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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/282-0.txt b/282-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b941243 --- /dev/null +++ b/282-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8369 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Eothen, by A. W. Kinglake + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Eothen + + +Author: A. W. Kinglake + + + +Release Date: August 7, 2008 [eBook #282] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EOTHEN*** + + +Transcribed from the 1898 George Newnes edition by David Price, email +ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + +EOTHEN—A. W. KINGSLAKE + + +CHAPTER I—OVER THE BORDER + + +At Semlin I still was encompassed by the scenes and the sounds of +familiar life; the din of a busy world still vexed and cheered me; the +unveiled faces of women still shone in the light of day. Yet, whenever I +chose to look southward, I saw the Ottoman’s fortress—austere, and darkly +impending high over the vale of the Danube—historic Belgrade. I had +come, as it were, to the end of this wheel-going Europe, and now my eyes +would see the splendour and havoc of the East. + +The two frontier towns are less than a cannon-shot distant, and yet their +people hold no communion. The Hungarian on the north, and the Turk and +Servian on the southern side of the Save are as much asunder as though +there were fifty broad provinces that lay in the path between them. Of +the men that bustled around me in the streets of Semlin there was not, +perhaps, one who had ever gone down to look upon the stranger race +dwelling under the walls of that opposite castle. It is the plague, and +the dread of the plague, that divide the one people from the other. All +coming and going stands forbidden by the terrors of the yellow flag. If +you dare to break the laws of the quarantine, you will be tried with +military haste; the court will scream out your sentence to you from a +tribunal some fifty yards off; the priest, instead of gently whispering +to you the sweet hopes of religion, will console you at duelling +distance; and after that you will find yourself carefully shot, and +carelessly buried in the ground of the lazaretto. + +When all was in order for our departure we walked down to the precincts +of the quarantine establishment, and here awaited us a “compromised” {1} +officer of the Austrian Government, who lives in a state of perpetual +excommunication. The boats, with their “compromised” rowers, were also +in readiness. + +After coming in contact with any creature or thing belonging to the +Ottoman Empire it would be impossible for us to return to the Austrian +territory without undergoing an imprisonment of fourteen days in the +odious lazaretto. We felt, therefore, that before we committed ourselves +it was important to take care that none of the arrangements necessary for +the journey had been forgotten; and in our anxiety to avoid such a +misfortune, we managed the work of departure from Semlin with nearly as +much solemnity as if we had been departing this life. Some obliging +persons, from whom we had received civilities during our short stay in +the place, came down to say their farewell at the river’s side; and now, +as we stood with them at the distance of three or four yards from the +“compromised” officer, they asked if we were perfectly certain that we +had wound up all our affairs in Christendom, and whether we had no +parting requests to make. We repeated the caution to our servants, and +took anxious thought lest by any possibility we might be cut off from +some cherished object of affection:—were they quite sure that nothing had +been forgotten—that there was no fragrant dressing-case with its +gold-compelling letters of credit from which we might be parting for +ever?—No; all our treasures lay safely stowed in the boat, and we were +ready to follow them to the ends of the earth. Now, therefore, we shook +hands with our Semlin friends, who immediately retreated for three or +four paces, so as to leave us in the centre of a space between them and +the “compromised” officer. The latter then advanced, and asking once +more if we had done with the civilised world, held forth his hand. I met +it with mine, and there was an end to Christendom for many a day to come. + +We soon neared the southern bank of the river, but no sounds came down +from the blank walls above, and there was no living thing that we could +yet see, except one great hovering bird of the vulture race, flying low, +and intent, and wheeling round and round over the pest-accursed city. + +But presently there issued from the postern a group of human +beings—beings with immortal souls, and possibly some reasoning faculties; +but to me the grand point was this, that they had real, substantial, and +incontrovertible turbans. They made for the point towards which we were +steering, and when at last I sprang upon the shore, I heard, and saw +myself now first surrounded by men of Asiatic blood. I have since ridden +through the land of the Osmanlees, from the Servian border to the Golden +Horn—from the Gulf of Satalieh to the tomb of Achilles; but never have I +seen such ultra-Turkish looking fellows as those who received me on the +banks of the Save. They were men in the humblest order of life, having +come to meet our boat in the hope of earning something by carrying our +luggage up to the city; but poor though they were, it was plain that they +were Turks of the proud old school, and had not yet forgotten the fierce, +careless bearing of their once victorious race. + +Though the province of Servia generally has obtained a kind of +independence, yet Belgrade, as being a place of strength on the frontier, +is still garrisoned by Turkish troops under the command of a Pasha. +Whether the fellows who now surrounded us were soldiers, or peaceful +inhabitants, I did not understand: they wore the old Turkish costume; +vests and jackets of many and brilliant colours, divided from the loose +petticoat-trousers by heavy volumes of shawl, so thickly folded around +their waists as to give the meagre wearers something of the dignity of +true corpulence. This cincture enclosed a whole bundle of weapons; no +man bore less than one brace of immensely long pistols, and a yataghan +(or cutlass), with a dagger or two of various shapes and sizes; most of +these arms were inlaid with silver, and highly burnished, so that they +contrasted shiningly with the decayed grandeur of the garments to which +they were attached (this carefulness of his arms is a point of honour +with the Osmanlee, who never allows his bright yataghan to suffer from +his own adversity); then the long drooping mustachios, and the ample +folds of the once white turbans, that lowered over the piercing eyes, and +the haggard features of the men, gave them an air of gloomy pride, and +that appearance of trying to be disdainful under difficulties, which I +have since seen so often in those of the Ottoman people who live, and +remember old times; they seemed as if they were thinking that they would +have been more usefully, more honourably, and more piously employed in +cutting our throats than in carrying our portmanteaus. The faithful +Steel (Methley’s Yorkshire servant) stood aghast for a moment at the +sight of his master’s luggage upon the shoulders of these warlike +porters, and when at last we began to move up he could scarcely avoid +turning round to cast one affectionate look towards Christendom, but +quickly again he marched on with steps of a man, not frightened exactly, +but sternly prepared for death, or the Koran, or even for plural wives. + +The Moslem quarter of a city is lonely and desolate. You go up and down, +and on over shelving and hillocky paths through the narrow lanes walled +in by blank, windowless dwellings; you come out upon an open space +strewed with the black ruins that some late fire has left; you pass by a +mountain of castaway things, the rubbish of centuries, and on it you see +numbers of big, wolf-like dogs lying torpid under the sun, with limbs +outstretched to the full, as if they were dead; storks, or cranes, +sitting fearless upon the low roofs, look gravely down upon you; the +still air that you breathe is loaded with the scent of citron, and +pomegranate rinds scorched by the sun, or (as you approach the bazaar) +with the dry, dead perfume of strange spices. You long for some signs of +life, and tread the ground more heavily, as though you would wake the +sleepers with the heel of your boot; but the foot falls noiseless upon +the crumbling soil of an Eastern city, and silence follows you still. +Again and again you meet turbans, and faces of men, but they have nothing +for you—no welcome—no wonder—no wrath—no scorn—they look upon you as we +do upon a December’s fall of snow—as a “seasonable,” unaccountable, +uncomfortable work of God, that may have been sent for some good purpose, +to be revealed hereafter. + +Some people had come down to meet us with an invitation from the Pasha, +and we wound our way up to the castle. At the gates there were groups of +soldiers, some smoking, and some lying flat like corpses upon the cool +stones. We went through courts, ascended steps, passed along a corridor, +and walked into an airy, whitewashed room, with an European clock at one +end of it, and Moostapha Pasha at the other; the fine, old, bearded +potentate looked very like Jove—like Jove, too, in the midst of his +clouds, for the silvery fumes of the _narghile_ {2} hung lightly circling +round him. + +The Pasha received us with the smooth, kind, gentle manner that belongs +to well-bred Osmanlees; then he lightly clapped his hands, and instantly +the sound filled all the lower end of the room with slaves; a syllable +dropped from his lips which bowed all heads, and conjured away the +attendants like ghosts (their coming and their going was thus swift and +quiet, because their feet were bare, and they passed through no door, but +only by the yielding folds of a purder). Soon the coffee-bearers +appeared, every man carrying separately his tiny cup in a small metal +stand; and presently to each of us there came a pipe-bearer, who first +rested the bowl of the _tchibouque_ at a measured distance on the floor, +and then, on this axis, wheeled round the long cheery stick, and +gracefully presented it on half-bended knee; already the well-kindled +fire was glowing secure in the bowl, and so, when I pressed the amber up +to mine, there was no coyness to conquer; the willing fume came up, and +answered my slightest sigh, and followed softly every breath inspired, +till it touched me with some faint sense and understanding of Asiatic +contentment. + +Asiatic contentment! Yet scarcely, perhaps, one hour before I had been +wanting my bill, and ringing for waiters, in a shrill and busy hotel. + +In the Ottoman dominions there is scarcely any hereditary influence +except that which belongs to the family of the Sultan, and wealth, too, +is a highly volatile blessing, not easily transmitted to the descendant +of the owner. From these causes it results that the people standing in +the place of nobles and gentry are official personages, and though many +(indeed the greater number) of these potentates are humbly born and bred, +you will seldom, I think, find them wanting in that polished smoothness +of manner, and those well-undulating tones which belong to the best +Osmanlees. The truth is, that most of the men in authority have risen +from their humble station by the arts of the courtier, and they preserve +in their high estate those gentle powers of fascination to which they owe +their success. Yet unless you can contrive to learn a little of the +language, you will be rather bored by your visits of ceremony; the +intervention of the interpreter, or dragoman as he is called, is fatal to +the spirit of conversation. I think I should mislead you if I were to +attempt to give the substance of any particular conversation with +Orientals. A traveller may write and say that “the Pasha of So-and-so +was particularly interested in the vast progress which has been made in +the application of steam, and appeared to understand the structure of our +machinery—that he remarked upon the gigantic results of our manufacturing +industry—showed that he possessed considerable knowledge of our Indian +affairs, and of the constitution of the Company, and expressed a lively +admiration of the many sterling qualities for which the people of England +are distinguished.” But the heap of commonplaces thus quietly attributed +to the Pasha will have been founded perhaps on some such talking as +this:— + +_Pasha_.—The Englishman is welcome; most blessed among hours is this, the +hour of his coming. + +_Dragoman_ (to the traveller).—The Pasha pays you his compliments. + +_Traveller_.—Give him my best compliments in return, and say I’m +delighted to have the honour of seeing him. + +_Dragoman_ (to the Pasha).—His lordship, this Englishman, Lord of London, +Scorner of Ireland, Suppressor of France, has quitted his governments, +and left his enemies to breathe for a moment, and has crossed the broad +waters in strict disguise, with a small but eternally faithful retinue of +followers, in order that he might look upon the bright countenance of the +Pasha among Pashas—the Pasha of the everlasting Pashalik of +Karagholookoldour. + +_Traveller_ (to his dragoman).—What on earth have you been saying about +London? The Pasha will be taking me for a mere cockney. Have not I told +you _always_ to say that I am from a branch of the family of Mudcombe +Park, and that I am to be a magistrate for the county of Bedfordshire, +only I’ve not qualified, and that I should have been a deputy-lieutenant +if it had not been for the extraordinary conduct of Lord Mountpromise, +and that I was a candidate for Goldborough at the last election, and that +I should have won easy if my committee had not been bought. I wish to +Heaven that if you _do_ say anything about me, you’d tell the simple +truth. + +_Dragoman_ [is silent]. + +_Pasha_.—What says the friendly Lord of London? is there aught that I can +grant him within the Pashalik of Karagholookoldour? + +_Dragoman_ (growing, sulky and literal).—This friendly Englishman—this +branch of Mudcombe—this head-purveyor of Goldborough—this possible +policeman of Bedfordshire, is recounting his achievements, and the number +of his titles. + +_Pasha_.—The end of his honours is more distant than the ends of the +earth, and the catalogue of his glorious deeds is brighter than the +firmament of heaven! + +_Dragoman_ (to the traveller).—The Pasha congratulates your Excellency. + +_Traveller_.—About Goldborough? The deuce he does!—but I want to get at +his views in relation to the present state of the Ottoman Empire. Tell +him the Houses of Parliament have met, and that there has been a speech +from the throne, pledging England to preserve the integrity of the +Sultan’s dominions. + +_Dragoman_ (to the Pasha).—This branch of Mudcombe, this possible +policeman of Bedfordshire, informs your Highness that in England the +talking houses have met, and that the integrity of the Sultan’s dominions +has been assured for ever and ever by a speech from the velvet chair. + +_Pasha_.—Wonderful chair! Wonderful houses!—whirr! whirr! all by +wheels!—whiz! whiz! all by steam!—wonderful chair! wonderful houses! +wonderful people!—whirr! whirr! all by wheels!—whiz! whiz! all by steam! + +_Traveller_ (to the dragoman).—What does the Pasha mean by that whizzing? +he does not mean to say, does he, that our Government will ever abandon +their pledges to the Sultan? + +_Dragoman_.—No, your Excellency; but he says the English talk by wheels, +and by steam. + +_Traveller_.—That’s an exaggeration; but say that the English really have +carried machinery to great perfection; tell the Pasha (he’ll be struck +with that) that whenever we have any disturbances to put down, even at +two or three hundred miles from London, we can send troops by the +thousand to the scene of action in a few hours. + +_Dragoman_ (recovering his temper and freedom of speech).—His Excellency, +this Lord of Mudcombe, observes to your Highness, that whenever the +Irish, or the French, or the Indians rebel against the English, whole +armies of soldiers, and brigades of artillery, are dropped into a mighty +chasm called Euston Square, and in the biting of a cartridge they arise +up again in Manchester, or Dublin, or Paris, or Delhi, and utterly +exterminate the enemies of England from the face of the earth. + +_Pasha_.—I know it—I know all—the particulars have been faithfully +related to me, and my mind comprehends locomotives. The armies of the +English ride upon the vapours of boiling caldrons, and their horses are +flaming coals!—whirr! whirr! all by wheels!—whiz! whiz! all by steam! + +_Traveller_ (to his dragoman).—I wish to have the opinion of an +unprejudiced Ottoman gentleman as to the prospects of our English +commerce and manufactures; just ask the Pasha to give me his views on the +subject. + +_Pasha_ (after having received the communication of the dragoman).—The +ships of the English swarm like flies; their printed calicoes cover the +whole earth; and by the side of their swords the blades of Damascus are +blades of grass. All India is but an item in the ledger-books of the +merchants, whose lumber-rooms are filled with ancient thrones!—whirr! +whirr! all by wheels!—whiz! whiz! all by steam. + +_Dragoman_.—The Pasha compliments the cutlery of England, and also the +East India Company. + +_Traveller_.—The Pasha’s right about the cutlery (I tried my scimitar +with the common officers’ swords belonging to our fellows at Malta, and +they cut it like the leaf of a novel). Well (to the dragoman), tell the +Pasha I am exceedingly gratified to find that he entertains such a high +opinion of our manufacturing energy, but I should like him to know, +though, that we have got something in England besides that. These +foreigners are always fancying that we have nothing but ships, and +railways, and East India Companies; do just tell the Pasha that our rural +districts deserve his attention, and that even within the last two +hundred years there has been an evident improvement in the culture of the +turnip, and if he does not take any interest about that, at all events +you can explain that we have our virtues in the country—that we are a +truth-telling people, and, like the Osmanlees, are faithful in the +performance of our promises. Oh! and, by-the-bye, whilst you are about +it, you may as well just say at the end that the British yeoman is still, +thank God! the British yeoman. + +_Pasha_ (after hearing the dragoman).—It is true, it is true:—through all +Feringhistan the English are foremost and best; for the Russians are +drilled swine, and the Germans are sleeping babes, and the Italians are +the servants of songs, and the French are the sons of newspapers, and the +Greeks they are weavers of lies, but the English and the Osmanlees are +brothers together in righteousness; for the Osmanlees believe in one only +God, and cleave to the Koran, and destroy idols, so do the English +worship one God, and abominate graven images, and tell the truth, and +believe in a book, and though they drink the juice of the grape, yet to +say that they worship their prophet as God, or to say that they are +eaters of pork, these are lies—lies born of Greeks, and nursed by Jews! + +_Dragoman_.—The Pasha compliments the English. + +_Traveller_ (rising).—Well, I’ve had enough of this. Tell the Pasha I am +greatly obliged to him for his hospitality, and still more for his +kindness in furnishing me with horses, and say that now I must be off. + +_Pasha_ (after hearing the dragoman, and standing up on his divan). +{3}—Proud are the sires, and blessed are the dams of the horses that +shall carry his Excellency to the end of his prosperous journey. May the +saddle beneath him glide down to the gates of the happy city, like a boat +swimming on the third river of Paradise. May he sleep the sleep of a +child, when his friends are around him; and the while that his enemies +are abroad, may his eyes flame red through the darkness—more red than the +eyes of ten tigers! Farewell! + +_Dragoman_.—The Pasha wishes your Excellency a pleasant journey. + +So ends the visit. + + + + +CHAPTER II—TURKISH TRAVELLING + + +In two or three hours our party was ready; the servants, the Tatar, the +mounted Suridgees, and the baggage-horses, altogether made up a strong +cavalcade. The accomplished Mysseri, of whom you have heard me speak so +often, and who served me so faithfully throughout my Oriental journeys, +acted as our interpreter, and was, in fact, the brain of our corps. The +Tatar, you know, is a government courier properly employed in carrying +despatches, but also sent with travellers to speed them on their way, and +answer with his head for their safety. The man whose head was thus +pledged for our precious lives was a glorious-looking fellow, with the +regular and handsome cast of countenance which is now characteristic of +the Ottoman race. {4} His features displayed a good deal of serene +pride, self-respect, fortitude, a kind of ingenuous sensuality, and +something of instinctive wisdom, without any sharpness of intellect. He +had been a Janissary (as I afterwards found), and kept up the odd strut +of his old corps, which used to affright the Christians in former +times—that rolling gait so comically pompous, that a close imitation of +it, even in the broadest farce, would be looked upon as a very rough +over-acting of the character. It is occasioned in part by dress and +accoutrements. The weighty bundle of weapons carried upon the chest +throws back the body so as to give it a wonderful portliness, and +moreover, the immense masses of clothes that swathe his limbs force the +wearer in walking to swing himself heavily round from left to right, and +from right to left. In truth, this great edifice of woollen, and cotton, +and silk, and silver, and brass, and steel is not at all fitted for +moving on foot; it cannot even walk without frightfully discomposing its +fair proportions; and as to running—our Tatar ran _once_ (it was in order +to pick up a partridge that Methley had winged with a pistol-shot), and +really the attempt was one of the funniest misdirections of human energy +that wondering man ever saw. But put him in his stirrups, and then is +the Tatar himself again: there he lives at his pleasure, reposing in the +tranquillity of that true home (the home of his ancestors) which the +saddle seems to afford him, and drawing from his pipe the calm pleasures +of his “own fireside,” or else dashing sudden over the earth, as though +for a moment he felt the mouth of a Turcoman steed, and saw his own +Scythian plains lying boundless and open before him. + +It was not till his subordinates had nearly completed their preparations +for their march that our Tatar, “commanding the forces,” arrived; he came +sleek and fresh from the bath (for so is the custom of the Ottomans when +they start upon a journey), and was carefully accoutred at every point. +From his thigh to his throat he was loaded with arms and other implements +of a campaigning life. There is no scarcity of water along the whole +road from Belgrade to Stamboul, but the habits of our Tatar were formed +by his ancestors and not by himself, so he took good care to see that his +leathern water-flask was amply charged and properly strapped to the +saddle, along with his blessed _tchibouque_. And now at last he has +cursed the Suridgees in all proper figures of speech, and is ready for a +ride of a thousand miles; but before he comforts his soul in the marble +baths of Stamboul he will be another and a lesser man; his sense of +responsibility, his too strict abstemiousness, and his restless energy, +disdainful of sleep, will have worn him down to a fraction of the sleek +Moostapha that now leads out our party from the gates of Belgrade. + +The Suridgees are the men employed to lead the baggage-horses. They are +most of them gipsies. Their lot is a sad one: they are the last of the +human race, and all the sins of their superiors (including the horses) +can safely be visited on them. But the wretched look often more +picturesque than their betters; and though all the world despise these +poor Suridgees, their tawny skins and their grisly beards will gain them +honourable standing in the foreground of a landscape. We had a couple of +these fellows with us, each leading a baggage-horse, to the tail of which +last another baggage-horse was attached. There was a world of trouble in +persuading the stiff angular portmanteaus of Europe to adapt themselves +to their new condition and sit quietly on pack-saddles, but all was right +at last, and it gladdened my eyes to see our little troop file off +through the winding lanes of the city, and show down brightly in the +plain beneath. The one of our party that seemed to be most out of +keeping with the rest of the scene was Methley’s Yorkshire servant, who +always rode doggedly on in his pantry jacket, looking out for +“gentlemen’s seats.” + +Methley and I had English saddles, but I think we should have done just +as well (I should certainly have seen more of the country) if we had +adopted saddles like that of our Tatar, who towered so loftily over the +scraggy little beast that carried him. In taking thought for the East, +whilst in England, I had made one capital hit which you must not forget—I +had brought with me a pair of common spurs. These were a great comfort +to me throughout my horseback travels, by keeping up the cheerfulness of +the many unhappy nags that I had to bestride; the angle of the Oriental +stirrup is a very poor substitute for spurs. + +The Ottoman horseman, raised by his saddle to a great height above the +humble level of the back that he bestrides, and using an awfully sharp +bit, is able to lift the crest of his nag, and force him into a strangely +fast shuffling walk, the orthodox pace for the journey. My comrade and +I, using English saddles, could not easily keep our beasts up to this +peculiar amble; besides, we thought it a bore to be _followed_ by our +attendants for a thousand miles, and we generally, therefore, did duty as +the rearguard of our “grand army”; we used to walk our horses till the +party in front had got into the distance, and then retrieve the lost +ground by a gallop. + +We had ridden on for some two or three hours; the stir and bustle of our +commencing journey had ceased, the liveliness of our little troop had +worn off with the declining day, and the night closed in as we entered +the great Servian forest. Through this our road was to last for more +than a hundred miles. Endless, and endless now on either side, the tall +oaks closed in their ranks and stood gloomily lowering over us, as grim +as an army of giants with a thousand years’ pay in arrear. One strived +with listening ear to catch some tidings of that forest world within—some +stirring of beasts, some night-bird’s scream, but all was quite hushed, +except the voice of the cicalas that peopled every bough, and filled the +depths of the forest through and through, with one same hum +everlasting—more stifling than very silence. + +At first our way was in darkness, but after a while the moon got up, and +touched the glittering arms and tawny faces of our men with light so pale +and mystic, that the watchful Tatar felt bound to look out for demons, +and take proper means for keeping them off: forthwith he determined that +the duty of frightening away our ghostly enemies (like every other +troublesome work) should fall upon the poor Suridgees, who accordingly +lifted up their voices, and burst upon the dreadful stillness of the +forest with shrieks and dismal howls. These precautions were kept up +incessantly, and were followed by the most complete success, for not one +demon came near us. + +Long before midnight we reached the hamlet in which we were to rest for +the night; it was made up of about a dozen clay huts, standing upon a +small tract of ground hardly won from the forest. The peasants that +lived there spoke a Slavonic dialect, and Mysseri’s knowledge of the +Russian tongue enabled him to talk with them freely. We took up our +quarters in a square room with white walls and an earthen floor, quite +bare of furniture, and utterly void of women. They told us, however, +that these Servian villagers lived in happy abundance, but that they were +careful to conceal their riches, as well as their wives. + +The burthens unstrapped from the pack-saddles very quickly furnished our +den: a couple of quilts spread upon the floor, with a carpet-bag at the +head of each, became capital sofas—portmanteaus, and hat-boxes, and +writing-cases, and books, and maps, and gleaming arms soon lay strewed +around us in pleasant confusion. Mysseri’s canteen too began to yield up +its treasures, but we relied upon finding some provisions in the village. +At first the natives declared that their hens were mere old maids and all +their cows unmarried, but our Tatar swore such a grand sonorous oath, and +fingered the hilt of his yataghan with such persuasive touch, that the +land soon flowed with milk, and mountains of eggs arose. + +And soon there was tea before us, with all its unspeakable fragrance, and +as we reclined on the floor, we found that a portmanteau was just the +right height for a table; the duty of candlesticks was ably performed by +a couple of intelligent natives; the rest of the villagers stood by the +open doorway at the lower end of the room, and watched our banqueting +with grave and devout attention. + +The first night of your first campaign (though you be but a mere peaceful +campaigner) is a glorious time in your life. It is so sweet to find +one’s self free from the stale civilisation of Europe! Oh my dear ally, +when first you spread your carpet in the midst of these Eastern scenes, +do think for a moment of those your fellow-creatures, that dwell in +squares, and streets, and even (for such is the fate of many!) in actual +country houses; think of the people that are “presenting their +compliments,” and “requesting the honour,” and “much regretting,”—of +those that are pinioned at dinner-tables; or stuck up in ballrooms, or +cruelly planted in pews—ay, think of these, and so remembering how many +poor devils are living in a state of utter respectability, you will glory +the more in your own delightful escape. + +I am bound to confess, however, that with all its charms a mud floor +(like a mercenary match) does certainly promote early rising. Long +before daybreak we were up, and had breakfasted; after this there was +nearly a whole tedious hour to endure whilst the horses were laden by +torch-light; but this had an end, and at last we went on once more. +Cloaked, and sombre, at first we made our sullen way through the +darkness, with scarcely one barter of words, but soon the genial morn +burst down from heaven, and stirred the blood so gladly through our +veins, that the very Suridgees, with all their troubles, could now look +up for an instant, and almost seem to believe in the temporary goodness +of God. + +The actual movement from one place to another, in Europeanised countries, +is a process so temporary—it occupies, I mean, so small a proportion of +the traveller’s entire time—that his mind remains unsettled, so long as +the wheels are going; he may be alive enough to external objects of +interest, and to the crowding ideas which are often invited by the +excitement of a changing scene, but he is still conscious of being in a +provisional state, and his mind is constantly recurring to the expected +end of his journey; his ordinary ways of thought have been interrupted, +and before any new mental habits can be formed he is quietly fixed in his +hotel. It will be otherwise with you when you journey in the East. Day +after day, perhaps week after week and month after month, your foot is in +the stirrup. To taste the cold breath of the earliest morn, and to lead, +or follow, your bright cavalcade till sunset through forests and mountain +passes, through valleys and desolate plains, all this becomes your MODE +OF LIFE, and you ride, eat, drink, and curse the mosquitoes as +systematically as your friends in England eat, drink, and sleep. If you +are wise, you will not look upon the long period of time thus occupied in +actual movement as the mere gulf dividing you from the end of your +journey, but rather as one of those rare and plastic seasons of your life +from which, perhaps, in after times you may love to date the moulding of +your character—that is, your very identity. Once feel this, and you will +soon grow happy and contented in your saddle-home. As for me and my +comrade, however, in this part of our journey we often forgot Stamboul, +forgot all the Ottoman Empire, and only remembered old times. We went +back, loitering on the banks of Thames—not grim old Thames of “after +life,” that washes the Parliament Houses, and drowns despairing girls—but +Thames, the “old Eton fellow,” that wrestled with us in our boyhood till +he taught us to be stronger than he. We bullied Keate, and scoffed at +Larrey Miller, and Okes; we rode along loudly laughing, and talked to the +grave Servian forest as though it were the “Brocas clump.” + +Our pace was commonly very slow, for the baggage-horses served us for a +drag, and kept us to a rate of little more than five miles in the hour, +but now and then, and chiefly at night, a spirit of movement would +suddenly animate the whole party; the baggage-horses would be teased into +a gallop, and when once this was done, there would be such a banging of +portmanteaus, and such convulsions of carpet-bags upon their panting +sides, and the Suridgees would follow them up with such a hurricane of +blows, and screams, and curses, that stopping or relaxing was scarcely +possible; then the rest of us would put our horses into a gallop, and so +all shouting cheerily, would hunt, and drive the sumpter beasts like a +flock of goats, up hill and down dale, right on to the end of their +journey. + +The distances at which we got relays of horses varied greatly; some were +not more than fifteen or twenty miles, but twice, I think, we performed a +whole day’s journey of more than sixty miles with the same beasts. + +When at last we came out from the forest our road lay through scenes like +those of an English park. The green sward unfenced, and left to the free +pasture of cattle, was dotted with groups of stately trees, and here and +there darkened over with larger masses of wood, that seemed gathered +together for bounding the domain, and shutting out some “infernal” +fellow-creature in the shape of a newly made squire; in one or two spots +the hanging copses looked down upon a lawn below with such sheltering +mien, that seeing the like in England you would have been tempted almost +to ask the name of the spend-thrift, or the madman who had dared to pull +down “the old hall.” + +There are few countries less infested by “lions” than the provinces on +this part of your route. You are not called upon to “drop a tear” over +the tomb of “the once brilliant” anybody, or to pay your “tribute of +respect” to anything dead or alive. There are no Servian or Bulgarian +litterateurs with whom it would be positively disgraceful not to form an +acquaintance; you have no staring, no praising to get through; the only +public building of any interest that lies on the road is of modern date, +but is said to be a good specimen of Oriental architecture; it is of a +pyramidical shape, and is made up of thirty thousand skulls, contributed +by the rebellious Servians in the early part (I believe) of this century: +I am not at all sure of my date, but I fancy it was in the year 1806 that +the first skull was laid. I am ashamed to say that in the darkness of +the early morning we unknowingly went by the neighbourhood of this +triumph of art, and so basely got off from admiring “the simple grandeur +of the architect’s conception,” and “the exquisite beauty of the +fretwork.” + +There being no “lions,” we ought at least to have met with a few perils, +but the only robbers we saw anything of had been long since dead and +gone. The poor fellows had been impaled upon high poles, and so propped +up by the transverse spokes beneath them, that their skeletons, clothed +with some white, wax-like remains of flesh, still sat up lolling in the +sunshine, and listlessly stared without eyes. + +One day it seemed to me that our path was a little more rugged than +usual, and I found that I was deserving for myself the title of +Sabalkansky, or “Transcender of the Balcan.” The truth is, that, as a +military barrier, the Balcan is a fabulous mountain. Such seems to be +the view of Major Keppell, who looked on it towards the east with the eye +of a soldier, and certainly in the Sophia Pass, which I followed, there +is no narrow defile, and no ascent sufficiently difficult to stop, or +delay for long time, a train of siege artillery. + +Before we reached Adrianople, Methley had been seized with we knew not +what ailment, and when we had taken up our quarters in the city he was +cast to the very earth by sickness. Adrianople enjoyed an English +consul, and I felt sure that, in Eastern phrase, his house would cease to +be his house, and would become the house of my sick comrade. I should +have judged rightly under ordinary circumstances, but the levelling +plague was abroad, and the dread of it had dominion over the consular +mind. So now (whether dying or not, one could hardly tell), upon a quilt +stretched out along the floor, there lay the best hope of an ancient +line, without the material aids to comfort of even the humblest sort, and +(sad to say) without the consolation of a friend, or even a comrade worth +having. I have a notion that tenderness and pity are affections +occasioned in some measure by living within doors; certainly, at the time +I speak of, the open-air life which I have been leading, or the wayfaring +hardships of the journey, had so strangely blunted me, that I felt +intolerant of illness, and looked down upon my companion as if the poor +fellow in falling ill had betrayed a want of spirit. I entertained too a +most absurd idea—an idea that his illness was partly affected. You see +that I have made a confession: this I hope—that I may always hereafter +look charitably upon the hard, savage acts of peasants, and the cruelties +of a “brutal” soldiery. God knows that I strived to melt myself into +common charity, and to put on a gentleness which I could not feel, but +this attempt did not cheat the keenness of the sufferer; he could not +have felt the less deserted because that I was with him. + +We called to aid a solemn Armenian (I think he was) half soothsayer, half +hakim, or doctor, who, all the while counting his beads, fixed his eyes +steadily upon the patient, and then suddenly dealt him a violent blow on +the chest. Methley bravely dissembled his pain, for he fancied that the +blow was meant to try whether or not the plague were on him. + +Here was really a sad embarrassment—no bed; nothing to offer the invalid +in the shape of food save a piece of thin, tough, flexible, drab-coloured +cloth, made of flour and mill-stones in equal proportions, and called by +the name of “bread”; then the patient, of course, had no “confidence in +his medical man,” and on the whole, the best chance of saving my comrade +seemed to lie in taking him out of the reach of his doctor, and bearing +him away to the neighbourhood of some more genial consul. But how was +this to be done? Methley was much too ill to be kept in his saddle, and +wheel carriages, as means of travelling, were unknown. There is, +however, such a thing as an “araba,” a vehicle drawn by oxen, in which +the wives of a rich man are sometimes dragged four or five miles over the +grass by way of recreation. The carriage is rudely framed, but you +recognise in the simple grandeur of its design a likeness to things +majestic; in short, if your carpenter’s son were to make a “Lord Mayor’s +coach” for little Amy, he would build a carriage very much in the style +of a Turkish araba. No one had ever heard of horses being used for +drawing a carriage in this part of the world, but necessity is the mother +of innovation as well as of invention. I was fully justified, I think, +in arguing that there were numerous instances of horses being used for +that purpose in our own country—that the laws of nature are uniform in +their operation over all the world (except Ireland)—that that which was +true in Piccadilly, must be true in Adrianople—that the matter could not +fairly be treated as an ecclesiastical question, for that the +circumstance of Methley’s going on to Stamboul in an araba drawn by +horses, when calmly and dispassionately considered, would appear to be +perfectly consistent with the maintenance of the Mahometan religion as by +law established. Thus poor, dear, patient Reason would have fought her +slow battle against Asiatic prejudice, and I am convinced that she would +have established the possibility (and perhaps even the propriety) of +harnessing horses in a hundred and fifty years; but in the meantime +Mysseri, well seconded by our Tatar, put a very quick end to the +controversy by having the horses put to. + +It was a sore thing for me to see my poor comrade brought to this, for +young though he was, he was a veteran in travel. When scarcely yet of +age he had invaded India from the frontiers of Russia, and that so +swiftly, that measuring by the time of his flight the broad dominions of +the king of kings were shrivelled up to a dukedom and now, poor fellow, +he was to be poked into an araba: like a Georgian girl! He suffered +greatly, for there were no springs for the carriage, and no road for the +wheels; and so the concern jolted on over the open country with such +twists, and jerks, and jumps, as might almost dislocate the supple tongue +of Satan. + +All day the patient kept himself shut up within the lattice-work of the +araba, and I could hardly know how he was faring until the end of the +day’s journey, when I found that he was not worse, and was buoyed up with +the hope of some day reaching Constantinople. + +I was always conning over my maps, and fancied that I knew pretty well my +line, but after Adrianople I had made more southing than I knew for, and +it was with unbelieving wonder, and delight, that I came suddenly upon +the shore of the sea. A little while, and its gentle billows were +flowing beneath the hoofs of my beast, but the hearing of the ripple was +not enough communion, and the seeing of the blue Propontis was not to +know and possess it—I must needs plunge into its depth and quench my +longing love in the palpable waves; and so when old Moostapha (defender +against demons) looked round for his charge, he saw with horror and +dismay that he for whose life his own life stood pledged was possessed of +some devil who had driven him down into the sea—that the rider and the +steed had vanished from earth, and that out among the waves was the +gasping crest of a post-horse, and the ghostly head of the Englishman +moving upon the face of the waters. + +We started very early indeed on the last day of our journey, and from the +moment of being off until we gained the shelter of the imperial walls we +were struggling face to face with an icy storm that swept right down from +the steppes of Tartary, keen, fierce, and steady as a northern conqueror. +Methley’s servant, who was the greatest sufferer, kept his saddle until +we reached Stamboul, but was then found to be quite benumbed in limbs, +and his brain was so much affected, that when he was lifted from his +horse he fell away in a state of unconsciousness, the first stage of a +dangerous fever. + +Our Tatar, worn down by care and toil, and carrying seven heavens full of +water in his manifold jackets and shawls, was a mere weak and vapid +dilution of the sleek Moostapha, who scarce more than one fortnight +before came out like a bridegroom from his chamber to take the command of +our party. + +Mysseri seemed somewhat over-wearied, but he had lost none of his +strangely quiet energy. He wore a grave look, however, for he now had +learnt that the plague was prevailing at Constantinople, and he was +fearing that our two sick men, and the miserable looks of our whole +party, might make us unwelcome at Pera. + +We crossed the Golden Horn in a caïque. As soon as we had landed, some +woebegone looking fellows were got together and laden with our baggage. +Then on we went, dripping, and sloshing, and looking very like men that +had been turned back by the Royal Humane Society as being incurably +drowned. Supporting our sick, we climbed up shelving steps and threaded +many windings, and at last came up into the main street of Pera, humbly +hoping that we might not be judged guilty of plague, and so be cast back +with horror from the doors of the shuddering Christians. + +Such was the condition of our party, which fifteen days before had filed +away so gaily from the gates of Belgrade. A couple of fevers and a +north-easterly storm had thoroughly spoiled our looks. + +The interest of Mysseri with the house of Giuseppini was too powerful to +be denied, and at once, though not without fear and trembling, we were +admitted as guests. + + + + +CHAPTER III—CONSTANTINOPLE + + +Even if we don’t take a part in the chant about “mosques and minarets,” +we can still yield praises to Stamboul. We can chant about the harbour; +we can say, and sing, that nowhere else does the sea come so home to a +city; there are no pebbly shores—no sand bars—no slimy river-beds—no +black canals—no locks nor docks to divide the very heart of the place +from the deep waters. If being in the noisiest mart of Stamboul you +would stroll to the quiet side of the way amidst those cypresses +opposite, you will cross the fathomless Bosphorus; if you would go from +your hotel to the bazaars, you must go by the bright, blue pathway of the +Golden Horn, that can carry a thousand sail of the line. You are +accustomed to the gondolas that glide among the palaces of St. Mark, but +here at Stamboul it is a 120 gun ship that meets you in the street. +Venice strains out from the steadfast land, and in old times would send +forth the chief of the State to woo and wed the reluctant sea; but the +stormy bride of the Doge is the bowing slave of the Sultan. She comes to +his feet with the treasures of the world—she bears him from palace to +palace—by some unfailing witchcraft she entices the breezes to follow her +{5} and fan the pale cheek of her lord—she lifts his armed navies to the +very gates of his garden—she watches the walls of his _serai_—she stifles +the intrigues of his ministers—she quiets the scandals of his courts—she +extinguishes his rivals, and hushes his naughty wives all one by one. So +vast are the wonders of the deep! + +All the while that I stayed at Constantinople the plague was prevailing, +but not with any degree of violence. Its presence, however, lent a +mysterious and exciting, though not very pleasant, interest to my first +knowledge of a great Oriental city; it gave tone and colour to all I saw, +and all I felt—a tone and a colour sombre enough, but true, and well +befitting the dreary monuments of past power and splendour. With all +that is most truly Oriental in its character the plague is associated; it +dwells with the faithful in the holiest quarters of their city. The +coats and the hats of Pera are held to be nearly as innocent of infection +as they are ugly in shape and fashion; but the rich furs and the costly +shawls, the broidered slippers and the gold-laden saddle-cloths, the +fragrance of burning aloes and the rich aroma of patchouli—these are the +signs that mark the familiar home of plague. You go out from your +queenly London—the centre of the greatest and strongest amongst all +earthly dominions—you go out thence, and travel on to the capital of an +Eastern Prince, you find but a waning power, and a faded splendour, that +inclines you to laugh and mock; but let the infernal Angel of Plague be +at hand, and he, more mighty than armies, more terrible than Suleyman in +his glory, can restore such pomp and majesty to the weakness of the +Imperial city, that if, _when HE is there_, you must still go prying +amongst the shades of this dead empire, at least you will tread the path +with seemly reverence and awe. + +It is the firm faith of almost all the Europeans living in the East that +Plague is conveyed by the touch of infected substances, and that the +deadly atoms especially lurk in all kinds of clothes and furs. It is +held safer to breathe the same air with a man sick of the plague, and +even to come in contact with his skin, than to be touched by the smallest +particle of woollen or of thread which may have been within the reach of +possible infection. If this be a right notion, the spread of the malady +must be materially aided by the observance of a custom prevailing amongst +the people of Stamboul. It is this; when an Osmanlee dies, one of his +dresses is cut up, and a small piece of it is sent to each of his friends +as a memorial of the departed—a fatal present, according to the opinion +of the Franks, for it too often forces the living not merely to remember +the dead man, but to follow and bear him company. + +The Europeans during the prevalence of the plague, if they are forced to +venture into the streets, will carefully avoid the touch of every human +being whom they pass. Their conduct in this respect shows them strongly +in contrast with the “true believers”: the Moslem stalks on serenely, as +though he were under the eye of his God, and were “equal to either fate”; +the Franks go crouching and slinking from death, and some (those chiefly +of French extraction) will fondly strive to fence out destiny with +shining capes of oilskin! + +For some time you may manage by great care to thread your way through the +streets of Stamboul without incurring contact, for the Turks, though +scornful of the terrors felt by the Franks, are generally very courteous +in yielding to that which they hold to be a useless and impious +precaution, and will let you pass safe if they can. It is impossible, +however, that your immunity can last for any length of time if you move +about much through the narrow streets and lanes of a crowded city. + +As for me, I soon got “compromised.” After one day of rest, the prayers +of my hostess began to lose their power of keeping me from the pestilent +side of the Golden Horn. Faithfully promising to shun the touch of all +imaginable substances, however enticing, I set off very cautiously, and +held my way uncompromised till I reached the water’s edge; but before my +caïque was quite ready some rueful-looking fellows came rapidly shambling +down the steps with a plague-stricken corpse, which they were going to +bury amongst the faithful on the other side of the water. I contrived to +be so much in the way of this brisk funeral, that I was not only touched +by the men bearing the body, but also, I believe, by the foot of the dead +man, as it hung lolling out of the bier. This accident gave me such a +strong interest in denying the soundness of the contagion theory, that I +did in fact deny and repudiate it altogether; and from that time, acting +upon my own convenient view of the matter, I went wherever I chose, +without taking any serious pains to avoid a touch. It seems to me now +very likely that the Europeans are right, and that the plague may be +really conveyed by contagion; but during the whole time of my remaining +in the East, my views on this subject more nearly approached to those of +the fatalists; and so, when afterwards the plague of Egypt came dealing +his blows around me, I was able to live amongst the dying without that +alarm and anxiety which would inevitably have pressed upon my mind if I +had allowed myself to believe that every passing touch was really a +probable death-stroke. + +And perhaps as you make your difficult way through a steep and narrow +alley, shut in between blank walls, and little frequented by passers, you +meet one of those coffin-shaped bundles of white linen that implies an +Ottoman lady. Painfully struggling against the obstacles to progression +interposed by the many folds of her clumsy drapery, by her big mud-boots, +and especially by her two pairs of slippers, she works her way on full +awkwardly enough, but yet there is something of womanly consciousness in +the very labour and effort with which she tugs and lifts the burthen of +her charms. She is closely followed by her women slaves. Of her very +self you see nothing except the dark, luminous eyes that stare against +your face, and the tips of the painted fingers depending like rose-buds +from out of the blank bastions of the fortress. She turns, and turns +again, and carefully glances around her on all sides, to see that she is +safe from the eyes of Mussulmans, and then suddenly withdrawing the +_yashmak_, {6} she shines upon your heart and soul with all the pomp and +might of her beauty. And this, it is not the light, changeful grace that +leaves you to doubt whether you have fallen in love with a body, or only +a soul; it is the beauty that dwells secure in the perfectness of hard, +downright outlines, and in the glow of generous colour. There is fire, +though, too—high courage and fire enough in the untamed mind, or spirit, +or whatever it is, which drives the breath of pride through those +scarcely parted lips. + +You smile at pretty women—you turn pale before the beauty that is great +enough to have dominion over you. She sees, and exults in your +giddiness; she sees and smiles; then presently, with a sudden movement, +she lays her blushing fingers upon your arm, and cries out, “Yumourdjak!” +(Plague! meaning, “there is a present of the plague for you!”) This is +her notion of a witticism. It is a very old piece of fun, no doubt—quite +an Oriental Joe Miller; but the Turks are fondly attached, not only to +the institutions, but also to the jokes of their ancestors; so the lady’s +silvery laugh rings joyously in your ears, and the mirth of her women is +boisterous and fresh, as though the bright idea of giving the plague to a +Christian had newly lit upon the earth. + +Methley began to rally very soon after we had reached Constantinople; but +there seemed at first to be no chance of his regaining strength enough +for travelling during the winter, and I determined to stay with my +comrade until he had quite recovered; so I bought me a horse, and a “pipe +of tranquillity,” {7} and took a Turkish phrase-master. I troubled +myself a great deal with the Turkish tongue, and gained at last some +knowledge of its structure. It is enriched, perhaps overladen, with +Persian and Arabic words, imported into the language chiefly for the +purpose of representing sentiments and religious dogmas, and terms of art +and luxury, entirely unknown to the Tartar ancestors of the present +Osmanlees; but the body and the spirit of the old tongue are yet alive, +and the smooth words of the shopkeeper at Constantinople can still carry +understanding to the ears of the untamed millions who rove over the +plains of Northern Asia. The structure of the language, especially in +its more lengthy sentences, is very like to the Latin: the subject +matters are slowly and patiently enumerated, without disclosing the +purpose of the speaker until he reaches the end of his sentence, and then +at last there comes the clenching word, which gives a meaning and +connection to all that has gone before. If you listen at all to speaking +of this kind your attention, rather than be suffered to flag, must grow +more and more lively as the phrase marches on. + +The Osmanlees speak well. In countries civilised according to the +European plan the work of trying to persuade tribunals is almost all +performed by a set of men, the great body of whom very seldom do anything +else; but in Turkey this division of labour has never taken place, and +every man is his own advocate. The importance of the rhetorical art is +immense, for a bad speech may endanger the property of the speaker, as +well as the soles of his feet and the free enjoyment of his throat. So +it results that most of the Turks whom one sees have a lawyer-like habit +of speaking connectedly, and at length. Even the treaties continually +going on at the bazaar for the buying and selling of the merest trifles +are carried on by speechifying rather than by mere colloquies, and the +eternal uncertainty as to the market value of things in constant sale +gives room enough for discussion. The seller is for ever demanding a +price immensely beyond that for which he sells at last, and so occasions +unspeakable disgust in many Englishmen, who cannot see why an honest +dealer should ask more for his goods than he will really take! The truth +is, however, that an ordinary tradesman of Constantinople has no other +way of finding out the fair market value of his property. The difficulty +under which he labours is easily shown by comparing the mechanism of the +commercial system in Turkey with that of our own country. In England, or +in any other great mercantile country, the bulk of the things bought and +sold goes through the hands of a wholesale dealer, and it is he who +higgles and bargains with an entire nation of purchasers by entering into +treaty with retail sellers. The labour of making a few large contracts +is sufficient to give a clue for finding the fair market value of the +goods sold throughout the country; but in Turkey, from the primitive +habits of the people, and partly from the absence of great capital and +great credit, the importing merchant, the warehouseman, the wholesale +dealer, the retail dealer, and the shopman, are all one person. Old +Moostapha, or Abdallah, or Hadgi Mohamed waddles up from the water’s edge +with a small packet of merchandise, which he has bought out of a Greek +brigantine, and when at last he has reached his nook in the bazaar he +puts his goods _before_ the counter, and himself _upon_ it; then laying +fire to his _tchibouque_ he “sits in permanence,” and patiently waits to +obtain “the best price that can be got in an open market.” This is his +fair right as a seller, but he has no means of finding out what that best +price is except by actual experiment. He cannot know the intensity of +the demand, or the abundance of the supply, otherwise than by the offers +which may be made for his little bundle of goods; so he begins by asking +a perfectly hopeless price, and then descends the ladder until he meets a +purchaser, for ever + + “Striving to attain + By shadowing out the unattainable.” + +This is the struggle which creates the continual occasion for debate. +The vendor, perceiving that the unfolded merchandise has caught the eye +of a possible purchaser, commences his opening speech. He covers his +bristling broadcloths and his meagre silks with the golden broidery of +Oriental praises, and as he talks, along with the slow and graceful +waving of his arms, he lifts his undulating periods, upholds and poises +them well, till they have gathered their weight and their strength, and +then hurls them bodily forward with grave, momentous swing. The possible +purchaser listens to the whole speech with deep and serious attention; +but when it is over _his_ turn arrives. He elaborately endeavours to +show why he ought not to buy the things at a price twenty times larger +than their value. Bystanders attracted to the debate take a part in it +as independent members; the vendor is heard in reply, and coming down +with his price, furnishes the materials for a new debate. Sometimes, +however, the dealer, if he is a very pious Mussulman, and sufficiently +rich to hold back his ware, will take a more dignified part, maintaining +a kind of judicial gravity, and receiving the applicants who come to his +stall as if they were rather suitors than customers. He will quietly +hear to the end some long speech that concludes with an offer, and will +answer it all with the one monosyllable “Yok,” which means distinctly +“No.” + +I caught one glimpse of the old heathen world. My habits for studying +military subjects had been hardening my heart against poetry; for ever +staring at the flames of battle, I had blinded myself to the lesser and +finer lights that are shed from the imaginations of men. In my reading +at this time I delighted to follow from out of Arabian sands the feet of +the armed believers, and to stand in the broad, manifest storm-track of +Tartar devastation; and thus, though surrounded at Constantinople by +scenes of much interest to the “classical scholar,” I had cast aside +their associations like an old Greek grammar, and turned my face to the +“shining Orient,” forgetful of old Greece and all the pure wealth she +left to this matter-of-fact-ridden world. But it happened to me one day +to mount the high grounds overhanging the streets of Pera. I sated my +eyes with the pomps of the city and its crowded waters, and then I looked +over where Scutari lay half veiled in her mournful cypresses. I looked +yet farther and higher, and saw in the heavens a silvery cloud that stood +fast and still against the breeze: it was pure and dazzling white, as +might be the veil of Cytherea, yet touched with such fire, as though from +beneath the loving eyes of an immortal were shining through and through. +I knew the bearing, but had enormously misjudged its distance and +underrated its height, and so it was as a sign and a testimony, almost as +a call from the neglected gods, and now I saw and acknowledged the snowy +crown of the Mysian Olympus! + + + + +CHAPTER IV—THE TROAD + + +Methley recovered almost suddenly, and we determined to go through the +Troad together. + +My comrade was a capital Grecian. It is true that his singular mind so +ordered and disposed his classic lore as to impress it with something of +an original and barbarous character—with an almost Gothic quaintness, +more properly belonging to a rich native ballad than to the poetry of +Hellas. There was a certain impropriety in his knowing so much Greek—an +unfitness in the idea of marble fauns, and satyrs, and even Olympian +gods, lugged in under the oaken roof and the painted light of an odd, old +Norman hall. But Methley, abounding in Homer, really loved him (as I +believe) in all truth, without whim or fancy; moreover, he had a good +deal of the practical sagacity + + “Of a Yorkshireman hippodamoio,” + +and this enabled him to apply his knowledge with much more tact than is +usually shown by people so learned as he. + +I, too, loved Homer, but not with a scholar’s love. The most humble and +pious among women was yet so proud a mother that she could teach her +firstborn son no Watts’ hymns, no collects for the day; she could teach +him in earliest childhood no less than this, to find a home in his +saddle, and to love old Homer, and all that old Homer sung. True it is, +that the Greek was ingeniously rendered into English, the English of Pope +even, but not even a mesh like that can screen an earnest child from the +fire of Homer’s battles. + +I pored over the _Odyssey_ as over a story-book, hoping and fearing for +the hero whom yet I partly scorned. But the Iliad—line by line I clasped +it to my brain with reverence as well as with love. As an old woman +deeply trustful sits reading her Bible because of the world to come, so, +as though it would fit me for the coming strife of this temporal world, I +read and read the _Iliad_. Even outwardly, it was not like other books; +it was throned in towering folios. There was a preface or dissertation +printed in type still more majestic than the rest of the book; this I +read, but not till my enthusiasm for the _Iliad_ had already run high. +The writer compiling the opinions of many men, and chiefly of the +ancients, set forth, I know not how quaintly, that the _Iliad_ was all in +all to the human race—that it was history, poetry, revelation; that the +works of men’s hands were folly and vanity, and would pass away like the +dreams of a child, but that the kingdom of Homer would endure for ever +and ever. + +I assented with all my soul. I read, and still read; I came to know +Homer. A learned commentator knows something of the Greeks, in the same +sense as an oil-and-colour man may be said to know something of painting; +but take an untamed child, and leave him alone for twelve months with any +translation of Homer, and he will be nearer by twenty centuries to the +spirit of old Greece; _he_ does not stop in the ninth year of the siege +to admire this or that group of words; _he_ has no books in his tent, but +he shares in vital counsels with the “king of men,” and knows the inmost +souls of the impending gods; how profanely he exults over the powers +divine when they are taught to dread the prowess of mortals! and most of +all, how he rejoices when the God of War flies howling from the spear of +Diomed, and mounts into heaven for safety! Then the beautiful episode of +the Sixth Book: the way to feel this is not to go casting about, and +learning from pastors and masters how best to admire it. The impatient +child is not grubbing for beauties, but pushing the siege; the women vex +him with their delays, and their talking; the mention of the nurse is +personal, and little sympathy has he for the child that is young enough +to be frightened at the nodding plume of a helmet; but all the while that +he thus chafes at the pausing of the action, the strong vertical light of +Homer’s poetry is blazing so full upon the people and things of the +_Iliad_, that soon to the eyes of the child they grow familiar as his +mother’s shawl; yet of this great gain he is unconscious, and on he goes, +vengefully thirsting for the best blood of Troy, and never remitting his +fierceness till almost suddenly it is changed for sorrow—the new and +generous sorrow that he learns to feel when the noblest of all his foes +lies sadly dying at the Scæan gate. + +Heroic days are these, but the dark ages of schoolboy life come closing +over them. I suppose it is all right in the end, yet, by Jove, at first +sight it does seem a sad intellectual fall from your mother’s +dressing-room to a buzzing school. You feel so keenly the delights of +early knowledge; you form strange mystic friendships with the mere names +of mountains, and seas, and continents, and mighty rivers; you learn the +ways of the planets, and transcend their narrow limits, and ask for the +end of space; you vex the electric cylinder till it yields you, for your +toy to play with, that subtle fire in which our earth was forged; you +know of the nations that have towered high in the world, and the lives of +the men who have saved whole empires from oblivion. What more will you +ever learn? Yet the dismal change is ordained, and then, thin meagre +Latin (the same for everybody), with small shreds and patches of Greek, +is thrown like a pauper’s pall over all your early lore. Instead of +sweet knowledge, vile, monkish, doggerel grammars and graduses, +dictionaries and lexicons, and horrible odds and ends of dead languages, +are given you for your portion, and down you fall, from Roman story to a +three-inch scrap of “Scriptores Romani,”—from Greek poetry down, down to +the cold rations of “Poetæ Græci,” cut up by commentators, and served out +by schoolmasters! + +It was not the recollection of school nor college learning, but the +rapturous and earnest reading of my childhood, which made me bend forward +so longingly to the plains of Troy. + +Away from our people and our horses, Methley and I went loitering along +by the willow banks of a stream that crept in quietness through the low, +even plain. There was no stir of weather overhead, no sound of rural +labour, no sign of life in the land; but all the earth was dead and +still, as though it had lain for thrice a thousand years under the leaden +gloom of one unbroken Sabbath. + +Softly and sadly the poor, dumb, patient stream went winding and winding +along through its shifting pathway; in some places its waters were +parted, and then again, lower down, they would meet once more. I could +see that the stream from year to year was finding itself new channels, +and flowed no longer in its ancient track, but I knew that the springs +which fed it were high on Ida—the springs of Simois and Scamander! + +It was coldly and thanklessly, and with vacant, unsatisfied eyes that I +watched the slow coming and the gliding away of the waters. I tell +myself now, as a profane fact, that I did stand by that river (Methley +gathered some seeds from the bushes that grew there), but since that I am +away from his banks, “divine Scamander” has recovered the proper mystery +belonging to him as an unseen deity; a kind of indistinctness, like that +which belongs to far antiquity, has spread itself over my memory, of the +winding stream that I saw with these very eyes. One’s mind regains in +absence that dominion over earthly things which has been shaken by their +rude contact. You force yourself hardily into the material presence of a +mountain, or a river, whose name belongs to poetry and ancient religion, +rather than to the external world; your feelings wound up and kept ready +for some sort of half-expected rapture are chilled, and borne down for +the time under all this load of real earth and water; but let these once +pass out of sight, and then again the old fanciful notions are restored, +and the mere realities which you have just been looking at are thrown +back so far into distance, that the very event of your intrusion upon +such scenes begins to look dim and uncertain, as though it belonged to +mythology. + +It is not over the plain before Troy that the river now flows; its waters +have edged away far towards the north, since the day that “divine +Scamander” (whom the gods call Xanthus) went down to do battle for Ilion, +“with Mars, and Phoebus, and Latona, and Diana glorying in her arrows, +and Venus the lover of smiles.” + +And now, when I was vexed at the migration of Scamander, and the total +loss or absorption of poor dear Simois, how happily Methley reminded me +that Homer himself had warned us of some such changes! The Greeks in +beginning their wall had neglected the hecatombs due to the gods, and so +after the fall of Troy Apollo turned the paths of the rivers that flow +from Ida and sent them flooding over the wall, till all the beach was +smooth and free from the unhallowed works of the Greeks. It is true I +see now, on looking to the passage, that Neptune, when the work of +destruction was done, turned back the rivers to their ancient ways: + + “ . . . ποταμους δ’ ετρεφε νεεσθαι + Καρ’ ροον ηπερ προσθεν ιεν καλλιρροον υδωρ,” + +but their old channels passing through that light pervious soil would +have been lost in the nine days’ flood, and perhaps the god, when he +willed to bring back the rivers to their ancient beds, may have done his +work but ill: it is easier, they say, to destroy than it is to restore. + +We took to our horses again, and went southward towards the very plain +between Troy and the tents of the Greeks, but we rode by a line at some +distance from the shore. Whether it was that the lay of the ground +hindered my view towards the sea, or that I was all intent upon Ida, or +whether my mind was in vacancy, or whether, as is most like, I had +strayed from the Dardan plains all back to gentle England, there is now +no knowing, nor caring, but it was not quite suddenly indeed, but rather, +as it were, in the swelling and falling of a single wave, that the +reality of that very sea-view, which had bounded the sight of the Greeks, +now visibly acceded to me, and rolled full in upon my brain. Conceive +how deeply that eternal coast-line, that fixed horizon, those island +rocks, must have graven their images upon the minds of the Grecian +warriors by the time that they had reached the ninth year of the siege! +conceive the strength, and the fanciful beauty, of the speeches with +which a whole army of imagining men must have told their weariness, and +how the sauntering chiefs must have whelmed that daily, daily scene with +their deep Ionian curses! + +And now it was that my eyes were greeted with a delightful surprise. +Whilst we were at Constantinople, Methley and I had pored over the map +together. We agreed that whatever may have been the exact site of Troy, +the Grecian camp must have been nearly opposite to the space betwixt the +islands of Imbros and Tenedos, + + “Μεσσηyυς Τενεδοιο και Ιμβρου παιπαλοεσσης,” + +but Methley reminded me of a passage in the _Iliad_ in which Neptune is +represented as looking at the scene of action before Ilion from above the +island of Samothrace. Now Samothrace, according to the map, appeared to +be not only out of all seeing distance from the Troad, but to be entirely +shut out from it by the intervening Imbros, which is a larger island, +stretching its length right athwart the line of sight from Samothrace to +Troy. Piously allowing that the dread Commoter of our globe might have +seen all mortal doings, even from the depth of his own cerulean kingdom, +I still felt that if a station were to be chosen from which to see the +fight, old Homer, so material in his ways of thought, so averse from all +haziness and overreaching, would have _meant_ to give the god for his +station some spot within reach of men’s eyes from the plains of Troy. I +think that this testing of the poet’s words by map and compass may have +shaken a little of my faith in the completeness of his knowledge. Well, +now I had come; there to the south was Tenedos, and here at my side was +Imbros, all right, and according to the map, but aloft over Imbros, aloft +in a far-away heaven, was Samothrace, the watch-tower of Neptune! + +So Homer had appointed it, and so it was; the map was correct enough, but +could not, like Homer, convey _the whole truth_. Thus vain and false are +the mere human surmises and doubts which clash with Homeric writ! + +Nobody whose mind had not been reduced to the most deplorable logical +condition could look upon this beautiful congruity betwixt the _Iliad_ +and the material world and yet bear to suppose that the poet may have +learned the features of the coast from mere hearsay; now then, I +believed; now I knew that Homer had _passed along here_, that this vision +of Samothrace over-towering the nearer island was common to him and to +me. + +After a journey of some few days by the route of Adramiti and Pergamo we +reached Smyrna. The letters which Methley here received obliged him to +return to England. + + + + +CHAPTER V—INFIDEL SMYRNA + + +Smyrna, or Giaour Izmir, “Infidel Smyrna,” as the Mussulmans call it, is +the main point of commercial contact betwixt Europe and Asia. You are +there surrounded by the people, and the confused customs of many and +various nations; you see the fussy European adopting the East, and +calming his restlessness with the long Turkish “pipe of tranquillity”; +you see Jews offering services, and receiving blows; {8} on one side you +have a fellow whose dress and beard would give you a good idea of the +true Oriental, if it were not for the _gobe-mouche_ expression of +countenance with which he is swallowing an article in the _National_; and +there, just by, is a genuine Osmanlee, smoking away with all the majesty +of a sultan, but before you have time to admire sufficiently his tranquil +dignity, and his soft Asiatic repose, the poor old fellow is ruthlessly +“run down” by an English midshipman, who has set sail on a Smyrna hack. +Such are the incongruities of the “infidel city” at ordinary times; but +when I was there, our friend Carrigaholt had imported himself and his +oddities as an accession to the other and inferior wonders of Smyrna. + +I was sitting alone in my room one day at Constantinople, when I heard +Methley approaching my door with shouts of laughter and welcome, and +presently I recognised that peculiar cry by which our friend Carrigaholt +expresses his emotions; he soon explained to us the final causes by which +the fates had worked out their wonderful purpose of bringing him to +Constantinople. He was always, you know, very fond of sailing, but he +had got into such sad scrapes (including, I think, a lawsuit) on account +of his last yacht, that he took it into his head to have a cruise in a +merchant vessel, so he went to Liverpool, and looked through the craft +lying ready to sail, till he found a smart schooner that perfectly suited +his taste. The destination of the vessel was the last thing he thought +of; and when he was told that she was bound for Constantinople, he merely +assented to that as a part of the arrangement to which he had no +objection. As soon as the vessel had sailed, the hapless passenger +discovered that his skipper carried on board an enormous wife, with an +inquiring mind and an irresistible tendency to impart her opinions. She +looked upon her guest as upon a piece of waste intellect that ought to be +carefully tilled. She tilled him accordingly. If the dons at Oxford +could have seen poor Carrigaholt thus absolutely “attending lectures” in +the Bay of Biscay, they would surely have thought him sufficiently +punished for all the wrongs he did them whilst he was preparing himself +under their care for the other and more boisterous University. The +voyage did not last more than six or eight weeks, and the philosophy +inflicted on Carrigaholt was not entirely fatal to him; certainly he was +somewhat emaciated, and for aught I know, he may have subscribed somewhat +too largely to the “Feminine-right-of-reason Society”; but it did not +appear that his health had been seriously affected. There was a scheme +on foot, it would seem, for taking the passenger back to England in the +same schooner—a scheme, in fact, for keeping him perpetually afloat, and +perpetually saturated with arguments; but when Carrigaholt found himself +ashore, and remembered that the skipperina (who had imprudently remained +on board) was not there to enforce her suggestions, he was open to the +hints of his servant (a very sharp fellow), who arranged a plan for +escaping, and finally brought off his master to Giuseppini’s Hotel. + +Our friend afterwards went by sea to Smyrna, and there he now was in his +glory. He had a good, or at all events a gentleman-like, judgment in +matters of taste, and as his great object was to surround himself with +all that his fancy could dictate, he lived in a state of perpetual +negotiation. He was for ever on the point of purchasing, not only the +material productions of the place, but all sorts of such fine ware as +“intelligence,” “fidelity,” and so on. He was most curious, however, as +the purchaser of the “affections.” Sometimes he would imagine that he +had a marital aptitude, and his fancy would sketch a graceful picture, in +which he appeared reclining on a divan, with a beautiful Greek woman +fondly couched at his feet, and soothing him with the witchery of her +guitar. Having satisfied himself with the ideal picture thus created, he +would pass into action; the guitar he would buy instantly, and would give +such intimations of his wish to be wedded to a Greek, as could not fail +to produce great excitement in the families, of the beautiful Smyrniotes. +Then again (and just in time perhaps to save him from the yoke) his dream +would pass away, and another would come in its stead; he would suddenly +feel the yearnings of a father’s love, and willing by force of gold to +transcend all natural preliminaries, he would issue instructions for the +purchase of some dutiful child that could be warranted to love him as a +parent. Then at another time he would be convinced that the attachment +of menials might satisfy the longings of his affectionate heart, and +thereupon he would give orders to his slave-merchant for something in the +way of eternal fidelity. You may well imagine that this anxiety of +Carrigaholt to purchase not only the scenery, but the many _dramatis +personæ_ belonging to his dreams, with all their goodness and graces +complete, necessarily gave an immense stimulus to the trade and intrigue +of Smyrna, and created a demand for human virtues which the moral +resources of the place were totally inadequate to supply. Every day +after breakfast this lover of the good and the beautiful held a levee, +which was often exceedingly amusing. In his anteroom there would be not +only the sellers of pipes and slippers and shawls, and such like Oriental +merchandise, not only embroiderers and cunning workmen patiently striving +to realise his visions of Albanian dresses, not only the servants +offering for places, and the slave-dealer tendering his sable ware, but +there would be the Greek master, waiting to teach his pupil the grammar +of the soft Ionian tongue, in which he was to delight the wife of his +imagination, and the music-master, who was to teach him some sweet +replies to the anticipated sounds of the fancied guitar; and then, above +all, and proudly eminent with undisputed preference of _entrée_, and +fraught with the mysterious tidings on which the realisation of the whole +dream might depend, was the mysterious match-maker, {9} enticing and +postponing the suitor, yet ever keeping alive in his soul the love of +that pictured virtue, whose beauty (unseen by eyes) was half revealed to +the imagination. + +You would have thought that this practical dreaming must have soon +brought Carrigaholt to a bad end, but he was in much less danger than you +would suppose; for besides that the new visions of happiness almost +always came in time to counteract the fatal completion of the preceding +scheme, his high breeding and his delicately sensitive taste almost +always came to his aid at times when he was left without any other +protection; and the efficacy of these qualities in keeping a man out of +harm’s way is really immense. In all baseness and imposture there is a +coarse, vulgar spirit, which, however artfully concealed for a time, must +sooner or later show itself in some little circumstance sufficiently +plain to occasion an instant jar upon the minds of those whose taste is +lively and true. To such men a shock of this kind, disclosing the +_ugliness_ of a cheat, is more effectively convincing than any mere +proofs could be. + +Thus guarded from isle to isle, and through Greece, and through Albania, +this practical Plato with a purse in his hand, carried on his mad chase +after the good and the beautiful, and yet returned in safety to his home. +But now, poor fellow! the lowly grave, that is the end of men’s romantic +hopes, has closed over all his rich fancies, and all his high +aspirations; he is utterly married! No more hope, no more change for +him—no more relays—he must go on Vetturini-wise to the appointed end of +his journey! + +Smyrna, I think, may be called the chief town and capital of the Grecian +race, against which you will be cautioned so carefully as soon as you +touch the Levant. You will say that I ought not to confound as one +people the Greeks living under a constitutional government with the +unfortunate Rayahs who “groan under the Turkish yoke,” but I can’t see +that political events have hitherto produced any strongly marked +difference of character. If I could venture to rely (which I feel that I +cannot at all do) upon my own observation, I should tell you that there +was more heartiness and strength in the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire than +in those of the new kingdom. The truth is, that there is a greater field +for commercial enterprise, and even for Greek ambition, under the Ottoman +sceptre, than is to be found in the dominions of Otho. Indeed the +people, by their frequent migrations from the limits of the +constitutional kingdom to the territories of the Porte, seem to show +that, on the whole, they prefer “groaning under the Turkish yoke” to the +honour of “being the only true source of legitimate power” in their own +land. + +For myself, I love the race; in spite of all their vices, and even in +spite of all their meannesses, I remember the blood that is in them, and +still love the Greeks. The Osmanlees are, of course, by nature, by +religion, and by politics, the strong foes of the Hellenic people, and as +the Greeks, poor fellows! happen to be a little deficient in some of the +virtues which facilitate the transaction of commercial business (such as +veracity, fidelity, &c.), it naturally follows that they are highly +unpopular with the European merchants. Now these are the persons through +whom, either directly or indirectly, is derived the greater part of the +information which you gather in the Levant, and therefore you must make +up your mind to hear an almost universal and unbroken testimony against +the character of the people whose ancestors invented virtue. And strange +to say, the Greeks themselves do not attempt to disturb this general +unanimity of opinion by an dissent on their part. Question a Greek on +the subject, and he will tell you at once that the people are +_traditori_, and will then, perhaps, endeavour to shake off his fair +share of the imputation by asserting that his father had been dragoman to +some foreign embassy, and that he (the son), therefore, by the law of +nations, had ceased to be Greek. + +“E dunque no siete traditore?” + +“Possibile, signor, ma almeno Io no sono Greco.” + +Not even the diplomatic representatives of the Hellenic kingdom are free +from the habit of depreciating their brethren. I recollect that at one +of the ports in Syria a Greek vessel was rather unfairly kept in +quarantine by order of the Board of Health, which consisted entirely of +Europeans. A consular agent from the kingdom of Greece had lately +hoisted his flag in the town, and the captain of the vessel drew up a +remonstrance, which he requested his consul to present to the Board. + +“Now, _is_ this reasonable?” said the consul; “is it reasonable that I +should place myself in collision with all the principal European +gentlemen of the place for the sake of you, a Greek?” The skipper was +greatly vexed at the failure of his application, but he scarcely even +questioned the justice of the ground which his consul had taken. Well, +it happened some time afterwards that I found myself at the same port, +having gone thither with the view of embarking for the port of Syra. I +was anxious, of course, to elude as carefully as possible the quarantine +detentions which threatened me on my arrival, and hearing that the Greek +consul had a brother who was a man in authority at Syra, I got myself +presented to the former, and took the liberty of asking him to give me +such a letter of introduction to his relative at Syra as might possibly +have the effect of shortening the term of my quarantine. He acceded to +this request with the utmost kindness and courtesy; but when he replied +to my thanks by saying that “in serving an Englishman he was doing no +more than his strict duty commanded,” not even my gratitude could prevent +me from calling to mind his treatment of the poor captain who had the +misfortune of _not_ being an alien in blood to his consul and appointed +protector. + +I think that the change which has taken place in the character of the +Greeks has been occasioned, in great measure, by the doctrines and +practice of their religion. The Greek Church has animated the Muscovite +peasant, and inspired him with hopes and ideas which, however humble, are +still better than none at all; but the faith, and the forms, and the +strange ecclesiastical literature which act so advantageously upon the +mere clay of the Russian serf, seem to hang like lead upon the ethereal +spirit of the Greek. Never in any part of the world have I seen +religious performances so painful to witness as those of the Greeks. The +horror, however, with which one shudders at their worship is +attributable, in some measure, to the mere effect of costume. In all the +Ottoman dominions, and very frequently too in the kingdom of Otho, the +Greeks wear turbans or other head-dresses, and shave their heads, leaving +only a rat’s-tail at the crown of the head; they of course keep +themselves covered within doors as well as abroad, and they never remove +their head-gear merely on account of being in a church; but when the +Greek stops to worship at his proper shrine, then, and then only, he +always uncovers; and as you see him thus with shaven skull and savage +tail depending from his crown, kissing a thing of wood and glass, and +cringing with base prostrations and apparent terror before a miserable +picture, you see superstition in a shape which, outwardly at least, is +sadly abject and repulsive. + +The fasts, too, of the Greek Church produce an ill effect upon the +character of the people, for they are not a mere farce, but are carried +to such an extent as to bring about a real mortification of the flesh; +the febrile irritation of the frame operating in conjunction with the +depression of the spirits occasioned by abstinence, will so far answer +the objects of the rite, as to engender some religious excitement, but +this is of a morbid and gloomy character, and it seems to be certain, +that along with the increase of sanctity, there comes a fiercer desire +for the perpetration of dark crimes. The number of murders committed +during Lent is greater, I am told, than at any other time of the year. A +man under the influence of a bean dietary (for this is the principal food +of the Greeks during their fasts) will be in an apt humour for enriching +the shrine of his saint, and passing a knife through his next-door +neighbour. The moneys deposited upon the shrines are appropriated by +priests; the priests are married men, and have families to provide for; +they “take the good with the bad,” and continue to recommend fasts. + +Then, too, the Greek Church enjoins her followers to keep holy such a +vast number of saints’ days as practically to shorten the lives of the +people very materially. I believe that one-third out of the number of +days in the year are “kept holy,” or rather, _kept stupid_, in honour of +the saints; no great portion of the time thus set apart is spent in +religious exercises, and the people don’t betake themselves to any such +animating pastimes as might serve to strengthen the frame, or invigorate +the mind, or exalt the taste. On the contrary, the saints’ days of the +Greeks in Smyrna are passed in the same manner as the Sabbaths of +well-behaved Protestant housemaids in London—that is to say, in a steady +and serious contemplation of street scenery. The men perform this duty +_at the doors_ of their houses, the women _at the windows_, which the +custom of Greek towns has so decidedly appropriated to them as the proper +station of their sex, that a man would be looked upon as utterly +effeminate if he ventured to choose that situation for the keeping of the +saints’ days. I was present one day at a treaty for the hire of some +apartments at Smyrna, which was carried on between Carrigaholt and the +Greek woman to whom the rooms belonged. Carrigaholt objected that the +windows commanded no view of the street. Immediately the brow of the +majestic matron was clouded, and with all the scorn of a Spartan mother +she coolly asked Carrigaholt, and said, “Art thou a tender damsel that +thou wouldst sit and gaze from windows?” The man whom she addressed, +however, had not gone to Greece with any intention of placing himself +under the laws of Lycurgus, and was not to be diverted from his views by +a Spartan rebuke, so he took care to find himself windows after his own +heart, and there, I believe, for many a month, he kept the saints’ days, +and all the days intervening, after the fashion of Grecian women. + +Oh! let me be charitable to all who write, and to all who lecture, and to +all who preach, since even I, a layman not forced to write at all, can +hardly avoid chiming in with some tuneful cant! I have had the heart to +talk about the pernicious effects of the Greek holidays, to which I owe +some of my most beautiful visions! I will let the words stand, as a +humbling proof that I am subject to that immutable law which compels a +man with a pen in his hand to be uttering every now and then some +sentiment not his own. It seems as though the power of expressing +regrets and desires by written symbols were coupled with a condition that +the writer should from time to time express the regrets and desires of +other people; as though, like a French peasant under the old régime, one +were bound to perform a certain amount of work _upon the public +highways_. I rebel as stoutly as I can against this horrible, _corvée_. +I try not to deceive you—I try to set down the thoughts which are fresh +within me, and not to pretend any wishes, or griefs, which I do not +really feel; but no sooner do I cease from watchfulness in this regard, +than my right hand is, as it were, seized by some false angel, and even +now, you see, I have been forced to put down such words and sentences as +I ought to have written if really and truly I had wished to disturb the +saints’ days of the beautiful Smyrniotes! + +Which, Heaven forbid! for as you move through the narrow streets of the +city at these times of festival, the transom-shaped windows suspended +over your head on either side are filled with the beautiful descendants +of the old Ionian race; all (even yonder empress that sits throned at the +window of that humblest mud cottage) are attired with seeming +magnificence; their classic heads are crowned with scarlet, and loaded +with jewels or coins of gold, the whole wealth of the wearers; {10} their +features are touched with a savage pencil, which hardens the outline of +eyes and eyebrows, and lends an unnatural fire to the stern, grave looks +with which they pierce your brain. Endure their fiery eyes as best you +may, and ride on slowly and reverently, for facing you from the side of +the transom, that looks long-wise through the street, you see the one +glorious shape transcendant in its beauty; you see the massive braid of +hair as it catches a touch of light on its jetty surface, and the broad, +calm, angry brow; the large black eyes, deep set, and self-relying like +the eyes of a conqueror, with their rich shadows of thought lying darkly +around them; you see the thin fiery nostril, and the bold line of the +chin and throat disclosing all the fierceness, and all the pride, +passion, and power that can live along with the rare womanly beauty of +those sweetly turned lips. But then there is a terrible stillness in +this breathing image; it seems like the stillness of a savage that sits +intent and brooding, day by day, upon some one fearful scheme of +vengeance, but yet more like it seems to the stillness of an Immortal, +whose will must be known, and obeyed without sign or speech. Bow +down!—Bow down and adore the young Persephonie, transcendent Queen of +Shades! + + + + +CHAPTER VI—GREEK MARINERS + + +I sailed from Smyrna in the _Amphitrite_, a Greek brigantine, which was +confidently said to be bound for the coast of Syria; but I knew that this +announcement was not to be relied upon with positive certainty, for the +Greek mariners are practically free from the stringency of ship’s papers, +and where they will, there they go. However, I had the whole of the +cabin for myself and my attendant, Mysseri, subject only to the society +of the captain at the hour of dinner. Being at ease in this respect, +being furnished too with plenty of books, and finding an unfailing source +of interest in the thorough Greekness of my captain and my crew, I felt +less anxious than most people would have been about the probable length +of the cruise. I knew enough of Greek navigation to be sure that our +vessel would cling to earth like a child to its mother’s knee, and that I +should touch at many an isle before I set foot upon the Syrian coast; but +I had no invidious preference for Europe, Asia, or Africa, and I felt +that I could defy the winds to blow me upon a coast that was blank and +void of interest. My patience was extremely useful to me, for the cruise +altogether endured some forty days, and that in the midst of winter. + +According to me, the most interesting of all the Greeks (male Greeks) are +the mariners, because their pursuits and their social condition are so +nearly the same as those of their famous ancestors. You will say, that +the occupation of commerce must have smoothed down the salience of their +minds; and this would be so perhaps if their mercantile affairs were +conducted according to the fixed businesslike routine of Europeans; but +the ventures of the Greeks are surrounded by such a multitude of imagined +dangers (and from the absence of regular marts, in which the true value +of merchandise can be ascertained), are so entirely speculative, and +besides, are conducted in a manner so wholly determined upon by the +wayward fancies and wishes of the crew, that they belong to enterprise +rather than to industry, and are very far indeed from tending to deaden +any freshness of character. + +The vessels in which war and piracy were carried on during the years of +the Greek Revolution became merchantmen at the end of the war; but the +tactics of the Greeks, as naval warriors, were so exceedingly cautious, +and their habits as commercial mariners are so wild, that the change has +been more slight than you might imagine. The first care of Greeks (Greek +Rayahs) when they undertake a shipping enterprise is to procure for their +vessel the protection of some European power. This is easily managed by +a little intriguing with the dragoman of one of the embassies at +Constantinople, and the craft soon glories in the ensign of Russia, or +the dazzling Tricolor, or the Union Jack. Thus, to the great delight of +her crew, she enters upon the ocean world with a flaring lie at her peak, +but the appearance of the vessel does no discredit to the borrowed flag; +she is frail indeed, but is gracefully built, and smartly rigged; she +always carries guns, and in short, gives good promise of mischief and +speed. + +The privileges attached to the vessel and her crew by virtue of the +borrowed flag are so great, as to imply a liberty wider even than that +which is often enjoyed in our more strictly civilised countries, so that +there is no pretence for saying that the development of the true +character belonging to Greek mariners is prevented by the dominion of the +Ottoman. These men are free, too, from the power of the great +capitalist, whose sway is more withering than despotism itself to the +enterprises of humble venturers. The capital employed is supplied by +those whose labour is to render it productive. The crew receive no +wages, but have all a share in the venture, and in general, I believe, +they are the owners of the whole freight. They choose a captain, to whom +they entrust just power enough to keep the vessel on her course in fine +weather, but not quite enough for a gale of wind; they also elect a cook +and a mate. The cook whom we had on board was particularly careful about +the ship’s reckoning, and when under the influence of the keen +sea-breezes we grew fondly expectant of an instant dinner, the great +author of _pilafs_ would be standing on deck with an ancient quadrant in +his hands, calmly affecting to take an observation. But then to make up +for this the captain would be exercising a controlling influence over the +soup, so that all in the end went well. Our mate was a Hydriot, a native +of that island rock which grows nothing but mariners and mariners’ wives. +His character seemed to be exactly that which is generally attributed to +the Hydriot race; he was fierce, and gloomy, and lonely in his ways. One +of his principal duties seemed to be that of acting as counter-captain, +or leader of the opposition, denouncing the first symptoms of tyranny, +and protecting even the cabin-boy from oppression. Besides this, when +things went smoothly he would begin to prognosticate evil, in order that +his more light-hearted comrades might not be puffed up with the seeming +good fortune of the moment. + +It seemed to me that the personal freedom of these sailors, who own no +superiors except those of their own choice, is as like as may be to that +of their seafaring ancestors. And even in their mode of navigation they +have admitted no such an entire change as you would suppose probable. It +is true that they have so far availed themselves of modern discoveries as +to look to the compass instead of the stars, and that they have +superseded the immortal gods of their forefathers by St. Nicholas in his +glass case, {11} but they are not yet so confident either in their +needle, or their saint, as to love an open sea, and they still hug their +shores as fondly as the Argonauts of old. Indeed, they have a most +unsailor-like love for the land, and I really believe that in a gale of +wind they would rather have a rock-bound coast on their lee than no coast +at all. According to the notions of an English seaman, this kind of +navigation would soon bring the vessel on which it might be practised to +an evil end. The Greek, however, is unaccountably successful in escaping +the consequences of being “jammed in,” as it is called, upon a lee-shore. + +These seamen, like their forefathers, rely upon no winds unless they are +right astern or on the quarter; they rarely go on a wind if it blows at +all fresh, and if the adverse breeze approaches to a gale, they at once +fumigate St. Nicholas, and put up the helm. The consequence of course is +that under the ever-varying winds of the Ægean they are blown about in +the most whimsical manner. I used to think that Ulysses with his ten +years’ voyage had taken his time in making Ithaca, but my experience in +Greek navigation soon made me understand that he had had, in point of +fact, a pretty good “average passage.” + +Such are now the mariners of the Ægean: free, equal amongst themselves, +navigating the seas of their forefathers with the same heroic, and yet +child-like, spirit of venture, the same half-trustful reliance upon +heavenly aid, they are the liveliest images of true old Greeks that time +and the new religions have spared to us. + +With one exception, our crew were “a solemn company,” {12} and yet, +sometimes, when all things went well, they would relax their austerity, +and show a disposition to fun, or rather to quiet humour. When this +happened, they invariably had recourse to one of their number, who went +by the name of “Admiral Nicolou.” He was an amusing fellow, the poorest, +I believe, and the least thoughtful of the crew, but full of rich humour. +His oft-told story of the events by which he had gained the sobriquet of +“Admiral” never failed to delight his hearers, and when he was desired to +repeat it for my benefit, the rest of the crew crowded round with as much +interest as if they were listening to the tale for the first time. A +number of Greek brigs and brigantines were at anchor in the bay of +Beyrout. A festival of some kind, particularly attractive to the +sailors, was going on in the town, and whether with or without leave I +know not, but the crews of all the craft, except that of Nicolou, had +gone ashore. On board his vessel, however, which carried dollars, there +was, it would seem, a more careful, or more influential captain, who was +able to enforce his determination that one man, at least, should be left +on board. Nicolou’s good nature was with him so powerful an impulse, +that he could not resist the delight of volunteering to stay with the +vessel whilst his comrades went ashore. His proposal was accepted, and +the crew and captain soon left him alone on the deck of his vessel. The +sailors, gathering together from their several ships, were amusing +themselves in the town, when suddenly there came down from betwixt the +mountains one of those sudden hurricanes which sometimes occur in +southern climes. Nicolou’s vessel, together with four of the craft which +had been left unmanned, broke from her moorings, and all five of the +vessels were carried out seaward. The town is on a salient point at the +southern side of the bay, so that “that Admiral” was close under the eyes +of the inhabitants and the shore-gone sailors when he gallantly drifted +out at the head of his little fleet. If Nicolou could not entirely +control the manoeuvres of the squadron, there was at least no human power +to divide his authority, and thus it was that he took rank as “Admiral.” +Nicolou cut his cable, and thus for the time saved his vessel; for the +rest of the fleet under his command were quickly wrecked, whilst “the +Admiral” got away clear to the open sea. The violence of the squall soon +passed off, but Nicolou felt that his chance of one day resigning his +high duties as an admiral for the enjoyments of private life on the +steadfast shore mainly depended upon his success in working the brig with +his own hands, so after calling on his namesake, the saint (not for the +first time, I take it), he got up some canvas, and took the helm: he +became equal, he told us, to a score of Nicolous, and the vessel, as he +said, was “manned with his terrors.” For two days, it seems, he cruised +at large, but at last, either by his seamanship, or by the natural +instinct of the Greek mariners for finding land, he brought his craft +close to an unknown shore, that promised well for his purpose of running +in the vessel; and he was preparing to give her a good berth on the +beach, when he saw a gang of ferocious-looking fellows coming down to the +point for which he was making. Poor Nicolou was a perfectly unlettered +and untutored genius, and for that reason, perhaps, a keen listener to +tales of terror. His mind had been impressed with some horrible legend +of cannibalism, and he now did not doubt for a moment that the men +awaiting him on the beach were the monsters at whom he had shuddered in +the days of his childhood. The coast on which Nicolou was running his +vessel was somewhere, I fancy, at the foot of the Anzairie Mountains, and +the fellows who were preparing to give him a reception were probably very +rough specimens of humanity. It is likely enough that they might have +given themselves the trouble of putting “the Admiral” to death, for the +purpose of simplifying their claim to the vessel and preventing +litigation, but the notion of their cannibalism was of course utterly +unfounded. Nicolou’s terror had, however, so graven the idea on his +mind, that he could never afterwards dismiss it. Having once determined +the character of his expectant hosts, the Admiral naturally thought that +it would he better to keep their dinner waiting any length of time than +to attend their feast in the character of a roasted Greek, so he put +about his vessel, and tempted the deep once more. After a further cruise +the lonely commander ran his vessel upon some rocks at another part of +the coast, where she was lost with all her treasures, and Nicolou was but +too glad to scramble ashore, though without one dollar in his girdle. +These adventures seem flat enough as I repeat them, but the hero +expressed his terrors by such odd terms of speech, and such strangely +humorous gestures, that the story came from his lips with an unfailing +zest, so that the crew, who had heard the tale so often, could still +enjoy to their hearts’ content the rich fright of the Admiral, and still +shuddered with unabated horror when he came to the loss of the dollars. + +The power of listening to long stories (for which, by-the-bye, I am +giving you large credit) is common, I fancy, to most sailors, and the +Greeks have it to a high degree, for they can be perfectly patient under +a narrative of two or three hours’ duration. These long stories are +mostly founded upon Oriental topics, and in one of them I recognised with +some alteration an old friend of the “Arabian Nights.” I inquired as to +the source from which the story had been derived, and the crew all agreed +that it had been handed down unwritten from Greek to Greek. Their +account of the matter does not, perhaps, go very far towards showing the +real origin of the tale; but when I afterwards took up the “Arabian +Nights,” I became strongly impressed with a notion that they must have +sprung from the brain of a Greek. It seems to me that these stories, +whilst they disclose a complete and habitual _knowledge_ of things +Asiatic, have about them so much of freshness and life, so much of the +stirring and volatile European character, that they cannot have owed +their conception to a mere Oriental, who for creative purposes is a thing +dead and dry—a mental mummy, that may have been a live king just after +the Flood, but has since lain balmed in spice. At the time of the +Caliphat the Greek race was familiar enough to Baghdad: they were the +merchants, the pedlars, the barbers, and intriguers-general of +south-western Asia, and therefore the Oriental materials with which the +Arabian tales were wrought must have been completely at the command of +the inventive people to whom I would attribute their origin. + +We were nearing the isle of Cyprus when there arose half a gale of wind, +with a heavy chopping sea. My Greek seamen considered that the weather +amounted not to a half, but to an integral gale of wind at the very +least, so they put up the helm, and scudded for twenty hours. When we +neared the mainland of Anadoli the gale ceased, and a favourable breeze +sprung up, which brought us off Cyprus once more. Afterwards the wind +changed again, but we were still able to lay our course by sailing +close-hauled. + +We were at length in such a position, that by holding on our course for +about half-an-hour we should get under the lee of the island and find +ourselves in smooth water, but the wind had been gradually freshening; it +now blew hard, and there was a heavy sea running. + +As the grounds for alarm arose, the crew gathered together in one close +group; they stood pale and grim under their hooded capotes like monks +awaiting a massacre, anxiously looking by turns along the pathway of the +storm and then upon each other, and then upon the eye of the captain who +stood by the helmsman. Presently the Hydriot came aft, more moody than +ever, the bearer of fierce remonstrance against the continuing of the +struggle; he received a resolute answer, and still we held our course. +Soon there came a heavy sea, that caught the bow of the brigantine as she +lay jammed in betwixt the waves; she bowed her head low under the waters, +and shuddered through all her timbers, then gallantly stood up again over +the striving sea, with bowsprit entire. But where were the crew? It was +a crew no longer, but rather a gathering of Greek citizens; the shout of +the seamen was changed for the murmuring of the people—the spirit of the +old Demos was alive. The men came aft in a body, and loudly asked that +the vessel should be put about, and that the storm be no longer tempted. +Now, then, for speeches. The captain, his eyes flashing fire, his frame +all quivering with emotion—wielding his every limb, like another and a +louder voice, pours forth the eloquent torrent of his threats and his +reasons, his commands and his prayers; he promises, he vows, he swears +that there is safety in holding on—safety, _if Greeks will be brave_! +The men hear and are moved; but the gale rouses itself once more, and +again the raging sea comes trampling over the timbers that are the life +of all. The fierce Hydriot advances one step nearer to the captain, and +the angry growl of the people goes floating down the wind, but they +listen; they waver once more, and once more resolve, then waver again, +thus doubtfully hanging between the terrors of the storm and the +persuasion of glorious speech, as though it were the Athenian that +talked, and Philip of Macedon that thundered on the weather-bow. + +Brave thoughts winged on Grecian words gained their natural mastery over +terror; the brigantine held on her course, and reached smooth water at +last. I landed at Limasol, the westernmost port of Cyprus, leaving the +vessel to sail for Larnaka, where she was to remain for some days. + + + + +CHAPTER VII—CYPRUS + + +There was a Greek at Limasol who hoisted his flag as an English +vice-consul, and he insisted upon my accepting his hospitality. With +some difficulty, and chiefly by assuring him that I could not delay my +departure beyond an early hour in the afternoon, I induced him to allow +my dining with his family instead of banqueting all alone with the +representative of my sovereign in consular state and dignity. The lady +of the house, it seemed, had never sat at table with an European. She +was very shy about the matter, and tried hard to get out of the scrape, +but the husband, I fancy, reminded her that she was theoretically an +Englishwoman, by virtue of the flag that waved over her roof, and that +she was bound to show her nationality by sitting at meat with me. +Finding herself inexorably condemned to bear with the dreaded gaze of +European eyes, she tried to save her innocent children from the hard fate +awaiting herself, but I obtained that all of them (and I think there were +four or five) should sit at the table. You will meet with abundance of +stately receptions and of generous hospitality, too, in the East, but +rarely, very rarely in those regions (or even, so far as I know, in any +part of southern Europe) does one gain an opportunity of seeing the +familiar and indoor life of the people. + +This family party of the good consul’s (or rather of mine, for I +originated the idea, though he furnished the materials) went off very +well. The mamma was shy at first, but she veiled the awkwardness which +she felt by affecting to scold her children, who had all of them, I +think, immortal names—names too which they owed to tradition, and +certainly not to any classical enthusiasm of their parents. Every +instant I was delighted by some such phrases as these, “Themistocles, my +love, don’t fight.”—“Alcibiades, can’t you sit still?”—“Socrates, put +down the cup.”—“Oh, fie! Aspasia, don’t. Oh! don’t be naughty!” It is +true that the names were pronounced Socrahtie, Aspahsie—that is, +according to accent, and not according to quantity—but I suppose it is +scarcely now to be doubted that they were so sounded in ancient times. + +To me it seems, that of all the lands I know (you will see in a minute +how I connect this piece of prose’ with the isle of Cyprus), there is +none in which mere wealth, mere unaided wealth, is held half so cheaply; +none in which a poor devil of a millionaire, without birth, or ability, +occupies so humble a place as in England. My Greek host and I were +sitting together, I think, upon the roof of the house (for that is the +lounging-place in Eastern climes), when the former assumed a serious air, +and intimated a wish to converse upon the subject of the British +Constitution, with which he assured me that he was thoroughly acquainted. +He presently, however, informed me that there was one anomalous +circumstance attended upon the practical working of our political system +which he had never been able to hear explained in a manner satisfactory +to himself. From the fact of his having found a difficulty in his +subject, I began to think that my host might really know rather more of +it than his announcement of a thorough knowledge had led me to expect. I +felt interested at being about to hear from the lips of an intelligent +Greek, quite remote from the influence of European opinions, what might +seem to him the most astonishing and incomprehensible of all those +results which have followed from the action of our political +institutions. The anomaly, the only anomaly which had been detected by +the vice-consular wisdom, consisted in the fact that Rothschild (the late +money-monger) had never been the Prime Minister of England! I gravely +tried to throw some light upon the mysterious causes that had kept the +worthy Israelite out of the Cabinet, but I think I could see that my +explanation was not satisfactory. Go and argue with the flies of summer +that there is a power divine, yet greater than the sun in the heavens, +but never dare hope to convince the people of the south that there is any +other God than Gold. + +My intended journey was to the site of the Paphian temple. I take no +antiquarian interest in ruins, and care little about them, unless they +are either striking in themselves, or else serve to mark some spot on +which my fancy loves to dwell. I knew that the ruins of Paphos were +scarcely, if at all, discernible, but there was a will and a longing more +imperious than mere curiosity that drove me thither. + +For this just then was my pagan soul’s desire—that (not forfeiting my +inheritance for the life to come) it had yet been given me to live +through this world—to live a favoured mortal under the old Olympian +dispensation—to speak out my resolves to the listening Jove, and hear him +answer with approving thunder—to be blessed with divine counsels from the +lips of Pallas Athenie—to believe—ay, only to believe—to believe for one +rapturous moment that in the gloomy depths of the grove, by the +mountain’s side, there were some leafy pathway that crisped beneath the +glowing sandal of Aphrodetie—Aphrodetie, not coldly disdainful of even a +mortal’s love! And this vain, heathenish longing of mine was father to +the thought of visiting the scene of the ancient worship. + +The isle is beautiful. From the edge of the rich, flowery fields on +which I trod to the midway sides of the snowy Olympus, the ground could +only here and there show an abrupt crag, or a high straggling ridge that +up-shouldered itself from out of the wilderness of myrtles, and of the +thousand bright-leaved shrubs that twined their arms together in lovesome +tangles. The air that came to my lips was warm and fragrant as the +ambrosial breath of the goddess, infecting me, not (of course) with a +faith in the old religion of the isle, but with a sense and apprehension +of its mystic power—a power that was still to be obeyed—obeyed by _me_, +for why otherwise did I toil on with sorry horses to “where, for HER, the +hundred altars glowed with Arabian incense, and breathed with the +fragrance of garlands ever fresh”? {13} + +I passed a sadly disenchanting night in the cabin of a Greek priest—not a +priest of the goddess, but of the Greek Church; there was but one humble +room, or rather shed, for man, and priest, and beast. The next morning I +reached Baffa (Paphos), a village not far distant from the site of the +temple. There was a Greek husbandman there who (not for emolument, but +for the sake of the protection and dignity which it afforded) had got +leave from the man at Limasol to hoist his flag as a sort of +deputy-provisionary-sub-vice-pro-acting-consul of the British sovereign: +the poor fellow instantly changed his Greek headgear for the cap of +consular dignity, and insisted upon accompanying me to the ruins. I +would not have stood this if I could have felt the faintest gleam of my +yesterday’s pagan piety, but I had ceased to dream, and had nothing to +dread from any new disenchanters. + +The ruins (the fragments of one or two prostrate pillars) lie upon a +promontory, bare and unmystified by the gloom of surrounding groves. My +Greek friend in his consular cap stood by, respectfully waiting to see +what turn my madness would take, now that I had come at last into the +presence of the old stones. If you have no taste for research, and can’t +affect to look for inscriptions, there is some awkwardness in coming to +the end of a merely sentimental pilgrimage; when the feeling which +impelled you has gone, you have nothing to do but to laugh the thing off +as well as you can, and, by-the-bye, it is not a bad plan to turn the +conversation (or rather, allow the natives to turn it) towards the +subject of hidden treasures. This is a topic on which they will always +speak with eagerness, and if they can fancy that you, too, take an +interest in such matters, they will not only think you perfectly sane, +but will begin to give you credit for some more than human powers of +forcing the obscure earth to show you its hoards of gold. + +When we returned to Baffa, the vice-consul seized a club with the quietly +determined air of a brave man resolved to do some deed of note. He went +into the yard adjoining his cottage, where there were some thin, +thoughtful, canting cocks, and serious, low-church-looking hens, +respectfully listening, and chickens of tender years so well brought up, +as scarcely to betray in their conduct the careless levity of youth. The +vice-consul stood for a moment quite calm, collecting his strength; then +suddenly he rushed into the midst of the congregation, and began to deal +death and destruction on all sides. He spared neither sex nor age; the +dead and dying were immediately removed from the field of slaughter, and +in less than an hour, I think, they were brought on the table, deeply +buried in mounds of snowy rice. + +My host was in all respects a fine, generous fellow. I could not bear +the idea of impoverishing him by my visit, and I consulted my faithful +Mysseri, who not only assured me that I might safely offer money to the +vice-consul, but recommended that I should give no more to him than to +“the others,” meaning any other peasant. I felt, however, that there was +something about the man, besides the flag and the cap, which made me +shrink from offering coin, and as I mounted my horse on departing I gave +him the only thing fit for a present that I happened to have with me, a +rather handsome clasp-dagger, brought from Vienna. The poor fellow was +ineffably grateful, and I had some difficulty in tearing myself from out +of the reach of his thanks. At last I gave him what I supposed to be the +last farewell, and rode on, but I had not gained more than about a +hundred yards when my host came bounding and shouting after me, with a +goat’s-milk cheese in his hand, which he implored me to accept. In old +times the shepherd of Theocritus, or (to speak less dishonestly) the +shepherd of the “Poetæ Græci,” sung his best song; I in this latter age +presented my best dagger, and both of us received the same rustic reward. + +It had been known that I should return to Limasol, and when I arrived +there I found that a noble old Greek had been hospitably plotting to have +me for his guest. I willingly accepted his offer. The day of my arrival +happened to be the birthday of my host, and in consequence of this there +was a constant influx of visitors, who came to offer their +congratulations. A few of these were men, but most of them were young, +graceful girls. Almost all of them went through the ceremony with the +utmost precision and formality; each in succession spoke her blessing, in +the tone of a person repeating a set formula, then deferentially accepted +the invitation to sit, partook of the proffered sweetmeats and the cold, +glittering water, remained for a few minutes either in silence or engaged +in very thin conversation, then arose, delivered a second benediction, +followed by an elaborate farewell, and departed. + +The bewitching power attributed at this day to the women of Cyprus is +curious in connection with the worship of the sweet goddess, who called +their isle her own. The Cypriote is not, I think, nearly so beautiful in +face as the Ionian queens of Izmir, but she is tall, and slightly formed; +there is a high-souled meaning and expression, a seeming consciousness of +gentle empire, that speaks in the wavy line of the shoulder, and winds +itself like Cytherea’s own cestus around the slender waist; then the +richly-abounding hair (not enviously gathered together under the +head-dress) descends the neck, and passes the waist in sumptuous braids. +Of all other women with Grecian blood in their veins the costume is +graciously beautiful, but these, the maidens of Limasol—their robes are +more gently, more sweetly imagined, and fall like Julia’s cashmere in +soft, luxurious folds. The common voice of the Levant allows that in +face the women of Cyprus are less beautiful than their brilliant sisters +of Smyrna; and yet, says the Greek, he may trust himself to one and all +the bright cities of the Ægean, and may yet weigh anchor with a heart +entire, but that so surely as he ventures upon the enchanted isle of +Cyprus, so surely will he know the rapture or the bitterness of love. +The charm, they say, owes its power to that which the people call the +astonishing “politics” (πολιτικη) of the women, meaning, I fancy, their +tact and their witching ways: the word, however, plainly fails to express +one-half of that which the speakers would say. I have smiled to hear the +Greek, with all his plenteousness of fancy, and all the wealth of his +generous language, yet vainly struggling to describe the ineffable spell +which the Parisians dispose of in their own smart way by a summary “Je ne +sçai quoi.” + +I went to Larnaca, the chief city of the isle, and over the water at last +to Beyrout. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII—LADY HESTER STANHOPE {14} + + +Beyrout on its land side is hemmed in by the Druses, who occupy all the +neighbouring highlands. + +Often enough I saw the ghostly images of the women with their exalted +horns stalking through the streets, and I saw too in travelling the +affrighted groups of the mountaineers as they fled before me, under the +fear that my party might be a company of income-tax commissioners, or a +pressgang enforcing the conscription for Mehemet Ali; but nearly all my +knowledge of the people, except in regard of their mere costume and +outward appearance, is drawn from books and despatches, to which I have +the honour to refer you. + +I received hospitable welcome at Beyrout from the Europeans as well as +from the Syrian Christians, and I soon discovered that their standing +topic of interest was the Lady Hester Stanhope, who lived in an old +convent on the Lebanon range, at the distance of about a day’s journey +from the town. The lady’s habit of refusing to see Europeans added the +charm of mystery to a character which, even without that aid, was +sufficiently distinguished to command attention. + +Many years of Lady Hester’s early womanhood had been passed with Lady +Chatham at Burton Pynsent, and during that inglorious period of the +heroine’s life her commanding character, and (as they would have called +it in the language of those days) her “condescending kindness” towards my +mother’s family, had increased in them those strong feelings of respect +and attachment, which her rank and station alone would have easily won +from people of the middle class. You may suppose how deeply the quiet +women in Somersetshire must have been interested, when they slowly +learned by vague and uncertain tidings that the intrepid girl who had +been used to break their vicious horses for them was reigning in +sovereignty over the wandering tribes of Western Asia! I know that her +name was made almost as familiar to me in my childhood as the name of +Robinson Crusoe—both were associated with the spirit of adventure; but +whilst the imagined life of the cast-away mariner never failed to seem +glaringly real, the true story of the Englishwoman ruling over Arabs +always sounded to me like fable. I never had heard, nor indeed, I +believe, had the rest of the world ever heard, anything like a certain +account of the heroine’s adventures; all I knew was, that in one of the +drawers which were the delight of my childhood, along with attar of roses +and fragrant wonders from Hindustan, there were letters carefully +treasured, and trifling presents which I was taught to think valuable +because they had come from the queen of the desert, who dwelt in tents, +and reigned over wandering Arabs. + +This subject, however, died away, and from the ending of my childhood up +to the period of my arrival in the Levant, I had seldom even heard a +mentioning of the Lady Hester Stanhope, but now, wherever I went, I was +met by the name so familiar in sound, and yet so full of mystery from the +vague, fairy-tale sort of idea which it brought to my mind; I heard it, +too, connected with fresh wonders, for it was said that the woman was now +acknowledged as an inspired being by the people of the mountains, and it +was even hinted with horror that she claimed to be _more than a prophet_. + +I felt at once that my mother would be sadly sorry to hear that I had +been within a day’s ride of her early friend without offering to see her, +and I therefore despatched a letter to the recluse, mentioning the maiden +name of my mother (whose marriage was subsequent to Lady Hester’s +departure), and saying that if there existed on the part of her ladyship +any wish to hear of her old Somersetshire acquaintance, I should make a +point of visiting her. My letter was sent by a foot-messenger, who was +to take an unlimited time for his journey, so that it was not, I think, +until either the third or the fourth day that the answer arrived. A +couple of horsemen covered with mud suddenly dashed into the little court +of the “locanda” in which I was staying, bearing themselves as +ostentatiously as though they were carrying a cartel from the Devil to +the Angel Michael: one of these (the other being his attendant) was an +Italian by birth (though now completely orientalised), who lived in my +lady’s establishment as doctor nominally, but practically as an upper +servant; he presented me a very kind and appropriate letter of +invitation. + +It happened that I was rather unwell at this time, so that I named a more +distant day for my visit than I should otherwise have done, and after +all, I did not start at the time fixed. Whilst still remaining at +Beyrout I received this letter, which certainly betrays no symptom of the +pretensions to divine power which were popularly attributed to the +writer:— + + “SIR,—I hope I shall be disappointed in seeing you on Wednesday, for + the late rains have rendered the river Damoor if not dangerous, at + least very unpleasant to pass for a person who has been lately + indisposed, for if the animal swims, you would be immerged in the + waters. The weather will probably change after the 21st of the moon, + and after a couple of days the roads and the river will be passable, + therefore I shall expect you either Saturday or Monday. + + “It will be a great satisfaction to me to have an opportunity of + inquiring after your mother, who was a sweet, lovely girl when I knew + her. + + “Believe me, sir, + “Yours sincerely, + “HESTER LUCY STANHOPE.” + +Early one morning I started from Beyrout. There are no regularly +established relays of horses in Syria, at least not in the line which I +took, and you therefore hire your cattle for the whole journey, or at all +events, for your journey to some large town. Under these circumstances +you have no occasion for a Tatar (whose principal utility consists in his +power to compel the supply of horses). In other respects, the mode of +travelling through Syria differs very little from that which I have +described as prevailing in Turkey. I hired my horses and mules (for I +had some of both) for the whole of the journey from Beyrout to Jerusalem. +The owner of the beasts (who had a couple of fellows under him) was the +most dignified member of my party; he was, indeed, a magnificent old man, +and was called Shereef, or “holy”—a title of honour which, with the +privilege of wearing the green turban, he well deserved, not only from +the blood of the Prophet that flowed in his veins, but from the +well-known sanctity of his life and the length of his blessed beard. + +Mysseri, of course, still travelled with me, but the Arabic was not one +of the seven languages which he spoke so perfectly, and I was therefore +obliged to hire another interpreter. I had no difficulty in finding a +proper man for the purpose—one Demetrius, or, as he was always called, +Dthemetri, a native of Zante, who had been tossed about by fortune in all +directions. He spoke the Arabic very well, and communicated with me in +Italian. The man was a very zealous member of the Greek Church. He had +been a tailor. He was as ugly as the devil, having a thoroughly Tatar +countenance, which expressed the agony of his body or mind, as the case +might be, in the most ludicrous manner imaginable. He embellished the +natural caricature of his person by suspending about his neck and +shoulders and waist quantities of little bundles and parcels, which he +thought too valuable to be entrusted to the jerking of pack-saddles. The +mule that fell to his lot on this journey every now and then, forgetting +that his rider was a saint, and remembering that he was a tailor, took a +quiet roll upon the ground, and stretched his limbs calmly and lazily, +like a good man awaiting a sermon. Dthemetri never got seriously hurt, +but the subversion and dislocation of his bundles made him for the moment +a sad spectacle of ruin, and when he regained his legs, his wrath with +the mule became very amusing. He always addressed the beast in language +which implied that he, as a Christian and saint, had been personally +insulted and oppressed by a Mahometan mule. Dthemetri, however, on the +whole, proved to be a most able and capital servant. I suspected him of +now and then leading me out of my way in order that he might have the +opportunity of visiting the shrine of a saint, and on one occasion, as +you will see by-and-by, he was induced by religious motives to commit a +gross breach of duty; but putting these pious faults out of the question +(and they were faults of the right side), he was always faithful and true +to me. + +I left Saide (the Sidon of ancient times) on my right, and about an hour, +I think, before sunset began to ascend one of the many low hills of +Lebanon. On the summit before me was a broad, grey mass of irregular +building, which from its position, as well as from the gloomy blankness +of its walls, gave the idea of a neglected fortress. It had, in fact, +been a convent of great size, and like most of the religious houses in +this part of the world, had been made strong enough for opposing an inert +resistance to any mere casual band of assailants who might be unprovided +with regular means of attack: this was the dwelling-place of the +Chatham’s fiery granddaughter. + +The aspect of the first court which I entered was such as to keep one in +the idea of having to do with a fortress rather than a mere peaceable +dwelling-place. A number of fierce-looking and ill-clad Albanian +soldiers were hanging about the place, and striving to bear the curse of +tranquillity as well as they could: two or three of them, I think, were +smoking their _tchibouques_, but the rest of them were lying torpidly +upon the flat stones, like the bodies of departed brigands. I rode on to +an inner part of the building, and at last, quitting my horses, was +conducted through a doorway that led me at once from an open court into +an apartment on the ground floor. As I entered, an Oriental figure in +male costume approached me from the farther end of the room with many and +profound bows, but the growing shades of evening prevented me from +distinguishing the features of the personage who was receiving me with +this solemn welcome. I had always, however, understood that Lady Hester +Stanhope wore the male attire, and I began to utter in English the common +civilities that seemed to be proper on the commencement of a visit by an +uninspired mortal to a renowned prophetess; but the figure which I +addressed only bowed so much the more, prostrating itself almost to the +ground, but speaking to me never a word. I feebly strived not to be +outdone in gestures of respect; but presently my bowing opponent saw the +error under which I was acting, and suddenly convinced me that, at all +events, I was not _yet_ in the presence of a superhuman being, by +declaring that he was not “miladi,” but was, in fact, nothing more or +less god-like than the poor doctor, who had brought his mistress’s letter +to Beyrout. + +Her ladyship, in the right spirit of hospitality, now sent and commanded +me to repose for a while after the fatigues of my journey, and to dine. + +The cuisine was of the Oriental kind, which is highly artificial, and I +thought it very good. I rejoiced too in the wine of the Lebanon. + +Soon after the ending of the dinner the doctor arrived with miladi’s +compliments, and an intimation that she would he happy to receive me if I +were so disposed. It had now grown dark, and the rain was falling +heavily, so that I got rather wet in following my guide through the open +courts that I had to pass in order to reach the presence chamber. At +last I was ushered into a small apartment, which was protected from the +draughts of air passing through the doorway by a folding screen; passing +this, I came alongside of a common European sofa, where sat the lady +prophetess. She rose from her seat very formally, spoke to me a few +words of welcome, pointed to a chair which was placed exactly opposite to +her sofa at a couple of yards’ distance, and remained standing up to the +full of her majestic height, perfectly still and motionless, until I had +taken my appointed place; she then resumed her seat, not packing herself +up according to the mode of the Orientals, but allowing her feet to rest +on the floor or the footstool; at the moment of seating herself she +covered her lap with a mass of loose white drapery which she held in her +hand. It occurred to me at the time that she did this in order to avoid +the awkwardness of sitting in manifest trousers under the eye of an +European, but I can hardly fancy now that with her wilful nature she +would have brooked such a compromise as this. + +The woman before me had exactly the person of a prophetess—not, indeed, +of the divine sibyl imagined by Domenichino, so sweetly distracted +betwixt love and mystery, but of a good business-like, practical +prophetess, long used to the exercise of her sacred calling. I have been +told by those who knew Lady Hester Stanhope in her youth, that any notion +of a resemblance betwixt her and the great Chatham must have been +fanciful; but at the time of my seeing her, the large commanding features +of the gaunt woman, then sixty years old or more, certainly reminded me +of the statesman that lay dying {15} in the House of Lords, according to +Copley’s picture. Her face was of the most astonishing whiteness; {16} +she wore a very large turban, which seemed to be of pale cashmere shawls, +so disposed as to conceal the hair; her dress, from the chin down to the +point at which it was concealed by the drapery which she held over her +lap, was a mass of white linen loosely folding—an ecclesiastical sort of +affair, more like a surplice than any of those blessed creations which +our souls love under the names of “dress” and “frock” and “boddice” and +“collar” and “habit-shirt” and sweet “chemisette.” + +Such was the outward seeming of the personage that sat before me, and +indeed she was almost bound by the fame of her actual achievements, as +well as by her sublime pretensions, to look a little differently from the +rest of womankind. There had been something of grandeur in her career. +After the death of Lady Chatham, which happened in 1803, she lived under +the roof of her uncle, the second Pitt, and when he resumed the +Government in 1804, she became the dispenser of much patronage, and sole +secretary of state for the department of Treasury banquets. Not having +seen the lady until late in her life, when she was fired with spiritual +ambition, I can hardly fancy that she could have performed her political +duties in the saloons of the Minister with much of feminine sweetness and +patience. I am told, however, that she managed matters very well indeed: +perhaps it was better for the lofty-minded leader of the House to have +his reception-rooms guarded by this stately creature, than by a merely +clever and managing woman; it was fitting that the wholesome awe with +which he filled the minds of the country gentlemen should be aggravated +by the presence of his majestic niece. But the end was approaching. The +sun of Austerlitz showed the Czar madly sliding his splendid army like a +weaver’s shuttle from his right hand to his left, under the very eyes—the +deep, grey, watchful eyes of Napoleon; before night came, the coalition +was a vain thing—meet for history, and the heart of its great author was +crushed with grief when the terrible tidings came to his ears. In the +bitterness of his despair he cried out to his niece, and bid her, “ROLL +UP THE MAP OF EUROPE”; there was a little more of suffering, and at last, +with his swollen tongue (so they say) still muttering something for +England, he died by the noblest of all sorrows. + +Lady Hester, meeting the calamity in her own fierce way, seems to have +scorned the poor island that had not enough of God’s grace to keep the +“heaven-sent” Minister alive. I can hardly tell why it should be, but +there is a longing for the East very commonly felt by proud-hearted +people when goaded by sorrow. Lady Hester Stanhope obeyed this impulse. +For some time, I believe, she was at Constantinople, where her +magnificence and near alliance to the late Minister gained her great +influence. Afterwards she passed into Syria. The people of that +country, excited by the achievements of Sir Sidney Smith, had begun to +imagine the possibility of their land being occupied by the English, and +many of them looked upon Lady Hester as a princess who came to prepare +the way for the expected conquest. I don’t know it from her own lips, or +indeed from any certain authority, but I have been told that she began +her connection with the Bedouins by making a large present of money (£500 +it was said—immense in piastres) to the Sheik whose authority was +recognised in that part of the desert which lies between Damascus and +Palmyra. The prestige created by the rumours of her high and undefined +rank, as well as of her wealth and corresponding magnificence, was well +sustained by her imperious character and her dauntless bravery. Her +influence increased. I never heard anything satisfactory as to the real +extent or duration of her sway, but it seemed that for a time at least +she certainly exercised something like sovereignty amongst the wandering +tribes. {17} And now that her earthly kingdom had passed away she strove +for spiritual power, and impiously dared, as it was said, to boast some +mystic union with the very God of very God! + +A couple of black slave girls came at a signal, and supplied their +mistress as well as myself with lighted _tchibouques_ and coffee. + +The custom of the East sanctions, and almost commands, some moments of +silence whilst you are inhaling the first few breaths of the fragrant +pipe. The pause was broken, I think, by my lady, who addressed to me +some inquiries respecting my mother, and particularly as to her marriage; +but before I had communicated any great amount of family facts, the +spirit of the prophetess kindled within her, and presently (though with +all the skill of a woman of the world) she shuffled away the subject of +poor, dear Somersetshire, and bounded onward into loftier spheres of +thought. + +My old acquaintance with some of “the twelve” enabled me to bear my part +(of course a very humble one) in a conversation relative to occult +science. Milnes once spread a report, that every gang of gipsies was +found upon inquiry to have come last from a place to the westward, and to +be about to make the next move in an eastern direction; either therefore +they where to be all gathered together towards the rising of the sun by +the mysterious finger of Providence, or else they were to revolve round +the globe for ever and ever: both of these suppositions were highly +gratifying, because they were both marvellous; and though the story on +which they were founded plainly sprang from the inventive brain of a +poet, no one had ever been so odiously statistical as to attempt a +contradiction of it. I now mentioned the story as a report to Lady +Hester Stanhope, and asked her if it were true. I could not have touched +upon any imaginable subject more deeply interesting to my hearer, more +closely akin to her habitual train of thinking. She immediately threw +off all the restraint belonging to an interview with a stranger; and when +she had received a few more similar proofs of my aptness for the +marvellous, she went so far as to say that she would adopt me as her +_élève_ in occult science. + +For hours and hours this wondrous white woman poured forth her speech, +for the most part concerning sacred and profane mysteries; but every now +and then she would stay her lofty flight and swoop down upon the world +again. Whenever this happened I was interested in her conversation. + +She adverted more than once to the period of her lost sway amongst the +Arabs, and mentioned some of the circumstances that aided her in +obtaining influence with the wandering tribes. The Bedouin, so often +engaged in irregular warfare, strains his eyes to the horizon in search +of a coming enemy just as habitually as the sailor keeps his “bright +lookout” for a strange sail. In the absence of telescopes a far-reaching +sight is highly valued, and Lady Hester possessed this quality to an +extraordinary degree. She told me that on one occasion, when there was +good reason to expect a hostile attack, great excitement was felt in the +camp by the report of a far-seeing Arab, who declared that he could just +distinguish some moving objects upon the very farthest point within the +reach of his eyes. Lady Hester was consulted, and she instantly assured +her comrades in arms that there were indeed a number of horses within +sight, but that they were without riders. The assertion proved to be +correct, and from that time forth her superiority over all others in +respect of far sight remained undisputed. + +Lady Hester related to me this other anecdote of her Arab life. It was +when the heroic qualities of the Englishwoman were just beginning to be +felt amongst the people of the desert, that she was marching one day, +along with the forces of the tribe to which she had allied herself. She +perceived that preparations for an engagement were going on, and upon her +making inquiry as to the cause, the Sheik at first affected mystery and +concealment, but at last confessed that war had been declared against his +tribe on account of its alliance with the English princess, and that they +were now unfortunately about to be attacked by a very superior force. He +made it appear that Lady Hester was the sole cause of hostility betwixt +his tribe and the impending enemy, and that his sacred duty of protecting +the Englishwoman whom he had admitted as his guest was the only obstacle +which prevented an amicable arrangement of the dispute. The Sheik hinted +that his tribe was likely to sustain an almost overwhelming blow, but at +the same time declared, that no fear of the consequences, however +terrible to him and his whole people, should induce him to dream of +abandoning his illustrious guest. The heroine instantly took her part: +it was not for her to be a source of danger to her friends, but rather to +her enemies, so she resolved to turn away from the people, and trust for +help to none save only her haughty self. The Sheiks affected to dissuade +her from so rash a course, and fairly told her that although they (having +been freed from her presence) would be able to make good terms for +themselves, yet that there were no means of allaying the hostility felt +towards her, and that the whole face of the desert would be swept by the +horsemen of her enemies so carefully, as to make her escape into other +districts almost impossible. The brave woman was not to be moved by +terrors of this kind, and bidding farewell to the tribe which had +honoured and protected her, she turned her horse’s head and rode straight +away from them, without friend or follower. Hours had elapsed, and for +some time she had been alone in the centre of the round horizon, when her +quick eye perceived some horsemen in the distance. The party came nearer +and nearer; soon it was plain that they were making towards her, and +presently some hundreds of Bedouins, fully armed, galloped up to her, +ferociously shouting, and apparently intending to take her life at the +instant with their pointed spears. Her face at the time was covered with +the _yashmak_, according to Eastern usage, but at the moment when the +foremost of the horsemen had all but reached her with their spears, she +stood up in her stirrups, withdrew the _yashmak_ that veiled the terrors +of her countenance, waved her arm slowly and disdainfully, and cried out +with a loud voice “Avaunt!” {18} The horsemen recoiled from her glance, +but not in terror. The threatening yells of the assailants were suddenly +changed for loud shouts of joy and admiration at the bravery of the +stately Englishwoman, and festive gunshots were fired on all sides around +her honoured head. The truth was, that the party belonged to the tribe +with which she had allied herself, and that the threatened attack as well +as the pretended apprehension of an engagement had been contrived for the +mere purpose of testing her courage. The day ended in a great feast +prepared to do honour to the heroine, and from that time her power over +the minds of the people grew rapidly. Lady Hester related this story +with great spirit, and I recollect that she put up her _yashmak_ for a +moment in order to give me a better idea of the effect which she produced +by suddenly revealing the awfulness of her countenance. + +With respect to her then present mode of life, Lady Hester informed me, +that for her sin she had subjected herself during many years to severe +penance, and that her self-denial had not been without its reward. “Vain +and false,” said she, “is all the pretended knowledge of the +Europeans—their doctors will tell you that the drinking of milk gives +yellowness to the complexion; milk is my only food, and you see if my +face be not white.” Her abstinence from food intellectual was carried as +far as her physical fasting. She never, she said, looked upon a book or +a newspaper, but trusted alone to the stars for her sublime knowledge; +she usually passed the nights in communing with these heavenly teachers, +and lay at rest during the daytime. She spoke with great contempt of the +frivolity and benighted ignorance of the modern Europeans, and mentioned +in proof of this, that they were not only untaught in astrology, but were +unacquainted with the common and every-day phenomena produced by magic +art. She spoke as if she would make me understand that all sorcerous +spells were completely at her command, but that the exercise of such +powers would be derogatory to her high rank in the heavenly kingdom. She +said that the spell by which the face of an absent person is thrown upon +a mirror was within the reach of the humblest and most contemptible +magicians, but that the practice of such-like arts was unholy as well as +vulgar. + +We spoke of the bending twig by which, it is said, precious metals may be +discovered. In relation to this, the prophetess told me a story rather +against herself, and inconsistent with the notion of her being perfect in +her science; but I think that she mentioned the facts as having happened +before the time at which she attained to the great spiritual authority +which she now arrogated. She told me that vast treasures were known to +exist in a situation which she mentioned, if I rightly remember, as being +near Suez; that Napoleon, profanely brave, thrust his arm into the cave +containing the coveted gold, and that instantly his flesh became palsied, +but the youthful hero (for she said he was great in his generation) was +not to be thus daunted; he fell back characteristically upon his brazen +resources, and ordered up his artillery; but man could not strive with +demons, and Napoleon was foiled. In after years came Ibrahim Pasha, with +heavy guns, and wicked spells to boot, but the infernal guardians of the +treasure were too strong for him. It was after this that Lady Hester +passed by the spot, and she described with animated gesture the force and +energy with which the divining twig had suddenly leaped in her hands. +She ordered excavations, and no demons opposed her enterprise; the vast +chest in which the treasure had been deposited was at length discovered, +but lo and behold, it was full of pebbles! She said, however, that the +times were approaching in which the hidden treasures of the earth would +become available to those who had true knowledge. + +Speaking of Ibrahim Pasha, Lady Hester said that he was a bold, bad man, +and was possessed of some of those common and wicked magical arts upon +which she looked down with so much contempt. She said, for instance, +that Ibrahim’s life was charmed against balls and steel, and that after a +battle he loosened the folds of his shawl and shook out the bullets like +dust. + +It seems that the St. Simonians once made overtures to Lady Hester. She +told me that the Père Enfantin (the chief of the sect) had sent her a +service of plate, but that she had declined to receive it. She delivered +a prediction as to the probability of the St. Simonians finding the +“mystic mother,” and this she did in a way which would amuse you. +Unfortunately I am not at liberty to mention this part of the woman’s +prophecies; why, I cannot tell, but so it is, that she bound me to +eternal secrecy. + +Lady Hester told me that since her residence at Djoun she had been +attacked by a terrible illness, which rendered her for a long time +perfectly helpless; all her attendants fled, and left her to perish. +Whilst she lay thus alone, and quite unable to rise, robbers came and +carried away her property. {19} She told me that they actually unroofed +a great part of the building, and employed engines with pulleys, for the +purpose of hoisting out such of her valuables as were too bulky to pass +through doors. It would seem that before this catastrophe Lady Hester +had been rich in the possession of Eastern luxuries; for she told me, +that when the chiefs of the Ottoman force took refuge with her after the +fall of Acre, they brought their wives also in great numbers. To all of +these Lady Hester, as she said, presented magnificent dresses; but her +generosity occasioned strife only instead of gratitude, for every woman +who fancied her present less splendid than that of another with equal or +less pretension, became absolutely furious: all these audacious guests +had now been got rid of, but the Albanian soldiers, who had taken refuge +with Lady Hester at the same time, still remained under her protection. + +In truth, this half-ruined convent, guarded by the proud heart of an +English gentlewoman, was the only spot throughout all Syria and Palestine +in which the will of Mehemet Ali and his fierce lieutenant was not the +law. More than once had the Pasha of Egypt commanded that Ibrahim should +have the Albanians delivered up to him, but this white woman of the +mountain (grown classical not by books, but by very pride) answered only +with a disdainful invitation to “come and take them.” Whether it was +that Ibrahim was acted upon by any superstitious dread of interfering +with the prophetess (a notion not at all incompatible with his character +as an able Oriental commander), or that he feared the ridicule of putting +himself in collision with a gentlewoman, he certainly never ventured to +attack the sanctuary, and so long as the Chatham’s granddaughter breathed +a breath of life there was always this one hillock, and that too in the +midst of a most populous district, which stood out, and kept its freedom. +Mehemet Ali used to say, I am told, that the Englishwoman had given him +more trouble than all the insurgent people of Syria and Palestine. + +The prophetess announced to me that we were upon the eve of a stupendous +convulsion, which would destroy the then recognised value of all property +upon earth; and declaring that those only who should be in the East at +the time of the great change could hope for greatness in the new life +that was now close at hand, she advised me, whilst there was yet time, to +dispose of my property in poor frail England, and gain a station in Asia. +She told me that, after leaving her, I should go into Egypt, but that in +a little while I should return into Syria. I secretly smiled at this +last prophecy as a “bad shot,” for I had fully determined after visiting +the Pyramids to take ship from Alexandria for Greece. But men struggle +vainly in the meshes of their destiny. The unbelieved Cassandra was +right after all; the plague came, and the necessity of avoiding the +quarantine, to which I should have been subjected if I had sailed from +Alexandria, forced me to alter my route. I went down into Egypt, and +stayed there for a time, and then crossed the desert once more, and came +back to the mountains of the Lebanon, exactly as the prophetess had +foretold. + +Lady Hester talked to me long and earnestly on the subject of religion, +announcing that the Messiah was yet to come. She strived to impress me +with the vanity and the falseness of all European creeds, as well as with +a sense of her own spiritual greatness: throughout her conversation upon +these high topics she carefully insinuated, without actually asserting, +her heavenly rank. + +Amongst other much more marvellous powers, the lady claimed to have one +which most women, I fancy, possess namely, that of reading men’s +characters in their faces. She examined the line of my features very +attentively, and told me the result, which, however, I mean to keep +hidden. + +One favoured subject of discourse was that of “race,” upon which she was +very diffuse, and yet rather mysterious. She set great value upon the +ancient French {20} (not Norman blood, for that she vilified), but did +not at all appreciate that which we call in this country “an old family.” +She had a vast idea of the Cornish miners on account of their race, and +said, if she chose, she could give me the means of rousing them to the +most tremendous enthusiasm. + +Such are the topics on which the lady mainly conversed, but very often +she would descend to more worldly chat, and then she was no longer the +prophetess, but the sort of woman that you sometimes see, I am told, in +London drawing-rooms—cool, decisive in manner, unsparing of enemies, full +of audacious fun, and saying the downright things that the sheepish +society around her is afraid to utter. I am told that Lady Hester was in +her youth a capital mimic, and she showed me that not all the queenly +dulness to which she had condemned herself, not all her fasting and +solitude, had destroyed this terrible power. The first whom she +crucified in my presence was poor Lord Byron. She had seen him, it +appeared, I know not where, soon after his arrival in the East, and was +vastly amused at his little affectations. He had picked up a few +sentences of the Romantic, with which he affected to give orders to his +Greek servant. I can’t tell whether Lady Hester’s mimicry of the bard +was at all close, but it was amusing; she attributed to him a curiously +coxcombical lisp. + +Another person whose style of speaking the lady took off very amusingly +was one who would scarcely object to suffer by the side of Lord Byron—I +mean Lamartine, who had visited her in the course of his travels. The +peculiarity which attracted her ridicule was an over-refinement of +manner: according to my lady’s imitation of Lamartine (I have never seen +him myself), he had none of the violent grimace of his countrymen, and +not even their usual way of talking, but rather bore himself mincingly, +like the humbler sort of English dandy. {21} + +Lady Hester seems to have heartily despised everything approaching to +exquisiteness. She told me, by-the-bye (and her opinion upon that +subject is worth having), that a downright manner, amounting even to +brusqueness, is more effective than any other with the Oriental; and that +amongst the English of all ranks and all classes there is no man so +attractive to the Orientals, no man who can negotiate with them half so +effectively, as a good, honest, open-hearted, and positive naval officer +of the old school. + +I have told you, I think, that Lady Hester could deal fiercely with those +she hated. One man above all others (he is now uprooted from society, +and cast away for ever) she blasted with her wrath. You would have +thought that in the scornfulness of her nature she must have sprung upon +her foe with more of fierceness than of skill; but this was not so, for +with all the force and vehemence of her invective she displayed a sober, +patient, and minute attention to the details of vituperation, which +contributed to its success a thousand times more than mere violence. + +During the hours that this sort of conversation, or rather discourse, was +going on our _tchibouques_ were from time to time replenished, and the +lady as well as I continued to smoke with little or no intermission till +the interview ended. I think that the fragrant fumes of the latakiah +must have helped to keep me on my good behaviour as a patient disciple of +the prophetess. + +It was not till after midnight that my visit for the evening came to an +end. When I quitted my seat the lady rose and stood up in the same +formal attitude (almost that of a soldier in a state of “attention”) +which she had assumed at my entrance; at the same time she let go the +drapery which she had held over her lap whilst sitting and allowed it to +fall to the ground. + +The next morning after breakfast I was visited by my lady’s secretary—the +only European, except the doctor, whom she retained in her household. +This secretary, like the doctor, was Italian, but he preserved more signs +of European dress and European pretensions than his medical fellow-slave. +He spoke little or no English, though he wrote it pretty well, having +been formerly employed in a mercantile house connected with England. The +poor fellow was in an unhappy state of mind. In order to make you +understand the extent of his spiritual anxieties, I ought to have told +you that the doctor {22} (who had sunk into the complete Asiatic, and had +condescended accordingly to the performance of even menial services) had +adopted the common faith of all the neighbouring people, and had become a +firm and happy believer in the divine power of his mistress. Not so the +secretary. When I had strolled with him to a distance from the building, +which rendered him safe from being overheard by human ears, he told me in +a hollow voice, trembling with emotion, that there were times at which he +doubted the divinity of “milèdi.” I said nothing to encourage the poor +fellow in that frightful state of scepticism which, if indulged, might +end in positive infidelity. I found that her ladyship had rather +arbitrarily abridged the amusements of her secretary, forbidding him from +shooting small birds on the mountain-side. This oppression had arouses +in him a spirit of inquiry that might end fatally, perhaps for himself, +perhaps for the “religion of the place.” + +The secretary told me that his mistress was greatly disliked by the +surrounding people, whom she oppressed by her exactions, and the truth of +this statement was borne out by the way in which my lady spoke to me of +her neighbours. But in Eastern countries hate and veneration are very +commonly felt for the same object, and the general belief in the +superhuman power of this wonderful white lady, her resolute and imperious +character, and above all, perhaps, her fierce Albanians (not backward to +obey an order for the sacking of a village), inspired sincere respect +amongst the surrounding inhabitants. Now the being “respected” amongst +Orientals is not an empty or merely honorary distinction, but carries +with it a clear right to take your neighbour’s corn, his cattle, his +eggs, and his honey, and almost anything that is his, except his wives. +This law was acted upon by the princess of Djoun, and her establishment +was supplied by contributions apportioned amongst the nearest of the +villages. + +I understood that the Albanians (restrained, I suppose, by the dread of +being delivered up to Ibrahim) had not given any very troublesome proofs +of their unruly natures. The secretary told me that their rations, +including a small allowance of coffee and tobacco, were served out to +them with tolerable regularity. + +I asked the secretary how Lady Hester was off for horses, and said that I +would take a look at the stable. The man did not raise any opposition to +my proposal, and affected no mystery about the matter, but said that the +only two steeds which then belonged to her ladyship were of a very humble +sort. This answer, and a storm of rain then beginning to descend, +prevented me at the time from undertaking my journey to the stable, which +was at some distance from the part of the building in which I was +quartered, and I don’t know that I ever thought of the matter afterwards +until my return to England, when I saw Lamartine’s eye-witnessing account +of the horse saddled by the hands of his Maker! + +When I returned to my apartment (which, as my hostess told me, was the +only one in the whole building that kept out the rain) her ladyship sent +to say that she would be glad to receive me again. I was rather +surprised at this, for I had understood that she reposed during the day, +and it was now little later than noon. “Really,” said she, when I had +taken my seat and my pipe, “we were together for hours last night, and +still I have heard nothing at all of my old friends; now _do_ tell me +something of your dear mother and her sister; I never knew your father—it +was after I left Burton Pynsent that your mother married.” I began to +make slow answer, but my questioner soon went off again to topics more +sublime, so that this second interview, which lasted two or three hours, +was occupied by the same sort of varied discourse as that which I have +been describing. + +In the course of the afternoon the captain of an English man-of-war +arrived at Djoun, and her ladyship determined to receive him for the same +reason as that which had induced her to allow my visit, namely, an early +intimacy with his family. I and the new visitor, who was a pleasant, +amusing person, dined together, and we were afterwards invited to the +presence of my lady, with whom we sat smoking and talking till midnight. +The conversation turned chiefly, I think, upon magical science. I had +determined to be off at an early hour the next morning, and so at the end +of this interview I bade my lady farewell. With her parting words she +once more advised me to abandon Europe and seek my reward in the East, +and she urged me too to give the like counsels to my father, and tell him +that “_She had said it_.” + +Lady Hester’s unholy claim to supremacy in the spiritual kingdom was, no +doubt, the suggestion of fierce and inordinate pride most perilously akin +to madness, but I am quite sure that the mind of the woman was too strong +to be thoroughly overcome by even this potent feeling. I plainly saw +that she was not an unhesitating follower of her own system, and I even +fancied that I could distinguish the brief moments during which she +contrived to believe in herself, from those long and less happy intervals +in which her own reason was too strong for her. + +As for the lady’s faith in astrology and magic science, you are not for a +moment to suppose that this implied any aberration of intellect. She +believed these things in common with those around her, for she seldom +spoke to anybody except crazy old dervishes, who received her alms, and +fostered her extravagancies, and even when (as on the occasion of my +visit) she was brought into contact with a person entertaining different +notions, she still remained uncontradicted. This _entourage_ and the +habit of fasting from books and newspapers were quite enough to make her +a facile recipient of any marvellous story. + +I think that in England we are scarcely sufficiently conscious of the +great debt we owe to the wise and watchful press which presides over the +formation of our opinions, and which brings about this splendid result, +namely, that in matters of belief the humblest of us are lifted up to the +level of the most sagacious, so that really a simple cornet in the Blues +is no more likely to entertain a foolish belief about ghosts or +witchcraft, or any other supernatural topic, than the Lord High +Chancellor or the Leader of the House of Commons. How different is the +intellectual regime of Eastern countries! In Syria and Palestine and +Egypt you might as well dispute the efficacy of grass or grain as of +magic. There is no controversy about the matter. The effect of this, +the unanimous belief of an ignorant people upon the mind of a stranger, +is extremely curious, and well worth noticing. A man coming freshly from +Europe is at first proof against the nonsense with which he is assailed, +but often it happens that after a little while the social atmosphere in +which he lives will begin to infect him, and if he has been unaccustomed +to the cunning of fence by which Reason prepares the means of guarding +herself against fallacy, he will yield himself at last to the faith of +those around him, and this he will do by sympathy, it would seem, rather +than from conviction. I have been much interested in observing that the +mere “practical man,” however skilful and shrewd in his own way, has not +the kind of power that will enable him to resist the gradual impression +made upon his mind by the common opinion of those whom he sees and hears +from day to day. Even amongst the English (whose good sense and sound +religious knowledge would be likely to guard them from error) I have +known the calculating merchant, the inquisitive traveller, and the +post-captain, with his bright, wakeful eye of command—I have known all +these surrender themselves to the _really_ magic-like influence of other +people’s minds. Their language at first is that they are “staggered,” +leading you by that expression to suppose that they had been witnesses to +some phenomenon, which it was very difficult to account for otherwise +than by supernatural causes; but when I have questioned further, I have +always found that these “staggering” wonders were not even specious +enough to be looked upon as good “tricks.” A man in England who gained +his whole livelihood as a conjurer would soon be starved to death if he +could perform no better miracles than those which are wrought with so +much effect in Syria and Egypt; _sometimes_, no doubt, a magician will +make a good hit (Sir John once said a “good thing”), but all such +successes range, of course, under the head of mere “tentative miracles,” +as distinguished by the strong-brained Paley. + + + + +CHAPTER IX—THE SANCTUARY + + +I crossed the plain of Esdraelon and entered amongst the hills of +beautiful Galilee. It was at sunset that my path brought me sharply +round into the gorge of a little valley, and close upon a grey mass of +dwellings that lay happily nestled in the lap of the mountain. There was +one only shining point still touched with the light of the sun, who had +set for all besides; a brave sign this to “holy” Shereef and the rest of +my Moslem men, for the one glittering summit was the head of a minaret, +and the rest of the seeming village that had veiled itself so meekly +under the shades of evening was Christian Nazareth! + +Within the precincts of the Latin convent in which I was quartered there +stands the great Catholic church which encloses the sanctuary, the +dwelling of the blessed Virgin. {23} This is a grotto of about ten feet +either way, forming a little chapel or recess, to which you descend by +steps. It is decorated with splendour. On the left hand a column of +granite hangs from the top of the grotto to within a few feet of the +ground; immediately beneath it is another column of the same size, which +rises from the ground as if to meet the one above; but between this and +the suspended pillar there is an interval of more than a foot; these +fragments once formed a single column, against which the angel leant when +he spoke and told to Mary the mystery of her awful blessedness. Hard by, +near the altar, the holy Virgin was kneeling. + +I had been journeying (cheerily indeed, for the voices of my followers +were ever within my hearing, but yet), as it were, in solitude, for I had +no comrade to whet the edge of my reason, or wake me from my noonday +dreams. I was left all alone to be taught and swayed by the beautiful +circumstances of Palestine travelling—by the clime, and the land, and the +name of the land, with all its mighty import; by the glittering freshness +of the sward, and the abounding masses of flowers that furnished my +sumptuous pathway; by the bracing and fragrant air that seemed to poise +me in my saddle, and to lift me along as a planet appointed to glide +through space. + +And the end of my journey was Nazareth, the home of the blessed Virgin! +In the first dawn of my manhood the old painters of Italy had taught me +their dangerous worship of the beauty that is more than mortal, but those +images all seemed shadowy now, and floated before me so dimly, the one +overcasting the other, that they left me no one sweet idol on which I +could look and look again and say, “Maria mia!” Yet they left me more +than an idol; they left me (for to them I am wont to trace it) a faint +apprehension of beauty not compassed with lines and shadows; they touched +me (forgive, proud Marie of Anjou!)—they touched me with a faith in +loveliness transcending mortal shapes. + +I came to Nazareth, and was led from the convent to the sanctuary. Long +fasting will sometimes heat my brain and draw me away out of the +world—will disturb my judgment, confuse my notions of right and wrong, +and weaken my power of choosing the right: I had fasted perhaps too long, +for I was fevered with the zeal of an insane devotion to the heavenly +queen of Christendom. But I knew the feebleness of this gentle malady, +and knew how easily my watchful reason, if ever so slightly provoked, +would drag me back to life. Let there but come one chilling breath of +the outer world, and all this loving piety would cower and fly before the +sound of my own bitter laugh. And so as I went I trod tenderly, not +looking to the right nor to the left, but bending my eyes to the ground. + +The attending friar served me well; he led me down quietly and all but +silently to the Virgin’s home. The mystic air was so burnt with the +consuming flames of the altar, and so laden with incense, that my chest +laboured strongly, and heaved with luscious pain. There—there with +beating heart the Virgin knelt and listened. I strived to grasp and hold +with my riveted eyes some one of the feigned Madonnas, but of all the +heaven-lit faces imagined by men there was none that would abide with me +in this the very sanctuary. Impatient of vacancy, I grew madly strong +against Nature, and if by some awful spell, some impious rite, I could—Oh +most sweet Religion, that bid me fear God, and be pious, and yet not +cease from loving! Religion and gracious custom commanded me that I fall +down loyally and kiss the rock that blessed Mary pressed. With a half +consciousness, with the semblance of a thrilling hope that I was plunging +deep, deep into my first knowledge of some most holy mystery, or of some +new rapturous and daring sin, I knelt, and bowed down my face till I met +the smooth rock with my lips. One moment—one moment my heart, or some +old pagan demon within me, woke up, and fiercely bounded; my bosom was +lifted, and swung, as though I had touched her warm robe. One moment, +one more, and then the fever had left me. I rose from my knees. I felt +hopelessly sane. The mere world reappeared. My good old monk was there, +dangling his key with listless patience, and as he guided me from the +church, and talked of the refectory and the coming repast, I listened to +his words with some attention and pleasure. + + + + +CHAPTER X—THE MONKS OF PALESTINE + + +Whenever you come back to me from Palestine we will find some “golden +wine” {24} of Lebanon, that we may celebrate with apt libations the monks +of the Holy Land, and though the poor fellows be theoretically “dead to +the world,” we will drink to every man of them a good long life, and a +merry one! Graceless is the traveller who forgets his obligations to +these saints upon earth; little love has he for merry Christendom if he +has not rejoiced with great joy to find in the very midst of +water-drinking infidels those lowly monasteries, in which the blessed +juice of the grape is quaffed in peace. Ay! ay! we will fill our glasses +till they look like cups of amber, and drink profoundly to our gracious +hosts in Palestine. + +Christianity permits, and sanctions, the drinking of wine, and of all the +holy brethren in Palestine there are none who hold fast to this gladsome +rite so strenuously as the monks of Damascus; not that they are more +zealous Christians than the rest of their fellows in the Holy Land, but +that they have better wine. Whilst I was at Damascus I had my quarters +at the Franciscan convent there, and very soon after my arrival I asked +one of the monks to let me know something of the spots that deserved to +be seen. I made my inquiry in reference to the associations with which +the city had been hallowed by the sojourn and adventures of St. Paul. +“There is nothing in all Damascus,” said the good man, “half so well +worth seeing as our cellars”; and forthwith he invited me to go, see, and +admire the long range of liquid treasure that he and his brethren had +laid up for themselves on earth. And these I soon found were not as the +treasures of the miser, that lie in unprofitable disuse, for day by day, +and hour by hour, the golden juice ascended from the dark recesses of the +cellar to the uppermost brains of the friars. Dear old fellows! in the +midst of that solemn land their Christian laughter rang loudly and +merrily, their eyes kept flashing with joyous bonfires, and their heavy +woollen petticoats could no more weigh down the springiness of their +paces, than the filmy gauze of a _danseuse_ can clog her bounding step. + +You would be likely enough to fancy that these monastics are men who have +retired to the sacred sites of Palestine from an enthusiastic longing to +devote themselves to the exercise of religion in the midst of the very +land on which its first seeds were cast; and this is partially, at least, +the case with the monks of the Greek Church, but it is not with +enthusiasts that the Catholic establishments are filled. The monks of +the Latin convents are chiefly persons of the peasant class from Italy +and Spain, who have been handed over to these remote asylums by order of +their ecclesiastical superiors, and can no more account for their being +in the Holy Land, than men of marching regiments can explain why they are +in “stupid quarters.” I believe that these monks are for the most part +well conducted men, punctual in their ceremonial duties, and altogether +humble-minded Christians. Their humility is not at all misplaced, for +you see at a glance (poor fellows!) that they belong to the _lag remove_ +of the human race. If the taking of the cowl does not imply a complete +renouncement of the world, it is at least (in these days) a thorough +farewell to every kind of useful and entertaining knowledge, and +accordingly the low bestial brow and the animal caste of those almost +Bourbon features show plainly enough that all the intellectual vanities +of life have been really and truly abandoned. But it is hard to quench +altogether the spirit of inquiry that stirs in the human breast, and +accordingly these monks inquire—they are _always_ inquiring inquiring for +“news”! Poor fellows! they could scarcely have yielded themselves to the +sway of any passion more difficult of gratification, for they have no +means of communicating with the busy world except through European +travellers; and these, in consequence I suppose of that restlessness and +irritability that generally haunt their wanderings, seem to have always +avoided the bore of giving any information to their hosts. As for me, I +am more patient and good-natured, and when I found that the kind monks +who gathered round me at Nazareth were longing to know the real truth +about the General Bonaparte who had recoiled from the siege of Acre, I +softened my heart down to the good humour of Herodotus, and calmly began +to “sing history,” telling my eager hearers of the French Empire and the +greatness of its glory, and of Waterloo and the fall of Napoleon! Now my +story of this marvellous ignorance on the part of the poor monks is one +upon which (though depending on my own testimony) I look “with +considerable suspicion.” It is quite true (how silly it would be to +_invent_ anything so witless!), and yet I think I could satisfy the mind +of a “reasonable man” that it is false. Many of the older monks must +have been in Europe at the time when the Italy and the Spain from which +they came were in act of taking their French lessons, or had parted so +lately with their teachers, that not to know of “the Emperor” was +impossible, and these men could scarcely, therefore, have failed to bring +with them some tidings of Napoleon’s career. Yet I say that that which I +have written is true—the one who believes because I have said it will be +right (she always is), whilst poor Mr. “reasonable man,” who is convinced +by the weight of my argument, will be completely deceived. + +In Spanish politics, however, the monks are better instructed. The +revenues of the monasteries, which had been principally supplied by the +bounty of their most Catholic majesties, have been withheld since +Ferdinand’s death, and the interests of these establishments being thus +closely involved in the destinies of Spain, it is not wonderful that the +brethren should be a little more knowing in Spanish affairs than in other +branches of history. Besides, a large proportion of the monks were +natives of the Peninsula. To these, I remember, Mysseri’s familiarity +with the Spanish language and character was a source of immense delight; +they were always gathering around him, and it seemed to me that they +treasured like gold the few Castilian words which he deigned to spare +them. + +The monks do a world of good in their way; and there can be no doubting +that previously to the arrival of Bishop Alexander, with his numerous +young family and his pretty English nursemaids, they were the chief +propagandists of Christianity in Palestine. My old friends of the +Franciscan convent at Jerusalem some time since gave proof of their +goodness by delivering themselves up to the peril of death for the sake +of duty. When I was their guest they were forty I believe in number, and +I don’t recollect that there was one of them whom I should have looked +upon as a desirable life-holder of any property to which I might be +entitled in expectancy. Yet these forty were reduced in a few days to +nineteen. The plague was the messenger that summoned them to a taste of +real death; but the circumstances under which they perished are rather +curious; and though I have no authority for the story except an Italian +newspaper, I harbour no doubt of its truth, for the facts were detailed +with minuteness, and strictly corresponded with all that I knew of the +poor fellows to whom they related. + +It was about three months after the time of my leaving Jerusalem that the +plague set his spotted foot on the Holy City. The monks felt great +alarm; they did not shrink from their duty, but for its performance they +chose a plan most sadly well fitted for bringing down upon them the very +death which they were striving to ward off. They imagined themselves +almost safe so long as they remained within their walls; but then it was +quite needful that the Catholic Christians of the place, who had always +looked to the convent for the supply of their spiritual wants, should +receive the aids of religion in the hour of death. A single monk +therefore was chosen, either by lot or by some other fair appeal to +destiny. Being thus singled out, he was to go forth into the +plague-stricken city, and to perform with exactness his priestly duties; +then he was to return, not to the interior of the convent, for fear of +infecting his brethren, but to a detached building (which I remember) +belonging to the establishment, but at some little distance from the +inhabited rooms. He was provided with a bell, and at a certain hour in +the morning he was ordered to ring it, _if he could_; but if no sound was +heard at the appointed time, then knew his brethren that he was either +delirious or dead, and another martyr was sent forth to take his place. +In this way twenty-one of the monks were carried off. One cannot well +fail to admire the steadiness with which the dismal scheme was carried +through; but if there be any truth in the notion that disease may be +invited by a frightening imagination, it is difficult to conceive a more +dangerous plan than that which was chosen by these poor fellows. The +anxiety with which they must have expected each day the sound of the +bell, the silence that reigned instead of it, and then the drawing of the +lots (the odds against death being one point lower than yesterday), and +the going forth of the newly doomed man—all this must have widened the +gulf that opens to the shades below. When his victim had already +suffered so much of mental torture, it was but easy work for big bullying +pestilence to follow a forlorn monk from the beds of the dying, and +wrench away his life from him as he lay all alone in an outhouse. + +In most, I believe in all, of the Holy Land convents there are two +personages so strangely raised above their brethren in all that dignifies +humanity, that their bearing the same habit, their dwelling under the +same roof, their worshipping the same God (consistent as all this is with +the spirit of their religion), yet strikes the mind with a sense of +wondrous incongruity; the men I speak of are the “Padre Superiore,” and +the “Padre Missionario.” The former is the supreme and absolute governor +of the establishment over which he is appointed to rule, the latter is +entrusted with the more active of the spiritual duties attaching to the +Pilgrim Church. He is the shepherd of the good Catholic flock, whose +pasture is prepared in the midst of Mussulmans and schismatics; he keeps +the light of the true faith ever vividly before their eyes, reproves +their vices, supports them in their good resolves, consoles them in their +afflictions, and teaches them to hate the Greek Church. Such are his +labours, and you may conceive that great tact must be needed for +conducting with success the spiritual interests of the church under +circumstances so odd as those which surround it in Palestine. + +But the position of the Padre Superiore is still more delicate; he is +almost unceasingly in treaty with the powers that be, and the worldly +prosperity of the establishment over which he presides is in great +measure dependent upon the extent of diplomatic skill which he can employ +in its favour. I know not from what class of churchmen these personages +are chosen, for there is a mystery attending their origin and the +circumstance of their being stationed in these convents, which Rome does +not suffer to be penetrated. I have heard it said that they are men of +great note, and, perhaps, of too high ambition in the Catholic Hierarchy, +who having fallen under the grave censure of the Church, are banished for +fixed periods to these distant monasteries. I believe that the term +during which they are condemned to remain in the Holy Land is from eight +to twelve years. By the natives of the country, as well as by the rest +of the brethren, they are looked upon as superior beings; and rightly +too, for Nature seems to have crowned them in her own true way. + +The chief of the Jerusalem convent was a noble creature; his worldly and +spiritual authority seemed to have surrounded him, as it were, with a +kind of “court,” and the manly gracefulness of his bearing did honour to +the throne which he filled. There were no lords of the bedchamber, and +no gold sticks and stones in waiting, yet everybody who approached him +looked as though he were being “presented”; every interview which he +granted wore the air of an “audience”; the brethren as often as they came +near bowed low and kissed his hand; and if he went out, the Catholics of +the place that hovered about the convent would crowd around him with +devout affection, and almost scramble for the blessing which his touch +could give. He bore his honours all serenely, as though calmly conscious +of his power to “bind and to loose.” + + + + +CHAPTER XI—GALILEE + + +Neither old “sacred” {25} himself, nor any of his helpers, knew the road +which I meant to take from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee and from thence +to Jerusalem, so I was forced to add another to my party by hiring a +guide. The associations of Nazareth, as well as my kind feeling towards +the hospitable monks, whose guest I had been, inclined me to set at +naught the advice which I had received against employing Christians. I +accordingly engaged a lithe, active young Nazarene, who was recommended +to me by the monks, and who affected to be familiar with the line of +country through which I intended to pass. My disregard of the popular +prejudices against Christians was not justified in this particular +instance by the result of my choice. This you will see by-and-by. + +I passed by Cana and the house in which the water had been turned into +wine; I came to the field in which our Saviour had rebuked the Scotch +Sabbath-keepers of that period, by suffering His disciples to pluck corn +on the Lord’s day; I rode over the ground on which the fainting multitude +had been fed, and they showed me some massive fragments—the relics, they +said, of that wondrous banquet, now turned into stone. The petrifaction +was most complete. + +I ascended the height on which our Lord was standing when He wrought the +miracle. The hill was lofty enough to show me the fairness of the land +on all sides, but I have an ancient love for the mere features of a lake, +and so forgetting all else when I reached the summit, I looked away +eagerly to the eastward. There she lay, the Sea of Galilee. Less stern +than Wast Water, less fair than gentle Windermere, she had still the +winning ways of an English lake; she caught from the smiling heavens +unceasing light and changeful phases of beauty, and with all this +brightness on her face, she yet clung so fondly to the dull he-looking +mountain at her side, as though she would + + “Soothe him with her finer fancies, + Touch him with her lighter thought.” {26} + +If one might judge of men’s real thoughts by their writings, it would +seem that there are people who can visit an interesting locality and +follow up continuously the exact train of thought that ought to be +suggested by the historical associations of the place. A person of this +sort can go to Athens and think of nothing later than the age of +Pericles; can live with the Scipios as long as he stays in Rome; can go +up in a balloon, and think how resplendently in former times the now +vacant and desolate air was peopled with angels, how prettily it was +crossed at intervals by the rounds of Jacob’s ladder! I don’t possess +this power at all; it is only by snatches, and for few moments together, +that I can really associate a place with its proper history. + +“There at Tiberias, and along this western shore towards the north, and +upon the bosom too of the lake, our Saviour and His disciples—” away flew +those recollections, and my mind strained eastward, because that that +farthest shore was the end of the world that belongs to man the dweller, +the beginning of the other and veiled world that is held by the strange +race, whose life (like the pastime of Satan) is a “going to and fro upon +the face of the earth.” From those grey hills right away to the gates of +Bagdad stretched forth the mysterious “desert”—not a pale, void, sandy +tract, but a land abounding in rich pastures, a land without cities or +towns, without any “respectable” people or any “respectable” things, yet +yielding its eighty thousand cavalry to the beck of a few old men. But +once more—“Tiberias—the plain of Gennesareth—the very earth on which I +stood—that the deep low tones of the Saviour’s voice should have gone +forth into eternity from out of the midst of these hills and these +valleys!”