Residence at Tripoli--The governor Mustafa Aga--Lady
Hester’s visit to him--Extraordinary civilities paid
by her to Selim--Town and port of Tripoli--Greek
bishop--Library--Paintings in the church--Unwholesome
climate--The author’s journey to the convent of Dayr
Hamýra--Illness of Mûly Ismael’s Khasnadár--Miraculous
cures performed at the convent--The Khasnadár’s wife--The
monks--Castle of El Hussn--Extensive view--Arrival of Selim
at the monastery--His character--Return of the author to
Tripoli--Lady Hester’s plan of an association of literary men
and artists--Departure for Mar Elias.
The Capuchin convent, an uninhabited building, was hired for Lady
Hester; and for Selim, the dragoman, and myself, a spacious house,
belonging to the widow of the katib of the governor. The muleteers were
dismissed, and arrangements were made for a residence of some weeks. As
a clue to many circumstances which occurred during the time of our stay
in this city, it will be necessary to say something respecting Mustafa
Aga (nicknamed Berber), the then governor, a man raised by his conduct
and valour from the very dregs of the people.
Mustafa was the son of a muleteer, whose employment consisted in
transporting goods for hire from place to place; and he himself, in his
youth, followed the same occupation. He afterwards entered the service
of Hassan, emir of the Drûzes, as an under-servant of the household.
Here he caught the eye of the emir, and was advanced by him; but,
probably, not liking to derogate from the character of a true Mussulman
by associating with schismatics, he quitted his place and returned to
Tripoli. Tripoli, at this time, was divided into two opposite factions,
that of the janissaries and of the townspeople. Mustafa sided with the
latter; and, having shown himself a man of talent and courage by his
language and demeanour, ten or a dozen others formed themselves into a
sort of gang under his direction. His followers by degrees increased;
and at length a plan was formed among them to strike at the very root
of the power of the janissaries by seizing the castle. This, according
to the nature of the Turkish government, is the stronghold of the
military power, and is bestowed generally on some confidential servant
of the Porte as a check on the civil governor, who is chosen by the
pasha of the department.
The aga of the janissaries, or governor of the castle, was so little
suspicious of the possibility even of so bold an attack, that he
resided in the city, and left only a few soldiers on guard in the
citadel. Some of these were gained over by the artful Mustafa; and, at
an appointed signal, ropes were let down at night, by which he and
about twenty others were drawn up, and admitted unperceived through a
window.
The few soldiers who attempted to oppose them were despatched or
bound, and in the morning the news was spread that Berber had obtained
possession of the castle. The townspeople declared for him immediately;
and his first care was to send to Mohammed, pasha of Egypt, to request
him to write to the Porte to express his allegiance to his sovereign,
and to obtain for him the post of Janissary Aga, or, in other words, a
confirmation of the power he had usurped. After a lapse of some weeks,
during which he maintained himself in the citadel, a firman arrived,
proclaiming him military governor; but so powerful was the opposite
faction, that he dared never venture through the streets of Tripoli
without a guard of fifty or sixty persons.
It was said that, as he rode through the streets, his piercing eyes,
which were turned in every direction, watched the looks of those he
met; and wo to him whose guilt was supposed to be betrayed in his
countenance--that moment was his last.
Next to the governor, a very important person in every Turkish town is
the katib, or government secretary. Mustafa Aga had several;[15] the
two chief were Wahby Sadeka and Mamy Garyb, his son-inlaw, a young man
who had already acquired in his situation much deserved reputation. M.
Guys, grandson of the author of a Comparison between Ancient and Modern
Greece, was French consul; Mr. Catsiflitz, English agent. These are the
public authorities with whom travellers, generally speaking, have to do.
A day or two after our arrival, Lady Hester received Malem Wahby, the
public secretary, sent by Mustafa Aga to compliment her and to offer
her his services.
The visit was returned to the governor a few days afterwards. He
received her ladyship in the most polite manner to which his rough
character could adapt itself; for his frank and hearty welcome was
strongly contrasted with the generally formal courtesy of the Turks.
