Journey from Tripoli to Abra--Monastery of Dayr Natûr--Grave of
Mr. Cotter--Ruins of Enfeh--Batrûn--Renegado priest--Remarks
on apostates--Gebayl, the ancient Byblus--Mulberry
plantations--Castle--Public-houses--Nahr Ibrahim, the river
Adonis--Taberjeh--Ejectment of cottagers in rain and cold--Nahr
el Kelb, the ancient river Lycus--Inscriptions--Shuifád--Visit
of Lady Hester to the Syt Habùs--Capugi Bashi sent to Lady
Hester--Mbârak, the groom--His dexterity--Nebby Yunez, the tomb
of Jonah--Arrival at Mar Elias--Precautions adopted against the
Capugi Bashi.
Instead of taking the direct road, we proceeded along the sea-shore.
About two hours’ march from Tripoli we passed the village of Calamûn,
the ancient Calamos: inhabited entirely by sherýfs, or descendants
of the Prophet, Mahomet. This was the birthplace of Berber: and he
was said to have paid but one visit to it since his elevation to his
present greatness, although he often spoke of his humble birth and
former occupations: how far he would have liked to hear the same
remarks from other people’s mouths is not clear. At Calamûn we turned
towards the west, and arrived at Dayr Natûr, where it was proposed to
halt.
Dayr Natûr was a monastery of plain and rude construction, with a few
small vaulted cells: the one wherein my bed was placed would but just
contain it. There was a well of rain water in the middle of the yard,
and stabling for horses and mules. The church had a few pictures of
very ordinary merit: two monks and a räys (or superior)[22] served it.
The monastery stood on a point of land projecting into the sea, and
forming one of the horns of the bay of Tripoli. It was at this place
that Mr. Cotter, an Englishman, in the month of July, 1813, fell a
victim to the climate, having, with his companion, Mr. Davison, and
their servant, been seized with a bilious fever, which carried him off,
but spared the other two. I visited his grave; and, although I knew him
not, dropped over it a tear of sympathy for his fate; which, in the
name of fellow-countryman and from our common perils in a foreign land,
my melancholy feelings made me readily deplore.
As Lady Hester was somewhat indisposed, we remained here during the
17th, and I took this opportunity of accompanying Mâlem Girius Yanny,
who was still with us, to a place called Enfeh, one hour’s ride from
the monastery, due south-west. The path was by the sea-side, through
a rugged rocky soil admitting of no cultivation, except on one or two
patches which were manured for tobacco.
Enfeh[23] was now but a hamlet: formerly the same site had been covered
by a large city, probably the ancient Trieris. There was a church
still standing, which had been lately repaired, seemingly of Venetian
construction: and, on a tongue of land about a quarter of a mile long,
at the very extreme point, were to be distinctly made out the ruins
of a castle. This tongue of land was cut across, at its root, by a
ditch made through the solid rock: the place of the drawbridge was yet
visible, and two small chambers likewise hewn out of the rock were yet
perfect. One we found with the door blocked up by stones. On pushing
them down, it proved to be a storeroom for salt, collected from tanks
and hollows close by. The neighbouring rocks were full of excavations,
presenting the same appearances as those at Latakia and at other parts
of the coast of Syria, having been no doubt sarcophagi.
Mâlem Girius Yanny told me that at the back of Enfeh there was a
village called Amyûn, with other similar chambers. All these, most
probably, were anterior in date to the castle. We returned to Dayr
Natûr, where he finally took his leave of us, and returned to Tripoli.
The next day we left Dayr Natûr, and, keeping by the sea-side, passed,
at the distance of three quarters of an hour, Enfeh, seen yesterday,
and a spring called Muggr. The soil, thus far, had been rude and rocky,
and, where there was mould, had been red: but hereabouts it changed to
black, and the mountain on our left receded, so as to leave a small
level, as far as the hamlet of Herry, an hour and a half further.
Here finished the district of Cûrah, which is a low mountain south of
Tripoli, and celebrated for its tobacco, which has the properties of
scintillating, like the Gebely tobacco (or tobacco of Mount Lebanon).
At Herry began mulberry-tree plantations, for the nourishment of
silkworms.