—Ay, ay, but yet again the calm face of the lake was uplifted, +and smiled upon my eyes with such familiar gaze, that the “deep low +tones” were hushed, the listening multitudes all passed away, and instead +there came to me a dear old memory from over the seas in England, a +memory sweeter than Gospel to that poor wilful mortal, me. + +I went to Tiberias, and soon got afloat upon the water. In the evening I +took up my quarters in the Catholic church, and the building being large +enough, the whole of my party were admitted to the benefit of the same +shelter. With portmanteaus and carpet bags, and books and maps, and +fragrant tea, Mysseri soon made me a home on the southern side of the +church. One of old Shereef’s helpers was an enthusiastic Catholic, and +was greatly delighted at having so sacred a lodging. He lit up the altar +with a number of tapers, and when his preparations were complete, he +began to perform his orisons in the strangest manner imaginable. His +lips muttered the prayers of the Latin Church, but he bowed himself down +and laid his forehead to the stones beneath him after the manner of a +Mussulman. The universal aptness of a religious system for all stages of +civilisation, and for all sorts and conditions of men, well befits its +claim of divine origin. She is of all nations, and of all times, that +wonderful Church of Rome! + +Tiberias is one of the four holy cities, {27} according to the Talmud, +and it is from this place, or the immediate neighbourhood of it, that the +Messiah is to arise. + +Except at Jerusalem, never think of attempting to sleep in a “holy city.” +Old Jews from all parts of the world go to lay their bones upon the +sacred soil, and as these people never return to their homes, it follows +that any domestic vermin which they may bring with them are likely to +become permanently resident, so that the population is continually +increasing. No recent census had been taken when I was at Tiberias, but +I know that the congregation of fleas which attended at my church alone +must have been something enormous. It was a carnal, self-seeking +congregation, wholly inattentive to the service which was going on, and +devoted to the one object of having my blood. The fleas of all nations +were there. The smug, steady, importunate flea from Holywell Street; the +pert, jumping _puce_ from hungry France, the wary, watchful _pulce_ with +his poisoned stiletto; the vengeful _pulga_ of Castile with his ugly +knife; the German _floh_ with his knife and fork, insatiate, not rising +from table; whole swarms from all the Russias, and Asiatic hordes +unnumbered—all these were there, and all rejoiced in one great +international feast. I could no more defend myself against my enemies +than if I had been _pain à discretion_ in the hands of a French patriot, +or English gold in the claws of a Pennsylvanian Quaker. After passing a +night like this you are glad to pick up the wretched remains of your body +long, long before morning dawns. Your skin is scorched, your temples +throb, your lips feel withered and dried, your burning eyeballs are +screwed inwards against the brain. You have no hope but only in the +saddle and the freshness of the morning air. + + + + +CHAPTER XII—MY FIRST BIVOUAC + + +The course of the Jordan is from the north to the south, and in that +direction, with very little of devious winding, it carries the shining +waters of Galilee straight down into the solitudes of the Dead Sea. +Speaking roughly, the river in that meridian is a boundary between the +people living under roofs and the tented tribes that wander on the +farther side. And so, as I went down in my way from Tiberias towards +Jerusalem, along the western bank of the stream, my thinking all +propended to the ancient world of herdsmen and warriors that lay so close +over my bridle arm. + +If a man, and an Englishman, be not born of his mother with a natural +Chiffney-bit in his mouth, there comes to him a time for loathing the +wearisome ways of society; a time for not liking tamed people; a time for +not dancing quadrilles, not sitting in pews; a time for pretending that +Milton and Shelley, and all sorts of mere dead people, were greater in +death than the first living Lord of the Treasury; a time, in short, for +scoffing and railing, for speaking lightly of the very opera, and all our +most cherished institutions. It is from nineteen to two or three and +twenty perhaps that this war of the man against men is like to be waged +most sullenly. You are yet in this smiling England, but you find +yourself wending away to the dark sides of her mountains, climbing the +dizzy crags, exulting in the fellowship of mists and clouds, and watching +the storms how they gather, or proving the mettle of your mare upon the +broad and dreary downs, because that you feel congenially with the yet +unparcelled earth. A little while you are free and unlabelled, like the +ground that you compass; but civilisation is coming and coming; you and +your much-loved waste lands will be surely enclosed, and sooner or later +brought down to a state of mere usefulness; the ground will be curiously +sliced into acres and roods and perches, and you, for all you sit so +smartly in your saddle, you will be caught, you will be taken up from +travel as a colt from grass, to be trained and tried, and matched and +run. All this in time, but first came Continental tours and the moody +longing for Eastern travel. The downs and the moors of England can hold +you no longer; with large strides you burst away from these slips and +patches of free land; you thread your path through the crowds of Europe, +and at last, on the banks of Jordan, you joyfully know that you are upon +the very frontier of all accustomed respectabilities. There, on the +other side of the river (you can swim it with one arm), there reigns the +people that will be like to put you to death for _not_ being a vagrant, +for _not_ being a robber, for _not_ being armed and houseless. There is +comfort in that—health, comfort, and strength to one who is dying from +very weariness of that poor, dear, middle-aged, deserving, accomplished, +pedantic, and painstaking governess, Europe. + +I had ridden for some hours along the right bank of Jordan when I came to +the Djesr el Medjamé (an old Roman bridge, I believe), which crossed the +river. My Nazarene guide was riding ahead of the party, and now, to my +surprise and delight, he turned leftwards, and led on over the bridge. I +knew that the true road to Jerusalem must be mainly by the right bank of +Jordan, but I supposed that my guide was crossing the bridge at this spot +in order to avoid some bend in the river, and that he knew of a ford +lower down by which we should regain the western bank. I made no +question about the road, for I was but too glad to set my horse’s hoofs +upon the land of the wandering tribes. None of my party except the +Nazarene knew the country. On we went through rich pastures upon the +eastern side of the water. I looked for the expected bend of the river, +but far as I could see it kept a straight southerly course; I still left +my guide unquestioned. + +The Jordan is not a perfectly accurate boundary betwixt roofs and tents, +for soon after passing the bridge I came upon a cluster of huts. Some +time afterwards the guide, upon being closely questioned by my servants, +confessed that the village which we had left behind was the last that we +should see, but he declared that he knew a spot at which we should find +an encampment of friendly Bedouins, who would receive me with all +hospitality. I had long determined not to leave the East without seeing +something of the wandering tribes, but I had looked forward to this as a +pleasure to be found in the desert between El Arish and Egypt; I had no +idea that the Bedouins on the east of Jordan were accessible. My delight +was so great at the near prospect of bread and salt in the tent of an +Arab warrior, that I wilfully allowed my guide to go on and mislead me. +I saw that he was taking me out of the straight route towards Jerusalem, +and was drawing me into the midst of the Bedouins; but the idea of his +betraying me seemed (I know not why) so utterly absurd, that I could not +entertain it for a moment. I fancied it possible that the fellow had +taken me out of my route in order to attempt some little mercantile +enterprise with the tribe for which he was seeking, and I was glad of the +opportunity which I might thus gain of coming in contact with the +wanderers. + +Not long after passing the village a horseman met us. It appeared that +some of the cavalry of Ibrahim Pasha had crossed the river for the sake +of the rich pastures on the eastern bank, and that this man was one of +the troopers. He stopped and saluted; he was obviously surprised at +meeting an unarmed, or half-armed, cavalcade, and at last fairly told us +that we were on the wrong side of the river, and that if we proceeded we +must lay our account with falling amongst robbers. All this while, and +throughout the day, my Nazarene kept well ahead of the party, and was +constantly up in his stirrups, straining forward and searching the +distance for some objects which still remained unseen. + +For the rest of the day we saw no human being; we pushed on eagerly in +the hope of coming up with the Bedouins before nightfall. Night came, +and we still went on in our way till about ten o’clock. Then the +thorough darkness of the night, and the weariness of our beasts (which +had already done two good days’ journey in one), forced us to determine +upon coming to a standstill. Upon the heights to the eastward we saw +lights; these shone from caves on the mountain-side, inhabited, as the +Nazarene told us, by rascals of a low sort—not real Bedouins, men whom we +might frighten into harmlessness, but from whom there was no willing +hospitality to be expected. + +We heard at a little distance the brawling of a rivulet, and on the banks +of this it was determined to establish our bivouac. We soon found the +stream, and following its course for a few yards, came to a spot which +was thought to be fit for our purpose. It was a sharply cold night in +February, and when I dismounted I found myself standing upon some wet +rank herbage that promised ill for the comfort of our resting-place. I +had bad hopes of a fire, for the pitchy darkness of the night was a great +obstacle to any successful search for fuel, and besides, the boughs of +trees or bushes would be so full of sap in this early spring, that they +would not be easily persuaded to burn. However, we were not likely to +submit to a dark and cold bivouac without an effort, and my fellows +groped forward through the darkness, till after advancing a few paces +they were happily stopped by a complete barrier of dead prickly bushes. +Before our swords could be drawn to reap this welcome harvest it was +found to our surprise that the fuel was already hewn and strewed along +the ground in a thick mass. A spot for the fire was found with some +difficulty, for the earth was moist and the grass high and rank. At last +there was a clicking of flint and steel, and presently there stood out +from darkness one of the tawny faces of my muleteers, bent down to near +the ground, and suddenly lit up by the glowing of the spark which he +courted with careful breath. Before long there was a particle of dry +fibre or leaf that kindled to a tiny flame; then another was lit from +that, and then another. Then small crisp twigs, little bigger than +bodkins, were laid athwart the glowing fire. The swelling cheeks of the +muleteer, laid level with the earth, blew tenderly at first and then more +boldly upon the young flame, which was daintily nursed and fed, and fed +more plentifully when it gained good strength. At last a whole armful of +dry bushes was piled up over the fire, and presently, with a loud cheery +crackling and crackling, a royal tall blaze shot up from the earth and +showed me once more the shapes and faces of my men, and the dim outlines +of the horses and mules that stood grazing hard by. + +My servants busied themselves in unpacking the baggage as though we had +arrived at an hotel—Shereef and his helpers unsaddled their cattle. We +had left Tiberias without the slightest idea that we were to make our way +to Jerusalem along the desolate side of the Jordan, and my servants +(generally provident in those matters) had brought with them only, I +think, some unleavened bread and a rocky fragment of goat’s milk cheese. +These treasures were produced. Tea and the contrivances for making it +were always a standing part of my baggage. My men gathered in circle +round the fire. The Nazarene was in a false position from having misled +us so strangely, and he would have shrunk back, poor devil, into the cold +and outer darkness, but I made him draw near and share the luxuries of +the night. My quilt and my pelisse were spread, and the rest of my party +had all their capotes or pelisses, or robes of some sort, which furnished +their couches. The men gathered in circle, some kneeling, some sitting, +some lying reclined around our common hearth. Sometimes on one, +sometimes on another, the flickering light would glare more fiercely. +Sometimes it was the good Shereef that seemed the foremost, as he sat +with venerable beard the image of manly piety—unknowing of all geography, +unknowing where he was or whither he might go, but trusting in the +goodness of God and the clinching power of fate and the good star of the +Englishman. Sometimes, like marble, the classic face of the Greek +Mysseri would catch the sudden light, and then again by turns the +ever-perturbed Dthemetri, with his old Chinaman’s eye and bristling, +terrier-like moustache, shone forth illustrious. + +I always liked the men who attended me on these Eastern travels, for they +were all of them brave, cheery-hearted fellows; and although their +following my career brought upon them a pretty large share of those toils +and hardships which are so much more amusing to gentlemen than to +servants, yet not one of them ever uttered or hinted a syllable of +complaint, or even affected to put on an air of resignation. I always +liked them, but never perhaps so much as when they were thus grouped +together under the light of the bivouac fire. I felt towards them as my +comrades rather than as my servants, and took delight in breaking bread +with them, and merrily passing the cup. + +The love of tea is a glad source of fellow-feeling between the Englishman +and the Asiatic. In Persia it is drunk by all, and although it is a +luxury that is rarely within the reach of the Osmanlees, there are few of +them who do not know and love the blessed _tchäi_. Our camp-kettle, +filled from the brook, hummed doubtfully for a while, then busily bubbled +under the sidelong glare of the flames; cups clinked and rattled; the +fragrant steam ascended, and soon this little circlet in the wilderness +grew warm and genial as my lady’s drawing-room. + +And after this there came the _tchibouque_—great comforter of those that +are hungry and wayworn. And it has this virtue—it helps to destroy the +_gêne_ and awkwardness which one sometimes feels at being in company with +one’s dependents; for whilst the amber is at your lips, there is nothing +ungracious in your remaining silent, or speaking pithily in short +inter-whiff sentences. And for us that night there was pleasant and +plentiful matter of talk; for the where we should be on the morrow, and +the wherewithal we should be fed, whether by some ford we should regain +the western bank of Jordan, or find bread and salt under the tents of a +wandering tribe, or whether we should fall into the hands of the +Philistines, and so come to see death—the last and greatest of all “the +fine sights” that there be—these were questionings not dull nor wearisome +to us, for we were all concerned in the answers. And it was not an +all-imagined morrow that we probed with our sharp guesses, for the lights +of those low Philistines, the men of the caves, still hung over our +heads, and we knew by their yells that the fire of our bivouac had shown +us. + +At length we thought it well to seek for sleep. Our plans were laid for +keeping up a good watch through the night. My quilt and my pelisse and +my cloak were spread out so that I might lie spokewise, with my feet +towards the central fire. I wrapped my limbs daintily round, and gave +myself positive orders to sleep like a veteran soldier. But I found that +my attempt to sleep upon the earth that God gave me was more new and +strange than I had fancied it. I had grown used to the scene which was +before me whilst I was sitting or reclining by the side of the fire, but +now that I laid myself down at length it was the deep black mystery of +the heavens that hung over my eyes—not an earthly thing in the way from +my own very forehead right up to the end of all space. I grew proud of +my boundless bedchamber. I might have “found sermons” in all this +greatness (if I had I should surely have slept), but such was not then my +way. If this cherished self of mine had built the universe, I should +have dwelt with delight on “the wonders of creation.” As it was, I felt +rather the vainglory of my promotion from out of mere rooms and houses +into the midst of that grand, dark, infinite palace. + +And then, too, my head, far from the fire, was in cold latitudes, and it +seemed to me strange that I should be lying so still and passive, whilst +the sharp night breeze walked free over my cheek, and the cold damp clung +to my hair, as though my face grew in the earth and must bear with the +footsteps of the wind and the falling of the dew as meekly as the grass +of the field. Besides, I got puzzled and distracted by having to endure +heat and cold at the same time, for I was always considering whether my +feet were not over-devilled and whether my face was not too well iced. +And so when from time to time the watch quietly and gently kept up the +languishing fire, he seldom, I think, was unseen to my restless eyes. +Yet at last, when they called me and said that the morn would soon be +dawning, I rose from a state of half-oblivion not much unlike to sleep, +though sharply qualified by a sort of vegetable’s consciousness of having +been growing still colder and colder for many and many an hour. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII—THE DEAD SEA + + +The grey light of the morning showed us for the first time the ground +which we had chosen for our resting-place. We found that we had +bivouacked upon a little patch of barley plainly belonging to the men of +the caves. The dead bushes which we found so happily placed in readiness +for our fire had been strewn as a fence for the protection of the little +crop. This was the only cultivated spot of ground which we had seen for +many a league, and I was rather sorry to find that our night fire and our +cattle had spread so much ruin upon this poor solitary slip of corn-land. + +The saddling and loading of our beasts was a work which generally took +nearly an hour, and before this was half over daylight came. We could +now see the men of the caves. They collected in a body, amounting, I +should think, to nearly fifty, and rushed down towards our quarters with +fierce shouts and yells. But the nearer they got the slower they went; +their shouts grew less resolute in tone, and soon ceased altogether. The +fellows, however, advanced to a thicket within thirty yards of us, and +behind this “took up their position.” My men without premeditation did +exactly that which was best; they kept steadily to their work of loading +the beasts without fuss or hurry; and whether it was that they +instinctively felt the wisdom of keeping quiet, or that they merely +obeyed the natural inclination to silence which one feels in the early +morning, I cannot tell, but I know that, except when they exchanged a +syllable or two relative to the work they were about, not a word was +said. I now believe that this quietness of our party created an +undefined terror in the minds of the cave-holders and scared them from +coming on; it gave them a notion that we were relying on some resources +which they knew not of. Several times the fellows tried to lash +themselves into a state of excitement which might do instead of pluck. +They would raise a great shout and sway forward in a dense body from +behind the thicket; but when they saw that their bravery thus gathered to +a head did not even suspend the strapping of a portmanteau or the tying +of a hatbox, their shout lost its spirit, and the whole mass was +irresistibly drawn back like a wave receding from the shore. + +These attempts at an onset were repeated several times, but always with +the same result. I remained under the apprehension of an attack for more +than half-an-hour, and it seemed to me that the work of packing and +loading had never been done so slowly. I felt inclined to tell my +fellows to make their best speed, but just as I was going to speak I +observed that every one was doing his duty already; I therefore held my +peace and said not a word, till at last Mysseri led up my horse and asked +me if I were ready to mount. + +We all marched off without hindrance. + +After some time we came across a party of Ibrahim’s cavalry, which had +bivouacked at no great distance from us. The knowledge that such a force +was in the neighbourhood may have conduced to the forbearance of the +cave-holders. + +We saw a scraggy-looking fellow nearly black, and wearing nothing but a +cloth round the loins; he was tending flocks. Afterwards I came up with +another of these goatherds, whose helpmate was with him. They gave us +some goat’s milk, a welcome present. I pitied the poor devil of a +goatherd for having such a very plain wife. I spend an enormous quantity +of pity upon that particular form of human misery. + +About midday I began to examine my map and to question my guide, who at +last fell on his knees and confessed that he knew nothing of the country +in which we were. I was thus thrown upon my own resources, and +calculating that on the preceding day we had nearly performed a two days’ +journey, I concluded that the Dead Sea must be near. In this I was +right, for at about three or four o’clock in the afternoon I caught a +first sight of its dismal face. + +I went on and came near to those waters of death. They stretched deeply +into the southern desert, and before me, and all around, as far away as +the eye could follow, blank hills piled high over hills, pale, yellow, +and naked, walled up in her tomb for ever the dead and damned Gomorrah. +There was no fly that hummed in the forbidden air, but instead a deep +stillness; no grass grew from the earth, no weed peered through the void +sand; but in mockery of all life there were trees borne down by Jordan in +some ancient flood, and these, grotesquely planted upon the forlorn +shore, spread out their grim skeleton arms, all scorched and charred to +blackness by the heats of the long silent years. + +I now struck off towards the débouchure of the river; but I found that +the country, though seemingly quite flat, was intersected by deep +ravines, which did not show themselves until nearly approached. For some +time my progress was much obstructed; but at last I came across a track +which led towards the river, and which might, as I hoped, bring me to a +ford. I found, in fact, when I came to the river’s side that the track +reappeared upon the opposite bank, plainly showing that the stream had +been fordable at this place. Now, however, in consequence of the late +rains the river was quite impracticable for baggage-horses. A body of +waters about equal to the Thames at Eton, but confined to a narrower +channel, poured down in a current so swift and heavy, that the idea of +passing with laden baggage-horses was utterly forbidden. I could have +swum across myself, and I might, perhaps, have succeeded in swimming a +horse over; but this would have been useless, because in such case I must +have abandoned not only my baggage, but all my attendants, for none of +them were able to swim, and without that resource it would have been +madness for them to rely upon the swimming of their beasts across such a +powerful stream. I still hoped, however, that there might be a chance of +passing the river at the point of its actual junction with the Dead Sea, +and I therefore went on in that direction. + +Night came upon us whilst labouring across gullies and sandy mounds, and +we were obliged to come to a stand-still quite suddenly upon the very +edge of a precipitous descent. Every step towards the Dead Sea had +brought us into a country more and more dreary; and this sand-hill, which +we were forced to choose for our resting-place, was dismal enough. A few +slender blades of grass, which here and there singly pierced the sand, +mocked bitterly the hunger of our jaded beasts, and with our small +remaining fragment of goat’s-milk rock by way of supper, we were not much +better off than our horses. We wanted, too, the great requisite of a +cheery bivouac—fire. Moreover, the spot on which we had been so suddenly +brought to a standstill was relatively high and unsheltered, and the +night wind blew swiftly and cold. + +The next morning I reached the débouchure of the Jordan, where I had +hoped to find a bar of sand that might render its passage possible. The +river, however, rolled its eddying waters fast down to the “sea” in a +strong, deep stream that shut out all hope of crossing. + +It now seemed necessary either to construct a raft of some kind, or else +to retrace my steps and remount the banks of the Jordan. I had once +happened to give some attention to the subject of military bridges—a +branch of military science which includes the construction of rafts and +contrivances of the like sort—and I should have been very proud indeed if +I could have carried my party and my baggage across by dint of any idea +gathered from Sir Howard Douglas or Robinson Crusoe. But we were all +faint and languid from want of food, and besides, there were no +materials. Higher up the river there were bushes and river plants, but +nothing like timber; and the cord with which my baggage was tied to the +pack-saddles amounted altogether to a very small quantity, not nearly +enough to haul any sort of craft across the stream. + +And now it was, if I remember rightly, that Dthemetri submitted to me a +plan for putting to death the Nazarene, whose misguidance had been the +cause of our difficulties. There was something fascinating in this +suggestion, for the slaying of the guide was of course easy enough, and +would look like an act of what politicians call “vigour.” If it were +only to become known to my friends in England that I had calmly killed a +fellow-creature for taking me out of my way, I might remain perfectly +quiet and tranquil for all the rest of my days, quite free from the +danger of being considered “slow”; I might ever after live on upon my +reputation, like “single-speech Hamilton” in the last century, or “single +sin—” in this, without being obliged to take the trouble of doing any +more harm in the world. This was a great temptation to an indolent +person, but the motive was not strengthened by any sincere feeling of +anger with the Nazarene. Whilst the question of his life and death was +debated he was riding in front of our party, and there was something in +the anxious writhing of his supple limbs that seemed to express a sense +of his false position, and struck me as highly comic. I had no crotchet +at that time against the punishment of death, but I was unused to blood, +and the proposed victim looked so thoroughly capable of enjoying life (if +he could only get to the other side of the river), that I thought it +would be hard for him to die merely in order to give me a character for +energy. Acting on the result of these considerations, and reserving to +myself a free and unfettered discretion to have the poor villain shot at +any future moment, I magnanimously decided that for the present he should +live, and not die. + +I bathed in the Dead Sea. The ground covered by the water sloped so +gradually, that I was not only forced to “sneak in,” but to walk through +the water nearly a quarter of a mile before I could get out of my depth. +When at last I was able to attempt to dive, the salts held in solution +made my eyes smart so sharply, that the pain which I thus suffered, +together with the weakness occasioned by want of food, made me giddy and +faint for some moments, but I soon grew better. I knew beforehand the +impossibility of sinking in this buoyant water, but I was surprised to +find that I could not swim at my accustomed pace; my legs and feet were +lifted so high and dry out of the lake, that my stroke was baffled, and I +found myself kicking against the thin air instead of the dense fluid upon +which I was swimming. The water is perfectly bright and clear; its taste +detestable. After finishing my attempts at swimming and diving, I took +some time in regaining the shore, and before I began to dress I found +that the sun had already evaporated the water which clung to me, and that +my skin was thickly encrusted with salts. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV—THE BLACK TENTS + + +My steps were reluctantly turned towards the north. I had ridden some +way, and still it seemed that all life was fenced and barred out from the +desolate ground over which I was journeying. On the west there flowed +the impassable Jordan, on the east stood an endless range of barren +mountains, and on the south lay that desert sea that knew not the +plashing of an oar; greatly therefore was I surprised when suddenly there +broke upon my ear the long, ludicrous, persevering bray of a donkey. I +was riding at this time some few hundred yards ahead of all my party +except the Nazarene (who by a wise instinct kept closer to me than to +Dthemetri), and I instantly went forward in the direction of the sound, +for I fancied that where there were donkeys, there too most surely would +be men. The ground on all sides of me seemed thoroughly void and +lifeless, but at last I got down into a hollow, and presently a sudden +turn brought me within thirty yards of an Arab encampment. The low black +tents which I had so long lusted to see were right before me, and they +were all teeming with live Arabs—men, women, and children. + +I wished to have let my party behind know where I was, but I recollected +that they would be able to trace me by the prints of my horse’s hoofs in +the sand, and having to do with Asiatics, I felt the danger of the +slightest movement which might be looked upon as a sign of irresolution. +Therefore, without looking behind me, without looking to the right or to +the left, I rode straight up towards the foremost tent. Before this was +strewed a semicircular fence of dead boughs, through which there was an +opening opposite to the front of the tent. As I advanced, some twenty or +thirty of the most uncouth-looking fellows imaginable came forward to +meet me. In their appearance they showed nothing of the Bedouin blood; +they were of many colours, from dingy brown to jet black, and some of +these last had much of the negro look about them. They were tall, +powerful fellows, but awfully ugly. They wore nothing but the Arab +shirts, confined at the waist by leathern belts. + +I advanced to the gap left in the fence, and at once alighted from my +horse. The chief greeted me after his fashion by alternately touching +first my hand and then his own forehead, as if he were conveying the +virtue of the touch like a spark of electricity. Presently I found +myself seated upon a sheepskin, which was spread for me under the sacred +shade of Arabian canvas. The tent was of a long, narrow, oblong form, +and contained a quantity of men, women, and children so closely huddled +together, that there was scarcely one of them who was not in actual +contact with his neighbour. The moment I had taken my seat the chief +repeated his salutations in the most enthusiastic manner, and then the +people having gathered densely about me, got hold of my unresisting hand +and passed it round like a claret jug for the benefit of every body. The +women soon brought me a wooden bowl full of buttermilk, and welcome +indeed came the gift to my hungry and thirsty soul. + +After some time my party, as I had expected, came up, and when poor +Dthemetri saw me on my sheepskin, “the life and soul” of this ragamuffin +party, he was so astounded, that he even failed to check his cry of +horror; he plainly thought that now, at last, the Lord had delivered me +(interpreter and all) into the hands of the lowest Philistines. + +Mysseri carried a tobacco-pouch slung at his belt, and as soon as its +contents were known the whole population of the tent began begging like +spaniels for bits of the beloved weed. I concluded from the abject +manner of these people that they could not possibly be thoroughbred +Bedouins, and I saw, too, that they must be in the very last stage of +misery, for poor indeed is the man in these climes who cannot command a +pipeful of tobacco. I began to think that I had fallen amongst thorough +savages, and it seemed likely enough that they would gain their very +first knowledge of civilisation by ravishing and studying the contents of +my dearest portmanteaus, but still my impression was that they would +hardly venture upon such an attempt. I observed, indeed, that they did +not offer me the bread and salt which I had understood to be the pledges +of peace amongst wandering tribes, but I fancied that they refrained from +this act of hospitality, not in consequence of any hostile determination, +but in order that the notion of robbing me might remain for the present +an “open question.” I afterwards found that the poor fellows had no +bread to offer. They were literally “out at grass.” It is true that +they had a scanty supply of milk from goats, but they were living almost +entirely upon certain grass stems, which were just in season at that time +of the year. These, if not highly nourishing, are pleasant enough to the +taste, and their acid juices come gratefully to thirsty lips. + + + + +CHAPTER XV—PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN + + +And now Dthemetri began to enter into a negotiation with my hosts for a +passage over the river. I never interfered with my worthy dragoman upon +these occasions, because from my entire ignorance of the Arabic I should +have been quite unable to exercise any real control over his words, and +it would have been silly to break the stream of his eloquence to no +purpose. I have reason to fear, however, that he lied transcendently, +and especially in representing me as the bosom friend of Ibrahim Pasha. +The mention of that name produced immense agitation and excitement, and +the Sheik explained to Dthemetri the grounds of the infinite respect +which he and his tribe entertained for the Pasha. A few weeks before +Ibrahim had craftily sent a body of troops across the Jordan. The force +went warily round to the foot of the mountains on the east, so as to cut +off the retreat of this tribe, and then surrounded them as they lay +encamped in the vale; their camels, and indeed all their possessions +worth taking, were carried off by the soldiery, and moreover the then +Sheik, together with every tenth man of the tribe, was brought out and +shot. You would think that this conduct on the part of the Pasha might +not procure for his “friend” a very gracious reception amongst the people +whom he had thus despoiled and decimated; but the Asiatic seems to be +animated with a feeling of profound respect, almost bordering upon +affection, for all who have done him any bold and violent wrong, and +there is always, too, so much of vague and undefined apprehension mixed +up with his really well-founded alarms, that I can see no limit to the +yielding and bending of his mind when it is wrought upon by the idea of +power. + +After some discussion the Arabs agreed, as I thought, to conduct me to a +ford, and we moved on towards the river, followed by seventeen of the +most able-bodied of the tribe, under the guidance of several grey-bearded +elders, and Sheik Ali Djoubran at the head of the whole detachment. Upon +leaving the encampment a sort of ceremony was performed, for the purpose, +it seemed, of ensuring, if possible, a happy result for the undertaking. +There was an uplifting of arms, and a repeating of words that sounded +like formulæ, but there were no prostrations, and I did not understand +that the ceremony was of a religious character. The tented Arabs are +looked upon as very bad Mahometans. + +We arrived upon the banks of the river—not at a ford, but at a deep and +rapid part of the stream, and I now understood that it was the plan of +these men, if they helped me at all, to transport me across the river by +some species of raft. But a reaction had taken place in the opinions of +many, and a violent dispute arose upon a motion which seemed to have been +made by some honourable member with a view to robbery. The fellows all +gathered together in circle, at a little distance from my party, and +there disputed with great vehemence and fury for nearly two hours. I +can’t give a correct report of the debate, for it was held in a barbarous +dialect of the Arabic unknown to my dragoman. I recollect I sincerely +felt at the time that the arguments in favour of robbing me must have +been almost unanswerable, and I gave great credit to the speakers on my +side for the ingenuity and sophistry which they must have shown in +maintaining the fight so well. + +During the discussion I remained lying in front of my baggage, which had +all been taken from the pack-saddles and placed upon the ground. I was +so languid from want of food, that I had scarcely animation enough to +feel as deeply interested as you would suppose in the result of the +discussion. I thought, however, that the pleasantest toys to play with +during this interval were my pistols, and now and then, when I listlessly +visited my loaded barrels with the swivel ramrods, or drew a sweet, +musical click from my English firelocks, it seemed to me that I exercised +a slight and gentle influence on the debate. Thanks to Ibrahim Pasha’s +terrible visitation the men of the tribe were wholly unarmed, and my +advantage in this respect might have counterbalanced in some measure the +superiority of numbers. + +Mysseri (not interpreting in Arabic) had no duty to perform, and he +seemed to be faint and listless as myself. Shereef looked perfectly +resigned to any fate. But Dthemetri (faithful terrier!) was bristling +with zeal and watchfulness. He could not understand the debate, which +indeed was carried on at a distance too great to be easily heard, even if +the language had been familiar; but he was always on the alert, and now +and then conferring with men who had straggled out of the assembly. At +last he found an opportunity of making a proposal, which at once produced +immense sensation; he offered, on my behalf, that if the tribe should +bear themselves loyally towards me, and take my party and my baggage in +safety to the other bank of the river, I should give them a _teskeri_, or +written certificate of their good conduct, which might avail them +hereafter in the hour of their direst need. This proposal was received +and instantly accepted by all the men of the tribe there present with the +utmost enthusiasm. I was to give the men, too, a _baksheish_, that is, a +present of money, which is usually made upon the conclusion of any sort +of treaty; but although the people of the tribe were so miserably poor, +they seemed to look upon the pecuniary part of the arrangement as a +matter quite trivial in comparison with the _teskeri_. Indeed the sum +which Dthemetri promised them was extremely small, and not the slightest +attempt was made to extort any further reward. + +The council now broke up, and most of the men rushed madly towards me, +and overwhelmed me with vehement gratulations; they caressed my boots +with much affection, and my hands were severely kissed. + +The Arabs now went to work in right earnest to effect the passage of the +river. They had brought with them a great number of the skins which they +use for carrying water in the desert; these they filled with air, and +fastened several of them to small boughs which they cut from the banks of +the river. In this way they constructed a raft not more than about four +or five feet square, but rendered buoyant by the inflated skins which +supported it. On this a portion of my baggage was placed, and was firmly +tied to it by the cords used on my pack-saddles. The little raft with +its weighty cargo was then gently lifted into the water, and I had the +satisfaction to see that it floated well. + +Twelve of the Arabs now stripped, and tied inflated skins to their loins; +six of the men went down into the river, got in front of the little raft, +and pulled it off a few feet from the bank. The other six then dashed +into the stream with loud shouts and swam along after the raft, pushing +it from behind. Off went the craft in capital style at first, for the +stream was easy on the eastern side; but I saw that the tug was to come, +for the main torrent swept round in a bend near the western bank of the +river. + +The old men, with their long grey grisly beards, stood shouting and +cheering, praying and commanding. At length the raft entered upon the +difficult part of its course; the whirling stream seized and twisted it +about, and then bore it rapidly downwards; the swimmers, flagged and +seemed to be beaten in the struggle. But now the old men on the bank, +with their rigid arms uplifted straight, sent forth a cry and a shout +that tore the wide air into tatters, and then to make their urging yet +more strong they shrieked out the dreadful syllables, “’brahim Pasha!” +The swimmers, one moment before so blown and so weary, found lungs to +answer the cry, and shouting back the name of their great destroyer, they +dashed on through the torrent, and bore the raft in safety to the western +bank. + +Afterwards the swimmers returned with the raft, and attached to it the +rest of my baggage. I took my seat upon the top of the cargo, and the +raft thus laden passed the river in the same way, and with the same +struggle as before. The skins, however, not being perfectly air-tight, +had lost a great part of their buoyancy, so that I, as well as the +luggage that passed on this last voyage, got wet in the waters of Jordan. +The raft could not be trusted for another trip, and the rest of my party +passed the river in a different and (for them) much safer way. Inflated +skins were fastened to their loins, and thus supported, they were tugged +across by Arabs swimming on either side of them. The horses and mules +were thrown into the water and forced to swim over. The poor beasts had +a hard struggle for their lives in that swift stream; and I thought that +one of the horses would have been drowned, for he was too weak to gain a +footing on the western bank, and the stream bore him down. At last, +however, he swam back to the side from which he had come. Before dark +all had passed the river except this one horse and old Shereef. He, poor +fellow, was shivering on the eastern bank, for his dread of the passage +was so great, that he delayed it as long as he could, and at last it +became so dark that he was obliged to wait till the morning. + +I lay that night on the banks of the river, and at a little distance from +me the Arabs kindled a fire, round which they sat in a circle. They were +made most savagely happy by the tobacco with which I supplied them, and +they soon determined that the whole night should be one smoking festival. +The poor fellows had only a cracked bowl, without any tube at all, but +this morsel of a pipe they handed round from one to the other, allowing +to each a fixed number of whiffs. In that way they passed the whole +night. + +The next morning old Shereef was brought across. It was a strange sight +to see this solemn old Mussulman, with his shaven head and his sacred +beard, sprawling and puffing upon the surface of the water. When at last +he reached the bank the people told him that by his baptism in Jordan he +had surely become a mere Christian. Poor Shereef!—the holy man! the +descendant of the Prophet!—he was sadly hurt by the taunt, and the more +so as he seemed to feel that there was some foundation for it, and that +he really might have absorbed some Christian errors. + +When all was ready for departure I wrote the _teskeri_ in French and +delivered it to Sheik Ali Djoubran, together with the promised +_baksheish_; he was exceedingly grateful, and I parted in a very friendly +way from this ragged tribe. + +In two or three hours I gained Rihah, a village said to occupy the site +of ancient Jericho. There was one building there which I observed with +some emotion, for although it may not have been actually standing in the +days of Jericho, it contained at this day a most interesting collection +of—modern loaves. + +Some hours after sunset I reached the convent of Santa Saba, and there +remained for the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI—TERRA SANTA + + +The enthusiasm that had glowed, or seemed to glow, within me for one +blessed moment when I knelt by the shrine of the Virgin at Nazareth, was +not rekindled at Jerusalem. In the stead of the solemn gloom and the +deep stillness that of right belonged to the Holy City, there was the hum +and the bustle of active life. It was the “height of the season.” The +Easter ceremonies drew near. The pilgrims were flocking in from all +quarters; and although their objects were partly at least of a religious +character, yet their “arrivals” brought as much stir and liveliness to +the city as if they had come up to marry their daughters. + +The votaries who every year crowd to the Holy Sepulchre are chiefly of +the Greek and Armenian Churches. They are not drawn into Palestine by a +mere sentimental longing to stand upon the ground trodden by our Saviour, +but rather they perform the pilgrimage as a plain duty strongly +inculcated by their religion. A very great proportion of those who +belong to the Greek Church contrive at some time or other in the course +of their lives to achieve the enterprise. Many in their infancy and +childhood are brought to the holy sites by their parents, but those who +have not had this advantage will often make it the main object of their +lives to save money enough for this holy undertaking. + +The pilgrims begin to arrive in Palestine some weeks before the Easter +festival of the Greek Church. They come from Egypt, from all parts of +Syria, from Armenia and Asia Minor, from Stamboul, from Roumelia, from +the provinces of the Danube, and from all the Russias. Most of these +people bring with them some articles of merchandise, but I myself believe +(notwithstanding the common taunt against pilgrims) that they do this +rather as a mode of paying the expenses of their journey, than from a +spirit of mercenary speculation. They generally travel in families, for +the women are of course more ardent than their husbands in undertaking +these pious enterprises, and they take care to bring with them all their +children, however young; for the efficacy of the rites does not depend +upon the age of the votary, so that people whose careful mothers have +obtained for them the benefit of the pilgrimage in early life, are saved +from the expense and trouble of undertaking the journey at a later age. +The superior veneration so often excited by objects that are distant and +unknown shows not perhaps the wrongheadedness of a man, but rather the +transcendent power of his imagination. However this may be, and whether +it is by mere obstinacy that they poke their way through intervening +distance, or whether they come by the winged strength of fancy, quite +certainly the pilgrims who flock to Palestine from the most remote homes +are the people most eager in the enterprise, and in number too they bear +a very high proportion to the whole mass. + +The great bulk of the pilgrims make their way by sea to the port of +Jaffa. A number of families will charter a vessel amongst them, all +bringing their own provisions, which are of the simplest and cheapest +kind. On board every vessel thus freighted there is, I believe, a +priest, who helps the people in their religious exercises, and tries (and +fails) to maintain something like order and harmony. The vessels +employed in this service are usually Greek brigs or brigantines and +schooners, and the number of passengers stowed in them is almost always +horribly excessive. The voyages are sadly protracted, not only by the +land-seeking, storm-flying habits of the Greek seamen, but also by their +endless schemes and speculations, which are for ever tempting them to +touch at the nearest port. The voyage too must be made in winter, in +order that Jerusalem may be reached some weeks before the Greek Easter, +and thus by the time they attain to the holy shrines the pilgrims have +really and truly undergone a very respectable quantity of suffering. I +once saw one of these pious cargoes put ashore on the coast of Cyprus, +where they had touched for the purpose of visiting (not Paphos, but) some +Christian sanctuary. I never saw (no, never even in the most horridly +stuffy ballroom) such a discomfortable collection of human beings. Long +huddled together in a pitching and rolling prison, fed on beans, exposed +to some real danger and to terrors without end, they had been tumbled +about for many wintry weeks in the chopping seas of the Mediterranean. +As soon as they landed they stood upon the beach and chanted a hymn of +thanks; the chant was morne and doleful, but really the poor people were +looking so miserable, that one could not fairly expect from them any +lively outpouring of gratitude. + +When the pilgrims have landed at Jaffa they hire camels, horses, mules, +or donkeys, and make their way as well as they can to the Holy City. The +space fronting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre soon becomes a kind of +bazaar, or rather, perhaps, reminds you of an English fair. On this spot +the pilgrims display their merchandise, and there too the trading +residents of the place offer their goods for sale. I have never, I +think, seen elsewhere in Asia so much commercial animation as upon this +square of ground by the church door; the “money-changers” seemed to be +almost as brisk and lively as if they had been _within_ the temple. + +When I entered the church I found a babel of worshippers. Greek, Roman, +and Armenian priests were performing their different rites in various +nooks and corners, and crowds of disciples were rushing about in all +directions, some laughing and talking, some begging, but most of them +going round in a regular and methodical way to kiss the sanctified spots, +and speak the appointed syllables, and lay down the accustomed coin. If +this kissing of the shrines had seemed as though it were done at the +bidding of enthusiasm, or of any poor sentiment even feebly approaching +to it, the sight would have been less odd to English eyes; but as it was, +I stared to see grown men thus steadily and carefully embracing the +sticks and the stones, not from love or from zeal (else God forbid that I +should have stared!), but from a calm sense of duty; they seemed to be +not “working out,” but _transacting_ the great business of salvation. + +Dthemetri, however, who generally came with me when I went out, in order +to do duty as interpreter, really had in him some enthusiasm. He was a +zealous and almost fanatical member of the Greek Church, and had long +since performed the pilgrimage, so now great indeed was the pride and +delight with which he guided me from one holy spot to another. Every now +and then, when he came to an unoccupied shrine, he fell down on his knees +and performed devotion; he was almost distracted by the temptations that +surrounded him; there were so many stones absolutely requiring to be +kissed, that he rushed about happily puzzled and sweetly teased, like +“Jack among the maidens.” + +A Protestant, familiar with the Holy Scriptures, but ignorant of +tradition and the geography of modern Jerusalem, finds himself a good +deal “mazed” when he first looks for the sacred sites. The Holy +Sepulchre is not in a field without the walls, but in the midst, and in +the best part of the town, under the roof of the great church which I +have been talking about. It is a handsome tomb of oblong form, partly +subterranean and partly above ground, and closed in on all sides except +the one by which it is entered. You descend into the interior by a few +steps, and there find an altar with burning tapers. This is the spot +which is held in greater sanctity than any other at Jerusalem. When you +have seen enough of it you feel perhaps weary of the busy crowd, and +inclined for a gallop; you ask your dragoman whether there will be time +before sunset to procure horses and take a ride to Mount Calvary. Mount +Calvary, signor?—eccolo! it is _upstairs—on the first floor_. In effect +you ascend, if I remember rightly, just thirteen steps, and then you are +shown the now golden sockets in which the crosses of our Lord and the two +thieves were fixed. All this is startling, but the truth is, that the +city having gathered round the Sepulchre, which is the main point of +interest, has crept northward, and thus in great measure are occasioned +the many geographical surprises that puzzle the “Bible Christian.” + +The Church of the Holy Sepulchre comprises very compendiously almost all +the spots associated with the closing career of our Lord. Just there, on +your right, He stood and wept; by the pillar, on your left, He was +scourged; on the spot, just before you, He was crowned with the crown of +thorns; up there He was crucified, and down here He was buried. A +locality is assigned to every, the minutest, event connected with the +recorded history of our Saviour; even the spot where the cock crew when +Peter denied his Master is ascertained, and surrounded by the walls of an +Armenian convent. Many Protestants are wont to treat these traditions +contemptuously, and those who distinguish themselves from their brethren +by the appellation of “Bible Christians” are almost fierce in their +denunciation of these supposed errors. + +It is admitted, I believe, by everybody that the formal sanctification of +these spots was the act of the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, +but I think it is fair to suppose that she was guided by a careful regard +to the then prevailing traditions. Now the nature of the ground upon +which Jerusalem stands is such, that the localities belonging to the +events there enacted might have been more easily, and permanently, +ascertained by tradition than those of any city that I know of. +Jerusalem, whether ancient or modern, was built upon and surrounded by +sharp, salient rocks intersected by deep ravines. Up to the time of the +siege Mount Calvary of course must have been well enough known to the +people of Jerusalem; the destruction of the mere buildings could not have +obliterated from any man’s memory the names of those steep rocks and +narrow ravines in the midst of which the city had stood. It seems to me, +therefore, highly probable that in fixing the site of Calvary the Empress +was rightly guided. Recollect, too, that the voice of tradition at +Jerusalem is quite unanimous, and that Romans, Greeks, Armenians, and +Jews, all hating each other sincerely, concur in assigning the same +localities to the events told in the Gospel. I concede, however, that +the attempt of the Empress to ascertain the sites of the minor events +cannot be safely relied upon. With respect, for instance, to the +certainty of the spot where the cock crew, I am far from being convinced. + +Supposing that the Empress acted arbitrarily in fixing the holy sites, it +would seem that she followed the Gospel of St. John, and that the +geography sanctioned by her can be more easily reconciled with that +history than with the accounts of the other Evangelists. + +The authority exercised by the Mussulman Government in relation to the +holy sites is in one view somewhat humbling to the Christians, for it is +almost as an arbitrator between the contending sects (this always, of +course, for the sake of pecuniary advantage) that the Mussulman lends his +contemptuous aid; he not only grants, but enforces toleration. All +persons, of whatever religion, are allowed to go as they will into every +part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but in order to prevent +indecent contests, and also from motives arising out of money payments, +the Turkish Government assigns the peculiar care of each sacred spot to +one of the ecclesiastic bodies. Since this guardianship carries with it +the receipt of the coins which the pilgrims leave upon the shrines, it is +strenuously fought for by all the rival Churches, and the artifices of +intrigue are busily exerted at Stamboul in order to procure the issue or +revocation of the firmans by which the coveted privilege is granted. In +this strife the Greek Church has of late years signally triumphed, and +the most famous of the shrines are committed to the care of their +priesthood. They possess the golden socket in which stood the cross of +our Lord whilst the Latins are obliged to content themselves with the +apertures in which were inserted the crosses of the two thieves. They +are naturally discontented with that poor privilege, and sorrowfully look +back to the days of their former glory—the days when Napoleon was +Emperor, and Sebastiani ambassador at the Porte. It seems that the +“citizen” sultan, old Louis Philippe, has done very little indeed for +Holy Church in Palestine. + +Although the pilgrims perform their devotions at the several shrines with +so little apparent enthusiasm, they are driven to the verge of madness by +the miracle displayed before them on Easter Saturday. Then it is that +the Heaven-sent fire issues from the Holy Sepulchre. The pilgrims all +assemble in the great church, and already, long before the wonder is +worked, they are wrought by anticipation of God’s sign, as well as by +their struggles for room and breathing space, to a most frightful state +of excitement. At length the chief priest of the Greeks, accompanied (of +all people in the world) by the Turkish Governor, enters the tomb. After +this, there is a long pause, and then suddenly from out of the small +apertures on either side of the sepulchre there issue long, shining +flames. The pilgrims now rush forward, madly struggling to light their +tapers at the holy fire. This is the dangerous moment, and many lives +are often lost. + +The year before that of my going to Jerusalem, Ibrahim Pasha, from some +whim, or motive of policy, chose to witness the miracle. The vast church +was of course thronged, as it always is on that awful day. It seems that +the appearance of the fire was delayed for a very long time, and that the +growing frenzy of the people was heightened by suspense. Many, too, had +already sunk under the effect of the heat and the stifling atmosphere, +when at last the fire flashed from the sepulchre. Then a terrible +struggle ensued; many sunk and were crushed. Ibrahim had taken his +station in one of the galleries, but now, feeling perhaps his brave blood +warmed by the sight and sound of such strife, he took upon himself to +quiet the people by his personal presence, and descended into the body of +the church with only a few guards. He had forced his way into the midst +of the dense crowd, when unhappily he fainted away; his guards shrieked +out, and the event instantly became known. A body of soldiers recklessly +forced their way through the crowd, trampling over every obstacle that +they might save the life of their general. Nearly two hundred people +were killed in the struggle. + +The following year, however, the Government took better measures for the +prevention of these calamities. I was not present at the ceremony, +having gone away from Jerusalem some time before, but I afterwards +returned into Palestine, and I then learned that the day had passed off +without any disturbance of a fatal kind. It is, however, almost too much +to expect that so many ministers of peace can assemble without finding +some occasion for strife, and in that year a tribe of wild Bedouins +became the subject of discord. These men, it seems, led an Arab life in +some of the desert tracts bordering on the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, +but were not connected with any of the great ruling tribes. Some whim or +notion of policy had induced them to embrace Christianity; but they were +grossly ignorant of the rudiments of their adopted faith, and having no +priest with them in their desert, they had as little knowledge of +religious ceremonies as of religion itself. They were not even capable +of conducting themselves in a place of worship with ordinary decorum, but +would interrupt the service with scandalous cries and warlike shouts. +Such is the account the Latins give of them, but I have never heard the +other side of the question. These wild fellows, notwithstanding their +entire ignorance of all religion, are yet claimed by the Greeks, not only +as proselytes who have embraced Christianity generally, but as converts +to the particular doctrines and practice of their Church. The people +thus alleged to have concurred in the great schism of the Eastern Empire +are never, I believe, within the walls of a church, or even of any +building at all, except upon this occasion of Easter; and as they then +never fail to find a row of some kind going on by the side of the +sepulchre, they fancy, it seems, that the ceremonies there enacted are +funeral games of a martial character, held in honour of a deceased +chieftain, and that a Christian festival is a peculiar kind of battle, +fought between walls, and without cavalry. It does not appear, however, +that these men are guilty of any ferocious acts, or that they attempt to +commit depredations. The charge against them is merely that by their way +of applauding the performance, by their horrible cries and frightful +gestures, they destroy the solemnity of divine service, and upon this +ground the Franciscans obtained a firman for the exclusion of such +tumultuous worshippers. The Greeks, however, did not choose to lose the +aid of their wild converts merely because they were a little backward in +their religious education, and they therefore persuaded them to defy the +firman by entering the city _en masse_ and overawing their enemies. The +Franciscans, as well as the Government authorities, were obliged to give +way, and the Arabs triumphantly marched into the church. The festival, +however, must have seemed to them rather flat, for although there may +have been some “casualties” in the way of eyes black and noses bloody, +and women “missing,” there was no return of “killed.” + +Formerly the Latin Catholics concurred in acknowledging (but not, I hope, +in working) the annual miracle of the heavenly fire, but they have for +many years withdrawn their countenance from this exhibition, and they now +repudiate it as a trick of the Greek Church. Thus of course the violence +of feeling with which the rival Churches meet at the Holy Sepulchre on +Easter Saturday is greatly increased, and a disturbance of some kind is +certain. In the year I speak of, though no lives were lost, there was, +as it seems, a tough struggle in the church. I was amused at hearing of +a taunt that was thrown that day upon an English traveller. He had taken +his station in a convenient part of the church, and was no doubt +displaying that peculiar air of serenity and gratification with which an +English gentleman usually looks on at a row, when one of the Franciscans +came by, all reeking from the fight, and was so disgusted at the coolness +and placid contentment of the Englishman (who was a guest at the +convent), that he forgot his monkish humility as well as the duties of +hospitality, and plainly said, “You sleep under our roof, you eat our +bread, you drink our wine, and then when Easter Saturday comes you don’t +fight for us!” + +Yet these rival Churches go on quietly enough till their blood is up. +The terms on which they live remind one of the peculiar relation +subsisting at Cambridge between “town and gown.” + +These contests and disturbances certainly do not originate with the +lay-pilgrims, the great body of whom are, as I believe, quiet and +inoffensive people. It is true, however, that their pious enterprise is +believed by them to operate as a counterpoise for a multitude of sins, +whether past or future, and perhaps they exert themselves in after life +to restore the balance of good and evil. The Turks have a maxim which, +like most cynical apophthegms, carries with it the buzzing trumpet of +falsehood as well as the small, fine “sting of truth.” “If your friend +has made the pilgrimage once, distrust him; if he has made the pilgrimage +twice, cut him dead!” The caution is said to be as applicable to the +visitants of Jerusalem as to those of Mecca, but I cannot help believing +that the frailties of all the hadjis, {28} whether Christian or +Mahometan, are greatly exaggerated. I certainly regarded the pilgrims to +Palestine as a well-disposed orderly body of people, not strongly +enthusiastic, but desirous to comply with the ordinances of their +religion, and to attain the great end of salvation as quietly and +economically as possible. + +When the solemnities of Easter are concluded the pilgrims move off in a +body to complete their good work by visiting the sacred scenes in the +neighbourhood of Jerusalem, including the wilderness of John the Baptist, +Bethlehem, and above all, the Jordan, for to bathe in those sacred waters +is one of the chief objects of the expedition. All the pilgrims—men, +women, and children—are submerged _en chemise_, and the saturated linen +is carefully wrapped up and preserved as a burial-dress that shall enure +for salvation in the realms of death. + +I saw the burial of a pilgrim. He was a Greek, miserably poor, and very +old; he had just crawled into the Holy City, and had reached at once the +goal of his pious journey and the end of his sufferings upon earth. +There was no coffin nor wrapper, and as I looked full upon the face of +the dead I saw how deeply it was rutted with the ruts of age and misery. +The priest, strong and portly, fresh, fat, and alive with the life of the +animal kingdom, unpaid, or ill paid for his work, would scarcely deign to +mutter out his forms, but hurried over the words with shocking haste. +Presently he called out impatiently, “Yalla! Goor!” (Come! look sharp!), +and then the dead Greek was seized. His limbs yielded inertly to the +rude men that handled them, and down he went into his grave, so roughly +bundled in that his neck was twisted by the fall, so twisted, that if the +sharp malady of life were still upon him the old man would have shrieked +and groaned, and the lines of his face would have quivered with pain. +The lines of his face were not moved, and the old man lay still and +heedless, so well cured of that tedious life-ache, that nothing could +hurt him now. His clay was _itself again_—cool, firm, and tough. The +pilgrim had found great rest. I threw the accustomed handful of the holy +soil upon his patient face, and then, and in less than a minute, the +earth closed coldly round him. + +I did not say “alas!” (nobody ever does that I know of, though the word +is so frequently written). I thought the old man had got rather well out +of the scrape of being alive, and poor. + +The destruction of the mere buildings in such a place as Jerusalem would +not involve the permanent dispersion of the inhabitants, for the rocky +neighbourhood in which the town is situate abounds in caves, which would +give an easy refuge to the people until they gained an opportunity of +rebuilding their dwellings; therefore I could not help looking upon the +Jews of Jerusalem as being in some sort the representatives, if not the +actual descendants, of the rascals who crucified our Saviour. Supposing +this to be the case, I felt that there would be some interest in knowing +how the events of the Gospel history were regarded by the Israelites of +modern Jerusalem. The result of my inquiry upon this subject was, so far +as it went, entirely favourable to the truth of Christianity. I +understood that _the performance of the miracles was not doubted by any +of the Jews in the place_. All of them concurred in attributing the +works of our Lord to the influence of magic, but they were divided as to +the species of enchantment from which the power proceeded. The great +mass of the Jewish people believe, I fancy, that the miracles had been +wrought by aid of the powers of darkness, but many, and those the more +enlightened, would call Jesus “the good Magician.” To Europeans +repudiating the notion of all magic, good or bad, the opinion of the Jews +as to the agency by which the miracles were worked is a matter of no +importance; but the circumstance of their admitting that those miracles +_were in fact performed_, is certainly curious, and perhaps not quite +immaterial. + +If you stay in the Holy City long enough to fall into anything like +regular habits of amusement and occupation, and to become, in short, for +the time “a man about town” at Jerusalem, you will necessarily lose the +enthusiasm which you may have felt when you trod the sacred soil for the +first time, and it will then seem almost strange to you to find yourself +so entirely surrounded in all your daily pursuits by the designs and +sounds of religion. Your hotel is a monastery, your rooms are cells, the +landlord is a stately abbot, and the waiters are hooded monks. If you +walk out of the town you find yourself on the Mount of Olives, or in the +Valley of Jehoshaphat, or on the Hill of Evil Counsel. If you mount your +horse and extend your rambles you will be guided to the wilderness of St. +John, or the birthplace of our Saviour. Your club is the great Church of +the Holy Sepulchre, where everybody meets everybody every day. If you +lounge through the town, your Bond Street is the Via Dolorosa, and the +object of your hopeless affections is some maid or matron all forlorn, +and sadly shrouded in her pilgrim’s robe. If you would hear music, it +must be the chanting of friars; if you look at pictures, you see virgins +with mis-fore-shortened arms, or devils out of drawing, or angels +tumbling up the skies in impious perspective. If you would make any +purchases, you must go again to the church doors, and when you inquire +for the manufactures of the place, you find that they consist of +double-blessed beads and sanctified shells. These last are the favourite +tokens which the pilgrims carry off with them. The shell is graven, or +rather scratched, on the white side with a rude drawing of the Blessed +Virgin or of the Crucifixion or some other scriptural subject. Having +passed this stage it goes into the hands of a priest. By him it is +subjected to some process for rendering it efficacious against the +schemes of our ghostly enemy. The manufacture is then complete, and is +deemed to be fit for use. + +The village of Bethlehem lies prettily couched on the slope of a hill. +The sanctuary is a subterranean grotto, and is committed to the +joint-guardianship of the Romans, Greeks, and Armenians, who vie with +each other in adorning it. Beneath an altar gorgeously decorated, and +lit with everlasting fires, there stands the low slab of stone which +marks the holy site of the Nativity; and near to this is a hollow scooped +out of the living rock. Here the infant Jesus was laid. Near the spot +of the Nativity is the rock against which the Blessed Virgin was leaning +when she presented her babe to the adoring shepherds. + +Many of those Protestants who are accustomed to despise tradition +consider that this sanctuary is altogether unscriptural, that a grotto is +not a stable, and that mangers are made of wood. It is perfectly true, +however, that the many grottos and caves which are found among the rocks +of Judea were formerly used for the reception of cattle. They are so +used at this day. I have myself seen grottos appropriated to this +purpose. + +You know what a sad and sombre decorum it is that outwardly reigns +through the lands oppressed by Moslem sway. The Mahometans make beauty +their prisoner, and enforce such a stern and gloomy morality, or at all +events, such a frightfully close semblance of it, that far and long the +wearied traveller may go without catching one glimpse of outward +happiness. By a strange chance in these latter days it happened that, +alone of all the places in the land, this Bethlehem, the native village +of our Lord, escaped the moral yoke of the Mussulmans, and heard again, +after ages of dull oppression, the cheering clatter of social freedom, +and the voices of laughing girls. It was after an insurrection, which +had been raised against the authority of Mehemet Ali, that Bethlehem was +freed from the hateful laws of Asiatic decorum. The Mussulmans of the +village had taken an active part in the movement, and when Ibrahim had +quelled it, his wrath was still so hot, that he put to death every one of +the few Mahometans of Bethlehem who had not already fled. The effect +produced upon the Christian inhabitants by the sudden removal of this +restraint was immense. The village smiled once more. It is true that +such sweet freedom could not long endure. Even if the population of the +place should continue to be entirely Christian, the sad decorum of the +Mussulmans, or rather of the Asiatics, would sooner or later be restored +by the force of opinion and custom. But for a while the sunshine would +last, and when I was at Bethlehem, though long after the flight of the +Mussulmans, the cloud of Moslem propriety had not yet come back to cast +its cold shadow upon life. When you reach that gladsome village, pray +Heaven there still may be heard there the voice of free, innocent girls. +It will sound so dearly welcome! + +To a Christian, and thoroughbred Englishman, not even the licentiousness +which generally accompanies it can compensate for the oppressiveness of +that horrible outward decorum, which turns the cities and the palaces of +Asia into deserts and gaols. So, I say, when you see and hear them, +those romping girls of Bethlehem will gladden your very soul. Distant at +first, and then nearer and nearer the timid flock will gather around you, +with their large burning eyes gravely fixed against yours, so that they +see into your brain; and if you imagine evil against them, they will know +of your ill thought before it is yet well born, and will fly and be gone +in the moment. But presently, if you will only look virtuous enough to +prevent alarm, and vicious enough to avoid looking silly, the blithe +maidens will draw nearer and nearer to you, and soon there will be one, +the bravest of the sisters, who will venture right up to your side and +touch the hem of your coat, in playful defiance of the danger, and then +the rest will follow the daring of their youthful leader, and gather +close round you, and hold a shrill controversy on the wondrous formation +that you call a hat, and the cunning of the hands that clothed you with +cloth so fine; and then growing more profound in their researches, they +will pass from the study of your mere dress to a serious contemplation of +your stately height, and your nut-brown hair, and the ruddy glow of your +English cheeks. And if they catch a glimpse of your ungloved fingers, +then again will they make the air ring with their sweet screams of wonder +and amazement, as they compare the fairness of your hand with their +warmer tints, and even with the hues of your own sunburnt face. +Instantly the ringleader of the gentle rioters imagines a new sin; with +tremulous boldness she touches, then grasps your hand, and smoothes it +gently betwixt her own, and pries curiously into its make and colour, as +though it were silk of Damascus, or shawl of Cashmere. And when they see +you even then still sage and gentle, the joyous girls will suddenly and +screamingly, and all at once, explain to each other that you are surely +quite harmless and innocent, a lion that makes no spring, a bear that +never hugs, and upon this faith, one after the other, they will take your +passive hand, and strive to explain it, and make it a theme and a +controversy. But the one, the fairest and the sweetest of all, is yet +the most timid; she shrinks from the daring deeds of her play-mates, and +seeks shelter behind their sleeves, and strives to screen her glowing +consciousness from the eyes that look upon her. But her laughing sisters +will have none of this cowardice; they vow that the fair one _shall_ be +their ’complice, _shall_ share their dangers, _shall_ touch the hand of +the stranger; they seize her small wrist, and drag her forward by force, +and at last, whilst yet she strives to turn away, and to cover up her +whole soul under the folds of downcast eyelids, they vanquish her utmost +strength, they vanquish your utmost modesty, and marry her hand to yours. +The quick pulse springs from her fingers, and throbs like a whisper upon +your listening palm. For an instant her large timid eyes are upon you; +in an instant they are shrouded again, and there comes a blush so +burning, that the frightened girls stay their shrill laughter, as though +they had played too perilously, and harmed their gentle sister. A +moment, and all with a sudden intelligence turn away and fly like deer, +yet soon again like deer they wheel round and return, and stand, and gaze +upon the danger, until they grow brave once more. + +“I regret to observe, that the removal of the moral restraint imposed by +the presence of the Mahometan inhabitants has led to a certain degree of +boisterous, though innocent, levity in the bearing of the Christians, and +more especially in the demeanour of those who belong to the younger +portion of the female population; but I feel assured that a more thorough +knowledge of the principles of their own pure religion will speedily +restore these young people to habits of propriety, even more strict than +those which were imposed upon them by the authority of their Mahometan +brethren.” Bah! thus you might chant, if you chose; but loving the +truth, you will not so disown sweet Bethlehem; you will not disown or +dissemble your right good hearty delight when you find, as though in a +desert, this gushing spring of fresh and joyous girlhood. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII—THE DESERT + + +Gaza is upon the verge of the Desert, to which it stands in the same +relation as a seaport to the sea. It is there that you _charter_ your +camels (“the ships of the Desert”), and lay in your stores for the +voyage. + +These preparations kept me in the town for some days. Disliking +restraint, I declined making myself the guest of the Governor (as it is +usual and proper to do), but took up my quarters at the caravanserai, or +“khan,” as they call it in that part of Asia. + +Dthemetri had to make the arrangements for my journey, and in order to +arm himself with sufficient authority for doing all that was required, he +found it necessary to put himself in communication with the Governor. +The result of this diplomatic intercourse was that the Governor, with his +train of attendants, came to me one day at my caravanserai, and formally +complained that Dthemetri had grossly insulted him. I was shocked at +this, for the man was always attentive and civil to me, and I was +disgusted at the idea of his having been rewarded with insult. Dthemetri +was present when the complaint was made, and I angrily asked him whether +it was true that he had really insulted the Governor, and what the deuce +he meant by it. This I asked with the full certainty that Dthemetri, as +a matter of course, would deny the charge, would swear that a “wrong +construction had been put upon his words, and that nothing was further +from his thoughts,” &c. &c., after the manner of the parliamentary +people, but to my surprise he very plainly answered that he certainly +_had_ insulted the Governor, and that rather grossly, but, he said, it +was quite necessary to do this in order to “strike terror and inspire +respect.” “Terror and respect! What on earth do you mean by that +nonsense?”—“Yes, but without striking terror and inspiring respect, he +(Dthemetri) would never be able to force on the arrangements for my +journey, and vossignoria would be kept at Gaza for a month!” This would +have been awkward, and certainly I could not deny that poor Dthemetri had +succeeded in his odd plan of inspiring respect, for at the very time that +this explanation was going on in Italian the Governor seemed more than +ever, and more anxiously, disposed to overwhelm me with assurances of +goodwill, and proffers of his best services. All this kindness, or +promise of kindness, I naturally received with courtesy—a courtesy that +greatly perturbed Dthemetri, for he evidently feared that my civility +would undo all the good that his insults had achieved. + +You will find, I think, that one of the greatest draw-backs to the +pleasure of travelling in Asia is the being obliged, more or less, to +make your way by bullying. It is true that your own lips are not soiled +by the utterance of all the mean words that are spoken for you, and that +you don’t even know of the sham threats, and the false promises, and the +vainglorious boasts, put forth by your dragoman; but now and then there +happens some incident of the sort which I have just been mentioning, +which forces you to believe, or suspect, that your dragoman is habitually +fighting your battles for you in a way that you can hardly bear to think +of. + +A caravanserai is not ill adapted to the purposes for which it is meant. +It forms the four sides of a large quadrangular court. The ground floor +is used for warehouses, the first floor for guests, and the open court +for the temporary reception of the camels, as well as for the loading and +unloading of their burthens, and the transaction of mercantile business +generally. The apartments used for the guests are small cells opening +into a corridor, which runs round the four sides of the court. + +Whilst I lay near the opening of my cell looking down into the court +below, there arrived from the Desert a caravan, that is, a large +assemblage of travellers. It consisted chiefly of Moldavian pilgrims, +who to make their good work even more than complete had begun by visiting +the shrine of the Virgin in Egypt, and were now going on to Jerusalem. +They had been overtaken in the Desert by a gale of wind, which so drove +the sand and raised up such mountains before them, that their journey had +been terribly perplexed and obstructed, and their provisions (including +water, the most precious of all) had been exhausted long before they +reached the end of their toilsome march. They were sadly wayworn. The +arrival of the caravan drew many and various groups into the court. +There was the Moldavian pilgrim with his sable dress and cap of fur and +heavy masses of bushy hair; the Turk, with his various and brilliant +garments; the Arab, superbly stalking under his striped blanket, that +hung like royalty upon his stately form; the jetty Ethiopian in his +slavish frock; the sleek, smooth-faced scribe with his comely pelisse, +and his silver ink-box stuck in like a dagger at his girdle. And mingled +with these were the camels, some standing, some kneeling and being +unladen, some twisting round their long necks, and gently stealing the +straw from out of their own pack-saddles. + +In a couple of days I was ready to start. The way of providing for the +passage of the Desert is this: there is an agent in the town who keeps +himself in communication with some of the desert Arabs that are hovering +within a day’s journey of the place. A party of these upon being +guaranteed against seizure or other ill-treatment at the hands of the +Governor come into the town, bringing with them the number of camels +which you require, and then they stipulate for a certain sum to take you +to the place of your destination in a given time. The agreement which +they thus enter into includes a safe conduct through their country as +well as the hire of the camels. According to the contract made with me I +was to reach Cairo within ten days from the commencement of the journey. +I had four camels, one for my baggage, one for each of my servants, and +one for myself. Four Arabs, the owners of the camels, came with me on +foot. My stores were a small soldier’s tent, two bags of dried bread +brought from the convent at Jerusalem, and a couple of bottles of wine +from the same source, two goat-skins filled with water, tea, sugar, a +cold tongue, and (of all things in the world) a jar of Irish butter which +Mysseri had purchased from some merchant. There was also a small sack of +charcoal, for the greater part of the Desert through which we were to +pass is destitute of fuel. + +The camel kneels to receive her load, and for a while she will allow the +packing to go on with silent resignation; but when she begins to suspect +that her master is putting more than a just burthen upon her poor hump +she turns round her supple neck and looks sadly upon the increasing load, +and then gently remonstrates against the wrong with the sigh of a patient +wife. If sighs will not move you, she can weep. You soon learn to pity, +and soon to love, her for the sake of her gentle and womanish ways. + +You cannot, of course, put an English or any other riding saddle upon the +back of the camel, but your quilt or carpet, or whatever you carry for +the purpose of lying on at night, is folded and fastened on to the +pack-saddle upon the top of the hump, and on this you ride, or rather +sit. You sit as a man sits on a chair when he sits astride and faces the +back of it. I made an improvement on this plan. I had my English +stirrups strapped on to the cross-bars of the pack-saddle, and thus by +gaining rest for my dangling legs, and gaining too the power of varying +my position more easily than I could otherwise have done, I added very +much to my comfort. Don’t forget to do as I did. + +The camel, like the elephant, is one of the old-fashioned sort of animals +that still walk along upon the (now nearly exploded) plan of the ancient +beasts that lived before the Flood. She moves forward both her near legs +at the same time, and then awkwardly swings round her off shoulder and +haunch so as to repeat the manoeuvre on that side. Her pace, therefore, +is an odd, disjointed and disjoining, sort of movement that is rather +disagreeable at first, but you soon grow reconciled to it. The height to +which you are raised is of great advantage to you in passing the burning +sands of the Desert, for the air at such a distance from the ground is +much cooler and more lively than that which circulates beneath. + +For several miles beyond Gaza the land, which had been plentifully +watered by the rains of the last week, was covered with rich verdure, and +thickly jewelled with meadow flowers so fresh and fragrant, that I began +to grow almost uneasy, to fancy that the very Desert was receding before +me, and that the long-desired adventure of passing its “burning sands” +was to end in a mere ride across a field. But as I advanced the true +character of the country began to display itself with sufficient +clearness to dispel my apprehensions, and before the close of my first +day’s journey I had the gratification of finding that I was surrounded on +all sides by a tract of real sand, and had nothing at all to complain of +except that there peeped forth at intervals a few isolated blades of +grass, and many of those stunted shrubs which are the accustomed food of +the camel. + +Before sunset I came up with an encampment of Arabs (the encampment from +which my camels had been brought), and my tent was pitched amongst +theirs. I was now amongst the true Bedouins. Almost every man of this +race closely resembles his brethren. Almost every man has large and +finely-formed features; but his face is so thoroughly stripped of flesh, +and the white folds from his headgear fall down by his haggard cheeks so +much in the burial fashion, that he looks quite sad and ghastly. His +large dark orbs roll slowly and solemnly over the white of his deep-set +eyes; his countenance shows painful thought and long-suffering, the +suffering of one fallen from a high estate. His gait is strangely +majestic, and he marches along with his simple blanket as though he were +wearing the purple. His common talk is a series of piercing screams and +cries, {29} more painful to the ear than the most excruciating fine music +that I ever endured. + +The Bedouin women are not treasured up like the wives and daughters of +other Orientals, and indeed they seemed almost entirely free from the +restraints imposed by jealousy. The feint which they made of concealing +their faces from me was always slight. They never, I think, wore the +_yashmak_ properly fixed. When they first saw me they used to hold up a +part of their drapery with one hand across their faces, but they seldom +persevered very steadily in subjecting me to this privation. Unhappy +beings! they were sadly plain. The awful haggardness that gave something +of character to the faces of the men was sheer ugliness in the poor +women. It is a great shame, but the truth is that, except when we refer +to the beautiful devotion of the mother to her child, all the fine things +we say and think about woman apply only to those who are tolerably +good-looking or graceful. These Arab women were so plain and clumsy, +that they seemed to me to be fit for nothing but another and a better +world. They may have been good women enough so far as relates to the +exercise of the minor virtues, but they had so grossly neglected the +prime duty of looking pretty in this transitory life, that I could not at +all forgive them. They seemed to feel the weight of their guilt, and to +be truly and humbly penitent. I had the complete command of their +affections, for at any moment I could make their young hearts bound and +their old hearts jump by offering a handful of tobacco, and yet, believe +me, it was not in the first _soirée_ that my store of Latakia was +exhausted. + +The Bedouin women have no religion. This is partly the cause of their +clumsiness. Perhaps if from Christian girls they would learn how to +pray, their souls might become more gentle, and their limbs be clothed +with grace. You who are going into their country have a direct personal +interest in knowing something about “Arab hospitality”; but the deuce of +it is, that the poor fellows with whom I have happened to pitch my tent +were scarcely ever in a condition to exercise that magnanimous virtue +with much _éclat_. Indeed, Mysseri’s canteen generally enabled me to +outdo my hosts in the matter of entertainment. They were always +courteous, however, and were never backward in offering me the _youart_, +a kind of whey, which is the principal delicacy to be found amongst the +wandering tribes. + +Practically, I think, Childe Harold would have found it a dreadful bore +to make “the Desert his dwelling-place,” for at all events, if he adopted +the life of the Arabs he would have tasted no solitude. The tents are +partitioned, not so as to divide the Childe and the “fair spirit” who is +his “minister” from the rest of the world, but so as to separate the +twenty or thirty brown men that sit screaming in the one compartment from +the fifty or sixty brown women and children that scream and squeak in the +other. If you adopt the Arab life for the sake of seclusion you will be +horribly disappointed, for you will find yourself in perpetual contact +with a mass of hot fellow-creatures. It is true that all who are inmates +of the same tent are related to each other, but I am not quite sure that +that circumstance adds much to the charm of such a life. At all events, +before you finally determine to become an Arab try a gentle experiment. +Take one of those small, shabby houses in May Fair, and shut yourself up +in it with forty or fifty shrill cousins for a couple of weeks in July. + +In passing the Desert you will find your Arabs wanting to start and to +rest at all sorts of odd times. They like, for instance, to be off at +one in the morning, and to rest during the whole of the afternoon. You +must not give way to their wishes in this respect. I tried their plan +once, and found it very harassing and unwholesome. An ordinary tent can +give you very little protection against heat, for the fire strikes +fiercely through single canvas, and you soon find that whilst you lie +crouching and striving to hide yourself from the blazing face of the sun, +his power is harder to bear than it is where you boldly defy him from the +airy heights of your camel. + +It had been arranged with my Arabs that they were to bring with them all +the food which they would want for themselves during the passage of the +Desert, but as we rested at the end of the first day’s journey by the +side of an Arab encampment, my camel men found all that they required for +that night in the tents of their own brethren. On the evening of the +second day, however, just before we encamped for the night, my four Arabs +came to Dthemetri, and formally announced that they had not brought with +them one atom of food, and that they looked entirely to my supplies for +their daily bread. This was awkward intelligence. We were now just two +days deep in the Desert, and I had brought with me no more bread than +might be reasonably required for myself and my European attendants. I +believed at the moment (for it seemed likely enough) that the men had +really mistaken the terms of the arrangement, and feeling that the bore +of being put upon half-rations would be a less evil (and even to myself a +less inconvenience) than the starvation of my Arabs, I at once told +Dthemetri to assure them that my bread should be equally shared with all. +Dthemetri, however, did not approve of this concession; he assured me +quite positively that the Arabs thoroughly understood the agreement, and +that if they were now without food they had wilfully brought themselves +into this strait for the wretched purpose of bettering their bargain by +the value of a few paras’ worth of bread. This suggestion made me look +at the affair in a new light. I should have been glad enough to put up +with the slight privation to which my concession would subject me, and +could have borne to witness the semi-starvation of poor Dthemetri with a +fine, philosophical calm, but it seemed to me that the scheme, if scheme +it were, had something of audacity in it, and was well enough calculated +to try the extent of my softness. I well knew the danger of allowing +such a trial to result in a conclusion that I was one who might be easily +managed; and therefore, after thoroughly satisfying myself from +Dthemetri’s clear and repeated assertions that the Arabs had really +understood the arrangement, I determined that they should not now violate +it by taking advantage of my position in the midst of their big Desert, +so I desired Dthemetri to tell them that they should touch no bread of +mine. We stopped, and the tent was pitched. The Arabs came to me, and +prayed loudly for bread. I refused them. + +“Then we die!” + +“God’s will be done!” + +I gave the Arabs to understand that I regretted their perishing by +hunger, but that I should bear this calmly, like any other misfortune not +my own, that, in short, I was happily resigned to _their_ fate. The men +would have talked a great deal, but they were under the disadvantage of +addressing me through a hostile interpreter; they looked hard upon my +face, but they found no hope there; so at last they retired as they +pretended, to lay them down and die. + +In about ten minutes from this time I found that the Arabs were busily +cooking their bread! Their pretence of having brought no food was false, +and was only invented for the purpose of saving it. They had a good bag +of meal, which they had contrived to stow away under the baggage upon one +of the camels in such a way as to escape notice. In Europe the detection +of a scheme like this would have occasioned a disagreeable feeling +between the master and the delinquent, but you would no more recoil from +an Oriental on account of a matter of this sort, than in England you +would reject a horse that had tried, and failed, to throw you. Indeed, I +felt quite good-humouredly towards my Arabs, because they had so woefully +failed in their wretched attempt, and because, as it turned out, I had +done what was right. They too, poor fellows, evidently began to like me +immensely, on account of the hard-heartedness which had enabled me to +baffle their scheme. + +The Arabs adhere to those ancestral principles of bread-baking which have +been sanctioned by the experience of ages. The very first baker of bread +that ever lived must have done his work exactly as the Arab does at this +day. He takes some meal and holds it out in the hollow of his hands, +whilst his comrade pours over it a few drops of water; he then mashes up +the moistened flour into a paste, which he pulls into small pieces, and +thrusts into the embers. His way of baking exactly resembles the craft +or mystery of roasting chestnuts as practised by children; there is the +same prudence and circumspection in choosing a good berth for the morsel, +the same enterprise and self-sacrificing valour in pulling it out with +the fingers. + +The manner of my daily march was this. At about an hour before dawn I +rose and made the most of about a pint of water, which I allowed myself +for washing. Then I breakfasted upon tea and bread. As soon as the +beasts were loaded I mounted my camel and pressed forward. My poor +Arabs, being on foot, would sometimes moan with fatigue and pray for +rest; but I was anxious to enable them to perform their contract for +bringing me to Cairo within the stipulated time, and I did not therefore +allow a halt until the evening came. About midday, or soon after, +Mysseri used to bring up his camel alongside of mine, and supply me with +a piece of bread softened in water (for it was dried hard like board), +and also (as long as it lasted) with a piece of the tongue; after this +there came into my hand (how well I remember it) the little tin cup +half-filled with wine and water. + +As long as you are journeying in the interior of the Desert you have no +particular point to make for as your resting-place. The endless sands +yield nothing but small stunted shrubs; even these fail after the first +two or three days, and from that time you pass over broad plains, you +pass over newly-reared hills, you pass through valleys that the storm of +the last week has dug, and the hills and the valleys are sand, sand, +sand, still sand, and only sand, and sand and sand again. The earth is +so samely that your eyes turn towards heaven—towards heaven, I mean, in +the sense of sky. You look to the sun, for he is your task-master, and +by him you know the measure of the work that you have done, and the +measure of the work that remains for you to do. He comes when you strike +your tent in the early morning, and then, for the first hour of the day +as you move forward on your camel, he stands at your near side and makes +you know that the whole day’s toil is before you; then for a while, and a +long while, you see him no more, for you are veiled and shrouded, and +dare not look upon the greatness of his glory, but you know where he +strides overhead by the touch of his flaming sword. No words are spoken, +but your Arabs moan, your camels sigh, your skin glows, your shoulders +ache, and for sights you see the pattern and the web of the silk that +veils your eyes and the glare of the outer light. Time labours on; your +skin glows and your shoulders ache, your Arabs moan, your camels sigh, +and you see the same pattern in the silk, and the same glare of light +beyond, but conquering Time marches on, and by-and-by the descending sun +has compassed the heaven, and now softly touches your right arm, and +throws your lank shadow over the sand right along on the way to Persia. +Then again you look upon his face, for his power is all veiled in his +beauty, and the redness of flames has become the redness of roses; the +fair, wavy cloud that fled in the morning now comes to his sight once +more, comes blushing, yet still comes on, comes burning with blushes, yet +hastens and clings to his side. + +Then arrives your time for resting. The world about you is all your own, +and there, where you will, you pitch your solitary tent; there is no +living thing to dispute your choice. When at last the spot had been +fixed upon and we came to a halt, one of the Arabs would touch the chest +of my camel and utter at the same time a peculiar gurgling sound. The +beast instantly understood and obeyed the sign, and slowly sunk under me +till she brought her body to a level with the ground, then gladly enough +I alighted. The rest of the camels were unloaded and turned loose to +browse upon the shrubs of the desert, where shrubs there were, or where +these failed, to wait for the small quantity of food that was allowed +them out of our stores. + +My servants, helped by the Arabs, busied themselves in pitching the tent +and kindling the fire. Whilst this was doing I used to walk away towards +the east, confiding in the print of my foot as a guide for my return. +Apart from the cheering voices of my attendants I could better know and +feel the loneliness of the Desert. The influence of such scenes, +however, was not of a softening kind, but filled me rather with a sort of +childish exultation in the self-sufficiency which enabled me to stand +thus alone in the wideness of Asia—a short-lived pride, for wherever man +wanders he still remains tethered by the chain that links him to his +kind; and so when the night closed around me I began to return, to +return, as it were, to my own gate. Reaching at last some high ground I +could see, and see with delight, the fire of our small encampment, and +when at last I regained the spot it seemed to me a very home that had +sprung up for me in the midst of these solitudes. My Arabs were busy +with their bread; Mysseri rattling tea-cups; the little kettle, with her +odd old-maidish looks, sat humming away old songs about England; and two +or three yards from the fire my tent stood prim and tight, with open +portal, and with welcoming look, like “the old arm-chair” of our lyrist’s +“sweet Lady Anne.” + +At the beginning of my journey the night breeze blew coldly; when that +happened, the dry sand was heaped up outside round the skirts of the +tent, and so the wind, that everywhere else could sweep as he listed +along those dreary plains, was forced to turn aside in his course and +make way, as he ought, for the Englishman. Then within my tent there +were heaps of luxuries—dining-rooms, dressing-rooms, libraries, bedrooms, +drawing-rooms, oratories, all crowded into the space of a hearthrug. The +first night, I remember, with my books and maps about me, I wanted light; +they brought me a taper, and immediately from out of the silent Desert +there rushed in a flood of life unseen before. Monsters of moths, of all +shapes and hues, that never before perhaps had looked upon the shining of +a flame, now madly thronged into my tent, and dashed through the fire of +the candle till they fairly extinguished it with their burning limbs. +Those who had failed in attaining this martyrdom suddenly became serious, +and clung despondingly to the canvas. + +By-and-by there was brought to me the fragrant tea and big masses of +scorched and scorching toast, and the butter that had come all the way to +me in this Desert of Asia from out of that poor, dear, starving Ireland. +I feasted like a king, like four kings, like a boy in the fourth form. + +When the cold, sullen morning dawned, and my people began to load the +camels, I always felt loth to give back to the waste this little spot of +ground that had glowed for a while with the cheerfulness of a human +dwelling. One by one the cloaks, the saddles, the baggage, the hundred +things that strewed the ground and made it look so familiar—all these +were taken away and laid upon the camels. A speck in the broad tracts of +Asia remained still impressed with the mark of patent portmanteaus and +the heels of London boots; the embers of the fire lay black and cold upon +the sand, and these were the signs we left. + +My tent was spared to the last, but when all else was ready for the start +then came its fall; the pegs were drawn, the canvas shivered, and in less +than a minute there was nothing that remained of my genial home but only +a pole and a bundle. The encroaching Englishman was off, and instant +upon the fall of the canvas, like an owner who had waited and watched, +the genius of the Desert stalked in. + +To servants, as I suppose of any other Europeans not much accustomed to +amuse themselves by fancy or memory, it often happens that after a few +days journeying the loneliness of the Desert will become frightfully +oppressive. Upon my poor fellows the access of melancholy came heavy, +and all at once, as a blow from above; they bent their necks, and bore it +as best they could, but their joy was great on the fifth day when we came +to an oasis called Gatieh, for here we found encamped a caravan (that is, +an assemblage of travellers) from Cairo. The Orientals living in cities +never pass the Desert except in this way; many will wait for weeks, and +even for months, until a sufficient number of persons can be found ready +to undertake the journey at the same time—until the flock of sheep is big +enough to fancy itself a match for wolves. They could not, I think, +really secure themselves against any serious danger by this contrivance, +for though they have arms, they are so little accustomed to use them, and +so utterly unorganised, that they never could make good their resistance +to robbers of the slightest respectability. It is not of the Bedouins +that such travellers are afraid, for the safe conduct granted by the +chief of the ruling tribe is never, I believe, violated, but it is said +that there are deserters and scamps of various sorts who hover about the +skirts of the Desert, particularly on the Cairo side, and are anxious to +succeed to the property of any poor devils whom they may find more weak +and defenceless than themselves. + +These people from Cairo professed to be amazed at the ludicrous +disproportion between their numerical forces and mine. They could not +understand, and they wanted to know, by what strange privilege it is that +an Englishman with a brace of pistols and a couple of servants rides +safely across the Desert, whilst they, the natives of the neighbouring +cities, are forced to travel in troops, or rather in herds. One of them +got a few minutes of private conversation with Dthemetri, and ventured to +ask him anxiously whether the English did not travel under the protection +of evil demons. I had previously known (from Methley, I think, who had +travelled in Persia) that this notion, so conducive to the safety of our +countrymen, is generally prevalent amongst Orientals. It owes its +origin, partly to the strong wilfulness of the English gentleman (which +not being backed by any visible authority, either civil or military, +seems perfectly superhuman to the soft Asiatic), but partly too to the +magic of the banking system, by force of which the wealthy traveller will +make all his journeys without carrying a handful of coin, and yet when he +arrives at a city will rain down showers of gold. The theory is, that +the English traveller has committed some sin against God and his +conscience, and that for this the evil spirit has hold of him, and drives +him from his home like a victim of the old Grecian furies, and forces him +to travel over countries far and strange, and most chiefly over deserts +and desolate places, and to stand upon the sites of cities that once were +and are now no more, and to grope among the tombs of dead men. Often +enough there is something of truth in this notion; often enough the +wandering Englishman is guilty (if guilt it be) of some pride or +ambition, big or small, imperial or parochial, which being offended has +made the lone place more tolerable than ballrooms to him, a sinner. + +I can understand the sort of amazement of the Orientals at the scantiness +of the retinue with which an Englishman passes the Desert, for I was +somewhat struck myself when I saw one of my countrymen making his way +across the wilderness in this simple style. At first there was a mere +moving speck on the horizon. My party of course became all alive with +excitement, and there were many surmises. Soon it appeared that three +laden camels were approaching, and that two of them carried riders. In a +little while we saw that one of the riders wore the European dress, and +at last the travellers were pronounced to be an English gentleman and his +servant. By their side there were a couple, I think, of Arabs on foot, +and this was the whole party. + +You, you love sailing; in returning from a cruise to the English coast +you see often enough a fisherman’s humble boat far away from all shores, +with an ugly black sky above and an angry sea beneath. You watch the +grizzly old man at the helm carrying his craft with strange skill through +the turmoil of waters, and the boy, supple-limbed, yet weather-worn +already, and with steady eyes that look through the blast, you see him +understanding commandments from the jerk of his father’s white eyebrow, +now belaying and now letting go, now scrunching himself down into mere +ballast, or baling out death with a pipkin. Stale enough is the sight, +and yet when I see it I always stare anew, and with a kind of Titanic +exultation, because that a poor boat with the brain of a man and the +hands of a boy on board can match herself so bravely against black heaven +and ocean. Well, so when you have travelled for days and days over an +Eastern desert without meeting the likeness of a human being, and then at +last see an English shooting-jacket and his servant come listlessly +slouching along from out of the forward horizon, you stare at the wide +unproportion between this slender company and the boundless plains of +sand through which they are keeping their way. + +This Englishman, as I afterwards found, was a military man returning to +his country from India, and crossing the Desert at this part in order to +go through Palestine. As for me, I had come pretty straight from +England, and so here we met in the wilderness at about half-way from our +respective starting-points. As we approached each other it became with +me a question whether we should speak. I thought it likely that the +stranger would accost me, and in the event of his doing so I was quite +ready to be as sociable and chatty as I could be according to my nature; +but still I could not think of anything particular that I had to say to +him. Of course, among civilised people the not having anything to say is +no excuse at all for not speaking, but I was shy and indolent, and I felt +no great wish to stop and talk like a morning visitor in the midst of +those broad solitudes. The traveller perhaps felt as I did, for except +that we lifted our hands to our caps and waved our arms in courtesy, we +passed each other as if we had passed in Bond Street. Our attendants, +however, were not to be cheated of the delight that they felt in speaking +to new listeners and hearing fresh voices once more. The masters, +therefore, had no sooner passed each other than their respective servants +quietly stopped and entered into conversation. As soon as my camel found +that her companions were not following her she caught the social feeling +and refused to go on. I felt the absurdity of the situation, and +determined to accost the stranger if only to avoid the awkwardness of +remaining stuck fast in the Desert whilst our servants were amusing +themselves. When with this intent I turned round my camel I found that +the gallant officer who had passed me by about thirty or forty yards was +exactly in the same predicament as myself. I put my now willing camel in +motion and rode up towards the stranger, who seeing this followed my +example and came forward to meet me. He was the first to speak. He was +much too courteous to address me as if he admitted the possibility of my +wishing to accost him from any feeling of mere sociability or +civilian-like love of vain talk. On the contrary, he at once attributed +my advances to a laudable wish of acquiring statistical information, and +accordingly, when we got within speaking distance, he said, “I dare say +you wish to know how the plague is going on at Cairo?” And then he went +on to say, he regretted that his information did not enable him to give +me in numbers a perfectly accurate statement of the daily deaths. He +afterwards talked pleasantly enough upon other and less ghastly subjects. +I thought him manly and intelligent, a worthy one of the few thousand +strong Englishmen to whom the empire of India is committed. + +The night after the meeting with the people of the caravan, Dthemetri, +alarmed by their warnings, took upon himself to keep watch all night in +the tent. No robbers came except a jackal, that poked his nose into my +tent from some motive of rational curiosity. Dthemetri did not shoot him +for fear of waking me. These brutes swarm in every part of Syria, and +there were many of them even in the midst of the void sands, that would +seem to give such poor promise of food. I can hardly tell what prey they +could be hoping for, unless it were that they might find now and then the +carcass of some camel that had died on the journey. They do not marshal +themselves into great packs like the wild dogs of Eastern cities, but +follow their prey in families, like the place-hunters of Europe. Their +voices are frightfully like to the shouts and cries of human beings. If +you lie awake in your tent at night you are almost continually hearing +some hungry family as it sweeps along in full cry. You hear the exulting +scream with which the sagacious dam first winds the carrion, and the +shrill response of the unanimous cubs as they sniff the tainted air, +“Wha! wha! wha! wha! wha! wha! Whose gift is it in, mamma?” + +Once during this passage my Arabs lost their way among the hills of loose +sand that surrounded us, but after a while we were lucky enough to +recover our right line of march. The same day we fell in with a Sheik, +the head of a family, that actually dwells at no great distance from this +part of the Desert during nine months of the year. The man carried a +matchlock, of which he was very proud. We stopped and sat down and +rested awhile for the sake of a little talk. There was much that I +should have liked to ask this man, but he could not understand +Dthemetri’s language, and the process of getting at his knowledge by +double interpretation through my Arabs was unsatisfactory. I discovered, +however (and my Arabs knew of that fact), that this man and his family +lived habitually for nine months of the year without touching or seeing +either bread or water. The stunted shrub growing at intervals through +the sand in this part of the Desert enables the camel mares to yield a +little milk, which furnishes the sole food and drink of their owner and +his people. During the other three months (the hottest of the months, I +suppose) even this resource fails, and then the Sheik and his people are +forced to pass into another district. You would ask me why the man +should not remain always in that district which supplies him with water +during three months of the year, but I don’t know enough of Arab politics +to answer the question. The Sheik was not a good specimen of the effect +produced by the diet to which he is subjected. He was very small, very +spare, and sadly shrivelled, a poor, over-roasted snipe, a mere cinder of +a man. I made him sit down by my side, and gave him a piece of bread and +a cup of water from out of my goat-skins. This was not very tempting +drink to look at, for it had become turbid, and was deeply reddened by +some colouring matter contained in the skins, but it kept its sweetness, +and tasted like a strong decoction of russia leather. The Sheik sipped +this, drop by drop, with ineffable relish, and rolled his eyes solemnly +round between every draught, as though the drink were the drink of the +Prophet, and had come from the seventh heaven. + +An inquiry about distances led to the discovery that this Sheik had never +heard of the division of time into hours; my Arabs themselves, I think, +were rather surprised at this. + +About this part of my journey I saw the likeness of a fresh-water lake. +I saw, as it seemed, a broad sheet of calm water, that stretched far and +fair towards the south, stretching deep into winding creeks, and hemmed +in by jutting promontories, and shelving smooth off towards the shallow +side. On its bosom the reflected fire of the sun lay playing, and +seeming to float upon waters deep and still. + +Though I knew of the cheat, it was not till the spongy foot of my camel +had almost trodden in the seeming waters that I could undeceive my eyes, +for the shore-line was quite true and natural. I soon saw the cause of +the phantasm. A sheet of water heavily impregnated with salts had filled +this great hollow, and when dried up by evaporation had left a white +saline deposit, that exactly marked the space which the waters had +covered, and thus sketched a good shore-line. The minute crystals of the +salt sparkled in the sun, and so looked like the face of a lake that is +calm and smooth. + +The pace of the camel is irksome, and makes your shoulders and loins ache +from the peculiar way in which you are obliged to suit yourself to the +movements of the beast, but you soon of course become inured to this, and +after the first two days this way of travelling became so familiar to me, +that (poor sleeper as I am) I now and then slumbered for some moments +together on the back of my camel. On the fifth day of my journey the air +above lay dead, and all the whole earth that I could reach with my utmost +sight and keenest listening was still and lifeless as some dispeopled and +forgotten world that rolls round and round in the heavens through wasted +floods of light. The sun growing fiercer and fiercer shone down more +mightily now than ever on me he shone before, and as I dropped my head +under his fire, and closed my eyes against the glare that surrounded me, +I slowly fell asleep, for how many minutes or moments I cannot tell, but +after a while I was gently awakened by a peal of church bells, my native +bells, the innocent bells of Marlen, that never before sent forth their +music beyond the Blaygon hills! My first idea naturally was, that I +still remained fast under the power of a dream. I roused myself and drew +aside the silk that covered my eyes, and plunged my bare face into the +light. Then at least I was well enough wakened, but still those old +Marlen bells rung on, not ringing for joy, but properly, prosily, +steadily, merrily ringing “for church.” After a while the sound died +away slowly. It happened that neither I nor any of my party had a watch +by which to measure the exact time of its lasting, but it seemed to me +that about ten minutes had passed before the bells ceased. I attributed +the effect to the great heat of the sun, the perfect dryness of the clear +air through which I moved, and the deep stillness of all around me. It +seemed to me that these causes, by occasioning a great tension, and +consequent susceptibility, of the hearing organs had rendered them liable +to tingle under the passing touch of some mere memory that must have +swept across my brain in a moment of sleep. Since my return to England +it has been told me that like sounds have been heard at sea, and that the +sailor becalmed under a vertical sun in the midst of the wide ocean has +listened in trembling wonder to the chime of his own village bells. + +At this time I kept a poor shabby pretence of a journal, which just +enabled me to know the day of the month and the week according to the +European calendar, and when in my tent at night I got out my pocket-book +I found that the day was Sunday, and roughly allowing for the difference +of time in this longitude, I concluded that at the moment of my hearing +that strange peal the church-going bells of Marlen must have been +actually calling the prim congregation of the parish to morning prayer. +The coincidence amused me faintly, but I could not pluck up the least +hope that the effect which I had experienced was anything other than an +illusion, an illusion liable to be explained (as every illusion is in +these days) by some of the philosophers who guess at Nature’s riddles. +It would have been sweeter to believe that my kneeling mother by some +pious enchantment had asked, and found, this spell to rouse me from my +scandalous forgetfulness of God’s holy day, but my fancy was too weak to +carry a faith like that. Indeed, the vale through which the bells of +Marlen send their song is a highly respectable vale, and its people (save +one, two, or three) are wholly unaddicted to the practice of magical +arts. + +After the fifth day of my journey I no longer travelled over shifting +hills, but came upon a dead level, a dead level bed of sand, quite hard, +and studded with small shining pebbles. + +The heat grew fierce; there was no valley nor hollow, no hill, no mound, +no shadow of hill nor of mound, by which I could mark the way I was +making. Hour by hour I advanced, and saw no change—I was still the very +centre of a round horizon; hour by hour I advanced, and still there was +the same, and the same, and the same—the same circle of flaming sky—the +same circle of sand still glaring with light and fire. Over all the +heaven above, over all the earth beneath, there was no visible power that +could balk the fierce will of the sun: “he rejoiced as a strong man to +run a race; his going forth was from the end of the heaven, and his +circuit unto the ends of it; and there was nothing hid from the heat +thereof.” From pole to pole, and from the east to the west, he +brandished his fiery sceptre as though he had usurped all heaven and +earth. As he bid the soft Persian in ancient times, so now, and fiercely +too, he bid me bow down and worship him; so now in his pride he seemed to +command me, and say, “Thou shalt have none other gods but me.” I was all +alone before him. There were these two pitted together, and face to +face—the mighty sun for one, and for the other this poor, pale, solitary +self of mine, that I always carry about with me. + +But on the eighth day, and before I had yet turned away from Jehovah for +the glittering god of the Persians, there appeared a dark line upon the +edge of the forward horizon, and soon the line deepened into a delicate +fringe, that sparkled here and there as though it were sewn with +diamonds. There, then, before me were the gardens and the minarets of +Egypt and the mighty works of the Nile, and I (the eternal Ego that I +am!)—I had lived to see, and I saw them. + +When evening came I was still within the confines of the Desert, and my +tent was pitched as usual; but one of my Arabs stalked away rapidly +towards the west, without telling me of the errand on which he was bent. +After a while he returned; he had toiled on a graceful service; he had +travelled all the way on to the border of the living world, and brought +me back for token an ear of rice, full, fresh, and green. + +The next day I entered upon Egypt, and floated along (for the delight was +as the delight of bathing) through green wavy fields of rice, and +pastures fresh and plentiful, and dived into the cold verdure of groves +and gardens, and quenched my hot eyes in shade, as though in deep, +rushing waters. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII—CAIRO AND THE PLAGUE {30} + + +Cairo and plague! During the whole time of my stay the plague was so +master of the city, and showed itself so staringly in every street and +every alley, that I can’t now affect to dissociate the two ideas. + +When coming from the Desert I rode through a village which lies near to +the city on the eastern side, there approached me with busy face and +earnest gestures a personage in the Turkish dress. His long flowing +beard gave him rather a majestic look, but his briskness of manner, and +his visible anxiety to accost me, seemed strange in an Oriental. The man +in fact was French, or of French origin, and his object was to warn me of +the plague, and prevent me from entering the city. + +“Arrêtez-vous, monsieur, je vous en prie—arrêtez-vous; il ne faut pas +entrer dans la ville; la peste y règne partout.” + +“Oui, je sais, {31} mais—” + +“Mais monsieur, je dis la peste—la peste; c’est de LA PESTE, qu’il est +question.” + +“Oui, je sais, mais—” + +“Mais monsieur, je dis encore LA PESTE—LA PESTE. Je vous conjure de ne +pas entrer dans la ville—vous seriez dans une ville empestée.” + +“Oui, je sais, mais—” + +“Mais monsieur, je dois donc vous avertir tout bonnement que si vous +entrez dans la ville, vous serez—enfin vous serez COMPROMIS!” {32} + +“Oui, je sais, mais—” + +The Frenchman was at last convinced that it was vain to reason with a +mere Englishman, who could not understand what it was to be +“compromised.” I thanked him most sincerely for his kindly meant +warning; in hot countries it is very unusual indeed for a man to go out +in the glare of the sun and give free advice to a stranger. + +When I arrived at Cairo I summoned Osman Effendi, who was, as I knew, the +owner of several houses, and would be able to provide me with apartments. +He had no difficulty in doing this, for there was not one European +traveller in Cairo besides myself. Poor Osman! he met me with a +sorrowful countenance, for the fear of the plague sat heavily on his +soul. He seemed as if he felt that he was doing wrong in lending me a +resting-place, and he betrayed such a listlessness about temporal +matters, as one might look for in a man who believed that his days were +numbered. He caught me too soon after my arrival coming out from the +public baths, {33} and from that time forward he was sadly afraid of me, +for he shared the opinions of Europeans with respect to the effect of +contagion. + +Osman’s history is a curious one. He was a Scotchman born, and when very +young, being then a drummer-boy, he landed in Egypt with Fraser’s force. +He was taken prisoner, and according to Mahometan custom, the alternative +of death or the Koran was offered to him; he did not choose death, and +therefore went through the ceremonies which were necessary for turning +him into a good Mahometan. But what amused me most in his history was +this, that very soon after having embraced Islam he was obliged in +practice to become curious and discriminating in his new faith, to make +war upon Mahometan dissenters, and follow the orthodox standard of the +Prophet in fierce campaigns against the Wahabees, who are the Unitarians +of the Mussulman world. The Wahabees were crushed, and Osman returning +home in triumph from his holy wars, began to flourish in the world. He +acquired property, and became _effendi_, or gentleman. At the time of my +visit to Cairo he seemed to be much respected by his brother Mahometans, +and gave pledge of his sincere alienation from Christianity by keeping a +couple of wives. He affected the same sort of reserve in mentioning them +as is generally shown by Orientals. He invited me, indeed, to see his +harem, but he made both his wives bundle out before I was admitted. He +felt, as it seemed to me, that neither of them would bear criticism, and +I think that this idea, rather than any motive of sincere jealousy, +induced him to keep them out of sight. The rooms of the harem reminded +me of an English nursery rather than of a Mahometan paradise. One is apt +to judge of a woman before one sees her by the air of elegance or +coarseness with which she surrounds her home; I judged Osman’s wives by +this test, and condemned them both. But the strangest feature in Osman’s +character was his inextinguishable nationality. In vain they had brought +him over the seas in early boyhood; in vain had he suffered captivity, +conversion, circumcision; in vain they had passed him through fire in +their Arabian campaigns, they could not cut away or burn out poor Osman’s +inborn love of all that was Scotch; in vain men called him Effendi; in +vain he swept along in eastern robes; in vain the rival wives adorned his +harem: the joy of his heart still plainly lay in this, that he had three +shelves of books, and that the books were thoroughbred Scotch—the +Edinburgh this, the Edinburgh that, and above all, I recollect, he prided +himself upon the “Edinburgh Cabinet Library.” + +The fear of the plague is its forerunner. It is likely enough that at +the time of my seeing poor Osman the deadly taint was beginning to creep +through his veins, but it was not till after I had left Cairo that he was +visibly stricken. He died. + +As soon as I had seen all that I wanted to see in Cairo and in the +neighbourhood I wished to make my escape from a city that lay under the +terrible curse of the plague, but Mysseri fell ill, in consequence, I +believe, of the hardships which he had been suffering in my service. +After a while he recovered sufficiently to undertake a journey, but then +there was some difficulty in procuring beasts of burthen, and it was not +till the nineteenth day of my sojourn that I quitted the city. + +During all this time the power of the plague was rapidly increasing. +When I first arrived, it was said that the daily number of “accidents” by +plague, out of a population of about two hundred thousand, did not exceed +four or five hundred, but before I went away the deaths were reckoned at +twelve hundred a day. I had no means of knowing whether the numbers +(given out, as I believe they were, by officials) were at all correct, +but I could not help knowing that from day to day the number of the dead +was increasing. My quarters were in a street which was one of the chief +thoroughfares of the city. The funerals in Cairo take place between +daybreak and noon, and as I was generally in my rooms during this part of +the day, I could form some opinion as to the briskness of the plague. I +don’t mean this for a sly insinuation that I got up every morning with +the sun. It was not so; but the funerals of most people in decent +circumstances at Cairo are attended by singers and howlers, and the +performances of these people woke me in the early morning, and prevented +me from remaining in ignorance of what was going on in the street below. + +These funerals were very simply conducted. The bier was a shallow wooden +tray, carried upon a light and weak wooden frame. The tray had, in +general, no lid, but the body was more or less hidden from view by a +shawl or scarf. The whole was borne upon the shoulders of men, who +contrived to cut along with their burthen at a great pace. Two or three +singers generally preceded the bier; the howlers (who are paid for their +vocal labours) followed after, and last of all came such of the dead +man’s friends and relations as could keep up with such a rapid +procession; these, especially the women, would get terribly blown, and +would straggle back into the rear; many were fairly “beaten off.” I +never observed any appearance of mourning in the mourners: the pace was +too severe for any solemn affectation of grief. + +When first I arrived at Cairo the funerals that daily passed under my +windows were many, but still there were frequent and long intervals +without a single howl. Every day, however (except one, when I fancied +that I observed a diminution of funerals), these intervals became less +frequent and shorter, and at last, the passing of the howlers from morn +till noon was almost incessant. I believe that about one-half of the +whole people was carried off by this visitation. The Orientals, however, +have more quiet fortitude than Europeans under afflictions of this sort, +and they never allow the plague to interfere with their religious usages. +I rode one day round the great burial-ground. The tombs are strewed over +a great expanse, among the vast mountains of rubbish (the accumulations +of many centuries) which surround the city. The ground, unlike the +Turkish “cities of the dead,” which are made so beautiful by their dark +cypresses, has nothing to sweeten melancholy, nothing to mitigate the +odiousness of death. Carnivorous beasts and birds possess the place by +night, and now in the fair morning it was all alive with fresh +comers—alive with dead. Yet at this very time, when the plague was +raging so furiously, and on this very ground, which resounded so +mournfully with the howls of arriving funerals, preparations were going +on for the religious festival called the Kourban Bairam. Tents were +pitched, and _swings hung for the amusement of children_—a ghastly +holiday; but the Mahometans take a pride, and a just pride, in following +their ancient customs undisturbed by the shadow of death. + +I did not hear, whilst I was at Cairo, that any prayer for a remission of +the plague had been offered up in the mosques. I believe that however +frightful the ravages of the disease may be, the Mahometans refrain from +approaching Heaven with their complaints until the plague has endured for +a long space, and then at last they pray God, not that the plague may +cease, but that it may go to another city! + +A good Mussulman seems to take pride in repudiating the European notion +that the will of God can be eluded by eluding the touch of a sleeve. +When I went to see the pyramids of Sakkara I was the guest of a noble old +fellow, an Osmanlee, whose soft rolling language it was a luxury to hear +after suffering, as I had suffered of late, from the shrieking tongue of +the Arabs. This man was aware of the European ideas about contagion, and +his first care therefore was to assure me that not a single instance of +plague had occurred in his village. He then inquired as to the progress +of the plague at Cairo. I had but a bad account to give. Up to this +time my host had carefully refrained from touching me out of respect to +the European theory of contagion, but as soon as it was made plain that +he, and not I, would be the person endangered by contact, he gently laid +his hand upon my arm, in order to make me feel sure that the circumstance +of my coming from an infected city did not occasion him the least +uneasiness. In that touch there was true hospitality. + +Very different is the faith and the practice of the Europeans, or rather, +I mean of the Europeans settled in the East, and commonly called +Levantines. When I came to the end of my journey over the Desert I had +been so long alone, that the prospect of speaking to somebody at Cairo +seemed almost a new excitement. I felt a sort of consciousness that I +had a little of the wild beast about me, but I was quite in the humour to +be charmingly tame, and to be quite engaging in my manners, if I should +have an opportunity of holding communion with any of the human race +whilst at Cairo. I knew no one in the place, and had no letters of +introduction, but I carried letters of credit, and it often happens in +places remote from England that those “advices” operate as a sort of +introduction, and obtain for the bearer (if disposed to receive them) +such ordinary civilities as it may be in the power of the banker to +offer. + +Very soon after my arrival I went to the house of the Levantine to whom +my credentials were addressed. At his door several persons (all Arabs) +were hanging about and keeping guard. It was not till after some delay, +and the passing of some communications with those in the interior of the +citadel, that I was admitted. At length, however, I was conducted +through the court, and up a flight of stairs, and finally into the +apartment where business was transacted. The room was divided by an +excellent, substantial fence of iron bars, and behind this grille the +banker had his station. The truth was, that from fear of the plague he +had adopted the course usually taken by European residents, and had shut +himself up “in strict quarantine”—that is to say, that he had, as he +hoped, cut himself off from all communication with infecting substances. +The Europeans long resident in the East, without any, or with scarcely +any, exception are firmly convinced that the plague is propagated by +contact, and by contact only; that if they can but avoid the touch of an +infecting substance they are safe, and that if they cannot, they die. +This belief induces them to adopt the contrivance of putting themselves +in that state of siege which they call “quarantine.” It is a part of +their faith that metals, and hempen rope, and also, I fancy, one or two +other substances, will not carry the infection; and they likewise believe +that the germ of pestilence, which lies in an infected substance, may be +destroyed by submersion in water, or by the action of smoke. They +therefore guard the doors of their houses with the utmost care against +intrusion, and condemn themselves, with all the members of their family, +including any European servants, to a strict imprisonment within the +walls of their dwelling. Their native attendants are not allowed to +enter at all, but they make the necessary purchases of provisions, which +are hauled up through one of the windows by means of a rope, and are then +soaked in water. + +I knew nothing of these mysteries, and was not therefore prepared for the +sort of reception which I met with. I advanced to the iron fence, and +putting my letter between the bars, politely proffered it to Mr. Banker. +Mr. Banker received me with a sad and dejected look, and not “with open +arms,” or with any arms at all, but with—a pair of tongs! I placed my +letter between the iron fingers, which picked it up as if it were a +viper, and conveyed it away to be scorched and purified by fire and +smoke. I was disgusted at this reception, and at the idea that anything +of mine could carry infection to the poor wretch who stood on the other +side of the grille, pale and trembling, and already meet for death. I +looked with something of the Mahometan’s feeling upon these little +contrivances for eluding fate; and in this instance, at least, they were +vain. A few more days, and the poor money-changer, who had striven to +guard the days of his life (as though they were coins) with bolts and +bars of iron—he was seized by the plague, and he died. + +To people entertaining such opinions as these respecting the fatal effect +of contact, the narrow and crowded streets of Cairo were terrible as the +easy slope that leads to Avernus. The roaring ocean and the beetling +crags owe something of their sublimity to this—that if they be tempted, +they can take the warm life of a man. To the contagionist, filled as he +is with the dread of final causes, having no faith in destiny nor in the +fixed will of God, and with none of the devil-may-care indifference which +might stand him instead of creeds—to such one, every rag that shivers in +the breeze of a plague-stricken city has this sort of sublimity. If by +any terrible ordinance he be forced to venture forth, he sees death +dangling from every sleeve, and as he creeps forward, he poises his +shuddering limbs between the imminent jacket that is stabbing at his +right elbow and the murderous pelisse that threatens to mow him clean +down as it sweeps along on his left. But most of all, he dreads that +which most of all he should love—the touch of a woman’s dress; for +mothers and wives, hurrying forth on kindly errands from the bedsides of +the dying, go slouching along through the streets more wilfully and less +courteously than the men. For a while it may be that the caution of the +poor Levantine may enable him to avoid contact, but sooner or later +perhaps the dreaded chance arrives; that bundle of linen, with the dark +tearful eyes at the top of it, that labours along with the voluptuous +clumsiness of Grisi—she has touched the poor Levantine with the hem of +her sleeve! From that dread moment his peace is gone; his mind, for ever +hanging upon the fatal touch, invites the blow which he fears. He +watches for the symptoms of plague so carefully, that sooner or later +they come in truth. The parched mouth is a sign—his mouth is parched; +the throbbing brain—his brain _does_ throb; the rapid pulse—he touches +his own wrist (for he dares not ask counsel of any man lest he be +deserted), he touches his wrist, and feels how his frighted blood goes +galloping out of his heart; there is nothing but the fatal swelling that +is wanting to make his sad conviction complete; immediately he has an odd +feel under the arm—no pain, but a little straining of the skin; he would +to God it were his fancy that were strong enough to give him that +sensation. This is the worst of all; it now seems to him that he could +be happy and contented with his parched mouth and his throbbing brain and +his rapid pulse, if only he could know that there were no swelling under +the left arm; but dare he try?—In a moment of calmness and deliberation +he dares not, but when for a while he has writhed under the torture of +suspense, a sudden strength of will drives him to seek and know his fate. +He touches the gland, and finds the skin sane and sound, but under the +cuticle there lies a small lump like a pistol-bullet, that moves as he +pushes it. Oh! but is this for all certainty, is this the sentence of +death? Feel the gland of the other arm; there is not the same lump +exactly, yet something a little like it: have not some people glands +naturally enlarged?—would to Heaven he were one! So he does for himself +the work of the plague, and when the Angel of Death, thus courted, does +indeed and in truth come, he has only to finish that which has been so +well begun; he passes his fiery hand over the brain of the victim, and +lets him rave for a season, but all chance-wise, of people and things +once dear, or of people and things indifferent. Once more the poor +fellow is back at his home in fair Provence, and sees the sun-dial that +stood in his childhood’s garden; sees part of his mother, and the +long-since-forgotten face of that little dead sister (he sees her, he +says, on a Sunday morning, for all the church bells are ringing); he +looks up and down through the universe, and owns it well piled with bales +upon bales of cotton, and cotton eternal—so much so that he feels, he +knows, he swears he could make that winning hazard, if the billiard table +would not slant upwards, and if the cue were a cue worth playing with; +but it is not—it’s a cue that won’t move—his own arm won’t move—in short, +there’s the devil to pay in the brain of the poor Levantine, and perhaps +the next night but one he becomes the “life and the soul” of some +squalling jackal family who fish him out by the foot from his shallow and +sandy grave. + +Better fate was mine. By some happy perverseness (occasioned perhaps by +my disgust at the notion of being received with a pair of tongs) I took +it into my pleasant head that all the European notions about contagion +were thoroughly unfounded; that the plague might be providential or +“epidemic” (as they phrase it), but was not contagious; and that I could +not be killed by the touch of a woman’s sleeve, nor yet by her blessed +breath. I therefore determined that the plague should not alter my +habits and amusements in any one respect. Though I came to this resolve +from impulse, I think that I took the course which was in effect the most +prudent, for the cheerfulness of spirits which I was thus enabled to +retain discouraged the yellow-winged angel, and prevented him from taking +a shot at me. I, however, so far respected the opinion of the Europeans, +that I avoided touching when I could do so without privation or +inconvenience. This endeavour furnished me with a sort of amusement as I +passed through the streets. The usual mode of moving from place to place +in the city of Cairo is upon donkeys, of which great numbers are always +in readiness, with donkey-boys attached. I had two who constantly (until +one of them died of the plague) waited at my door upon the chance of +being wanted. I found this way of moving about exceedingly pleasant, and +never attempted any other. I had only to mount my beast, and tell my +donkey-boy the point for which I was bound, and instantly I began to +glide on at a capital pace. The streets of Cairo are not paved in any +way, but strewed with a dry sandy soil, so deadening to sound, that the +footfall of my donkey could scarcely be heard. There is no _trottoir_, +and as you ride through the streets you mingle with the people on foot. +Those who are in your way, upon being warned by the shouts of the +donkey-boy, move very slightly aside, so as to leave you a narrow lane, +through which you pass at a gallop. In this way you glide on +delightfully in the very midst of crowds, without being inconvenienced or +stopped for a moment. It seems to you that it is not the donkey but the +donkey-boy who wafts you on with his shouts through pleasant groups, and +air that feels thick with the fragrance of burial spice. “Eh! Sheik, +Eh! Bint,—reggalek,—“shumalek, &c. &c.—O old man, O virgin, get out of +the way on the right—O virgin, O old man, get out of the way on the +left—this Englishman comes, he comes, he comes!” The narrow alley which +these shouts cleared for my passage made it possible, though difficult, +to go on for a long way without touching a single person, and my +endeavours to avoid such contact were a sort of game for me in my +loneliness, which was not without interest. If I got through a street +without being touched, I won; if I was touched, I lost—lost a deuce of +stake, according to the theory of the Europeans; but that I deemed to be +all nonsense—I only lost that game, and would certainly win the next. + +There is not much in the way of public buildings to admire at Cairo, but +I saw one handsome mosque, to which an instructive history is attached. +A Hindustanee merchant having amassed an immense fortune settled in +Cairo, and soon found that his riches in the then state of the political +world gave him vast power in the city—power, however, the exercise of +which was much restrained by the counteracting influence of other wealthy +men. With a view to extinguish every attempt at rivalry the Hindustanee +merchant built this magnificent mosque at his own expense. When the work +was complete, he invited all the leading men of the city to join him in +prayer within the walls of the newly built temple, and he then caused to +be massacred all those who were sufficiently influential to cause him any +jealousy or uneasiness—in short, all “the respectable men” of the place; +after this he possessed undisputed power in the city and was greatly +revered—he is revered to this day. It seemed to me that there was a +touching simplicity in the mode which this man so successfully adopted +for gaining the confidence and goodwill of his fellow-citizens. There +seems to be some improbability in the story (though not nearly so gross +as it might appear to an European ignorant of the East, for witness +Mehemet Ali’s destruction of the Mamelukes, a closely similar act, and +attended with the like brilliant success {34}), but even if the story be +false as a mere fact, it is perfectly true as an illustration—it is a +true exposition of the means by which the respect and affection of +Orientals may be conciliated. + +I ascended one day to the citadel, which commands a superb view of the +town. The fanciful and elaborate gilt-work of the many minarets gives a +light and florid grace to the city as seen from this height, but before +you can look for many seconds at such things your eyes are drawn +westward—drawn westward and over the Nile, till they rest upon the +massive enormities of the Ghizeh Pyramids. + +I saw within the fortress many yoke of men all haggard and woebegone, and +a kennel of very fine lions well fed and flourishing: I say _yoke_ of +men, for the poor fellows were working together in bonds; I say a +_kennel_ of lions, for the beasts were not enclosed in cages, but simply +chained up like dogs. + +I went round the bazaars: it seemed to me that pipes and arms were +cheaper here than at Constantinople, and I should advise you therefore if +you go to both places to prefer the market of Cairo. I had previously +bought several of such things at Constantinople, and did not choose to +encumber myself, or to speak more honestly, I did not choose to +disencumber my purse by making any more purchases. In the open +slave-market I saw about fifty girls exposed for sale, but all of them +black, or “invisible” brown. A slave agent took me to some rooms in the +upper storey of the building, and also into several obscure houses in the +neighbourhood, with a view to show me some white women. The owners +raised various objections to the display of their ware, and well they +might, for I had not the least notion of purchasing; some refused on +account of the illegality of the proceeding, {35} and others declared +that all transactions of this sort were completely out of the question as +long as the plague was raging. I only succeeded in seeing one white +slave who was for sale but on this one the owner affected to set an +immense value, and raised my expectations to a high pitch by saying that +the girl was Circassian, and was “fair as the full moon.” After a good +deal of delay I was at last led into a room, at the farther end of which +was that mass of white linen which indicates an Eastern woman. She was +bid to uncover her face, and I presently saw that, though very far from +being good looking, according to my notion of beauty, she had not been +inaptly described by the man who compared her to the full moon, for her +large face was perfectly round and perfectly white. Though very young, +she was nevertheless extremely fat. She gave me the idea of having been +got up for sale, of having been fattened and whitened by medicines or by +some peculiar diet. I was firmly determined not to see any more of her +than the face. She was perhaps disgusted at this my virtuous resolve, as +well as with my personal appearance; perhaps she saw my distaste and +disappointment; perhaps she wished to gain favour with her owner by +showing her attachment to his faith: at all events, she holloaed out very +lustily and very decidedly that “she would not be bought by the infidel.” + +Whilst I remained at Cairo I thought it worth while to see something of +the magicians, because I considered that these men were in some sort the +descendants of those who contended so stoutly against the superior power +of Aaron. I therefore sent for an old man who was held to be the chief +of the magicians, and desired him to show me the wonders of his art. The +old man looked and dressed his character exceedingly well; the vast +turban, the flowing beard, and the ample robes were all that one could +wish in the way of appearance. The first experiment (a very stale one) +which he attempted to perform for me was that of showing the forms and +faces of my absent friends, not to me, but to a boy brought in from the +streets for the purpose, and said to be chosen at random. A _mangale_ +(pan of burning charcoal) was brought into my room, and the magician +bending over it, sprinkled upon the fire some substances which must have +consisted partly of spices or sweetly burning woods, for immediately a +fragrant smoke arose that curled around the bending form of the wizard, +the while that he pronounced his first incantations. When these were +over the boy was made to sit down, and a common green shade was bound +over his brow; then the wizard took ink, and still continuing his +incantations, wrote certain mysterious figures upon the boy’s palm, and +directed him to rivet his attention to these marks without looking aside +for an instant. Again the incantations proceeded, and after a while the +boy, being seemingly a little agitated, was asked whether he saw anything +on the palm of his hand. He declared that he saw a kind of military +procession, with flags and banners, which he described rather minutely. +I was then called upon to name the absent person whose form was to be +made visible. I named Keate. You were not at Eton, and I must tell you, +therefore, what manner of man it was that I named, though I think you +must have some idea of him already, for wherever from utmost Canada to +Bundelcund—wherever there was the whitewashed wall of an officer’s room, +or of any other apartment in which English gentlemen are forced to kick +their heels, there likely enough (in the days of his reign) the head of +Keate would be seen scratched or drawn with those various degrees of +skill which one observes in the representations of saints. Anybody +without the least notion of drawing could still draw a speaking, nay +scolding, likeness of Keate. If you had no pencil, you could draw him +well enough with a poker, or the leg of a chair, or the smoke of a +candle. He was little more (if more at all) than five feet in height, +and was not very great in girth, but in this space was concentrated the +pluck of ten battalions. He had a really noble voice, which he could +modulate with great skill, but he had also the power of quacking like an +angry duck, and he almost always adopted this mode of communication in +order to inspire respect. He was a capital scholar, but his ingenuous +learning had _not_ “softened his manners” and _had_ “permitted them to be +fierce”—tremendously fierce; he had the most complete command over his +temper—I mean over his _good_ temper, which he scarcely ever allowed to +appear: you could not put him out of humour—that is, out of the +_ill_-humour which he thought to be fitting for a head-master. His red +shaggy eyebrows were so prominent, that he habitually used them as arms +and hands for the purpose of pointing out any object towards which he +wished to direct attention; the rest of his features were equally +striking in their way, and were all and all his own; he wore a fancy +dress partly resembling the costume of Napoleon, and partly that of a +widow-woman. I could not by any possibility have named anybody more +decidedly differing in appearance from the rest of the human race. + +“Whom do you name?”—“I name John Keate.”—“Now, what do you see?” said the +wizard to the boy.—“I see,” answered the boy, “I see a fair girl with +golden hair, blue eyes, pallid face, rosy lips.” _There_ was a shot! I +shouted out my laughter to the horror of the wizard, who perceiving the +grossness of his failure, declared that the boy must have known sin (for +none but the innocent can see truth), and accordingly kicked him +downstairs. + +One or two other boys were tried, but none could “see truth”; they all +made sadly “bad shots.” + +Notwithstanding the failure of these experiments, I wished to see what +sort of mummery my magician would practise if I called upon him to show +me some performances of a higher order than those which had been +attempted. I therefore entered into a treaty with him, in virtue of +which he was to descend with me into the tombs near the Pyramids, and +there evoke the devil. The negotiation lasted some time, for Dthemetri, +as in duty bound, tried to beat down the wizard as much as he could, and +the wizard, on his part, manfully stuck up for his price, declaring that +to raise the devil was really no joke, and insinuating that to do so was +an awesome crime. I let Dthemetri have his way in the negotiation, but I +felt in reality very indifferent about the sum to be paid, and for this +reason, namely, that the payment (except a very small present which I +might make or not, as I chose) was to be _contingent on success_. At +length the bargain was made, and it was arranged that after a few days, +to be allowed for preparation, the wizard should raise the devil for two +pounds ten, play or pay—no devil, no piastres. + +The wizard failed to keep his appointment. I sent to know why the deuce +he had not come to raise the devil. The truth was, that my Mahomet had +gone to the mountain. The plague had seized him, and he died. + +Although the plague had now spread terrible havoc around me, I did not +see very plainly any corresponding change in the looks of the streets +until the seventh day after my arrival. I then first observed that the +city was _silenced_. There were no outward signs of despair nor of +violent terror, but many of the voices that had swelled the busy hum of +men were already hushed in death, and the survivors, so used to scream +and screech in their earnestness whenever they bought or sold, now showed +an unwonted indifference about the affairs of this world: it was less +worth while for men to haggle and haggle, and crack the sky with noisy +bargains, when the great commander was there, who could “pay all their +debts with the roll of his drum.” + +At this time I was informed that of twenty-five thousand people at +Alexandria, twelve thousand had died already; the destroyer had come +rather later to Cairo, but there was nothing of weariness in his strides. +The deaths came faster than ever they befell in the plague of London; but +the calmness of Orientals under such visitations, and the habit of using +biers for interment, instead of burying coffins along with the bodies, +rendered it practicable to dispose of the dead in the usual way, without +shocking the people by any unaccustomed spectacle of horror. There was +no tumbling of bodies into carts, as in the plague of Florence and the +plague of London. Every man, according to his station, was properly +buried, and that in the usual way, except that he went to his grave in a +more hurried pace than might have been adopted under ordinary +circumstances. + +The funerals which poured through the streets were not the only public +evidence of deaths. In Cairo this custom prevails: At the instant of a +man’s death (if his property is sufficient to justify the expense) +professional howlers are employed. I believe that these persons are +brought near to the dying man when his end appears to be approaching, and +the moment that life is gone they lift up their voices and send forth a +loud wail from the chamber of death. Thus I knew when my near neighbours +died; sometimes the howls were near, sometimes more distant. Once I was +awakened in the night by the wail of death in the next house, and another +time by a like howl from the house opposite; and there were two or three +minutes, I recollect, during which the howl seemed to be actually running +along the street. + +I happened to be rather teased at this time by a sore throat, and I +thought it would be well to get it cured if I could before I again +started on my travels. I therefore inquired for a Frank doctor, and was +informed that the only one then at Cairo was a young Bolognese refugee, +who was so poor that he had not been able to take flight, as the other +medical men had done. At such a time as this it was out of the question +to send for an European physician; a person thus summoned would be sure +to suppose that the patient was ill of the plague, and would decline to +come. I therefore rode to the young doctor’s residence. After +experiencing some little difficulty in finding where to look for him, I +ascended a flight or two of stairs and knocked at his door. No one came +immediately, but after some little delay the medico himself opened the +door, and admitted me. I of course made him understand that I had come +to consult him, but before entering upon my throat grievance I accepted a +chair, and exchanged a sentence or two of commonplace conversation. Now +the natural commonplace of the city at this season was of a gloomy sort, +“Come va la peste?” (how goes the plague?) and this was precisely the +question I put. A deep sigh, and the words, “Sette cento per giorno, +signor” (seven hundred a day), pronounced in a tone of the deepest +sadness and dejection, were the answer I received. The day was not +oppressively hot, yet I saw that the doctor was perspiring profusely, and +even the outside surface of the thick shawl dressing-gown, in which he +had wrapped himself, appeared to be moist. He was a handsome, +pleasant-looking young fellow, but the deep melancholy of his tone did +not tempt me to prolong the conversation, and without further delay I +requested that my throat might be looked at. The medico held my chin in +the usual way, and examined my throat. He then wrote me a prescription, +and almost immediately afterwards I bade him farewell, but as he +conducted me towards the door I observed an expression of strange and +unhappy watchfulness in his rolling eyes. It was not the next day, but +the next day but one, if I rightly remember, that I sent to request +another interview with my doctor. In due time Dthemetri, who was my +messenger, returned, looking sadly aghast—he had “_met_ the medico,” for +so he phrased it, “coming out from his house—in a bier!” + +It was of course plain that when the poor Bolognese was looking at my +throat, and almost mingling his breath with mine, he was stricken of the +plague. I suppose that the violent sweat in which I found him had been +produced by some medicine, which he must have taken in the hope of curing +himself. The peculiar rolling of the eyes which I had remarked is, I +believe, to experienced observers, a pretty sure test of the plague. A +Russian acquaintance, of mine, speaking from the information of men who +had made the Turkish campaigns of 1828 and 1829, told me that by this +sign the officers of Sabalkansky’s force were able to make out the +plague-stricken soldiers with a good deal of certainty. + +It so happened that most of the people with whom I had anything to do +during my stay at Cairo were seized with plague, and all these died. +Since I had been for a long time _en route_ before I reached Egypt, and +was about to start again for another long journey over the Desert, there +were of course many little matters touching my wardrobe and my travelling +equipments which required to be attended to whilst I remained in the +city. It happened so many times that Dthemetri’s orders in respect to +these matters were frustrated by the deaths of the tradespeople and +others whom he employed, that at last I became quite accustomed to the +peculiar manner which he assumed when he prepared to announce a new death +to me. The poor fellow naturally supposed that I should feel some +uneasiness at hearing of the “accidents” which happened to persons +employed by me, and he therefore communicated their deaths as though they +were the deaths of friends. He would cast down his eyes and look like a +man abashed, and then gently, and with a mournful gesture, allow the +words, “Morto, signor,” to come through his lips. I don’t know how many +of such instances occurred, but they were several, and besides these (as +I told you before), my banker, my doctor, my landlord, and my magician +all died of the plague. A lad who acted as a helper in the house which I +occupied lost a brother and a sister within a few hours. Out of my two +established donkey-boys, one died. I did not hear of any instance in +which a plague-stricken patient had recovered. + +Going out one morning I met unexpectedly the scorching breath of the +kamsin wind, and fearing that I should faint under the horrible +sensations which it caused, I returned to my rooms. Reflecting, however, +that I might have to encounter this wind in the Desert, where there would +be no possibility of avoiding it, I thought it would be better to brave +it once more in the city, and to try whether I could really bear it or +not. I therefore mounted my ass and rode to old Cairo, and along the +gardens by the banks of the Nile. The wind was hot to the touch, as +though it came from a furnace. It blew strongly, but yet with such +perfect steadiness, that the trees bending under its force remained fixed +in the same curves without perceptibly waving. The whole sky was +obscured by a veil of yellowish grey, that shut out the face of the sun. +The streets were utterly silent, being indeed almost entirely deserted; +and not without cause, for the scorching blast, whilst it fevers the +blood, closes up the pores of the skin, and is terribly distressing, +therefore, to every animal that encounters it. I returned to my rooms +dreadfully ill. My head ached with a burning pain, and my pulse bounded +quick and fitfully, but perhaps (as in the instance of the poor +Levantine, whose death I was mentioning), the fear and excitement which I +felt in trying my own wrist may have made my blood flutter the faster. + +It is a thoroughly well believed theory, that during the continuance of +the plague you can’t be ill of any other febrile malady—an unpleasant +privilege that! for ill I was, and ill of fever, and I anxiously wished +that the ailment might turn out to be anything rather than plague. I had +some right to surmise that my illness may have been merely the effect of +the hot wind; and this notion was encouraged by the elasticity of my +spirits, and by a strong forefeeling that much of my destined life in +this world was yet to come, and yet to be fulfilled. That was my +instinctive belief, but when I carefully weighed the probabilities on the +one side and on the other, I could not help seeing that the strength of +argument was all against me. There was a strong antecedent likelihood in +_favour_ of my being struck by the same blow as the rest of the people +who had been dying around me. Besides, it occurred to me that, after +all, the universal opinion of the Europeans upon a medical question, such +as that of contagion, might probably be correct, and _if it were_, I was +so thoroughly “compromised,” and especially by the touch and breath of +the dying medico, that I had no right to expect any other fate than that +which now seemed to have overtaken me. Balancing as well as I could all +the considerations which hope and fear suggested, I slowly and +reluctantly came to the conclusion that, according to all merely +reasonable probability, the plague had come upon me. + +You would suppose that this conviction would have induced me to write a +few farewell lines to those who were dearest, and that having done that, +I should have turned my thoughts towards the world to come. Such, +however, was not the case. I believe that the prospect of death often +brings with it strong anxieties about matters of comparatively trivial +import, and certainly with me the whole energy of the mind was directed +towards the one petty object of concealing my illness until the latest +possible moment—until the delirious stage. I did not believe that either +Mysseri or Dthemetri, who had served me so faithfully in all trials, +would have deserted me (as most Europeans are wont to do) when they knew +that I was stricken by plague, but I shrank from the idea of putting them +to this test, and I dreaded the consternation which the knowledge of my +illness would be sure to occasion. + +I was very ill indeed at the moment when my dinner was served, and my +soul sickened at the sight of the food; but I had luckily the habit of +dispensing with the attendance of servants during my meal, and as soon as +I was left alone I made a melancholy calculation of the quantity of food +which I should have eaten if I had been in my usual health, and filled my +plates accordingly, and gave myself salt, and so on, as though I were +going to dine. I then transferred the viands to a piece of the +omnipresent Times newspaper, and hid them away in a cupboard, for it was +not yet night, and I dared not throw the food into the street until +darkness came. I did not at all relish this process of fictitious +dining, but at length the cloth was removed, and I gladly reclined on my +divan (I would not lie down) with the “Arabian Nights” in my hand. + +I had a feeling that tea would be a capital thing for me, but I would not +order it until the usual hour. When at last the time came, I drank deep +draughts from the fragrant cup. The effect was almost instantaneous. A +plenteous sweat burst through my skin, and watered my clothes through and +through. I kept myself thickly covered. The hot tormenting weight which +had been loading my brain was slowly heaved away. The fever was +extinguished. I felt a new buoyancy of spirits, and an unusual activity +of mind. I went into my bed under a load of thick covering, and when the +morning came, and I asked myself how I was, I found that I was thoroughly +well. + +I was very anxious to procure, if possible, some medical advice for +Mysseri, whose illness prevented my departure. Every one of the European +practising doctors, of whom there had been many, had either died or fled. +It was said, however, that there was an Englishman in the medical service +of the Pasha who quietly remained at his post, but that he never engaged +in private practice. I determined to try if I could obtain assistance in +this quarter. I did not venture at first, and at such a time as this, to +ask him to visit a servant who was prostrate on the bed of sickness, but +thinking that I might thus gain an opportunity of persuading him to +attend Mysseri, I wrote a note mentioning my own affair of the sore +throat, and asking for the benefit of his medical advice. He instantly +followed back my messenger, and was at once shown up into my room. I +entreated him to stand off, telling him fairly how deeply I was +“compromised,” and especially by my contact with a person actually ill +and since dead of plague. The generous fellow, with a good-humoured +laugh at the terrors of the contagionists, marched straight up to me, and +forcibly seized my hand, and shook it with manly violence. I felt +grateful indeed, and swelled with fresh pride of race because that my +countryman could carry himself so nobly. He soon cured Mysseri as well +as me, and all this he did from no other motives than the pleasure of +doing a kindness and the delight of braving a danger. + +At length the great difficulty {36} which I had had in procuring beasts +for my departure was overcome, and now, too, I was to have the new +excitement of travelling on dromedaries. With two of these beasts and +three camels I gladly wound my way from out of the pest-stricken city. +As I passed through the streets I observed a fanatical-looking elder, who +stretched forth his arms, and lifted up his voice in a speech which +seemed to have some reference to me. Requiring an interpretation, I +found that the man had said, “The Pasha seeks camels, and he finds them +not; the Englishman says, ‘Let camels be brought,’ and behold, there they +are!” + +I no sooner breathed the free, wholesome air of the Desert than I felt +that a great burden which I had been scarcely conscious of bearing was +lifted away from my mind. For nearly three weeks I had lived under peril +of death; the peril ceased, and not till then did I know how much alarm +and anxiety I had really been suffering. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX—THE PYRAMIDS + + +I went to see and to explore the Pyramids. + +Familiar to one from the days of early childhood are the forms of the +Egyptian Pyramids, and now, as I approached them from the banks of the +Nile, I had no print, no picture before me, and yet the old shapes were +there; there was no change; they were just as I had always known them. I +straightened myself in my stirrups, and strived to persuade my +understanding that this was real Egypt, and that those angles which stood +up between me and the West were of harder stuff, and more ancient than +the paper pyramids of the green portfolio. Yet it was not till I came to +the base of the great Pyramid that reality began to weigh upon my mind. +Strange to say, the bigness of the distinct blocks of stones was the +first sign by which I attained to feel the immensity of the whole pile. +When I came, and trod, and touched with my hands, and climbed, in order +that by climbing I might come to the top of one single stone, then, and +almost suddenly, a cold sense and understanding of the Pyramid’s enormity +came down, overcasting my brain. + +Now try to endure this homely, sick-nursish illustration of the effect +produced upon one’s mind by the mere vastness of the great Pyramid. When +I was very young (between the ages, I believe, of three and five years +old), being then of delicate health, I was often in time of night the +victim of a strange kind of mental oppression. I lay in my bed perfectly +conscious, and with open eyes, but without power to speak or to move, and +all the while my brain was oppressed to distraction by the presence of a +single and abstract idea, the idea of solid immensity. It seemed to me +in my agonies that the horror of this visitation arose from its coming +upon me without form or shape, that the close presence of the direst +monster ever bred in hell would have been a thousand times more tolerable +than that simple idea of solid size. My aching mind was fixed and +riveted down upon the mere quality of vastness, vastness, vastness, and +was not permitted to invest with it any particular object. If I could +have done so, the torment would have ceased. When at last I was roused +from this state of suffering, I could not of course in those days +(knowing no verbal metaphysics, and no metaphysics at all, except by the +dreadful experience of an abstract idea)—I could not of course find words +to describe the nature of my sensations, and even now I cannot explain +why it is that the forced contemplation of a mere quality, distinct from +matter, should be so terrible. Well, now my eyes saw and knew, and my +hands and my feet informed my understanding that there was nothing at all +abstract about the great Pyramid—it was a big triangle, sufficiently +concrete, easy to see, and rough to the touch; it could not, of course, +affect me with the peculiar sensation which I have been talking of, but +yet there was something akin to that old nightmare agony in the terrible +completeness with which a mere mass of masonry could fill and load my +mind. + +And Time too; the remoteness of its origin, no less than the enormity of +its proportions, screens an Egyptian Pyramid from the easy and familiar +contact of our modern minds; at its base the common earth ends, and all +above is a world—one not created of God, not seeming to be made by men’s +hands, but rather the sheer giant-work of some old dismal age weighing +down this younger planet. + +Fine sayings! but the truth seems to be after all, that the Pyramids are +quite of this world; that they were piled up into the air for the +realisation of some kingly crotchets about immortality, some priestly +longing for burial fees; and that as for the building, they were built +like coral rocks by swarms of insects—by swarms of poor Egyptians, who +were not only the abject tools and slaves of power, but who also ate +onions for the reward of their immortal labours! {37} The Pyramids are +quite of this world. + +I of course ascended to the summit of the great Pyramid, and also +explored its chambers, but these I need not describe. The first time +that I went to the Pyramids of Ghizeh there were a number of Arabs +hanging about in its neighbourhood, and wanting to receive presents on +various pretences; their Sheik was with them. There was also present an +ill-looking fellow in soldier’s uniform. This man on my departure +claimed a reward, on the ground that he had maintained order and decorum +amongst the Arabs. His claim was not considered valid by my dragoman, +and was rejected accordingly. My donkey-boys afterwards said they had +overhead this fellow propose to the Sheik to put me to death whilst I was +in the interior of the great Pyramid, and to share with him the booty. +Fancy a struggle for life in one of those burial chambers, with acres and +acres of solid masonry between one’s self and the daylight! I felt +exceedingly glad that I had not made the rascal a present. + +I visited the very ancient Pyramids of Aboukir and Sakkara. There are +many of these, and of various shapes and sizes, and it struck me that, +taken together, they might be considered as showing the progress and +perfection (such as it is) of pyramidical architecture. One of the +Pyramids at Sakkara is almost a rival for the full-grown monster at +Ghizeh; others are scarcely more than vast heaps of brick and stone: +these last suggested to me the idea that after all the Pyramid is nothing +more nor less than a variety of the sepulchral mound so common in most +countries (including, I believe, Hindustan, from whence the Egyptians are +supposed to have come). Men accustomed to raise these structures for +their dead kings or conquerors would carry the usage with them in their +migrations, but arriving in Egypt, and seeing the impossibility of +finding earth sufficiently tenacious for a mound, they would approximate +as nearly as might be to their ancient custom by raising up a round heap +of stones—in short, conical pyramids. Of these there are several at +Sakkara, and the materials of some are thrown together without any order +or regularity. The transition from this simple form to that of the +square angular pyramid was easy and natural, and it seemed to me that the +gradations through which the style passed from infancy up to its mature +enormity could plainly be traced at Sakkara. + + + + +CHAPTER XX—THE SPHINX + + +And near the Pyramids more wondrous and more awful than all else in the +land of Egypt, there sits the lonely Sphinx. Comely the creature is, but +the comeliness is not of this world. The once worshipped beast is a +deformity and a monster to this generation; and yet you can see that +those lips, so thick and heavy, were fashioned according to some ancient +mould of beauty—some mould of beauty now forgotten—forgotten because that +Greece drew forth Cytherea from the flashing foam of the Ægean, and in +her image created new forms of beauty, and made it a law among men that +the short and proudly wreathed lip should stand for the sign and the main +condition of loveliness through all generations to come. Yet still there +lives on the race of those who were beautiful in the fashion of the elder +world, and Christian girls of Coptic blood will look on you with the sad, +serious gaze, and kiss you your charitable hand with the big pouting lips +of the very Sphinx. + +Laugh and mock if you will at the worship of stone idols, but mark ye +this, ye breakers of images, that in one regard the stone idol bears +awful semblance of Deity—unchangefulness in the midst of change; the same +seeming will, and intent for ever, and ever inexorable! Upon ancient +dynasties of Ethiopian and Egyptian kings; upon Greek, and Roman; upon +Arab and Ottoman conquerors; upon Napoleon dreaming of an Eastern Empire; +upon battle and pestilence; upon the ceaseless misery of the Egyptian +race; upon keen-eyed travellers—Herodotus yesterday, and Warburton +to-day: upon all and more, this unworldly Sphinx has watched, and watched +like a Providence with the same earnest eyes, and the same sad, tranquil +mien. And we, we shall die, and Islam will wither away, and the +Englishman, leaning far over to hold his loved India, will plant a firm +foot on the banks of the Nile, and sit in the seats of the Faithful, and +still that sleepless rock will lie watching, and watching the works of +the new, busy race with those same sad, earnest eyes, and the same +tranquil mien everlasting. You dare not mock at the Sphinx. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI—CAIRO TO SUEZ + + +The “dromedary” of Egypt and Syria is not the two-humped animal described +by that name in books of natural history, but is, in fact, of the same +family as the camel, to which it stands in about the same relation as a +racer to a cart-horse. The fleetness and endurance of this creature are +extraordinary. It is not usual to force him into a gallop, and I fancy +from his make that it would be quite impossible for him to maintain that +pace for any length of time; but the animal is on so large a scale, that +the jog-trot at which he is generally ridden implies a progress of +perhaps ten or twelve miles an hour, and this pace, it is said, he can +keep up incessantly, without food, or water, or rest, for three whole +days and nights. + +Of the two dromedaries which I had obtained for this journey, I mounted +one myself, and put Dthemetri on the other. My plan was to ride on with +Dthemetri to Suez as rapidly as the fleetness of the beasts would allow, +and to let Myserri (who was still weak from the effects of his late +illness) come quietly on with the camels and baggage. + +The trot of the dromedary is a pace terribly disagreeable to the rider, +until he becomes a little accustomed to it; but after the first half-hour +I so far schooled myself to this new exercise, that I felt capable of +keeping it up (though not without aching limbs) for several hours +together. Now, therefore, I was anxious to dart forward, and annihilate +at once the whole space that divided me from the Red Sea. Dthemetri, +however, could not get on at all. Every attempt which he made to trot +seemed to threaten the utter dislocation of his whole frame, and indeed I +doubt whether any one of Dthemetri’s age (nearly forty, I think), and +unaccustomed to such exercise, could have borne it at all easily; +besides, the dromedary which fell to his lot was evidently a very bad +one; he every now and then came to a dead stop, and coolly knelt down, as +though suggesting that the rider had better get off at once and abandon +the attempt as one that was utterly hopeless. + +When for the third or fourth time I saw Dthemetri thus planted, I lost my +patience, and went on without him. For about two hours, I think, I +advanced without once looking behind me. I then paused, and cast my eyes +back to the western horizon. There was no sign of Dthemetri, nor of any +other living creature. This I expected, for I knew that I must have far +out-distanced all my followers. I had ridden away from my party merely +by way of gratifying my impatience, and with the intention of stopping as +soon as I felt tired, until I was overtaken. I now observed, however +(this I had not been able to do whilst advancing so rapidly), that the +track which I had been following was seemingly the track of only one or +two camels. I did not fear that I had diverged very largely from the +true route, but still I could not feel any reasonable certainty that my +party would follow any line of march within sight of me. + +I had to consider, therefore, whether I should remain where I was, upon +the chance of seeing my people come up, or whether I would push on alone, +and find my way to Suez. I had now learned that I could not rely upon +the continued guidance of any track, but I knew that (if maps were right) +the point for which I was bound bore just due east of Cairo, and I +thought that, although I might miss the line leading most directly to +Suez, I could not well fail to find my way sooner or later to the Red +Sea. The worst of it was that I had no provision of food or water with +me, and already I was beginning to feel thirst. I deliberated for a +minute, and then determined that I would abandon all hope of seeing my +party again, in the Desert, and would push forward as rapidly as possible +towards Suez. + +It was not, I confess, without a sensation of awe that I swept with my +sight the vacant round of the horizon, and remembered that I was all +alone, and unprovisioned in the midst of the arid waste; but this very +awe gave tone and zest to the exultation with which I felt myself +launched. Hitherto, in all my wandering, I had been under the care of +other people—sailors, Tatars, guides, and dragomen had watched over my +welfare, but now at last I was here in this African desert, and I +_myself_, _and no other_, _had charge of my life_. I liked the office +well. I had the greasiest part of the day before me, a very fair +dromedary, a fur pelisse, and a brace of pistols, but no bread and no +water; for that I must ride—and ride I did. + +For several hours I urged forward my beast at a rapid though steady pace, +but now the pangs of thirst began to torment me. I did not relax my +pace, however, and I had not suffered long when a moving object appeared +in the distance before me. The intervening space was soon traversed, and +I found myself approaching a Bedouin Arab mounted on a camel, attended by +another Bedouin on foot. They stopped. I saw that, as usual, there hung +from the pack-saddle of the camel a large skin water-flask, which seemed +to be well filled. I steered my dromedary close up alongside of the +mounted Bedouin, caused my beast to kneel down, then alighted, and +keeping the end of the halter in my hand, went up to the mounted Bedouin +without speaking, took hold of his water-flask, opened it, and drank long +and deep from its leathern lips. Both of the Bedouins stood fast in +amazement and mute horror; and really, if they had never happened to see +an European before, the apparition was enough to startle them. To see +for the first time a coat and a waistcoat, with the semblance of a white +human head at the top, and for this ghastly figure to come swiftly out of +the horizon upon a fleet dromedary, approach them silently and with a +demoniacal smile, and drink a deep draught from their water-flask—this +was enough to make the Bedouins stare a little; they, in fact, stared a +great deal—not as Europeans stare, with a restless and puzzled expression +of countenance, but with features all fixed and rigid, and with still, +glassy eyes. Before they had time to get decomposed from their state of +petrifaction I had remounted my dromedary, and was darting away towards +the east. + +Without pause or remission of pace I continued to press forward, but +after a while I found to my confusion that the slight track which had +hitherto guided me now failed altogether. I began to fear that I must +have been all along following the course of some wandering Bedouins, and +I felt that if this were the case, my fate was a little uncertain. + +I had no compass with me, but I determined upon the eastern point of the +horizon as accurately as I could by reference to the sun, and so laid +down for myself a way over the pathless sands. + +But now my poor dromedary, by whose life and strength I held my own, +began to show signs of distress: a thick, clammy, and glutinous kind of +foam gathered about her lips, and piteous sobs burst from her bosom in +the tones of human misery. I doubted for a moment whether I would give +her a little rest, a relaxation of pace, but I decided that I would not, +and continued to push forward as steadily as before. + +The character of the country became changed. I had ridden away from the +level tracts, and before me now, and on either side, there were vast +hills of sand and calcined rocks, that interrupted my progress and +baffled my doubtful road, but I did my best. With rapid steps I swept +round the base of the hills, threaded the winding hollows, and at last, +as I rose in my swift course to the crest of a lofty ridge, Thalatta! +Thalatta! by Jove! I saw the sea! + +My tongue can tell where to find a clue to many an old pagan creed, +because that (distinctly from all mere admiration of the beauty belonging +to nature’s works) I acknowledge a sense of mystical reverence when first +I look, to see some illustrious feature of the globe—some coast-line of +ocean, some mighty river or dreary mountain range, the ancient barrier of +kingdoms. But the Red Sea! It might well claim my earnest gaze by force +of the great Jewish migration which connects it with the history of our +own religion. From this very ridge, it is likely enough, the panting +Israelites first saw that shining inlet of the sea. Ay! ay! but +moreover, and best of all, that beckoning sea assured my eyes, and proved +how well I had marked out the east for my path, and gave me good promise +that sooner or later the time would come for me to rest and drink. It +was distant, the sea, but I felt my own strength, and I had _heard_ of +the strength of dromedaries. I pushed forward as eagerly as though I had +spoiled the Egyptians and were flying from Pharaoh’s police. + +I had not yet been able to discover any symptoms of Suez, but after a +while I descried in the distance a large, blank, isolated building. I +made towards this, and in time got down to it. The building was a fort, +and had been built there for the protection of a well which it contained +within its precincts. A cluster of small huts adhered to the fort, and +in a short time I was receiving the hospitality of the inhabitants, who +were grouped upon the sands near their hamlet. To quench the fires of my +throat with about a gallon of muddy water, and to swallow a little of the +food placed before me, was the work of few minutes, and before the +astonishment of my hosts had even begun to subside, I was pursuing my +onward journey. Suez, I found, was still three hours distant, and the +sun going down in the west warned me that I must find some other guide to +keep me in the right direction. This guide I found in the most fickle +and uncertain of the elements. For some hours the wind had been +freshening, and it now blew a violent gale; it blew not fitfully and in +squalls, but with such remarkable steadiness, that I felt convinced it +would blow from the same quarter for several hours. When the sun set, +therefore, I carefully looked for the point from which the wind was +blowing, and found that it came from the very west, and was blowing +exactly in the direction of my route. I had nothing to do therefore but +to go straight to leeward; and this was not difficult, for the gale blew +with such immense force, that if I diverged at all from its line I +instantly felt the pressure of the blast on the side towards which I was +deviating. Very soon after sunset there came on complete darkness, but +the strong wind guided me well, and sped me, too, on my way. + +I had pushed on for about, I think, a couple of hours after nightfall +when I saw the glimmer of a light in the distance, and this I ventured to +hope must be Suez. Upon approaching it, however, I found that it was +only a solitary fort, and I passed on without stopping. + +On I went, still riding down the wind, when an unlucky accident occurred, +for which, if you like, you can have your laugh against me. I have told +you already what sort of lodging it is that you have upon the back of a +camel. You ride the dromedary in the same fashion; you are perched +rather than seated on a bunch of carpets or quilts upon the summit of the +hump. It happened that my dromedary veered rather suddenly from her +onward course. Meeting the movement, I mechanically turned my left wrist +as though I were holding a bridle rein, for the complete darkness +prevented my eyes from reminding me that I had nothing but a halter in my +hand. The expected resistance failed, for the halter was hanging upon +that side of the dromedary’s neck towards which I was slightly leaning. +I toppled over, head foremost, and then went falling and falling through +air, till my crown came whang against the ground. And the ground too was +perfectly hard (compacted sand), but the thickly wadded headgear which I +wore for protection against the sun saved my life. The notion of my +being able to get up again after falling head-foremost from such an +immense height seemed to me at first too paradoxical to be acted upon, +but I soon found that I was not a bit hurt. My dromedary utterly +vanished. I looked round me, and saw the glimmer of a light in the fort +which I had lately passed, and I began to work my way back in that +direction. The violence of the gale made it hard for me to force my way +towards the west, but I succeeded at last in regaining the fort. To +this, as to the other fort which I had passed, there was attached a +cluster of huts, and I soon found myself surrounded by a group of +villainous, gloomy-looking fellows. It was a horrid bore for me to have +to swagger and look big at a time when I felt so particularly small on +account of my tumble and my lost dromedary; but there was no help for it; +I had no Dthemetri now to “strike terror” for me. I knew hardly one word +of Arabic, but somehow or other I contrived to announce it as my absolute +will and pleasure that these fellows should find me the means of gaining +Suez. They acceded, and having a donkey, they saddled it for me, and +appointed one of their number to attend me on foot. + +I afterwards found that these fellows were not Arabs, but Algerine +refugees, and that they bore the character of being sad scoundrels. They +justified this imputation to some extent on the following day. They +allowed Mysseri with my baggage and the camels to pass unmolested, but an +Arab lad belonging to the party happened to lag a little way in the rear, +and him (if they were not maligned) these rascals stripped and robbed. +Low indeed is the state of bandit morality when men will allow the sleek +traveller with well-laden camels to pass in quiet, reserving their spirit +of enterprise for the tattered turban of a miserable boy. + +I reached Suez at last. The British agent, though roused from his +midnight sleep, received me in his home with the utmost kindness and +hospitality. Oh! by Jove, how delightful it was to lie on fair sheets, +and to dally with sleep, and to wake, and to sleep, and to wake once +more, for the sake of sleeping again! