Quarrel between a Drûze and a Metouály--Buying of
medals--Imposition practised on Lady Hester--Punishment of the
offender--Illness and death of the Greek patriarch--Funeral
ceremonies--Election of a new patriarch--Cottage in the gardens
of Sayda--Long drought--Flocks of birds--Hydrophobia--Excursion
of the Author to Garýfy--Shems ed Dyn and his father--Purchase
of wine--Decline of commerce in the Levant--Mâlem Dubány and
his daughters--Extortion of Eastern rulers--Arrival of Miss
Williams--Arrival of Mr. Bankes--He copies and removes fresco
paintings--Failure of his first attempt to reach Palmyra--Visit
of Mr. Buckingham--Locusts--Lady Hester takes a voyage to
Antioch.
Nothing particular occurred to interrupt our customary mode of living
until a serious dispute happened at Hara, a village on the road from
Abra to Sayda, between a Drûze and a Metouály. The Drûze, named Wahab,
was watching his olive-grounds, when he observed the Metouály wantonly
strike a branch, and knock down several olives. This created some
words, which produced a quarrel; and the Drûze, who wore a short
battle-axe in his girdle, cut a gash in the Metouály’s leg and in his
back. The Metouály fled to Sayda, and complained of the assault to
Musa Aga, motsellem of Gebâ, and at this time governor of the Metouály
district, who was exasperated to the highest degree that such an
aggression should have been committed in his immediate neighbourhood.
Armed with a spear, and taking with him some of his people, he rode out
blind with rage; and, encountering, near Hara, a mountaineer, who wore
the Drûze dress, without inquiring whether this was the offender, he
was about to run him through the body: when his secretary interposed,
but could not save the man from a most severe beating given him on
the spot. The real Drûze, in the mean time, had concealed himself at
Heleleyah, a village near Mar Elias.
The fury of Musa Aga created some alarm among the peasantry at Abra:
for, although Christians, they would not go to Sayda the whole of the
next day. They feared lest, in the absence of the real offender, they
might be maltreated: a strange way of doing justice! But on the third
day some soldiers came down from the Shaykh Beshýr, and, arresting
Wahab, carried him to Mukhtára.
The conversation of the villagers showed what a rancour those of the
Drûze districts harboured against the Turks in the plain. They said
that the shaykh was unjust, who thus, at the representation of Musa
Aga, would punish a Drûze; and it appeared to me that both Christians
and Drûzes would ill brook affronts from the Turks, if their leaders
were disposed to encourage this disposition in them.
As winter was now approaching, the convent was, as usual, put in repair
against the rains. This was a very necessary precaution; but was never
a complete remedy: for there was not a year in which the wet did not
penetrate more or less through the roofs into the rooms.
On the 21st of November, a young Russian passed through Sayda. The
nature of medal-buying in these countries may be understood by what
happened between him and a silversmith of the place, who gave me a
laughable account of the traveller’s eagerness, and of the advantage
which, in a matter of buying and selling, he thought himself authorized
to take of it. The Livonian, as most travellers do, had no sooner
arrived at Sayda than he inquired if there were any medals to sell in
the place. A silversmith, who made a traffic of them, was summoned
immediately; and for a silver coin (which, from his description, I
judged to be a Jupiter holding an eagle), asked the very reasonable
sum of six piasters, the silver weighing nearly to the value of five.
The Livonian was not accustomed to have them presented to him so
cheap, and, at a word, said I’ll take it: upon which the silversmith
asked time to consider. He went to his shop, and was followed by the
Livonian, who kept rising in his offers, which were as regularly
refused by the silversmith, who now pretended he had been told it was
a most rare coin, and demanded fifty piasters. On the third day the
Livonian departed; and, in passing the shop where the silversmith,
apprized of his going, took care to be, once more made a still greater
offer than he had done, of thirty-six piasters, which was taken by the
exulting silversmith; who, had the Livonian showed some reluctance to
pay the original price of six, would have been glad to have disposed of
it, as he had done of some others of the same kind, for even a less sum.
A curious trick was at this time played off on Lady Hester by a needy
adventurer. The Pasha of Acre, with a harým full of concubines, had
never been blessed but with one son, who died of the plague. It was
very well known throughout the pashalik that the birth of another
would give rise to considerable rejoicings: and it is customary in the
East that whoever brings the first news of any joyful event should
be handsomely recompensed. There was not indeed much likelihood of
offspring: for the pasha was old, and had abused his constitution in
indulgences. One day that I had ridden down to Abra from Meshmûshy, I
received a note from her ladyship, in which, among other things, she
mentioned that an officer of the pasha’s had been sent to announce
to her the birth of a son, and that she had made a present to him in
consequence. It happened that Hadj Ali, our old janissary, had called
at the convent to see the syt, his mistress (as he always named Lady
Hester); and, as he was recently from Acre, I questioned him why he had
not brought the news himself. He declared that such an event was not
expected and could not have happened: and he immediately guessed that
there must have been some imposture practised. I accordingly wrote to
caution her ladyship, and kept Hadj Ali until the messenger returned,
which was in about nine hours, when he informed me that the officer who
had brought the news styled himself Hassan Aga; that he had not only
brought tidings of the birth of a son, but had said that the pasha had
charged him to add that there was not a village in his pashalik, or a
horse in his stable, which Lady Hester might not claim of him on such a
happy day. On hearing the name, Hadj Ali knew him to be an adventurer,
one Hassan, alias Hassan Nykhu.[84] In El Gezzàr’s time he was captain
of a guard of twenty-five men, stationed at the bridge of the Casmia
river for the security of the public road: since the death of El Gezzàr
he had been out of employ, and lived by his wits.
I immediately sent off this account to Lady Hester, who was highly
irritated at the man’s impudence: for it had nearly led her to send a
letter of congratulation, and to order rejoicings to be made in her
house. Accordingly, Sulymán, the Drûze, was despatched, to try and
secure his person, and to deliver him over to Hadj Ali at Mar Elias.