Having rested an hour at Herry, we ascended the Mesàlah, which
terminates toward the sea in a promontory, mentioned above under the
name of Ras el Shakâ. This promontory, the Theoprosopon, is considered
by Strabo as the termination of Mount Lebanon: and so it is, inasmuch
as it is but a western branch at the end of that chain, which, however,
appears more properly to finish at that part, where, having attained
its greatest height, and being covered with perpetual snow, it abruptly
sinks into low hills a few leagues to the north of the Cedars, near
Calât Hussn. The soil on the Mesàlah is argillaceous, and, as there had
been rain lately, was very slippery; so that the mules and asses were
continually falling. In wet weather, this hill, as we were told, was
considered by the carriers the most difficult road along the country.
The ascent and descent took up about an hour and a half: after which
we traversed a narrow valley in which stood a castle, perched on a
pointed rock in the centre, and at the foot of which ran a river,
called Nahr el Joze, a stream of some depth, but narrow. We arrived in
one hour more at Botrûn, the ancient Botrus.
Botrûn is a seaport town, used only by small fishing-boats, as it does
not afford a safe anchorage for large vessels. It was in the hands of
the emir of the Drûzes, and was governed by a bailiff deputed by him.
There were few Turkish families in it: the Christians were Maronites
and Greeks. There are several excavated tombs; and close to the town
the rock shows the marks of the chisel in every direction. Botrûn is
a town of the highest antiquity, said to have been built by a king of
Tyre.[24]
I was visited in the evening by two persons, both of whom had
apostatized to the Mahometan religion, and afterwards recanted. One
was a Greek priest, who became a follower of Mahomet for the sake of
a sum of money, subscribed by the Turks of Antioch upon his pretended
conversion. Having undergone the requisite ceremony necessary on
induction to the Mahometan faith, he pocketed the money, fled with
it, and recanted. He was now living despised and in wretchedness:
nor could he quit the emir’s territory lest he should be seized and
impaled. The other, a native of Leghorn, had a more pardonable weakness
to excuse his conduct. His name was Ducci, and he gave me the outline
of his history as follows. He became acquainted, early in life, with
Colonel Capper, an Englishman, who had been sent on some mission to
Suez, and whom he accompanied to England: where he remained more than
a twelvemonth, and learned the language. By the colonel’s interest he
was employed to go overland to India with despatches for the East India
Company. There he entered into the Company’s service, in a regiment
called “the Europeans,” when Sir T. Rumbold was governor of Bombay,
succeeded afterwards by Sir Eyre Coote. He fought in seven engagements
against Hyder Ali, when he obtained leave to return to England. In
his way overland he stopped at Aleppo, where he married Miss Hayes,
the English consul’s daughter: in consequence of which connexion he
was made English agent at Latakia, to forward government and other
despatches to and from India.
After a lapse of some years, he formed a connexion with one of his maid
servants, who became pregnant by him: when, to avoid the reproaches of
his wife, he turned Mahometan, obliged his maid servant to do the same,
and then married her[25] according to the Turkish law. Afterwards,
feeling remorse for what he had done, he recanted: but, dreading lest
the Turks should lay hands on him, he fled to the mountain of the
Drûzes, the asylum of many others who seek to hide their shame, or
dread the retributive hand of justice. His first wife’s relations made
many attempts to induce him to quit his illicit commerce with his maid
servant, but in vain.
When I saw him, he was in great distress, and was keeping a small
shop to maintain his family, now increased by the addition of three
children: yet Signor Ducci had once been the owner of the fine house
which we occupied at Latakia. Lady Hester gave him such consolation
as she could, and twenty rubías.[26] We passed the evening together.
His manners were gentlemanlike; he spoke English remarkably well,
and I had reason to think that, for two or three hours at least, in
conversation about India and England, he forgot his misfortunes, and
was comparatively happy.
The history of Signor Ducci and that of the other apostate prove that
the lot of such persons is not enviable. Indeed, the Turks, as far
as I could learn, never overlook a recantation: but, as a set-off to
this, they are never very severe with their new converts, if they will
only preserve the external forms of their religion; but such as are
really sincere in their conversion they will assist on every occasion.