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII—SUEZ + + +I was hospitably entertained by the British consul, or agent, as he is +there styled. He is the _employé_ of the East India Company, and not of +the Home Government. Napoleon during his stay of five days at Suez had +been the guest of the consul’s father, and I was told that the divan in +my apartment had been the bed of the great commander. + +There are two opinions as to the point at which the Israelites passed the +Red Sea. One is, that they traversed only the very small creek at the +northern extremity of the inlet, and that they entered the bed of the +water at the spot on which Suez now stands; the other, that they crossed +the sea from a point eighteen miles down the coast. The Oxford +theologians, who, with Milman their professor, {38} believe that Jehovah +conducted His chosen people without disturbing the order of nature, adopt +the first view, and suppose that the Israelites passed during an +ebb-tide, aided by a violent wind. One among many objections to this +supposition is, that the time of a single ebb would not have been +sufficient for the passage of that vast multitude of men and beasts, or +even for a small fraction of it. Moreover, the creek to the north of +this point can be compassed in an hour, and in two hours you can make the +circuit of the salt marsh over which the sea may have extended in former +times. If, therefore, the Israelites crossed so high up as Suez, the +Egyptians, unless infatuated by Divine interference, might easily have +recovered their stolen goods from the encumbered fugitives by making a +slight detour. The opinion which fixes the point of passage at eighteen +miles’ distance, and from thence right across the ocean depths to the +eastern side of the sea, is supported by the unanimous tradition of the +people, whether Christians or Mussulmans, and is consistent with Holy +Writ: “the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, _and on +their left_.” The Cambridge mathematicians seem to think that the +Israelites were enabled to pass over dry land by adopting a route not +usually subjected to the influx of the sea. This notion is plausible in +a merely hydrostatical point of view, and is supposed to have been +adopted by most of the Fellows of Trinity, but certainly not by Thorp, +who is one of the most amiable of their number. It is difficult to +reconcile this theory with the account given in Exodus, unless we can +suppose that the words “sea” and “waters” are there used in a sense +implying dry land. + +Napoleon when at Suez made an attempt to follow the supposed steps of +Moses by passing the creek at this point, but it seems, according to the +testimony of the people at Suez, that he and his horsemen managed the +matter in a way more resembling the failure of the Egyptians than the +success of the Israelites. According to the French account, Napoleon got +out of the difficulty by that warrior-like presence of mind which served +him so well when the fate of nations depended on the decision of a +moment—he ordered his horsemen to disperse in all directions, in order to +multiply the chances of finding shallow water, and was thus enabled to +discover a line by which he and his people were extricated. The story +told by the people of Suez is very different: they declare that Napoleon +parted from his horse, got thoroughly submerged, and was only fished out +by the assistance of the people on shore. + +I bathed twice at the point assigned to the passage of the Israelites, +and the second time that I did so I chose the time of low water and tried +to walk across, but I soon found myself out of my depth, or at least in +water so deep, that I could only advance by swimming. + +The dromedary, which had bolted in the Desert, was brought into Suez the +day after my arrival, but my pelisse and my pistols, which had been +attached to the saddle, had disappeared. These articles were treasures +of great importance to me at that time, and I moved the Governor of the +town to make all possible exertions for their recovery. He acceded to my +wishes as well as he could, and very obligingly imprisoned the first +seven poor fellows he could lay his hands on. + +At first the Governor acted in the matter from no other motive than that +of courtesy to an English traveller, but afterwards, and when he saw the +value which I set upon the lost property, he pushed his measures with a +degree of alacrity and heat, which seemed to show that he felt a personal +interest in the matter. It was supposed either that he expected a large +present in the event of succeeding, or that he was striving by all means +to trace the property, in order that he might lay his hands on it after +my departure. + +I went out sailing for some hours, and when I returned I was horrified to +find that two men had been bastinadoed by order of the Governor, with a +view to force them to a confession of their theft. It appeared, however, +that there really was good ground for supposing them guilty, since one of +the holsters was actually found in their possession. It was said too +(but I could hardly believe it), that whilst one of the men was +undergoing the bastinado, his comrade was overheard encouraging him to +bear the torment without peaching. Both men, if they had the secret, +were resolute in keeping it, and were sent back to their dungeon. I of +course took care that there should be no repetition of the torture, at +least so long as I remained at Suez. + +The Governor was a thorough Oriental, and until a comparatively recent +period had shared in the old Mahometan feeling of contempt for Europeans. +It happened however, one day that an English gun-brig had appeared off +Suez, and sent her boats ashore to take in fresh water. Now fresh water +at Suez is a somewhat scarce and precious commodity: it is kept in tanks, +the chief of which is at some distance from the place. Under these +circumstances the request for fresh water was refused, or at all events, +was not complied with. The captain of the brig was a simple-minded man +with a strongish will, and he at once declared that if his casks were not +filled in three hours, he would destroy the whole place. “A great people +indeed!” said the Governor; “a wonderful people, the English!” He +instantly caused every cask to be filled to the brim from his own tank, +and ever afterwards entertained for the English a degree of affection and +respect, for which I felt infinitely indebted to the gallant captain. + +The day after the abortive attempt to extract a confession from the +prisoners, the Governor, the consul, and I sat in council, I know not how +long, with a view of prosecuting the search for the stolen goods. The +sitting, considered in the light of a criminal investigation, was +characteristic of the East. The proceedings began as a matter of course +by the prosecutor’s smoking a pipe and drinking coffee with the Governor, +who was judge, jury, and sheriff. I got on very well with him (this was +not my first interview), and he gave me the pipe from his lips in +testimony of his friendship. I recollect, however, that my prime +adviser, thinking me, I suppose, a great deal too shy and retiring in my +manner, entreated me to put up my boots and to soil the Governor’s divan, +in order to inspire respect and strike terror. I thought it would be as +well for me to retain the right of respecting myself, and that it was not +quite necessary for a well-received guest to strike any terror at all. + +Our deliberations were assisted by the numerous attendants who lined the +three sides of the room not occupied by the divan. Any one of these who +took it into his head to offer a suggestion would stand forward and +humble himself before the Governor, and then state his views; every man +thus giving counsel was listened to with some attention. + +After a great deal of fruitless planning the Governor directed that the +prisoners should be brought in. I was shocked when they entered, for I +was not prepared to see them come _carried_ into the room upon the +shoulders of others. It had not occurred to me that their battered feet +would be too sore to bear the contact of the floor. They persisted in +asserting their innocence. The Governor wanted to recur to the torture, +but that I prevented, and the men were carried back to their dungeon. + +A scheme was now suggested by one of the attendants which seemed to me +childishly absurd, but it was nevertheless tried. The plan was to send a +man to the prisoners, who was to make them believe that he had obtained +entrance into their dungeon upon some other pretence, but that he had in +reality come to treat with them for the purchase of the stolen goods. +This shallow expedient of course failed. + +The Governor himself had not nominally the power of life and death over +the people in his district, but he could if he chose send them to Cairo, +and have them hanged there. I proposed, therefore, that the prisoners +should be threatened with this fate. The answer of the Governor made me +feel rather ashamed of my effeminate suggestion. He said that if I +wished it he would willingly threaten them with death, but he also said +that if he threatened, _he should execute the threat_. + +Thinking at last that nothing was to be gained by keeping the prisoners +any longer in confinement, I requested that they might be set free. To +this the Governor acceded, though only, as he said, out of favour to me, +for he had a strong impression that the men were guilty. I went down to +see the prisoners let out with my own eyes. They were very grateful, and +fell down to the earth, kissing my boots. I gave them a present to +console them for their wounds, and they seemed to be highly delighted. + +Although the matter terminated in a manner so satisfactory to the +principal sufferers, there were symptoms of some angry excitement in the +place: it was said that public opinion was much shocked at the fact that +Mahometans had been beaten on account of a loss sustained by a Christian. +My journey was to recommence the next day, and it was hinted that if I +preservered in my intention of proceeding, the people would have an easy +and profitable opportunity of wreaking their vengeance on me. If ever +they formed any scheme of the kind, they at all events refrained from any +attempt to carry it into effect. + +One of the evenings during my stay at Suez was enlivened by a triple +wedding. There was a long and slow procession. Some carried torches, +and others were thumping drums and firing pistols. The bridegrooms came +last, all walking abreast. My only reason for mentioning the ceremony +(which was otherwise uninteresting) is, that I scarcely ever in all my +life saw any phenomena so ridiculous as the meekness and gravity of those +three young men whilst being “led to the altar.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII—SUEZ TO GAZA + + +The route over the Desert from Suez to Gaza is not frequented by +merchants, and is seldom passed by a traveller. This part of the country +is less uniformly barren than the tracts of shifting sand that lie on the +El Arish route. The shrubs on which the camel feeds are more frequent, +and in many spots the sand is mingled with so much of productive soil, as +to admit the growth of corn. The Bedouins are driven out of this +district during the summer by the total want of water, but before the +time for their forced departure arrives they succeed in raising little +crops of barley from these comparatively fertile patches of ground. They +bury the fruit of their labours, leaving marks by which, upon their +return, they may be able to recognise the spot. The warm, dry sand +stands them for a safe granary. The country at the time I passed it (in +the month of April) was pretty thickly sprinkled with Bedouins expecting +their harvest. Several times my tent was pitched alongside of their +encampments. I have told you already what the impressions were which +these people produced upon my mind. + +I saw several creatures of the antelope kind in this part of the Desert, +and one day my Arabs surprised in her sleep a young gazelle (for so I +called her), and took the darling prisoner. I carried her before me on +my camel for the rest of the day, and kept her in my tent all night. I +did all I could to coax her, but the trembling beauty refused to touch +food, and would not be comforted. Whenever she had a seeming opportunity +of escaping she struggled with a violence so painfully disproportioned to +her fine, delicate limbs, that I could not continue the cruel attempt to +make her my own. In the morning, therefore, I set her free, anticipating +some pleasure from seeing the joyous bound with which, as I thought, she +would return to her native freedom. She had been so stupefied, however, +by the exciting events of the preceding day and night, and was so puzzled +as to the road she should take, that she went off very deliberately, and +with an uncertain step. She went away quite sound in limb, but her +intellect may have been upset. Never in all likelihood had she seen the +form of a human being until the dreadful moment when she woke from her +sleep and found herself in the grip of an Arab. Then her pitching and +tossing journey on the back of a camel, and lastly, a _soireé_ with me by +candlelight! I should have been glad to know, if I could, that her heart +was not utterly broken. + +My Arabs were somewhat excited one day by discovering the fresh print of +a foot—the foot, as they said, of a lion. I had no conception that the +lord of the forest (better known as a crest) ever stalked away from his +jungles to make inglorious war in these smooth plains against antelopes +and gazelles. I supposed that there must have been some error of +interpretation, and that the Arabs meant to speak of a tiger. It +appeared, however, that this was not the case. Either the Arabs were +mistaken, or the noble brute, uncooped and unchained, had but lately +crossed my path. + +The camels with which I traversed this part of the Desert were very +different in their ways and habits from those that you get on a +frequented route. They were never led. There was not the slightest sign +of a track in this part of the Desert, but the camels never failed to +choose the right line. By the direction taken at starting they knew, I +suppose, the point (some encampment) for which they were to make. There +is always a leading camel (generally, I believe, the eldest), who marches +foremost, and determines the path for the whole party. If it happens +that no one of the camels has been accustomed to lead the others, there +is very great difficulty in making a start. If you force your beast +forward for a moment, he will contrive to wheel and draw back, at the +same time looking at one of the other camels with an expression and +gesture exactly equivalent to _après vous_. The responsibility of +finding the way is evidently assumed very unwillingly. After some time, +however, it becomes understood that one of the beasts has reluctantly +consented to take the lead, and he accordingly advances for that purpose. +For a minute or two he goes on with much indecision, taking first one +line and then another, but soon by the aid of some mysterious sense he +discovers the true direction, and follows it steadily from morning to +night. When once the leadership is established, you cannot by any +persuasion, and can scarcely by any force, induce a junior camel to walk +one single step in advance of the chosen guide. + +On the fifth day I came to an oasis, called the Wady el Arish, a ravine, +or rather a gully, through which during a part of the year there runs a +stream of water. On the sides of the gully there were a number of those +graceful trees which the Arabs call _tarfa_. The channel of the stream +was quite dry in the part at which we arrived, but at about half a mile +off some water was found, which, though very muddy, was tolerably sweet. +This was a happy discovery, for all the water that we had brought from +the neighbourhood of Suez was rapidly putrefying. + +The want of foresight is an anomalous part of the Bedouin’s character, +for it does not result either from recklessness or stupidity. I know of +no human being whose body is so thoroughly the slave of mind as that of +the Arab. His mental anxieties seem to be for ever torturing every nerve +and fibre of his body, and yet with all this exquisite sensitiveness to +the suggestions of the mind, he is grossly improvident. I recollect, for +instance, that when setting out upon this passage of the Desert my Arabs, +in order to lighten the burthen of their camels, were most anxious that +we should take with us only two days’ supply of water. They said that by +the time that supply was exhausted we should arrive at a spring which +would furnish us for the rest of the journey. My servants very wisely, +and with much pertinacity, resisted the adoption of this plan, and took +care to have both the large skins well filled. We proceeded and found no +water at all, either at the expected spring or for many days afterwards, +so that nothing but the precaution of my own people saved us from the +very severe suffering which we should have endured if we had entered upon +the Desert with only a two days’ supply. The Arabs themselves being on +foot would have suffered much more than I from the consequences of their +improvidence. + +This unaccountable want of foresight prevents the Bedouin from +appreciating at a distance of eight or ten days the amount of the misery +which he entails upon himself at the end of that period. His dread of a +city is one of the most painful mental affections that I have ever +observed, and yet when the whole breadth of the Desert lies between him +and the town to which you are going, he will freely enter into an +agreement to _land_ you in the city for which you are bound. When, +however, after many a day of toil the distant minarets at length appear, +the poor Bedouin relaxes the vigour of his pace, his steps become +faltering and undecided, every moment his uneasiness increases, and at +length he fairly sobs aloud, and embracing your knees, implores with the +most piteous cries and gestures that you will dispense with him and his +camels, and find some other means of entering the city. This, of course, +one can’t agree to, and the consequence is that one is obliged to witness +and resist the most moving expressions of grief and fond entreaty. I had +to go through a most painful scene of this kind when I entered Cairo, and +now the horror which these wilder Arabs felt at the notion of entering +Gaza led to consequences still more distressing. The dread of cities +results partly from a kind of wild instinct which has always +characterised the descendants of Ishmael, but partly too from a +well-founded apprehension of ill-treatment. So often it happens that the +poor Bedouin, when once jammed in between walls, is seized by the +Government authorities for the sake of his camels, that his innate horror +of cities becomes really justified by results. + +The Bedouins with whom I performed this journey were wild fellows of the +Desert, quite unaccustomed to let out themselves or their beasts for +hire, and when they found that by the natural ascendency of Europeans +they were gradually brought down to a state of subserviency to me, or +rather to my attendants, they bitterly repented, I believe, of having +placed themselves under our control. They were rather difficult fellows +to manage, and gave Dthemetri a good deal of trouble, but I liked them +all the better for that. + +Selim, the chief of the party, and the man to whom all our camels +belonged, was a fine, savage, stately fellow. There were, I think, five +other Arabs of the party, but when we approached the end of the journey +they one by one began to make off towards the neighbouring encampments, +and by the time that the minarets of Gaza were in sight, Selim, the owner +of the camels, was the only one who remained. He, poor fellow, as we +neared the town began to discover the same terrors that my Arabs had +shown when I entered Cairo. I could not possibly accede to his +entreaties and consent to let my baggage be laid down on the bare sands, +without any means of having it brought on into the city. So at length, +when poor Selim had exhausted all his rhetoric of voice and action and +tears, he fixed his despairing eyes for a minute upon the cherished +beasts that were his only wealth, and then suddenly and madly dashed away +into the farther Desert. I continued my course and reached the city at +last, but it was not without immense difficulty that we could constrain +the poor camels to pass under the hated shadow of its walls. They were +the genuine beasts of the Desert, and it was sad and painful to witness +the agony they suffered when thus they were forced to encounter the fixed +habitations of men. They shrank from the beginning of every high narrow +street as though from the entrance of some horrible cave or bottomless +pit; they sighed and wept like women. When at last we got them within +the courtyard of the khan they seemed to be quite broken-hearted, and +looked round piteously for their loving master; but no Selim came. I had +imagined that he would enter the town secretly by night in order to carry +off those five fine camels, his only wealth in this world, and seemingly +the main objects of his affection. But no; his dread of civilisation was +too strong. During the whole of the three days that I remained at Gaza +he failed to show himself, and thus sacrificed in all probability not +only his camels, but the money which I had stipulated to pay him for the +passage of the Desert. In order, however, to do all I could towards +saving him from this last misfortune I resorted to a contrivance +frequently adopted by the Asiatics: I assembled a group of grave and +worthy Mussulmans in the courtyard of the khan, and in their presence +paid over the gold to a Sheik who was accustomed to communicate with the +Arabs of the Desert. All present solemnly promised that if ever Selim +should come to claim his rights, they would bear true witness in his +favour. + +I saw a great deal of my old friend the Governor of Gaza. He had +received orders to send back all persons coming from Egypt, and force +them to perform quarantine at El Arish. He knew so little of quarantine +regulations, however, that his dress was actually in contact with mine +whilst he insisted upon the stringency of the orders which he had +received. He was induced to make an exception in my favour, and I +rewarded him with a musical snuffbox which I had bought at Smyrna for the +purpose of presenting it to any man in authority who might happen to do +me an important service. The Governor was delighted with his toy, and +took it off to his harem with great exultation. He soon, however, +returned with an altered countenance; his wives, he said, had got hold of +the box and put it out of order. So short-lived is human happiness in +this frail world! + +The Governor fancied that he should incur less risk if remained at Gaza +for two or three days more, and he wanted me to become his guest. I +persuaded him, however, that it would be better for him to let me depart +at once. He wanted to add to my baggage a roast lamb and a quantity of +other cumbrous viands, but I escaped with half a horse-load of leaven +bread, which was very good of its kind, and proved a most useful present. +The air with which the Governor’s slaves affected to be almost breaking +down under the weight of the gifts which they bore on their shoulders, +reminded me of the figures one sees in some of the old pictures. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV—GAZA TO NABLUS + + +Passing now once again through Palestine and Syria I retained the tent +which I had used in the Desert, and found that it added very much to my +comfort in travelling. Instead of turning out a family from some +wretched dwelling, and depriving them of a repose which I was sure not to +find for myself, I now, when evening came, pitched my tent upon some +smiling spot within a few hundred yards of the village to which I looked +for my supplies, that is, for milk and bread if I had it not with me, and +sometimes also for eggs. The worst of it is, that the needful viands are +not to be obtained by coin, but only by intimidation. I at first tried +the usual agent, money. Dthemetri, with one or two of my Arabs, went +into the village near which I was encamped and tried to buy the required +provisions, offering liberal payment, but he came back empty-handed. I +sent him again, but this time he held different language. He required to +see the elders of the place, and threatening dreadful vengeance, directed +them upon their responsibility to take care that my tent should be +immediately and abundantly supplied. He was obeyed at once, and the +provisions refused to me as a purchaser soon arrived, trebled or +quadrupled, when demanded by way of a forced contribution. I quickly +found (I think it required two experiments to convince me) that this +peremptory method was the only one which could be adopted with success. +It never failed. Of course, however, when the provisions have been +actually obtained you can, if you choose, give money exceeding the value +of the provisions to _somebody_. An English, a thoroughbred English, +traveller will always do this (though it is contrary to the custom of the +country) for the quiet (false quiet though it be) of his own conscience, +but so to order the matter that the poor fellows who have been forced to +contribute should be the persons to receive the value of their supplies, +is not possible. For a traveller to attempt anything so grossly just as +that would be too outrageous. The truth is, that the usage of the East, +in old times, required the people of the village, at their own cost, to +supply the wants of travellers, and the ancient custom is now adhered to, +not in favour of travellers generally, but in favour of those who are +deemed sufficiently powerful to enforce its observance. If the villagers +therefore find a man waiving this right to oppress them, and offering +coin for that which he is entitled to take without payment, they suppose +at once that he is actuated by fear (fear of _them_, poor fellows!), and +it is so delightful to them to act upon this flattering assumption, that +they will forego the advantage of a good price for their provisions +rather than the rare luxury of refusing for once in their lives to part +with their own possessions. + +The practice of intimidation thus rendered necessary is utterly hateful +to an Englishman. He finds himself forced to conquer his daily bread by +the pompous threats of the dragoman, his very subsistence, as well as his +dignity and personal safety, being made to depend upon his servant’s +assuming a tone of authority which does not at all belong to him. +Besides, he can scarcely fail to see that as he passes through the +country he becomes the innocent cause of much extra injustice, many +supernumerary wrongs. This he feels to be especially the case when he +travels with relays. To be the owner of a horse or a mule within reach +of an Asiatic potentate, is to lead the life of the hare and the rabbit, +hunted down and ferreted out. Too often it happens that the works of the +field are stopped in the daytime, that the inmates of the cottage are +roused from their midnight sleep, by the sudden coming of a Government +officer, and the poor husbandman, driven by threats and rewarded by +curses, if he would not lose sight for ever of his captured beasts, must +quit all and follow them. This is done that the Englishman may travel. +He would make his way more harmless if he could, but horses or mules he +_must_ have, and these are his ways and means. + +The town of Nablus is beautiful; it lies in a valley hemmed in with olive +groves, and its buildings are interspersed with frequent palm-trees. It +is said to occupy the site of the ancient Sychem. I know not whether it +was there indeed that the father of the Jews was accustomed to feed his +flocks, but the valley is green and smiling, and is held at this day by a +race more brave and beautiful than Jacob’s unhappy descendants. + +Nablus is the very furnace of Mahometan bigotry; and I believe that only +a few months before the time of my going there it would have been quite +unsafe for a man, unless strongly guarded, to show himself to the people +of the town in a Frank costume; but since their last insurrection the +Mahometans of the place had been so far subdued by the severity of +Ibrahim Pasha, that they dared not now offer the slightest insult to an +European. It was quite plain, however, that the effort with which the +men of the old school refrained from expressing their opinion of a hat +and a coat was horribly painful to them. As I walked through the streets +and bazaars a dead silence prevailed; every man suspended his employment, +and gazed on me with a fixed, glassy look, which seemed to say, “God is +good, but how marvellous and inscrutable are His ways that thus He +permits this white-faced dog of a Christian to hunt through the paths of +the faithful.” + +The insurrection of these people had been more formidable than any other +that Ibrahim Pasha had to contend with. He was only able to crush them +at last by the assistance of a fellow renowned for his resources in the +way of stratagem and cunning, as well as for his knowledge of the +country. This personage was no other than Aboo Goosh (“the father of +lies” {39}), who was taken out of prison for the purpose. The “father of +lies” enabled Ibrahim to hem in the insurrection and extinguish it. He +was rewarded with the Governorship of Jerusalem, which he held when I was +there. I recollect, by-the-bye, that he tried one of his stratagems upon +me. I did not go to see him, as I ought in courtesy to have done, during +my stay at Jerusalem; but I happened to be the owner of a rather handsome +amber _tchibouque_ piece, which the Governor heard of, and by some means +contrived to see. He sent to me, and dressed up a statement that he +would give me a price immensely exceeding the sum which I had given for +it. He did not add my _tchibouque_ to the rest of his trophies. + +There was a small number of Greek Christians resident in Nablus, and over +these the Mussulmans held a high hand, not even permitting them to speak +to each other in the open streets; but if the Moslems thus set themselves +above the poor Christians of the place, I, or rather my servants, soon +took the ascendant over _them_. I recollect that just as we were +starting from the place, and at a time when a number of people had +gathered together in the main street to see our preparations, Mysseri, +being provoked at some piece of perverseness on the part of a true +believer, coolly thrashed him with his horsewhip before the assembled +crowd of fanatics. I was much annoyed at the time, for I thought that +the people would probably rise against us. They turned rather pale, but +stood still. + +The day of my arrival at Nablus was a fête—the new-year’s day of the +Mussulmans. {40} Most of the people were amusing themselves in the +beautiful lawns and shady groves without the city. The men (except +myself) were all remotely apart from the other sex. The women in groups +were diverting themselves and their children with swings. They were so +handsome, that they could not keep up their yashmaks. I believe that +they had never before looked upon a man in the European dress, and when +they now saw in me that strange phenomenon, and saw, too, how they could +please the creature by showing him a glimpse of beauty, they seemed to +think it was better fun to do this than to go on playing with swings. It +was always, however, with a sort of zoological expression of countenance +that they looked on the horrible monster from Europe, and whenever one of +them gave me to see for one sweet instant the blushing of her unveiled +face, it was with the same kind of air as that with which a young, timid +girl will edge her way up to an elephant and tremblingly give him a nut +from the tips of her rosy fingers. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV—MARIAM + + +There is no spirit of propagandism in the Mussulmans of the Ottoman +dominions. True it is that a prisoner of war, or a Christian condemned +to death, may on some occasions save his life by adopting the religion of +Mahomet, but instances of this kind are now exceedingly rare, and are +quite at variance with the general system. Many Europeans, I think, +would be surprised to learn that which is nevertheless quite true, +namely, that an attempt to disturb the religious repose of the empire by +the conversion of a Christian to the Mahometan faith is positively +illegal. The event which now I am going to mention shows plainly enough +that the unlawfulness of such interference is distinctly recognised even +in the most bigoted stronghold of Islam. + +During my stay at Nablus I took up my quarters at the house of the Greek +“papa” as he is called, that is, the Greek priest. The priest himself +had gone to Jerusalem upon the business I am going to tell you of, but +his wife remained at Nablus, and did the honours of her home. + +Soon after my arrival a deputation from the Greek Christians of the place +came to request my interference in a matter which had occasioned vast +excitement. + +And now I must tell you how it came to happen, as it did continually, +that people thought it worth while to claim the assistance of a mere +traveller, who was totally devoid of all just pretensions to authority or +influence of even the humblest description, and especially I must explain +to you how it was that the power thus attributed did really belong to me, +or rather to my dragoman. Successive political convulsions had at length +fairly loosed the people of Syria from their former rules of conduct, and +from all their old habits of reliance. The violence and success with +which Mehemet Ali crushed the insurrection of the Mahometan population +had utterly beaten down the head of Islam, and extinguished, for the time +at least, those virtues and vices which had sprung from the Mahometan +faith. Success so complete as Mehemet Ali’s, if it had been attained by +an ordinary Asiatic potentate, would have induced a notion of stability. +The readily bowing mind of the Oriental would have bowed low and long +under the feet of a conqueror whom God had thus strengthened. But Syria +was no field for contests strictly Asiatic. Europe was involved, and +though the heavy masses of Egyptian troops, clinging with strong grip to +the land, might seem to hold it fast, yet every peasant practically felt, +and knew, that in Vienna or Petersburg or London there were four or five +pale-looking men who could pull down the star of the Pasha with shreds of +paper and ink. The people of the country knew, too, that Mehemet Ali was +strong with the strength of the Europeans—strong by his French general, +his French tactics, and his English engines. Moreover, they saw that the +person, the property, and even the dignity of the humblest European was +guarded with the most careful solicitude. The consequence of all this +was, that the people of Syria looked vaguely, but confidently, to Europe +for fresh changes. Many would fix upon some nation, France or England, +and steadfastly regard it as the arriving sovereign of Syria. Those +whose minds remained in doubt equally contributed to this new state of +public opinion, which no longer depended upon religion and ancient +habits, but upon bare hopes and fears. Every man wanted to know, not who +was his neighbour, but who was to be his ruler; whose feet he was to +kiss, and by whom _his_ feet were to be ultimately beaten. Treat your +friend, says the proverb, as though he were one day to become your enemy, +and your enemy as though he were one day to become your friend. The +Syrians went further, and seemed inclined to treat every stranger as +though he might one day become their Pasha. Such was the state of +circumstances and of feeling which now for the first time had thoroughly +opened the mind of Western Asia for the reception of Europeans and +European ideas. The credit of the English especially was so great, that +a good Mussulman flying from the conscription, or any other persecution, +would come to seek from the formerly despised hat that protection which +the turban could no longer afford; and a man high in authority (as, for +instance, the Governor in command of Gaza) would think that he had won a +prize, or at all events, a valuable lottery ticket, if he obtained a +written approval of his conduct from a simple traveller. + +Still, in order that any immediate result should follow from all this +unwonted readiness in the Asiatic to succumb to the European, it was +necessary that some one should be at hand who could see and would push +the advantage. I myself had neither the inclination nor the power to do +so, but it happened that Dthemetri, who as my dragoman represented me on +all occasions, was the very person of all others best fitted to avail +himself with success of this yielding tendency in the Oriental mind. If +the chance of birth and fortune had made poor Dthemetri a tailor during +some part of his life, yet religion and the literature of the Church +which he served had made him a man, and a brave man too. The lives of +saints with which he was familiar were full of heroic actions provoking +imitation, and since faith in a creed involves a faith in its ultimate +triumph, Dthemetri was bold from a sense of true strength. His education +too, though not very general in its character, had been carried quite far +enough to justify him in pluming himself upon a very decided advantage +over the great bulk of the Mahometan population, including the men in +authority. With all this consciousness of religious and intellectual +superiority Dthemetri had lived for the most part in countries lying +under Mussulman governments, and had witnessed (perhaps too had suffered +from) their revolting cruelties: the result was that he abhorred and +despised the Mahometan faith and all who clung to it. And this hate was +not of the dry, dull, and inactive sort. Dthemetri was in his sphere a +true Crusader, and whenever there appeared a fair opening in the defences +of Islam, he was ready and eager to make the assault. These sentiments, +backed by a consciousness of understanding the people with whom he had to +do, made Dthemetri not only firm and resolute in his constant interviews +with men in authority, but sometimes also (as you may know already) very +violent and even insulting. This tone, which I always disliked, though I +was fain to profit by it, invariably succeeded. It swept away all +resistance; there was nothing in the then depressed and succumbing mind +of the Mussulman that could oppose a zeal so warm and fierce. + +As for me, I of course stood aloof from Dthemetri’s crusades, and did not +even render him any active assistance when he was striving (as he almost +always was, poor fellow) on my behalf; I was only the death’s head and +white sheet with which he scared the enemy. I think, however, that I +played this spectral part exceedingly well, for I seldom appeared at all +in any discussion, and whenever I did, I was sure to be white and calm. + +The event which induced the Christians of Nablus to seek for my +assistance was this. A beautiful young Christian, between fifteen and +sixteen years old, had lately been married to a man of her own creed. +About the same time (probably on the occasion of her wedding) she was +accidentally seen by a Mussulman Sheik of great wealth and local +influence, who instantly became madly enamoured of her. The strict +morality which so generally prevails where the Mussulmans have complete +ascendency prevented the Sheik from entertaining any such sinful hopes as +an European might have ventured to cherish under the like circumstances, +and he saw no chance of gratifying his love except by inducing the girl +to embrace his own creed. If he could induce her to take this step, her +marriage with the Christian would be dissolved, and then there would be +nothing to prevent him from making her the last and brightest of his +wives. The Sheik was a practical man, and quickly began his attack upon +the theological opinions of the bride. He did not assail her with the +eloquence of any imaums or Mussulman saints; he did not press upon her +the eternal truths of the “Cow,” {41} or the beautiful morality of “the +Table”; {41} he sent her no tracts, not even a copy of the holy Koran. +An old woman acted as missionary. She brought with her a whole basketful +of arguments—jewels and shawls and scarfs and all kinds of persuasive +finery. Poor Mariam! she put on the jewels and took a calm view of the +Mahometan religion in a little hand-mirror; she could not be deaf to such +eloquent earrings, and the great truths of Islam came home to her young +bosom in the delicate folds of the cashmere; she was ready to abandon her +faith. + +The Sheik knew very well that his attempt to convert an infidel was +illegal, and that his proceedings would not bear investigation, so he +took care to pay a large sum to the Governor of Nablus in order to obtain +his connivance. + +At length Mariam quitted her home and placed herself under the protection +of the Mahometan authorities, who, however, refrained from delivering her +into the arms of her lover, and detained her in a mosque until the fact +of her real conversion (which had been indignantly denied by her +relatives) should be established. For two or three days the mother of +the young convert was prevented from communicating with her child by +various evasive contrivances, but not, it would seem, by a flat refusal. +At length it was announced that the young lady’s profession of faith +might be heard from her own lips. At an hour appointed the friends of +the Sheik and the relatives of the damsel met in the mosque. The young +convert addressed her mother in a loud voice, and said, “God is God, and +Mahomet is the Prophet of God, and thou, oh my mother, art an infidel, +feminine dog!” + +You would suppose that this declaration, so clearly enounced, and that, +too, in a place where Mahometanism is perhaps more supreme than in any +other part of the empire, would have sufficed to have confirmed the +pretensions of the lover. This, however, was not the case. The Greek +priest of the place was despatched on a mission to the Governor of +Jerusalem (Aboo Goosh), in order to complain against the proceedings of +the Sheik and obtain a restitution of the bride. Meanwhile the Mahometan +authorities at Nablus were so conscious of having acted unlawfully in +conspiring to disturb the faith of the beautiful infidel, that they +hesitated to take any further steps, and the girl was still detained in +the mosque. + +Thus matters stood when the Christians of the place came and sought to +obtain my assistance. + +I felt (with regret) that I had no personal interest in the matter, and I +also thought that there was no pretence for my interfering with the +conflicting claims of the Christian husband and the Mahometan lover, and +I therefore declined to take any step. + +My speaking of the husband, by-the-bye, reminds me that he was extremely +backward about the great work of recovering his youthful bride. The +relations of the girl, who felt themselves disgraced by her conduct, were +vehement and excited to a high pitch, but the Menelaus of Nablus was +exceedingly calm and composed. + +The fact that it was not technically my duty to interfere in a matter of +this kind was a very sufficient, and yet a very unsatisfactory, reason +for my refusal of all assistance. Until you are placed in situations of +this kind you can hardly tell how painful it is to refrain from +intermeddling in other people’s affairs—to refrain from intermeddling +when you feel that you can do so with happy effect, and can remove a load +of distress by the use of a few small phrases. Upon this occasion, +however, an expression fell from one of the girl’s kinsmen which not only +determined me against the idea of interfering, but made me hope that all +attempts to recover the proselyte would fail. This person, speaking with +the most savage bitterness, and with the cordial approval of all the +other relatives, said that the girl ought to be beaten to death. I could +not fail to see that if the poor child were ever restored to her family +she would be treated with the most frightful barbarity. I heartily +wished, therefore, that the Mussulmans might be firm, and preserve their +young prize from any fate so dreadful as that of a return to her own +relations. + +The next day the Greek priest returned from his mission to Aboo Goosh, +but the “father of lies,” it would seem, had been well plied with the +gold of the enamoured Sheik, and contrived to put off the prayers of the +Christians by cunning feints. Now, therefore, a second and more numerous +deputation than the first waited upon me, and implored my intervention +with the Governor. I informed the assembled Christians that since their +last application I had carefully considered the matter. The religious +question I thought might be put aside at once, for the excessive levity +which the girl had displayed proved clearly that in adopting Mahometanism +she was not quitting any other faith. Her mind must have been thoroughly +blank upon religious questions, and she was not, therefore, to be treated +as a Christian that had strayed from the flock, but rather as a child +without any religion at all, who was willing to conform to the usages of +those who would deck her with jewels, and clothe her with cashmere +shawls. + +So much for the religious part of the question. Well, then, in a merely +temporal sense, it appeared to me that (looking merely to the interests +of the damsel, for I rather unjustly put poor Menelaus quite out of the +question) the advantages were all on the side of the Mahometan match. +The Sheik was in a much higher station of life than the superseded +husband, and had given the best possible proof of his ardent affection by +the sacrifices he had made, and the risks he had incurred, for the sake +of the beloved object. I, therefore, stated fairly, to the horror and +amazement of all my hearers, that the Sheik, in my view, was likely to +make a most capital husband, and that I entirely “approved of the match.” + +I left Nablus under the impression that Mariam would soon be delivered to +her Mussulman lover. I afterwards found, however, that the result was +very different. Dthemetri’s religious zeal and hate had been so much +excited by the account of these events, and by the grief and +mortification of his co-religionists, that when he found me firmly +determined to decline all interference in the matter, he secretly +appealed to the Governor in my name, and (using, I suppose, many violent +threats, and telling no doubt many lies about my station and influence) +extorted a promise that the proselyte should be restored to her +relatives. I did not understand that the girl had been actually given up +whilst I remained at Nablus, but Dthemetri certainly did not desist from +his instances until he had satisfied himself by some means or other (for +mere words amounted to nothing) that the promise would be actually +performed. It was not till I had quitted Syria, and when Dthemetri was +no longer in my service, that this villainous, though well-motived trick, +of his came to my knowledge. Mysseri, who had informed me of the step +which had been taken, did not know it himself until some time after we +had quitted Nablus, when Dthemetri exultingly confessed his successful +enterprise. I know not whether the engagement which my zealous dragoman +extorted from the Governor was ever complied with. I shudder to think of +the fate which must have befallen poor Mariam if she fell into the hands +of the Christians. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI—THE PROPHET DAMOOR + + +For some hours I passed along the shores of the fair lake of Galilee; +then turning a little to the westward, I struck into a mountainous tract, +and as I advanced thenceforward, the lie of the country kept growing more +and more bold. At length I drew near to the city of Safed. It sits as +proud as a fortress upon the summit of a craggy height; yet because of +its minarets and stately trees, the place looks happy and beautiful. It +is one of the holy cities of the Talmud, and according to this authority, +the Messiah will reign there for forty years before He takes possession +of Sion. The sanctity and historical importance thus attributed to the +city by anticipation render it a favourite place of retirement for +Israelites, of whom it contains, they say, about four thousand, a number +nearly balancing that of the Mahometan inhabitants. I knew by my +experience of Tabarieh that a “holy city” was sure to have a population +of vermin somewhat proportionate to the number of its Israelites, and I +therefore caused my tent to be pitched upon a green spot of ground at a +respectful distance from the walls of the town. + +When it had become quite dark (for there was no moon that night) I was +informed that several Jews had secretly come from the city in the hope of +obtaining some assistance from me in circumstances of imminent danger; I +was also informed that they claimed my aid upon the ground that some of +their number were British subjects. It was arranged that the two +principal men of the party should speak for the rest, and these were +accordingly admitted into my tent. One of the two called himself the +British vice-consul, and he had with him his consular cap, but he frankly +said that he could not have dared to assume this emblem of his dignity in +the daytime, and that nothing but the extreme darkness of the night +rendered it safe for him to put it on upon this occasion. The other of +the spokesmen was a Jew of Gibraltar, a tolerably well-bred person, who +spoke English very fluently. + +These men informed me that the Jews of the place, who were exceedingly +wealthy, had lived peaceably in their retirement until the insurrection +which took place in 1834, but about the beginning of that year a highly +religious Mussulman called Mohammed Damoor went forth into the +market-place, crying with a loud voice, and prophesying that on the +fifteenth of the following June the true Believers would rise up in just +wrath against the Jews, and despoil them of their gold and their silver +and their jewels. The earnestness of the prophet produced some +impression at the time, but all went on as usual, until at last the +fifteenth of June arrived. When that day dawned the whole Mussulman +population of the place assembled in the streets that they might see the +result of the prophecy. Suddenly Mohammed Damoor rushed furious into the +crowd, and the fierce shout of the prophet soon ensured the fulfilment of +his prophecy. Some of the Jews fled and some remained, but they who fled +and they who remained, alike, and unresistingly, left their property to +the hands of the spoilers. The most odious of all outrages, that of +searching the women for the base purpose of discovering such things as +gold and silver concealed about their persons, was perpetrated without +shame. The poor Jews were so stricken with terror, that they submitted +to their fate even where resistance would have been easy. In several +instances a young Mussulman boy, not more than ten or twelve years of +age, walked straight into the house of a Jew and stripped him of his +property before his face, and in the presence of his whole family. {43} +When the insurrection was put down some of the Mussulmans (most probably +those who had got no spoil wherewith they might buy immunity) were +punished, but the greater part of them escaped. None of the booty was +restored, and the pecuniary redress which the Pasha had undertaken to +enforce for them had been hitherto so carefully delayed, that the hope of +ever obtaining it had grown very faint. A new Governor had been +appointed to the command of the place, with stringent orders to ascertain +the real extent of the losses, and to discover the spoilers, with a view +of compelling them to make restitution. It was found that, +notwithstanding the urgency of the instructions which the Governor had +received, he did not push on the affair with the vigour that had been +expected. The Jews complained, and either by the protection of the +British consul at Damascus, or by some other means, had influence enough +to induce the appointment of a special commissioner—they called him “the +Modeer”—whose duty it was to watch for and prevent anything like +connivance on the part of the Governor, and to push on the investigation +with vigour and impartiality. + +Such were the instructions with which some few weeks since the Modeer +came charged. The result was that the investigation had made no +practical advance, and that the Modeer as well as the Governor was living +upon terms of affectionate friendship with Mohammed Damoor and the rest +of the principal spoilers. + +Thus stood the chance of redress for the past, but the cause of the +agonising excitement under which the Jews of the place now laboured was +recent and justly alarming. Mohammed Damoor had again gone forth into +the market-place, and lifted up his voice and prophesied a second +spoliation of the Israelites. This was grave matter; the words of such a +practical man as Mohammed Damoor were not to be despised. I fear I must +have smiled visibly, for I was greatly amused and even, I think, +gratified at the account of this second prophecy. Nevertheless, my heart +warmed towards the poor oppressed Israelites, and I was flattered, too, +in the point of my national vanity at the notion of the far-reaching link +by which a Jew in Syria, who had been born on the rock of Gibraltar, was +able to claim me as his fellow-countryman. If I hesitated at all between +the “impropriety” of interfering in a matter which was no business of +mine and the “infernal shame” of refusing my aid at such a conjecture, I +soon came to a very ungentlemanly decision, namely, that I would be +guilty of the “impropriety,” and not of the “infernal shame.” It seemed +to me that the immediate arrest of Mohammed Damoor was the one thing +needful to the safety of the Jews, and I felt confident (for reasons +which I have already mentioned in speaking of the Nablus affair) that I +should be able to obtain this result by making a formal application to +the Governor. I told my applicants that I would take this step on the +following morning. They were very grateful, and were, for a moment, much +pleased at the prospect of safety which might thus be opened to them, but +the deliberation of a minute entirely altered their views, and filled +them with new terror. They declared that any attempt, or pretended +attempt, on the part of the Governor to arrest Mohammed Damoor would +certainly produce an immediate movement of the whole Mussulman +population, and a consequent massacre and robbery of the Israelites. My +visitors went out, and remained I know not how long consulting with their +brethren, but all at last agreed that their present perilous and painful +position was better than a certain and immediate attack, and that if +Mohammed Damoor was seized, their second estate would be worse than their +first. I myself did not think that this would be the case, but I could +not of course force my aid upon the people against their will; and, +moreover, the day fixed for the fulfilment of this second prophecy was +not very close at hand. A little delay, therefore, in providing against +the impending danger would not necessarily be fatal. The men now +confessed that although they had come with so much mystery and, as they +thought, at so great a risk to ask my assistance, they were unable to +suggest any mode in which I could aid them, except indeed by mentioning +their grievances to the consul-general at Damascus. This I promised to +do, and this I did. + +My visitors were very thankful to me for the readiness which I had shown +to intermeddle in their affairs, and the grateful wives of the principal +Jews sent to me many compliments, with choice wines and elaborate +sweetmeats. + +The course of my travels soon drew me so far from Safed, that I never +heard how the dreadful day passed off which had been fixed for the +accomplishment of the second prophecy. If the predicted spoliation was +prevented, poor Mohammed Damoor must have been forced, I suppose, to say +that he had prophesied in a metaphorical sense. This would be a sad +falling off from the brilliant and substantial success of the first +experiment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII—DAMASCUS + + +For a part of two days I wound under the base of the snow-crowned Djibel +el Sheik, and then entered upon a vast and desolate plain, rarely pierced +at intervals by some sort of withered stem. The earth in its length and +its breadth and all the deep universe of sky was steeped in light and +heat. On I rode through the fire, but long before evening came there +were straining eyes that saw, and joyful voices that announced, the sight +of Shaum Shereef—the “holy,” the “blessed” Damascus. + +But that which at last I reached with my longing eyes was not a speck in +the horizon, gradually expanding to a group of roofs and walls, but a +long, low line of blackest green, that ran right across in the distance +from east to west. And this, as I approached, grew deeper, grew wavy in +its outline. Soon forest trees shot up before my eyes, and robed their +broad shoulders so freshly, that all the throngs of olives as they rose +into view looked sad in their proper dimness. There were even now no +houses to see, but only the minarets peered out from the midst of shade +into the glowing sky, and bravely touched the sun. There seemed to be +here no mere city, but rather a province wide and rich, that bounded the +torrid waste. + +Until about a year, or two years, before the time of my going there +Damascus had kept up so much of the old bigot zeal against Christians, or +rather, against Europeans, that no one dressed as a Frank could have +dared to show himself in the streets; but the firmness and temper of Mr. +Farren, who hoisted his flag in the city as consul-general for the +district, had soon put an end to all intolerance of Englishmen. Damascus +was safer than Oxford. {44} When I entered the city in my usual dress +there was but one poor fellow that wagged his tongue, and him, in the +open streets, Dthemetri horsewhipped. During my stay I went wherever I +chose, and attended the public baths without molestation. Indeed, my +relations with the pleasanter portion of the Mahometan population were +upon a much better footing here than at most other places. + +In the principal streets of Damascus there is a path for foot-passengers, +which is raised, I think, a foot or two above the bridle-road. Until the +arrival of the British consul-general none but a Mussulman had been +permitted to walk upon the upper way. Mr. Farren would not, of course, +suffer that the humiliation of any such exclusion should be submitted to +by an Englishman, and I always walked upon the raised path as free and +unmolested as if I had been in Pall Mall. The old usage was, however, +maintained with as much strictness as ever against the Christian Rayahs +and Jews: not one of them could have set his foot upon the privileged +path without endangering his life. + +I was lounging one day, I remember, along “the paths of the faithful,” +when a Christian Rayah from the bridle-road below saluted me with such +earnestness, and craved so anxiously to speak and be spoken to, that he +soon brought me to a halt. He had nothing to tell, except only the glory +and exultation with which he saw a fellow-Christian stand level with the +imperious Mussulmans. Perhaps he had been absent from the place for some +time, for otherwise I hardly know how it could have happened that my +exaltation was the first instance he had seen. His joy was great. So +strong and strenuous was England (Lord Palmerston reigned in those days), +that it was a pride and delight for a Syrian Christian to look up and say +that the Englishman’s faith was his too. If I was vexed at all that I +could not give the man a lift and shake hands with him on level ground, +there was no alloy to his pleasure. He followed me on, not looking to +his own path, but keeping his eyes on me. He saw, as he thought, and +said (for he came with me on to my quarters), the period of the +Mahometan’s absolute ascendency, the beginning of the Christian’s. He +had so closely associated the insulting privilege of the path with actual +dominion, that seeing it now in one instance abandoned, he looked for the +quick coming of European troops. His lips only whispered, and that +tremulously, but his fiery eyes spoke out their triumph in long and loud +hurrahs: “I, too, am a Christian. My foes are the foes of the English. +We are all one people, and Christ is our King.” + +If I poorly deserved, yet I liked this claim of brotherhood. Not all the +warnings which I heard against their rascality could hinder me from +feeling kindly towards my fellow-Christians in the East. English +travellers, from a habit perhaps of depreciating sectarians in their own +country, are apt to look down upon the Oriental Christians as being +“dissenters” from the established religion of a Mahometan empire. I +never did thus. By a natural perversity of disposition, which my +nursemaids called contrariness, I felt the more strongly for my creed +when I saw it despised among men. I quite tolerated the Christianity of +Mahometan countries, notwithstanding its humble aspect and the damaged +character of its followers. I went further and extended some sympathy +towards those who, with all the claims of superior intellect, learning, +and industry, were kept down under the heel of the Mussulmans by reason +of their having _our_ faith. I heard, as I fancied, the faint echo of an +old crusader’s conscience, that whispered and said, “Common cause!” The +impulse was, as you may suppose, much too feeble to bring me into +trouble; it merely influenced my actions in a way thoroughly +characteristic of this poor sluggish century, that is, by making me speak +almost as civilly to the followers of Christ as I did to their Mahometan +foes. + +This “holy” Damascus, this “earthly paradise” of the Prophet, so fair to +the eyes that he dared not trust himself to tarry in her blissful shades, +she is a city of hidden palaces, of copses and gardens, and fountains and +bubbling streams. The juice of her life is the gushing and ice-cold +torrent that tumbles from the snowy sides of Anti-Lebanon. Close along +on the river’s edge, through seven sweet miles of rustling boughs and +deepest shade, the city spreads out her whole length. As a man falls +flat, face forward on the brook, that he may drink and drink again, so +Damascus, thirsting for ever, lies down with her lips to the stream and +clings to its rushing waters. + +The chief places of public amusement, or rather, of public relaxation, +are the baths and the great café; this last, which is frequented at night +by most of the wealthy men, and by many of the humbler sort, consists of +a number of sheds, very simply framed and built in a labyrinth of running +streams, which foam and roar on every side. The place is lit up in the +simplest manner by numbers of small pale lamps strung upon loose cords, +and so suspended from branch to branch, that the light, though it looks +so quiet amongst the darkening foliage, yet leaps and brightly flashes as +it falls upon the troubled waters. All around, and chiefly upon the very +edge of the torrents, groups of people are tranquilly seated. They all +drink coffee, and inhale the cold fumes of the _narghile_; they talk +rather gently the one to the other, or else are silent. A father will +sometimes have two or three of his boys around him; but the joyousness of +an Oriental child is all of the sober sort, and never disturbs the +reigning calm of the land. + +It has been generally understood, I believe, that the houses of Damascus +are more sumptuous than those of any other city in the East. Some of +these, said to be the most magnificent in the place, I had an opportunity +of seeing. + +Every rich man’s house stands detached from its neighbours at the side of +a garden, and it is from this cause no doubt that the city (severely +menaced by prophecy) has hitherto escaped destruction. You know some +parts of Spain, but you have never, I think, been in Andalusia: if you +had, I could easily show you the interior of a Damascene house by +referring you to the Alhambra or Alcanzar of Seville. The lofty rooms +are adorned with a rich inlaying of many colours and illuminated writing +on the walls. The floors are of marble. One side of any room intended +for noonday retirement is generally laid open to a quadrangle, in the +centre of which there dances the jet of a fountain. There is no +furniture that can interfere with the cool, palace-like emptiness of the +apartments. A divan (which is a low and doubly broad sofa) runs round +the three walled sides of the room. A few Persian carpets (which ought +to be called Persian rugs, for that is the word which indicates their +shape and dimensions) are sometimes thrown about near the divan; they are +placed without order, the one partly lapping over the other, and thus +disposed, they give to the room an appearance of uncaring luxury; except +these (of which I saw few, for the time was summer, and fiercely hot), +there is nothing to obstruct the welcome air, and the whole of the marble +floor from one divan to the other, and from the head of the chamber +across to the murmuring fountain, is thoroughly open and free. + +So simple as this is Asiatic luxury! The Oriental is not a contriving +animal; there is nothing intricate in his magnificence. The +impossibility of handing down property from father to son for any long +period consecutively seems to prevent the existence of those traditions +by which, with us, the refined modes of applying wealth are made known to +its inheritors. We know that in England a newly-made rich man cannot, by +taking thought and spending money, obtain even the same-looking furniture +as a gentleman. The complicated character of an English establishment +allows room for subtle distinctions between that which is _comme il +faut_, and that which is not. All such refinements are unknown in the +East; the Pasha and the peasant have the same tastes. The broad cold +marble floor, the simple couch, the air freshly waving through a shady +chamber, a verse of the Koran emblazoned on the wall, the sight and the +sound of falling water, the cold fragrant smoke of the _narghile_, and a +small collection of wives and children in the inner apartments—these, the +utmost enjoyments of the grandee, are yet such as to be appreciable by +the humblest Mussulman in the empire. + +But its gardens are the delight, the delight and the pride of Damascus. +They are not the formal parterres which you might expect from the +Oriental taste; they rather bring back to your mind the memory of some +dark old shrubbery in our northern isle, that has been charmingly +_un_—“kept up” for many and many a day. When you see a rich wilderness +of wood in decent England, it is like enough that you see it with some +soft regrets. The puzzled old woman at the lodge can give small account +of “the family.” She thinks it is “Italy” that has made the whole circle +of her world so gloomy and sad. You avoid the house in lively dread of a +lone housekeeper, but you make your way on by the stables; you remember +that gable with all its neatly nailed trophies of fitchets and hawks and +owls, now slowly falling to pieces; you remember that stable, and +that—but the doors are all fastened that used to be standing ajar, the +paint of things painted is blistered and cracked, grass grows in the +yard; just there, in October mornings, the keeper would wait with the +dogs and the guns—no keeper now; you hurry away, and gain the small +wicket that used to open to the touch of a lightsome hand—it is fastened +with a padlock (the only new looking thing), and is stained with thick, +green damp; you climb it, and bury yourself in the deep shade, and strive +but lazily with the tangling briars, and stop for long minutes to judge +and determine whether you will creep beneath the long boughs and make +them your archway, or whether perhaps you will lift your heel and tread +them down under foot. Long doubt, and scarcely to be ended till you wake +from the memory of those days when the path was clear, and chase that +phantom of a muslin sleeve that once weighed warm upon your arm. + +Wild as that, the nighest woodland of a deserted home in England, but +without its sweet sadness, is the sumptuous garden of Damascus. Forest +trees, tall and stately enough if you could see their lofty crests, yet +lead a tussling life of it below, with their branches struggling against +strong numbers of bushes and wilful shrubs. The shade upon the earth is +black as night. High, high above your head, and on every side all down +to the ground, the thicket is hemmed in and choked up by the interlacing +boughs that droop with the weight of roses, and load the slow air with +their damask breath. {45} There are no other flowers. Here and there, +there are patches of ground made clear from the cover, and these are +either carelessly planted with some common and useful vegetable, or else +are left free to the wayward ways of Nature, and bear rank weeds, +moist-looking and cool to the eyes, and freshening the sense with their +earthy and bitter fragrance. There is a lane opened through the thicket, +so broad in some places that you can pass along side by side; in some so +narrow (the shrubs are for ever encroaching) that you ought, if you can, +to go on the first and hold back the bough of the rose-tree. And through +this wilderness there tumbles a loud rushing stream, which is halted at +last in the lowest corner of the garden, and there tossed up in a +fountain by the side of the simple alcove. This is all. + +Never for an instant will the people of Damascus attempt to separate the +idea of bliss from these wild gardens and rushing waters. Even where +your best affections are concerned, and you, prudent preachers, “hold +hard” and turn aside when they come near the mysteries of the happy +state, and we (prudent preachers too), we will hush our voices, and never +reveal to finite beings the joys of the “earthly paradise.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII—PASS OF THE LEBANON + + +“The ruins of Baalbec!” Shall I scatter the vague, solemn thoughts and +all the airy phantasies which gather together when once those words are +spoken, that I may give you instead tall columns and measurements true, +and phrases built with ink? No, no; the glorious sounds shall still +float on as of yore, and still hold fast upon your brain with their own +dim and infinite meaning. + +Come! Baalbec is over; I got “rather well” out of that. + +The path by which I crossed the Lebanon is like, I think, in its features +to one which you must know, namely, that of the Foorca in the Bernese +Oberland. For a great part of the way I toiled rather painfully through +the dazzling snow, but the labour of ascending added to the excitement +with which I looked for the summit of the pass. The time came. There +was a minute in the which I saw nothing but the steep, white shoulder of +the mountain, and there was another minute, and that the next, which +showed me a nether heaven of fleecy clouds that floated along far down in +the air beneath me, and showed me beyond the breadth of all Syria west of +the Lebanon. But chiefly I clung with my eyes to the dim, steadfast line +of the sea which closed my utmost view. I had grown well used of late to +the people and the scenes of forlorn Asia—well used to tombs and ruins, +to silent cities and deserted plains, to tranquil men and women sadly +veiled; and now that I saw the even plain of the sea, I leapt with an +easy leap to its yonder shores, and saw all the kingdoms of the West in +that fair path that could lead me from out of this silent land straight +on into shrill Marseilles, or round by the pillars of Hercules to the +crash and roar of London. My place upon this dividing barrier was as a +man’s puzzling station in eternity, between the birthless past and the +future that has no end. Behind me I left an old, decrepit world; +religions dead and dying; calm tyrannies expiring in silence; women +hushed and swathed, and turned into waxen dolls; love flown, and in its +stead mere royal and “paradise” pleasures. Before me there waited glad +bustle and strife; love itself, an emulous game; religion, a cause and a +controversy, well smitten and well defended; men governed by reasons and +suasion of speech; wheels going, steam buzzing—a mortal race, and a +slashing pace, and the devil taking the hindmost—taking _me_, by Jove +(for that was my inner care), if I lingered too long upon the difficult +pass that leads from thought to action. + +I descended and went towards the west. + +The group of cedars remaining on this part of the Lebanon is held sacred +by the Greek Church on account of a prevailing notion that the trees were +standing at a time when the temple of Jerusalem was built. They occupy +three or four acres on the mountain’s side, and many of them are gnarled +in a way that implies great age, but except these signs I saw nothing in +their appearance or conduct that tended to prove them contemporaries of +the cedars employed in Solomon’s Temple. The final cause to which these +aged survivors owed their preservation was explained to me in the evening +by a glorious old fellow (a Christian chief), who made me welcome in the +valley of Eden. In ancient times the whole range of the Lebanon had been +covered with cedars, and as the fertile plains beneath became more and +more infested by government officers and tyrants of high and low degree, +the people by degrees abandoned them and flocked to the rugged mountains, +which were less accessible to their indolent oppressors. The cedar +forests gradually shrank under the axe of the encroaching multitudes, and +seemed at last to be on the point of disappearing entirely, when an aged +chief who ruled in this district, and who had witnessed the great change +effected even in his own lifetime, chose to say that some sign or +memorial should be left of the vast woods with which the mountains had +formerly been clad, and commanded accordingly that this group of trees +(which was probably situated at the highest point to which the forest had +reached) should remain untouched. The chief, it seems, was not moved by +the notion I have mentioned as prevailing in the Greek Church, but rather +by some sentiment of veneration for a great natural feature—sentiment +akin, perhaps, to that old and earthborn religion, which made men bow +down to creation before they had yet learnt how to know and worship the +Creator. + +The chief of the valley in which I passed the night was a man of large +possessions, and he entertained me very sumptuously. He was highly +intelligent, and had had the sagacity to foresee that Europe would +intervene authoritatively in the affairs of Syria. Bearing this idea in +mind, and with a view to give his son an advantageous start in the +ambitious career for which he was destined, he had hired for him a +teacher of the Italian language, the only accessible European tongue. +The tutor, however, who was a native of Syria, either did not know or did +not choose to teach the European forms of address, but contented himself +with instructing his pupil in the mere language of Italy. This +circumstance gave me an opportunity (the only one I ever had, or was +likely to have {46}) of hearing the phrases of Oriental courtesy in an +European tongue. The boy was about twelve or thirteen years old, and +having the advantage of being able to speak to me without the aid of an +interpreter, he took a prominent part in doing the honours of his +father’s house. He went through his duties with untiring assiduity, and +with a kind of gracefulness, which by mere description can scarcely be +made intelligible to those who are unacquainted with the manners of the +Asiatics. The boy’s address resembled a little that of a highly polished +and insinuating Roman Catholic priest, but had more of girlish +gentleness. It was strange to hear him gravely and slowly enunciating +the common and extravagant compliments of the East in good Italian, and +in soft, persuasive tones. I recollect that I was particularly amused at +the gracious obstinacy with which he maintained that the house in which I +was so hospitably entertained belonged not to his father, but to me. To +say this once was only to use the common form of speech, signifying no +more than our sweet word “welcome,” but the amusing part of the matter +was that, whenever in the course of conversation I happened to speak of +his father’s house or the surrounding domain, the boy invariably +interfered to correct my pretended mistake, and to assure me once again +with a gentle decisiveness of manner that the whole property was really +and exclusively mine, and that his father had not the most distant +pretensions to its ownership. + +I received from my host much, and (as I now know) most true, information +respecting the people of the mountains, and their power of resisting +Mehemet Ali. The chief gave me very plainly to understand that the +mountaineers, being dependent upon others for bread and gunpowder (the +two great necessaries of martial life), could not long hold out against a +power which occupied the plains and commanded the sea; but he also +assured me, and that very significantly, that if this source of weakness +were provided against, _the mountaineers were to be depended upon_; he +told me that in ten or fifteen days the chiefs could bring together some +fifty thousand fighting men. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX—SURPRISE OF SATALIEH + + +Whilst I was remaining upon the coast of Syria I had the good fortune to +become acquainted with the Russian Sataliefsky, {47} a general officer, +who in his youth had fought and bled at Borodino, but was now better +known among diplomats by the important trust committed to him at a period +highly critical for the affairs of Eastern Europe. I must not tell you +his family name; my mention of his title can do him no harm, for it is I, +and I only, who have conferred it, in consideration of the military and +diplomatic services performed under my own eyes. + +The General as well as I was bound for Smyrna, and we agreed to sail +together in an Ionian brigantine. We did not charter the vessel, but we +made our arrangement with the captain upon such terms that we could be +put ashore upon any part of the coast that we might choose. We sailed, +and day after day the vessel lay dawdling on the sea with calms and +feeble breezes for her portion. I myself was well repaid for the painful +restlessness which such weather occasions, because I gained from my +companion a little of that vast fund of interesting knowledge with which +he was stored, knowledge a thousand times the more highly to be prized +since it was not of the sort that is to be gathered from books, but only +from the lips of those who have acted a part in the world. + +When after nine days of sailing, or trying to sail, we found ourselves +still hanging by the mainland to the north of the isle of Cyprus, we +determined to disembark at Satalieh, and to go on thence by land. A +light breeze favoured our purpose, and it was with great delight that we +neared the fragrant land, and saw our anchor go down in the bay of +Satalieh, within two or three hundred yards of the shore. + +The town of Satalieh {48} is the chief place of the Pashalic in which it +is situate, and its citadel is the residence of the Pasha. We had +scarcely dropped our anchor when a boat from the shore came alongside +with officers on board, who announced that the strictest orders had been +received for maintaining a quarantine of three weeks against all vessels +coming from Syria, and directed accordingly that no one from the vessel +should disembark. In reply we sent a message to the Pasha, setting forth +the rank and titles of the General, and requiring permission to go +ashore. After a while the boat came again alongside, and the officers +declaring that the orders received from Constantinople were imperative +and unexceptional, formally enjoined us in the name of the Pasha to +abstain from any attempt to land. + +I had been hitherto much less impatient of our slow voyage than my +gallant friend, but this opposition made the smooth sea seem to me like a +prison, from which I must and would break out. I had an unbounded faith +in the feebleness of Asiatic potentates, and I proposed that we should +set the Pasha at defiance. The General had been worked up to a state of +most painful agitation by the idea of being driven from the shore which +smiled so pleasantly before his eyes, and he adopted my suggestion with +rapture. + +We determined to land. + +To approach the sweet shore after a tedious voyage, and then to be +suddenly and unexpectedly prohibited from landing—this is so maddening to +the temper, that no one who had ever experienced the trial would say that +even the most violent impatience of such restraint is wholly inexcusable. +I am not going to pretend, however, that the course which we chose to +adopt on the occasion can be perfectly justified. The impropriety of a +traveller’s setting at naught the regulations of a foreign State is clear +enough, and the bad taste of compassing such a purpose by mere +gasconading is still more glaringly plain. I knew perfectly well that if +the Pasha understood his duty, and had energy enough to perform it, he +would order out a file of soldiers the moment we landed, and cause us +both to be shot upon the beach, without allowing more contact than might +be absolutely necessary for the purpose of making us stand fire; but I +also firmly believed that the Pasha would not see the befitting line of +conduct nearly so well as I did, and that even if he did know his duty, +he would hardly succeed in finding resolution enough to perform it. + +We ordered the boat to be got in readiness, and the officers on shore +seeing these preparations, gathered together a number of guards, who +assembled upon the sands. We saw that great excitement prevailed, and +that messengers were continually going to and fro between the shore and +the citadel. Our captain, out of compliment to his Excellency, had +provided the vessel with a Russian war-flag, which he had hoisted +alternately with the Union Jack, and we agreed that we would attempt our +disembarkation under this, the Russian standard! I was glad when we came +to that resolution, for I should have been sorry to engage the honoured +flag of England in such an affair as that which we were undertaking. The +Russian ensign was therefore committed to one of the sailors, who took +his station at the stern of the boat. We gave particular instructions to +the captain of the brigantine, and when all was ready, the General and I, +with our respective servants, got into the boat, and were slowly rowed +towards the shore. The guards gathered together at the point for which +we were making, but when they saw that our boat went on without altering +her course, _they ceased to stand very still_; none of them ran away, or +even shrank back, but they looked as if _the pack were being shuffled_, +every man seeming desirous to change places with his neighbour. They +were still at their post, however, when our oars went in, and the bow of +our boat ran up—well up upon the beach. + +The General was lame by an honourable wound received at Borodino, and +could not without some assistance get out of the boat; I, therefore, +landed the first. My instructions to the captain were attended to with +the most perfect accuracy, for scarcely had my foot indented the sand +when the four six-pounders of the brigantine quite gravely rolled out +their brute thunder. Precisely as I had expected, the guards and all the +people who had gathered about them gave way under the shock produced by +the mere sound of guns, and we were all allowed to disembark with the +least molestation. + +We immediately formed a little column, or rather, as I should have called +it, a procession, for we had no fighting aptitude in us, and were only +trying, as it were, how far we could go in frightening full-grown +children. First marched the sailor with the Russian flag of war bravely +flying in the breeze, then came the general and I, then our servants, and +lastly, if I rightly recollect, two more of the brigantine’s crew. Our +flag-bearer so exulted in his honourable office, and bore the colours +aloft with so much of pomp and dignity, that I found it exceedingly hard +to keep a grave countenance. We advanced towards the castle, but the +people had now had time to recover from the effect of the six-pounders +(only of course loaded with powder), and they could not help seeing not +only the numerical weakness of our party, but the very slight amount of +wealth and resource which it seemed to imply. They began to hang round +us more closely, and just as this reaction was beginning the General, who +was perfectly unacquainted with the Asiatic character, thoughtlessly +turned round in order to speak to one of the servants. The effect of +this slight move was magical. The people thought we were going to give +way, and instantly closed round us. In two words, and with one touch, I +showed my comrade the danger he was running, and in the next instant we +were both advancing more pompously than ever. Some minutes afterwards +there was a second appearance of reaction, followed again by wavering and +indecision on the part of the Pasha’s people, but at length it seemed to +be understood that we should go unmolested into the audience hall. + +Constant communication had been going on between the receding crowd and +the Pasha, and so when we reached the gates of the citadel we saw that +preparations were made for giving us an awe-striking reception. Parting +at once from the sailors and our servants, the General and I were +conducted into the audience hall; and there at least I suppose the Pasha +hoped that he would confound us by his greatness. The hall was nothing +more than a large whitewashed room. Oriental potentates have a pride in +that sort of simplicity, when they can contrast it with the exhibition of +power, and this the Pasha was able to do, for the lower end of the hall +was filled with his officers. These men, of whom I thought there were +about fifty or sixty, were all handsomely, though plainly, dressed in the +military frockcoats of Europe; they stood in mass and so as to present a +hollow semicircular front towards the upper end of the hall at which the +Pasha sat; they opened a narrow lane for us when we entered, and as soon +as we had passed they again closed up their ranks. An attempt was made +to induce us to remain at a respectful distance from his mightiness. To +have yielded in this point would have have been fatal to our success, +perhaps to our lives; but the General and I had already determined upon +the place which we should take, and we rudely pushed on towards the upper +end of the hall. + +Upon the divan, and close up against the right hand corner of the room, +there sat the Pasha, his limbs gathered in, the whole creature coiled up +like an adder. His cheeks were deadly pale, and his lips perhaps had +turned white, for without moving a muscle the man impressed me with an +immense idea of the wrath within him. He kept his eyes inexorably fixed +as if upon vacancy, and with the look of a man accustomed to refuse the +prayers of those who sue for life. We soon discomposed him, however, +from this studied fixity of feature, for we marched straight up to the +divan and sat down, the Russian close to the Pasha, and I by the side of +the Russian. This act astonished the attendants, and plainly +disconcerted the Pasha. He could no longer maintain the glassy stillness +of the eyes which he had affected, and evidently became much agitated. +At the feet of the satrap there stood a trembling Italian. + +This man was a sort of medico in the potentate’s service, and now in the +absence of our attendants he was to act as interpreter. The Pasha caused +him to tell us that we had openly defied his authority, and had forced +our way on shore in the teeth of his own officers. + +Up to this time I had been the planner of the enterprise, but now that +the moment had come when all would depend upon able and earnest +speechifying, I felt at once the immense superiority of my gallant +friend, and gladly left to him the whole conduct of this discussion. +Indeed he had vast advantages over me, not only by his superior command +of language and his far more spirited style of address, but also in his +consciousness of a good cause; for whilst I felt myself completely in the +wrong, his Excellency had really worked himself up to believe that the +Pasha’s refusal to permit our landing was a gross outrage and insult. +Therefore, without deigning to defend our conduct he at once commenced a +spirited attack upon the Pasha. The poor Italian doctor translated one +or two sentences to the Pasha, but he evidently mitigated their import. +The Russian, growing warm, insisted upon his attack with redoubled energy +and spirit; but the medico, instead of translating, began to shake +violently with terror, and at last he came out with his _non ardisco_, +and fairly confessed that he dared not interpret fierce words to his +master. + +Now then, at a time when everything seemed to depend upon the effect of +speech, we were left without an interpreter. + +But this very circumstance, which at first appeared so unfavourable, +turned out to be advantageous. The General, finding that he could not +have his words translated, ceased to speak in Italian, and recurred to +his accustomed French; he became eloquent. No one present except myself +understood one syllable of what he was saying, but he had drawn forth his +passport, and the energy and violence with which, as he spoke, he pointed +to the graven Eagle of all the Russias, began to make an impression. The +Pasha saw at his side a man not only free from every the least pang of +fear, but raging, as it seemed, with just indignation, and thenceforward +he plainly began to think that, in some way or other (he could not tell +how) he must certainly have been in the wrong. In a little time he was +so much shaken that the Italian ventured to resume his interpretation, +and my comrade had again the opportunity of pressing his attack upon the +Pasha. His argument, if I rightly recollect its import, was to this +effect: “If the vilest Jews were to come into the harbour, you would but +forbid them to land, and force them to perform quarantine; yet this is +the very course, O Pasha, which your rash officers dared to think of +adopting with _us_!—those mad and reckless men would have actually dealt +towards a Russian general officer and an English gentleman as if they had +been wretched Israelites! Never—never will we submit to such an +indignity. His Imperial Majesty knows how to protect his nobles from +insult, and would never endure that a General of his army should be +treated in matter of quarantine as though he were a mere Eastern Jew!” +This argument told with great effect. The Pasha fairly admitted that he +felt its weight, and he now only struggled to obtain such a compromise as +might partly save his dignity. He wanted us to perform a quarantine of +one day for form’s sake, and in order to show his people that he was not +utterly defied; but finding that we were inexorable, he not only +abandoned his attempt, but promised to supply us with horses. + +When the discussion had arrived at this happy conclusion _tchibouques_ +and coffee were brought, and we passed, I think, nearly an hour in +friendly conversation. The Pasha, it now appeared, had once been a +prisoner of war in Russia, and a conviction of the Emperor’s vast power, +necessarily acquired during this captivity, made him perhaps more alive +than an untravelled Turk would have been to the force of my comrade’s +eloquence. + +The Pasha now gave us a generous feast. Our promised horses were brought +without much delay. I gained my loved saddle once more, and when the +moon got up and touched the heights of Taurus, we were joyfully winding +our way through the first of his rugged defiles. + + + + +APPENDIX—THE HOME OF LADY HESTER STANHOPE + + +It was late when we came in sight of two high conical hills, on one of +which stands the village of Djouni, on the other a circular wall, over +which dark trees were waving; and this was the place in which Lady Hester +Stanhope had finished her strange and eventful career. It had formerly +been a convent, but the Pasha of Sidon had given it to the +“prophet-lady,” who converted its naked walls into a palace, and its +wilderness into gardens. + +The sun was setting as we entered the enclosure, and we were soon +scattered about the outer court, picketing our horses, rubbing down their +foaming flanks, and washing out their wounds. The buildings that +constituted the palace were of a very scattered and complicated +description, covering a wide space, but only one storey in height: courts +and gardens, stables and sleeping-rooms, halls of audience and ladies’ +bowers, were strangely intermingled. Heavy weeds were growing everywhere +among the open portals, and we forced our way with difficulty through a +tangle of roses and jasmine to the inner court; here choice flowers once +bloomed, and fountains played in marble basins, but now was presented a +scene of the most melancholy desolation. As the watchfire blazed up, its +gleam fell upon masses of honeysuckle and woodbine, on white, mouldering +walls beneath, and dark, waving trees above; while the group of +mountaineers who gathered round its light, with their long beards and +vivid dresses, completed the strange picture. + +The clang of sword and spear resounded through the long galleries; horses +neighed among bowers and boudoirs; strange figures hurried to and fro +among the colonnades, shouting in Arabic, English, and Italian; the fire +crackled, the startled bats flapped their heavy wings, and the growl of +distant thunder filled up the pauses in the rough symphony. + +Our dinner was spread on the floor in Lady Hester’s favourite apartment; +her deathbed was our sideboard, her furniture our fuel, her name our +conversation. Almost before the meal was ended two of our party had +dropped asleep over their trenchers from fatigue; the Druses had retired +from the haunted precincts to their village; and W-, L-, and I went out +into the garden to smoke our pipes by Lady Hester’s lonely tomb. About +midnight we fell asleep upon the ground, wrapped in our capotes, and +dreamed of ladies and tombs and prophets till the neighing of our horses +announced the dawn. + +After a hurried breakfast on fragments of the last night’s repast we +strolled out over the extensive gardens. Here many a broken arbour and +trellis, bending under masses of jasmine and honeysuckle, show the care +and taste that were once lavished on this wild but beautiful hermitage: a +garden-house, surrounded by an enclosure of roses run wild, lies in the +midst of a grove of myrtle and bay trees. This was Lady Hester’s +favourite resort during her lifetime; and now, within its silent +enclosure, + + “After life’s fitful fever she sleeps well.” + +The hand of ruin has dealt very sparingly with all these interesting +relics; the Pasha’s power by day, and the fear of spirits by night, keep +off marauders; and though we made free with broken benches and fallen +doorposts for fuel, we reverently abstained from displacing anything in +the establishment except a few roses, which there was no living thing but +bees and nightingales to regret. It was one of the most striking and +interesting spots I ever witnessed: its silence and beauty, its richness +and desolation, lent to it a touching and mysterious character, that +suited well the memory of that strange hermit-lady who has made it a +place of pilgrimage, even in Palestine. {49} + +The Pasha of Sidon presented Lady Hester with the deserted convent of Mar +Elias on her arrival in his country, and this she soon converted into a +fortress, garrisoned by a band of Albanians: her only attendants besides +were her doctor, her secretary, and some female slaves. Public rumour +soon busied itself with such a personage, and exaggerated her influence +and power. It is even said that she was crowned Queen of the East at +Palmyra by fifty thousand Arabs. She certainly exercised almost despotic +power in her neighbourhood on the mountain; and what was perhaps the most +remarkable proof of her talents, she prevailed on some Jews to advance +large sums of money to her on her note of hand. She lived for many +years, beset with difficulties and anxieties, but to the last she held on +gallantly: even when confined to her bed and dying she sought for no +companionship or comfort but such as she could find in her own powerful, +though unmanageable, mind. + +Mr. Moore, our consul at Beyrout, hearing she was ill, rode over the +mountains to visit her, accompanied by Mr. Thomson, the American +missionary. It was evening when they arrived, and a profound silence was +over all the palace. No one met them; they lighted their own lamps in +the outer court, and passed unquestioned through court and gallery until +they came to where _she_ lay. A corpse was the only inhabitant of the +palace, and the isolation from her kind which she had sought so long was +indeed complete. That morning thirty-seven servants had watched every +motion of her eye: its spell once darkened by death, every one fled with +such plunder as they could secure. A little girl, adopted by her and +maintained for years, took her watch and some papers on which she had set +peculiar value. Neither the child nor the property were ever seen again. +Not a single thing was left in the room where she lay dead, except the +ornaments upon her person. No one had ventured to touch these; even in +death she seemed able to protect herself. At midnight her countryman and +the missionary carried her out by torchlight to a spot in the garden that +had been formerly her favourite resort, and here they buried the +self-exiled lady.—_From_ “THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS,” _by Eliot +Warburton_. + + + + +Footnotes: + + +{1} A “compromised” person is one who has been in contact with people or +things supposed to be capable of conveying infection. As a general rule +the whole Ottoman Empire lies constantly under this terrible ban. The +“yellow flag” is the ensign of the quarantine establishment. + +{2} The narghile is a water-pipe upon the plan of the hookah, but more +gracefully fashioned; the smoke is drawn by a very long flexible tube, +that winds its snake-like way from the vase to the lips of the beatified +smoker. + +{3} That is, if he stands up at all. Oriental etiquette would not +warrant his rising, unless his visitor were supposed to be at least his +equal in point of rank and station. + +{4} The continual marriages of these people with the chosen beauties of +Georgia and Circassia have overpowered the original ugliness of their +Tatar ancestors. + +{5} There is almost always a breeze either from the Marmora or from the +Black Sea, that passes along the course of the Bosphorus. + +{6} The yashmak, you know, is not a mere semi-transparent veil, but +rather a good substantial petticoat applied to the face; it thoroughly +conceals all the features, except the eyes; the way of withdrawing it is +by pulling it down. + +{7} The “pipe of tranquillity” is a _tchibouque_ too long to be +conveniently carried on a journey; the possession of it therefore implies +that its owner is stationary, or at all events, that he is enjoying a +long repose from travel. + +{8} The Jews of Smyrna are poor, and having little merchandise of their +own to dispose of, they are sadly importunate in offering their services +as intermediaries: their troublesome conduct has led to the custom of +beating them in the open streets. It is usual for Europeans to carry +long sticks with them, for the express purpose of keeping off the chosen +people. I always felt ashamed to strike the poor fellows myself, but I +confess to the amusement with which I witnessed the observance of this +custom by other people. The Jew seldom got hurt much, for he was always +expecting the blow, and was ready to recede from it the moment it came: +one could not help being rather gratified at seeing him bound away so +nimbly, with his long robes floating out in the air, and then again wheel +round, and return with fresh importunities. + +{9} Marriages in the East are arranged by professed match-makers; many +of these, I believe, are Jewesses. + +{10} A Greek woman wears her whole fortune upon her person in the shape +of jewels or gold coins; I believe that this mode of investment is +adopted in great measure for safety’s sake. It has the advantage of +enabling a suitor to _reckon_ as well as to admire the objects of his +affection. + +{11} St. Nicholas is the great patron of Greek sailors. A small picture +of him enclosed in a glass case is hung up like a barometer at one end of +the cabin. + +{12} Hanmer. + +{13} “. . . ubi templum illi, centumque Sabæo +Thure calent aræ, sertisque recentibus halant.” + + —Æneid, i, 415. + +{14} The writer advises that none should attempt to read the following +account of the late Lady Hester Stanhope except those who may already +chance to feel an interest in the personage to whom it relates. The +chapter (which has been written and printed for the reasons mentioned in +the preface) is chiefly filled with the detailed conversation, or rather +discourse, of a highly eccentric gentlewoman. + +{15} Historically “_fainting_”; the death did not occur until long +afterwards. + +{16} I am told that in youth she was exceedingly sallow. + +{17} This was my impression at the time of writing the above passage, an +impression created by the popular and uncontradicted accounts of the +matter, as well as by the tenor of Lady Hester’s conversation. I have +now some reason to think that I was deceived, and that her sway in the +desert was much more limited than I had supposed. She seems to have had +from the Bedouins a fair five hundred pounds’ worth of respect, and not +much more. + +{18} She spoke it, I dare say, in English; the words would not be the +less effective for being spoken in an unknown tongue. Lady Hester, I +believe, never learnt to speak the Arabic with a perfect accent. + +{19} The proceedings thus described to me by Lady Hester as having taken +place during her illness, were afterwards re-enacted at the time of her +death. Since I wrote the words to which this note is appended, I +received from Warburton an interesting account of the heroine’s death, or +rather the circumstances attending the discovery of the event; and I +caused it to be printed in the former editions of this work. I must now +give up the borrowed ornament, and omit my extract from my friend’s +letter, for the rightful owner has reprinted it in “The Crescent and the +Cross.” I know what a sacrifice I am making, for in noticing the first +edition of this book reviewers turned aside from the text to the note, +and remarked upon the interesting information which Warburton’s letter +contained. [This narrative is reproduced in an Appendix to the present +edition.] + +{20} In a letter which I afterwards received from Lady Hester, she +mentioned incidentally Lord Hardwicke, and said that he was “the +kindest-hearted man existing—a most manly, firm character. He comes from +a good breed—all the Yorkes excellent, with _ancient_ French blood in +their veins.” The under scoring of the word “ancient” is by the writer +of the letter, who had certainly no great love or veneration for the +French of the present day: she did not consider them as descended from +her favourite stock. + +{21} It is said that deaf people can hear what is said concerning +themselves, and it would seem that those who live without books or +newspapers know all that is written about them. Lady Hester Stanhope, +though not admitting a book or newspaper into her fortress, seems to have +known the way in which M. Lamartine mentioned her in his book, for in a +letter which she wrote to me after my return to England she says, +“Although neglected, as Monsieur le M.” (referring, as I believe, to M. +Lamartine) “describes, and without books, yet my head is organised to +supply the want of them as well as acquired knowledge.” + +{22} I have been recently told that this Italian’s pretensions to the +healing art were thoroughly unfounded. My informant is a gentleman who +enjoyed during many years the esteem and confidence of Lady Hester +Stanhope: his adventures in the Levant were most curious and interesting. + +{23} The Greek Church does not recognise this as the true sanctuary, and +many Protestants look upon all the traditions by which it is attempted to +ascertain the holy places of Palestine as utterly fabulous. For myself, +I do not mean either to affirm or deny the correctness of the opinion +which has fixed upon this as the true site, but merely to mention it as a +belief entertained without question by my brethren of the Latin Church, +whose guest I was at the time. It would be a great aggravation of the +trouble of writing about these matters if I were to stop in the midst of +every sentence for the purpose of saying “so called” or “so it is said,” +and would besides sound very ungraciously: yet I am anxious to be +literally true in all I write. Now, thus it is that I mean to get over +my difficulty. Whenever in this great bundle of papers or book (if book +it is to be) you see any words about matters of religion which would seem +to involve the assertion of my own opinion, you are to understand me just +as if one or other of the qualifying phrases above mentioned had been +actually inserted in every sentence. My general direction for you to +construe me thus will render all that I write as strictly and actually +true as if I had every time lugged in a formal declaration of the fact +that I was merely expressing the notions of other people. + +{24} “Vino d’oro.” + +{25} Shereef. + +{26} Tennyson. + +{27} The other three cities held holy by Jews are Jerusalem, Hebron, and +Safet. + +{28} Hadj a pilgrim. + +{29} Milnes cleverly goes to the French for the exact word which conveys +the impression produced by the voice of the Arabs, and calls them “un +peuple _criard_.” + +{30} There is some semblance of bravado in my manner of talking about +the plague. I have been more careful to describe the terrors of other +people than my own. The truth is, that during the whole period of my +stay at Cairo I remained thoroughly impressed with a sense of my danger. +I may almost say, that I lived in perpetual apprehension, for even in +sleep, as I fancy, there remained with me some faint notion of the peril +with which I was encompassed. But fear does not necessarily damp the +spirits; on the contrary, it will often operate as an excitement, giving +rise to unusual animation, and thus it affected me. If I had not been +surrounded at this time by new faces, new scenes, and new sounds, the +effect produced upon my mind by one unceasing cause of alarm might have +been very different. As it was, the eagerness with which I pursued my +rambles among the wonders of Egypt was sharpened and increased by the +sting of the fear of death. Thus my account of the matter plainly +conveys an impression that I remained at Cairo without losing my +cheerfulness and buoyancy of spirits. And this is the truth, but it is +also true, as I have freely confessed, that my sense of danger during the +whole period was lively and continuous. + +{31} Anglicé for “je le sais.” These answers of mine, as given above, +are not meant as specimens of mere French, but of that fine, terse, +nervous, _Continental English_ with which I and my compatriots make our +way through Europe. This language, by-the-bye, is one possessing great +force and energy, and is not without its literature, a literature of the +very highest order. Where will you find more sturdy specimens of +downright, honest, and noble English than in the Duke of Wellington’s +“French” despatches? + +{32} The import of the word “compromised,” when used in reference to +contagion, is explained on page 18. + +{33} It is said, that when a Mussulman finds himself attacked by the +plague he goes and takes a bath. The couches on which the bathers +recline would carry infection, according to the notions of the Europeans. +Whenever, therefore, I took the bath at Cairo (except the first time of +my doing so) I avoided that part of the luxury which consists in being +“put up to dry” upon a kind of bed. + +{34} Mehemet Ali invited the Mamelukes to a feast, and murdered them +whilst preparing to enter the banquet hall. + +{35} It is not strictly lawful to sell _white_ slaves to a Christian. + +{36} The difficulty was occasioned by the immense exertions which the +Pasha was making to collect camels for military purposes. + +{37} Herodotus, in an after age, stood by with his note-book, and got, +as he thought, the exact returns of all the rations served out. + +{38} See Milman’s “History of the Jews,” first edition. + +{39} This is an appellation not implying blame, but merit; the “lies” +which it purports to affiliate are feints and cunning stratagems, rather +than the baser kind of falsehoods. The expression, in short, has nearly +the same meaning as the English word “Yorkshireman.” + +{40} The 29th of April. + +{41} These are the names given by the Prophet to certain chapters of the +Koran. + +{43} It was after the interview which I am talking of, and not from the +Jews themselves, that I learnt this fact. + +{44} An enterprising American traveller, Mr. Everett, lately conceived +the bold project of penetrating to the University of Oxford, and this +notwithstanding that he had been in his infancy (they begin very young +those Americans) an Unitarian preacher. Having a notion, it seems, that +the ambassadorial character would protect him from insult, he adopted the +stratagem of procuring credentials from his Government as Minister +Plenipotentiary at the Court of her Britannic Majesty; he also wore the +exact costume of a Trinitarian. But all his contrivances were vain; +Oxford disdained, and rejected, and insulted him (not because he +represented a swindling community, but) because that his infantine +sermons were strictly remembered against him; the enterprise failed. + +{45} The rose-trees which I saw were all of the kind we call “damask”; +they grow to an immense height and size. + +{46} A dragoman never interprets in terms the courteous language of the +East. + +{47} A title signifying transcender or conqueror of Satalieh. + +{48} Spelt “Attalia” and sometimes “Adalia” in English books and maps. + +{49} While Lady Hester Stanhope lived, although numbers visited the +convent, she almost invariably refused admittance to strangers. She +assigned as a reason the use which M. de Lamartine had made of his +interview. Mrs. T., who passed some weeks at Djouni, told me, that when +Lady Hester read his account of this interview, she exclaimed, “It is all +false; we did not converse together for more than five minutes; but no +matter, no traveller hereafter shall betray or forge my conversation.” +The author of “Eothen,” however, was her guest, and has given us an +interesting account of his visit in his brilliant volume. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EOTHEN*** + + +******* This file should be named 282-0.txt or 282-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/282 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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W. Kinglake</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Eothen, by A. W. Kinglake + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Eothen + + +Author: A. W. Kinglake + + + +Release Date: August 7, 2008 [eBook #282] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EOTHEN*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from the 1898 George Newnes edition by David +Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1>EOTHEN—A. W. KINGSLAKE</h1> +<h2>CHAPTER I—OVER THE BORDER</h2> +<p>At Semlin I still was encompassed by the scenes and the sounds +of familiar life; the din of a busy world still vexed and cheered +me; the unveiled faces of women still shone in the light of +day. Yet, whenever I chose to look southward, I saw the +Ottoman’s fortress—austere, and darkly impending high +over the vale of the Danube—historic Belgrade. I had +come, as it were, to the end of this wheel-going Europe, and now +my eyes would see the splendour and havoc of the East.</p> +<p>The two frontier towns are less than a cannon-shot distant, +and yet their people hold no communion. The Hungarian on +the north, and the Turk and Servian on the southern side of the +Save are as much asunder as though there were fifty broad +provinces that lay in the path between them. Of the men +that bustled around me in the streets of Semlin there was not, +perhaps, one who had ever gone down to look upon the stranger +race dwelling under the walls of that opposite castle. It +is the plague, and the dread of the plague, that divide the one +people from the other. All coming and going stands +forbidden by the terrors of the yellow flag. If you dare to +break the laws of the quarantine, you will be tried with military +haste; the court will scream out your sentence to you from a +tribunal some fifty yards off; the priest, instead of gently +whispering to you the sweet hopes of religion, will console you +at duelling distance; and after that you will find yourself +carefully shot, and carelessly buried in the ground of the +lazaretto.</p> +<p>When all was in order for our departure we walked down to the +precincts of the quarantine establishment, and here awaited us a +“compromised” <a name="citation1"></a><a +href="#footnote1" class="citation">[1]</a> officer of the +Austrian Government, who lives in a state of perpetual +excommunication. The boats, with their +“compromised” rowers, were also in readiness.</p> +<p>After coming in contact with any creature or thing belonging +to the Ottoman Empire it would be impossible for us to return to +the Austrian territory without undergoing an imprisonment of +fourteen days in the odious lazaretto. We felt, therefore, +that before we committed ourselves it was important to take care +that none of the arrangements necessary for the journey had been +forgotten; and in our anxiety to avoid such a misfortune, we +managed the work of departure from Semlin with nearly as much +solemnity as if we had been departing this life. Some +obliging persons, from whom we had received civilities during our +short stay in the place, came down to say their farewell at the +river’s side; and now, as we stood with them at the +distance of three or four yards from the +“compromised” officer, they asked if we were +perfectly certain that we had wound up all our affairs in +Christendom, and whether we had no parting requests to +make. We repeated the caution to our servants, and took +anxious thought lest by any possibility we might be cut off from +some cherished object of affection:—were they quite sure +that nothing had been forgotten—that there was no fragrant +dressing-case with its gold-compelling letters of credit from +which we might be parting for ever?—No; all our treasures +lay safely stowed in the boat, and we were ready to follow them +to the ends of the earth. Now, therefore, we shook hands +with our Semlin friends, who immediately retreated for three or +four paces, so as to leave us in the centre of a space between +them and the “compromised” officer. The latter +then advanced, and asking once more if we had done with the +civilised world, held forth his hand. I met it with mine, +and there was an end to Christendom for many a day to come.</p> +<p>We soon neared the southern bank of the river, but no sounds +came down from the blank walls above, and there was no living +thing that we could yet see, except one great hovering bird of +the vulture race, flying low, and intent, and wheeling round and +round over the pest-accursed city.</p> +<p>But presently there issued from the postern a group of human +beings—beings with immortal souls, and possibly some +reasoning faculties; but to me the grand point was this, that +they had real, substantial, and incontrovertible turbans. +They made for the point towards which we were steering, and when +at last I sprang upon the shore, I heard, and saw myself now +first surrounded by men of Asiatic blood. I have since +ridden through the land of the Osmanlees, from the Servian border +to the Golden Horn—from the Gulf of Satalieh to the tomb of +Achilles; but never have I seen such ultra-Turkish looking +fellows as those who received me on the banks of the Save. +They were men in the humblest order of life, having come to meet +our boat in the hope of earning something by carrying our luggage +up to the city; but poor though they were, it was plain that they +were Turks of the proud old school, and had not yet forgotten the +fierce, careless bearing of their once victorious race.</p> +<p>Though the province of Servia generally has obtained a kind of +independence, yet Belgrade, as being a place of strength on the +frontier, is still garrisoned by Turkish troops under the command +of a Pasha. Whether the fellows who now surrounded us were +soldiers, or peaceful inhabitants, I did not understand: they +wore the old Turkish costume; vests and jackets of many and +brilliant colours, divided from the loose petticoat-trousers by +heavy volumes of shawl, so thickly folded around their waists as +to give the meagre wearers something of the dignity of true +corpulence. This cincture enclosed a whole bundle of +weapons; no man bore less than one brace of immensely long +pistols, and a yataghan (or cutlass), with a dagger or two of +various shapes and sizes; most of these arms were inlaid with +silver, and highly burnished, so that they contrasted shiningly +with the decayed grandeur of the garments to which they were +attached (this carefulness of his arms is a point of honour with +the Osmanlee, who never allows his bright yataghan to suffer from +his own adversity); then the long drooping mustachios, and the +ample folds of the once white turbans, that lowered over the +piercing eyes, and the haggard features of the men, gave them an +air of gloomy pride, and that appearance of trying to be +disdainful under difficulties, which I have since seen so often +in those of the Ottoman people who live, and remember old times; +they seemed as if they were thinking that they would have been +more usefully, more honourably, and more piously employed in +cutting our throats than in carrying our portmanteaus. The +faithful Steel (Methley’s Yorkshire servant) stood aghast +for a moment at the sight of his master’s luggage upon the +shoulders of these warlike porters, and when at last we began to +move up he could scarcely avoid turning round to cast one +affectionate look towards Christendom, but quickly again he +marched on with steps of a man, not frightened exactly, but +sternly prepared for death, or the Koran, or even for plural +wives.</p> +<p>The Moslem quarter of a city is lonely and desolate. You +go up and down, and on over shelving and hillocky paths through +the narrow lanes walled in by blank, windowless dwellings; you +come out upon an open space strewed with the black ruins that +some late fire has left; you pass by a mountain of castaway +things, the rubbish of centuries, and on it you see numbers of +big, wolf-like dogs lying torpid under the sun, with limbs +outstretched to the full, as if they were dead; storks, or +cranes, sitting fearless upon the low roofs, look gravely down +upon you; the still air that you breathe is loaded with the scent +of citron, and pomegranate rinds scorched by the sun, or (as you +approach the bazaar) with the dry, dead perfume of strange +spices. You long for some signs of life, and tread the +ground more heavily, as though you would wake the sleepers with +the heel of your boot; but the foot falls noiseless upon the +crumbling soil of an Eastern city, and silence follows you +still. Again and again you meet turbans, and faces of men, +but they have nothing for you—no welcome—no +wonder—no wrath—no scorn—they look upon you as +we do upon a December’s fall of snow—as a +“seasonable,” unaccountable, uncomfortable work of +God, that may have been sent for some good purpose, to be +revealed hereafter.</p> +<p>Some people had come down to meet us with an invitation from +the Pasha, and we wound our way up to the castle. At the +gates there were groups of soldiers, some smoking, and some lying +flat like corpses upon the cool stones. We went through +courts, ascended steps, passed along a corridor, and walked into +an airy, whitewashed room, with an European clock at one end of +it, and Moostapha Pasha at the other; the fine, old, bearded +potentate looked very like Jove—like Jove, too, in the +midst of his clouds, for the silvery fumes of the <i>narghile</i> +<a name="citation2"></a><a href="#footnote2" +class="citation">[2]</a> hung lightly circling round him.</p> +<p>The Pasha received us with the smooth, kind, gentle manner +that belongs to well-bred Osmanlees; then he lightly clapped his +hands, and instantly the sound filled all the lower end of the +room with slaves; a syllable dropped from his lips which bowed +all heads, and conjured away the attendants like ghosts (their +coming and their going was thus swift and quiet, because their +feet were bare, and they passed through no door, but only by the +yielding folds of a purder). Soon the coffee-bearers +appeared, every man carrying separately his tiny cup in a small +metal stand; and presently to each of us there came a +pipe-bearer, who first rested the bowl of the <i>tchibouque</i> +at a measured distance on the floor, and then, on this axis, +wheeled round the long cheery stick, and gracefully presented it +on half-bended knee; already the well-kindled fire was glowing +secure in the bowl, and so, when I pressed the amber up to mine, +there was no coyness to conquer; the willing fume came up, and +answered my slightest sigh, and followed softly every breath +inspired, till it touched me with some faint sense and +understanding of Asiatic contentment.</p> +<p>Asiatic contentment! Yet scarcely, perhaps, one hour +before I had been wanting my bill, and ringing for waiters, in a +shrill and busy hotel.</p> +<p>In the Ottoman dominions there is scarcely any hereditary +influence except that which belongs to the family of the Sultan, +and wealth, too, is a highly volatile blessing, not easily +transmitted to the descendant of the owner. From these +causes it results that the people standing in the place of nobles +and gentry are official personages, and though many (indeed the +greater number) of these potentates are humbly born and bred, you +will seldom, I think, find them wanting in that polished +smoothness of manner, and those well-undulating tones which +belong to the best Osmanlees. The truth is, that most of +the men in authority have risen from their humble station by the +arts of the courtier, and they preserve in their high estate +those gentle powers of fascination to which they owe their +success. Yet unless you can contrive to learn a little of +the language, you will be rather bored by your visits of +ceremony; the intervention of the interpreter, or dragoman as he +is called, is fatal to the spirit of conversation. I think +I should mislead you if I were to attempt to give the substance +of any particular conversation with Orientals. A traveller +may write and say that “the Pasha of So-and-so was +particularly interested in the vast progress which has been made +in the application of steam, and appeared to understand the +structure of our machinery—that he remarked upon the +gigantic results of our manufacturing industry—showed that +he possessed considerable knowledge of our Indian affairs, and of +the constitution of the Company, and expressed a lively +admiration of the many sterling qualities for which the people of +England are distinguished.” But the heap of +commonplaces thus quietly attributed to the Pasha will have been +founded perhaps on some such talking as this:—</p> +<p><i>Pasha</i>.—The Englishman is welcome; most blessed +among hours is this, the hour of his coming.</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i> (to the traveller).—The Pasha pays you +his compliments.</p> +<p><i>Traveller</i>.—Give him my best compliments in +return, and say I’m delighted to have the honour of seeing +him.</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i> (to the Pasha).—His lordship, this +Englishman, Lord of London, Scorner of Ireland, Suppressor of +France, has quitted his governments, and left his enemies to +breathe for a moment, and has crossed the broad waters in strict +disguise, with a small but eternally faithful retinue of +followers, in order that he might look upon the bright +countenance of the Pasha among Pashas—the Pasha of the +everlasting Pashalik of Karagholookoldour.</p> +<p><i>Traveller</i> (to his dragoman).—What on earth have +you been saying about London? The Pasha will be taking me +for a mere cockney. Have not I told you <i>always</i> to +say that I am from a branch of the family of Mudcombe Park, and +that I am to be a magistrate for the county of Bedfordshire, only +I’ve not qualified, and that I should have been a +deputy-lieutenant if it had not been for the extraordinary +conduct of Lord Mountpromise, and that I was a candidate for +Goldborough at the last election, and that I should have won easy +if my committee had not been bought. I wish to Heaven that +if you <i>do</i> say anything about me, you’d tell the +simple truth.</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i> [is silent].</p> +<p><i>Pasha</i>.—What says the friendly Lord of London? is +there aught that I can grant him within the Pashalik of +Karagholookoldour?</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i> (growing, sulky and literal).—This +friendly Englishman—this branch of Mudcombe—this +head-purveyor of Goldborough—this possible policeman of +Bedfordshire, is recounting his achievements, and the number of +his titles.</p> +<p><i>Pasha</i>.—The end of his honours is more distant +than the ends of the earth, and the catalogue of his glorious +deeds is brighter than the firmament of heaven!</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i> (to the traveller).—The Pasha +congratulates your Excellency.</p> +<p><i>Traveller</i>.—About Goldborough? The deuce he +does!—but I want to get at his views in relation to the +present state of the Ottoman Empire. Tell him the Houses of +Parliament have met, and that there has been a speech from the +throne, pledging England to preserve the integrity of the +Sultan’s dominions.</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i> (to the Pasha).—This branch of Mudcombe, +this possible policeman of Bedfordshire, informs your Highness +that in England the talking houses have met, and that the +integrity of the Sultan’s dominions has been assured for +ever and ever by a speech from the velvet chair.</p> +<p><i>Pasha</i>.—Wonderful chair! Wonderful +houses!—whirr! whirr! all by wheels!—whiz! whiz! all +by steam!—wonderful chair! wonderful houses! wonderful +people!—whirr! whirr! all by wheels!—whiz! whiz! all +by steam!</p> +<p><i>Traveller</i> (to the dragoman).—What does the Pasha +mean by that whizzing? he does not mean to say, does he, that our +Government will ever abandon their pledges to the Sultan?</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i>.—No, your Excellency; but he says the +English talk by wheels, and by steam.</p> +<p><i>Traveller</i>.—That’s an exaggeration; but say +that the English really have carried machinery to great +perfection; tell the Pasha (he’ll be struck with that) that +whenever we have any disturbances to put down, even at two or +three hundred miles from London, we can send troops by the +thousand to the scene of action in a few hours.</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i> (recovering his temper and freedom of +speech).—His Excellency, this Lord of Mudcombe, observes to +your Highness, that whenever the Irish, or the French, or the +Indians rebel against the English, whole armies of soldiers, and +brigades of artillery, are dropped into a mighty chasm called +Euston Square, and in the biting of a cartridge they arise up +again in Manchester, or Dublin, or Paris, or Delhi, and utterly +exterminate the enemies of England from the face of the +earth.</p> +<p><i>Pasha</i>.—I know it—I know all—the +particulars have been faithfully related to me, and my mind +comprehends locomotives. The armies of the English ride +upon the vapours of boiling caldrons, and their horses are +flaming coals!—whirr! whirr! all by wheels!—whiz! +whiz! all by steam!</p> +<p><i>Traveller</i> (to his dragoman).—I wish to have the +opinion of an unprejudiced Ottoman gentleman as to the prospects +of our English commerce and manufactures; just ask the Pasha to +give me his views on the subject.</p> +<p><i>Pasha</i> (after having received the communication of the +dragoman).—The ships of the English swarm like flies; their +printed calicoes cover the whole earth; and by the side of their +swords the blades of Damascus are blades of grass. All +India is but an item in the ledger-books of the merchants, whose +lumber-rooms are filled with ancient thrones!—whirr! whirr! +all by wheels!—whiz! whiz! all by steam.</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i>.—The Pasha compliments the cutlery of +England, and also the East India Company.</p> +<p><i>Traveller</i>.—The Pasha’s right about the +cutlery (I tried my scimitar with the common officers’ +swords belonging to our fellows at Malta, and they cut it like +the leaf of a novel). Well (to the dragoman), tell the +Pasha I am exceedingly gratified to find that he entertains such +a high opinion of our manufacturing energy, but I should like him +to know, though, that we have got something in England besides +that. These foreigners are always fancying that we have +nothing but ships, and railways, and East India Companies; do +just tell the Pasha that our rural districts deserve his +attention, and that even within the last two hundred years there +has been an evident improvement in the culture of the turnip, and +if he does not take any interest about that, at all events you +can explain that we have our virtues in the country—that we +are a truth-telling people, and, like the Osmanlees, are faithful +in the performance of our promises. Oh! and, by-the-bye, +whilst you are about it, you may as well just say at the end that +the British yeoman is still, thank God! the British yeoman.</p> +<p><i>Pasha</i> (after hearing the dragoman).—It is true, +it is true:—through all Feringhistan the English are +foremost and best; for the Russians are drilled swine, and the +Germans are sleeping babes, and the Italians are the servants of +songs, and the French are the sons of newspapers, and the Greeks +they are weavers of lies, but the English and the Osmanlees are +brothers together in righteousness; for the Osmanlees believe in +one only God, and cleave to the Koran, and destroy idols, so do +the English worship one God, and abominate graven images, and +tell the truth, and believe in a book, and though they drink the +juice of the grape, yet to say that they worship their prophet as +God, or to say that they are eaters of pork, these are +lies—lies born of Greeks, and nursed by Jews!</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i>.—The Pasha compliments the English.</p> +<p><i>Traveller</i> (rising).—Well, I’ve had enough +of this. Tell the Pasha I am greatly obliged to him for his +hospitality, and still more for his kindness in furnishing me +with horses, and say that now I must be off.</p> +<p><i>Pasha</i> (after hearing the dragoman, and standing up on +his divan). <a name="citation3"></a><a href="#footnote3" +class="citation">[3]</a>—Proud are the sires, and blessed +are the dams of the horses that shall carry his Excellency to the +end of his prosperous journey. May the saddle beneath him +glide down to the gates of the happy city, like a boat swimming +on the third river of Paradise. May he sleep the sleep of a +child, when his friends are around him; and the while that his +enemies are abroad, may his eyes flame red through the +darkness—more red than the eyes of ten tigers! +Farewell!</p> +<p><i>Dragoman</i>.—The Pasha wishes your Excellency a +pleasant journey.</p> +<p>So ends the visit.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER II—TURKISH TRAVELLING</h2> +<p>In two or three hours our party was ready; the servants, the +Tatar, the mounted Suridgees, and the baggage-horses, altogether +made up a strong cavalcade. The accomplished Mysseri, of +whom you have heard me speak so often, and who served me so +faithfully throughout my Oriental journeys, acted as our +interpreter, and was, in fact, the brain of our corps. The +Tatar, you know, is a government courier properly employed in +carrying despatches, but also sent with travellers to speed them +on their way, and answer with his head for their safety. +The man whose head was thus pledged for our precious lives was a +glorious-looking fellow, with the regular and handsome cast of +countenance which is now characteristic of the Ottoman race. <a +name="citation4"></a><a href="#footnote4" +class="citation">[4]</a> His features displayed a good deal +of serene pride, self-respect, fortitude, a kind of ingenuous +sensuality, and something of instinctive wisdom, without any +sharpness of intellect. He had been a Janissary (as I +afterwards found), and kept up the odd strut of his old corps, +which used to affright the Christians in former times—that +rolling gait so comically pompous, that a close imitation of it, +even in the broadest farce, would be looked upon as a very rough +over-acting of the character. It is occasioned in part by +dress and accoutrements. The weighty bundle of weapons +carried upon the chest throws back the body so as to give it a +wonderful portliness, and moreover, the immense masses of clothes +that swathe his limbs force the wearer in walking to swing +himself heavily round from left to right, and from right to +left. In truth, this great edifice of woollen, and cotton, +and silk, and silver, and brass, and steel is not at all fitted +for moving on foot; it cannot even walk without frightfully +discomposing its fair proportions; and as to running—our +Tatar ran <i>once</i> (it was in order to pick up a partridge +that Methley had winged with a pistol-shot), and really the +attempt was one of the funniest misdirections of human energy +that wondering man ever saw. But put him in his stirrups, +and then is the Tatar himself again: there he lives at his +pleasure, reposing in the tranquillity of that true home (the +home of his ancestors) which the saddle seems to afford him, and +drawing from his pipe the calm pleasures of his “own +fireside,” or else dashing sudden over the earth, as though +for a moment he felt the mouth of a Turcoman steed, and saw his +own Scythian plains lying boundless and open before him.</p> +<p>It was not till his subordinates had nearly completed their +preparations for their march that our Tatar, “commanding +the forces,” arrived; he came sleek and fresh from the bath +(for so is the custom of the Ottomans when they start upon a +journey), and was carefully accoutred at every point. From +his thigh to his throat he was loaded with arms and other +implements of a campaigning life. There is no scarcity of +water along the whole road from Belgrade to Stamboul, but the +habits of our Tatar were formed by his ancestors and not by +himself, so he took good care to see that his leathern +water-flask was amply charged and properly strapped to the +saddle, along with his blessed <i>tchibouque</i>. And now +at last he has cursed the Suridgees in all proper figures of +speech, and is ready for a ride of a thousand miles; but before +he comforts his soul in the marble baths of Stamboul he will be +another and a lesser man; his sense of responsibility, his too +strict abstemiousness, and his restless energy, disdainful of +sleep, will have worn him down to a fraction of the sleek +Moostapha that now leads out our party from the gates of +Belgrade.</p> +<p>The Suridgees are the men employed to lead the +baggage-horses. They are most of them gipsies. Their +lot is a sad one: they are the last of the human race, and all +the sins of their superiors (including the horses) can safely be +visited on them. But the wretched look often more +picturesque than their betters; and though all the world despise +these poor Suridgees, their tawny skins and their grisly beards +will gain them honourable standing in the foreground of a +landscape. We had a couple of these fellows with us, each +leading a baggage-horse, to the tail of which last another +baggage-horse was attached. There was a world of trouble in +persuading the stiff angular portmanteaus of Europe to adapt +themselves to their new condition and sit quietly on +pack-saddles, but all was right at last, and it gladdened my eyes +to see our little troop file off through the winding lanes of the +city, and show down brightly in the plain beneath. The one +of our party that seemed to be most out of keeping with the rest +of the scene was Methley’s Yorkshire servant, who always +rode doggedly on in his pantry jacket, looking out for +“gentlemen’s seats.”</p> +<p>Methley and I had English saddles, but I think we should have +done just as well (I should certainly have seen more of the +country) if we had adopted saddles like that of our Tatar, who +towered so loftily over the scraggy little beast that carried +him. In taking thought for the East, whilst in England, I +had made one capital hit which you must not forget—I had +brought with me a pair of common spurs. These were a great +comfort to me throughout my horseback travels, by keeping up the +cheerfulness of the many unhappy nags that I had to bestride; the +angle of the Oriental stirrup is a very poor substitute for +spurs.</p> +<p>The Ottoman horseman, raised by his saddle to a great height +above the humble level of the back that he bestrides, and using +an awfully sharp bit, is able to lift the crest of his nag, and +force him into a strangely fast shuffling walk, the orthodox pace +for the journey. My comrade and I, using English saddles, +could not easily keep our beasts up to this peculiar amble; +besides, we thought it a bore to be <i>followed</i> by our +attendants for a thousand miles, and we generally, therefore, did +duty as the rearguard of our “grand army”; we used to +walk our horses till the party in front had got into the +distance, and then retrieve the lost ground by a gallop.</p> +<p>We had ridden on for some two or three hours; the stir and +bustle of our commencing journey had ceased, the liveliness of +our little troop had worn off with the declining day, and the +night closed in as we entered the great Servian forest. +Through this our road was to last for more than a hundred +miles. Endless, and endless now on either side, the tall +oaks closed in their ranks and stood gloomily lowering over us, +as grim as an army of giants with a thousand years’ pay in +arrear. One strived with listening ear to catch some +tidings of that forest world within—some stirring of +beasts, some night-bird’s scream, but all was quite hushed, +except the voice of the cicalas that peopled every bough, and +filled the depths of the forest through and through, with one +same hum everlasting—more stifling than very silence.</p> +<p>At first our way was in darkness, but after a while the moon +got up, and touched the glittering arms and tawny faces of our +men with light so pale and mystic, that the watchful Tatar felt +bound to look out for demons, and take proper means for keeping +them off: forthwith he determined that the duty of frightening +away our ghostly enemies (like every other troublesome work) +should fall upon the poor Suridgees, who accordingly lifted up +their voices, and burst upon the dreadful stillness of the forest +with shrieks and dismal howls. These precautions were kept +up incessantly, and were followed by the most complete success, +for not one demon came near us.</p> +<p>Long before midnight we reached the hamlet in which we were to +rest for the night; it was made up of about a dozen clay huts, +standing upon a small tract of ground hardly won from the +forest. The peasants that lived there spoke a Slavonic +dialect, and Mysseri’s knowledge of the Russian tongue +enabled him to talk with them freely. We took up our +quarters in a square room with white walls and an earthen floor, +quite bare of furniture, and utterly void of women. They +told us, however, that these Servian villagers lived in happy +abundance, but that they were careful to conceal their riches, as +well as their wives.</p> +<p>The burthens unstrapped from the pack-saddles very quickly +furnished our den: a couple of quilts spread upon the floor, with +a carpet-bag at the head of each, became capital +sofas—portmanteaus, and hat-boxes, and writing-cases, and +books, and maps, and gleaming arms soon lay strewed around us in +pleasant confusion. Mysseri’s canteen too began to +yield up its treasures, but we relied upon finding some +provisions in the village. At first the natives declared +that their hens were mere old maids and all their cows unmarried, +but our Tatar swore such a grand sonorous oath, and fingered the +hilt of his yataghan with such persuasive touch, that the land +soon flowed with milk, and mountains of eggs arose.</p> +<p>And soon there was tea before us, with all its unspeakable +fragrance, and as we reclined on the floor, we found that a +portmanteau was just the right height for a table; the duty of +candlesticks was ably performed by a couple of intelligent +natives; the rest of the villagers stood by the open doorway at +the lower end of the room, and watched our banqueting with grave +and devout attention.</p> +<p>The first night of your first campaign (though you be but a +mere peaceful campaigner) is a glorious time in your life. +It is so sweet to find one’s self free from the stale +civilisation of Europe! Oh my dear ally, when first you +spread your carpet in the midst of these Eastern scenes, do think +for a moment of those your fellow-creatures, that dwell in +squares, and streets, and even (for such is the fate of many!) in +actual country houses; think of the people that are +“presenting their compliments,” and “requesting +the honour,” and “much regretting,”—of +those that are pinioned at dinner-tables; or stuck up in +ballrooms, or cruelly planted in pews—ay, think of these, +and so remembering how many poor devils are living in a state of +utter respectability, you will glory the more in your own +delightful escape.</p> +<p>I am bound to confess, however, that with all its charms a mud +floor (like a mercenary match) does certainly promote early +rising. Long before daybreak we were up, and had +breakfasted; after this there was nearly a whole tedious hour to +endure whilst the horses were laden by torch-light; but this had +an end, and at last we went on once more. Cloaked, and +sombre, at first we made our sullen way through the darkness, +with scarcely one barter of words, but soon the genial morn burst +down from heaven, and stirred the blood so gladly through our +veins, that the very Suridgees, with all their troubles, could +now look up for an instant, and almost seem to believe in the +temporary goodness of God.</p> +<p>The actual movement from one place to another, in Europeanised +countries, is a process so temporary—it occupies, I mean, +so small a proportion of the traveller’s entire +time—that his mind remains unsettled, so long as the wheels +are going; he may be alive enough to external objects of +interest, and to the crowding ideas which are often invited by +the excitement of a changing scene, but he is still conscious of +being in a provisional state, and his mind is constantly +recurring to the expected end of his journey; his ordinary ways +of thought have been interrupted, and before any new mental +habits can be formed he is quietly fixed in his hotel. It +will be otherwise with you when you journey in the East. +Day after day, perhaps week after week and month after month, +your foot is in the stirrup. To taste the cold breath of +the earliest morn, and to lead, or follow, your bright cavalcade +till sunset through forests and mountain passes, through valleys +and desolate plains, all this becomes your <span +class="smcap">mode of life</span>, and you ride, eat, drink, and +curse the mosquitoes as systematically as your friends in England +eat, drink, and sleep. If you are wise, you will not look +upon the long period of time thus occupied in actual movement as +the mere gulf dividing you from the end of your journey, but +rather as one of those rare and plastic seasons of your life from +which, perhaps, in after times you may love to date the moulding +of your character—that is, your very identity. Once +feel this, and you will soon grow happy and contented in your +saddle-home. As for me and my comrade, however, in this +part of our journey we often forgot Stamboul, forgot all the +Ottoman Empire, and only remembered old times. We went +back, loitering on the banks of Thames—not grim old Thames +of “after life,” that washes the Parliament Houses, +and drowns despairing girls—but Thames, the “old Eton +fellow,” that wrestled with us in our boyhood till he +taught us to be stronger than he. We bullied Keate, and +scoffed at Larrey Miller, and Okes; we rode along loudly +laughing, and talked to the grave Servian forest as though it +were the “Brocas clump.”</p> +<p>Our pace was commonly very slow, for the baggage-horses served +us for a drag, and kept us to a rate of little more than five +miles in the hour, but now and then, and chiefly at night, a +spirit of movement would suddenly animate the whole party; the +baggage-horses would be teased into a gallop, and when once this +was done, there would be such a banging of portmanteaus, and such +convulsions of carpet-bags upon their panting sides, and the +Suridgees would follow them up with such a hurricane of blows, +and screams, and curses, that stopping or relaxing was scarcely +possible; then the rest of us would put our horses into a gallop, +and so all shouting cheerily, would hunt, and drive the sumpter +beasts like a flock of goats, up hill and down dale, right on to +the end of their journey.</p> +<p>The distances at which we got relays of horses varied greatly; +some were not more than fifteen or twenty miles, but twice, I +think, we performed a whole day’s journey of more than +sixty miles with the same beasts.</p> +<p>When at last we came out from the forest our road lay through +scenes like those of an English park. The green sward +unfenced, and left to the free pasture of cattle, was dotted with +groups of stately trees, and here and there darkened over with +larger masses of wood, that seemed gathered together for bounding +the domain, and shutting out some “infernal” +fellow-creature in the shape of a newly made squire; in one or +two spots the hanging copses looked down upon a lawn below with +such sheltering mien, that seeing the like in England you would +have been tempted almost to ask the name of the spend-thrift, or +the madman who had dared to pull down “the old +hall.”</p> +<p>There are few countries less infested by “lions” +than the provinces on this part of your route. You are not +called upon to “drop a tear” over the tomb of +“the once brilliant” anybody, or to pay your +“tribute of respect” to anything dead or alive. +There are no Servian or Bulgarian litterateurs with whom it would +be positively disgraceful not to form an acquaintance; you have +no staring, no praising to get through; the only public building +of any interest that lies on the road is of modern date, but is +said to be a good specimen of Oriental architecture; it is of a +pyramidical shape, and is made up of thirty thousand skulls, +contributed by the rebellious Servians in the early part (I +believe) of this century: I am not at all sure of my date, but I +fancy it was in the year 1806 that the first skull was +laid. I am ashamed to say that in the darkness of the early +morning we unknowingly went by the neighbourhood of this triumph +of art, and so basely got off from admiring “the simple +grandeur of the architect’s conception,” and +“the exquisite beauty of the fretwork.”</p> +<p>There being no “lions,” we ought at least to have +met with a few perils, but the only robbers we saw anything of +had been long since dead and gone. The poor fellows had +been impaled upon high poles, and so propped up by the transverse +spokes beneath them, that their skeletons, clothed with some +white, wax-like remains of flesh, still sat up lolling in the +sunshine, and listlessly stared without eyes.</p> +<p>One day it seemed to me that our path was a little more rugged +than usual, and I found that I was deserving for myself the title +of Sabalkansky, or “Transcender of the Balcan.” +The truth is, that, as a military barrier, the Balcan is a +fabulous mountain. Such seems to be the view of Major +Keppell, who looked on it towards the east with the eye of a +soldier, and certainly in the Sophia Pass, which I followed, +there is no narrow defile, and no ascent sufficiently difficult +to stop, or delay for long time, a train of siege artillery.</p> +<p>Before we reached Adrianople, Methley had been seized with we +knew not what ailment, and when we had taken up our quarters in +the city he was cast to the very earth by sickness. +Adrianople enjoyed an English consul, and I felt sure that, in +Eastern phrase, his house would cease to be his house, and would +become the house of my sick comrade. I should have judged +rightly under ordinary circumstances, but the levelling plague +was abroad, and the dread of it had dominion over the consular +mind. So now (whether dying or not, one could hardly tell), +upon a quilt stretched out along the floor, there lay the best +hope of an ancient line, without the material aids to comfort of +even the humblest sort, and (sad to say) without the consolation +of a friend, or even a comrade worth having. I have a +notion that tenderness and pity are affections occasioned in some +measure by living within doors; certainly, at the time I speak +of, the open-air life which I have been leading, or the wayfaring +hardships of the journey, had so strangely blunted me, that I +felt intolerant of illness, and looked down upon my companion as +if the poor fellow in falling ill had betrayed a want of +spirit. I entertained too a most absurd idea—an idea +that his illness was partly affected. You see that I have +made a confession: this I hope—that I may always hereafter +look charitably upon the hard, savage acts of peasants, and the +cruelties of a “brutal” soldiery. God knows +that I strived to melt myself into common charity, and to put on +a gentleness which I could not feel, but this attempt did not +cheat the keenness of the sufferer; he could not have felt the +less deserted because that I was with him.</p> +<p>We called to aid a solemn Armenian (I think he was) half +soothsayer, half hakim, or doctor, who, all the while counting +his beads, fixed his eyes steadily upon the patient, and then +suddenly dealt him a violent blow on the chest. Methley +bravely dissembled his pain, for he fancied that the blow was +meant to try whether or not the plague were on him.</p> +<p>Here was really a sad embarrassment—no bed; nothing to +offer the invalid in the shape of food save a piece of thin, +tough, flexible, drab-coloured cloth, made of flour and +mill-stones in equal proportions, and called by the name of +“bread”; then the patient, of course, had no +“confidence in his medical man,” and on the whole, +the best chance of saving my comrade seemed to lie in taking him +out of the reach of his doctor, and bearing him away to the +neighbourhood of some more genial consul. But how was this +to be done? Methley was much too ill to be kept in his +saddle, and wheel carriages, as means of travelling, were +unknown. There is, however, such a thing as an +“araba,” a vehicle drawn by oxen, in which the wives +of a rich man are sometimes dragged four or five miles over the +grass by way of recreation. The carriage is rudely framed, +but you recognise in the simple grandeur of its design a likeness +to things majestic; in short, if your carpenter’s son were +to make a “Lord Mayor’s coach” for little Amy, +he would build a carriage very much in the style of a Turkish +araba. No one had ever heard of horses being used for +drawing a carriage in this part of the world, but necessity is +the mother of innovation as well as of invention. I was +fully justified, I think, in arguing that there were numerous +instances of horses being used for that purpose in our own +country—that the laws of nature are uniform in their +operation over all the world (except Ireland)—that that +which was true in Piccadilly, must be true in +Adrianople—that the matter could not fairly be treated as +an ecclesiastical question, for that the circumstance of +Methley’s going on to Stamboul in an araba drawn by horses, +when calmly and dispassionately considered, would appear to be +perfectly consistent with the maintenance of the Mahometan +religion as by law established. Thus poor, dear, patient +Reason would have fought her slow battle against Asiatic +prejudice, and I am convinced that she would have established the +possibility (and perhaps even the propriety) of harnessing horses +in a hundred and fifty years; but in the meantime Mysseri, well +seconded by our Tatar, put a very quick end to the controversy by +having the horses put to.</p> +<p>It was a sore thing for me to see my poor comrade brought to +this, for young though he was, he was a veteran in travel. +When scarcely yet of age he had invaded India from the frontiers +of Russia, and that so swiftly, that measuring by the time of his +flight the broad dominions of the king of kings were shrivelled +up to a dukedom and now, poor fellow, he was to be poked into an +araba: like a Georgian girl! He suffered greatly, for there +were no springs for the carriage, and no road for the wheels; and +so the concern jolted on over the open country with such twists, +and jerks, and jumps, as might almost dislocate the supple tongue +of Satan.</p> +<p>All day the patient kept himself shut up within the +lattice-work of the araba, and I could hardly know how he was +faring until the end of the day’s journey, when I found +that he was not worse, and was buoyed up with the hope of some +day reaching Constantinople.</p> +<p>I was always conning over my maps, and fancied that I knew +pretty well my line, but after Adrianople I had made more +southing than I knew for, and it was with unbelieving wonder, and +delight, that I came suddenly upon the shore of the sea. A +little while, and its gentle billows were flowing beneath the +hoofs of my beast, but the hearing of the ripple was not enough +communion, and the seeing of the blue Propontis was not to know +and possess it—I must needs plunge into its depth and +quench my longing love in the palpable waves; and so when old +Moostapha (defender against demons) looked round for his charge, +he saw with horror and dismay that he for whose life his own life +stood pledged was possessed of some devil who had driven him down +into the sea—that the rider and the steed had vanished from +earth, and that out among the waves was the gasping crest of a +post-horse, and the ghostly head of the Englishman moving upon +the face of the waters.</p> +<p>We started very early indeed on the last day of our journey, +and from the moment of being off until we gained the shelter of +the imperial walls we were struggling face to face with an icy +storm that swept right down from the steppes of Tartary, keen, +fierce, and steady as a northern conqueror. Methley’s +servant, who was the greatest sufferer, kept his saddle until we +reached Stamboul, but was then found to be quite benumbed in +limbs, and his brain was so much affected, that when he was +lifted from his horse he fell away in a state of unconsciousness, +the first stage of a dangerous fever.</p> +<p>Our Tatar, worn down by care and toil, and carrying seven +heavens full of water in his manifold jackets and shawls, was a +mere weak and vapid dilution of the sleek Moostapha, who scarce +more than one fortnight before came out like a bridegroom from +his chamber to take the command of our party.</p> +<p>Mysseri seemed somewhat over-wearied, but he had lost none of +his strangely quiet energy. He wore a grave look, however, +for he now had learnt that the plague was prevailing at +Constantinople, and he was fearing that our two sick men, and the +miserable looks of our whole party, might make us unwelcome at +Pera.</p> +<p>We crossed the Golden Horn in a caïque. As soon as +we had landed, some woebegone looking fellows were got together +and laden with our baggage. Then on we went, dripping, and +sloshing, and looking very like men that had been turned back by +the Royal Humane Society as being incurably drowned. +Supporting our sick, we climbed up shelving steps and threaded +many windings, and at last came up into the main street of Pera, +humbly hoping that we might not be judged guilty of plague, and +so be cast back with horror from the doors of the shuddering +Christians.</p> +<p>Such was the condition of our party, which fifteen days before +had filed away so gaily from the gates of Belgrade. A +couple of fevers and a north-easterly storm had thoroughly +spoiled our looks.</p> +<p>The interest of Mysseri with the house of Giuseppini was too +powerful to be denied, and at once, though not without fear and +trembling, we were admitted as guests.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER III—CONSTANTINOPLE</h2> +<p>Even if we don’t take a part in the chant about +“mosques and minarets,” we can still yield praises to +Stamboul. We can chant about the harbour; we can say, and +sing, that nowhere else does the sea come so home to a city; +there are no pebbly shores—no sand bars—no slimy +river-beds—no black canals—no locks nor docks to +divide the very heart of the place from the deep waters. If +being in the noisiest mart of Stamboul you would stroll to the +quiet side of the way amidst those cypresses opposite, you will +cross the fathomless Bosphorus; if you would go from your hotel +to the bazaars, you must go by the bright, blue pathway of the +Golden Horn, that can carry a thousand sail of the line. +You are accustomed to the gondolas that glide among the palaces +of St. Mark, but here at Stamboul it is a 120 gun ship that meets +you in the street. Venice strains out from the steadfast +land, and in old times would send forth the chief of the State to +woo and wed the reluctant sea; but the stormy bride of the Doge +is the bowing slave of the Sultan. She comes to his feet +with the treasures of the world—she bears him from palace +to palace—by some unfailing witchcraft she entices the +breezes to follow her <a name="citation5"></a><a +href="#footnote5" class="citation">[5]</a> and fan the pale cheek +of her lord—she lifts his armed navies to the very gates of +his garden—she watches the walls of his +<i>serai</i>—she stifles the intrigues of his +ministers—she quiets the scandals of his courts—she +extinguishes his rivals, and hushes his naughty wives all one by +one. So vast are the wonders of the deep!</p> +<p>All the while that I stayed at Constantinople the plague was +prevailing, but not with any degree of violence. Its +presence, however, lent a mysterious and exciting, though not +very pleasant, interest to my first knowledge of a great Oriental +city; it gave tone and colour to all I saw, and all I +felt—a tone and a colour sombre enough, but true, and well +befitting the dreary monuments of past power and splendour. +With all that is most truly Oriental in its character the plague +is associated; it dwells with the faithful in the holiest +quarters of their city. The coats and the hats of Pera are +held to be nearly as innocent of infection as they are ugly in +shape and fashion; but the rich furs and the costly shawls, the +broidered slippers and the gold-laden saddle-cloths, the +fragrance of burning aloes and the rich aroma of +patchouli—these are the signs that mark the familiar home +of plague. You go out from your queenly London—the +centre of the greatest and strongest amongst all earthly +dominions—you go out thence, and travel on to the capital +of an Eastern Prince, you find but a waning power, and a faded +splendour, that inclines you to laugh and mock; but let the +infernal Angel of Plague be at hand, and he, more mighty than +armies, more terrible than Suleyman in his glory, can restore +such pomp and majesty to the weakness of the Imperial city, that +if, <i>when HE is there</i>, you must still go prying amongst the +shades of this dead empire, at least you will tread the path with +seemly reverence and awe.</p> +<p>It is the firm faith of almost all the Europeans living in the +East that Plague is conveyed by the touch of infected substances, +and that the deadly atoms especially lurk in all kinds of clothes +and furs. It is held safer to breathe the same air with a +man sick of the plague, and even to come in contact with his +skin, than to be touched by the smallest particle of woollen or +of thread which may have been within the reach of possible +infection. If this be a right notion, the spread of the +malady must be materially aided by the observance of a custom +prevailing amongst the people of Stamboul. It is this; when +an Osmanlee dies, one of his dresses is cut up, and a small piece +of it is sent to each of his friends as a memorial of the +departed—a fatal present, according to the opinion of the +Franks, for it too often forces the living not merely to remember +the dead man, but to follow and bear him company.</p> +<p>The Europeans during the prevalence of the plague, if they are +forced to venture into the streets, will carefully avoid the +touch of every human being whom they pass. Their conduct in +this respect shows them strongly in contrast with the “true +believers”: the Moslem stalks on serenely, as though he +were under the eye of his God, and were “equal to either +fate”; the Franks go crouching and slinking from death, and +some (those chiefly of French extraction) will fondly strive to +fence out destiny with shining capes of oilskin!</p> +<p>For some time you may manage by great care to thread your way +through the streets of Stamboul without incurring contact, for +the Turks, though scornful of the terrors felt by the Franks, are +generally very courteous in yielding to that which they hold to +be a useless and impious precaution, and will let you pass safe +if they can. It is impossible, however, that your immunity +can last for any length of time if you move about much through +the narrow streets and lanes of a crowded city.</p> +<p>As for me, I soon got “compromised.” After +one day of rest, the prayers of my hostess began to lose their +power of keeping me from the pestilent side of the Golden +Horn. Faithfully promising to shun the touch of all +imaginable substances, however enticing, I set off very +cautiously, and held my way uncompromised till I reached the +water’s edge; but before my caïque was quite ready +some rueful-looking fellows came rapidly shambling down the steps +with a plague-stricken corpse, which they were going to bury +amongst the faithful on the other side of the water. I +contrived to be so much in the way of this brisk funeral, that I +was not only touched by the men bearing the body, but also, I +believe, by the foot of the dead man, as it hung lolling out of +the bier. This accident gave me such a strong interest in +denying the soundness of the contagion theory, that I did in fact +deny and repudiate it altogether; and from that time, acting upon +my own convenient view of the matter, I went wherever I chose, +without taking any serious pains to avoid a touch. It seems +to me now very likely that the Europeans are right, and that the +plague may be really conveyed by contagion; but during the whole +time of my remaining in the East, my views on this subject more +nearly approached to those of the fatalists; and so, when +afterwards the plague of Egypt came dealing his blows around me, +I was able to live amongst the dying without that alarm and +anxiety which would inevitably have pressed upon my mind if I had +allowed myself to believe that every passing touch was really a +probable death-stroke.</p> +<p>And perhaps as you make your difficult way through a steep and +narrow alley, shut in between blank walls, and little frequented +by passers, you meet one of those coffin-shaped bundles of white +linen that implies an Ottoman lady. Painfully struggling +against the obstacles to progression interposed by the many folds +of her clumsy drapery, by her big mud-boots, and especially by +her two pairs of slippers, she works her way on full awkwardly +enough, but yet there is something of womanly consciousness in +the very labour and effort with which she tugs and lifts the +burthen of her charms. She is closely followed by her women +slaves. Of her very self you see nothing except the dark, +luminous eyes that stare against your face, and the tips of the +painted fingers depending like rose-buds from out of the blank +bastions of the fortress. She turns, and turns again, and +carefully glances around her on all sides, to see that she is +safe from the eyes of Mussulmans, and then suddenly withdrawing +the <i>yashmak</i>, <a name="citation6"></a><a href="#footnote6" +class="citation">[6]</a> she shines upon your heart and soul with +all the pomp and might of her beauty. And this, it is not +the light, changeful grace that leaves you to doubt whether you +have fallen in love with a body, or only a soul; it is the beauty +that dwells secure in the perfectness of hard, downright +outlines, and in the glow of generous colour. There is +fire, though, too—high courage and fire enough in the +untamed mind, or spirit, or whatever it is, which drives the +breath of pride through those scarcely parted lips.</p> +<p>You smile at pretty women—you turn pale before the +beauty that is great enough to have dominion over you. She +sees, and exults in your giddiness; she sees and smiles; then +presently, with a sudden movement, she lays her blushing fingers +upon your arm, and cries out, “Yumourdjak!” (Plague! +meaning, “there is a present of the plague for +you!”) This is her notion of a witticism. It is +a very old piece of fun, no doubt—quite an Oriental Joe +Miller; but the Turks are fondly attached, not only to the +institutions, but also to the jokes of their ancestors; so the +lady’s silvery laugh rings joyously in your ears, and the +mirth of her women is boisterous and fresh, as though the bright +idea of giving the plague to a Christian had newly lit upon the +earth.</p> +<p>Methley began to rally very soon after we had reached +Constantinople; but there seemed at first to be no chance of his +regaining strength enough for travelling during the winter, and I +determined to stay with my comrade until he had quite recovered; +so I bought me a horse, and a “pipe of tranquillity,” +<a name="citation7"></a><a href="#footnote7" +class="citation">[7]</a> and took a Turkish phrase-master. +I troubled myself a great deal with the Turkish tongue, and +gained at last some knowledge of its structure. It is +enriched, perhaps overladen, with Persian and Arabic words, +imported into the language chiefly for the purpose of +representing sentiments and religious dogmas, and terms of art +and luxury, entirely unknown to the Tartar ancestors of the +present Osmanlees; but the body and the spirit of the old tongue +are yet alive, and the smooth words of the shopkeeper at +Constantinople can still carry understanding to the ears of the +untamed millions who rove over the plains of Northern Asia. +The structure of the language, especially in its more lengthy +sentences, is very like to the Latin: the subject matters are +slowly and patiently enumerated, without disclosing the purpose +of the speaker until he reaches the end of his sentence, and then +at last there comes the clenching word, which gives a meaning and +connection to all that has gone before. If you listen at +all to speaking of this kind your attention, rather than be +suffered to flag, must grow more and more lively as the phrase +marches on.</p> +<p>The Osmanlees speak well. In countries civilised +according to the European plan the work of trying to persuade +tribunals is almost all performed by a set of men, the great body +of whom very seldom do anything else; but in Turkey this division +of labour has never taken place, and every man is his own +advocate. The importance of the rhetorical art is immense, +for a bad speech may endanger the property of the speaker, as +well as the soles of his feet and the free enjoyment of his +throat. So it results that most of the Turks whom one sees +have a lawyer-like habit of speaking connectedly, and at +length. Even the treaties continually going on at the +bazaar for the buying and selling of the merest trifles are +carried on by speechifying rather than by mere colloquies, and +the eternal uncertainty as to the market value of things in +constant sale gives room enough for discussion. The seller +is for ever demanding a price immensely beyond that for which he +sells at last, and so occasions unspeakable disgust in many +Englishmen, who cannot see why an honest dealer should ask more +for his goods than he will really take! The truth is, +however, that an ordinary tradesman of Constantinople has no +other way of finding out the fair market value of his +property. The difficulty under which he labours is easily +shown by comparing the mechanism of the commercial system in +Turkey with that of our own country. In England, or in any +other great mercantile country, the bulk of the things bought and +sold goes through the hands of a wholesale dealer, and it is he +who higgles and bargains with an entire nation of purchasers by +entering into treaty with retail sellers. The labour of +making a few large contracts is sufficient to give a clue for +finding the fair market value of the goods sold throughout the +country; but in Turkey, from the primitive habits of the people, +and partly from the absence of great capital and great credit, +the importing merchant, the warehouseman, the wholesale dealer, +the retail dealer, and the shopman, are all one person. Old +Moostapha, or Abdallah, or Hadgi Mohamed waddles up from the +water’s edge with a small packet of merchandise, which he +has bought out of a Greek brigantine, and when at last he has +reached his nook in the bazaar he puts his goods <i>before</i> +the counter, and himself <i>upon</i> it; then laying fire to his +<i>tchibouque</i> he “sits in permanence,” and +patiently waits to obtain “the best price that can be got +in an open market.” This is his fair right as a +seller, but he has no means of finding out what that best price +is except by actual experiment. He cannot know the +intensity of the demand, or the abundance of the supply, +otherwise than by the offers which may be made for his little +bundle of goods; so he begins by asking a perfectly hopeless +price, and then descends the ladder until he meets a purchaser, +for ever</p> + +<blockquote><p> “Striving +to attain<br /> +By shadowing out the unattainable.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>This is the struggle which creates the continual occasion for +debate. The vendor, perceiving that the unfolded +merchandise has caught the eye of a possible purchaser, commences +his opening speech. He covers his bristling broadcloths and +his meagre silks with the golden broidery of Oriental praises, +and as he talks, along with the slow and graceful waving of his +arms, he lifts his undulating periods, upholds and poises them +well, till they have gathered their weight and their strength, +and then hurls them bodily forward with grave, momentous +swing. The possible purchaser listens to the whole speech +with deep and serious attention; but when it is over <i>his</i> +turn arrives. He elaborately endeavours to show why he +ought not to buy the things at a price twenty times larger than +their value. Bystanders attracted to the debate take a part +in it as independent members; the vendor is heard in reply, and +coming down with his price, furnishes the materials for a new +debate. Sometimes, however, the dealer, if he is a very +pious Mussulman, and sufficiently rich to hold back his ware, +will take a more dignified part, maintaining a kind of judicial +gravity, and receiving the applicants who come to his stall as if +they were rather suitors than customers. He will quietly +hear to the end some long speech that concludes with an offer, +and will answer it all with the one monosyllable +“Yok,” which means distinctly “No.”</p> +<p>I caught one glimpse of the old heathen world. My habits +for studying military subjects had been hardening my heart +against poetry; for ever staring at the flames of battle, I had +blinded myself to the lesser and finer lights that are shed from +the imaginations of men. In my reading at this time I +delighted to follow from out of Arabian sands the feet of the +armed believers, and to stand in the broad, manifest storm-track +of Tartar devastation; and thus, though surrounded at +Constantinople by scenes of much interest to the “classical +scholar,” I had cast aside their associations like an old +Greek grammar, and turned my face to the “shining +Orient,” forgetful of old Greece and all the pure wealth +she left to this matter-of-fact-ridden world. But it +happened to me one day to mount the high grounds overhanging the +streets of Pera. I sated my eyes with the pomps of the city +and its crowded waters, and then I looked over where Scutari lay +half veiled in her mournful cypresses. I looked yet farther +and higher, and saw in the heavens a silvery cloud that stood +fast and still against the breeze: it was pure and dazzling +white, as might be the veil of Cytherea, yet touched with such +fire, as though from beneath the loving eyes of an immortal were +shining through and through. I knew the bearing, but had +enormously misjudged its distance and underrated its height, and +so it was as a sign and a testimony, almost as a call from the +neglected gods, and now I saw and acknowledged the snowy crown of +the Mysian Olympus!</p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV—THE TROAD</h2> +<p>Methley recovered almost suddenly, and we determined to go +through the Troad together.</p> +<p>My comrade was a capital Grecian. It is true that his +singular mind so ordered and disposed his classic lore as to +impress it with something of an original and barbarous +character—with an almost Gothic quaintness, more properly +belonging to a rich native ballad than to the poetry of +Hellas. There was a certain impropriety in his knowing so +much Greek—an unfitness in the idea of marble fauns, and +satyrs, and even Olympian gods, lugged in under the oaken roof +and the painted light of an odd, old Norman hall. But +Methley, abounding in Homer, really loved him (as I believe) in +all truth, without whim or fancy; moreover, he had a good deal of +the practical sagacity</p> +<blockquote><p>“Of a Yorkshireman hippodamoio,”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>and this enabled him to apply his knowledge with much more +tact than is usually shown by people so learned as he.</p> +<p>I, too, loved Homer, but not with a scholar’s +love. The most humble and pious among women was yet so +proud a mother that she could teach her firstborn son no +Watts’ hymns, no collects for the day; she could teach him +in earliest childhood no less than this, to find a home in his +saddle, and to love old Homer, and all that old Homer sung. +True it is, that the Greek was ingeniously rendered into English, +the English of Pope even, but not even a mesh like that can +screen an earnest child from the fire of Homer’s +battles.</p> +<p>I pored over the <i>Odyssey</i> as over a story-book, hoping +and fearing for the hero whom yet I partly scorned. But the +Iliad—line by line I clasped it to my brain with reverence +as well as with love. As an old woman deeply trustful sits +reading her Bible because of the world to come, so, as though it +would fit me for the coming strife of this temporal world, I read +and read the <i>Iliad</i>. Even outwardly, it was not like +other books; it was throned in towering folios. There was a +preface or dissertation printed in type still more majestic than +the rest of the book; this I read, but not till my enthusiasm for +the <i>Iliad</i> had already run high. The writer compiling +the opinions of many men, and chiefly of the ancients, set forth, +I know not how quaintly, that the <i>Iliad</i> was all in all to +the human race—that it was history, poetry, revelation; +that the works of men’s hands were folly and vanity, and +would pass away like the dreams of a child, but that the kingdom +of Homer would endure for ever and ever.</p> +<p>I assented with all my soul. I read, and still read; I +came to know Homer. A learned commentator knows something +of the Greeks, in the same sense as an oil-and-colour man may be +said to know something of painting; but take an untamed child, +and leave him alone for twelve months with any translation of +Homer, and he will be nearer by twenty centuries to the spirit of +old Greece; <i>he</i> does not stop in the ninth year of the +siege to admire this or that group of words; <i>he</i> has no +books in his tent, but he shares in vital counsels with the +“king of men,” and knows the inmost souls of the +impending gods; how profanely he exults over the powers divine +when they are taught to dread the prowess of mortals! and most of +all, how he rejoices when the God of War flies howling from the +spear of Diomed, and mounts into heaven for safety! Then +the beautiful episode of the Sixth Book: the way to feel this is +not to go casting about, and learning from pastors and masters +how best to admire it. The impatient child is not grubbing +for beauties, but pushing the siege; the women vex him with their +delays, and their talking; the mention of the nurse is personal, +and little sympathy has he for the child that is young enough to +be frightened at the nodding plume of a helmet; but all the while +that he thus chafes at the pausing of the action, the strong +vertical light of Homer’s poetry is blazing so full upon +the people and things of the <i>Iliad</i>, that soon to the eyes +of the child they grow familiar as his mother’s shawl; yet +of this great gain he is unconscious, and on he goes, vengefully +thirsting for the best blood of Troy, and never remitting his +fierceness till almost suddenly it is changed for +sorrow—the new and generous sorrow that he learns to feel +when the noblest of all his foes lies sadly dying at the +Scæan gate.</p> +<p>Heroic days are these, but the dark ages of schoolboy life +come closing over them. I suppose it is all right in the +end, yet, by Jove, at first sight it does seem a sad intellectual +fall from your mother’s dressing-room to a buzzing +school. You feel so keenly the delights of early knowledge; +you form strange mystic friendships with the mere names of +mountains, and seas, and continents, and mighty rivers; you learn +the ways of the planets, and transcend their narrow limits, and +ask for the end of space; you vex the electric cylinder till it +yields you, for your toy to play with, that subtle fire in which +our earth was forged; you know of the nations that have towered +high in the world, and the lives of the men who have saved whole +empires from oblivion. What more will you ever learn? +Yet the dismal change is ordained, and then, thin meagre Latin +(the same for everybody), with small shreds and patches of Greek, +is thrown like a pauper’s pall over all your early +lore. Instead of sweet knowledge, vile, monkish, doggerel +grammars and graduses, dictionaries and lexicons, and horrible +odds and ends of dead languages, are given you for your portion, +and down you fall, from Roman story to a three-inch scrap of +“Scriptores Romani,”—from Greek poetry down, +down to the cold rations of “Poetæ +Græci,” cut up by commentators, and served out by +schoolmasters!</p> +<p>It was not the recollection of school nor college learning, +but the rapturous and earnest reading of my childhood, which made +me bend forward so longingly to the plains of Troy.</p> +<p>Away from our people and our horses, Methley and I went +loitering along by the willow banks of a stream that crept in +quietness through the low, even plain. There was no stir of +weather overhead, no sound of rural labour, no sign of life in +the land; but all the earth was dead and still, as though it had +lain for thrice a thousand years under the leaden gloom of one +unbroken Sabbath.</p> +<p>Softly and sadly the poor, dumb, patient stream went winding +and winding along through its shifting pathway; in some places +its waters were parted, and then again, lower down, they would +meet once more. I could see that the stream from year to +year was finding itself new channels, and flowed no longer in its +ancient track, but I knew that the springs which fed it were high +on Ida—the springs of Simois and Scamander!</p> +<p>It was coldly and thanklessly, and with vacant, unsatisfied +eyes that I watched the slow coming and the gliding away of the +waters. I tell myself now, as a profane fact, that I did +stand by that river (Methley gathered some seeds from the bushes +that grew there), but since that I am away from his banks, +“divine Scamander” has recovered the proper mystery +belonging to him as an unseen deity; a kind of indistinctness, +like that which belongs to far antiquity, has spread itself over +my memory, of the winding stream that I saw with these very +eyes. One’s mind regains in absence that dominion +over earthly things which has been shaken by their rude +contact. You force yourself hardily into the material +presence of a mountain, or a river, whose name belongs to poetry +and ancient religion, rather than to the external world; your +feelings wound up and kept ready for some sort of half-expected +rapture are chilled, and borne down for the time under all this +load of real earth and water; but let these once pass out of +sight, and then again the old fanciful notions are restored, and +the mere realities which you have just been looking at are thrown +back so far into distance, that the very event of your intrusion +upon such scenes begins to look dim and uncertain, as though it +belonged to mythology.</p> +<p>It is not over the plain before Troy that the river now flows; +its waters have edged away far towards the north, since the day +that “divine Scamander” (whom the gods call Xanthus) +went down to do battle for Ilion, “with Mars, and Phoebus, +and Latona, and Diana glorying in her arrows, and Venus the lover +of smiles.”</p> +<p>And now, when I was vexed at the migration of Scamander, and +the total loss or absorption of poor dear Simois, how happily +Methley reminded me that Homer himself had warned us of some such +changes! The Greeks in beginning their wall had neglected +the hecatombs due to the gods, and so after the fall of Troy +Apollo turned the paths of the rivers that flow from Ida and sent +them flooding over the wall, till all the beach was smooth and +free from the unhallowed works of the Greeks. It is true I +see now, on looking to the passage, that Neptune, when the work +of destruction was done, turned back the rivers to their ancient +ways:</p> +<blockquote><p>“ . . . +ποταμους +δ’ ετρεφε +νεεσθαι<br /> +Καρ’ ροον +ηπερ +προσθεν ιεν + +καλλιρροον +υδωρ,”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>but their old channels passing through that light pervious +soil would have been lost in the nine days’ flood, and +perhaps the god, when he willed to bring back the rivers to their +ancient beds, may have done his work but ill: it is easier, they +say, to destroy than it is to restore.</p> +<p>We took to our horses again, and went southward towards the +very plain between Troy and the tents of the Greeks, but we rode +by a line at some distance from the shore. Whether it was +that the lay of the ground hindered my view towards the sea, or +that I was all intent upon Ida, or whether my mind was in +vacancy, or whether, as is most like, I had strayed from the +Dardan plains all back to gentle England, there is now no +knowing, nor caring, but it was not quite suddenly indeed, but +rather, as it were, in the swelling and falling of a single wave, +that the reality of that very sea-view, which had bounded the +sight of the Greeks, now visibly acceded to me, and rolled full +in upon my brain. Conceive how deeply that eternal +coast-line, that fixed horizon, those island rocks, must have +graven their images upon the minds of the Grecian warriors by the +time that they had reached the ninth year of the siege! conceive +the strength, and the fanciful beauty, of the speeches with which +a whole army of imagining men must have told their weariness, and +how the sauntering chiefs must have whelmed that daily, daily +scene with their deep Ionian curses!</p> +<p>And now it was that my eyes were greeted with a delightful +surprise. Whilst we were at Constantinople, Methley and I +had pored over the map together. We agreed that whatever +may have been the exact site of Troy, the Grecian camp must have +been nearly opposite to the space betwixt the islands of Imbros +and Tenedos,</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Μεσσηyυς +Τενεδοιο +και Ιμβρου +παιπαλοεσσης,”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>but Methley reminded me of a passage in the <i>Iliad</i> in +which Neptune is represented as looking at the scene of action +before Ilion from above the island of Samothrace. Now +Samothrace, according to the map, appeared to be not only out of +all seeing distance from the Troad, but to be entirely shut out +from it by the intervening Imbros, which is a larger island, +stretching its length right athwart the line of sight from +Samothrace to Troy. Piously allowing that the dread +Commoter of our globe might have seen all mortal doings, even +from the depth of his own cerulean kingdom, I still felt that if +a station were to be chosen from which to see the fight, old +Homer, so material in his ways of thought, so averse from all +haziness and overreaching, would have <i>meant</i> to give the +god for his station some spot within reach of men’s eyes +from the plains of Troy. I think that this testing of the +poet’s words by map and compass may have shaken a little of +my faith in the completeness of his knowledge. Well, now I +had come; there to the south was Tenedos, and here at my side was +Imbros, all right, and according to the map, but aloft over +Imbros, aloft in a far-away heaven, was Samothrace, the +watch-tower of Neptune!</p> +<p>So Homer had appointed it, and so it was; the map was correct +enough, but could not, like Homer, convey <i>the whole +truth</i>. Thus vain and false are the mere human surmises +and doubts which clash with Homeric writ!</p> +<p>Nobody whose mind had not been reduced to the most deplorable +logical condition could look upon this beautiful congruity +betwixt the <i>Iliad</i> and the material world and yet bear to +suppose that the poet may have learned the features of the coast +from mere hearsay; now then, I believed; now I knew that Homer +had <i>passed along here</i>, that this vision of Samothrace +over-towering the nearer island was common to him and to me.</p> +<p>After a journey of some few days by the route of Adramiti and +Pergamo we reached Smyrna. The letters which Methley here +received obliged him to return to England.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER V—INFIDEL SMYRNA</h2> +<p>Smyrna, or Giaour Izmir, “Infidel Smyrna,” as the +Mussulmans call it, is the main point of commercial contact +betwixt Europe and Asia. You are there surrounded by the +people, and the confused customs of many and various nations; you +see the fussy European adopting the East, and calming his +restlessness with the long Turkish “pipe of +tranquillity”; you see Jews offering services, and +receiving blows; <a name="citation8"></a><a href="#footnote8" +class="citation">[8]</a> on one side you have a fellow whose +dress and beard would give you a good idea of the true Oriental, +if it were not for the <i>gobe-mouche</i> expression of +countenance with which he is swallowing an article in the +<i>National</i>; and there, just by, is a genuine Osmanlee, +smoking away with all the majesty of a sultan, but before you +have time to admire sufficiently his tranquil dignity, and his +soft Asiatic repose, the poor old fellow is ruthlessly “run +down” by an English midshipman, who has set sail on a +Smyrna hack. Such are the incongruities of the +“infidel city” at ordinary times; but when I was +there, our friend Carrigaholt had imported himself and his +oddities as an accession to the other and inferior wonders of +Smyrna.</p> +<p>I was sitting alone in my room one day at Constantinople, when +I heard Methley approaching my door with shouts of laughter and +welcome, and presently I recognised that peculiar cry by which +our friend Carrigaholt expresses his emotions; he soon explained +to us the final causes by which the fates had worked out their +wonderful purpose of bringing him to Constantinople. He was +always, you know, very fond of sailing, but he had got into such +sad scrapes (including, I think, a lawsuit) on account of his +last yacht, that he took it into his head to have a cruise in a +merchant vessel, so he went to Liverpool, and looked through the +craft lying ready to sail, till he found a smart schooner that +perfectly suited his taste. The destination of the vessel +was the last thing he thought of; and when he was told that she +was bound for Constantinople, he merely assented to that as a +part of the arrangement to which he had no objection. As +soon as the vessel had sailed, the hapless passenger discovered +that his skipper carried on board an enormous wife, with an +inquiring mind and an irresistible tendency to impart her +opinions. She looked upon her guest as upon a piece of +waste intellect that ought to be carefully tilled. She +tilled him accordingly. If the dons at Oxford could have +seen poor Carrigaholt thus absolutely “attending +lectures” in the Bay of Biscay, they would surely have +thought him sufficiently punished for all the wrongs he did them +whilst he was preparing himself under their care for the other +and more boisterous University. The voyage did not last +more than six or eight weeks, and the philosophy inflicted on +Carrigaholt was not entirely fatal to him; certainly he was +somewhat emaciated, and for aught I know, he may have subscribed +somewhat too largely to the “Feminine-right-of-reason +Society”; but it did not appear that his health had been +seriously affected. There was a scheme on foot, it would +seem, for taking the passenger back to England in the same +schooner—a scheme, in fact, for keeping him perpetually +afloat, and perpetually saturated with arguments; but when +Carrigaholt found himself ashore, and remembered that the +skipperina (who had imprudently remained on board) was not there +to enforce her suggestions, he was open to the hints of his +servant (a very sharp fellow), who arranged a plan for escaping, +and finally brought off his master to Giuseppini’s +Hotel.</p> +<p>Our friend afterwards went by sea to Smyrna, and there he now +was in his glory. He had a good, or at all events a +gentleman-like, judgment in matters of taste, and as his great +object was to surround himself with all that his fancy could +dictate, he lived in a state of perpetual negotiation. He +was for ever on the point of purchasing, not only the material +productions of the place, but all sorts of such fine ware as +“intelligence,” “fidelity,” and so +on. He was most curious, however, as the purchaser of the +“affections.” Sometimes he would imagine that +he had a marital aptitude, and his fancy would sketch a graceful +picture, in which he appeared reclining on a divan, with a +beautiful Greek woman fondly couched at his feet, and soothing +him with the witchery of her guitar. Having satisfied +himself with the ideal picture thus created, he would pass into +action; the guitar he would buy instantly, and would give such +intimations of his wish to be wedded to a Greek, as could not +fail to produce great excitement in the families, of the +beautiful Smyrniotes. Then again (and just in time perhaps +to save him from the yoke) his dream would pass away, and another +would come in its stead; he would suddenly feel the yearnings of +a father’s love, and willing by force of gold to transcend +all natural preliminaries, he would issue instructions for the +purchase of some dutiful child that could be warranted to love +him as a parent. Then at another time he would be convinced +that the attachment of menials might satisfy the longings of his +affectionate heart, and thereupon he would give orders to his +slave-merchant for something in the way of eternal +fidelity. You may well imagine that this anxiety of +Carrigaholt to purchase not only the scenery, but the many +<i>dramatis personæ</i> belonging to his dreams, with all +their goodness and graces complete, necessarily gave an immense +stimulus to the trade and intrigue of Smyrna, and created a +demand for human virtues which the moral resources of the place +were totally inadequate to supply. Every day after +breakfast this lover of the good and the beautiful held a levee, +which was often exceedingly amusing. In his anteroom there +would be not only the sellers of pipes and slippers and shawls, +and such like Oriental merchandise, not only embroiderers and +cunning workmen patiently striving to realise his visions of +Albanian dresses, not only the servants offering for places, and +the slave-dealer tendering his sable ware, but there would be the +Greek master, waiting to teach his pupil the grammar of the soft +Ionian tongue, in which he was to delight the wife of his +imagination, and the music-master, who was to teach him some +sweet replies to the anticipated sounds of the fancied guitar; +and then, above all, and proudly eminent with undisputed +preference of <i>entrée</i>, and fraught with the +mysterious tidings on which the realisation of the whole dream +might depend, was the mysterious match-maker, <a +name="citation9"></a><a href="#footnote9" +class="citation">[9]</a> enticing and postponing the suitor, yet +ever keeping alive in his soul the love of that pictured virtue, +whose beauty (unseen by eyes) was half revealed to the +imagination.</p> +<p>You would have thought that this practical dreaming must have +soon brought Carrigaholt to a bad end, but he was in much less +danger than you would suppose; for besides that the new visions +of happiness almost always came in time to counteract the fatal +completion of the preceding scheme, his high breeding and his +delicately sensitive taste almost always came to his aid at times +when he was left without any other protection; and the efficacy +of these qualities in keeping a man out of harm’s way is +really immense. In all baseness and imposture there is a +coarse, vulgar spirit, which, however artfully concealed for a +time, must sooner or later show itself in some little +circumstance sufficiently plain to occasion an instant jar upon +the minds of those whose taste is lively and true. To such +men a shock of this kind, disclosing the <i>ugliness</i> of a +cheat, is more effectively convincing than any mere proofs could +be.</p> +<p>Thus guarded from isle to isle, and through Greece, and +through Albania, this practical Plato with a purse in his hand, +carried on his mad chase after the good and the beautiful, and +yet returned in safety to his home. But now, poor fellow! +the lowly grave, that is the end of men’s romantic hopes, +has closed over all his rich fancies, and all his high +aspirations; he is utterly married! No more hope, no more +change for him—no more relays—he must go on +Vetturini-wise to the appointed end of his journey!</p> +<p>Smyrna, I think, may be called the chief town and capital of +the Grecian race, against which you will be cautioned so +carefully as soon as you touch the Levant. You will say +that I ought not to confound as one people the Greeks living +under a constitutional government with the unfortunate Rayahs who +“groan under the Turkish yoke,” but I can’t see +that political events have hitherto produced any strongly marked +difference of character. If I could venture to rely (which +I feel that I cannot at all do) upon my own observation, I should +tell you that there was more heartiness and strength in the +Greeks of the Ottoman Empire than in those of the new +kingdom. The truth is, that there is a greater field for +commercial enterprise, and even for Greek ambition, under the +Ottoman sceptre, than is to be found in the dominions of +Otho. Indeed the people, by their frequent migrations from +the limits of the constitutional kingdom to the territories of +the Porte, seem to show that, on the whole, they prefer +“groaning under the Turkish yoke” to the honour of +“being the only true source of legitimate power” in +their own land.