Sulymán went in pursuit of him, and traced his route: but, fearing that
he might escape from him if he attempted to use force, he inveigled him
back to Mar Elias, by saying that Lady Hester had sent after him in
order to present him with a new suit of clothes as a farther recompense
for his joyful tidings.
No sooner was he arrived at Mar Elias than Hadj Ali and Sulymán seized
him, and bound him hand and foot. Hadj Ali reproached him with his
lies, and he was locked up in the woodhouse until the morrow. The next
day Lady Hester came down from Meshmûshy: and, on alighting at the
door, she saw Hassan tied to a tree, with Sulymán keeping watch over
him. She desired Hadj Ali to bastinado him, and then went in; but she
little thought to what lengths these men would go: for, throwing the
poor wretch on the ground on his back, with his hands tied as they
were, one held up his feet whilst the other beat him most unmercifully
on the soles; and when, at length, Sulymán’s strength failed him from
passion, Hadj Ali seized a broom bat which lay near at hand, and struck
the helpless man across the legs and thighs in a manner that I thought
would have broken them. I had cried “enough!” several times; but at
last seeing that they heeded me not, I forcibly held their hands, and
with difficulty drew them off, pale, breathless, and trembling. Oh! how
vile a being seemed to me then an infuriate and passionate man! They
would have renewed the beating, had not I compelled them to desist.
Hassan was left bound to the tree, and afterwards thrown into the
woodhouse for the night. On the following morning Hadj Ali departed for
Acre; driving Hassan, lame and bruised, before him. He was furnished
with the following letter from Lady Hester to Mâlem Haym. “A certain
impostor, called Hassan, came to me at Meshmûshy in the name of the
pasha and yourself, pretending that the pasha had been blessed with a
son. Hadj Ali knew him, went in search of him, and put him in prison.
He will tell you the rest.”
Hassan, however, could not walk so great a distance, and Hadj Ali was
compelled to leave him by the way, lying down in the middle of the
road. The affair was not made a serious one at Acre; for the Turks hold
living by one’s wits to be a fair mode of gaining a livelihood: and
they thought that the loss of the money, which Hadj Ali had taken from
him, and the beating he had received, were punishment enough. Hassan
however limped on, and reached Acre three or four days afterwards. He
went immediately to Hassan Aga, a favourite Mameluke of Sulymán Pasha,
who knew him, and there complained bitterly of the treatment he had
received at Mar Elias. Hassan Aga espoused his cause; and, had the
matter been pursued by her ladyship, would have stood forth as his
protector. For, in this respect, I observed on several occasions such
a relation between client and patron as I suppose to have existed in
ancient Rome. Thus, whenever a person of inferior station in life was
in jeopardy, from the oppression of the great, it did not follow that
he became their victim; for either his cause was espoused by some great
man, whose creature he was, or, if he had not the means of interesting
such a one directly, he found some channel through which to come at
him, and thus would often transfer his own quarrel to the shoulders of
the patron. By these means men of consequence in Turkey form parties,
which they often use for the furtherance of their own ambitious views,
or to repress those of their rivals.
This business was hardly over when a letter came to me from Macarius,
patriarch of Antioch, praying my attendance on him, inasmuch as he was
very ill. Exclusive of my readiness on all occasions to visit sick
people of the country, the patriarch was entitled to my attendance on
the score of obligations owed to him for having lent his house to Lady
Hester, and for having put the village of Abra under her control. I
rode over immediately to the monastery of St. Saviour (Dayr Mkhallas)
where he resided; but I had been called in too late to be able to save
him.
He had now been ill ninety-five days. His malady had begun in an
intermittent fever, which left him, and was renewed in making his
annual rounds through his diocese in the month of October. A violent
purgative remedy, administered to him by one Hanah Zahár, a silversmith
of Sayda, who was much in repute as a doctor in the neighbourhood,
had reduced him to a state of great debility, from which he never
recovered. His subsequent treatment had tended to bring on a dropsical
affection, the insidious approaches of which had not been strictly
guarded against; and, now that his dangerous state became too apparent,
Mâlem Hanah Zahár had been dismissed, and my aid was solicited.[85]
I found him under the influence of a medicine which had been
administered as tincture of bark, but which was in fact an opiate. His
sister-in-law, Helayny, an Egyptian woman, was supporting his pillow,
and two priests were fanning him. There was much simplicity in the
appearance of his bed and room.
He died on the Friday following, at midnight, in the arms of Tanûs, an
old servant. As soon as the breath was out of his body, he was dressed
in his most splendid robes, the mitre was placed on his head, and he
was carried in an arm-chair into the church of the monastery. From the
time he became my patient I was accustomed to ride over almost every
day. On Thursday I had left him in bed with no hope of recovery. On
Saturday, what was my surprise, on approaching the monastery, to find a
crowd of people assembled at the church doors; and, on entering it, to
see the dead patriarch sitting in a chair, with a crosier in his left
hand and the New Testament in his right, whilst an incense-pan smoked
by his side. Prostrate, before and around him, were men and women, some
of whom religiously approached the corpse, plucked a hair from the
beard, or kissed the hand.
Messengers had been sent to the bishops of Sayda, Acre, Beyrout, and
the other sees in the district. Theodosius, bishop of Acre, happening
to be at Beyrout, arrived about eleven in the morning just before
me, and was giving the necessary orders for the funeral. I went into
the room where he was. It is customary for the Greek catholic church
to embalm its patriarchs: and this is generally done by the priests:
but, as the offensive smell, which continued to arise from the last
patriarch, whose body was deposited under the staircase in the chapel
of Mar Elias, had convinced me that little or no care was used by the
priests in doing it, I volunteered my services, which were accepted.
I expected that some objection would have been made on the score of
my being a heretic; but perhaps the priests were glad to get rid of a
process so disagreeable to eyes unused to the dissection of dead bodies.