Selim sat on the floor at the governor’s feet; for native Christians
seldom obtain the privilege of a seat on the sofa in a great Turk’s
presence, and are well content not to be kept standing. Lady Hester
found means, in a short conversation, to impress Mustafa Aga with a
favourable opinion of her talents and character; and ever afterwards he
showed a strong disposition to serve her on all occasions. Everything
about the Aga wore a martial appearance; and his black slave, who
stood at a little distance from him, armed with pistols in his girdle,
seemed, by his attitude and air, to be the faithful guardian of his
master’s safety.
Mustafa Aga had several Christians among his soldiers, destined for
the service of the police. This is uncommon in Asiatic Turkey, for
examples of it occurred nowhere else, that I saw.
In coming away, I had an opportunity of judging of the extreme
simplicity of the Aga’s mode of living. His dinner was laid out on a
mat, on the floor of a room which we passed, and consisted of six or
eight messes of pilau and yakhny, which are boiled rice and a stew
of small bits of meat and vegetables, and these in dishes of common
queen’s-ware. There were no knives or forks, and the spoons were
wooden. A man in England, living like a temperate Mahometan, would
pass for a prodigy with some, and with others, for one who took not
enough to support life; by all, he would be considered as a most sober
liver: for the food of Mustafa Aga, like that of most of the followers
of Mahomet, was generally confined to rice, boiled mutton, vegetables,
honey, and fruit. Water was his only drink; and, on the very afternoon
of this visit, being requested to call on him that he might consult me
respecting some indisposition, when I advised him to use a tincture,
which he understood from me was compounded of spirit, he totally
rejected it, upon the plea that, in whatever state he might be, his
abhorrence of vinous liquors was settled.
In the mean time, Mâlem Selim was treated with the most marked civility
by Lady Hester. The public bath was hired for him an evening or two
after our arrival. Two sumptuous repasts were prepared for him every
day, and people saw with wonder the deference that was paid him by
her ladyship. But she had her ends to answer; and on such occasions
it might be observed, by those in the habit of living near her, that
she often would raise very humble individuals to an elevation to which
they had not been accustomed, by which they were the more easily led
to forget their natural prudence, and communicate more readily the
information she wanted. She knew that, when these artificial props were
taken away, folks could very easily be made to drop to their own level
again.
In the middle ages, Tripoli was the scene of much warfare. It was taken
by the crusaders after a siege of seven years, and retaken by the
Saracens in 1229 by sap.
Modern Tripoli is the head of a pashalik, extending north and south
from Nahr Ibrahim to Bylán, and bounded on the east by the highest
chain of the mountains which run parallel to the coast. Ali, a pasha
of two tails, held it, but resided at St. Jean d’Acre as kekhyah of
Sulimán Pasha, whilst Mustafa Aga governed in his stead. It is the
best built and cleanest town along the coast of Syria; perhaps, too,
the largest, certainly, at the time we are speaking of, the most
commercial; although now superseded by Beyrout. The castle is at the
south-east part of the city, and is of Saracen or Frank construction.
There are five or six mosques. The Greeks and Maronites have their
churches, and the Franciscans and Capuchins their monasteries. A river
runs by the city, which serves to irrigate the gardens. As it is built
at some distance from the sea, (about one mile) there is a small town,
called the Myna, close to the harbour, if the insecure anchorage formed
by two or three rocks deserves that name. Between the city and the
Myna are the orchards and gardens, which are the boast of the place,
both for their productions and beauty. Oranges were now in season,
which have been before mentioned as very juicy at this place. One of
the chief sources of wealth to the city was the manufacture of silk
turbans, sashes, bath waist-cloths, and saddle-covers, which are in
request throughout Syria. The Christians here were of the Greek church;
and so violent were they against schismatics, that it was dangerous for
a Greek Catholic to tarry in the place for a few hours. The bishop of
Tripoli was an agreeable man, who spoke often in praise of the English:
for he had known many of that nation, when our army invaded Egypt the
second time under General Fraser, at which period he was residing as a
priest at the Greek convent of Alexandria.
I had an opportunity of seeing, in the bishop’s house, the library
belonging to the see. The books had been thrown into a lumber room, and
left there to be devoured by the rats, or more slowly consumed by moths
and damp. There were some Greek manuscripts. The church was undergoing
a thorough repair, and, to embellish the altar screen, a Candiote
painter had been sent for, whose skill in his art seemed to me far from
despicable. He showed me some copies from Italian engravings, which
were very well executed: and, when I asked him if he did not prefer
them to the gilded daubs of Virgins and Saints of his own church,
he showed himself perfectly aware of the faults of his countrymen’s
manner, but said he must paint to please, or he could not live.