</p> +<p>For myself, I love the race; in spite of all their vices, and +even in spite of all their meannesses, I remember the blood that +is in them, and still love the Greeks. The Osmanlees are, +of course, by nature, by religion, and by politics, the strong +foes of the Hellenic people, and as the Greeks, poor fellows! +happen to be a little deficient in some of the virtues which +facilitate the transaction of commercial business (such as +veracity, fidelity, &c.), it naturally follows that they are +highly unpopular with the European merchants. Now these are +the persons through whom, either directly or indirectly, is +derived the greater part of the information which you gather in +the Levant, and therefore you must make up your mind to hear an +almost universal and unbroken testimony against the character of +the people whose ancestors invented virtue. And strange to +say, the Greeks themselves do not attempt to disturb this general +unanimity of opinion by an dissent on their part. Question +a Greek on the subject, and he will tell you at once that the +people are <i>traditori</i>, and will then, perhaps, endeavour to +shake off his fair share of the imputation by asserting that his +father had been dragoman to some foreign embassy, and that he +(the son), therefore, by the law of nations, had ceased to be +Greek.</p> +<p>“E dunque no siete traditore?”</p> +<p>“Possibile, signor, ma almeno Io no sono +Greco.”</p> +<p>Not even the diplomatic representatives of the Hellenic +kingdom are free from the habit of depreciating their +brethren. I recollect that at one of the ports in Syria a +Greek vessel was rather unfairly kept in quarantine by order of +the Board of Health, which consisted entirely of Europeans. +A consular agent from the kingdom of Greece had lately hoisted +his flag in the town, and the captain of the vessel drew up a +remonstrance, which he requested his consul to present to the +Board.</p> +<p>“Now, <i>is</i> this reasonable?” said the consul; +“is it reasonable that I should place myself in collision +with all the principal European gentlemen of the place for the +sake of you, a Greek?” The skipper was greatly vexed +at the failure of his application, but he scarcely even +questioned the justice of the ground which his consul had +taken. Well, it happened some time afterwards that I found +myself at the same port, having gone thither with the view of +embarking for the port of Syra. I was anxious, of course, +to elude as carefully as possible the quarantine detentions which +threatened me on my arrival, and hearing that the Greek consul +had a brother who was a man in authority at Syra, I got myself +presented to the former, and took the liberty of asking him to +give me such a letter of introduction to his relative at Syra as +might possibly have the effect of shortening the term of my +quarantine. He acceded to this request with the utmost +kindness and courtesy; but when he replied to my thanks by saying +that “in serving an Englishman he was doing no more than +his strict duty commanded,” not even my gratitude could +prevent me from calling to mind his treatment of the poor captain +who had the misfortune of <i>not</i> being an alien in blood to +his consul and appointed protector.</p> +<p>I think that the change which has taken place in the character +of the Greeks has been occasioned, in great measure, by the +doctrines and practice of their religion. The Greek Church +has animated the Muscovite peasant, and inspired him with hopes +and ideas which, however humble, are still better than none at +all; but the faith, and the forms, and the strange ecclesiastical +literature which act so advantageously upon the mere clay of the +Russian serf, seem to hang like lead upon the ethereal spirit of +the Greek. Never in any part of the world have I seen +religious performances so painful to witness as those of the +Greeks. The horror, however, with which one shudders at +their worship is attributable, in some measure, to the mere +effect of costume. In all the Ottoman dominions, and very +frequently too in the kingdom of Otho, the Greeks wear turbans or +other head-dresses, and shave their heads, leaving only a +rat’s-tail at the crown of the head; they of course keep +themselves covered within doors as well as abroad, and they never +remove their head-gear merely on account of being in a church; +but when the Greek stops to worship at his proper shrine, then, +and then only, he always uncovers; and as you see him thus with +shaven skull and savage tail depending from his crown, kissing a +thing of wood and glass, and cringing with base prostrations and +apparent terror before a miserable picture, you see superstition +in a shape which, outwardly at least, is sadly abject and +repulsive.</p> +<p>The fasts, too, of the Greek Church produce an ill effect upon +the character of the people, for they are not a mere farce, but +are carried to such an extent as to bring about a real +mortification of the flesh; the febrile irritation of the frame +operating in conjunction with the depression of the spirits +occasioned by abstinence, will so far answer the objects of the +rite, as to engender some religious excitement, but this is of a +morbid and gloomy character, and it seems to be certain, that +along with the increase of sanctity, there comes a fiercer desire +for the perpetration of dark crimes. The number of murders +committed during Lent is greater, I am told, than at any other +time of the year. A man under the influence of a bean +dietary (for this is the principal food of the Greeks during +their fasts) will be in an apt humour for enriching the shrine of +his saint, and passing a knife through his next-door +neighbour. The moneys deposited upon the shrines are +appropriated by priests; the priests are married men, and have +families to provide for; they “take the good with the +bad,” and continue to recommend fasts.</p> +<p>Then, too, the Greek Church enjoins her followers to keep holy +such a vast number of saints’ days as practically to +shorten the lives of the people very materially. I believe +that one-third out of the number of days in the year are +“kept holy,” or rather, <i>kept stupid</i>, in honour +of the saints; no great portion of the time thus set apart is +spent in religious exercises, and the people don’t betake +themselves to any such animating pastimes as might serve to +strengthen the frame, or invigorate the mind, or exalt the +taste. On the contrary, the saints’ days of the +Greeks in Smyrna are passed in the same manner as the Sabbaths of +well-behaved Protestant housemaids in London—that is to +say, in a steady and serious contemplation of street +scenery. The men perform this duty <i>at the doors</i> of +their houses, the women <i>at the windows</i>, which the custom +of Greek towns has so decidedly appropriated to them as the +proper station of their sex, that a man would be looked upon as +utterly effeminate if he ventured to choose that situation for +the keeping of the saints’ days. I was present one +day at a treaty for the hire of some apartments at Smyrna, which +was carried on between Carrigaholt and the Greek woman to whom +the rooms belonged. Carrigaholt objected that the windows +commanded no view of the street. Immediately the brow of +the majestic matron was clouded, and with all the scorn of a +Spartan mother she coolly asked Carrigaholt, and said, “Art +thou a tender damsel that thou wouldst sit and gaze from +windows?” The man whom she addressed, however, had +not gone to Greece with any intention of placing himself under +the laws of Lycurgus, and was not to be diverted from his views +by a Spartan rebuke, so he took care to find himself windows +after his own heart, and there, I believe, for many a month, he +kept the saints’ days, and all the days intervening, after +the fashion of Grecian women.</p> +<p>Oh! let me be charitable to all who write, and to all who +lecture, and to all who preach, since even I, a layman not forced +to write at all, can hardly avoid chiming in with some tuneful +cant! I have had the heart to talk about the pernicious +effects of the Greek holidays, to which I owe some of my most +beautiful visions! I will let the words stand, as a +humbling proof that I am subject to that immutable law which +compels a man with a pen in his hand to be uttering every now and +then some sentiment not his own. It seems as though the +power of expressing regrets and desires by written symbols were +coupled with a condition that the writer should from time to time +express the regrets and desires of other people; as though, like +a French peasant under the old régime, one were bound to +perform a certain amount of work <i>upon the public +highways</i>. I rebel as stoutly as I can against this +horrible, <i>corvée</i>. I try not to deceive +you—I try to set down the thoughts which are fresh within +me, and not to pretend any wishes, or griefs, which I do not +really feel; but no sooner do I cease from watchfulness in this +regard, than my right hand is, as it were, seized by some false +angel, and even now, you see, I have been forced to put down such +words and sentences as I ought to have written if really and +truly I had wished to disturb the saints’ days of the +beautiful Smyrniotes!</p> +<p>Which, Heaven forbid! for as you move through the narrow +streets of the city at these times of festival, the +transom-shaped windows suspended over your head on either side +are filled with the beautiful descendants of the old Ionian race; +all (even yonder empress that sits throned at the window of that +humblest mud cottage) are attired with seeming magnificence; +their classic heads are crowned with scarlet, and loaded with +jewels or coins of gold, the whole wealth of the wearers; <a +name="citation10"></a><a href="#footnote10" +class="citation">[10]</a> their features are touched with a +savage pencil, which hardens the outline of eyes and eyebrows, +and lends an unnatural fire to the stern, grave looks with which +they pierce your brain. Endure their fiery eyes as best you +may, and ride on slowly and reverently, for facing you from the +side of the transom, that looks long-wise through the street, you +see the one glorious shape transcendant in its beauty; you see +the massive braid of hair as it catches a touch of light on its +jetty surface, and the broad, calm, angry brow; the large black +eyes, deep set, and self-relying like the eyes of a conqueror, +with their rich shadows of thought lying darkly around them; you +see the thin fiery nostril, and the bold line of the chin and +throat disclosing all the fierceness, and all the pride, passion, +and power that can live along with the rare womanly beauty of +those sweetly turned lips. But then there is a terrible +stillness in this breathing image; it seems like the stillness of +a savage that sits intent and brooding, day by day, upon some one +fearful scheme of vengeance, but yet more like it seems to the +stillness of an Immortal, whose will must be known, and obeyed +without sign or speech. Bow down!—Bow down and adore +the young Persephonie, transcendent Queen of Shades!</p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI—GREEK MARINERS</h2> +<p>I sailed from Smyrna in the <i>Amphitrite</i>, a Greek +brigantine, which was confidently said to be bound for the coast +of Syria; but I knew that this announcement was not to be relied +upon with positive certainty, for the Greek mariners are +practically free from the stringency of ship’s papers, and +where they will, there they go. However, I had the whole of +the cabin for myself and my attendant, Mysseri, subject only to +the society of the captain at the hour of dinner. Being at +ease in this respect, being furnished too with plenty of books, +and finding an unfailing source of interest in the thorough +Greekness of my captain and my crew, I felt less anxious than +most people would have been about the probable length of the +cruise. I knew enough of Greek navigation to be sure that +our vessel would cling to earth like a child to its +mother’s knee, and that I should touch at many an isle +before I set foot upon the Syrian coast; but I had no invidious +preference for Europe, Asia, or Africa, and I felt that I could +defy the winds to blow me upon a coast that was blank and void of +interest. My patience was extremely useful to me, for the +cruise altogether endured some forty days, and that in the midst +of winter.</p> +<p>According to me, the most interesting of all the Greeks (male +Greeks) are the mariners, because their pursuits and their social +condition are so nearly the same as those of their famous +ancestors. You will say, that the occupation of commerce +must have smoothed down the salience of their minds; and this +would be so perhaps if their mercantile affairs were conducted +according to the fixed businesslike routine of Europeans; but the +ventures of the Greeks are surrounded by such a multitude of +imagined dangers (and from the absence of regular marts, in which +the true value of merchandise can be ascertained), are so +entirely speculative, and besides, are conducted in a manner so +wholly determined upon by the wayward fancies and wishes of the +crew, that they belong to enterprise rather than to industry, and +are very far indeed from tending to deaden any freshness of +character.</p> +<p>The vessels in which war and piracy were carried on during the +years of the Greek Revolution became merchantmen at the end of +the war; but the tactics of the Greeks, as naval warriors, were +so exceedingly cautious, and their habits as commercial mariners +are so wild, that the change has been more slight than you might +imagine. The first care of Greeks (Greek Rayahs) when they +undertake a shipping enterprise is to procure for their vessel +the protection of some European power. This is easily +managed by a little intriguing with the dragoman of one of the +embassies at Constantinople, and the craft soon glories in the +ensign of Russia, or the dazzling Tricolor, or the Union +Jack. Thus, to the great delight of her crew, she enters +upon the ocean world with a flaring lie at her peak, but the +appearance of the vessel does no discredit to the borrowed flag; +she is frail indeed, but is gracefully built, and smartly rigged; +she always carries guns, and in short, gives good promise of +mischief and speed.</p> +<p>The privileges attached to the vessel and her crew by virtue +of the borrowed flag are so great, as to imply a liberty wider +even than that which is often enjoyed in our more strictly +civilised countries, so that there is no pretence for saying that +the development of the true character belonging to Greek mariners +is prevented by the dominion of the Ottoman. These men are +free, too, from the power of the great capitalist, whose sway is +more withering than despotism itself to the enterprises of humble +venturers. The capital employed is supplied by those whose +labour is to render it productive. The crew receive no +wages, but have all a share in the venture, and in general, I +believe, they are the owners of the whole freight. They +choose a captain, to whom they entrust just power enough to keep +the vessel on her course in fine weather, but not quite enough +for a gale of wind; they also elect a cook and a mate. The +cook whom we had on board was particularly careful about the +ship’s reckoning, and when under the influence of the keen +sea-breezes we grew fondly expectant of an instant dinner, the +great author of <i>pilafs</i> would be standing on deck with an +ancient quadrant in his hands, calmly affecting to take an +observation. But then to make up for this the captain would +be exercising a controlling influence over the soup, so that all +in the end went well. Our mate was a Hydriot, a native of +that island rock which grows nothing but mariners and +mariners’ wives. His character seemed to be exactly +that which is generally attributed to the Hydriot race; he was +fierce, and gloomy, and lonely in his ways. One of his +principal duties seemed to be that of acting as counter-captain, +or leader of the opposition, denouncing the first symptoms of +tyranny, and protecting even the cabin-boy from oppression. +Besides this, when things went smoothly he would begin to +prognosticate evil, in order that his more light-hearted comrades +might not be puffed up with the seeming good fortune of the +moment.</p> +<p>It seemed to me that the personal freedom of these sailors, +who own no superiors except those of their own choice, is as like +as may be to that of their seafaring ancestors. And even in +their mode of navigation they have admitted no such an entire +change as you would suppose probable. It is true that they +have so far availed themselves of modern discoveries as to look +to the compass instead of the stars, and that they have +superseded the immortal gods of their forefathers by St. Nicholas +in his glass case, <a name="citation11"></a><a href="#footnote11" +class="citation">[11]</a> but they are not yet so confident +either in their needle, or their saint, as to love an open sea, +and they still hug their shores as fondly as the Argonauts of +old. Indeed, they have a most unsailor-like love for the +land, and I really believe that in a gale of wind they would +rather have a rock-bound coast on their lee than no coast at +all. According to the notions of an English seaman, this +kind of navigation would soon bring the vessel on which it might +be practised to an evil end. The Greek, however, is +unaccountably successful in escaping the consequences of being +“jammed in,” as it is called, upon a lee-shore.</p> +<p>These seamen, like their forefathers, rely upon no winds +unless they are right astern or on the quarter; they rarely go on +a wind if it blows at all fresh, and if the adverse breeze +approaches to a gale, they at once fumigate St. Nicholas, and put +up the helm. The consequence of course is that under the +ever-varying winds of the Ægean they are blown about in the +most whimsical manner. I used to think that Ulysses with +his ten years’ voyage had taken his time in making Ithaca, +but my experience in Greek navigation soon made me understand +that he had had, in point of fact, a pretty good “average +passage.”</p> +<p>Such are now the mariners of the Ægean: free, equal +amongst themselves, navigating the seas of their forefathers with +the same heroic, and yet child-like, spirit of venture, the same +half-trustful reliance upon heavenly aid, they are the liveliest +images of true old Greeks that time and the new religions have +spared to us.</p> +<p>With one exception, our crew were “a solemn +company,” <a name="citation12"></a><a href="#footnote12" +class="citation">[12]</a> and yet, sometimes, when all things +went well, they would relax their austerity, and show a +disposition to fun, or rather to quiet humour. When this +happened, they invariably had recourse to one of their number, +who went by the name of “Admiral Nicolou.” He +was an amusing fellow, the poorest, I believe, and the least +thoughtful of the crew, but full of rich humour. His +oft-told story of the events by which he had gained the sobriquet +of “Admiral” never failed to delight his hearers, and +when he was desired to repeat it for my benefit, the rest of the +crew crowded round with as much interest as if they were +listening to the tale for the first time. A number of Greek +brigs and brigantines were at anchor in the bay of Beyrout. +A festival of some kind, particularly attractive to the sailors, +was going on in the town, and whether with or without leave I +know not, but the crews of all the craft, except that of Nicolou, +had gone ashore. On board his vessel, however, which +carried dollars, there was, it would seem, a more careful, or +more influential captain, who was able to enforce his +determination that one man, at least, should be left on +board. Nicolou’s good nature was with him so powerful +an impulse, that he could not resist the delight of volunteering +to stay with the vessel whilst his comrades went ashore. +His proposal was accepted, and the crew and captain soon left him +alone on the deck of his vessel. The sailors, gathering +together from their several ships, were amusing themselves in the +town, when suddenly there came down from betwixt the mountains +one of those sudden hurricanes which sometimes occur in southern +climes. Nicolou’s vessel, together with four of the +craft which had been left unmanned, broke from her moorings, and +all five of the vessels were carried out seaward. The town +is on a salient point at the southern side of the bay, so that +“that Admiral” was close under the eyes of the +inhabitants and the shore-gone sailors when he gallantly drifted +out at the head of his little fleet. If Nicolou could not +entirely control the manoeuvres of the squadron, there was at +least no human power to divide his authority, and thus it was +that he took rank as “Admiral.” Nicolou cut his +cable, and thus for the time saved his vessel; for the rest of +the fleet under his command were quickly wrecked, whilst +“the Admiral” got away clear to the open sea. +The violence of the squall soon passed off, but Nicolou felt that +his chance of one day resigning his high duties as an admiral for +the enjoyments of private life on the steadfast shore mainly +depended upon his success in working the brig with his own hands, +so after calling on his namesake, the saint (not for the first +time, I take it), he got up some canvas, and took the helm: he +became equal, he told us, to a score of Nicolous, and the vessel, +as he said, was “manned with his terrors.” For +two days, it seems, he cruised at large, but at last, either by +his seamanship, or by the natural instinct of the Greek mariners +for finding land, he brought his craft close to an unknown shore, +that promised well for his purpose of running in the vessel; and +he was preparing to give her a good berth on the beach, when he +saw a gang of ferocious-looking fellows coming down to the point +for which he was making. Poor Nicolou was a perfectly +unlettered and untutored genius, and for that reason, perhaps, a +keen listener to tales of terror. His mind had been +impressed with some horrible legend of cannibalism, and he now +did not doubt for a moment that the men awaiting him on the beach +were the monsters at whom he had shuddered in the days of his +childhood. The coast on which Nicolou was running his +vessel was somewhere, I fancy, at the foot of the Anzairie +Mountains, and the fellows who were preparing to give him a +reception were probably very rough specimens of humanity. +It is likely enough that they might have given themselves the +trouble of putting “the Admiral” to death, for the +purpose of simplifying their claim to the vessel and preventing +litigation, but the notion of their cannibalism was of course +utterly unfounded. Nicolou’s terror had, however, so +graven the idea on his mind, that he could never afterwards +dismiss it. Having once determined the character of his +expectant hosts, the Admiral naturally thought that it would he +better to keep their dinner waiting any length of time than to +attend their feast in the character of a roasted Greek, so he put +about his vessel, and tempted the deep once more. After a +further cruise the lonely commander ran his vessel upon some +rocks at another part of the coast, where she was lost with all +her treasures, and Nicolou was but too glad to scramble ashore, +though without one dollar in his girdle. These adventures +seem flat enough as I repeat them, but the hero expressed his +terrors by such odd terms of speech, and such strangely humorous +gestures, that the story came from his lips with an unfailing +zest, so that the crew, who had heard the tale so often, could +still enjoy to their hearts’ content the rich fright of the +Admiral, and still shuddered with unabated horror when he came to +the loss of the dollars.</p> +<p>The power of listening to long stories (for which, by-the-bye, +I am giving you large credit) is common, I fancy, to most +sailors, and the Greeks have it to a high degree, for they can be +perfectly patient under a narrative of two or three hours’ +duration. These long stories are mostly founded upon +Oriental topics, and in one of them I recognised with some +alteration an old friend of the “Arabian +Nights.” I inquired as to the source from which the +story had been derived, and the crew all agreed that it had been +handed down unwritten from Greek to Greek. Their account of +the matter does not, perhaps, go very far towards showing the +real origin of the tale; but when I afterwards took up the +“Arabian Nights,” I became strongly impressed with a +notion that they must have sprung from the brain of a +Greek. It seems to me that these stories, whilst they +disclose a complete and habitual <i>knowledge</i> of things +Asiatic, have about them so much of freshness and life, so much +of the stirring and volatile European character, that they cannot +have owed their conception to a mere Oriental, who for creative +purposes is a thing dead and dry—a mental mummy, that may +have been a live king just after the Flood, but has since lain +balmed in spice. At the time of the Caliphat the Greek race +was familiar enough to Baghdad: they were the merchants, the +pedlars, the barbers, and intriguers-general of south-western +Asia, and therefore the Oriental materials with which the Arabian +tales were wrought must have been completely at the command of +the inventive people to whom I would attribute their origin.</p> +<p>We were nearing the isle of Cyprus when there arose half a +gale of wind, with a heavy chopping sea. My Greek seamen +considered that the weather amounted not to a half, but to an +integral gale of wind at the very least, so they put up the helm, +and scudded for twenty hours. When we neared the mainland +of Anadoli the gale ceased, and a favourable breeze sprung up, +which brought us off Cyprus once more. Afterwards the wind +changed again, but we were still able to lay our course by +sailing close-hauled.</p> +<p>We were at length in such a position, that by holding on our +course for about half-an-hour we should get under the lee of the +island and find ourselves in smooth water, but the wind had been +gradually freshening; it now blew hard, and there was a heavy sea +running.</p> +<p>As the grounds for alarm arose, the crew gathered together in +one close group; they stood pale and grim under their hooded +capotes like monks awaiting a massacre, anxiously looking by +turns along the pathway of the storm and then upon each other, +and then upon the eye of the captain who stood by the +helmsman. Presently the Hydriot came aft, more moody than +ever, the bearer of fierce remonstrance against the continuing of +the struggle; he received a resolute answer, and still we held +our course. Soon there came a heavy sea, that caught the +bow of the brigantine as she lay jammed in betwixt the waves; she +bowed her head low under the waters, and shuddered through all +her timbers, then gallantly stood up again over the striving sea, +with bowsprit entire. But where were the crew? It was +a crew no longer, but rather a gathering of Greek citizens; the +shout of the seamen was changed for the murmuring of the +people—the spirit of the old Demos was alive. The men +came aft in a body, and loudly asked that the vessel should be +put about, and that the storm be no longer tempted. Now, +then, for speeches. The captain, his eyes flashing fire, +his frame all quivering with emotion—wielding his every +limb, like another and a louder voice, pours forth the eloquent +torrent of his threats and his reasons, his commands and his +prayers; he promises, he vows, he swears that there is safety in +holding on—safety, <i>if Greeks will be brave</i>! +The men hear and are moved; but the gale rouses itself once more, +and again the raging sea comes trampling over the timbers that +are the life of all. The fierce Hydriot advances one step +nearer to the captain, and the angry growl of the people goes +floating down the wind, but they listen; they waver once more, +and once more resolve, then waver again, thus doubtfully hanging +between the terrors of the storm and the persuasion of glorious +speech, as though it were the Athenian that talked, and Philip of +Macedon that thundered on the weather-bow.</p> +<p>Brave thoughts winged on Grecian words gained their natural +mastery over terror; the brigantine held on her course, and +reached smooth water at last. I landed at Limasol, the +westernmost port of Cyprus, leaving the vessel to sail for +Larnaka, where she was to remain for some days.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII—CYPRUS</h2> +<p>There was a Greek at Limasol who hoisted his flag as an +English vice-consul, and he insisted upon my accepting his +hospitality. With some difficulty, and chiefly by assuring +him that I could not delay my departure beyond an early hour in +the afternoon, I induced him to allow my dining with his family +instead of banqueting all alone with the representative of my +sovereign in consular state and dignity. The lady of the +house, it seemed, had never sat at table with an European. +She was very shy about the matter, and tried hard to get out of +the scrape, but the husband, I fancy, reminded her that she was +theoretically an Englishwoman, by virtue of the flag that waved +over her roof, and that she was bound to show her nationality by +sitting at meat with me. Finding herself inexorably +condemned to bear with the dreaded gaze of European eyes, she +tried to save her innocent children from the hard fate awaiting +herself, but I obtained that all of them (and I think there were +four or five) should sit at the table. You will meet with +abundance of stately receptions and of generous hospitality, too, +in the East, but rarely, very rarely in those regions (or even, +so far as I know, in any part of southern Europe) does one gain +an opportunity of seeing the familiar and indoor life of the +people.</p> +<p>This family party of the good consul’s (or rather of +mine, for I originated the idea, though he furnished the +materials) went off very well. The mamma was shy at first, +but she veiled the awkwardness which she felt by affecting to +scold her children, who had all of them, I think, immortal +names—names too which they owed to tradition, and certainly +not to any classical enthusiasm of their parents. Every +instant I was delighted by some such phrases as these, +“Themistocles, my love, don’t +fight.”—“Alcibiades, can’t you sit +still?”—“Socrates, put down the +cup.”—“Oh, fie! Aspasia, +don’t. Oh! don’t be naughty!” It is +true that the names were pronounced Socrahtie, +Aspahsie—that is, according to accent, and not according to +quantity—but I suppose it is scarcely now to be doubted +that they were so sounded in ancient times.</p> +<p>To me it seems, that of all the lands I know (you will see in +a minute how I connect this piece of prose’ with the isle +of Cyprus), there is none in which mere wealth, mere unaided +wealth, is held half so cheaply; none in which a poor devil of a +millionaire, without birth, or ability, occupies so humble a +place as in England. My Greek host and I were sitting +together, I think, upon the roof of the house (for that is the +lounging-place in Eastern climes), when the former assumed a +serious air, and intimated a wish to converse upon the subject of +the British Constitution, with which he assured me that he was +thoroughly acquainted. He presently, however, informed me +that there was one anomalous circumstance attended upon the +practical working of our political system which he had never been +able to hear explained in a manner satisfactory to himself. +From the fact of his having found a difficulty in his subject, I +began to think that my host might really know rather more of it +than his announcement of a thorough knowledge had led me to +expect. I felt interested at being about to hear from the +lips of an intelligent Greek, quite remote from the influence of +European opinions, what might seem to him the most astonishing +and incomprehensible of all those results which have followed +from the action of our political institutions. The anomaly, +the only anomaly which had been detected by the vice-consular +wisdom, consisted in the fact that Rothschild (the late +money-monger) had never been the Prime Minister of England! +I gravely tried to throw some light upon the mysterious causes +that had kept the worthy Israelite out of the Cabinet, but I +think I could see that my explanation was not satisfactory. +Go and argue with the flies of summer that there is a power +divine, yet greater than the sun in the heavens, but never dare +hope to convince the people of the south that there is any other +God than Gold.</p> +<p>My intended journey was to the site of the Paphian +temple. I take no antiquarian interest in ruins, and care +little about them, unless they are either striking in themselves, +or else serve to mark some spot on which my fancy loves to +dwell. I knew that the ruins of Paphos were scarcely, if at +all, discernible, but there was a will and a longing more +imperious than mere curiosity that drove me thither.</p> +<p>For this just then was my pagan soul’s desire—that +(not forfeiting my inheritance for the life to come) it had yet +been given me to live through this world—to live a favoured +mortal under the old Olympian dispensation—to speak out my +resolves to the listening Jove, and hear him answer with +approving thunder—to be blessed with divine counsels from +the lips of Pallas Athenie—to believe—ay, only to +believe—to believe for one rapturous moment that in the +gloomy depths of the grove, by the mountain’s side, there +were some leafy pathway that crisped beneath the glowing sandal +of Aphrodetie—Aphrodetie, not coldly disdainful of even a +mortal’s love! And this vain, heathenish longing of +mine was father to the thought of visiting the scene of the +ancient worship.</p> +<p>The isle is beautiful. From the edge of the rich, +flowery fields on which I trod to the midway sides of the snowy +Olympus, the ground could only here and there show an abrupt +crag, or a high straggling ridge that up-shouldered itself from +out of the wilderness of myrtles, and of the thousand +bright-leaved shrubs that twined their arms together in lovesome +tangles. The air that came to my lips was warm and fragrant +as the ambrosial breath of the goddess, infecting me, not (of +course) with a faith in the old religion of the isle, but with a +sense and apprehension of its mystic power—a power that was +still to be obeyed—obeyed by <i>me</i>, for why otherwise +did I toil on with sorry horses to “where, for <span +class="smcap">her</span>, the hundred altars glowed with Arabian +incense, and breathed with the fragrance of garlands ever +fresh”? <a name="citation13"></a><a href="#footnote13" +class="citation">[13]</a></p> +<p>I passed a sadly disenchanting night in the cabin of a Greek +priest—not a priest of the goddess, but of the Greek +Church; there was but one humble room, or rather shed, for man, +and priest, and beast. The next morning I reached Baffa +(Paphos), a village not far distant from the site of the +temple. There was a Greek husbandman there who (not for +emolument, but for the sake of the protection and dignity which +it afforded) had got leave from the man at Limasol to hoist his +flag as a sort of deputy-provisionary-sub-vice-pro-acting-consul +of the British sovereign: the poor fellow instantly changed his +Greek headgear for the cap of consular dignity, and insisted upon +accompanying me to the ruins. I would not have stood this +if I could have felt the faintest gleam of my yesterday’s +pagan piety, but I had ceased to dream, and had nothing to dread +from any new disenchanters.</p> +<p>The ruins (the fragments of one or two prostrate pillars) lie +upon a promontory, bare and unmystified by the gloom of +surrounding groves. My Greek friend in his consular cap +stood by, respectfully waiting to see what turn my madness would +take, now that I had come at last into the presence of the old +stones. If you have no taste for research, and can’t +affect to look for inscriptions, there is some awkwardness in +coming to the end of a merely sentimental pilgrimage; when the +feeling which impelled you has gone, you have nothing to do but +to laugh the thing off as well as you can, and, by-the-bye, it is +not a bad plan to turn the conversation (or rather, allow the +natives to turn it) towards the subject of hidden +treasures. This is a topic on which they will always speak +with eagerness, and if they can fancy that you, too, take an +interest in such matters, they will not only think you perfectly +sane, but will begin to give you credit for some more than human +powers of forcing the obscure earth to show you its hoards of +gold.</p> +<p>When we returned to Baffa, the vice-consul seized a club with +the quietly determined air of a brave man resolved to do some +deed of note. He went into the yard adjoining his cottage, +where there were some thin, thoughtful, canting cocks, and +serious, low-church-looking hens, respectfully listening, and +chickens of tender years so well brought up, as scarcely to +betray in their conduct the careless levity of youth. The +vice-consul stood for a moment quite calm, collecting his +strength; then suddenly he rushed into the midst of the +congregation, and began to deal death and destruction on all +sides. He spared neither sex nor age; the dead and dying +were immediately removed from the field of slaughter, and in less +than an hour, I think, they were brought on the table, deeply +buried in mounds of snowy rice.</p> +<p>My host was in all respects a fine, generous fellow. I +could not bear the idea of impoverishing him by my visit, and I +consulted my faithful Mysseri, who not only assured me that I +might safely offer money to the vice-consul, but recommended that +I should give no more to him than to “the others,” +meaning any other peasant. I felt, however, that there was +something about the man, besides the flag and the cap, which made +me shrink from offering coin, and as I mounted my horse on +departing I gave him the only thing fit for a present that I +happened to have with me, a rather handsome clasp-dagger, brought +from Vienna. The poor fellow was ineffably grateful, and I +had some difficulty in tearing myself from out of the reach of +his thanks. At last I gave him what I supposed to be the +last farewell, and rode on, but I had not gained more than about +a hundred yards when my host came bounding and shouting after me, +with a goat’s-milk cheese in his hand, which he implored me +to accept. In old times the shepherd of Theocritus, or (to +speak less dishonestly) the shepherd of the “Poetæ +Græci,” sung his best song; I in this latter age +presented my best dagger, and both of us received the same rustic +reward.</p> +<p>It had been known that I should return to Limasol, and when I +arrived there I found that a noble old Greek had been hospitably +plotting to have me for his guest. I willingly accepted his +offer. The day of my arrival happened to be the birthday of +my host, and in consequence of this there was a constant influx +of visitors, who came to offer their congratulations. A few +of these were men, but most of them were young, graceful +girls. Almost all of them went through the ceremony with +the utmost precision and formality; each in succession spoke her +blessing, in the tone of a person repeating a set formula, then +deferentially accepted the invitation to sit, partook of the +proffered sweetmeats and the cold, glittering water, remained for +a few minutes either in silence or engaged in very thin +conversation, then arose, delivered a second benediction, +followed by an elaborate farewell, and departed.</p> +<p>The bewitching power attributed at this day to the women of +Cyprus is curious in connection with the worship of the sweet +goddess, who called their isle her own. The Cypriote is +not, I think, nearly so beautiful in face as the Ionian queens of +Izmir, but she is tall, and slightly formed; there is a +high-souled meaning and expression, a seeming consciousness of +gentle empire, that speaks in the wavy line of the shoulder, and +winds itself like Cytherea’s own cestus around the slender +waist; then the richly-abounding hair (not enviously gathered +together under the head-dress) descends the neck, and passes the +waist in sumptuous braids. Of all other women with Grecian +blood in their veins the costume is graciously beautiful, but +these, the maidens of Limasol—their robes are more gently, +more sweetly imagined, and fall like Julia’s cashmere in +soft, luxurious folds. The common voice of the Levant +allows that in face the women of Cyprus are less beautiful than +their brilliant sisters of Smyrna; and yet, says the Greek, he +may trust himself to one and all the bright cities of the +Ægean, and may yet weigh anchor with a heart entire, but +that so surely as he ventures upon the enchanted isle of Cyprus, +so surely will he know the rapture or the bitterness of +love. The charm, they say, owes its power to that which the +people call the astonishing “politics” +(πολιτικη) of the +women, meaning, I fancy, their tact and their witching ways: the +word, however, plainly fails to express one-half of that which +the speakers would say. I have smiled to hear the Greek, +with all his plenteousness of fancy, and all the wealth of his +generous language, yet vainly struggling to describe the +ineffable spell which the Parisians dispose of in their own smart +way by a summary “Je ne sçai quoi.”</p> +<p>I went to Larnaca, the chief city of the isle, and over the +water at last to Beyrout.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII—LADY HESTER STANHOPE <a +name="citation14"></a><a href="#footnote14" +class="citation">[14]</a></h2> +<p>Beyrout on its land side is hemmed in by the Druses, who +occupy all the neighbouring highlands.</p> +<p>Often enough I saw the ghostly images of the women with their +exalted horns stalking through the streets, and I saw too in +travelling the affrighted groups of the mountaineers as they fled +before me, under the fear that my party might be a company of +income-tax commissioners, or a pressgang enforcing the +conscription for Mehemet Ali; but nearly all my knowledge of the +people, except in regard of their mere costume and outward +appearance, is drawn from books and despatches, to which I have +the honour to refer you.</p> +<p>I received hospitable welcome at Beyrout from the Europeans as +well as from the Syrian Christians, and I soon discovered that +their standing topic of interest was the Lady Hester Stanhope, +who lived in an old convent on the Lebanon range, at the distance +of about a day’s journey from the town. The +lady’s habit of refusing to see Europeans added the charm +of mystery to a character which, even without that aid, was +sufficiently distinguished to command attention.</p> +<p>Many years of Lady Hester’s early womanhood had been +passed with Lady Chatham at Burton Pynsent, and during that +inglorious period of the heroine’s life her commanding +character, and (as they would have called it in the language of +those days) her “condescending kindness” towards my +mother’s family, had increased in them those strong +feelings of respect and attachment, which her rank and station +alone would have easily won from people of the middle +class. You may suppose how deeply the quiet women in +Somersetshire must have been interested, when they slowly learned +by vague and uncertain tidings that the intrepid girl who had +been used to break their vicious horses for them was reigning in +sovereignty over the wandering tribes of Western Asia! I +know that her name was made almost as familiar to me in my +childhood as the name of Robinson Crusoe—both were +associated with the spirit of adventure; but whilst the imagined +life of the cast-away mariner never failed to seem glaringly +real, the true story of the Englishwoman ruling over Arabs always +sounded to me like fable. I never had heard, nor indeed, I +believe, had the rest of the world ever heard, anything like a +certain account of the heroine’s adventures; all I knew +was, that in one of the drawers which were the delight of my +childhood, along with attar of roses and fragrant wonders from +Hindustan, there were letters carefully treasured, and trifling +presents which I was taught to think valuable because they had +come from the queen of the desert, who dwelt in tents, and +reigned over wandering Arabs.</p> +<p>This subject, however, died away, and from the ending of my +childhood up to the period of my arrival in the Levant, I had +seldom even heard a mentioning of the Lady Hester Stanhope, but +now, wherever I went, I was met by the name so familiar in sound, +and yet so full of mystery from the vague, fairy-tale sort of +idea which it brought to my mind; I heard it, too, connected with +fresh wonders, for it was said that the woman was now +acknowledged as an inspired being by the people of the mountains, +and it was even hinted with horror that she claimed to be <i>more +than a prophet</i>.</p> +<p>I felt at once that my mother would be sadly sorry to hear +that I had been within a day’s ride of her early friend +without offering to see her, and I therefore despatched a letter +to the recluse, mentioning the maiden name of my mother (whose +marriage was subsequent to Lady Hester’s departure), and +saying that if there existed on the part of her ladyship any wish +to hear of her old Somersetshire acquaintance, I should make a +point of visiting her. My letter was sent by a +foot-messenger, who was to take an unlimited time for his +journey, so that it was not, I think, until either the third or +the fourth day that the answer arrived. A couple of +horsemen covered with mud suddenly dashed into the little court +of the “locanda” in which I was staying, bearing +themselves as ostentatiously as though they were carrying a +cartel from the Devil to the Angel Michael: one of these (the +other being his attendant) was an Italian by birth (though now +completely orientalised), who lived in my lady’s +establishment as doctor nominally, but practically as an upper +servant; he presented me a very kind and appropriate letter of +invitation.</p> +<p>It happened that I was rather unwell at this time, so that I +named a more distant day for my visit than I should otherwise +have done, and after all, I did not start at the time +fixed. Whilst still remaining at Beyrout I received this +letter, which certainly betrays no symptom of the pretensions to +divine power which were popularly attributed to the +writer:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,—I +hope I shall be disappointed in seeing you on Wednesday, for the +late rains have rendered the river Damoor if not dangerous, at +least very unpleasant to pass for a person who has been lately +indisposed, for if the animal swims, you would be immerged in the +waters. The weather will probably change after the 21st of +the moon, and after a couple of days the roads and the river will +be passable, therefore I shall expect you either Saturday or +Monday.</p> +<p>“It will be a great satisfaction to me to have an +opportunity of inquiring after your mother, who was a sweet, +lovely girl when I knew her.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">“Believe me, sir,<br /> +“Yours sincerely,<br /> +“<span class="smcap">Hester Lucy +Stanhope</span>.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Early one morning I started from Beyrout. There are no +regularly established relays of horses in Syria, at least not in +the line which I took, and you therefore hire your cattle for the +whole journey, or at all events, for your journey to some large +town. Under these circumstances you have no occasion for a +Tatar (whose principal utility consists in his power to compel +the supply of horses). In other respects, the mode of +travelling through Syria differs very little from that which I +have described as prevailing in Turkey. I hired my horses +and mules (for I had some of both) for the whole of the journey +from Beyrout to Jerusalem. The owner of the beasts (who had +a couple of fellows under him) was the most dignified member of +my party; he was, indeed, a magnificent old man, and was called +Shereef, or “holy”—a title of honour which, +with the privilege of wearing the green turban, he well deserved, +not only from the blood of the Prophet that flowed in his veins, +but from the well-known sanctity of his life and the length of +his blessed beard.</p> +<p>Mysseri, of course, still travelled with me, but the Arabic +was not one of the seven languages which he spoke so perfectly, +and I was therefore obliged to hire another interpreter. I +had no difficulty in finding a proper man for the +purpose—one Demetrius, or, as he was always called, +Dthemetri, a native of Zante, who had been tossed about by +fortune in all directions. He spoke the Arabic very well, +and communicated with me in Italian. The man was a very +zealous member of the Greek Church. He had been a +tailor. He was as ugly as the devil, having a thoroughly +Tatar countenance, which expressed the agony of his body or mind, +as the case might be, in the most ludicrous manner +imaginable. He embellished the natural caricature of his +person by suspending about his neck and shoulders and waist +quantities of little bundles and parcels, which he thought too +valuable to be entrusted to the jerking of pack-saddles. +The mule that fell to his lot on this journey every now and then, +forgetting that his rider was a saint, and remembering that he +was a tailor, took a quiet roll upon the ground, and stretched +his limbs calmly and lazily, like a good man awaiting a +sermon. Dthemetri never got seriously hurt, but the +subversion and dislocation of his bundles made him for the moment +a sad spectacle of ruin, and when he regained his legs, his wrath +with the mule became very amusing. He always addressed the +beast in language which implied that he, as a Christian and +saint, had been personally insulted and oppressed by a Mahometan +mule. Dthemetri, however, on the whole, proved to be a most +able and capital servant. I suspected him of now and then +leading me out of my way in order that he might have the +opportunity of visiting the shrine of a saint, and on one +occasion, as you will see by-and-by, he was induced by religious +motives to commit a gross breach of duty; but putting these pious +faults out of the question (and they were faults of the right +side), he was always faithful and true to me.</p> +<p>I left Saide (the Sidon of ancient times) on my right, and +about an hour, I think, before sunset began to ascend one of the +many low hills of Lebanon. On the summit before me was a +broad, grey mass of irregular building, which from its position, +as well as from the gloomy blankness of its walls, gave the idea +of a neglected fortress. It had, in fact, been a convent of +great size, and like most of the religious houses in this part of +the world, had been made strong enough for opposing an inert +resistance to any mere casual band of assailants who might be +unprovided with regular means of attack: this was the +dwelling-place of the Chatham’s fiery granddaughter.</p> +<p>The aspect of the first court which I entered was such as to +keep one in the idea of having to do with a fortress rather than +a mere peaceable dwelling-place. A number of fierce-looking +and ill-clad Albanian soldiers were hanging about the place, and +striving to bear the curse of tranquillity as well as they could: +two or three of them, I think, were smoking their +<i>tchibouques</i>, but the rest of them were lying torpidly upon +the flat stones, like the bodies of departed brigands. I +rode on to an inner part of the building, and at last, quitting +my horses, was conducted through a doorway that led me at once +from an open court into an apartment on the ground floor. +As I entered, an Oriental figure in male costume approached me +from the farther end of the room with many and profound bows, but +the growing shades of evening prevented me from distinguishing +the features of the personage who was receiving me with this +solemn welcome. I had always, however, understood that Lady +Hester Stanhope wore the male attire, and I began to utter in +English the common civilities that seemed to be proper on the +commencement of a visit by an uninspired mortal to a renowned +prophetess; but the figure which I addressed only bowed so much +the more, prostrating itself almost to the ground, but speaking +to me never a word. I feebly strived not to be outdone in +gestures of respect; but presently my bowing opponent saw the +error under which I was acting, and suddenly convinced me that, +at all events, I was not <i>yet</i> in the presence of a +superhuman being, by declaring that he was not +“miladi,” but was, in fact, nothing more or less +god-like than the poor doctor, who had brought his +mistress’s letter to Beyrout.</p> +<p>Her ladyship, in the right spirit of hospitality, now sent and +commanded me to repose for a while after the fatigues of my +journey, and to dine.</p> +<p>The cuisine was of the Oriental kind, which is highly +artificial, and I thought it very good. I rejoiced too in +the wine of the Lebanon.</p> +<p>Soon after the ending of the dinner the doctor arrived with +miladi’s compliments, and an intimation that she would he +happy to receive me if I were so disposed. It had now grown +dark, and the rain was falling heavily, so that I got rather wet +in following my guide through the open courts that I had to pass +in order to reach the presence chamber. At last I was +ushered into a small apartment, which was protected from the +draughts of air passing through the doorway by a folding screen; +passing this, I came alongside of a common European sofa, where +sat the lady prophetess. She rose from her seat very +formally, spoke to me a few words of welcome, pointed to a chair +which was placed exactly opposite to her sofa at a couple of +yards’ distance, and remained standing up to the full of +her majestic height, perfectly still and motionless, until I had +taken my appointed place; she then resumed her seat, not packing +herself up according to the mode of the Orientals, but allowing +her feet to rest on the floor or the footstool; at the moment of +seating herself she covered her lap with a mass of loose white +drapery which she held in her hand. It occurred to me at +the time that she did this in order to avoid the awkwardness of +sitting in manifest trousers under the eye of an European, but I +can hardly fancy now that with her wilful nature she would have +brooked such a compromise as this.</p> +<p>The woman before me had exactly the person of a +prophetess—not, indeed, of the divine sibyl imagined by +Domenichino, so sweetly distracted betwixt love and mystery, but +of a good business-like, practical prophetess, long used to the +exercise of her sacred calling. I have been told by those +who knew Lady Hester Stanhope in her youth, that any notion of a +resemblance betwixt her and the great Chatham must have been +fanciful; but at the time of my seeing her, the large commanding +features of the gaunt woman, then sixty years old or more, +certainly reminded me of the statesman that lay dying <a +name="citation15"></a><a href="#footnote15" +class="citation">[15]</a> in the House of Lords, according to +Copley’s picture. Her face was of the most +astonishing whiteness; <a name="citation16"></a><a +href="#footnote16" class="citation">[16]</a> she wore a very +large turban, which seemed to be of pale cashmere shawls, so +disposed as to conceal the hair; her dress, from the chin down to +the point at which it was concealed by the drapery which she held +over her lap, was a mass of white linen loosely folding—an +ecclesiastical sort of affair, more like a surplice than any of +those blessed creations which our souls love under the names of +“dress” and “frock” and +“boddice” and “collar” and +“habit-shirt” and sweet “chemisette.”</p> +<p>Such was the outward seeming of the personage that sat before +me, and indeed she was almost bound by the fame of her actual +achievements, as well as by her sublime pretensions, to look a +little differently from the rest of womankind. There had +been something of grandeur in her career. After the death +of Lady Chatham, which happened in 1803, she lived under the roof +of her uncle, the second Pitt, and when he resumed the Government +in 1804, she became the dispenser of much patronage, and sole +secretary of state for the department of Treasury banquets. +Not having seen the lady until late in her life, when she was +fired with spiritual ambition, I can hardly fancy that she could +have performed her political duties in the saloons of the +Minister with much of feminine sweetness and patience. I am +told, however, that she managed matters very well indeed: perhaps +it was better for the lofty-minded leader of the House to have +his reception-rooms guarded by this stately creature, than by a +merely clever and managing woman; it was fitting that the +wholesome awe with which he filled the minds of the country +gentlemen should be aggravated by the presence of his majestic +niece. But the end was approaching. The sun of +Austerlitz showed the Czar madly sliding his splendid army like a +weaver’s shuttle from his right hand to his left, under the +very eyes—the deep, grey, watchful eyes of Napoleon; before +night came, the coalition was a vain thing—meet for +history, and the heart of its great author was crushed with grief +when the terrible tidings came to his ears. In the +bitterness of his despair he cried out to his niece, and bid her, +“<span class="smcap">Roll up the map of +Europe</span>”; there was a little more of suffering, and +at last, with his swollen tongue (so they say) still muttering +something for England, he died by the noblest of all sorrows.</p> +<p>Lady Hester, meeting the calamity in her own fierce way, seems +to have scorned the poor island that had not enough of +God’s grace to keep the “heaven-sent” Minister +alive. I can hardly tell why it should be, but there is a +longing for the East very commonly felt by proud-hearted people +when goaded by sorrow. Lady Hester Stanhope obeyed this +impulse. For some time, I believe, she was at +Constantinople, where her magnificence and near alliance to the +late Minister gained her great influence. Afterwards she +passed into Syria. The people of that country, excited by +the achievements of Sir Sidney Smith, had begun to imagine the +possibility of their land being occupied by the English, and many +of them looked upon Lady Hester as a princess who came to prepare +the way for the expected conquest. I don’t know it +from her own lips, or indeed from any certain authority, but I +have been told that she began her connection with the Bedouins by +making a large present of money (£500 it was +said—immense in piastres) to the Sheik whose authority was +recognised in that part of the desert which lies between Damascus +and Palmyra. The prestige created by the rumours of her +high and undefined rank, as well as of her wealth and +corresponding magnificence, was well sustained by her imperious +character and her dauntless bravery. Her influence +increased. I never heard anything satisfactory as to the +real extent or duration of her sway, but it seemed that for a +time at least she certainly exercised something like sovereignty +amongst the wandering tribes. <a name="citation17"></a><a +href="#footnote17" class="citation">[17]</a> And now that +her earthly kingdom had passed away she strove for spiritual +power, and impiously dared, as it was said, to boast some mystic +union with the very God of very God!</p> +<p>A couple of black slave girls came at a signal, and supplied +their mistress as well as myself with lighted <i>tchibouques</i> +and coffee.</p> +<p>The custom of the East sanctions, and almost commands, some +moments of silence whilst you are inhaling the first few breaths +of the fragrant pipe. The pause was broken, I think, by my +lady, who addressed to me some inquiries respecting my mother, +and particularly as to her marriage; but before I had +communicated any great amount of family facts, the spirit of the +prophetess kindled within her, and presently (though with all the +skill of a woman of the world) she shuffled away the subject of +poor, dear Somersetshire, and bounded onward into loftier spheres +of thought.</p> +<p>My old acquaintance with some of “the twelve” +enabled me to bear my part (of course a very humble one) in a +conversation relative to occult science. Milnes once spread +a report, that every gang of gipsies was found upon inquiry to +have come last from a place to the westward, and to be about to +make the next move in an eastern direction; either therefore they +where to be all gathered together towards the rising of the sun +by the mysterious finger of Providence, or else they were to +revolve round the globe for ever and ever: both of these +suppositions were highly gratifying, because they were both +marvellous; and though the story on which they were founded +plainly sprang from the inventive brain of a poet, no one had +ever been so odiously statistical as to attempt a contradiction +of it. I now mentioned the story as a report to Lady Hester +Stanhope, and asked her if it were true. I could not have +touched upon any imaginable subject more deeply interesting to my +hearer, more closely akin to her habitual train of +thinking. She immediately threw off all the restraint +belonging to an interview with a stranger; and when she had +received a few more similar proofs of my aptness for the +marvellous, she went so far as to say that she would adopt me as +her <i>élève</i> in occult science.</p> +<p>For hours and hours this wondrous white woman poured forth her +speech, for the most part concerning sacred and profane +mysteries; but every now and then she would stay her lofty flight +and swoop down upon the world again. Whenever this happened +I was interested in her conversation.</p> +<p>She adverted more than once to the period of her lost sway +amongst the Arabs, and mentioned some of the circumstances that +aided her in obtaining influence with the wandering tribes. +The Bedouin, so often engaged in irregular warfare, strains his +eyes to the horizon in search of a coming enemy just as +habitually as the sailor keeps his “bright lookout” +for a strange sail. In the absence of telescopes a +far-reaching sight is highly valued, and Lady Hester possessed +this quality to an extraordinary degree. She told me that +on one occasion, when there was good reason to expect a hostile +attack, great excitement was felt in the camp by the report of a +far-seeing Arab, who declared that he could just distinguish some +moving objects upon the very farthest point within the reach of +his eyes. Lady Hester was consulted, and she instantly +assured her comrades in arms that there were indeed a number of +horses within sight, but that they were without riders. The +assertion proved to be correct, and from that time forth her +superiority over all others in respect of far sight remained +undisputed.</p> +<p>Lady Hester related to me this other anecdote of her Arab +life. It was when the heroic qualities of the Englishwoman +were just beginning to be felt amongst the people of the desert, +that she was marching one day, along with the forces of the tribe +to which she had allied herself. She perceived that +preparations for an engagement were going on, and upon her making +inquiry as to the cause, the Sheik at first affected mystery and +concealment, but at last confessed that war had been declared +against his tribe on account of its alliance with the English +princess, and that they were now unfortunately about to be +attacked by a very superior force. He made it appear that +Lady Hester was the sole cause of hostility betwixt his tribe and +the impending enemy, and that his sacred duty of protecting the +Englishwoman whom he had admitted as his guest was the only +obstacle which prevented an amicable arrangement of the +dispute. The Sheik hinted that his tribe was likely to +sustain an almost overwhelming blow, but at the same time +declared, that no fear of the consequences, however terrible to +him and his whole people, should induce him to dream of +abandoning his illustrious guest. The heroine instantly +took her part: it was not for her to be a source of danger to her +friends, but rather to her enemies, so she resolved to turn away +from the people, and trust for help to none save only her haughty +self. The Sheiks affected to dissuade her from so rash a +course, and fairly told her that although they (having been freed +from her presence) would be able to make good terms for +themselves, yet that there were no means of allaying the +hostility felt towards her, and that the whole face of the desert +would be swept by the horsemen of her enemies so carefully, as to +make her escape into other districts almost impossible. The +brave woman was not to be moved by terrors of this kind, and +bidding farewell to the tribe which had honoured and protected +her, she turned her horse’s head and rode straight away +from them, without friend or follower. Hours had elapsed, +and for some time she had been alone in the centre of the round +horizon, when her quick eye perceived some horsemen in the +distance. The party came nearer and nearer; soon it was +plain that they were making towards her, and presently some +hundreds of Bedouins, fully armed, galloped up to her, +ferociously shouting, and apparently intending to take her life +at the instant with their pointed spears. Her face at the +time was covered with the <i>yashmak</i>, according to Eastern +usage, but at the moment when the foremost of the horsemen had +all but reached her with their spears, she stood up in her +stirrups, withdrew the <i>yashmak</i> that veiled the terrors of +her countenance, waved her arm slowly and disdainfully, and cried +out with a loud voice “Avaunt!” <a +name="citation18"></a><a href="#footnote18" +class="citation">[18]</a> The horsemen recoiled from her +glance, but not in terror. The threatening yells of the +assailants were suddenly changed for loud shouts of joy and +admiration at the bravery of the stately Englishwoman, and +festive gunshots were fired on all sides around her honoured +head. The truth was, that the party belonged to the tribe +with which she had allied herself, and that the threatened attack +as well as the pretended apprehension of an engagement had been +contrived for the mere purpose of testing her courage. The +day ended in a great feast prepared to do honour to the heroine, +and from that time her power over the minds of the people grew +rapidly. Lady Hester related this story with great spirit, +and I recollect that she put up her <i>yashmak</i> for a moment +in order to give me a better idea of the effect which she +produced by suddenly revealing the awfulness of her +countenance.</p> +<p>With respect to her then present mode of life, Lady Hester +informed me, that for her sin she had subjected herself during +many years to severe penance, and that her self-denial had not +been without its reward. “Vain and false,” said +she, “is all the pretended knowledge of the +Europeans—their doctors will tell you that the drinking of +milk gives yellowness to the complexion; milk is my only food, +and you see if my face be not white.” Her abstinence +from food intellectual was carried as far as her physical +fasting. She never, she said, looked upon a book or a +newspaper, but trusted alone to the stars for her sublime +knowledge; she usually passed the nights in communing with these +heavenly teachers, and lay at rest during the daytime. She +spoke with great contempt of the frivolity and benighted +ignorance of the modern Europeans, and mentioned in proof of +this, that they were not only untaught in astrology, but were +unacquainted with the common and every-day phenomena produced by +magic art. She spoke as if she would make me understand +that all sorcerous spells were completely at her command, but +that the exercise of such powers would be derogatory to her high +rank in the heavenly kingdom. She said that the spell by +which the face of an absent person is thrown upon a mirror was +within the reach of the humblest and most contemptible magicians, +but that the practice of such-like arts was unholy as well as +vulgar.</p> +<p>We spoke of the bending twig by which, it is said, precious +metals may be discovered. In relation to this, the +prophetess told me a story rather against herself, and +inconsistent with the notion of her being perfect in her science; +but I think that she mentioned the facts as having happened +before the time at which she attained to the great spiritual +authority which she now arrogated. She told me that vast +treasures were known to exist in a situation which she mentioned, +if I rightly remember, as being near Suez; that Napoleon, +profanely brave, thrust his arm into the cave containing the +coveted gold, and that instantly his flesh became palsied, but +the youthful hero (for she said he was great in his generation) +was not to be thus daunted; he fell back characteristically upon +his brazen resources, and ordered up his artillery; but man could +not strive with demons, and Napoleon was foiled. In after +years came Ibrahim Pasha, with heavy guns, and wicked spells to +boot, but the infernal guardians of the treasure were too strong +for him. It was after this that Lady Hester passed by the +spot, and she described with animated gesture the force and +energy with which the divining twig had suddenly leaped in her +hands. She ordered excavations, and no demons opposed her +enterprise; the vast chest in which the treasure had been +deposited was at length discovered, but lo and behold, it was +full of pebbles! She said, however, that the times were +approaching in which the hidden treasures of the earth would +become available to those who had true knowledge.</p> +<p>Speaking of Ibrahim Pasha, Lady Hester said that he was a +bold, bad man, and was possessed of some of those common and +wicked magical arts upon which she looked down with so much +contempt. She said, for instance, that Ibrahim’s life +was charmed against balls and steel, and that after a battle he +loosened the folds of his shawl and shook out the bullets like +dust.</p> +<p>It seems that the St. Simonians once made overtures to Lady +Hester. She told me that the Père Enfantin (the +chief of the sect) had sent her a service of plate, but that she +had declined to receive it. She delivered a prediction as +to the probability of the St. Simonians finding the “mystic +mother,” and this she did in a way which would amuse +you. Unfortunately I am not at liberty to mention this part +of the woman’s prophecies; why, I cannot tell, but so it +is, that she bound me to eternal secrecy.</p> +<p>Lady Hester told me that since her residence at Djoun she had +been attacked by a terrible illness, which rendered her for a +long time perfectly helpless; all her attendants fled, and left +her to perish. Whilst she lay thus alone, and quite unable +to rise, robbers came and carried away her property. <a +name="citation19"></a><a href="#footnote19" +class="citation">[19]</a> She told me that they actually +unroofed a great part of the building, and employed engines with +pulleys, for the purpose of hoisting out such of her valuables as +were too bulky to pass through doors. It would seem that +before this catastrophe Lady Hester had been rich in the +possession of Eastern luxuries; for she told me, that when the +chiefs of the Ottoman force took refuge with her after the fall +of Acre, they brought their wives also in great numbers. To +all of these Lady Hester, as she said, presented magnificent +dresses; but her generosity occasioned strife only instead of +gratitude, for every woman who fancied her present less splendid +than that of another with equal or less pretension, became +absolutely furious: all these audacious guests had now been got +rid of, but the Albanian soldiers, who had taken refuge with Lady +Hester at the same time, still remained under her protection.</p> +<p>In truth, this half-ruined convent, guarded by the proud heart +of an English gentlewoman, was the only spot throughout all Syria +and Palestine in which the will of Mehemet Ali and his fierce +lieutenant was not the law. More than once had the Pasha of +Egypt commanded that Ibrahim should have the Albanians delivered +up to him, but this white woman of the mountain (grown classical +not by books, but by very pride) answered only with a disdainful +invitation to “come and take them.” Whether it +was that Ibrahim was acted upon by any superstitious dread of +interfering with the prophetess (a notion not at all incompatible +with his character as an able Oriental commander), or that he +feared the ridicule of putting himself in collision with a +gentlewoman, he certainly never ventured to attack the sanctuary, +and so long as the Chatham’s granddaughter breathed a +breath of life there was always this one hillock, and that too in +the midst of a most populous district, which stood out, and kept +its freedom. Mehemet Ali used to say, I am told, that the +Englishwoman had given him more trouble than all the insurgent +people of Syria and Palestine.</p> +<p>The prophetess announced to me that we were upon the eve of a +stupendous convulsion, which would destroy the then recognised +value of all property upon earth; and declaring that those only +who should be in the East at the time of the great change could +hope for greatness in the new life that was now close at hand, +she advised me, whilst there was yet time, to dispose of my +property in poor frail England, and gain a station in Asia. +She told me that, after leaving her, I should go into Egypt, but +that in a little while I should return into Syria. I +secretly smiled at this last prophecy as a “bad +shot,” for I had fully determined after visiting the +Pyramids to take ship from Alexandria for Greece. But men +struggle vainly in the meshes of their destiny. The +unbelieved Cassandra was right after all; the plague came, and +the necessity of avoiding the quarantine, to which I should have +been subjected if I had sailed from Alexandria, forced me to +alter my route. I went down into Egypt, and stayed there +for a time, and then crossed the desert once more, and came back +to the mountains of the Lebanon, exactly as the prophetess had +foretold.</p> +<p>Lady Hester talked to me long and earnestly on the subject of +religion, announcing that the Messiah was yet to come. She +strived to impress me with the vanity and the falseness of all +European creeds, as well as with a sense of her own spiritual +greatness: throughout her conversation upon these high topics she +carefully insinuated, without actually asserting, her heavenly +rank.</p> +<p>Amongst other much more marvellous powers, the lady claimed to +have one which most women, I fancy, possess namely, that of +reading men’s characters in their faces. She examined +the line of my features very attentively, and told me the result, +which, however, I mean to keep hidden.</p> +<p>One favoured subject of discourse was that of +“race,” upon which she was very diffuse, and yet +rather mysterious. She set great value upon the ancient +French <a name="citation20"></a><a href="#footnote20" +class="citation">[20]</a> (not Norman blood, for that she +vilified), but did not at all appreciate that which we call in +this country “an old family.” She had a vast +idea of the Cornish miners on account of their race, and said, if +she chose, she could give me the means of rousing them to the +most tremendous enthusiasm.</p> +<p>Such are the topics on which the lady mainly conversed, but +very often she would descend to more worldly chat, and then she +was no longer the prophetess, but the sort of woman that you +sometimes see, I am told, in London drawing-rooms—cool, +decisive in manner, unsparing of enemies, full of audacious fun, +and saying the downright things that the sheepish society around +her is afraid to utter. I am told that Lady Hester was in +her youth a capital mimic, and she showed me that not all the +queenly dulness to which she had condemned herself, not all her +fasting and solitude, had destroyed this terrible power. +The first whom she crucified in my presence was poor Lord +Byron. She had seen him, it appeared, I know not where, +soon after his arrival in the East, and was vastly amused at his +little affectations. He had picked up a few sentences of +the Romantic, with which he affected to give orders to his Greek +servant. I can’t tell whether Lady Hester’s +mimicry of the bard was at all close, but it was amusing; she +attributed to him a curiously coxcombical lisp.</p> +<p>Another person whose style of speaking the lady took off very +amusingly was one who would scarcely object to suffer by the side +of Lord Byron—I mean Lamartine, who had visited her in the +course of his travels. The peculiarity which attracted her +ridicule was an over-refinement of manner: according to my +lady’s imitation of Lamartine (I have never seen him +myself), he had none of the violent grimace of his countrymen, +and not even their usual way of talking, but rather bore himself +mincingly, like the humbler sort of English dandy. <a +name="citation21"></a><a href="#footnote21" +class="citation">[21]</a></p> +<p>Lady Hester seems to have heartily despised everything +approaching to exquisiteness. She told me, by-the-bye (and +her opinion upon that subject is worth having), that a downright +manner, amounting even to brusqueness, is more effective than any +other with the Oriental; and that amongst the English of all +ranks and all classes there is no man so attractive to the +Orientals, no man who can negotiate with them half so +effectively, as a good, honest, open-hearted, and positive naval +officer of the old school.</p> +<p>I have told you, I think, that Lady Hester could deal fiercely +with those she hated. One man above all others (he is now +uprooted from society, and cast away for ever) she blasted with +her wrath. You would have thought that in the scornfulness +of her nature she must have sprung upon her foe with more of +fierceness than of skill; but this was not so, for with all the +force and vehemence of her invective she displayed a sober, +patient, and minute attention to the details of vituperation, +which contributed to its success a thousand times more than mere +violence.</p> +<p>During the hours that this sort of conversation, or rather +discourse, was going on our <i>tchibouques</i> were from time to +time replenished, and the lady as well as I continued to smoke +with little or no intermission till the interview ended. I +think that the fragrant fumes of the latakiah must have helped to +keep me on my good behaviour as a patient disciple of the +prophetess.</p> +<p>It was not till after midnight that my visit for the evening +came to an end. When I quitted my seat the lady rose and +stood up in the same formal attitude (almost that of a soldier in +a state of “attention”) which she had assumed at my +entrance; at the same time she let go the drapery which she had +held over her lap whilst sitting and allowed it to fall to the +ground.</p> +<p>The next morning after breakfast I was visited by my +lady’s secretary—the only European, except the +doctor, whom she retained in her household. This secretary, +like the doctor, was Italian, but he preserved more signs of +European dress and European pretensions than his medical +fellow-slave. He spoke little or no English, though he +wrote it pretty well, having been formerly employed in a +mercantile house connected with England. The poor fellow +was in an unhappy state of mind. In order to make you +understand the extent of his spiritual anxieties, I ought to have +told you that the doctor <a name="citation22"></a><a +href="#footnote22" class="citation">[22]</a> (who had sunk into +the complete Asiatic, and had condescended accordingly to the +performance of even menial services) had adopted the common faith +of all the neighbouring people, and had become a firm and happy +believer in the divine power of his mistress. Not so the +secretary. When I had strolled with him to a distance from +the building, which rendered him safe from being overheard by +human ears, he told me in a hollow voice, trembling with emotion, +that there were times at which he doubted the divinity of +“milèdi.” I said nothing to encourage +the poor fellow in that frightful state of scepticism which, if +indulged, might end in positive infidelity. I found that +her ladyship had rather arbitrarily abridged the amusements of +her secretary, forbidding him from shooting small birds on the +mountain-side. This oppression had arouses in him a spirit +of inquiry that might end fatally, perhaps for himself, perhaps +for the “religion of the place.”</p> +<p>The secretary told me that his mistress was greatly disliked +by the surrounding people, whom she oppressed by her exactions, +and the truth of this statement was borne out by the way in which +my lady spoke to me of her neighbours. But in Eastern +countries hate and veneration are very commonly felt for the same +object, and the general belief in the superhuman power of this +wonderful white lady, her resolute and imperious character, and +above all, perhaps, her fierce Albanians (not backward to obey an +order for the sacking of a village), inspired sincere respect +amongst the surrounding inhabitants. Now the being +“respected” amongst Orientals is not an empty or +merely honorary distinction, but carries with it a clear right to +take your neighbour’s corn, his cattle, his eggs, and his +honey, and almost anything that is his, except his wives. +This law was acted upon by the princess of Djoun, and her +establishment was supplied by contributions apportioned amongst +the nearest of the villages.</p> +<p>I understood that the Albanians (restrained, I suppose, by the +dread of being delivered up to Ibrahim) had not given any very +troublesome proofs of their unruly natures. The secretary +told me that their rations, including a small allowance of coffee +and tobacco, were served out to them with tolerable +regularity.</p> +<p>I asked the secretary how Lady Hester was off for horses, and +said that I would take a look at the stable. The man did +not raise any opposition to my proposal, and affected no mystery +about the matter, but said that the only two steeds which then +belonged to her ladyship were of a very humble sort. This +answer, and a storm of rain then beginning to descend, prevented +me at the time from undertaking my journey to the stable, which +was at some distance from the part of the building in which I was +quartered, and I don’t know that I ever thought of the +matter afterwards until my return to England, when I saw +Lamartine’s eye-witnessing account of the horse saddled by +the hands of his Maker!</p> +<p>When I returned to my apartment (which, as my hostess told me, +was the only one in the whole building that kept out the rain) +her ladyship sent to say that she would be glad to receive me +again. I was rather surprised at this, for I had understood +that she reposed during the day, and it was now little later than +noon. “Really,” said she, when I had taken my +seat and my pipe, “we were together for hours last night, +and still I have heard nothing at all of my old friends; now +<i>do</i> tell me something of your dear mother and her sister; I +never knew your father—it was after I left Burton Pynsent +that your mother married.” I began to make slow +answer, but my questioner soon went off again to topics more +sublime, so that this second interview, which lasted two or three +hours, was occupied by the same sort of varied discourse as that +which I have been describing.</p> +<p>In the course of the afternoon the captain of an English +man-of-war arrived at Djoun, and her ladyship determined to +receive him for the same reason as that which had induced her to +allow my visit, namely, an early intimacy with his family. +I and the new visitor, who was a pleasant, amusing person, dined +together, and we were afterwards invited to the presence of my +lady, with whom we sat smoking and talking till midnight. +The conversation turned chiefly, I think, upon magical +science. I had determined to be off at an early hour the +next morning, and so at the end of this interview I bade my lady +farewell. With her parting words she once more advised me +to abandon Europe and seek my reward in the East, and she urged +me too to give the like counsels to my father, and tell him that +“<i>She had said it</i>.”</p> +<p>Lady Hester’s unholy claim to supremacy in the spiritual +kingdom was, no doubt, the suggestion of fierce and inordinate +pride most perilously akin to madness, but I am quite sure that +the mind of the woman was too strong to be thoroughly overcome by +even this potent feeling. I plainly saw that she was not an +unhesitating follower of her own system, and I even fancied that +I could distinguish the brief moments during which she contrived +to believe in herself, from those long and less happy intervals +in which her own reason was too strong for her.</p> +<p>As for the lady’s faith in astrology and magic science, +you are not for a moment to suppose that this implied any +aberration of intellect. She believed these things in +common with those around her, for she seldom spoke to anybody +except crazy old dervishes, who received her alms, and fostered +her extravagancies, and even when (as on the occasion of my +visit) she was brought into contact with a person entertaining +different notions, she still remained uncontradicted. This +<i>entourage</i> and the habit of fasting from books and +newspapers were quite enough to make her a facile recipient of +any marvellous story.</p> +<p>I think that in England we are scarcely sufficiently conscious +of the great debt we owe to the wise and watchful press which +presides over the formation of our opinions, and which brings +about this splendid result, namely, that in matters of belief the +humblest of us are lifted up to the level of the most sagacious, +so that really a simple cornet in the Blues is no more likely to +entertain a foolish belief about ghosts or witchcraft, or any +other supernatural topic, than the Lord High Chancellor or the +Leader of the House of Commons. How different is the +intellectual regime of Eastern countries! In Syria and +Palestine and Egypt you might as well dispute the efficacy of +grass or grain as of magic. There is no controversy about +the matter. The effect of this, the unanimous belief of an +ignorant people upon the mind of a stranger, is extremely +curious, and well worth noticing. A man coming freshly from +Europe is at first proof against the nonsense with which he is +assailed, but often it happens that after a little while the +social atmosphere in which he lives will begin to infect him, and +if he has been unaccustomed to the cunning of fence by which +Reason prepares the means of guarding herself against fallacy, he +will yield himself at last to the faith of those around him, and +this he will do by sympathy, it would seem, rather than from +conviction. I have been much interested in observing that +the mere “practical man,” however skilful and shrewd +in his own way, has not the kind of power that will enable him to +resist the gradual impression made upon his mind by the common +opinion of those whom he sees and hears from day to day. +Even amongst the English (whose good sense and sound religious +knowledge would be likely to guard them from error) I have known +the calculating merchant, the inquisitive traveller, and the +post-captain, with his bright, wakeful eye of command—I +have known all these surrender themselves to the <i>really</i> +magic-like influence of other people’s minds. Their +language at first is that they are “staggered,” +leading you by that expression to suppose that they had been +witnesses to some phenomenon, which it was very difficult to +account for otherwise than by supernatural causes; but when I +have questioned further, I have always found that these +“staggering” wonders were not even specious enough to +be looked upon as good “tricks.” A man in +England who gained his whole livelihood as a conjurer would soon +be starved to death if he could perform no better miracles than +those which are wrought with so much effect in Syria and Egypt; +<i>sometimes</i>, no doubt, a magician will make a good hit (Sir +John once said a “good thing”), but all such +successes range, of course, under the head of mere +“tentative miracles,” as distinguished by the +strong-brained Paley.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX—THE SANCTUARY</h2> +<p>I crossed the plain of Esdraelon and entered amongst the hills +of beautiful Galilee. It was at sunset that my path brought +me sharply round into the gorge of a little valley, and close +upon a grey mass of dwellings that lay happily nestled in the lap +of the mountain. There was one only shining point still +touched with the light of the sun, who had set for all besides; a +brave sign this to “holy” Shereef and the rest of my +Moslem men, for the one glittering summit was the head of a +minaret, and the rest of the seeming village that had veiled +itself so meekly under the shades of evening was Christian +Nazareth!</p> +<p>Within the precincts of the Latin convent in which I was +quartered there stands the great Catholic church which encloses +the sanctuary, the dwelling of the blessed Virgin. <a +name="citation23"></a><a href="#footnote23" +class="citation">[23]</a> This is a grotto of about ten +feet either way, forming a little chapel or recess, to which you +descend by steps. It is decorated with splendour. On +the left hand a column of granite hangs from the top of the +grotto to within a few feet of the ground; immediately beneath it +is another column of the same size, which rises from the ground +as if to meet the one above; but between this and the suspended +pillar there is an interval of more than a foot; these fragments +once formed a single column, against which the angel leant when +he spoke and told to Mary the mystery of her awful +blessedness. Hard by, near the altar, the holy Virgin was +kneeling.</p> +<p>I had been journeying (cheerily indeed, for the voices of my +followers were ever within my hearing, but yet), as it were, in +solitude, for I had no comrade to whet the edge of my reason, or +wake me from my noonday dreams. I was left all alone to be +taught and swayed by the beautiful circumstances of Palestine +travelling—by the clime, and the land, and the name of the +land, with all its mighty import; by the glittering freshness of +the sward, and the abounding masses of flowers that furnished my +sumptuous pathway; by the bracing and fragrant air that seemed to +poise me in my saddle, and to lift me along as a planet appointed +to glide through space.</p> +<p>And the end of my journey was Nazareth, the home of the +blessed Virgin! In the first dawn of my manhood the old +painters of Italy had taught me their dangerous worship of the +beauty that is more than mortal, but those images all seemed +shadowy now, and floated before me so dimly, the one overcasting +the other, that they left me no one sweet idol on which I could +look and look again and say, “Maria mia!” Yet +they left me more than an idol; they left me (for to them I am +wont to trace it) a faint apprehension of beauty not compassed +with lines and shadows; they touched me (forgive, proud Marie of +Anjou!)—they touched me with a faith in loveliness +transcending mortal shapes.</p> +<p>I came to Nazareth, and was led from the convent to the +sanctuary. Long fasting will sometimes heat my brain and +draw me away out of the world—will disturb my judgment, +confuse my notions of right and wrong, and weaken my power of +choosing the right: I had fasted perhaps too long, for I was +fevered with the zeal of an insane devotion to the heavenly queen +of Christendom. But I knew the feebleness of this gentle +malady, and knew how easily my watchful reason, if ever so +slightly provoked, would drag me back to life. Let there +but come one chilling breath of the outer world, and all this +loving piety would cower and fly before the sound of my own +bitter laugh. And so as I went I trod tenderly, not looking +to the right nor to the left, but bending my eyes to the +ground.</p> +<p>The attending friar served me well; he led me down quietly and +all but silently to the Virgin’s home. The mystic air +was so burnt with the consuming flames of the altar, and so laden +with incense, that my chest laboured strongly, and heaved with +luscious pain. There—there with beating heart the +Virgin knelt and listened. I strived to grasp and hold with +my riveted eyes some one of the feigned Madonnas, but of all the +heaven-lit faces imagined by men there was none that would abide +with me in this the very sanctuary. Impatient of vacancy, I +grew madly strong against Nature, and if by some awful spell, +some impious rite, I could—Oh most sweet Religion, that bid +me fear God, and be pious, and yet not cease from loving! +Religion and gracious custom commanded me that I fall down +loyally and kiss the rock that blessed Mary pressed. With a +half consciousness, with the semblance of a thrilling hope that I +was plunging deep, deep into my first knowledge of some most holy +mystery, or of some new rapturous and daring sin, I knelt, and +bowed down my face till I met the smooth rock with my lips. +One moment—one moment my heart, or some old pagan demon +within me, woke up, and fiercely bounded; my bosom was lifted, +and swung, as though I had touched her warm robe. One +moment, one more, and then the fever had left me. I rose +from my knees. I felt hopelessly sane. The mere world +reappeared. My good old monk was there, dangling his key +with listless patience, and as he guided me from the church, and +talked of the refectory and the coming repast, I listened to his +words with some attention and pleasure.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER X—THE MONKS OF PALESTINE</h2> +<p>Whenever you come back to me from Palestine we will find some +“golden wine” <a name="citation24"></a><a +href="#footnote24" class="citation">[24]</a> of Lebanon, that we +may celebrate with apt libations the monks of the Holy Land, and +though the poor fellows be theoretically “dead to the +world,” we will drink to every man of them a good long +life, and a merry one! Graceless is the traveller who +forgets his obligations to these saints upon earth; little love +has he for merry Christendom if he has not rejoiced with great +joy to find in the very midst of water-drinking infidels those +lowly monasteries, in which the blessed juice of the grape is +quaffed in peace. Ay! ay! we will fill our glasses till +they look like cups of amber, and drink profoundly to our +gracious hosts in Palestine.</p> +<p>Christianity permits, and sanctions, the drinking of wine, and +of all the holy brethren in Palestine there are none who hold +fast to this gladsome rite so strenuously as the monks of +Damascus; not that they are more zealous Christians than the rest +of their fellows in the Holy Land, but that they have better +wine. Whilst I was at Damascus I had my quarters at the +Franciscan convent there, and very soon after my arrival I asked +one of the monks to let me know something of the spots that +deserved to be seen. I made my inquiry in reference to the +associations with which the city had been hallowed by the sojourn +and adventures of St. Paul. “There is nothing in all +Damascus,” said the good man, “half so well worth +seeing as our cellars”; and forthwith he invited me to go, +see, and admire the long range of liquid treasure that he and his +brethren had laid up for themselves on earth. And these I +soon found were not as the treasures of the miser, that lie in +unprofitable disuse, for day by day, and hour by hour, the golden +juice ascended from the dark recesses of the cellar to the +uppermost brains of the friars. Dear old fellows! in the +midst of that solemn land their Christian laughter rang loudly +and merrily, their eyes kept flashing with joyous bonfires, and +their heavy woollen petticoats could no more weigh down the +springiness of their paces, than the filmy gauze of a +<i>danseuse</i> can clog her bounding step.</p> +<p>You would be likely enough to fancy that these monastics are +men who have retired to the sacred sites of Palestine from an +enthusiastic longing to devote themselves to the exercise of +religion in the midst of the very land on which its first seeds +were cast; and this is partially, at least, the case with the +monks of the Greek Church, but it is not with enthusiasts that +the Catholic establishments are filled. The monks of the +Latin convents are chiefly persons of the peasant class from +Italy and Spain, who have been handed over to these remote +asylums by order of their ecclesiastical superiors, and can no +more account for their being in the Holy Land, than men of +marching regiments can explain why they are in “stupid +quarters.” I believe that these monks are for the +most part well conducted men, punctual in their ceremonial +duties, and altogether humble-minded Christians. Their +humility is not at all misplaced, for you see at a glance (poor +fellows!) that they belong to the <i>lag remove</i> of the human +race. If the taking of the cowl does not imply a complete +renouncement of the world, it is at least (in these days) a +thorough farewell to every kind of useful and entertaining +knowledge, and accordingly the low bestial brow and the animal +caste of those almost Bourbon features show plainly enough that +all the intellectual vanities of life have been really and truly +abandoned. But it is hard to quench altogether the spirit +of inquiry that stirs in the human breast, and accordingly these +monks inquire—they are <i>always</i> inquiring inquiring +for “news”! Poor fellows! they could scarcely +have yielded themselves to the sway of any passion more difficult +of gratification, for they have no means of communicating with +the busy world except through European travellers; and these, in +consequence I suppose of that restlessness and irritability that +generally haunt their wanderings, seem to have always avoided the +bore of giving any information to their hosts. As for me, I +am more patient and good-natured, and when I found that the kind +monks who gathered round me at Nazareth were longing to know the +real truth about the General Bonaparte who had recoiled from the +siege of Acre, I softened my heart down to the good humour of +Herodotus, and calmly began to “sing history,” +telling my eager hearers of the French Empire and the greatness +of its glory, and of Waterloo and the fall of Napoleon! Now +my story of this marvellous ignorance on the part of the poor +monks is one upon which (though depending on my own testimony) I +look “with considerable suspicion.” It is quite +true (how silly it would be to <i>invent</i> anything so +witless!), and yet I think I could satisfy the mind of a +“reasonable man” that it is false. Many of the +older monks must have been in Europe at the time when the Italy +and the Spain from which they came were in act of taking their +French lessons, or had parted so lately with their teachers, that +not to know of “the Emperor” was impossible, and +these men could scarcely, therefore, have failed to bring with +them some tidings of Napoleon’s career. Yet I say +that that which I have written is true—the one who believes +because I have said it will be right (she always is), whilst poor +Mr. “reasonable man,” who is convinced by the weight +of my argument, will be completely deceived.</p> +<p>In Spanish politics, however, the monks are better +instructed. The revenues of the monasteries, which had been +principally supplied by the bounty of their most Catholic +majesties, have been withheld since Ferdinand’s death, and +the interests of these establishments being thus closely involved +in the destinies of Spain, it is not wonderful that the brethren +should be a little more knowing in Spanish affairs than in other +branches of history. Besides, a large proportion of the +monks were natives of the Peninsula. To these, I remember, +Mysseri’s familiarity with the Spanish language and +character was a source of immense delight; they were always +gathering around him, and it seemed to me that they treasured +like gold the few Castilian words which he deigned to spare +them.</p> +<p>The monks do a world of good in their way; and there can be no +doubting that previously to the arrival of Bishop Alexander, with +his numerous young family and his pretty English nursemaids, they +were the chief propagandists of Christianity in Palestine. +My old friends of the Franciscan convent at Jerusalem some time +since gave proof of their goodness by delivering themselves up to +the peril of death for the sake of duty. When I was their +guest they were forty I believe in number, and I don’t +recollect that there was one of them whom I should have looked +upon as a desirable life-holder of any property to which I might +be entitled in expectancy. Yet these forty were reduced in +a few days to nineteen. The plague was the messenger that +summoned them to a taste of real death; but the circumstances +under which they perished are rather curious; and though I have +no authority for the story except an Italian newspaper, I harbour +no doubt of its truth, for the facts were detailed with +minuteness, and strictly corresponded with all that I knew of the +poor fellows to whom they related.</p> +<p>It was about three months after the time of my leaving +Jerusalem that the plague set his spotted foot on the Holy +City. The monks felt great alarm; they did not shrink from +their duty, but for its performance they chose a plan most sadly +well fitted for bringing down upon them the very death which they +were striving to ward off. They imagined themselves almost +safe so long as they remained within their walls; but then it was +quite needful that the Catholic Christians of the place, who had +always looked to the convent for the supply of their spiritual +wants, should receive the aids of religion in the hour of +death. A single monk therefore was chosen, either by lot or +by some other fair appeal to destiny. Being thus singled +out, he was to go forth into the plague-stricken city, and to +perform with exactness his priestly duties; then he was to +return, not to the interior of the convent, for fear of infecting +his brethren, but to a detached building (which I remember) +belonging to the establishment, but at some little distance from +the inhabited rooms. He was provided with a bell, and at a +certain hour in the morning he was ordered to ring it, <i>if he +could</i>; but if no sound was heard at the appointed time, then +knew his brethren that he was either delirious or dead, and +another martyr was sent forth to take his place. In this +way twenty-one of the monks were carried off. One cannot +well fail to admire the steadiness with which the dismal scheme +was carried through; but if there be any truth in the notion that +disease may be invited by a frightening imagination, it is +difficult to conceive a more dangerous plan than that which was +chosen by these poor fellows. The anxiety with which they +must have expected each day the sound of the bell, the silence +that reigned instead of it, and then the drawing of the lots (the +odds against death being one point lower than yesterday), and the +going forth of the newly doomed man—all this must have +widened the gulf that opens to the shades below. When his +victim had already suffered so much of mental torture, it was but +easy work for big bullying pestilence to follow a forlorn monk +from the beds of the dying, and wrench away his life from him as +he lay all alone in an outhouse.</p> +<p>In most, I believe in all, of the Holy Land convents there are +two personages so strangely raised above their brethren in all +that dignifies humanity, that their bearing the same habit, their +dwelling under the same roof, their worshipping the same God +(consistent as all this is with the spirit of their religion), +yet strikes the mind with a sense of wondrous incongruity; the +men I speak of are the “Padre Superiore,” and the +“Padre Missionario.” The former is the supreme +and absolute governor of the establishment over which he is +appointed to rule, the latter is entrusted with the more active +of the spiritual duties attaching to the Pilgrim Church. He +is the shepherd of the good Catholic flock, whose pasture is +prepared in the midst of Mussulmans and schismatics; he keeps the +light of the true faith ever vividly before their eyes, reproves +their vices, supports them in their good resolves, consoles them +in their afflictions, and teaches them to hate the Greek +Church. Such are his labours, and you may conceive that +great tact must be needed for conducting with success the +spiritual interests of the church under circumstances so odd as +those which surround it in Palestine.</p> +<p>But the position of the Padre Superiore is still more +delicate; he is almost unceasingly in treaty with the powers that +be, and the worldly prosperity of the establishment over which he +presides is in great measure dependent upon the extent of +diplomatic skill which he can employ in its favour. I know +not from what class of churchmen these personages are chosen, for +there is a mystery attending their origin and the circumstance of +their being stationed in these convents, which Rome does not +suffer to be penetrated. I have heard it said that they are +men of great note, and, perhaps, of too high ambition in the +Catholic Hierarchy, who having fallen under the grave censure of +the Church, are banished for fixed periods to these distant +monasteries. I believe that the term during which they are +condemned to remain in the Holy Land is from eight to twelve +years. By the natives of the country, as well as by the +rest of the brethren, they are looked upon as superior beings; +and rightly too, for Nature seems to have crowned them in her own +true way.</p> +<p>The chief of the Jerusalem convent was a noble creature; his +worldly and spiritual authority seemed to have surrounded him, as +it were, with a kind of “court,” and the manly +gracefulness of his bearing did honour to the throne which he +filled. There were no lords of the bedchamber, and no gold +sticks and stones in waiting, yet everybody who approached him +looked as though he were being “presented”; every +interview which he granted wore the air of an +“audience”; the brethren as often as they came near +bowed low and kissed his hand; and if he went out, the Catholics +of the place that hovered about the convent would crowd around +him with devout affection, and almost scramble for the blessing +which his touch could give. He bore his honours all +serenely, as though calmly conscious of his power to “bind +and to loose.”</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI—GALILEE</h2> +<p>Neither old “sacred” <a name="citation25"></a><a +href="#footnote25" class="citation">[25]</a> himself, nor any of +his helpers, knew the road which I meant to take from Nazareth to +the Sea of Galilee and from thence to Jerusalem, so I was forced +to add another to my party by hiring a guide. The +associations of Nazareth, as well as my kind feeling towards the +hospitable monks, whose guest I had been, inclined me to set at +naught the advice which I had received against employing +Christians. I accordingly engaged a lithe, active young +Nazarene, who was recommended to me by the monks, and who +affected to be familiar with the line of country through which I +intended to pass. My disregard of the popular prejudices +against Christians was not justified in this particular instance +by the result of my choice. This you will see +by-and-by.</p> +<p>I passed by Cana and the house in which the water had been +turned into wine; I came to the field in which our Saviour had +rebuked the Scotch Sabbath-keepers of that period, by suffering +His disciples to pluck corn on the Lord’s day; I rode over +the ground on which the fainting multitude had been fed, and they +showed me some massive fragments—the relics, they said, of +that wondrous banquet, now turned into stone. The +petrifaction was most complete.</p> +<p>I ascended the height on which our Lord was standing when He +wrought the miracle. The hill was lofty enough to show me +the fairness of the land on all sides, but I have an ancient love +for the mere features of a lake, and so forgetting all else when +I reached the summit, I looked away eagerly to the +eastward. There she lay, the Sea of Galilee. Less +stern than Wast Water, less fair than gentle Windermere, she had +still the winning ways of an English lake; she caught from the +smiling heavens unceasing light and changeful phases of beauty, +and with all this brightness on her face, she yet clung so fondly +to the dull he-looking mountain at her side, as though she +would</p> +<blockquote><p>“Soothe him with her finer fancies,<br /> +Touch him with her lighter thought.” <a +name="citation26"></a><a href="#footnote26" +class="citation">[26]</a></p> +</blockquote> +<p>If one might judge of men’s real thoughts by their +writings, it would seem that there are people who can visit an +interesting locality and follow up continuously the exact train +of thought that ought to be suggested by the historical +associations of the place. A person of this sort can go to +Athens and think of nothing later than the age of Pericles; can +live with the Scipios as long as he stays in Rome; can go up in a +balloon, and think how resplendently in former times the now +vacant and desolate air was peopled with angels, how prettily it +was crossed at intervals by the rounds of Jacob’s +ladder! I don’t possess this power at all; it is only +by snatches, and for few moments together, that I can really +associate a place with its proper history.</p> +<p>“There at Tiberias, and along this western shore towards +the north, and upon the bosom too of the lake, our Saviour and +His disciples—” away flew those recollections, and my +mind strained eastward, because that that farthest shore was the +end of the world that belongs to man the dweller, the beginning +of the other and veiled world that is held by the strange race, +whose life (like the pastime of Satan) is a “going to and +fro upon the face of the earth.” From those grey +hills right away to the gates of Bagdad stretched forth the +mysterious “desert”—not a pale, void, sandy +tract, but a land abounding in rich pastures, a land without +cities or towns, without any “respectable” people or +any “respectable” things, yet yielding its eighty +thousand cavalry to the beck of a few old men. But once +more—“Tiberias—the plain of +Gennesareth—the very earth on which I stood—that the +deep low tones of the Saviour’s voice should have gone +forth into eternity from out of the midst of these hills and +these valleys!”—Ay, ay, but yet again the calm face +of the lake was uplifted, and smiled upon my eyes with such +familiar gaze, that the “deep low tones” were hushed, +the listening multitudes all passed away, and instead there came +to me a dear old memory from over the seas in England, a memory +sweeter than Gospel to that poor wilful mortal, me.</p> +<p>I went to Tiberias, and soon got afloat upon the water. +In the evening I took up my quarters in the Catholic church, and +the building being large enough, the whole of my party were +admitted to the benefit of the same shelter. With +portmanteaus and carpet bags, and books and maps, and fragrant +tea, Mysseri soon made me a home on the southern side of the +church. One of old Shereef’s helpers was an +enthusiastic Catholic, and was greatly delighted at having so +sacred a lodging. He lit up the altar with a number of +tapers, and when his preparations were complete, he began to +perform his orisons in the strangest manner imaginable. His +lips muttered the prayers of the Latin Church, but he bowed +himself down and laid his forehead to the stones beneath him +after the manner of a Mussulman. The universal aptness of a +religious system for all stages of civilisation, and for all +sorts and conditions of men, well befits its claim of divine +origin. She is of all nations, and of all times, that +wonderful Church of Rome!</p> +<p>Tiberias is one of the four holy cities, <a +name="citation27"></a><a href="#footnote27" +class="citation">[27]</a> according to the Talmud, and it is from +this place, or the immediate neighbourhood of it, that the +Messiah is to arise.</p> +<p>Except at Jerusalem, never think of attempting to sleep in a +“holy city.” Old Jews from all parts of the +world go to lay their bones upon the sacred soil, and as these +people never return to their homes, it follows that any domestic +vermin which they may bring with them are likely to become +permanently resident, so that the population is continually +increasing. No recent census had been taken when I was at +Tiberias, but I know that the congregation of fleas which +attended at my church alone must have been something +enormous. It was a carnal, self-seeking congregation, +wholly inattentive to the service which was going on, and devoted +to the one object of having my blood. The fleas of all +nations were there. The smug, steady, importunate flea from +Holywell Street; the pert, jumping <i>puce</i> from hungry +France, the wary, watchful <i>pulce</i> with his poisoned +stiletto; the vengeful <i>pulga</i> of Castile with his ugly +knife; the German <i>floh</i> with his knife and fork, insatiate, +not rising from table; whole swarms from all the Russias, and +Asiatic hordes unnumbered—all these were there, and all +rejoiced in one great international feast. I could no more +defend myself against my enemies than if I had been <i>pain +à discretion</i> in the hands of a French patriot, or +English gold in the claws of a Pennsylvanian Quaker. After +passing a night like this you are glad to pick up the wretched +remains of your body long, long before morning dawns. Your +skin is scorched, your temples throb, your lips feel withered and +dried, your burning eyeballs are screwed inwards against the +brain. You have no hope but only in the saddle and the +freshness of the morning air.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII—MY FIRST BIVOUAC</h2> +<p>The course of the Jordan is from the north to the south, and +in that direction, with very little of devious winding, it +carries the shining waters of Galilee straight down into the +solitudes of the Dead Sea. Speaking roughly, the river in +that meridian is a boundary between the people living under roofs +and the tented tribes that wander on the farther side. And +so, as I went down in my way from Tiberias towards Jerusalem, +along the western bank of the stream, my thinking all propended +to the ancient world of herdsmen and warriors that lay so close +over my bridle arm.</p> +<p>If a man, and an Englishman, be not born of his mother with a +natural Chiffney-bit in his mouth, there comes to him a time for +loathing the wearisome ways of society; a time for not liking +tamed people; a time for not dancing quadrilles, not sitting in +pews; a time for pretending that Milton and Shelley, and all +sorts of mere dead people, were greater in death than the first +living Lord of the Treasury; a time, in short, for scoffing and +railing, for speaking lightly of the very opera, and all our most +cherished institutions. It is from nineteen to two or three +and twenty perhaps that this war of the man against men is like +to be waged most sullenly. You are yet in this smiling +England, but you find yourself wending away to the dark sides of +her mountains, climbing the dizzy crags, exulting in the +fellowship of mists and clouds, and watching the storms how they +gather, or proving the mettle of your mare upon the broad and +dreary downs, because that you feel congenially with the yet +unparcelled earth. A little while you are free and +unlabelled, like the ground that you compass; but civilisation is +coming and coming; you and your much-loved waste lands will be +surely enclosed, and sooner or later brought down to a state of +mere usefulness; the ground will be curiously sliced into acres +and roods and perches, and you, for all you sit so smartly in +your saddle, you will be caught, you will be taken up from travel +as a colt from grass, to be trained and tried, and matched and +run. All this in time, but first came Continental tours and +the moody longing for Eastern travel. The downs and the +moors of England can hold you no longer; with large strides you +burst away from these slips and patches of free land; you thread +your path through the crowds of Europe, and at last, on the banks +of Jordan, you joyfully know that you are upon the very frontier +of all accustomed respectabilities. There, on the other +side of the river (you can swim it with one arm), there reigns +the people that will be like to put you to death for <i>not</i> +being a vagrant, for <i>not</i> being a robber, for <i>not</i> +being armed and houseless. There is comfort in +that—health, comfort, and strength to one who is dying from +very weariness of that poor, dear, middle-aged, deserving, +accomplished, pedantic, and painstaking governess, Europe.</p> +<p>I had ridden for some hours along the right bank of Jordan +when I came to the Djesr el Medjamé (an old Roman bridge, +I believe), which crossed the river. My Nazarene guide was +riding ahead of the party, and now, to my surprise and delight, +he turned leftwards, and led on over the bridge. I knew +that the true road to Jerusalem must be mainly by the right bank +of Jordan, but I supposed that my guide was crossing the bridge +at this spot in order to avoid some bend in the river, and that +he knew of a ford lower down by which we should regain the +western bank. I made no question about the road, for I was +but too glad to set my horse’s hoofs upon the land of the +wandering tribes. None of my party except the Nazarene knew +the country. On we went through rich pastures upon the +eastern side of the water. I looked for the expected bend +of the river, but far as I could see it kept a straight southerly +course; I still left my guide unquestioned.</p> +<p>The Jordan is not a perfectly accurate boundary betwixt roofs +and tents, for soon after passing the bridge I came upon a +cluster of huts. Some time afterwards the guide, upon being +closely questioned by my servants, confessed that the village +which we had left behind was the last that we should see, but he +declared that he knew a spot at which we should find an +encampment of friendly Bedouins, who would receive me with all +hospitality. I had long determined not to leave the East +without seeing something of the wandering tribes, but I had +looked forward to this as a pleasure to be found in the desert +between El Arish and Egypt; I had no idea that the Bedouins on +the east of Jordan were accessible. My delight was so great +at the near prospect of bread and salt in the tent of an Arab +warrior, that I wilfully allowed my guide to go on and mislead +me. I saw that he was taking me out of the straight route +towards Jerusalem, and was drawing me into the midst of the +Bedouins; but the idea of his betraying me seemed (I know not +why) so utterly absurd, that I could not entertain it for a +moment. I fancied it possible that the fellow had taken me +out of my route in order to attempt some little mercantile +enterprise with the tribe for which he was seeking, and I was +glad of the opportunity which I might thus gain of coming in +contact with the wanderers.</p> +<p>Not long after passing the village a horseman met us. It +appeared that some of the cavalry of Ibrahim Pasha had crossed +the river for the sake of the rich pastures on the eastern bank, +and that this man was one of the troopers. He stopped and +saluted; he was obviously surprised at meeting an unarmed, or +half-armed, cavalcade, and at last fairly told us that we were on +the wrong side of the river, and that if we proceeded we must lay +our account with falling amongst robbers. All this while, +and throughout the day, my Nazarene kept well ahead of the party, +and was constantly up in his stirrups, straining forward and +searching the distance for some objects which still remained +unseen.</p> +<p>For the rest of the day we saw no human being; we pushed on +eagerly in the hope of coming up with the Bedouins before +nightfall. Night came, and we still went on in our way till +about ten o’clock. Then the thorough darkness of the +night, and the weariness of our beasts (which had already done +two good days’ journey in one), forced us to determine upon +coming to a standstill. Upon the heights to the eastward we +saw lights; these shone from caves on the mountain-side, +inhabited, as the Nazarene told us, by rascals of a low +sort—not real Bedouins, men whom we might frighten into +harmlessness, but from whom there was no willing hospitality to +be expected.</p> +<p>We heard at a little distance the brawling of a rivulet, and +on the banks of this it was determined to establish our +bivouac. We soon found the stream, and following its course +for a few yards, came to a spot which was thought to be fit for +our purpose. It was a sharply cold night in February, and +when I dismounted I found myself standing upon some wet rank +herbage that promised ill for the comfort of our +resting-place. I had bad hopes of a fire, for the pitchy +darkness of the night was a great obstacle to any successful +search for fuel, and besides, the boughs of trees or bushes would +be so full of sap in this early spring, that they would not be +easily persuaded to burn. However, we were not likely to +submit to a dark and cold bivouac without an effort, and my +fellows groped forward through the darkness, till after advancing +a few paces they were happily stopped by a complete barrier of +dead prickly bushes. Before our swords could be drawn to +reap this welcome harvest it was found to our surprise that the +fuel was already hewn and strewed along the ground in a thick +mass. A spot for the fire was found with some difficulty, +for the earth was moist and the grass high and rank. At +last there was a clicking of flint and steel, and presently there +stood out from darkness one of the tawny faces of my muleteers, +bent down to near the ground, and suddenly lit up by the glowing +of the spark which he courted with careful breath. Before +long there was a particle of dry fibre or leaf that kindled to a +tiny flame; then another was lit from that, and then +another. Then small crisp twigs, little bigger than +bodkins, were laid athwart the glowing fire. The swelling +cheeks of the muleteer, laid level with the earth, blew tenderly +at first and then more boldly upon the young flame, which was +daintily nursed and fed, and fed more plentifully when it gained +good strength. At last a whole armful of dry bushes was +piled up over the fire, and presently, with a loud cheery +crackling and crackling, a royal tall blaze shot up from the +earth and showed me once more the shapes and faces of my men, and +the dim outlines of the horses and mules that stood grazing hard +by.</p> +<p>My servants busied themselves in unpacking the baggage as +though we had arrived at an hotel—Shereef and his helpers +unsaddled their cattle. We had left Tiberias without the +slightest idea that we were to make our way to Jerusalem along +the desolate side of the Jordan, and my servants (generally +provident in those matters) had brought with them only, I think, +some unleavened bread and a rocky fragment of goat’s milk +cheese. These treasures were produced. Tea and the +contrivances for making it were always a standing part of my +baggage. My men gathered in circle round the fire. +The Nazarene was in a false position from having misled us so +strangely, and he would have shrunk back, poor devil, into the +cold and outer darkness, but I made him draw near and share the +luxuries of the night. My quilt and my pelisse were spread, +and the rest of my party had all their capotes or pelisses, or +robes of some sort, which furnished their couches. The men +gathered in circle, some kneeling, some sitting, some lying +reclined around our common hearth. Sometimes on one, +sometimes on another, the flickering light would glare more +fiercely. Sometimes it was the good Shereef that seemed the +foremost, as he sat with venerable beard the image of manly +piety—unknowing of all geography, unknowing where he was or +whither he might go, but trusting in the goodness of God and the +clinching power of fate and the good star of the +Englishman. Sometimes, like marble, the classic face of the +Greek Mysseri would catch the sudden light, and then again by +turns the ever-perturbed Dthemetri, with his old Chinaman’s +eye and bristling, terrier-like moustache, shone forth +illustrious.</p> +<p>I always liked the men who attended me on these Eastern +travels, for they were all of them brave, cheery-hearted fellows; +and although their following my career brought upon them a pretty +large share of those toils and hardships which are so much more +amusing to gentlemen than to servants, yet not one of them ever +uttered or hinted a syllable of complaint, or even affected to +put on an air of resignation. I always liked them, but +never perhaps so much as when they were thus grouped together +under the light of the bivouac fire. I felt towards them as +my comrades rather than as my servants, and took delight in +breaking bread with them, and merrily passing the cup.</p> +<p>The love of tea is a glad source of fellow-feeling between the +Englishman and the Asiatic. In Persia it is drunk by all, +and although it is a luxury that is rarely within the reach of +the Osmanlees, there are few of them who do not know and love the +blessed <i>tchäi</i>. Our camp-kettle, filled from the +brook, hummed doubtfully for a while, then busily bubbled under +the sidelong glare of the flames; cups clinked and rattled; the +fragrant steam ascended, and soon this little circlet in the +wilderness grew warm and genial as my lady’s +drawing-room.</p> +<p>And after this there came the <i>tchibouque</i>—great +comforter of those that are hungry and wayworn. And it has +this virtue—it helps to destroy the <i>gêne</i> and +awkwardness which one sometimes feels at being in company with +one’s dependents; for whilst the amber is at your lips, +there is nothing ungracious in your remaining silent, or speaking +pithily in short inter-whiff sentences. And for us that +night there was pleasant and plentiful matter of talk; for the +where we should be on the morrow, and the wherewithal we should +be fed, whether by some ford we should regain the western bank of +Jordan, or find bread and salt under the tents of a wandering +tribe, or whether we should fall into the hands of the +Philistines, and so come to see death—the last and greatest +of all “the fine sights” that there be—these +were questionings not dull nor wearisome to us, for we were all +concerned in the answers. And it was not an all-imagined +morrow that we probed with our sharp guesses, for the lights of +those low Philistines, the men of the caves, still hung over our +heads, and we knew by their yells that the fire of our bivouac +had shown us.</p> +<p>At length we thought it well to seek for sleep. Our +plans were laid for keeping up a good watch through the +night. My quilt and my pelisse and my cloak were spread out +so that I might lie spokewise, with my feet towards the central +fire. I wrapped my limbs daintily round, and gave myself +positive orders to sleep like a veteran soldier. But I +found that my attempt to sleep upon the earth that God gave me +was more new and strange than I had fancied it. I had grown +used to the scene which was before me whilst I was sitting or +reclining by the side of the fire, but now that I laid myself +down at length it was the deep black mystery of the heavens that +hung over my eyes—not an earthly thing in the way from my +own very forehead right up to the end of all space. I grew +proud of my boundless bedchamber. I might have “found +sermons” in all this greatness (if I had I should surely +have slept), but such was not then my way. If this +cherished self of mine had built the universe, I should have +dwelt with delight on “the wonders of +creation.” As it was, I felt rather the vainglory of +my promotion from out of mere rooms and houses into the midst of +that grand, dark, infinite palace.</p> +<p>And then, too, my head, far from the fire, was in cold +latitudes, and it seemed to me strange that I should be lying so +still and passive, whilst the sharp night breeze walked free over +my cheek, and the cold damp clung to my hair, as though my face +grew in the earth and must bear with the footsteps of the wind +and the falling of the dew as meekly as the grass of the +field. Besides, I got puzzled and distracted by having to +endure heat and cold at the same time, for I was always +considering whether my feet were not over-devilled and whether my +face was not too well iced. And so when from time to time +the watch quietly and gently kept up the languishing fire, he +seldom, I think, was unseen to my restless eyes. Yet at +last, when they called me and said that the morn would soon be +dawning, I rose from a state of half-oblivion not much unlike to +sleep, though sharply qualified by a sort of vegetable’s +consciousness of having been growing still colder and colder for +many and many an hour.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII—THE DEAD SEA</h2> +<p>The grey light of the morning showed us for the first time the +ground which we had chosen for our resting-place. We found +that we had bivouacked upon a little patch of barley plainly +belonging to the men of the caves. The dead bushes which we +found so happily placed in readiness for our fire had been strewn +as a fence for the protection of the little crop. This was +the only cultivated spot of ground which we had seen for many a +league, and I was rather sorry to find that our night fire and +our cattle had spread so much ruin upon this poor solitary slip +of corn-land.</p> +<p>The saddling and loading of our beasts was a work which +generally took nearly an hour, and before this was half over +daylight came. We could now see the men of the caves. +They collected in a body, amounting, I should think, to nearly +fifty, and rushed down towards our quarters with fierce shouts +and yells. But the nearer they got the slower they went; +their shouts grew less resolute in tone, and soon ceased +altogether. The fellows, however, advanced to a thicket +within thirty yards of us, and behind this “took up their +position.” My men without premeditation did exactly +that which was best; they kept steadily to their work of loading +the beasts without fuss or hurry; and whether it was that they +instinctively felt the wisdom of keeping quiet, or that they +merely obeyed the natural inclination to silence which one feels +in the early morning, I cannot tell, but I know that, except when +they exchanged a syllable or two relative to the work they were +about, not a word was said. I now believe that this +quietness of our party created an undefined terror in the minds +of the cave-holders and scared them from coming on; it gave them +a notion that we were relying on some resources which they knew +not of. Several times the fellows tried to lash themselves +into a state of excitement which might do instead of pluck. +They would raise a great shout and sway forward in a dense body +from behind the thicket; but when they saw that their bravery +thus gathered to a head did not even suspend the strapping of a +portmanteau or the tying of a hatbox, their shout lost its +spirit, and the whole mass was irresistibly drawn back like a +wave receding from the shore.</p> +<p>These attempts at an onset were repeated several times, but +always with the same result. I remained under the +apprehension of an attack for more than half-an-hour, and it +seemed to me that the work of packing and loading had never been +done so slowly. I felt inclined to tell my fellows to make +their best speed, but just as I was going to speak I observed +that every one was doing his duty already; I therefore held my +peace and said not a word, till at last Mysseri led up my horse +and asked me if I were ready to mount.</p> +<p>We all marched off without hindrance.</p> +<p>After some time we came across a party of Ibrahim’s +cavalry, which had bivouacked at no great distance from us. The +knowledge that such a force was in the neighbourhood may have +conduced to the forbearance of the cave-holders.</p> +<p>We saw a scraggy-looking fellow nearly black, and wearing +nothing but a cloth round the loins; he was tending flocks. +Afterwards I came up with another of these goatherds, whose +helpmate was with him. They gave us some goat’s milk, +a welcome present. I pitied the poor devil of a goatherd +for having such a very plain wife. I spend an enormous +quantity of pity upon that particular form of human misery.</p> +<p>About midday I began to examine my map and to question my +guide, who at last fell on his knees and confessed that he knew +nothing of the country in which we were. I was thus thrown +upon my own resources, and calculating that on the preceding day +we had nearly performed a two days’ journey, I concluded +that the Dead Sea must be near. In this I was right, for at +about three or four o’clock in the afternoon I caught a +first sight of its dismal face.</p> +<p>I went on and came near to those waters of death. They +stretched deeply into the southern desert, and before me, and all +around, as far away as the eye could follow, blank hills piled +high over hills, pale, yellow, and naked, walled up in her tomb +for ever the dead and damned Gomorrah. There was no fly +that hummed in the forbidden air, but instead a deep stillness; +no grass grew from the earth, no weed peered through the void +sand; but in mockery of all life there were trees borne down by +Jordan in some ancient flood, and these, grotesquely planted upon +the forlorn shore, spread out their grim skeleton arms, all +scorched and charred to blackness by the heats of the long silent +years.</p> +<p>I now struck off towards the débouchure of the river; +but I found that the country, though seemingly quite flat, was +intersected by deep ravines, which did not show themselves until +nearly approached. For some time my progress was much +obstructed; but at last I came across a track which led towards +the river, and which might, as I hoped, bring me to a ford. +I found, in fact, when I came to the river’s side that the +track reappeared upon the opposite bank, plainly showing that the +stream had been fordable at this place. Now, however, in +consequence of the late rains the river was quite impracticable +for baggage-horses. A body of waters about equal to the +Thames at Eton, but confined to a narrower channel, poured down +in a current so swift and heavy, that the idea of passing with +laden baggage-horses was utterly forbidden. I could have +swum across myself, and I might, perhaps, have succeeded in +swimming a horse over; but this would have been useless, because +in such case I must have abandoned not only my baggage, but all +my attendants, for none of them were able to swim, and without +that resource it would have been madness for them to rely upon +the swimming of their beasts across such a powerful stream. +I still hoped, however, that there might be a chance of passing +the river at the point of its actual junction with the Dead Sea, +and I therefore went on in that direction.</p> +<p>Night came upon us whilst labouring across gullies and sandy +mounds, and we were obliged to come to a stand-still quite +suddenly upon the very edge of a precipitous descent. Every +step towards the Dead Sea had brought us into a country more and +more dreary; and this sand-hill, which we were forced to choose +for our resting-place, was dismal enough. A few slender +blades of grass, which here and there singly pierced the sand, +mocked bitterly the hunger of our jaded beasts, and with our +small remaining fragment of goat’s-milk rock by way of +supper, we were not much better off than our horses. We +wanted, too, the great requisite of a cheery +bivouac—fire. Moreover, the spot on which we had been +so suddenly brought to a standstill was relatively high and +unsheltered, and the night wind blew swiftly and cold.</p> +<p>The next morning I reached the débouchure of the +Jordan, where I had hoped to find a bar of sand that might render +its passage possible. The river, however, rolled its +eddying waters fast down to the “sea” in a strong, +deep stream that shut out all hope of crossing.</p> +<p>It now seemed necessary either to construct a raft of some +kind, or else to retrace my steps and remount the banks of the +Jordan. I had once happened to give some attention to the +subject of military bridges—a branch of military science +which includes the construction of rafts and contrivances of the +like sort—and I should have been very proud indeed if I +could have carried my party and my baggage across by dint of any +idea gathered from Sir Howard Douglas or Robinson Crusoe. +But we were all faint and languid from want of food, and besides, +there were no materials. Higher up the river there were +bushes and river plants, but nothing like timber; and the cord +with which my baggage was tied to the pack-saddles amounted +altogether to a very small quantity, not nearly enough to haul +any sort of craft across the stream.</p> +<p>And now it was, if I remember rightly, that Dthemetri +submitted to me a plan for putting to death the Nazarene, whose +misguidance had been the cause of our difficulties. There +was something fascinating in this suggestion, for the slaying of +the guide was of course easy enough, and would look like an act +of what politicians call “vigour.” If it were +only to become known to my friends in England that I had calmly +killed a fellow-creature for taking me out of my way, I might +remain perfectly quiet and tranquil for all the rest of my days, +quite free from the danger of being considered +“slow”; I might ever after live on upon my +reputation, like “single-speech Hamilton” in the last +century, or “single sin—” in this, without +being obliged to take the trouble of doing any more harm in the +world. This was a great temptation to an indolent person, +but the motive was not strengthened by any sincere feeling of +anger with the Nazarene. Whilst the question of his life +and death was debated he was riding in front of our party, and +there was something in the anxious writhing of his supple limbs +that seemed to express a sense of his false position, and struck +me as highly comic. I had no crotchet at that time against +the punishment of death, but I was unused to blood, and the +proposed victim looked so thoroughly capable of enjoying life (if +he could only get to the other side of the river), that I thought +it would be hard for him to die merely in order to give me a +character for energy. Acting on the result of these +considerations, and reserving to myself a free and unfettered +discretion to have the poor villain shot at any future moment, I +magnanimously decided that for the present he should live, and +not die.</p> +<p>I bathed in the Dead Sea. The ground covered by the +water sloped so gradually, that I was not only forced to +“sneak in,” but to walk through the water nearly a +quarter of a mile before I could get out of my depth. When +at last I was able to attempt to dive, the salts held in solution +made my eyes smart so sharply, that the pain which I thus +suffered, together with the weakness occasioned by want of food, +made me giddy and faint for some moments, but I soon grew +better. I knew beforehand the impossibility of sinking in +this buoyant water, but I was surprised to find that I could not +swim at my accustomed pace; my legs and feet were lifted so high +and dry out of the lake, that my stroke was baffled, and I found +myself kicking against the thin air instead of the dense fluid +upon which I was swimming. The water is perfectly bright +and clear; its taste detestable. After finishing my +attempts at swimming and diving, I took some time in regaining +the shore, and before I began to dress I found that the sun had +already evaporated the water which clung to me, and that my skin +was thickly encrusted with salts.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV—THE BLACK TENTS</h2> +<p>My steps were reluctantly turned towards the north. I +had ridden some way, and still it seemed that all life was fenced +and barred out from the desolate ground over which I was +journeying. On the west there flowed the impassable Jordan, +on the east stood an endless range of barren mountains, and on +the south lay that desert sea that knew not the plashing of an +oar; greatly therefore was I surprised when suddenly there broke +upon my ear the long, ludicrous, persevering bray of a +donkey. I was riding at this time some few hundred yards +ahead of all my party except the Nazarene (who by a wise instinct +kept closer to me than to Dthemetri), and I instantly went +forward in the direction of the sound, for I fancied that where +there were donkeys, there too most surely would be men. The +ground on all sides of me seemed thoroughly void and lifeless, +but at last I got down into a hollow, and presently a sudden turn +brought me within thirty yards of an Arab encampment. The +low black tents which I had so long lusted to see were right +before me, and they were all teeming with live Arabs—men, +women, and children.</p> +<p>I wished to have let my party behind know where I was, but I +recollected that they would be able to trace me by the prints of +my horse’s hoofs in the sand, and having to do with +Asiatics, I felt the danger of the slightest movement which might +be looked upon as a sign of irresolution. Therefore, +without looking behind me, without looking to the right or to the +left, I rode straight up towards the foremost tent. Before +this was strewed a semicircular fence of dead boughs, through +which there was an opening opposite to the front of the +tent. As I advanced, some twenty or thirty of the most +uncouth-looking fellows imaginable came forward to meet me. +In their appearance they showed nothing of the Bedouin blood; +they were of many colours, from dingy brown to jet black, and +some of these last had much of the negro look about them. +They were tall, powerful fellows, but awfully ugly. They +wore nothing but the Arab shirts, confined at the waist by +leathern belts.</p> +<p>I advanced to the gap left in the fence, and at once alighted +from my horse. The chief greeted me after his fashion by +alternately touching first my hand and then his own forehead, as +if he were conveying the virtue of the touch like a spark of +electricity. Presently I found myself seated upon a +sheepskin, which was spread for me under the sacred shade of +Arabian canvas. The tent was of a long, narrow, oblong +form, and contained a quantity of men, women, and children so +closely huddled together, that there was scarcely one of them who +was not in actual contact with his neighbour. The moment I +had taken my seat the chief repeated his salutations in the most +enthusiastic manner, and then the people having gathered densely +about me, got hold of my unresisting hand and passed it round +like a claret jug for the benefit of every body. The women +soon brought me a wooden bowl full of buttermilk, and welcome +indeed came the gift to my hungry and thirsty soul.</p> +<p>After some time my party, as I had expected, came up, and when +poor Dthemetri saw me on my sheepskin, “the life and +soul” of this ragamuffin party, he was so astounded, that +he even failed to check his cry of horror; he plainly thought +that now, at last, the Lord had delivered me (interpreter and +all) into the hands of the lowest Philistines.</p> +<p>Mysseri carried a tobacco-pouch slung at his belt, and as soon +as its contents were known the whole population of the tent began +begging like spaniels for bits of the beloved weed. I +concluded from the abject manner of these people that they could +not possibly be thoroughbred Bedouins, and I saw, too, that they +must be in the very last stage of misery, for poor indeed is the +man in these climes who cannot command a pipeful of +tobacco. I began to think that I had fallen amongst +thorough savages, and it seemed likely enough that they would +gain their very first knowledge of civilisation by ravishing and +studying the contents of my dearest portmanteaus, but still my +impression was that they would hardly venture upon such an +attempt. I observed, indeed, that they did not offer me the +bread and salt which I had understood to be the pledges of peace +amongst wandering tribes, but I fancied that they refrained from +this act of hospitality, not in consequence of any hostile +determination, but in order that the notion of robbing me might +remain for the present an “open question.” I +afterwards found that the poor fellows had no bread to +offer. They were literally “out at +grass.” It is true that they had a scanty supply of +milk from goats, but they were living almost entirely upon +certain grass stems, which were just in season at that time of +the year. These, if not highly nourishing, are pleasant +enough to the taste, and their acid juices come gratefully to +thirsty lips.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XV—PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN</h2> +<p>And now Dthemetri began to enter into a negotiation with my +hosts for a passage over the river. I never interfered with +my worthy dragoman upon these occasions, because from my entire +ignorance of the Arabic I should have been quite unable to +exercise any real control over his words, and it would have been +silly to break the stream of his eloquence to no purpose. I +have reason to fear, however, that he lied transcendently, and +especially in representing me as the bosom friend of Ibrahim +Pasha. The mention of that name produced immense agitation +and excitement, and the Sheik explained to Dthemetri the grounds +of the infinite respect which he and his tribe entertained for +the Pasha. A few weeks before Ibrahim had craftily sent a +body of troops across the Jordan. The force went warily +round to the foot of the mountains on the east, so as to cut off +the retreat of this tribe, and then surrounded them as they lay +encamped in the vale; their camels, and indeed all their +possessions worth taking, were carried off by the soldiery, and +moreover the then Sheik, together with every tenth man of the +tribe, was brought out and shot. You would think that this +conduct on the part of the Pasha might not procure for his +“friend” a very gracious reception amongst the people +whom he had thus despoiled and decimated; but the Asiatic seems +to be animated with a feeling of profound respect, almost +bordering upon affection, for all who have done him any bold and +violent wrong, and there is always, too, so much of vague and +undefined apprehension mixed up with his really well-founded +alarms, that I can see no limit to the yielding and bending of +his mind when it is wrought upon by the idea of power.</p> +<p>After some discussion the Arabs agreed, as I thought, to +conduct me to a ford, and we moved on towards the river, followed +by seventeen of the most able-bodied of the tribe, under the +guidance of several grey-bearded elders, and Sheik Ali Djoubran +at the head of the whole detachment. Upon leaving the +encampment a sort of ceremony was performed, for the purpose, it +seemed, of ensuring, if possible, a happy result for the +undertaking. There was an uplifting of arms, and a +repeating of words that sounded like formulæ, but there +were no prostrations, and I did not understand that the ceremony +was of a religious character. The tented Arabs are looked +upon as very bad Mahometans.</p> +<p>We arrived upon the banks of the river—not at a ford, +but at a deep and rapid part of the stream, and I now understood +that it was the plan of these men, if they helped me at all, to +transport me across the river by some species of raft. But +a reaction had taken place in the opinions of many, and a violent +dispute arose upon a motion which seemed to have been made by +some honourable member with a view to robbery. The fellows +all gathered together in circle, at a little distance from my +party, and there disputed with great vehemence and fury for +nearly two hours. I can’t give a correct report of +the debate, for it was held in a barbarous dialect of the Arabic +unknown to my dragoman. I recollect I sincerely felt at the +time that the arguments in favour of robbing me must have been +almost unanswerable, and I gave great credit to the speakers on +my side for the ingenuity and sophistry which they must have +shown in maintaining the fight so well.</p> +<p>During the discussion I remained lying in front of my baggage, +which had all been taken from the pack-saddles and placed upon +the ground. I was so languid from want of food, that I had +scarcely animation enough to feel as deeply interested as you +would suppose in the result of the discussion. I thought, +however, that the pleasantest toys to play with during this +interval were my pistols, and now and then, when I listlessly +visited my loaded barrels with the swivel ramrods, or drew a +sweet, musical click from my English firelocks, it seemed to me +that I exercised a slight and gentle influence on the +debate. Thanks to Ibrahim Pasha’s terrible visitation +the men of the tribe were wholly unarmed, and my advantage in +this respect might have counterbalanced in some measure the +superiority of numbers.</p> +<p>Mysseri (not interpreting in Arabic) had no duty to perform, +and he seemed to be faint and listless as myself. Shereef +looked perfectly resigned to any fate. But Dthemetri +(faithful terrier!) was bristling with zeal and +watchfulness. He could not understand the debate, which +indeed was carried on at a distance too great to be easily heard, +even if the language had been familiar; but he was always on the +alert, and now and then conferring with men who had straggled out +of the assembly. At last he found an opportunity of making +a proposal, which at once produced immense sensation; he offered, +on my behalf, that if the tribe should bear themselves loyally +towards me, and take my party and my baggage in safety to the +other bank of the river, I should give them a <i>teskeri</i>, or +written certificate of their good conduct, which might avail them +hereafter in the hour of their direst need. This proposal +was received and instantly accepted by all the men of the tribe +there present with the utmost enthusiasm. I was to give the +men, too, a <i>baksheish</i>, that is, a present of money, which +is usually made upon the conclusion of any sort of treaty; but +although the people of the tribe were so miserably poor, they +seemed to look upon the pecuniary part of the arrangement as a +matter quite trivial in comparison with the <i>teskeri</i>. +Indeed the sum which Dthemetri promised them was extremely small, +and not the slightest attempt was made to extort any further +reward.</p> +<p>The council now broke up, and most of the men rushed madly +towards me, and overwhelmed me with vehement gratulations; they +caressed my boots with much affection, and my hands were severely +kissed.</p> +<p>The Arabs now went to work in right earnest to effect the +passage of the river. They had brought with them a great +number of the skins which they use for carrying water in the +desert; these they filled with air, and fastened several of them +to small boughs which they cut from the banks of the river. +In this way they constructed a raft not more than about four or +five feet square, but rendered buoyant by the inflated skins +which supported it. On this a portion of my baggage was +placed, and was firmly tied to it by the cords used on my +pack-saddles. The little raft with its weighty cargo was +then gently lifted into the water, and I had the satisfaction to +see that it floated well.</p> +<p>Twelve of the Arabs now stripped, and tied inflated skins to +their loins; six of the men went down into the river, got in +front of the little raft, and pulled it off a few feet from the +bank. The other six then dashed into the stream with loud +shouts and swam along after the raft, pushing it from +behind. Off went the craft in capital style at first, for +the stream was easy on the eastern side; but I saw that the tug +was to come, for the main torrent swept round in a bend near the +western bank of the river.</p> +<p>The old men, with their long grey grisly beards, stood +shouting and cheering, praying and commanding. At length +the raft entered upon the difficult part of its course; the +whirling stream seized and twisted it about, and then bore it +rapidly downwards; the swimmers, flagged and seemed to be beaten +in the struggle. But now the old men on the bank, with +their rigid arms uplifted straight, sent forth a cry and a shout +that tore the wide air into tatters, and then to make their +urging yet more strong they shrieked out the dreadful syllables, +“’brahim Pasha!” The swimmers, one moment +before so blown and so weary, found lungs to answer the cry, and +shouting back the name of their great destroyer, they dashed on +through the torrent, and bore the raft in safety to the western +bank.</p> +<p>Afterwards the swimmers returned with the raft, and attached +to it the rest of my baggage. I took my seat upon the top +of the cargo, and the raft thus laden passed the river in the +same way, and with the same struggle as before. The skins, +however, not being perfectly air-tight, had lost a great part of +their buoyancy, so that I, as well as the luggage that passed on +this last voyage, got wet in the waters of Jordan. The raft +could not be trusted for another trip, and the rest of my party +passed the river in a different and (for them) much safer +way. Inflated skins were fastened to their loins, and thus +supported, they were tugged across by Arabs swimming on either +side of them. The horses and mules were thrown into the +water and forced to swim over. The poor beasts had a hard +struggle for their lives in that swift stream; and I thought that +one of the horses would have been drowned, for he was too weak to +gain a footing on the western bank, and the stream bore him +down. At last, however, he swam back to the side from which +he had come. Before dark all had passed the river except +this one horse and old Shereef. He, poor fellow, was +shivering on the eastern bank, for his dread of the passage was +so great, that he delayed it as long as he could, and at last it +became so dark that he was obliged to wait till the morning.</p> +<p>I lay that night on the banks of the river, and at a little +distance from me the Arabs kindled a fire, round which they sat +in a circle. They were made most savagely happy by the +tobacco with which I supplied them, and they soon determined that +the whole night should be one smoking festival. The poor +fellows had only a cracked bowl, without any tube at all, but +this morsel of a pipe they handed round from one to the other, +allowing to each a fixed number of whiffs. In that way they +passed the whole night.</p> +<p>The next morning old Shereef was brought across. It was +a strange sight to see this solemn old Mussulman, with his shaven +head and his sacred beard, sprawling and puffing upon the surface +of the water. When at last he reached the bank the people +told him that by his baptism in Jordan he had surely become a +mere Christian. Poor Shereef!—the holy man! the +descendant of the Prophet!—he was sadly hurt by the taunt, +and the more so as he seemed to feel that there was some +foundation for it, and that he really might have absorbed some +Christian errors.</p> +<p>When all was ready for departure I wrote the <i>teskeri</i> in +French and delivered it to Sheik Ali Djoubran, together with the +promised <i>baksheish</i>; he was exceedingly grateful, and I +parted in a very friendly way from this ragged tribe.</p> +<p>In two or three hours I gained Rihah, a village said to occupy +the site of ancient Jericho. There was one building there +which I observed with some emotion, for although it may not have +been actually standing in the days of Jericho, it contained at +this day a most interesting collection of—modern +loaves.</p> +<p>Some hours after sunset I reached the convent of Santa Saba, +and there remained for the night.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI—TERRA SANTA</h2> +<p>The enthusiasm that had glowed, or seemed to glow, within me +for one blessed moment when I knelt by the shrine of the Virgin +at Nazareth, was not rekindled at Jerusalem. In the stead +of the solemn gloom and the deep stillness that of right belonged +to the Holy City, there was the hum and the bustle of active +life. It was the “height of the season.” +The Easter ceremonies drew near. The pilgrims were flocking +in from all quarters; and although their objects were partly at +least of a religious character, yet their “arrivals” +brought as much stir and liveliness to the city as if they had +come up to marry their daughters.</p> +<p>The votaries who every year crowd to the Holy Sepulchre are +chiefly of the Greek and Armenian Churches. They are not +drawn into Palestine by a mere sentimental longing to stand upon +the ground trodden by our Saviour, but rather they perform the +pilgrimage as a plain duty strongly inculcated by their +religion. A very great proportion of those who belong to +the Greek Church contrive at some time or other in the course of +their lives to achieve the enterprise. Many in their +infancy and childhood are brought to the holy sites by their +parents, but those who have not had this advantage will often +make it the main object of their lives to save money enough for +this holy undertaking.</p> +<p>The pilgrims begin to arrive in Palestine some weeks before +the Easter festival of the Greek Church. They come from +Egypt, from all parts of Syria, from Armenia and Asia Minor, from +Stamboul, from Roumelia, from the provinces of the Danube, and +from all the Russias. Most of these people bring with them +some articles of merchandise, but I myself believe +(notwithstanding the common taunt against pilgrims) that they do +this rather as a mode of paying the expenses of their journey, +than from a spirit of mercenary speculation. They generally +travel in families, for the women are of course more ardent than +their husbands in undertaking these pious enterprises, and they +take care to bring with them all their children, however young; +for the efficacy of the rites does not depend upon the age of the +votary, so that people whose careful mothers have obtained for +them the benefit of the pilgrimage in early life, are saved from +the expense and trouble of undertaking the journey at a later +age. The superior veneration so often excited by objects +that are distant and unknown shows not perhaps the +wrongheadedness of a man, but rather the transcendent power of +his imagination. However this may be, and whether it is by +mere obstinacy that they poke their way through intervening +distance, or whether they come by the winged strength of fancy, +quite certainly the pilgrims who flock to Palestine from the most +remote homes are the people most eager in the enterprise, and in +number too they bear a very high proportion to the whole +mass.</p> +<p>The great bulk of the pilgrims make their way by sea to the +port of Jaffa. A number of families will charter a vessel +amongst them, all bringing their own provisions, which are of the +simplest and cheapest kind. On board every vessel thus +freighted there is, I believe, a priest, who helps the people in +their religious exercises, and tries (and fails) to maintain +something like order and harmony. The vessels employed in +this service are usually Greek brigs or brigantines and +schooners, and the number of passengers stowed in them is almost +always horribly excessive. The voyages are sadly +protracted, not only by the land-seeking, storm-flying habits of +the Greek seamen, but also by their endless schemes and +speculations, which are for ever tempting them to touch at the +nearest port. The voyage too must be made in winter, in +order that Jerusalem may be reached some weeks before the Greek +Easter, and thus by the time they attain to the holy shrines the +pilgrims have really and truly undergone a very respectable +quantity of suffering. I once saw one of these pious +cargoes put ashore on the coast of Cyprus, where they had touched +for the purpose of visiting (not Paphos, but) some Christian +sanctuary. I never saw (no, never even in the most horridly +stuffy ballroom) such a discomfortable collection of human +beings. Long huddled together in a pitching and rolling +prison, fed on beans, exposed to some real danger and to terrors +without end, they had been tumbled about for many wintry weeks in +the chopping seas of the Mediterranean. As soon as they +landed they stood upon the beach and chanted a hymn of thanks; +the chant was morne and doleful, but really the poor people were +looking so miserable, that one could not fairly expect from them +any lively outpouring of gratitude.</p> +<p>When the pilgrims have landed at Jaffa they hire camels, +horses, mules, or donkeys, and make their way as well as they can +to the Holy City. The space fronting the Church of the Holy +Sepulchre soon becomes a kind of bazaar, or rather, perhaps, +reminds you of an English fair. On this spot the pilgrims +display their merchandise, and there too the trading residents of +the place offer their goods for sale. I have never, I +think, seen elsewhere in Asia so much commercial animation as +upon this square of ground by the church door; the +“money-changers” seemed to be almost as brisk and +lively as if they had been <i>within</i> the temple.</p> +<p>When I entered the church I found a babel of +worshippers. Greek, Roman, and Armenian priests were +performing their different rites in various nooks and corners, +and crowds of disciples were rushing about in all directions, +some laughing and talking, some begging, but most of them going +round in a regular and methodical way to kiss the sanctified +spots, and speak the appointed syllables, and lay down the +accustomed coin. If this kissing of the shrines had seemed +as though it were done at the bidding of enthusiasm, or of any +poor sentiment even feebly approaching to it, the sight would +have been less odd to English eyes; but as it was, I stared to +see grown men thus steadily and carefully embracing the sticks +and the stones, not from love or from zeal (else God forbid that +I should have stared!), but from a calm sense of duty; they +seemed to be not “working out,” but +<i>transacting</i> the great business of salvation.</p> +<p>Dthemetri, however, who generally came with me when I went +out, in order to do duty as interpreter, really had in him some +enthusiasm. He was a zealous and almost fanatical member of +the Greek Church, and had long since performed the pilgrimage, so +now great indeed was the pride and delight with which he guided +me from one holy spot to another. Every now and then, when +he came to an unoccupied shrine, he fell down on his knees and +performed devotion; he was almost distracted by the temptations +that surrounded him; there were so many stones absolutely +requiring to be kissed, that he rushed about happily puzzled and +sweetly teased, like “Jack among the maidens.”</p> +<p>A Protestant, familiar with the Holy Scriptures, but ignorant +of tradition and the geography of modern Jerusalem, finds himself +a good deal “mazed” when he first looks for the +sacred sites. The Holy Sepulchre is not in a field without +the walls, but in the midst, and in the best part of the town, +under the roof of the great church which I have been talking +about. It is a handsome tomb of oblong form, partly +subterranean and partly above ground, and closed in on all sides +except the one by which it is entered. You descend into the +interior by a few steps, and there find an altar with burning +tapers. This is the spot which is held in greater sanctity +than any other at Jerusalem. When you have seen enough of +it you feel perhaps weary of the busy crowd, and inclined for a +gallop; you ask your dragoman whether there will be time before +sunset to procure horses and take a ride to Mount Calvary. +Mount Calvary, signor?—eccolo! it is <i>upstairs—on +the first floor</i>. In effect you ascend, if I remember +rightly, just thirteen steps, and then you are shown the now +golden sockets in which the crosses of our Lord and the two +thieves were fixed. All this is startling, but the truth +is, that the city having gathered round the Sepulchre, which is +the main point of interest, has crept northward, and thus in +great measure are occasioned the many geographical surprises that +puzzle the “Bible Christian.”</p> +<p>The Church of the Holy Sepulchre comprises very compendiously +almost all the spots associated with the closing career of our +Lord. Just there, on your right, He stood and wept; by the +pillar, on your left, He was scourged; on the spot, just before +you, He was crowned with the crown of thorns; up there He was +crucified, and down here He was buried. A locality is +assigned to every, the minutest, event connected with the +recorded history of our Saviour; even the spot where the cock +crew when Peter denied his Master is ascertained, and surrounded +by the walls of an Armenian convent. Many Protestants are +wont to treat these traditions contemptuously, and those who +distinguish themselves from their brethren by the appellation of +“Bible Christians” are almost fierce in their +denunciation of these supposed errors.</p> +<p>It is admitted, I believe, by everybody that the formal +sanctification of these spots was the act of the Empress Helena, +the mother of Constantine, but I think it is fair to suppose that +she was guided by a careful regard to the then prevailing +traditions. Now the nature of the ground upon which +Jerusalem stands is such, that the localities belonging to the +events there enacted might have been more easily, and +permanently, ascertained by tradition than those of any city that +I know of. Jerusalem, whether ancient or modern, was built +upon and surrounded by sharp, salient rocks intersected by deep +ravines. Up to the time of the siege Mount Calvary of +course must have been well enough known to the people of +Jerusalem; the destruction of the mere buildings could not have +obliterated from any man’s memory the names of those steep +rocks and narrow ravines in the midst of which the city had +stood. It seems to me, therefore, highly probable that in +fixing the site of Calvary the Empress was rightly guided. +Recollect, too, that the voice of tradition at Jerusalem is quite +unanimous, and that Romans, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, all +hating each other sincerely, concur in assigning the same +localities to the events told in the Gospel. I concede, +however, that the attempt of the Empress to ascertain the sites +of the minor events cannot be safely relied upon. With +respect, for instance, to the certainty of the spot where the +cock crew, I am far from being convinced.</p> +<p>Supposing that the Empress acted arbitrarily in fixing the +holy sites, it would seem that she followed the Gospel of St. +John, and that the geography sanctioned by her can be more easily +reconciled with that history than with the accounts of the other +Evangelists.</p> +<p>The authority exercised by the Mussulman Government in +relation to the holy sites is in one view somewhat humbling to +the Christians, for it is almost as an arbitrator between the +contending sects (this always, of course, for the sake of +pecuniary advantage) that the Mussulman lends his contemptuous +aid; he not only grants, but enforces toleration. All +persons, of whatever religion, are allowed to go as they will +into every part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but in order +to prevent indecent contests, and also from motives arising out +of money payments, the Turkish Government assigns the peculiar +care of each sacred spot to one of the ecclesiastic bodies. +Since this guardianship carries with it the receipt of the coins +which the pilgrims leave upon the shrines, it is strenuously +fought for by all the rival Churches, and the artifices of +intrigue are busily exerted at Stamboul in order to procure the +issue or revocation of the firmans by which the coveted privilege +is granted. In this strife the Greek Church has of late +years signally triumphed, and the most famous of the shrines are +committed to the care of their priesthood. They possess the +golden socket in which stood the cross of our Lord whilst the +Latins are obliged to content themselves with the apertures in +which were inserted the crosses of the two thieves. They +are naturally discontented with that poor privilege, and +sorrowfully look back to the days of their former glory—the +days when Napoleon was Emperor, and Sebastiani ambassador at the +Porte. It seems that the “citizen” sultan, old +Louis Philippe, has done very little indeed for Holy Church in +Palestine.</p> +<p>Although the pilgrims perform their devotions at the several +shrines with so little apparent enthusiasm, they are driven to +the verge of madness by the miracle displayed before them on +Easter Saturday. Then it is that the Heaven-sent fire +issues from the Holy Sepulchre. The pilgrims all assemble +in the great church, and already, long before the wonder is +worked, they are wrought by anticipation of God’s sign, as +well as by their struggles for room and breathing space, to a +most frightful state of excitement. At length the chief +priest of the Greeks, accompanied (of all people in the world) by +the Turkish Governor, enters the tomb. After this, there is +a long pause, and then suddenly from out of the small apertures +on either side of the sepulchre there issue long, shining +flames. The pilgrims now rush forward, madly struggling to +light their tapers at the holy fire. This is the dangerous +moment, and many lives are often lost.</p> +<p>The year before that of my going to Jerusalem, Ibrahim Pasha, +from some whim, or motive of policy, chose to witness the +miracle. The vast church was of course thronged, as it +always is on that awful day. It seems that the appearance +of the fire was delayed for a very long time, and that the +growing frenzy of the people was heightened by suspense. +Many, too, had already sunk under the effect of the heat and the +stifling atmosphere, when at last the fire flashed from the +sepulchre. Then a terrible struggle ensued; many sunk and +were crushed. Ibrahim had taken his station in one of the +galleries, but now, feeling perhaps his brave blood warmed by the +sight and sound of such strife, he took upon himself to quiet the +people by his personal presence, and descended into the body of +the church with only a few guards. He had forced his way +into the midst of the dense crowd, when unhappily he fainted +away; his guards shrieked out, and the event instantly became +known. A body of soldiers recklessly forced their way +through the crowd, trampling over every obstacle that they might +save the life of their general. Nearly two hundred people +were killed in the struggle.</p> +<p>The following year, however, the Government took better +measures for the prevention of these calamities. I was not +present at the ceremony, having gone away from Jerusalem some +time before, but I afterwards returned into Palestine, and I then +learned that the day had passed off without any disturbance of a +fatal kind. It is, however, almost too much to expect that +so many ministers of peace can assemble without finding some +occasion for strife, and in that year a tribe of wild Bedouins +became the subject of discord. These men, it seems, led an +Arab life in some of the desert tracts bordering on the +neighbourhood of Jerusalem, but were not connected with any of +the great ruling tribes. Some whim or notion of policy had +induced them to embrace Christianity; but they were grossly +ignorant of the rudiments of their adopted faith, and having no +priest with them in their desert, they had as little knowledge of +religious ceremonies as of religion itself. They were not +even capable of conducting themselves in a place of worship with +ordinary decorum, but would interrupt the service with scandalous +cries and warlike shouts. Such is the account the Latins +give of them, but I have never heard the other side of the +question. These wild fellows, notwithstanding their entire +ignorance of all religion, are yet claimed by the Greeks, not +only as proselytes who have embraced Christianity generally, but +as converts to the particular doctrines and practice of their +Church. The people thus alleged to have concurred in the +great schism of the Eastern Empire are never, I believe, within +the walls of a church, or even of any building at all, except +upon this occasion of Easter; and as they then never fail to find +a row of some kind going on by the side of the sepulchre, they +fancy, it seems, that the ceremonies there enacted are funeral +games of a martial character, held in honour of a deceased +chieftain, and that a Christian festival is a peculiar kind of +battle, fought between walls, and without cavalry. It does +not appear, however, that these men are guilty of any ferocious +acts, or that they attempt to commit depredations. The +charge against them is merely that by their way of applauding the +performance, by their horrible cries and frightful gestures, they +destroy the solemnity of divine service, and upon this ground the +Franciscans obtained a firman for the exclusion of such +tumultuous worshippers. The Greeks, however, did not choose +to lose the aid of their wild converts merely because they were a +little backward in their religious education, and they therefore +persuaded them to defy the firman by entering the city <i>en +masse</i> and overawing their enemies. The Franciscans, as +well as the Government authorities, were obliged to give way, and +the Arabs triumphantly marched into the church. The +festival, however, must have seemed to them rather flat, for +although there may have been some “casualties” in the +way of eyes black and noses bloody, and women +“missing,” there was no return of +“killed.”</p> +<p>Formerly the Latin Catholics concurred in acknowledging (but +not, I hope, in working) the annual miracle of the heavenly fire, +but they have for many years withdrawn their countenance from +this exhibition, and they now repudiate it as a trick of the +Greek Church. Thus of course the violence of feeling with +which the rival Churches meet at the Holy Sepulchre on Easter +Saturday is greatly increased, and a disturbance of some kind is +certain. In the year I speak of, though no lives were lost, +there was, as it seems, a tough struggle in the church. I +was amused at hearing of a taunt that was thrown that day upon an +English traveller. He had taken his station in a convenient +part of the church, and was no doubt displaying that peculiar air +of serenity and gratification with which an English gentleman +usually looks on at a row, when one of the Franciscans came by, +all reeking from the fight, and was so disgusted at the coolness +and placid contentment of the Englishman (who was a guest at the +convent), that he forgot his monkish humility as well as the +duties of hospitality, and plainly said, “You sleep under +our roof, you eat our bread, you drink our wine, and then when +Easter Saturday comes you don’t fight for us!”</p> +<p>Yet these rival Churches go on quietly enough till their blood +is up. The terms on which they live remind one of the +peculiar relation subsisting at Cambridge between “town and +gown.”</p> +<p>These contests and disturbances certainly do not originate +with the lay-pilgrims, the great body of whom are, as I believe, +quiet and inoffensive people. It is true, however, that +their pious enterprise is believed by them to operate as a +counterpoise for a multitude of sins, whether past or future, and +perhaps they exert themselves in after life to restore the +balance of good and evil. The Turks have a maxim which, +like most cynical apophthegms, carries with it the buzzing +trumpet of falsehood as well as the small, fine “sting of +truth.” “If your friend has made the pilgrimage +once, distrust him; if he has made the pilgrimage twice, cut him +dead!” The caution is said to be as applicable to the +visitants of Jerusalem as to those of Mecca, but I cannot help +believing that the frailties of all the hadjis, <a +name="citation28"></a><a href="#footnote28" +class="citation">[28]</a> whether Christian or Mahometan, are +greatly exaggerated. I certainly regarded the pilgrims to +Palestine as a well-disposed orderly body of people, not strongly +enthusiastic, but desirous to comply with the ordinances of their +religion, and to attain the great end of salvation as quietly and +economically as possible.</p> +<p>When the solemnities of Easter are concluded the pilgrims move +off in a body to complete their good work by visiting the sacred +scenes in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, including the +wilderness of John the Baptist, Bethlehem, and above all, the +Jordan, for to bathe in those sacred waters is one of the chief +objects of the expedition. All the pilgrims—men, +women, and children—are submerged <i>en chemise</i>, and +the saturated linen is carefully wrapped up and preserved as a +burial-dress that shall enure for salvation in the realms of +death.</p> +<p>I saw the burial of a pilgrim. He was a Greek, miserably +poor, and very old; he had just crawled into the Holy City, and +had reached at once the goal of his pious journey and the end of +his sufferings upon earth. There was no coffin nor wrapper, +and as I looked full upon the face of the dead I saw how deeply +it was rutted with the ruts of age and misery. The priest, +strong and portly, fresh, fat, and alive with the life of the +animal kingdom, unpaid, or ill paid for his work, would scarcely +deign to mutter out his forms, but hurried over the words with +shocking haste. Presently he called out impatiently, +“Yalla! Goor!” (Come! look sharp!), and then +the dead Greek was seized. His limbs yielded inertly to the +rude men that handled them, and down he went into his grave, so +roughly bundled in that his neck was twisted by the fall, so +twisted, that if the sharp malady of life were still upon him the +old man would have shrieked and groaned, and the lines of his +face would have quivered with pain. The lines of his face +were not moved, and the old man lay still and heedless, so well +cured of that tedious life-ache, that nothing could hurt him +now. His clay was <i>itself again</i>—cool, firm, and +tough. The pilgrim had found great rest. I threw the +accustomed handful of the holy soil upon his patient face, and +then, and in less than a minute, the earth closed coldly round +him.</p> +<p>I did not say “alas!” (nobody ever does that I +know of, though the word is so frequently written). I +thought the old man had got rather well out of the scrape of +being alive, and poor.</p> +<p>The destruction of the mere buildings in such a place as +Jerusalem would not involve the permanent dispersion of the +inhabitants, for the rocky neighbourhood in which the town is +situate abounds in caves, which would give an easy refuge to the +people until they gained an opportunity of rebuilding their +dwellings; therefore I could not help looking upon the Jews of +Jerusalem as being in some sort the representatives, if not the +actual descendants, of the rascals who crucified our +Saviour. Supposing this to be the case, I felt that there +would be some interest in knowing how the events of the Gospel +history were regarded by the Israelites of modern Jerusalem. The +result of my inquiry upon this subject was, so far as it went, +entirely favourable to the truth of Christianity. I +understood that <i>the performance of the miracles was not +doubted by any of the Jews in the place</i>. All of them +concurred in attributing the works of our Lord to the influence +of magic, but they were divided as to the species of enchantment +from which the power proceeded. The great mass of the +Jewish people believe, I fancy, that the miracles had been +wrought by aid of the powers of darkness, but many, and those the +more enlightened, would call Jesus “the good +Magician.” To Europeans repudiating the notion of all +magic, good or bad, the opinion of the Jews as to the agency by +which the miracles were worked is a matter of no importance; but +the circumstance of their admitting that those miracles <i>were +in fact performed</i>, is certainly curious, and perhaps not +quite immaterial.</p> +<p>If you stay in the Holy City long enough to fall into anything +like regular habits of amusement and occupation, and to become, +in short, for the time “a man about town” at +Jerusalem, you will necessarily lose the enthusiasm which you may +have felt when you trod the sacred soil for the first time, and +it will then seem almost strange to you to find yourself so +entirely surrounded in all your daily pursuits by the designs and +sounds of religion. Your hotel is a monastery, your rooms +are cells, the landlord is a stately abbot, and the waiters are +hooded monks. If you walk out of the town you find yourself +on the Mount of Olives, or in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, or on +the Hill of Evil Counsel. If you mount your horse and +extend your rambles you will be guided to the wilderness of St. +John, or the birthplace of our Saviour. Your club is the +great Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where everybody meets +everybody every day. If you lounge through the town, your +Bond Street is the Via Dolorosa, and the object of your hopeless +affections is some maid or matron all forlorn, and sadly shrouded +in her pilgrim’s robe. If you would hear music, it +must be the chanting of friars; if you look at pictures, you see +virgins with mis-fore-shortened arms, or devils out of drawing, +or angels tumbling up the skies in impious perspective. If +you would make any purchases, you must go again to the church +doors, and when you inquire for the manufactures of the place, +you find that they consist of double-blessed beads and sanctified +shells. These last are the favourite tokens which the +pilgrims carry off with them. The shell is graven, or +rather scratched, on the white side with a rude drawing of the +Blessed Virgin or of the Crucifixion or some other scriptural +subject. Having passed this stage it goes into the hands of +a priest. By him it is subjected to some process for +rendering it efficacious against the schemes of our ghostly +enemy. The manufacture is then complete, and is deemed to +be fit for use.</p> +<p>The village of Bethlehem lies prettily couched on the slope of +a hill. The sanctuary is a subterranean grotto, and is +committed to the joint-guardianship of the Romans, Greeks, and +Armenians, who vie with each other in adorning it. Beneath +an altar gorgeously decorated, and lit with everlasting fires, +there stands the low slab of stone which marks the holy site of +the Nativity; and near to this is a hollow scooped out of the +living rock. Here the infant Jesus was laid. Near the +spot of the Nativity is the rock against which the Blessed Virgin +was leaning when she presented her babe to the adoring +shepherds.</p> +<p>Many of those Protestants who are accustomed to despise +tradition consider that this sanctuary is altogether +unscriptural, that a grotto is not a stable, and that mangers are +made of wood. It is perfectly true, however, that the many +grottos and caves which are found among the rocks of Judea were +formerly used for the reception of cattle. They are so used +at this day. I have myself seen grottos appropriated to +this purpose.</p> +<p>You know what a sad and sombre decorum it is that outwardly +reigns through the lands oppressed by Moslem sway. The +Mahometans make beauty their prisoner, and enforce such a stern +and gloomy morality, or at all events, such a frightfully close +semblance of it, that far and long the wearied traveller may go +without catching one glimpse of outward happiness. By a +strange chance in these latter days it happened that, alone of +all the places in the land, this Bethlehem, the native village of +our Lord, escaped the moral yoke of the Mussulmans, and heard +again, after ages of dull oppression, the cheering clatter of +social freedom, and the voices of laughing girls. It was +after an insurrection, which had been raised against the +authority of Mehemet Ali, that Bethlehem was freed from the +hateful laws of Asiatic decorum. The Mussulmans of the +village had taken an active part in the movement, and when +Ibrahim had quelled it, his wrath was still so hot, that he put +to death every one of the few Mahometans of Bethlehem who had not +already fled. The effect produced upon the Christian +inhabitants by the sudden removal of this restraint was +immense. The village smiled once more. It is true +that such sweet freedom could not long endure. Even if the +population of the place should continue to be entirely Christian, +the sad decorum of the Mussulmans, or rather of the Asiatics, +would sooner or later be restored by the force of opinion and +custom. But for a while the sunshine would last, and when I +was at Bethlehem, though long after the flight of the Mussulmans, +the cloud of Moslem propriety had not yet come back to cast its +cold shadow upon life. When you reach that gladsome +village, pray Heaven there still may be heard there the voice of +free, innocent girls. It will sound so dearly welcome!</p> +<p>To a Christian, and thoroughbred Englishman, not even the +licentiousness which generally accompanies it can compensate for +the oppressiveness of that horrible outward decorum, which turns +the cities and the palaces of Asia into deserts and gaols. +So, I say, when you see and hear them, those romping girls of +Bethlehem will gladden your very soul. Distant at first, +and then nearer and nearer the timid flock will gather around +you, with their large burning eyes gravely fixed against yours, +so that they see into your brain; and if you imagine evil against +them, they will know of your ill thought before it is yet well +born, and will fly and be gone in the moment. But +presently, if you will only look virtuous enough to prevent +alarm, and vicious enough to avoid looking silly, the blithe +maidens will draw nearer and nearer to you, and soon there will +be one, the bravest of the sisters, who will venture right up to +your side and touch the hem of your coat, in playful defiance of +the danger, and then the rest will follow the daring of their +youthful leader, and gather close round you, and hold a shrill +controversy on the wondrous formation that you call a hat, and +the cunning of the hands that clothed you with cloth so fine; and +then growing more profound in their researches, they will pass +from the study of your mere dress to a serious contemplation of +your stately height, and your nut-brown hair, and the ruddy glow +of your English cheeks. And if they catch a glimpse of your +ungloved fingers, then again will they make the air ring with +their sweet screams of wonder and amazement, as they compare the +fairness of your hand with their warmer tints, and even with the +hues of your own sunburnt face. Instantly the ringleader of +the gentle rioters imagines a new sin; with tremulous boldness +she touches, then grasps your hand, and smoothes it gently +betwixt her own, and pries curiously into its make and colour, as +though it were silk of Damascus, or shawl of Cashmere. And +when they see you even then still sage and gentle, the joyous +girls will suddenly and screamingly, and all at once, explain to +each other that you are surely quite harmless and innocent, a +lion that makes no spring, a bear that never hugs, and upon this +faith, one after the other, they will take your passive hand, and +strive to explain it, and make it a theme and a +controversy. But the one, the fairest and the sweetest of +all, is yet the most timid; she shrinks from the daring deeds of +her play-mates, and seeks shelter behind their sleeves, and +strives to screen her glowing consciousness from the eyes that +look upon her. But her laughing sisters will have none of +this cowardice; they vow that the fair one <i>shall</i> be their +’complice, <i>shall</i> share their dangers, <i>shall</i> +touch the hand of the stranger; they seize her small wrist, and +drag her forward by force, and at last, whilst yet she strives to +turn away, and to cover up her whole soul under the folds of +downcast eyelids, they vanquish her utmost strength, they +vanquish your utmost modesty, and marry her hand to yours. +The quick pulse springs from her fingers, and throbs like a +whisper upon your listening palm. For an instant her large +timid eyes are upon you; in an instant they are shrouded again, +and there comes a blush so burning, that the frightened girls +stay their shrill laughter, as though they had played too +perilously, and harmed their gentle sister. A moment, and +all with a sudden intelligence turn away and fly like deer, yet +soon again like deer they wheel round and return, and stand, and +gaze upon the danger, until they grow brave once more.</p> +<p>“I regret to observe, that the removal of the moral +restraint imposed by the presence of the Mahometan inhabitants +has led to a certain degree of boisterous, though innocent, +levity in the bearing of the Christians, and more especially in +the demeanour of those who belong to the younger portion of the +female population; but I feel assured that a more thorough +knowledge of the principles of their own pure religion will +speedily restore these young people to habits of propriety, even +more strict than those which were imposed upon them by the +authority of their Mahometan brethren.” Bah! thus you +might chant, if you chose; but loving the truth, you will not so +disown sweet Bethlehem; you will not disown or dissemble your +right good hearty delight when you find, as though in a desert, +this gushing spring of fresh and joyous girlhood.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII—THE DESERT</h2> +<p>Gaza is upon the verge of the Desert, to which it stands in +the same relation as a seaport to the sea. It is there that +you <i>charter</i> your camels (“the ships of the +Desert”), and lay in your stores for the voyage.</p> +<p>These preparations kept me in the town for some days. +Disliking restraint, I declined making myself the guest of the +Governor (as it is usual and proper to do), but took up my +quarters at the caravanserai, or “khan,” as they call +it in that part of Asia.</p> +<p>Dthemetri had to make the arrangements for my journey, and in +order to arm himself with sufficient authority for doing all that +was required, he found it necessary to put himself in +communication with the Governor. The result of this +diplomatic intercourse was that the Governor, with his train of +attendants, came to me one day at my caravanserai, and formally +complained that Dthemetri had grossly insulted him. I was +shocked at this, for the man was always attentive and civil to +me, and I was disgusted at the idea of his having been rewarded +with insult. Dthemetri was present when the complaint was +made, and I angrily asked him whether it was true that he had +really insulted the Governor, and what the deuce he meant by +it. This I asked with the full certainty that Dthemetri, as +a matter of course, would deny the charge, would swear that a +“wrong construction had been put upon his words, and that +nothing was further from his thoughts,” &c. &c., +after the manner of the parliamentary people, but to my surprise +he very plainly answered that he certainly <i>had</i> insulted +the Governor, and that rather grossly, but, he said, it was quite +necessary to do this in order to “strike terror and inspire +respect.” “Terror and respect! What on +earth do you mean by that nonsense?”—“Yes, but +without striking terror and inspiring respect, he (Dthemetri) +would never be able to force on the arrangements for my journey, +and vossignoria would be kept at Gaza for a month!” +This would have been awkward, and certainly I could not deny that +poor Dthemetri had succeeded in his odd plan of inspiring +respect, for at the very time that this explanation was going on +in Italian the Governor seemed more than ever, and more +anxiously, disposed to overwhelm me with assurances of goodwill, +and proffers of his best services. All this kindness, or +promise of kindness, I naturally received with courtesy—a +courtesy that greatly perturbed Dthemetri, for he evidently +feared that my civility would undo all the good that his insults +had achieved.</p> +<p>You will find, I think, that one of the greatest draw-backs to +the pleasure of travelling in Asia is the being obliged, more or +less, to make your way by bullying. It is true that your +own lips are not soiled by the utterance of all the mean words +that are spoken for you, and that you don’t even know of +the sham threats, and the false promises, and the vainglorious +boasts, put forth by your dragoman; but now and then there +happens some incident of the sort which I have just been +mentioning, which forces you to believe, or suspect, that your +dragoman is habitually fighting your battles for you in a way +that you can hardly bear to think of.</p> +<p>A caravanserai is not ill adapted to the purposes for which it +is meant. It forms the four sides of a large quadrangular +court. The ground floor is used for warehouses, the first +floor for guests, and the open court for the temporary reception +of the camels, as well as for the loading and unloading of their +burthens, and the transaction of mercantile business +generally. The apartments used for the guests are small +cells opening into a corridor, which runs round the four sides of +the court.