* * * * *
=TRAVELS
IN
NUBIA.=
* * * * *
[Illustration: _Iohn Lewis Burckhardt. Ætat. 24._
_Etched by Angelica Clarke, from the original drawing by Slater._
_Published as the Act directs, Decr, 1, 1819, by Iohn Murray,
Albemarle Street._]
=TRAVELS
IN
NUBIA;=
BY THE LATE
JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT.
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY THE
ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING THE DISCOVERY
OF THE
INTERIOR PARTS OF AFRICA.
* * * * *
WITH MAPS, &c.
LONDON:
* * * * *
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1819.
* * * * *
PRINTED BY W. BULMER AND CO. CLEVELAND ROW, ST. JAMES’S.
THE
ASSOCIATION
FOR
PROMOTING THE DISCOVERY
OF THE
INTERIOR PARTS OF AFRICA.
* * * * *
THE COMMITTEE.
THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS, K. G.
THE EARL OF MORTON, K. T.
THE EARL OF ABERDEEN, K. T.
THE EARL SPENCER, K. G.
THE EARL OF CALEDON.
THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES YORKE.
THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOSEPH BANKS, G. C. B.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL LEAKE.
WILLIAM HAMILTON, ESQ. _Secretary._
The Earl of Carlisle.
The Earl of Carysfort.
The Right Hon. Lord Clive.
Robert Chaloner Esq. M. P.
Thomas Coutts, Esq.
The Earl of Darnley.
Sir Harry Englefield, Bart.
The Hon. and Rev. Francis Egerton.
The Right Hon. Lord Gwydir.
The Rev. Thomas Gisborne.
George Gostling, Esq.
The Earl of Guildford.
The Earl of Hardwicke, K. G.
George Harrison, Esq.
The Earl of Harrowby.
The Marquis of Hertford, K. G.
Charles Hoare, Esq.
Henry Hoare, Esq.
Henry Hugh Hoare, Esq.
Sir Everard Home, Bart.
Richard Payne Knight, Esq.
The Right Hon. Lord Lovaine, M. P.
Thomas Legh, Esq. M. P.
John Maitland, Esq.
John Motteux, Esq.
The Earl of Mountnorris.
D. L. North, Esq. M. P.
William Morton Pitt, Esq. M. P.
James Rennell, Esq.
Henry Salt, Esq.
The Reverend William Smelt.
John Symmonds, Esq.
Sir William Watson, Bart.
William Wilberforce, Esq. M. P.
Roger Wilbraham, Esq.
Right Rev. the Bishop of Winchester.
The Right Hon. Lord Yarborough.
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
_Memoir on the Life and Travels of John Lewis Burckhardt._ i
_Journey along the Banks of the Nile, from Assouan to Mahass,
on the Frontiers of Dongola._ 1
_Description of a Journey from Upper Egypt through the Deserts
of Nubia to Berber and Suakin, and from thence
to Djidda in Arabia._ 163
APPENDIX.
No. I. _Itinerary from the Frontiers of Bornou,
by Bahr el Ghazal, and Darfour, to Shendy._ 477
No. II. _Some Notices on the Countries of Soudan,
west of Darfour; with Vocabularies of the Borgho
and Bornou Languages; collected at Cairo from
Negroe Pilgrims._ 484
No. III. _Translation of the Notices on Nubia
contained in Makrizi’s History and Description of
Egypt, called El Khetat, &c.; with Notes._ 493
ERRATA.
Page Line
xxix, 25, _for_ Manali Arabs, _read_ Mawáli Arabs.
xlv, 24, 5, _for_ divided from the north of Djebal,
_read_ divided to the north from Djebal.
lxxxi, 12, _for_ the, _read_ this.
166, 167. ult. 1, _for_ twenty-eight dollars,
_read_ twenty-five dollars.
272, note, _for_ Μεκάβεροι, _read_ Μεγαβάροι
299, note, _for_ parts of Asia Minor,
_read_ ports of Asia Minor.
362, 7, _for_ March 18th, _read_ May 18th.
487, 4, _for_ Moslems, _read_ Moslims.
ib. 34, _for_ map, _read_ maps.
488, 8, _for_ tamirisk, _read_ tamarisk.
ib. 20, _for_ nothern _read_ northern.
* * * * *
MEMOIR
ON
THE LIFE AND TRAVELS
OF
JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT.
* * * * *
[Illustration: BURCKHARDT’S TRAVELS.
_To face the_ Memoir &ca _page_ I.
_Published as the Act directs, 1st Decr, 1819,
by John Murray Albemarle Street London._
_J. Walker Sculpt._]
MEMOIR, &c.
* * * * *
John Lewis Burckhardt was of an eminent family of Basle, but born
at Lausanne. He was the eighth child of John Rodolph Burckhardt,
commonly called Burckhardt of Kirshgarten from the name of his
mansion in the city of Basle.