The climate of Tripoli is reputed to be the worst in Syria, and the
cadaverous looks of the inhabitants bore evidence to the truth of the
assertion; for, although the season was far advanced, it was grievous
to behold and hear of the number of the sick. The prevailing disease
was a bilious remittent fever: this, if not fatal, generally left an
ague, which, ending in obstructions, brought on dropsy and death. I
was witness here to a fatal mortification from the application of
leeches by a French doctor to the foot; to the only case of gout that
came under my observation in Syria; to the worst case of epilepsy I
ever saw; and to hysterical fits, with lunar recurrences, from seven
to fifteen times in the twenty-four hours, which had now lasted two
years. These latter I cured, and may cite that cure as having led to
one of those ingenious subterfuges, which were not rare in the Levant,
to avoid the weight of an obligation. When the young lady, who had
been thus afflicted, was found to be relieved by my treatment of her,
she was hurried off to the convent of Mar Antaniûs Kuziyah (famed,
as I have already mentioned, for miraculous cures) from which, in a
few days, she returned, and her parents and friends were loud in their
admiration of the Saint, who took no fees, and dumb on the merits of
the doctor, who they were afraid would.
We had not been long at Tripoli,[16] when a letter reached Lady Hester
from her old friend Mûly Ismael of Hamah, requesting she would allow
me to go to a monastery, eight or ten leagues from Tripoli, where his
khasnadár or treasurer, a man whom he greatly esteemed, was lying
grievously afflicted with a stroke of the palsy. Accordingly, I set off
a day or two afterwards, on the 20th of December, and was fortunate
enough to hire one of the muleteers, who had accompanied us on the
Bâlbec journey, to carry my luggage. I was mounted on a mule, and
placed my man, Giovanni, with a few necessaries on another, whilst the
muleteer, named Michael, walked.
As we went out of Tripoli, about noon, the rain fell in torrents, and
we were soon wet through. Our route lay about east-north-east; and,
after passing a stony and rugged road, we came upon an extensive
plain, named el Accàr. The day closed in very early, and, from the
continued rain and darkness, the beaten track was by no means clearly
visible. We reached a river, which appeared so swollen that we dared
not ford it, and were puzzled what to do. A light on our right
attracted us, and, after following the course of the stream for about
two miles, it disappeared, and we resolved to return down again. We
accordingly arrived at the point whence we had turned off, but still
hesitated to ride into the stream, as we could discern no appearances
of a path or of footsteps down the bank, as of a ford. A light on our
left was now seen: we rode towards it, and after a little time came
to some tents. Huge mastiff dogs rushed out upon us, and the muleteer
had much ado to keep them at bay with a club stick, until two or three
ill-looking men issued from the tents to discover the reason of their
barking. They were Turkmans, who were pasturing their flocks and herds
on these plains, and, when they saw we were benighted travellers, they
very strongly pressed me to go no farther, and to spend the night with
them: but I hesitated to do so on account of my ignorance of their
habits of life, and resolved, on hearing that the river was fordable,
to pursue my journey. One of the Turkmans accordingly led us back
to the same place where we had been twice before, and bade us ride
through boldly. When we were safe over he wished us good night. As he
had previously told us that we could reach a caravansery a few miles
farther on, we took fresh courage, and for a time I forgot the rain in
musing on the Turkman dogs and the shepherd’s civility; but, at last,
cold and weariness made me anxious to get housed. There was no light
before us, and the plain was every where covered with large pools of
water which embarrassed us exceedingly. The mules were fatigued, and
could with difficulty be driven on. The muleteer finally declared that
the servant’s mule could go no further, and that we must sleep in the
plain.
Although the rain fell in torrents, as there was no alternative, I got
off; and the best arrangement that circumstances would admit of was
made for the night. I found a knoll of ground, somewhat drier than
the rest of the soil; and a small rug, which I carried with me in
travelling, was opened on it, upon which I seated myself with my legs
doubled under me: and, with my hood[17] drawn over my head, I leaned
against my-medicine-chest, and went supperless to sleep. The muleteer
and Giovanni made the best of their situation.