</p> +<p>Whilst I lay near the opening of my cell looking down into the +court below, there arrived from the Desert a caravan, that is, a +large assemblage of travellers. It consisted chiefly of +Moldavian pilgrims, who to make their good work even more than +complete had begun by visiting the shrine of the Virgin in Egypt, +and were now going on to Jerusalem. They had been overtaken +in the Desert by a gale of wind, which so drove the sand and +raised up such mountains before them, that their journey had been +terribly perplexed and obstructed, and their provisions +(including water, the most precious of all) had been exhausted +long before they reached the end of their toilsome march. +They were sadly wayworn. The arrival of the caravan drew +many and various groups into the court. There was the +Moldavian pilgrim with his sable dress and cap of fur and heavy +masses of bushy hair; the Turk, with his various and brilliant +garments; the Arab, superbly stalking under his striped blanket, +that hung like royalty upon his stately form; the jetty Ethiopian +in his slavish frock; the sleek, smooth-faced scribe with his +comely pelisse, and his silver ink-box stuck in like a dagger at +his girdle. And mingled with these were the camels, some +standing, some kneeling and being unladen, some twisting round +their long necks, and gently stealing the straw from out of their +own pack-saddles.</p> +<p>In a couple of days I was ready to start. The way of +providing for the passage of the Desert is this: there is an +agent in the town who keeps himself in communication with some of +the desert Arabs that are hovering within a day’s journey +of the place. A party of these upon being guaranteed +against seizure or other ill-treatment at the hands of the +Governor come into the town, bringing with them the number of +camels which you require, and then they stipulate for a certain +sum to take you to the place of your destination in a given +time. The agreement which they thus enter into includes a +safe conduct through their country as well as the hire of the +camels. According to the contract made with me I was to +reach Cairo within ten days from the commencement of the +journey. I had four camels, one for my baggage, one for +each of my servants, and one for myself. Four Arabs, the +owners of the camels, came with me on foot. My stores were +a small soldier’s tent, two bags of dried bread brought +from the convent at Jerusalem, and a couple of bottles of wine +from the same source, two goat-skins filled with water, tea, +sugar, a cold tongue, and (of all things in the world) a jar of +Irish butter which Mysseri had purchased from some +merchant. There was also a small sack of charcoal, for the +greater part of the Desert through which we were to pass is +destitute of fuel.</p> +<p>The camel kneels to receive her load, and for a while she will +allow the packing to go on with silent resignation; but when she +begins to suspect that her master is putting more than a just +burthen upon her poor hump she turns round her supple neck and +looks sadly upon the increasing load, and then gently +remonstrates against the wrong with the sigh of a patient +wife. If sighs will not move you, she can weep. You +soon learn to pity, and soon to love, her for the sake of her +gentle and womanish ways.</p> +<p>You cannot, of course, put an English or any other riding +saddle upon the back of the camel, but your quilt or carpet, or +whatever you carry for the purpose of lying on at night, is +folded and fastened on to the pack-saddle upon the top of the +hump, and on this you ride, or rather sit. You sit as a man +sits on a chair when he sits astride and faces the back of +it. I made an improvement on this plan. I had my +English stirrups strapped on to the cross-bars of the +pack-saddle, and thus by gaining rest for my dangling legs, and +gaining too the power of varying my position more easily than I +could otherwise have done, I added very much to my comfort. +Don’t forget to do as I did.</p> +<p>The camel, like the elephant, is one of the old-fashioned sort +of animals that still walk along upon the (now nearly exploded) +plan of the ancient beasts that lived before the Flood. She +moves forward both her near legs at the same time, and then +awkwardly swings round her off shoulder and haunch so as to +repeat the manoeuvre on that side. Her pace, therefore, is +an odd, disjointed and disjoining, sort of movement that is +rather disagreeable at first, but you soon grow reconciled to +it. The height to which you are raised is of great +advantage to you in passing the burning sands of the Desert, for +the air at such a distance from the ground is much cooler and +more lively than that which circulates beneath.</p> +<p>For several miles beyond Gaza the land, which had been +plentifully watered by the rains of the last week, was covered +with rich verdure, and thickly jewelled with meadow flowers so +fresh and fragrant, that I began to grow almost uneasy, to fancy +that the very Desert was receding before me, and that the +long-desired adventure of passing its “burning sands” +was to end in a mere ride across a field. But as I advanced +the true character of the country began to display itself with +sufficient clearness to dispel my apprehensions, and before the +close of my first day’s journey I had the gratification of +finding that I was surrounded on all sides by a tract of real +sand, and had nothing at all to complain of except that there +peeped forth at intervals a few isolated blades of grass, and +many of those stunted shrubs which are the accustomed food of the +camel.</p> +<p>Before sunset I came up with an encampment of Arabs (the +encampment from which my camels had been brought), and my tent +was pitched amongst theirs. I was now amongst the true +Bedouins. Almost every man of this race closely resembles +his brethren. Almost every man has large and finely-formed +features; but his face is so thoroughly stripped of flesh, and +the white folds from his headgear fall down by his haggard cheeks +so much in the burial fashion, that he looks quite sad and +ghastly. His large dark orbs roll slowly and solemnly over +the white of his deep-set eyes; his countenance shows painful +thought and long-suffering, the suffering of one fallen from a +high estate. His gait is strangely majestic, and he marches +along with his simple blanket as though he were wearing the +purple. His common talk is a series of piercing screams and +cries, <a name="citation29"></a><a href="#footnote29" +class="citation">[29]</a> more painful to the ear than the most +excruciating fine music that I ever endured.</p> +<p>The Bedouin women are not treasured up like the wives and +daughters of other Orientals, and indeed they seemed almost +entirely free from the restraints imposed by jealousy. The +feint which they made of concealing their faces from me was +always slight. They never, I think, wore the <i>yashmak</i> +properly fixed. When they first saw me they used to hold up +a part of their drapery with one hand across their faces, but +they seldom persevered very steadily in subjecting me to this +privation. Unhappy beings! they were sadly plain. The +awful haggardness that gave something of character to the faces +of the men was sheer ugliness in the poor women. It is a +great shame, but the truth is that, except when we refer to the +beautiful devotion of the mother to her child, all the fine +things we say and think about woman apply only to those who are +tolerably good-looking or graceful. These Arab women were +so plain and clumsy, that they seemed to me to be fit for nothing +but another and a better world. They may have been good +women enough so far as relates to the exercise of the minor +virtues, but they had so grossly neglected the prime duty of +looking pretty in this transitory life, that I could not at all +forgive them. They seemed to feel the weight of their +guilt, and to be truly and humbly penitent. I had the +complete command of their affections, for at any moment I could +make their young hearts bound and their old hearts jump by +offering a handful of tobacco, and yet, believe me, it was not in +the first <i>soirée</i> that my store of Latakia was +exhausted.</p> +<p>The Bedouin women have no religion. This is partly the +cause of their clumsiness. Perhaps if from Christian girls +they would learn how to pray, their souls might become more +gentle, and their limbs be clothed with grace. You who are +going into their country have a direct personal interest in +knowing something about “Arab hospitality”; but the +deuce of it is, that the poor fellows with whom I have happened +to pitch my tent were scarcely ever in a condition to exercise +that magnanimous virtue with much <i>éclat</i>. +Indeed, Mysseri’s canteen generally enabled me to outdo my +hosts in the matter of entertainment. They were always +courteous, however, and were never backward in offering me the +<i>youart</i>, a kind of whey, which is the principal delicacy to +be found amongst the wandering tribes.</p> +<p>Practically, I think, Childe Harold would have found it a +dreadful bore to make “the Desert his +dwelling-place,” for at all events, if he adopted the life +of the Arabs he would have tasted no solitude. The tents +are partitioned, not so as to divide the Childe and the +“fair spirit” who is his “minister” from +the rest of the world, but so as to separate the twenty or thirty +brown men that sit screaming in the one compartment from the +fifty or sixty brown women and children that scream and squeak in +the other. If you adopt the Arab life for the sake of +seclusion you will be horribly disappointed, for you will find +yourself in perpetual contact with a mass of hot +fellow-creatures. It is true that all who are inmates of +the same tent are related to each other, but I am not quite sure +that that circumstance adds much to the charm of such a +life. At all events, before you finally determine to become +an Arab try a gentle experiment. Take one of those small, +shabby houses in May Fair, and shut yourself up in it with forty +or fifty shrill cousins for a couple of weeks in July.</p> +<p>In passing the Desert you will find your Arabs wanting to +start and to rest at all sorts of odd times. They like, for +instance, to be off at one in the morning, and to rest during the +whole of the afternoon. You must not give way to their +wishes in this respect. I tried their plan once, and found +it very harassing and unwholesome. An ordinary tent can +give you very little protection against heat, for the fire +strikes fiercely through single canvas, and you soon find that +whilst you lie crouching and striving to hide yourself from the +blazing face of the sun, his power is harder to bear than it is +where you boldly defy him from the airy heights of your +camel.</p> +<p>It had been arranged with my Arabs that they were to bring +with them all the food which they would want for themselves +during the passage of the Desert, but as we rested at the end of +the first day’s journey by the side of an Arab encampment, +my camel men found all that they required for that night in the +tents of their own brethren. On the evening of the second +day, however, just before we encamped for the night, my four +Arabs came to Dthemetri, and formally announced that they had not +brought with them one atom of food, and that they looked entirely +to my supplies for their daily bread. This was awkward +intelligence. We were now just two days deep in the Desert, +and I had brought with me no more bread than might be reasonably +required for myself and my European attendants. I believed +at the moment (for it seemed likely enough) that the men had +really mistaken the terms of the arrangement, and feeling that +the bore of being put upon half-rations would be a less evil (and +even to myself a less inconvenience) than the starvation of my +Arabs, I at once told Dthemetri to assure them that my bread +should be equally shared with all. Dthemetri, however, did +not approve of this concession; he assured me quite positively +that the Arabs thoroughly understood the agreement, and that if +they were now without food they had wilfully brought themselves +into this strait for the wretched purpose of bettering their +bargain by the value of a few paras’ worth of bread. +This suggestion made me look at the affair in a new light. +I should have been glad enough to put up with the slight +privation to which my concession would subject me, and could have +borne to witness the semi-starvation of poor Dthemetri with a +fine, philosophical calm, but it seemed to me that the scheme, if +scheme it were, had something of audacity in it, and was well +enough calculated to try the extent of my softness. I well +knew the danger of allowing such a trial to result in a +conclusion that I was one who might be easily managed; and +therefore, after thoroughly satisfying myself from +Dthemetri’s clear and repeated assertions that the Arabs +had really understood the arrangement, I determined that they +should not now violate it by taking advantage of my position in +the midst of their big Desert, so I desired Dthemetri to tell +them that they should touch no bread of mine. We stopped, +and the tent was pitched. The Arabs came to me, and prayed +loudly for bread. I refused them.</p> +<p>“Then we die!”</p> +<p>“God’s will be done!”</p> +<p>I gave the Arabs to understand that I regretted their +perishing by hunger, but that I should bear this calmly, like any +other misfortune not my own, that, in short, I was happily +resigned to <i>their</i> fate. The men would have talked a +great deal, but they were under the disadvantage of addressing me +through a hostile interpreter; they looked hard upon my face, but +they found no hope there; so at last they retired as they +pretended, to lay them down and die.</p> +<p>In about ten minutes from this time I found that the Arabs +were busily cooking their bread! Their pretence of having +brought no food was false, and was only invented for the purpose +of saving it. They had a good bag of meal, which they had +contrived to stow away under the baggage upon one of the camels +in such a way as to escape notice. In Europe the detection +of a scheme like this would have occasioned a disagreeable +feeling between the master and the delinquent, but you would no +more recoil from an Oriental on account of a matter of this sort, +than in England you would reject a horse that had tried, and +failed, to throw you. Indeed, I felt quite good-humouredly +towards my Arabs, because they had so woefully failed in their +wretched attempt, and because, as it turned out, I had done what +was right. They too, poor fellows, evidently began to like +me immensely, on account of the hard-heartedness which had +enabled me to baffle their scheme.</p> +<p>The Arabs adhere to those ancestral principles of bread-baking +which have been sanctioned by the experience of ages. The +very first baker of bread that ever lived must have done his work +exactly as the Arab does at this day. He takes some meal +and holds it out in the hollow of his hands, whilst his comrade +pours over it a few drops of water; he then mashes up the +moistened flour into a paste, which he pulls into small pieces, +and thrusts into the embers. His way of baking exactly +resembles the craft or mystery of roasting chestnuts as practised +by children; there is the same prudence and circumspection in +choosing a good berth for the morsel, the same enterprise and +self-sacrificing valour in pulling it out with the fingers.</p> +<p>The manner of my daily march was this. At about an hour +before dawn I rose and made the most of about a pint of water, +which I allowed myself for washing. Then I breakfasted upon +tea and bread. As soon as the beasts were loaded I mounted +my camel and pressed forward. My poor Arabs, being on foot, +would sometimes moan with fatigue and pray for rest; but I was +anxious to enable them to perform their contract for bringing me +to Cairo within the stipulated time, and I did not therefore +allow a halt until the evening came. About midday, or soon +after, Mysseri used to bring up his camel alongside of mine, and +supply me with a piece of bread softened in water (for it was +dried hard like board), and also (as long as it lasted) with a +piece of the tongue; after this there came into my hand (how well +I remember it) the little tin cup half-filled with wine and +water.</p> +<p>As long as you are journeying in the interior of the Desert +you have no particular point to make for as your +resting-place. The endless sands yield nothing but small +stunted shrubs; even these fail after the first two or three +days, and from that time you pass over broad plains, you pass +over newly-reared hills, you pass through valleys that the storm +of the last week has dug, and the hills and the valleys are sand, +sand, sand, still sand, and only sand, and sand and sand +again. The earth is so samely that your eyes turn towards +heaven—towards heaven, I mean, in the sense of sky. +You look to the sun, for he is your task-master, and by him you +know the measure of the work that you have done, and the measure +of the work that remains for you to do. He comes when you +strike your tent in the early morning, and then, for the first +hour of the day as you move forward on your camel, he stands at +your near side and makes you know that the whole day’s toil +is before you; then for a while, and a long while, you see him no +more, for you are veiled and shrouded, and dare not look upon the +greatness of his glory, but you know where he strides overhead by +the touch of his flaming sword. No words are spoken, but +your Arabs moan, your camels sigh, your skin glows, your +shoulders ache, and for sights you see the pattern and the web of +the silk that veils your eyes and the glare of the outer +light. Time labours on; your skin glows and your shoulders +ache, your Arabs moan, your camels sigh, and you see the same +pattern in the silk, and the same glare of light beyond, but +conquering Time marches on, and by-and-by the descending sun has +compassed the heaven, and now softly touches your right arm, and +throws your lank shadow over the sand right along on the way to +Persia. Then again you look upon his face, for his power is +all veiled in his beauty, and the redness of flames has become +the redness of roses; the fair, wavy cloud that fled in the +morning now comes to his sight once more, comes blushing, yet +still comes on, comes burning with blushes, yet hastens and +clings to his side.</p> +<p>Then arrives your time for resting. The world about you +is all your own, and there, where you will, you pitch your +solitary tent; there is no living thing to dispute your +choice. When at last the spot had been fixed upon and we +came to a halt, one of the Arabs would touch the chest of my +camel and utter at the same time a peculiar gurgling sound. +The beast instantly understood and obeyed the sign, and slowly +sunk under me till she brought her body to a level with the +ground, then gladly enough I alighted. The rest of the +camels were unloaded and turned loose to browse upon the shrubs +of the desert, where shrubs there were, or where these failed, to +wait for the small quantity of food that was allowed them out of +our stores.</p> +<p>My servants, helped by the Arabs, busied themselves in +pitching the tent and kindling the fire. Whilst this was +doing I used to walk away towards the east, confiding in the +print of my foot as a guide for my return. Apart from the +cheering voices of my attendants I could better know and feel the +loneliness of the Desert. The influence of such scenes, +however, was not of a softening kind, but filled me rather with a +sort of childish exultation in the self-sufficiency which enabled +me to stand thus alone in the wideness of Asia—a +short-lived pride, for wherever man wanders he still remains +tethered by the chain that links him to his kind; and so when the +night closed around me I began to return, to return, as it were, +to my own gate. Reaching at last some high ground I could +see, and see with delight, the fire of our small encampment, and +when at last I regained the spot it seemed to me a very home that +had sprung up for me in the midst of these solitudes. My +Arabs were busy with their bread; Mysseri rattling tea-cups; the +little kettle, with her odd old-maidish looks, sat humming away +old songs about England; and two or three yards from the fire my +tent stood prim and tight, with open portal, and with welcoming +look, like “the old arm-chair” of our lyrist’s +“sweet Lady Anne.”</p> +<p>At the beginning of my journey the night breeze blew coldly; +when that happened, the dry sand was heaped up outside round the +skirts of the tent, and so the wind, that everywhere else could +sweep as he listed along those dreary plains, was forced to turn +aside in his course and make way, as he ought, for the +Englishman. Then within my tent there were heaps of +luxuries—dining-rooms, dressing-rooms, libraries, bedrooms, +drawing-rooms, oratories, all crowded into the space of a +hearthrug. The first night, I remember, with my books and +maps about me, I wanted light; they brought me a taper, and +immediately from out of the silent Desert there rushed in a flood +of life unseen before. Monsters of moths, of all shapes and +hues, that never before perhaps had looked upon the shining of a +flame, now madly thronged into my tent, and dashed through the +fire of the candle till they fairly extinguished it with their +burning limbs. Those who had failed in attaining this +martyrdom suddenly became serious, and clung despondingly to the +canvas.</p> +<p>By-and-by there was brought to me the fragrant tea and big +masses of scorched and scorching toast, and the butter that had +come all the way to me in this Desert of Asia from out of that +poor, dear, starving Ireland. I feasted like a king, like +four kings, like a boy in the fourth form.</p> +<p>When the cold, sullen morning dawned, and my people began to +load the camels, I always felt loth to give back to the waste +this little spot of ground that had glowed for a while with the +cheerfulness of a human dwelling. One by one the cloaks, +the saddles, the baggage, the hundred things that strewed the +ground and made it look so familiar—all these were taken +away and laid upon the camels. A speck in the broad tracts +of Asia remained still impressed with the mark of patent +portmanteaus and the heels of London boots; the embers of the +fire lay black and cold upon the sand, and these were the signs +we left.</p> +<p>My tent was spared to the last, but when all else was ready +for the start then came its fall; the pegs were drawn, the canvas +shivered, and in less than a minute there was nothing that +remained of my genial home but only a pole and a bundle. +The encroaching Englishman was off, and instant upon the fall of +the canvas, like an owner who had waited and watched, the genius +of the Desert stalked in.</p> +<p>To servants, as I suppose of any other Europeans not much +accustomed to amuse themselves by fancy or memory, it often +happens that after a few days journeying the loneliness of the +Desert will become frightfully oppressive. Upon my poor +fellows the access of melancholy came heavy, and all at once, as +a blow from above; they bent their necks, and bore it as best +they could, but their joy was great on the fifth day when we came +to an oasis called Gatieh, for here we found encamped a caravan +(that is, an assemblage of travellers) from Cairo. The +Orientals living in cities never pass the Desert except in this +way; many will wait for weeks, and even for months, until a +sufficient number of persons can be found ready to undertake the +journey at the same time—until the flock of sheep is big +enough to fancy itself a match for wolves. They could not, +I think, really secure themselves against any serious danger by +this contrivance, for though they have arms, they are so little +accustomed to use them, and so utterly unorganised, that they +never could make good their resistance to robbers of the +slightest respectability. It is not of the Bedouins that +such travellers are afraid, for the safe conduct granted by the +chief of the ruling tribe is never, I believe, violated, but it +is said that there are deserters and scamps of various sorts who +hover about the skirts of the Desert, particularly on the Cairo +side, and are anxious to succeed to the property of any poor +devils whom they may find more weak and defenceless than +themselves.</p> +<p>These people from Cairo professed to be amazed at the +ludicrous disproportion between their numerical forces and +mine. They could not understand, and they wanted to know, +by what strange privilege it is that an Englishman with a brace +of pistols and a couple of servants rides safely across the +Desert, whilst they, the natives of the neighbouring cities, are +forced to travel in troops, or rather in herds. One of them +got a few minutes of private conversation with Dthemetri, and +ventured to ask him anxiously whether the English did not travel +under the protection of evil demons. I had previously known +(from Methley, I think, who had travelled in Persia) that this +notion, so conducive to the safety of our countrymen, is +generally prevalent amongst Orientals. It owes its origin, +partly to the strong wilfulness of the English gentleman (which +not being backed by any visible authority, either civil or +military, seems perfectly superhuman to the soft Asiatic), but +partly too to the magic of the banking system, by force of which +the wealthy traveller will make all his journeys without carrying +a handful of coin, and yet when he arrives at a city will rain +down showers of gold. The theory is, that the English +traveller has committed some sin against God and his conscience, +and that for this the evil spirit has hold of him, and drives him +from his home like a victim of the old Grecian furies, and forces +him to travel over countries far and strange, and most chiefly +over deserts and desolate places, and to stand upon the sites of +cities that once were and are now no more, and to grope among the +tombs of dead men. Often enough there is something of truth +in this notion; often enough the wandering Englishman is guilty +(if guilt it be) of some pride or ambition, big or small, +imperial or parochial, which being offended has made the lone +place more tolerable than ballrooms to him, a sinner.</p> +<p>I can understand the sort of amazement of the Orientals at the +scantiness of the retinue with which an Englishman passes the +Desert, for I was somewhat struck myself when I saw one of my +countrymen making his way across the wilderness in this simple +style. At first there was a mere moving speck on the +horizon. My party of course became all alive with +excitement, and there were many surmises. Soon it appeared +that three laden camels were approaching, and that two of them +carried riders. In a little while we saw that one of the +riders wore the European dress, and at last the travellers were +pronounced to be an English gentleman and his servant. By +their side there were a couple, I think, of Arabs on foot, and +this was the whole party.</p> +<p>You, you love sailing; in returning from a cruise to the +English coast you see often enough a fisherman’s humble +boat far away from all shores, with an ugly black sky above and +an angry sea beneath. You watch the grizzly old man at the +helm carrying his craft with strange skill through the turmoil of +waters, and the boy, supple-limbed, yet weather-worn already, and +with steady eyes that look through the blast, you see him +understanding commandments from the jerk of his father’s +white eyebrow, now belaying and now letting go, now scrunching +himself down into mere ballast, or baling out death with a +pipkin. Stale enough is the sight, and yet when I see it I +always stare anew, and with a kind of Titanic exultation, because +that a poor boat with the brain of a man and the hands of a boy +on board can match herself so bravely against black heaven and +ocean. Well, so when you have travelled for days and days +over an Eastern desert without meeting the likeness of a human +being, and then at last see an English shooting-jacket and his +servant come listlessly slouching along from out of the forward +horizon, you stare at the wide unproportion between this slender +company and the boundless plains of sand through which they are +keeping their way.</p> +<p>This Englishman, as I afterwards found, was a military man +returning to his country from India, and crossing the Desert at +this part in order to go through Palestine. As for me, I +had come pretty straight from England, and so here we met in the +wilderness at about half-way from our respective +starting-points. As we approached each other it became with +me a question whether we should speak. I thought it likely +that the stranger would accost me, and in the event of his doing +so I was quite ready to be as sociable and chatty as I could be +according to my nature; but still I could not think of anything +particular that I had to say to him. Of course, among +civilised people the not having anything to say is no excuse at +all for not speaking, but I was shy and indolent, and I felt no +great wish to stop and talk like a morning visitor in the midst +of those broad solitudes. The traveller perhaps felt as I +did, for except that we lifted our hands to our caps and waved +our arms in courtesy, we passed each other as if we had passed in +Bond Street. Our attendants, however, were not to be +cheated of the delight that they felt in speaking to new +listeners and hearing fresh voices once more. The masters, +therefore, had no sooner passed each other than their respective +servants quietly stopped and entered into conversation. As +soon as my camel found that her companions were not following her +she caught the social feeling and refused to go on. I felt +the absurdity of the situation, and determined to accost the +stranger if only to avoid the awkwardness of remaining stuck fast +in the Desert whilst our servants were amusing themselves. +When with this intent I turned round my camel I found that the +gallant officer who had passed me by about thirty or forty yards +was exactly in the same predicament as myself. I put my now +willing camel in motion and rode up towards the stranger, who +seeing this followed my example and came forward to meet +me. He was the first to speak. He was much too +courteous to address me as if he admitted the possibility of my +wishing to accost him from any feeling of mere sociability or +civilian-like love of vain talk. On the contrary, he at +once attributed my advances to a laudable wish of acquiring +statistical information, and accordingly, when we got within +speaking distance, he said, “I dare say you wish to know +how the plague is going on at Cairo?” And then he +went on to say, he regretted that his information did not enable +him to give me in numbers a perfectly accurate statement of the +daily deaths. He afterwards talked pleasantly enough upon +other and less ghastly subjects. I thought him manly and +intelligent, a worthy one of the few thousand strong Englishmen +to whom the empire of India is committed.</p> +<p>The night after the meeting with the people of the caravan, +Dthemetri, alarmed by their warnings, took upon himself to keep +watch all night in the tent. No robbers came except a +jackal, that poked his nose into my tent from some motive of +rational curiosity. Dthemetri did not shoot him for fear of +waking me. These brutes swarm in every part of Syria, and +there were many of them even in the midst of the void sands, that +would seem to give such poor promise of food. I can hardly +tell what prey they could be hoping for, unless it were that they +might find now and then the carcass of some camel that had died +on the journey. They do not marshal themselves into great +packs like the wild dogs of Eastern cities, but follow their prey +in families, like the place-hunters of Europe. Their voices +are frightfully like to the shouts and cries of human +beings. If you lie awake in your tent at night you are +almost continually hearing some hungry family as it sweeps along +in full cry. You hear the exulting scream with which the +sagacious dam first winds the carrion, and the shrill response of +the unanimous cubs as they sniff the tainted air, “Wha! +wha! wha! wha! wha! wha! Whose gift is it in, +mamma?”</p> +<p>Once during this passage my Arabs lost their way among the +hills of loose sand that surrounded us, but after a while we were +lucky enough to recover our right line of march. The same +day we fell in with a Sheik, the head of a family, that actually +dwells at no great distance from this part of the Desert during +nine months of the year. The man carried a matchlock, of +which he was very proud. We stopped and sat down and rested +awhile for the sake of a little talk. There was much that I +should have liked to ask this man, but he could not understand +Dthemetri’s language, and the process of getting at his +knowledge by double interpretation through my Arabs was +unsatisfactory. I discovered, however (and my Arabs knew of +that fact), that this man and his family lived habitually for +nine months of the year without touching or seeing either bread +or water. The stunted shrub growing at intervals through +the sand in this part of the Desert enables the camel mares to +yield a little milk, which furnishes the sole food and drink of +their owner and his people. During the other three months +(the hottest of the months, I suppose) even this resource fails, +and then the Sheik and his people are forced to pass into another +district. You would ask me why the man should not remain +always in that district which supplies him with water during +three months of the year, but I don’t know enough of Arab +politics to answer the question. The Sheik was not a good +specimen of the effect produced by the diet to which he is +subjected. He was very small, very spare, and sadly +shrivelled, a poor, over-roasted snipe, a mere cinder of a +man. I made him sit down by my side, and gave him a piece +of bread and a cup of water from out of my goat-skins. This +was not very tempting drink to look at, for it had become turbid, +and was deeply reddened by some colouring matter contained in the +skins, but it kept its sweetness, and tasted like a strong +decoction of russia leather. The Sheik sipped this, drop by +drop, with ineffable relish, and rolled his eyes solemnly round +between every draught, as though the drink were the drink of the +Prophet, and had come from the seventh heaven.</p> +<p>An inquiry about distances led to the discovery that this +Sheik had never heard of the division of time into hours; my +Arabs themselves, I think, were rather surprised at this.</p> +<p>About this part of my journey I saw the likeness of a +fresh-water lake. I saw, as it seemed, a broad sheet of +calm water, that stretched far and fair towards the south, +stretching deep into winding creeks, and hemmed in by jutting +promontories, and shelving smooth off towards the shallow +side. On its bosom the reflected fire of the sun lay +playing, and seeming to float upon waters deep and still.</p> +<p>Though I knew of the cheat, it was not till the spongy foot of +my camel had almost trodden in the seeming waters that I could +undeceive my eyes, for the shore-line was quite true and +natural. I soon saw the cause of the phantasm. A +sheet of water heavily impregnated with salts had filled this +great hollow, and when dried up by evaporation had left a white +saline deposit, that exactly marked the space which the waters +had covered, and thus sketched a good shore-line. The +minute crystals of the salt sparkled in the sun, and so looked +like the face of a lake that is calm and smooth.</p> +<p>The pace of the camel is irksome, and makes your shoulders and +loins ache from the peculiar way in which you are obliged to suit +yourself to the movements of the beast, but you soon of course +become inured to this, and after the first two days this way of +travelling became so familiar to me, that (poor sleeper as I am) +I now and then slumbered for some moments together on the back of +my camel. On the fifth day of my journey the air above lay +dead, and all the whole earth that I could reach with my utmost +sight and keenest listening was still and lifeless as some +dispeopled and forgotten world that rolls round and round in the +heavens through wasted floods of light. The sun growing +fiercer and fiercer shone down more mightily now than ever on me +he shone before, and as I dropped my head under his fire, and +closed my eyes against the glare that surrounded me, I slowly +fell asleep, for how many minutes or moments I cannot tell, but +after a while I was gently awakened by a peal of church bells, my +native bells, the innocent bells of Marlen, that never before +sent forth their music beyond the Blaygon hills! My first +idea naturally was, that I still remained fast under the power of +a dream. I roused myself and drew aside the silk that +covered my eyes, and plunged my bare face into the light. +Then at least I was well enough wakened, but still those old +Marlen bells rung on, not ringing for joy, but properly, prosily, +steadily, merrily ringing “for church.” After a +while the sound died away slowly. It happened that neither +I nor any of my party had a watch by which to measure the exact +time of its lasting, but it seemed to me that about ten minutes +had passed before the bells ceased. I attributed the effect +to the great heat of the sun, the perfect dryness of the clear +air through which I moved, and the deep stillness of all around +me. It seemed to me that these causes, by occasioning a +great tension, and consequent susceptibility, of the hearing +organs had rendered them liable to tingle under the passing touch +of some mere memory that must have swept across my brain in a +moment of sleep. Since my return to England it has been +told me that like sounds have been heard at sea, and that the +sailor becalmed under a vertical sun in the midst of the wide +ocean has listened in trembling wonder to the chime of his own +village bells.</p> +<p>At this time I kept a poor shabby pretence of a journal, which +just enabled me to know the day of the month and the week +according to the European calendar, and when in my tent at night +I got out my pocket-book I found that the day was Sunday, and +roughly allowing for the difference of time in this longitude, I +concluded that at the moment of my hearing that strange peal the +church-going bells of Marlen must have been actually calling the +prim congregation of the parish to morning prayer. The +coincidence amused me faintly, but I could not pluck up the least +hope that the effect which I had experienced was anything other +than an illusion, an illusion liable to be explained (as every +illusion is in these days) by some of the philosophers who guess +at Nature’s riddles. It would have been sweeter to +believe that my kneeling mother by some pious enchantment had +asked, and found, this spell to rouse me from my scandalous +forgetfulness of God’s holy day, but my fancy was too weak +to carry a faith like that. Indeed, the vale through which +the bells of Marlen send their song is a highly respectable vale, +and its people (save one, two, or three) are wholly unaddicted to +the practice of magical arts.</p> +<p>After the fifth day of my journey I no longer travelled over +shifting hills, but came upon a dead level, a dead level bed of +sand, quite hard, and studded with small shining pebbles.</p> +<p>The heat grew fierce; there was no valley nor hollow, no hill, +no mound, no shadow of hill nor of mound, by which I could mark +the way I was making. Hour by hour I advanced, and saw no +change—I was still the very centre of a round horizon; hour +by hour I advanced, and still there was the same, and the same, +and the same—the same circle of flaming sky—the same +circle of sand still glaring with light and fire. Over all +the heaven above, over all the earth beneath, there was no +visible power that could balk the fierce will of the sun: +“he rejoiced as a strong man to run a race; his going forth +was from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of +it; and there was nothing hid from the heat thereof.” +From pole to pole, and from the east to the west, he brandished +his fiery sceptre as though he had usurped all heaven and +earth. As he bid the soft Persian in ancient times, so now, +and fiercely too, he bid me bow down and worship him; so now in +his pride he seemed to command me, and say, “Thou shalt +have none other gods but me.” I was all alone before +him. There were these two pitted together, and face to +face—the mighty sun for one, and for the other this poor, +pale, solitary self of mine, that I always carry about with +me.</p> +<p>But on the eighth day, and before I had yet turned away from +Jehovah for the glittering god of the Persians, there appeared a +dark line upon the edge of the forward horizon, and soon the line +deepened into a delicate fringe, that sparkled here and there as +though it were sewn with diamonds. There, then, before me +were the gardens and the minarets of Egypt and the mighty works +of the Nile, and I (the eternal Ego that I am!)—I had lived +to see, and I saw them.</p> +<p>When evening came I was still within the confines of the +Desert, and my tent was pitched as usual; but one of my Arabs +stalked away rapidly towards the west, without telling me of the +errand on which he was bent. After a while he returned; he +had toiled on a graceful service; he had travelled all the way on +to the border of the living world, and brought me back for token +an ear of rice, full, fresh, and green.</p> +<p>The next day I entered upon Egypt, and floated along (for the +delight was as the delight of bathing) through green wavy fields +of rice, and pastures fresh and plentiful, and dived into the +cold verdure of groves and gardens, and quenched my hot eyes in +shade, as though in deep, rushing waters.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII—CAIRO AND THE PLAGUE <a +name="citation30"></a><a href="#footnote30" +class="citation">[30]</a></h2> +<p>Cairo and plague! During the whole time of my stay the +plague was so master of the city, and showed itself so staringly +in every street and every alley, that I can’t now affect to +dissociate the two ideas.</p> +<p>When coming from the Desert I rode through a village which +lies near to the city on the eastern side, there approached me +with busy face and earnest gestures a personage in the Turkish +dress. His long flowing beard gave him rather a majestic +look, but his briskness of manner, and his visible anxiety to +accost me, seemed strange in an Oriental. The man in fact +was French, or of French origin, and his object was to warn me of +the plague, and prevent me from entering the city.</p> +<p>“Arrêtez-vous, monsieur, je vous en +prie—arrêtez-vous; il ne faut pas entrer dans la +ville; la peste y règne partout.”</p> +<p>“Oui, je sais, <a name="citation31"></a><a +href="#footnote31" class="citation">[31]</a> +mais—”</p> +<p>“Mais monsieur, je dis la peste—la peste; +c’est de <span class="smcap">la peste</span>, qu’il +est question.”</p> +<p>“Oui, je sais, mais—”</p> +<p>“Mais monsieur, je dis encore <span class="smcap">la +peste</span>—<span class="smcap">la peste</span>. Je +vous conjure de ne pas entrer dans la ville—vous seriez +dans une ville empestée.”</p> +<p>“Oui, je sais, mais—”</p> +<p>“Mais monsieur, je dois donc vous avertir tout bonnement +que si vous entrez dans la ville, vous serez—enfin vous +serez <span class="smcap">compromis</span>!” <a +name="citation32"></a><a href="#footnote32" +class="citation">[32]</a></p> +<p>“Oui, je sais, mais—”</p> +<p>The Frenchman was at last convinced that it was vain to reason +with a mere Englishman, who could not understand what it was to +be “compromised.” I thanked him most sincerely +for his kindly meant warning; in hot countries it is very unusual +indeed for a man to go out in the glare of the sun and give free +advice to a stranger.</p> +<p>When I arrived at Cairo I summoned Osman Effendi, who was, as +I knew, the owner of several houses, and would be able to provide +me with apartments. He had no difficulty in doing this, for +there was not one European traveller in Cairo besides +myself. Poor Osman! he met me with a sorrowful countenance, +for the fear of the plague sat heavily on his soul. He +seemed as if he felt that he was doing wrong in lending me a +resting-place, and he betrayed such a listlessness about temporal +matters, as one might look for in a man who believed that his +days were numbered. He caught me too soon after my arrival +coming out from the public baths, <a name="citation33"></a><a +href="#footnote33" class="citation">[33]</a> and from that time +forward he was sadly afraid of me, for he shared the opinions of +Europeans with respect to the effect of contagion.</p> +<p>Osman’s history is a curious one. He was a +Scotchman born, and when very young, being then a drummer-boy, he +landed in Egypt with Fraser’s force. He was taken +prisoner, and according to Mahometan custom, the alternative of +death or the Koran was offered to him; he did not choose death, +and therefore went through the ceremonies which were necessary +for turning him into a good Mahometan. But what amused me +most in his history was this, that very soon after having +embraced Islam he was obliged in practice to become curious and +discriminating in his new faith, to make war upon Mahometan +dissenters, and follow the orthodox standard of the Prophet in +fierce campaigns against the Wahabees, who are the Unitarians of +the Mussulman world. The Wahabees were crushed, and Osman +returning home in triumph from his holy wars, began to flourish +in the world. He acquired property, and became +<i>effendi</i>, or gentleman. At the time of my visit to +Cairo he seemed to be much respected by his brother Mahometans, +and gave pledge of his sincere alienation from Christianity by +keeping a couple of wives. He affected the same sort of +reserve in mentioning them as is generally shown by +Orientals. He invited me, indeed, to see his harem, but he +made both his wives bundle out before I was admitted. He +felt, as it seemed to me, that neither of them would bear +criticism, and I think that this idea, rather than any motive of +sincere jealousy, induced him to keep them out of sight. +The rooms of the harem reminded me of an English nursery rather +than of a Mahometan paradise. One is apt to judge of a +woman before one sees her by the air of elegance or coarseness +with which she surrounds her home; I judged Osman’s wives +by this test, and condemned them both. But the strangest +feature in Osman’s character was his inextinguishable +nationality. In vain they had brought him over the seas in +early boyhood; in vain had he suffered captivity, conversion, +circumcision; in vain they had passed him through fire in their +Arabian campaigns, they could not cut away or burn out poor +Osman’s inborn love of all that was Scotch; in vain men +called him Effendi; in vain he swept along in eastern robes; in +vain the rival wives adorned his harem: the joy of his heart +still plainly lay in this, that he had three shelves of books, +and that the books were thoroughbred Scotch—the Edinburgh +this, the Edinburgh that, and above all, I recollect, he prided +himself upon the “Edinburgh Cabinet Library.”</p> +<p>The fear of the plague is its forerunner. It is likely +enough that at the time of my seeing poor Osman the deadly taint +was beginning to creep through his veins, but it was not till +after I had left Cairo that he was visibly stricken. He +died.</p> +<p>As soon as I had seen all that I wanted to see in Cairo and in +the neighbourhood I wished to make my escape from a city that lay +under the terrible curse of the plague, but Mysseri fell ill, in +consequence, I believe, of the hardships which he had been +suffering in my service. After a while he recovered +sufficiently to undertake a journey, but then there was some +difficulty in procuring beasts of burthen, and it was not till +the nineteenth day of my sojourn that I quitted the city.</p> +<p>During all this time the power of the plague was rapidly +increasing. When I first arrived, it was said that the +daily number of “accidents” by plague, out of a +population of about two hundred thousand, did not exceed four or +five hundred, but before I went away the deaths were reckoned at +twelve hundred a day. I had no means of knowing whether the +numbers (given out, as I believe they were, by officials) were at +all correct, but I could not help knowing that from day to day +the number of the dead was increasing. My quarters were in +a street which was one of the chief thoroughfares of the +city. The funerals in Cairo take place between daybreak and +noon, and as I was generally in my rooms during this part of the +day, I could form some opinion as to the briskness of the +plague. I don’t mean this for a sly insinuation that +I got up every morning with the sun. It was not so; but the +funerals of most people in decent circumstances at Cairo are +attended by singers and howlers, and the performances of these +people woke me in the early morning, and prevented me from +remaining in ignorance of what was going on in the street +below.</p> +<p>These funerals were very simply conducted. The bier was +a shallow wooden tray, carried upon a light and weak wooden +frame. The tray had, in general, no lid, but the body was +more or less hidden from view by a shawl or scarf. The +whole was borne upon the shoulders of men, who contrived to cut +along with their burthen at a great pace. Two or three +singers generally preceded the bier; the howlers (who are paid +for their vocal labours) followed after, and last of all came +such of the dead man’s friends and relations as could keep +up with such a rapid procession; these, especially the women, +would get terribly blown, and would straggle back into the rear; +many were fairly “beaten off.” I never observed +any appearance of mourning in the mourners: the pace was too +severe for any solemn affectation of grief.</p> +<p>When first I arrived at Cairo the funerals that daily passed +under my windows were many, but still there were frequent and +long intervals without a single howl. Every day, however +(except one, when I fancied that I observed a diminution of +funerals), these intervals became less frequent and shorter, and +at last, the passing of the howlers from morn till noon was +almost incessant. I believe that about one-half of the +whole people was carried off by this visitation. The +Orientals, however, have more quiet fortitude than Europeans +under afflictions of this sort, and they never allow the plague +to interfere with their religious usages. I rode one day +round the great burial-ground. The tombs are strewed over a +great expanse, among the vast mountains of rubbish (the +accumulations of many centuries) which surround the city. +The ground, unlike the Turkish “cities of the dead,” +which are made so beautiful by their dark cypresses, has nothing +to sweeten melancholy, nothing to mitigate the odiousness of +death. Carnivorous beasts and birds possess the place by +night, and now in the fair morning it was all alive with fresh +comers—alive with dead. Yet at this very time, when +the plague was raging so furiously, and on this very ground, +which resounded so mournfully with the howls of arriving +funerals, preparations were going on for the religious festival +called the Kourban Bairam. Tents were pitched, and +<i>swings hung for the amusement of children</i>—a ghastly +holiday; but the Mahometans take a pride, and a just pride, in +following their ancient customs undisturbed by the shadow of +death.</p> +<p>I did not hear, whilst I was at Cairo, that any prayer for a +remission of the plague had been offered up in the mosques. +I believe that however frightful the ravages of the disease may +be, the Mahometans refrain from approaching Heaven with their +complaints until the plague has endured for a long space, and +then at last they pray God, not that the plague may cease, but +that it may go to another city!</p> +<p>A good Mussulman seems to take pride in repudiating the +European notion that the will of God can be eluded by eluding the +touch of a sleeve. When I went to see the pyramids of +Sakkara I was the guest of a noble old fellow, an Osmanlee, whose +soft rolling language it was a luxury to hear after suffering, as +I had suffered of late, from the shrieking tongue of the +Arabs. This man was aware of the European ideas about +contagion, and his first care therefore was to assure me that not +a single instance of plague had occurred in his village. He +then inquired as to the progress of the plague at Cairo. I +had but a bad account to give. Up to this time my host had +carefully refrained from touching me out of respect to the +European theory of contagion, but as soon as it was made plain +that he, and not I, would be the person endangered by contact, he +gently laid his hand upon my arm, in order to make me feel sure +that the circumstance of my coming from an infected city did not +occasion him the least uneasiness. In that touch there was +true hospitality.</p> +<p>Very different is the faith and the practice of the Europeans, +or rather, I mean of the Europeans settled in the East, and +commonly called Levantines. When I came to the end of my +journey over the Desert I had been so long alone, that the +prospect of speaking to somebody at Cairo seemed almost a new +excitement. I felt a sort of consciousness that I had a +little of the wild beast about me, but I was quite in the humour +to be charmingly tame, and to be quite engaging in my manners, if +I should have an opportunity of holding communion with any of the +human race whilst at Cairo. I knew no one in the place, and +had no letters of introduction, but I carried letters of credit, +and it often happens in places remote from England that those +“advices” operate as a sort of introduction, and +obtain for the bearer (if disposed to receive them) such ordinary +civilities as it may be in the power of the banker to offer.</p> +<p>Very soon after my arrival I went to the house of the +Levantine to whom my credentials were addressed. At his +door several persons (all Arabs) were hanging about and keeping +guard. It was not till after some delay, and the passing of +some communications with those in the interior of the citadel, +that I was admitted. At length, however, I was conducted +through the court, and up a flight of stairs, and finally into +the apartment where business was transacted. The room was +divided by an excellent, substantial fence of iron bars, and +behind this grille the banker had his station. The truth +was, that from fear of the plague he had adopted the course +usually taken by European residents, and had shut himself up +“in strict quarantine”—that is to say, that he +had, as he hoped, cut himself off from all communication with +infecting substances. The Europeans long resident in the +East, without any, or with scarcely any, exception are firmly +convinced that the plague is propagated by contact, and by +contact only; that if they can but avoid the touch of an +infecting substance they are safe, and that if they cannot, they +die. This belief induces them to adopt the contrivance of +putting themselves in that state of siege which they call +“quarantine.” It is a part of their faith that +metals, and hempen rope, and also, I fancy, one or two other +substances, will not carry the infection; and they likewise +believe that the germ of pestilence, which lies in an infected +substance, may be destroyed by submersion in water, or by the +action of smoke. They therefore guard the doors of their +houses with the utmost care against intrusion, and condemn +themselves, with all the members of their family, including any +European servants, to a strict imprisonment within the walls of +their dwelling. Their native attendants are not allowed to +enter at all, but they make the necessary purchases of +provisions, which are hauled up through one of the windows by +means of a rope, and are then soaked in water.</p> +<p>I knew nothing of these mysteries, and was not therefore +prepared for the sort of reception which I met with. I +advanced to the iron fence, and putting my letter between the +bars, politely proffered it to Mr. Banker. Mr. Banker +received me with a sad and dejected look, and not “with +open arms,” or with any arms at all, but with—a pair +of tongs! I placed my letter between the iron fingers, +which picked it up as if it were a viper, and conveyed it away to +be scorched and purified by fire and smoke. I was disgusted +at this reception, and at the idea that anything of mine could +carry infection to the poor wretch who stood on the other side of +the grille, pale and trembling, and already meet for death. +I looked with something of the Mahometan’s feeling upon +these little contrivances for eluding fate; and in this instance, +at least, they were vain. A few more days, and the poor +money-changer, who had striven to guard the days of his life (as +though they were coins) with bolts and bars of iron—he was +seized by the plague, and he died.</p> +<p>To people entertaining such opinions as these respecting the +fatal effect of contact, the narrow and crowded streets of Cairo +were terrible as the easy slope that leads to Avernus. The +roaring ocean and the beetling crags owe something of their +sublimity to this—that if they be tempted, they can take +the warm life of a man. To the contagionist, filled as he +is with the dread of final causes, having no faith in destiny nor +in the fixed will of God, and with none of the devil-may-care +indifference which might stand him instead of creeds—to +such one, every rag that shivers in the breeze of a +plague-stricken city has this sort of sublimity. If by any +terrible ordinance he be forced to venture forth, he sees death +dangling from every sleeve, and as he creeps forward, he poises +his shuddering limbs between the imminent jacket that is stabbing +at his right elbow and the murderous pelisse that threatens to +mow him clean down as it sweeps along on his left. But most +of all, he dreads that which most of all he should love—the +touch of a woman’s dress; for mothers and wives, hurrying +forth on kindly errands from the bedsides of the dying, go +slouching along through the streets more wilfully and less +courteously than the men. For a while it may be that the +caution of the poor Levantine may enable him to avoid contact, +but sooner or later perhaps the dreaded chance arrives; that +bundle of linen, with the dark tearful eyes at the top of it, +that labours along with the voluptuous clumsiness of +Grisi—she has touched the poor Levantine with the hem of +her sleeve! From that dread moment his peace is gone; his +mind, for ever hanging upon the fatal touch, invites the blow +which he fears. He watches for the symptoms of plague so +carefully, that sooner or later they come in truth. The +parched mouth is a sign—his mouth is parched; the throbbing +brain—his brain <i>does</i> throb; the rapid pulse—he +touches his own wrist (for he dares not ask counsel of any man +lest he be deserted), he touches his wrist, and feels how his +frighted blood goes galloping out of his heart; there is nothing +but the fatal swelling that is wanting to make his sad conviction +complete; immediately he has an odd feel under the arm—no +pain, but a little straining of the skin; he would to God it were +his fancy that were strong enough to give him that +sensation. This is the worst of all; it now seems to him +that he could be happy and contented with his parched mouth and +his throbbing brain and his rapid pulse, if only he could know +that there were no swelling under the left arm; but dare he +try?—In a moment of calmness and deliberation he dares not, +but when for a while he has writhed under the torture of +suspense, a sudden strength of will drives him to seek and know +his fate. He touches the gland, and finds the skin sane and +sound, but under the cuticle there lies a small lump like a +pistol-bullet, that moves as he pushes it. Oh! but is this +for all certainty, is this the sentence of death? Feel the +gland of the other arm; there is not the same lump exactly, yet +something a little like it: have not some people glands naturally +enlarged?—would to Heaven he were one! So he does for +himself the work of the plague, and when the Angel of Death, thus +courted, does indeed and in truth come, he has only to finish +that which has been so well begun; he passes his fiery hand over +the brain of the victim, and lets him rave for a season, but all +chance-wise, of people and things once dear, or of people and +things indifferent. Once more the poor fellow is back at +his home in fair Provence, and sees the sun-dial that stood in +his childhood’s garden; sees part of his mother, and the +long-since-forgotten face of that little dead sister (he sees +her, he says, on a Sunday morning, for all the church bells are +ringing); he looks up and down through the universe, and owns it +well piled with bales upon bales of cotton, and cotton +eternal—so much so that he feels, he knows, he swears he +could make that winning hazard, if the billiard table would not +slant upwards, and if the cue were a cue worth playing with; but +it is not—it’s a cue that won’t move—his +own arm won’t move—in short, there’s the devil +to pay in the brain of the poor Levantine, and perhaps the next +night but one he becomes the “life and the soul” of +some squalling jackal family who fish him out by the foot from +his shallow and sandy grave.</p> +<p>Better fate was mine. By some happy perverseness +(occasioned perhaps by my disgust at the notion of being received +with a pair of tongs) I took it into my pleasant head that all +the European notions about contagion were thoroughly unfounded; +that the plague might be providential or “epidemic” +(as they phrase it), but was not contagious; and that I could not +be killed by the touch of a woman’s sleeve, nor yet by her +blessed breath. I therefore determined that the plague +should not alter my habits and amusements in any one +respect. Though I came to this resolve from impulse, I +think that I took the course which was in effect the most +prudent, for the cheerfulness of spirits which I was thus enabled +to retain discouraged the yellow-winged angel, and prevented him +from taking a shot at me. I, however, so far respected the +opinion of the Europeans, that I avoided touching when I could do +so without privation or inconvenience. This endeavour +furnished me with a sort of amusement as I passed through the +streets. The usual mode of moving from place to place in +the city of Cairo is upon donkeys, of which great numbers are +always in readiness, with donkey-boys attached. I had two +who constantly (until one of them died of the plague) waited at +my door upon the chance of being wanted. I found this way +of moving about exceedingly pleasant, and never attempted any +other. I had only to mount my beast, and tell my donkey-boy +the point for which I was bound, and instantly I began to glide +on at a capital pace. The streets of Cairo are not paved in +any way, but strewed with a dry sandy soil, so deadening to +sound, that the footfall of my donkey could scarcely be +heard. There is no <i>trottoir</i>, and as you ride through +the streets you mingle with the people on foot. Those who +are in your way, upon being warned by the shouts of the +donkey-boy, move very slightly aside, so as to leave you a narrow +lane, through which you pass at a gallop. In this way you +glide on delightfully in the very midst of crowds, without being +inconvenienced or stopped for a moment. It seems to you +that it is not the donkey but the donkey-boy who wafts you on +with his shouts through pleasant groups, and air that feels thick +with the fragrance of burial spice. “Eh! Sheik, +Eh! Bint,—reggalek,—“shumalek, &c. +&c.—O old man, O virgin, get out of the way on the +right—O virgin, O old man, get out of the way on the +left—this Englishman comes, he comes, he +comes!” The narrow alley which these shouts cleared +for my passage made it possible, though difficult, to go on for a +long way without touching a single person, and my endeavours to +avoid such contact were a sort of game for me in my loneliness, +which was not without interest. If I got through a street +without being touched, I won; if I was touched, I lost—lost +a deuce of stake, according to the theory of the Europeans; but +that I deemed to be all nonsense—I only lost that game, and +would certainly win the next.</p> +<p>There is not much in the way of public buildings to admire at +Cairo, but I saw one handsome mosque, to which an instructive +history is attached. A Hindustanee merchant having amassed +an immense fortune settled in Cairo, and soon found that his +riches in the then state of the political world gave him vast +power in the city—power, however, the exercise of which was +much restrained by the counteracting influence of other wealthy +men. With a view to extinguish every attempt at rivalry the +Hindustanee merchant built this magnificent mosque at his own +expense. When the work was complete, he invited all the +leading men of the city to join him in prayer within the walls of +the newly built temple, and he then caused to be massacred all +those who were sufficiently influential to cause him any jealousy +or uneasiness—in short, all “the respectable +men” of the place; after this he possessed undisputed power +in the city and was greatly revered—he is revered to this +day. It seemed to me that there was a touching simplicity +in the mode which this man so successfully adopted for gaining +the confidence and goodwill of his fellow-citizens. There +seems to be some improbability in the story (though not nearly so +gross as it might appear to an European ignorant of the East, for +witness Mehemet Ali’s destruction of the Mamelukes, a +closely similar act, and attended with the like brilliant success +<a name="citation34"></a><a href="#footnote34" +class="citation">[34]</a>), but even if the story be false as a +mere fact, it is perfectly true as an illustration—it is a +true exposition of the means by which the respect and affection +of Orientals may be conciliated.</p> +<p>I ascended one day to the citadel, which commands a superb +view of the town. The fanciful and elaborate gilt-work of +the many minarets gives a light and florid grace to the city as +seen from this height, but before you can look for many seconds +at such things your eyes are drawn westward—drawn westward +and over the Nile, till they rest upon the massive enormities of +the Ghizeh Pyramids.</p> +<p>I saw within the fortress many yoke of men all haggard and +woebegone, and a kennel of very fine lions well fed and +flourishing: I say <i>yoke</i> of men, for the poor fellows were +working together in bonds; I say a <i>kennel</i> of lions, for +the beasts were not enclosed in cages, but simply chained up like +dogs.</p> +<p>I went round the bazaars: it seemed to me that pipes and arms +were cheaper here than at Constantinople, and I should advise you +therefore if you go to both places to prefer the market of +Cairo. I had previously bought several of such things at +Constantinople, and did not choose to encumber myself, or to +speak more honestly, I did not choose to disencumber my purse by +making any more purchases. In the open slave-market I saw +about fifty girls exposed for sale, but all of them black, or +“invisible” brown. A slave agent took me to +some rooms in the upper storey of the building, and also into +several obscure houses in the neighbourhood, with a view to show +me some white women. The owners raised various objections +to the display of their ware, and well they might, for I had not +the least notion of purchasing; some refused on account of the +illegality of the proceeding, <a name="citation35"></a><a +href="#footnote35" class="citation">[35]</a> and others declared +that all transactions of this sort were completely out of the +question as long as the plague was raging. I only succeeded +in seeing one white slave who was for sale but on this one the +owner affected to set an immense value, and raised my +expectations to a high pitch by saying that the girl was +Circassian, and was “fair as the full moon.” +After a good deal of delay I was at last led into a room, at the +farther end of which was that mass of white linen which indicates +an Eastern woman. She was bid to uncover her face, and I +presently saw that, though very far from being good looking, +according to my notion of beauty, she had not been inaptly +described by the man who compared her to the full moon, for her +large face was perfectly round and perfectly white. Though +very young, she was nevertheless extremely fat. She gave me +the idea of having been got up for sale, of having been fattened +and whitened by medicines or by some peculiar diet. I was +firmly determined not to see any more of her than the face. +She was perhaps disgusted at this my virtuous resolve, as well as +with my personal appearance; perhaps she saw my distaste and +disappointment; perhaps she wished to gain favour with her owner +by showing her attachment to his faith: at all events, she +holloaed out very lustily and very decidedly that “she +would not be bought by the infidel.”</p> +<p>Whilst I remained at Cairo I thought it worth while to see +something of the magicians, because I considered that these men +were in some sort the descendants of those who contended so +stoutly against the superior power of Aaron. I therefore +sent for an old man who was held to be the chief of the +magicians, and desired him to show me the wonders of his +art. The old man looked and dressed his character +exceedingly well; the vast turban, the flowing beard, and the +ample robes were all that one could wish in the way of +appearance. The first experiment (a very stale one) which +he attempted to perform for me was that of showing the forms and +faces of my absent friends, not to me, but to a boy brought in +from the streets for the purpose, and said to be chosen at +random. A <i>mangale</i> (pan of burning charcoal) was +brought into my room, and the magician bending over it, sprinkled +upon the fire some substances which must have consisted partly of +spices or sweetly burning woods, for immediately a fragrant smoke +arose that curled around the bending form of the wizard, the +while that he pronounced his first incantations. When these +were over the boy was made to sit down, and a common green shade +was bound over his brow; then the wizard took ink, and still +continuing his incantations, wrote certain mysterious figures +upon the boy’s palm, and directed him to rivet his +attention to these marks without looking aside for an +instant. Again the incantations proceeded, and after a +while the boy, being seemingly a little agitated, was asked +whether he saw anything on the palm of his hand. He +declared that he saw a kind of military procession, with flags +and banners, which he described rather minutely. I was then +called upon to name the absent person whose form was to be made +visible. I named Keate. You were not at Eton, and I +must tell you, therefore, what manner of man it was that I named, +though I think you must have some idea of him already, for +wherever from utmost Canada to Bundelcund—wherever there +was the whitewashed wall of an officer’s room, or of any +other apartment in which English gentlemen are forced to kick +their heels, there likely enough (in the days of his reign) the +head of Keate would be seen scratched or drawn with those various +degrees of skill which one observes in the representations of +saints. Anybody without the least notion of drawing could +still draw a speaking, nay scolding, likeness of Keate. If +you had no pencil, you could draw him well enough with a poker, +or the leg of a chair, or the smoke of a candle. He was +little more (if more at all) than five feet in height, and was +not very great in girth, but in this space was concentrated the +pluck of ten battalions. He had a really noble voice, which +he could modulate with great skill, but he had also the power of +quacking like an angry duck, and he almost always adopted this +mode of communication in order to inspire respect. He was a +capital scholar, but his ingenuous learning had <i>not</i> +“softened his manners” and <i>had</i> +“permitted them to be fierce”—tremendously +fierce; he had the most complete command over his temper—I +mean over his <i>good</i> temper, which he scarcely ever allowed +to appear: you could not put him out of humour—that is, out +of the <i>ill</i>-humour which he thought to be fitting for a +head-master. His red shaggy eyebrows were so prominent, +that he habitually used them as arms and hands for the purpose of +pointing out any object towards which he wished to direct +attention; the rest of his features were equally striking in +their way, and were all and all his own; he wore a fancy dress +partly resembling the costume of Napoleon, and partly that of a +widow-woman. I could not by any possibility have named +anybody more decidedly differing in appearance from the rest of +the human race.</p> +<p>“Whom do you name?”—“I name John +Keate.”—“Now, what do you see?” said the +wizard to the boy.—“I see,” answered the boy, +“I see a fair girl with golden hair, blue eyes, pallid +face, rosy lips.” <i>There</i> was a shot! I +shouted out my laughter to the horror of the wizard, who +perceiving the grossness of his failure, declared that the boy +must have known sin (for none but the innocent can see truth), +and accordingly kicked him downstairs.</p> +<p>One or two other boys were tried, but none could “see +truth”; they all made sadly “bad shots.”</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the failure of these experiments, I wished to +see what sort of mummery my magician would practise if I called +upon him to show me some performances of a higher order than +those which had been attempted. I therefore entered into a +treaty with him, in virtue of which he was to descend with me +into the tombs near the Pyramids, and there evoke the +devil. The negotiation lasted some time, for Dthemetri, as +in duty bound, tried to beat down the wizard as much as he could, +and the wizard, on his part, manfully stuck up for his price, +declaring that to raise the devil was really no joke, and +insinuating that to do so was an awesome crime. I let +Dthemetri have his way in the negotiation, but I felt in reality +very indifferent about the sum to be paid, and for this reason, +namely, that the payment (except a very small present which I +might make or not, as I chose) was to be <i>contingent on +success</i>. At length the bargain was made, and it was +arranged that after a few days, to be allowed for preparation, +the wizard should raise the devil for two pounds ten, play or +pay—no devil, no piastres.</p> +<p>The wizard failed to keep his appointment. I sent to +know why the deuce he had not come to raise the devil. The +truth was, that my Mahomet had gone to the mountain. The +plague had seized him, and he died.</p> +<p>Although the plague had now spread terrible havoc around me, I +did not see very plainly any corresponding change in the looks of +the streets until the seventh day after my arrival. I then +first observed that the city was <i>silenced</i>. There +were no outward signs of despair nor of violent terror, but many +of the voices that had swelled the busy hum of men were already +hushed in death, and the survivors, so used to scream and screech +in their earnestness whenever they bought or sold, now showed an +unwonted indifference about the affairs of this world: it was +less worth while for men to haggle and haggle, and crack the sky +with noisy bargains, when the great commander was there, who +could “pay all their debts with the roll of his +drum.”</p> +<p>At this time I was informed that of twenty-five thousand +people at Alexandria, twelve thousand had died already; the +destroyer had come rather later to Cairo, but there was nothing +of weariness in his strides. The deaths came faster than +ever they befell in the plague of London; but the calmness of +Orientals under such visitations, and the habit of using biers +for interment, instead of burying coffins along with the bodies, +rendered it practicable to dispose of the dead in the usual way, +without shocking the people by any unaccustomed spectacle of +horror. There was no tumbling of bodies into carts, as in +the plague of Florence and the plague of London. Every man, +according to his station, was properly buried, and that in the +usual way, except that he went to his grave in a more hurried +pace than might have been adopted under ordinary +circumstances.</p> +<p>The funerals which poured through the streets were not the +only public evidence of deaths. In Cairo this custom +prevails: At the instant of a man’s death (if his property +is sufficient to justify the expense) professional howlers are +employed. I believe that these persons are brought near to +the dying man when his end appears to be approaching, and the +moment that life is gone they lift up their voices and send forth +a loud wail from the chamber of death. Thus I knew when my +near neighbours died; sometimes the howls were near, sometimes +more distant. Once I was awakened in the night by the wail +of death in the next house, and another time by a like howl from +the house opposite; and there were two or three minutes, I +recollect, during which the howl seemed to be actually running +along the street.</p> +<p>I happened to be rather teased at this time by a sore throat, +and I thought it would be well to get it cured if I could before +I again started on my travels. I therefore inquired for a +Frank doctor, and was informed that the only one then at Cairo +was a young Bolognese refugee, who was so poor that he had not +been able to take flight, as the other medical men had +done. At such a time as this it was out of the question to +send for an European physician; a person thus summoned would be +sure to suppose that the patient was ill of the plague, and would +decline to come. I therefore rode to the young +doctor’s residence. After experiencing some little +difficulty in finding where to look for him, I ascended a flight +or two of stairs and knocked at his door. No one came +immediately, but after some little delay the medico himself +opened the door, and admitted me. I of course made him +understand that I had come to consult him, but before entering +upon my throat grievance I accepted a chair, and exchanged a +sentence or two of commonplace conversation. Now the +natural commonplace of the city at this season was of a gloomy +sort, “Come va la peste?” (how goes the plague?) and +this was precisely the question I put. A deep sigh, and the +words, “Sette cento per giorno, signor” (seven +hundred a day), pronounced in a tone of the deepest sadness and +dejection, were the answer I received. The day was not +oppressively hot, yet I saw that the doctor was perspiring +profusely, and even the outside surface of the thick shawl +dressing-gown, in which he had wrapped himself, appeared to be +moist. He was a handsome, pleasant-looking young fellow, +but the deep melancholy of his tone did not tempt me to prolong +the conversation, and without further delay I requested that my +throat might be looked at. The medico held my chin in the +usual way, and examined my throat. He then wrote me a +prescription, and almost immediately afterwards I bade him +farewell, but as he conducted me towards the door I observed an +expression of strange and unhappy watchfulness in his rolling +eyes. It was not the next day, but the next day but one, if +I rightly remember, that I sent to request another interview with +my doctor. In due time Dthemetri, who was my messenger, +returned, looking sadly aghast—he had “<i>met</i> the +medico,” for so he phrased it, “coming out from his +house—in a bier!”</p> +<p>It was of course plain that when the poor Bolognese was +looking at my throat, and almost mingling his breath with mine, +he was stricken of the plague. I suppose that the violent +sweat in which I found him had been produced by some medicine, +which he must have taken in the hope of curing himself. The +peculiar rolling of the eyes which I had remarked is, I believe, +to experienced observers, a pretty sure test of the plague. +A Russian acquaintance, of mine, speaking from the information of +men who had made the Turkish campaigns of 1828 and 1829, told me +that by this sign the officers of Sabalkansky’s force were +able to make out the plague-stricken soldiers with a good deal of +certainty.</p> +<p>It so happened that most of the people with whom I had +anything to do during my stay at Cairo were seized with plague, +and all these died. Since I had been for a long time <i>en +route</i> before I reached Egypt, and was about to start again +for another long journey over the Desert, there were of course +many little matters touching my wardrobe and my travelling +equipments which required to be attended to whilst I remained in +the city. It happened so many times that Dthemetri’s +orders in respect to these matters were frustrated by the deaths +of the tradespeople and others whom he employed, that at last I +became quite accustomed to the peculiar manner which he assumed +when he prepared to announce a new death to me. The poor +fellow naturally supposed that I should feel some uneasiness at +hearing of the “accidents” which happened to persons +employed by me, and he therefore communicated their deaths as +though they were the deaths of friends. He would cast down +his eyes and look like a man abashed, and then gently, and with a +mournful gesture, allow the words, “Morto, signor,” +to come through his lips. I don’t know how many of +such instances occurred, but they were several, and besides these +(as I told you before), my banker, my doctor, my landlord, and my +magician all died of the plague. A lad who acted as a +helper in the house which I occupied lost a brother and a sister +within a few hours. Out of my two established donkey-boys, +one died. I did not hear of any instance in which a +plague-stricken patient had recovered.</p> +<p>Going out one morning I met unexpectedly the scorching breath +of the kamsin wind, and fearing that I should faint under the +horrible sensations which it caused, I returned to my +rooms. Reflecting, however, that I might have to encounter +this wind in the Desert, where there would be no possibility of +avoiding it, I thought it would be better to brave it once more +in the city, and to try whether I could really bear it or +not. I therefore mounted my ass and rode to old Cairo, and +along the gardens by the banks of the Nile. The wind was +hot to the touch, as though it came from a furnace. It blew +strongly, but yet with such perfect steadiness, that the trees +bending under its force remained fixed in the same curves without +perceptibly waving. The whole sky was obscured by a veil of +yellowish grey, that shut out the face of the sun. The +streets were utterly silent, being indeed almost entirely +deserted; and not without cause, for the scorching blast, whilst +it fevers the blood, closes up the pores of the skin, and is +terribly distressing, therefore, to every animal that encounters +it. I returned to my rooms dreadfully ill. My head +ached with a burning pain, and my pulse bounded quick and +fitfully, but perhaps (as in the instance of the poor Levantine, +whose death I was mentioning), the fear and excitement which I +felt in trying my own wrist may have made my blood flutter the +faster.</p> +<p>It is a thoroughly well believed theory, that during the +continuance of the plague you can’t be ill of any other +febrile malady—an unpleasant privilege that! for ill I was, +and ill of fever, and I anxiously wished that the ailment might +turn out to be anything rather than plague. I had some +right to surmise that my illness may have been merely the effect +of the hot wind; and this notion was encouraged by the elasticity +of my spirits, and by a strong forefeeling that much of my +destined life in this world was yet to come, and yet to be +fulfilled. That was my instinctive belief, but when I +carefully weighed the probabilities on the one side and on the +other, I could not help seeing that the strength of argument was +all against me. There was a strong antecedent likelihood in +<i>favour</i> of my being struck by the same blow as the rest of +the people who had been dying around me. Besides, it +occurred to me that, after all, the universal opinion of the +Europeans upon a medical question, such as that of contagion, +might probably be correct, and <i>if it were</i>, I was so +thoroughly “compromised,” and especially by the touch +and breath of the dying medico, that I had no right to expect any +other fate than that which now seemed to have overtaken me. +Balancing as well as I could all the considerations which hope +and fear suggested, I slowly and reluctantly came to the +conclusion that, according to all merely reasonable probability, +the plague had come upon me.</p> +<p>You would suppose that this conviction would have induced me +to write a few farewell lines to those who were dearest, and that +having done that, I should have turned my thoughts towards the +world to come. Such, however, was not the case. I +believe that the prospect of death often brings with it strong +anxieties about matters of comparatively trivial import, and +certainly with me the whole energy of the mind was directed +towards the one petty object of concealing my illness until the +latest possible moment—until the delirious stage. I +did not believe that either Mysseri or Dthemetri, who had served +me so faithfully in all trials, would have deserted me (as most +Europeans are wont to do) when they knew that I was stricken by +plague, but I shrank from the idea of putting them to this test, +and I dreaded the consternation which the knowledge of my illness +would be sure to occasion.</p> +<p>I was very ill indeed at the moment when my dinner was served, +and my soul sickened at the sight of the food; but I had luckily +the habit of dispensing with the attendance of servants during my +meal, and as soon as I was left alone I made a melancholy +calculation of the quantity of food which I should have eaten if +I had been in my usual health, and filled my plates accordingly, +and gave myself salt, and so on, as though I were going to +dine. I then transferred the viands to a piece of the +omnipresent Times newspaper, and hid them away in a cupboard, for +it was not yet night, and I dared not throw the food into the +street until darkness came. I did not at all relish this +process of fictitious dining, but at length the cloth was +removed, and I gladly reclined on my divan (I would not lie down) +with the “Arabian Nights” in my hand.</p> +<p>I had a feeling that tea would be a capital thing for me, but +I would not order it until the usual hour. When at last the +time came, I drank deep draughts from the fragrant cup. The +effect was almost instantaneous. A plenteous sweat burst +through my skin, and watered my clothes through and +through. I kept myself thickly covered. The hot +tormenting weight which had been loading my brain was slowly +heaved away. The fever was extinguished. I felt a new +buoyancy of spirits, and an unusual activity of mind. I +went into my bed under a load of thick covering, and when the +morning came, and I asked myself how I was, I found that I was +thoroughly well.</p> +<p>I was very anxious to procure, if possible, some medical +advice for Mysseri, whose illness prevented my departure. +Every one of the European practising doctors, of whom there had +been many, had either died or fled. It was said, however, +that there was an Englishman in the medical service of the Pasha +who quietly remained at his post, but that he never engaged in +private practice. I determined to try if I could obtain +assistance in this quarter. I did not venture at first, and +at such a time as this, to ask him to visit a servant who was +prostrate on the bed of sickness, but thinking that I might thus +gain an opportunity of persuading him to attend Mysseri, I wrote +a note mentioning my own affair of the sore throat, and asking +for the benefit of his medical advice. He instantly +followed back my messenger, and was at once shown up into my +room. I entreated him to stand off, telling him fairly how +deeply I was “compromised,” and especially by my +contact with a person actually ill and since dead of +plague. The generous fellow, with a good-humoured laugh at +the terrors of the contagionists, marched straight up to me, and +forcibly seized my hand, and shook it with manly violence. +I felt grateful indeed, and swelled with fresh pride of race +because that my countryman could carry himself so nobly. He +soon cured Mysseri as well as me, and all this he did from no +other motives than the pleasure of doing a kindness and the +delight of braving a danger.</p> +<p>At length the great difficulty <a name="citation36"></a><a +href="#footnote36" class="citation">[36]</a> which I had had in +procuring beasts for my departure was overcome, and now, too, I +was to have the new excitement of travelling on +dromedaries. With two of these beasts and three camels I +gladly wound my way from out of the pest-stricken city. As +I passed through the streets I observed a fanatical-looking +elder, who stretched forth his arms, and lifted up his voice in a +speech which seemed to have some reference to me. Requiring +an interpretation, I found that the man had said, “The +Pasha seeks camels, and he finds them not; the Englishman says, +‘Let camels be brought,’ and behold, there they +are!”</p> +<p>I no sooner breathed the free, wholesome air of the Desert +than I felt that a great burden which I had been scarcely +conscious of bearing was lifted away from my mind. For +nearly three weeks I had lived under peril of death; the peril +ceased, and not till then did I know how much alarm and anxiety I +had really been suffering.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX—THE PYRAMIDS</h2> +<p>I went to see and to explore the Pyramids.</p> +<p>Familiar to one from the days of early childhood are the forms +of the Egyptian Pyramids, and now, as I approached them from the +banks of the Nile, I had no print, no picture before me, and yet +the old shapes were there; there was no change; they were just as +I had always known them. I straightened myself in my +stirrups, and strived to persuade my understanding that this was +real Egypt, and that those angles which stood up between me and +the West were of harder stuff, and more ancient than the paper +pyramids of the green portfolio. Yet it was not till I came +to the base of the great Pyramid that reality began to weigh upon +my mind. Strange to say, the bigness of the distinct blocks +of stones was the first sign by which I attained to feel the +immensity of the whole pile. When I came, and trod, and +touched with my hands, and climbed, in order that by climbing I +might come to the top of one single stone, then, and almost +suddenly, a cold sense and understanding of the Pyramid’s +enormity came down, overcasting my brain.</p> +<p>Now try to endure this homely, sick-nursish illustration of +the effect produced upon one’s mind by the mere vastness of +the great Pyramid. When I was very young (between the ages, +I believe, of three and five years old), being then of delicate +health, I was often in time of night the victim of a strange kind +of mental oppression. I lay in my bed perfectly conscious, +and with open eyes, but without power to speak or to move, and +all the while my brain was oppressed to distraction by the +presence of a single and abstract idea, the idea of solid +immensity. It seemed to me in my agonies that the horror of +this visitation arose from its coming upon me without form or +shape, that the close presence of the direst monster ever bred in +hell would have been a thousand times more tolerable than that +simple idea of solid size. My aching mind was fixed and +riveted down upon the mere quality of vastness, vastness, +vastness, and was not permitted to invest with it any particular +object. If I could have done so, the torment would have +ceased. When at last I was roused from this state of +suffering, I could not of course in those days (knowing no verbal +metaphysics, and no metaphysics at all, except by the dreadful +experience of an abstract idea)—I could not of course find +words to describe the nature of my sensations, and even now I +cannot explain why it is that the forced contemplation of a mere +quality, distinct from matter, should be so terrible. Well, +now my eyes saw and knew, and my hands and my feet informed my +understanding that there was nothing at all abstract about the +great Pyramid—it was a big triangle, sufficiently concrete, +easy to see, and rough to the touch; it could not, of course, +affect me with the peculiar sensation which I have been talking +of, but yet there was something akin to that old nightmare agony +in the terrible completeness with which a mere mass of masonry +could fill and load my mind.</p> +<p>And Time too; the remoteness of its origin, no less than the +enormity of its proportions, screens an Egyptian Pyramid from the +easy and familiar contact of our modern minds; at its base the +common earth ends, and all above is a world—one not created +of God, not seeming to be made by men’s hands, but rather +the sheer giant-work of some old dismal age weighing down this +younger planet.</p> +<p>Fine sayings! but the truth seems to be after all, that the +Pyramids are quite of this world; that they were piled up into +the air for the realisation of some kingly crotchets about +immortality, some priestly longing for burial fees; and that as +for the building, they were built like coral rocks by swarms of +insects—by swarms of poor Egyptians, who were not only the +abject tools and slaves of power, but who also ate onions for the +reward of their immortal labours! <a name="citation37"></a><a +href="#footnote37" class="citation">[37]</a> The Pyramids +are quite of this world.</p> +<p>I of course ascended to the summit of the great Pyramid, and +also explored its chambers, but these I need not describe. +The first time that I went to the Pyramids of Ghizeh there were a +number of Arabs hanging about in its neighbourhood, and wanting +to receive presents on various pretences; their Sheik was with +them. There was also present an ill-looking fellow in +soldier’s uniform. This man on my departure claimed a +reward, on the ground that he had maintained order and decorum +amongst the Arabs. His claim was not considered valid by my +dragoman, and was rejected accordingly. My donkey-boys +afterwards said they had overhead this fellow propose to the +Sheik to put me to death whilst I was in the interior of the +great Pyramid, and to share with him the booty. Fancy a +struggle for life in one of those burial chambers, with acres and +acres of solid masonry between one’s self and the +daylight! I felt exceedingly glad that I had not made the +rascal a present.</p> +<p>I visited the very ancient Pyramids of Aboukir and +Sakkara. There are many of these, and of various shapes and +sizes, and it struck me that, taken together, they might be +considered as showing the progress and perfection (such as it is) +of pyramidical architecture. One of the Pyramids at Sakkara +is almost a rival for the full-grown monster at Ghizeh; others +are scarcely more than vast heaps of brick and stone: these last +suggested to me the idea that after all the Pyramid is nothing +more nor less than a variety of the sepulchral mound so common in +most countries (including, I believe, Hindustan, from whence the +Egyptians are supposed to have come). Men accustomed to +raise these structures for their dead kings or conquerors would +carry the usage with them in their migrations, but arriving in +Egypt, and seeing the impossibility of finding earth sufficiently +tenacious for a mound, they would approximate as nearly as might +be to their ancient custom by raising up a round heap of +stones—in short, conical pyramids. Of these there are +several at Sakkara, and the materials of some are thrown together +without any order or regularity. The transition from this +simple form to that of the square angular pyramid was easy and +natural, and it seemed to me that the gradations through which +the style passed from infancy up to its mature enormity could +plainly be traced at Sakkara.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XX—THE SPHINX</h2> +<p>And near the Pyramids more wondrous and more awful than all +else in the land of Egypt, there sits the lonely Sphinx. +Comely the creature is, but the comeliness is not of this +world. The once worshipped beast is a deformity and a +monster to this generation; and yet you can see that those lips, +so thick and heavy, were fashioned according to some ancient +mould of beauty—some mould of beauty now +forgotten—forgotten because that Greece drew forth Cytherea +from the flashing foam of the Ægean, and in her image +created new forms of beauty, and made it a law among men that the +short and proudly wreathed lip should stand for the sign and the +main condition of loveliness through all generations to +come. Yet still there lives on the race of those who were +beautiful in the fashion of the elder world, and Christian girls +of Coptic blood will look on you with the sad, serious gaze, and +kiss you your charitable hand with the big pouting lips of the +very Sphinx.</p> +<p>Laugh and mock if you will at the worship of stone idols, but +mark ye this, ye breakers of images, that in one regard the stone +idol bears awful semblance of Deity—unchangefulness in the +midst of change; the same seeming will, and intent for ever, and +ever inexorable! Upon ancient dynasties of Ethiopian and +Egyptian kings; upon Greek, and Roman; upon Arab and Ottoman +conquerors; upon Napoleon dreaming of an Eastern Empire; upon +battle and pestilence; upon the ceaseless misery of the Egyptian +race; upon keen-eyed travellers—Herodotus yesterday, and +Warburton to-day: upon all and more, this unworldly Sphinx has +watched, and watched like a Providence with the same earnest +eyes, and the same sad, tranquil mien. And we, we shall +die, and Islam will wither away, and the Englishman, leaning far +over to hold his loved India, will plant a firm foot on the banks +of the Nile, and sit in the seats of the Faithful, and still that +sleepless rock will lie watching, and watching the works of the +new, busy race with those same sad, earnest eyes, and the same +tranquil mien everlasting. You dare not mock at the +Sphinx.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI—CAIRO TO SUEZ</h2> +<p>The “dromedary” of Egypt and Syria is not the +two-humped animal described by that name in books of natural +history, but is, in fact, of the same family as the camel, to +which it stands in about the same relation as a racer to a +cart-horse. The fleetness and endurance of this creature +are extraordinary. It is not usual to force him into a +gallop, and I fancy from his make that it would be quite +impossible for him to maintain that pace for any length of time; +but the animal is on so large a scale, that the jog-trot at which +he is generally ridden implies a progress of perhaps ten or +twelve miles an hour, and this pace, it is said, he can keep up +incessantly, without food, or water, or rest, for three whole +days and nights.</p> +<p>Of the two dromedaries which I had obtained for this journey, +I mounted one myself, and put Dthemetri on the other. My +plan was to ride on with Dthemetri to Suez as rapidly as the +fleetness of the beasts would allow, and to let Myserri (who was +still weak from the effects of his late illness) come quietly on +with the camels and baggage.</p> +<p>The trot of the dromedary is a pace terribly disagreeable to +the rider, until he becomes a little accustomed to it; but after +the first half-hour I so far schooled myself to this new +exercise, that I felt capable of keeping it up (though not +without aching limbs) for several hours together. Now, +therefore, I was anxious to dart forward, and annihilate at once +the whole space that divided me from the Red Sea. +Dthemetri, however, could not get on at all. Every attempt +which he made to trot seemed to threaten the utter dislocation of +his whole frame, and indeed I doubt whether any one of +Dthemetri’s age (nearly forty, I think), and unaccustomed +to such exercise, could have borne it at all easily; besides, the +dromedary which fell to his lot was evidently a very bad one; he +every now and then came to a dead stop, and coolly knelt down, as +though suggesting that the rider had better get off at once and +abandon the attempt as one that was utterly hopeless.</p> +<p>When for the third or fourth time I saw Dthemetri thus +planted, I lost my patience, and went on without him. For +about two hours, I think, I advanced without once looking behind +me. I then paused, and cast my eyes back to the western +horizon. There was no sign of Dthemetri, nor of any other +living creature. This I expected, for I knew that I must +have far out-distanced all my followers. I had ridden away +from my party merely by way of gratifying my impatience, and with +the intention of stopping as soon as I felt tired, until I was +overtaken. I now observed, however (this I had not been +able to do whilst advancing so rapidly), that the track which I +had been following was seemingly the track of only one or two +camels. I did not fear that I had diverged very largely +from the true route, but still I could not feel any reasonable +certainty that my party would follow any line of march within +sight of me.</p> +<p>I had to consider, therefore, whether I should remain where I +was, upon the chance of seeing my people come up, or whether I +would push on alone, and find my way to Suez. I had now +learned that I could not rely upon the continued guidance of any +track, but I knew that (if maps were right) the point for which I +was bound bore just due east of Cairo, and I thought that, +although I might miss the line leading most directly to Suez, I +could not well fail to find my way sooner or later to the Red +Sea. The worst of it was that I had no provision of food or +water with me, and already I was beginning to feel thirst. +I deliberated for a minute, and then determined that I would +abandon all hope of seeing my party again, in the Desert, and +would push forward as rapidly as possible towards Suez.</p> +<p>It was not, I confess, without a sensation of awe that I swept +with my sight the vacant round of the horizon, and remembered +that I was all alone, and unprovisioned in the midst of the arid +waste; but this very awe gave tone and zest to the exultation +with which I felt myself launched. Hitherto, in all my +wandering, I had been under the care of other +people—sailors, Tatars, guides, and dragomen had watched +over my welfare, but now at last I was here in this African +desert, and I <i>myself</i>, <i>and no other</i>, <i>had charge +of my life</i>. I liked the office well. I had the +greasiest part of the day before me, a very fair dromedary, a fur +pelisse, and a brace of pistols, but no bread and no water; for +that I must ride—and ride I did.</p> +<p>For several hours I urged forward my beast at a rapid though +steady pace, but now the pangs of thirst began to torment +me. I did not relax my pace, however, and I had not +suffered long when a moving object appeared in the distance +before me. The intervening space was soon traversed, and I +found myself approaching a Bedouin Arab mounted on a camel, +attended by another Bedouin on foot. They stopped. I +saw that, as usual, there hung from the pack-saddle of the camel +a large skin water-flask, which seemed to be well filled. I +steered my dromedary close up alongside of the mounted Bedouin, +caused my beast to kneel down, then alighted, and keeping the end +of the halter in my hand, went up to the mounted Bedouin without +speaking, took hold of his water-flask, opened it, and drank long +and deep from its leathern lips. Both of the Bedouins stood +fast in amazement and mute horror; and really, if they had never +happened to see an European before, the apparition was enough to +startle them. To see for the first time a coat and a +waistcoat, with the semblance of a white human head at the top, +and for this ghastly figure to come swiftly out of the horizon +upon a fleet dromedary, approach them silently and with a +demoniacal smile, and drink a deep draught from their +water-flask—this was enough to make the Bedouins stare a +little; they, in fact, stared a great deal—not as Europeans +stare, with a restless and puzzled expression of countenance, but +with features all fixed and rigid, and with still, glassy +eyes. Before they had time to get decomposed from their +state of petrifaction I had remounted my dromedary, and was +darting away towards the east.</p> +<p>Without pause or remission of pace I continued to press +forward, but after a while I found to my confusion that the +slight track which had hitherto guided me now failed +altogether. I began to fear that I must have been all along +following the course of some wandering Bedouins, and I felt that +if this were the case, my fate was a little uncertain.</p> +<p>I had no compass with me, but I determined upon the eastern +point of the horizon as accurately as I could by reference to the +sun, and so laid down for myself a way over the pathless +sands.</p> +<p>But now my poor dromedary, by whose life and strength I held +my own, began to show signs of distress: a thick, clammy, and +glutinous kind of foam gathered about her lips, and piteous sobs +burst from her bosom in the tones of human misery. I +doubted for a moment whether I would give her a little rest, a +relaxation of pace, but I decided that I would not, and continued +to push forward as steadily as before.</p> +<p>The character of the country became changed. I had +ridden away from the level tracts, and before me now, and on +either side, there were vast hills of sand and calcined rocks, +that interrupted my progress and baffled my doubtful road, but I +did my best. With rapid steps I swept round the base of the +hills, threaded the winding hollows, and at last, as I rose in my +swift course to the crest of a lofty ridge, Thalatta! +Thalatta! by Jove! I saw the sea!</p> +<p>My tongue can tell where to find a clue to many an old pagan +creed, because that (distinctly from all mere admiration of the +beauty belonging to nature’s works) I acknowledge a sense +of mystical reverence when first I look, to see some illustrious +feature of the globe—some coast-line of ocean, some mighty +river or dreary mountain range, the ancient barrier of +kingdoms. But the Red Sea! It might well claim my +earnest gaze by force of the great Jewish migration which +connects it with the history of our own religion. From this +very ridge, it is likely enough, the panting Israelites first saw +that shining inlet of the sea. Ay! ay! but moreover, and +best of all, that beckoning sea assured my eyes, and proved how +well I had marked out the east for my path, and gave me good +promise that sooner or later the time would come for me to rest +and drink. It was distant, the sea, but I felt my own +strength, and I had <i>heard</i> of the strength of +dromedaries. I pushed forward as eagerly as though I had +spoiled the Egyptians and were flying from Pharaoh’s +police.</p> +<p>I had not yet been able to discover any symptoms of Suez, but +after a while I descried in the distance a large, blank, isolated +building. I made towards this, and in time got down to +it. The building was a fort, and had been built there for +the protection of a well which it contained within its +precincts. A cluster of small huts adhered to the fort, and +in a short time I was receiving the hospitality of the +inhabitants, who were grouped upon the sands near their +hamlet. To quench the fires of my throat with about a +gallon of muddy water, and to swallow a little of the food placed +before me, was the work of few minutes, and before the +astonishment of my hosts had even begun to subside, I was +pursuing my onward journey. Suez, I found, was still three +hours distant, and the sun going down in the west warned me that +I must find some other guide to keep me in the right +direction. This guide I found in the most fickle and +uncertain of the elements. For some hours the wind had been +freshening, and it now blew a violent gale; it blew not fitfully +and in squalls, but with such remarkable steadiness, that I felt +convinced it would blow from the same quarter for several +hours. When the sun set, therefore, I carefully looked for +the point from which the wind was blowing, and found that it came +from the very west, and was blowing exactly in the direction of +my route. I had nothing to do therefore but to go straight +to leeward; and this was not difficult, for the gale blew with +such immense force, that if I diverged at all from its line I +instantly felt the pressure of the blast on the side towards +which I was deviating. Very soon after sunset there came on +complete darkness, but the strong wind guided me well, and sped +me, too, on my way.</p> +<p>I had pushed on for about, I think, a couple of hours after +nightfall when I saw the glimmer of a light in the distance, and +this I ventured to hope must be Suez. Upon approaching it, +however, I found that it was only a solitary fort, and I passed +on without stopping.</p> +<p>On I went, still riding down the wind, when an unlucky +accident occurred, for which, if you like, you can have your +laugh against me. I have told you already what sort of +lodging it is that you have upon the back of a camel. You +ride the dromedary in the same fashion; you are perched rather +than seated on a bunch of carpets or quilts upon the summit of +the hump. It happened that my dromedary veered rather +suddenly from her onward course. Meeting the movement, I +mechanically turned my left wrist as though I were holding a +bridle rein, for the complete darkness prevented my eyes from +reminding me that I had nothing but a halter in my hand. +The expected resistance failed, for the halter was hanging upon +that side of the dromedary’s neck towards which I was +slightly leaning. I toppled over, head foremost, and then +went falling and falling through air, till my crown came whang +against the ground. And the ground too was perfectly hard +(compacted sand), but the thickly wadded headgear which I wore +for protection against the sun saved my life. The notion of +my being able to get up again after falling head-foremost from +such an immense height seemed to me at first too paradoxical to +be acted upon, but I soon found that I was not a bit hurt. +My dromedary utterly vanished. I looked round me, and saw +the glimmer of a light in the fort which I had lately passed, and +I began to work my way back in that direction. The violence +of the gale made it hard for me to force my way towards the west, +but I succeeded at last in regaining the fort. To this, as +to the other fort which I had passed, there was attached a +cluster of huts, and I soon found myself surrounded by a group of +villainous, gloomy-looking fellows. It was a horrid bore +for me to have to swagger and look big at a time when I felt so +particularly small on account of my tumble and my lost dromedary; +but there was no help for it; I had no Dthemetri now to +“strike terror” for me. I knew hardly one word +of Arabic, but somehow or other I contrived to announce it as my +absolute will and pleasure that these fellows should find me the +means of gaining Suez. They acceded, and having a donkey, +they saddled it for me, and appointed one of their number to +attend me on foot.</p> +<p>I afterwards found that these fellows were not Arabs, but +Algerine refugees, and that they bore the character of being sad +scoundrels. They justified this imputation to some extent +on the following day. They allowed Mysseri with my baggage +and the camels to pass unmolested, but an Arab lad belonging to +the party happened to lag a little way in the rear, and him (if +they were not maligned) these rascals stripped and robbed. +Low indeed is the state of bandit morality when men will allow +the sleek traveller with well-laden camels to pass in quiet, +reserving their spirit of enterprise for the tattered turban of a +miserable boy.</p> +<p>I reached Suez at last. The British agent, though roused +from his midnight sleep, received me in his home with the utmost +kindness and hospitality. Oh! by Jove, how delightful it +was to lie on fair sheets, and to dally with sleep, and to wake, +and to sleep, and to wake once more, for the sake of sleeping +again!</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII—SUEZ</h2> +<p>I was hospitably entertained by the British consul, or agent, +as he is there styled. He is the <i>employé</i> of +the East India Company, and not of the Home Government. +Napoleon during his stay of five days at Suez had been the guest +of the consul’s father, and I was told that the divan in my +apartment had been the bed of the great commander.</p> +<p>There are two opinions as to the point at which the Israelites +passed the Red Sea. One is, that they traversed only the +very small creek at the northern extremity of the inlet, and that +they entered the bed of the water at the spot on which Suez now +stands; the other, that they crossed the sea from a point +eighteen miles down the coast. The Oxford theologians, who, +with Milman their professor, <a name="citation38"></a><a +href="#footnote38" class="citation">[38]</a> believe that Jehovah +conducted His chosen people without disturbing the order of +nature, adopt the first view, and suppose that the Israelites +passed during an ebb-tide, aided by a violent wind. One +among many objections to this supposition is, that the time of a +single ebb would not have been sufficient for the passage of that +vast multitude of men and beasts, or even for a small fraction of +it. Moreover, the creek to the north of this point can be +compassed in an hour, and in two hours you can make the circuit +of the salt marsh over which the sea may have extended in former +times. If, therefore, the Israelites crossed so high up as +Suez, the Egyptians, unless infatuated by Divine interference, +might easily have recovered their stolen goods from the +encumbered fugitives by making a slight detour. The opinion +which fixes the point of passage at eighteen miles’ +distance, and from thence right across the ocean depths to the +eastern side of the sea, is supported by the unanimous tradition +of the people, whether Christians or Mussulmans, and is +consistent with Holy Writ: “the waters were a wall unto +them on their right hand, <i>and on their left</i>.” +The Cambridge mathematicians seem to think that the Israelites +were enabled to pass over dry land by adopting a route not +usually subjected to the influx of the sea. This notion is +plausible in a merely hydrostatical point of view, and is +supposed to have been adopted by most of the Fellows of Trinity, +but certainly not by Thorp, who is one of the most amiable of +their number. It is difficult to reconcile this theory with +the account given in Exodus, unless we can suppose that the words +“sea” and “waters” are there used in a +sense implying dry land.</p> +<p>Napoleon when at Suez made an attempt to follow the supposed +steps of Moses by passing the creek at this point, but it seems, +according to the testimony of the people at Suez, that he and his +horsemen managed the matter in a way more resembling the failure +of the Egyptians than the success of the Israelites. +According to the French account, Napoleon got out of the +difficulty by that warrior-like presence of mind which served him +so well when the fate of nations depended on the decision of a +moment—he ordered his horsemen to disperse in all +directions, in order to multiply the chances of finding shallow +water, and was thus enabled to discover a line by which he and +his people were extricated. The story told by the people of +Suez is very different: they declare that Napoleon parted from +his horse, got thoroughly submerged, and was only fished out by +the assistance of the people on shore.</p> +<p>I bathed twice at the point assigned to the passage of the +Israelites, and the second time that I did so I chose the time of +low water and tried to walk across, but I soon found myself out +of my depth, or at least in water so deep, that I could only +advance by swimming.</p> +<p>The dromedary, which had bolted in the Desert, was brought +into Suez the day after my arrival, but my pelisse and my +pistols, which had been attached to the saddle, had +disappeared. These articles were treasures of great +importance to me at that time, and I moved the Governor of the +town to make all possible exertions for their recovery. He +acceded to my wishes as well as he could, and very obligingly +imprisoned the first seven poor fellows he could lay his hands +on.</p> +<p>At first the Governor acted in the matter from no other motive +than that of courtesy to an English traveller, but afterwards, +and when he saw the value which I set upon the lost property, he +pushed his measures with a degree of alacrity and heat, which +seemed to show that he felt a personal interest in the +matter. It was supposed either that he expected a large +present in the event of succeeding, or that he was striving by +all means to trace the property, in order that he might lay his +hands on it after my departure.</p> +<p>I went out sailing for some hours, and when I returned I was +horrified to find that two men had been bastinadoed by order of +the Governor, with a view to force them to a confession of their +theft. It appeared, however, that there really was good +ground for supposing them guilty, since one of the holsters was +actually found in their possession. It was said too (but I +could hardly believe it), that whilst one of the men was +undergoing the bastinado, his comrade was overheard encouraging +him to bear the torment without peaching. Both men, if they +had the secret, were resolute in keeping it, and were sent back +to their dungeon. I of course took care that there should +be no repetition of the torture, at least so long as I remained +at Suez.</p> +<p>The Governor was a thorough Oriental, and until a +comparatively recent period had shared in the old Mahometan +feeling of contempt for Europeans. It happened however, one +day that an English gun-brig had appeared off Suez, and sent her +boats ashore to take in fresh water. Now fresh water at +Suez is a somewhat scarce and precious commodity: it is kept in +tanks, the chief of which is at some distance from the +place. Under these circumstances the request for fresh +water was refused, or at all events, was not complied with. +The captain of the brig was a simple-minded man with a strongish +will, and he at once declared that if his casks were not filled +in three hours, he would destroy the whole place. “A +great people indeed!” said the Governor; “a wonderful +people, the English!” He instantly caused every cask +to be filled to the brim from his own tank, and ever afterwards +entertained for the English a degree of affection and respect, +for which I felt infinitely indebted to the gallant captain.</p> +<p>The day after the abortive attempt to extract a confession +from the prisoners, the Governor, the consul, and I sat in +council, I know not how long, with a view of prosecuting the +search for the stolen goods. The sitting, considered in the +light of a criminal investigation, was characteristic of the +East. The proceedings began as a matter of course by the +prosecutor’s smoking a pipe and drinking coffee with the +Governor, who was judge, jury, and sheriff. I got on very +well with him (this was not my first interview), and he gave me +the pipe from his lips in testimony of his friendship. I +recollect, however, that my prime adviser, thinking me, I +suppose, a great deal too shy and retiring in my manner, +entreated me to put up my boots and to soil the Governor’s +divan, in order to inspire respect and strike terror. I +thought it would be as well for me to retain the right of +respecting myself, and that it was not quite necessary for a +well-received guest to strike any terror at all.</p> +<p>Our deliberations were assisted by the numerous attendants who +lined the three sides of the room not occupied by the +divan. Any one of these who took it into his head to offer +a suggestion would stand forward and humble himself before the +Governor, and then state his views; every man thus giving counsel +was listened to with some attention.</p> +<p>After a great deal of fruitless planning the Governor directed +that the prisoners should be brought in. I was shocked when +they entered, for I was not prepared to see them come +<i>carried</i> into the room upon the shoulders of others. +It had not occurred to me that their battered feet would be too +sore to bear the contact of the floor. They persisted in +asserting their innocence. The Governor wanted to recur to +the torture, but that I prevented, and the men were carried back +to their dungeon.</p> +<p>A scheme was now suggested by one of the attendants which +seemed to me childishly absurd, but it was nevertheless +tried. The plan was to send a man to the prisoners, who was +to make them believe that he had obtained entrance into their +dungeon upon some other pretence, but that he had in reality come +to treat with them for the purchase of the stolen goods. +This shallow expedient of course failed.</p> +<p>The Governor himself had not nominally the power of life and +death over the people in his district, but he could if he chose +send them to Cairo, and have them hanged there. I proposed, +therefore, that the prisoners should be threatened with this +fate. The answer of the Governor made me feel rather +ashamed of my effeminate suggestion. He said that if I +wished it he would willingly threaten them with death, but he +also said that if he threatened, <i>he should execute the +threat</i>.</p> +<p>Thinking at last that nothing was to be gained by keeping the +prisoners any longer in confinement, I requested that they might +be set free. To this the Governor acceded, though only, as +he said, out of favour to me, for he had a strong impression that +the men were guilty. I went down to see the prisoners let +out with my own eyes. They were very grateful, and fell +down to the earth, kissing my boots. I gave them a present +to console them for their wounds, and they seemed to be highly +delighted.</p> +<p>Although the matter terminated in a manner so satisfactory to +the principal sufferers, there were symptoms of some angry +excitement in the place: it was said that public opinion was much +shocked at the fact that Mahometans had been beaten on account of +a loss sustained by a Christian. My journey was to +recommence the next day, and it was hinted that if I preservered +in my intention of proceeding, the people would have an easy and +profitable opportunity of wreaking their vengeance on me. +If ever they formed any scheme of the kind, they at all events +refrained from any attempt to carry it into effect.</p> +<p>One of the evenings during my stay at Suez was enlivened by a +triple wedding. There was a long and slow procession. +Some carried torches, and others were thumping drums and firing +pistols. The bridegrooms came last, all walking +abreast. My only reason for mentioning the ceremony (which +was otherwise uninteresting) is, that I scarcely ever in all my +life saw any phenomena so ridiculous as the meekness and gravity +of those three young men whilst being “led to the +altar.”</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII—SUEZ TO GAZA</h2> +<p>The route over the Desert from Suez to Gaza is not frequented +by merchants, and is seldom passed by a traveller. This +part of the country is less uniformly barren than the tracts of +shifting sand that lie on the El Arish route. The shrubs on +which the camel feeds are more frequent, and in many spots the +sand is mingled with so much of productive soil, as to admit the +growth of corn. The Bedouins are driven out of this +district during the summer by the total want of water, but before +the time for their forced departure arrives they succeed in +raising little crops of barley from these comparatively fertile +patches of ground. They bury the fruit of their labours, +leaving marks by which, upon their return, they may be able to +recognise the spot. The warm, dry sand stands them for a +safe granary. The country at the time I passed it (in the +month of April) was pretty thickly sprinkled with Bedouins +expecting their harvest. Several times my tent was pitched +alongside of their encampments. I have told you already +what the impressions were which these people produced upon my +mind.</p> +<p>I saw several creatures of the antelope kind in this part of +the Desert, and one day my Arabs surprised in her sleep a young +gazelle (for so I called her), and took the darling +prisoner. I carried her before me on my camel for the rest +of the day, and kept her in my tent all night. I did all I +could to coax her, but the trembling beauty refused to touch +food, and would not be comforted. Whenever she had a +seeming opportunity of escaping she struggled with a violence so +painfully disproportioned to her fine, delicate limbs, that I +could not continue the cruel attempt to make her my own. In +the morning, therefore, I set her free, anticipating some +pleasure from seeing the joyous bound with which, as I thought, +she would return to her native freedom. She had been so +stupefied, however, by the exciting events of the preceding day +and night, and was so puzzled as to the road she should take, +that she went off very deliberately, and with an uncertain +step. She went away quite sound in limb, but her intellect +may have been upset. Never in all likelihood had she seen +the form of a human being until the dreadful moment when she woke +from her sleep and found herself in the grip of an Arab. +Then her pitching and tossing journey on the back of a camel, and +lastly, a <i>soireé</i> with me by candlelight! I +should have been glad to know, if I could, that her heart was not +utterly broken.</p> +<p>My Arabs were somewhat excited one day by discovering the +fresh print of a foot—the foot, as they said, of a +lion. I had no conception that the lord of the forest +(better known as a crest) ever stalked away from his jungles to +make inglorious war in these smooth plains against antelopes and +gazelles. I supposed that there must have been some error +of interpretation, and that the Arabs meant to speak of a +tiger. It appeared, however, that this was not the +case. Either the Arabs were mistaken, or the noble brute, +uncooped and unchained, had but lately crossed my path.</p> +<p>The camels with which I traversed this part of the Desert were +very different in their ways and habits from those that you get +on a frequented route. They were never led. There was +not the slightest sign of a track in this part of the Desert, but +the camels never failed to choose the right line. By the +direction taken at starting they knew, I suppose, the point (some +encampment) for which they were to make. There is always a +leading camel (generally, I believe, the eldest), who marches +foremost, and determines the path for the whole party. If +it happens that no one of the camels has been accustomed to lead +the others, there is very great difficulty in making a +start. If you force your beast forward for a moment, he +will contrive to wheel and draw back, at the same time looking at +one of the other camels with an expression and gesture exactly +equivalent to <i>après vous</i>. The responsibility +of finding the way is evidently assumed very unwillingly. +After some time, however, it becomes understood that one of the +beasts has reluctantly consented to take the lead, and he +accordingly advances for that purpose. For a minute or two +he goes on with much indecision, taking first one line and then +another, but soon by the aid of some mysterious sense he +discovers the true direction, and follows it steadily from +morning to night. When once the leadership is established, +you cannot by any persuasion, and can scarcely by any force, +induce a junior camel to walk one single step in advance of the +chosen guide.</p> +<p>On the fifth day I came to an oasis, called the Wady el Arish, +a ravine, or rather a gully, through which during a part of the +year there runs a stream of water. On the sides of the +gully there were a number of those graceful trees which the Arabs +call <i>tarfa</i>. The channel of the stream was quite dry +in the part at which we arrived, but at about half a mile off +some water was found, which, though very muddy, was tolerably +sweet. This was a happy discovery, for all the water that +we had brought from the neighbourhood of Suez was rapidly +putrefying.</p> +<p>The want of foresight is an anomalous part of the +Bedouin’s character, for it does not result either from +recklessness or stupidity. I know of no human being whose +body is so thoroughly the slave of mind as that of the +Arab. His mental anxieties seem to be for ever torturing +every nerve and fibre of his body, and yet with all this +exquisite sensitiveness to the suggestions of the mind, he is +grossly improvident. I recollect, for instance, that when +setting out upon this passage of the Desert my Arabs, in order to +lighten the burthen of their camels, were most anxious that we +should take with us only two days’ supply of water. +They said that by the time that supply was exhausted we should +arrive at a spring which would furnish us for the rest of the +journey. My servants very wisely, and with much +pertinacity, resisted the adoption of this plan, and took care to +have both the large skins well filled. We proceeded and +found no water at all, either at the expected spring or for many +days afterwards, so that nothing but the precaution of my own +people saved us from the very severe suffering which we should +have endured if we had entered upon the Desert with only a two +days’ supply. The Arabs themselves being on foot +would have suffered much more than I from the consequences of +their improvidence.</p> +<p>This unaccountable want of foresight prevents the Bedouin from +appreciating at a distance of eight or ten days the amount of the +misery which he entails upon himself at the end of that +period. His dread of a city is one of the most painful +mental affections that I have ever observed, and yet when the +whole breadth of the Desert lies between him and the town to +which you are going, he will freely enter into an agreement to +<i>land</i> you in the city for which you are bound. When, +however, after many a day of toil the distant minarets at length +appear, the poor Bedouin relaxes the vigour of his pace, his +steps become faltering and undecided, every moment his uneasiness +increases, and at length he fairly sobs aloud, and embracing your +knees, implores with the most piteous cries and gestures that you +will dispense with him and his camels, and find some other means +of entering the city. This, of course, one can’t +agree to, and the consequence is that one is obliged to witness +and resist the most moving expressions of grief and fond +entreaty. I had to go through a most painful scene of this +kind when I entered Cairo, and now the horror which these wilder +Arabs felt at the notion of entering Gaza led to consequences +still more distressing. The dread of cities results partly +from a kind of wild instinct which has always characterised the +descendants of Ishmael, but partly too from a well-founded +apprehension of ill-treatment. So often it happens that the +poor Bedouin, when once jammed in between walls, is seized by the +Government authorities for the sake of his camels, that his +innate horror of cities becomes really justified by results.</p> +<p>The Bedouins with whom I performed this journey were wild +fellows of the Desert, quite unaccustomed to let out themselves +or their beasts for hire, and when they found that by the natural +ascendency of Europeans they were gradually brought down to a +state of subserviency to me, or rather to my attendants, they +bitterly repented, I believe, of having placed themselves under +our control. They were rather difficult fellows to manage, +and gave Dthemetri a good deal of trouble, but I liked them all +the better for that.</p> +<p>Selim, the chief of the party, and the man to whom all our +camels belonged, was a fine, savage, stately fellow. There +were, I think, five other Arabs of the party, but when we +approached the end of the journey they one by one began to make +off towards the neighbouring encampments, and by the time that +the minarets of Gaza were in sight, Selim, the owner of the +camels, was the only one who remained. He, poor fellow, as +we neared the town began to discover the same terrors that my +Arabs had shown when I entered Cairo. I could not possibly +accede to his entreaties and consent to let my baggage be laid +down on the bare sands, without any means of having it brought on +into the city. So at length, when poor Selim had exhausted +all his rhetoric of voice and action and tears, he fixed his +despairing eyes for a minute upon the cherished beasts that were +his only wealth, and then suddenly and madly dashed away into the +farther Desert. I continued my course and reached the city +at last, but it was not without immense difficulty that we could +constrain the poor camels to pass under the hated shadow of its +walls. They were the genuine beasts of the Desert, and it +was sad and painful to witness the agony they suffered when thus +they were forced to encounter the fixed habitations of men. +They shrank from the beginning of every high narrow street as +though from the entrance of some horrible cave or bottomless pit; +they sighed and wept like women. When at last we got them +within the courtyard of the khan they seemed to be quite +broken-hearted, and looked round piteously for their loving +master; but no Selim came. I had imagined that he would +enter the town secretly by night in order to carry off those five +fine camels, his only wealth in this world, and seemingly the +main objects of his affection. But no; his dread of +civilisation was too strong. During the whole of the three +days that I remained at Gaza he failed to show himself, and thus +sacrificed in all probability not only his camels, but the money +which I had stipulated to pay him for the passage of the +Desert. In order, however, to do all I could towards saving +him from this last misfortune I resorted to a contrivance +frequently adopted by the Asiatics: I assembled a group of grave +and worthy Mussulmans in the courtyard of the khan, and in their +presence paid over the gold to a Sheik who was accustomed to +communicate with the Arabs of the Desert. All present +solemnly promised that if ever Selim should come to claim his +rights, they would bear true witness in his favour.</p> +<p>I saw a great deal of my old friend the Governor of +Gaza. He had received orders to send back all persons +coming from Egypt, and force them to perform quarantine at El +Arish. He knew so little of quarantine regulations, +however, that his dress was actually in contact with mine whilst +he insisted upon the stringency of the orders which he had +received. He was induced to make an exception in my favour, +and I rewarded him with a musical snuffbox which I had bought at +Smyrna for the purpose of presenting it to any man in authority +who might happen to do me an important service. The +Governor was delighted with his toy, and took it off to his harem +with great exultation. He soon, however, returned with an +altered countenance; his wives, he said, had got hold of the box +and put it out of order. So short-lived is human happiness +in this frail world!</p> +<p>The Governor fancied that he should incur less risk if +remained at Gaza for two or three days more, and he wanted me to +become his guest. I persuaded him, however, that it would +be better for him to let me depart at once. He wanted to +add to my baggage a roast lamb and a quantity of other cumbrous +viands, but I escaped with half a horse-load of leaven bread, +which was very good of its kind, and proved a most useful +present. The air with which the Governor’s slaves +affected to be almost breaking down under the weight of the gifts +which they bore on their shoulders, reminded me of the figures +one sees in some of the old pictures.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV—GAZA TO NABLUS</h2> +<p>Passing now once again through Palestine and Syria I retained +the tent which I had used in the Desert, and found that it added +very much to my comfort in travelling. Instead of turning +out a family from some wretched dwelling, and depriving them of a +repose which I was sure not to find for myself, I now, when +evening came, pitched my tent upon some smiling spot within a few +hundred yards of the village to which I looked for my supplies, +that is, for milk and bread if I had it not with me, and +sometimes also for eggs. The worst of it is, that the +needful viands are not to be obtained by coin, but only by +intimidation. I at first tried the usual agent, +money. Dthemetri, with one or two of my Arabs, went into +the village near which I was encamped and tried to buy the +required provisions, offering liberal payment, but he came back +empty-handed. I sent him again, but this time he held +different language. He required to see the elders of the +place, and threatening dreadful vengeance, directed them upon +their responsibility to take care that my tent should be +immediately and abundantly supplied. He was obeyed at once, +and the provisions refused to me as a purchaser soon arrived, +trebled or quadrupled, when demanded by way of a forced +contribution. I quickly found (I think it required two +experiments to convince me) that this peremptory method was the +only one which could be adopted with success. It never +failed. Of course, however, when the provisions have been +actually obtained you can, if you choose, give money exceeding +the value of the provisions to <i>somebody</i>. An English, +a thoroughbred English, traveller will always do this (though it +is contrary to the custom of the country) for the quiet (false +quiet though it be) of his own conscience, but so to order the +matter that the poor fellows who have been forced to contribute +should be the persons to receive the value of their supplies, is +not possible. For a traveller to attempt anything so +grossly just as that would be too outrageous. The truth is, +that the usage of the East, in old times, required the people of +the village, at their own cost, to supply the wants of +travellers, and the ancient custom is now adhered to, not in +favour of travellers generally, but in favour of those who are +deemed sufficiently powerful to enforce its observance. If +the villagers therefore find a man waiving this right to oppress +them, and offering coin for that which he is entitled to take +without payment, they suppose at once that he is actuated by fear +(fear of <i>them</i>, poor fellows!), and it is so delightful to +them to act upon this flattering assumption, that they will +forego the advantage of a good price for their provisions rather +than the rare luxury of refusing for once in their lives to part +with their own possessions.</p> +<p>The practice of intimidation thus rendered necessary is +utterly hateful to an Englishman. He finds himself forced +to conquer his daily bread by the pompous threats of the +dragoman, his very subsistence, as well as his dignity and +personal safety, being made to depend upon his servant’s +assuming a tone of authority which does not at all belong to +him. Besides, he can scarcely fail to see that as he passes +through the country he becomes the innocent cause of much extra +injustice, many supernumerary wrongs. This he feels to be +especially the case when he travels with relays. To be the +owner of a horse or a mule within reach of an Asiatic potentate, +is to lead the life of the hare and the rabbit, hunted down and +ferreted out. Too often it happens that the works of the +field are stopped in the daytime, that the inmates of the cottage +are roused from their midnight sleep, by the sudden coming of a +Government officer, and the poor husbandman, driven by threats +and rewarded by curses, if he would not lose sight for ever of +his captured beasts, must quit all and follow them. This is +done that the Englishman may travel. He would make his way +more harmless if he could, but horses or mules he <i>must</i> +have, and these are his ways and means.</p> +<p>The town of Nablus is beautiful; it lies in a valley hemmed in +with olive groves, and its buildings are interspersed with +frequent palm-trees. It is said to occupy the site of the +ancient Sychem. I know not whether it was there indeed that +the father of the Jews was accustomed to feed his flocks, but the +valley is green and smiling, and is held at this day by a race +more brave and beautiful than Jacob’s unhappy +descendants.</p> +<p>Nablus is the very furnace of Mahometan bigotry; and I believe +that only a few months before the time of my going there it would +have been quite unsafe for a man, unless strongly guarded, to +show himself to the people of the town in a Frank costume; but +since their last insurrection the Mahometans of the place had +been so far subdued by the severity of Ibrahim Pasha, that they +dared not now offer the slightest insult to an European. It +was quite plain, however, that the effort with which the men of +the old school refrained from expressing their opinion of a hat +and a coat was horribly painful to them. As I walked +through the streets and bazaars a dead silence prevailed; every +man suspended his employment, and gazed on me with a fixed, +glassy look, which seemed to say, “God is good, but how +marvellous and inscrutable are His ways that thus He permits this +white-faced dog of a Christian to hunt through the paths of the +faithful.”</p> +<p>The insurrection of these people had been more formidable than +any other that Ibrahim Pasha had to contend with. He was +only able to crush them at last by the assistance of a fellow +renowned for his resources in the way of stratagem and cunning, +as well as for his knowledge of the country. This personage +was no other than Aboo Goosh (“the father of lies” <a +name="citation39"></a><a href="#footnote39" +class="citation">[39]</a>), who was taken out of prison for the +purpose. The “father of lies” enabled Ibrahim +to hem in the insurrection and extinguish it. He was +rewarded with the Governorship of Jerusalem, which he held when I +was there. I recollect, by-the-bye, that he tried one of +his stratagems upon me. I did not go to see him, as I ought +in courtesy to have done, during my stay at Jerusalem; but I +happened to be the owner of a rather handsome amber +<i>tchibouque</i> piece, which the Governor heard of, and by some +means contrived to see. He sent to me, and dressed up a +statement that he would give me a price immensely exceeding the +sum which I had given for it. He did not add my +<i>tchibouque</i> to the rest of his trophies.</p> +<p>There was a small number of Greek Christians resident in +Nablus, and over these the Mussulmans held a high hand, not even +permitting them to speak to each other in the open streets; but +if the Moslems thus set themselves above the poor Christians of +the place, I, or rather my servants, soon took the ascendant over +<i>them</i>. I recollect that just as we were starting from +the place, and at a time when a number of people had gathered +together in the main street to see our preparations, Mysseri, +being provoked at some piece of perverseness on the part of a +true believer, coolly thrashed him with his horsewhip before the +assembled crowd of fanatics. I was much annoyed at the +time, for I thought that the people would probably rise against +us. They turned rather pale, but stood still.</p> +<p>The day of my arrival at Nablus was a fête—the +new-year’s day of the Mussulmans. <a +name="citation40"></a><a href="#footnote40" +class="citation">[40]</a> Most of the people were amusing +themselves in the beautiful lawns and shady groves without the +city. The men (except myself) were all remotely apart from +the other sex. The women in groups were diverting +themselves and their children with swings. They were so +handsome, that they could not keep up their yashmaks. I +believe that they had never before looked upon a man in the +European dress, and when they now saw in me that strange +phenomenon, and saw, too, how they could please the creature by +showing him a glimpse of beauty, they seemed to think it was +better fun to do this than to go on playing with swings. It +was always, however, with a sort of zoological expression of +countenance that they looked on the horrible monster from Europe, +and whenever one of them gave me to see for one sweet instant the +blushing of her unveiled face, it was with the same kind of air +as that with which a young, timid girl will edge her way up to an +elephant and tremblingly give him a nut from the tips of her rosy +fingers.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV—MARIAM</h2> +<p>There is no spirit of propagandism in the Mussulmans of the +Ottoman dominions. True it is that a prisoner of war, or a +Christian condemned to death, may on some occasions save his life +by adopting the religion of Mahomet, but instances of this kind +are now exceedingly rare, and are quite at variance with the +general system. Many Europeans, I think, would be surprised +to learn that which is nevertheless quite true, namely, that an +attempt to disturb the religious repose of the empire by the +conversion of a Christian to the Mahometan faith is positively +illegal. The event which now I am going to mention shows +plainly enough that the unlawfulness of such interference is +distinctly recognised even in the most bigoted stronghold of +Islam.</p> +<p>During my stay at Nablus I took up my quarters at the house of +the Greek “papa” as he is called, that is, the Greek +priest. The priest himself had gone to Jerusalem upon the +business I am going to tell you of, but his wife remained at +Nablus, and did the honours of her home.</p> +<p>Soon after my arrival a deputation from the Greek Christians +of the place came to request my interference in a matter which +had occasioned vast excitement.</p> +<p>And now I must tell you how it came to happen, as it did +continually, that people thought it worth while to claim the +assistance of a mere traveller, who was totally devoid of all +just pretensions to authority or influence of even the humblest +description, and especially I must explain to you how it was that +the power thus attributed did really belong to me, or rather to +my dragoman. Successive political convulsions had at length +fairly loosed the people of Syria from their former rules of +conduct, and from all their old habits of reliance. The +violence and success with which Mehemet Ali crushed the +insurrection of the Mahometan population had utterly beaten down +the head of Islam, and extinguished, for the time at least, those +virtues and vices which had sprung from the Mahometan +faith. Success so complete as Mehemet Ali’s, if it +had been attained by an ordinary Asiatic potentate, would have +induced a notion of stability. The readily bowing mind of +the Oriental would have bowed low and long under the feet of a +conqueror whom God had thus strengthened. But Syria was no +field for contests strictly Asiatic. Europe was involved, +and though the heavy masses of Egyptian troops, clinging with +strong grip to the land, might seem to hold it fast, yet every +peasant practically felt, and knew, that in Vienna or Petersburg +or London there were four or five pale-looking men who could pull +down the star of the Pasha with shreds of paper and ink. +The people of the country knew, too, that Mehemet Ali was strong +with the strength of the Europeans—strong by his French +general, his French tactics, and his English engines. +Moreover, they saw that the person, the property, and even the +dignity of the humblest European was guarded with the most +careful solicitude. The consequence of all this was, that +the people of Syria looked vaguely, but confidently, to Europe +for fresh changes. Many would fix upon some nation, France +or England, and steadfastly regard it as the arriving sovereign +of Syria. Those whose minds remained in doubt equally +contributed to this new state of public opinion, which no longer +depended upon religion and ancient habits, but upon bare hopes +and fears. Every man wanted to know, not who was his +neighbour, but who was to be his ruler; whose feet he was to +kiss, and by whom <i>his</i> feet were to be ultimately +beaten. Treat your friend, says the proverb, as though he +were one day to become your enemy, and your enemy as though he +were one day to become your friend. The Syrians went +further, and seemed inclined to treat every stranger as though he +might one day become their Pasha. Such was the state of +circumstances and of feeling which now for the first time had +thoroughly opened the mind of Western Asia for the reception of +Europeans and European ideas. The credit of the English +especially was so great, that a good Mussulman flying from the +conscription, or any other persecution, would come to seek from +the formerly despised hat that protection which the turban could +no longer afford; and a man high in authority (as, for instance, +the Governor in command of Gaza) would think that he had won a +prize, or at all events, a valuable lottery ticket, if he +obtained a written approval of his conduct from a simple +traveller.</p> +<p>Still, in order that any immediate result should follow from +all this unwonted readiness in the Asiatic to succumb to the +European, it was necessary that some one should be at hand who +could see and would push the advantage. I myself had +neither the inclination nor the power to do so, but it happened +that Dthemetri, who as my dragoman represented me on all +occasions, was the very person of all others best fitted to avail +himself with success of this yielding tendency in the Oriental +mind. If the chance of birth and fortune had made poor +Dthemetri a tailor during some part of his life, yet religion and +the literature of the Church which he served had made him a man, +and a brave man too. The lives of saints with which he was +familiar were full of heroic actions provoking imitation, and +since faith in a creed involves a faith in its ultimate triumph, +Dthemetri was bold from a sense of true strength. His +education too, though not very general in its character, had been +carried quite far enough to justify him in pluming himself upon a +very decided advantage over the great bulk of the Mahometan +population, including the men in authority. With all this +consciousness of religious and intellectual superiority Dthemetri +had lived for the most part in countries lying under Mussulman +governments, and had witnessed (perhaps too had suffered from) +their revolting cruelties: the result was that he abhorred and +despised the Mahometan faith and all who clung to it. And +this hate was not of the dry, dull, and inactive sort. +Dthemetri was in his sphere a true Crusader, and whenever there +appeared a fair opening in the defences of Islam, he was ready +and eager to make the assault. These sentiments, backed by +a consciousness of understanding the people with whom he had to +do, made Dthemetri not only firm and resolute in his constant +interviews with men in authority, but sometimes also (as you may +know already) very violent and even insulting. This tone, +which I always disliked, though I was fain to profit by it, +invariably succeeded. It swept away all resistance; there +was nothing in the then depressed and succumbing mind of the +Mussulman that could oppose a zeal so warm and fierce.</p> +<p>As for me, I of course stood aloof from Dthemetri’s +crusades, and did not even render him any active assistance when +he was striving (as he almost always was, poor fellow) on my +behalf; I was only the death’s head and white sheet with +which he scared the enemy. I think, however, that I played +this spectral part exceedingly well, for I seldom appeared at all +in any discussion, and whenever I did, I was sure to be white and +calm.</p> +<p>The event which induced the Christians of Nablus to seek for +my assistance was this. A beautiful young Christian, +between fifteen and sixteen years old, had lately been married to +a man of her own creed. About the same time (probably on +the occasion of her wedding) she was accidentally seen by a +Mussulman Sheik of great wealth and local influence, who +instantly became madly enamoured of her. The strict +morality which so generally prevails where the Mussulmans have +complete ascendency prevented the Sheik from entertaining any +such sinful hopes as an European might have ventured to cherish +under the like circumstances, and he saw no chance of gratifying +his love except by inducing the girl to embrace his own +creed. If he could induce her to take this step, her +marriage with the Christian would be dissolved, and then there +would be nothing to prevent him from making her the last and +brightest of his wives. The Sheik was a practical man, and +quickly began his attack upon the theological opinions of the +bride. He did not assail her with the eloquence of any +imaums or Mussulman saints; he did not press upon her the eternal +truths of the “Cow,” <a name="citation41"></a><a +href="#footnote41" class="citation">[41]</a> or the beautiful +morality of “the Table”; he sent her no +tracts, not even a copy of the holy Koran. An old woman +acted as missionary. She brought with her a whole basketful +of arguments—jewels and shawls and scarfs and all kinds of +persuasive finery. Poor Mariam! she put on the jewels and +took a calm view of the Mahometan religion in a little +hand-mirror; she could not be deaf to such eloquent earrings, and +the great truths of Islam came home to her young bosom in the +delicate folds of the cashmere; she was ready to abandon her +faith.</p> +<p>The Sheik knew very well that his attempt to convert an +infidel was illegal, and that his proceedings would not bear +investigation, so he took care to pay a large sum to the Governor +of Nablus in order to obtain his connivance.</p> +<p>At length Mariam quitted her home and placed herself under the +protection of the Mahometan authorities, who, however, refrained +from delivering her into the arms of her lover, and detained her +in a mosque until the fact of her real conversion (which had been +indignantly denied by her relatives) should be established. +For two or three days the mother of the young convert was +prevented from communicating with her child by various evasive +contrivances, but not, it would seem, by a flat refusal. At +length it was announced that the young lady’s profession of +faith might be heard from her own lips. At an hour +appointed the friends of the Sheik and the relatives of the +damsel met in the mosque. The young convert addressed her +mother in a loud voice, and said, “God is God, and Mahomet +is the Prophet of God, and thou, oh my mother, art an infidel, +feminine dog!”</p> +<p>You would suppose that this declaration, so clearly enounced, +and that, too, in a place where Mahometanism is perhaps more +supreme than in any other part of the empire, would have sufficed +to have confirmed the pretensions of the lover. This, +however, was not the case. The Greek priest of the place +was despatched on a mission to the Governor of Jerusalem (Aboo +Goosh), in order to complain against the proceedings of the Sheik +and obtain a restitution of the bride. Meanwhile the +Mahometan authorities at Nablus were so conscious of having acted +unlawfully in conspiring to disturb the faith of the beautiful +infidel, that they hesitated to take any further steps, and the +girl was still detained in the mosque.</p> +<p>Thus matters stood when the Christians of the place came and +sought to obtain my assistance.</p> +<p>I felt (with regret) that I had no personal interest in the +matter, and I also thought that there was no pretence for my +interfering with the conflicting claims of the Christian husband +and the Mahometan lover, and I therefore declined to take any +step.</p> +<p>My speaking of the husband, by-the-bye, reminds me that he was +extremely backward about the great work of recovering his +youthful bride. The relations of the girl, who felt +themselves disgraced by her conduct, were vehement and excited to +a high pitch, but the Menelaus of Nablus was exceedingly calm and +composed.</p> +<p>The fact that it was not technically my duty to interfere in a +matter of this kind was a very sufficient, and yet a very +unsatisfactory, reason for my refusal of all assistance. +Until you are placed in situations of this kind you can hardly +tell how painful it is to refrain from intermeddling in other +people’s affairs—to refrain from intermeddling when +you feel that you can do so with happy effect, and can remove a +load of distress by the use of a few small phrases. Upon +this occasion, however, an expression fell from one of the +girl’s kinsmen which not only determined me against the +idea of interfering, but made me hope that all attempts to +recover the proselyte would fail. This person, speaking +with the most savage bitterness, and with the cordial approval of +all the other relatives, said that the girl ought to be beaten to +death. I could not fail to see that if the poor child were +ever restored to her family she would be treated with the most +frightful barbarity. I heartily wished, therefore, that the +Mussulmans might be firm, and preserve their young prize from any +fate so dreadful as that of a return to her own relations.</p> +<p>The next day the Greek priest returned from his mission to +Aboo Goosh, but the “father of lies,” it would seem, +had been well plied with the gold of the enamoured Sheik, and +contrived to put off the prayers of the Christians by cunning +feints. Now, therefore, a second and more numerous +deputation than the first waited upon me, and implored my +intervention with the Governor. I informed the assembled +Christians that since their last application I had carefully +considered the matter. The religious question I thought +might be put aside at once, for the excessive levity which the +girl had displayed proved clearly that in adopting Mahometanism +she was not quitting any other faith. Her mind must have +been thoroughly blank upon religious questions, and she was not, +therefore, to be treated as a Christian that had strayed from the +flock, but rather as a child without any religion at all, who was +willing to conform to the usages of those who would deck her with +jewels, and clothe her with cashmere shawls.</p> +<p>So much for the religious part of the question. Well, +then, in a merely temporal sense, it appeared to me that (looking +merely to the interests of the damsel, for I rather unjustly put +poor Menelaus quite out of the question) the advantages were all +on the side of the Mahometan match. The Sheik was in a much +higher station of life than the superseded husband, and had given +the best possible proof of his ardent affection by the sacrifices +he had made, and the risks he had incurred, for the sake of the +beloved object. I, therefore, stated fairly, to the horror +and amazement of all my hearers, that the Sheik, in my view, was +likely to make a most capital husband, and that I entirely +“approved of the match.”</p> +<p>I left Nablus under the impression that Mariam would soon be +delivered to her Mussulman lover. I afterwards found, +however, that the result was very different. +Dthemetri’s religious zeal and hate had been so much +excited by the account of these events, and by the grief and +mortification of his co-religionists, that when he found me +firmly determined to decline all interference in the matter, he +secretly appealed to the Governor in my name, and (using, I +suppose, many violent threats, and telling no doubt many lies +about my station and influence) extorted a promise that the +proselyte should be restored to her relatives. I did not +understand that the girl had been actually given up whilst I +remained at Nablus, but Dthemetri certainly did not desist from +his instances until he had satisfied himself by some means or +other (for mere words amounted to nothing) that the promise would +be actually performed. It was not till I had quitted Syria, +and when Dthemetri was no longer in my service, that this +villainous, though well-motived trick, of his came to my +knowledge. Mysseri, who had informed me of the step which +had been taken, did not know it himself until some time after we +had quitted Nablus, when Dthemetri exultingly confessed his +successful enterprise. I know not whether the engagement +which my zealous dragoman extorted from the Governor was ever +complied with. I shudder to think of the fate which must +have befallen poor Mariam if she fell into the hands of the +Christians.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVI—THE PROPHET DAMOOR</h2> +<p>For some hours I passed along the shores of the fair lake of +Galilee; then turning a little to the westward, I struck into a +mountainous tract, and as I advanced thenceforward, the lie of +the country kept growing more and more bold. At length I +drew near to the city of Safed. It sits as proud as a +fortress upon the summit of a craggy height; yet because of its +minarets and stately trees, the place looks happy and +beautiful. It is one of the holy cities of the Talmud, and +according to this authority, the Messiah will reign there for +forty years before He takes possession of Sion. The +sanctity and historical importance thus attributed to the city by +anticipation render it a favourite place of retirement for +Israelites, of whom it contains, they say, about four thousand, a +number nearly balancing that of the Mahometan inhabitants. +I knew by my experience of Tabarieh that a “holy +city” was sure to have a population of vermin somewhat +proportionate to the number of its Israelites, and I therefore +caused my tent to be pitched upon a green spot of ground at a +respectful distance from the walls of the town.</p> +<p>When it had become quite dark (for there was no moon that +night) I was informed that several Jews had secretly come from +the city in the hope of obtaining some assistance from me in +circumstances of imminent danger; I was also informed that they +claimed my aid upon the ground that some of their number were +British subjects. It was arranged that the two principal +men of the party should speak for the rest, and these were +accordingly admitted into my tent. One of the two called +himself the British vice-consul, and he had with him his consular +cap, but he frankly said that he could not have dared to assume +this emblem of his dignity in the daytime, and that nothing but +the extreme darkness of the night rendered it safe for him to put +it on upon this occasion. The other of the spokesmen was a +Jew of Gibraltar, a tolerably well-bred person, who spoke English +very fluently.</p> +<p>These men informed me that the Jews of the place, who were +exceedingly wealthy, had lived peaceably in their retirement +until the insurrection which took place in 1834, but about the +beginning of that year a highly religious Mussulman called +Mohammed Damoor went forth into the market-place, crying with a +loud voice, and prophesying that on the fifteenth of the +following June the true Believers would rise up in just wrath +against the Jews, and despoil them of their gold and their silver +and their jewels. The earnestness of the prophet produced +some impression at the time, but all went on as usual, until at +last the fifteenth of June arrived. When that day dawned +the whole Mussulman population of the place assembled in the +streets that they might see the result of the prophecy. +Suddenly Mohammed Damoor rushed furious into the crowd, and the +fierce shout of the prophet soon ensured the fulfilment of his +prophecy. Some of the Jews fled and some remained, but they +who fled and they who remained, alike, and unresistingly, left +their property to the hands of the spoilers. The most +odious of all outrages, that of searching the women for the base +purpose of discovering such things as gold and silver concealed +about their persons, was perpetrated without shame. The +poor Jews were so stricken with terror, that they submitted to +their fate even where resistance would have been easy. In +several instances a young Mussulman boy, not more than ten or +twelve years of age, walked straight into the house of a Jew and +stripped him of his property before his face, and in the presence +of his whole family. <a name="citation43"></a><a +href="#footnote43" class="citation">[43]</a> When the +insurrection was put down some of the Mussulmans (most probably +those who had got no spoil wherewith they might buy immunity) +were punished, but the greater part of them escaped. None +of the booty was restored, and the pecuniary redress which the +Pasha had undertaken to enforce for them had been hitherto so +carefully delayed, that the hope of ever obtaining it had grown +very faint. A new Governor had been appointed to the +command of the place, with stringent orders to ascertain the real +extent of the losses, and to discover the spoilers, with a view +of compelling them to make restitution. It was found that, +notwithstanding the urgency of the instructions which the +Governor had received, he did not push on the affair with the +vigour that had been expected. The Jews complained, and +either by the protection of the British consul at Damascus, or by +some other means, had influence enough to induce the appointment +of a special commissioner—they called him “the +Modeer”—whose duty it was to watch for and prevent +anything like connivance on the part of the Governor, and to push +on the investigation with vigour and impartiality.</p> +<p>Such were the instructions with which some few weeks since the +Modeer came charged. The result was that the investigation +had made no practical advance, and that the Modeer as well as the +Governor was living upon terms of affectionate friendship with +Mohammed Damoor and the rest of the principal spoilers.</p> +<p>Thus stood the chance of redress for the past, but the cause +of the agonising excitement under which the Jews of the place now +laboured was recent and justly alarming. Mohammed Damoor +had again gone forth into the market-place, and lifted up his +voice and prophesied a second spoliation of the Israelites. +This was grave matter; the words of such a practical man as +Mohammed Damoor were not to be despised. I fear I must have +smiled visibly, for I was greatly amused and even, I think, +gratified at the account of this second prophecy. +Nevertheless, my heart warmed towards the poor oppressed +Israelites, and I was flattered, too, in the point of my national +vanity at the notion of the far-reaching link by which a Jew in +Syria, who had been born on the rock of Gibraltar, was able to +claim me as his fellow-countryman. If I hesitated at all +between the “impropriety” of interfering in a matter +which was no business of mine and the “infernal +shame” of refusing my aid at such a conjecture, I soon came +to a very ungentlemanly decision, namely, that I would be guilty +of the “impropriety,” and not of the “infernal +shame.” It seemed to me that the immediate arrest of +Mohammed Damoor was the one thing needful to the safety of the +Jews, and I felt confident (for reasons which I have already +mentioned in speaking of the Nablus affair) that I should be able +to obtain this result by making a formal application to the +Governor. I told my applicants that I would take this step +on the following morning. They were very grateful, and +were, for a moment, much pleased at the prospect of safety which +might thus be opened to them, but the deliberation of a minute +entirely altered their views, and filled them with new +terror. They declared that any attempt, or pretended +attempt, on the part of the Governor to arrest Mohammed Damoor +would certainly produce an immediate movement of the whole +Mussulman population, and a consequent massacre and robbery of +the Israelites. My visitors went out, and remained I know +not how long consulting with their brethren, but all at last +agreed that their present perilous and painful position was +better than a certain and immediate attack, and that if Mohammed +Damoor was seized, their second estate would be worse than their +first. I myself did not think that this would be the case, +but I could not of course force my aid upon the people against +their will; and, moreover, the day fixed for the fulfilment of +this second prophecy was not very close at hand. A little +delay, therefore, in providing against the impending danger would +not necessarily be fatal. The men now confessed that +although they had come with so much mystery and, as they thought, +at so great a risk to ask my assistance, they were unable to +suggest any mode in which I could aid them, except indeed by +mentioning their grievances to the consul-general at +Damascus. This I promised to do, and this I did.</p> +<p>My visitors were very thankful to me for the readiness which I +had shown to intermeddle in their affairs, and the grateful wives +of the principal Jews sent to me many compliments, with choice +wines and elaborate sweetmeats.</p> +<p>The course of my travels soon drew me so far from Safed, that +I never heard how the dreadful day passed off which had been +fixed for the accomplishment of the second prophecy. If the +predicted spoliation was prevented, poor Mohammed Damoor must +have been forced, I suppose, to say that he had prophesied in a +metaphorical sense. This would be a sad falling off from +the brilliant and substantial success of the first +experiment.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVII—DAMASCUS</h2> +<p>For a part of two days I wound under the base of the +snow-crowned Djibel el Sheik, and then entered upon a vast and +desolate plain, rarely pierced at intervals by some sort of +withered stem. The earth in its length and its breadth and +all the deep universe of sky was steeped in light and heat. +On I rode through the fire, but long before evening came there +were straining eyes that saw, and joyful voices that announced, +the sight of Shaum Shereef—the “holy,” the +“blessed” Damascus.</p> +<p>But that which at last I reached with my longing eyes was not +a speck in the horizon, gradually expanding to a group of roofs +and walls, but a long, low line of blackest green, that ran right +across in the distance from east to west. And this, as I +approached, grew deeper, grew wavy in its outline. Soon +forest trees shot up before my eyes, and robed their broad +shoulders so freshly, that all the throngs of olives as they rose +into view looked sad in their proper dimness. There were +even now no houses to see, but only the minarets peered out from +the midst of shade into the glowing sky, and bravely touched the +sun. There seemed to be here no mere city, but rather a +province wide and rich, that bounded the torrid waste.</p> +<p>Until about a year, or two years, before the time of my going +there Damascus had kept up so much of the old bigot zeal against +Christians, or rather, against Europeans, that no one dressed as +a Frank could have dared to show himself in the streets; but the +firmness and temper of Mr. Farren, who hoisted his flag in the +city as consul-general for the district, had soon put an end to +all intolerance of Englishmen. Damascus was safer than +Oxford. <a name="citation44"></a><a href="#footnote44" +class="citation">[44]</a> When I entered the city in my +usual dress there was but one poor fellow that wagged his tongue, +and him, in the open streets, Dthemetri horsewhipped. +During my stay I went wherever I chose, and attended the public +baths without molestation. Indeed, my relations with the +pleasanter portion of the Mahometan population were upon a much +better footing here than at most other places.</p> +<p>In the principal streets of Damascus there is a path for +foot-passengers, which is raised, I think, a foot or two above +the bridle-road. Until the arrival of the British +consul-general none but a Mussulman had been permitted to walk +upon the upper way. Mr. Farren would not, of course, suffer +that the humiliation of any such exclusion should be submitted to +by an Englishman, and I always walked upon the raised path as +free and unmolested as if I had been in Pall Mall. The old +usage was, however, maintained with as much strictness as ever +against the Christian Rayahs and Jews: not one of them could have +set his foot upon the privileged path without endangering his +life.</p> +<p>I was lounging one day, I remember, along “the paths of +the faithful,” when a Christian Rayah from the bridle-road +below saluted me with such earnestness, and craved so anxiously +to speak and be spoken to, that he soon brought me to a +halt. He had nothing to tell, except only the glory and +exultation with which he saw a fellow-Christian stand level with +the imperious Mussulmans. Perhaps he had been absent from +the place for some time, for otherwise I hardly know how it could +have happened that my exaltation was the first instance he had +seen. His joy was great. So strong and strenuous was +England (Lord Palmerston reigned in those days), that it was a +pride and delight for a Syrian Christian to look up and say that +the Englishman’s faith was his too. If I was vexed at +all that I could not give the man a lift and shake hands with him +on level ground, there was no alloy to his pleasure. He +followed me on, not looking to his own path, but keeping his eyes +on me. He saw, as he thought, and said (for he came with me +on to my quarters), the period of the Mahometan’s absolute +ascendency, the beginning of the Christian’s. He had +so closely associated the insulting privilege of the path with +actual dominion, that seeing it now in one instance abandoned, he +looked for the quick coming of European troops. His lips +only whispered, and that tremulously, but his fiery eyes spoke +out their triumph in long and loud hurrahs: “I, too, am a +Christian. My foes are the foes of the English. We +are all one people, and Christ is our King.”</p> +<p>If I poorly deserved, yet I liked this claim of +brotherhood. Not all the warnings which I heard against +their rascality could hinder me from feeling kindly towards my +fellow-Christians in the East. English travellers, from a +habit perhaps of depreciating sectarians in their own country, +are apt to look down upon the Oriental Christians as being +“dissenters” from the established religion of a +Mahometan empire. I never did thus. By a natural +perversity of disposition, which my nursemaids called +contrariness, I felt the more strongly for my creed when I saw it +despised among men. I quite tolerated the Christianity of +Mahometan countries, notwithstanding its humble aspect and the +damaged character of its followers. I went further and +extended some sympathy towards those who, with all the claims of +superior intellect, learning, and industry, were kept down under +the heel of the Mussulmans by reason of their having <i>our</i> +faith. I heard, as I fancied, the faint echo of an old +crusader’s conscience, that whispered and said, +“Common cause!” The impulse was, as you may +suppose, much too feeble to bring me into trouble; it merely +influenced my actions in a way thoroughly characteristic of this +poor sluggish century, that is, by making me speak almost as +civilly to the followers of Christ as I did to their Mahometan +foes.</p> +<p>This “holy” Damascus, this “earthly +paradise” of the Prophet, so fair to the eyes that he dared +not trust himself to tarry in her blissful shades, she is a city +of hidden palaces, of copses and gardens, and fountains and +bubbling streams. The juice of her life is the gushing and +ice-cold torrent that tumbles from the snowy sides of +Anti-Lebanon. Close along on the river’s edge, +through seven sweet miles of rustling boughs and deepest shade, +the city spreads out her whole length. As a man falls flat, +face forward on the brook, that he may drink and drink again, so +Damascus, thirsting for ever, lies down with her lips to the +stream and clings to its rushing waters.</p> +<p>The chief places of public amusement, or rather, of public +relaxation, are the baths and the great café; this last, +which is frequented at night by most of the wealthy men, and by +many of the humbler sort, consists of a number of sheds, very +simply framed and built in a labyrinth of running streams, which +foam and roar on every side. The place is lit up in the +simplest manner by numbers of small pale lamps strung upon loose +cords, and so suspended from branch to branch, that the light, +though it looks so quiet amongst the darkening foliage, yet leaps +and brightly flashes as it falls upon the troubled waters. +All around, and chiefly upon the very edge of the torrents, +groups of people are tranquilly seated. They all drink +coffee, and inhale the cold fumes of the <i>narghile</i>; they +talk rather gently the one to the other, or else are +silent. A father will sometimes have two or three of his +boys around him; but the joyousness of an Oriental child is all +of the sober sort, and never disturbs the reigning calm of the +land.</p> +<p>It has been generally understood, I believe, that the houses +of Damascus are more sumptuous than those of any other city in +the East. Some of these, said to be the most magnificent in +the place, I had an opportunity of seeing.</p> +<p>Every rich man’s house stands detached from its +neighbours at the side of a garden, and it is from this cause no +doubt that the city (severely menaced by prophecy) has hitherto +escaped destruction. You know some parts of Spain, but you +have never, I think, been in Andalusia: if you had, I could +easily show you the interior of a Damascene house by referring +you to the Alhambra or Alcanzar of Seville. The lofty rooms +are adorned with a rich inlaying of many colours and illuminated +writing on the walls. The floors are of marble. One +side of any room intended for noonday retirement is generally +laid open to a quadrangle, in the centre of which there dances +the jet of a fountain. There is no furniture that can +interfere with the cool, palace-like emptiness of the +apartments. A divan (which is a low and doubly broad sofa) +runs round the three walled sides of the room. A few +Persian carpets (which ought to be called Persian rugs, for that +is the word which indicates their shape and dimensions) are +sometimes thrown about near the divan; they are placed without +order, the one partly lapping over the other, and thus disposed, +they give to the room an appearance of uncaring luxury; except +these (of which I saw few, for the time was summer, and fiercely +hot), there is nothing to obstruct the welcome air, and the whole +of the marble floor from one divan to the other, and from the +head of the chamber across to the murmuring fountain, is +thoroughly open and free.</p> +<p>So simple as this is Asiatic luxury! The Oriental is not +a contriving animal; there is nothing intricate in his +magnificence. The impossibility of handing down property +from father to son for any long period consecutively seems to +prevent the existence of those traditions by which, with us, the +refined modes of applying wealth are made known to its +inheritors. We know that in England a newly-made rich man +cannot, by taking thought and spending money, obtain even the +same-looking furniture as a gentleman. The complicated +character of an English establishment allows room for subtle +distinctions between that which is <i>comme il faut</i>, and that +which is not. All such refinements are unknown in the East; +the Pasha and the peasant have the same tastes. The broad +cold marble floor, the simple couch, the air freshly waving +through a shady chamber, a verse of the Koran emblazoned on the +wall, the sight and the sound of falling water, the cold fragrant +smoke of the <i>narghile</i>, and a small collection of wives and +children in the inner apartments—these, the utmost +enjoyments of the grandee, are yet such as to be appreciable by +the humblest Mussulman in the empire.</p> +<p>But its gardens are the delight, the delight and the pride of +Damascus. They are not the formal parterres which you might +expect from the Oriental taste; they rather bring back to your +mind the memory of some dark old shrubbery in our northern isle, +that has been charmingly <i>un</i>—“kept up” +for many and many a day. When you see a rich wilderness of +wood in decent England, it is like enough that you see it with +some soft regrets. The puzzled old woman at the lodge can +give small account of “the family.” She thinks +it is “Italy” that has made the whole circle of her +world so gloomy and sad. You avoid the house in lively +dread of a lone housekeeper, but you make your way on by the +stables; you remember that gable with all its neatly nailed +trophies of fitchets and hawks and owls, now slowly falling to +pieces; you remember that stable, and that—but the doors +are all fastened that used to be standing ajar, the paint of +things painted is blistered and cracked, grass grows in the yard; +just there, in October mornings, the keeper would wait with the +dogs and the guns—no keeper now; you hurry away, and gain +the small wicket that used to open to the touch of a lightsome +hand—it is fastened with a padlock (the only new looking +thing), and is stained with thick, green damp; you climb it, and +bury yourself in the deep shade, and strive but lazily with the +tangling briars, and stop for long minutes to judge and determine +whether you will creep beneath the long boughs and make them your +archway, or whether perhaps you will lift your heel and tread +them down under foot. Long doubt, and scarcely to be ended +till you wake from the memory of those days when the path was +clear, and chase that phantom of a muslin sleeve that once +weighed warm upon your arm.</p> +<p>Wild as that, the nighest woodland of a deserted home in +England, but without its sweet sadness, is the sumptuous garden +of Damascus. Forest trees, tall and stately enough if you +could see their lofty crests, yet lead a tussling life of it +below, with their branches struggling against strong numbers of +bushes and wilful shrubs. The shade upon the earth is black +as night. High, high above your head, and on every side all +down to the ground, the thicket is hemmed in and choked up by the +interlacing boughs that droop with the weight of roses, and load +the slow air with their damask breath. <a +name="citation45"></a><a href="#footnote45" +class="citation">[45]</a> There are no other flowers. +Here and there, there are patches of ground made clear from the +cover, and these are either carelessly planted with some common +and useful vegetable, or else are left free to the wayward ways +of Nature, and bear rank weeds, moist-looking and cool to the +eyes, and freshening the sense with their earthy and bitter +fragrance. There is a lane opened through the thicket, so +broad in some places that you can pass along side by side; in +some so narrow (the shrubs are for ever encroaching) that you +ought, if you can, to go on the first and hold back the bough of +the rose-tree. And through this wilderness there tumbles a +loud rushing stream, which is halted at last in the lowest corner +of the garden, and there tossed up in a fountain by the side of +the simple alcove. This is all.</p> +<p>Never for an instant will the people of Damascus attempt to +separate the idea of bliss from these wild gardens and rushing +waters. Even where your best affections are concerned, and +you, prudent preachers, “hold hard” and turn aside +when they come near the mysteries of the happy state, and we +(prudent preachers too), we will hush our voices, and never +reveal to finite beings the joys of the “earthly +paradise.”</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII—PASS OF THE LEBANON</h2> +<p>“The ruins of Baalbec!” Shall I scatter the +vague, solemn thoughts and all the airy phantasies which gather +together when once those words are spoken, that I may give you +instead tall columns and measurements true, and phrases built +with ink? No, no; the glorious sounds shall still float on +as of yore, and still hold fast upon your brain with their own +dim and infinite meaning.</p> +<p>Come! Baalbec is over; I got “rather well” +out of that.</p> +<p>The path by which I crossed the Lebanon is like, I think, in +its features to one which you must know, namely, that of the +Foorca in the Bernese Oberland. For a great part of the way +I toiled rather painfully through the dazzling snow, but the +labour of ascending added to the excitement with which I looked +for the summit of the pass. The time came. There was +a minute in the which I saw nothing but the steep, white shoulder +of the mountain, and there was another minute, and that the next, +which showed me a nether heaven of fleecy clouds that floated +along far down in the air beneath me, and showed me beyond the +breadth of all Syria west of the Lebanon. But chiefly I +clung with my eyes to the dim, steadfast line of the sea which +closed my utmost view. I had grown well used of late to the +people and the scenes of forlorn Asia—well used to tombs +and ruins, to silent cities and deserted plains, to tranquil men +and women sadly veiled; and now that I saw the even plain of the +sea, I leapt with an easy leap to its yonder shores, and saw all +the kingdoms of the West in that fair path that could lead me +from out of this silent land straight on into shrill Marseilles, +or round by the pillars of Hercules to the crash and roar of +London. My place upon this dividing barrier was as a +man’s puzzling station in eternity, between the birthless +past and the future that has no end. Behind me I left an +old, decrepit world; religions dead and dying; calm tyrannies +expiring in silence; women hushed and swathed, and turned into +waxen dolls; love flown, and in its stead mere royal and +“paradise” pleasures. Before me there waited +glad bustle and strife; love itself, an emulous game; religion, a +cause and a controversy, well smitten and well defended; men +governed by reasons and suasion of speech; wheels going, steam +buzzing—a mortal race, and a slashing pace, and the devil +taking the hindmost—taking <i>me</i>, by Jove (for that was +my inner care), if I lingered too long upon the difficult pass +that leads from thought to action.</p> +<p>I descended and went towards the west.</p> +<p>The group of cedars remaining on this part of the Lebanon is +held sacred by the Greek Church on account of a prevailing notion +that the trees were standing at a time when the temple of +Jerusalem was built. They occupy three or four acres on the +mountain’s side, and many of them are gnarled in a way that +implies great age, but except these signs I saw nothing in their +appearance or conduct that tended to prove them contemporaries of +the cedars employed in Solomon’s Temple. The final +cause to which these aged survivors owed their preservation was +explained to me in the evening by a glorious old fellow (a +Christian chief), who made me welcome in the valley of +Eden. In ancient times the whole range of the Lebanon had +been covered with cedars, and as the fertile plains beneath +became more and more infested by government officers and tyrants +of high and low degree, the people by degrees abandoned them and +flocked to the rugged mountains, which were less accessible to +their indolent oppressors. The cedar forests gradually +shrank under the axe of the encroaching multitudes, and seemed at +last to be on the point of disappearing entirely, when an aged +chief who ruled in this district, and who had witnessed the great +change effected even in his own lifetime, chose to say that some +sign or memorial should be left of the vast woods with which the +mountains had formerly been clad, and commanded accordingly that +this group of trees (which was probably situated at the highest +point to which the forest had reached) should remain +untouched. The chief, it seems, was not moved by the notion +I have mentioned as prevailing in the Greek Church, but rather by +some sentiment of veneration for a great natural +feature—sentiment akin, perhaps, to that old and earthborn +religion, which made men bow down to creation before they had yet +learnt how to know and worship the Creator.</p> +<p>The chief of the valley in which I passed the night was a man +of large possessions, and he entertained me very +sumptuously. He was highly intelligent, and had had the +sagacity to foresee that Europe would intervene authoritatively +in the affairs of Syria. Bearing this idea in mind, and +with a view to give his son an advantageous start in the +ambitious career for which he was destined, he had hired for him +a teacher of the Italian language, the only accessible European +tongue. The tutor, however, who was a native of Syria, +either did not know or did not choose to teach the European forms +of address, but contented himself with instructing his pupil in +the mere language of Italy. This circumstance gave me an +opportunity (the only one I ever had, or was likely to have <a +name="citation46"></a><a href="#footnote46" +class="citation">[46]</a>) of hearing the phrases of Oriental +courtesy in an European tongue. The boy was about twelve or +thirteen years old, and having the advantage of being able to +speak to me without the aid of an interpreter, he took a +prominent part in doing the honours of his father’s +house. He went through his duties with untiring assiduity, +and with a kind of gracefulness, which by mere description can +scarcely be made intelligible to those who are unacquainted with +the manners of the Asiatics. The boy’s address +resembled a little that of a highly polished and insinuating +Roman Catholic priest, but had more of girlish gentleness. +It was strange to hear him gravely and slowly enunciating the +common and extravagant compliments of the East in good Italian, +and in soft, persuasive tones. I recollect that I was +particularly amused at the gracious obstinacy with which he +maintained that the house in which I was so hospitably +entertained belonged not to his father, but to me. To say +this once was only to use the common form of speech, signifying +no more than our sweet word “welcome,” but the +amusing part of the matter was that, whenever in the course of +conversation I happened to speak of his father’s house or +the surrounding domain, the boy invariably interfered to correct +my pretended mistake, and to assure me once again with a gentle +decisiveness of manner that the whole property was really and +exclusively mine, and that his father had not the most distant +pretensions to its ownership.</p> +<p>I received from my host much, and (as I now know) most true, +information respecting the people of the mountains, and their +power of resisting Mehemet Ali. The chief gave me very +plainly to understand that the mountaineers, being dependent upon +others for bread and gunpowder (the two great necessaries of +martial life), could not long hold out against a power which +occupied the plains and commanded the sea; but he also assured +me, and that very significantly, that if this source of weakness +were provided against, <i>the mountaineers were to be depended +upon</i>; he told me that in ten or fifteen days the chiefs could +bring together some fifty thousand fighting men.</p> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIX—SURPRISE OF SATALIEH</h2> +<p>Whilst I was remaining upon the coast of Syria I had the good +fortune to become acquainted with the Russian Sataliefsky, <a +name="citation47"></a><a href="#footnote47" +class="citation">[47]</a> a general officer, who in his youth had +fought and bled at Borodino, but was now better known among +diplomats by the important trust committed to him at a period +highly critical for the affairs of Eastern Europe. I must +not tell you his family name; my mention of his title can do him +no harm, for it is I, and I only, who have conferred it, in +consideration of the military and diplomatic services performed +under my own eyes.</p> +<p>The General as well as I was bound for Smyrna, and we agreed +to sail together in an Ionian brigantine. We did not +charter the vessel, but we made our arrangement with the captain +upon such terms that we could be put ashore upon any part of the +coast that we might choose. We sailed, and day after day +the vessel lay dawdling on the sea with calms and feeble breezes +for her portion. I myself was well repaid for the painful +restlessness which such weather occasions, because I gained from +my companion a little of that vast fund of interesting knowledge +with which he was stored, knowledge a thousand times the more +highly to be prized since it was not of the sort that is to be +gathered from books, but only from the lips of those who have +acted a part in the world.</p> +<p>When after nine days of sailing, or trying to sail, we found +ourselves still hanging by the mainland to the north of the isle +of Cyprus, we determined to disembark at Satalieh, and to go on +thence by land. A light breeze favoured our purpose, and it +was with great delight that we neared the fragrant land, and saw +our anchor go down in the bay of Satalieh, within two or three +hundred yards of the shore.</p> +<p>The town of Satalieh <a name="citation48"></a><a +href="#footnote48" class="citation">[48]</a> is the chief place +of the Pashalic in which it is situate, and its citadel is the +residence of the Pasha. We had scarcely dropped our anchor +when a boat from the shore came alongside with officers on board, +who announced that the strictest orders had been received for +maintaining a quarantine of three weeks against all vessels +coming from Syria, and directed accordingly that no one from the +vessel should disembark. In reply we sent a message to the +Pasha, setting forth the rank and titles of the General, and +requiring permission to go ashore. After a while the boat +came again alongside, and the officers declaring that the orders +received from Constantinople were imperative and unexceptional, +formally enjoined us in the name of the Pasha to abstain from any +attempt to land.