Burckhardt of Kirshgarten began life with the best prospects,
but they were soon blighted by the French revolution; from the
very beginning of which he became involved in a series of dangers
and difficulties, which at one time had nearly brought him to the
scaffold. On the accusation of having been concerned in betraying
the Tête-de-pont at Huningen to the Austrians, when they besieged
that fortress in the year 1796-7, he was tried for his life by
the French party at Basle; and although, in consequence of the
undoubted proofs of his innocence brought forward upon his trial,
he was released from prison, he found it impossible to remain in
the power of the French, as he had certain information of his being
upon the list of those who were to be destroyed either by open
or secret means. He entered into a Swiss corps in English pay,
but was under the necessity of leaving his wife and children at
Basle, to save the family if possible from total ruin. Here his son
Lewis Burckhardt was a daily witness of the misery suffered under
the republican French, and here he imbibed, at a very early age,
a detestation of their principles, and a resolution never to bend
under their yoke. It was his wish to serve in the armies of some
nation which should be at war with France; but he was first desirous
of completing his education, which with the exception of two years
in an establishment at Neuchatel, had been hitherto under the care
of a person residing in his father’s house.
In the year 1800, being then 16 years of age, he was carried by his
father, Colonel Burckhardt, to the university of Leipzig, from whence
after a stay of near four years he was removed to Göttingen. In
both places his exemplary conduct and high feelings of honour,
his distinguished talents and ardent zeal for knowledge, ensured
him universal esteem and respect; while a remarkable frankness,
cheerfulness, kindness, and evenness of temper, made him particularly
beloved by his more intimate acquaintance. After leaving Göttingen
in 1805, he returned to his father, and remained also a short time
with his mother at Basle. Uncertain what plan to pursue, unable to
find upon the continent any nation which was not either subject to
the French or in alliance with them, and having for these reasons
rejected an offer made to him by one of the royal courts of Germany
to enter the diplomatic line, he resolved at length upon proceeding
to England, in the hope of meeting some opening to his wishes in the
service of this country. He arrived in London in the month of July,
1806, bringing with him several excellent letters of introduction,
among which was one to Sir Joseph Banks, from Professor Blumenbach
of Göttingen. The President of the Royal Society had long been an
active member of the Committee of the African Association, which at
that time had more than begun to despair of any further intelligence
from Mr. Horneman, and in the following year received an account
of the death of another of their travellers, Mr. Henry Nicholls,
at Old Calabar, in the bight of Benin, where he was preparing
himself for an expedition into the interior country.
The result of the information obtained by the travellers of the
Association on the Western side of Africa, compared with that
transmitted by Mr. Horneman from the North, had now rendered it
advisable to make a new attempt in the latter direction. These
wishes of the Association soon became known to Burckhardt, through
his acquaintance with some of the leading members. To a mind
equally characterised by courage, a love of science and a spirit
of enterprise, such an undertaking afforded peculiar attractions,
and accordingly it was not long before Burckhardt made an offer of
his services to Sir Joseph Banks and the Rev. Dr. Hamilton. The
latter, who was at that time Treasurer and acting Secretary of
the Association, perceiving him to be undismayed by the strong
representations of danger, which it was peculiarly right to make to
a person of his birth and education, and having found him admirably
adapted to the undertaking by his natural and acquired talents,
as well as by the vigour of his constitution, laid his offer before
the Association at the next general meeting in May, 1808. The offer
was willingly accepted, and Burckhardt received his instructions on
the 25th of January, 1809, having diligently employed the interval
in London and Cambridge in the study of the Arabic language,
and of those branches of science which were most necessary in the
situation wherein he was about to be placed. He allowed his beard
to grow and assumed the Oriental dress: he attended lectures on
chemistry, astronomy, mineralogy, medicine and surgery, and in the
intervals of his studies he exercised himself by long journeys on
foot, bareheaded, in the heat of the sun, sleeping upon the ground,
and living upon vegetables and water.
As an intimate knowledge of Arabic was the most important of
all acquirements, our traveller was instructed to proceed in the
first instance to Syria, where at the same time that he studied the
language in one of its purest schools, he might acquire a habitude
of Oriental manners at a distance from those countries which were to
be the scene of his researches, and consequently without much risque
of being afterwards recognised. After a stay of two years in Syria,
he was instructed to proceed to Cairo, from whence, accompanying the
Fezzan caravan to Mourzouk by the same route traversed by Horneman,
he was directed to make that town the point of his departure for
the interior countries.
On the 2d of March, 1809, Burckhardt sailed from Cowes on board of a
merchant ship, proceeding with convoy to the Mediterranean, and he
arrived at Malta in the middle of April, from whence he addressed
two letters to Sir Joseph Banks, of which the following are extracts:
_Extract of a letter dated Malta, April 22,_ 1809.
You will be much interested in hearing that at this moment an
attempt is making to explore the Interior of Africa; and that I have,
unknowingly, entered upon my expedition as rival to a gentleman who
is probably by this time in the scene of action. I was allowed the
perusal of a letter from Dr. Seetzen to Mr. Barker, who is a merchant
of Malta, and brother to the British Consul at Aleppo. Dr. Seetzen
is a German physician, who was sent five or six years ago by the
Duke of Saxe-Gotha into the Levant, to collect manuscripts and
Eastern curiosities. He has resided for a considerable length of
time at Constantinople, at Smyrna, at Aleppo, at Damascus, and
for the last eighteen months at Cairo, from whence his letter to
Mr. Barker is dated on the 9th of February last. After remarking that
he had sent off from Cairo to Gotha a collection of fifteen hundred
manuscripts and three thousand different objects of antiquity, he
informs Mr. Barker that he is waiting for the next caravan to set
out for Suez; that he means to go down the eastern coast of the
Red Sea, and then entering Africa to the southward of the line,
to explore its interior parts. Such are his expressions.