In the morning, when daylight came, we found, to our surprise, that
a quarter of a mile more would have brought us to the caravansery
which we had been told of. The mules were re-loaded, and, just at
this moment, a caravan, on its road to Tripoli, passed us. A dozen
tongues addressed us at once to inquire why we had stopped short of the
caravansery, and many jokes were cracked upon our miserable appearance.
In twenty minutes we reached Nahr el Kebýr, a river, on the banks of
which was a large, but dilapidated caravansery, where we found a man,
who, for a small recompense, stripped and walked before us through the
ford. The stream was rapid and deep, so that for a moment I feared we
should have been carried away by it: which, encumbered with dress as we
were, would have been to our inevitable destruction.
We now advanced with as much expedition as possible, and at last came
to the end of the plain. A gentle ascent brought us among some low
hills, covered with stunted shrubs, and shortly afterwards we came to
the monastery. The building was of stone, and seemed of great solidity.
I dismounted, and was made to enter by a door, the lowest, bearing
that name, I had ever seen in my life. For, as this monastery stands
quite away from any town, and is in the high road from Tripoli to Hems
and Hamah, by which road troops are frequently passing, a difficult
entrance is a necessary precaution to prevent the refectory from being
converted into a stable: which troopers, not liking to lose sight of
their horses, would often unceremoniously do.
I was put into a neat room, and immediately presented with a pipe and
coffee, followed by a breakfast; whilst two garrulous priests told
me why I was come, which they seemed to know better than myself, and
questioned me on the news of Tripoli. With respect to the khasnadár, my
patient, I gathered some particulars of his life. It appeared that he
had been, as a youth, a _favourite_ of Mûly Ismael, who, when he
arrived at manhood, created him his khasnadár, and gave him in marriage
to one of his concubines, of whom he himself was tired. Soon after
their union, the khasnadár had a stroke of the palsy, which deprived
him of the use of his limbs and utterance. Every known means had been
tried for his recovery; and, as a last resource, it was resolved to
send him to Dayr Hamýra, this monastery, which was dedicated to Saint
George, and renowned far and wide for miraculous cures, effected in the
following manner. The afflicted person was made to sleep in the chapel,
his bed being placed there for that purpose, and round his neck was
put an iron collar, jointed behind, and shutting over a staple before,
in which sometimes a pin was inserted. He slept; and, if the cure was
within the reach or the will of the Saint, the collar was found open
in the morning; if otherwise, shut. Offerings, or vows in case of
success, were made to propitiate the Dragon-killer, and it was said
that from a rich man a trifle would not content him. The khasnadár had
made the trial two or three times without success: when his wife, who
accompanied him, having heard of our arrival at Tripoli, thought that
the request of Mûly Ismaël would be sufficient to bring me over to
the monastery to see him: and a horse soldier, as has been said, was
accordingly despatched with a letter to that effect.
After my breakfast I went to see my patient, whom I found with his wife
in an adjoining room. A best carpet was spread for me; coffee and pipes
were served. The khasnadár was a plethoric young man about twenty-five;
and, but for sickness, must have been very handsome. His wife was
veiled at first by a shawl over her head, and pinched together by her
hand so as to show one eye only; but by degrees she let it fall open,
and I beheld a masculine woman of thirty or thereabouts. She was a
Georgian, and had been a slave. I immediately took my patient in hand,
and, as it is always necessary in the East, enacted, in the course of
an hour, the parts of physician, surgeon, and apothecary. I then left
him, and went to look over the monastery.
It was inhabited by three caloyers only, who, according to the rules
of this Greek monastic order, are permitted, except on fast-days, to
indulge in coffee, smoking, drinking, and eating, to what extent they
please, with the exception of meat, which is allowed only twice a year.
Hence I was requested to administer medicines for the corpulence of
the one, the indigestion of the other, the pimples of a third. There
were three or four good rooms on the story which they inhabited, and
beneath were storehouses well stocked with wine, oil, wheat, and
eatables. There were two or three servants, and a mule or two; and thus
this small community lived. As the extreme lowness of the entrance was
still strongly present to my thoughts, I asked them concerning it. They
assigned the reason I have above given, and added that the mule of the
convent had been taught to crawl through on his knees, of which I was
afterwards an eyewitness, in consequence of my previous incredulity.