Thus, at Jaffa, as will be mentioned hereafter, I saw a venerable
shaykh, who, from a Christian wallet-maker, had become a reverend ulemá
among the Mahometans. The Scotch private soldier, who, under the name
of Yahyah, became physician to the son of Mohammed Ali, certainly
gained by the change; and, for the general indulgence which converts
to Mahometanism are allowed, the whole troop of French Mamelukes in
Egypt were standing examples; for they had nothing of Turks about them
but the name. To say how far a man may be excused for changing his
religion, and whether, upon any grounds, he can be excused at all, is
a matter upon which we do not pretend to speak. Pearce, who resided in
Abyssinia, seems to have acted on motives of expediency. The groom of
Captain H., who purchased horses for the English army, was probably a
man of no religion: he became a Mahometan for the sake of gain, and
would have made himself pagan for the same reason. Burckhardt had a
nobler object in view in his simulation--the advancement of knowledge:
yet even his motives have not escaped censure.
We quitted Botrûn on the 19th; and, still keeping the sea-coast,
arrived, after five hours’ travelling, at Gebayl. Through the whole of
this distance Mount Lebanon came down to the water’s edge, scarcely
leaving a mule-path between its foot and the surf of the sea. About
two hours before reaching Gebayl, the soil is rocky beyond any part of
the coast we had yet passed; but still it was covered with mulberry
grounds. The cultivation of these grounds is lucrative, no doubt, but
they are disagreeable objects to the eye, as the trees look like so
many tall posts; being every year stripped entirely of their branches.
Gebayl was anciently called Byblus.[27] It is now a walled town,
containing within its circuit perhaps 300 houses, half of which were
at this time in ruins. It has a castle, apparently the work of the
Saracens or Crusaders, for Gebayl was taken by them. Over one of the
gates was an heraldic shield, with a motto or inscription beneath, but
too disfigured and too high up to be legible. The castle is square,
with ramparts, and a citadel with double walls. It was repaired by the
Emir Abd-el-dyn. Hassan, the last emir but one, resided here, and the
two sons of Emir Yusef, successor to Hassan, had their eyes put out
here by order of their uncle, the Emir Beshýr, who dispossessed them
of the sovereignty. It had one piece of ordnance broken in half. There
were also two standards preserved here--white, with a green band in the
middle. The walls of the town consist of curtains and bastions. The
port is very small, capable of sheltering coasting boats only. By means
of a mole it might, as could almost all the ports of Syria, be made fit
for large vessels. There is also a church, which I went to see, but
found nothing remarkable in it. At a subsequent period, the emir of
the Drûzes presented Lady Hester with a figure of Isis on her knees,
holding before her, and between her hands, an altar, on which was a
scarabæus. This perfect piece of sculpture was presented to the late
Lord Lonsdale, and is now in England. It was found at Gebayl, by some
workmen whilst turning up the soil. Adonis had temples in the city, but
I know not of any Egyptian worship having existed here.
[Illustration: STATUE FOUND AT GEBAYL.]
Gebayl had a motsellem, but his power hardly exceeded that of an
English constable. He was a Turk, which, considering that the place
belonged to the emir of the Drûzes, and that almost all the inhabitants
were Christians, was somewhat extraordinary; but the presence of a
Turkish governor was in some degree necessary, as many Capugi Bashis
and emissaries of the Porte were continually passing this road. The
rocks round the town were every where full of excavated sepulchres;
and, in Abulfeda’s time, Gebayl had a port, a bazar, and a mosque.
We remained here the 20th and 21st of January, on account of the
weather, which was exceedingly tempestuous: on the 22nd we again
moved, although the rain fell in torrents. The road was still uneven
and stony. From Tripoli, Lady Hester had adopted the plan of breaking
the day’s journey by an hour’s rest at some spot halfway; and, for
this purpose, it was generally necessary to cause a peasant’s cabin
to be emptied and swept: but the fleas sometimes swarmed to such a
degree, that it was impossible to get rid of them. On these occasions
the practice of the servant employed on this duty was to go into the
middle of the room, bare his leg, and watch how many fleas jumped on
him from the floor. Sometimes they might be seen like iron filings
drawn to a magnet, blackening the skin. This day the resting-place was
on the banks of Nahr Ibrahim, the ancient river Adonis, in a small
public-house, close by the bridge. These public-houses, for no more
precise name can be given them, generally consisted of small sheds, the
walls of which were bare rough stones or mud, no better materials being
used in their construction. Adjoining was another large shed, to afford
shelter for beasts of burden. Corn, straw, coffee, and tobacco, were
sold in them as well as wine and brandy, this being in the territory of
the emir of the Drûzes, where Christians might do with impunity what
they dared not do in other provinces of the Ottoman Empire; nor is
there any road, that I recollect, where these places of entertainment
are so numerous as on the coast road from Tripoli to Beyrout.