The late Bey of Tripoli is at present a fugitive at Malta: he is a
much respected old man; his name Akhmed Karamaly: five or six years
ago he was dispossessed of his throne by his brother, the present
reigning Bey. I take Akhmed to be the Bey mentioned in Horneman’s
letters. He has at length come to a compromise with his brother, who
has ceded to him the province of Derna, and promises not to molest
him there, provided he keeps quiet himself; and Akhmed is now going
to take possession of his new territory. I had never heard before
that Derna was a dependency of Tripoli; the country was generally,
I think, supposed to be inhabited by free tribes of Arabs. It is
much to be regretted that the whole extent of that coast, from
Mesurata to Derna, and almost as far as Alexandria, should still
remain unsurveyed; no accurate soundings have been taken along the
shore, and its inland parts, even those nearest the sea, are totally
unknown. I am assured that there are three safe anchoring places
between Derna and Alexandria; the harbour of Bomba,[1] formed by
an island lying across the bay, is particularly spoken of as able
to contain almost any number of ships and of any size. When the
French fleet, under Admiral Gantheaume victualled Corfu last year,
and escaped the vigilance of Lord Collingwood’s cruising squadrons,
they were hid for some time, with their fore and top masts struck,
behind the island of Bomba, and were passed unnoticed. The Malta
pilots are perfectly well acquainted with all the inlets of the
coast, but their intelligence is little to be depended upon, because
the safety of many of their privateers depends upon an exclusive
knowledge of that part of the Mediterranean. An English traveller
might, under the protection of the governor of Malta, and of the
new sovereign of Derna, who is said to be very much attached to
this country, visit with great personal safety, the ancient site
of Berenice, Cyrene, and the gardens of the Hesperides.
Some account of the recent eruption of Mount Ætna has probably
already reached you; until you receive a detailed description of it,
even such a superficial account as I have received from different
quarters may perhaps prove acceptable to you. It was from the letter
of an English gentleman who was on the spot, that I obtained the
following account.
The time of the first eruption is not mentioned, but on the 27th
of March, Messina was covered with ashes and cinders early in the
morning. The children said it rained black snow. No earthquake seems
to have been felt. A new crater, approaching in size to that of the
Monti Rossi, had been formed; and in the neighbourhood of it, seven
or eight small ones; they lie in the direction of Lingua-grossa,
about three or four miles from that place, and at an equal distance
from Castiglione. On the other side of the mountain, over Nicolosi
and over Randazzo, two other craters have opened; the old crater
at the summit was also smoking, so that the whole mountain seems
to have been in combustion. The principal stream of lava took the
slope towards Franca Villa and Castiglione; its breadth varied,
according to the shape of the country, from twenty yards to one
mile. On the steepest part where the lava was most liquid, it
flowed between three and four miles an hour; at other places, and
particularly where it approached the vineyards of Franca Villa, its
rate was only about fifty yards during the same space of time. As it
ran down a very woody country, the breaking down of the forest and
its ingulphing in the fiery waves are described as a most sublime
spectacle. On the 12th of April the eruption had nearly subsided,
but the inhabitants, for whose relief the English had raised a
subscription, were in dread of new eruptions.
_Extract of a letter dated Malta, 22nd May,_ 1809.
I am proceeding from hence to Aleppo as an Indian Mohammedan
merchant, the supposed bearer of dispatches from the East India
Company to Mr. Barker, British Consul, and the Company’s well known
Agent at Aleppo. As such I am recommended to the British Consul at
Cyprus, a Greek; and as such I shall find means to excuse my present
irregularity of speech and manners. I shall escape the exaction of
the custom-house officers, be protected on the road, even by the
country authorities, and shall soon be lost in the crowds of Aleppo.
During my stay here, I have succeeded in equipping myself thoroughly
in the Oriental fashion. The dress I have taken is somewhat Syrian,
yet sufficiently differing from the real Syrian costume, to shew
that I have no wish of passing for a native. I have practised as
much as was in my power the speaking of Arabic, and have reason
to believe that none of my secrets have transpired. I have lived
out of the way of intruders, and of being taken notice of, in the
lodgings of Lieutenant Corner of the navy, Harbour-master, to whom,
as well to Mr. Chapman, the Public Secretary, and Mr. Peter Lee,
I am under infinite obligations for the help and advice which
they have given me. Sir Alexander Ball has been very kind to me
upon every occasion, and seemed much interested in the success of
my travels. Circumstances would not allow me often to call at the
palace, which his friendly and instructive conversation, whenever
I did call, rendered a matter of great regret to me. (...)