There was an annual festival celebrated at this place, upon which
occasion persons come from Hamah, Hems, Tripoli, and other towns in
great numbers. At midnight, the image of St. George on horseback is
seen against the wall of the convent, at which vision the people set up
a shout, and rejoicings continue until morning.
As this road is much frequented, not a night passed in which travellers
or caravans did not stop. A sort of shed sheltered the horses and
mules, and the people, if respectable, were received into the interior.
The monks supplied them with food, which was good or bad in proportion
to the recompence expected, and this employment was so lucrative that
the monastery was supported by it. Their funds had been enough at one
period to enable them to build a caravansery, which they had begun, but
were prevented from proceeding in by an order from the government. This
happened during the rule of Yusef Pasha: and the half-built caravansery
adjoined the monastery.
I expressed my wonder how a strict Mahometan could have resorted to the
shrine of a Christian saint; but the caloyers told me that this was by
no means a rare occurrence, and that, if I stopped a few days among
them, I should see many Ansárys, who had recourse to them in all their
difficulties, and especially when their wives wished for children; and,
in fact, there did afterwards come a party of ten or twelve on account
of sickness.
The evening was passed with the khasnadár’s wife in talking over the
news of Hamah. On the following day I had a visit from the katib of the
district (if so he may be called), the person who was the accredited
agent[18] in all transactions between government and the people. He
too was in want of a doctor; for it is to be observed, that, although
in the East no traveller has such advantages as a medical man, because
he is well received everywhere, yet no one is so much harassed: and
I sometimes thought the people pretended to have maladies either to
get English medicines given to them, which they prized greatly; or to
learn what mode of cure was to be pursued in case such a disease really
affected them; for at no place was I secure from interruption from
morning to night.
On the 15th I rode up to a castle, which stands on the highest part
of the hills through which the road passes from the sea-coast to
Cæle-Syria. From its position it commands the passage, in a certain
degree; it is distant from the monastery about one mile and a half, as
the crow flies. The road was of no difficult steepness, and lay through
small brushwood. A long, dark, covered way, filthy with cow-dung and
mire, led to the gate, which appeared to have had a portcullis and
all the apparatus of early fortifications. I entered through it into
a spacious court, in which were living several Turkish families. The
castle was composed of a keep and outer works, flanked with round
towers; but the whole was in a dilapidated state.
I was taken to a smoky stone room under the gateway, where a man, in
a tawdry yellow silk pelisse, the shaykh of the village, received me
with an air which brought to my recollection Juvenal’s description of
the magistrate of Cumæ. It may be observed of the Turks and Christians,
that the former are often more gaily dressed than their means warrant;
whilst the latter, in spite of the humility of garb to which they are
condemned, swell sometimes with the pride which a full purse gives, and
excite the envy of their better-dressed masters. The name of the castle
was El Hussn, which signifies a walled fortification.[19]
From the top of the keep I enjoyed a most extensive view, which is
to be recommended to travellers as favourable for obtaining a correct
notion of the natural geographical divisions of this part of Syria.
This keep bears from Tripoli north-east and by east-half-north. I saw
from it the wide plains towards Hamah and Hems narrowing into the vale
of the Bkâ, the Cæle-Syria Proper of the ancients; whilst the whole
tract of level country to the north and east of the Bkâ was called
Cæle-Syria in general. As I was now on the highest spot within the
pass, I saw the error into which the generality of maps lead, when
they mark a continuous chain of mountains from one end of Syria to
the other; for, from the castle, I could behold the north extremity
of Mount Lebanon reach its greatest height, and descend suddenly into
low hills down to the foot of the castle, upon which I stood; whilst,
from the monastery, a new chain may be said to begin, extending, if my
information be just, as far as the river Syr, and forming the ancient
Mount Bargylus, mentioned by Pliny.--(Hist, v., 17.) I cannot express
my sensations as I looked from the place on which I stood over the
Desert. A haze, raised by the heat of the sun over the surface of
the country, dimmed the sight of objects so as to give the distant
plains a look more boundless and desolate than usual. I obtained here
a few copper coins of no value. The shaykh spoke with pleasure of an
Englishman, who had passed a night there some years before, and who
was dressed in scarlet, and slept under a tent. These Mahometans were
in an exposed position, in case of warfare, as they were surrounded by
Ansárys and Christians.