There was a receipt for preparing the drugs used in embalming kept
at the see, which was forthwith sent to Sayda to be made up.[86]
The corpse was immediately carried into a vault or cellar near the
door of the church. I was assisted by two peasants, who, together
with the monks, showed as much indecency in the treatment of the body
now lifeless as they had manifested obsequiousness and servility to
it when breathing. I proposed that a flat table should be put upon
trestles (such being the bedsteads of the monks themselves) to lay the
corpse on: but their reply was, “Why not on the ground?” I asked for
silk thread to sew up the body: but they produced cotton, and said
that would do well enough. I required a sponge and hot water: the
latter they would not give themselves the trouble to bring, and the
sponge they produced was as black as a coal. Who would be the future
patriarch, not what would become of the dead one, was now all their
consideration.
I opened the body. I removed each viscus, one by one, observing the
external phenomena only, fearing to cut into them, lest the bystanders
should speak of it among the populace, and I get stoned. Not one
monk would attend, each declaring that he could not bear the sight:
a lay brother came in once, to ask when the process would be over,
and, having stolen a handkerchief, disappeared. The contents of the
abdomen and chest being removed, I rubbed in the powdered ingredients
over the interior surface of these cavities just as one salts down
meat. Then, stuffing the whole with bran, I sewed up the body with
the usual stitch; and, the thread being blue, the suture looked neat,
which was the principal thing that excited admiration in the peasants.
I took out the brains and filled the skull with powdered drugs. The
integuments were then carefully drawn over and sewed up.[87] The body
was afterwards washed as clean as I could do it; for the bystanders
were extremely indifferent to my reproaches for their irreverent
conduct,[88] and would afford me no assistance.
They now dressed the corpse in a pair of drawers, a kombáz (or gown)
of white silk, with gold tinsel running through it; a silk band or
cope, in the shape of a horseshoe, which came over the shoulders from
behind and reached to the ground, and a smaller one of the same kind
over it, which two latter are episcopal emblems. To the right side in
front was suspended a square board, covered with silk, resembling a
dragoon’s despatch bag. The mitre was then placed on his head; and the
body, being tied in an arm-chair to keep it erect, was carried into the
church, which was lighted up for the mass of the dead. It was eight
o’clock in the evening, and I had been employed just five hours. A
great concourse of people was assembled from the neighbouring villages.
Not sure how some of them might be disposed to consider my interference
in the religious rites of their church, I declined to attend the
service. On the following morning, I mounted my horse, and rode back to
Mar Elias.
I heard afterwards that, having been exposed to the devout and curious
all night, he was buried the next day, seated in an arm-chair, in a
place excavated beneath the pavement of the church, which was well
done; for, in such an imperfect mode of embalming as that just related
(in which I had necessarily followed the custom of the monks), there
was no reason why a corpse should not corrupt almost as soon as if it
had been left to natural decay.
Four patriarchs had now died within the last six years. Agapius, after
ruling his flock for twenty years, was succeeded by Athanasius, who
died, as has been mentioned, at Mar Elias, a week or two before Lady
Hester took possession of that residence. He was succeeded by Ignatius,
who was murdered by a band of Greeks, set on by the heads of the
Greek church in and about the mountain, on account of his exertions
in converting the Greeks to the Catholic persuasion. The death of the
last has been just related. This rapid succession had, it was thought,
repressed the ambition of some of the bishops: and it was the belief
of many that both Athanasius and Macarius had died of slow poison. In
consequence of this surmise, I was mysteriously questioned by many
persons as to the appearances I had discovered in opening the body.
Amongst those spoken of as likely to succeed to the vacant dignity was
Abûna (Father) Saba, now superior of the monastery of Dayr Mkhallas.
He had been educated at Rome, where he remained ten years, and was
well versed in theology and intrigue; speaking Italian like a native,
and reputed of much learning in his own tongue. He was of a remarkable
vivacity, most simple in his habits, and of very entertaining
discourse: so that Mâlem Häym, the banker of Acre, would often invite
him to that city in order to enjoy his society. It is true that a
patriarch must be chosen from the synod of bishops, and Saba was only
a priest: but it was thought that he would be preferred to a see, and
forthwith created head of the church.
To the astonishment of all persons, an obscure and aged curate, an
octogenarian, was selected. For party disputes had run extremely high,
and the synod not agreeing on any of those who were nominated, it
was thought best to elect one who could not remain long; whilst, in
the interim, each party would have time to strengthen its separate
interests against a succeeding contest.
On the 27th of November, Signor Volpi left us. About this time Mr.
William Bankes, an English gentleman, was reported to be on his way
from Egypt to Syria: and, as Lady Hester was well acquainted with
him, she wrote to St. Jean d’Acre to secure a proper reception for
him. Winter now had set in; we had returned to Abra for many weeks.
The evenings generally were spent by Lady Hester in listening to me,
who read to her, or in regulating the management of her household and
stables, the whole of which she took entirely on herself.
On the 5th of December, a lady, the daughter of Mâlem Dubány, my
nearest neighbour, died in childbirth. Although her danger was evident
to her husband and family for many hours previous to her decease, no
inducement could persuade them to call in a physician or surgeon; for
the Mahometans are so averse to the interference of men in cases of
midwifery, that a Christian, even if he were so inclined, dares not
oppose the reigning prejudice. I ought, however, to remark, that this
is the only case of death in labour that came to my knowledge during
two years that I resided near Sayda.
A cottage, in one of the gardens of Sayda, was fitted up against
the approach of spring for Lady Hester, in order that she might
occasionally ride down to spend the day. It belonged to a Turk,
named Derwish el Seghýr,[89] who was endowed with sagacity enough to
see that the way to get well paid was to give satisfaction to his
employer. Hence he neglected no means of pleasing her ladyship: and the
unremitting attention of this man to her confirmed her in the dislike
she had long since conceived to the Christians of the country, whom
she treated with open contempt. This cottage was an extremely pleasing
retreat: before the door was a row of bananas, and some tall trees
threw a delicious shade around it.