</p> +<p>I had been hitherto much less impatient of our slow voyage +than my gallant friend, but this opposition made the smooth sea +seem to me like a prison, from which I must and would break +out. I had an unbounded faith in the feebleness of Asiatic +potentates, and I proposed that we should set the Pasha at +defiance. The General had been worked up to a state of most +painful agitation by the idea of being driven from the shore +which smiled so pleasantly before his eyes, and he adopted my +suggestion with rapture.</p> +<p>We determined to land.</p> +<p>To approach the sweet shore after a tedious voyage, and then +to be suddenly and unexpectedly prohibited from +landing—this is so maddening to the temper, that no one who +had ever experienced the trial would say that even the most +violent impatience of such restraint is wholly inexcusable. +I am not going to pretend, however, that the course which we +chose to adopt on the occasion can be perfectly justified. +The impropriety of a traveller’s setting at naught the +regulations of a foreign State is clear enough, and the bad taste +of compassing such a purpose by mere gasconading is still more +glaringly plain. I knew perfectly well that if the Pasha +understood his duty, and had energy enough to perform it, he +would order out a file of soldiers the moment we landed, and +cause us both to be shot upon the beach, without allowing more +contact than might be absolutely necessary for the purpose of +making us stand fire; but I also firmly believed that the Pasha +would not see the befitting line of conduct nearly so well as I +did, and that even if he did know his duty, he would hardly +succeed in finding resolution enough to perform it.</p> +<p>We ordered the boat to be got in readiness, and the officers +on shore seeing these preparations, gathered together a number of +guards, who assembled upon the sands. We saw that great +excitement prevailed, and that messengers were continually going +to and fro between the shore and the citadel. Our captain, +out of compliment to his Excellency, had provided the vessel with +a Russian war-flag, which he had hoisted alternately with the +Union Jack, and we agreed that we would attempt our +disembarkation under this, the Russian standard! I was glad +when we came to that resolution, for I should have been sorry to +engage the honoured flag of England in such an affair as that +which we were undertaking. The Russian ensign was therefore +committed to one of the sailors, who took his station at the +stern of the boat. We gave particular instructions to the +captain of the brigantine, and when all was ready, the General +and I, with our respective servants, got into the boat, and were +slowly rowed towards the shore. The guards gathered +together at the point for which we were making, but when they saw +that our boat went on without altering her course, <i>they ceased +to stand very still</i>; none of them ran away, or even shrank +back, but they looked as if <i>the pack were being shuffled</i>, +every man seeming desirous to change places with his +neighbour. They were still at their post, however, when our +oars went in, and the bow of our boat ran up—well up upon +the beach.</p> +<p>The General was lame by an honourable wound received at +Borodino, and could not without some assistance get out of the +boat; I, therefore, landed the first. My instructions to +the captain were attended to with the most perfect accuracy, for +scarcely had my foot indented the sand when the four six-pounders +of the brigantine quite gravely rolled out their brute +thunder. Precisely as I had expected, the guards and all +the people who had gathered about them gave way under the shock +produced by the mere sound of guns, and we were all allowed to +disembark with the least molestation.</p> +<p>We immediately formed a little column, or rather, as I should +have called it, a procession, for we had no fighting aptitude in +us, and were only trying, as it were, how far we could go in +frightening full-grown children. First marched the sailor +with the Russian flag of war bravely flying in the breeze, then +came the general and I, then our servants, and lastly, if I +rightly recollect, two more of the brigantine’s crew. +Our flag-bearer so exulted in his honourable office, and bore the +colours aloft with so much of pomp and dignity, that I found it +exceedingly hard to keep a grave countenance. We advanced +towards the castle, but the people had now had time to recover +from the effect of the six-pounders (only of course loaded with +powder), and they could not help seeing not only the numerical +weakness of our party, but the very slight amount of wealth and +resource which it seemed to imply. They began to hang round +us more closely, and just as this reaction was beginning the +General, who was perfectly unacquainted with the Asiatic +character, thoughtlessly turned round in order to speak to one of +the servants. The effect of this slight move was +magical. The people thought we were going to give way, and +instantly closed round us. In two words, and with one +touch, I showed my comrade the danger he was running, and in the +next instant we were both advancing more pompously than +ever. Some minutes afterwards there was a second appearance +of reaction, followed again by wavering and indecision on the +part of the Pasha’s people, but at length it seemed to be +understood that we should go unmolested into the audience +hall.</p> +<p>Constant communication had been going on between the receding +crowd and the Pasha, and so when we reached the gates of the +citadel we saw that preparations were made for giving us an +awe-striking reception. Parting at once from the sailors +and our servants, the General and I were conducted into the +audience hall; and there at least I suppose the Pasha hoped that +he would confound us by his greatness. The hall was nothing +more than a large whitewashed room. Oriental potentates +have a pride in that sort of simplicity, when they can contrast +it with the exhibition of power, and this the Pasha was able to +do, for the lower end of the hall was filled with his +officers. These men, of whom I thought there were about +fifty or sixty, were all handsomely, though plainly, dressed in +the military frockcoats of Europe; they stood in mass and so as +to present a hollow semicircular front towards the upper end of +the hall at which the Pasha sat; they opened a narrow lane for us +when we entered, and as soon as we had passed they again closed +up their ranks. An attempt was made to induce us to remain +at a respectful distance from his mightiness. To have +yielded in this point would have have been fatal to our success, +perhaps to our lives; but the General and I had already +determined upon the place which we should take, and we rudely +pushed on towards the upper end of the hall.</p> +<p>Upon the divan, and close up against the right hand corner of +the room, there sat the Pasha, his limbs gathered in, the whole +creature coiled up like an adder. His cheeks were deadly +pale, and his lips perhaps had turned white, for without moving a +muscle the man impressed me with an immense idea of the wrath +within him. He kept his eyes inexorably fixed as if upon +vacancy, and with the look of a man accustomed to refuse the +prayers of those who sue for life. We soon discomposed him, +however, from this studied fixity of feature, for we marched +straight up to the divan and sat down, the Russian close to the +Pasha, and I by the side of the Russian. This act +astonished the attendants, and plainly disconcerted the +Pasha. He could no longer maintain the glassy stillness of +the eyes which he had affected, and evidently became much +agitated. At the feet of the satrap there stood a trembling +Italian.</p> +<p>This man was a sort of medico in the potentate’s +service, and now in the absence of our attendants he was to act +as interpreter. The Pasha caused him to tell us that we had +openly defied his authority, and had forced our way on shore in +the teeth of his own officers.</p> +<p>Up to this time I had been the planner of the enterprise, but +now that the moment had come when all would depend upon able and +earnest speechifying, I felt at once the immense superiority of +my gallant friend, and gladly left to him the whole conduct of +this discussion. Indeed he had vast advantages over me, not +only by his superior command of language and his far more +spirited style of address, but also in his consciousness of a +good cause; for whilst I felt myself completely in the wrong, his +Excellency had really worked himself up to believe that the +Pasha’s refusal to permit our landing was a gross outrage +and insult. Therefore, without deigning to defend our +conduct he at once commenced a spirited attack upon the +Pasha. The poor Italian doctor translated one or two +sentences to the Pasha, but he evidently mitigated their +import. The Russian, growing warm, insisted upon his attack +with redoubled energy and spirit; but the medico, instead of +translating, began to shake violently with terror, and at last he +came out with his <i>non ardisco</i>, and fairly confessed that +he dared not interpret fierce words to his master.</p> +<p>Now then, at a time when everything seemed to depend upon the +effect of speech, we were left without an interpreter.</p> +<p>But this very circumstance, which at first appeared so +unfavourable, turned out to be advantageous. The General, +finding that he could not have his words translated, ceased to +speak in Italian, and recurred to his accustomed French; he +became eloquent. No one present except myself understood +one syllable of what he was saying, but he had drawn forth his +passport, and the energy and violence with which, as he spoke, he +pointed to the graven Eagle of all the Russias, began to make an +impression. The Pasha saw at his side a man not only free +from every the least pang of fear, but raging, as it seemed, with +just indignation, and thenceforward he plainly began to think +that, in some way or other (he could not tell how) he must +certainly have been in the wrong. In a little time he was +so much shaken that the Italian ventured to resume his +interpretation, and my comrade had again the opportunity of +pressing his attack upon the Pasha. His argument, if I +rightly recollect its import, was to this effect: “If the +vilest Jews were to come into the harbour, you would but forbid +them to land, and force them to perform quarantine; yet this is +the very course, O Pasha, which your rash officers dared to think +of adopting with <i>us</i>!—those mad and reckless men +would have actually dealt towards a Russian general officer and +an English gentleman as if they had been wretched +Israelites! Never—never will we submit to such an +indignity. His Imperial Majesty knows how to protect his +nobles from insult, and would never endure that a General of his +army should be treated in matter of quarantine as though he were +a mere Eastern Jew!” This argument told with great +effect. The Pasha fairly admitted that he felt its weight, +and he now only struggled to obtain such a compromise as might +partly save his dignity. He wanted us to perform a +quarantine of one day for form’s sake, and in order to show +his people that he was not utterly defied; but finding that we +were inexorable, he not only abandoned his attempt, but promised +to supply us with horses.</p> +<p>When the discussion had arrived at this happy conclusion +<i>tchibouques</i> and coffee were brought, and we passed, I +think, nearly an hour in friendly conversation. The Pasha, +it now appeared, had once been a prisoner of war in Russia, and a +conviction of the Emperor’s vast power, necessarily +acquired during this captivity, made him perhaps more alive than +an untravelled Turk would have been to the force of my +comrade’s eloquence.</p> +<p>The Pasha now gave us a generous feast. Our promised +horses were brought without much delay. I gained my loved +saddle once more, and when the moon got up and touched the +heights of Taurus, we were joyfully winding our way through the +first of his rugged defiles.</p> +<h2>APPENDIX—THE HOME OF LADY HESTER STANHOPE</h2> +<p>It was late when we came in sight of two high conical hills, +on one of which stands the village of Djouni, on the other a +circular wall, over which dark trees were waving; and this was +the place in which Lady Hester Stanhope had finished her strange +and eventful career. It had formerly been a convent, but +the Pasha of Sidon had given it to the +“prophet-lady,” who converted its naked walls into a +palace, and its wilderness into gardens.</p> +<p>The sun was setting as we entered the enclosure, and we were +soon scattered about the outer court, picketing our horses, +rubbing down their foaming flanks, and washing out their +wounds. The buildings that constituted the palace were of a +very scattered and complicated description, covering a wide +space, but only one storey in height: courts and gardens, stables +and sleeping-rooms, halls of audience and ladies’ bowers, +were strangely intermingled. Heavy weeds were growing +everywhere among the open portals, and we forced our way with +difficulty through a tangle of roses and jasmine to the inner +court; here choice flowers once bloomed, and fountains played in +marble basins, but now was presented a scene of the most +melancholy desolation. As the watchfire blazed up, its +gleam fell upon masses of honeysuckle and woodbine, on white, +mouldering walls beneath, and dark, waving trees above; while the +group of mountaineers who gathered round its light, with their +long beards and vivid dresses, completed the strange picture.</p> +<p>The clang of sword and spear resounded through the long +galleries; horses neighed among bowers and boudoirs; strange +figures hurried to and fro among the colonnades, shouting in +Arabic, English, and Italian; the fire crackled, the startled +bats flapped their heavy wings, and the growl of distant thunder +filled up the pauses in the rough symphony.</p> +<p>Our dinner was spread on the floor in Lady Hester’s +favourite apartment; her deathbed was our sideboard, her +furniture our fuel, her name our conversation. Almost +before the meal was ended two of our party had dropped asleep +over their trenchers from fatigue; the Druses had retired from +the haunted precincts to their village; and W-, L-, and I went +out into the garden to smoke our pipes by Lady Hester’s +lonely tomb. About midnight we fell asleep upon the ground, +wrapped in our capotes, and dreamed of ladies and tombs and +prophets till the neighing of our horses announced the dawn.</p> +<p>After a hurried breakfast on fragments of the last +night’s repast we strolled out over the extensive +gardens. Here many a broken arbour and trellis, bending +under masses of jasmine and honeysuckle, show the care and taste +that were once lavished on this wild but beautiful hermitage: a +garden-house, surrounded by an enclosure of roses run wild, lies +in the midst of a grove of myrtle and bay trees. This was +Lady Hester’s favourite resort during her lifetime; and +now, within its silent enclosure,</p> +<blockquote><p>“After life’s fitful fever she sleeps +well.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The hand of ruin has dealt very sparingly with all these +interesting relics; the Pasha’s power by day, and the fear +of spirits by night, keep off marauders; and though we made free +with broken benches and fallen doorposts for fuel, we reverently +abstained from displacing anything in the establishment except a +few roses, which there was no living thing but bees and +nightingales to regret. It was one of the most striking and +interesting spots I ever witnessed: its silence and beauty, its +richness and desolation, lent to it a touching and mysterious +character, that suited well the memory of that strange +hermit-lady who has made it a place of pilgrimage, even in +Palestine. <a name="citation49"></a><a href="#footnote49" +class="citation">[49]</a></p> +<p>The Pasha of Sidon presented Lady Hester with the deserted +convent of Mar Elias on her arrival in his country, and this she +soon converted into a fortress, garrisoned by a band of +Albanians: her only attendants besides were her doctor, her +secretary, and some female slaves. Public rumour soon +busied itself with such a personage, and exaggerated her +influence and power. It is even said that she was crowned +Queen of the East at Palmyra by fifty thousand Arabs. She +certainly exercised almost despotic power in her neighbourhood on +the mountain; and what was perhaps the most remarkable proof of +her talents, she prevailed on some Jews to advance large sums of +money to her on her note of hand. She lived for many years, +beset with difficulties and anxieties, but to the last she held +on gallantly: even when confined to her bed and dying she sought +for no companionship or comfort but such as she could find in her +own powerful, though unmanageable, mind.</p> +<p>Mr. Moore, our consul at Beyrout, hearing she was ill, rode +over the mountains to visit her, accompanied by Mr. Thomson, the +American missionary. It was evening when they arrived, and +a profound silence was over all the palace. No one met +them; they lighted their own lamps in the outer court, and passed +unquestioned through court and gallery until they came to where +<i>she</i> lay. A corpse was the only inhabitant of the +palace, and the isolation from her kind which she had sought so +long was indeed complete. That morning thirty-seven +servants had watched every motion of her eye: its spell once +darkened by death, every one fled with such plunder as they could +secure. A little girl, adopted by her and maintained for +years, took her watch and some papers on which she had set +peculiar value. Neither the child nor the property were +ever seen again. Not a single thing was left in the room +where she lay dead, except the ornaments upon her person. +No one had ventured to touch these; even in death she seemed able +to protect herself. At midnight her countryman and the +missionary carried her out by torchlight to a spot in the garden +that had been formerly her favourite resort, and here they buried +the self-exiled lady.—<i>From</i> “<span +class="smcap">The Crescent and the Cross</span>,” <i>by +Eliot Warburton</i>.</p> +<h2>Footnotes:</h2> +<p><a name="footnote1"></a><a href="#citation1" +class="footnote">[1]</a> A “compromised” person +is one who has been in contact with people or things supposed to +be capable of conveying infection. As a general rule the +whole Ottoman Empire lies constantly under this terrible +ban. The “yellow flag” is the ensign of the +quarantine establishment.</p> +<p><a name="footnote2"></a><a href="#citation2" +class="footnote">[2]</a> The narghile is a water-pipe upon +the plan of the hookah, but more gracefully fashioned; the smoke +is drawn by a very long flexible tube, that winds its snake-like +way from the vase to the lips of the beatified smoker.</p> +<p><a name="footnote3"></a><a href="#citation3" +class="footnote">[3]</a> That is, if he stands up at +all. Oriental etiquette would not warrant his rising, +unless his visitor were supposed to be at least his equal in +point of rank and station.</p> +<p><a name="footnote4"></a><a href="#citation4" +class="footnote">[4]</a> The continual marriages of these +people with the chosen beauties of Georgia and Circassia have +overpowered the original ugliness of their Tatar ancestors.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5"></a><a href="#citation5" +class="footnote">[5]</a> There is almost always a breeze +either from the Marmora or from the Black Sea, that passes along +the course of the Bosphorus.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6" +class="footnote">[6]</a> The yashmak, you know, is not a +mere semi-transparent veil, but rather a good substantial +petticoat applied to the face; it thoroughly conceals all the +features, except the eyes; the way of withdrawing it is by +pulling it down.</p> +<p><a name="footnote7"></a><a href="#citation7" +class="footnote">[7]</a> The “pipe of +tranquillity” is a <i>tchibouque</i> too long to be +conveniently carried on a journey; the possession of it therefore +implies that its owner is stationary, or at all events, that he +is enjoying a long repose from travel.</p> +<p><a name="footnote8"></a><a href="#citation8" +class="footnote">[8]</a> The Jews of Smyrna are poor, and +having little merchandise of their own to dispose of, they are +sadly importunate in offering their services as intermediaries: +their troublesome conduct has led to the custom of beating them +in the open streets. It is usual for Europeans to carry +long sticks with them, for the express purpose of keeping off the +chosen people. I always felt ashamed to strike the poor +fellows myself, but I confess to the amusement with which I +witnessed the observance of this custom by other people. +The Jew seldom got hurt much, for he was always expecting the +blow, and was ready to recede from it the moment it came: one +could not help being rather gratified at seeing him bound away so +nimbly, with his long robes floating out in the air, and then +again wheel round, and return with fresh importunities.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9"></a><a href="#citation9" +class="footnote">[9]</a> Marriages in the East are arranged +by professed match-makers; many of these, I believe, are +Jewesses.</p> +<p><a name="footnote10"></a><a href="#citation10" +class="footnote">[10]</a> A Greek woman wears her whole +fortune upon her person in the shape of jewels or gold coins; I +believe that this mode of investment is adopted in great measure +for safety’s sake. It has the advantage of enabling a +suitor to <i>reckon</i> as well as to admire the objects of his +affection.</p> +<p><a name="footnote11"></a><a href="#citation11" +class="footnote">[11]</a> St. Nicholas is the great patron +of Greek sailors. A small picture of him enclosed in a +glass case is hung up like a barometer at one end of the +cabin.</p> +<p><a name="footnote12"></a><a href="#citation12" +class="footnote">[12]</a> Hanmer.</p> +<p><a name="footnote13"></a><a href="#citation13" +class="footnote">[13]</a> “. . . ubi templum illi, +centumque Sabæo<br /> +Thure calent aræ, sertisque recentibus halant.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right">—Æneid, i, 415.</p> +<p><a name="footnote14"></a><a href="#citation14" +class="footnote">[14]</a> The writer advises that none +should attempt to read the following account of the late Lady +Hester Stanhope except those who may already chance to feel an +interest in the personage to whom it relates. The chapter +(which has been written and printed for the reasons mentioned in +the preface) is chiefly filled with the detailed conversation, or +rather discourse, of a highly eccentric gentlewoman.</p> +<p><a name="footnote15"></a><a href="#citation15" +class="footnote">[15]</a> Historically +“<i>fainting</i>”; the death did not occur until long +afterwards.</p> +<p><a name="footnote16"></a><a href="#citation16" +class="footnote">[16]</a> I am told that in youth she was +exceedingly sallow.</p> +<p><a name="footnote17"></a><a href="#citation17" +class="footnote">[17]</a> This was my impression at the +time of writing the above passage, an impression created by the +popular and uncontradicted accounts of the matter, as well as by +the tenor of Lady Hester’s conversation. I have now +some reason to think that I was deceived, and that her sway in +the desert was much more limited than I had supposed. She +seems to have had from the Bedouins a fair five hundred +pounds’ worth of respect, and not much more.</p> +<p><a name="footnote18"></a><a href="#citation18" +class="footnote">[18]</a> She spoke it, I dare say, in +English; the words would not be the less effective for being +spoken in an unknown tongue. Lady Hester, I believe, never +learnt to speak the Arabic with a perfect accent.</p> +<p><a name="footnote19"></a><a href="#citation19" +class="footnote">[19]</a> The proceedings thus described to +me by Lady Hester as having taken place during her illness, were +afterwards re-enacted at the time of her death. Since I +wrote the words to which this note is appended, I received from +Warburton an interesting account of the heroine’s death, or +rather the circumstances attending the discovery of the event; +and I caused it to be printed in the former editions of this +work. I must now give up the borrowed ornament, and omit my +extract from my friend’s letter, for the rightful owner has +reprinted it in “The Crescent and the Cross.” I +know what a sacrifice I am making, for in noticing the first +edition of this book reviewers turned aside from the text to the +note, and remarked upon the interesting information which +Warburton’s letter contained. [This narrative is +reproduced in an Appendix to the present edition.]</p> +<p><a name="footnote20"></a><a href="#citation20" +class="footnote">[20]</a> In a letter which I afterwards +received from Lady Hester, she mentioned incidentally Lord +Hardwicke, and said that he was “the kindest-hearted man +existing—a most manly, firm character. He comes from +a good breed—all the Yorkes excellent, with <i>ancient</i> +French blood in their veins.” The under scoring of +the word “ancient” is by the writer of the letter, +who had certainly no great love or veneration for the French of +the present day: she did not consider them as descended from her +favourite stock.</p> +<p><a name="footnote21"></a><a href="#citation21" +class="footnote">[21]</a> It is said that deaf people can +hear what is said concerning themselves, and it would seem that +those who live without books or newspapers know all that is +written about them. Lady Hester Stanhope, though not +admitting a book or newspaper into her fortress, seems to have +known the way in which M. Lamartine mentioned her in his book, +for in a letter which she wrote to me after my return to England +she says, “Although neglected, as Monsieur le M.” +(referring, as I believe, to M. Lamartine) “describes, and +without books, yet my head is organised to supply the want of +them as well as acquired knowledge.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote22"></a><a href="#citation22" +class="footnote">[22]</a> I have been recently told that +this Italian’s pretensions to the healing art were +thoroughly unfounded. My informant is a gentleman who +enjoyed during many years the esteem and confidence of Lady +Hester Stanhope: his adventures in the Levant were most curious +and interesting.</p> +<p><a name="footnote23"></a><a href="#citation23" +class="footnote">[23]</a> The Greek Church does not +recognise this as the true sanctuary, and many Protestants look +upon all the traditions by which it is attempted to ascertain the +holy places of Palestine as utterly fabulous. For myself, I +do not mean either to affirm or deny the correctness of the +opinion which has fixed upon this as the true site, but merely to +mention it as a belief entertained without question by my +brethren of the Latin Church, whose guest I was at the +time. It would be a great aggravation of the trouble of +writing about these matters if I were to stop in the midst of +every sentence for the purpose of saying “so called” +or “so it is said,” and would besides sound very +ungraciously: yet I am anxious to be literally true in all I +write. Now, thus it is that I mean to get over my +difficulty. Whenever in this great bundle of papers or book +(if book it is to be) you see any words about matters of religion +which would seem to involve the assertion of my own opinion, you +are to understand me just as if one or other of the qualifying +phrases above mentioned had been actually inserted in every +sentence. My general direction for you to construe me thus +will render all that I write as strictly and actually true as if +I had every time lugged in a formal declaration of the fact that +I was merely expressing the notions of other people.</p> +<p><a name="footnote24"></a><a href="#citation24" +class="footnote">[24]</a> “Vino +d’oro.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote25"></a><a href="#citation25" +class="footnote">[25]</a> Shereef.</p> +<p><a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26" +class="footnote">[26]</a> Tennyson.</p> +<p><a name="footnote27"></a><a href="#citation27" +class="footnote">[27]</a> The other three cities held holy +by Jews are Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safet.</p> +<p><a name="footnote28"></a><a href="#citation28" +class="footnote">[28]</a> Hadj a pilgrim.</p> +<p><a name="footnote29"></a><a href="#citation29" +class="footnote">[29]</a> Milnes cleverly goes to the +French for the exact word which conveys the impression produced +by the voice of the Arabs, and calls them “un peuple +<i>criard</i>.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote30"></a><a href="#citation30" +class="footnote">[30]</a> There is some semblance of +bravado in my manner of talking about the plague. I have +been more careful to describe the terrors of other people than my +own. The truth is, that during the whole period of my stay +at Cairo I remained thoroughly impressed with a sense of my +danger. I may almost say, that I lived in perpetual +apprehension, for even in sleep, as I fancy, there remained with +me some faint notion of the peril with which I was +encompassed. But fear does not necessarily damp the +spirits; on the contrary, it will often operate as an excitement, +giving rise to unusual animation, and thus it affected me. +If I had not been surrounded at this time by new faces, new +scenes, and new sounds, the effect produced upon my mind by one +unceasing cause of alarm might have been very different. As +it was, the eagerness with which I pursued my rambles among the +wonders of Egypt was sharpened and increased by the sting of the +fear of death. Thus my account of the matter plainly +conveys an impression that I remained at Cairo without losing my +cheerfulness and buoyancy of spirits. And this is the +truth, but it is also true, as I have freely confessed, that my +sense of danger during the whole period was lively and +continuous.</p> +<p><a name="footnote31"></a><a href="#citation31" +class="footnote">[31]</a> Anglicé for “je le +sais.” These answers of mine, as given above, are not +meant as specimens of mere French, but of that fine, terse, +nervous, <i>Continental English</i> with which I and my +compatriots make our way through Europe. This language, +by-the-bye, is one possessing great force and energy, and is not +without its literature, a literature of the very highest +order. Where will you find more sturdy specimens of +downright, honest, and noble English than in the Duke of +Wellington’s “French” despatches?</p> +<p><a name="footnote32"></a><a href="#citation32" +class="footnote">[32]</a> The import of the word +“compromised,” when used in reference to contagion, +is explained on page 18.</p> +<p><a name="footnote33"></a><a href="#citation33" +class="footnote">[33]</a> It is said, that when a Mussulman +finds himself attacked by the plague he goes and takes a +bath. The couches on which the bathers recline would carry +infection, according to the notions of the Europeans. +Whenever, therefore, I took the bath at Cairo (except the first +time of my doing so) I avoided that part of the luxury which +consists in being “put up to dry” upon a kind of +bed.</p> +<p><a name="footnote34"></a><a href="#citation34" +class="footnote">[34]</a> Mehemet Ali invited the Mamelukes +to a feast, and murdered them whilst preparing to enter the +banquet hall.</p> +<p><a name="footnote35"></a><a href="#citation35" +class="footnote">[35]</a> It is not strictly lawful to sell +<i>white</i> slaves to a Christian.</p> +<p><a name="footnote36"></a><a href="#citation36" +class="footnote">[36]</a> The difficulty was occasioned by +the immense exertions which the Pasha was making to collect +camels for military purposes.</p> +<p><a name="footnote37"></a><a href="#citation37" +class="footnote">[37]</a> Herodotus, in an after age, stood +by with his note-book, and got, as he thought, the exact returns +of all the rations served out.</p> +<p><a name="footnote38"></a><a href="#citation38" +class="footnote">[38]</a> See Milman’s “History +of the Jews,” first edition.</p> +<p><a name="footnote39"></a><a href="#citation39" +class="footnote">[39]</a> This is an appellation not +implying blame, but merit; the “lies” which it +purports to affiliate are feints and cunning stratagems, rather +than the baser kind of falsehoods. The expression, in +short, has nearly the same meaning as the English word +“Yorkshireman.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote40"></a><a href="#citation40" +class="footnote">[40]</a> The 29th of April.</p> +<p><a name="footnote41"></a><a href="#citation41" +class="footnote">[41]</a> These are the names given by the +Prophet to certain chapters of the Koran.</p> +<p><a name="footnote43"></a><a href="#citation43" +class="footnote">[43]</a> It was after the interview which +I am talking of, and not from the Jews themselves, that I learnt +this fact.</p> +<p><a name="footnote44"></a><a href="#citation44" +class="footnote">[44]</a> An enterprising American +traveller, Mr. Everett, lately conceived the bold project of +penetrating to the University of Oxford, and this notwithstanding +that he had been in his infancy (they begin very young those +Americans) an Unitarian preacher. Having a notion, it +seems, that the ambassadorial character would protect him from +insult, he adopted the stratagem of procuring credentials from +his Government as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of her +Britannic Majesty; he also wore the exact costume of a +Trinitarian. But all his contrivances were vain; Oxford +disdained, and rejected, and insulted him (not because he +represented a swindling community, but) because that his +infantine sermons were strictly remembered against him; the +enterprise failed.</p> +<p><a name="footnote45"></a><a href="#citation45" +class="footnote">[45]</a> The rose-trees which I saw were +all of the kind we call “damask”; they grow to an +immense height and size.</p> +<p><a name="footnote46"></a><a href="#citation46" +class="footnote">[46]</a> A dragoman never interprets in +terms the courteous language of the East.</p> +<p><a name="footnote47"></a><a href="#citation47" +class="footnote">[47]</a> A title signifying transcender or +conqueror of Satalieh.</p> +<p><a name="footnote48"></a><a href="#citation48" +class="footnote">[48]</a> Spelt “Attalia” and +sometimes “Adalia” in English books and maps.</p> +<p><a name="footnote49"></a><a href="#citation49" +class="footnote">[49]</a> While Lady Hester Stanhope lived, +although numbers visited the convent, she almost invariably +refused admittance to strangers. She assigned as a reason +the use which M. de Lamartine had made of his interview. +Mrs. T., who passed some weeks at Djouni, told me, that when Lady +Hester read his account of this interview, she exclaimed, +“It is all false; we did not converse together for more +than five minutes; but no matter, no traveller hereafter shall +betray or forge my conversation.” The author of +“Eothen,” however, was her guest, and has given us an +interesting account of his visit in his brilliant volume.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EOTHEN***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 282-h.htm or 282-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/8/282 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Eothen + +Author: A. W. Kinglake + +Release Date: June, 1995 [EBook #282] +[This file was first posted on August 3, 1995] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, EOTHEN *** + + + + +Transcribed from the 1898 George Newnes edition by David Price, +email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +EOTHEN--A. W. KINGSLAKE + + + + +CHAPTER I--OVER THE BORDER + + + +At Semlin I still was encompassed by the scenes and the sounds of +familiar life; the din of a busy world still vexed and cheered me; +the unveiled faces of women still shone in the light of day. Yet, +whenever I chose to look southward, I saw the Ottoman's fortress-- +austere, and darkly impending high over the vale of the Danube-- +historic Belgrade. I had come, as it were, to the end of this +wheel-going Europe, and now my eyes would see the splendour and +havoc of the East. + +The two frontier towns are less than a cannon-shot distant, and yet +their people hold no communion. The Hungarian on the north, and +the Turk and Servian on the southern side of the Save are as much +asunder as though there were fifty broad provinces that lay in the +path between them. Of the men that bustled around me in the +streets of Semlin there was not, perhaps, one who had ever gone +down to look upon the stranger race dwelling under the walls of +that opposite castle. It is the plague, and the dread of the +plague, that divide the one people from the other. All coming and +going stands forbidden by the terrors of the yellow flag. If you +dare to break the laws of the quarantine, you will be tried with +military haste; the court will scream out your sentence to you from +a tribunal some fifty yards off; the priest, instead of gently +whispering to you the sweet hopes of religion, will console you at +duelling distance; and after that you will find yourself carefully +shot, and carelessly buried in the ground of the lazaretto. + +When all was in order for our departure we walked down to the +precincts of the quarantine establishment, and here awaited us a +"compromised" {1} officer of the Austrian Government, who lives in +a state of perpetual excommunication. The boats, with their +"compromised" rowers, were also in readiness. + +After coming in contact with any creature or thing belonging to the +Ottoman Empire it would be impossible for us to return to the +Austrian territory without undergoing an imprisonment of fourteen +days in the odious lazaretto. We felt, therefore, that before we +committed ourselves it was important to take care that none of the +arrangements necessary for the journey had been forgotten; and in +our anxiety to avoid such a misfortune, we managed the work of +departure from Semlin with nearly as much solemnity as if we had +been departing this life. Some obliging persons, from whom we had +received civilities during our short stay in the place, came down +to say their farewell at the river's side; and now, as we stood +with them at the distance of three or four yards from the +"compromised" officer, they asked if we were perfectly certain that +we had wound up all our affairs in Christendom, and whether we had +no parting requests to make. We repeated the caution to our +servants, and took anxious thought lest by any possibility we might +be cut off from some cherished object of affection:- were they +quite sure that nothing had been forgotten--that there was no +fragrant dressing-case with its gold-compelling letters of credit +from which we might be parting for ever?--No; all our treasures lay +safely stowed in the boat, and we were ready to follow them to the +ends of the earth. Now, therefore, we shook hands with our Semlin +friends, who immediately retreated for three or four paces, so as +to leave us in the centre of a space between them and the +"compromised" officer. The latter then advanced, and asking once +more if we had done with the civilised world, held forth his hand. +I met it with mine, and there was an end to Christendom for many a +day to come. + +We soon neared the southern bank of the river, but no sounds came +down from the blank walls above, and there was no living thing that +we could yet see, except one great hovering bird of the vulture +race, flying low, and intent, and wheeling round and round over the +pest-accursed city. + +But presently there issued from the postern a group of human +beings--beings with immortal souls, and possibly some reasoning +faculties; but to me the grand point was this, that they had real, +substantial, and incontrovertible turbans. They made for the point +towards which we were steering, and when at last I sprang upon the +shore, I heard, and saw myself now first surrounded by men of +Asiatic blood. I have since ridden through the land of the +Osmanlees, from the Servian border to the Golden Horn--from the +Gulf of Satalieh to the tomb of Achilles; but never have I seen +such ultra-Turkish looking fellows as those who received me on the +banks of the Save. They were men in the humblest order of life, +having come to meet our boat in the hope of earning something by +carrying our luggage up to the city; but poor though they were, it +was plain that they were Turks of the proud old school, and had not +yet forgotten the fierce, careless bearing of their once victorious +race. + +Though the province of Servia generally has obtained a kind of +independence, yet Belgrade, as being a place of strength on the +frontier, is still garrisoned by Turkish troops under the command +of a Pasha. Whether the fellows who now surrounded us were +soldiers, or peaceful inhabitants, I did not understand: they wore +the old Turkish costume; vests and jackets of many and brilliant +colours, divided from the loose petticoat-trousers by heavy volumes +of shawl, so thickly folded around their waists as to give the +meagre wearers something of the dignity of true corpulence. This +cincture enclosed a whole bundle of weapons; no man bore less than +one brace of immensely long pistols, and a yataghan (or cutlass), +with a dagger or two of various shapes and sizes; most of these +arms were inlaid with silver, and highly burnished, so that they +contrasted shiningly with the decayed grandeur of the garments to +which they were attached (this carefulness of his arms is a point +of honour with the Osmanlee, who never allows his bright yataghan +to suffer from his own adversity); then the long drooping +mustachios, and the ample folds of the once white turbans, that +lowered over the piercing eyes, and the haggard features of the +men, gave them an air of gloomy pride, and that appearance of +trying to be disdainful under difficulties, which I have since seen +so often in those of the Ottoman people who live, and remember old +times; they seemed as if they were thinking that they would have +been more usefully, more honourably, and more piously employed in +cutting our throats than in carrying our portmanteaus. The +faithful Steel (Methley's Yorkshire servant) stood aghast for a +moment at the sight of his master's luggage upon the shoulders of +these warlike porters, and when at last we began to move up he +could scarcely avoid turning round to cast one affectionate look +towards Christendom, but quickly again he marched on with steps of +a man, not frightened exactly, but sternly prepared for death, or +the Koran, or even for plural wives. + +The Moslem quarter of a city is lonely and desolate. You go up and +down, and on over shelving and hillocky paths through the narrow +lanes walled in by blank, windowless dwellings; you come out upon +an open space strewed with the black ruins that some late fire has +left; you pass by a mountain of castaway things, the rubbish of +centuries, and on it you see numbers of big, wolf-like dogs lying +torpid under the sun, with limbs outstretched to the full, as if +they were dead; storks, or cranes, sitting fearless upon the low +roofs, look gravely down upon you; the still air that you breathe +is loaded with the scent of citron, and pomegranate rinds scorched +by the sun, or (as you approach the bazaar) with the dry, dead +perfume of strange spices. You long for some signs of life, and +tread the ground more heavily, as though you would wake the +sleepers with the heel of your boot; but the foot falls noiseless +upon the crumbling soil of an Eastern city, and silence follows you +still. Again and again you meet turbans, and faces of men, but +they have nothing for you--no welcome--no wonder--no wrath--no +scorn--they look upon you as we do upon a December's fall of snow-- +as a "seasonable," unaccountable, uncomfortable work of God, that +may have been sent for some good purpose, to be revealed hereafter. + +Some people had come down to meet us with an invitation from the +Pasha, and we wound our way up to the castle. At the gates there +were groups of soldiers, some smoking, and some lying flat like +corpses upon the cool stones. We went through courts, ascended +steps, passed along a corridor, and walked into an airy, +whitewashed room, with an European clock at one end of it, and +Moostapha Pasha at the other; the fine, old, bearded potentate +looked very like Jove--like Jove, too, in the midst of his clouds, +for the silvery fumes of the narghile {2} hung lightly circling +round him. + +The Pasha received us with the smooth, kind, gentle manner that +belongs to well-bred Osmanlees; then he lightly clapped his hands, +and instantly the sound filled all the lower end of the room with +slaves; a syllable dropped from his lips which bowed all heads, and +conjured away the attendants like ghosts (their coming and their +going was thus swift and quiet, because their feet were bare, and +they passed through no door, but only by the yielding folds of a +purder). Soon the coffee-bearers appeared, every man carrying +separately his tiny cup in a small metal stand; and presently to +each of us there came a pipe-bearer, who first rested the bowl of +the tchibouque at a measured distance on the floor, and then, on +this axis, wheeled round the long cheery stick, and gracefully +presented it on half-bended knee; already the well-kindled fire was +glowing secure in the bowl, and so, when I pressed the amber up to +mine, there was no coyness to conquer; the willing fume came up, +and answered my slightest sigh, and followed softly every breath +inspired, till it touched me with some faint sense and +understanding of Asiatic contentment. + +Asiatic contentment! Yet scarcely, perhaps, one hour before I had +been wanting my bill, and ringing for waiters, in a shrill and busy +hotel. + +In the Ottoman dominions there is scarcely any hereditary influence +except that which belongs to the family of the Sultan, and wealth, +too, is a highly volatile blessing, not easily transmitted to the +descendant of the owner. From these causes it results that the +people standing in the place of nobles and gentry are official +personages, and though many (indeed the greater number) of these +potentates are humbly born and bred, you will seldom, I think, find +them wanting in that polished smoothness of manner, and those well- +undulating tones which belong to the best Osmanlees. The truth is, +that most of the men in authority have risen from their humble +station by the arts of the courtier, and they preserve in their +high estate those gentle powers of fascination to which they owe +their success. Yet unless you can contrive to learn a little of +the language, you will be rather bored by your visits of ceremony; +the intervention of the interpreter, or dragoman as he is called, +is fatal to the spirit of conversation. I think I should mislead +you if I were to attempt to give the substance of any particular +conversation with Orientals. A traveller may write and say that +"the Pasha of So-and-so was particularly interested in the vast +progress which has been made in the application of steam, and +appeared to understand the structure of our machinery--that he +remarked upon the gigantic results of our manufacturing industry-- +showed that he possessed considerable knowledge of our Indian +affairs, and of the constitution of the Company, and expressed a +lively admiration of the many sterling qualities for which the +people of England are distinguished." But the heap of commonplaces +thus quietly attributed to the Pasha will have been founded perhaps +on some such talking as this:- + +Pasha.--The Englishman is welcome; most blessed among hours is +this, the hour of his coming. + +Dragoman (to the traveller).--The Pasha pays you his compliments. + +Traveller.--Give him my best compliments in return, and say I'm +delighted to have the honour of seeing him. + +Dragoman (to the Pasha).--His lordship, this Englishman, Lord of +London, Scorner of Ireland, Suppressor of France, has quitted his +governments, and left his enemies to breathe for a moment, and has +crossed the broad waters in strict disguise, with a small but +eternally faithful retinue of followers, in order that he might +look upon the bright countenance of the Pasha among Pashas--the +Pasha of the everlasting Pashalik of Karagholookoldour. + +Traveller (to his dragoman).--What on earth have you been saying +about London? The Pasha will be taking me for a mere cockney. +Have not I told you ALWAYS to say that I am from a branch of the +family of Mudcombe Park, and that I am to be a magistrate for the +county of Bedfordshire, only I've not qualified, and that I should +have been a deputy-lieutenant if it had not been for the +extraordinary conduct of Lord Mountpromise, and that I was a +candidate for Goldborough at the last election, and that I should +have won easy if my committee had not been bought. I wish to +Heaven that if you DO say anything about me, you'd tell the simple +truth. + +Dragoman [is silent]. + +Pasha.--What says the friendly Lord of London? is there aught that +I can grant him within the Pashalik of Karagholookoldour? + +Dragoman (growing, sulky and literal).--This friendly Englishman-- +this branch of Mudcombe--this head-purveyor of Goldborough--this +possible policeman of Bedfordshire, is recounting his achievements, +and the number of his titles. + +Pasha.--The end of his honours is more distant than the ends of the +earth, and the catalogue of his glorious deeds is brighter than the +firmament of heaven! + +Dragoman (to the traveller).--The Pasha congratulates your +Excellency. + +Traveller.--About Goldborough? The deuce he does!--but I want to +get at his views in relation to the present state of the Ottoman +Empire. Tell him the Houses of Parliament have met, and that there +has been a speech from the throne, pledging England to preserve the +integrity of the Sultan's dominions. + +Dragoman (to the Pasha).--This branch of Mudcombe, this possible +policeman of Bedfordshire, informs your Highness that in England +the talking houses have met, and that the integrity of the Sultan's +dominions has been assured for ever and ever by a speech from the +velvet chair. + +Pasha.--Wonderful chair! Wonderful houses!--whirr! whirr! all by +wheels!--whiz! whiz! all by steam!--wonderful chair! wonderful +houses! wonderful people!--whirr! whirr! all by wheels!--whiz! +whiz! all by steam! + +Traveller (to the dragoman).--What does the Pasha mean by that +whizzing? he does not mean to say, does he, that our Government +will ever abandon their pledges to the Sultan? + +Dragoman.--No, your Excellency; but he says the English talk by +wheels, and by steam. + +Traveller.--That's an exaggeration; but say that the English really +have carried machinery to great perfection; tell the Pasha (he'll +be struck with that) that whenever we have any disturbances to put +down, even at two or three hundred miles from London, we can send +troops by the thousand to the scene of action in a few hours. + +Dragoman (recovering his temper and freedom of speech).--His +Excellency, this Lord of Mudcombe, observes to your Highness, that +whenever the Irish, or the French, or the Indians rebel against the +English, whole armies of soldiers, and brigades of artillery, are +dropped into a mighty chasm called Euston Square, and in the biting +of a cartridge they arise up again in Manchester, or Dublin, or +Paris, or Delhi, and utterly exterminate the enemies of England +from the face of the earth. + +Pasha.--I know it--I know all--the particulars have been faithfully +related to me, and my mind comprehends locomotives. The armies of +the English ride upon the vapours of boiling caldrons, and their +horses are flaming coals!--whirr! whirr! all by wheels!--whiz! +whiz! all by steam! + +Traveller (to his dragoman).--I wish to have the opinion of an +unprejudiced Ottoman gentleman as to the prospects of our English +commerce and manufactures; just ask the Pasha to give me his views +on the subject. + +Pasha (after having received the communication of the dragoman).-- +The ships of the English swarm like flies; their printed calicoes +cover the whole earth; and by the side of their swords the blades +of Damascus are blades of grass. All India is but an item in the +ledger-books of the merchants, whose lumber-rooms are filled with +ancient thrones!--whirr! whirr! all by wheels!--whiz! whiz! all by +steam. + +Dragoman.--The Pasha compliments the cutlery of England, and also +the East India Company. + +Traveller.--The Pasha's right about the cutlery (I tried my +scimitar with the common officers' swords belonging to our fellows +at Malta, and they cut it like the leaf of a novel). Well (to the +dragoman), tell the Pasha I am exceedingly gratified to find that +he entertains such a high opinion of our manufacturing energy, but +I should like him to know, though, that we have got something in +England besides that. These foreigners are always fancying that we +have nothing but ships, and railways, and East India Companies; do +just tell the Pasha that our rural districts deserve his attention, +and that even within the last two hundred years there has been an +evident improvement in the culture of the turnip, and if he does +not take any interest about that, at all events you can explain +that we have our virtues in the country--that we are a truth- +telling people, and, like the Osmanlees, are faithful in the +performance of our promises. Oh! and, by-the-bye, whilst you are +about it, you may as well just say at the end that the British +yeoman is still, thank God! the British yeoman. + +Pasha (after hearing the dragoman).--It is true, it is true: -- +through all Feringhistan the English are foremost and best; for the +Russians are drilled swine, and the Germans are sleeping babes, and +the Italians are the servants of songs, and the French are the sons +of newspapers, and the Greeks they are weavers of lies, but the +English and the Osmanlees are brothers together in righteousness; +for the Osmanlees believe in one only God, and cleave to the Koran, +and destroy idols, so do the English worship one God, and abominate +graven images, and tell the truth, and believe in a book, and +though they drink the juice of the grape, yet to say that they +worship their prophet as God, or to say that they are eaters of +pork, these are lies--lies born of Greeks, and nursed by Jews! + +Dragoman.--The Pasha compliments the English. + +Traveller (rising).--Well, I've had enough of this. Tell the Pasha +I am greatly obliged to him for his hospitality, and still more for +his kindness in furnishing me with horses, and say that now I must +be off. + +Pasha (after hearing the dragoman, and standing up on his divan). +{3}--Proud are the sires, and blessed are the dams of the horses +that shall carry his Excellency to the end of his prosperous +journey. May the saddle beneath him glide down to the gates of the +happy city, like a boat swimming on the third river of Paradise. +May he sleep the sleep of a child, when his friends are around him; +and the while that his enemies are abroad, may his eyes flame red +through the darkness--more red than the eyes of ten tigers! +Farewell! + +Dragoman.--The Pasha wishes your Excellency a pleasant journey. + +So ends the visit. + + + +CHAPTER II--TURKISH TRAVELLING + + + +In two or three hours our party was ready; the servants, the Tatar, +the mounted Suridgees, and the baggage-horses, altogether made up a +strong cavalcade. The accomplished Mysseri, of whom you have heard +me speak so often, and who served me so faithfully throughout my +Oriental journeys, acted as our interpreter, and was, in fact, the +brain of our corps. The Tatar, you know, is a government courier +properly employed in carrying despatches, but also sent with +travellers to speed them on their way, and answer with his head for +their safety. The man whose head was thus pledged for our precious +lives was a glorious-looking fellow, with the regular and handsome +cast of countenance which is now characteristic of the Ottoman +race. {4} His features displayed a good deal of serene pride, +self-respect, fortitude, a kind of ingenuous sensuality, and +something of instinctive wisdom, without any sharpness of +intellect. He had been a Janissary (as I afterwards found), and +kept up the odd strut of his old corps, which used to affright the +Christians in former times--that rolling gait so comically pompous, +that a close imitation of it, even in the broadest farce, would be +looked upon as a very rough over-acting of the character. It is +occasioned in part by dress and accoutrements. The weighty bundle +of weapons carried upon the chest throws back the body so as to +give it a wonderful portliness, and moreover, the immense masses of +clothes that swathe his limbs force the wearer in walking to swing +himself heavily round from left to right, and from right to left. +In truth, this great edifice of woollen, and cotton, and silk, and +silver, and brass, and steel is not at all fitted for moving on +foot; it cannot even walk without frightfully discomposing its fair +proportions; and as to running--our Tatar ran ONCE (it was in order +to pick up a partridge that Methley had winged with a pistol-shot), +and really the attempt was one of the funniest misdirections of +human energy that wondering man ever saw. But put him in his +stirrups, and then is the Tatar himself again: there he lives at +his pleasure, reposing in the tranquillity of that true home (the +home of his ancestors) which the saddle seems to afford him, and +drawing from his pipe the calm pleasures of his "own fireside," or +else dashing sudden over the earth, as though for a moment he felt +the mouth of a Turcoman steed, and saw his own Scythian plains +lying boundless and open before him. + +It was not till his subordinates had nearly completed their +preparations for their march that our Tatar, "commanding the +forces," arrived; he came sleek and fresh from the bath (for so is +the custom of the Ottomans when they start upon a journey), and was +carefully accoutred at every point. From his thigh to his throat +he was loaded with arms and other implements of a campaigning life. +There is no scarcity of water along the whole road from Belgrade to +Stamboul, but the habits of our Tatar were formed by his ancestors +and not by himself, so he took good care to see that his leathern +water-flask was amply charged and properly strapped to the saddle, +along with his blessed tchibouque. And now at last he has cursed +the Suridgees in all proper figures of speech, and is ready for a +ride of a thousand miles; but before he comforts his soul in the +marble baths of Stamboul he will be another and a lesser man; his +sense of responsibility, his too strict abstemiousness, and his +restless energy, disdainful of sleep, will have worn him down to a +fraction of the sleek Moostapha that now leads out our party from +the gates of Belgrade. + +The Suridgees are the men employed to lead the baggage-horses. +They are most of them gipsies. Their lot is a sad one: they are +the last of the human race, and all the sins of their superiors +(including the horses) can safely be visited on them. But the +wretched look often more picturesque than their betters; and though +all the world despise these poor Suridgees, their tawny skins and +their grisly beards will gain them honourable standing in the +foreground of a landscape. We had a couple of these fellows with +us, each leading a baggage-horse, to the tail of which last another +baggage-horse was attached. There was a world of trouble in +persuading the stiff angular portmanteaus of Europe to adapt +themselves to their new condition and sit quietly on pack-saddles, +but all was right at last, and it gladdened my eyes to see our +little troop file off through the winding lanes of the city, and +show down brightly in the plain beneath. The one of our party that +seemed to be most out of keeping with the rest of the scene was +Methley's Yorkshire servant, who always rode doggedly on in his +pantry jacket, looking out for "gentlemen's seats." + +Methley and I had English saddles, but I think we should have done +just as well (I should certainly have seen more of the country) if +we had adopted saddles like that of our Tatar, who towered so +loftily over the scraggy little beast that carried him. In taking +thought for the East, whilst in England, I had made one capital hit +which you must not forget--I had brought with me a pair of common +spurs. These were a great comfort to me throughout my horseback +travels, by keeping up the cheerfulness of the many unhappy nags +that I had to bestride; the angle of the Oriental stirrup is a very +poor substitute for spurs. + +The Ottoman horseman, raised by his saddle to a great height above +the humble level of the back that he bestrides, and using an +awfully sharp bit, is able to lift the crest of his nag, and force +him into a strangely fast shuffling walk, the orthodox pace for the +journey. My comrade and I, using English saddles, could not easily +keep our beasts up to this peculiar amble; besides, we thought it a +bore to be FOLLOWED by our attendants for a thousand miles, and we +generally, therefore, did duty as the rearguard of our "grand +army"; we used to walk our horses till the party in front had got +into the distance, and then retrieve the lost ground by a gallop. + +We had ridden on for some two or three hours; the stir and bustle +of our commencing journey had ceased, the liveliness of our little +troop had worn off with the declining day, and the night closed in +as we entered the great Servian forest. Through this our road was +to last for more than a hundred miles. Endless, and endless now on +either side, the tall oaks closed in their ranks and stood gloomily +lowering over us, as grim as an army of giants with a thousand +years' pay in arrear. One strived with listening ear to catch some +tidings of that forest world within--some stirring of beasts, some +night-bird's scream, but all was quite hushed, except the voice of +the cicalas that peopled every bough, and filled the depths of the +forest through and through, with one same hum everlasting--more +stifling than very silence. + +At first our way was in darkness, but after a while the moon got +up, and touched the glittering arms and tawny faces of our men with +light so pale and mystic, that the watchful Tatar felt bound to +look out for demons, and take proper means for keeping them off: +forthwith he determined that the duty of frightening away our +ghostly enemies (like every other troublesome work) should fall +upon the poor Suridgees, who accordingly lifted up their voices, +and burst upon the dreadful stillness of the forest with shrieks +and dismal howls. These precautions were kept up incessantly, and +were followed by the most complete success, for not one demon came +near us. + +Long before midnight we reached the hamlet in which we were to rest +for the night; it was made up of about a dozen clay huts, standing +upon a small tract of ground hardly won from the forest. The +peasants that lived there spoke a Slavonic dialect, and Mysseri's +knowledge of the Russian tongue enabled him to talk with them +freely. We took up our quarters in a square room with white walls +and an earthen floor, quite bare of furniture, and utterly void of +women. They told us, however, that these Servian villagers lived +in happy abundance, but that they were careful to conceal their +riches, as well as their wives. + +The burthens unstrapped from the pack-saddles very quickly +furnished our den: a couple of quilts spread upon the floor, with +a carpet-bag at the head of each, became capital sofas-- +portmanteaus, and hat-boxes, and writing-cases, and books, and +maps, and gleaming arms soon lay strewed around us in pleasant +confusion. Mysseri's canteen too began to yield up its treasures, +but we relied upon finding some provisions in the village. At +first the natives declared that their hens were mere old maids and +all their cows unmarried, but our Tatar swore such a grand sonorous +oath, and fingered the hilt of his yataghan with such persuasive +touch, that the land soon flowed with milk, and mountains of eggs +arose. + +And soon there was tea before us, with all its unspeakable +fragrance, and as we reclined on the floor, we found that a +portmanteau was just the right height for a table; the duty of +candlesticks was ably performed by a couple of intelligent natives; +the rest of the villagers stood by the open doorway at the lower +end of the room, and watched our banqueting with grave and devout +attention. + +The first night of your first campaign (though you be but a mere +peaceful campaigner) is a glorious time in your life. It is so +sweet to find one's self free from the stale civilisation of +Europe! Oh my dear ally, when first you spread your carpet in the +midst of these Eastern scenes, do think for a moment of those your +fellow-creatures, that dwell in squares, and streets, and even (for +such is the fate of many!) in actual country houses; think of the +people that are "presenting their compliments," and "requesting the +honour," and "much regretting,"--of those that are pinioned at +dinner-tables; or stuck up in ballrooms, or cruelly planted in +pews--ay, think of these, and so remembering how many poor devils +are living in a state of utter respectability, you will glory the +more in your own delightful escape. + +I am bound to confess, however, that with all its charms a mud +floor (like a mercenary match) does certainly promote early rising. +Long before daybreak we were up, and had breakfasted; after this +there was nearly a whole tedious hour to endure whilst the horses +were laden by torch-light; but this had an end, and at last we went +on once more. Cloaked, and sombre, at first we made our sullen way +through the darkness, with scarcely one barter of words, but soon +the genial morn burst down from heaven, and stirred the blood so +gladly through our veins, that the very Suridgees, with all their +troubles, could now look up for an instant, and almost seem to +believe in the temporary goodness of God. + +The actual movement from one place to another, in Europeanised +countries, is a process so temporary--it occupies, I mean, so small +a proportion of the traveller's entire time--that his mind remains +unsettled, so long as the wheels are going; he may be alive enough +to external objects of interest, and to the crowding ideas which +are often invited by the excitement of a changing scene, but he is +still conscious of being in a provisional state, and his mind is +constantly recurring to the expected end of his journey; his +ordinary ways of thought have been interrupted, and before any new +mental habits can be formed he is quietly fixed in his hotel. It +will be otherwise with you when you journey in the East. Day after +day, perhaps week after week and month after month, your foot is in +the stirrup. To taste the cold breath of the earliest morn, and to +lead, or follow, your bright cavalcade till sunset through forests +and mountain passes, through valleys and desolate plains, all this +becomes your MODE OF LIFE, and you ride, eat, drink, and curse the +mosquitoes as systematically as your friends in England eat, drink, +and sleep. If you are wise, you will not look upon the long period +of time thus occupied in actual movement as the mere gulf dividing +you from the end of your journey, but rather as one of those rare +and plastic seasons of your life from which, perhaps, in after +times you may love to date the moulding of your character--that is, +your very identity. Once feel this, and you will soon grow happy +and contented in your saddle-home. As for me and my comrade, +however, in this part of our journey we often forgot Stamboul, +forgot all the Ottoman Empire, and only remembered old times. We +went back, loitering on the banks of Thames--not grim old Thames of +"after life," that washes the Parliament Houses, and drowns +despairing girls--but Thames, the "old Eton fellow," that wrestled +with us in our boyhood till he taught us to be stronger than he. +We bullied Keate, and scoffed at Larrey Miller, and Okes; we rode +along loudly laughing, and talked to the grave Servian forest as +though it were the "Brocas clump." + +Our pace was commonly very slow, for the baggage-horses served us +for a drag, and kept us to a rate of little more than five miles in +the hour, but now and then, and chiefly at night, a spirit of +movement would suddenly animate the whole party; the baggage-horses +would be teased into a gallop, and when once this was done, there +would be such a banging of portmanteaus, and such convulsions of +carpet-bags upon their panting sides, and the Suridgees would +follow them up with such a hurricane of blows, and screams, and +curses, that stopping or relaxing was scarcely possible; then the +rest of us would put our horses into a gallop, and so all shouting +cheerily, would hunt, and drive the sumpter beasts like a flock of +goats, up hill and down dale, right on to the end of their journey. + +The distances at which we got relays of horses varied greatly; some +were not more than fifteen or twenty miles, but twice, I think, we +performed a whole day's journey of more than sixty miles with the +same beasts. + +When at last we came out from the forest our road lay through +scenes like those of an English park. The green sward unfenced, +and left to the free pasture of cattle, was dotted with groups of +stately trees, and here and there darkened over with larger masses +of wood, that seemed gathered together for bounding the domain, and +shutting out some "infernal" fellow-creature in the shape of a +newly made squire; in one or two spots the hanging copses looked +down upon a lawn below with such sheltering mien, that seeing the +like in England you would have been tempted almost to ask the name +of the spend-thrift, or the madman who had dared to pull down "the +old hall." + +There are few countries less infested by "lions" than the provinces +on this part of your route. You are not called upon to "drop a +tear" over the tomb of "the once brilliant" anybody, or to pay +your "tribute of respect" to anything dead or alive. There are no +Servian or Bulgarian litterateurs with whom it would be positively +disgraceful not to form an acquaintance; you have no staring, no +praising to get through; the only public building of any interest +that lies on the road is of modern date, but is said to be a good +specimen of Oriental architecture; it is of a pyramidical shape, +and is made up of thirty thousand skulls, contributed by the +rebellious Servians in the early part (I believe) of this century: +I am not at all sure of my date, but I fancy it was in the year +1806 that the first skull was laid. I am ashamed to say that in +the darkness of the early morning we unknowingly went by the +neighbourhood of this triumph of art, and so basely got off from +admiring "the simple grandeur of the architect's conception," and +"the exquisite beauty of the fretwork." + +There being no "lions," we ought at least to have met with a few +perils, but the only robbers we saw anything of had been long since +dead and gone. The poor fellows had been impaled upon high poles, +and so propped up by the transverse spokes beneath them, that their +skeletons, clothed with some white, wax-like remains of flesh, +still sat up lolling in the sunshine, and listlessly stared without +eyes. + +One day it seemed to me that our path was a little more rugged than +usual, and I found that I was deserving for myself the title of +Sabalkansky, or "Transcender of the Balcan." The truth is, that, +as a military barrier, the Balcan is a fabulous mountain. Such +seems to be the view of Major Keppell, who looked on it towards the +east with the eye of a soldier, and certainly in the Sophia Pass, +which I followed, there is no narrow defile, and no ascent +sufficiently difficult to stop, or delay for long time, a train of +siege artillery. + +Before we reached Adrianople, Methley had been seized with we knew +not what ailment, and when we had taken up our quarters in the city +he was cast to the very earth by sickness. Adrianople enjoyed an +English consul, and I felt sure that, in Eastern phrase, his house +would cease to be his house, and would become the house of my sick +comrade. I should have judged rightly under ordinary +circumstances, but the levelling plague was abroad, and the dread +of it had dominion over the consular mind. So now (whether dying +or not, one could hardly tell), upon a quilt stretched out along +the floor, there lay the best hope of an ancient line, without the +material aids to comfort of even the humblest sort, and (sad to +say) without the consolation of a friend, or even a comrade worth +having. I have a notion that tenderness and pity are affections +occasioned in some measure by living within doors; certainly, at +the time I speak of, the open-air life which I have been leading, +or the wayfaring hardships of the journey, had so strangely blunted +me, that I felt intolerant of illness, and looked down upon my +companion as if the poor fellow in falling ill had betrayed a want +of spirit. I entertained too a most absurd idea--an idea that his +illness was partly affected. You see that I have made a +confession: this I hope--that I may always hereafter look +charitably upon the hard, savage acts of peasants, and the +cruelties of a "brutal" soldiery. God knows that I strived to melt +myself into common charity, and to put on a gentleness which I +could not feel, but this attempt did not cheat the keenness of the +sufferer; he could not have felt the less deserted because that I +was with him. + +We called to aid a solemn Armenian (I think he was) half +soothsayer, half hakim, or doctor, who, all the while counting his +beads, fixed his eyes steadily upon the patient, and then suddenly +dealt him a violent blow on the chest. Methley bravely dissembled +his pain, for he fancied that the blow was meant to try whether or +not the plague were on him. + +Here was really a sad embarrassment--no bed; nothing to offer the +invalid in the shape of food save a piece of thin, tough, flexible, +drab-coloured cloth, made of flour and mill-stones in equal +proportions, and called by the name of "bread"; then the patient, +of course, had no "confidence in his medical man," and on the +whole, the best chance of saving my comrade seemed to lie in taking +him out of the reach of his doctor, and bearing him away to the +neighbourhood of some more genial consul. But how was this to be +done? Methley was much too ill to be kept in his saddle, and wheel +carriages, as means of travelling, were unknown. There is, +however, such a thing as an "araba," a vehicle drawn by oxen, in +which the wives of a rich man are sometimes dragged four or five +miles over the grass by way of recreation. The carriage is rudely +framed, but you recognise in the simple grandeur of its design a +likeness to things majestic; in short, if your carpenter's son were +to make a "Lord Mayor's coach" for little Amy, he would build a +carriage very much in the style of a Turkish araba. No one had +ever heard of horses being used for drawing a carriage in this part +of the world, but necessity is the mother of innovation as well as +of invention. I was fully justified, I think, in arguing that +there were numerous instances of horses being used for that purpose +in our own country--that the laws of nature are uniform in their +operation over all the world (except Ireland)--that that which was +true in Piccadilly, must be true in Adrianople--that the matter +could not fairly be treated as an ecclesiastical question, for that +the circumstance of Methley's going on to Stamboul in an araba +drawn by horses, when calmly and dispassionately considered, would +appear to be perfectly consistent with the maintenance of the +Mahometan religion as by law established. Thus poor, dear, patient +Reason would have fought her slow battle against Asiatic prejudice, +and I am convinced that she would have established the possibility +(and perhaps even the propriety) of harnessing horses in a hundred +and fifty years; but in the meantime Mysseri, well seconded by our +Tatar, put a very quick end to the controversy by having the horses +put to. + +It was a sore thing for me to see my poor comrade brought to this, +for young though he was, he was a veteran in travel. When scarcely +yet of age he had invaded India from the frontiers of Russia, and +that so swiftly, that measuring by the time of his flight the broad +dominions of the king of kings were shrivelled up to a dukedom and +now, poor fellow, he was to be poked into an araba: like a +Georgian girl! He suffered greatly, for there were no springs for +the carriage, and no road for the wheels; and so the concern jolted +on over the open country with such twists, and jerks, and jumps, as +might almost dislocate the supple tongue of Satan. + +All day the patient kept himself shut up within the lattice-work of +the araba, and I could hardly know how he was faring until the end +of the day's journey, when I found that he was not worse, and was +buoyed up with the hope of some day reaching Constantinople. + +I was always conning over my maps, and fancied that I knew pretty +well my line, but after Adrianople I had made more southing than I +knew for, and it was with unbelieving wonder, and delight, that I +came suddenly upon the shore of the sea. A little while, and its +gentle billows were flowing beneath the hoofs of my beast, but the +hearing of the ripple was not enough communion, and the seeing of +the blue Propontis was not to know and possess it--I must needs +plunge into its depth and quench my longing love in the palpable +waves; and so when old Moostapha (defender against demons) looked +round for his charge, he saw with horror and dismay that he for +whose life his own life stood pledged was possessed of some devil +who had driven him down into the sea--that the rider and the steed +had vanished from earth, and that out among the waves was the +gasping crest of a post-horse, and the ghostly head of the +Englishman moving upon the face of the waters. + +We started very early indeed on the last day of our journey, and +from the moment of being off until we gained the shelter of the +imperial walls we were struggling face to face with an icy storm +that swept right down from the steppes of Tartary, keen, fierce, +and steady as a northern conqueror. Methley's servant, who was the +greatest sufferer, kept his saddle until we reached Stamboul, but +was then found to be quite benumbed in limbs, and his brain was so +much affected, that when he was lifted from his horse he fell away +in a state of unconsciousness, the first stage of a dangerous +fever. + +Our Tatar, worn down by care and toil, and carrying seven heavens +full of water in his manifold jackets and shawls, was a mere weak +and vapid dilution of the sleek Moostapha, who scarce more than one +fortnight before came out like a bridegroom from his chamber to +take the command of our party. + +Mysseri seemed somewhat over-wearied, but he had lost none of his +strangely quiet energy. He wore a grave look, however, for he now +had learnt that the plague was prevailing at Constantinople, and he +was fearing that our two sick men, and the miserable looks of our +whole party, might make us unwelcome at Pera. + +We crossed the Golden Horn in a caique. As soon as we had landed, +some woebegone looking fellows were got together and laden with our +baggage. Then on we went, dripping, and sloshing, and looking very +like men that had been turned back by the Royal Humane Society as +being incurably drowned. Supporting our sick, we climbed up +shelving steps and threaded many windings, and at last came up into +the main street of Pera, humbly hoping that we might not be judged +guilty of plague, and so be cast back with horror from the doors of +the shuddering Christians. + +Such was the condition of our party, which fifteen days before had +filed away so gaily from the gates of Belgrade. A couple of fevers +and a north-easterly storm had thoroughly spoiled our looks. + +The interest of Mysseri with the house of Giuseppini was too +powerful to be denied, and at once, though not without fear and +trembling, we were admitted as guests. + + + +CHAPTER III--CONSTANTINOPLE + + + +Even if we don't take a part in the chant about "mosques and +minarets," we can still yield praises to Stamboul. We can chant +about the harbour; we can say, and sing, that nowhere else does the +sea come so home to a city; there are no pebbly shores--no sand +bars--no slimy river-beds--no black canals--no locks nor docks to +divide the very heart of the place from the deep waters. If being +in the noisiest mart of Stamboul you would stroll to the quiet side +of the way amidst those cypresses opposite, you will cross the +fathomless Bosphorus; if you would go from your hotel to the +bazaars, you must go by the bright, blue pathway of the Golden +Horn, that can carry a thousand sail of the line. You are +accustomed to the gondolas that glide among the palaces of St. +Mark, but here at Stamboul it is a 120 gun ship that meets you in +the street. Venice strains out from the steadfast land, and in old +times would send forth the chief of the State to woo and wed the +reluctant sea; but the stormy bride of the Doge is the bowing slave +of the Sultan. She comes to his feet with the treasures of the +world--she bears him from palace to palace--by some unfailing +witchcraft she entices the breezes to follow her {5} and fan the +pale cheek of her lord--she lifts his armed navies to the very +gates of his garden--she watches the walls of his serai--she +stifles the intrigues of his ministers--she quiets the scandals of +his courts--she extinguishes his rivals, and hushes his naughty +wives all one by one. So vast are the wonders of the deep! + +All the while that I stayed at Constantinople the plague was +prevailing, but not with any degree of violence. Its presence, +however, lent a mysterious and exciting, though not very pleasant, +interest to my first knowledge of a great Oriental city; it gave +tone and colour to all I saw, and all I felt--a tone and a colour +sombre enough, but true, and well befitting the dreary monuments of +past power and splendour. With all that is most truly Oriental in +its character the plague is associated; it dwells with the faithful +in the holiest quarters of their city. The coats and the hats of +Pera are held to be nearly as innocent of infection as they are +ugly in shape and fashion; but the rich furs and the costly shawls, +the broidered slippers and the gold-laden saddle-cloths, the +fragrance of burning aloes and the rich aroma of patchouli--these +are the signs that mark the familiar home of plague. You go out +from your queenly London--the centre of the greatest and strongest +amongst all earthly dominions--you go out thence, and travel on to +the capital of an Eastern Prince, you find but a waning power, and +a faded splendour, that inclines you to laugh and mock; but let the +infernal Angel of Plague be at hand, and he, more mighty than +armies, more terrible than Suleyman in his glory, can restore such +pomp and majesty to the weakness of the Imperial city, that if, +WHEN HE IS THERE, you must still go prying amongst the shades of +this dead empire, at least you will tread the path with seemly +reverence and awe. + +It is the firm faith of almost all the Europeans living in the East +that Plague is conveyed by the touch of infected substances, and +that the deadly atoms especially lurk in all kinds of clothes and +furs. It is held safer to breathe the same air with a man sick of +the plague, and even to come in contact with his skin, than to be +touched by the smallest particle of woollen or of thread which may +have been within the reach of possible infection. If this be a +right notion, the spread of the malady must be materially aided by +the observance of a custom prevailing amongst the people of +Stamboul. It is this; when an Osmanlee dies, one of his dresses is +cut up, and a small piece of it is sent to each of his friends as a +memorial of the departed--a fatal present, according to the opinion +of the Franks, for it too often forces the living not merely to +remember the dead man, but to follow and bear him company. + +The Europeans during the prevalence of the plague, if they are +forced to venture into the streets, will carefully avoid the touch +of every human being whom they pass. Their conduct in this respect +shows them strongly in contrast with the "true believers": the +Moslem stalks on serenely, as though he were under the eye of his +God, and were "equal to either fate"; the Franks go crouching and +slinking from death, and some (those chiefly of French extraction) +will fondly strive to fence out destiny with shining capes of +oilskin! + +For some time you may manage by great care to thread your way +through the streets of Stamboul without incurring contact, for the +Turks, though scornful of the terrors felt by the Franks, are +generally very courteous in yielding to that which they hold to be +a useless and impious precaution, and will let you pass safe if +they can. It is impossible, however, that your immunity can last +for any length of time if you move about much through the narrow +streets and lanes of a crowded city. + +As for me, I soon got "compromised." After one day of rest, the +prayers of my hostess began to lose their power of keeping me from +the pestilent side of the Golden Horn. Faithfully promising to +shun the touch of all imaginable substances, however enticing, I +set off very cautiously, and held my way uncompromised till I +reached the water's edge; but before my caique was quite ready some +rueful-looking fellows came rapidly shambling down the steps with a +plague-stricken corpse, which they were going to bury amongst the +faithful on the other side of the water. I contrived to be so much +in the way of this brisk funeral, that I was not only touched by +the men bearing the body, but also, I believe, by the foot of the +dead man, as it hung lolling out of the bier. This accident gave +me such a strong interest in denying the soundness of the contagion +theory, that I did in fact deny and repudiate it altogether; and +from that time, acting upon my own convenient view of the matter, I +went wherever I chose, without taking any serious pains to avoid a +touch. It seems to me now very likely that the Europeans are +right, and that the plague may be really conveyed by contagion; but +during the whole time of my remaining in the East, my views on this +subject more nearly approached to those of the fatalists; and so, +when afterwards the plague of Egypt came dealing his blows around +me, I was able to live amongst the dying without that alarm and +anxiety which would inevitably have pressed upon my mind if I had +allowed myself to believe that every passing touch was really a +probable death-stroke. + +And perhaps as you make your difficult way through a steep and +narrow alley, shut in between blank walls, and little frequented by +passers, you meet one of those coffin-shaped bundles of white linen +that implies an Ottoman lady. Painfully struggling against the +obstacles to progression interposed by the many folds of her clumsy +drapery, by her big mud-boots, and especially by her two pairs of +slippers, she works her way on full awkwardly enough, but yet there +is something of womanly consciousness in the very labour and effort +with which she tugs and lifts the burthen of her charms. She is +closely followed by her women slaves. Of her very self you see +nothing except the dark, luminous eyes that stare against your +face, and the tips of the painted fingers depending like rose-buds +from out of the blank bastions of the fortress. She turns, and +turns again, and carefully glances around her on all sides, to see +that she is safe from the eyes of Mussulmans, and then suddenly +withdrawing the yashmak, {6} she shines upon your heart and soul +with all the pomp and might of her beauty. And this, it is not the +light, changeful grace that leaves you to doubt whether you have +fallen in love with a body, or only a soul; it is the beauty that +dwells secure in the perfectness of hard, downright outlines, and +in the glow of generous colour. There is fire, though, too--high +courage and fire enough in the untamed mind, or spirit, or whatever +it is, which drives the breath of pride through those scarcely +parted lips. + +You smile at pretty women--you turn pale before the beauty that is +great enough to have dominion over you. She sees, and exults in +your giddiness; she sees and smiles; then presently, with a sudden +movement, she lays her blushing fingers upon your arm, and cries +out, "Yumourdjak!" (Plague! meaning, "there is a present of the +plague for you!") This is her notion of a witticism. It is a very +old piece of fun, no doubt--quite an Oriental Joe Miller; but the +Turks are fondly attached, not only to the institutions, but also +to the jokes of their ancestors; so the lady's silvery laugh rings +joyously in your ears, and the mirth of her women is boisterous and +fresh, as though the bright idea of giving the plague to a +Christian had newly lit upon the earth. + +Methley began to rally very soon after we had reached +Constantinople; but there seemed at first to be no chance of his +regaining strength enough for travelling during the winter, and I +determined to stay with my comrade until he had quite recovered; so +I bought me a horse, and a "pipe of tranquillity," {7} and took a +Turkish phrase-master. I troubled myself a great deal with the +Turkish tongue, and gained at last some knowledge of its structure. +It is enriched, perhaps overladen, with Persian and Arabic words, +imported into the language chiefly for the purpose of representing +sentiments and religious dogmas, and terms of art and luxury, +entirely unknown to the Tartar ancestors of the present Osmanlees; +but the body and the spirit of the old tongue are yet alive, and +the smooth words of the shopkeeper at Constantinople can still +carry understanding to the ears of the untamed millions who rove +over the plains of Northern Asia. The structure of the language, +especially in its more lengthy sentences, is very like to the +Latin: the subject matters are slowly and patiently enumerated, +without disclosing the purpose of the speaker until he reaches the +end of his sentence, and then at last there comes the clenching +word, which gives a meaning and connection to all that has gone +before. If you listen at all to speaking of this kind your +attention, rather than be suffered to flag, must grow more and more +lively as the phrase marches on. + +The Osmanlees speak well. In countries civilised according to the +European plan the work of trying to persuade tribunals is almost +all performed by a set of men, the great body of whom very seldom +do anything else; but in Turkey this division of labour has never +taken place, and every man is his own advocate. The importance of +the rhetorical art is immense, for a bad speech may endanger the +property of the speaker, as well as the soles of his feet and the +free enjoyment of his throat. So it results that most of the Turks +whom one sees have a lawyer-like habit of speaking connectedly, and +at length. Even the treaties continually going on at the bazaar +for the buying and selling of the merest trifles are carried on by +speechifying rather than by mere colloquies, and the eternal +uncertainty as to the market value of things in constant sale gives +room enough for discussion. The seller is for ever demanding a +price immensely beyond that for which he sells at last, and so +occasions unspeakable disgust in many Englishmen, who cannot see +why an honest dealer should ask more for his goods than he will +really take! The truth is, however, that an ordinary tradesman of +Constantinople has no other way of finding out the fair market +value of his property. The difficulty under which he labours is +easily shown by comparing the mechanism of the commercial system in +Turkey with that of our own country. In England, or in any other +great mercantile country, the bulk of the things bought and sold +goes through the hands of a wholesale dealer, and it is he who +higgles and bargains with an entire nation of purchasers by +entering into treaty with retail sellers. The labour of making a +few large contracts is sufficient to give a clue for finding the +fair market value of the goods sold throughout the country; but in +Turkey, from the primitive habits of the people, and partly from +the absence of great capital and great credit, the importing +merchant, the warehouseman, the wholesale dealer, the retail +dealer, and the shopman, are all one person. Old Moostapha, or +Abdallah, or Hadgi Mohamed waddles up from the water's edge with a +small packet of merchandise, which he has bought out of a Greek +brigantine, and when at last he has reached his nook in the bazaar +he puts his goods BEFORE the counter, and himself UPON it; then +laying fire to his tchibouque he "sits in permanence," and +patiently waits to obtain "the best price that can be got in an +open market." This is his fair right as a seller, but he has no +means of finding out what that best price is except by actual +experiment. He cannot know the intensity of the demand, or the +abundance of the supply, otherwise than by the offers which may be +made for his little bundle of goods; so he begins by asking a +perfectly hopeless price, and then descends the ladder until he +meets a purchaser, for ever + + +"Striving to attain +By shadowing out the unattainable." + + +This is the struggle which creates the continual occasion for +debate. The vendor, perceiving that the unfolded merchandise has +caught the eye of a possible purchaser, commences his opening +speech. He covers his bristling broadcloths and his meagre silks +with the golden broidery of Oriental praises, and as he talks, +along with the slow and graceful waving of his arms, he lifts his +undulating periods, upholds and poises them well, till they have +gathered their weight and their strength, and then hurls them +bodily forward with grave, momentous swing. The possible purchaser +listens to the whole speech with deep and serious attention; but +when it is over HIS turn arrives. He elaborately endeavours to +show why he ought not to buy the things at a price twenty times +larger than their value. Bystanders attracted to the debate take a +part in it as independent members; the vendor is heard in reply, +and coming down with his price, furnishes the materials for a new +debate. Sometimes, however, the dealer, if he is a very pious +Mussulman, and sufficiently rich to hold back his ware, will take a +more dignified part, maintaining a kind of judicial gravity, and +receiving the applicants who come to his stall as if they were +rather suitors than customers. He will quietly hear to the end +some long speech that concludes with an offer, and will answer it +all with the one monosyllable "Yok," which means distinctly "No." + +I caught one glimpse of the old heathen world. My habits for +studying military subjects had been hardening my heart against +poetry; for ever staring at the flames of battle, I had blinded +myself to the lesser and finer lights that are shed from the +imaginations of men. In my reading at this time I delighted to +follow from out of Arabian sands the feet of the armed believers, +and to stand in the broad, manifest storm-track of Tartar +devastation; and thus, though surrounded at Constantinople by +scenes of much interest to the "classical scholar," I had cast +aside their associations like an old Greek grammar, and turned my +face to the "shining Orient," forgetful of old Greece and all the +pure wealth she left to this matter-of-fact-ridden world. But it +happened to me one day to mount the high grounds overhanging the +streets of Pera. I sated my eyes with the pomps of the city and +its crowded waters, and then I looked over where Scutari lay half +veiled in her mournful cypresses. I looked yet farther and higher, +and saw in the heavens a silvery cloud that stood fast and still +against the breeze: it was pure and dazzling white, as might be +the veil of Cytherea, yet touched with such fire, as though from +beneath the loving eyes of an immortal were shining through and +through. I knew the bearing, but had enormously misjudged its +distance and underrated its height, and so it was as a sign and a +testimony, almost as a call from the neglected gods, and now I saw +and acknowledged the snowy crown of the Mysian Olympus! + + + +CHAPTER IV--THE TROAD + + + +Methley recovered almost suddenly, and we determined to go through +the Troad together. + +My comrade was a capital Grecian. It is true that his singular +mind so ordered and disposed his classic lore as to impress it with +something of an original and barbarous character--with an almost +Gothic quaintness, more properly belonging to a rich native ballad +than to the poetry of Hellas. There was a certain impropriety in +his knowing so much Greek--an unfitness in the idea of marble +fauns, and satyrs, and even Olympian gods, lugged in under the +oaken roof and the painted light of an odd, old Norman hall. But +Methley, abounding in Homer, really loved him (as I believe) in all +truth, without whim or fancy; moreover, he had a good deal of the +practical sagacity + + +"Of a Yorkshireman hippodamoio," + + +and this enabled him to apply his knowledge with much more tact +than is usually shown by people so learned as he. + +I, too, loved Homer, but not with a scholar's love. The most +humble and pious among women was yet so proud a mother that she +could teach her firstborn son no Watts' hymns, no collects for the +day; she could teach him in earliest childhood no less than this, +to find a home in his saddle, and to love old Homer, and all that +old Homer sung. True it is, that the Greek was ingeniously +rendered into English, the English of Pope even, but not even a +mesh like that can screen an earnest child from the fire of Homer's +battles. + +I pored over the Odyssey as over a story-book, hoping and fearing +for the hero whom yet I partly scorned. But the Iliad--line by +line I clasped it to my brain with reverence as well as with love. +As an old woman deeply trustful sits reading her Bible because of +the world to come, so, as though it would fit me for the coming +strife of this temporal world, I read and read the Iliad. Even +outwardly, it was not like other books; it was throned in towering +folios. There was a preface or dissertation printed in type still +more majestic than the rest of the book; this I read, but not till +my enthusiasm for the Iliad had already run high. The writer +compiling the opinions of many men, and chiefly of the ancients, +set forth, I know not how quaintly, that the Iliad was all in all +to the human race--that it was history, poetry, revelation; that +the works of men's hands were folly and vanity, and would pass away +like the dreams of a child, but that the kingdom of Homer would +endure for ever and ever. + +I assented with all my soul. I read, and still read; I came to +know Homer. A learned commentator knows something of the Greeks, +in the same sense as an oil-and-colour man may be said to know +something of painting; but take an untamed child, and leave him +alone for twelve months with any translation of Homer, and he will +be nearer by twenty centuries to the spirit of old Greece; HE does +not stop in the ninth year of the siege to admire this or that +group of words; HE has no books in his tent, but he shares in vital +counsels with the "king of men," and knows the inmost souls of the +impending gods; how profanely he exults over the powers divine when +they are taught to dread the prowess of mortals! and most of all, +how he rejoices when the God of War flies howling from the spear of +Diomed, and mounts into heaven for safety! Then the beautiful +episode of the Sixth Book: the way to feel this is not to go +casting about, and learning from pastors and masters how best to +admire it. The impatient child is not grubbing for beauties, but +pushing the siege; the women vex him with their delays, and their +talking; the mention of the nurse is personal, and little sympathy +has he for the child that is young enough to be frightened at the +nodding plume of a helmet; but all the while that he thus chafes at +the pausing of the action, the strong vertical light of Homer's +poetry is blazing so full upon the people and things of the Iliad, +that soon to the eyes of the child they grow familiar as his +mother's shawl; yet of this great gain he is unconscious, and on he +goes, vengefully thirsting for the best blood of Troy, and never +remitting his fierceness till almost suddenly it is changed for +sorrow--the new and generous sorrow that he learns to feel when the +noblest of all his foes lies sadly dying at the Scaean gate. + +Heroic days are these, but the dark ages of schoolboy life come +closing over them. I suppose it is all right in the end, yet, by +Jove, at first sight it does seem a sad intellectual fall from your +mother's dressing-room to a buzzing school. You feel so keenly the +delights of early knowledge; you form strange mystic friendships +with the mere names of mountains, and seas, and continents, and +mighty rivers; you learn the ways of the planets, and transcend +their narrow limits, and ask for the end of space; you vex the +electric cylinder till it yields you, for your toy to play with, +that subtle fire in which our earth was forged; you know of the +nations that have towered high in the world, and the lives of the +men who have saved whole empires from oblivion. What more will you +ever learn? Yet the dismal change is ordained, and then, thin +meagre Latin (the same for everybody), with small shreds and +patches of Greek, is thrown like a pauper's pall over all your +early lore. Instead of sweet knowledge, vile, monkish, doggerel +grammars and graduses, dictionaries and lexicons, and horrible odds +and ends of dead languages, are given you for your portion, and +down you fall, from Roman story to a three-inch scrap of +"Scriptores Romani,"--from Greek poetry down, down to the cold +rations of "Poetae Graeci," cut up by commentators, and served out +by schoolmasters! + +It was not the recollection of school nor college learning, but the +rapturous and earnest reading of my childhood, which made me bend +forward so longingly to the plains of Troy. + +Away from our people and our horses, Methley and I went loitering +along by the willow banks of a stream that crept in quietness +through the low, even plain. There was no stir of weather +overhead, no sound of rural labour, no sign of life in the land; +but all the earth was dead and still, as though it had lain for +thrice a thousand years under the leaden gloom of one unbroken +Sabbath. + +Softly and sadly the poor, dumb, patient stream went winding and +winding along through its shifting pathway; in some places its +waters were parted, and then again, lower down, they would meet +once more. I could see that the stream from year to year was +finding itself new channels, and flowed no longer in its ancient +track, but I knew that the springs which fed it were high on Ida-- +the springs of Simois and Scamander! + +It was coldly and thanklessly, and with vacant, unsatisfied eyes +that I watched the slow coming and the gliding away of the waters. +I tell myself now, as a profane fact, that I did stand by that +river (Methley gathered some seeds from the bushes that grew +there), but since that I am away from his banks, "divine Scamander" +has recovered the proper mystery belonging to him as an unseen +deity; a kind of indistinctness, like that which belongs to far +antiquity, has spread itself over my memory, of the winding stream +that I saw with these very eyes. One's mind regains in absence +that dominion over earthly things which has been shaken by their +rude contact. You force yourself hardily into the material +presence of a mountain, or a river, whose name belongs to poetry +and ancient religion, rather than to the external world; your +feelings wound up and kept ready for some sort of half-expected +rapture are chilled, and borne down for the time under all this +load of real earth and water; but let these once pass out of sight, +and then again the old fanciful notions are restored, and the mere +realities which you have just been looking at are thrown back so +far into distance, that the very event of your intrusion upon such +scenes begins to look dim and uncertain, as though it belonged to +mythology. + +It is not over the plain before Troy that the river now flows; its +waters have edged away far towards the north, since the day that +"divine Scamander" (whom the gods call Xanthus) went down to do +battle for Ilion, "with Mars, and Phoebus, and Latona, and Diana +glorying in her arrows, and Venus the lover of smiles." + +And now, when I was vexed at the migration of Scamander, and the +total loss or absorption of poor dear Simois, how happily Methley +reminded me that Homer himself had warned us of some such changes! +The Greeks in beginning their wall had neglected the hecatombs due +to the gods, and so after the fall of Troy Apollo turned the paths +of the rivers that flow from Ida and sent them flooding over the +wall, till all the beach was smooth and free from the unhallowed +works of the Greeks. It is true I see now, on looking to the +passage, that Neptune, when the work of destruction was done, +turned back the rivers to their ancient ways: + + +" . . . [Greek verse]," + + +but their old channels passing through that light pervious soil +would have been lost in the nine days' flood, and perhaps the god, +when he willed to bring back the rivers to their ancient beds, may +have done his work but ill: it is easier, they say, to destroy +than it is to restore. + +We took to our horses again, and went southward towards the very +plain between Troy and the tents of the Greeks, but we rode by a +line at some distance from the shore. Whether it was that the lay +of the ground hindered my view towards the sea, or that I was all +intent upon Ida, or whether my mind was in vacancy, or whether, as +is most like, I had strayed from the Dardan plains all back to +gentle England, there is now no knowing, nor caring, but it was not +quite suddenly indeed, but rather, as it were, in the swelling and +falling of a single wave, that the reality of that very sea-view, +which had bounded the sight of the Greeks, now visibly acceded to +me, and rolled full in upon my brain. Conceive how deeply that +eternal coast-line, that fixed horizon, those island rocks, must +have graven their images upon the minds of the Grecian warriors by +the time that they had reached the ninth year of the siege! +conceive the strength, and the fanciful beauty, of the speeches +with which a whole army of imagining men must have told their +weariness, and how the sauntering chiefs must have whelmed that +daily, daily scene with their deep Ionian curses! + +And now it was that my eyes were greeted with a delightful +surprise. Whilst we were at Constantinople, Methley and I had +pored over the map together. We agreed that whatever may have been +the exact site of Troy, the Grecian camp must have been nearly +opposite to the space betwixt the islands of Imbros and Tenedos, + + +"[Greek verse]," + + +but Methley reminded me of a passage in the Iliad in which Neptune +is represented as looking at the scene of action before Ilion from +above the island of Samothrace. Now Samothrace, according to the +map, appeared to be not only out of all seeing distance from the +Troad, but to be entirely shut out from it by the intervening +Imbros, which is a larger island, stretching its length right +athwart the line of sight from Samothrace to Troy. Piously +allowing that the dread Commoter of our globe might have seen all +mortal doings, even from the depth of his own cerulean kingdom, I +still felt that if a station were to be chosen from which to see +the fight, old Homer, so material in his ways of thought, so averse +from all haziness and overreaching, would have MEANT to give the +god for his station some spot within reach of men's eyes from the +plains of Troy. I think that this testing of the poet's words by +map and compass may have shaken a little of my faith in the +completeness of his knowledge. Well, now I had come; there to the +south was Tenedos, and here at my side was Imbros, all right, and +according to the map, but aloft over Imbros, aloft in a far-away +heaven, was Samothrace, the watch-tower of Neptune! + +So Homer had appointed it, and so it was; the map was correct +enough, but could not, like Homer, convey THE WHOLE TRUTH. Thus +vain and false are the mere human surmises and doubts which clash +with Homeric writ! + +Nobody whose mind had not been reduced to the most deplorable +logical condition could look upon this beautiful congruity betwixt +the Iliad and the material world and yet bear to suppose that the +poet may have learned the features of the coast from mere hearsay; +now then, I believed; now I knew that Homer had PASSED ALONG HERE, +that this vision of Samothrace over-towering the nearer island was +common to him and to me. + +After a journey of some few days by the route of Adramiti and +Pergamo we reached Smyrna. The letters which Methley here received +obliged him to return to England. + + + +CHAPTER V--INFIDEL SMYRNA + + + +Smyrna, or Giaour Izmir, "Infidel Smyrna," as the Mussulmans call +it, is the main point of commercial contact betwixt Europe and +Asia. You are there surrounded by the people, and the confused +customs of many and various nations; you see the fussy European +adopting the East, and calming his restlessness with the long +Turkish "pipe of tranquillity"; you see Jews offering services, and +receiving blows; {8} on one side you have a fellow whose dress and +beard would give you a good idea of the true Oriental, if it were +not for the gobe-mouche expression of countenance with which he is +swallowing an article in the National; and there, just by, is a +genuine Osmanlee, smoking away with all the majesty of a sultan, +but before you have time to admire sufficiently his tranquil +dignity, and his soft Asiatic repose, the poor old fellow is +ruthlessly "run down" by an English midshipman, who has set sail on +a Smyrna hack. Such are the incongruities of the "infidel city" at +ordinary times; but when I was there, our friend Carrigaholt had +imported himself and his oddities as an accession to the other and +inferior wonders of Smyrna. + +I was sitting alone in my room one day at Constantinople, when I +heard Methley approaching my door with shouts of laughter and +welcome, and presently I recognised that peculiar cry by which our +friend Carrigaholt expresses his emotions; he soon explained to us +the final causes by which the fates had worked out their wonderful +purpose of bringing him to Constantinople. He was always, you +know, very fond of sailing, but he had got into such sad scrapes +(including, I think, a lawsuit) on account of his last yacht, that +he took it into his head to have a cruise in a merchant vessel, so +he went to Liverpool, and looked through the craft lying ready to +sail, till he found a smart schooner that perfectly suited his +taste. The destination of the vessel was the last thing he thought +of; and when he was told that she was bound for Constantinople, he +merely assented to that as a part of the arrangement to which he +had no objection. As soon as the vessel had sailed, the hapless +passenger discovered that his skipper carried on board an enormous +wife, with an inquiring mind and an irresistible tendency to impart +her opinions. She looked upon her guest as upon a piece of waste +intellect that ought to be carefully tilled. She tilled him +accordingly. If the dons at Oxford could have seen poor +Carrigaholt thus absolutely "attending lectures" in the Bay of +Biscay, they would surely have thought him sufficiently punished +for all the wrongs he did them whilst he was preparing himself +under their care for the other and more boisterous University. The +voyage did not last more than six or eight weeks, and the +philosophy inflicted on Carrigaholt was not entirely fatal to him; +certainly he was somewhat emaciated, and for aught I know, he may +have subscribed somewhat too largely to the "Feminine-right-of- +reason Society"; but it did not appear that his health had been +seriously affected. There was a scheme on foot, it would seem, for +taking the passenger back to England in the same schooner--a +scheme, in fact, for keeping him perpetually afloat, and +perpetually saturated with arguments; but when Carrigaholt found +himself ashore, and remembered that the skipperina (who had +imprudently remained on board) was not there to enforce her +suggestions, he was open to the hints of his servant (a very sharp +fellow), who arranged a plan for escaping, and finally brought off +his master to Giuseppini's Hotel. + +Our friend afterwards went by sea to Smyrna, and there he now was +in his glory. He had a good, or at all events a gentleman-like, +judgment in matters of taste, and as his great object was to +surround himself with all that his fancy could dictate, he lived in +a state of perpetual negotiation. He was for ever on the point of +purchasing, not only the material productions of the place, but all +sorts of such fine ware as "intelligence," "fidelity," and so on. +He was most curious, however, as the purchaser of the "affections." +Sometimes he would imagine that he had a marital aptitude, and his +fancy would sketch a graceful picture, in which he appeared +reclining on a divan, with a beautiful Greek woman fondly couched +at his feet, and soothing him with the witchery of her guitar. +Having satisfied himself with the ideal picture thus created, he +would pass into action; the guitar he would buy instantly, and +would give such intimations of his wish to be wedded to a Greek, as +could not fail to produce great excitement in the families, of the +beautiful Smyrniotes. Then again (and just in time perhaps to save +him from the yoke) his dream would pass away, and another would +come in its stead; he would suddenly feel the yearnings of a +father's love, and willing by force of gold to transcend all +natural preliminaries, he would issue instructions for the purchase +of some dutiful child that could be warranted to love him as a +parent. Then at another time he would be convinced that the +attachment of menials might satisfy the longings of his +affectionate heart, and thereupon he would give orders to his +slave-merchant for something in the way of eternal fidelity. You +may well imagine that this anxiety of Carrigaholt to purchase not +only the scenery, but the many dramatis personae belonging to his +dreams, with all their goodness and graces complete, necessarily +gave an immense stimulus to the trade and intrigue of Smyrna, and +created a demand for human virtues which the moral resources of the +place were totally inadequate to supply. Every day after breakfast +this lover of the good and the beautiful held a levee, which was +often exceedingly amusing. In his anteroom there would be not only +the sellers of pipes and slippers and shawls, and such like +Oriental merchandise, not only embroiderers and cunning workmen +patiently striving to realise his visions of Albanian dresses, not +only the servants offering for places, and the slave-dealer +tendering his sable ware, but there would be the Greek master, +waiting to teach his pupil the grammar of the soft Ionian tongue, +in which he was to delight the wife of his imagination, and the +music-master, who was to teach him some sweet replies to the +anticipated sounds of the fancied guitar; and then, above all, and +proudly eminent with undisputed preference of entree, and fraught +with the mysterious tidings on which the realisation of the whole +dream might depend, was the mysterious match-maker, {9} enticing +and postponing the suitor, yet ever keeping alive in his soul the +love of that pictured virtue, whose beauty (unseen by eyes) was +half revealed to the imagination. + +You would have thought that this practical dreaming must have soon +brought Carrigaholt to a bad end, but he was in much less danger +than you would suppose; for besides that the new visions of +happiness almost always came in time to counteract the fatal +completion of the preceding scheme, his high breeding and his +delicately sensitive taste almost always came to his aid at times +when he was left without any other protection; and the efficacy of +these qualities in keeping a man out of harm's way is really +immense. In all baseness and imposture there is a coarse, vulgar +spirit, which, however artfully concealed for a time, must sooner +or later show itself in some little circumstance sufficiently plain +to occasion an instant jar upon the minds of those whose taste is +lively and true. To such men a shock of this kind, disclosing the +UGLINESS of a cheat, is more effectively convincing than any mere +proofs could be. + +Thus guarded from isle to isle, and through Greece, and through +Albania, this practical Plato with a purse in his hand, carried on +his mad chase after the good and the beautiful, and yet returned in +safety to his home. But now, poor fellow! the lowly grave, that is +the end of men's romantic hopes, has closed over all his rich +fancies, and all his high aspirations; he is utterly married! No +more hope, no more change for him--no more relays--he must go on +Vetturini-wise to the appointed end of his journey! + +Smyrna, I think, may be called the chief town and capital of the +Grecian race, against which you will be cautioned so carefully as +soon as you touch the Levant. You will say that I ought not to +confound as one people the Greeks living under a constitutional +government with the unfortunate Rayahs who "groan under the Turkish +yoke," but I can't see that political events have hitherto produced +any strongly marked difference of character. If I could venture to +rely (which I feel that I cannot at all do) upon my own +observation, I should tell you that there was more heartiness and +strength in the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire than in those of the +new kingdom. The truth is, that there is a greater field for +commercial enterprise, and even for Greek ambition, under the +Ottoman sceptre, than is to be found in the dominions of Otho. +Indeed the people, by their frequent migrations from the limits of +the constitutional kingdom to the territories of the Porte, seem to +show that, on the whole, they prefer "groaning under the Turkish +yoke" to the honour of "being the only true source of legitimate +power" in their own land. + +For myself, I love the race; in spite of all their vices, and even +in spite of all their meannesses, I remember the blood that is in +them, and still love the Greeks. The Osmanlees are, of course, by +nature, by religion, and by politics, the strong foes of the +Hellenic people, and as the Greeks, poor fellows! happen to be a +little deficient in some of the virtues which facilitate the +transaction of commercial business (such as veracity, fidelity, +&c.), it naturally follows that they are highly unpopular with the +European merchants. Now these are the persons through whom, either +directly or indirectly, is derived the greater part of the +information which you gather in the Levant, and therefore you must +make up your mind to hear an almost universal and unbroken +testimony against the character of the people whose ancestors +invented virtue. And strange to say, the Greeks themselves do not +attempt to disturb this general unanimity of opinion by an dissent +on their part. Question a Greek on the subject, and he will tell +you at once that the people are traditori, and will then, perhaps, +endeavour to shake off his fair share of the imputation by +asserting that his father had been dragoman to some foreign +embassy, and that he (the son), therefore, by the law of nations, +had ceased to be Greek. + +"E dunque no siete traditore?" + +"Possibile, signor, ma almeno Io no sono Greco." + +Not even the diplomatic representatives of the Hellenic kingdom are +free from the habit of depreciating their brethren. I recollect +that at one of the ports in Syria a Greek vessel was rather +unfairly kept in quarantine by order of the Board of Health, which +consisted entirely of Europeans. A consular agent from the kingdom +of Greece had lately hoisted his flag in the town, and the captain +of the vessel drew up a remonstrance, which he requested his consul +to present to the Board. + +"Now, IS this reasonable?" said the consul; "is it reasonable that +I should place myself in collision with all the principal European +gentlemen of the place for the sake of you, a Greek?" The skipper +was greatly vexed at the failure of his application, but he +scarcely even questioned the justice of the ground which his consul +had taken. Well, it happened some time afterwards that I found +myself at the same port, having gone thither with the view of +embarking for the port of Syra. I was anxious, of course, to elude +as carefully as possible the quarantine detentions which threatened +me on my arrival, and hearing that the Greek consul had a brother +who was a man in authority at Syra, I got myself presented to the +former, and took the liberty of asking him to give me such a letter +of introduction to his relative at Syra as might possibly have the +effect of shortening the term of my quarantine. He acceded to this +request with the utmost kindness and courtesy; but when he replied +to my thanks by saying that "in serving an Englishman he was doing +no more than his strict duty commanded," not even my gratitude +could prevent me from calling to mind his treatment of the poor +captain who had the misfortune of NOT being an alien in blood to +his consul and appointed protector. + +I think that the change which has taken place in the character of +the Greeks has been occasioned, in great measure, by the doctrines +and practice of their religion. The Greek Church has animated the +Muscovite peasant, and inspired him with hopes and ideas which, +however humble, are still better than none at all; but the faith, +and the forms, and the strange ecclesiastical literature which act +so advantageously upon the mere clay of the Russian serf, seem to +hang like lead upon the ethereal spirit of the Greek. Never in any +part of the world have I seen religious performances so painful to +witness as those of the Greeks. The horror, however, with which +one shudders at their worship is attributable, in some measure, to +the mere effect of costume. In all the Ottoman dominions, and very +frequently too in the kingdom of Otho, the Greeks wear turbans or +other head-dresses, and shave their heads, leaving only a rat's- +tail at the crown of the head; they of course keep themselves +covered within doors as well as abroad, and they never remove their +head-gear merely on account of being in a church; but when the +Greek stops to worship at his proper shrine, then, and then only, +he always uncovers; and as you see him thus with shaven skull and +savage tail depending from his crown, kissing a thing of wood and +glass, and cringing with base prostrations and apparent terror +before a miserable picture, you see superstition in a shape which, +outwardly at least, is sadly abject and repulsive. + +The fasts, too, of the Greek Church produce an ill effect upon the +character of the people, for they are not a mere farce, but are +carried to such an extent as to bring about a real mortification of +the flesh; the febrile irritation of the frame operating in +conjunction with the depression of the spirits occasioned by +abstinence, will so far answer the objects of the rite, as to +engender some religious excitement, but this is of a morbid and +gloomy character, and it seems to be certain, that along with the +increase of sanctity, there comes a fiercer desire for the +perpetration of dark crimes. The number of murders committed +during Lent is greater, I am told, than at any other time of the +year. A man under the influence of a bean dietary (for this is the +principal food of the Greeks during their fasts) will be in an apt +humour for enriching the shrine of his saint, and passing a knife +through his next-door neighbour. The moneys deposited upon the +shrines are appropriated by priests; the priests are married men, +and have families to provide for; they "take the good with the +bad," and continue to recommend fasts. + +Then, too, the Greek Church enjoins her followers to keep holy such +a vast number of saints' days as practically to shorten the lives +of the people very materially. I believe that one-third out of the +number of days in the year are "kept holy," or rather, KEPT STUPID, +in honour of the saints; no great portion of the time thus set +apart is spent in religious exercises, and the people don't betake +themselves to any such animating pastimes as might serve to +strengthen the frame, or invigorate the mind, or exalt the taste. +On the contrary, the saints' days of the Greeks in Smyrna are +passed in the same manner as the Sabbaths of well-behaved +Protestant housemaids in London--that is to say, in a steady and +serious contemplation of street scenery. The men perform this duty +AT THE DOORS of their houses, the women AT THE WINDOWS, which the +custom of Greek towns has so decidedly appropriated to them as the +proper station of their sex, that a man would be looked upon as +utterly effeminate if he ventured to choose that situation for the +keeping of the saints' days. I was present one day at a treaty for +the hire of some apartments at Smyrna, which was carried on between +Carrigaholt and the Greek woman to whom the rooms belonged. +Carrigaholt objected that the windows commanded no view of the +street. Immediately the brow of the majestic matron was clouded, +and with all the scorn of a Spartan mother she coolly asked +Carrigaholt, and said, "Art thou a tender damsel that thou wouldst +sit and gaze from windows?" The man whom she addressed, however, +had not gone to Greece with any intention of placing himself under +the laws of Lycurgus, and was not to be diverted from his views by +a Spartan rebuke, so he took care to find himself windows after his +own heart, and there, I believe, for many a month, he kept the +saints' days, and all the days intervening, after the fashion of +Grecian women. + +Oh! let me be charitable to all who write, and to all who lecture, +and to all who preach, since even I, a layman not forced to write +at all, can hardly avoid chiming in with some tuneful cant! I have +had the heart to talk about the pernicious effects of the Greek +holidays, to which I owe some of my most beautiful visions! I will +let the words stand, as a humbling proof that I am subject to that +immutable law which compels a man with a pen in his hand to be +uttering every now and then some sentiment not his own. It seems +as though the power of expressing regrets and desires by written +symbols were coupled with a condition that the writer should from +time to time express the regrets and desires of other people; as +though, like a French peasant under the old regime, one were bound +to perform a certain amount of work UPON THE PUBLIC HIGHWAYS. I +rebel as stoutly as I can against this horrible, corvee. I try not +to deceive you--I try to set down the thoughts which are fresh +within me, and not to pretend any wishes, or griefs, which I do not +really feel; but no sooner do I cease from watchfulness in this +regard, than my right hand is, as it were, seized by some false +angel, and even now, you see, I have been forced to put down such +words and sentences as I ought to have written if really and truly +I had wished to disturb the saints' days of the beautiful +Smyrniotes! + +Which, Heaven forbid! for as you move through the narrow streets of +the city at these times of festival, the transom-shaped windows +suspended over your head on either side are filled with the +beautiful descendants of the old Ionian race; all (even yonder +empress that sits throned at the window of that humblest mud +cottage) are attired with seeming magnificence; their classic heads +are crowned with scarlet, and loaded with jewels or coins of gold, +the whole wealth of the wearers; {10} their features are touched +with a savage pencil, which hardens the outline of eyes and +eyebrows, and lends an unnatural fire to the stern, grave looks +with which they pierce your brain. Endure their fiery eyes as best +you may, and ride on slowly and reverently, for facing you from the +side of the transom, that looks long-wise through the street, you +see the one glorious shape transcendant in its beauty; you see the +massive braid of hair as it catches a touch of light on its jetty +surface, and the broad, calm, angry brow; the large black eyes, +deep set, and self-relying like the eyes of a conqueror, with their +rich shadows of thought lying darkly around them; you see the thin +fiery nostril, and the bold line of the chin and throat disclosing +all the fierceness, and all the pride, passion, and power that can +live along with the rare womanly beauty of those sweetly turned +lips. But then there is a terrible stillness in this breathing +image; it seems like the stillness of a savage that sits intent and +brooding, day by day, upon some one fearful scheme of vengeance, +but yet more like it seems to the stillness of an Immortal, whose +will must be known, and obeyed without sign or speech. Bow down!-- +Bow down and adore the young Persephonie, transcendent Queen of +Shades! + + + +CHAPTER VI--GREEK MARINERS + + + +I sailed from Smyrna in the Amphitrite, a Greek brigantine, which +was confidently said to be bound for the coast of Syria; but I knew +that this announcement was not to be relied upon with positive +certainty, for the Greek mariners are practically free from the +stringency of ship's papers, and where they will, there they go. +However, I had the whole of the cabin for myself and my attendant, +Mysseri, subject only to the society of the captain at the hour of +dinner. Being at ease in this respect, being furnished too with +plenty of books, and finding an unfailing source of interest in the +thorough Greekness of my captain and my crew, I felt less anxious +than most people would have been about the probable length of the +cruise. I knew enough of Greek navigation to be sure that our +vessel would cling to earth like a child to its mother's knee, and +that I should touch at many an isle before I set foot upon the +Syrian coast; but I had no invidious preference for Europe, Asia, +or Africa, and I felt that I could defy the winds to blow me upon a +coast that was blank and void of interest. My patience was +extremely useful to me, for the cruise altogether endured some +forty days, and that in the midst of winter. + +According to me, the most interesting of all the Greeks (male +Greeks) are the mariners, because their pursuits and their social +condition are so nearly the same as those of their famous +ancestors. You will say, that the occupation of commerce must have +smoothed down the salience of their minds; and this would be so +perhaps if their mercantile affairs were conducted according to the +fixed businesslike routine of Europeans; but the ventures of the +Greeks are surrounded by such a multitude of imagined dangers (and +from the absence of regular marts, in which the true value of +merchandise can be ascertained), are so entirely speculative, and +besides, are conducted in a manner so wholly determined upon by the +wayward fancies and wishes of the crew, that they belong to +enterprise rather than to industry, and are very far indeed from +tending to deaden any freshness of character. + +The vessels in which war and piracy were carried on during the +years of the Greek Revolution became merchantmen at the end of the +war; but the tactics of the Greeks, as naval warriors, were so +exceedingly cautious, and their habits as commercial mariners are +so wild, that the change has been more slight than you might +imagine. The first care of Greeks (Greek Rayahs) when they +undertake a shipping enterprise is to procure for their vessel the +protection of some European power. This is easily managed by a +little intriguing with the dragoman of one of the embassies at +Constantinople, and the craft soon glories in the ensign of Russia, +or the dazzling Tricolor, or the Union Jack. Thus, to the great +delight of her crew, she enters upon the ocean world with a flaring +lie at her peak, but the appearance of the vessel does no discredit +to the borrowed flag; she is frail indeed, but is gracefully built, +and smartly rigged; she always carries guns, and in short, gives +good promise of mischief and speed. + +The privileges attached to the vessel and her crew by virtue of the +borrowed flag are so great, as to imply a liberty wider even than +that which is often enjoyed in our more strictly civilised +countries, so that there is no pretence for saying that the +development of the true character belonging to Greek mariners is +prevented by the dominion of the Ottoman. These men are free, too, +from the power of the great capitalist, whose sway is more +withering than despotism itself to the enterprises of humble +venturers. The capital employed is supplied by those whose labour +is to render it productive. The crew receive no wages, but have +all a share in the venture, and in general, I believe, they are the +owners of the whole freight. They choose a captain, to whom they +entrust just power enough to keep the vessel on her course in fine +weather, but not quite enough for a gale of wind; they also elect a +cook and a mate. The cook whom we had on board was particularly +careful about the ship's reckoning, and when under the influence of +the keen sea-breezes we grew fondly expectant of an instant dinner, +the great author of pilafs would be standing on deck with an +ancient quadrant in his hands, calmly affecting to take an +observation. But then to make up for this the captain would be +exercising a controlling influence over the soup, so that all in +the end went well. Our mate was a Hydriot, a native of that island +rock which grows nothing but mariners and mariners' wives. His +character seemed to be exactly that which is generally attributed +to the Hydriot race; he was fierce, and gloomy, and lonely in his +ways. One of his principal duties seemed to be that of acting as +counter-captain, or leader of the opposition, denouncing the first +symptoms of tyranny, and protecting even the cabin-boy from +oppression. Besides this, when things went smoothly he would begin +to prognosticate evil, in order that his more light-hearted +comrades might not be puffed up with the seeming good fortune of +the moment. + +It seemed to me that the personal freedom of these sailors, who own +no superiors except those of their own choice, is as like as may be +to that of their seafaring ancestors. And even in their mode of +navigation they have admitted no such an entire change as you would +suppose probable. It is true that they have so far availed +themselves of modern discoveries as to look to the compass instead +of the stars, and that they have superseded the immortal gods of +their forefathers by St. Nicholas in his glass case, {11} but they +are not yet so confident either in their needle, or their saint, as +to love an open sea, and they still hug their shores as fondly as +the Argonauts of old. Indeed, they have a most unsailor-like love +for the land, and I really believe that in a gale of wind they +would rather have a rock-bound coast on their lee than no coast at +all. According to the notions of an English seaman, this kind of +navigation would soon bring the vessel on which it might be +practised to an evil end. The Greek, however, is unaccountably +successful in escaping the consequences of being "jammed in," as it +is called, upon a lee-shore. + +These seamen, like their forefathers, rely upon no winds unless +they are right astern or on the quarter; they rarely go on a wind +if it blows at all fresh, and if the adverse breeze approaches to a +gale, they at once fumigate St. Nicholas, and put up the helm. The +consequence of course is that under the ever-varying winds of the +Aegean they are blown about in the most whimsical manner. I used +to think that Ulysses with his ten years' voyage had taken his time +in making Ithaca, but my experience in Greek navigation soon made +me understand that he had had, in point of fact, a pretty good +"average passage." + +Such are now the mariners of the Aegean: free, equal amongst +themselves, navigating the seas of their forefathers with the same +heroic, and yet child-like, spirit of venture, the same half- +trustful reliance upon heavenly aid, they are the liveliest images +of true old Greeks that time and the new religions have spared to +us. + +With one exception, our crew were "a solemn company," {12} and yet, +sometimes, when all things went well, they would relax their +austerity, and show a disposition to fun, or rather to quiet +humour. When this happened, they invariably had recourse to one of +their number, who went by the name of "Admiral Nicolou." He was +an amusing fellow, the poorest, I believe, and the least thoughtful +of the crew, but full of rich humour. His oft-told story of the +events by which he had gained the sobriquet of "Admiral" never +failed to delight his hearers, and when he was desired to repeat it +for my benefit, the rest of the crew crowded round with as much +interest as if they were listening to the tale for the first time. +A number of Greek brigs and brigantines were at anchor in the bay +of Beyrout. A festival of some kind, particularly attractive to +the sailors, was going on in the town, and whether with or without +leave I know not, but the crews of all the craft, except that of +Nicolou, had gone ashore. On board his vessel, however, which +carried dollars, there was, it would seem, a more careful, or more +influential captain, who was able to enforce his determination that +one man, at least, should be left on board. Nicolou's good nature +was with him so powerful an impulse, that he could not resist the +delight of volunteering to stay with the vessel whilst his comrades +went ashore. His proposal was accepted, and the crew and captain +soon left him alone on the deck of his vessel. The sailors, +gathering together from their several ships, were amusing +themselves in the town, when suddenly there came down from betwixt +the mountains one of those sudden hurricanes which sometimes occur +in southern climes. Nicolou's vessel, together with four of the +craft which had been left unmanned, broke from her moorings, and +all five of the vessels were carried out seaward. The town is on a +salient point at the southern side of the bay, so that "that +Admiral" was close under the eyes of the inhabitants and the shore- +gone sailors when he gallantly drifted out at the head of his +little fleet. If Nicolou could not entirely control the manoeuvres +of the squadron, there was at least no human power to divide his +authority, and thus it was that he took rank as "Admiral." Nicolou +cut his cable, and thus for the time saved his vessel; for the rest +of the fleet under his command were quickly wrecked, whilst "the +Admiral" got away clear to the open sea. The violence of the +squall soon passed off, but Nicolou felt that his chance of one day +resigning his high duties as an admiral for the enjoyments of +private life on the steadfast shore mainly depended upon his +success in working the brig with his own hands, so after calling on +his namesake, the saint (not for the first time, I take it), he got +up some canvas, and took the helm: he became equal, he told us, to +a score of Nicolous, and the vessel, as he said, was "manned with +his terrors." For two days, it seems, he cruised at large, but at +last, either by his seamanship, or by the natural instinct of the +Greek mariners for finding land, he brought his craft close to an +unknown shore, that promised well for his purpose of running in the +vessel; and he was preparing to give her a good berth on the beach, +when he saw a gang of ferocious-looking fellows coming down to the +point for which he was making. Poor Nicolou was a perfectly +unlettered and untutored genius, and for that reason, perhaps, a +keen listener to tales of terror. His mind had been impressed with +some horrible legend of cannibalism, and he now did not doubt for a +moment that the men awaiting him on the beach were the monsters at +whom he had shuddered in the days of his childhood. The coast on +which Nicolou was running his vessel was somewhere, I fancy, at the +foot of the Anzairie Mountains, and the fellows who were preparing +to give him a reception were probably very rough specimens of +humanity. It is likely enough that they might have given +themselves the trouble of putting "the Admiral" to death, for the +purpose of simplifying their claim to the vessel and preventing +litigation, but the notion of their cannibalism was of course +utterly unfounded. Nicolou's terror had, however, so graven the +idea on his mind, that he could never afterwards dismiss it. +Having once determined the character of his expectant hosts, the +Admiral naturally thought that it would he better to keep their +dinner waiting any length of time than to attend their feast in the +character of a roasted Greek, so he put about his vessel, and +tempted the deep once more. After a further cruise the lonely +commander ran his vessel upon some rocks at another part of the +coast, where she was lost with all her treasures, and Nicolou was +but too glad to scramble ashore, though without one dollar in his +girdle. These adventures seem flat enough as I repeat them, but +the hero expressed his terrors by such odd terms of speech, and +such strangely humorous gestures, that the story came from his lips +with an unfailing zest, so that the crew, who had heard the tale so +often, could still enjoy to their hearts' content the rich fright +of the Admiral, and still shuddered with unabated horror when he +came to the loss of the dollars. + +The power of listening to long stories (for which, by-the-bye, I am +giving you large credit) is common, I fancy, to most sailors, and +the Greeks have it to a high degree, for they can be perfectly +patient under a narrative of two or three hours' duration. These +long stories are mostly founded upon Oriental topics, and in one of +them I recognised with some alteration an old friend of the +"Arabian Nights." I inquired as to the source from which the story +had been derived, and the crew all agreed that it had been handed +down unwritten from Greek to Greek. Their account of the matter +does not, perhaps, go very far towards showing the real origin of +the tale; but when I afterwards took up the "Arabian Nights," I +became strongly impressed with a notion that they must have sprung +from the brain of a Greek. It seems to me that these stories, +whilst they disclose a complete and habitual KNOWLEDGE of things +Asiatic, have about them so much of freshness and life, so much of +the stirring and volatile European character, that they cannot have +owed their conception to a mere Oriental, who for creative purposes +is a thing dead and dry--a mental mummy, that may have been a live +king just after the Flood, but has since lain balmed in spice. At +the time of the Caliphat the Greek race was familiar enough to +Baghdad: they were the merchants, the pedlars, the barbers, and +intriguers-general of south-western Asia, and therefore the +Oriental materials with which the Arabian tales were wrought must +have been completely at the command of the inventive people to whom +I would attribute their origin. + +We were nearing the isle of Cyprus when there arose half a gale of +wind, with a heavy chopping sea. My Greek seamen considered that +the weather amounted not to a half, but to an integral gale of wind +at the very least, so they put up the helm, and scudded for twenty +hours. When we neared the mainland of Anadoli the gale ceased, and +a favourable breeze sprung up, which brought us off Cyprus once +more. Afterwards the wind changed again, but we were still able to +lay our course by sailing close-hauled. + +We were at length in such a position, that by holding on our course +for about half-an-hour we should get under the lee of the island +and find ourselves in smooth water, but the wind had been gradually +freshening; it now blew hard, and there was a heavy sea running. + +As the grounds for alarm arose, the crew gathered together in one +close group; they stood pale and grim under their hooded capotes +like monks awaiting a massacre, anxiously looking by turns along +the pathway of the storm and then upon each other, and then upon +the eye of the captain who stood by the helmsman. Presently the +Hydriot came aft, more moody than ever, the bearer of fierce +remonstrance against the continuing of the struggle; he received a +resolute answer, and still we held our course. Soon there came a +heavy sea, that caught the bow of the brigantine as she lay jammed +in betwixt the waves; she bowed her head low under the waters, and +shuddered through all her timbers, then gallantly stood up again +over the striving sea, with bowsprit entire. But where were the +crew? It was a crew no longer, but rather a gathering of Greek +citizens; the shout of the seamen was changed for the murmuring of +the people--the spirit of the old Demos was alive. The men came +aft in a body, and loudly asked that the vessel should be put +about, and that the storm be no longer tempted. Now, then, for +speeches. The captain, his eyes flashing fire, his frame all +quivering with emotion--wielding his every limb, like another and a +louder voice, pours forth the eloquent torrent of his threats and +his reasons, his commands and his prayers; he promises, he vows, he +swears that there is safety in holding on--safety, IF GREEKS WILL +BE BRAVE! The men hear and are moved; but the gale rouses itself +once more, and again the raging sea comes trampling over the +timbers that are the life of all. The fierce Hydriot advances one +step nearer to the captain, and the angry growl of the people goes +floating down the wind, but they listen; they waver once more, and +once more resolve, then waver again, thus doubtfully hanging +between the terrors of the storm and the persuasion of glorious +speech, as though it were the Athenian that talked, and Philip of +Macedon that thundered on the weather-bow. + +Brave thoughts winged on Grecian words gained their natural mastery +over terror; the brigantine held on her course, and reached smooth +water at last. I landed at Limasol, the westernmost port of +Cyprus, leaving the vessel to sail for Larnaka, where she was to +remain for some days. + + + +CHAPTER VII--CYPRUS + + + +There was a Greek at Limasol who hoisted his flag as an English +vice-consul, and he insisted upon my accepting his hospitality. +With some difficulty, and chiefly by assuring him that I could not +delay my departure beyond an early hour in the afternoon, I induced +him to allow my dining with his family instead of banqueting all +alone with the representative of my sovereign in consular state and +dignity. The lady of the house, it seemed, had never sat at table +with an European. She was very shy about the matter, and tried +hard to get out of the scrape, but the husband, I fancy, reminded +her that she was theoretically an Englishwoman, by virtue of the +flag that waved over her roof, and that she was bound to show her +nationality by sitting at meat with me. Finding herself inexorably +condemned to bear with the dreaded gaze of European eyes, she tried +to save her innocent children from the hard fate awaiting herself, +but I obtained that all of them (and I think there were four or +five) should sit at the table. You will meet with abundance of +stately receptions and of generous hospitality, too, in the East, +but rarely, very rarely in those regions (or even, so far as I +know, in any part of southern Europe) does one gain an opportunity +of seeing the familiar and indoor life of the people. + +This family party of the good consul's (or rather of mine, for I +originated the idea, though he furnished the materials) went off +very well. The mamma was shy at first, but she veiled the +awkwardness which she felt by affecting to scold her children, who +had all of them, I think, immortal names--names too which they owed +to tradition, and certainly not to any classical enthusiasm of +their parents. Every instant I was delighted by some such phrases +as these, "Themistocles, my love, don't fight."--"Alcibiades, can't +you sit still?"--"Socrates, put down the cup."--"Oh, fie! Aspasia, +don't. Oh! don't be naughty!" It is true that the names were +pronounced Socrahtie, Aspahsie--that is, according to accent, and +not according to quantity--but I suppose it is scarcely now to be +doubted that they were so sounded in ancient times. + +To me it seems, that of all the lands I know (you will see in a +minute how I connect this piece of prose' with the isle of Cyprus), +there is none in which mere wealth, mere unaided wealth, is held +half so cheaply; none in which a poor devil of a millionaire, +without birth, or ability, occupies so humble a place as in +England. My Greek host and I were sitting together, I think, upon +the roof of the house (for that is the lounging-place in Eastern +climes), when the former assumed a serious air, and intimated a +wish to converse upon the subject of the British Constitution, with +which he assured me that he was thoroughly acquainted. He +presently, however, informed me that there was one anomalous +circumstance attended upon the practical working of our political +system which he had never been able to hear explained in a manner +satisfactory to himself. From the fact of his having found a +difficulty in his subject, I began to think that my host might +really know rather more of it than his announcement of a thorough +knowledge had led me to expect. I felt interested at being about +to hear from the lips of an intelligent Greek, quite remote from +the influence of European opinions, what might seem to him the most +astonishing and incomprehensible of all those results which have +followed from the action of our political institutions. The +anomaly, the only anomaly which had been detected by the vice- +consular wisdom, consisted in the fact that Rothschild (the late +money-monger) had never been the Prime Minister of England! I +gravely tried to throw some light upon the mysterious causes that +had kept the worthy Israelite out of the Cabinet, but I think I +could see that my explanation was not satisfactory. Go and argue +with the flies of summer that there is a power divine, yet greater +than the sun in the heavens, but never dare hope to convince the +people of the south that there is any other God than Gold. + +My intended journey was to the site of the Paphian temple. I take +no antiquarian interest in ruins, and care little about them, +unless they are either striking in themselves, or else serve to +mark some spot on which my fancy loves to dwell. I knew that the +ruins of Paphos were scarcely, if at all, discernible, but there +was a will and a longing more imperious than mere curiosity that +drove me thither. + +For this just then was my pagan soul's desire--that (not forfeiting +my inheritance for the life to come) it had yet been given me to +live through this world--to live a favoured mortal under the old +Olympian dispensation--to speak out my resolves to the listening +Jove, and hear him answer with approving thunder--to be blessed +with divine counsels from the lips of Pallas Athenie--to believe-- +ay, only to believe--to believe for one rapturous moment that in +the gloomy depths of the grove, by the mountain's side, there were +some leafy pathway that crisped beneath the glowing sandal of +Aphrodetie--Aphrodetie, not coldly disdainful of even a mortal's +love! And this vain, heathenish longing of mine was father to the +thought of visiting the scene of the ancient worship. + +The isle is beautiful. From the edge of the rich, flowery fields +on which I trod to the midway sides of the snowy Olympus, the +ground could only here and there show an abrupt crag, or a high +straggling ridge that up-shouldered itself from out of the +wilderness of myrtles, and of the thousand bright-leaved shrubs +that twined their arms together in lovesome tangles. The air that +came to my lips was warm and fragrant as the ambrosial breath of +the goddess, infecting me, not (of course) with a faith in the old +religion of the isle, but with a sense and apprehension of its +mystic power--a power that was still to be obeyed--obeyed by ME, +for why otherwise did I toil on with sorry horses to "where, for +HER, the hundred altars glowed with Arabian incense, and breathed +with the fragrance of garlands ever fresh"? {13} + +I passed a sadly disenchanting night in the cabin of a Greek +priest--not a priest of the goddess, but of the Greek Church; there +was but one humble room, or rather shed, for man, and priest, and +beast. The next morning I reached Baffa (Paphos), a village not +far distant from the site of the temple. There was a Greek +husbandman there who (not for emolument, but for the sake of the +protection and dignity which it afforded) had got leave from the +man at Limasol to hoist his flag as a sort of deputy-provisionary- +sub-vice-pro-acting-consul of the British sovereign: the poor +fellow instantly changed his Greek headgear for the cap of consular +dignity, and insisted upon accompanying me to the ruins. I would +not have stood this if I could have felt the faintest gleam of my +yesterday's pagan piety, but I had ceased to dream, and had nothing +to dread from any new disenchanters. + +The ruins (the fragments of one or two prostrate pillars) lie upon +a promontory, bare and unmystified by the gloom of surrounding +groves. My Greek friend in his consular cap stood by, respectfully +waiting to see what turn my madness would take, now that I had come +at last into the presence of the old stones. If you have no taste +for research, and can't affect to look for inscriptions, there is +some awkwardness in coming to the end of a merely sentimental +pilgrimage; when the feeling which impelled you has gone, you have +nothing to do but to laugh the thing off as well as you can, and, +by-the-bye, it is not a bad plan to turn the conversation (or +rather, allow the natives to turn it) towards the subject of hidden +treasures. This is a topic on which they will always speak with +eagerness, and if they can fancy that you, too, take an interest in +such matters, they will not only think you perfectly sane, but will +begin to give you credit for some more than human powers of forcing +the obscure earth to show you its hoards of gold. + +When we returned to Baffa, the vice-consul seized a club with the +quietly determined air of a brave man resolved to do some deed of +note. He went into the yard adjoining his cottage, where there +were some thin, thoughtful, canting cocks, and serious, low-church- +looking hens, respectfully listening, and chickens of tender years +so well brought up, as scarcely to betray in their conduct the +careless levity of youth. The vice-consul stood for a moment quite +calm, collecting his strength; then suddenly he rushed into the +midst of the congregation, and began to deal death and destruction +on all sides. He spared neither sex nor age; the dead and dying +were immediately removed from the field of slaughter, and in less +than an hour, I think, they were brought on the table, deeply +buried in mounds of snowy rice. + +My host was in all respects a fine, generous fellow. I could not +bear the idea of impoverishing him by my visit, and I consulted my +faithful Mysseri, who not only assured me that I might safely offer +money to the vice-consul, but recommended that I should give no +more to him than to "the others," meaning any other peasant. I +felt, however, that there was something about the man, besides the +flag and the cap, which made me shrink from offering coin, and as I +mounted my horse on departing I gave him the only thing fit for a +present that I happened to have with me, a rather handsome clasp- +dagger, brought from Vienna. The poor fellow was ineffably +grateful, and I had some difficulty in tearing myself from out of +the reach of his thanks. At last I gave him what I supposed to be +the last farewell, and rode on, but I had not gained more than +about a hundred yards when my host came bounding and shouting after +me, with a goat's-milk cheese in his hand, which he implored me to +accept. In old times the shepherd of Theocritus, or (to speak less +dishonestly) the shepherd of the "Poetae Graeci," sung his best +song; I in this latter age presented my best dagger, and both of us +received the same rustic reward. + +It had been known that I should return to Limasol, and when I +arrived there I found that a noble old Greek had been hospitably +plotting to have me for his guest. I willingly accepted his offer. +The day of my arrival happened to be the birthday of my host, and +in consequence of this there was a constant influx of visitors, who +came to offer their congratulations. A few of these were men, but +most of them were young, graceful girls. Almost all of them went +through the ceremony with the utmost precision and formality; each +in succession spoke her blessing, in the tone of a person repeating +a set formula, then deferentially accepted the invitation to sit, +partook of the proffered sweetmeats and the cold, glittering water, +remained for a few minutes either in silence or engaged in very +thin conversation, then arose, delivered a second benediction, +followed by an elaborate farewell, and departed. + +The bewitching power attributed at this day to the women of Cyprus +is curious in connection with the worship of the sweet goddess, who +called their isle her own. The Cypriote is not, I think, nearly so +beautiful in face as the Ionian queens of Izmir, but she is tall, +and slightly formed; there is a high-souled meaning and expression, +a seeming consciousness of gentle empire, that speaks in the wavy +line of the shoulder, and winds itself like Cytherea's own cestus +around the slender waist; then the richly-abounding hair (not +enviously gathered together under the head-dress) descends the +neck, and passes the waist in sumptuous braids. Of all other women +with Grecian blood in their veins the costume is graciously +beautiful, but these, the maidens of Limasol--their robes are more +gently, more sweetly imagined, and fall like Julia's cashmere in +soft, luxurious folds. The common voice of the Levant allows that +in face the women of Cyprus are less beautiful than their brilliant +sisters of Smyrna; and yet, says the Greek, he may trust himself to +one and all the bright cities of the Aegean, and may yet weigh +anchor with a heart entire, but that so surely as he ventures upon +the enchanted isle of Cyprus, so surely will he know the rapture or +the bitterness of love. The charm, they say, owes its power to +that which the people call the astonishing "politics" (p???t???) of +the women, meaning, I fancy, their tact and their witching ways: +the word, however, plainly fails to express one-half of that which +the speakers would say. I have smiled to hear the Greek, with all +his plenteousness of fancy, and all the wealth of his generous +language, yet vainly struggling to describe the ineffable spell +which the Parisians dispose of in their own smart way by a summary +"Je ne scai quoi." + +I went to Larnaca, the chief city of the isle, and over the water +at last to Beyrout. + + + +CHAPTER VIII--LADY HESTER STANHOPE {14} + + + +Beyrout on its land side is hemmed in by the Druses, who occupy all +the neighbouring highlands. + +Often enough I saw the ghostly images of the women with their +exalted horns stalking through the streets, and I saw too in +travelling the affrighted groups of the mountaineers as they fled +before me, under the fear that my party might be a company of +income-tax commissioners, or a pressgang enforcing the conscription +for Mehemet Ali; but nearly all my knowledge of the people, except +in regard of their mere costume and outward appearance, is drawn +from books and despatches, to which I have the honour to refer you. + +I received hospitable welcome at Beyrout from the Europeans as well +as from the Syrian Christians, and I soon discovered that their +standing topic of interest was the Lady Hester Stanhope, who lived +in an old convent on the Lebanon range, at the distance of about a +day's journey from the town. The lady's habit of refusing to see +Europeans added the charm of mystery to a character which, even +without that aid, was sufficiently distinguished to command +attention. + +Many years of Lady Hester's early womanhood had been passed with +Lady Chatham at Burton Pynsent, and during that inglorious period +of the heroine's life her commanding character, and (as they would +have called it in the language of those days) her "condescending +kindness" towards my mother's family, had increased in them those +strong feelings of respect and attachment, which her rank and +station alone would have easily won from people of the middle +class. You may suppose how deeply the quiet women in Somersetshire +must have been interested, when they slowly learned by vague and +uncertain tidings that the intrepid girl who had been used to break +their vicious horses for them was reigning in sovereignty over the +wandering tribes of Western Asia! I know that her name was made +almost as familiar to me in my childhood as the name of Robinson +Crusoe--both were associated with the spirit of adventure; but +whilst the imagined life of the cast-away mariner never failed to +seem glaringly real, the true story of the Englishwoman ruling over +Arabs always sounded to me like fable. I never had heard, nor +indeed, I believe, had the rest of the world ever heard, anything +like a certain account of the heroine's adventures; all I knew was, +that in one of the drawers which were the delight of my childhood, +along with attar of roses and fragrant wonders from Hindustan, +there were letters carefully treasured, and trifling presents which +I was taught to think valuable because they had come from the queen +of the desert, who dwelt in tents, and reigned over wandering +Arabs. + +This subject, however, died away, and from the ending of my +childhood up to the period of my arrival in the Levant, I had +seldom even heard a mentioning of the Lady Hester Stanhope, but +now, wherever I went, I was met by the name so familiar in sound, +and yet so full of mystery from the vague, fairy-tale sort of idea +which it brought to my mind; I heard it, too, connected with fresh +wonders, for it was said that the woman was now acknowledged as an +inspired being by the people of the mountains, and it was even +hinted with horror that she claimed to be MORE THAN A PROPHET. + +I felt at once that my mother would be sadly sorry to hear that I +had been within a day's ride of her early friend without offering +to see her, and I therefore despatched a letter to the recluse, +mentioning the maiden name of my mother (whose marriage was +subsequent to Lady Hester's departure), and saying that if there +existed on the part of her ladyship any wish to hear of her old +Somersetshire acquaintance, I should make a point of visiting her. +My letter was sent by a foot-messenger, who was to take an +unlimited time for his journey, so that it was not, I think, until +either the third or the fourth day that the answer arrived. A +couple of horsemen covered with mud suddenly dashed into the little +court of the "locanda" in which I was staying, bearing themselves +as ostentatiously as though they were carrying a cartel from the +Devil to the Angel Michael: one of these (the other being his +attendant) was an Italian by birth (though now completely +orientalised), who lived in my lady's establishment as doctor +nominally, but practically as an upper servant; he presented me a +very kind and appropriate letter of invitation. + +It happened that I was rather unwell at this time, so that I named +a more distant day for my visit than I should otherwise have done, +and after all, I did not start at the time fixed. Whilst still +remaining at Beyrout I received this letter, which certainly +betrays no symptom of the pretensions to divine power which were +popularly attributed to the writer:- + + +"SIR,--I hope I shall be disappointed in seeing you on Wednesday, +for the late rains have rendered the river Damoor if not dangerous, +at least very unpleasant to pass for a person who has been lately +indisposed, for if the animal swims, you would be immerged in the +waters. The weather will probably change after the 21st of the +moon, and after a couple of days the roads and the river will be +passable, therefore I shall expect you either Saturday or Monday. + +"It will be a great satisfaction to me to have an opportunity of +inquiring after your mother, who was a sweet, lovely girl when I +knew her. +"Believe me, sir, +"Yours sincerely, +"HESTER LUCY STANHOPE." + + +Early one morning I started from Beyrout. There are no regularly +established relays of horses in Syria, at least not in the line +which I took, and you therefore hire your cattle for the whole +journey, or at all events, for your journey to some large town. +Under these circumstances you have no occasion for a Tatar (whose +principal utility consists in his power to compel the supply of +horses). In other respects, the mode of travelling through Syria +differs very little from that which I have described as prevailing +in Turkey. I hired my horses and mules (for I had some of both) +for the whole of the journey from Beyrout to Jerusalem. The owner +of the beasts (who had a couple of fellows under him) was the most +dignified member of my party; he was, indeed, a magnificent old +man, and was called Shereef, or "holy"--a title of honour which, +with the privilege of wearing the green turban, he well deserved, +not only from the blood of the Prophet that flowed in his veins, +but from the well-known sanctity of his life and the length of his +blessed beard. + +Mysseri, of course, still travelled with me, but the Arabic was not +one of the seven languages which he spoke so perfectly, and I was +therefore obliged to hire another interpreter. I had no difficulty +in finding a proper man for the purpose--one Demetrius, or, as he +was always called, Dthemetri, a native of Zante, who had been +tossed about by fortune in all directions. He spoke the Arabic +very well, and communicated with me in Italian. The man was a very +zealous member of the Greek Church. He had been a tailor. He was +as ugly as the devil, having a thoroughly Tatar countenance, which +expressed the agony of his body or mind, as the case might be, in +the most ludicrous manner imaginable. He embellished the natural +caricature of his person by suspending about his neck and shoulders +and waist quantities of little bundles and parcels, which he +thought too valuable to be entrusted to the jerking of pack- +saddles. The mule that fell to his lot on this journey every now +and then, forgetting that his rider was a saint, and remembering +that he was a tailor, took a quiet roll upon the ground, and +stretched his limbs calmly and lazily, like a good man awaiting a +sermon. Dthemetri never got seriously hurt, but the subversion and +dislocation of his bundles made him for the moment a sad spectacle +of ruin, and when he regained his legs, his wrath with the mule +became very amusing. He always addressed the beast in language +which implied that he, as a Christian and saint, had been +personally insulted and oppressed by a Mahometan mule. Dthemetri, +however, on the whole, proved to be a most able and capital +servant. I suspected him of now and then leading me out of my way +in order that he might have the opportunity of visiting the shrine +of a saint, and on one occasion, as you will see by-and-by, he was +induced by religious motives to commit a gross breach of duty; but +putting these pious faults out of the question (and they were +faults of the right side), he was always faithful and true to me. + +I left Saide (the Sidon of ancient times) on my right, and about an +hour, I think, before sunset began to ascend one of the many low +hills of Lebanon. On the summit before me was a broad, grey mass +of irregular building, which from its position, as well as from the +gloomy blankness of its walls, gave the idea of a neglected +fortress. It had, in fact, been a convent of great size, and like +most of the religious houses in this part of the world, had been +made strong enough for opposing an inert resistance to any mere +casual band of assailants who might be unprovided with regular +means of attack: this was the dwelling-place of the Chatham's +fiery granddaughter. + +The aspect of the first court which I entered was such as to keep +one in the idea of having to do with a fortress rather than a mere +peaceable dwelling-place. A number of fierce-looking and ill-clad +Albanian soldiers were hanging about the place, and striving to +bear the curse of tranquillity as well as they could: two or three +of them, I think, were smoking their tchibouques, but the rest of +them were lying torpidly upon the flat stones, like the bodies of +departed brigands. I rode on to an inner part of the building, and +at last, quitting my horses, was conducted through a doorway that +led me at once from an open court into an apartment on the ground +floor. As I entered, an Oriental figure in male costume approached +me from the farther end of the room with many and profound bows, +but the growing shades of evening prevented me from distinguishing +the features of the personage who was receiving me with this solemn +welcome. I had always, however, understood that Lady Hester +Stanhope wore the male attire, and I began to utter in English the +common civilities that seemed to be proper on the commencement of a +visit by an uninspired mortal to a renowned prophetess; but the +figure which I addressed only bowed so much the more, prostrating +itself almost to the ground, but speaking to me never a word. I +feebly strived not to be outdone in gestures of respect; but +presently my bowing opponent saw the error under which I was +acting, and suddenly convinced me that, at all events, I was not +YET in the presence of a superhuman being, by declaring that he was +not "miladi," but was, in fact, nothing more or less god-like than +the poor doctor, who had brought his mistress's letter to Beyrout. + +Her ladyship, in the right spirit of hospitality, now sent and +commanded me to repose for a while after the fatigues of my +journey, and to dine. + +The cuisine was of the Oriental kind, which is highly artificial, +and I thought it very good. I rejoiced too in the wine of the +Lebanon. + +Soon after the ending of the dinner the doctor arrived with +miladi's compliments, and an intimation that she would he happy to +receive me if I were so disposed. It had now grown dark, and the +rain was falling heavily, so that I got rather wet in following my +guide through the open courts that I had to pass in order to reach +the presence chamber. At last I was ushered into a small +apartment, which was protected from the draughts of air passing +through the doorway by a folding screen; passing this, I came +alongside of a common European sofa, where sat the lady prophetess. +She rose from her seat very formally, spoke to me a few words of +welcome, pointed to a chair which was placed exactly opposite to +her sofa at a couple of yards' distance, and remained standing up +to the full of her majestic height, perfectly still and motionless, +until I had taken my appointed place; she then resumed her seat, +not packing herself up according to the mode of the Orientals, but +allowing her feet to rest on the floor or the footstool; at the +moment of seating herself she covered her lap with a mass of loose +white drapery which she held in her hand. It occurred to me at the +time that she did this in order to avoid the awkwardness of sitting +in manifest trousers under the eye of an European, but I can hardly +fancy now that with her wilful nature she would have brooked such a +compromise as this. + +The woman before me had exactly the person of a prophetess--not, +indeed, of the divine sibyl imagined by Domenichino, so sweetly +distracted betwixt love and mystery, but of a good business-like, +practical prophetess, long used to the exercise of her sacred +calling. I have been told by those who knew Lady Hester Stanhope +in her youth, that any notion of a resemblance betwixt her and the +great Chatham must have been fanciful; but at the time of my seeing +her, the large commanding features of the gaunt woman, then sixty +years old or more, certainly reminded me of the statesman that lay +dying {15} in the House of Lords, according to Copley's picture. +Her face was of the most astonishing whiteness; {16} she wore a +very large turban, which seemed to be of pale cashmere shawls, so +disposed as to conceal the hair; her dress, from the chin down to +the point at which it was concealed by the drapery which she held +over her lap, was a mass of white linen loosely folding--an +ecclesiastical sort of affair, more like a surplice than any of +those blessed creations which our souls love under the names of +"dress" and "frock" and "boddice" and "collar" and "habit-shirt" +and sweet "chemisette." + +Such was the outward seeming of the personage that sat before me, +and indeed she was almost bound by the fame of her actual +achievements, as well as by her sublime pretensions, to look a +little differently from the rest of womankind. There had been +something of grandeur in her career. After the death of Lady +Chatham, which happened in 1803, she lived under the roof of her +uncle, the second Pitt, and when he resumed the Government in 1804, +she became the dispenser of much patronage, and sole secretary of +state for the department of Treasury banquets. Not having seen the +lady until late in her life, when she was fired with spiritual +ambition, I can hardly fancy that she could have performed her +political duties in the saloons of the Minister with much of +feminine sweetness and patience. I am told, however, that she +managed matters very well indeed: perhaps it was better for the +lofty-minded leader of the House to have his reception-rooms +guarded by this stately creature, than by a merely clever and +managing woman; it was fitting that the wholesome awe with which he +filled the minds of the country gentlemen should be aggravated by +the presence of his majestic niece. But the end was approaching. +The sun of Austerlitz showed the Czar madly sliding his splendid +army like a weaver's shuttle from his right hand to his left, under +the very eyes--the deep, grey, watchful eyes of Napoleon; before +night came, the coalition was a vain thing--meet for history, and +the heart of its great author was crushed with grief when the +terrible tidings came to his ears. In the bitterness of his +despair he cried out to his niece, and bid her, "ROLL UP THE MAP OF +EUROPE"; there was a little more of suffering, and at last, with +his swollen tongue (so they say) still muttering something for +England, he died by the noblest of all sorrows. + +Lady Hester, meeting the calamity in her own fierce way, seems to +have scorned the poor island that had not enough of God's grace to +keep the "heaven-sent" Minister alive. I can hardly tell why it +should be, but there is a longing for the East very commonly felt +by proud-hearted people when goaded by sorrow. Lady Hester +Stanhope obeyed this impulse. For some time, I believe, she was at +Constantinople, where her magnificence and near alliance to the +late Minister gained her great influence. Afterwards she passed +into Syria. The people of that country, excited by the +achievements of Sir Sidney Smith, had begun to imagine the +possibility of their land being occupied by the English, and many +of them looked upon Lady Hester as a princess who came to prepare +the way for the expected conquest. I don't know it from her own +lips, or indeed from any certain authority, but I have been told +that she began her connection with the Bedouins by making a large +present of money (500 pounds it was said--immense in piastres) to +the Sheik whose authority was recognised in that part of the desert +which lies between Damascus and Palmyra. The prestige created by +the rumours of her high and undefined rank, as well as of her +wealth and corresponding magnificence, was well sustained by her +imperious character and her dauntless bravery. Her influence +increased. I never heard anything satisfactory as to the real +extent or duration of her sway, but it seemed that for a time at +least she certainly exercised something like sovereignty amongst +the wandering tribes. {17} And now that her earthly kingdom had +passed away she strove for spiritual power, and impiously dared, as +it was said, to boast some mystic union with the very God of very +God! + +A couple of black slave girls came at a signal, and supplied their +mistress as well as myself with lighted tchibouques and coffee. + +The custom of the East sanctions, and almost commands, some moments +of silence whilst you are inhaling the first few breaths of the +fragrant pipe. The pause was broken, I think, by my lady, who +addressed to me some inquiries respecting my mother, and +particularly as to her marriage; but before I had communicated any +great amount of family facts, the spirit of the prophetess kindled +within her, and presently (though with all the skill of a woman of +the world) she shuffled away the subject of poor, dear +Somersetshire, and bounded onward into loftier spheres of thought. + +My old acquaintance with some of "the twelve" enabled me to bear my +part (of course a very humble one) in a conversation relative to +occult science. Milnes once spread a report, that every gang of +gipsies was found upon inquiry to have come last from a place to +the westward, and to be about to make the next move in an eastern +direction; either therefore they where to be all gathered together +towards the rising of the sun by the mysterious finger of +Providence, or else they were to revolve round the globe for ever +and ever: both of these suppositions were highly gratifying, +because they were both marvellous; and though the story on which +they were founded plainly sprang from the inventive brain of a +poet, no one had ever been so odiously statistical as to attempt a +contradiction of it. I now mentioned the story as a report to Lady +Hester Stanhope, and asked her if it were true. I could not have +touched upon any imaginable subject more deeply interesting to my +hearer, more closely akin to her habitual train of thinking. She +immediately threw off all the restraint belonging to an interview +with a stranger; and when she had received a few more similar +proofs of my aptness for the marvellous, she went so far as to say +that she would adopt me as her eleve in occult science. + +For hours and hours this wondrous white woman poured forth her +speech, for the most part concerning sacred and profane mysteries; +but every now and then she would stay her lofty flight and swoop +down upon the world again. Whenever this happened I was interested +in her conversation. + +She adverted more than once to the period of her lost sway amongst +the Arabs, and mentioned some of the circumstances that aided her +in obtaining influence with the wandering tribes. The Bedouin, so +often engaged in irregular warfare, strains his eyes to the horizon +in search of a coming enemy just as habitually as the sailor keeps +his "bright lookout" for a strange sail. In the absence of +telescopes a far-reaching sight is highly valued, and Lady Hester +possessed this quality to an extraordinary degree. She told me +that on one occasion, when there was good reason to expect a +hostile attack, great excitement was felt in the camp by the report +of a far-seeing Arab, who declared that he could just distinguish +some moving objects upon the very farthest point within the reach +of his eyes. Lady Hester was consulted, and she instantly assured +her comrades in arms that there were indeed a number of horses +within sight, but that they were without riders. The assertion +proved to be correct, and from that time forth her superiority over +all others in respect of far sight remained undisputed. + +Lady Hester related to me this other anecdote of her Arab life. It +was when the heroic qualities of the Englishwoman were just +beginning to be felt amongst the people of the desert, that she was +marching one day, along with the forces of the tribe to which she +had allied herself. She perceived that preparations for an +engagement were going on, and upon her making inquiry as to the +cause, the Sheik at first affected mystery and concealment, but at +last confessed that war had been declared against his tribe on +account of its alliance with the English princess, and that they +were now unfortunately about to be attacked by a very superior +force. He made it appear that Lady Hester was the sole cause of +hostility betwixt his tribe and the impending enemy, and that his +sacred duty of protecting the Englishwoman whom he had admitted as +his guest was the only obstacle which prevented an amicable +arrangement of the dispute. The Sheik hinted that his tribe was +likely to sustain an almost overwhelming blow, but at the same time +declared, that no fear of the consequences, however terrible to him +and his whole people, should induce him to dream of abandoning his +illustrious guest. The heroine instantly took her part: it was +not for her to be a source of danger to her friends, but rather to +her enemies, so she resolved to turn away from the people, and +trust for help to none save only her haughty self. The Sheiks +affected to dissuade her from so rash a course, and fairly told her +that although they (having been freed from her presence) would be +able to make good terms for themselves, yet that there were no +means of allaying the hostility felt towards her, and that the +whole face of the desert would be swept by the horsemen of her +enemies so carefully, as to make her escape into other districts +almost impossible. The brave woman was not to be moved by terrors +of this kind, and bidding farewell to the tribe which had honoured +and protected her, she turned her horse's head and rode straight +away from them, without friend or follower. Hours had elapsed, and +for some time she had been alone in the centre of the round +horizon, when her quick eye perceived some horsemen in the +distance. The party came nearer and nearer; soon it was plain that +they were making towards her, and presently some hundreds of +Bedouins, fully armed, galloped up to her, ferociously shouting, +and apparently intending to take her life at the instant with their +pointed spears. Her face at the time was covered with the yashmak, +according to Eastern usage, but at the moment when the foremost of +the horsemen had all but reached her with their spears, she stood +up in her stirrups, withdrew the yashmak that veiled the terrors of +her countenance, waved her arm slowly and disdainfully, and cried +out with a loud voice "Avaunt!" {18} The horsemen recoiled from +her glance, but not in terror. The threatening yells of the +assailants were suddenly changed for loud shouts of joy and +admiration at the bravery of the stately Englishwoman, and festive +gunshots were fired on all sides around her honoured head. The +truth was, that the party belonged to the tribe with which she had +allied herself, and that the threatened attack as well as the +pretended apprehension of an engagement had been contrived for the +mere purpose of testing her courage. The day ended in a great +feast prepared to do honour to the heroine, and from that time her +power over the minds of the people grew rapidly. Lady Hester +related this story with great spirit, and I recollect that she put +up her yashmak for a moment in order to give me a better idea of +the effect which she produced by suddenly revealing the awfulness +of her countenance. + +With respect to her then present mode of life, Lady Hester informed +me, that for her sin she had subjected herself during many years to +severe penance, and that her self-denial had not been without its +reward. "Vain and false," said she, "is all the pretended +knowledge of the Europeans--their doctors will tell you that the +drinking of milk gives yellowness to the complexion; milk is my +only food, and you see if my face be not white." Her abstinence +from food intellectual was carried as far as her physical fasting. +She never, she said, looked upon a book or a newspaper, but trusted +alone to the stars for her sublime knowledge; she usually passed +the nights in communing with these heavenly teachers, and lay at +rest during the daytime. She spoke with great contempt of the +frivolity and benighted ignorance of the modern Europeans, and +mentioned in proof of this, that they were not only untaught in +astrology, but were unacquainted with the common and every-day +phenomena produced by magic art. She spoke as if she would make me +understand that all sorcerous spells were completely at her +command, but that the exercise of such powers would be derogatory +to her high rank in the heavenly kingdom. She said that the spell +by which the face of an absent person is thrown upon a mirror was +within the reach of the humblest and most contemptible magicians, +but that the practice of such-like arts was unholy as well as +vulgar. + +We spoke of the bending twig by which, it is said, precious metals +may be discovered. In relation to this, the prophetess told me a +story rather against herself, and inconsistent with the notion of +her being perfect in her science; but I think that she mentioned +the facts as having happened before the time at which she attained +to the great spiritual authority which she now arrogated. She told +me that vast treasures were known to exist in a situation which she +mentioned, if I rightly remember, as being near Suez; that +Napoleon, profanely brave, thrust his arm into the cave containing +the coveted gold, and that instantly his flesh became palsied, but +the youthful hero (for she said he was great in his generation) was +not to be thus daunted; he fell back characteristically upon his +brazen resources, and ordered up his artillery; but man could not +strive with demons, and Napoleon was foiled. In after years came +Ibrahim Pasha, with heavy guns, and wicked spells to boot, but the +infernal guardians of the treasure were too strong for him. It was +after this that Lady Hester passed by the spot, and she described +with animated gesture the force and energy with which the divining +twig had suddenly leaped in her hands. She ordered excavations, +and no demons opposed her enterprise; the vast chest in which the +treasure had been deposited was at length discovered, but lo and +behold, it was full of pebbles! She said, however, that the times +were approaching in which the hidden treasures of the earth would +become available to those who had true knowledge. + +Speaking of Ibrahim Pasha, Lady Hester said that he was a bold, bad +man, and was possessed of some of those common and wicked magical +arts upon which she looked down with so much contempt. She said, +for instance, that Ibrahim's life was charmed against balls and +steel, and that after a battle he loosened the folds of his shawl +and shook out the bullets like dust. + +It seems that the St. Simonians once made overtures to Lady Hester. +She told me that the Pere Enfantin (the chief of the sect) had sent +her a service of plate, but that she had declined to receive it. +She delivered a prediction as to the probability of the St. +Simonians finding the "mystic mother," and this she did in a way +which would amuse you. Unfortunately I am not at liberty to +mention this part of the woman's prophecies; why, I cannot tell, +but so it is, that she bound me to eternal secrecy. + +Lady Hester told me that since her residence at Djoun she had been +attacked by a terrible illness, which rendered her for a long time +perfectly helpless; all her attendants fled, and left her to +perish. Whilst she lay thus alone, and quite unable to rise, +robbers came and carried away her property. {19} She told me that +they actually unroofed a great part of the building, and employed +engines with pulleys, for the purpose of hoisting out such of her +valuables as were too bulky to pass through doors. It would seem +that before this catastrophe Lady Hester had been rich in the +possession of Eastern luxuries; for she told me, that when the +chiefs of the Ottoman force took refuge with her after the fall of +Acre, they brought their wives also in great numbers. To all of +these Lady Hester, as she said, presented magnificent dresses; but +her generosity occasioned strife only instead of gratitude, for +every woman who fancied her present less splendid than that of +another with equal or less pretension, became absolutely furious: +all these audacious guests had now been got rid of, but the +Albanian soldiers, who had taken refuge with Lady Hester at the +same time, still remained under her protection. + +In truth, this half-ruined convent, guarded by the proud heart of +an English gentlewoman, was the only spot throughout all Syria and +Palestine in which the will of Mehemet Ali and his fierce +lieutenant was not the law. More than once had the Pasha of Egypt +commanded that Ibrahim should have the Albanians delivered up to +him, but this white woman of the mountain (grown classical not by +books, but by very pride) answered only with a disdainful +invitation to "come and take them." Whether it was that Ibrahim +was acted upon by any superstitious dread of interfering with the +prophetess (a notion not at all incompatible with his character as +an able Oriental commander), or that he feared the ridicule of +putting himself in collision with a gentlewoman, he certainly never +ventured to attack the sanctuary, and so long as the Chatham's +granddaughter breathed a breath of life there was always this one +hillock, and that too in the midst of a most populous district, +which stood out, and kept its freedom. Mehemet Ali used to say, I +am told, that the Englishwoman had given him more trouble than all +the insurgent people of Syria and Palestine. + +The prophetess announced to me that we were upon the eve of a +stupendous convulsion, which would destroy the then recognised +value of all property upon earth; and declaring that those only who +should be in the East at the time of the great change could hope +for greatness in the new life that was now close at hand, she +advised me, whilst there was yet time, to dispose of my property in +poor frail England, and gain a station in Asia. She told me that, +after leaving her, I should go into Egypt, but that in a little +while I should return into Syria. I secretly smiled at this last +prophecy as a "bad shot," for I had fully determined after visiting +the Pyramids to take ship from Alexandria for Greece. But men +struggle vainly in the meshes of their destiny. The unbelieved +Cassandra was right after all; the plague came, and the necessity +of avoiding the quarantine, to which I should have been subjected +if I had sailed from Alexandria, forced me to alter my route. I +went down into Egypt, and stayed there for a time, and then crossed +the desert once more, and came back to the mountains of the +Lebanon, exactly as the prophetess had foretold. + +Lady Hester talked to me long and earnestly on the subject of +religion, announcing that the Messiah was yet to come. She strived +to impress me with the vanity and the falseness of all European +creeds, as well as with a sense of her own spiritual greatness: +throughout her conversation upon these high topics she carefully +insinuated, without actually asserting, her heavenly rank. + +Amongst other much more marvellous powers, the lady claimed to have +one which most women, I fancy, possess namely, that of reading +men's characters in their faces. She examined the line of my +features very attentively, and told me the result, which, however, +I mean to keep hidden. + +One favoured subject of discourse was that of "race," upon which +she was very diffuse, and yet rather mysterious. She set great +value upon the ancient French {20} (not Norman blood, for that she +vilified), but did not at all appreciate that which we call in this +country "an old family." She had a vast idea of the Cornish miners +on account of their race, and said, if she chose, she could give me +the means of rousing them to the most tremendous enthusiasm. + +Such are the topics on which the lady mainly conversed, but very +often she would descend to more worldly chat, and then she was no +longer the prophetess, but the sort of woman that you sometimes +see, I am told, in London drawing-rooms--cool, decisive in manner, +unsparing of enemies, full of audacious fun, and saying the +downright things that the sheepish society around her is afraid to +utter. I am told that Lady Hester was in her youth a capital +mimic, and she showed me that not all the queenly dulness to which +she had condemned herself, not all her fasting and solitude, had +destroyed this terrible power. The first whom she crucified in my +presence was poor Lord Byron. She had seen him, it appeared, I +know not where, soon after his arrival in the East, and was vastly +amused at his little affectations. He had picked up a few +sentences of the Romantic, with which he affected to give orders to +his Greek servant. I can't tell whether Lady Hester's mimicry of +the bard was at all close, but it was amusing; she attributed to +him a curiously coxcombical lisp. + +Another person whose style of speaking the lady took off very +amusingly was one who would scarcely object to suffer by the side +of Lord Byron--I mean Lamartine, who had visited her in the course +of his travels. The peculiarity which attracted her ridicule was +an over-refinement of manner: according to my lady's imitation of +Lamartine (I have never seen him myself), he had none of the +violent grimace of his countrymen, and not even their usual way of +talking, but rather bore himself mincingly, like the humbler sort +of English dandy. {21} + +Lady Hester seems to have heartily despised everything approaching +to exquisiteness. She told me, by-the-bye (and her opinion upon +that subject is worth having), that a downright manner, amounting +even to brusqueness, is more effective than any other with the +Oriental; and that amongst the English of all ranks and all classes +there is no man so attractive to the Orientals, no man who can +negotiate with them half so effectively, as a good, honest, open- +hearted, and positive naval officer of the old school. + +I have told you, I think, that Lady Hester could deal fiercely with +those she hated. One man above all others (he is now uprooted from +society, and cast away for ever) she blasted with her wrath. You +would have thought that in the scornfulness of her nature she must +have sprung upon her foe with more of fierceness than of skill; but +this was not so, for with all the force and vehemence of her +invective she displayed a sober, patient, and minute attention to +the details of vituperation, which contributed to its success a +thousand times more than mere violence. + +During the hours that this sort of conversation, or rather +discourse, was going on our tchibouques were from time to time +replenished, and the lady as well as I continued to smoke with +little or no intermission till the interview ended. I think that +the fragrant fumes of the latakiah must have helped to keep me on +my good behaviour as a patient disciple of the prophetess. + +It was not till after midnight that my visit for the evening came +to an end. When I quitted my seat the lady rose and stood up in +the same formal attitude (almost that of a soldier in a state of +"attention") which she had assumed at my entrance; at the same time +she let go the drapery which she had held over her lap whilst +sitting and allowed it to fall to the ground. + +The next morning after breakfast I was visited by my lady's +secretary--the only European, except the doctor, whom she retained +in her household. This secretary, like the doctor, was Italian, +but he preserved more signs of European dress and European +pretensions than his medical fellow-slave. He spoke little or no +English, though he wrote it pretty well, having been formerly +employed in a mercantile house connected with England. The poor +fellow was in an unhappy state of mind. In order to make you +understand the extent of his spiritual anxieties, I ought to have +told you that the doctor {22} (who had sunk into the complete +Asiatic, and had condescended accordingly to the performance of +even menial services) had adopted the common faith of all the +neighbouring people, and had become a firm and happy believer in +the divine power of his mistress. Not so the secretary. When I +had strolled with him to a distance from the building, which +rendered him safe from being overheard by human ears, he told me in +a hollow voice, trembling with emotion, that there were times at +which he doubted the divinity of "miledi." I said nothing to +encourage the poor fellow in that frightful state of scepticism +which, if indulged, might end in positive infidelity. I found that +her ladyship had rather arbitrarily abridged the amusements of her +secretary, forbidding him from shooting small birds on the +mountain-side. This oppression had arouses in him a spirit of +inquiry that might end fatally, perhaps for himself, perhaps for +the "religion of the place." + +The secretary told me that his mistress was greatly disliked by the +surrounding people, whom she oppressed by her exactions, and the +truth of this statement was borne out by the way in which my lady +spoke to me of her neighbours. But in Eastern countries hate and +veneration are very commonly felt for the same object, and the +general belief in the superhuman power of this wonderful white +lady, her resolute and imperious character, and above all, perhaps, +her fierce Albanians (not backward to obey an order for the sacking +of a village), inspired sincere respect amongst the surrounding +inhabitants. Now the being "respected" amongst Orientals is not an +empty or merely honorary distinction, but carries with it a clear +right to take your neighbour's corn, his cattle, his eggs, and his +honey, and almost anything that is his, except his wives. This law +was acted upon by the princess of Djoun, and her establishment was +supplied by contributions apportioned amongst the nearest of the +villages. + +I understood that the Albanians (restrained, I suppose, by the +dread of being delivered up to Ibrahim) had not given any very +troublesome proofs of their unruly natures. The secretary told me +that their rations, including a small allowance of coffee and +tobacco, were served out to them with tolerable regularity. + +I asked the secretary how Lady Hester was off for horses, and said +that I would take a look at the stable. The man did not raise any +opposition to my proposal, and affected no mystery about the +matter, but said that the only two steeds which then belonged to +her ladyship were of a very humble sort. This answer, and a storm +of rain then beginning to descend, prevented me at the time from +undertaking my journey to the stable, which was at some distance +from the part of the building in which I was quartered, and I don't +know that I ever thought of the matter afterwards until my return +to England, when I saw Lamartine's eye-witnessing account of the +horse saddled by the hands of his Maker! + +When I returned to my apartment (which, as my hostess told me, was +the only one in the whole building that kept out the rain) her +ladyship sent to say that she would be glad to receive me again. I +was rather surprised at this, for I had understood that she reposed +during the day, and it was now little later than noon. "Really," +said she, when I had taken my seat and my pipe, "we were together +for hours last night, and still I have heard nothing at all of my +old friends; now DO tell me something of your dear mother and her +sister; I never knew your father--it was after I left Burton +Pynsent that your mother married." I began to make slow answer, +but my questioner soon went off again to topics more sublime, so +that this second interview, which lasted two or three hours, was +occupied by the same sort of varied discourse as that which I have +been describing. + +In the course of the afternoon the captain of an English man-of-war +arrived at Djoun, and her ladyship determined to receive him for +the same reason as that which had induced her to allow my visit, +namely, an early intimacy with his family. I and the new visitor, +who was a pleasant, amusing person, dined together, and we were +afterwards invited to the presence of my lady, with whom we sat +smoking and talking till midnight. The conversation turned +chiefly, I think, upon magical science. I had determined to be off +at an early hour the next morning, and so at the end of this +interview I bade my lady farewell. With her parting words she once +more advised me to abandon Europe and seek my reward in the East, +and she urged me too to give the like counsels to my father, and +tell him that "SHE HAD SAID IT." + +Lady Hester's unholy claim to supremacy in the spiritual kingdom +was, no doubt, the suggestion of fierce and inordinate pride most +perilously akin to madness, but I am quite sure that the mind of +the woman was too strong to be thoroughly overcome by even this +potent feeling. I plainly saw that she was not an unhesitating +follower of her own system, and I even fancied that I could +distinguish the brief moments during which she contrived to believe +in herself, from those long and less happy intervals in which her +own reason was too strong for her. + +As for the lady's faith in astrology and magic science, you are not +for a moment to suppose that this implied any aberration of +intellect. She believed these things in common with those around +her, for she seldom spoke to anybody except crazy old dervishes, +who received her alms, and fostered her extravagancies, and even +when (as on the occasion of my visit) she was brought into contact +with a person entertaining different notions, she still remained +uncontradicted. This entourage and the habit of fasting from books +and newspapers were quite enough to make her a facile recipient of +any marvellous story. + +I think that in England we are scarcely sufficiently conscious of +the great debt we owe to the wise and watchful press which presides +over the formation of our opinions, and which brings about this +splendid result, namely, that in matters of belief the humblest of +us are lifted up to the level of the most sagacious, so that really +a simple cornet in the Blues is no more likely to entertain a +foolish belief about ghosts or witchcraft, or any other +supernatural topic, than the Lord High Chancellor or the Leader of +the House of Commons. How different is the intellectual regime of +Eastern countries! In Syria and Palestine and Egypt you might as +well dispute the efficacy of grass or grain as of magic. There is +no controversy about the matter. The effect of this, the unanimous +belief of an ignorant people upon the mind of a stranger, is +extremely curious, and well worth noticing. A man coming freshly +from Europe is at first proof against the nonsense with which he is +assailed, but often it happens that after a little while the social +atmosphere in which he lives will begin to infect him, and if he +has been unaccustomed to the cunning of fence by which Reason +prepares the means of guarding herself against fallacy, he will +yield himself at last to the faith of those around him, and this he +will do by sympathy, it would seem, rather than from conviction. I +have been much interested in observing that the mere "practical +man," however skilful and shrewd in his own way, has not the kind +of power that will enable him to resist the gradual impression made +upon his mind by the common opinion of those whom he sees and hears +from day to day. Even amongst the English (whose good sense and +sound religious knowledge would be likely to guard them from error) +I have known the calculating merchant, the inquisitive traveller, +and the post-captain, with his bright, wakeful eye of command--I +have known all these surrender themselves to the REALLY magic-like +influence of other people's minds. Their language at first is that +they are "staggered," leading you by that expression to suppose +that they had been witnesses to some phenomenon, which it was very +difficult to account for otherwise than by supernatural causes; but +when I have questioned further, I have always found that these +"staggering" wonders were not even specious enough to be looked +upon as good "tricks." A man in England who gained his whole +livelihood as a conjurer would soon be starved to death if he could +perform no better miracles than those which are wrought with so +much effect in Syria and Egypt; SOMETIMES, no doubt, a magician +will make a good hit (Sir John once said a "good thing"), but all +such successes range, of course, under the head of mere "tentative +miracles," as distinguished by the strong-brained Paley. + + + +CHAPTER IX--THE SANCTUARY + + + +I crossed the plain of Esdraelon and entered amongst the hills of +beautiful Galilee. It was at sunset that my path brought me +sharply round into the gorge of a little valley, and close upon a +grey mass of dwellings that lay happily nestled in the lap of the +mountain. There was one only shining point still touched with the +light of the sun, who had set for all besides; a brave sign this to +"holy" Shereef and the rest of my Moslem men, for the one +glittering summit was the head of a minaret, and the rest of the +seeming village that had veiled itself so meekly under the shades +of evening was Christian Nazareth! + +Within the precincts of the Latin convent in which I was quartered +there stands the great Catholic church which encloses the +sanctuary, the dwelling of the blessed Virgin. {23} This is a +grotto of about ten feet either way, forming a little chapel or +recess, to which you descend by steps. It is decorated with +splendour. On the left hand a column of granite hangs from the top +of the grotto to within a few feet of the ground; immediately +beneath it is another column of the same size, which rises from the +ground as if to meet the one above; but between this and the +suspended pillar there is an interval of more than a foot; these +fragments once formed a single column, against which the angel +leant when he spoke and told to Mary the mystery of her awful +blessedness. Hard by, near the altar, the holy Virgin was +kneeling. + +I had been journeying (cheerily indeed, for the voices of my +followers were ever within my hearing, but yet), as it were, in +solitude, for I had no comrade to whet the edge of my reason, or +wake me from my noonday dreams. I was left all alone to be taught +and swayed by the beautiful circumstances of Palestine travelling-- +by the clime, and the land, and the name of the land, with all its +mighty import; by the glittering freshness of the sward, and the +abounding masses of flowers that furnished my sumptuous pathway; by +the bracing and fragrant air that seemed to poise me in my saddle, +and to lift me along as a planet appointed to glide through space. + +And the end of my journey was Nazareth, the home of the blessed +Virgin! In the first dawn of my manhood the old painters of Italy +had taught me their dangerous worship of the beauty that is more +than mortal, but those images all seemed shadowy now, and floated +before me so dimly, the one overcasting the other, that they left +me no one sweet idol on which I could look and look again and say, +"Maria mia!" Yet they left me more than an idol; they left me (for +to them I am wont to trace it) a faint apprehension of beauty not +compassed with lines and shadows; they touched me (forgive, proud +Marie of Anjou!)