Nahr Ibrahim is two hours’ distance from Gebayl. Its stream was, at
this time, about as large and as deep as the river Cherwell, where it
empties itself into the Isis at Oxford; but we were now in the very
height of the rainy season; the stream, therefore, would probably be
very much less in summer. It had over it a light elegant bridge of
three arches.
One mile and a half more brought us to Taberjeh,[28] where it was
intended to pass the night. Whilst Lady Hester was resting at the
bridge, I rode forward, and was told by the servant that the cottagers,
with tears in their eyes, begged that they might not be turned out of
doors in the wet and cold. This hamlet consisted of a few cottages,
and, as usual, we were furnished with an order to select the most
convenient for our lodging. Upon these occasions the tenants were
sent for the night to the houses of their friends and relations. But
we were so many in number, and the cottages so few, that, the rain
falling in torrents, a removal seemed an act of cruelty; this, however,
I was reluctantly obliged to enforce. In one cottage a young woman had
lain-in five days only, but was up, and, though she did not seem to
consider her case peculiarly hard, an exemption was made in her favour:
thus, by degrees, and from the hope of a handsome recompense, the
cottages were vacated, and contentment was restored. So incessant was
the rain, that, for this night, it was fortunate we were not sleeping
under tents instead of mud roofs.
Taberjeh is a fishing hamlet by the sea-side, close to a small creek,
in which were anchored two or three fishing-boats.
On the 23d we loaded our mules, and continued our journey over a rocky
soil, and along a most difficult road. In three quarters of an hour
we came to Nahr Mahameltayn, over which was a bridge, the work of the
ancients. The river was scarcely knee-deep, and, like many others
which obtain that name in sultry countries, was, properly speaking,
no more than a watercourse. After Mahameltayn, the soil became sandy.
Here began the district of Keserwàn (falsely spelt by many authors
Castervan), the most populous, it is said, of all Lebanon. The villages
certainly stood very thick, with hamlets and cottages at small
intervals between them. The monasteries, also, with their belfries,
denoted the liberty which the Christians here enjoyed, a bell being in
Turkey a distinctive emblem of their religion, which (as prohibited by
the Mahometans) they take more pride in erecting than they would an
hospital.
Gûnyh (pronounced Jewny), an hour and a half from Taberjeh, is a hamlet
by the sea-side, with a small pavilion or pleasure-house to which the
emir sometimes resorted. Half an hour farther is a small rocky cape.
Passing this, the strand is again sandy, during one hour, as far as
Nahr el Kelb, the ancient Lycus, a river somewhat larger than Nahr
Ibrahim, and with a bridge over it the precise counterpart of the
other, but of a later date. Here commenced the district of Metten.
Ascending a rocky cape, which is close to the river on the south side,
several inscriptions were seen on the faces of the rock, which had been
smoothed for the purpose; but, as it was nearly dark when we passed,
I had no time to read or try to read them, and they are very fully
described in other books of travel. They are said to relate to the
road,[29] which bears marks of having been anciently cut, with great
labour, in the solid rock; for in the middle are still seen steps,
eight or ten feet broad, each step jagged, to prevent beasts of burden
from slipping. There seemed also to have been a causeway on each side,
and a parapet on the side next the sea.
After crossing the promontory we again found ourselves on the sandy
strand; and, at the distance of one hour and a half from the river
Kelb, diverging from the sea-side somewhat into the mountain, we
stopped at a village called Kunet Elias, in a small Maronite monastery.
The shafts of two granite pillars lay at the entrance; but I am not
aware what ancient edifice occupied this spot.