A singular misrepresentation prevails in Europe respecting this
island, namely, that the greater part of the soil is imported from
Sicily; and it has even been said, that by these importations the
soil is completely renewed every ten years. I believe it would be
difficult to produce a single instance of earth having been brought
over from Sicily. To make the soft and friable limestone, of which
the island consists, fit for agriculture, they break through it to
the depth of twelve or fifteen feet. A sort of rough cistern from
six to eight feet high, often running under the whole length of the
field, is then constructed with part of the stones which have been
taken out; large fissures are found in the rocks full of earth;
this is taken out, and is sufficient to cover the cistern to the
height of four or five feet; the rest of the stones are used for
buildings, and to construct a wall round the field, which prevents
the soil from being washed away by the torrents of rain in the
rainy season, at the same time that it shelters the fig and olive
trees planted within the wall from the violence of the wind. The
whole island is covered with these enclosed fields, whose soil is
very fertile. The mistaken notion alluded to, may arise perhaps
from the following circumstances. Ships and boats coming here from
Sicily often take in ballast at that island, consisting of sand,
mixed perhaps with some earth, which, when they arrive here, they
are obliged to carry to a particular part of the harbour, to prevent
its being thrown overboard and choaking the anchorage. Or perhaps
the frequent importation of terra puzzolana, which is in common
use to make cement, and which when landed may have been mistaken
for earth, may have given rise to the assertion.
The government of Malta is at this moment a curious mixture of
English and Maltese authority. As yet the island does not belong to
England. The islanders having, with the assistance of Sir Alexander
Ball, who was then a captain, obliged the French garrison at Valetta
to surrender, applied to the British government for assistance in
the further defence of their island, against the attempts that might
be made by the French, and the Knights; and they offered in return,
to give up the government and the revenue.
In consequence of this proposal, Sir Alexander was sent to them
soon afterwards, as his Majesty’s Civil Commissioner. After the
peace of Amiens, when the island was to be restored to the Order,
he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of the
Grand Master. The Court however never resumed its existence, though
it is still nominally recognised; all the English resident here,
excepting of course the military, are judged by Maltese laws and
courts of justice, at the head of which is a Maltese president, but
the decisions are submitted to the approbation of the civil governor,
who in capital cases may reprieve the criminal. All civil situations,
except three or four, appointed from home, are in the patronage of
the governor, but are exclusively held by natives. It is by this
policy, and by totally excluding military law, that the hearts of
the people have been gained. It may well be worth while to do so,
for the Maltese are an independent high spirited people, however
they may have been represented by the Knights. In the time of their
rising against the French, they formed a well disciplined corps of
15,000 men, the greater part of whom were expert sharp-shooters.
The port of Valetta has lately been declared a free port, and
this will render it for a long time to come the centre of trade
from Gibraltar as far as Odessa. The numerous Greek traders find
themselves better protected here than in their own islands. Here are
no greedy custom-house officers nor interested kadis to share their
profits, but they find that justice is dealt to them with the same
equity as to the first London merchants, and that even the England
home trade does not enjoy greater privileges than their own. The
island of the Archipelago which sends out the greatest number of
ships is Ydra; they are well built, armed and manned.
Government monopolizes the corn trade of the island, and engages
in return to sell the corn at a fixed price. A supply for two or
three years consumption for the whole population is always kept in
the fortress.
The former Pasha of Tripoli, whom I spoke of in my last letter, is
gone to Derna, under convoy of a brig which Sir Alexander sent with
him. His ship was moored for a whole day close under my window,
which afforded me a fortunate opportunity of prying unobserved
into the Moors’ private manners, and behaviour to each other;
and even the short history of one day became very instructive to me.
You may well conceive that I avoided all intercourse with these
persons from Barbary. I often met parties of them in the streets,
but the “Salem aleik” given and returned, was all that passed
between us. The trade between Malta and Barbary, especially that with
Tripoli and Tunis, acquires daily more vigour and stability. Even
the English merchants begin to enter into it; hitherto the Moors
and the Maltese have chiefly had it in their hands. The Tunisians,
besides bartering in the Mediterranean for themselves, are also
shippers for others, and enterprising smugglers with the enemy’s
ports. During my passage from Gibraltar, being above six miles to
the westward of Cape Toro in Sardinia, five Tunisian vessels passed
in the night close to our ship, standing right over for the coast
of France. Our Commodore was not near enough to see them, nor was
it thought advisable to make any signals.
It happens rather unfortunately, that a Swiss regiment in the English
service is in garrison here, to many of the officers of which I am
personally known: this has made me very cautious in going abroad,
and now, after a seven weeks residence, I have the satisfaction to
find that I have succeeded in passing unknown, and unnoticed. The
great intercourse between the Moorish merchants and Malta, made it
absolutely necessary for me to keep my travelling plans very secret.
The next intelligence which the Association received from their
traveller was a detailed account of his progress from Malta to
Aleppo, in a letter dated from the latter place on the 2d of October,
1809. The following copious extract contains all the most interesting
parts of it.
