was; he answered me, by making a sign with his thumb and forefinger,
like a person counting money. I had several chests for the British
Consul at Aleppo with me, and had also marked my own baggage with
the Consul’s name, thinking by these means to prevent its being
examined. He asked me what the chests contained, I expressed my
ignorance about it, telling him only, that I thought there was a sort
of Frank drink (beer), and some eatables, which I had been charged
with at Malta, for the Consul, on my way home. He sent one of his
people to look over their contents; a bottle of beer had been broken
in loading, the man tasted it by putting his finger into the liquor,
and found it abominably bitter: such was his report to the Aga. As
a sample of the eatables, he produced a potatoe which he had taken
out of one of the barrels, and that noble root excited a general
laughter in the room, “It is well worth while,” they said,
“to send such stuff to such a distance.” The Aga tasted of
the raw potatoe, and spitting it out again, swore at the Frank’s
stomach which could bear such food. The other trunks were now left
unexamined; and I was asked fifteen piastres for the permission to
depart with them. I gave him ten piastres, and received from him a
sort of receipt for that money, because I told him that without it,
the Consul would never believe that I had really paid down the money
as duty upon his effects. The Aga was very high in his expressions,
talking of his grandeur, how little he cared about the Sultan, and
still less for any Consul, &c. He laughed a great deal at my Arabic,
which certainly was hardly intelligible; but he did not much trouble
himself with questions about my affairs, his mind seeming now solely
taken up by the hope of extorting money from the Aleppine merchants,
and so I left him, and soon afterwards, about an hour before sunset,
departed from Suedieh, with part of the caravan, the rest intending
to pass the night there. The road from Suedieh to Antakia crosses the
plain for about one hour’s distance. On the right runs in a deep
bed a branch of the Aasi, and forms in this place several islands;
on your left extends the well cultivated plain of Suedieh.
As we approached the mountains which inclose the plain on the western
side, we passed several extensive and regularly planted orchards,
belonging to the Aga of Antakia; the road now lay through lanes
thickly overhung on both sides with shrubs, and I was entering
a country famous for the beauties of its landscape scenery, when
the sun shed its last rays. We continued our way in the dark for
about one hour and a half longer, and halted near a rivulet, at the
entrance of the hills, where men and horses were fed: we remained
there till about two hours after midnight.
From thence the road leads over a mountainous and rocky ground,
abounding with trees and springs. At the break of day we passed a
village and a considerable rivulet flowing towards our right; one
hour’s march further another rivulet; the country then opens,
and the traveller finds himself upon the ridge of a high plain,
encompassed by the two beforementioned chains of mountains, from
which he descends into the valley which the Aasi waters, and where
he finds Antakia very picturesquely situated, near the foot of
the southern chain of mountains, surrounded with gardens and well
sown fields. It was yet early in the morning when we passed the
river and entered the town; a strong built bridge leads over the
river immediately into the town gate. I was stopped at the gate,
and asked for one of the two pistols, which I wore in my girdle; I
had told the people of the caravan that they belonged to the English
Consul. My muleteer assured me that the pistol would be restored,
I therefore gave it up voluntarily, well convinced it would have
been forced from me against my will. The Aga’s man brought it back
in the evening, I was asked two piastres for the returning of it;
they had taken the flint, and the powder from the pan. Arrived at
Antakia, the muleteer led his mules to the Khan of the muleteers;
I might have gone to the Khan of the merchants, but having no body
to accompany me and introduce me there, I preferred staying with
the muleteers, whose way of living I also wished to see. The Khan
is a large court yard built in a triangular shape: the basis of the
triangle is distributed on both sides of the entrance door into
small dark cells, which serve as magazines for the goods, and as
places to cook in. On another side are the stables; and the whole
length of the third side is taken up by a terrace built of stone,
about four feet elevated from the ground, and eight feet broad,
where the muleteers eat, sleep, and pray, that side of the Khan being
built in the direction of Mecca. In the midst of the yard is a large
water bason, which affords drink to men and beasts indiscriminately.