On the 24th, we quitted Kunet Elias, and, in one hour and three
quarters, crossed the bridge of Beyrout,[30] distant from the city
more than a league. The river, which runs beneath it, is the ancient
Magoras.[31] Numerous mulberry plantations in every direction denoted
the principal product of the district. To cross the bridge we had
been led considerably to the W. of our direct road; and, when over
it, we inclined to the S.E., and, leaving Beyrout on our right, in
three hours, reached Shuifád, a large burgh on the first rise of Mount
Lebanon.
Lady Hester’s purpose in going thither was to visit the Syt Habûs,[32]
a celebrated Drûze lady, sprung from a noble family, who had in her own
hands the administration of several villages, which she farmed from
the Shaykh Beshýr;--a singular thing in this country, where the women
seldom take upon themselves or have any other duties but such as are
domestic. Shuifád, where she resided, was a populous burgh, consisting
of three large parishes, separated from each other by deep water
ravines, worn by the mountain torrents descending through the burgh. It
is distant from Beyrout one league, and commands a fine view both of
the forest of olive trees which covered the plains of Beyrout, and of
the sea beyond.
If the Syt Habûs was an object of curiosity to Lady Hester, the latter
was not less so to the Syt. But their meeting did not take place until
the 26th, as her ladyship was much fatigued, and wished to enjoy a
little repose. The habitation assigned to her in the first instance
was so indifferent that her health would have suffered unless a better
could be provided: accordingly we were desired to choose one wherever
we liked.
It was at this place that Sir S. Smith gave the meeting to the Emir
Beshýr (in the year in which the French retreated from Acre), upon
occasion of some festivities which the emir made in his honour. With
Sir S. landed a corps of marines, who performed the military exercise
of the musket, to the great amusement of the spectators, some of whom
spoke to me of that event as a very remarkable one; for at that period
disciplined troops had not been seen on Mount Lebanon.
In the evening I paid a visit to the Emir Yunez, brother-in-law to
Syt Habûs, a talkative old man, but apparently well read in Arabic
literature. He showed me some common English pocket-handkerchiefs,
whereon battles and figures were printed, which he seemed highly to
value. There were present the Emirs Hyder, Emin, and Ali, who were all
dressed in gaudy silks.
On the 26th of January, M. Beaudin rode down to Beyrout; and, in the
afternoon, returned with the news that a Capugi Bashi was at that town
on his road to Sayda, who, it was reported, was going to arrest Lady
Hester, and carry her prisoner to Constantinople.
My servant, Giovanni, who had been sent with M. B., coming back late, I
questioned him on the reason of his delay, when, to excuse himself, he
said, as he was riding through the streets, his mule was _pressed_
by a Tartar, to carry the luggage of a Capugi Bashi, going to Sayda
from Constantinople. It is usual for all persons travelling on the
service of government to have a Tartar with them, who presses horses
and mules for the service of his masters as they go along. The
muleteer, with Giovanni, deplored the lot of his poor animal, and
entreated him to liberate it: for the Tartars have no compassion, and
greatly maltreat the animals furnished them. With tears in his eyes,
he begged him to go to the governor’s, where, he assured him, the bare
mention of my lady’s name would be sufficient. Giovanni accordingly
went, and, on mentioning Lady Hester’s name, was immediately questioned
by the great Turk himself (who was sitting with the governor), as to
where the English lady could be found, for he had urgent business with
her.
As this story agreed with the report which M. B. had brought, I lost
no time in telling Lady Hester; but she knew perfectly well what his
coming meant; and, having long expected him, was not disturbed by the
report. Immediately, although the evening was far advanced, a dragoman
was sent for, to write a letter to the Capugi Bashi, appointing a
meeting at Abrah; for letter-writing is made a craft in the East, and
few are competent to it. Hence comes the name of _katib_, or
scribe, as an office in the suite of all governors and great Turks,
which is generally filled by Christians. Such a one, indeed, is
expected to make himself acquainted with all the forms, official and
ceremonial, used in writing letters, petitions, &c.
This event abridged Lady Hester’s stay at Shuifád. She had seen Syt
Habûs in the morning, and found her to be a money-getting woman, with
her keys by her side; clever, perhaps, but with nothing very lady-like
about her. The interview took place in the presence of the Shaykh
Beshýr, and I acted as interpreter: for, by this time, I understood
Arabic, and could express myself tolerably on ordinary subjects.