I have already had the honour to inform you, that I had settled
at Malta with a Greek, for my passage to Cyprus on board his
ship. A few hours before my departure, the captain called upon me
to tell me that the owner of the ship had changed his mind as to
its destination, that he himself had been ordered to go to Tripoly,
but that a friend of his, whom at the same time he introduced to me,
was on the point of sailing in his stead for Cyprus, and that he had
already put my baggage on board this other ship. Though displeased
with so preremptory a proceeding, I had no objection to change my
conveyance, both captains being known to Mr. Lee; but the very moment
I was embarking, the new captain told me that he was not quite sure
whether he should touch at Cyprus, his ship being properly bound for
Acre. I had now the option to wait at Malta, perhaps another month
or two, for an opportunity for Cyprus or the coast of Syria, or to
run the chance of disembarking at a place where there was no person
whatever to whom I could apply for advice or protection. Luckily an
Arab of Acre, then at Malta, happened to be known to Mr. Barker,
jun.; in half an hour’s time a letter for a merchant at Acre,
with another, in case of need, for the Pasha, were procured, and
I embarked and sailed the same morning, in the hope of finding,
when arrived at Acre, a passage for Tripoly (Syria), or for
Latikia. However, we were no sooner out of sight of the island,
than it was made known to me that the real destination of the ship
was the coast of Caramania, that the captain had orders to touch
first at the port of Satalia, then at that of Tarsus; and that if
grain could not be purchased at an advantageous price at either
of these places, in that case only he was to proceed to Acre. My
remonstrances with the captain would have been vain: nothing was
left to me but to cultivate his good graces, and those of my fellow
travellers, as the progress of my journey must depend greatly upon
their good offices. The passengers consisted, to my astonishment,
of a rich Tripolitan merchant, who owned part of the ship, two other
Tripolines, and two Negroe slaves. I introduced myself amongst them
as an Indian Mohammedan merchant, who had been from early years in
England, and was now on his way home; and I had the good fortune to
make my story credible enough to the passengers, as well as to the
ship’s company. During the course of our voyage numerous questions
were put to me relative to India, its inhabitants, and its language,
which I answered as well as I could: whenever I was asked for a
specimen of the Hindu language, I answered in the worst dialect of
the Swiss German, almost unintelligible even to a German, and which,
in its guttural sounds, may fairly rival the harshest utterance of
Arabic. Every evening we assembled upon deck to enjoy the cooling
sea breeze, and to smoke our pipes. While one of the sailors was
amusing his companions with story-telling, I was called upon to
relate to my companions the wonders of the farthest east; of the
Grand Mogul, and the riches of his court: of the widows in Hindostan
burning themselves: of the Chinese, their wall and great porcelane
tower, &c. &c. The Tripolitan merchant, in his turn, regaled us
with the wonders of Soudan, of one nation which is in continual
warfare with their neighbours, of a nation of speaking sheep, of
another of necromancers, who lately defeated a whole army which
the King of Bornou had sent against them, &c. &c. Still there was
something instructive in his tales, as I learnt with certainty that
the yearly caravan intercourse between Fezzan and Tripoly is still
uninterrupted; in February 1809, a caravan from thence had arrived at
Tripoly; but the pilgrim caravans from Fezzan to Cairo and Mekka have
suffered greatly by the irruptions of the Wahabi. In a short time I
got upon a very friendly footing with the Tripolines. I had taken
but a scanty provision of eatables on board, consisting of bread,
rice, oil, dates, vegetables, and coffee. After the second day,
the wealthy Moor would not allow me to mess by myself; he insisted
upon my joining his mess, which was plentifully supplied with all
sorts of Barbary dainties. In return for his hospitality, I was not
backward with my manual labour whenever he wanted it. One day we
cleared one of his coffee bags of its rotten beans, to prepare it
for being shewn at Satalia to the buyers as a sample of the whole
stock: another day we killed a sheep, and made Barbary sausages
and Kuskusey; and among other things, we refitted the foremast,
which had been carried away off Candia. Provided there was something
to divert the passengers’ thoughts from my person and affairs,
I was contented. We made Candia on the 15th; sailed on the 15th and
16th along the southern coast, about ten leagues distant from it:
saw on the 17th Rhodes, at a great distance: entered the next day
the bay of Satalia, and anchored on the 19th in the port of Satalia.
The bay is an inlet into the mountains of Caramania, which surround
it on the east and west side. Towards the north, where a cliff
about fifty feet high overhangs the bay, the country is level. The
port of Satalia is at the foot of the cliff, in the bottom of the
bay. The mountains on the western side, which we passed very near,
are of considerable height. Their highest ridge was on the top
covered with snow. I observed one of those mountains apparently
higher than the rest, whose foot touched the sea, on the sides
of which the snow was sparingly spread down to one third of the
mountain’s height; and this was on the 18th of June. They are all
barren; their shape and whole appearance is much the same as that
of the African mountains in the Straits of Gibraltar. The town of
Satalia is built partly upon the cliff, partly in the plain which
the cliff terminates; its gardens extend to about three or four
miles along the rocky shore. The town is separated from the port
and the few buildings which surround the landing place, by a wall
constructed on the top of the cliff; a narrow passage leads from
the beach up to the town, the gate of which is regularly shut at
sunset. The entrance of the harbour seems to have been defended
formerly by two towers, the ruins of which are still extant. The
inner harbour is small; a Turkish guard ship, four Arab vessels
from Damiat, five or six small country sailing boats, and our own
ship, crowded the whole space between the two ruined towers. There
is good anchorage in the larger outer bay, but no shelter against
the southerly winds. Two fine streams of spring water descend the