A lad, about twelve years old, had been sent to Lady Hester as an
object of charity; and as he spoke Italian very well, he was given to
me for my servant. His story was--that his brother had been forced to
embrace the Mahometan religion; and that he, to avoid the same fate,
had been secretly sent away from Cairo, his native place. His name
was Mûsa. On arriving in Syria, he had been kept for some months in
the monastery of the Franciscans at Jerusalem, where he had become
apparently a very pious youth.
There had been no rain up to the 22nd of December, since the month of
May, with the exception of one shower; consequently the drought, in
some parts, was very distressing. The first symptom was in the unusual
appearance of immense flights of birds, in Arabic _kuttâ_. The
flocks in which they came were truly terrific, covering the sun like
a black cloud. This unusual state of the weather called forth many
ejaculations from the mouths of the Mahometans as they walked the
streets, and a fast of three days was instituted for averting the evils
which a continuance of it must bring on.
I had procured for Shaykh Ibrahim a copy of the gospels; also the
Psalms of David, and the miracles of St. Athanasius, all printed in
Arabic on Mount Lebanon. These I forwarded to him about this time, and
in return he sent me a ring, with my name engraved on it in Arabic
characters: but here our correspondence dropped until his death.
A person in the country, having got into his possession a certain
cure for the rheumatism, was at a loss how to use it. Being unable to
get the directions, which were in English, translated into Arabic, he
applied at last to me; and I found that he had obtained from the master
of a merchantman “Whitehead’s essence of mustard.” He was astonished,
when, at the bottom of my translation, (relying on Dr. Paris’s
assertion) I added an N.B.--that there was not an atom of mustard in
the preparation: the delusion would have proved more agreeable to him
than the truth.
M. Beaudin was now frequently going to Acre respecting M. Boutin’s
murder, and for other schemes which were constantly floating in Lady
Hester’s brain. He was also desired to put himself in readiness for a
journey by land to Egypt; and, on Sunday, the 14th of January, departed
for Acre on his road thither. He was accompanied by a little peasant
boy, named Cabûr, who had been taken from tending sheep into Lady
Hester’s service, and had become a great favourite with her from his
bold and independent character; so that he was now permitted to go to
Egypt to see a little of the world--seeing Egypt being, in the eyes of
the Syrians, about what going to Paris is to an Englishman.
On the 29th of January, I was requested to give assistance to a man
attacked with hydrophobia, who had been bitten some weeks before (I
think five) by a dog running by the sea-shore; it was suspected that
the dog was rabid, and he was pursued and killed; and the leg of
Mohammed (that was the man’s name) was enclosed in his reeking skin,
this being a supposed cure for the bite. The man died six days after
the symptoms manifested themselves. He appeared to be about thirty-five
years old. It was expected that I should have suggested some remedy
for a cure; but I had none to offer. I sat in the room with him for
about twenty minutes: a native doctor proposed administering onions.
The man tried in vain to swallow a piece, and then some water, which
he equally rejected; not being so much terrified at the sight of it,
for he carried it to his mouth, as having a dread, apparently, of the
painful effort which he was compelled to make in attempting to swallow
anything. The season of the year is the most remarkable part of this
case.
On the 14th of February, I made a very agreeable excursion to the
village of Garýfy, situate between Abra and Dayr el Kamar, in a very
romantic glen, through which runs a river that empties itself into the
Ewely. The vineyards and olive plantations around Garýfy are not to
be exceeded in beauty or extent by those of any other village of the
mountain.[90]
On my arrival about sunset, I rode straight to the menzel, or room
assigned for the reception of travellers, who are entertained at the
expense of the shaykh of the village with a supper and night’s lodging.
My horse was taken to the adjoining stable. On entering the menzel, I
found it to be a large, square, paved room, with a fire in the centre,
around which were seated some poor travellers. I lighted my pipe, and
joined in conversation; when, after about ten minutes, I was told that
the son of the shaykh was coming to welcome me; and I was shown into
an adjoining room. A handsome young man soon afterwards entered, whose
name was Shems-ed-Dyn. He very civilly gave me to understand that he
had often heard my name mentioned, and, for my own sake, and for the
sake of her ladyship, he was bound to make my stay agreeable. Supper
was served up, which, after all his fine speeches, proved to be a dish
of pilau only. We then smoked our pipes, and he left me to go to rest.
I was here greatly tormented by fleas.
On the following day, almost at daylight, his father, an aged and
venerable-looking Drûze, came down to see me, and we drank our coffee
and smoked our pipes under some fir-trees in front of the house, where
we overlooked the valley beneath. It appeared that the Honourable
Frederick North[91] had once paid a visit here, with two other
Englishmen, Mr. Gally Knight and Mr. Fazackerley. The object of my
visit was to make a purchase of wine, for which Garýfy was in repute.
I went into several peasants’ houses, where I found jars, some four or
five in a row, each holding from eighteen to thirty-six gallons, full
of wine, and merely covered with a piece of board, roughly cut to the
shape of the mouth, and luted with clay. These they would break open,
and lade out the wine in a calabash, cut longitudinally, so as to
represent a ladle, for me to taste. There was both red and white; and,
having purchased two ass-loads, each ass carrying two goat-skins full,
I departed from Garýfy on the following morning.
I was much entertained with the conversation of Shaykh Shems[92] and
his father Beshýr. But the greatest amusement was derived from a native
of the village, who had when young quitted the country with a European
priest, and spent twelve years at Rome; having brought away, as the sum
total of the benefit derived from his travels, about as many words of
Italian, and the love of drink, which his present employment of taster
allowed him fully to gratify.
The wines of Mount Lebanon are rarely exported to Europe, with the
exception, occasionally, of a cask of the golden wine, which is the
growth of certain villages, and is now and then sent by merchants to
their correspondents. Lady Hester shipped a few casks for England, as
presents to two or three friends; but some of it soured on the voyage;
and that which retained its taste had not flavour and body enough for
the climate of England. Yet, with proper preparation, there are many
wines which would suit the English market as well as the wines of
Sicily.