My entrance into the Khan excited considerable curiosity, and the
little cell I took possession of was soon beset by troublesome
enquirers, who unanimously declared that I was a Frank come to the
country for evil purposes. I had nobody to take my part except my
muleteer, whose remonstrances in my behalf were soon lost in the
general cry of Djaour (infidel) raised by the other inhabitants of
the Khan and by the town’s people, who came to visit their friends.
Whenever I could get any of them to listen to me for half an hour,
I found means to appease them, but the town’s people did not even
condescend to speak to me, and I evidently saw that their plan was
to make religion a pretext, for practising an avanie upon me. My
property fortunately was mixed with that of the Consul; a spare
shirt and a carpet constituted my whole baggage; besides a pocket
purse, containing the money necessary for my daily expenses, I had
about twenty sequins hidden upon me. The Aga of Antakia sent his
Dragoman to get something out of me. This was a wretched Frank,
who pretended to be a Frenchman, but whom I should rather suppose
to be a Piemontese. I pretended complete ignorance of the French
language, he therefore asked me in Italian minutely about my affairs,
and how I could attempt to travel home without any money or goods,
to defray the expenses of the journey. I answered that I hoped the
Consul, in remuneration of my having carefully watched his effects,
would pay the expense of a camel from Aleppo to Bagdad, and that
at the latter place I was sure of finding friends to facilitate
my farther journey. When the man saw that nothing in my manners
betrayed my Frank origin, he made a last trial, and pulling my
beard a little with his hand, asked me familiarly “Why I had let
such a thing grow?” I answered him with a blow upon his face, to
convince the by-standing Turks, how deeply I resented the received
insult; and the laugh now turned against the poor Dragoman, who
did not trouble me any farther. I am at a loss to state how far I
succeeded in sustaining my assumed character; I thought that the
major part of the caravan people were gained over to my side, but
the town’s people were constant in their imprecations against
me. I had been flattered with an immediate departure for Aleppo,
but the caravan was detained four days in the Khan. During the whole
time of our stay, I spent the day time in the cell of the goods,
amusing myself with cooking our victuals; the town’s people,
though often assembled before the door of the room, never entered it;
in the evening the gates of the Khan were shut, and I then went to
sleep with the muleteers upon the terrace.
I was relieved from this unpleasant situation on the 10th, when it
was decided that the caravan should depart. The muleteers began
preparing for their departure by dividing the whole court into
squares of different sizes, by means of ropes, at the end of which
iron wedges are fastened, which are driven into the earth up to
their heads; each muleteer takes one of these squares proportionate
in size to the number of his beasts; and loads them in it. Though
the ropes are little more than one inch above ground, the animals
never move out of the square assigned to them, and thus great order
prevailed in the Khan, though it was dark when we loaded, and the
whole court crowded with beasts and bales. At halting places when
the beasts are fed, the same ropes are extended in front of them,
to prevent their getting amongst the baggage.
I cannot say much of Antakia, having seen nothing of it but the
streets through which I entered. It looks like a neat town, at least
in comparison to Tarsus: living is only half as dear as it is in
Aleppo. This circumstance, joined to the beauty of the surrounding
country, and the proximity of the sea would make it a desirable
place for Franks to live in, were it not for the fanaticism of its
inhabitants, who pride themselves upon being descendants from the
Osmanlis the conquerors of Syria. Last year at a tumult raised at
Suedieh, these Osmanlis murdered the Greek Aga of Suedieh with
his whole family, and a young French physician, who had come to
his house to cure his son. The Aga of Antakia is appointed by the
Grand Signior, and is independent of any Pasha.