cliff on both sides of the landing place. As soon as we approached
the harbour a Turkish police boat came alongside of us, and the
Tripoline immediately went with the officer on shore. After we had
come to anchor we were informed that the plague was in the town,
and that the watch ship moored near us had two sick on board; and
though nobody had died in the town within the last fortnight, yet
all the principal Christian and Turkish merchants had left their
town houses, and were still living in their gardens. Of course
our captain would not allow any body to go on shore, and pressed
the Tripoline to return on board; but the latter having already
recovered once from the plague, thought himself quite secure from
any second attack, and treated the captain’s remonstrances very
lightly. He remained four days on shore, trading all the while for
his own account, without finding grain to purchase for the ship’s
cargo. During that time I went once on shore to see two bullocks
killed and weighed, which had been bought for the ship’s company;
we purchased besides some other fresh provisions, the whole at
very low prices: the two bullocks at fifty-five piastres, fowls
at eight paras, or about two-pence halfpenny each; seven eggs
for one penny, &c. &c. The Turks laughed much at the captain’s
continually warning them off from our persons, (yet it seems that
both at Satalia and here at Aleppo, the more prudent amongst them
adopt measures of precaution against the plague. I am told that
at Smyrna also they have followed the Franks’ example). On the
evening of the 23d, having sold for his private account all the
merchandize he had on board, the Tripoline, accompanied by several
Turks, made his re-appearance along side our ship, and demanded
forthwith to be taken on board. A very ridiculous scene then took
place. The captain required that he should undress and wash himself
in the sea, and that his clothes should undergo a similar operation;
the Moor, on his side, insisted on washing only part of his clothes
and his body; and all his Turkish friends were of the same opinion;
(an aged Musselman thinks it a great shame to expose his body naked
except in the bath.) The contention lasted upwards of half an hour:
it being now dark he was at last prevailed upon to jump into the sea,
but nothing could persuade him to allow his clothes to be washed,
for fear of having them spoiled; they were afterwards suspended
at the rigging of the foremast, that the air might purify them,
and he recovered them after a three days quarantine. Our captain
thought he had now done his duty. He told me that upon his return
to Malta he should think himself justified in taking the usual
oath, that he had had no communication with any infected place;
and instead of a three months quarantine, which the ship ought
properly to undergo, he will only have to perform a quarantine of
forty days, like all other ships which come from healthy parts of
the Levant. We left Satalia the same evening. Satalia is governed
by a Pasha: the greater half of the population consists of Greeks,
who have got almost all the commerce into their hands. Till three
or four years ago there was a French Consul resident in the town;
in consequence of an avanie practised upon a merchant under his
protection he left it, and no European power has since appointed
a Consul at this place. The export trade consists chiefly in corn,
oil, and cotton. The country boats trade to Cyprus and the coast of
Syria. The Arabs of Damiat and Alexandria bring rice, Mocha coffee,
and sugar; those who were then lying in the harbour purchased from
us with great eagerness some coarse English pocket handkerchiefs.
After we had left Satalia, we sailed for three days along the coast
of Caramania, and kept our course constantly ten leagues distant
from the shore. The chain of snowy mountains seems to continue in a
direction parallel with the shore. At the foot of these mountains
I observed every evening thunder clouds and lightning; during our
stay in the port of Satalia we were twice refreshed by heavy showers,
though it was now the season when it very seldom rains in other parts
of the Levant. I suppose that the vicinity of the snowy mountains,
which rapidly condense the copious vapours arising from the heated
earth, give rise to these clouds. On the 26th, late at night, we
anchored in the roads of Mersin, a collection of villages so called,
situated to the west of Tarsus, about fourteen miles distant from
it. The next morning some of us went with the Tripoline on shore,
where we found a party of about twenty Turkmans, encamped under
and around a single tent; they were selling grain, with which the
buyers loaded several camels. After a short parley the chief of the
party led us to his village, about two miles distant. We remained
there the whole day in the chief’s house, couched upon carpets,
which were spread upon a terrace sheltered from the sun by the
shade of two large mulberry trees. We returned to our ship in the
evening; and spent the next four days in the same manner with these
hospitable people.
An Aga is at the head of this Turkman tribe; he commands about
twenty-five villages, over each of which he appoints a chief
to collect the revenue, which is equally divided between the
Chief and the Aga. Many of these chiefs are Greeks, who by their
long residence with the Turkmans have completely adopted their
manners. Their dress is the same, excepting the red cap, which the
Greeks do not wear; and but for that mark it would be impossible for
a stranger to distinguish them from their masters. The Turkmans are
continually moving about on horseback from one village to another;
they are tolerably well mounted and well armed, each with a gun,
two pistols, a poignard, and a sabre. They never go but armed, but
it seems to be chiefly from ostentation, for they live at peace
with the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, have nothing
to fear from straggling Arab tribes, and have no opportunity of
attacking travellers or caravans, which never pass this way. They
occupy the whole plain, which extends in length from Cape Bajarre
to beyond Tarsus; its breadth extends from the sea to the lowest
ridge of the mountains of Caramania, and varies from four to five or
ten miles. This plain, at least as much as I saw of it in my way to
Tarsus, is for the greater part sown with barley and wheat; where it
is left uncultivated, numerous herds of buffaloes and fine cattle
feed upon the wild grass. Wild capers grow in great abundance. I
found in several rivulets small tortoises, and amongst the ruins