It was impossible to mix in European society in Tripoli, Acre, or
Sayda, without hearing continual lamentations on the low ebb to which
the commerce of the Levant with Europe had sunk. We have only to look
into the journals of travellers, who visited these countries a century
ago, to find them at every town recording the hospitality of some
English merchant. Aleppo had a flourishing factory, and even maintained
a chaplain and physician; and several English houses of commerce
existed at Laodicea, Tripoli, Beyrout, Sayda, and Acre. But, for some
years before the French revolution, this state of prosperity had been
manifestly declining, and the commodities formerly sought for in Turkey
were brought at a less expence from our colonies and by other routes.
The French, however, still maintained large establishments at all the
above mentioned places, and Marseilles was enriched by the Levant. Even
the coasting trade of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, was performed by
French vessels, and called the caravan trade. A master of a merchant
vessel would sail from Marseilles, Toulon, Cette, or some one of the
ports of Provence or Languedoc, and would remain two or three or more
years at a time in the Turkish seas, until he had made a considerable
sum for his owners and himself, when he would return home for awhile,
and again make another voyage with the same views.
When the French revolution broke out, and war was declared between
England and France, the English cruizers in the Mediterranean rendered
it impossible for the French merchant-ships to traverse that sea; and
the factors of that nation at Acre, Sayda, and Aleppo, found themselves
so utterly ruined, that many were obliged to descend to occupations for
which they were never intended, to save themselves from want. To this
might be added the vexations of Ahmed Pasha, el Gezzàr, of Acre, who
indulged himself in a singular hatred and persecution of the French who
dwelt in his pashalik.
Upon the restoration of Louis XVIII. to the throne of his ancestors and
the pacification of Europe, many of the old captains resumed the Levant
trade, but without any great success. Formerly, the exports consisted
in raw silk, cotton, gall-nuts, scammony, drugs, wax, old copper, wool,
&c.; but, in 1815, the few French houses which had attempted to revive
the trade had hitherto shipped nothing but cotton, a little wheat, and
some drugs. With regard to England, I think I may affirm that scarcely
a single vessel had gone to that country direct, freighted from Cyprus
or Syria. Several reasons were assigned for this. One was, as I have
said above, that the articles derived heretofore from the Levant were
now obtained from a different quarter of the globe; a second, that the
restrictions of the Levant Company were oppressive; a third, that there
was unusual risk incurred, in long quarantines, by exposure of goods
to damp and rot in the quarantine houses; and that much inconvenience
arose from the necessity of employing hireling interpreters,[93] by
which ways were opened for cheating, and for collusion between the
native merchants and the interpreter; whilst constant danger attended
the vessels and crews from the insecurity of the ports and the
frequency of the plague.
At the time that this was written, the imports most saleable were
said to be hardwares, American coffee (which the natives mixed with
Mocha coffee in adulteration, or sold separately as a cheap article),
sugar, cloth, English printed cottons, muslins, fire-arms, watches,
Geneva jewelry, peppers, cochineal, indigo, lead, iron, tin, French
earthenware, German glass, &c.
It is to be observed that, so totally does the sale depend, especially
in articles of jewelry, fire-arms, and Manchester goods, on an
adaptation to the taste and usages of the people, that no person who
has not resided among them can judge what is saleable merchandize; for
example, the best duelling pistols, brown barrelled, and unornamented,
without knobs at the ends of the stocks, would not fetch five pounds;
whilst a brace of trumpery pistols, made by the direction of a person
who knew what the Turks fancied would sell for treble that sum: yet,
with this exception, one general rule with them is to prefer solid to
fancy goods.
I did not hesitate to ask shaykh Shems many questions respecting his
religion. From him I was confirmed in the received opinion that Hakem
by Omrhu was the founder of their sect, and beyond this I could get
no new light. But it was evident that he had read with attention the
Bible and New Testament, and was as well versed in the Koran as the
Mahometans themselves.
My neighbour, Mâlem Dubány, had two daughters, Tuckly and Haneh; the
eldest, Tuckly, was about seventeen years old. As I was a doctor, and
an old friend, I was admitted into the family upon all occasions, and
the young ladies were suffered by their mamma to remain when I entered
the room, and would sit down by me unveiled. Tuckly was grave and
majestic, and of dazzling beauty, her skin being of a higher polish
than I had ever seen: Haneh, on the contrary, was a laughing girl, with
large black eyes, lips somewhat thick, but as red as coral: and all the
decorum which custom required of females before men could scarcely keep
down her natural vivacity.
I had at this time a patient from Aleppo, named Gibrael el Anhury,
a merchant, who had brought a letter of introduction to me from Mr.
Barker, our Consul at that place. With him came his nephew, a young
man about twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, who had resolved
on demanding one of Mâlem Dubány’s daughters in marriage. As he never
was permitted to see either, of course he could only judge by report
as to the respective merits of the two. His go-betweens were a female
cousin, who lived at Sayda, and his uncle, a respectable priest, living
at Sayda also, both of whom (for priests have the privilege of entering
the harýms) were in habits of intimacy with Dubány’s family. They
united in extolling Haneh, the youngest, and Haneh was finally demanded
in marriage.
But there is a custom among the Levantines of never allowing a younger
sister to marry before an elder.[94] In the marriage of Mâlem Surûr,
the British consul at Damietta, to the second daughter of Batrus Anhûry
of Mount Lebanon, this custom was violated, it is true, inasmuch as
he took the younger, the elder being yet unmarried. But this was
considered as conduct worthy of blame in the father, and he was said
to have been induced to do so from the fear of losing so good a match
in his family. Mâlem Dubány, therefore, refused his consent. It must
be observed that the Benat Dubány (or the Misses Dubány) were never
consulted; and the father, whilst relating to me the negociations which
had taken place, suffered his daughters to listen to the conversation,
without imagining for a moment that his omnipotent decrees could ever
excite a murmur in their bosoms.