--they touched me with a faith in loveliness +transcending mortal shapes. + +I came to Nazareth, and was led from the convent to the sanctuary. +Long fasting will sometimes heat my brain and draw me away out of +the world--will disturb my judgment, confuse my notions of right +and wrong, and weaken my power of choosing the right: I had fasted +perhaps too long, for I was fevered with the zeal of an insane +devotion to the heavenly queen of Christendom. But I knew the +feebleness of this gentle malady, and knew how easily my watchful +reason, if ever so slightly provoked, would drag me back to life. +Let there but come one chilling breath of the outer world, and all +this loving piety would cower and fly before the sound of my own +bitter laugh. And so as I went I trod tenderly, not looking to the +right nor to the left, but bending my eyes to the ground. + +The attending friar served me well; he led me down quietly and all +but silently to the Virgin's home. The mystic air was so burnt +with the consuming flames of the altar, and so laden with incense, +that my chest laboured strongly, and heaved with luscious pain. +There--there with beating heart the Virgin knelt and listened. I +strived to grasp and hold with my riveted eyes some one of the +feigned Madonnas, but of all the heaven-lit faces imagined by men +there was none that would abide with me in this the very sanctuary. +Impatient of vacancy, I grew madly strong against Nature, and if by +some awful spell, some impious rite, I could--Oh most sweet +Religion, that bid me fear God, and be pious, and yet not cease +from loving! Religion and gracious custom commanded me that I fall +down loyally and kiss the rock that blessed Mary pressed. With a +half consciousness, with the semblance of a thrilling hope that I +was plunging deep, deep into my first knowledge of some most holy +mystery, or of some new rapturous and daring sin, I knelt, and +bowed down my face till I met the smooth rock with my lips. One +moment--one moment my heart, or some old pagan demon within me, +woke up, and fiercely bounded; my bosom was lifted, and swung, as +though I had touched her warm robe. One moment, one more, and then +the fever had left me. I rose from my knees. I felt hopelessly +sane. The mere world reappeared. My good old monk was there, +dangling his key with listless patience, and as he guided me from +the church, and talked of the refectory and the coming repast, I +listened to his words with some attention and pleasure. + + + +CHAPTER X--THE MONKS OF PALESTINE + + + +Whenever you come back to me from Palestine we will find some +"golden wine" {24} of Lebanon, that we may celebrate with apt +libations the monks of the Holy Land, and though the poor fellows +be theoretically "dead to the world," we will drink to every man of +them a good long life, and a merry one! Graceless is the traveller +who forgets his obligations to these saints upon earth; little love +has he for merry Christendom if he has not rejoiced with great joy +to find in the very midst of water-drinking infidels those lowly +monasteries, in which the blessed juice of the grape is quaffed in +peace. Ay! ay! we will fill our glasses till they look like cups +of amber, and drink profoundly to our gracious hosts in Palestine. + +Christianity permits, and sanctions, the drinking of wine, and of +all the holy brethren in Palestine there are none who hold fast to +this gladsome rite so strenuously as the monks of Damascus; not +that they are more zealous Christians than the rest of their +fellows in the Holy Land, but that they have better wine. Whilst I +was at Damascus I had my quarters at the Franciscan convent there, +and very soon after my arrival I asked one of the monks to let me +know something of the spots that deserved to be seen. I made my +inquiry in reference to the associations with which the city had +been hallowed by the sojourn and adventures of St. Paul. "There is +nothing in all Damascus," said the good man, "half so well worth +seeing as our cellars"; and forthwith he invited me to go, see, and +admire the long range of liquid treasure that he and his brethren +had laid up for themselves on earth. And these I soon found were +not as the treasures of the miser, that lie in unprofitable disuse, +for day by day, and hour by hour, the golden juice ascended from +the dark recesses of the cellar to the uppermost brains of the +friars. Dear old fellows! in the midst of that solemn land their +Christian laughter rang loudly and merrily, their eyes kept +flashing with joyous bonfires, and their heavy woollen petticoats +could no more weigh down the springiness of their paces, than the +filmy gauze of a danseuse can clog her bounding step. + +You would be likely enough to fancy that these monastics are men +who have retired to the sacred sites of Palestine from an +enthusiastic longing to devote themselves to the exercise of +religion in the midst of the very land on which its first seeds +were cast; and this is partially, at least, the case with the monks +of the Greek Church, but it is not with enthusiasts that the +Catholic establishments are filled. The monks of the Latin +convents are chiefly persons of the peasant class from Italy and +Spain, who have been handed over to these remote asylums by order +of their ecclesiastical superiors, and can no more account for +their being in the Holy Land, than men of marching regiments can +explain why they are in "stupid quarters." I believe that these +monks are for the most part well conducted men, punctual in their +ceremonial duties, and altogether humble-minded Christians. Their +humility is not at all misplaced, for you see at a glance (poor +fellows!) that they belong to the LAG REMOVE of the human race. If +the taking of the cowl does not imply a complete renouncement of +the world, it is at least (in these days) a thorough farewell to +every kind of useful and entertaining knowledge, and accordingly +the low bestial brow and the animal caste of those almost Bourbon +features show plainly enough that all the intellectual vanities of +life have been really and truly abandoned. But it is hard to +quench altogether the spirit of inquiry that stirs in the human +breast, and accordingly these monks inquire--they are ALWAYS +inquiring inquiring for "news"! Poor fellows! they could scarcely +have yielded themselves to the sway of any passion more difficult +of gratification, for they have no means of communicating with the +busy world except through European travellers; and these, in +consequence I suppose of that restlessness and irritability that +generally haunt their wanderings, seem to have always avoided the +bore of giving any information to their hosts. As for me, I am +more patient and good-natured, and when I found that the kind monks +who gathered round me at Nazareth were longing to know the real +truth about the General Bonaparte who had recoiled from the siege +of Acre, I softened my heart down to the good humour of Herodotus, +and calmly began to "sing history," telling my eager hearers of the +French Empire and the greatness of its glory, and of Waterloo and +the fall of Napoleon! Now my story of this marvellous ignorance on +the part of the poor monks is one upon which (though depending on +my own testimony) I look "with considerable suspicion." It is +quite true (how silly it would be to INVENT anything so witless!), +and yet I think I could satisfy the mind of a "reasonable man" that +it is false. Many of the older monks must have been in Europe at +the time when the Italy and the Spain from which they came were in +act of taking their French lessons, or had parted so lately with +their teachers, that not to know of "the Emperor" was impossible, +and these men could scarcely, therefore, have failed to bring with +them some tidings of Napoleon's career. Yet I say that that which +I have written is true--the one who believes because I have said it +will be right (she always is), whilst poor Mr. "reasonable man," +who is convinced by the weight of my argument, will be completely +deceived. + +In Spanish politics, however, the monks are better instructed. The +revenues of the monasteries, which had been principally supplied by +the bounty of their most Catholic majesties, have been withheld +since Ferdinand's death, and the interests of these establishments +being thus closely involved in the destinies of Spain, it is not +wonderful that the brethren should be a little more knowing in +Spanish affairs than in other branches of history. Besides, a +large proportion of the monks were natives of the Peninsula. To +these, I remember, Mysseri's familiarity with the Spanish language +and character was a source of immense delight; they were always +gathering around him, and it seemed to me that they treasured like +gold the few Castilian words which he deigned to spare them. + +The monks do a world of good in their way; and there can be no +doubting that previously to the arrival of Bishop Alexander, with +his numerous young family and his pretty English nursemaids, they +were the chief propagandists of Christianity in Palestine. My old +friends of the Franciscan convent at Jerusalem some time since gave +proof of their goodness by delivering themselves up to the peril of +death for the sake of duty. When I was their guest they were forty +I believe in number, and I don't recollect that there was one of +them whom I should have looked upon as a desirable life-holder of +any property to which I might be entitled in expectancy. Yet these +forty were reduced in a few days to nineteen. The plague was the +messenger that summoned them to a taste of real death; but the +circumstances under which they perished are rather curious; and +though I have no authority for the story except an Italian +newspaper, I harbour no doubt of its truth, for the facts were +detailed with minuteness, and strictly corresponded with all that I +knew of the poor fellows to whom they related. + +It was about three months after the time of my leaving Jerusalem +that the plague set his spotted foot on the Holy City. The monks +felt great alarm; they did not shrink from their duty, but for its +performance they chose a plan most sadly well fitted for bringing +down upon them the very death which they were striving to ward off. +They imagined themselves almost safe so long as they remained +within their walls; but then it was quite needful that the Catholic +Christians of the place, who had always looked to the convent for +the supply of their spiritual wants, should receive the aids of +religion in the hour of death. A single monk therefore was chosen, +either by lot or by some other fair appeal to destiny. Being thus +singled out, he was to go forth into the plague-stricken city, and +to perform with exactness his priestly duties; then he was to +return, not to the interior of the convent, for fear of infecting +his brethren, but to a detached building (which I remember) +belonging to the establishment, but at some little distance from +the inhabited rooms. He was provided with a bell, and at a certain +hour in the morning he was ordered to ring it, IF HE COULD; but if +no sound was heard at the appointed time, then knew his brethren +that he was either delirious or dead, and another martyr was sent +forth to take his place. In this way twenty-one of the monks were +carried off. One cannot well fail to admire the steadiness with +which the dismal scheme was carried through; but if there be any +truth in the notion that disease may be invited by a frightening +imagination, it is difficult to conceive a more dangerous plan than +that which was chosen by these poor fellows. The anxiety with +which they must have expected each day the sound of the bell, the +silence that reigned instead of it, and then the drawing of the +lots (the odds against death being one point lower than yesterday), +and the going forth of the newly doomed man--all this must have +widened the gulf that opens to the shades below. When his victim +had already suffered so much of mental torture, it was but easy +work for big bullying pestilence to follow a forlorn monk from the +beds of the dying, and wrench away his life from him as he lay all +alone in an outhouse. + +In most, I believe in all, of the Holy Land convents there are two +personages so strangely raised above their brethren in all that +dignifies humanity, that their bearing the same habit, their +dwelling under the same roof, their worshipping the same God +(consistent as all this is with the spirit of their religion), yet +strikes the mind with a sense of wondrous incongruity; the men I +speak of are the "Padre Superiore," and the "Padre Missionario." +The former is the supreme and absolute governor of the +establishment over which he is appointed to rule, the latter is +entrusted with the more active of the spiritual duties attaching to +the Pilgrim Church. He is the shepherd of the good Catholic flock, +whose pasture is prepared in the midst of Mussulmans and +schismatics; he keeps the light of the true faith ever vividly +before their eyes, reproves their vices, supports them in their +good resolves, consoles them in their afflictions, and teaches them +to hate the Greek Church. Such are his labours, and you may +conceive that great tact must be needed for conducting with success +the spiritual interests of the church under circumstances so odd as +those which surround it in Palestine. + +But the position of the Padre Superiore is still more delicate; he +is almost unceasingly in treaty with the powers that be, and the +worldly prosperity of the establishment over which he presides is +in great measure dependent upon the extent of diplomatic skill +which he can employ in its favour. I know not from what class of +churchmen these personages are chosen, for there is a mystery +attending their origin and the circumstance of their being +stationed in these convents, which Rome does not suffer to be +penetrated. I have heard it said that they are men of great note, +and, perhaps, of too high ambition in the Catholic Hierarchy, who +having fallen under the grave censure of the Church, are banished +for fixed periods to these distant monasteries. I believe that the +term during which they are condemned to remain in the Holy Land is +from eight to twelve years. By the natives of the country, as well +as by the rest of the brethren, they are looked upon as superior +beings; and rightly too, for Nature seems to have crowned them in +her own true way. + +The chief of the Jerusalem convent was a noble creature; his +worldly and spiritual authority seemed to have surrounded him, as +it were, with a kind of "court," and the manly gracefulness of his +bearing did honour to the throne which he filled. There were no +lords of the bedchamber, and no gold sticks and stones in waiting, +yet everybody who approached him looked as though he were being +"presented"; every interview which he granted wore the air of an +"audience"; the brethren as often as they came near bowed low and +kissed his hand; and if he went out, the Catholics of the place +that hovered about the convent would crowd around him with devout +affection, and almost scramble for the blessing which his touch +could give. He bore his honours all serenely, as though calmly +conscious of his power to "bind and to loose." + + + +CHAPTER XI--GALILEE + + + +Neither old "sacred" {25} himself, nor any of his helpers, knew the +road which I meant to take from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee and +from thence to Jerusalem, so I was forced to add another to my +party by hiring a guide. The associations of Nazareth, as well as +my kind feeling towards the hospitable monks, whose guest I had +been, inclined me to set at naught the advice which I had received +against employing Christians. I accordingly engaged a lithe, +active young Nazarene, who was recommended to me by the monks, and +who affected to be familiar with the line of country through which +I intended to pass. My disregard of the popular prejudices against +Christians was not justified in this particular instance by the +result of my choice. This you will see by-and-by. + +I passed by Cana and the house in which the water had been turned +into wine; I came to the field in which our Saviour had rebuked the +Scotch Sabbath-keepers of that period, by suffering His disciples +to pluck corn on the Lord's day; I rode over the ground on which +the fainting multitude had been fed, and they showed me some +massive fragments--the relics, they said, of that wondrous banquet, +now turned into stone. The petrifaction was most complete. + +I ascended the height on which our Lord was standing when He +wrought the miracle. The hill was lofty enough to show me the +fairness of the land on all sides, but I have an ancient love for +the mere features of a lake, and so forgetting all else when I +reached the summit, I looked away eagerly to the eastward. There +she lay, the Sea of Galilee. Less stern than Wast Water, less fair +than gentle Windermere, she had still the winning ways of an +English lake; she caught from the smiling heavens unceasing light +and changeful phases of beauty, and with all this brightness on her +face, she yet clung so fondly to the dull he-looking mountain at +her side, as though she would + + +"Soothe him with her finer fancies, +Touch him with her lighter thought." {26} + + +If one might judge of men's real thoughts by their writings, it +would seem that there are people who can visit an interesting +locality and follow up continuously the exact train of thought that +ought to be suggested by the historical associations of the place. +A person of this sort can go to Athens and think of nothing later +than the age of Pericles; can live with the Scipios as long as he +stays in Rome; can go up in a balloon, and think how resplendently +in former times the now vacant and desolate air was peopled with +angels, how prettily it was crossed at intervals by the rounds of +Jacob's ladder! I don't possess this power at all; it is only by +snatches, and for few moments together, that I can really associate +a place with its proper history. + +"There at Tiberias, and along this western shore towards the north, +and upon the bosom too of the lake, our Saviour and His disciples-- +" away flew those recollections, and my mind strained eastward, +because that that farthest shore was the end of the world that +belongs to man the dweller, the beginning of the other and veiled +world that is held by the strange race, whose life (like the +pastime of Satan) is a "going to and fro upon the face of the +earth." From those grey hills right away to the gates of Bagdad +stretched forth the mysterious "desert"--not a pale, void, sandy +tract, but a land abounding in rich pastures, a land without cities +or towns, without any "respectable" people or any "respectable" +things, yet yielding its eighty thousand cavalry to the beck of a +few old men. But once more--"Tiberias--the plain of Gennesareth-- +the very earth on which I stood--that the deep low tones of the +Saviour's voice should have gone forth into eternity from out of +the midst of these hills and these valleys!"--Ay, ay, but yet again +the calm face of the lake was uplifted, and smiled upon my eyes +with such familiar gaze, that the "deep low tones" were hushed, the +listening multitudes all passed away, and instead there came to me +a dear old memory from over the seas in England, a memory sweeter +than Gospel to that poor wilful mortal, me. + +I went to Tiberias, and soon got afloat upon the water. In the +evening I took up my quarters in the Catholic church, and the +building being large enough, the whole of my party were admitted to +the benefit of the same shelter. With portmanteaus and carpet +bags, and books and maps, and fragrant tea, Mysseri soon made me a +home on the southern side of the church. One of old Shereef's +helpers was an enthusiastic Catholic, and was greatly delighted at +having so sacred a lodging. He lit up the altar with a number of +tapers, and when his preparations were complete, he began to +perform his orisons in the strangest manner imaginable. His lips +muttered the prayers of the Latin Church, but he bowed himself down +and laid his forehead to the stones beneath him after the manner of +a Mussulman. The universal aptness of a religious system for all +stages of civilisation, and for all sorts and conditions of men, +well befits its claim of divine origin. She is of all nations, and +of all times, that wonderful Church of Rome! + +Tiberias is one of the four holy cities, {27} according to the +Talmud, and it is from this place, or the immediate neighbourhood +of it, that the Messiah is to arise. + +Except at Jerusalem, never think of attempting to sleep in a "holy +city." Old Jews from all parts of the world go to lay their bones +upon the sacred soil, and as these people never return to their +homes, it follows that any domestic vermin which they may bring +with them are likely to become permanently resident, so that the +population is continually increasing. No recent census had been +taken when I was at Tiberias, but I know that the congregation of +fleas which attended at my church alone must have been something +enormous. It was a carnal, self-seeking congregation, wholly +inattentive to the service which was going on, and devoted to the +one object of having my blood. The fleas of all nations were +there. The smug, steady, importunate flea from Holywell Street; +the pert, jumping puce from hungry France, the wary, watchful pulce +with his poisoned stiletto; the vengeful pulga of Castile with his +ugly knife; the German floh with his knife and fork, insatiate, not +rising from table; whole swarms from all the Russias, and Asiatic +hordes unnumbered--all these were there, and all rejoiced in one +great international feast. I could no more defend myself against +my enemies than if I had been pain a discretion in the hands of a +French patriot, or English gold in the claws of a Pennsylvanian +Quaker. After passing a night like this you are glad to pick up +the wretched remains of your body long, long before morning dawns. +Your skin is scorched, your temples throb, your lips feel withered +and dried, your burning eyeballs are screwed inwards against the +brain. You have no hope but only in the saddle and the freshness +of the morning air. + + + +CHAPTER XII--MY FIRST BIVOUAC + + + +The course of the Jordan is from the north to the south, and in +that direction, with very little of devious winding, it carries the +shining waters of Galilee straight down into the solitudes of the +Dead Sea. Speaking roughly, the river in that meridian is a +boundary between the people living under roofs and the tented +tribes that wander on the farther side. And so, as I went down in +my way from Tiberias towards Jerusalem, along the western bank of +the stream, my thinking all propended to the ancient world of +herdsmen and warriors that lay so close over my bridle arm. + +If a man, and an Englishman, be not born of his mother with a +natural Chiffney-bit in his mouth, there comes to him a time for +loathing the wearisome ways of society; a time for not liking tamed +people; a time for not dancing quadrilles, not sitting in pews; a +time for pretending that Milton and Shelley, and all sorts of mere +dead people, were greater in death than the first living Lord of +the Treasury; a time, in short, for scoffing and railing, for +speaking lightly of the very opera, and all our most cherished +institutions. It is from nineteen to two or three and twenty +perhaps that this war of the man against men is like to be waged +most sullenly. You are yet in this smiling England, but you find +yourself wending away to the dark sides of her mountains, climbing +the dizzy crags, exulting in the fellowship of mists and clouds, +and watching the storms how they gather, or proving the mettle of +your mare upon the broad and dreary downs, because that you feel +congenially with the yet unparcelled earth. A little while you are +free and unlabelled, like the ground that you compass; but +civilisation is coming and coming; you and your much-loved waste +lands will be surely enclosed, and sooner or later brought down to +a state of mere usefulness; the ground will be curiously sliced +into acres and roods and perches, and you, for all you sit so +smartly in your saddle, you will be caught, you will be taken up +from travel as a colt from grass, to be trained and tried, and +matched and run. All this in time, but first came Continental +tours and the moody longing for Eastern travel. The downs and the +moors of England can hold you no longer; with large strides you +burst away from these slips and patches of free land; you thread +your path through the crowds of Europe, and at last, on the banks +of Jordan, you joyfully know that you are upon the very frontier of +all accustomed respectabilities. There, on the other side of the +river (you can swim it with one arm), there reigns the people that +will be like to put you to death for NOT being a vagrant, for NOT +being a robber, for NOT being armed and houseless. There is +comfort in that--health, comfort, and strength to one who is dying +from very weariness of that poor, dear, middle-aged, deserving, +accomplished, pedantic, and painstaking governess, Europe. + +I had ridden for some hours along the right bank of Jordan when I +came to the Djesr el Medjame (an old Roman bridge, I believe), +which crossed the river. My Nazarene guide was riding ahead of the +party, and now, to my surprise and delight, he turned leftwards, +and led on over the bridge. I knew that the true road to Jerusalem +must be mainly by the right bank of Jordan, but I supposed that my +guide was crossing the bridge at this spot in order to avoid some +bend in the river, and that he knew of a ford lower down by which +we should regain the western bank. I made no question about the +road, for I was but too glad to set my horse's hoofs upon the land +of the wandering tribes. None of my party except the Nazarene knew +the country. On we went through rich pastures upon the eastern +side of the water. I looked for the expected bend of the river, +but far as I could see it kept a straight southerly course; I still +left my guide unquestioned. + +The Jordan is not a perfectly accurate boundary betwixt roofs and +tents, for soon after passing the bridge I came upon a cluster of +huts. Some time afterwards the guide, upon being closely +questioned by my servants, confessed that the village which we had +left behind was the last that we should see, but he declared that +he knew a spot at which we should find an encampment of friendly +Bedouins, who would receive me with all hospitality. I had long +determined not to leave the East without seeing something of the +wandering tribes, but I had looked forward to this as a pleasure to +be found in the desert between El Arish and Egypt; I had no idea +that the Bedouins on the east of Jordan were accessible. My +delight was so great at the near prospect of bread and salt in the +tent of an Arab warrior, that I wilfully allowed my guide to go on +and mislead me. I saw that he was taking me out of the straight +route towards Jerusalem, and was drawing me into the midst of the +Bedouins; but the idea of his betraying me seemed (I know not why) +so utterly absurd, that I could not entertain it for a moment. I +fancied it possible that the fellow had taken me out of my route in +order to attempt some little mercantile enterprise with the tribe +for which he was seeking, and I was glad of the opportunity which I +might thus gain of coming in contact with the wanderers. + +Not long after passing the village a horseman met us. It appeared +that some of the cavalry of Ibrahim Pasha had crossed the river for +the sake of the rich pastures on the eastern bank, and that this +man was one of the troopers. He stopped and saluted; he was +obviously surprised at meeting an unarmed, or half-armed, +cavalcade, and at last fairly told us that we were on the wrong +side of the river, and that if we proceeded we must lay our account +with falling amongst robbers. All this while, and throughout the +day, my Nazarene kept well ahead of the party, and was constantly +up in his stirrups, straining forward and searching the distance +for some objects which still remained unseen. + +For the rest of the day we saw no human being; we pushed on eagerly +in the hope of coming up with the Bedouins before nightfall. Night +came, and we still went on in our way till about ten o'clock. Then +the thorough darkness of the night, and the weariness of our beasts +(which had already done two good days' journey in one), forced us +to determine upon coming to a standstill. Upon the heights to the +eastward we saw lights; these shone from caves on the mountain- +side, inhabited, as the Nazarene told us, by rascals of a low sort- +-not real Bedouins, men whom we might frighten into harmlessness, +but from whom there was no willing hospitality to be expected. + +We heard at a little distance the brawling of a rivulet, and on the +banks of this it was determined to establish our bivouac. We soon +found the stream, and following its course for a few yards, came to +a spot which was thought to be fit for our purpose. It was a +sharply cold night in February, and when I dismounted I found +myself standing upon some wet rank herbage that promised ill for +the comfort of our resting-place. I had bad hopes of a fire, for +the pitchy darkness of the night was a great obstacle to any +successful search for fuel, and besides, the boughs of trees or +bushes would be so full of sap in this early spring, that they +would not be easily persuaded to burn. However, we were not likely +to submit to a dark and cold bivouac without an effort, and my +fellows groped forward through the darkness, till after advancing a +few paces they were happily stopped by a complete barrier of dead +prickly bushes. Before our swords could be drawn to reap this +welcome harvest it was found to our surprise that the fuel was +already hewn and strewed along the ground in a thick mass. A spot +for the fire was found with some difficulty, for the earth was +moist and the grass high and rank. At last there was a clicking of +flint and steel, and presently there stood out from darkness one of +the tawny faces of my muleteers, bent down to near the ground, and +suddenly lit up by the glowing of the spark which he courted with +careful breath. Before long there was a particle of dry fibre or +leaf that kindled to a tiny flame; then another was lit from that, +and then another. Then small crisp twigs, little bigger than +bodkins, were laid athwart the glowing fire. The swelling cheeks +of the muleteer, laid level with the earth, blew tenderly at first +and then more boldly upon the young flame, which was daintily +nursed and fed, and fed more plentifully when it gained good +strength. At last a whole armful of dry bushes was piled up over +the fire, and presently, with a loud cheery crackling and +crackling, a royal tall blaze shot up from the earth and showed me +once more the shapes and faces of my men, and the dim outlines of +the horses and mules that stood grazing hard by. + +My servants busied themselves in unpacking the baggage as though we +had arrived at an hotel--Shereef and his helpers unsaddled their +cattle. We had left Tiberias without the slightest idea that we +were to make our way to Jerusalem along the desolate side of the +Jordan, and my servants (generally provident in those matters) had +brought with them only, I think, some unleavened bread and a rocky +fragment of goat's milk cheese. These treasures were produced. +Tea and the contrivances for making it were always a standing part +of my baggage. My men gathered in circle round the fire. The +Nazarene was in a false position from having misled us so +strangely, and he would have shrunk back, poor devil, into the cold +and outer darkness, but I made him draw near and share the luxuries +of the night. My quilt and my pelisse were spread, and the rest of +my party had all their capotes or pelisses, or robes of some sort, +which furnished their couches. The men gathered in circle, some +kneeling, some sitting, some lying reclined around our common +hearth. Sometimes on one, sometimes on another, the flickering +light would glare more fiercely. Sometimes it was the good Shereef +that seemed the foremost, as he sat with venerable beard the image +of manly piety--unknowing of all geography, unknowing where he was +or whither he might go, but trusting in the goodness of God and the +clinching power of fate and the good star of the Englishman. +Sometimes, like marble, the classic face of the Greek Mysseri would +catch the sudden light, and then again by turns the ever-perturbed +Dthemetri, with his old Chinaman's eye and bristling, terrier-like +moustache, shone forth illustrious. + +I always liked the men who attended me on these Eastern travels, +for they were all of them brave, cheery-hearted fellows; and +although their following my career brought upon them a pretty large +share of those toils and hardships which are so much more amusing +to gentlemen than to servants, yet not one of them ever uttered or +hinted a syllable of complaint, or even affected to put on an air +of resignation. I always liked them, but never perhaps so much as +when they were thus grouped together under the light of the bivouac +fire. I felt towards them as my comrades rather than as my +servants, and took delight in breaking bread with them, and merrily +passing the cup. + +The love of tea is a glad source of fellow-feeling between the +Englishman and the Asiatic. In Persia it is drunk by all, and +although it is a luxury that is rarely within the reach of the +Osmanlees, there are few of them who do not know and love the +blessed tchai. Our camp-kettle, filled from the brook, hummed +doubtfully for a while, then busily bubbled under the sidelong +glare of the flames; cups clinked and rattled; the fragrant steam +ascended, and soon this little circlet in the wilderness grew warm +and genial as my lady's drawing-room. + +And after this there came the tchibouque--great comforter of those +that are hungry and wayworn. And it has this virtue--it helps to +destroy the gene and awkwardness which one sometimes feels at being +in company with one's dependents; for whilst the amber is at your +lips, there is nothing ungracious in your remaining silent, or +speaking pithily in short inter-whiff sentences. And for us that +night there was pleasant and plentiful matter of talk; for the +where we should be on the morrow, and the wherewithal we should be +fed, whether by some ford we should regain the western bank of +Jordan, or find bread and salt under the tents of a wandering +tribe, or whether we should fall into the hands of the Philistines, +and so come to see death--the last and greatest of all "the fine +sights" that there be--these were questionings not dull nor +wearisome to us, for we were all concerned in the answers. And it +was not an all-imagined morrow that we probed with our sharp +guesses, for the lights of those low Philistines, the men of the +caves, still hung over our heads, and we knew by their yells that +the fire of our bivouac had shown us. + +At length we thought it well to seek for sleep. Our plans were +laid for keeping up a good watch through the night. My quilt and +my pelisse and my cloak were spread out so that I might lie +spokewise, with my feet towards the central fire. I wrapped my +limbs daintily round, and gave myself positive orders to sleep like +a veteran soldier. But I found that my attempt to sleep upon the +earth that God gave me was more new and strange than I had fancied +it. I had grown used to the scene which was before me whilst I was +sitting or reclining by the side of the fire, but now that I laid +myself down at length it was the deep black mystery of the heavens +that hung over my eyes--not an earthly thing in the way from my own +very forehead right up to the end of all space. I grew proud of my +boundless bedchamber. I might have "found sermons" in all this +greatness (if I had I should surely have slept), but such was not +then my way. If this cherished self of mine had built the +universe, I should have dwelt with delight on "the wonders of +creation." As it was, I felt rather the vainglory of my promotion +from out of mere rooms and houses into the midst of that grand, +dark, infinite palace. + +And then, too, my head, far from the fire, was in cold latitudes, +and it seemed to me strange that I should be lying so still and +passive, whilst the sharp night breeze walked free over my cheek, +and the cold damp clung to my hair, as though my face grew in the +earth and must bear with the footsteps of the wind and the falling +of the dew as meekly as the grass of the field. Besides, I got +puzzled and distracted by having to endure heat and cold at the +same time, for I was always considering whether my feet were not +over-devilled and whether my face was not too well iced. And so +when from time to time the watch quietly and gently kept up the +languishing fire, he seldom, I think, was unseen to my restless +eyes. Yet at last, when they called me and said that the morn +would soon be dawning, I rose from a state of half-oblivion not +much unlike to sleep, though sharply qualified by a sort of +vegetable's consciousness of having been growing still colder and +colder for many and many an hour. + + + +CHAPTER XIII--THE DEAD SEA + + + +The grey light of the morning showed us for the first time the +ground which we had chosen for our resting-place. We found that we +had bivouacked upon a little patch of barley plainly belonging to +the men of the caves. The dead bushes which we found so happily +placed in readiness for our fire had been strewn as a fence for the +protection of the little crop. This was the only cultivated spot +of ground which we had seen for many a league, and I was rather +sorry to find that our night fire and our cattle had spread so much +ruin upon this poor solitary slip of corn-land. + +The saddling and loading of our beasts was a work which generally +took nearly an hour, and before this was half over daylight came. +We could now see the men of the caves. They collected in a body, +amounting, I should think, to nearly fifty, and rushed down towards +our quarters with fierce shouts and yells. But the nearer they got +the slower they went; their shouts grew less resolute in tone, and +soon ceased altogether. The fellows, however, advanced to a +thicket within thirty yards of us, and behind this "took up their +position." My men without premeditation did exactly that which was +best; they kept steadily to their work of loading the beasts +without fuss or hurry; and whether it was that they instinctively +felt the wisdom of keeping quiet, or that they merely obeyed the +natural inclination to silence which one feels in the early +morning, I cannot tell, but I know that, except when they exchanged +a syllable or two relative to the work they were about, not a word +was said. I now believe that this quietness of our party created +an undefined terror in the minds of the cave-holders and scared +them from coming on; it gave them a notion that we were relying on +some resources which they knew not of. Several times the fellows +tried to lash themselves into a state of excitement which might do +instead of pluck. They would raise a great shout and sway forward +in a dense body from behind the thicket; but when they saw that +their bravery thus gathered to a head did not even suspend the +strapping of a portmanteau or the tying of a hatbox, their shout +lost its spirit, and the whole mass was irresistibly drawn back +like a wave receding from the shore. + +These attempts at an onset were repeated several times, but always +with the same result. I remained under the apprehension of an +attack for more than half-an-hour, and it seemed to me that the +work of packing and loading had never been done so slowly. I felt +inclined to tell my fellows to make their best speed, but just as I +was going to speak I observed that every one was doing his duty +already; I therefore held my peace and said not a word, till at +last Mysseri led up my horse and asked me if I were ready to mount. + +We all marched off without hindrance. + +After some time we came across a party of Ibrahim's cavalry, which +had bivouacked at no great distance from us. The knowledge that +such a force was in the neighbourhood may have conduced to the +forbearance of the cave-holders. + +We saw a scraggy-looking fellow nearly black, and wearing nothing +but a cloth round the loins; he was tending flocks. Afterwards I +came up with another of these goatherds, whose helpmate was with +him. They gave us some goat's milk, a welcome present. I pitied +the poor devil of a goatherd for having such a very plain wife. I +spend an enormous quantity of pity upon that particular form of +human misery. + +About midday I began to examine my map and to question my guide, +who at last fell on his knees and confessed that he knew nothing of +the country in which we were. I was thus thrown upon my own +resources, and calculating that on the preceding day we had nearly +performed a two days' journey, I concluded that the Dead Sea must +be near. In this I was right, for at about three or four o'clock +in the afternoon I caught a first sight of its dismal face. + +I went on and came near to those waters of death. They stretched +deeply into the southern desert, and before me, and all around, as +far away as the eye could follow, blank hills piled high over +hills, pale, yellow, and naked, walled up in her tomb for ever the +dead and damned Gomorrah. There was no fly that hummed in the +forbidden air, but instead a deep stillness; no grass grew from the +earth, no weed peered through the void sand; but in mockery of all +life there were trees borne down by Jordan in some ancient flood, +and these, grotesquely planted upon the forlorn shore, spread out +their grim skeleton arms, all scorched and charred to blackness by +the heats of the long silent years. + +I now struck off towards the debouchure of the river; but I found +that the country, though seemingly quite flat, was intersected by +deep ravines, which did not show themselves until nearly +approached. For some time my progress was much obstructed; but at +last I came across a track which led towards the river, and which +might, as I hoped, bring me to a ford. I found, in fact, when I +came to the river's side that the track reappeared upon the +opposite bank, plainly showing that the stream had been fordable at +this place. Now, however, in consequence of the late rains the +river was quite impracticable for baggage-horses. A body of waters +about equal to the Thames at Eton, but confined to a narrower +channel, poured down in a current so swift and heavy, that the idea +of passing with laden baggage-horses was utterly forbidden. I +could have swum across myself, and I might, perhaps, have succeeded +in swimming a horse over; but this would have been useless, because +in such case I must have abandoned not only my baggage, but all my +attendants, for none of them were able to swim, and without that +resource it would have been madness for them to rely upon the +swimming of their beasts across such a powerful stream. I still +hoped, however, that there might be a chance of passing the river +at the point of its actual junction with the Dead Sea, and I +therefore went on in that direction. + +Night came upon us whilst labouring across gullies and sandy +mounds, and we were obliged to come to a stand-still quite suddenly +upon the very edge of a precipitous descent. Every step towards +the Dead Sea had brought us into a country more and more dreary; +and this sand-hill, which we were forced to choose for our resting- +place, was dismal enough. A few slender blades of grass, which +here and there singly pierced the sand, mocked bitterly the hunger +of our jaded beasts, and with our small remaining fragment of +goat's-milk rock by way of supper, we were not much better off than +our horses. We wanted, too, the great requisite of a cheery +bivouac--fire. Moreover, the spot on which we had been so suddenly +brought to a standstill was relatively high and unsheltered, and +the night wind blew swiftly and cold. + +The next morning I reached the debouchure of the Jordan, where I +had hoped to find a bar of sand that might render its passage +possible. The river, however, rolled its eddying waters fast down +to the "sea" in a strong, deep stream that shut out all hope of +crossing. + +It now seemed necessary either to construct a raft of some kind, or +else to retrace my steps and remount the banks of the Jordan. I +had once happened to give some attention to the subject of military +bridges--a branch of military science which includes the +construction of rafts and contrivances of the like sort--and I +should have been very proud indeed if I could have carried my party +and my baggage across by dint of any idea gathered from Sir Howard +Douglas or Robinson Crusoe. But we were all faint and languid from +want of food, and besides, there were no materials. Higher up the +river there were bushes and river plants, but nothing like timber; +and the cord with which my baggage was tied to the pack-saddles +amounted altogether to a very small quantity, not nearly enough to +haul any sort of craft across the stream. + +And now it was, if I remember rightly, that Dthemetri submitted to +me a plan for putting to death the Nazarene, whose misguidance had +been the cause of our difficulties. There was something +fascinating in this suggestion, for the slaying of the guide was of +course easy enough, and would look like an act of what politicians +call "vigour." If it were only to become known to my friends in +England that I had calmly killed a fellow-creature for taking me +out of my way, I might remain perfectly quiet and tranquil for all +the rest of my days, quite free from the danger of being considered +"slow"; I might ever after live on upon my reputation, like +"single-speech Hamilton" in the last century, or "single sin--" in +this, without being obliged to take the trouble of doing any more +harm in the world. This was a great temptation to an indolent +person, but the motive was not strengthened by any sincere feeling +of anger with the Nazarene. Whilst the question of his life and +death was debated he was riding in front of our party, and there +was something in the anxious writhing of his supple limbs that +seemed to express a sense of his false position, and struck me as +highly comic. I had no crotchet at that time against the +punishment of death, but I was unused to blood, and the proposed +victim looked so thoroughly capable of enjoying life (if he could +only get to the other side of the river), that I thought it would +be hard for him to die merely in order to give me a character for +energy. Acting on the result of these considerations, and +reserving to myself a free and unfettered discretion to have the +poor villain shot at any future moment, I magnanimously decided +that for the present he should live, and not die. + +I bathed in the Dead Sea. The ground covered by the water sloped +so gradually, that I was not only forced to "sneak in," but to walk +through the water nearly a quarter of a mile before I could get out +of my depth. When at last I was able to attempt to dive, the salts +held in solution made my eyes smart so sharply, that the pain which +I thus suffered, together with the weakness occasioned by want of +food, made me giddy and faint for some moments, but I soon grew +better. I knew beforehand the impossibility of sinking in this +buoyant water, but I was surprised to find that I could not swim at +my accustomed pace; my legs and feet were lifted so high and dry +out of the lake, that my stroke was baffled, and I found myself +kicking against the thin air instead of the dense fluid upon which +I was swimming. The water is perfectly bright and clear; its taste +detestable. After finishing my attempts at swimming and diving, I +took some time in regaining the shore, and before I began to dress +I found that the sun had already evaporated the water which clung +to me, and that my skin was thickly encrusted with salts. + + + +CHAPTER XIV--THE BLACK TENTS + + + +My steps were reluctantly turned towards the north. I had ridden +some way, and still it seemed that all life was fenced and barred +out from the desolate ground over which I was journeying. On the +west there flowed the impassable Jordan, on the east stood an +endless range of barren mountains, and on the south lay that desert +sea that knew not the plashing of an oar; greatly therefore was I +surprised when suddenly there broke upon my ear the long, +ludicrous, persevering bray of a donkey. I was riding at this time +some few hundred yards ahead of all my party except the Nazarene +(who by a wise instinct kept closer to me than to Dthemetri), and I +instantly went forward in the direction of the sound, for I fancied +that where there were donkeys, there too most surely would be men. +The ground on all sides of me seemed thoroughly void and lifeless, +but at last I got down into a hollow, and presently a sudden turn +brought me within thirty yards of an Arab encampment. The low +black tents which I had so long lusted to see were right before me, +and they were all teeming with live Arabs--men, women, and +children. + +I wished to have let my party behind know where I was, but I +recollected that they would be able to trace me by the prints of my +horse's hoofs in the sand, and having to do with Asiatics, I felt +the danger of the slightest movement which might be looked upon as +a sign of irresolution. Therefore, without looking behind me, +without looking to the right or to the left, I rode straight up +towards the foremost tent. Before this was strewed a semicircular +fence of dead boughs, through which there was an opening opposite +to the front of the tent. As I advanced, some twenty or thirty of +the most uncouth-looking fellows imaginable came forward to meet +me. In their appearance they showed nothing of the Bedouin blood; +they were of many colours, from dingy brown to jet black, and some +of these last had much of the negro look about them. They were +tall, powerful fellows, but awfully ugly. They wore nothing but +the Arab shirts, confined at the waist by leathern belts. + +I advanced to the gap left in the fence, and at once alighted from +my horse. The chief greeted me after his fashion by alternately +touching first my hand and then his own forehead, as if he were +conveying the virtue of the touch like a spark of electricity. +Presently I found myself seated upon a sheepskin, which was spread +for me under the sacred shade of Arabian canvas. The tent was of a +long, narrow, oblong form, and contained a quantity of men, women, +and children so closely huddled together, that there was scarcely +one of them who was not in actual contact with his neighbour. The +moment I had taken my seat the chief repeated his salutations in +the most enthusiastic manner, and then the people having gathered +densely about me, got hold of my unresisting hand and passed it +round like a claret jug for the benefit of every body. The women +soon brought me a wooden bowl full of buttermilk, and welcome +indeed came the gift to my hungry and thirsty soul. + +After some time my party, as I had expected, came up, and when poor +Dthemetri saw me on my sheepskin, "the life and soul" of this +ragamuffin party, he was so astounded, that he even failed to check +his cry of horror; he plainly thought that now, at last, the Lord +had delivered me (interpreter and all) into the hands of the lowest +Philistines. + +Mysseri carried a tobacco-pouch slung at his belt, and as soon as +its contents were known the whole population of the tent began +begging like spaniels for bits of the beloved weed. I concluded +from the abject manner of these people that they could not possibly +be thoroughbred Bedouins, and I saw, too, that they must be in the +very last stage of misery, for poor indeed is the man in these +climes who cannot command a pipeful of tobacco. I began to think +that I had fallen amongst thorough savages, and it seemed likely +enough that they would gain their very first knowledge of +civilisation by ravishing and studying the contents of my dearest +portmanteaus, but still my impression was that they would hardly +venture upon such an attempt. I observed, indeed, that they did +not offer me the bread and salt which I had understood to be the +pledges of peace amongst wandering tribes, but I fancied that they +refrained from this act of hospitality, not in consequence of any +hostile determination, but in order that the notion of robbing me +might remain for the present an "open question." I afterwards +found that the poor fellows had no bread to offer. They were +literally "out at grass." It is true that they had a scanty supply +of milk from goats, but they were living almost entirely upon +certain grass stems, which were just in season at that time of the +year. These, if not highly nourishing, are pleasant enough to the +taste, and their acid juices come gratefully to thirsty lips. + + + +CHAPTER XV--PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN + + + +And now Dthemetri began to enter into a negotiation with my hosts +for a passage over the river. I never interfered with my worthy +dragoman upon these occasions, because from my entire ignorance of +the Arabic I should have been quite unable to exercise any real +control over his words, and it would have been silly to break the +stream of his eloquence to no purpose. I have reason to fear, +however, that he lied transcendently, and especially in +representing me as the bosom friend of Ibrahim Pasha. The mention +of that name produced immense agitation and excitement, and the +Sheik explained to Dthemetri the grounds of the infinite respect +which he and his tribe entertained for the Pasha. A few weeks +before Ibrahim had craftily sent a body of troops across the +Jordan. The force went warily round to the foot of the mountains +on the east, so as to cut off the retreat of this tribe, and then +surrounded them as they lay encamped in the vale; their camels, and +indeed all their possessions worth taking, were carried off by the +soldiery, and moreover the then Sheik, together with every tenth +man of the tribe, was brought out and shot. You would think that +this conduct on the part of the Pasha might not procure for his +"friend" a very gracious reception amongst the people whom he had +thus despoiled and decimated; but the Asiatic seems to be animated +with a feeling of profound respect, almost bordering upon +affection, for all who have done him any bold and violent wrong, +and there is always, too, so much of vague and undefined +apprehension mixed up with his really well-founded alarms, that I +can see no limit to the yielding and bending of his mind when it is +wrought upon by the idea of power. + +After some discussion the Arabs agreed, as I thought, to conduct me +to a ford, and we moved on towards the river, followed by seventeen +of the most able-bodied of the tribe, under the guidance of several +grey-bearded elders, and Sheik Ali Djoubran at the head of the +whole detachment. Upon leaving the encampment a sort of ceremony +was performed, for the purpose, it seemed, of ensuring, if +possible, a happy result for the undertaking. There was an +uplifting of arms, and a repeating of words that sounded like +formulae, but there were no prostrations, and I did not understand +that the ceremony was of a religious character. The tented Arabs +are looked upon as very bad Mahometans. + +We arrived upon the banks of the river--not at a ford, but at a +deep and rapid part of the stream, and I now understood that it was +the plan of these men, if they helped me at all, to transport me +across the river by some species of raft. But a reaction had taken +place in the opinions of many, and a violent dispute arose upon a +motion which seemed to have been made by some honourable member +with a view to robbery. The fellows all gathered together in +circle, at a little distance from my party, and there disputed with +great vehemence and fury for nearly two hours. I can't give a +correct report of the debate, for it was held in a barbarous +dialect of the Arabic unknown to my dragoman. I recollect I +sincerely felt at the time that the arguments in favour of robbing +me must have been almost unanswerable, and I gave great credit to +the speakers on my side for the ingenuity and sophistry which they +must have shown in maintaining the fight so well. + +During the discussion I remained lying in front of my baggage, +which had all been taken from the pack-saddles and placed upon the +ground. I was so languid from want of food, that I had scarcely +animation enough to feel as deeply interested as you would suppose +in the result of the discussion. I thought, however, that the +pleasantest toys to play with during this interval were my pistols, +and now and then, when I listlessly visited my loaded barrels with +the swivel ramrods, or drew a sweet, musical click from my English +firelocks, it seemed to me that I exercised a slight and gentle +influence on the debate. Thanks to Ibrahim Pasha's terrible +visitation the men of the tribe were wholly unarmed, and my +advantage in this respect might have counterbalanced in some +measure the superiority of numbers. + +Mysseri (not interpreting in Arabic) had no duty to perform, and he +seemed to be faint and listless as myself. Shereef looked +perfectly resigned to any fate. But Dthemetri (faithful terrier!) +was bristling with zeal and watchfulness. He could not understand +the debate, which indeed was carried on at a distance too great to +be easily heard, even if the language had been familiar; but he was +always on the alert, and now and then conferring with men who had +straggled out of the assembly. At last he found an opportunity of +making a proposal, which at once produced immense sensation; he +offered, on my behalf, that if the tribe should bear themselves +loyally towards me, and take my party and my baggage in safety to +the other bank of the river, I should give them a teskeri, or +written certificate of their good conduct, which might avail them +hereafter in the hour of their direst need. This proposal was +received and instantly accepted by all the men of the tribe there +present with the utmost enthusiasm. I was to give the men, too, a +baksheish, that is, a present of money, which is usually made upon +the conclusion of any sort of treaty; but although the people of +the tribe were so miserably poor, they seemed to look upon the +pecuniary part of the arrangement as a matter quite trivial in +comparison with the teskeri. Indeed the sum which Dthemetri +promised them was extremely small, and not the slightest attempt +was made to extort any further reward. + +The council now broke up, and most of the men rushed madly towards +me, and overwhelmed me with vehement gratulations; they caressed my +boots with much affection, and my hands were severely kissed. + +The Arabs now went to work in right earnest to effect the passage +of the river. They had brought with them a great number of the +skins which they use for carrying water in the desert; these they +filled with air, and fastened several of them to small boughs which +they cut from the banks of the river. In this way they constructed +a raft not more than about four or five feet square, but rendered +buoyant by the inflated skins which supported it. On this a +portion of my baggage was placed, and was firmly tied to it by the +cords used on my pack-saddles. The little raft with its weighty +cargo was then gently lifted into the water, and I had the +satisfaction to see that it floated well. + +Twelve of the Arabs now stripped, and tied inflated skins to their +loins; six of the men went down into the river, got in front of the +little raft, and pulled it off a few feet from the bank. The other +six then dashed into the stream with loud shouts and swam along +after the raft, pushing it from behind. Off went the craft in +capital style at first, for the stream was easy on the eastern +side; but I saw that the tug was to come, for the main torrent +swept round in a bend near the western bank of the river. + +The old men, with their long grey grisly beards, stood shouting and +cheering, praying and commanding. At length the raft entered upon +the difficult part of its course; the whirling stream seized and +twisted it about, and then bore it rapidly downwards; the swimmers, +flagged and seemed to be beaten in the struggle. But now the old +men on the bank, with their rigid arms uplifted straight, sent +forth a cry and a shout that tore the wide air into tatters, and +then to make their urging yet more strong they shrieked out the +dreadful syllables, "'brahim Pasha!" The swimmers, one moment +before so blown and so weary, found lungs to answer the cry, and +shouting back the name of their great destroyer, they dashed on +through the torrent, and bore the raft in safety to the western +bank. + +Afterwards the swimmers returned with the raft, and attached to it +the rest of my baggage. I took my seat upon the top of the cargo, +and the raft thus laden passed the river in the same way, and with +the same struggle as before. The skins, however, not being +perfectly air-tight, had lost a great part of their buoyancy, so +that I, as well as the luggage that passed on this last voyage, got +wet in the waters of Jordan. The raft could not be trusted for +another trip, and the rest of my party passed the river in a +different and (for them) much safer way. Inflated skins were +fastened to their loins, and thus supported, they were tugged +across by Arabs swimming on either side of them. The horses and +mules were thrown into the water and forced to swim over. The poor +beasts had a hard struggle for their lives in that swift stream; +and I thought that one of the horses would have been drowned, for +he was too weak to gain a footing on the western bank, and the +stream bore him down. At last, however, he swam back to the side +from which he had come. Before dark all had passed the river +except this one horse and old Shereef. He, poor fellow, was +shivering on the eastern bank, for his dread of the passage was so +great, that he delayed it as long as he could, and at last it +became so dark that he was obliged to wait till the morning. + +I lay that night on the banks of the river, and at a little +distance from me the Arabs kindled a fire, round which they sat in +a circle. They were made most savagely happy by the tobacco with +which I supplied them, and they soon determined that the whole +night should be one smoking festival. The poor fellows had only a +cracked bowl, without any tube at all, but this morsel of a pipe +they handed round from one to the other, allowing to each a fixed +number of whiffs. In that way they passed the whole night. + +The next morning old Shereef was brought across. It was a strange +sight to see this solemn old Mussulman, with his shaven head and +his sacred beard, sprawling and puffing upon the surface of the +water. When at last he reached the bank the people told him that +by his baptism in Jordan he had surely become a mere Christian. +Poor Shereef!--the holy man! the descendant of the Prophet!--he was +sadly hurt by the taunt, and the more so as he seemed to feel that +there was some foundation for it, and that he really might have +absorbed some Christian errors. + +When all was ready for departure I wrote the teskeri in French and +delivered it to Sheik Ali Djoubran, together with the promised +baksheish; he was exceedingly grateful, and I parted in a very +friendly way from this ragged tribe. + +In two or three hours I gained Rihah, a village said to occupy the +site of ancient Jericho. There was one building there which I +observed with some emotion, for although it may not have been +actually standing in the days of Jericho, it contained at this day +a most interesting collection of--modern loaves. + +Some hours after sunset I reached the convent of Santa Saba, and +there remained for the night. + + + +CHAPTER XVI--TERRA SANTA + + + +The enthusiasm that had glowed, or seemed to glow, within me for +one blessed moment when I knelt by the shrine of the Virgin at +Nazareth, was not rekindled at Jerusalem. In the stead of the +solemn gloom and the deep stillness that of right belonged to the +Holy City, there was the hum and the bustle of active life. It was +the "height of the season." The Easter ceremonies drew near. The +pilgrims were flocking in from all quarters; and although their +objects were partly at least of a religious character, yet their +"arrivals" brought as much stir and liveliness to the city as if +they had come up to marry their daughters. + +The votaries who every year crowd to the Holy Sepulchre are chiefly +of the Greek and Armenian Churches. They are not drawn into +Palestine by a mere sentimental longing to stand upon the ground +trodden by our Saviour, but rather they perform the pilgrimage as a +plain duty strongly inculcated by their religion. A very great +proportion of those who belong to the Greek Church contrive at some +time or other in the course of their lives to achieve the +enterprise. Many in their infancy and childhood are brought to the +holy sites by their parents, but those who have not had this +advantage will often make it the main object of their lives to save +money enough for this holy undertaking. + +The pilgrims begin to arrive in Palestine some weeks before the +Easter festival of the Greek Church. They come from Egypt, from +all parts of Syria, from Armenia and Asia Minor, from Stamboul, +from Roumelia, from the provinces of the Danube, and from all the +Russias. Most of these people bring with them some articles of +merchandise, but I myself believe (notwithstanding the common taunt +against pilgrims) that they do this rather as a mode of paying the +expenses of their journey, than from a spirit of mercenary +speculation. They generally travel in families, for the women are +of course more ardent than their husbands in undertaking these +pious enterprises, and they take care to bring with them all their +children, however young; for the efficacy of the rites does not +depend upon the age of the votary, so that people whose careful +mothers have obtained for them the benefit of the pilgrimage in +early life, are saved from the expense and trouble of undertaking +the journey at a later age. The superior veneration so often +excited by objects that are distant and unknown shows not perhaps +the wrongheadedness of a man, but rather the transcendent power of +his imagination. However this may be, and whether it is by mere +obstinacy that they poke their way through intervening distance, or +whether they come by the winged strength of fancy, quite certainly +the pilgrims who flock to Palestine from the most remote homes are +the people most eager in the enterprise, and in number too they +bear a very high proportion to the whole mass. + +The great bulk of the pilgrims make their way by sea to the port of +Jaffa. A number of families will charter a vessel amongst them, +all bringing their own provisions, which are of the simplest and +cheapest kind. On board every vessel thus freighted there is, I +believe, a priest, who helps the people in their religious +exercises, and tries (and fails) to maintain something like order +and harmony. The vessels employed in this service are usually +Greek brigs or brigantines and schooners, and the number of +passengers stowed in them is almost always horribly excessive. The +voyages are sadly protracted, not only by the land-seeking, storm- +flying habits of the Greek seamen, but also by their endless +schemes and speculations, which are for ever tempting them to touch +at the nearest port. The voyage too must be made in winter, in +order that Jerusalem may be reached some weeks before the Greek +Easter, and thus by the time they attain to the holy shrines the +pilgrims have really and truly undergone a very respectable +quantity of suffering. I once saw one of these pious cargoes put +ashore on the coast of Cyprus, where they had touched for the +purpose of visiting (not Paphos, but) some Christian sanctuary. I +never saw (no, never even in the most horridly stuffy ballroom) +such a discomfortable collection of human beings. Long huddled +together in a pitching and rolling prison, fed on beans, exposed to +some real danger and to terrors without end, they had been tumbled +about for many wintry weeks in the chopping seas of the +Mediterranean. As soon as they landed they stood upon the beach +and chanted a hymn of thanks; the chant was morne and doleful, but +really the poor people were looking so miserable, that one could +not fairly expect from them any lively outpouring of gratitude. + +When the pilgrims have landed at Jaffa they hire camels, horses, +mules, or donkeys, and make their way as well as they can to the +Holy City. The space fronting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre +soon becomes a kind of bazaar, or rather, perhaps, reminds you of +an English fair. On this spot the pilgrims display their +merchandise, and there too the trading residents of the place offer +their goods for sale. I have never, I think, seen elsewhere in +Asia so much commercial animation as upon this square of ground by +the church door; the "money-changers" seemed to be almost as brisk +and lively as if they had been WITHIN the temple. + +When I entered the church I found a babel of worshippers. Greek, +Roman, and Armenian priests were performing their different rites +in various nooks and corners, and crowds of disciples were rushing +about in all directions, some laughing and talking, some begging, +but most of them going round in a regular and methodical way to +kiss the sanctified spots, and speak the appointed syllables, and +lay down the accustomed coin. If this kissing of the shrines had +seemed as though it were done at the bidding of enthusiasm, or of +any poor sentiment even feebly approaching to it, the sight would +have been less odd to English eyes; but as it was, I stared to see +grown men thus steadily and carefully embracing the sticks and the +stones, not from love or from zeal (else God forbid that I should +have stared!), but from a calm sense of duty; they seemed to be not +"working out," but TRANSACTING the great business of salvation. + +Dthemetri, however, who generally came with me when I went out, in +order to do duty as interpreter, really had in him some enthusiasm. +He was a zealous and almost fanatical member of the Greek Church, +and had long since performed the pilgrimage, so now great indeed +was the pride and delight with which he guided me from one holy +spot to another. Every now and then, when he came to an unoccupied +shrine, he fell down on his knees and performed devotion; he was +almost distracted by the temptations that surrounded him; there +were so many stones absolutely requiring to be kissed, that he +rushed about happily puzzled and sweetly teased, like "Jack among +the maidens." + +A Protestant, familiar with the Holy Scriptures, but ignorant of +tradition and the geography of modern Jerusalem, finds himself a +good deal "mazed" when he first looks for the sacred sites. The +Holy Sepulchre is not in a field without the walls, but in the +midst, and in the best part of the town, under the roof of the +great church which I have been talking about. It is a handsome +tomb of oblong form, partly subterranean and partly above ground, +and closed in on all sides except the one by which it is entered. +You descend into the interior by a few steps, and there find an +altar with burning tapers. This is the spot which is held in +greater sanctity than any other at Jerusalem. When you have seen +enough of it you feel perhaps weary of the busy crowd, and inclined +for a gallop; you ask your dragoman whether there will be time +before sunset to procure horses and take a ride to Mount Calvary. +Mount Calvary, signor?--eccolo! it is UPSTAIRS--ON THE FIRST FLOOR. +In effect you ascend, if I remember rightly, just thirteen steps, +and then you are shown the now golden sockets in which the crosses +of our Lord and the two thieves were fixed. All this is startling, +but the truth is, that the city having gathered round the +Sepulchre, which is the main point of interest, has crept +northward, and thus in great measure are occasioned the many +geographical surprises that puzzle the "Bible Christian." + +The Church of the Holy Sepulchre comprises very compendiously +almost all the spots associated with the closing career of our +Lord. Just there, on your right, He stood and wept; by the pillar, +on your left, He was scourged; on the spot, just before you, He was +crowned with the crown of thorns; up there He was crucified, and +down here He was buried. A locality is assigned to every, the +minutest, event connected with the recorded history of our Saviour; +even the spot where the cock crew when Peter denied his Master is +ascertained, and surrounded by the walls of an Armenian convent. +Many Protestants are wont to treat these traditions contemptuously, +and those who distinguish themselves from their brethren by the +appellation of "Bible Christians" are almost fierce in their +denunciation of these supposed errors. + +It is admitted, I believe, by everybody that the formal +sanctification of these spots was the act of the Empress Helena, +the mother of Constantine, but I think it is fair to suppose that +she was guided by a careful regard to the then prevailing +traditions. Now the nature of the ground upon which Jerusalem +stands is such, that the localities belonging to the events there +enacted might have been more easily, and permanently, ascertained +by tradition than those of any city that I know of. Jerusalem, +whether ancient or modern, was built upon and surrounded by sharp, +salient rocks intersected by deep ravines. Up to the time of the +siege Mount Calvary of course must have been well enough known to +the people of Jerusalem; the destruction of the mere buildings +could not have obliterated from any man's memory the names of those +steep rocks and narrow ravines in the midst of which the city had +stood. It seems to me, therefore, highly probable that in fixing +the site of Calvary the Empress was rightly guided. Recollect, +too, that the voice of tradition at Jerusalem is quite unanimous, +and that Romans, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, all hating each other +sincerely, concur in assigning the same localities to the events +told in the Gospel. I concede, however, that the attempt of the +Empress to ascertain the sites of the minor events cannot be safely +relied upon. With respect, for instance, to the certainty of the +spot where the cock crew, I am far from being convinced. + +Supposing that the Empress acted arbitrarily in fixing the holy +sites, it would seem that she followed the Gospel of St. John, and +that the geography sanctioned by her can be more easily reconciled +with that history than with the accounts of the other Evangelists. + +The authority exercised by the Mussulman Government in relation to +the holy sites is in one view somewhat humbling to the Christians, +for it is almost as an arbitrator between the contending sects +(this always, of course, for the sake of pecuniary advantage) that +the Mussulman lends his contemptuous aid; he not only grants, but +enforces toleration. All persons, of whatever religion, are +allowed to go as they will into every part of the Church of the +Holy Sepulchre, but in order to prevent indecent contests, and also +from motives arising out of money payments, the Turkish Government +assigns the peculiar care of each sacred spot to one of the +ecclesiastic bodies. Since this guardianship carries with it the +receipt of the coins which the pilgrims leave upon the shrines, it +is strenuously fought for by all the rival Churches, and the +artifices of intrigue are busily exerted at Stamboul in order to +procure the issue or revocation of the firmans by which the coveted +privilege is granted. In this strife the Greek Church has of late +years signally triumphed, and the most famous of the shrines are +committed to the care of their priesthood. They possess the golden +socket in which stood the cross of our Lord whilst the Latins are +obliged to content themselves with the apertures in which were +inserted the crosses of the two thieves. They are naturally +discontented with that poor privilege, and sorrowfully look back to +the days of their former glory--the days when Napoleon was Emperor, +and Sebastiani ambassador at the Porte. It seems that the +"citizen" sultan, old Louis Philippe, has done very little indeed +for Holy Church in Palestine. + +Although the pilgrims perform their devotions at the several +shrines with so little apparent enthusiasm, they are driven to the +verge of madness by the miracle displayed before them on Easter +Saturday. Then it is that the Heaven-sent fire issues from the +Holy Sepulchre. The pilgrims all assemble in the great church, and +already, long before the wonder is worked, they are wrought by +anticipation of God's sign, as well as by their struggles for room +and breathing space, to a most frightful state of excitement. At +length the chief priest of the Greeks, accompanied (of all people +in the world) by the Turkish Governor, enters the tomb. After +this, there is a long pause, and then suddenly from out of the +small apertures on either side of the sepulchre there issue long, +shining flames. The pilgrims now rush forward, madly struggling to +light their tapers at the holy fire. This is the dangerous moment, +and many lives are often lost. + +The year before that of my going to Jerusalem, Ibrahim Pasha, from +some whim, or motive of policy, chose to witness the miracle. The +vast church was of course thronged, as it always is on that awful +day. It seems that the appearance of the fire was delayed for a +very long time, and that the growing frenzy of the people was +heightened by suspense. Many, too, had already sunk under the +effect of the heat and the stifling atmosphere, when at last the +fire flashed from the sepulchre. Then a terrible struggle ensued; +many sunk and were crushed. Ibrahim had taken his station in one +of the galleries, but now, feeling perhaps his brave blood warmed +by the sight and sound of such strife, he took upon himself to +quiet the people by his personal presence, and descended into the +body of the church with only a few guards. He had forced his way +into the midst of the dense crowd, when unhappily he fainted away; +his guards shrieked out, and the event instantly became known. A +body of soldiers recklessly forced their way through the crowd, +trampling over every obstacle that they might save the life of +their general. Nearly two hundred people were killed in the +struggle. + +The following year, however, the Government took better measures +for the prevention of these calamities. I was not present at the +ceremony, having gone away from Jerusalem some time before, but I +afterwards returned into Palestine, and I then learned that the day +had passed off without any disturbance of a fatal kind. It is, +however, almost too much to expect that so many ministers of peace +can assemble without finding some occasion for strife, and in that +year a tribe of wild Bedouins became the subject of discord. These +men, it seems, led an Arab life in some of the desert tracts +bordering on the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, but were not connected +with any of the great ruling tribes. Some whim or notion of policy +had induced them to embrace Christianity; but they were grossly +ignorant of the rudiments of their adopted faith, and having no +priest with them in their desert, they had as little knowledge of +religious ceremonies as of religion itself. They were not even +capable of conducting themselves in a place of worship with +ordinary decorum, but would interrupt the service with scandalous +cries and warlike shouts. Such is the account the Latins give of +them, but I have never heard the other side of the question. These +wild fellows, notwithstanding their entire ignorance of all +religion, are yet claimed by the Greeks, not only as proselytes who +have embraced Christianity generally, but as converts to the +particular doctrines and practice of their Church. The people thus +alleged to have concurred in the great schism of the Eastern Empire +are never, I believe, within the walls of a church, or even of any +building at all, except upon this occasion of Easter; and as they +then never fail to find a row of some kind going on by the side of +the sepulchre, they fancy, it seems, that the ceremonies there +enacted are funeral games of a martial character, held in honour of +a deceased chieftain, and that a Christian festival is a peculiar +kind of battle, fought between walls, and without cavalry. It does +not appear, however, that these men are guilty of any ferocious +acts, or that they attempt to commit depredations. The charge +against them is merely that by their way of applauding the +performance, by their horrible cries and frightful gestures, they +destroy the solemnity of divine service, and upon this ground the +Franciscans obtained a firman for the exclusion of such tumultuous +worshippers. The Greeks, however, did not choose to lose the aid +of their wild converts merely because they were a little backward +in their religious education, and they therefore persuaded them to +defy the firman by entering the city en masse and overawing their +enemies. The Franciscans, as well as the Government authorities, +were obliged to give way, and the Arabs triumphantly marched into +the church. The festival, however, must have seemed to them rather +flat, for although there may have been some "casualties" in the way +of eyes black and noses bloody, and women "missing," there was no +return of "killed." + +Formerly the Latin Catholics concurred in acknowledging (but not, I +hope, in working) the annual miracle of the heavenly fire, but they +have for many years withdrawn their countenance from this +exhibition, and they now repudiate it as a trick of the Greek +Church. Thus of course the violence of feeling with which the +rival Churches meet at the Holy Sepulchre on Easter Saturday is +greatly increased, and a disturbance of some kind is certain. In +the year I speak of, though no lives were lost, there was, as it +seems, a tough struggle in the church. I was amused at hearing of +a taunt that was thrown that day upon an English traveller. He had +taken his station in a convenient part of the church, and was no +doubt displaying that peculiar air of serenity and gratification +with which an English gentleman usually looks on at a row, when one +of the Franciscans came by, all reeking from the fight, and was so +disgusted at the coolness and placid contentment of the Englishman +(who was a guest at the convent), that he forgot his monkish +humility as well as the duties of hospitality, and plainly said, +"You sleep under our roof, you eat our bread, you drink our wine, +and then when Easter Saturday comes you don't fight for us!" + +Yet these rival Churches go on quietly enough till their blood is +up. The terms on which they live remind one of the peculiar +relation subsisting at Cambridge between "town and gown." + +These contests and disturbances certainly do not originate with the +lay-pilgrims, the great body of whom are, as I believe, quiet and +inoffensive people. It is true, however, that their pious +enterprise is believed by them to operate as a counterpoise for a +multitude of sins, whether past or future, and perhaps they exert +themselves in after life to restore the balance of good and evil. +The Turks have a maxim which, like most cynical apophthegms, +carries with it the buzzing trumpet of falsehood as well as the +small, fine "sting of truth." "If your friend has made the +pilgrimage once, distrust him; if he has made the pilgrimage twice, +cut him dead!" The caution is said to be as applicable to the +visitants of Jerusalem as to those of Mecca, but I cannot help +believing that the frailties of all the hadjis, {28} whether +Christian or Mahometan, are greatly exaggerated. I certainly +regarded the pilgrims to Palestine as a well-disposed orderly body +of people, not strongly enthusiastic, but desirous to comply with +the ordinances of their religion, and to attain the great end of +salvation as quietly and economically as possible. + +When the solemnities of Easter are concluded the pilgrims move off +in a body to complete their good work by visiting the sacred scenes +in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, including the wilderness of John +the Baptist, Bethlehem, and above all, the Jordan, for to bathe in +those sacred waters is one of the chief objects of the expedition. +All the pilgrims--men, women, and children--are submerged en +chemise, and the saturated linen is carefully wrapped up and +preserved as a burial-dress that shall enure for salvation in the +realms of death. + +I saw the burial of a pilgrim. He was a Greek, miserably poor, and +very old; he had just crawled into the Holy City, and had reached +at once the goal of his pious journey and the end of his sufferings +upon earth. There was no coffin nor wrapper, and as I looked full +upon the face of the dead I saw how deeply it was rutted with the +ruts of age and misery. The priest, strong and portly, fresh, fat, +and alive with the life of the animal kingdom, unpaid, or ill paid +for his work, would scarcely deign to mutter out his forms, but +hurried over the words with shocking haste. Presently he called +out impatiently, "Yalla! Goor!" (Come! look sharp!), and then the +dead Greek was seized. His limbs yielded inertly to the rude men +that handled them, and down he went into his grave, so roughly +bundled in that his neck was twisted by the fall, so twisted, that +if the sharp malady of life were still upon him the old man would +have shrieked and groaned, and the lines of his face would have +quivered with pain. The lines of his face were not moved, and the +old man lay still and heedless, so well cured of that tedious life- +ache, that nothing could hurt him now. His clay was ITSELF AGAIN-- +cool, firm, and tough. The pilgrim had found great rest. I threw +the accustomed handful of the holy soil upon his patient face, and +then, and in less than a minute, the earth closed coldly round him. + +I did not say "alas!" (nobody ever does that I know of, though the +word is so frequently written). I thought the old man had got +rather well out of the scrape of being alive, and poor. + +The destruction of the mere buildings in such a place as Jerusalem +would not involve the permanent dispersion of the inhabitants, for +the rocky neighbourhood in which the town is situate abounds in +caves, which would give an easy refuge to the people until they +gained an opportunity of rebuilding their dwellings; therefore I +could not help looking upon the Jews of Jerusalem as being in some +sort the representatives, if not the actual descendants, of the +rascals who crucified our Saviour. Supposing this to be the case, +I felt that there would be some interest in knowing how the events +of the Gospel history were regarded by the Israelites of modern +Jerusalem. The result of my inquiry upon this subject was, so far +as it went, entirely favourable to the truth of Christianity. I +understood that THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MIRACLES WAS NOT DOUBTED BY +ANY OF THE JEWS IN THE PLACE. All of them concurred in attributing +the works of our Lord to the influence of magic, but they were +divided as to the species of enchantment from which the power +proceeded. The great mass of the Jewish people believe, I fancy, +that the miracles had been wrought by aid of the powers of +darkness, but many, and those the more enlightened, would call +Jesus "the good Magician." To Europeans repudiating the notion of +all magic, good or bad, the opinion of the Jews as to the agency by +which the miracles were worked is a matter of no importance; but +the circumstance of their admitting that those miracles WERE IN +FACT PERFORMED, is certainly curious, and perhaps not quite +immaterial. + +If you stay in the Holy City long enough to fall into anything like +regular habits of amusement and occupation, and to become, in +short, for the time "a man about town" at Jerusalem, you will +necessarily lose the enthusiasm which you may have felt when you +trod the sacred soil for the first time, and it will then seem +almost strange to you to find yourself so entirely surrounded in +all your daily pursuits by the designs and sounds of religion. +Your hotel is a monastery, your rooms are cells, the landlord is a +stately abbot, and the waiters are hooded monks. If you walk out +of the town you find yourself on the Mount of Olives, or in the +Valley of Jehoshaphat, or on the Hill of Evil Counsel. If you +mount your horse and extend your rambles you will be guided to the +wilderness of St. John, or the birthplace of our Saviour. Your +club is the great Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where everybody +meets everybody every day. If you lounge through the town, your +Bond Street is the Via Dolorosa, and the object of your hopeless +affections is some maid or matron all forlorn, and sadly shrouded +in her pilgrim's robe. If you would hear music, it must be the +chanting of friars; if you look at pictures, you see virgins with +mis-fore-shortened arms, or devils out of drawing, or angels +tumbling up the skies in impious perspective. If you would make +any purchases, you must go again to the church doors, and when you +inquire for the manufactures of the place, you find that they +consist of double-blessed beads and sanctified shells. These last +are the favourite tokens which the pilgrims carry off with them. +The shell is graven, or rather scratched, on the white side with a +rude drawing of the Blessed Virgin or of the Crucifixion or some +other scriptural subject. Having passed this stage it goes into +the hands of a priest. By him it is subjected to some process for +rendering it efficacious against the schemes of our ghostly enemy. +The manufacture is then complete, and is deemed to be fit for use. + +The village of Bethlehem lies prettily couched on the slope of a +hill. The sanctuary is a subterranean grotto, and is committed to +the joint-guardianship of the Romans, Greeks, and Armenians, who +vie with each other in adorning it. Beneath an altar gorgeously +decorated, and lit with everlasting fires, there stands the low +slab of stone which marks the holy site of the Nativity; and near +to this is a hollow scooped out of the living rock. Here the +infant Jesus was laid. Near the spot of the Nativity is the rock +against which the Blessed Virgin was leaning when she presented her +babe to the adoring shepherds. + +Many of those Protestants who are accustomed to despise tradition +consider that this sanctuary is altogether unscriptural, that a +grotto is not a stable, and that mangers are made of wood. It is +perfectly true, however, that the many grottos and caves which are +found among the rocks of Judea were formerly used for the reception +of cattle. They are so used at this day. I have myself seen +grottos appropriated to this purpose. + +You know what a sad and sombre decorum it is that outwardly reigns +through the lands oppressed by Moslem sway. The Mahometans make +beauty their prisoner, and enforce such a stern and gloomy +morality, or at all events, such a frightfully close semblance of +it, that far and long the wearied traveller may go without catching +one glimpse of outward happiness. By a strange chance in these +latter days it happened that, alone of all the places in the land, +this Bethlehem, the native village of our Lord, escaped the moral +yoke of the Mussulmans, and heard again, after ages of dull +oppression, the cheering clatter of social freedom, and the voices +of laughing girls. It was after an insurrection, which had been +raised against the authority of Mehemet Ali, that Bethlehem was +freed from the hateful laws of Asiatic decorum. The Mussulmans of +the village had taken an active part in the movement, and when +Ibrahim had quelled it, his wrath was still so hot, that he put to +death every one of the few Mahometans of Bethlehem who had not +already fled. The effect produced upon the Christian inhabitants +by the sudden removal of this restraint was immense. The village +smiled once more. It is true that such sweet freedom could not +long endure. Even if the population of the place should continue +to be entirely Christian, the sad decorum of the Mussulmans, or +rather of the Asiatics, would sooner or later be restored by the +force of opinion and custom. But for a while the sunshine would +last, and when I was at Bethlehem, though long after the flight of +the Mussulmans, the cloud of Moslem propriety had not yet come back +to cast its cold shadow upon life. When you reach that gladsome +village, pray Heaven there still may be heard there the voice of +free, innocent girls. It will sound so dearly welcome! + +To a Christian, and thoroughbred Englishman, not even the +licentiousness which generally accompanies it can compensate for +the oppressiveness of that horrible outward decorum, which turns +the cities and the palaces of Asia into deserts and gaols. So, I +say, when you see and hear them, those romping girls of Bethlehem +will gladden your very soul. Distant at first, and then nearer and +nearer the timid flock will gather around you, with their large +burning eyes gravely fixed against yours, so that they see into +your brain; and if you imagine evil against them, they will know of +your ill thought before it is yet well born, and will fly and be +gone in the moment. But presently, if you will only look virtuous +enough to prevent alarm, and vicious enough to avoid looking silly, +the blithe maidens will draw nearer and nearer to you, and soon +there will be one, the bravest of the sisters, who will venture +right up to your side and touch the hem of your coat, in playful +defiance of the danger, and then the rest will follow the daring of +their youthful leader, and gather close round you, and hold a +shrill controversy on the wondrous formation that you call a hat, +and the cunning of the hands that clothed you with cloth so fine; +and then growing more profound in their researches, they will pass +from the study of your mere dress to a serious contemplation of +your stately height, and your nut-brown hair, and the ruddy glow of +your English cheeks. And if they catch a glimpse of your ungloved +fingers, then again will they make the air ring with their sweet +screams of wonder and amazement, as they compare the fairness of +your hand with their warmer tints, and even with the hues of your +own sunburnt face. Instantly the ringleader of the gentle rioters +imagines a new sin; with tremulous boldness she touches, then +grasps your hand, and smoothes it gently betwixt her own, and pries +curiously into its make and colour, as though it were silk of +Damascus, or shawl of Cashmere. And when they see you even then +still sage and gentle, the joyous girls will suddenly and +screamingly, and all at once, explain to each other that you are +surely quite harmless and innocent, a lion that makes no spring, a +bear that never hugs, and upon this faith, one after the other, +they will take your passive hand, and strive to explain it, and +make it a theme and a controversy. But the one, the fairest and +the sweetest of all, is yet the most timid; she shrinks from the +daring deeds of her play-mates, and seeks shelter behind their +sleeves, and strives to screen her glowing consciousness from the +eyes that look upon her. But her laughing sisters will have none +of this cowardice; they vow that the fair one SHALL be their +'complice, SHALL share their dangers, SHALL touch the hand of the +stranger; they seize her small wrist, and drag her forward by +force, and at last, whilst yet she strives to turn away, and to +cover up her whole soul under the folds of downcast eyelids, they +vanquish her utmost strength, they vanquish your utmost modesty, +and marry her hand to yours. The quick pulse springs from her +fingers, and throbs like a whisper upon your listening palm. For +an instant her large timid eyes are upon you; in an instant they +are shrouded again, and there comes a blush so burning, that the +frightened girls stay their shrill laughter, as though they had +played too perilously, and harmed their gentle sister. A moment, +and all with a sudden intelligence turn away and fly like deer, yet +soon again like deer they wheel round and return, and stand, and +gaze upon the danger, until they grow brave once more. + +"I regret to observe, that the removal of the moral restraint +imposed by the presence of the Mahometan inhabitants has led to a +certain degree of boisterous, though innocent, levity in the +bearing of the Christians, and more especially in the demeanour of +those who belong to the younger portion of the female population; +but I feel assured that a more thorough knowledge of the principles +of their own pure religion will speedily restore these young people +to habits of propriety, even more strict than those which were +imposed upon them by the authority of their Mahometan brethren." +Bah! thus you might chant, if you chose; but loving the truth, you +will not so disown sweet Bethlehem; you will not disown or +dissemble your right good hearty delight when you find, as though +in a desert, this gushing spring of fresh and joyous girlhood. + + + +CHAPTER XVII--THE DESERT + + + +Gaza is upon the verge of the Desert, to which it stands in the +same relation as a seaport to the sea. It is there that you +CHARTER your camels ("the ships of the Desert"), and lay in your +stores for the voyage. + +These preparations kept me in the town for some days. Disliking +restraint, I declined making myself the guest of the Governor (as +it is usual and proper to do), but took up my quarters at the +caravanserai, or "khan," as they call it in that part of Asia. + +Dthemetri had to make the arrangements for my journey, and in order +to arm himself with sufficient authority for doing all that was +required, he found it necessary to put himself in communication +with the Governor. The result of this diplomatic intercourse was +that the Governor, with his train of attendants, came to me one day +at my caravanserai, and formally complained that Dthemetri had +grossly insulted him. I was shocked at this, for the man was +always attentive and civil to me, and I was disgusted at the idea +of his having been rewarded with insult. Dthemetri was present +when the complaint was made, and I angrily asked him whether it was +true that he had really insulted the Governor, and what the deuce +he meant by it. This I asked with the full certainty that +Dthemetri, as a matter of course, would deny the charge, would +swear that a "wrong construction had been put upon his words, and +that nothing was further from his thoughts," &c. &c., after the +manner of the parliamentary people, but to my surprise he very +plainly answered that he certainly HAD insulted the Governor, and +that rather grossly, but, he said, it was quite necessary to do +this in order to "strike terror and inspire respect." "Terror and +respect! What on earth do you mean by that nonsense?"--"Yes, but +without striking terror and inspiring respect, he (Dthemetri) would +never be able to force on the arrangements for my journey, and +vossignoria would be kept at Gaza for a month!" This would have +been awkward, and certainly I could not deny that poor Dthemetri +had succeeded in his odd plan of inspiring respect, for at the very +time that this explanation was going on in Italian the Governor +seemed more than ever, and more anxiously, disposed to overwhelm me +with assurances of goodwill, and proffers of his best services. +All this kindness, or promise of kindness, I naturally received +with courtesy--a courtesy that greatly perturbed Dthemetri, for he +evidently feared that my civility would undo all the good that his +insults had achieved. + +You will find, I think, that one of the greatest draw-backs to the +pleasure of travelling in Asia is the being obliged, more or less, +to make your way by bullying. It is true that your own lips are +not soiled by the utterance of all the mean words that are spoken +for you, and that you don't even know of the sham threats, and the +false promises, and the vainglorious boasts, put forth by your +dragoman; but now and then there happens some incident of the sort +which I have just been mentioning, which forces you to believe, or +suspect, that your dragoman is habitually fighting your battles for +you in a way that you can hardly bear to think of. + +A caravanserai is not ill adapted to the purposes for which it is +meant. It forms the four sides of a large quadrangular court. The +ground floor is used for warehouses, the first floor for guests, +and the open court for the temporary reception of the camels, as +well as for the loading and unloading of their burthens, and the +transaction of mercantile business generally. The apartments used +for the guests are small cells opening into a corridor, which runs +round the four sides of the court. + +Whilst I lay near the opening of my cell looking down into the +court below, there arrived from the Desert a caravan, that is, a +large assemblage of travellers. It consisted chiefly of Moldavian +pilgrims, who to make their good work even more than complete had +begun by visiting the shrine of the Virgin in Egypt, and were now +going on to Jerusalem. They had been overtaken in the Desert by a +gale of wind, which so drove the sand and raised up such mountains +before them, that their journey had been terribly perplexed and +obstructed, and their provisions (including water, the most +precious of all) had been exhausted long before they reached the +end of their toilsome march. They were sadly wayworn. The arrival +of the caravan drew many and various groups into the court. There +was the Moldavian pilgrim with his sable dress and cap of fur and +heavy masses of bushy hair; the Turk, with his various and +brilliant garments; the Arab, superbly stalking under his striped +blanket, that hung like royalty upon his stately form; the jetty +Ethiopian in his slavish frock; the sleek, smooth-faced scribe with +his comely pelisse, and his silver ink-box stuck in like a dagger +at his girdle. And mingled with these were the camels, some +standing, some kneeling and being unladen, some twisting round +their long necks, and gently stealing the straw from out of their +own pack-saddles. + +In a couple of days I was ready to start. The way of providing for +the passage of the Desert is this: there is an agent in the town +who keeps himself in communication with some of the desert Arabs +that are hovering within a day's journey of the place. A party of +these upon being guaranteed against seizure or other ill-treatment +at the hands of the Governor come into the town, bringing with them +the number of camels which you require, and then they stipulate for +a certain sum to take you to the place of your destination in a +given time. The agreement which they thus enter into includes a +safe conduct through their country as well as the hire of the +camels. According to the contract made with me I was to reach +Cairo within ten days from the commencement of the journey. I had +four camels, one for my baggage, one for each of my servants, and +one for myself. Four Arabs, the owners of the camels, came with me +on foot. My stores were a small soldier's tent, two bags of dried +bread brought from the convent at Jerusalem, and a couple of +bottles of wine from the same source, two goat-skins filled with +water, tea, sugar, a cold tongue, and (of all things in the world) +a jar of Irish butter which Mysseri had purchased from some +merchant. There was also a small sack of charcoal, for the greater +part of the Desert through which we were to pass is destitute of +fuel. + +The camel kneels to receive her load, and for a while she will +allow the packing to go on with silent resignation; but when she +begins to suspect that her master is putting more than a just +burthen upon her poor hump she turns round her supple neck and +looks sadly upon the increasing load, and then gently remonstrates +against the wrong with the sigh of a patient wife. If sighs will +not move you, she can weep. You soon learn to pity, and soon to +love, her for the sake of her gentle and womanish ways. + +You cannot, of course, put an English or any other riding saddle +upon the back of the camel, but your quilt or carpet, or whatever +you carry for the purpose of lying on at night, is folded and +fastened on to the pack-saddle upon the top of the hump, and on +this you ride, or rather sit. You sit as a man sits on a chair +when he sits astride and faces the back of it. I made an +improvement on this plan. I had my English stirrups strapped on to +the cross-bars of the pack-saddle, and thus by gaining rest for my +dangling legs, and gaining too the power of varying my position +more easily than I could otherwise have done, I added very much to +my comfort. Don't forget to do as I did. + +The camel, like the elephant, is one of the old-fashioned sort of +animals that still walk along upon the (now nearly exploded) plan +of the ancient beasts that lived before the Flood. She moves +forward both her near legs at the same time, and then awkwardly +swings round her off shoulder and haunch so as to repeat the +manoeuvre on that side. Her pace, therefore, is an odd, disjointed +and disjoining, sort of movement that is rather disagreeable at +first, but you soon grow reconciled to it. The height to which you +are raised is of great advantage to you in passing the burning +sands of the Desert, for the air at such a distance from the ground +is much cooler and more lively than that which circulates beneath. + +For several miles beyond Gaza the land, which had been plentifully +watered by the rains of the last week, was covered with rich +verdure, and thickly jewelled with meadow flowers so fresh and +fragrant, that I began to grow almost uneasy, to fancy that the +very Desert was receding before me, and that the long-desired +adventure of passing its "burning sands" was to end in a mere ride +across a field. But as I advanced the true character of the +country began to display itself with sufficient clearness to dispel +my apprehensions, and before the close of my first day's journey I +had the gratification of finding that I was surrounded on all sides +by a tract of real sand, and had nothing at all to complain of +except that there peeped forth at intervals a few isolated blades +of grass, and many of those stunted shrubs which are the accustomed +food of the camel. + +Before sunset I came up with an encampment of Arabs (the encampment +from which my camels had been brought), and my tent was pitched +amongst theirs. I was now amongst the true Bedouins. Almost every +man of this race closely resembles his brethren. Almost every man +has large and finely-formed features; but his face is so thoroughly +stripped of flesh, and the white folds from his headgear fall down +by his haggard cheeks so much in the burial fashion, that he looks +quite sad and ghastly. His large dark orbs roll slowly and +solemnly over the white of his deep-set eyes; his countenance shows +painful thought and long-suffering, the suffering of one fallen +from a high estate. His gait is strangely majestic, and he marches +along with his simple blanket as though he were wearing the purple. +His common talk is a series of piercing screams and cries, {29} +more painful to the ear than the most excruciating fine music that +I ever endured. + +The Bedouin women are not treasured up like the wives and daughters +of other Orientals, and indeed they seemed almost entirely free +from the restraints imposed by jealousy. The feint which they made +of concealing their faces from me was always slight. They never, I +think, wore the yashmak properly fixed. When they first saw me +they used to hold up a part of their drapery with one hand across +their faces, but they seldom persevered very steadily in subjecting +me to this privation. Unhappy beings! they were sadly plain. The +awful haggardness that gave something of character to the faces of +the men was sheer ugliness in the poor women. It is a great shame, +but the truth is that, except when we refer to the beautiful +devotion of the mother to her child, all the fine things we say and +think about woman apply only to those who are tolerably good- +looking or graceful. These Arab women were so plain and clumsy, +that they seemed to me to be fit for nothing but another and a +better world. They may have been good women enough so far as +relates to the exercise of the minor virtues, but they had so +grossly neglected the prime duty of looking pretty in this +transitory life, that I could not at all forgive them. They seemed +to feel the weight of their guilt, and to be truly and humbly +penitent. I had the complete command of their affections, for at +any moment I could make their young hearts bound and their old +hearts jump by offering a handful of tobacco, and yet, believe me, +it was not in the first soiree that my store of Latakia was +exhausted. + +The Bedouin women have no religion. This is partly the cause of +their clumsiness. Perhaps if from Christian girls they would learn +how to pray, their souls might become more gentle, and their limbs +be clothed with grace. You who are going into their country have a +direct personal interest in knowing something about "Arab +hospitality"; but the deuce of it is, that the poor fellows with +whom I have happened to pitch my tent were scarcely ever in a +condition to exercise that magnanimous virtue with much eclat. +Indeed, Mysseri's canteen generally enabled me to outdo my hosts in +the matter of entertainment. They were always courteous, however, +and were never backward in offering me the youart, a kind of whey, +which is the principal delicacy to be found amongst the wandering +tribes. + +Practically, I think, Childe Harold would have found it a dreadful +bore to make "the Desert his dwelling-place," for at all events, if +he adopted the life of the Arabs he would have tasted no solitude. +The tents are partitioned, not so as to divide the Childe and the +"fair spirit" who is his "minister" from the rest of the world, but +so as to separate the twenty or thirty brown men that sit screaming +in the one compartment from the fifty or sixty brown women and +children that scream and squeak in the other. If you adopt the +Arab life for the sake of seclusion you will be horribly +disappointed, for you will find yourself in perpetual contact with +a mass of hot fellow-creatures. It is true that all who are +inmates of the same tent are related to each other, but I am not +quite sure that that circumstance adds much to the charm of such a +life. At all events, before you finally determine to become an +Arab try a gentle experiment. Take one of those small, shabby +houses in May Fair, and shut yourself up in it with forty or fifty +shrill cousins for a couple of weeks in July. + +In passing the Desert you will find your Arabs wanting to start and +to rest at all sorts of odd times. They like, for instance, to be +off at one in the morning, and to rest during the whole of the +afternoon. You must not give way to their wishes in this respect. +I tried their plan once, and found it very harassing and +unwholesome. An ordinary tent can give you very little protection +against heat, for the fire strikes fiercely through single canvas, +and you soon find that whilst you lie crouching and striving to +hide yourself from the blazing face of the sun, his power is harder +to bear than it is where you boldly defy him from the airy heights +of your camel. + +It had been arranged with my Arabs that they were to bring with +them all the food which they would want for themselves during the +passage of the Desert, but as we rested at the end of the first +day's journey by the side of an Arab encampment, my camel men found +all that they required for that night in the tents of their own +brethren. On the evening of the second day, however, just before +we encamped for the night, my four Arabs came to Dthemetri, and +formally announced that they had not brought with them one atom of +food, and that they looked entirely to my supplies for their daily +bread. This was awkward intelligence. We were now just two days +deep in the Desert, and I had brought with me no more bread than +might be reasonably required for myself and my European attendants. +I believed at the moment (for it seemed likely enough) that the men +had really mistaken the terms of the arrangement, and feeling that +the bore of being put upon half-rations would be a less evil (and +even to myself a less inconvenience) than the starvation of my +Arabs, I at once told Dthemetri to assure them that my bread should +be equally shared with all. Dthemetri, however, did not approve of +this concession; he assured me quite positively that the Arabs +thoroughly understood the agreement, and that if they were now +without food they had wilfully brought themselves into this strait +for the wretched purpose of bettering their bargain by the value of +a few paras' worth of bread. This suggestion made me look at the +affair in a new light. I should have been glad enough to put up +with the slight privation to which my concession would subject me, +and could have borne to witness the semi-starvation of poor +Dthemetri with a fine, philosophical calm, but it seemed to me that +the scheme, if scheme it were, had something of audacity in it, and +was well enough calculated to try the extent of my softness. I +well knew the danger of allowing such a trial to result in a +conclusion that I was one who might be easily managed; and +therefore, after thoroughly satisfying myself from Dthemetri's +clear and repeated assertions that the Arabs had really understood +the arrangement, I determined that they should not now violate it +by taking advantage of my position in the midst of their big +Desert, so I desired Dthemetri to tell them that they should touch +no bread of mine. We stopped, and the tent was pitched. The Arabs +came to me, and prayed loudly for bread. I refused them. + +"Then we die!" + +"God's will be done!" + +I gave the Arabs to understand that I regretted their perishing by +hunger, but that I should bear this calmly, like any other +misfortune not my own, that, in short, I was happily resigned to +THEIR fate. The men would have talked a great deal, but they were +under the disadvantage of addressing me through a hostile +interpreter; they looked hard upon my face, but they found no hope +there; so at last they retired as they pretended, to lay them down +and die. + +In about ten minutes from this time I found that the Arabs were +busily cooking their bread! Their pretence of having brought no +food was false, and was only invented for the purpose of saving it. +They had a good bag of meal, which they had contrived to stow away +under the baggage upon one of the camels in such a way as to escape +notice. In Europe the detection of a scheme like this would have +occasioned a disagreeable feeling between the master and the +delinquent, but you would no more recoil from an Oriental on +account of a matter of this sort, than in England you would reject +a horse that had tried, and failed, to throw you. Indeed, I felt +quite good-humouredly towards my Arabs, because they had so +woefully failed in their wretched attempt, and because, as it +turned out, I had done what was right. They too, poor fellows, +evidently began to like me immensely, on account of the hard- +heartedness which had enabled me to baffle their scheme. + +The Arabs adhere to those ancestral principles of bread-baking +which have been sanctioned by the experience of ages. The very +first baker of bread that ever lived must have done his work +exactly as the Arab does at this day. He takes some meal and holds +it out in the hollow of his hands, whilst his comrade pours over it +a few drops of water; he then mashes up the moistened flour into a +paste, which he pulls into small pieces, and thrusts into the +embers. His way of baking exactly resembles the craft or mystery +of roasting chestnuts as practised by children; there is the same +prudence and circumspection in choosing a good berth for the +morsel, the same enterprise and self-sacrificing valour in pulling +it out with the fingers. + +The manner of my daily march was this. At about an hour before +dawn I rose and made the most of about a pint of water, which I +allowed myself for washing. Then I breakfasted upon tea and bread. +As soon as the beasts were loaded I mounted my camel and pressed +forward. My poor Arabs, being on foot, would sometimes moan with +fatigue and pray for rest; but I was anxious to enable them to +perform their contract for bringing me to Cairo within the +stipulated time, and I did not therefore allow a halt until the +evening came. About midday, or soon after, Mysseri used to bring +up his camel alongside of mine, and supply me with a piece of bread +softened in water (for it was dried hard like board), and also (as +long as it lasted) with a piece of the tongue; after this there +came into my hand (how well I remember it) the little tin cup half- +filled with wine and water. + +As long as you are journeying in the interior of the Desert you +have no particular point to make for as your resting-place. The +endless sands yield nothing but small stunted shrubs; even these +fail after the first two or three days, and from that time you pass +over broad plains, you pass over newly-reared hills, you pass +through valleys that the storm of the last week has dug, and the +hills and the valleys are sand, sand, sand, still sand, and only +sand, and sand and sand again. The earth is so samely that your +eyes turn towards heaven--towards heaven, I mean, in the sense of +sky. You look to the sun, for he is your task-master, and by him +you know the measure of the work that you have done, and the +measure of the work that remains for you to do. He comes when you +strike your tent in the early morning, and then, for the first hour +of the day as you move forward on your camel, he stands at your +near side and makes you know that the whole day's toil is before +you; then for a while, and a long while, you see him no more, for +you are veiled and shrouded, and dare not look upon the greatness +of his glory, but you know where he strides overhead by the touch +of his flaming sword. No words are spoken, but your Arabs moan, +your camels sigh, your skin glows, your shoulders ache, and for +sights you see the pattern and the web of the silk that veils your +eyes and the glare of the outer light. Time labours on; your skin +glows and your shoulders ache, your Arabs moan, your camels sigh, +and you see the same pattern in the silk, and the same glare of +light beyond, but conquering Time marches on, and by-and-by the +descending sun has compassed the heaven, and now softly touches +your right arm, and throws your lank shadow over the sand right +along on the way to Persia. Then again you look upon his face, for +his power is all veiled in his beauty, and the redness of flames +has become the redness of roses; the fair, wavy cloud that fled in +the morning now comes to his sight once more, comes blushing, yet +still comes on, comes burning with blushes, yet hastens and clings +to his side. + +Then arrives your time for resting. The world about you is all +your own, and there, where you will, you pitch your solitary tent; +there is no living thing to dispute your choice. When at last the +spot had been fixed upon and we came to a halt, one of the Arabs +would touch the chest of my camel and utter at the same time a +peculiar gurgling sound. The beast instantly understood and obeyed +the sign, and slowly sunk under me till she brought her body to a +level with the ground, then gladly enough I alighted. The rest of +the camels were unloaded and turned loose to browse upon the shrubs +of the desert, where shrubs there were, or where these failed, to +wait for the small quantity of food that was allowed them out of +our stores. + +My servants, helped by the Arabs, busied themselves in pitching the +tent and kindling the fire. Whilst this was doing I used to walk +away towards the east, confiding in the print of my foot as a guide +for my return. Apart from the cheering voices of my attendants I +could better know and feel the loneliness of the Desert. The +influence of such scenes, however, was not of a softening kind, but +filled me rather with a sort of childish exultation in the self- +sufficiency which enabled me to stand thus alone in the wideness of +Asia--a short-lived pride, for wherever man wanders he still +remains tethered by the chain that links him to his kind; and so +when the night closed around me I began to return, to return, as it +were, to my own gate. Reaching at last some high ground I could +see, and see with delight, the fire of our small encampment, and +when at last I regained the spot it seemed to me a very home that +had sprung up for me in the midst of these solitudes. My Arabs +were busy with their bread; Mysseri rattling tea-cups; the little +kettle, with her odd old-maidish looks, sat humming away old songs +about England; and two or three yards from the fire my tent stood +prim and tight, with open portal, and with welcoming look, like +"the old arm-chair" of our lyrist's "sweet Lady Anne." + +At the beginning of my journey the night breeze blew coldly; when +that happened, the dry sand was heaped up outside round the skirts +of the tent, and so the wind, that everywhere else could sweep as +he listed along those dreary plains, was forced to turn aside in +his course and make way, as he ought, for the Englishman. Then +within my tent there were heaps of luxuries--dining-rooms, +dressing-rooms, libraries, bedrooms, drawing-rooms, oratories, all +crowded into the space of a hearthrug. The first night, I +remember, with my books and maps about me, I wanted light; they +brought me a taper, and immediately from out of the silent Desert +there rushed in a flood of life unseen before. Monsters of moths, +of all shapes and hues, that never before perhaps had looked upon +the shining of a flame, now madly thronged into my tent, and dashed +through the fire of the candle till they fairly extinguished it +with their burning limbs. Those who had failed in attaining this +martyrdom suddenly became serious, and clung despondingly to the +canvas. + +By-and-by there was brought to me the fragrant tea and big masses +of scorched and scorching toast, and the butter that had come all +the way to me in this Desert of Asia from out of that poor, dear, +starving Ireland. I feasted like a king, like four kings, like a +boy in the fourth form. + +When the cold, sullen morning dawned, and my people began to load +the camels, I always felt loth to give back to the waste this +little spot of ground that had glowed for a while with the +cheerfulness of a human dwelling. One by one the cloaks, the +saddles, the baggage, the hundred things that strewed the ground +and made it look so familiar--all these were taken away and laid +upon the camels. A speck in the broad tracts of Asia remained +still impressed with the mark of patent portmanteaus and the heels +of London boots; the embers of the fire lay black and cold upon the +sand, and these were the signs we left. + +My tent was spared to the last, but when all else was ready for the +start then came its fall; the pegs were drawn, the canvas shivered, +and in less than a minute there was nothing that remained of my +genial home but only a pole and a bundle. The encroaching +Englishman was off, and instant upon the fall of the canvas, like +an owner who had waited and watched, the genius of the Desert +stalked in. + +To servants, as I suppose of any other Europeans not much +accustomed to amuse themselves by fancy or memory, it often happens +that after a few days journeying the loneliness of the Desert will +become frightfully oppressive. Upon my poor fellows the access of +melancholy came heavy, and all at once, as a blow from above; they +bent their necks, and bore it as best they could, but their joy was +great on the fifth day when we came to an oasis called Gatieh, for +here we found encamped a caravan (that is, an assemblage of +travellers) from Cairo. The Orientals living in cities never pass +the Desert except in this way; many will wait for weeks, and even +for months, until a sufficient number of persons can be found ready +to undertake the journey at the same time--until the flock of sheep +is big enough to fancy itself a match for wolves. They could not, +I think, really secure themselves against any serious danger by +this contrivance, for though they have arms, they are so little +accustomed to use them, and so utterly unorganised, that they never +could make good their resistance to robbers of the slightest +respectability. It is not of the Bedouins that such travellers are +afraid, for the safe conduct granted by the chief of the ruling +tribe is never, I believe, violated, but it is said that there are +deserters and scamps of various sorts who hover about the skirts of +the Desert, particularly on the Cairo side, and are anxious to +succeed to the property of any poor devils whom they may find more +weak and defenceless than themselves. + +These people from Cairo professed to be amazed at the ludicrous +disproportion between their numerical forces and mine. They could +not understand, and they wanted to know, by what strange privilege +it is that an Englishman with a brace of pistols and a couple of +servants rides safely across the Desert, whilst they, the natives +of the neighbouring cities, are forced to travel in troops, or +rather in herds. One of them got a few minutes of private +conversation with Dthemetri, and ventured to ask him anxiously +whether the English did not travel under the protection of evil +demons. I had previously known (from Methley, I think, who had +travelled in Persia) that this notion, so conducive to the safety +of our countrymen, is generally prevalent amongst Orientals. It +owes its origin, partly to the strong wilfulness of the English +gentleman (which not being backed by any visible authority, either +civil or military, seems perfectly superhuman to the soft Asiatic), +but partly too to the magic of the banking system, by force of +which the wealthy traveller will make all his journeys without +carrying a handful of coin, and yet when he arrives at a city will +rain down showers of gold. The theory is, that the English +traveller has committed some sin against God and his conscience, +and that for this the evil spirit has hold of him, and drives him +from his home like a victim of the old Grecian furies, and forces +him to travel over countries far and strange, and most chiefly over +deserts and desolate places, and to stand upon the sites of cities +that once were and are now no more, and to grope among the tombs of +dead men. Often enough there is something of truth in this notion; +often enough the wandering Englishman is guilty (if guilt it be) of +some pride or ambition, big or small, imperial or parochial, which +being offended has made the lone place more tolerable than +ballrooms to him, a sinner. + +I can understand the sort of amazement of the Orientals at the +scantiness of the retinue with which an Englishman passes the +Desert, for I was somewhat struck myself when I saw one of my +countrymen making his way across the wilderness in this simple +style. At first there was a mere moving speck on the horizon. My +party of course became all alive with excitement, and there were +many surmises. Soon it appeared that three laden camels were +approaching, and that two of them carried riders. In a little +while we saw that one of the riders wore the European dress, and at +last the travellers were pronounced to be an English gentleman and +his servant. By their side there were a couple, I think, of Arabs +on foot, and this was the whole party. + +You, you love sailing; in returning from a cruise to the English +coast you see often enough a fisherman's humble boat far away from +all shores, with an ugly black sky above and an angry sea beneath. +You watch the grizzly old man at the helm carrying his craft with +strange skill through the turmoil of waters, and the boy, supple- +limbed, yet weather-worn already, and with steady eyes that look +through the blast, you see him understanding commandments from the +jerk of his father's white eyebrow, now belaying and now letting +go, now scrunching himself down into mere ballast, or baling out +death with a pipkin. Stale enough is the sight, and yet when I see +it I always stare anew, and with a kind of Titanic exultation, +because that a poor boat with the brain of a man and the hands of a +boy on board can match herself so bravely against black heaven and +ocean. Well, so when you have travelled for days and days over an +Eastern desert without meeting the likeness of a human being, and +then at last see an English shooting-jacket and his servant come +listlessly slouching along from out of the forward horizon, you +stare at the wide unproportion between this slender company and the +boundless plains of sand through which they are keeping their way. + +This Englishman, as I afterwards found, was a military man +returning to his country from India, and crossing the Desert at +this part in order to go through Palestine. As for me, I had come +pretty straight from England, and so here we met in the wilderness +at about half-way from our respective starting-points. As we +approached each other it became with me a question whether we +should speak. I thought it likely that the stranger would accost +me, and in the event of his doing so I was quite ready to be as +sociable and chatty as I could be according to my nature; but still +I could not think of anything particular that I had to say to him. +Of course, among civilised people the not having anything to say is +no excuse at all for not speaking, but I was shy and indolent, and +I felt no great wish to stop and talk like a morning visitor in the +midst of those broad solitudes. The traveller perhaps felt as I +did, for except that we lifted our hands to our caps and waved our +arms in courtesy, we passed each other as if we had passed in Bond +Street. Our attendants, however, were not to be cheated of the +delight that they felt in speaking to new listeners and hearing +fresh voices once more. The masters, therefore, had no sooner +passed each other than their respective servants quietly stopped +and entered into conversation. As soon as my camel found that her +companions were not following her she caught the social feeling and +refused to go on. I felt the absurdity of the situation, and +determined to accost the stranger if only to avoid the awkwardness +of remaining stuck fast in the Desert whilst our servants were +amusing themselves. When with this intent I turned round my camel +I found that the gallant officer who had passed me by about thirty +or forty yards was exactly in the same predicament as myself. I +put my now willing camel in motion and rode up towards the +stranger, who seeing this followed my example and came forward to +meet me. He was the first to speak. He was much too courteous to +address me as if he admitted the possibility of my wishing to +accost him from any feeling of mere sociability or civilian-like +love of vain talk. On the contrary, he at once attributed my +advances to a laudable wish of acquiring statistical information, +and accordingly, when we got within speaking distance, he said, "I +dare say you wish to know how the plague is going on at Cairo?" +And then he went on to say, he regretted that his information did +not enable him to give me in numbers a perfectly accurate statement +of the daily deaths. He afterwards talked pleasantly enough upon +other and less ghastly subjects. I thought him manly and +intelligent, a worthy one of the few thousand strong Englishmen to +whom the empire of India is committed. + +The night after the meeting with the people of the caravan, +Dthemetri, alarmed by their warnings, took upon himself to keep +watch all night in the tent. No robbers came except a jackal, that +poked his nose into my tent from some motive of rational curiosity. +Dthemetri did not shoot him for fear of waking me. These brutes +swarm in every part of Syria, and there were many of them even in +the midst of the void sands, that would seem to give such poor +promise of food. I can hardly tell what prey they could be hoping +for, unless it were that they might find now and then the carcass +of some camel that had died on the journey. They do not marshal +themselves into great packs like the wild dogs of Eastern cities, +but follow their prey in families, like the place-hunters of +Europe. Their voices are frightfully like to the shouts and cries +of human beings. If you lie awake in your tent at night you are +almost continually hearing some hungry family as it sweeps along in +full cry. You hear the exulting scream with which the sagacious +dam first winds the carrion, and the shrill response of the +unanimous cubs as they sniff the tainted air, "Wha! wha! wha! wha! +wha! wha! Whose gift is it in, mamma?" + +Once during this passage my Arabs lost their way among the hills of +loose sand that surrounded us, but after a while we were lucky +enough to recover our right line of march. The same day we fell in +with a Sheik, the head of a family, that actually dwells at no +great distance from this part of the Desert during nine months of +the year. The man carried a matchlock, of which he was very proud. +We stopped and sat down and rested awhile for the sake of a little +talk. There was much that I should have liked to ask this man, but +he could not understand Dthemetri's language, and the process of +getting at his knowledge by double interpretation through my Arabs +was unsatisfactory. I discovered, however (and my Arabs knew of +that fact), that this man and his family lived habitually for nine +months of the year without touching or seeing either bread or +water. The stunted shrub growing at intervals through the sand in +this part of the Desert enables the camel mares to yield a little +milk, which furnishes the sole food and drink of their owner and +his people. During the other three months (the hottest of the +months, I suppose) even this resource fails, and then the Sheik and +his people are forced to pass into another district. You would ask +me why the man should not remain always in that district which +supplies him with water during three months of the year, but I +don't know enough of Arab politics to answer the question. The +Sheik was not a good specimen of the effect produced by the diet to +which he is subjected. He was very small, very spare, and sadly +shrivelled, a poor, over-roasted snipe, a mere cinder of a man. I +made him sit down by my side, and gave him a piece of bread and a +cup of water from out of my goat-skins. This was not very tempting +drink to look at, for it had become turbid, and was deeply reddened +by some colouring matter contained in the skins, but it kept its +sweetness, and tasted like a strong decoction of russia leather. +The Sheik sipped this, drop by drop, with ineffable relish, and +rolled his eyes solemnly round between every draught, as though the +drink were the drink of the Prophet, and had come from the seventh +heaven. + +An inquiry about distances led to the discovery that this Sheik had +never heard of the division of time into hours; my Arabs +themselves, I think, were rather surprised at this. + +About this part of my journey I saw the likeness of a fresh-water +lake. I saw, as it seemed, a broad sheet of calm water, that +stretched far and fair towards the south, stretching deep into +winding creeks, and hemmed in by jutting promontories, and shelving +smooth off towards the shallow side. On its bosom the reflected +fire of the sun lay playing, and seeming to float upon waters deep +and still. + +Though I knew of the cheat, it was not till the spongy foot of my +camel had almost trodden in the seeming waters that I could +undeceive my eyes, for the shore-line was quite true and natural. +I soon saw the cause of the phantasm. A sheet of water heavily +impregnated with salts had filled this great hollow, and when dried +up by evaporation had left a white saline deposit, that exactly +marked the space which the waters had covered, and thus sketched a +good shore-line. The minute crystals of the salt sparkled in the +sun, and so looked like the face of a lake that is calm and smooth. + +The pace of the camel is irksome, and makes your shoulders and +loins ache from the peculiar way in which you are obliged to suit +yourself to the movements of the beast, but you soon of course +become inured to this, and after the first two days this way of +travelling became so familiar to me, that (poor sleeper as I am) I +now and then slumbered for some moments together on the back of my +camel. On the fifth day of my journey the air above lay dead, and +all the whole earth that I could reach with my utmost sight and +keenest listening was still and lifeless as some dispeopled and +forgotten world that rolls round and round in the heavens through +wasted floods of light. The sun growing fiercer and fiercer shone +down more mightily now than ever on me he shone before, and as I +dropped my head under his fire, and closed my eyes against the +glare that surrounded me, I slowly fell asleep, for how many +minutes or moments I cannot tell, but after a while I was gently +awakened by a peal of church bells, my native bells, the innocent +bells of Marlen, that never before sent forth their music beyond +the Blaygon hills! My first idea naturally was, that I still +remained fast under the power of a dream. I roused myself and drew +aside the silk that covered my eyes, and plunged my bare face into +the light. Then at least I was well enough wakened, but still +those old Marlen bells rung on, not ringing for joy, but properly, +prosily, steadily, merrily ringing "for church." After a while the +sound died away slowly. It happened that neither I nor any of my +party had a watch by which to measure the exact time of its +lasting, but it seemed to me that about ten minutes had passed +before the bells ceased. I attributed the effect to the great heat +of the sun, the perfect dryness of the clear air through which I +moved, and the deep stillness of all around me. It seemed to me +that these causes, by occasioning a great tension, and consequent +susceptibility, of the hearing organs had rendered them liable to +tingle under the passing touch of some mere memory that must have +swept across my brain in a moment of sleep. Since my return to +England it has been told me that like sounds have been heard at +sea, and that the sailor becalmed under a vertical sun in the midst +of the wide ocean has listened in trembling wonder to the chime of +his own village bells. + +At this time I kept a poor shabby pretence of a journal, which just +enabled me to know the day of the month and the week according to +the European calendar, and when in my tent at night I got out my +pocket-book I found that the day was Sunday, and roughly allowing +for the difference of time in this longitude, I concluded that at +the moment of my hearing that strange peal the church-going bells +of Marlen must have been actually calling the prim congregation of +the parish to morning prayer. The coincidence amused me faintly, +but I could not pluck up the least hope that the effect which I had +experienced was anything other than an illusion, an illusion liable +to be explained (as every illusion is in these days) by some of the +philosophers who guess at Nature's riddles. It would have been +sweeter to believe that my kneeling mother by some pious +enchantment had asked, and found, this spell to rouse me from my +scandalous forgetfulness of God's holy day, but my fancy was too +weak to carry a faith like that. Indeed, the vale through which +the bells of Marlen send their song is a highly respectable vale, +and its people (save one, two, or three) are wholly unaddicted to +the practice of magical arts. + +After the fifth day of my journey I no longer travelled over +shifting hills, but came upon a dead level, a dead level bed of +sand, quite hard, and studded with small shining pebbles. + +The heat grew fierce; there was no valley nor hollow, no hill, no +mound, no shadow of hill nor of mound, by which I could mark the +way I was making. Hour by hour I advanced, and saw no change--I +was still the very centre of a round horizon; hour by hour I +advanced, and still there was the same, and the same, and the same- +-the same circle of flaming sky--the same circle of sand still +glaring with light and fire. Over all the heaven above, over all +the earth beneath, there was no visible power that could balk the +fierce will of the sun: "he rejoiced as a strong man to run a +race; his going forth was from the end of the heaven, and his +circuit unto the ends of it; and there was nothing hid from the +heat thereof." From pole to pole, and from the east to the west, +he brandished his fiery sceptre as though he had usurped all heaven +and earth. As he bid the soft Persian in ancient times, so now, +and fiercely too, he bid me bow down and worship him; so now in his +pride he seemed to command me, and say, "Thou shalt have none other +gods but me." I was all alone before him. There were these two +pitted together, and face to face--the mighty sun for one, and for +the other this poor, pale, solitary self of mine, that I always +carry about with me. + +But on the eighth day, and before I had yet turned away from +Jehovah for the glittering god of the Persians, there appeared a +dark line upon the edge of the forward horizon, and soon the line +deepened into a delicate fringe, that sparkled here and there as +though it were sewn with diamonds. There, then, before me were the +gardens and the minarets of Egypt and the mighty works of the Nile, +and I (the eternal Ego that I am!)--I had lived to see, and I saw +them. + +When evening came I was still within the confines of the Desert, +and my tent was pitched as usual; but one of my Arabs stalked away +rapidly towards the west, without telling me of the errand on which +he was bent. After a while he returned; he had toiled on a +graceful service; he had travelled all the way on to the border of +the living world, and brought me back for token an ear of rice, +full, fresh, and green. + +The next day I entered upon Egypt, and floated along (for the +delight was as the delight of bathing) through green wavy fields of +rice, and pastures fresh and plentiful, and dived into the cold +verdure of groves and gardens, and quenched my hot eyes in shade, +as though in deep, rushing waters. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII--CAIRO AND THE PLAGUE {30} + + + +Cairo and plague! During the whole time of my stay the plague was +so master of the city, and showed itself so staringly in every +street and every alley, that I can't now affect to dissociate the +two ideas. + +When coming from the Desert I rode through a village which lies +near to the city on the eastern side, there approached me with busy +face and earnest gestures a personage in the Turkish dress. His +long flowing beard gave him rather a majestic look, but his +briskness of manner, and his visible anxiety to accost me, seemed +strange in an Oriental. The man in fact was French, or of French +origin, and his object was to warn me of the plague, and prevent me +from entering the city. + +"Arretez-vous, monsieur, je vous en prie--arretez-vous; il ne faut +pas entrer dans la ville; la peste y regne partout." + +"Oui, je sais,{31} mais--" + +"Mais monsieur, je dis la peste--la peste; c'est de LA PESTE, qu'il +est question." + +"Oui, je sais, mais--" + +"Mais monsieur, je dis encore LA PESTE--LA PESTE. Je vous conjure +de ne pas entrer dans la ville--vous seriez dans une ville +empestee." + +"Oui, je sais, mais--" + +"Mais monsieur, je dois donc vous avertir tout bonnement que si +vous entrez dans la ville, vous serez--enfin vous serez COMPROMIS!" +{32} + +"Oui, je sais, mais--" + + The Frenchman was at last convinced that it was vain to reason +with a mere Englishman, who could not understand what it was to be +"compromised." I thanked him most sincerely for his kindly meant +warning; in hot countries it is very unusual indeed for a man to go +out in the glare of the sun and give free advice to a stranger. + +When I arrived at Cairo I summoned Osman Effendi, who was, as I +knew, the owner of several houses, and would be able to provide me +with apartments. He had no difficulty in doing this, for there was +not one European traveller in Cairo besides myself. Poor Osman! he +met me with a sorrowful countenance, for the fear of the plague sat +heavily on his soul. He seemed as if he felt that he was doing +wrong in lending me a resting-place, and he betrayed such a +listlessness about temporal matters, as one might look for in a man +who believed that his days were numbered. He caught me too soon +after my arrival coming out from the public baths, {33} and from +that time forward he was sadly afraid of me, for he shared the +opinions of Europeans with respect to the effect of contagion. + +Osman's history is a curious one. He was a Scotchman born, and +when very young, being then a drummer-boy, he landed in Egypt with +Fraser's force. He was taken prisoner, and according to Mahometan +custom, the alternative of death or the Koran was offered to him; +he did not choose death, and therefore went through the ceremonies +which were necessary for turning him into a good Mahometan. But +what amused me most in his history was this, that very soon after +having embraced Islam he was obliged in practice to become curious +and discriminating in his new faith, to make war upon Mahometan +dissenters, and follow the orthodox standard of the Prophet in +fierce campaigns against the Wahabees, who are the Unitarians of +the Mussulman world. The Wahabees were crushed, and Osman +returning home in triumph from his holy wars, began to flourish in +the world. He acquired property, and became effendi, or gentleman. +At the time of my visit to Cairo he seemed to be much respected by +his brother Mahometans, and gave pledge of his sincere alienation +from Christianity by keeping a couple of wives. He affected the +same sort of reserve in mentioning them as is generally shown by +Orientals. He invited me, indeed, to see his harem, but he made +both his wives bundle out before I was admitted. He felt, as it +seemed to me, that neither of them would bear criticism, and I +think that this idea, rather than any motive of sincere jealousy, +induced him to keep them out of sight. The rooms of the harem +reminded me of an English nursery rather than of a Mahometan +paradise. One is apt to judge of a woman before one sees her by +the air of elegance or coarseness with which she surrounds her +home; I judged Osman's wives by this test, and condemned them both. +But the strangest feature in Osman's character was his +inextinguishable nationality. In vain they had brought him over +the seas in early boyhood; in vain had he suffered captivity, +conversion, circumcision; in vain they had passed him through fire +in their Arabian campaigns, they could not cut away or burn out +poor Osman's inborn love of all that was Scotch; in vain men called +him Effendi; in vain he swept along in eastern robes; in vain the +rival wives adorned his harem: the joy of his heart still plainly +lay in this, that he had three shelves of books, and that the books +were thoroughbred Scotch--the Edinburgh this, the Edinburgh that, +and above all, I recollect, he prided himself upon the "Edinburgh +Cabinet Library." + +The fear of the plague is its forerunner. It is likely enough that +at the time of my seeing poor Osman the deadly taint was beginning +to creep through his veins, but it was not till after I had left +Cairo that he was visibly stricken. He died. + +As soon as I had seen all that I wanted to see in Cairo and in the +neighbourhood I wished to make my escape from a city that lay under +the terrible curse of the plague, but Mysseri fell ill, in +consequence, I believe, of the hardships which he had been +suffering in my service. After a while he recovered sufficiently +to undertake a journey, but then there was some difficulty in +procuring beasts of burthen, and it was not till the nineteenth day +of my sojourn that I quitted the city. + +During all this time the power of the plague was rapidly +increasing. When I first arrived, it was said that the daily +number of "accidents" by plague, out of a population of about two +hundred thousand, did not exceed four or five hundred, but before I +went away the deaths were reckoned at twelve hundred a day. I had +no means of knowing whether the numbers (given out, as I believe +they were, by officials) were at all correct, but I could not help +knowing that from day to day the number of the dead was increasing. +My quarters were in a street which was one of the chief +thoroughfares of the city. The funerals in Cairo take place +between daybreak and noon, and as I was generally in my rooms +during this part of the day, I could form some opinion as to the +briskness of the plague. I don't mean this for a sly insinuation +that I got up every morning with the sun. It was not so; but the +funerals of most people in decent circumstances at Cairo are +attended by singers and howlers, and the performances of these +people woke me in the early morning, and prevented me from +remaining in ignorance of what was going on in the street below. + +These funerals were very simply conducted. The bier was a shallow +wooden tray, carried upon a light and weak wooden frame. The tray +had, in general, no lid, but the body was more or less hidden from +view by a shawl or scarf. The whole was borne upon the shoulders +of men, who contrived to cut along with their burthen at a great +pace. Two or three singers generally preceded the bier; the +howlers (who are paid for their vocal labours) followed after, and +last of all came such of the dead man's friends and relations as +could keep up with such a rapid procession; these, especially the +women, would get terribly blown, and would straggle back into the +rear; many were fairly "beaten off." I never observed any +appearance of mourning in the mourners: the pace was too severe +for any solemn affectation of grief. + +When first I arrived at Cairo the funerals that daily passed under +my windows were many, but still there were frequent and long +intervals without a single howl. Every day, however (except one, +when I fancied that I observed a diminution of funerals), these +intervals became less frequent and shorter, and at last, the +passing of the howlers from morn till noon was almost incessant. I +believe that about one-half of the whole people was carried off by +this visitation. The Orientals, however, have more quiet fortitude +than Europeans under afflictions of this sort, and they never allow +the plague to interfere with their religious usages. I rode one +day round the great burial-ground. The tombs are strewed over a +great expanse, among the vast mountains of rubbish (the +accumulations of many centuries) which surround the city. The +ground, unlike the Turkish "cities of the dead," which are made so +beautiful by their dark cypresses, has nothing to sweeten +melancholy, nothing to mitigate the odiousness of death. +Carnivorous beasts and birds possess the place by night, and now in +the fair morning it was all alive with fresh comers--alive with +dead. Yet at this very time, when the plague was raging so +furiously, and on this very ground, which resounded so mournfully +with the howls of arriving funerals, preparations were going on for +the religious festival called the Kourban Bairam. Tents were +pitched, and SWINGS HUNG FOR THE AMUSEMENT OF CHILDREN--a ghastly +holiday; but the Mahometans take a pride, and a just pride, in +following their ancient customs undisturbed by the shadow of death. + +I did not hear, whilst I was at Cairo, that any prayer for a +remission of the plague had been offered up in the mosques. I +believe that however frightful the ravages of the disease may be, +the Mahometans refrain from approaching Heaven with their +complaints until the plague has endured for a long space, and then +at last they pray God, not that the plague may cease, but that it +may go to another city! + +A good Mussulman seems to take pride in repudiating the European +notion that the will of God can be eluded by eluding the touch of a +sleeve. When I went to see the pyramids of Sakkara I was the guest +of a noble old fellow, an Osmanlee, whose soft rolling language it +was a luxury to hear after suffering, as I had suffered of late, +from the shrieking tongue of the Arabs. This man was aware of the +European ideas about contagion, and his first care therefore was to +assure me that not a single instance of plague had occurred in his +village. He then inquired as to the progress of the plague at +Cairo. I had but a bad account to give. Up to this time my host +had carefully refrained from touching me out of respect to the +European theory of contagion, but as soon as it was made plain that +he, and not I, would be the person endangered by contact, he gently +laid his hand upon my arm, in order to make me feel sure that the +circumstance of my coming from an infected city did not occasion +him the least uneasiness. In that touch there was true +hospitality. + +Very different is the faith and the practice of the Europeans, or +rather, I mean of the Europeans settled in the East, and commonly +called Levantines. When I came to the end of my journey over the +Desert I had been so long alone, that the prospect of speaking to +somebody at Cairo seemed almost a new excitement. I felt a sort of +consciousness that I had a little of the wild beast about me, but I +was quite in the humour to be charmingly tame, and to be quite +engaging in my manners, if I should have an opportunity of holding +communion with any of the human race whilst at Cairo. I knew no +one in the place, and had no letters of introduction, but I carried +letters of credit, and it often happens in places remote from +England that those "advices" operate as a sort of introduction, and +obtain for the bearer (if disposed to receive them) such ordinary +civilities as it may be in the power of the banker to offer. + +Very soon after my arrival I went to the house of the Levantine to +whom my credentials were addressed. At his door several persons +(all Arabs) were hanging about and keeping guard. It was not till +after some delay, and the passing of some communications with those +in the interior of the citadel, that I was admitted. At length, +however, I was conducted through the court, and up a flight of +stairs, and finally into the apartment where business was +transacted. The room was divided by an excellent, substantial +fence of iron bars, and behind this grille the banker had his +station. The truth was, that from fear of the plague he had +adopted the course usually taken by European residents, and had +shut himself up "in strict quarantine"--that is to say, that he +had, as he hoped, cut himself off from all communication with +infecting substances. The Europeans long resident in the East, +without any, or with scarcely any, exception are firmly convinced +that the plague is propagated by contact, and by contact only; that +if they can but avoid the touch of an infecting substance they are +safe, and that if they cannot, they die. This belief induces them +to adopt the contrivance of putting themselves in that state of +siege which they call "quarantine." It is a part of their faith +that metals, and hempen rope, and also, I fancy, one or two other +substances, will not carry the infection; and they likewise believe +that the germ of pestilence, which lies in an infected substance, +may be destroyed by submersion in water, or by the action of smoke. +They therefore guard the doors of their houses with the utmost care +against intrusion, and condemn themselves, with all the members of +their family, including any European servants, to a strict +imprisonment within the walls of their dwelling. Their native +attendants are not allowed to enter at all, but they make the +necessary purchases of provisions, which are hauled up through one +of the windows by means of a rope, and are then soaked in water. + +I knew nothing of these mysteries, and was not therefore prepared +for the sort of reception which I met with. I advanced to the iron +fence, and putting my letter between the bars, politely proffered +it to Mr. Banker. Mr. Banker received me with a sad and dejected +look, and not "with open arms," or with any arms at all, but with-- +a pair of tongs! I placed my letter between the iron fingers, +which picked it up as if it were a viper, and conveyed it away to +be scorched and purified by fire and smoke. I was disgusted at +this reception, and at the idea that anything of mine could carry +infection to the poor wretch who stood on the other side of the +grille, pale and trembling, and already meet for death. I looked +with something of the Mahometan's feeling upon these little +contrivances for eluding fate; and in this instance, at least, they +were vain. A few more days, and the poor money-changer, who had +striven to guard the days of his life (as though they were coins) +with bolts and bars of iron--he was seized by the plague, and he +died. + +To people entertaining such opinions as these respecting the fatal +effect of contact, the narrow and crowded streets of Cairo were +terrible as the easy slope that leads to Avernus. The roaring +ocean and the beetling crags owe something of their sublimity to +this--that if they be tempted, they can take the warm life of a +man. To the contagionist, filled as he is with the dread of final +causes, having no faith in destiny nor in the fixed will of God, +and with none of the devil-may-care indifference which might stand +him instead of creeds--to such one, every rag that shivers in the +breeze of a plague-stricken city has this sort of sublimity. If by +any terrible ordinance he be forced to venture forth, he sees death +dangling from every sleeve, and as he creeps forward, he poises his +shuddering limbs between the imminent jacket that is stabbing at +his right elbow and the murderous pelisse that threatens to mow him +clean down as it sweeps along on his left. But most of all, he +dreads that which most of all he should love--the touch of a +woman's dress; for mothers and wives, hurrying forth on kindly +errands from the bedsides of the dying, go slouching along through +the streets more wilfully and less courteously than the men. For a +while it may be that the caution of the poor Levantine may enable +him to avoid contact, but sooner or later perhaps the dreaded +chance arrives; that bundle of linen, with the dark tearful eyes at +the top of it, that labours along with the voluptuous clumsiness of +Grisi--she has touched the poor Levantine with the hem of her +sleeve! From that dread moment his peace is gone; his mind, for +ever hanging upon the fatal touch, invites the blow which he fears. +He watches for the symptoms of plague so carefully, that sooner or +later they come in truth. The parched mouth is a sign--his mouth +is parched; the throbbing brain--his brain DOES throb; the rapid +pulse--he touches his own wrist (for he dares not ask counsel of +any man lest he be deserted), he touches his wrist, and feels how +his frighted blood goes galloping out of his heart; there is +nothing but the fatal swelling that is wanting to make his sad +conviction complete; immediately he has an odd feel under the arm-- +no pain, but a little straining of the skin; he would to God it +were his fancy that were strong enough to give him that sensation. +This is the worst of all; it now seems to him that he could be +happy and contented with his parched mouth and his throbbing brain +and his rapid pulse, if only he could know that there were no +swelling under the left arm; but dare he try?--In a moment of +calmness and deliberation he dares not, but when for a while he has +writhed under the torture of suspense, a sudden strength of will +drives him to seek and know his fate. He touches the gland, and +finds the skin sane and sound, but under the cuticle there lies a +small lump like a pistol-bullet, that moves as he pushes it. Oh! +but is this for all certainty, is this the sentence of death? Feel +the gland of the other arm; there is not the same lump exactly, yet +something a little like it: have not some people glands naturally +enlarged?--would to Heaven he were one! So he does for himself the +work of the plague, and when the Angel of Death, thus courted, does +indeed and in truth come, he has only to finish that which has been +so well begun; he passes his fiery hand over the brain of the +victim, and lets him rave for a season, but all chance-wise, of +people and things once dear, or of people and things indifferent. +Once more the poor fellow is back at his home in fair Provence, and +sees the sun-dial that stood in his childhood's garden; sees part +of his mother, and the long-since-forgotten face of that little +dead sister (he sees her, he says, on a Sunday morning, for all the +church bells are ringing); he looks up and down through the +universe, and owns it well piled with bales upon bales of cotton, +and cotton eternal--so much so that he feels, he knows, he swears +he could make that winning hazard, if the billiard table would not +slant upwards, and if the cue were a cue worth playing with; but it +is not--it's a cue that won't move--his own arm won't move--in +short, there's the devil to pay in the brain of the poor Levantine, +and perhaps the next night but one he becomes the "life and the +soul" of some squalling jackal family who fish him out by the foot +from his shallow and sandy grave. + +Better fate was mine. By some happy perverseness (occasioned +perhaps by my disgust at the notion of being received with a pair +of tongs) I took it into my pleasant head that all the European +notions about contagion were thoroughly unfounded; that the plague +might be providential or "epidemic" (as they phrase it), but was +not contagious; and that I could not be killed by the touch of a +woman's sleeve, nor yet by her blessed breath. I therefore +determined that the plague should not alter my habits and +amusements in any one respect. Though I came to this resolve from +impulse, I think that I took the course which was in effect the +most prudent, for the cheerfulness of spirits which I was thus +enabled to retain discouraged the yellow-winged angel, and +prevented him from taking a shot at me. I, however, so far +respected the opinion of the Europeans, that I avoided touching +when I could do so without privation or inconvenience. This +endeavour furnished me with a sort of amusement as I passed through +the streets. The usual mode of moving from place to place in the +city of Cairo is upon donkeys, of which great numbers are always in +readiness, with donkey-boys attached. I had two who constantly +(until one of them died of the plague) waited at my door upon the +chance of being wanted. I found this way of moving about +exceedingly pleasant, and never attempted any other. I had only to +mount my beast, and tell my donkey-boy the point for which I was +bound, and instantly I began to glide on at a capital pace. The +streets of Cairo are not paved in any way, but strewed with a dry +sandy soil, so deadening to sound, that the footfall of my donkey +could scarcely be heard. There is no trottoir, and as you ride +through the streets you mingle with the people on foot. Those who +are in your way, upon being warned by the shouts of the donkey-boy, +move very slightly aside, so as to leave you a narrow lane, through +which you pass at a gallop. In this way you glide on delightfully +in the very midst of crowds, without being inconvenienced or +stopped for a moment. It seems to you that it is not the donkey +but the donkey-boy who wafts you on with his shouts through +pleasant groups, and air that feels thick with the fragrance of +burial spice. "Eh! Sheik, Eh! Bint,--reggalek,--"shumalek, &c. +&c.--O old man, O virgin, get out of the way on the right--O +virgin, O old man, get out of the way on the left--this Englishman +comes, he comes, he comes!" The narrow alley which these shouts +cleared for my passage made it possible, though difficult, to go on +for a long way without touching a single person, and my endeavours +to avoid such contact were a sort of game for me in my loneliness, +which was not without interest. If I got through a street without +being touched, I won; if I was touched, I lost--lost a deuce of +stake, according to the theory of the Europeans; but that I deemed +to be all nonsense--I only lost that game, and would certainly win +the next. + +There is not much in the way of public buildings to admire at +Cairo, but I saw one handsome mosque, to which an instructive +history is attached. A Hindustanee merchant having amassed an +immense fortune settled in Cairo, and soon found that his riches in +the then state of the political world gave him vast power in the +city--power, however, the exercise of which was much restrained by +the counteracting influence of other wealthy men. With a view to +extinguish every attempt at rivalry the Hindustanee merchant built +this magnificent mosque at his own expense. When the work was +complete, he invited all the leading men of the city to join him in +prayer within the walls of the newly built temple, and he then +caused to be massacred all those who were sufficiently influential +to cause him any jealousy or uneasiness--in short, all "the +respectable men" of the place; after this he possessed undisputed +power in the city and was greatly revered--he is revered to this +day. It seemed to me that there was a touching simplicity in the +mode which this man so successfully adopted for gaining the +confidence and goodwill of his fellow-citizens. There seems to be +some improbability in the story (though not nearly so gross as it +might appear to an European ignorant of the East, for witness +Mehemet Ali's destruction of the Mamelukes, a closely similar act, +and attended with the like brilliant success {34}), but even if the +story be false as a mere fact, it is perfectly true as an +illustration--it is a true exposition of the means by which the +respect and affection of Orientals may be conciliated. + +I ascended one day to the citadel, which commands a superb view of +the town. The fanciful and elaborate gilt-work of the many +minarets gives a light and florid grace to the city as seen from +this height, but before you can look for many seconds at such +things your eyes are drawn westward--drawn westward and over the +Nile, till they rest upon the massive enormities of the Ghizeh +Pyramids. + +I saw within the fortress many yoke of men all haggard and +woebegone, and a kennel of very fine lions well fed and +flourishing: I say YOKE of men, for the poor fellows were working +together in bonds; I say a KENNEL of lions, for the beasts were not +enclosed in cages, but simply chained up like dogs. + +I went round the bazaars: it seemed to me that pipes and arms were +cheaper here than at Constantinople, and I should advise you +therefore if you go to both places to prefer the market of Cairo. +I had previously bought several of such things at Constantinople, +and did not choose to encumber myself, or to speak more honestly, I +did not choose to disencumber my purse by making any more +purchases. In the open slave-market I saw about fifty girls +exposed for sale, but all of them black, or "invisible" brown. A +slave agent took me to some rooms in the upper storey of the +building, and also into several obscure houses in the +neighbourhood, with a view to show me some white women. The owners +raised various objections to the display of their ware, and well +they might, for I had not the least notion of purchasing; some +refused on account of the illegality of the proceeding, {35} and +others declared that all transactions of this sort were completely +out of the question as long as the plague was raging. I only +succeeded in seeing one white slave who was for sale but on this +one the owner affected to set an immense value, and raised my +expectations to a high pitch by saying that the girl was +Circassian, and was "fair as the full moon." After a good deal of +delay I was at last led into a room, at the farther end of which +was that mass of white linen which indicates an Eastern woman. She +was bid to uncover her face, and I presently saw that, though very +far from being good looking, according to my notion of beauty, she +had not been inaptly described by the man who compared her to the +full moon, for her large face was perfectly round and perfectly +white. Though very young, she was nevertheless extremely fat. She +gave me the idea of having been got up for sale, of having been +fattened and whitened by medicines or by some peculiar diet. I was +firmly determined not to see any more of her than the face. She +was perhaps disgusted at this my virtuous resolve, as well as with +my personal appearance; perhaps she saw my distaste and +disappointment; perhaps she wished to gain favour with her owner by +showing her attachment to his faith: at all events, she holloaed +out very lustily and very decidedly that "she would not be bought +by the infidel." + +Whilst I remained at Cairo I thought it worth while to see +something of the magicians, because I considered that these men +were in some sort the descendants of those who contended so stoutly +against the superior power of Aaron. I therefore sent for an old +man who was held to be the chief of the magicians, and desired him +to show me the wonders of his art. The old man looked and dressed +his character exceedingly well; the vast turban, the flowing beard, +and the ample robes were all that one could wish in the way of +appearance. The first experiment (a very stale one) which he +attempted to perform for me was that of showing the forms and faces +of my absent friends, not to me, but to a boy brought in from the +streets for the purpose, and said to be chosen at random. A +mangale (pan of burning charcoal) was brought into my room, and the +magician bending over it, sprinkled upon the fire some substances +which must have consisted partly of spices or sweetly burning +woods, for immediately a fragrant smoke arose that curled around +the bending form of the wizard, the while that he pronounced his +first incantations. When these were over the boy was made to sit +down, and a common green shade was bound over his brow; then the +wizard took ink, and still continuing his incantations, wrote +certain mysterious figures upon the boy's palm, and directed him to +rivet his attention to these marks without looking aside for an +instant. Again the incantations proceeded, and after a while the +boy, being seemingly a little agitated, was asked whether he saw +anything on the palm of his hand. He declared that he saw a kind +of military procession, with flags and banners, which he described +rather minutely. I was then called upon to name the absent person +whose form was to be made visible. I named Keate. You were not at +Eton, and I must tell you, therefore, what manner of man it was +that I named, though I think you must have some idea of him +already, for wherever from utmost Canada to Bundelcund--wherever +there was the whitewashed wall of an officer's room, or of any +other apartment in which English gentlemen are forced to kick their +heels, there likely enough (in the days of his reign) the head of +Keate would be seen scratched or drawn with those various degrees +of skill which one observes in the representations of saints. +Anybody without the least notion of drawing could still draw a +speaking, nay scolding, likeness of Keate. If you had no pencil, +you could draw him well enough with a poker, or the leg of a chair, +or the smoke of a candle. He was little more (if more at all) than +five feet in height, and was not very great in girth, but in this +space was concentrated the pluck of ten battalions. He had a +really noble voice, which he could modulate with great skill, but +he had also the power of quacking like an angry duck, and he almost +always adopted this mode of communication in order to inspire +respect. He was a capital scholar, but his ingenuous learning had +NOT "softened his manners" and HAD "permitted them to be fierce"-- +tremendously fierce; he had the most complete command over his +temper--I mean over his GOOD temper, which he scarcely ever allowed +to appear: you could not put him out of humour--that is, out of +the ILL-humour which he thought to be fitting for a head-master. +His red shaggy eyebrows were so prominent, that he habitually used +them as arms and hands for the purpose of pointing out any object +towards which he wished to direct attention; the rest of his +features were equally striking in their way, and were all and all +his own; he wore a fancy dress partly resembling the costume of +Napoleon, and partly that of a widow-woman. I could not by any +possibility have named anybody more decidedly differing in +appearance from the rest of the human race. + +"Whom do you name?"--"I name John Keate."--"Now, what do you see?" +said the wizard to the boy.