of deserted houses we got here and there sight of a zerboa. The
Tripoline having made his purchase of grain from the Aga, the
latter sent on board our ship three fat sheep in earnest of his
engagements. In six days the ship was to begin loading. The Tripoline
being at leisure during this time, I persuaded him to go with me to
Tarsus, in search of a further conveyance for me by sea or land;
one of the other Tripolines was likewise desirous of looking out
for a passage for Beirout; the excursion was therefore soon agreed
upon. We formed a small caravan, and set out on horseback on the
morning of the 30th. The road from our anchoring place to Tarsus
crosses the above mentioned plain in an easterly direction: we
passed several small rivulets which empty themselves into the sea,
and which, to judge from the size of their beds, swell in the rainy
season to considerable torrents. We had rode about an hour, when I
saw at half an hour’s distance to the north of our route, the ruins
of a large castle, upon a hill of a regular shape in the plain; half
an hour further towards Tarsus, at an equal distance from our road,
upon a second tumulus, were ruins resembling the former; a third
insulated hillock, close to which we passed midway of our route,
was overgrown with grass, without any ruins or traces of them. I did
not see in the whole plain any other elevations of ground but the
three just mentioned. Not far from the first ruins, stands in the
plain an insulated column. Large groups of trees shew from afar the
site of Tarsus. We passed a small river before we entered the town,
larger than those we had met on the road. The western outer gate of
the town, through which we entered, is of ancient structure; it is a
fine arch, the interior vault of which is in perfect preservation:
on the outside are some remains of a sculptured frieze. I did not
see any inscriptions. To the right and left of this gateway are
seen the ancient ruined walls of the city, which extended in this
direction farther than the town at present does. From the outer
gateway, it is about four hundred paces to the modern entrance of
the city; the intermediate ground is filled up by a burying ground
on one side of the road, and several gardens with some miserable
huts on the other. We led our horses to the Khan of the muleteers,
and went ourselves to the Khan of the merchants, where we found
tolerable accommodation, the brother of the Tripoline being known
here. Our room was soon filled with all the foreign merchants who
lived in the Khan, and the principal town merchants; we sold to
them a few silk handkerchiefs and coarse cambrick, and were plagued
with their company for the whole remaining part of the day. The
foreign merchants were a party of Kahines, several Aleppines, and
some Constantinopolitans. In the evening the alley at the gate of
the Khan was transformed into a dark coffee room, where every body
went to smoke a pipe. As we were strangers, we were greeted at our
entrance with the usual politeness of Orientals towards travellers;
“Peace be with you, you are welcome among us, how are you? God send
you a happy evening, &c. &c.” were compliments which every one whom
we approached addressed to us. We were treated by several merchants
with pipes, coffee, ice-water, and Bour, which latter drink is
water mixed with the juice of liquorice. The ice is brought from the
mountains three days journey distant, at the price of three piastres
for about five pounds. A tolerable singer sung some Turkish airs,
and accompanied himself upon a sort of mandoline. Many questions
were addressed to me about my person and affairs: my neighbour the
Tripoline took the trouble of answering them to the satisfaction of
the company. “Allah Kerim,” “God is great,” was their usual
exclamation at hearing that I came from so far. We retired rather
late: for my part I had been much entertained with the party. We went
to sleep before the door of our room, upon a covered terrace built
of wood, which runs along the interior circuit of the Khan. Before
sun rise every body was up; some of the merchants descended into
the court yard to perform at the fountain the ablutions which
are prescribed to the Musselman after his night’s rest. But in
this part of their religious rites, as well as in the performance
of their daily prayers, I observed much indifference amongst the
plurality of the Turks I saw here, as well as of those with whom I
travelled afterwards from Suedieh to Aleppo. Amongst the latter were
many who, during eight days, did not pray once: even two Hadjis, who
had performed the Mekka pilgrimage, were of that number. Some would
pray once, others twice a day, before sun rise, and after sun set;
only three or four of the caravan were strict in regularly chaunting
the three daily prayers, to which number the Koran limits the duty
of travellers; but I did not find that more respect or deference
was paid to them than to the others.
We remained in the Khan that morning, and quitted the town at noon
to return to our ship, leaving the Tripoline behind to settle our
affairs. The little I saw of Tarsus did not allow me to estimate its
extent; the streets through which I passed were all built of wood,
and badly; some well furnished bazars, and a large and handsome
mosque in the vicinity of the Khan, make up the whole register
of curiosities which I am able to relate of Tarsus. Upon several
maps Tarsus is marked as a sea town: this is incorrect; the sea is
above three miles distant from it. On our return home we started
in a S. W. direction, and passed, after two hours and a half’s
march, Casal, a large village, half a mile distant from the sea
shore, called the Port of Tarsus, because vessels freighted for
Tarsus usually come to anchor in its neighbourhood. From thence
turning towards the west, we arrived at our ship at the end of
two hours. The merchants of Tarsus trade principally with the
Syrian coast and Cyprus: Imperial ships arrive there from time to
time to load grain. The land trade is of very little consequence,
as the caravans from Smyrna arrive very seldom. There is no land
communication at all between Tarsus and Aleppo, which is at ten
journeys (caravan travelling) distant from it. The road has been
rendered unsafe, especially in later times, by the depredations
of Kutshuk Ali, a savage rebel, who has established himself in the
mountains to the north of Alexandretta. Tarsus is governed by an Aga,
who I have reason to believe is almost independent. The French have
an agent there, who is a rich Greek merchant.