Young Anhûry was, therefore, driven to take Tuckly or neither. But it
had been whispered to him by his matronly cousin, that she suspected
Tuckly was of a complexion too much like alabaster to be in sound
health, and that she was well assured that something was wrong in her
constitution, as my lady’s doctor had been prescribing for her. This
was true; although the cousin’s alarm was groundless as to anything
seriously faulty in the state of her health, for she was possessed of
an excellent frame of body. One day, therefore, Anhûry, the nephew,
called on me, and, after many roundabout questions, asked me what I
thought of Miss Tuckly, and I, as in truth I might, eulogized her in
the discreetest manner I could.
The following day, when visiting Mâlem Dubány, he, in his turn,
interrogated me whether I was not of opinion that bad eyes argued bad
humours in the constitution, and whether Mr. Anhûry did not seem to me
to have bad eyes. Here, too, I endeavoured to say nothing that might
hurt the young man’s suit; but Mâlem Dubány was so often recurring
to the sore eyes of Anhûry, that he persuaded himself a person so
afflicted could not have healthy children; and the suitor was finally
dismissed.
Will it, after this, be thought wonderful that there should be a purity
of blood in the different races of people in Syria and other parts of
the East, unknown to Northern climates, when so slight a motive as
this could cause a young man, respectable, rich, and comely, to be
rejected?
I cannot dismiss the subject of Dubány and his family without saying a
few words on an incident in his life, which explains the meaning of the
term _avany_, a word that has been adopted into the English and
French languages, by travellers in the Levant, to express the extortion
of money on frivolous pretexts. Mâlem Dubány acquired his little
fortune in Egypt, and, whilst a resident merchant there, was, with
eight others, made the subject of an _avany_, under the following
circumstances, during the reign of Mûrad Bey. He was reputed rich; and
the bey, desirous of appropriating a portion of his wealth to himself,
was not long in inventing a crime whereof to accuse him.
There was a place in Damietta, which had been used as a French chapel;
and, after the evacuation of the French, some few persons, Greek
Catholics, were accustomed to resort to it, to worship. It had beneath
it a dwelling or magazine, used by some Mahometans. One day an officer
of justice seized on Mâlem Dubány, and hurried him to prison, where
he found himself in company with seven others, his acquaintances, and
respectable merchants like himself. They were accused of having said
prayers over the Turks’ heads, which was construed into an arrogation
of superiority; and of having heard mass in the French chapel, without
a firman from the Porte, authorising them so to do; for which offences
they were ordered to pay eighty thousand piasters among them, or about
£500 each.
They naturally protested their innocence of the charge, and that
they had not such a sum at their command; and, persisting in their
assertions, they were taken out and bastinadoed, _ten pair_
each[95]. They were then remanded to prison, and given to understand
that this was only a prelude to what would follow, if they did not
produce the money. During this time, although in confinement, they were
treated with much attention. Their meals were as good as if at home.
Coffee and pipes were regularly served to them, and the domestics stood
before them, with crossed hands in the attitude of respect. At last,
being threatened with a second bastinadoing more severe than the first,
they raised the fine, and, having paid it, were liberated with a polite
message from Mûrad Bey, that they might now go and hear mass if they
pleased, and not fear any molestation from him. But they did not think
it advisable to expose themselves to be beaten and avanized a second
time.
In the middle of March of this year, Lady Hester received information
that Miss Williams, a young person strongly attached to her, had
ventured from Malta to Cyprus, in a vessel alone, on purpose to join
her. Miss W. owed her education and the care of her younger years to
the protection of Mr. Pitt. Lady Hester afterwards took her near her
person, and she left England with her ladyship in 1810.
At Malta she found her sister married to an officer of the
commissariat, with whom, at Lady Hester’s departure from that island,
she remained; but her attachment was so great to her protectress, that,
after residing at Malta four years, she determined to follow her into
the East. She accordingly embarked on board an Italian merchant-vessel,
and alone braved the hazards of a voyage which proved particularly
distressing; for the autumnal gales were so violent that the ship
sprung a dangerous leak, and the captain was obliged to put into Rhodes
to refit. Here Miss Williams remained two or three months, whilst the
ship, which was found to be much damaged, underwent a thorough repair.
They sailed from Rhodes at the commencement of the new year. The
captain, named Fanuggia, was a man of violent language and conduct; so
that his crew, which was composed of very bad subjects, mutinied. The
two parties came to blows more than once; and Miss Williams, oppressed
with sea-sickness, and lying in her cot, from which she was unable to
move, often heard upon deck the clashing of swords, and thought every
moment that murder was perpetrating. At length they reached Cyprus,
where some of the crew were put into prison; and, other men being
shipped, they crossed to Beyrout, in the middle of March. Here Miss
Williams landed, after a voyage of three months and a half, and was
entertained by Mr. Laurella, the British agent, until recovered from
her fatigue. Mrs. Fry was sent immediately to her, to instruct her how
she was to dress herself--how wear her veil in travelling--and how
conduct herself in this new world. About the 10th of March, she left
Beyrout, escorted by Mr. Laurella, and I went to meet them on the road.
The day was exceedingly fine and warm. I was riding along in the wash
of the sea; and, the sands being broad hereabout, there was a mirage
playing along them, which seemed somewhat to lift objects above the
ground and to confuse them. I had passed several small parties of
travellers; and, tired of looking at what was coming, I let the bridle
fall on my mare’s neck, and began to muse on the effects of my long
residence in Syria. When first I entered the country, had I undertaken
a day’s journey in any direction, it would have been thought necessary
to have with me an interpreter, a janissary, and a mule or two for
my baggage. My bed would have been indispensable, and my portmanteau
loaded with the numerous articles which a European carries along with
him. Now I was alone, a fowling-piece, lying across my saddle-bows, was
my only protection; I, my own interpreter; I had no bed but my cloak;
and all the articles of my dressing-box were reduced to a comb for my
beard, and my tooth-brushes, which generally I concealed from the view
of Mahometan natives, lest the materials, being of hog’s bristles,
should render me unclean in their eyes. And this is the unencumbered
way in which everybody travels in Turkey.