We marched the whole night of the 10th over a plain country,
and reached early the next morning Hamsin, a village situated at
nine hours march from Antakia, on the right bank of the Orontes. We
passed the river in a ferry boat: its banks on both sides are about
forty feet high at this place; its breadth is near fifty yards,
the depth no where more than five feet. On a little eminence a
few hundred paces from the ground on the river’s side where we
encamped, rises a spring of excellent water; my companions however,
drank of the muddy water of the Orontes, in preference to taking the
trouble of filling their flasks at the spring. One of the merchants
had a tent with him, under the shade of which we passed the whole
day. In the evening the village youths kindled a large fire, and
amused themselves with music and dancing. The next day we passed a
chain of calcareous mountains planted here and there with olives;
on the top of one of these mountains lives a custom-house officer,
who exacted a toll from each individual, as it was said, in the name
of the Grand Signior. The descent on the eastern side is steep,
but the mules walked with the greatest firmness. In the valley
into which we descended lies the town of Ermenaz (ارمناز,)
watered by several streams. Though small, it is one of the best
towns in this part of Syria; its gardens are cultivated with great
care, and its inhabitants are industrious, because they are out of
the immediate reach of rapacious Pashas and Janisaries. They work a
glass manufacture which supplies Aleppo. The olives of the country
round Aleppo are, next to those of Tripoly, the best in Syria:
its grapes are likewise much esteemed. As we rode by, I saw lying
on the right hand side of the road near the town, a broken ancient
column of about four feet in diameter, and I was told afterwards
in Aleppo, that many like remains of antiquity are to be met with
in the neighbourhood of Ermenaz. At half an hour’s distance from
this latter place we again began to mount, and the path became
difficult and tiresome for the beasts, from the number of detached
rocks with which it is overspread. After nearly eight hours march
(meaning the whole day’s work), we descended into the eastern
plain of Syria, and encamped at the foot of the mountains, round a
large tree in the vicinity of a copious spring. Whenever the beasts
were unloaden, it was with much difficulty that I could prevent my
luggage from being thrown upon the ground. The caravan people in
this country, and I should suppose every where else in the East,
are accustomed to loads of bales of goods, which do not receive any
injury from letting them fall to the ground. The loads on each side
of the beast are tied together over its back, by a cord. Arrived
at the halting place, the first thing the muleteer does, is to go
from mule to mule to unloosen that cord; the loads then fall to the
ground. This mode of unloading, and the great carelessness of these
people, render the transport of many European commodities utterly
impracticable, without their being accompanied by a servant sent
along with them, for the express purpose of taking off the loads. A
Frank merchant of Aleppo received some years ago a load of Venetian
looking-glasses which were all dashed to pieces. Provided the chests
which contain the merchandize be entire, the muleteer thinks himself
free from responsibility. We were joined in the evening by some other
travellers, whose curiosity led them to new inquiries about my person
and affairs. None of my companions had till now found out any thing
which could have directly inculpated myself; they however kept a
strict watch over all my motions: being obliged at night to go aside,
two of the travellers last arrived followed me unseen, and pretended
afterwards to have observed some irregularities in the ablutions
necessary to be performed on such occasions; in consequence of which,
I was told that I was “Harām,” or in a forbidden unclean state,
and notwithstanding every thing I said to defend and excuse myself,
I found that from that time I had lost the good opinion of all my
companions. We marched the next day six hours, and halted at Mart
Mesrin, a village belonging to Ibrahim Pasha, who in the time of
Djezar was Pasha of Aleppo, afterwards Pasha of Damascus, and who
lives now in disgrace and poverty at this place, the whole appearance
of which makes it probable, that in a few years hence it will be
deserted by its inhabitants. The wide extended plain over which
we marched this day consists almost throughout of a fertile soil,
but without any trees, and in most places uncultivated, but where
a number of ruined and deserted villages, indicate that many parts
of it must have formerly been cultivated. Having been much plagued
during this whole day by my fellow travellers, and in the evening
also by the peasants, who had collected round the caravan; I swore
that I would not eat any more with any of them. This declaration
being somewhat in the Arab style, they were startled at it; and my
muleteer especially much pressed me to rejoin their mess; I assured
him that I would rather eat nothing and starve, than have any further
friendly dealings with men who professed themselves my friends
one day, and proved my enemies the next, (it should be observed
that this was the last stage of our journey, I therefore did not
run great risk in making good my words). The tract of country over
which we passed on the following day was similar in appearance to
that which we had seen on the preceding. The number of deserted and
ruined villages increased the nearer we approached Aleppo; we had
marched about eight hours when we discerned the castle of Aleppo,
at the sight of which the armed horsemen of the caravan set off
at a gallop, and repeatedly fired off their guns; the merchants
put themselves ahead of the caravan and after one hour’s march
farther, we entered the town. All merchandizes coming to Aleppo must
be taken to the custom-house Khan ترك خان; they are weighed
there to determine the amount of the sum due to the muleteer for
freight, and a duty must be paid for them to the Grand Signior,
which together with the taxation money of the Christians and Jews,
is the only branch of revenue which the Janissaries, the present
masters of the town, still allow the Porte to retain. The English
consular house is in that very Khan.