On the 27th we left Shuifád, and proceeded towards Abrah. I rode
forward with a servant, to find a resting-place for her ladyship,
half way on the day’s journey. This man, one of the walking grooms,
was named Mbàrak, a native of Bisra, the son of the curate, of which
circumstance he was exceedingly proud. As he knew this part of the
country perfectly, he pointed out to me a retired cottage, in the
midst of a mulberry plantation, very proper for our purpose. It was
found to be empty, and the door locked with one of the wooden locks
used very generally[33] throughout Syria. But he gave me a proof of
his cleverness, by cutting a twig of a particular shape, by means of
which he picked the lock, and we entered. Suspecting that this invasion
of private property would not escape notice, I waited in the orchard,
smoking my pipe, to see the issue of it; when a man came running from a
village on the slope of the mountain, whence he had seen us enter his
grounds. A promise, however, of half a crown for the use of his cottage
pacified him; the more particularly as I told him we had an order
from the emir for free quarters. I then rode on to Nebby Yunez,[34]
a mosque built over the tomb of Jonas, him of Nineveh, said by the
Moslems to have been vomited up, and also, after his death, to have
been buried here. At this place the arrangements for the night were
somewhat difficult; for the rooms, though good, were not sufficient
to hold the whole party; and there were, besides, a few pilgrims
seeking lodging, many of whom, for the sake of devotion, occasionally
resorted thither. The water from the well of the mosque was brackish
and unpalatable: but we caused a supply to be brought from Berdja, a
village close by, from which likewise fuel was sent to us.
Lady Hester did not arrive; and, somewhat alarmed, I rode back to meet
her. She had been delayed by the river Damûr, the ancient Tamyras,
which was to be forded; and, not then having a bridge, this was no easy
matter on asses. There is, also, great danger from giddiness to those
who, in crossing a rapid stream, look down on it. Nevertheless, Werdy,
one of the maid servants, a native of Acre, was so intrepid in dangers
of this sort, that she often put the very men to shame. I forded the
river seven times on this occasion, in assisting Lady Hester and the
maids.
On the 28th, we resumed our journey. As the mountain rises close to
the sea-shore, the road is on the sands. We arrived in four hours at
Mar Elias. I hastened to my cottage, which I now looked on as my home.
The peasantry came, and crowded round my door. Their felicitations,
though unpolished, seemed to have too much sincerity not to please
me: and if, as I have grown older, I have since thought that interest
might have had some part in them, I still recollect with pleasure their
expressions of welcome at my return.
We were scarcely settled, when a messenger came to inform Lady Hester
that the Zâym[35] or Capugi Bashi was arrived at Sayda, and wished to
see her at the governor’s; meaning that a Moslem of such consideration
as a Capugi Bashi never could demean himself so far as to go to a
Christian’s house. But Lady Hester sent such an answer, that the Capugi
Bashi, who best knew his own affairs, suddenly ordered horses; and our
dinner was just over, when a great bustle was heard in the courtyard,
with the trampling of horses’ feet and the voices of the servants. The
Capugi Bashi was soon afterwards announced. Not yet apprized of the
precise nature of his mission, I must confess I felt some inclination
to believe, with the people, that his arrival portended no good. M.
Beaudin, the secretary, was of the same opinion; and when, to my
inquiry of Lady Hester whether she apprehended any mischief from his
presence, her answer was intentionally equivocal, I communicated my
suspicions to M. Beaudin, and we agreed to put our pistols in our
girdles, fresh primed, determined that, if we saw the bow-string
dangling from under the Capugi’s robe, at least no use should be made
of it whilst we were there.
To account for these seemingly unnecessary precautions, I ought to
premise that, in Turkey, a Capugi Bashi never comes into the provinces,
unless for some affair of strangling, beheading, confiscation, or
imprisonment. These are the missions upon which the emissaries of a
secret court are sent; and their presence is always dreaded, as it is
seldom known where the blow will fall, and as their presence rarely
portends any good. Various were the whispers which went about: some
thought that he was sent to arrest Lady Hester, others to order her out
of the country; some to give her money for secret service to the Porte.
But his real object will be known in the succeeding chapter.