On the following day the Tripoline rejoined us; he had taken, to
my great satisfaction, a passage for me on board a Greek sailing
boat from Tripoli of Syria.[2] That vessel was at anchor at Casal,
and according to its master’s affirmation was bound for Latikia,
which was exactly the place where I wished to land. I left our
ship on the second of July; in taking leave of the Tripoline I took
off my sash, a sort of red cambric shawl, of Glasgow manufacture,
which he had always much admired, thinking it to be Indian stuff,
and presented it to him as a keepsake or reward for his good
services. He immediately unloosened his turban, and twisted the
shawl in its stead round his head: making me many professions
of friendship, and assuring me of his hospitality, if ever the
chance of mercantile pursuits should again engage me to visit the
Mediterranean, and perhaps Tripoli in Barbary. The time I hope
may come, when I shall be enabled to put his assurances to the
test. (I think I forgot to mention, that the Tripoline was much
skilled in languages, which enabled me freely to converse with
him; besides his native Arabic tongue, he spoke Turkish, Greek,
and Italian.) The vessel on board of which I now embarked, was an
open boat with three masts, about thirty-five feet long, and nine
broad, much resembling the representation of the Germs of the Nile,
which Bruce and other travellers have given. These vessels are very
common on the Syrian coast; where they are called Jackdur. I had
engaged to pay for my passage twenty-five piastres, at my arrival
in Latikia, but was no sooner with my baggage on board, than the
master informed me that he meant to proceed to Antakia (Antiochia)
not to Latikia, and that I was at liberty to return to my own ship,
if I did not choose to go his way. I thus found myself duped a
second time, though I had most distinctly agreed for my passage to
Latikia. However, there being no other conveyance to the coast of
Syria at hand, I resolved to remain on board. I was afraid of being
kept in these parts, until after the return of my old ship for Malta;
when I should have nobody to recommend me to those, in whose company
I might continue my way; I knew moreover, that there was a brisk
intercourse between Antakia and Aleppo. There had not been for some
time, any opportunity from Tarsus to the opposite coast. A crowd of
passengers came therefore on board. I counted fifty-six men and women
lying upon deck, besides six sailors, and six horses in the ship’s
hold. We had each just as much space allowed, as the body covered,
and remained in this state two nights and one day. In general the
passage is performed within the twenty-four hours.
On the morning of the 5th, we entered the bay of Suedieh, which is
formed on one side by the promontory called Ras Khanzir, on the other
by another projecting rocky mountain; both are the extremities of
chains of barren rocks, which I conceive to be the remotest branches
of the Libanus. These mountains come down to the water’s edge on
both sides of the bay; in the bottom of it, where the Orontes now
called Aasi empties itself into the sea, begins a level country
of four or five miles in width and length. It is to the whole of
this tract of level land, which contains several villages, that the
name of Suedieh is applied, though that appellation is also given
sometimes exclusively to the port.
The wind being favourable we entered the river, and anchored,
after half an hour’s sailing through its sinuosities, at Mina,
the port of Antakia, where the ship was laid close to the shore,
where the elevated banks of the river form a kind of quay. Mina
is a miserable village built close to the river’s right bank,
consisting of about seven or eight houses, the best of which serves
as a place of residence to the Aga, whom the Aga of Antakia appoints
to receive the duties upon exports and imports. Higher up than Mina
the Aasi is not navigated; the navigation is rendered impracticable
by rocks, though there is plenty of water. Here, at the last stage
of its course, it is a fine slow-flowing river, much about the
size of the Thames beyond Richmond bridge; its waters are muddy,
and this being the case in the month of June, three or four months
after the rainy season, I suppose they can hardly be clear during
any other part of the year.
Arrived at Suedieh, I found myself very uncomfortably situated. I had
lost my friend the Tripoline, and though he had warmly recommended
me to the master of the Jackdur, yet I found the crew of the vessel
to be thievous and treacherous; they spread the rumour amongst the
people of Suedieh that I was a Frank, and as the ship was immediately
to return to Tarsus, I expected to find myself completely at the
mercy of the inhabitants; amongst whom, as well as amongst the crew,
there was nobody who understood the Italian, or, as they called it,
the Latin tongue. I remained on board the ship that day and the
following; and was bargaining for a horse and mules to take me to
Antakia, when, to my great satisfaction, a caravan from Aleppo came
down to the coast with Indian goods; I soon got acquainted with
the muleteers, and made my bargain with one of them for the whole
journey, from Suedieh to Aleppo. He first asked fifty piastres per
Kantar قنطار (about five-hundred pounds English weight). I
got him down to thirty, and was afterwards informed at Aleppo,
that I should not have paid more than twenty-five. It is a great
point gained by travellers in these countries, if they can make with
their mule or camel drivers the usual bargain of the country. If the
muleteer overcharges them, he makes a boast of it wherever he goes,
the traveller is immediately known to be a person little conversant
with the customs of the country, and he may be sure to be dealt with
accordingly, in every respect, wherever the mule-driver accompanies
him. I was helping the servants to distribute my baggage into mules
loads, and to tie it round with cords, when the Aga sent for me. I
found him smoking his pipe in a miserable room, surrounded by his
people; entering the room I pulled off my slippers, and sat down
on the floor before him. I shall here remark that it is a custom
most strictly adhered to, never to sit down upon a carpet, or even
a mat, and in presence of a man of rank, not even upon the bare
floor, without pulling off the slippers, and if a person has but
one pair on his feet, which is the Moggrebyn and the Greek fashion,
he must sit down bare footed.