I was now arrived at Aleppo in a shape which entirely left it to my
option, either to continue in my disguise, or to avow my European
origin. After a long conversation on that subject with Mr. Barker,
I was convinced that it would better answer the purpose of my stay
in Aleppo to choose the latter, and my reasons for it were the
following: at the time I left England and Malta, I imagined that the
intercourse between Cairo and Aleppo was frequent, and that it might
easily happen, that Cairine merchants might see me here and recognise
me afterwards at home, or that travelling Aleppines who knew me
here, might afterwards see me again in Egypt. The departure of the
Syrian pilgrim caravan to Mecca, not having taken place for the
last three years, has almost annihilated the commercial intercourse
overland between the two countries. At the meeting of the Syrian
and African caravan near Mecca, Egyptian merchants used formerly
to join the former, and return with them to Damascus and Aleppo,
and vice versa; at present the little commerce carried on between
Cairo and Aleppo, is entirely in the hands of a few Turkish and
Greek houses at Tripoli, Latikia, and Alexandria, and the Egyptian
merchants themselves never come to Aleppo. Had I continued in my
disguise, and continued to live exclusively amongst the Turks,
opportunities would have frequently happened to put the veracity
of my story to the test. East Indians come from time to time to
Aleppo with the Bagdad caravan, and many of the Bagdad and Bassorah
merchants established at Aleppo have been in India. My person would
have been infinitely more noticed than it now is, if taking a shop
in the bazar, as I first intended, I should have exposed myself to
the curiosity of the whole town; I should have entirely foregone
the instruction to be derived from books and masters skilled in
the language; and moreover I have no doubt that the French Consul
residing here would have heard of my arrival, and have done every
thing to put my pursuits in a dubious light. These are the reasons
which convinced me, that for the present time it was more advisable
to appear in a shape which would preclude the intrusion of curious
inquirers; and afford more facility to my studies. I continue my
name of Ibrahim, and pass in my Turkish dress unnoticed in the
crowds of the street and the bazars. The Consul receives me at his
house as a travelling country merchant of his; and as it frequently
happens that people coming into the Levant change their names;
nobody wonders at my being called with an oriental name. I had
first my doubts whether my fellow caravan travellers might not
be over inquisitive here; but such of them as I have since met,
greeted me without further questions, and the government of the
city is now such, that a man picking a quarrel with me about what
I might have told him at Antakia, would only expose himself to be
fined for a sum of money by the Janissaries, the masters of the town,
for their trouble to settle the business with the Consul.
My plans for the present are to remain at Aleppo the whole of the
winter and part of next summer. I have been fortunate enough to find
a good and willing master of Arabic, and I hope to make progress in
the study of the literal as well as vulgar language. As soon as I
shall be able to express myself with some precision in the vulgar
dialect, and perfectly to understand it, I shall visit the Bedouin
Arabs in the Desert, and live with them some months. I can do this in
perfect security; and I have no doubt that you will approve of it,
as it will afford me the best opportunity of practising the manners
and becoming acquainted with the character of a class of people
who are the same, whether they over-run the deserts of Arabia or
those of Africa.