A mile or two beyond the river Damûr I met them. Mutual salutations
having been exchanged, I turned back with the party. We stopped to
sleep at Nebby Yunez. Whilst at supper, a circumstance occurred, which
must have seemed somewhat extraordinary to a new comer. Mr. Laurella’s
servant had furnished the provision basket, but had neglected to put
up a candlestick; and such things are not to be met with in Turkish
caravanseries, where oil is generally burnt. He therefore invented a
substitute: cutting off the crown of a loaf of bread, part of our meal,
and, making a hole in the crumb with his finger, he stuck the candle in
it. Miss Williams stared in astonishment.
The next day we resumed our journey, and about noon reached Mar Elias.
Lady Hester was very sensible to this mark of attachment on the part
of Miss Williams. It was shortly afterwards, although I neglected to
note down the day, that Mr. W. J. Bankes[96] came to Mar Elias. Lady
Hester had been long in expectation of him. Of all the travellers who
had passed that way previously for many months, he was the only one
who could give her any news of her friends and acquaintance. When he
arrived, he was lodged at Mar Elias. A day or two afterwards, I took
him on a two days’ tour round by Meshmûshy, Gezýr, and Gebâ, three
villages on the heights of Mount Lebanon, situated so romantically that
Mr. Bankes professed not to have seen any thing like them elsewhere.
On another occasion, I accompanied him to Dayr Mkhallas, to see the
monastery, and to make the acquaintance of Abûna Sâba, the superior or
räis. In going, Mr. Bankes’s horse, probably unused to our mountain
tracks, slipped up on his side on a rock, and it was a fortunate escape
for that gentleman that he received no hurt.
When Mr. Bankes had favoured me with a sight of the drawings which he
had made in his progress through Egypt and Syria, I conceived him to be
a fit person to lead to the sepulchre discovered at Abu Ghyás, as has
been related, since he could copy the paintings, and thus preserve a
memorial of a valuable monument of antiquity. I accordingly provided a
couple of peasants and some tapers, and took him to the spot.
The paintings appeared to him of considerable excellence, and he
made two large drawings of them. Mr. Bankes, when in Italy, had seen
paintings in fresco removed from the walls entire, and he conceived
that he could pursue the same method with these. I witnessed with
regret his preparations and success in removing two, because I feared
that succeeding travellers would blame the act: and yet, on the other
hand, two such pieces of antiquity would be highly esteemed in England,
and I knew that an idle boy or a fanatic Turk might destroy them for
ever, if left where they were.
Mr. Bankes left Mar Elias immediately afterwards for Dayr el Kamar, to
pay a visit to the emir Beshýr. He had brought with him from Egypt a
renegado Italian in the Albanian costume, who acted as his interpreter.
As a private soldier is not a proper person to come into the presence
of people of rank, Mr. Bankes was advised to obtain the services of M.
Bertrand in his interview with the prince, which he did. They proceeded
to Btedýn, the emir’s residence. After visiting the emir, Mr. Bankes
pursued his journey, and M. Bertrand returned to Sayda.
Soon after Mr. Bankes’s departure, we heard that he had made an
attempt, in the month of April, to go to Palmyra, but had failed. Lady
Hester had told him how many difficulties he would have to encounter
in the passage of the Desert, unless he went under the escort of the
Bedouin Arabs; and, to secure him a favourable reception from them,
she offered him letters of introduction to Muly Ismael of Hamah and to
Nasar, son of Mahannah; soliciting him likewise, for his own sake, and
for the sake of his parents, who would lay much to her charge, should
any misfortune happen to him, which a prudent foresight on her part
might have prevented, to take as a guide her servant, Pierre, who had
already been twice into the Desert, and was personally known to all the
Arabs. But Mr. Bankes seemed inclined to trust to his own resources
and management, which had hitherto brought him thus far in safety: and
unwillingly accepted both the letters and the man.[97]
Soon after Mr. Bankes’s departure, I had one night retired to bed in
my cottage, when I heard the trampling of horses near my door, with
a talking, as of persons who were strangers. To this succeeded a
knocking, and then a parley with my servant: the result of which was
that a voice, in English, made known that it was Mr. Buckingham, who
was bending his way to the monastery, where he had been expected some
days, yet was afraid to present himself, as it was so late. Finding,
however, on looking at my watch, that it was only two in the morning,
and knowing that Lady Hester was seldom in bed at that hour, I urged
him to go on, which he did.
On the morrow I found him safely housed. Mr. Buckingham’s Turkish dress
became him, and he looked very much like a Mahometan. Lady Hester found
much pleasure in his conversation, and detained him until the 18th of
April.
As soon as Mr. Buckingham was gone, Lady Hester, who had deeply
reflected on the then recent events which had anew convulsed Europe,
gave vent to her indignation in a letter which is couched in such
energetic language as to be worthy of standing as a record of her
opinions on men, whom, perhaps, she had a better opportunity of knowing
than most persons of her times.
_Lady Hester Stanhope to the Marquis (afterwards Duke) of
Buckingham._
Mount Lebanon, April 22, 1816.
My dear Cousin,
For years, in writing to you, I have been silent on politics:
but as it is probable that this letter will reach you, I avail
myself of this opportunity to give you my real opinions.
You cannot doubt that a woman of my character, and (I presume
to say) of my understanding, must have held in contempt and
aversion all the statesmen of the present day, whose unbounded
ignorance and duplicity have brought ruin on France, have spread
their own shame through all Europe, and have exposed themselves
not only to the ridicule but to the curses of present and future
generations. One great mind, one single enlightened statesman,
whose virtues had equalled his talents, was all that was wanting
to effect, at this unexampled period, the welfare of all Europe,
by taking advantage of events the most extraordinary that have
ever occurred in any era. That moment is gone by: an age of
terror and perfidy has succeeded. Horrible events will take
place, and those who find themselves farthest from the scenes
which will be acted may consider themselves the most fortunate.