I returned to the monastery much pleased with my excursion. Selim
and Sulimán had now judged their visit to Lady Hester to have been
long enough, and left her during my absence. Their road lay past the
monastery, and they made it their station on their way home, arriving
here on the 17th at night. Sulimán showed a pretty watch-chain, with
other presents which Lady Hester made him. The khasnadár and his wife
were well known to Selim; and Selim’s wife was a native of a village in
this neighbourhood; so that the monastery was a scene of festivity on
his arrival, and several cavaliers, whom I had not before suspected to
be in the neighbourhood, came from different directions to visit him.
But my patient, amidst all this, grew no better, and I could do no
more than draw out a line of cure, and beg the wife to adhere strictly
to it, which she promised to do; for Lady Hester had written to me to
request me to return; and on the 19th, in the morning, I departed,
leaving Selim still there; and in him I bade adieu to a man, the
strangest compound of talent, frivolity, liberality, and libertinism,
that I ever met with. He was the most wayward of mortals. He was ever
writing sonnets to his mistress’s eyebrow, and carried about with him
small bags of silk, stuffed with ribbon-ends, locks of hair, and scraps
of love-letters. Often would he cut up portions of a lock of hair, and
deliberately eat them, which, I found from him, is a favourite way in
the East of marking a lover’s devotion. It was told me, upon creditable
authority, that he lay a whole night on the grave of one of his
mistresses who had died. He would recite amatory poetry stanza after
stanza, and his own compositions were admired by such as pretended to
be judges. Upon one occasion, at the commencement of our acquaintance,
dining with Mr. B. and myself, he tried a little while to make use of
a knife and fork, but, not managing them well, he threw them away with
vehemence, and declared, if he must not eat but with them, he would
even go without his dinner. He was an excellent horseman;[20] and one
of his feats on horseback was to throw a stick, of the thickness of
a broom-handle and half its length, on the ground in a full gallop,
and to make it rebound so as to catch it in his hand again. This is
certainly difficult, as any horseman may prove by experiment, and
requires much force and expertness, but has no use that I know of,
excepting to teach how to exercise the arm with violence without losing
one’s seat. Of his cleverness there was ample testimony from all
quarters; and of his intriguing disposition there could be no doubt;
for he was ever toiling to exalt himself, and pull down somebody.[21]
My journey back to Tripoli was more fortunate than the one out had
been. Near the city I observed a pretty spot by the road side, the name
of which I forget, where I saw certain fish in a pond which were as
tame as gold fish kept in a vase, and would eat out of one’s hand.
One day (January 12) Lady Hester spoke to me of a plan, which she had
been turning over in her mind, of forming an association of literary
men and artists, whom she proposed inviting from Europe, for the
purpose of prosecuting discoveries in every branch of knowledge, and
of journeying over different parts of the Ottoman empire. In fact, she
aimed at creating another Institute, like that which Buonaparte led
with him to Egypt, and of which she was to be the head. Chimerical as
such an undertaking would be for an individual, unless of great wealth,
it must be allowed that a society so made up can alone combine all the
requisites for thoroughly investigating the arts, sciences, statistics,
geography, and antiquities of a country imperfectly known, like Syria.
For a time her mind was entirely engrossed in this new scheme; and
she even drew up memorials to be presented to different persons whom
she wished to enlist and engage in the undertaking. Wonderful was
the facility with which she would square every word to the different
tempers and situations of different persons, anticipate their
different objections, and (which was no immaterial part,) show how
contributions were to be levied on the rich; for she proposed to do
it by subscription. The experiments, likewise, which she intended to
prosecute on the plague, and on the bites of venemous animals, by means
of the bezoar and serpent stones, were now a favourite hobby with
her; and she particularly charged me to write about them to certain
persons only, lest some one should get hints enough to anticipate her
discoveries, and thus rob her of a part of her renown!
As there was nothing to detain us longer at Tripoli, our departure for
Mar Elias was resolved on; and, on the 16th of January, fresh muleteers
having been hired at three piasters and a half per day, we proceeded
on our journey. We were accompanied, during the first stage, by Mâlem
Yanny, the brother-in-law of Mr. Catsiflitz, a gentleman who, on
several occasions, had been very attentive to us during our residence
at Tripoli, officiating for Mr. Catsiflitz, the consul, who was too old
to be any longer active.