You need not be afraid that the history of my own person, which has
taken up so considerable a portion of the preceding pages, will any
more be exhibited before you at such a length. I thought it might be
of some interest to the Association, to see how far I was able to
succeed in making good my way to Aleppo in the disguise in which I
left London; unaided as I was by a knowledge of Eastern languages,
or a familiarity with Eastern manners. This trial has so far been
satisfactory to me, that, in the first place, I am persuaded that
nothing of my pursuits has transpired at Malta, which will always
be of material consequence to me; secondly, in being landed at a
remote corner of Syria, I have avoided the general intercourse of
a mercantile seaport, such as Acre, Beirout, Tripoly, or Latakia;
and finally, it has created within me the confidence that whenever
I may be able to call in support of a similar disguise, a fluent
utterance of Arabic, and a habitude of Oriental manners, I shall
easily find means to triumph over such obstacles as those I met
with in the Khan at Antakia.
A few days after my arrival at Aleppo, I was attacked by a strong
inflammatory fever which lasted a fortnight. The want of night’s
rest occasioned by the quantity of vermin which had collected upon
my person, principally during my stay in the Khan of Antakia, was,
as I thought, the cause of it. I have enjoyed perfect health since
that time, and the climate agrees with me better than I expected.
_Aleppo, October 2nd,_ 1809.
Mr. Burckhardt remained two years and a half in Syria, making daily
additions to his practical knowledge of the Arabic language, and
to his experience of the character of Orientals, and of Mohammedan
society and manners. His principal residence was at Aleppo. Having
assumed the name of Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah at Malta, he continued to
bear it in Syria; but apprehensive of not having yet had sufficient
experience, thoroughly to act the part of a Mussulman, and finding
no necessity for such a disguise at Aleppo, he was not studious to
conceal his European origin, and wore only such a Turkish dress,
as is often assumed in Syria by English travellers, less for
the sake of concealment than to avoid occasional insult. Thus he
had the benefit of an unmolested intercourse with the Mussulman
population of Aleppo, at the same time that he was not prevented
from openly accepting the friendship and protection of Mr. Barker,
the British Consul, nor under the necessity of denying himself the
social resources afforded by the houses of the European residents;
especially those of Mr. Barker, and of Mr. Masseyk, formerly Dutch
Consul. Of his obligations to the former of these gentlemen, he
omitted no opportunity of bearing testimony.
Besides two short tours which he made from Aleppo, he was absent
from thence in the year 1810, for six months, during which time
he visited Palmyra, remained three months at Damascus, and from
thence made two journeys into the neighbouring districts; one
through the Libanus and Anti-Libanus, and the other through the
unexplored country of the Haouran, or Auranitis. After his final
departure from Aleppo, in February 1812, he again made some stay at
Damascus, and performed a second journey in the Haouran, including
a part of the ancient Decapolis. Upon quitting Damascus for Egypt,
he visited Tiberias and Nazareth, and from thence having crossed
to the Eastern side of the Jordan, proceeded through the countries
to the east and South of the Dead Sea, until he arrived at Wady
Mousa, where he had the satisfaction of discovering the remains of
a large ancient city, consisting of a great number of buildings and
monuments excavated in the rocks, a singularity which, added to the
testimony of ancient history, marks the place for the site of Petra,
the capital of Arabia Petræa. From Wady Mousa he pursued a westerly
course towards the capital of Egypt, across the valley of Araba,
and the desert of El Tyh.
A sketch of his travels in Syria is communicated in letters which he
addressed from time to time to Sir Joseph Banks, or to Mr. Hamilton,
Secretary of the Association. The following are extracts of the
most interesting parts of this correspondence.
_Aleppo, May 12,_ 1810.
With the present I transmit to you in duplicate a short sketch
of the recent history of Aleppo, and some notices concerning the
Turkmans Rihanli, which I collected during a visit to them in the
beginning of March last. They are a tribe of Nomade Turkmans, who
encamp in winter time at one day’s journey from Aleppo. I got
myself introduced to one of their chiefs as a physician in search
of medicinal herbs, and spent a fortnight amongst them.