Cease therefore to torment me: I will not live in Europe, even
were I, in flying from it, compelled to beg my bread. Once
only will I go to France, to see you and James, but only that
once. I will not be a martyr for nothing. The granddaughter
of Lord Chatham, the niece of the illustrious Pitt, feels
herself blush, as she writes, that she was born in England--that
England, who has made her accursed gold the counterpoise to
justice; that England who puts weeping humanity in irons, who
has employed the valour of her troops, destined for the defence
of her national honour, as the instrument to enslave a free-born
people; and who has exposed to ridicule and humiliation a
monarch who might have gained the good will of his subjects, if
those intriguing English had left him to stand or fall upon his
own merits.
What must be, if he reflects, the feelings of that monarch’s
mind? but it is possible that his soul is too pure to enable him
to dive into the views of others, and to see that he has merely
been their tool. May Heaven inspire him with the sentiments of
Henry the Fourth, (a name too often profaned) who would have
trod the crown under his feet rather than have received it upon
the conditions with which your friend has accepted it!
You will tell me that the French army--the bravest troops in
the world, they who have made more sacrifices to their national
honour than any others--would not listen to the voice of reason:
and you think I shall believe you. Never! If an individual, poor
and humble like myself, knows how to make an impression (as I
have done) upon thousands of wild Arabs, without even bearing
the name of chieftain, by yielding somewhat to their prejudices
and by inspiring confidence in my integrity and sincerity,
could not a king--a legitimate king--guide that army, to which
he owed the preservation of his power, to a just appreciation
of their duty? Without doubt he could, and would have done
too, if he had been left free to act. What was to be expected
from men, naturally incensed at the interference of those who,
for twenty-five years, were held up to their minds as their
bitterest enemies, but that which has happened? In a word,
never did tyrant, ancient or modern, act so entirely against
the interests of humanity as those insensate dolts of our day,
who have violated the holy rights of peace, and have broken the
ties, which, under any circumstances, should connect man and man.
And pray consider all I say as the real expression of my
thoughts. Oh! if I said all I feel, I could fill a volume! but,
just now, I am not very well in health, and to take a pen in
hand confuses my head, as it has done ever since my attack of
plague at Latakia. I have therefore begged the doctor to write
this for me.
You and James must let me know if you can come and meet me in
Provence: for to Paris I will not go. The sight of those odious
ministers of ours, running about to do mischief, would be too
disgusting. Recollect that it is not what is called “Love” which
takes me now to a prison, but that sentiment which I shall
always feel for those whom I have loved:--a sentiment, which,
in my bosom, is not inferior in intensity to the passion itself
in the bosom of another. You may make faces or not--I care not
a farthing; for there is no soul on earth who ever had, or ever
will have, any influence on my thoughts or my actions.
If you wish to write to me, send your letters to Paris,
addressed to James, or to the care of _Messrs. Lafitte et
C^{ie}_, Coutts’s correspondents. I shall take care that the
bearer of this letter applies there before he leaves Paris to
rejoin me. His stay will be from fifteen to twenty days.
Adieu, my dear cousin. Be as proud and as angry as you please at
my politics, but you will never change them: do not however, on
that account, cease to love me, or forget,
Your ever affectionate
L. H. S.
Visitors of another kind made their appearance this year, but were
not so cordially received. These were swarms of locusts, which came
to add to the distress in which the country was then plunged from the
unusual drought of the season. The locusts first showed themselves in
the middle of March, and flew chiefly along the border land between the
mountains and the sea, forming a swarm of some miles in length. They
would have gone onward, but the north wind happened to set in, and blew
so strongly that, when they came to a point of land a few miles north
of Sayda, past which there was no screen from the wind, they could not
advance any farther; for once on the wing, so slight of body are they,
that, whichever way the wind blows, they are carried irresistibly with
it.
The poor husbandman slept for a few hours, and, on waking, found a
track of stalks where lately he left a corn-field in full blade. Winter
seemed suddenly to have succeeded spring, so completely were the trees
and fields stripped of their verdure.
Locusts on the wing can be compared to nothing so well as a fall of
snow. Their swarms obscure the air in just the same manner and as far
as the eye can reach.
About this time news was brought that Her Royal Highness Caroline
Princess of Wales had landed at Acre. Lady Hester had heard many
weeks before of her approach, and, not intending to come in contact
with her, had given out that she had meditated for some time past a
journey to Antioch, and was resolved to put it in execution this
summer. Preparations and arrangements had therefore begun as early as
the month of May; and she had written to Mr. Barker, British consul
at Aleppo, to meet her at Antioch, for the purpose of settling their
banking accounts and other matters. Many persons thought it an instance
of great rashness on the part of Lady Hester to go into a district
inhabited entirely by Ansárys, a race which had lately seen such
mischief accruing to it at her instigation, on account of M. Boutin’s
assassination.
Lady Hester’s preparations for her departure were now so far advanced
that the vessel in which she intended to sail had been hired. I
know not whether her ladyship had any reason, other than the mere
probability of such a thing, for believing that Her Royal Highness
would extend her journey towards Sayda; but, as she had resolved not
to remain herself at Mar Elias to await the result of the princess’s
movements, it was thought proper that I should do so, to offer her
such accommodations and entertainment as the monastery could afford.
Miss Williams was left for the purpose of household arrangements, and
Hanýfy, the black slave, likewise stopped behind; probably to prevent
her from forming an acquaintance with so fanatic a people as the
Antiochian Mahometans, who hold it to be a sin for any believer to be
bought and kept in servitude by a Christian. Lady Hester furnished me
with a letter of introduction to Her Royal Highness; and desired me to
go and meet her as far as Tyre, supposing she came that way by land.
Lady Hester spent a few days, previous to her departure, in her cottage
in the gardens of Sayda; and on the 18th July embarked on board of a
_shaktúr_, which had been fitted up for the voyage. The vessel
put into Tripoli, where she saw Mustafa Aga Berber, and other persons
with whom she was in correspondence of business and friendship.
Re-embarking, she arrived safely at Swadíah, and thence went to
Antioch, where she was received with great honours by the authorities
of the place.