
did not tell her thoughts: perhaps Nasar did not think the deposit in
Muly Ismaël’s hands quite safe, and felt uneasy until he had it in his
own possession.
Lady Hester was curious to see the Faydân whilst they were yet in
custody. They said to her, “Be not alarmed lest our people should come
against you. Your name has already reached the ears of the Emir of the
Faydân; and, wherever his subjects meet you, you will be respected.
It is our enemies, the Anizys, we seek; but you we set upon our
heads”--(an expression much used among the Arabs to denote an absolute
devotion to the service of another). We did not, however, think it
proper to risk the safety of Nasar and his people, even though our
own was not in danger, and therefore continued in the resolution of
departing.
Lady Hester’s name was cut out in a conspicuous place as a memorial
of her visit to future travellers. At night there was much merriment
among the servants. They had selected an open space in the ruins of the
Temple, where, seated round a blazing fire, they amused themselves with
dancing to the kettle-drum, smoking, and telling stories--and, having
as much coffee as they could drink, they remained until the night was
far advanced. All the men in the village assembled with them; but the
women stood aloof, never daring to mix promiscuously with the other sex.
In order to obtain antiquities in coins and intaglios, I gave out
that every engraved stone or coin that was brought to me, of whatever
description it might be, should be paid at the rate of 10 paras, about
2d.; and in this way I spent several piasters, but without any success.