--"I see," answered the boy, "I see a +fair girl with golden hair, blue eyes, pallid face, rosy lips." +THERE was a shot! I shouted out my laughter to the horror of the +wizard, who perceiving the grossness of his failure, declared that +the boy must have known sin (for none but the innocent can see +truth), and accordingly kicked him downstairs. + +One or two other boys were tried, but none could "see truth"; they +all made sadly "bad shots." + +Notwithstanding the failure of these experiments, I wished to see +what sort of mummery my magician would practise if I called upon +him to show me some performances of a higher order than those which +had been attempted. I therefore entered into a treaty with him, in +virtue of which he was to descend with me into the tombs near the +Pyramids, and there evoke the devil. The negotiation lasted some +time, for Dthemetri, as in duty bound, tried to beat down the +wizard as much as he could, and the wizard, on his part, manfully +stuck up for his price, declaring that to raise the devil was +really no joke, and insinuating that to do so was an awesome crime. +I let Dthemetri have his way in the negotiation, but I felt in +reality very indifferent about the sum to be paid, and for this +reason, namely, that the payment (except a very small present which +I might make or not, as I chose) was to be CONTINGENT ON SUCCESS. +At length the bargain was made, and it was arranged that after a +few days, to be allowed for preparation, the wizard should raise +the devil for two pounds ten, play or pay--no devil, no piastres. + +The wizard failed to keep his appointment. I sent to know why the +deuce he had not come to raise the devil. The truth was, that my +Mahomet had gone to the mountain. The plague had seized him, and +he died. + +Although the plague had now spread terrible havoc around me, I did +not see very plainly any corresponding change in the looks of the +streets until the seventh day after my arrival. I then first +observed that the city was SILENCED. There were no outward signs +of despair nor of violent terror, but many of the voices that had +swelled the busy hum of men were already hushed in death, and the +survivors, so used to scream and screech in their earnestness +whenever they bought or sold, now showed an unwonted indifference +about the affairs of this world: it was less worth while for men +to haggle and haggle, and crack the sky with noisy bargains, when +the great commander was there, who could "pay all their debts with +the roll of his drum." + +At this time I was informed that of twenty-five thousand people at +Alexandria, twelve thousand had died already; the destroyer had +come rather later to Cairo, but there was nothing of weariness in +his strides. The deaths came faster than ever they befell in the +plague of London; but the calmness of Orientals under such +visitations, and the habit of using biers for interment, instead of +burying coffins along with the bodies, rendered it practicable to +dispose of the dead in the usual way, without shocking the people +by any unaccustomed spectacle of horror. There was no tumbling of +bodies into carts, as in the plague of Florence and the plague of +London. Every man, according to his station, was properly buried, +and that in the usual way, except that he went to his grave in a +more hurried pace than might have been adopted under ordinary +circumstances. + +The funerals which poured through the streets were not the only +public evidence of deaths. In Cairo this custom prevails: At the +instant of a man's death (if his property is sufficient to justify +the expense) professional howlers are employed. I believe that +these persons are brought near to the dying man when his end +appears to be approaching, and the moment that life is gone they +lift up their voices and send forth a loud wail from the chamber of +death. Thus I knew when my near neighbours died; sometimes the +howls were near, sometimes more distant. Once I was awakened in +the night by the wail of death in the next house, and another time +by a like howl from the house opposite; and there were two or three +minutes, I recollect, during which the howl seemed to be actually +running along the street. + +I happened to be rather teased at this time by a sore throat, and I +thought it would be well to get it cured if I could before I again +started on my travels. I therefore inquired for a Frank doctor, +and was informed that the only one then at Cairo was a young +Bolognese refugee, who was so poor that he had not been able to +take flight, as the other medical men had done. At such a time as +this it was out of the question to send for an European physician; +a person thus summoned would be sure to suppose that the patient +was ill of the plague, and would decline to come. I therefore rode +to the young doctor's residence. After experiencing some little +difficulty in finding where to look for him, I ascended a flight or +two of stairs and knocked at his door. No one came immediately, +but after some little delay the medico himself opened the door, and +admitted me. I of course made him understand that I had come to +consult him, but before entering upon my throat grievance I +accepted a chair, and exchanged a sentence or two of commonplace +conversation. Now the natural commonplace of the city at this +season was of a gloomy sort, "Come va la peste?" (how goes the +plague?) and this was precisely the question I put. A deep sigh, +and the words, "Sette cento per giorno, signor" (seven hundred a +day), pronounced in a tone of the deepest sadness and dejection, +were the answer I received. The day was not oppressively hot, yet +I saw that the doctor was perspiring profusely, and even the +outside surface of the thick shawl dressing-gown, in which he had +wrapped himself, appeared to be moist. He was a handsome, +pleasant-looking young fellow, but the deep melancholy of his tone +did not tempt me to prolong the conversation, and without further +delay I requested that my throat might be looked at. The medico +held my chin in the usual way, and examined my throat. He then +wrote me a prescription, and almost immediately afterwards I bade +him farewell, but as he conducted me towards the door I observed an +expression of strange and unhappy watchfulness in his rolling eyes. +It was not the next day, but the next day but one, if I rightly +remember, that I sent to request another interview with my doctor. +In due time Dthemetri, who was my messenger, returned, looking +sadly aghast--he had "MET the medico," for so he phrased it, +"coming out from his house--in a bier!" + +It was of course plain that when the poor Bolognese was looking at +my throat, and almost mingling his breath with mine, he was +stricken of the plague. I suppose that the violent sweat in which +I found him had been produced by some medicine, which he must have +taken in the hope of curing himself. The peculiar rolling of the +eyes which I had remarked is, I believe, to experienced observers, +a pretty sure test of the plague. A Russian acquaintance, of mine, +speaking from the information of men who had made the Turkish +campaigns of 1828 and 1829, told me that by this sign the officers +of Sabalkansky's force were able to make out the plague-stricken +soldiers with a good deal of certainty. + +It so happened that most of the people with whom I had anything to +do during my stay at Cairo were seized with plague, and all these +died. Since I had been for a long time en route before I reached +Egypt, and was about to start again for another long journey over +the Desert, there were of course many little matters touching my +wardrobe and my travelling equipments which required to be attended +to whilst I remained in the city. It happened so many times that +Dthemetri's orders in respect to these matters were frustrated by +the deaths of the tradespeople and others whom he employed, that at +last I became quite accustomed to the peculiar manner which he +assumed when he prepared to announce a new death to me. The poor +fellow naturally supposed that I should feel some uneasiness at +hearing of the "accidents" which happened to persons employed by +me, and he therefore communicated their deaths as though they were +the deaths of friends. He would cast down his eyes and look like a +man abashed, and then gently, and with a mournful gesture, allow +the words, "Morto, signor," to come through his lips. I don't know +how many of such instances occurred, but they were several, and +besides these (as I told you before), my banker, my doctor, my +landlord, and my magician all died of the plague. A lad who acted +as a helper in the house which I occupied lost a brother and a +sister within a few hours. Out of my two established donkey-boys, +one died. I did not hear of any instance in which a plague- +stricken patient had recovered. + +Going out one morning I met unexpectedly the scorching breath of +the kamsin wind, and fearing that I should faint under the horrible +sensations which it caused, I returned to my rooms. Reflecting, +however, that I might have to encounter this wind in the Desert, +where there would be no possibility of avoiding it, I thought it +would be better to brave it once more in the city, and to try +whether I could really bear it or not. I therefore mounted my ass +and rode to old Cairo, and along the gardens by the banks of the +Nile. The wind was hot to the touch, as though it came from a +furnace. It blew strongly, but yet with such perfect steadiness, +that the trees bending under its force remained fixed in the same +curves without perceptibly waving. The whole sky was obscured by a +veil of yellowish grey, that shut out the face of the sun. The +streets were utterly silent, being indeed almost entirely deserted; +and not without cause, for the scorching blast, whilst it fevers +the blood, closes up the pores of the skin, and is terribly +distressing, therefore, to every animal that encounters it. I +returned to my rooms dreadfully ill. My head ached with a burning +pain, and my pulse bounded quick and fitfully, but perhaps (as in +the instance of the poor Levantine, whose death I was mentioning), +the fear and excitement which I felt in trying my own wrist may +have made my blood flutter the faster. + +It is a thoroughly well believed theory, that during the +continuance of the plague you can't be ill of any other febrile +malady--an unpleasant privilege that! for ill I was, and ill of +fever, and I anxiously wished that the ailment might turn out to be +anything rather than plague. I had some right to surmise that my +illness may have been merely the effect of the hot wind; and this +notion was encouraged by the elasticity of my spirits, and by a +strong forefeeling that much of my destined life in this world was +yet to come, and yet to be fulfilled. That was my instinctive +belief, but when I carefully weighed the probabilities on the one +side and on the other, I could not help seeing that the strength of +argument was all against me. There was a strong antecedent +likelihood in FAVOUR of my being struck by the same blow as the +rest of the people who had been dying around me. Besides, it +occurred to me that, after all, the universal opinion of the +Europeans upon a medical question, such as that of contagion, might +probably be correct, and IF IT WERE, I was so thoroughly +"compromised," and especially by the touch and breath of the dying +medico, that I had no right to expect any other fate than that +which now seemed to have overtaken me. Balancing as well as I +could all the considerations which hope and fear suggested, I +slowly and reluctantly came to the conclusion that, according to +all merely reasonable probability, the plague had come upon me. + +You would suppose that this conviction would have induced me to +write a few farewell lines to those who were dearest, and that +having done that, I should have turned my thoughts towards the +world to come. Such, however, was not the case. I believe that +the prospect of death often brings with it strong anxieties about +matters of comparatively trivial import, and certainly with me the +whole energy of the mind was directed towards the one petty object +of concealing my illness until the latest possible moment--until +the delirious stage. I did not believe that either Mysseri or +Dthemetri, who had served me so faithfully in all trials, would +have deserted me (as most Europeans are wont to do) when they knew +that I was stricken by plague, but I shrank from the idea of +putting them to this test, and I dreaded the consternation which +the knowledge of my illness would be sure to occasion. + +I was very ill indeed at the moment when my dinner was served, and +my soul sickened at the sight of the food; but I had luckily the +habit of dispensing with the attendance of servants during my meal, +and as soon as I was left alone I made a melancholy calculation of +the quantity of food which I should have eaten if I had been in my +usual health, and filled my plates accordingly, and gave myself +salt, and so on, as though I were going to dine. I then +transferred the viands to a piece of the omnipresent Times +newspaper, and hid them away in a cupboard, for it was not yet +night, and I dared not throw the food into the street until +darkness came. I did not at all relish this process of fictitious +dining, but at length the cloth was removed, and I gladly reclined +on my divan (I would not lie down) with the "Arabian Nights" in my +hand. + +I had a feeling that tea would be a capital thing for me, but I +would not order it until the usual hour. When at last the time +came, I drank deep draughts from the fragrant cup. The effect was +almost instantaneous. A plenteous sweat burst through my skin, and +watered my clothes through and through. I kept myself thickly +covered. The hot tormenting weight which had been loading my brain +was slowly heaved away. The fever was extinguished. I felt a new +buoyancy of spirits, and an unusual activity of mind. I went into +my bed under a load of thick covering, and when the morning came, +and I asked myself how I was, I found that I was thoroughly well. + +I was very anxious to procure, if possible, some medical advice for +Mysseri, whose illness prevented my departure. Every one of the +European practising doctors, of whom there had been many, had +either died or fled. It was said, however, that there was an +Englishman in the medical service of the Pasha who quietly remained +at his post, but that he never engaged in private practice. I +determined to try if I could obtain assistance in this quarter. I +did not venture at first, and at such a time as this, to ask him to +visit a servant who was prostrate on the bed of sickness, but +thinking that I might thus gain an opportunity of persuading him to +attend Mysseri, I wrote a note mentioning my own affair of the sore +throat, and asking for the benefit of his medical advice. He +instantly followed back my messenger, and was at once shown up into +my room. I entreated him to stand off, telling him fairly how +deeply I was "compromised," and especially by my contact with a +person actually ill and since dead of plague. The generous fellow, +with a good-humoured laugh at the terrors of the contagionists, +marched straight up to me, and forcibly seized my hand, and shook +it with manly violence. I felt grateful indeed, and swelled with +fresh pride of race because that my countryman could carry himself +so nobly. He soon cured Mysseri as well as me, and all this he did +from no other motives than the pleasure of doing a kindness and the +delight of braving a danger. + +At length the great difficulty {36} which I had had in procuring +beasts for my departure was overcome, and now, too, I was to have +the new excitement of travelling on dromedaries. With two of these +beasts and three camels I gladly wound my way from out of the pest- +stricken city. As I passed through the streets I observed a +fanatical-looking elder, who stretched forth his arms, and lifted +up his voice in a speech which seemed to have some reference to me. +Requiring an interpretation, I found that the man had said, "The +Pasha seeks camels, and he finds them not; the Englishman says, +'Let camels be brought,' and behold, there they are!" + +I no sooner breathed the free, wholesome air of the Desert than I +felt that a great burden which I had been scarcely conscious of +bearing was lifted away from my mind. For nearly three weeks I had +lived under peril of death; the peril ceased, and not till then did +I know how much alarm and anxiety I had really been suffering. + + + +CHAPTER XIX--THE PYRAMIDS + + + +I went to see and to explore the Pyramids. + +Familiar to one from the days of early childhood are the forms of +the Egyptian Pyramids, and now, as I approached them from the banks +of the Nile, I had no print, no picture before me, and yet the old +shapes were there; there was no change; they were just as I had +always known them. I straightened myself in my stirrups, and +strived to persuade my understanding that this was real Egypt, and +that those angles which stood up between me and the West were of +harder stuff, and more ancient than the paper pyramids of the green +portfolio. Yet it was not till I came to the base of the great +Pyramid that reality began to weigh upon my mind. Strange to say, +the bigness of the distinct blocks of stones was the first sign by +which I attained to feel the immensity of the whole pile. When I +came, and trod, and touched with my hands, and climbed, in order +that by climbing I might come to the top of one single stone, then, +and almost suddenly, a cold sense and understanding of the +Pyramid's enormity came down, overcasting my brain. + +Now try to endure this homely, sick-nursish illustration of the +effect produced upon one's mind by the mere vastness of the great +Pyramid. When I was very young (between the ages, I believe, of +three and five years old), being then of delicate health, I was +often in time of night the victim of a strange kind of mental +oppression. I lay in my bed perfectly conscious, and with open +eyes, but without power to speak or to move, and all the while my +brain was oppressed to distraction by the presence of a single and +abstract idea, the idea of solid immensity. It seemed to me in my +agonies that the horror of this visitation arose from its coming +upon me without form or shape, that the close presence of the +direst monster ever bred in hell would have been a thousand times +more tolerable than that simple idea of solid size. My aching mind +was fixed and riveted down upon the mere quality of vastness, +vastness, vastness, and was not permitted to invest with it any +particular object. If I could have done so, the torment would have +ceased. When at last I was roused from this state of suffering, I +could not of course in those days (knowing no verbal metaphysics, +and no metaphysics at all, except by the dreadful experience of an +abstract idea)--I could not of course find words to describe the +nature of my sensations, and even now I cannot explain why it is +that the forced contemplation of a mere quality, distinct from +matter, should be so terrible. Well, now my eyes saw and knew, and +my hands and my feet informed my understanding that there was +nothing at all abstract about the great Pyramid--it was a big +triangle, sufficiently concrete, easy to see, and rough to the +touch; it could not, of course, affect me with the peculiar +sensation which I have been talking of, but yet there was something +akin to that old nightmare agony in the terrible completeness with +which a mere mass of masonry could fill and load my mind. + +And Time too; the remoteness of its origin, no less than the +enormity of its proportions, screens an Egyptian Pyramid from the +easy and familiar contact of our modern minds; at its base the +common earth ends, and all above is a world--one not created of +God, not seeming to be made by men's hands, but rather the sheer +giant-work of some old dismal age weighing down this younger +planet. + +Fine sayings! but the truth seems to be after all, that the +Pyramids are quite of this world; that they were piled up into the +air for the realisation of some kingly crotchets about immortality, +some priestly longing for burial fees; and that as for the +building, they were built like coral rocks by swarms of insects--by +swarms of poor Egyptians, who were not only the abject tools and +slaves of power, but who also ate onions for the reward of their +immortal labours! {37} The Pyramids are quite of this world. + +I of course ascended to the summit of the great Pyramid, and also +explored its chambers, but these I need not describe. The first +time that I went to the Pyramids of Ghizeh there were a number of +Arabs hanging about in its neighbourhood, and wanting to receive +presents on various pretences; their Sheik was with them. There +was also present an ill-looking fellow in soldier's uniform. This +man on my departure claimed a reward, on the ground that he had +maintained order and decorum amongst the Arabs. His claim was not +considered valid by my dragoman, and was rejected accordingly. My +donkey-boys afterwards said they had overhead this fellow propose +to the Sheik to put me to death whilst I was in the interior of the +great Pyramid, and to share with him the booty. Fancy a struggle +for life in one of those burial chambers, with acres and acres of +solid masonry between one's self and the daylight! I felt +exceedingly glad that I had not made the rascal a present. + +I visited the very ancient Pyramids of Aboukir and Sakkara. There +are many of these, and of various shapes and sizes, and it struck +me that, taken together, they might be considered as showing the +progress and perfection (such as it is) of pyramidical +architecture. One of the Pyramids at Sakkara is almost a rival for +the full-grown monster at Ghizeh; others are scarcely more than +vast heaps of brick and stone: these last suggested to me the idea +that after all the Pyramid is nothing more nor less than a variety +of the sepulchral mound so common in most countries (including, I +believe, Hindustan, from whence the Egyptians are supposed to have +come). Men accustomed to raise these structures for their dead +kings or conquerors would carry the usage with them in their +migrations, but arriving in Egypt, and seeing the impossibility of +finding earth sufficiently tenacious for a mound, they would +approximate as nearly as might be to their ancient custom by +raising up a round heap of stones--in short, conical pyramids. Of +these there are several at Sakkara, and the materials of some are +thrown together without any order or regularity. The transition +from this simple form to that of the square angular pyramid was +easy and natural, and it seemed to me that the gradations through +which the style passed from infancy up to its mature enormity could +plainly be traced at Sakkara. + + + +CHAPTER XX--THE SPHINX + + + +And near the Pyramids more wondrous and more awful than all else in +the land of Egypt, there sits the lonely Sphinx. Comely the +creature is, but the comeliness is not of this world. The once +worshipped beast is a deformity and a monster to this generation; +and yet you can see that those lips, so thick and heavy, were +fashioned according to some ancient mould of beauty--some mould of +beauty now forgotten--forgotten because that Greece drew forth +Cytherea from the flashing foam of the Aegean, and in her image +created new forms of beauty, and made it a law among men that the +short and proudly wreathed lip should stand for the sign and the +main condition of loveliness through all generations to come. Yet +still there lives on the race of those who were beautiful in the +fashion of the elder world, and Christian girls of Coptic blood +will look on you with the sad, serious gaze, and kiss you your +charitable hand with the big pouting lips of the very Sphinx. + +Laugh and mock if you will at the worship of stone idols, but mark +ye this, ye breakers of images, that in one regard the stone idol +bears awful semblance of Deity--unchangefulness in the midst of +change; the same seeming will, and intent for ever, and ever +inexorable! Upon ancient dynasties of Ethiopian and Egyptian +kings; upon Greek, and Roman; upon Arab and Ottoman conquerors; +upon Napoleon dreaming of an Eastern Empire; upon battle and +pestilence; upon the ceaseless misery of the Egyptian race; upon +keen-eyed travellers--Herodotus yesterday, and Warburton to-day: +upon all and more, this unworldly Sphinx has watched, and watched +like a Providence with the same earnest eyes, and the same sad, +tranquil mien. And we, we shall die, and Islam will wither away, +and the Englishman, leaning far over to hold his loved India, will +plant a firm foot on the banks of the Nile, and sit in the seats of +the Faithful, and still that sleepless rock will lie watching, and +watching the works of the new, busy race with those same sad, +earnest eyes, and the same tranquil mien everlasting. You dare not +mock at the Sphinx. + + + +CHAPTER XXI--CAIRO TO SUEZ + + + +The "dromedary" of Egypt and Syria is not the two-humped animal +described by that name in books of natural history, but is, in +fact, of the same family as the camel, to which it stands in about +the same relation as a racer to a cart-horse. The fleetness and +endurance of this creature are extraordinary. It is not usual to +force him into a gallop, and I fancy from his make that it would be +quite impossible for him to maintain that pace for any length of +time; but the animal is on so large a scale, that the jog-trot at +which he is generally ridden implies a progress of perhaps ten or +twelve miles an hour, and this pace, it is said, he can keep up +incessantly, without food, or water, or rest, for three whole days +and nights. + +Of the two dromedaries which I had obtained for this journey, I +mounted one myself, and put Dthemetri on the other. My plan was to +ride on with Dthemetri to Suez as rapidly as the fleetness of the +beasts would allow, and to let Myserri (who was still weak from the +effects of his late illness) come quietly on with the camels and +baggage. + +The trot of the dromedary is a pace terribly disagreeable to the +rider, until he becomes a little accustomed to it; but after the +first half-hour I so far schooled myself to this new exercise, that +I felt capable of keeping it up (though not without aching limbs) +for several hours together. Now, therefore, I was anxious to dart +forward, and annihilate at once the whole space that divided me +from the Red Sea. Dthemetri, however, could not get on at all. +Every attempt which he made to trot seemed to threaten the utter +dislocation of his whole frame, and indeed I doubt whether any one +of Dthemetri's age (nearly forty, I think), and unaccustomed to +such exercise, could have borne it at all easily; besides, the +dromedary which fell to his lot was evidently a very bad one; he +every now and then came to a dead stop, and coolly knelt down, as +though suggesting that the rider had better get off at once and +abandon the attempt as one that was utterly hopeless. + +When for the third or fourth time I saw Dthemetri thus planted, I +lost my patience, and went on without him. For about two hours, I +think, I advanced without once looking behind me. I then paused, +and cast my eyes back to the western horizon. There was no sign of +Dthemetri, nor of any other living creature. This I expected, for +I knew that I must have far out-distanced all my followers. I had +ridden away from my party merely by way of gratifying my +impatience, and with the intention of stopping as soon as I felt +tired, until I was overtaken. I now observed, however (this I had +not been able to do whilst advancing so rapidly), that the track +which I had been following was seemingly the track of only one or +two camels. I did not fear that I had diverged very largely from +the true route, but still I could not feel any reasonable certainty +that my party would follow any line of march within sight of me. + +I had to consider, therefore, whether I should remain where I was, +upon the chance of seeing my people come up, or whether I would +push on alone, and find my way to Suez. I had now learned that I +could not rely upon the continued guidance of any track, but I knew +that (if maps were right) the point for which I was bound bore just +due east of Cairo, and I thought that, although I might miss the +line leading most directly to Suez, I could not well fail to find +my way sooner or later to the Red Sea. The worst of it was that I +had no provision of food or water with me, and already I was +beginning to feel thirst. I deliberated for a minute, and then +determined that I would abandon all hope of seeing my party again, +in the Desert, and would push forward as rapidly as possible +towards Suez. + +It was not, I confess, without a sensation of awe that I swept with +my sight the vacant round of the horizon, and remembered that I was +all alone, and unprovisioned in the midst of the arid waste; but +this very awe gave tone and zest to the exultation with which I +felt myself launched. Hitherto, in all my wandering, I had been +under the care of other people--sailors, Tatars, guides, and +dragomen had watched over my welfare, but now at last I was here in +this African desert, and I MYSELF, AND NO OTHER, HAD CHARGE OF MY +LIFE. I liked the office well. I had the greasiest part of the +day before me, a very fair dromedary, a fur pelisse, and a brace of +pistols, but no bread and no water; for that I must ride--and ride +I did. + +For several hours I urged forward my beast at a rapid though steady +pace, but now the pangs of thirst began to torment me. I did not +relax my pace, however, and I had not suffered long when a moving +object appeared in the distance before me. The intervening space +was soon traversed, and I found myself approaching a Bedouin Arab +mounted on a camel, attended by another Bedouin on foot. They +stopped. I saw that, as usual, there hung from the pack-saddle of +the camel a large skin water-flask, which seemed to be well filled. +I steered my dromedary close up alongside of the mounted Bedouin, +caused my beast to kneel down, then alighted, and keeping the end +of the halter in my hand, went up to the mounted Bedouin without +speaking, took hold of his water-flask, opened it, and drank long +and deep from its leathern lips. Both of the Bedouins stood fast +in amazement and mute horror; and really, if they had never +happened to see an European before, the apparition was enough to +startle them. To see for the first time a coat and a waistcoat, +with the semblance of a white human head at the top, and for this +ghastly figure to come swiftly out of the horizon upon a fleet +dromedary, approach them silently and with a demoniacal smile, and +drink a deep draught from their water-flask--this was enough to +make the Bedouins stare a little; they, in fact, stared a great +deal--not as Europeans stare, with a restless and puzzled +expression of countenance, but with features all fixed and rigid, +and with still, glassy eyes. Before they had time to get +decomposed from their state of petrifaction I had remounted my +dromedary, and was darting away towards the east. + +Without pause or remission of pace I continued to press forward, +but after a while I found to my confusion that the slight track +which had hitherto guided me now failed altogether. I began to +fear that I must have been all along following the course of some +wandering Bedouins, and I felt that if this were the case, my fate +was a little uncertain. + +I had no compass with me, but I determined upon the eastern point +of the horizon as accurately as I could by reference to the sun, +and so laid down for myself a way over the pathless sands. + +But now my poor dromedary, by whose life and strength I held my +own, began to show signs of distress: a thick, clammy, and +glutinous kind of foam gathered about her lips, and piteous sobs +burst from her bosom in the tones of human misery. I doubted for a +moment whether I would give her a little rest, a relaxation of +pace, but I decided that I would not, and continued to push forward +as steadily as before. + +The character of the country became changed. I had ridden away +from the level tracts, and before me now, and on either side, there +were vast hills of sand and calcined rocks, that interrupted my +progress and baffled my doubtful road, but I did my best. With +rapid steps I swept round the base of the hills, threaded the +winding hollows, and at last, as I rose in my swift course to the +crest of a lofty ridge, Thalatta! Thalatta! by Jove! I saw the +sea! + +My tongue can tell where to find a clue to many an old pagan creed, +because that (distinctly from all mere admiration of the beauty +belonging to nature's works) I acknowledge a sense of mystical +reverence when first I look, to see some illustrious feature of the +globe--some coast-line of ocean, some mighty river or dreary +mountain range, the ancient barrier of kingdoms. But the Red Sea! +It might well claim my earnest gaze by force of the great Jewish +migration which connects it with the history of our own religion. +From this very ridge, it is likely enough, the panting Israelites +first saw that shining inlet of the sea. Ay! ay! but moreover, and +best of all, that beckoning sea assured my eyes, and proved how +well I had marked out the east for my path, and gave me good +promise that sooner or later the time would come for me to rest and +drink. It was distant, the sea, but I felt my own strength, and I +had HEARD of the strength of dromedaries. I pushed forward as +eagerly as though I had spoiled the Egyptians and were flying from +Pharaoh's police. + +I had not yet been able to discover any symptoms of Suez, but after +a while I descried in the distance a large, blank, isolated +building. I made towards this, and in time got down to it. The +building was a fort, and had been built there for the protection of +a well which it contained within its precincts. A cluster of small +huts adhered to the fort, and in a short time I was receiving the +hospitality of the inhabitants, who were grouped upon the sands +near their hamlet. To quench the fires of my throat with about a +gallon of muddy water, and to swallow a little of the food placed +before me, was the work of few minutes, and before the astonishment +of my hosts had even begun to subside, I was pursuing my onward +journey. Suez, I found, was still three hours distant, and the sun +going down in the west warned me that I must find some other guide +to keep me in the right direction. This guide I found in the most +fickle and uncertain of the elements. For some hours the wind had +been freshening, and it now blew a violent gale; it blew not +fitfully and in squalls, but with such remarkable steadiness, that +I felt convinced it would blow from the same quarter for several +hours. When the sun set, therefore, I carefully looked for the +point from which the wind was blowing, and found that it came from +the very west, and was blowing exactly in the direction of my +route. I had nothing to do therefore but to go straight to +leeward; and this was not difficult, for the gale blew with such +immense force, that if I diverged at all from its line I instantly +felt the pressure of the blast on the side towards which I was +deviating. Very soon after sunset there came on complete darkness, +but the strong wind guided me well, and sped me, too, on my way. + +I had pushed on for about, I think, a couple of hours after +nightfall when I saw the glimmer of a light in the distance, and +this I ventured to hope must be Suez. Upon approaching it, +however, I found that it was only a solitary fort, and I passed on +without stopping. + +On I went, still riding down the wind, when an unlucky accident +occurred, for which, if you like, you can have your laugh against +me. I have told you already what sort of lodging it is that you +have upon the back of a camel. You ride the dromedary in the same +fashion; you are perched rather than seated on a bunch of carpets +or quilts upon the summit of the hump. It happened that my +dromedary veered rather suddenly from her onward course. Meeting +the movement, I mechanically turned my left wrist as though I were +holding a bridle rein, for the complete darkness prevented my eyes +from reminding me that I had nothing but a halter in my hand. The +expected resistance failed, for the halter was hanging upon that +side of the dromedary's neck towards which I was slightly leaning. +I toppled over, head foremost, and then went falling and falling +through air, till my crown came whang against the ground. And the +ground too was perfectly hard (compacted sand), but the thickly +wadded headgear which I wore for protection against the sun saved +my life. The notion of my being able to get up again after falling +head-foremost from such an immense height seemed to me at first too +paradoxical to be acted upon, but I soon found that I was not a bit +hurt. My dromedary utterly vanished. I looked round me, and saw +the glimmer of a light in the fort which I had lately passed, and I +began to work my way back in that direction. The violence of the +gale made it hard for me to force my way towards the west, but I +succeeded at last in regaining the fort. To this, as to the other +fort which I had passed, there was attached a cluster of huts, and +I soon found myself surrounded by a group of villainous, gloomy- +looking fellows. It was a horrid bore for me to have to swagger +and look big at a time when I felt so particularly small on account +of my tumble and my lost dromedary; but there was no help for it; I +had no Dthemetri now to "strike terror" for me. I knew hardly one +word of Arabic, but somehow or other I contrived to announce it as +my absolute will and pleasure that these fellows should find me the +means of gaining Suez. They acceded, and having a donkey, they +saddled it for me, and appointed one of their number to attend me +on foot. + +I afterwards found that these fellows were not Arabs, but Algerine +refugees, and that they bore the character of being sad scoundrels. +They justified this imputation to some extent on the following day. +They allowed Mysseri with my baggage and the camels to pass +unmolested, but an Arab lad belonging to the party happened to lag +a little way in the rear, and him (if they were not maligned) these +rascals stripped and robbed. Low indeed is the state of bandit +morality when men will allow the sleek traveller with well-laden +camels to pass in quiet, reserving their spirit of enterprise for +the tattered turban of a miserable boy. + +I reached Suez at last. The British agent, though roused from his +midnight sleep, received me in his home with the utmost kindness +and hospitality. Oh! by Jove, how delightful it was to lie on fair +sheets, and to dally with sleep, and to wake, and to sleep, and to +wake once more, for the sake of sleeping again! + + + +CHAPTER XXII--SUEZ + + + +I was hospitably entertained by the British consul, or agent, as he +is there styled. He is the employe of the East India Company, and +not of the Home Government. Napoleon during his stay of five days +at Suez had been the guest of the consul's father, and I was told +that the divan in my apartment had been the bed of the great +commander. + +There are two opinions as to the point at which the Israelites +passed the Red Sea. One is, that they traversed only the very +small creek at the northern extremity of the inlet, and that they +entered the bed of the water at the spot on which Suez now stands; +the other, that they crossed the sea from a point eighteen miles +down the coast. The Oxford theologians, who, with Milman their +professor, {38} believe that Jehovah conducted His chosen people +without disturbing the order of nature, adopt the first view, and +suppose that the Israelites passed during an ebb-tide, aided by a +violent wind. One among many objections to this supposition is, +that the time of a single ebb would not have been sufficient for +the passage of that vast multitude of men and beasts, or even for a +small fraction of it. Moreover, the creek to the north of this +point can be compassed in an hour, and in two hours you can make +the circuit of the salt marsh over which the sea may have extended +in former times. If, therefore, the Israelites crossed so high up +as Suez, the Egyptians, unless infatuated by Divine interference, +might easily have recovered their stolen goods from the encumbered +fugitives by making a slight detour. The opinion which fixes the +point of passage at eighteen miles' distance, and from thence right +across the ocean depths to the eastern side of the sea, is +supported by the unanimous tradition of the people, whether +Christians or Mussulmans, and is consistent with Holy Writ: "the +waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, AND ON THEIR +LEFT." The Cambridge mathematicians seem to think that the +Israelites were enabled to pass over dry land by adopting a route +not usually subjected to the influx of the sea. This notion is +plausible in a merely hydrostatical point of view, and is supposed +to have been adopted by most of the Fellows of Trinity, but +certainly not by Thorp, who is one of the most amiable of their +number. It is difficult to reconcile this theory with the account +given in Exodus, unless we can suppose that the words "sea" and +"waters" are there used in a sense implying dry land. + +Napoleon when at Suez made an attempt to follow the supposed steps +of Moses by passing the creek at this point, but it seems, +according to the testimony of the people at Suez, that he and his +horsemen managed the matter in a way more resembling the failure of +the Egyptians than the success of the Israelites. According to the +French account, Napoleon got out of the difficulty by that warrior- +like presence of mind which served him so well when the fate of +nations depended on the decision of a moment--he ordered his +horsemen to disperse in all directions, in order to multiply the +chances of finding shallow water, and was thus enabled to discover +a line by which he and his people were extricated. The story told +by the people of Suez is very different: they declare that +Napoleon parted from his horse, got thoroughly submerged, and was +only fished out by the assistance of the people on shore. + +I bathed twice at the point assigned to the passage of the +Israelites, and the second time that I did so I chose the time of +low water and tried to walk across, but I soon found myself out of +my depth, or at least in water so deep, that I could only advance +by swimming. + +The dromedary, which had bolted in the Desert, was brought into +Suez the day after my arrival, but my pelisse and my pistols, which +had been attached to the saddle, had disappeared. These articles +were treasures of great importance to me at that time, and I moved +the Governor of the town to make all possible exertions for their +recovery. He acceded to my wishes as well as he could, and very +obligingly imprisoned the first seven poor fellows he could lay his +hands on. + +At first the Governor acted in the matter from no other motive than +that of courtesy to an English traveller, but afterwards, and when +he saw the value which I set upon the lost property, he pushed his +measures with a degree of alacrity and heat, which seemed to show +that he felt a personal interest in the matter. It was supposed +either that he expected a large present in the event of succeeding, +or that he was striving by all means to trace the property, in +order that he might lay his hands on it after my departure. + +I went out sailing for some hours, and when I returned I was +horrified to find that two men had been bastinadoed by order of the +Governor, with a view to force them to a confession of their theft. +It appeared, however, that there really was good ground for +supposing them guilty, since one of the holsters was actually found +in their possession. It was said too (but I could hardly believe +it), that whilst one of the men was undergoing the bastinado, his +comrade was overheard encouraging him to bear the torment without +peaching. Both men, if they had the secret, were resolute in +keeping it, and were sent back to their dungeon. I of course took +care that there should be no repetition of the torture, at least so +long as I remained at Suez. + +The Governor was a thorough Oriental, and until a comparatively +recent period had shared in the old Mahometan feeling of contempt +for Europeans. It happened however, one day that an English gun- +brig had appeared off Suez, and sent her boats ashore to take in +fresh water. Now fresh water at Suez is a somewhat scarce and +precious commodity: it is kept in tanks, the chief of which is at +some distance from the place. Under these circumstances the +request for fresh water was refused, or at all events, was not +complied with. The captain of the brig was a simple-minded man +with a strongish will, and he at once declared that if his casks +were not filled in three hours, he would destroy the whole place. +"A great people indeed!" said the Governor; "a wonderful people, +the English!" He instantly caused every cask to be filled to the +brim from his own tank, and ever afterwards entertained for the +English a degree of affection and respect, for which I felt +infinitely indebted to the gallant captain. + +The day after the abortive attempt to extract a confession from the +prisoners, the Governor, the consul, and I sat in council, I know +not how long, with a view of prosecuting the search for the stolen +goods. The sitting, considered in the light of a criminal +investigation, was characteristic of the East. The proceedings +began as a matter of course by the prosecutor's smoking a pipe and +drinking coffee with the Governor, who was judge, jury, and +sheriff. I got on very well with him (this was not my first +interview), and he gave me the pipe from his lips in testimony of +his friendship. I recollect, however, that my prime adviser, +thinking me, I suppose, a great deal too shy and retiring in my +manner, entreated me to put up my boots and to soil the Governor's +divan, in order to inspire respect and strike terror. I thought it +would be as well for me to retain the right of respecting myself, +and that it was not quite necessary for a well-received guest to +strike any terror at all. + +Our deliberations were assisted by the numerous attendants who +lined the three sides of the room not occupied by the divan. Any +one of these who took it into his head to offer a suggestion would +stand forward and humble himself before the Governor, and then +state his views; every man thus giving counsel was listened to with +some attention. + +After a great deal of fruitless planning the Governor directed that +the prisoners should be brought in. I was shocked when they +entered, for I was not prepared to see them come CARRIED into the +room upon the shoulders of others. It had not occurred to me that +their battered feet would be too sore to bear the contact of the +floor. They persisted in asserting their innocence. The Governor +wanted to recur to the torture, but that I prevented, and the men +were carried back to their dungeon. + +A scheme was now suggested by one of the attendants which seemed to +me childishly absurd, but it was nevertheless tried. The plan was +to send a man to the prisoners, who was to make them believe that +he had obtained entrance into their dungeon upon some other +pretence, but that he had in reality come to treat with them for +the purchase of the stolen goods. This shallow expedient of course +failed. + +The Governor himself had not nominally the power of life and death +over the people in his district, but he could if he chose send them +to Cairo, and have them hanged there. I proposed, therefore, that +the prisoners should be threatened with this fate. The answer of +the Governor made me feel rather ashamed of my effeminate +suggestion. He said that if I wished it he would willingly +threaten them with death, but he also said that if he threatened, +HE SHOULD EXECUTE THE THREAT. + +Thinking at last that nothing was to be gained by keeping the +prisoners any longer in confinement, I requested that they might be +set free. To this the Governor acceded, though only, as he said, +out of favour to me, for he had a strong impression that the men +were guilty. I went down to see the prisoners let out with my own +eyes. They were very grateful, and fell down to the earth, kissing +my boots. I gave them a present to console them for their wounds, +and they seemed to be highly delighted. + +Although the matter terminated in a manner so satisfactory to the +principal sufferers, there were symptoms of some angry excitement +in the place: it was said that public opinion was much shocked at +the fact that Mahometans had been beaten on account of a loss +sustained by a Christian. My journey was to recommence the next +day, and it was hinted that if I preservered in my intention of +proceeding, the people would have an easy and profitable +opportunity of wreaking their vengeance on me. If ever they formed +any scheme of the kind, they at all events refrained from any +attempt to carry it into effect. + +One of the evenings during my stay at Suez was enlivened by a +triple wedding. There was a long and slow procession. Some +carried torches, and others were thumping drums and firing pistols. +The bridegrooms came last, all walking abreast. My only reason for +mentioning the ceremony (which was otherwise uninteresting) is, +that I scarcely ever in all my life saw any phenomena so ridiculous +as the meekness and gravity of those three young men whilst being +"led to the altar." + + + +CHAPTER XXIII--SUEZ TO GAZA + + + +The route over the Desert from Suez to Gaza is not frequented by +merchants, and is seldom passed by a traveller. This part of the +country is less uniformly barren than the tracts of shifting sand +that lie on the El Arish route. The shrubs on which the camel +feeds are more frequent, and in many spots the sand is mingled with +so much of productive soil, as to admit the growth of corn. The +Bedouins are driven out of this district during the summer by the +total want of water, but before the time for their forced departure +arrives they succeed in raising little crops of barley from these +comparatively fertile patches of ground. They bury the fruit of +their labours, leaving marks by which, upon their return, they may +be able to recognise the spot. The warm, dry sand stands them for +a safe granary. The country at the time I passed it (in the month +of April) was pretty thickly sprinkled with Bedouins expecting +their harvest. Several times my tent was pitched alongside of +their encampments. I have told you already what the impressions +were which these people produced upon my mind. + +I saw several creatures of the antelope kind in this part of the +Desert, and one day my Arabs surprised in her sleep a young gazelle +(for so I called her), and took the darling prisoner. I carried +her before me on my camel for the rest of the day, and kept her in +my tent all night. I did all I could to coax her, but the +trembling beauty refused to touch food, and would not be comforted. +Whenever she had a seeming opportunity of escaping she struggled +with a violence so painfully disproportioned to her fine, delicate +limbs, that I could not continue the cruel attempt to make her my +own. In the morning, therefore, I set her free, anticipating some +pleasure from seeing the joyous bound with which, as I thought, she +would return to her native freedom. She had been so stupefied, +however, by the exciting events of the preceding day and night, and +was so puzzled as to the road she should take, that she went off +very deliberately, and with an uncertain step. She went away quite +sound in limb, but her intellect may have been upset. Never in all +likelihood had she seen the form of a human being until the +dreadful moment when she woke from her sleep and found herself in +the grip of an Arab. Then her pitching and tossing journey on the +back of a camel, and lastly, a soiree with me by candlelight! I +should have been glad to know, if I could, that her heart was not +utterly broken. + +My Arabs were somewhat excited one day by discovering the fresh +print of a foot--the foot, as they said, of a lion. I had no +conception that the lord of the forest (better known as a crest) +ever stalked away from his jungles to make inglorious war in these +smooth plains against antelopes and gazelles. I supposed that +there must have been some error of interpretation, and that the +Arabs meant to speak of a tiger. It appeared, however, that this +was not the case. Either the Arabs were mistaken, or the noble +brute, uncooped and unchained, had but lately crossed my path. + +The camels with which I traversed this part of the Desert were very +different in their ways and habits from those that you get on a +frequented route. They were never led. There was not the +slightest sign of a track in this part of the Desert, but the +camels never failed to choose the right line. By the direction +taken at starting they knew, I suppose, the point (some encampment) +for which they were to make. There is always a leading camel +(generally, I believe, the eldest), who marches foremost, and +determines the path for the whole party. If it happens that no one +of the camels has been accustomed to lead the others, there is very +great difficulty in making a start. If you force your beast +forward for a moment, he will contrive to wheel and draw back, at +the same time looking at one of the other camels with an expression +and gesture exactly equivalent to apres vous. The responsibility +of finding the way is evidently assumed very unwillingly. After +some time, however, it becomes understood that one of the beasts +has reluctantly consented to take the lead, and he accordingly +advances for that purpose. For a minute or two he goes on with +much indecision, taking first one line and then another, but soon +by the aid of some mysterious sense he discovers the true +direction, and follows it steadily from morning to night. When +once the leadership is established, you cannot by any persuasion, +and can scarcely by any force, induce a junior camel to walk one +single step in advance of the chosen guide. + +On the fifth day I came to an oasis, called the Wady el Arish, a +ravine, or rather a gully, through which during a part of the year +there runs a stream of water. On the sides of the gully there were +a number of those graceful trees which the Arabs call tarfa. The +channel of the stream was quite dry in the part at which we +arrived, but at about half a mile off some water was found, which, +though very muddy, was tolerably sweet. This was a happy +discovery, for all the water that we had brought from the +neighbourhood of Suez was rapidly putrefying. + +The want of foresight is an anomalous part of the Bedouin's +character, for it does not result either from recklessness or +stupidity. I know of no human being whose body is so thoroughly +the slave of mind as that of the Arab. His mental anxieties seem +to be for ever torturing every nerve and fibre of his body, and yet +with all this exquisite sensitiveness to the suggestions of the +mind, he is grossly improvident. I recollect, for instance, that +when setting out upon this passage of the Desert my Arabs, in order +to lighten the burthen of their camels, were most anxious that we +should take with us only two days' supply of water. They said that +by the time that supply was exhausted we should arrive at a spring +which would furnish us for the rest of the journey. My servants +very wisely, and with much pertinacity, resisted the adoption of +this plan, and took care to have both the large skins well filled. +We proceeded and found no water at all, either at the expected +spring or for many days afterwards, so that nothing but the +precaution of my own people saved us from the very severe suffering +which we should have endured if we had entered upon the Desert with +only a two days' supply. The Arabs themselves being on foot would +have suffered much more than I from the consequences of their +improvidence. + +This unaccountable want of foresight prevents the Bedouin from +appreciating at a distance of eight or ten days the amount of the +misery which he entails upon himself at the end of that period. +His dread of a city is one of the most painful mental affections +that I have ever observed, and yet when the whole breadth of the +Desert lies between him and the town to which you are going, he +will freely enter into an agreement to LAND you in the city for +which you are bound. When, however, after many a day of toil the +distant minarets at length appear, the poor Bedouin relaxes the +vigour of his pace, his steps become faltering and undecided, every +moment his uneasiness increases, and at length he fairly sobs +aloud, and embracing your knees, implores with the most piteous +cries and gestures that you will dispense with him and his camels, +and find some other means of entering the city. This, of course, +one can't agree to, and the consequence is that one is obliged to +witness and resist the most moving expressions of grief and fond +entreaty. I had to go through a most painful scene of this kind +when I entered Cairo, and now the horror which these wilder Arabs +felt at the notion of entering Gaza led to consequences still more +distressing. The dread of cities results partly from a kind of +wild instinct which has always characterised the descendants of +Ishmael, but partly too from a well-founded apprehension of ill- +treatment. So often it happens that the poor Bedouin, when once +jammed in between walls, is seized by the Government authorities +for the sake of his camels, that his innate horror of cities +becomes really justified by results. + +The Bedouins with whom I performed this journey were wild fellows +of the Desert, quite unaccustomed to let out themselves or their +beasts for hire, and when they found that by the natural ascendency +of Europeans they were gradually brought down to a state of +subserviency to me, or rather to my attendants, they bitterly +repented, I believe, of having placed themselves under our control. +They were rather difficult fellows to manage, and gave Dthemetri a +good deal of trouble, but I liked them all the better for that. + +Selim, the chief of the party, and the man to whom all our camels +belonged, was a fine, savage, stately fellow. There were, I think, +five other Arabs of the party, but when we approached the end of +the journey they one by one began to make off towards the +neighbouring encampments, and by the time that the minarets of Gaza +were in sight, Selim, the owner of the camels, was the only one who +remained. He, poor fellow, as we neared the town began to discover +the same terrors that my Arabs had shown when I entered Cairo. I +could not possibly accede to his entreaties and consent to let my +baggage be laid down on the bare sands, without any means of having +it brought on into the city. So at length, when poor Selim had +exhausted all his rhetoric of voice and action and tears, he fixed +his despairing eyes for a minute upon the cherished beasts that +were his only wealth, and then suddenly and madly dashed away into +the farther Desert. I continued my course and reached the city at +last, but it was not without immense difficulty that we could +constrain the poor camels to pass under the hated shadow of its +walls. They were the genuine beasts of the Desert, and it was sad +and painful to witness the agony they suffered when thus they were +forced to encounter the fixed habitations of men. They shrank from +the beginning of every high narrow street as though from the +entrance of some horrible cave or bottomless pit; they sighed and +wept like women. When at last we got them within the courtyard of +the khan they seemed to be quite broken-hearted, and looked round +piteously for their loving master; but no Selim came. I had +imagined that he would enter the town secretly by night in order to +carry off those five fine camels, his only wealth in this world, +and seemingly the main objects of his affection. But no; his dread +of civilisation was too strong. During the whole of the three days +that I remained at Gaza he failed to show himself, and thus +sacrificed in all probability not only his camels, but the money +which I had stipulated to pay him for the passage of the Desert. +In order, however, to do all I could towards saving him from this +last misfortune I resorted to a contrivance frequently adopted by +the Asiatics: I assembled a group of grave and worthy Mussulmans +in the courtyard of the khan, and in their presence paid over the +gold to a Sheik who was accustomed to communicate with the Arabs of +the Desert. All present solemnly promised that if ever Selim +should come to claim his rights, they would bear true witness in +his favour. + +I saw a great deal of my old friend the Governor of Gaza. He had +received orders to send back all persons coming from Egypt, and +force them to perform quarantine at El Arish. He knew so little of +quarantine regulations, however, that his dress was actually in +contact with mine whilst he insisted upon the stringency of the +orders which he had received. He was induced to make an exception +in my favour, and I rewarded him with a musical snuffbox which I +had bought at Smyrna for the purpose of presenting it to any man in +authority who might happen to do me an important service. The +Governor was delighted with his toy, and took it off to his harem +with great exultation. He soon, however, returned with an altered +countenance; his wives, he said, had got hold of the box and put it +out of order. So short-lived is human happiness in this frail +world! + +The Governor fancied that he should incur less risk if remained at +Gaza for two or three days more, and he wanted me to become his +guest. I persuaded him, however, that it would be better for him +to let me depart at once. He wanted to add to my baggage a roast +lamb and a quantity of other cumbrous viands, but I escaped with +half a horse-load of leaven bread, which was very good of its kind, +and proved a most useful present. The air with which the +Governor's slaves affected to be almost breaking down under the +weight of the gifts which they bore on their shoulders, reminded me +of the figures one sees in some of the old pictures. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV--GAZA TO NABLUS + + + +Passing now once again through Palestine and Syria I retained the +tent which I had used in the Desert, and found that it added very +much to my comfort in travelling. Instead of turning out a family +from some wretched dwelling, and depriving them of a repose which I +was sure not to find for myself, I now, when evening came, pitched +my tent upon some smiling spot within a few hundred yards of the +village to which I looked for my supplies, that is, for milk and +bread if I had it not with me, and sometimes also for eggs. The +worst of it is, that the needful viands are not to be obtained by +coin, but only by intimidation. I at first tried the usual agent, +money. Dthemetri, with one or two of my Arabs, went into the +village near which I was encamped and tried to buy the required +provisions, offering liberal payment, but he came back empty- +handed. I sent him again, but this time he held different +language. He required to see the elders of the place, and +threatening dreadful vengeance, directed them upon their +responsibility to take care that my tent should be immediately and +abundantly supplied. He was obeyed at once, and the provisions +refused to me as a purchaser soon arrived, trebled or quadrupled, +when demanded by way of a forced contribution. I quickly found (I +think it required two experiments to convince me) that this +peremptory method was the only one which could be adopted with +success. It never failed. Of course, however, when the provisions +have been actually obtained you can, if you choose, give money +exceeding the value of the provisions to SOMEBODY. An English, a +thoroughbred English, traveller will always do this (though it is +contrary to the custom of the country) for the quiet (false quiet +though it be) of his own conscience, but so to order the matter +that the poor fellows who have been forced to contribute should be +the persons to receive the value of their supplies, is not +possible. For a traveller to attempt anything so grossly just as +that would be too outrageous. The truth is, that the usage of the +East, in old times, required the people of the village, at their +own cost, to supply the wants of travellers, and the ancient custom +is now adhered to, not in favour of travellers generally, but in +favour of those who are deemed sufficiently powerful to enforce its +observance. If the villagers therefore find a man waiving this +right to oppress them, and offering coin for that which he is +entitled to take without payment, they suppose at once that he is +actuated by fear (fear of THEM, poor fellows!), and it is so +delightful to them to act upon this flattering assumption, that +they will forego the advantage of a good price for their provisions +rather than the rare luxury of refusing for once in their lives to +part with their own possessions. + +The practice of intimidation thus rendered necessary is utterly +hateful to an Englishman. He finds himself forced to conquer his +daily bread by the pompous threats of the dragoman, his very +subsistence, as well as his dignity and personal safety, being made +to depend upon his servant's assuming a tone of authority which +does not at all belong to him. Besides, he can scarcely fail to +see that as he passes through the country he becomes the innocent +cause of much extra injustice, many supernumerary wrongs. This he +feels to be especially the case when he travels with relays. To be +the owner of a horse or a mule within reach of an Asiatic +potentate, is to lead the life of the hare and the rabbit, hunted +down and ferreted out. Too often it happens that the works of the +field are stopped in the daytime, that the inmates of the cottage +are roused from their midnight sleep, by the sudden coming of a +Government officer, and the poor husbandman, driven by threats and +rewarded by curses, if he would not lose sight for ever of his +captured beasts, must quit all and follow them. This is done that +the Englishman may travel. He would make his way more harmless if +he could, but horses or mules he MUST have, and these are his ways +and means. + +The town of Nablus is beautiful; it lies in a valley hemmed in with +olive groves, and its buildings are interspersed with frequent +palm-trees. It is said to occupy the site of the ancient Sychem. +I know not whether it was there indeed that the father of the Jews +was accustomed to feed his flocks, but the valley is green and +smiling, and is held at this day by a race more brave and beautiful +than Jacob's unhappy descendants. + +Nablus is the very furnace of Mahometan bigotry; and I believe that +only a few months before the time of my going there it would have +been quite unsafe for a man, unless strongly guarded, to show +himself to the people of the town in a Frank costume; but since +their last insurrection the Mahometans of the place had been so far +subdued by the severity of Ibrahim Pasha, that they dared not now +offer the slightest insult to an European. It was quite plain, +however, that the effort with which the men of the old school +refrained from expressing their opinion of a hat and a coat was +horribly painful to them. As I walked through the streets and +bazaars a dead silence prevailed; every man suspended his +employment, and gazed on me with a fixed, glassy look, which seemed +to say, "God is good, but how marvellous and inscrutable are His +ways that thus He permits this white-faced dog of a Christian to +hunt through the paths of the faithful." + +The insurrection of these people had been more formidable than any +other that Ibrahim Pasha had to contend with. He was only able to +crush them at last by the assistance of a fellow renowned for his +resources in the way of stratagem and cunning, as well as for his +knowledge of the country. This personage was no other than Aboo +Goosh ("the father of lies" {39}), who was taken out of prison for +the purpose. The "father of lies" enabled Ibrahim to hem in the +insurrection and extinguish it. He was rewarded with the +Governorship of Jerusalem, which he held when I was there. I +recollect, by-the-bye, that he tried one of his stratagems upon me. +I did not go to see him, as I ought in courtesy to have done, +during my stay at Jerusalem; but I happened to be the owner of a +rather handsome amber tchibouque piece, which the Governor heard +of, and by some means contrived to see. He sent to me, and dressed +up a statement that he would give me a price immensely exceeding +the sum which I had given for it. He did not add my tchibouque to +the rest of his trophies. + +There was a small number of Greek Christians resident in Nablus, +and over these the Mussulmans held a high hand, not even permitting +them to speak to each other in the open streets; but if the Moslems +thus set themselves above the poor Christians of the place, I, or +rather my servants, soon took the ascendant over THEM. I recollect +that just as we were starting from the place, and at a time when a +number of people had gathered together in the main street to see +our preparations, Mysseri, being provoked at some piece of +perverseness on the part of a true believer, coolly thrashed him +with his horsewhip before the assembled crowd of fanatics. I was +much annoyed at the time, for I thought that the people would +probably rise against us. They turned rather pale, but stood +still. + +The day of my arrival at Nablus was a fete--the new-year's day of +the Mussulmans. {40} Most of the people were amusing themselves in +the beautiful lawns and shady groves without the city. The men +(except myself) were all remotely apart from the other sex. The +women in groups were diverting themselves and their children with +swings. They were so handsome, that they could not keep up their +yashmaks. I believe that they had never before looked upon a man +in the European dress, and when they now saw in me that strange +phenomenon, and saw, too, how they could please the creature by +showing him a glimpse of beauty, they seemed to think it was better +fun to do this than to go on playing with swings. It was always, +however, with a sort of zoological expression of countenance that +they looked on the horrible monster from Europe, and whenever one +of them gave me to see for one sweet instant the blushing of her +unveiled face, it was with the same kind of air as that with which +a young, timid girl will edge her way up to an elephant and +tremblingly give him a nut from the tips of her rosy fingers. + + + +CHAPTER XXV--MARIAM + + + +There is no spirit of propagandism in the Mussulmans of the Ottoman +dominions. True it is that a prisoner of war, or a Christian +condemned to death, may on some occasions save his life by adopting +the religion of Mahomet, but instances of this kind are now +exceedingly rare, and are quite at variance with the general +system. Many Europeans, I think, would be surprised to learn that +which is nevertheless quite true, namely, that an attempt to +disturb the religious repose of the empire by the conversion of a +Christian to the Mahometan faith is positively illegal. The event +which now I am going to mention shows plainly enough that the +unlawfulness of such interference is distinctly recognised even in +the most bigoted stronghold of Islam. + +During my stay at Nablus I took up my quarters at the house of the +Greek "papa" as he is called, that is, the Greek priest. The +priest himself had gone to Jerusalem upon the business I am going +to tell you of, but his wife remained at Nablus, and did the +honours of her home. + +Soon after my arrival a deputation from the Greek Christians of the +place came to request my interference in a matter which had +occasioned vast excitement. + +And now I must tell you how it came to happen, as it did +continually, that people thought it worth while to claim the +assistance of a mere traveller, who was totally devoid of all just +pretensions to authority or influence of even the humblest +description, and especially I must explain to you how it was that +the power thus attributed did really belong to me, or rather to my +dragoman. Successive political convulsions had at length fairly +loosed the people of Syria from their former rules of conduct, and +from all their old habits of reliance. The violence and success +with which Mehemet Ali crushed the insurrection of the Mahometan +population had utterly beaten down the head of Islam, and +extinguished, for the time at least, those virtues and vices which +had sprung from the Mahometan faith. Success so complete as +Mehemet Ali's, if it had been attained by an ordinary Asiatic +potentate, would have induced a notion of stability. The readily +bowing mind of the Oriental would have bowed low and long under the +feet of a conqueror whom God had thus strengthened. But Syria was +no field for contests strictly Asiatic. Europe was involved, and +though the heavy masses of Egyptian troops, clinging with strong +grip to the land, might seem to hold it fast, yet every peasant +practically felt, and knew, that in Vienna or Petersburg or London +there were four or five pale-looking men who could pull down the +star of the Pasha with shreds of paper and ink. The people of the +country knew, too, that Mehemet Ali was strong with the strength of +the Europeans--strong by his French general, his French tactics, +and his English engines. Moreover, they saw that the person, the +property, and even the dignity of the humblest European was guarded +with the most careful solicitude. The consequence of all this was, +that the people of Syria looked vaguely, but confidently, to Europe +for fresh changes. Many would fix upon some nation, France or +England, and steadfastly regard it as the arriving sovereign of +Syria. Those whose minds remained in doubt equally contributed to +this new state of public opinion, which no longer depended upon +religion and ancient habits, but upon bare hopes and fears. Every +man wanted to know, not who was his neighbour, but who was to be +his ruler; whose feet he was to kiss, and by whom HIS feet were to +be ultimately beaten. Treat your friend, says the proverb, as +though he were one day to become your enemy, and your enemy as +though he were one day to become your friend. The Syrians went +further, and seemed inclined to treat every stranger as though he +might one day become their Pasha. Such was the state of +circumstances and of feeling which now for the first time had +thoroughly opened the mind of Western Asia for the reception of +Europeans and European ideas. The credit of the English especially +was so great, that a good Mussulman flying from the conscription, +or any other persecution, would come to seek from the formerly +despised hat that protection which the turban could no longer +afford; and a man high in authority (as, for instance, the Governor +in command of Gaza) would think that he had won a prize, or at all +events, a valuable lottery ticket, if he obtained a written +approval of his conduct from a simple traveller. + +Still, in order that any immediate result should follow from all +this unwonted readiness in the Asiatic to succumb to the European, +it was necessary that some one should be at hand who could see and +would push the advantage. I myself had neither the inclination nor +the power to do so, but it happened that Dthemetri, who as my +dragoman represented me on all occasions, was the very person of +all others best fitted to avail himself with success of this +yielding tendency in the Oriental mind. If the chance of birth and +fortune had made poor Dthemetri a tailor during some part of his +life, yet religion and the literature of the Church which he served +had made him a man, and a brave man too. The lives of saints with +which he was familiar were full of heroic actions provoking +imitation, and since faith in a creed involves a faith in its +ultimate triumph, Dthemetri was bold from a sense of true strength. +His education too, though not very general in its character, had +been carried quite far enough to justify him in pluming himself +upon a very decided advantage over the great bulk of the Mahometan +population, including the men in authority. With all this +consciousness of religious and intellectual superiority Dthemetri +had lived for the most part in countries lying under Mussulman +governments, and had witnessed (perhaps too had suffered from) +their revolting cruelties: the result was that he abhorred and +despised the Mahometan faith and all who clung to it. And this +hate was not of the dry, dull, and inactive sort. Dthemetri was in +his sphere a true Crusader, and whenever there appeared a fair +opening in the defences of Islam, he was ready and eager to make +the assault. These sentiments, backed by a consciousness of +understanding the people with whom he had to do, made Dthemetri not +only firm and resolute in his constant interviews with men in +authority, but sometimes also (as you may know already) very +violent and even insulting. This tone, which I always disliked, +though I was fain to profit by it, invariably succeeded. It swept +away all resistance; there was nothing in the then depressed and +succumbing mind of the Mussulman that could oppose a zeal so warm +and fierce. + +As for me, I of course stood aloof from Dthemetri's crusades, and +did not even render him any active assistance when he was striving +(as he almost always was, poor fellow) on my behalf; I was only the +death's head and white sheet with which he scared the enemy. I +think, however, that I played this spectral part exceedingly well, +for I seldom appeared at all in any discussion, and whenever I did, +I was sure to be white and calm. + +The event which induced the Christians of Nablus to seek for my +assistance was this. A beautiful young Christian, between fifteen +and sixteen years old, had lately been married to a man of her own +creed. About the same time (probably on the occasion of her +wedding) she was accidentally seen by a Mussulman Sheik of great +wealth and local influence, who instantly became madly enamoured of +her. The strict morality which so generally prevails where the +Mussulmans have complete ascendency prevented the Sheik from +entertaining any such sinful hopes as an European might have +ventured to cherish under the like circumstances, and he saw no +chance of gratifying his love except by inducing the girl to +embrace his own creed. If he could induce her to take this step, +her marriage with the Christian would be dissolved, and then there +would be nothing to prevent him from making her the last and +brightest of his wives. The Sheik was a practical man, and quickly +began his attack upon the theological opinions of the bride. He +did not assail her with the eloquence of any imaums or Mussulman +saints; he did not press upon her the eternal truths of the "Cow," +{41} or the beautiful morality of "the Table"; {42} he sent her no +tracts, not even a copy of the holy Koran. An old woman acted as +missionary. She brought with her a whole basketful of arguments-- +jewels and shawls and scarfs and all kinds of persuasive finery. +Poor Mariam! she put on the jewels and took a calm view of the +Mahometan religion in a little hand-mirror; she could not be deaf +to such eloquent earrings, and the great truths of Islam came home +to her young bosom in the delicate folds of the cashmere; she was +ready to abandon her faith. + +The Sheik knew very well that his attempt to convert an infidel was +illegal, and that his proceedings would not bear investigation, so +he took care to pay a large sum to the Governor of Nablus in order +to obtain his connivance. + +At length Mariam quitted her home and placed herself under the +protection of the Mahometan authorities, who, however, refrained +from delivering her into the arms of her lover, and detained her in +a mosque until the fact of her real conversion (which had been +indignantly denied by her relatives) should be established. For +two or three days the mother of the young convert was prevented +from communicating with her child by various evasive contrivances, +but not, it would seem, by a flat refusal. At length it was +announced that the young lady's profession of faith might be heard +from her own lips. At an hour appointed the friends of the Sheik +and the relatives of the damsel met in the mosque. The young +convert addressed her mother in a loud voice, and said, "God is +God, and Mahomet is the Prophet of God, and thou, oh my mother, art +an infidel, feminine dog!" + +You would suppose that this declaration, so clearly enounced, and +that, too, in a place where Mahometanism is perhaps more supreme +than in any other part of the empire, would have sufficed to have +confirmed the pretensions of the lover. This, however, was not the +case. The Greek priest of the place was despatched on a mission to +the Governor of Jerusalem (Aboo Goosh), in order to complain +against the proceedings of the Sheik and obtain a restitution of +the bride. Meanwhile the Mahometan authorities at Nablus were so +conscious of having acted unlawfully in conspiring to disturb the +faith of the beautiful infidel, that they hesitated to take any +further steps, and the girl was still detained in the mosque. + +Thus matters stood when the Christians of the place came and sought +to obtain my assistance. + +I felt (with regret) that I had no personal interest in the matter, +and I also thought that there was no pretence for my interfering +with the conflicting claims of the Christian husband and the +Mahometan lover, and I therefore declined to take any step. + +My speaking of the husband, by-the-bye, reminds me that he was +extremely backward about the great work of recovering his youthful +bride. The relations of the girl, who felt themselves disgraced by +her conduct, were vehement and excited to a high pitch, but the +Menelaus of Nablus was exceedingly calm and composed. + +The fact that it was not technically my duty to interfere in a +matter of this kind was a very sufficient, and yet a very +unsatisfactory, reason for my refusal of all assistance. Until you +are placed in situations of this kind you can hardly tell how +painful it is to refrain from intermeddling in other people's +affairs--to refrain from intermeddling when you feel that you can +do so with happy effect, and can remove a load of distress by the +use of a few small phrases. Upon this occasion, however, an +expression fell from one of the girl's kinsmen which not only +determined me against the idea of interfering, but made me hope +that all attempts to recover the proselyte would fail. This +person, speaking with the most savage bitterness, and with the +cordial approval of all the other relatives, said that the girl +ought to be beaten to death. I could not fail to see that if the +poor child were ever restored to her family she would be treated +with the most frightful barbarity. I heartily wished, therefore, +that the Mussulmans might be firm, and preserve their young prize +from any fate so dreadful as that of a return to her own relations. + +The next day the Greek priest returned from his mission to Aboo +Goosh, but the "father of lies," it would seem, had been well plied +with the gold of the enamoured Sheik, and contrived to put off the +prayers of the Christians by cunning feints. Now, therefore, a +second and more numerous deputation than the first waited upon me, +and implored my intervention with the Governor. I informed the +assembled Christians that since their last application I had +carefully considered the matter. The religious question I thought +might be put aside at once, for the excessive levity which the girl +had displayed proved clearly that in adopting Mahometanism she was +not quitting any other faith. Her mind must have been thoroughly +blank upon religious questions, and she was not, therefore, to be +treated as a Christian that had strayed from the flock, but rather +as a child without any religion at all, who was willing to conform +to the usages of those who would deck her with jewels, and clothe +her with cashmere shawls. + +So much for the religious part of the question. Well, then, in a +merely temporal sense, it appeared to me that (looking merely to +the interests of the damsel, for I rather unjustly put poor +Menelaus quite out of the question) the advantages were all on the +side of the Mahometan match. The Sheik was in a much higher +station of life than the superseded husband, and had given the best +possible proof of his ardent affection by the sacrifices he had +made, and the risks he had incurred, for the sake of the beloved +object. I, therefore, stated fairly, to the horror and amazement +of all my hearers, that the Sheik, in my view, was likely to make a +most capital husband, and that I entirely "approved of the match." + +I left Nablus under the impression that Mariam would soon be +delivered to her Mussulman lover. I afterwards found, however, +that the result was very different. Dthemetri's religious zeal and +hate had been so much excited by the account of these events, and +by the grief and mortification of his co-religionists, that when he +found me firmly determined to decline all interference in the +matter, he secretly appealed to the Governor in my name, and +(using, I suppose, many violent threats, and telling no doubt many +lies about my station and influence) extorted a promise that the +proselyte should be restored to her relatives. I did not +understand that the girl had been actually given up whilst I +remained at Nablus, but Dthemetri certainly did not desist from his +instances until he had satisfied himself by some means or other +(for mere words amounted to nothing) that the promise would be +actually performed. It was not till I had quitted Syria, and when +Dthemetri was no longer in my service, that this villainous, though +well-motived trick, of his came to my knowledge. Mysseri, who had +informed me of the step which had been taken, did not know it +himself until some time after we had quitted Nablus, when Dthemetri +exultingly confessed his successful enterprise. I know not whether +the engagement which my zealous dragoman extorted from the Governor +was ever complied with. I shudder to think of the fate which must +have befallen poor Mariam if she fell into the hands of the +Christians. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI--THE PROPHET DAMOOR + + + +For some hours I passed along the shores of the fair lake of +Galilee; then turning a little to the westward, I struck into a +mountainous tract, and as I advanced thenceforward, the lie of the +country kept growing more and more bold. At length I drew near to +the city of Safed. It sits as proud as a fortress upon the summit +of a craggy height; yet because of its minarets and stately trees, +the place looks happy and beautiful. It is one of the holy cities +of the Talmud, and according to this authority, the Messiah will +reign there for forty years before He takes possession of Sion. +The sanctity and historical importance thus attributed to the city +by anticipation render it a favourite place of retirement for +Israelites, of whom it contains, they say, about four thousand, a +number nearly balancing that of the Mahometan inhabitants. I knew +by my experience of Tabarieh that a "holy city" was sure to have a +population of vermin somewhat proportionate to the number of its +Israelites, and I therefore caused my tent to be pitched upon a +green spot of ground at a respectful distance from the walls of the +town. + +When it had become quite dark (for there was no moon that night) I +was informed that several Jews had secretly come from the city in +the hope of obtaining some assistance from me in circumstances of +imminent danger; I was also informed that they claimed my aid upon +the ground that some of their number were British subjects. It was +arranged that the two principal men of the party should speak for +the rest, and these were accordingly admitted into my tent. One of +the two called himself the British vice-consul, and he had with him +his consular cap, but he frankly said that he could not have dared +to assume this emblem of his dignity in the daytime, and that +nothing but the extreme darkness of the night rendered it safe for +him to put it on upon this occasion. The other of the spokesmen +was a Jew of Gibraltar, a tolerably well-bred person, who spoke +English very fluently. + +These men informed me that the Jews of the place, who were +exceedingly wealthy, had lived peaceably in their retirement until +the insurrection which took place in 1834, but about the beginning +of that year a highly religious Mussulman called Mohammed Damoor +went forth into the market-place, crying with a loud voice, and +prophesying that on the fifteenth of the following June the true +Believers would rise up in just wrath against the Jews, and despoil +them of their gold and their silver and their jewels. The +earnestness of the prophet produced some impression at the time, +but all went on as usual, until at last the fifteenth of June +arrived. When that day dawned the whole Mussulman population of +the place assembled in the streets that they might see the result +of the prophecy. Suddenly Mohammed Damoor rushed furious into the +crowd, and the fierce shout of the prophet soon ensured the +fulfilment of his prophecy. Some of the Jews fled and some +remained, but they who fled and they who remained, alike, and +unresistingly, left their property to the hands of the spoilers. +The most odious of all outrages, that of searching the women for +the base purpose of discovering such things as gold and silver +concealed about their persons, was perpetrated without shame. The +poor Jews were so stricken with terror, that they submitted to +their fate even where resistance would have been easy. In several +instances a young Mussulman boy, not more than ten or twelve years +of age, walked straight into the house of a Jew and stripped him of +his property before his face, and in the presence of his whole +family. {43} When the insurrection was put down some of the +Mussulmans (most probably those who had got no spoil wherewith they +might buy immunity) were punished, but the greater part of them +escaped. None of the booty was restored, and the pecuniary redress +which the Pasha had undertaken to enforce for them had been +hitherto so carefully delayed, that the hope of ever obtaining it +had grown very faint. A new Governor had been appointed to the +command of the place, with stringent orders to ascertain the real +extent of the losses, and to discover the spoilers, with a view of +compelling them to make restitution. It was found that, +notwithstanding the urgency of the instructions which the Governor +had received, he did not push on the affair with the vigour that +had been expected. The Jews complained, and either by the +protection of the British consul at Damascus, or by some other +means, had influence enough to induce the appointment of a special +commissioner--they called him "the Modeer"--whose duty it was to +watch for and prevent anything like connivance on the part of the +Governor, and to push on the investigation with vigour and +impartiality. + +Such were the instructions with which some few weeks since the +Modeer came charged. The result was that the investigation had +made no practical advance, and that the Modeer as well as the +Governor was living upon terms of affectionate friendship with +Mohammed Damoor and the rest of the principal spoilers. + +Thus stood the chance of redress for the past, but the cause of the +agonising excitement under which the Jews of the place now laboured +was recent and justly alarming. Mohammed Damoor had again gone +forth into the market-place, and lifted up his voice and prophesied +a second spoliation of the Israelites. This was grave matter; the +words of such a practical man as Mohammed Damoor were not to be +despised. I fear I must have smiled visibly, for I was greatly +amused and even, I think, gratified at the account of this second +prophecy. Nevertheless, my heart warmed towards the poor oppressed +Israelites, and I was flattered, too, in the point of my national +vanity at the notion of the far-reaching link by which a Jew in +Syria, who had been born on the rock of Gibraltar, was able to +claim me as his fellow-countryman. If I hesitated at all between +the "impropriety" of interfering in a matter which was no business +of mine and the "infernal shame" of refusing my aid at such a +conjecture, I soon came to a very ungentlemanly decision, namely, +that I would be guilty of the "impropriety," and not of the +"infernal shame." It seemed to me that the immediate arrest of +Mohammed Damoor was the one thing needful to the safety of the +Jews, and I felt confident (for reasons which I have already +mentioned in speaking of the Nablus affair) that I should be able +to obtain this result by making a formal application to the +Governor. I told my applicants that I would take this step on the +following morning. They were very grateful, and were, for a +moment, much pleased at the prospect of safety which might thus be +opened to them, but the deliberation of a minute entirely altered +their views, and filled them with new terror. They declared that +any attempt, or pretended attempt, on the part of the Governor to +arrest Mohammed Damoor would certainly produce an immediate +movement of the whole Mussulman population, and a consequent +massacre and robbery of the Israelites. My visitors went out, and +remained I know not how long consulting with their brethren, but +all at last agreed that their present perilous and painful position +was better than a certain and immediate attack, and that if +Mohammed Damoor was seized, their second estate would be worse than +their first. I myself did not think that this would be the case, +but I could not of course force my aid upon the people against +their will; and, moreover, the day fixed for the fulfilment of this +second prophecy was not very close at hand. A little delay, +therefore, in providing against the impending danger would not +necessarily be fatal. The men now confessed that although they had +come with so much mystery and, as they thought, at so great a risk +to ask my assistance, they were unable to suggest any mode in which +I could aid them, except indeed by mentioning their grievances to +the consul-general at Damascus. This I promised to do, and this I +did. + +My visitors were very thankful to me for the readiness which I had +shown to intermeddle in their affairs, and the grateful wives of +the principal Jews sent to me many compliments, with choice wines +and elaborate sweetmeats. + +The course of my travels soon drew me so far from Safed, that I +never heard how the dreadful day passed off which had been fixed +for the accomplishment of the second prophecy. If the predicted +spoliation was prevented, poor Mohammed Damoor must have been +forced, I suppose, to say that he had prophesied in a metaphorical +sense. This would be a sad falling off from the brilliant and +substantial success of the first experiment. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII--DAMASCUS + + + +For a part of two days I wound under the base of the snow-crowned +Djibel el Sheik, and then entered upon a vast and desolate plain, +rarely pierced at intervals by some sort of withered stem. The +earth in its length and its breadth and all the deep universe of +sky was steeped in light and heat. On I rode through the fire, but +long before evening came there were straining eyes that saw, and +joyful voices that announced, the sight of Shaum Shereef--the +"holy," the "blessed" Damascus. + +But that which at last I reached with my longing eyes was not a +speck in the horizon, gradually expanding to a group of roofs and +walls, but a long, low line of blackest green, that ran right +across in the distance from east to west. And this, as I +approached, grew deeper, grew wavy in its outline. Soon forest +trees shot up before my eyes, and robed their broad shoulders so +freshly, that all the throngs of olives as they rose into view +looked sad in their proper dimness. There were even now no houses +to see, but only the minarets peered out from the midst of shade +into the glowing sky, and bravely touched the sun. There seemed to +be here no mere city, but rather a province wide and rich, that +bounded the torrid waste. + +Until about a year, or two years, before the time of my going there +Damascus had kept up so much of the old bigot zeal against +Christians, or rather, against Europeans, that no one dressed as a +Frank could have dared to show himself in the streets; but the +firmness and temper of Mr. Farren, who hoisted his flag in the city +as consul-general for the district, had soon put an end to all +intolerance of Englishmen. Damascus was safer than Oxford. {44} +When I entered the city in my usual dress there was but one poor +fellow that wagged his tongue, and him, in the open streets, +Dthemetri horsewhipped. During my stay I went wherever I chose, +and attended the public baths without molestation. Indeed, my +relations with the pleasanter portion of the Mahometan population +were upon a much better footing here than at most other places. + +In the principal streets of Damascus there is a path for foot- +passengers, which is raised, I think, a foot or two above the +bridle-road. Until the arrival of the British consul-general none +but a Mussulman had been permitted to walk upon the upper way. Mr. +Farren would not, of course, suffer that the humiliation of any +such exclusion should be submitted to by an Englishman, and I +always walked upon the raised path as free and unmolested as if I +had been in Pall Mall. The old usage was, however, maintained with +as much strictness as ever against the Christian Rayahs and Jews: +not one of them could have set his foot upon the privileged path +without endangering his life. + +I was lounging one day, I remember, along "the paths of the +faithful," when a Christian Rayah from the bridle-road below +saluted me with such earnestness, and craved so anxiously to speak +and be spoken to, that he soon brought me to a halt. He had +nothing to tell, except only the glory and exultation with which he +saw a fellow-Christian stand level with the imperious Mussulmans. +Perhaps he had been absent from the place for some time, for +otherwise I hardly know how it could have happened that my +exaltation was the first instance he had seen. His joy was great. +So strong and strenuous was England (Lord Palmerston reigned in +those days), that it was a pride and delight for a Syrian Christian +to look up and say that the Englishman's faith was his too. If I +was vexed at all that I could not give the man a lift and shake +hands with him on level ground, there was no alloy to his pleasure. +He followed me on, not looking to his own path, but keeping his +eyes on me. He saw, as he thought, and said (for he came with me +on to my quarters), the period of the Mahometan's absolute +ascendency, the beginning of the Christian's. He had so closely +associated the insulting privilege of the path with actual +dominion, that seeing it now in one instance abandoned, he looked +for the quick coming of European troops. His lips only whispered, +and that tremulously, but his fiery eyes spoke out their triumph in +long and loud hurrahs: "I, too, am a Christian. My foes are the +foes of the English. We are all one people, and Christ is our +King." + +If I poorly deserved, yet I liked this claim of brotherhood. Not +all the warnings which I heard against their rascality could hinder +me from feeling kindly towards my fellow-Christians in the East. +English travellers, from a habit perhaps of depreciating sectarians +in their own country, are apt to look down upon the Oriental +Christians as being "dissenters" from the established religion of a +Mahometan empire. I never did thus. By a natural perversity of +disposition, which my nursemaids called contrariness, I felt the +more strongly for my creed when I saw it despised among men. I +quite tolerated the Christianity of Mahometan countries, +notwithstanding its humble aspect and the damaged character of its +followers. I went further and extended some sympathy towards those +who, with all the claims of superior intellect, learning, and +industry, were kept down under the heel of the Mussulmans by reason +of their having OUR faith. I heard, as I fancied, the faint echo +of an old crusader's conscience, that whispered and said, "Common +cause!" The impulse was, as you may suppose, much too feeble to +bring me into trouble; it merely influenced my actions in a way +thoroughly characteristic of this poor sluggish century, that is, +by making me speak almost as civilly to the followers of Christ as +I did to their Mahometan foes. + +This "holy" Damascus, this "earthly paradise" of the Prophet, so +fair to the eyes that he dared not trust himself to tarry in her +blissful shades, she is a city of hidden palaces, of copses and +gardens, and fountains and bubbling streams. The juice of her life +is the gushing and ice-cold torrent that tumbles from the snowy +sides of Anti-Lebanon. Close along on the river's edge, through +seven sweet miles of rustling boughs and deepest shade, the city +spreads out her whole length. As a man falls flat, face forward on +the brook, that he may drink and drink again, so Damascus, +thirsting for ever, lies down with her lips to the stream and +clings to its rushing waters. + +The chief places of public amusement, or rather, of public +relaxation, are the baths and the great cafe; this last, which is +frequented at night by most of the wealthy men, and by many of the +humbler sort, consists of a number of sheds, very simply framed and +built in a labyrinth of running streams, which foam and roar on +every side. The place is lit up in the simplest manner by numbers +of small pale lamps strung upon loose cords, and so suspended from +branch to branch, that the light, though it looks so quiet amongst +the darkening foliage, yet leaps and brightly flashes as it falls +upon the troubled waters. All around, and chiefly upon the very +edge of the torrents, groups of people are tranquilly seated. They +all drink coffee, and inhale the cold fumes of the narghile; they +talk rather gently the one to the other, or else are silent. A +father will sometimes have two or three of his boys around him; but +the joyousness of an Oriental child is all of the sober sort, and +never disturbs the reigning calm of the land. + +It has been generally understood, I believe, that the houses of +Damascus are more sumptuous than those of any other city in the +East. Some of these, said to be the most magnificent in the place, +I had an opportunity of seeing. + +Every rich man's house stands detached from its neighbours at the +side of a garden, and it is from this cause no doubt that the city +(severely menaced by prophecy) has hitherto escaped destruction. +You know some parts of Spain, but you have never, I think, been in +Andalusia: if you had, I could easily show you the interior of a +Damascene house by referring you to the Alhambra or Alcanzar of +Seville. The lofty rooms are adorned with a rich inlaying of many +colours and illuminated writing on the walls. The floors are of +marble. One side of any room intended for noonday retirement is +generally laid open to a quadrangle, in the centre of which there +dances the jet of a fountain. There is no furniture that can +interfere with the cool, palace-like emptiness of the apartments. +A divan (which is a low and doubly broad sofa) runs round the three +walled sides of the room. A few Persian carpets (which ought to be +called Persian rugs, for that is the word which indicates their +shape and dimensions) are sometimes thrown about near the divan; +they are placed without order, the one partly lapping over the +other, and thus disposed, they give to the room an appearance of +uncaring luxury; except these (of which I saw few, for the time was +summer, and fiercely hot), there is nothing to obstruct the welcome +air, and the whole of the marble floor from one divan to the other, +and from the head of the chamber across to the murmuring fountain, +is thoroughly open and free. + +So simple as this is Asiatic luxury! The Oriental is not a +contriving animal; there is nothing intricate in his magnificence. +The impossibility of handing down property from father to son for +any long period consecutively seems to prevent the existence of +those traditions by which, with us, the refined modes of applying +wealth are made known to its inheritors. We know that in England a +newly-made rich man cannot, by taking thought and spending money, +obtain even the same-looking furniture as a gentleman. The +complicated character of an English establishment allows room for +subtle distinctions between that which is comme il faut, and that +which is not. All such refinements are unknown in the East; the +Pasha and the peasant have the same tastes. The broad cold marble +floor, the simple couch, the air freshly waving through a shady +chamber, a verse of the Koran emblazoned on the wall, the sight and +the sound of falling water, the cold fragrant smoke of the +narghile, and a small collection of wives and children in the inner +apartments--these, the utmost enjoyments of the grandee, are yet +such as to be appreciable by the humblest Mussulman in the empire. + +But its gardens are the delight, the delight and the pride of +Damascus. They are not the formal parterres which you might expect +from the Oriental taste; they rather bring back to your mind the +memory of some dark old shrubbery in our northern isle, that has +been charmingly un--"kept up" for many and many a day. When you +see a rich wilderness of wood in decent England, it is like enough +that you see it with some soft regrets. The puzzled old woman at +the lodge can give small account of "the family." She thinks it is +"Italy" that has made the whole circle of her world so gloomy and +sad. You avoid the house in lively dread of a lone housekeeper, +but you make your way on by the stables; you remember that gable +with all its neatly nailed trophies of fitchets and hawks and owls, +now slowly falling to pieces; you remember that stable, and that-- +but the doors are all fastened that used to be standing ajar, the +paint of things painted is blistered and cracked, grass grows in +the yard; just there, in October mornings, the keeper would wait +with the dogs and the guns--no keeper now; you hurry away, and gain +the small wicket that used to open to the touch of a lightsome +hand--it is fastened with a padlock (the only new looking thing), +and is stained with thick, green damp; you climb it, and bury +yourself in the deep shade, and strive but lazily with the tangling +briars, and stop for long minutes to judge and determine whether +you will creep beneath the long boughs and make them your archway, +or whether perhaps you will lift your heel and tread them down +under foot. Long doubt, and scarcely to be ended till you wake +from the memory of those days when the path was clear, and chase +that phantom of a muslin sleeve that once weighed warm upon your +arm. + +Wild as that, the nighest woodland of a deserted home in England, +but without its sweet sadness, is the sumptuous garden of Damascus. +Forest trees, tall and stately enough if you could see their lofty +crests, yet lead a tussling life of it below, with their branches +struggling against strong numbers of bushes and wilful shrubs. The +shade upon the earth is black as night. High, high above your +head, and on every side all down to the ground, the thicket is +hemmed in and choked up by the interlacing boughs that droop with +the weight of roses, and load the slow air with their damask +breath. {45} There are no other flowers. Here and there, there +are patches of ground made clear from the cover, and these are +either carelessly planted with some common and useful vegetable, or +else are left free to the wayward ways of Nature, and bear rank +weeds, moist-looking and cool to the eyes, and freshening the sense +with their earthy and bitter fragrance. There is a lane opened +through the thicket, so broad in some places that you can pass +along side by side; in some so narrow (the shrubs are for ever +encroaching) that you ought, if you can, to go on the first and +hold back the bough of the rose-tree. And through this wilderness +there tumbles a loud rushing stream, which is halted at last in the +lowest corner of the garden, and there tossed up in a fountain by +the side of the simple alcove. This is all. + +Never for an instant will the people of Damascus attempt to +separate the idea of bliss from these wild gardens and rushing +waters. Even where your best affections are concerned, and you, +prudent preachers, "hold hard" and turn aside when they come near +the mysteries of the happy state, and we (prudent preachers too), +we will hush our voices, and never reveal to finite beings the joys +of the "earthly paradise." + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII--PASS OF THE LEBANON + + + +"The ruins of Baalbec!" Shall I scatter the vague, solemn thoughts +and all the airy phantasies which gather together when once those +words are spoken, that I may give you instead tall columns and +measurements true, and phrases built with ink? No, no; the +glorious sounds shall still float on as of yore, and still hold +fast upon your brain with their own dim and infinite meaning. + +Come! Baalbec is over; I got "rather well" out of that. + +The path by which I crossed the Lebanon is like, I think, in its +features to one which you must know, namely, that of the Foorca in +the Bernese Oberland. For a great part of the way I toiled rather +painfully through the dazzling snow, but the labour of ascending +added to the excitement with which I looked for the summit of the +pass. The time came. There was a minute in the which I saw +nothing but the steep, white shoulder of the mountain, and there +was another minute, and that the next, which showed me a nether +heaven of fleecy clouds that floated along far down in the air +beneath me, and showed me beyond the breadth of all Syria west of +the Lebanon. But chiefly I clung with my eyes to the dim, +steadfast line of the sea which closed my utmost view. I had grown +well used of late to the people and the scenes of forlorn Asia-- +well used to tombs and ruins, to silent cities and deserted plains, +to tranquil men and women sadly veiled; and now that I saw the even +plain of the sea, I leapt with an easy leap to its yonder shores, +and saw all the kingdoms of the West in that fair path that could +lead me from out of this silent land straight on into shrill +Marseilles, or round by the pillars of Hercules to the crash and +roar of London. My place upon this dividing barrier was as a man's +puzzling station in eternity, between the birthless past and the +future that has no end. Behind me I left an old, decrepit world; +religions dead and dying; calm tyrannies expiring in silence; women +hushed and swathed, and turned into waxen dolls; love flown, and in +its stead mere royal and "paradise" pleasures. Before me there +waited glad bustle and strife; love itself, an emulous game; +religion, a cause and a controversy, well smitten and well +defended; men governed by reasons and suasion of speech; wheels +going, steam buzzing--a mortal race, and a slashing pace, and the +devil taking the hindmost--taking ME, by Jove (for that was my +inner care), if I lingered too long upon the difficult pass that +leads from thought to action. + +I descended and went towards the west. + +The group of cedars remaining on this part of the Lebanon is held +sacred by the Greek Church on account of a prevailing notion that +the trees were standing at a time when the temple of Jerusalem was +built. They occupy three or four acres on the mountain's side, and +many of them are gnarled in a way that implies great age, but +except these signs I saw nothing in their appearance or conduct +that tended to prove them contemporaries of the cedars employed in +Solomon's Temple. The final cause to which these aged survivors +owed their preservation was explained to me in the evening by a +glorious old fellow (a Christian chief), who made me welcome in the +valley of Eden. In ancient times the whole range of the Lebanon +had been covered with cedars, and as the fertile plains beneath +became more and more infested by government officers and tyrants of +high and low degree, the people by degrees abandoned them and +flocked to the rugged mountains, which were less accessible to +their indolent oppressors. The cedar forests gradually shrank +under the axe of the encroaching multitudes, and seemed at last to +be on the point of disappearing entirely, when an aged chief who +ruled in this district, and who had witnessed the great change +effected even in his own lifetime, chose to say that some sign or +memorial should be left of the vast woods with which the mountains +had formerly been clad, and commanded accordingly that this group +of trees (which was probably situated at the highest point to which +the forest had reached) should remain untouched. The chief, it +seems, was not moved by the notion I have mentioned as prevailing +in the Greek Church, but rather by some sentiment of veneration for +a great natural feature--sentiment akin, perhaps, to that old and +earthborn religion, which made men bow down to creation before they +had yet learnt how to know and worship the Creator. + +The chief of the valley in which I passed the night was a man of +large possessions, and he entertained me very sumptuously. He was +highly intelligent, and had had the sagacity to foresee that Europe +would intervene authoritatively in the affairs of Syria. Bearing +this idea in mind, and with a view to give his son an advantageous +start in the ambitious career for which he was destined, he had +hired for him a teacher of the Italian language, the only +accessible European tongue. The tutor, however, who was a native +of Syria, either did not know or did not choose to teach the +European forms of address, but contented himself with instructing +his pupil in the mere language of Italy. This circumstance gave me +an opportunity (the only one I ever had, or was likely to have +{46}) of hearing the phrases of Oriental courtesy in an European +tongue. The boy was about twelve or thirteen years old, and having +the advantage of being able to speak to me without the aid of an +interpreter, he took a prominent part in doing the honours of his +father's house. He went through his duties with untiring +assiduity, and with a kind of gracefulness, which by mere +description can scarcely be made intelligible to those who are +unacquainted with the manners of the Asiatics. The boy's address +resembled a little that of a highly polished and insinuating Roman +Catholic priest, but had more of girlish gentleness. It was +strange to hear him gravely and slowly enunciating the common and +extravagant compliments of the East in good Italian, and in soft, +persuasive tones. I recollect that I was particularly amused at +the gracious obstinacy with which he maintained that the house in +which I was so hospitably entertained belonged not to his father, +but to me. To say this once was only to use the common form of +speech, signifying no more than our sweet word "welcome," but the +amusing part of the matter was that, whenever in the course of +conversation I happened to speak of his father's house or the +surrounding domain, the boy invariably interfered to correct my +pretended mistake, and to assure me once again with a gentle +decisiveness of manner that the whole property was really and +exclusively mine, and that his father had not the most distant +pretensions to its ownership. + +I received from my host much, and (as I now know) most true, +information respecting the people of the mountains, and their power +of resisting Mehemet Ali. The chief gave me very plainly to +understand that the mountaineers, being dependent upon others for +bread and gunpowder (the two great necessaries of martial life), +could not long hold out against a power which occupied the plains +and commanded the sea; but he also assured me, and that very +significantly, that if this source of weakness were provided +against, THE MOUNTAINEERS WERE TO BE DEPENDED UPON; he told me that +in ten or fifteen days the chiefs could bring together some fifty +thousand fighting men. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX--SURPRISE OF SATALIEH + + + +Whilst I was remaining upon the coast of Syria I had the good +fortune to become acquainted with the Russian Sataliefsky, {47} a +general officer, who in his youth had fought and bled at Borodino, +but was now better known among diplomats by the important trust +committed to him at a period highly critical for the affairs of +Eastern Europe. I must not tell you his family name; my mention of +his title can do him no harm, for it is I, and I only, who have +conferred it, in consideration of the military and diplomatic +services performed under my own eyes. + +The General as well as I was bound for Smyrna, and we agreed to +sail together in an Ionian brigantine. We did not charter the +vessel, but we made our arrangement with the captain upon such +terms that we could be put ashore upon any part of the coast that +we might choose. We sailed, and day after day the vessel lay +dawdling on the sea with calms and feeble breezes for her portion. +I myself was well repaid for the painful restlessness which such +weather occasions, because I gained from my companion a little of +that vast fund of interesting knowledge with which he was stored, +knowledge a thousand times the more highly to be prized since it +was not of the sort that is to be gathered from books, but only +from the lips of those who have acted a part in the world. + +When after nine days of sailing, or trying to sail, we found +ourselves still hanging by the mainland to the north of the isle of +Cyprus, we determined to disembark at Satalieh, and to go on thence +by land. A light breeze favoured our purpose, and it was with +great delight that we neared the fragrant land, and saw our anchor +go down in the bay of Satalieh, within two or three hundred yards +of the shore. + +The town of Satalieh {48} is the chief place of the Pashalic in +which it is situate, and its citadel is the residence of the Pasha. +We had scarcely dropped our anchor when a boat from the shore came +alongside with officers on board, who announced that the strictest +orders had been received for maintaining a quarantine of three +weeks against all vessels coming from Syria, and directed +accordingly that no one from the vessel should disembark. In reply +we sent a message to the Pasha, setting forth the rank and titles +of the General, and requiring permission to go ashore. After a +while the boat came again alongside, and the officers declaring +that the orders received from Constantinople were imperative and +unexceptional, formally enjoined us in the name of the Pasha to +abstain from any attempt to land. + +I had been hitherto much less impatient of our slow voyage than my +gallant friend, but this opposition made the smooth sea seem to me +like a prison, from which I must and would break out. I had an +unbounded faith in the feebleness of Asiatic potentates, and I +proposed that we should set the Pasha at defiance. The General had +been worked up to a state of most painful agitation by the idea of +being driven from the shore which smiled so pleasantly before his +eyes, and he adopted my suggestion with rapture. + +We determined to land. + +To approach the sweet shore after a tedious voyage, and then to be +suddenly and unexpectedly prohibited from landing--this is so +maddening to the temper, that no one who had ever experienced the +trial would say that even the most violent impatience of such +restraint is wholly inexcusable. I am not going to pretend, +however, that the course which we chose to adopt on the occasion +can be perfectly justified. The impropriety of a traveller's +setting at naught the regulations of a foreign State is clear +enough, and the bad taste of compassing such a purpose by mere +gasconading is still more glaringly plain. I knew perfectly well +that if the Pasha understood his duty, and had energy enough to +perform it, he would order out a file of soldiers the moment we +landed, and cause us both to be shot upon the beach, without +allowing more contact than might be absolutely necessary for the +purpose of making us stand fire; but I also firmly believed that +the Pasha would not see the befitting line of conduct nearly so +well as I did, and that even if he did know his duty, he would +hardly succeed in finding resolution enough to perform it. + +We ordered the boat to be got in readiness, and the officers on +shore seeing these preparations, gathered together a number of +guards, who assembled upon the sands. We saw that great excitement +prevailed, and that messengers were continually going to and fro +between the shore and the citadel. Our captain, out of compliment +to his Excellency, had provided the vessel with a Russian war-flag, +which he had hoisted alternately with the Union Jack, and we agreed +that we would attempt our disembarkation under this, the Russian +standard! I was glad when we came to that resolution, for I should +have been sorry to engage the honoured flag of England in such an +affair as that which we were undertaking. The Russian ensign was +therefore committed to one of the sailors, who took his station at +the stern of the boat. We gave particular instructions to the +captain of the brigantine, and when all was ready, the General and +I, with our respective servants, got into the boat, and were slowly +rowed towards the shore. The guards gathered together at the point +for which we were making, but when they saw that our boat went on +without altering her course, THEY CEASED TO STAND VERY STILL; none +of them ran away, or even shrank back, but they looked as if THE +PACK WERE BEING SHUFFLED, every man seeming desirous to change +places with his neighbour. They were still at their post, however, +when our oars went in, and the bow of our boat ran up--well up upon +the beach. + +The General was lame by an honourable wound received at Borodino, +and could not without some assistance get out of the boat; I, +therefore, landed the first. My instructions to the captain were +attended to with the most perfect accuracy, for scarcely had my +foot indented the sand when the four six-pounders of the brigantine +quite gravely rolled out their brute thunder. Precisely as I had +expected, the guards and all the people who had gathered about them +gave way under the shock produced by the mere sound of guns, and we +were all allowed to disembark with the least molestation. + +We immediately formed a little column, or rather, as I should have +called it, a procession, for we had no fighting aptitude in us, and +were only trying, as it were, how far we could go in frightening +full-grown children. First marched the sailor with the Russian +flag of war bravely flying in the breeze, then came the general and +I, then our servants, and lastly, if I rightly recollect, two more +of the brigantine's crew. Our flag-bearer so exulted in his +honourable office, and bore the colours aloft with so much of pomp +and dignity, that I found it exceedingly hard to keep a grave +countenance. We advanced towards the castle, but the people had +now had time to recover from the effect of the six-pounders (only +of course loaded with powder), and they could not help seeing not +only the numerical weakness of our party, but the very slight +amount of wealth and resource which it seemed to imply. They began +to hang round us more closely, and just as this reaction was +beginning the General, who was perfectly unacquainted with the +Asiatic character, thoughtlessly turned round in order to speak to +one of the servants. The effect of this slight move was magical. +The people thought we were going to give way, and instantly closed +round us. In two words, and with one touch, I showed my comrade +the danger he was running, and in the next instant we were both +advancing more pompously than ever. Some minutes afterwards there +was a second appearance of reaction, followed again by wavering and +indecision on the part of the Pasha's people, but at length it +seemed to be understood that we should go unmolested into the +audience hall. + +Constant communication had been going on between the receding crowd +and the Pasha, and so when we reached the gates of the citadel we +saw that preparations were made for giving us an awe-striking +reception. Parting at once from the sailors and our servants, the +General and I were conducted into the audience hall; and there at +least I suppose the Pasha hoped that he would confound us by his +greatness. The hall was nothing more than a large whitewashed +room. Oriental potentates have a pride in that sort of simplicity, +when they can contrast it with the exhibition of power, and this +the Pasha was able to do, for the lower end of the hall was filled +with his officers. These men, of whom I thought there were about +fifty or sixty, were all handsomely, though plainly, dressed in the +military frockcoats of Europe; they stood in mass and so as to +present a hollow semicircular front towards the upper end of the +hall at which the Pasha sat; they opened a narrow lane for us when +we entered, and as soon as we had passed they again closed up their +ranks. An attempt was made to induce us to remain at a respectful +distance from his mightiness. To have yielded in this point would +have have been fatal to our success, perhaps to our lives; but the +General and I had already determined upon the place which we should +take, and we rudely pushed on towards the upper end of the hall. + +Upon the divan, and close up against the right hand corner of the +room, there sat the Pasha, his limbs gathered in, the whole +creature coiled up like an adder. His cheeks were deadly pale, and +his lips perhaps had turned white, for without moving a muscle the +man impressed me with an immense idea of the wrath within him. He +kept his eyes inexorably fixed as if upon vacancy, and with the +look of a man accustomed to refuse the prayers of those who sue for +life. We soon discomposed him, however, from this studied fixity +of feature, for we marched straight up to the divan and sat down, +the Russian close to the Pasha, and I by the side of the Russian. +This act astonished the attendants, and plainly disconcerted the +Pasha. He could no longer maintain the glassy stillness of the +eyes which he had affected, and evidently became much agitated. At +the feet of the satrap there stood a trembling Italian. + +This man was a sort of medico in the potentate's service, and now +in the absence of our attendants he was to act as interpreter. The +Pasha caused him to tell us that we had openly defied his +authority, and had forced our way on shore in the teeth of his own +officers. + +Up to this time I had been the planner of the enterprise, but now +that the moment had come when all would depend upon able and +earnest speechifying, I felt at once the immense superiority of my +gallant friend, and gladly left to him the whole conduct of this +discussion. Indeed he had vast advantages over me, not only by his +superior command of language and his far more spirited style of +address, but also in his consciousness of a good cause; for whilst +I felt myself completely in the wrong, his Excellency had really +worked himself up to believe that the Pasha's refusal to permit our +landing was a gross outrage and insult. Therefore, without +deigning to defend our conduct he at once commenced a spirited +attack upon the Pasha. The poor Italian doctor translated one or +two sentences to the Pasha, but he evidently mitigated their +import. The Russian, growing warm, insisted upon his attack with +redoubled energy and spirit; but the medico, instead of +translating, began to shake violently with terror, and at last he +came out with his non ardisco, and fairly confessed that he dared +not interpret fierce words to his master. + +Now then, at a time when everything seemed to depend upon the +effect of speech, we were left without an interpreter. + +But this very circumstance, which at first appeared so +unfavourable, turned out to be advantageous. The General, finding +that he could not have his words translated, ceased to speak in +Italian, and recurred to his accustomed French; he became eloquent. +No one present except myself understood one syllable of what he was +saying, but he had drawn forth his passport, and the energy and +violence with which, as he spoke, he pointed to the graven Eagle of +all the Russias, began to make an impression. The Pasha saw at his +side a man not only free from every the least pang of fear, but +raging, as it seemed, with just indignation, and thenceforward he +plainly began to think that, in some way or other (he could not +tell how) he must certainly have been in the wrong. In a little +time he was so much shaken that the Italian ventured to resume his +interpretation, and my comrade had again the opportunity of +pressing his attack upon the Pasha. His argument, if I rightly +recollect its import, was to this effect: "If the vilest Jews were +to come into the harbour, you would but forbid them to land, and +force them to perform quarantine; yet this is the very course, O +Pasha, which your rash officers dared to think of adopting with +US!--those mad and reckless men would have actually dealt towards a +Russian general officer and an English gentleman as if they had +been wretched Israelites! Never--never will we submit to such an +indignity. His Imperial Majesty knows how to protect his nobles +from insult, and would never endure that a General of his army +should be treated in matter of quarantine as though he were a mere +Eastern Jew!" This argument told with great effect. The Pasha +fairly admitted that he felt its weight, and he now only struggled +to obtain such a compromise as might partly save his dignity. He +wanted us to perform a quarantine of one day for form's sake, and +in order to show his people that he was not utterly defied; but +finding that we were inexorable, he not only abandoned his attempt, +but promised to supply us with horses. + +When the discussion had arrived at this happy conclusion +tchibouques and coffee were brought, and we passed, I think, nearly +an hour in friendly conversation. The Pasha, it now appeared, had +once been a prisoner of war in Russia, and a conviction of the +Emperor's vast power, necessarily acquired during this captivity, +made him perhaps more alive than an untravelled Turk would have +been to the force of my comrade's eloquence. + +The Pasha now gave us a generous feast. Our promised horses were +brought without much delay. I gained my loved saddle once more, +and when the moon got up and touched the heights of Taurus, we were +joyfully winding our way through the first of his rugged defiles. + + + +APPENDIX--THE HOME OF LADY HESTER STANHOPE + + + +It was late when we came in sight of two high conical hills, on one +of which stands the village of Djouni, on the other a circular +wall, over which dark trees were waving; and this was the place in +which Lady Hester Stanhope had finished her strange and eventful +career. It had formerly been a convent, but the Pasha of Sidon had +given it to the "prophet-lady," who converted its naked walls into +a palace, and its wilderness into gardens. + +The sun was setting as we entered the enclosure, and we were soon +scattered about the outer court, picketing our horses, rubbing down +their foaming flanks, and washing out their wounds. The buildings +that constituted the palace were of a very scattered and +complicated description, covering a wide space, but only one storey +in height: courts and gardens, stables and sleeping-rooms, halls +of audience and ladies' bowers, were strangely intermingled. Heavy +weeds were growing everywhere among the open portals, and we forced +our way with difficulty through a tangle of roses and jasmine to +the inner court; here choice flowers once bloomed, and fountains +played in marble basins, but now was presented a scene of the most +melancholy desolation. As the watchfire blazed up, its gleam fell +upon masses of honeysuckle and woodbine, on white, mouldering walls +beneath, and dark, waving trees above; while the group of +mountaineers who gathered round its light, with their long beards +and vivid dresses, completed the strange picture. + +The clang of sword and spear resounded through the long galleries; +horses neighed among bowers and boudoirs; strange figures hurried +to and fro among the colonnades, shouting in Arabic, English, and +Italian; the fire crackled, the startled bats flapped their heavy +wings, and the growl of distant thunder filled up the pauses in the +rough symphony. + +Our dinner was spread on the floor in Lady Hester's favourite +apartment; her deathbed was our sideboard, her furniture our fuel, +her name our conversation. Almost before the meal was ended two of +our party had dropped asleep over their trenchers from fatigue; the +Druses had retired from the haunted precincts to their village; and +W-, L-, and I went out into the garden to smoke our pipes by Lady +Hester's lonely tomb. About midnight we fell asleep upon the +ground, wrapped in our capotes, and dreamed of ladies and tombs and +prophets till the neighing of our horses announced the dawn. + +After a hurried breakfast on fragments of the last night's repast +we strolled out over the extensive gardens. Here many a broken +arbour and trellis, bending under masses of jasmine and +honeysuckle, show the care and taste that were once lavished on +this wild but beautiful hermitage: a garden-house, surrounded by +an enclosure of roses run wild, lies in the midst of a grove of +myrtle and bay trees. This was Lady Hester's favourite resort +during her lifetime; and now, within its silent enclosure, + + +"After life's fitful fever she sleeps well." + + +The hand of ruin has dealt very sparingly with all these +interesting relics; the Pasha's power by day, and the fear of +spirits by night, keep off marauders; and though we made free with +broken benches and fallen doorposts for fuel, we reverently +abstained from displacing anything in the establishment except a +few roses, which there was no living thing but bees and +nightingales to regret. It was one of the most striking and +interesting spots I ever witnessed: its silence and beauty, its +richness and desolation, lent to it a touching and mysterious +character, that suited well the memory of that strange hermit-lady +who has made it a place of pilgrimage, even in Palestine. {49} + +The Pasha of Sidon presented Lady Hester with the deserted convent +of Mar Elias on her arrival in his country, and this she soon +converted into a fortress, garrisoned by a band of Albanians: her +only attendants besides were her doctor, her secretary, and some +female slaves. Public rumour soon busied itself with such a +personage, and exaggerated her influence and power. It is even +said that she was crowned Queen of the East at Palmyra by fifty +thousand Arabs. She certainly exercised almost despotic power in +her neighbourhood on the mountain; and what was perhaps the most +remarkable proof of her talents, she prevailed on some Jews to +advance large sums of money to her on her note of hand. She lived +for many years, beset with difficulties and anxieties, but to the +last she held on gallantly: even when confined to her bed and +dying she sought for no companionship or comfort but such as she +could find in her own powerful, though unmanageable, mind. + +Mr. Moore, our consul at Beyrout, hearing she was ill, rode over +the mountains to visit her, accompanied by Mr. Thomson, the +American missionary. It was evening when they arrived, and a +profound silence was over all the palace. No one met them; they +lighted their own lamps in the outer court, and passed unquestioned +through court and gallery until they came to where SHE lay. A +corpse was the only inhabitant of the palace, and the isolation +from her kind which she had sought so long was indeed complete. +That morning thirty-seven servants had watched every motion of her +eye: its spell once darkened by death, every one fled with such +plunder as they could secure. A little girl, adopted by her and +maintained for years, took her watch and some papers on which she +had set peculiar value. Neither the child nor the property were +ever seen again. Not a single thing was left in the room where she +lay dead, except the ornaments upon her person. No one had +ventured to touch these; even in death she seemed able to protect +herself. At midnight her countryman and the missionary carried her +out by torchlight to a spot in the garden that had been formerly +her favourite resort, and here they buried the self-exiled lady.-- +From "THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS," by Eliot Warburton. + + + +Footnotes: + +{1} A "compromised" person is one who has been in contact with +people or things supposed to be capable of conveying infection. As +a general rule the whole Ottoman Empire lies constantly under this +terrible ban. The "yellow flag" is the ensign of the quarantine +establishment. + +{2} The narghile is a water-pipe upon the plan of the hookah, but +more gracefully fashioned; the smoke is drawn by a very long +flexible tube, that winds its snake-like way from the vase to the +lips of the beatified smoker. + +{3} That is, if he stands up at all. Oriental etiquette would not +warrant his rising, unless his visitor were supposed to be at least +his equal in point of rank and station. + +{4} The continual marriages of these people with the chosen +beauties of Georgia and Circassia have overpowered the original +ugliness of their Tatar ancestors. + +{5} There is almost always a breeze either from the Marmora or +from the Black Sea, that passes along the course of the Bosphorus. + +{6} The yashmak, you know, is not a mere semi-transparent veil, +but rather a good substantial petticoat applied to the face; it +thoroughly conceals all the features, except the eyes; the way of +withdrawing it is by pulling it down. + +{7} The "pipe of tranquillity" is a tchibouque too long to be +conveniently carried on a journey; the possession of it therefore +implies that its owner is stationary, or at all events, that he is +enjoying a long repose from travel. + +{8} The Jews of Smyrna are poor, and having little merchandise of +their own to dispose of, they are sadly importunate in offering +their services as intermediaries: their troublesome conduct has +led to the custom of beating them in the open streets. It is usual +for Europeans to carry long sticks with them, for the express +purpose of keeping off the chosen people. I always felt ashamed to +strike the poor fellows myself, but I confess to the amusement with +which I witnessed the observance of this custom by other people. +The Jew seldom got hurt much, for he was always expecting the blow, +and was ready to recede from it the moment it came: one could not +help being rather gratified at seeing him bound away so nimbly, +with his long robes floating out in the air, and then again wheel +round, and return with fresh importunities. + +{9} Marriages in the East are arranged by professed match-makers; +many of these, I believe, are Jewesses. + +{10} A Greek woman wears her whole fortune upon her person in the +shape of jewels or gold coins; I believe that this mode of +investment is adopted in great measure for safety's sake. It has +the advantage of enabling a suitor to RECKON as well as to admire +the objects of his affection. + +{11} St. Nicholas is the great patron of Greek sailors. A small +picture of him enclosed in a glass case is hung up like a barometer +at one end of the cabin. + +{12} Hanmer. + +{13} ". . . ubi templum illi, centumque Sabaeo +Thure calent arae, sertisque recentibus halant." +- Aeneid, i, 415. + +{14} The writer advises that none should attempt to read the +following account of the late Lady Hester Stanhope except those who +may already chance to feel an interest in the personage to whom it +relates. The chapter (which has been written and printed for the +reasons mentioned in the preface) is chiefly filled with the +detailed conversation, or rather discourse, of a highly eccentric +gentlewoman. + +{15} Historically "fainting"; the death did not occur until long +afterwards. + +{16} I am told that in youth she was exceedingly sallow. + +{17} This was my impression at the time of writing the above +passage, an impression created by the popular and uncontradicted +accounts of the matter, as well as by the tenor of Lady Hester's +conversation. I have now some reason to think that I was deceived, +and that her sway in the desert was much more limited than I had +supposed. She seems to have had from the Bedouins a fair five +hundred pounds' worth of respect, and not much more. + +{18} She spoke it, I dare say, in English; the words would not be +the less effective for being spoken in an unknown tongue. Lady +Hester, I believe, never learnt to speak the Arabic with a perfect +accent. + +{19} The proceedings thus described to me by Lady Hester as having +taken place during her illness, were afterwards re-enacted at the +time of her death. Since I wrote the words to which this note is +appended, I received from Warburton an interesting account of the +heroine's death, or rather the circumstances attending the +discovery of the event; and I caused it to be printed in the former +editions of this work. I must now give up the borrowed ornament, +and omit my extract from my friend's letter, for the rightful owner +has reprinted it in "The Crescent and the Cross." I know what a +sacrifice I am making, for in noticing the first edition of this +book reviewers turned aside from the text to the note, and remarked +upon the interesting information which Warburton's letter +contained. [This narrative is reproduced in an Appendix to the +present edition.] + +{20} In a letter which I afterwards received from Lady Hester, she +mentioned incidentally Lord Hardwicke, and said that he was "the +kindest-hearted man existing--a most manly, firm character. He +comes from a good breed--all the Yorkes excellent, with ANCIENT +French blood in their veins." The under scoring of the word +"ancient" is by the writer of the letter, who had certainly no +great love or veneration for the French of the present day: she +did not consider them as descended from her favourite stock. + +{21} It is said that deaf people can hear what is said concerning +themselves, and it would seem that those who live without books or +newspapers know all that is written about them. Lady Hester +Stanhope, though not admitting a book or newspaper into her +fortress, seems to have known the way in which M. Lamartine +mentioned her in his book, for in a letter which she wrote to me +after my return to England she says, "Although neglected, as +Monsieur le M." (referring, as I believe, to M. Lamartine) +"describes, and without books, yet my head is organised to supply +the want of them as well as acquired knowledge." + +{22} I have been recently told that this Italian's pretensions to +the healing art were thoroughly unfounded. My informant is a +gentleman who enjoyed during many years the esteem and confidence +of Lady Hester Stanhope: his adventures in the Levant were most +curious and interesting. + +{23} The Greek Church does not recognise this as the true +sanctuary, and many Protestants look upon all the traditions by +which it is attempted to ascertain the holy places of Palestine as +utterly fabulous. For myself, I do not mean either to affirm or +deny the correctness of the opinion which has fixed upon this as +the true site, but merely to mention it as a belief entertained +without question by my brethren of the Latin Church, whose guest I +was at the time. It would be a great aggravation of the trouble of +writing about these matters if I were to stop in the midst of every +sentence for the purpose of saying "so called" or "so it is said," +and would besides sound very ungraciously: yet I am anxious to be +literally true in all I write. Now, thus it is that I mean to get +over my difficulty. Whenever in this great bundle of papers or +book (if book it is to be) you see any words about matters of +religion which would seem to involve the assertion of my own +opinion, you are to understand me just as if one or other of the +qualifying phrases above mentioned had been actually inserted in +every sentence. My general direction for you to construe me thus +will render all that I write as strictly and actually true as if I +had every time lugged in a formal declaration of the fact that I +was merely expressing the notions of other people. + +{24} "Vino d'oro." + +{25} Shereef. + +{26} Tennyson. + +{27} The other three cities held holy by Jews are Jerusalem, +Hebron, and Safet. + +{28} Hadj a pilgrim. + +{29} Milnes cleverly goes to the French for the exact word which +conveys the impression produced by the voice of the Arabs, and +calls them "un peuple criard." + +{30} There is some semblance of bravado in my manner of talking +about the plague. I have been more careful to describe the terrors +of other people than my own. The truth is, that during the whole +period of my stay at Cairo I remained thoroughly impressed with a +sense of my danger. I may almost say, that I lived in perpetual +apprehension, for even in sleep, as I fancy, there remained with me +some faint notion of the peril with which I was encompassed. But +fear does not necessarily damp the spirits; on the contrary, it +will often operate as an excitement, giving rise to unusual +animation, and thus it affected me. If I had not been surrounded +at this time by new faces, new scenes, and new sounds, the effect +produced upon my mind by one unceasing cause of alarm might have +been very different. As it was, the eagerness with which I pursued +my rambles among the wonders of Egypt was sharpened and increased +by the sting of the fear of death. Thus my account of the matter +plainly conveys an impression that I remained at Cairo without +losing my cheerfulness and buoyancy of spirits. And this is the +truth, but it is also true, as I have freely confessed, that my +sense of danger during the whole period was lively and continuous. + + +{31} Anglice for "je le sais." These answers of mine, as given +above, are not meant as specimens of mere French, but of that fine, +terse, nervous, Continental English with which I and my compatriots +make our way through Europe. This language, by-the-bye, is one +possessing great force and energy, and is not without its +literature, a literature of the very highest order. Where will you +find more sturdy specimens of downright, honest, and noble English +than in the Duke of Wellington's "French" despatches? + +{32} The import of the word "compromised," when used in reference +to contagion, is explained on page 18. + +{33} It is said, that when a Mussulman finds himself attacked by +the plague he goes and takes a bath. The couches on which the +bathers recline would carry infection, according to the notions of +the Europeans. Whenever, therefore, I took the bath at Cairo +(except the first time of my doing so) I avoided that part of the +luxury which consists in being "put up to dry" upon a kind of bed. + +{34} Mehemet Ali invited the Mamelukes to a feast, and murdered +them whilst preparing to enter the banquet hall. + +{35} It is not strictly lawful to sell WHITE slaves to a +Christian. + +{36} The difficulty was occasioned by the immense exertions which +the Pasha was making to collect camels for military purposes. + +{37} Herodotus, in an after age, stood by with his note-book, and +got, as he thought, the exact returns of all the rations served +out. + +{38} See Milman's "History of the Jews," first edition. + +{39} This is an appellation not implying blame, but merit; the +"lies" which it purports to affiliate are feints and cunning +stratagems, rather than the baser kind of falsehoods. The +expression, in short, has nearly the same meaning as the English +word "Yorkshireman." + +{40} The 29th of April. + +{41} These are the names given by the Prophet to certain chapters +of the Koran. + +{43} It was after the interview which I am talking of, and not +from the Jews themselves, that I learnt this fact. + +{44} An enterprising American traveller, Mr. Everett, lately +conceived the bold project of penetrating to the University of +Oxford, and this notwithstanding that he had been in his infancy +(they begin very young those Americans) an Unitarian preacher. +Having a notion, it seems, that the ambassadorial character would +protect him from insult, he adopted the stratagem of procuring +credentials from his Government as Minister Plenipotentiary at the +Court of her Britannic Majesty; he also wore the exact costume of a +Trinitarian. But all his contrivances were vain; Oxford disdained, +and rejected, and insulted him (not because he represented a +swindling community, but) because that his infantine sermons were +strictly remembered against him; the enterprise failed. + +{45} The rose-trees which I saw were all of the kind we call +"damask"; they grow to an immense height and size. + +{46} A dragoman never interprets in terms the courteous language +of the East. + +{47} A title signifying transcender or conqueror of Satalieh. + +{48} Spelt "Attalia" and sometimes "Adalia" in English books and +maps. + +{49} While Lady Hester Stanhope lived, although numbers visited +the convent, she almost invariably refused admittance to strangers. +She assigned as a reason the use which M. de Lamartine had made of +his interview. Mrs. T., who passed some weeks at Djouni, told me, +that when Lady Hester read his account of this interview, she +exclaimed, "It is all false; we did not converse together for more +than five minutes; but no matter, no traveller hereafter shall +betray or forge my conversation." The author of "Eothen," however, +was her guest, and has given us an interesting account of his visit +in his brilliant volume. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, EOTHEN *** + +This file should be named eothn10.txt or eothn10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, eothn11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, eothn10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Eothen + +Author: A. W. Kinglake + +Release Date: June, 1995 [EBook #282] +[This file was first posted on August 3, 1995] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII +</pre> +<p> +<a name="startoftext"></a> +Transcribed from the 1898 George Newnes edition by David Price, email +ccx074@coventry.ac.uk<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +EOTHEN - A. W. KINGSLAKE<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER I - OVER THE BORDER<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +At Semlin I still was encompassed by the scenes and the sounds of familiar +life; the din of a busy world still vexed and cheered me; the unveiled +faces of women still shone in the light of day. Yet, whenever +I chose to look southward, I saw the Ottoman’s fortress - austere, +and darkly impending high over the vale of the Danube - historic Belgrade. +I had come, as it were, to the end of this wheel-going Europe, and now +my eyes would see the splendour and havoc of the East.<br> +<br> +The two frontier towns are less than a cannon-shot distant, and yet +their people hold no communion. The Hungarian on the north, and +the Turk and Servian on the southern side of the Save are as much asunder +as though there were fifty broad provinces that lay in the path between +them. Of the men that bustled around me in the streets of Semlin +there was not, perhaps, one who had ever gone down to look upon the +stranger race dwelling under the walls of that opposite castle. +It is the plague, and the dread of the plague, that divide the one people +from the other. All coming and going stands forbidden by the terrors +of the yellow flag. If you dare to break the laws of the quarantine, +you will be tried with military haste; the court will scream out your +sentence to you from a tribunal some fifty yards off; the priest, instead +of gently whispering to you the sweet hopes of religion, will console +you at duelling distance; and after that you will find yourself carefully +shot, and carelessly buried in the ground of the lazaretto.<br> +<br> +When all was in order for our departure we walked down to the precincts +of the quarantine establishment, and here awaited us a “compromised” +<a name="citation1"></a><a href="#footnote1">{1}</a> officer of the +Austrian Government, who lives in a state of perpetual excommunication. +The boats, with their “compromised” rowers, were also in +readiness.<br> +<br> +After coming in contact with any creature or thing belonging to the +Ottoman Empire it would be impossible for us to return to the Austrian +territory without undergoing an imprisonment of fourteen days in the +odious lazaretto. We felt, therefore, that before we committed +ourselves it was important to take care that none of the arrangements +necessary for the journey had been forgotten; and in our anxiety to +avoid such a misfortune, we managed the work of departure from Semlin +with nearly as much solemnity as if we had been departing this life. +Some obliging persons, from whom we had received civilities during our +short stay in the place, came down to say their farewell at the river’s +side; and now, as we stood with them at the distance of three or four +yards from the “compromised” officer, they asked if we were +perfectly certain that we had wound up all our affairs in Christendom, +and whether we had no parting requests to make. We repeated the +caution to our servants, and took anxious thought lest by any possibility +we might be cut off from some cherished object of affection:- were they +quite sure that nothing had been forgotten - that there was no fragrant +dressing-case with its gold-compelling letters of credit from which +we might be parting for ever? - No; all our treasures lay safely stowed +in the boat, and we were ready to follow them to the ends of the earth. +Now, therefore, we shook hands with our Semlin friends, who immediately +retreated for three or four paces, so as to leave us in the centre of +a space between them and the “compromised” officer. +The latter then advanced, and asking once more if we had done with the +civilised world, held forth his hand. I met it with mine, and +there was an end to Christendom for many a day to come.<br> +<br> +We soon neared the southern bank of the river, but no sounds came down +from the blank walls above, and there was no living thing that we could +yet see, except one great hovering bird of the vulture race, flying +low, and intent, and wheeling round and round over the pest-accursed +city.<br> +<br> +But presently there issued from the postern a group of human beings +- beings with immortal souls, and possibly some reasoning faculties; +but to me the grand point was this, that they had real, substantial, +and incontrovertible turbans. They made for the point towards +which we were steering, and when at last I sprang upon the shore, I +heard, and saw myself now first surrounded by men of Asiatic blood. +I have since ridden through the land of the Osmanlees, from the Servian +border to the Golden Horn - from the Gulf of Satalieh to the tomb of +Achilles; but never have I seen such ultra-Turkish looking fellows as +those who received me on the banks of the Save. They were men +in the humblest order of life, having come to meet our boat in the hope +of earning something by carrying our luggage up to the city; but poor +though they were, it was plain that they were Turks of the proud old +school, and had not yet forgotten the fierce, careless bearing of their +once victorious race.<br> +<br> +Though the province of Servia generally has obtained a kind of independence, +yet Belgrade, as being a place of strength on the frontier, is still +garrisoned by Turkish troops under the command of a Pasha. Whether +the fellows who now surrounded us were soldiers, or peaceful inhabitants, +I did not understand: they wore the old Turkish costume; vests and jackets +of many and brilliant colours, divided from the loose petticoat-trousers +by heavy volumes of shawl, so thickly folded around their waists as +to give the meagre wearers something of the dignity of true corpulence. +This cincture enclosed a whole bundle of weapons; no man bore less than +one brace of immensely long pistols, and a yataghan (or cutlass), with +a dagger or two of various shapes and sizes; most of these arms were +inlaid with silver, and highly burnished, so that they contrasted shiningly +with the decayed grandeur of the garments to which they were attached +(this carefulness of his arms is a point of honour with the Osmanlee, +who never allows his bright yataghan to suffer from his own adversity); +then the long drooping mustachios, and the ample folds of the once white +turbans, that lowered over the piercing eyes, and the haggard features +of the men, gave them an air of gloomy pride, and that appearance of +trying to be disdainful under difficulties, which I have since seen +so often in those of the Ottoman people who live, and remember old times; +they seemed as if they were thinking that they would have been more +usefully, more honourably, and more piously employed in cutting our +throats than in carrying our portmanteaus. The faithful Steel +(Methley’s Yorkshire servant) stood aghast for a moment at the +sight of his master’s luggage upon the shoulders of these warlike +porters, and when at last we began to move up he could scarcely avoid +turning round to cast one affectionate look towards Christendom, but +quickly again he marched on with steps of a man, not frightened exactly, +but sternly prepared for death, or the Koran, or even for plural wives.<br> +<br> +The Moslem quarter of a city is lonely and desolate. You go up +and down, and on over shelving and hillocky paths through the narrow +lanes walled in by blank, windowless dwellings; you come out upon an +open space strewed with the black ruins that some late fire has left; +you pass by a mountain of castaway things, the rubbish of centuries, +and on it you see numbers of big, wolf-like dogs lying torpid under +the sun, with limbs outstretched to the full, as if they were dead; +storks, or cranes, sitting fearless upon the low roofs, look gravely +down upon you; the still air that you breathe is loaded with the scent +of citron, and pomegranate rinds scorched by the sun, or (as you approach +the bazaar) with the dry, dead perfume of strange spices. You +long for some signs of life, and tread the ground more heavily, as though +you would wake the sleepers with the heel of your boot; but the foot +falls noiseless upon the crumbling soil of an Eastern city, and silence +follows you still. Again and again you meet turbans, and faces +of men, but they have nothing for you - no welcome - no wonder - no +wrath - no scorn - they look upon you as we do upon a December’s +fall of snow - as a “seasonable,” unaccountable, uncomfortable +work of God, that may have been sent for some good purpose, to be revealed +hereafter.<br> +<br> +Some people had come down to meet us with an invitation from the Pasha, +and we wound our way up to the castle. At the gates there were +groups of soldiers, some smoking, and some lying flat like corpses upon +the cool stones. We went through courts, ascended steps, passed +along a corridor, and walked into an airy, whitewashed room, with an +European clock at one end of it, and Moostapha Pasha at the other; the +fine, old, bearded potentate looked very like Jove - like Jove, too, +in the midst of his clouds, for the silvery fumes of the <i>narghile</i> +<a name="citation2"></a><a href="#footnote2">{2}</a> hung lightly circling +round him.<br> +<br> +The Pasha received us with the smooth, kind, gentle manner that belongs +to well-bred Osmanlees; then he lightly clapped his hands, and instantly +the sound filled all the lower end of the room with slaves; a syllable +dropped from his lips which bowed all heads, and conjured away the attendants +like ghosts (their coming and their going was thus swift and quiet, +because their feet were bare, and they passed through no door, but only +by the yielding folds of a purder). Soon the coffee-bearers appeared, +every man carrying separately his tiny cup in a small metal stand; and +presently to each of us there came a pipe-bearer, who first rested the +bowl of the <i>tchibouque</i> at a measured distance on the floor, and +then, on this axis, wheeled round the long cheery stick, and gracefully +presented it on half-bended knee; already the well-kindled fire was +glowing secure in the bowl, and so, when I pressed the amber up to mine, +there was no coyness to conquer; the willing fume came up, and answered +my slightest sigh, and followed softly every breath inspired, till it +touched me with some faint sense and understanding of Asiatic contentment.<br> +<br> +Asiatic contentment! Yet scarcely, perhaps, one hour before I +had been wanting my bill, and ringing for waiters, in a shrill and busy +hotel.<br> +<br> +In the Ottoman dominions there is scarcely any hereditary influence +except that which belongs to the family of the Sultan, and wealth, too, +is a highly volatile blessing, not easily transmitted to the descendant +of the owner. From these causes it results that the people standing +in the place of nobles and gentry are official personages, and though +many (indeed the greater number) of these potentates are humbly born +and bred, you will seldom, I think, find them wanting in that polished +smoothness of manner, and those well-undulating tones which belong to +the best Osmanlees. The truth is, that most of the men in authority +have risen from their humble station by the arts of the courtier, and +they preserve in their high estate those gentle powers of fascination +to which they owe their success. Yet unless you can contrive to +learn a little of the language, you will be rather bored by your visits +of ceremony; the intervention of the interpreter, or dragoman as he +is called, is fatal to the spirit of conversation. I think I should +mislead you if I were to attempt to give the substance of any particular +conversation with Orientals. A traveller may write and say that +“the Pasha of So-and-so was particularly interested in the vast +progress which has been made in the application of steam, and appeared +to understand the structure of our machinery - that he remarked upon +the gigantic results of our manufacturing industry - showed that he +possessed considerable knowledge of our Indian affairs, and of the constitution +of the Company, and expressed a lively admiration of the many sterling +qualities for which the people of England are distinguished.” +But the heap of commonplaces thus quietly attributed to the Pasha will +have been founded perhaps on some such talking as this:-<br> +<br> +<i>Pasha</i>. - The Englishman is welcome; most blessed among hours +is this, the hour of his coming.<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i> (to the traveller). - The Pasha pays you his compliments.<br> +<br> +<i>Traveller</i>. - Give him my best compliments in return, and say +I’m delighted to have the honour of seeing him.<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i> (to the Pasha). - His lordship, this Englishman, Lord +of London, Scorner of Ireland, Suppressor of France, has quitted his +governments, and left his enemies to breathe for a moment, and has crossed +the broad waters in strict disguise, with a small but eternally faithful +retinue of followers, in order that he might look upon the bright countenance +of the Pasha among Pashas - the Pasha of the everlasting Pashalik of +Karagholookoldour.<br> +<br> +<i>Traveller</i> (to his dragoman). - What on earth have you been saying +about London? The Pasha will be taking me for a mere cockney. +Have not I told you <i>always</i> to say that I am from a branch of +the family of Mudcombe Park, and that I am to be a magistrate for the +county of Bedfordshire, only I’ve not qualified, and that I should +have been a deputy-lieutenant if it had not been for the extraordinary +conduct of Lord Mountpromise, and that I was a candidate for Goldborough +at the last election, and that I should have won easy if my committee +had not been bought. I wish to Heaven that if you <i>do</i> say +anything about me, you’d tell the simple truth.<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i> [is silent].<br> +<br> +<i>Pasha</i>. - What says the friendly Lord of London? is there aught +that I can grant him within the Pashalik of Karagholookoldour?<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i> (growing, sulky and literal). - This friendly Englishman +- this branch of Mudcombe - this head-purveyor of Goldborough - this +possible policeman of Bedfordshire, is recounting his achievements, +and the number of his titles.<br> +<br> +<i>Pasha</i>. - The end of his honours is more distant than the ends +of the earth, and the catalogue of his glorious deeds is brighter than +the firmament of heaven!<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i> (to the traveller). - The Pasha congratulates your Excellency.<br> +<br> +<i>Traveller</i>. - About Goldborough? The deuce he does! - but +I want to get at his views in relation to the present state of the Ottoman +Empire. Tell him the Houses of Parliament have met, and that there +has been a speech from the throne, pledging England to preserve the +integrity of the Sultan’s dominions.<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i> (to the Pasha). - This branch of Mudcombe, this possible +policeman of Bedfordshire, informs your Highness that in England the +talking houses have met, and that the integrity of the Sultan’s +dominions has been assured for ever and ever by a speech from the velvet +chair.<br> +<br> +<i>Pasha</i>. - Wonderful chair! Wonderful houses! - whirr! whirr! +all by wheels! - whiz! whiz! all by steam! - wonderful chair! wonderful +houses! wonderful people! - whirr! whirr! all by wheels! - whiz! whiz! +all by steam!<br> +<br> +<i>Traveller</i> (to the dragoman). - What does the Pasha mean by that +whizzing? he does not mean to say, does he, that our Government will +ever abandon their pledges to the Sultan?<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i>. - No, your Excellency; but he says the English talk +by wheels, and by steam.<br> +<br> +<i>Traveller</i>. - That’s an exaggeration; but say that the English +really have carried machinery to great perfection; tell the Pasha (he’ll +be struck with that) that whenever we have any disturbances to put down, +even at two or three hundred miles from London, we can send troops by +the thousand to the scene of action in a few hours.<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i> (recovering his temper and freedom of speech). - His +Excellency, this Lord of Mudcombe, observes to your Highness, that whenever +the Irish, or the French, or the Indians rebel against the English, +whole armies of soldiers, and brigades of artillery, are dropped into +a mighty chasm called Euston Square, and in the biting of a cartridge +they arise up again in Manchester, or Dublin, or Paris, or Delhi, and +utterly exterminate the enemies of England from the face of the earth.<br> +<br> +<i>Pasha</i>. - I know it - I know all - the particulars have been faithfully +related to me, and my mind comprehends locomotives. The armies +of the English ride upon the vapours of boiling caldrons, and their +horses are flaming coals! - whirr! whirr! all by wheels! - whiz! whiz! +all by steam!<br> +<br> +<i>Traveller</i> (to his dragoman). - I wish to have the opinion of +an unprejudiced Ottoman gentleman as to the prospects of our English +commerce and manufactures; just ask the Pasha to give me his views on +the subject.<br> +<br> +<i>Pasha</i> (after having received the communication of the dragoman). +- The ships of the English swarm like flies; their printed calicoes +cover the whole earth; and by the side of their swords the blades of +Damascus are blades of grass. All India is but an item in the +ledger-books of the merchants, whose lumber-rooms are filled with ancient +thrones! - whirr! whirr! all by wheels! - whiz! whiz! all by steam.<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i>. - The Pasha compliments the cutlery of England, and +also the East India Company.<br> +<br> +<i>Traveller</i>. - The Pasha’s right about the cutlery (I tried +my scimitar with the common officers’ swords belonging to our +fellows at Malta, and they cut it like the leaf of a novel). Well +(to the dragoman), tell the Pasha I am exceedingly gratified to find +that he entertains such a high opinion of our manufacturing energy, +but I should like him to know, though, that we have got something in +England besides that. These foreigners are always fancying that +we have nothing but ships, and railways, and East India Companies; do +just tell the Pasha that our rural districts deserve his attention, +and that even within the last two hundred years there has been an evident +improvement in the culture of the turnip, and if he does not take any +interest about that, at all events you can explain that we have our +virtues in the country - that we are a truth-telling people, and, like +the Osmanlees, are faithful in the performance of our promises. +Oh! and, by-the-bye, whilst you are about it, you may as well just say +at the end that the British yeoman is still, thank God! the British +yeoman.<br> +<br> +<i>Pasha</i> (after hearing the dragoman). - It is true, it is true: +- through all Feringhistan the English are foremost and best; for the +Russians are drilled swine, and the Germans are sleeping babes, and +the Italians are the servants of songs, and the French are the sons +of newspapers, and the Greeks they are weavers of lies, but the English +and the Osmanlees are brothers together in righteousness; for the Osmanlees +believe in one only God, and cleave to the Koran, and destroy idols, +so do the English worship one God, and abominate graven images, and +tell the truth, and believe in a book, and though they drink the juice +of the grape, yet to say that they worship their prophet as God, or +to say that they are eaters of pork, these are lies - lies born of Greeks, +and nursed by Jews!<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i>. - The Pasha compliments the English.<br> +<br> +<i>Traveller</i> (rising). - Well, I’ve had enough of this. +Tell the Pasha I am greatly obliged to him for his hospitality, and +still more for his kindness in furnishing me with horses, and say that +now I must be off.<br> +<br> +<i>Pasha</i> (after hearing the dragoman, and standing up on his divan). +<a name="citation3"></a><a href="#footnote3">{3}</a> - Proud are the +sires, and blessed are the dams of the horses that shall carry his Excellency +to the end of his prosperous journey. May the saddle beneath him +glide down to the gates of the happy city, like a boat swimming on the +third river of Paradise. May he sleep the sleep of a child, when +his friends are around him; and the while that his enemies are abroad, +may his eyes flame red through the darkness - more red than the eyes +of ten tigers! Farewell!<br> +<br> +<i>Dragoman</i>. - The Pasha wishes your Excellency a pleasant journey.<br> +<br> +So ends the visit.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER II - TURKISH TRAVELLING<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +In two or three hours our party was ready; the servants, the Tatar, +the mounted Suridgees, and the baggage-horses, altogether made up a +strong cavalcade. The accomplished Mysseri, of whom you have heard +me speak so often, and who served me so faithfully throughout my Oriental +journeys, acted as our interpreter, and was, in fact, the brain of our +corps. The Tatar, you know, is a government courier properly employed +in carrying despatches, but also sent with travellers to speed them +on their way, and answer with his head for their safety. The man +whose head was thus pledged for our precious lives was a glorious-looking +fellow, with the regular and handsome cast of countenance which is now +characteristic of the Ottoman race. <a name="citation4"></a><a href="#footnote4">{4}</a> +His features displayed a good deal of serene pride, self-respect, fortitude, +a kind of ingenuous sensuality, and something of instinctive wisdom, +without any sharpness of intellect. He had been a Janissary (as +I afterwards found), and kept up the odd strut of his old corps, which +used to affright the Christians in former times - that rolling gait +so comically pompous, that a close imitation of it, even in the broadest +farce, would be looked upon as a very rough over-acting of the character. +It is occasioned in part by dress and accoutrements. The weighty +bundle of weapons carried upon the chest throws back the body so as +to give it a wonderful portliness, and moreover, the immense masses +of clothes that swathe his limbs force the wearer in walking to swing +himself heavily round from left to right, and from right to left. +In truth, this great edifice of woollen, and cotton, and silk, and silver, +and brass, and steel is not at all fitted for moving on foot; it cannot +even walk without frightfully discomposing its fair proportions; and +as to running - our Tatar ran <i>once</i> (it was in order to pick up +a partridge that Methley had winged with a pistol-shot), and really +the attempt was one of the funniest misdirections of human energy that +wondering man ever saw. But put him in his stirrups, and then +is the Tatar himself again: there he lives at his pleasure, reposing +in the tranquillity of that true home (the home of his ancestors) which +the saddle seems to afford him, and drawing from his pipe the calm pleasures +of his “own fireside,” or else dashing sudden over the earth, +as though for a moment he felt the mouth of a Turcoman steed, and saw +his own Scythian plains lying boundless and open before him.<br> +<br> +It was not till his subordinates had nearly completed their preparations +for their march that our Tatar, “commanding the forces,” +arrived; he came sleek and fresh from the bath (for so is the custom +of the Ottomans when they start upon a journey), and was carefully accoutred +at every point. From his thigh to his throat he was loaded with +arms and other implements of a campaigning life. There is no scarcity +of water along the whole road from Belgrade to Stamboul, but the habits +of our Tatar were formed by his ancestors and not by himself, so he +took good care to see that his leathern water-flask was amply charged +and properly strapped to the saddle, along with his blessed <i>tchibouque</i>. +And now at last he has cursed the Suridgees in all proper figures of +speech, and is ready for a ride of a thousand miles; but before he comforts +his soul in the marble baths of Stamboul he will be another and a lesser +man; his sense of responsibility, his too strict abstemiousness, and +his restless energy, disdainful of sleep, will have worn him down to +a fraction of the sleek Moostapha that now leads out our party from +the gates of Belgrade.<br> +<br> +The Suridgees are the men employed to lead the baggage-horses. +They are most of them gipsies. Their lot is a sad one: they are +the last of the human race, and all the sins of their superiors (including +the horses) can safely be visited on them. But the wretched look +often more picturesque than their betters; and though all the world +despise these poor Suridgees, their tawny skins and their grisly beards +will gain them honourable standing in the foreground of a landscape. +We had a couple of these fellows with us, each leading a baggage-horse, +to the tail of which last another baggage-horse was attached. +There was a world of trouble in persuading the stiff angular portmanteaus +of Europe to adapt themselves to their new condition and sit quietly +on pack-saddles, but all was right at last, and it gladdened my eyes +to see our little troop file off through the winding lanes of the city, +and show down brightly in the plain beneath. The one of our party +that seemed to be most out of keeping with the rest of the scene was +Methley’s Yorkshire servant, who always rode doggedly on in his +pantry jacket, looking out for “gentlemen’s seats.”<br> +<br> +Methley and I had English saddles, but I think we should have done just +as well (I should certainly have seen more of the country) if we had +adopted saddles like that of our Tatar, who towered so loftily over +the scraggy little beast that carried him. In taking thought for +the East, whilst in England, I had made one capital hit which you must +not forget - I had brought with me a pair of common spurs. These +were a great comfort to me throughout my horseback travels, by keeping +up the cheerfulness of the many unhappy nags that I had to bestride; +the angle of the Oriental stirrup is a very poor substitute for spurs.<br> +<br> +The Ottoman horseman, raised by his saddle to a great height above the +humble level of the back that he bestrides, and using an awfully sharp +bit, is able to lift the crest of his nag, and force him into a strangely +fast shuffling walk, the orthodox pace for the journey. My comrade +and I, using English saddles, could not easily keep our beasts up to +this peculiar amble; besides, we thought it a bore to be <i>followed</i> +by our attendants for a thousand miles, and we generally, therefore, +did duty as the rearguard of our “grand army”; we used to +walk our horses till the party in front had got into the distance, and +then retrieve the lost ground by a gallop.<br> +<br> +We had ridden on for some two or three hours; the stir and bustle of +our commencing journey had ceased, the liveliness of our little troop +had worn off with the declining day, and the night closed in as we entered +the great Servian forest. Through this our road was to last for +more than a hundred miles. Endless, and endless now on either +side, the tall oaks closed in their ranks and stood gloomily lowering +over us, as grim as an army of giants with a thousand years’ pay +in arrear. One strived with listening ear to catch some tidings +of that forest world within - some stirring of beasts, some night-bird’s +scream, but all was quite hushed, except the voice of the cicalas that +peopled every bough, and filled the depths of the forest through and +through, with one same hum everlasting - more stifling than very silence.<br> +<br> +At first our way was in darkness, but after a while the moon got up, +and touched the glittering arms and tawny faces of our men with light +so pale and mystic, that the watchful Tatar felt bound to look out for +demons, and take proper means for keeping them off: forthwith he determined +that the duty of frightening away our ghostly enemies (like every other +troublesome work) should fall upon the poor Suridgees, who accordingly +lifted up their voices, and burst upon the dreadful stillness of the +forest with shrieks and dismal howls. These precautions were kept +up incessantly, and were followed by the most complete success, for +not one demon came near us.<br> +<br> +Long before midnight we reached the hamlet in which we were to rest +for the night; it was made up of about a dozen clay huts, standing upon +a small tract of ground hardly won from the forest. The peasants +that lived there spoke a Slavonic dialect, and Mysseri’s knowledge +of the Russian tongue enabled him to talk with them freely. We +took up our quarters in a square room with white walls and an earthen +floor, quite bare of furniture, and utterly void of women. They +told us, however, that these Servian villagers lived in happy abundance, +but that they were careful to conceal their riches, as well as their +wives.<br> +<br> +The burthens unstrapped from the pack-saddles very quickly furnished +our den: a couple of quilts spread upon the floor, with a carpet-bag +at the head of each, became capital sofas - portmanteaus, and hat-boxes, +and writing-cases, and books, and maps, and gleaming arms soon lay strewed +around us in pleasant confusion. Mysseri’s canteen too began +to yield up its treasures, but we relied upon finding some provisions +in the village. At first the natives declared that their hens +were mere old maids and all their cows unmarried, but our Tatar swore +such a grand sonorous oath, and fingered the hilt of his yataghan with +such persuasive touch, that the land soon flowed with milk, and mountains +of eggs arose.<br> +<br> +And soon there was tea before us, with all its unspeakable fragrance, +and as we reclined on the floor, we found that a portmanteau was just +the right height for a table; the duty of candlesticks was ably performed +by a couple of intelligent natives; the rest of the villagers stood +by the open doorway at the lower end of the room, and watched our banqueting +with grave and devout attention.<br> +<br> +The first night of your first campaign (though you be but a mere peaceful +campaigner) is a glorious time in your life. It is so sweet to +find one’s self free from the stale civilisation of Europe! +Oh my dear ally, when first you spread your carpet in the midst of these +Eastern scenes, do think for a moment of those your fellow-creatures, +that dwell in squares, and streets, and even (for such is the fate of +many!) in actual country houses; think of the people that are “presenting +their compliments,” and “requesting the honour,” and +“much regretting,” - of those that are pinioned at dinner-tables; +or stuck up in ballrooms, or cruelly planted in pews - ay, think of +these, and so remembering how many poor devils are living in a state +of utter respectability, you will glory the more in your own delightful +escape.<br> +<br> +I am bound to confess, however, that with all its charms a mud floor +(like a mercenary match) does certainly promote early rising. +Long before daybreak we were up, and had breakfasted; after this there +was nearly a whole tedious hour to endure whilst the horses were laden +by torch-light; but this had an end, and at last we went on once more. +Cloaked, and sombre, at first we made our sullen way through the darkness, +with scarcely one barter of words, but soon the genial morn burst down +from heaven, and stirred the blood so gladly through our veins, that +the very Suridgees, with all their troubles, could now look up for an +instant, and almost seem to believe in the temporary goodness of God.<br> +<br> +The actual movement from one place to another, in Europeanised countries, +is a process so temporary - it occupies, I mean, so small a proportion +of the traveller’s entire time - that his mind remains unsettled, +so long as the wheels are going; he may be alive enough to external +objects of interest, and to the crowding ideas which are often invited +by the excitement of a changing scene, but he is still conscious of +being in a provisional state, and his mind is constantly recurring to +the expected end of his journey; his ordinary ways of thought have been +interrupted, and before any new mental habits can be formed he is quietly +fixed in his hotel. It will be otherwise with you when you journey +in the East. Day after day, perhaps week after week and month +after month, your foot is in the stirrup. To taste the cold breath +of the earliest morn, and to lead, or follow, your bright cavalcade +till sunset through forests and mountain passes, through valleys and +desolate plains, all this becomes your MODE OF LIFE, and you ride, eat, +drink, and curse the mosquitoes as systematically as your friends in +England eat, drink, and sleep. If you are wise, you will not look +upon the long period of time thus occupied in actual movement as the +mere gulf dividing you from the end of your journey, but rather as one +of those rare and plastic seasons of your life from which, perhaps, +in after times you may love to date the moulding of your character - +that is, your very identity. Once feel this, and you will soon +grow happy and contented in your saddle-home. As for me and my +comrade, however, in this part of our journey we often forgot Stamboul, +forgot all the Ottoman Empire, and only remembered old times. +We went back, loitering on the banks of Thames - not grim old Thames +of “after life,” that washes the Parliament Houses, +and drowns despairing girls - but Thames, the “old Eton fellow,” +that wrestled with us in our boyhood till he taught us to be stronger +than he. We bullied Keate, and scoffed at Larrey Miller, and Okes; +we rode along loudly laughing, and talked to the grave Servian forest +as though it were the “Brocas clump.”<br> +<br> +Our pace was commonly very slow, for the baggage-horses served us for +a drag, and kept us to a rate of little more than five miles in the +hour, but now and then, and chiefly at night, a spirit of movement would +suddenly animate the whole party; the baggage-horses would be teased +into a gallop, and when once this was done, there would be such a banging +of portmanteaus, and such convulsions of carpet-bags upon their panting +sides, and the Suridgees would follow them up with such a hurricane +of blows, and screams, and curses, that stopping or relaxing was scarcely +possible; then the rest of us would put our horses into a gallop, and +so all shouting cheerily, would hunt, and drive the sumpter beasts like +a flock of goats, up hill and down dale, right on to the end of their +journey.<br> +<br> +The distances at which we got relays of horses varied greatly; some +were not more than fifteen or twenty miles, but twice, I think, we performed +a whole day’s journey of more than sixty miles with the same beasts.<br> +<br> +When at last we came out from the forest our road lay through scenes +like those of an English park. The green sward unfenced, and left +to the free pasture of cattle, was dotted with groups of stately trees, +and here and there darkened over with larger masses of wood, that seemed +gathered together for bounding the domain, and shutting out some “infernal” +fellow-creature in the shape of a newly made squire; in one or two spots +the hanging copses looked down upon a lawn below with such sheltering +mien, that seeing the like in England you would have been tempted almost +to ask the name of the spend-thrift, or the madman who had dared to +pull down “the old hall.”<br> +<br> +There are few countries less infested by “lions” than the +provinces on this part of your route. You are not called upon +to “drop a tear” over the tomb of “the once +brilliant” anybody, or to pay your “tribute of respect” +to anything dead or alive. There are no Servian or Bulgarian litterateurs +with whom it would be positively disgraceful not to form an acquaintance; +you have no staring, no praising to get through; the only public building +of any interest that lies on the road is of modern date, but is said +to be a good specimen of Oriental architecture; it is of a pyramidical +shape, and is made up of thirty thousand skulls, contributed by the +rebellious Servians in the early part (I believe) of this century: I +am not at all sure of my date, but I fancy it was in the year 1806 that +the first skull was laid. I am ashamed to say that in the darkness +of the early morning we unknowingly went by the neighbourhood of this +triumph of art, and so basely got off from admiring “the simple +grandeur of the architect’s conception,” and “the +exquisite beauty of the fretwork.”<br> +<br> +There being no “lions,” we ought at least to have met with +a few perils, but the only robbers we saw anything of had been long +since dead and gone. The poor fellows had been impaled upon high +poles, and so propped up by the transverse spokes beneath them, that +their skeletons, clothed with some white, wax-like remains of flesh, +still sat up lolling in the sunshine, and listlessly stared without +eyes.<br> +<br> +One day it seemed to me that our path was a little more rugged than +usual, and I found that I was deserving for myself the title of Sabalkansky, +or “Transcender of the Balcan.” The truth is, that, +as a military barrier, the Balcan is a fabulous mountain. Such +seems to be the view of Major Keppell, who looked on it towards the +east with the eye of a soldier, and certainly in the Sophia Pass, which +I followed, there is no narrow defile, and no ascent sufficiently difficult +to stop, or delay for long time, a train of siege artillery.<br> +<br> +Before we reached Adrianople, Methley had been seized with we knew not +what ailment, and when we had taken up our quarters in the city he was +cast to the very earth by sickness. Adrianople enjoyed an English +consul, and I felt sure that, in Eastern phrase, his house would cease +to be his house, and would become the house of my sick comrade. +I should have judged rightly under ordinary circumstances, but the levelling +plague was abroad, and the dread of it had dominion over the consular +mind. So now (whether dying or not, one could hardly tell), upon +a quilt stretched out along the floor, there lay the best hope of an +ancient line, without the material aids to comfort of even the humblest +sort, and (sad to say) without the consolation of a friend, or even +a comrade worth having. I have a notion that tenderness and pity +are affections occasioned in some measure by living within doors; certainly, +at the time I speak of, the open-air life which I have been leading, +or the wayfaring hardships of the journey, had so strangely blunted +me, that I felt intolerant of illness, and looked down upon my companion +as if the poor fellow in falling ill had betrayed a want of spirit. +I entertained too a most absurd idea - an idea that his illness was +partly affected. You see that I have made a confession: this I +hope - that I may always hereafter look charitably upon the hard, savage +acts of peasants, and the cruelties of a “brutal” soldiery. +God knows that I strived to melt myself into common charity, and to +put on a gentleness which I could not feel, but this attempt did not +cheat the keenness of the sufferer; he could not have felt the less +deserted because that I was with him.<br> +<br> +We called to aid a solemn Armenian (I think he was) half soothsayer, +half hakim, or doctor, who, all the while counting his beads, fixed +his eyes steadily upon the patient, and then suddenly dealt him a violent +blow on the chest. Methley bravely dissembled his pain, for he +fancied that the blow was meant to try whether or not the plague were +on him.<br> +<br> +Here was really a sad embarrassment - no bed; nothing to offer the invalid +in the shape of food save a piece of thin, tough, flexible, drab-coloured +cloth, made of flour and mill-stones in equal proportions, and called +by the name of “bread”; then the patient, of course, had +no “confidence in his medical man,” and on the whole, the +best chance of saving my comrade seemed to lie in taking him out of +the reach of his doctor, and bearing him away to the neighbourhood of +some more genial consul. But how was this to be done? Methley +was much too ill to be kept in his saddle, and wheel carriages, as means +of travelling, were unknown. There is, however, such a thing as +an “araba,” a vehicle drawn by oxen, in which the wives +of a rich man are sometimes dragged four or five miles over the grass +by way of recreation. The carriage is rudely framed, but you recognise +in the simple grandeur of its design a likeness to things majestic; +in short, if your carpenter’s son were to make a “Lord Mayor’s +coach” for little Amy, he would build a carriage very much in +the style of a Turkish araba. No one had ever heard of horses +being used for drawing a carriage in this part of the world, but necessity +is the mother of innovation as well as of invention. I was fully +justified, I think, in arguing that there were numerous instances of +horses being used for that purpose in our own country - that the laws +of nature are uniform in their operation over all the world (except +Ireland) - that that which was true in Piccadilly, must be true in Adrianople +- that the matter could not fairly be treated as an ecclesiastical question, +for that the circumstance of Methley’s going on to Stamboul in +an araba drawn by horses, when calmly and dispassionately considered, +would appear to be perfectly consistent with the maintenance of the +Mahometan religion as by law established. Thus poor, dear, patient +Reason would have fought her slow battle against Asiatic prejudice, +and I am convinced that she would have established the possibility (and +perhaps even the propriety) of harnessing horses in a hundred and fifty +years; but in the meantime Mysseri, well seconded by our Tatar, put +a very quick end to the controversy by having the horses put to.<br> +<br> +It was a sore thing for me to see my poor comrade brought to this, for +young though he was, he was a veteran in travel. When scarcely +yet of age he had invaded India from the frontiers of Russia, and that +so swiftly, that measuring by the time of his flight the broad dominions +of the king of kings were shrivelled up to a dukedom and now, poor fellow, +he was to be poked into an araba: like a Georgian girl! He suffered +greatly, for there were no springs for the carriage, and no road for +the wheels; and so the concern jolted on over the open country with +such twists, and jerks, and jumps, as might almost dislocate the supple +tongue of Satan.<br> +<br> +All day the patient kept himself shut up within the lattice-work of +the araba, and I could hardly know how he was faring until the end of +the day’s journey, when I found that he was not worse, and was +buoyed up with the hope of some day reaching Constantinople.<br> +<br> +I was always conning over my maps, and fancied that I knew pretty well +my line, but after Adrianople I had made more southing than I knew for, +and it was with unbelieving wonder, and delight, that I came suddenly +upon the shore of the sea. A little while, and its gentle billows +were flowing beneath the hoofs of my beast, but the hearing of the ripple +was not enough communion, and the seeing of the blue Propontis was not +to know and possess it - I must needs plunge into its depth and quench +my longing love in the palpable waves; and so when old Moostapha (defender +against demons) looked round for his charge, he saw with horror and +dismay that he for whose life his own life stood pledged was possessed +of some devil who had driven him down into the sea - that the rider +and the steed had vanished from earth, and that out among the waves +was the gasping crest of a post-horse, and the ghostly head of the Englishman +moving upon the face of the waters.<br> +<br> +We started very early indeed on the last day of our journey, and from +the moment of being off until we gained the shelter of the imperial +walls we were struggling face to face with an icy storm that swept right +down from the steppes of Tartary, keen, fierce, and steady as a northern +conqueror. Methley’s servant, who was the greatest sufferer, +kept his saddle until we reached Stamboul, but was then found to be +quite benumbed in limbs, and his brain was so much affected, that when +he was lifted from his horse he fell away in a state of unconsciousness, +the first stage of a dangerous fever.<br> +<br> +Our Tatar, worn down by care and toil, and carrying seven heavens full +of water in his manifold jackets and shawls, was a mere weak and vapid +dilution of the sleek Moostapha, who scarce more than one fortnight +before came out like a bridegroom from his chamber to take the command +of our party.<br> +<br> +Mysseri seemed somewhat over-wearied, but he had lost none of his strangely +quiet energy. He wore a grave look, however, for he now had learnt +that the plague was prevailing at Constantinople, and he was fearing +that our two sick men, and the miserable looks of our whole party, might +make us unwelcome at Pera.<br> +<br> +We crossed the Golden Horn in a caïque. As soon as we had +landed, some woebegone looking fellows were got together and laden with +our baggage. Then on we went, dripping, and sloshing, and looking +very like men that had been turned back by the Royal Humane Society +as being incurably drowned. Supporting our sick, we climbed up +shelving steps and threaded many windings, and at last came up into +the main street of Pera, humbly hoping that we might not be judged guilty +of plague, and so be cast back with horror from the doors of the shuddering +Christians.<br> +<br> +Such was the condition of our party, which fifteen days before had filed +away so gaily from the gates of Belgrade. A couple of fevers and +a north-easterly storm had thoroughly spoiled our looks.<br> +<br> +The interest of Mysseri with the house of Giuseppini was too powerful +to be denied, and at once, though not without fear and trembling, we +were admitted as guests.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER III - CONSTANTINOPLE<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Even if we don’t take a part in the chant about “mosques +and minarets,” we can still yield praises to Stamboul. We +can chant about the harbour; we can say, and sing, that nowhere else +does the sea come so home to a city; there are no pebbly shores - no +sand bars - no slimy river-beds - no black canals - no locks nor docks +to divide the very heart of the place from the deep waters. If +being in the noisiest mart of Stamboul you would stroll to the quiet +side of the way amidst those cypresses opposite, you will cross the +fathomless Bosphorus; if you would go from your hotel to the bazaars, +you must go by the bright, blue pathway of the Golden Horn, that can +carry a thousand sail of the line. You are accustomed to the gondolas +that glide among the palaces of St. Mark, but here at Stamboul it is +a 120 gun ship that meets you in the street. Venice strains out +from the steadfast land, and in old times would send forth the chief +of the State to woo and wed the reluctant sea; but the stormy bride +of the Doge is the bowing slave of the Sultan. She comes to his +feet with the treasures of the world - she bears him from palace to +palace - by some unfailing witchcraft she entices the breezes to follow +her <a name="citation5"></a><a href="#footnote5">{5}</a> and fan the +pale cheek of her lord - she lifts his armed navies to the very gates +of his garden - she watches the walls of his <i>serai</i> - she stifles +the intrigues of his ministers - she quiets the scandals of his courts +- she extinguishes his rivals, and hushes his naughty wives all one +by one. So vast are the wonders of the deep!<br> +<br> +All the while that I stayed at Constantinople the plague was prevailing, +but not with any degree of violence. Its presence, however, lent +a mysterious and exciting, though not very pleasant, interest to my +first knowledge of a great Oriental city; it gave tone and colour to +all I saw, and all I felt - a tone and a colour sombre enough, but true, +and well befitting the dreary monuments of past power and splendour. +With all that is most truly Oriental in its character the plague is +associated; it dwells with the faithful in the holiest quarters of their +city. The coats and the hats of Pera are held to be nearly as +innocent of infection as they are ugly in shape and fashion; but the +rich furs and the costly shawls, the broidered slippers and the gold-laden +saddle-cloths, the fragrance of burning aloes and the rich aroma of +patchouli - these are the signs that mark the familiar home of plague. +You go out from your queenly London - the centre of the greatest and +strongest amongst all earthly dominions - you go out thence, and travel +on to the capital of an Eastern Prince, you find but a waning power, +and a faded splendour, that inclines you to laugh and mock; but let +the infernal Angel of Plague be at hand, and he, more mighty than armies, +more terrible than Suleyman in his glory, can restore such pomp and +majesty to the weakness of the Imperial city, that if, <i>when HE is +there</i>, you must still go prying amongst the shades of this dead +empire, at least you will tread the path with seemly reverence and awe.<br> +<br> +It is the firm faith of almost all the Europeans living in the East +that Plague is conveyed by the touch of infected substances, and that +the deadly atoms especially lurk in all kinds of clothes and furs. +It is held safer to breathe the same air with a man sick of the plague, +and even to come in contact with his skin, than to be touched by the +smallest particle of woollen or of thread which may have been within +the reach of possible infection. If this be a right notion, the +spread of the malady must be materially aided by the observance of a +custom prevailing amongst the people of Stamboul. It is this; +when an Osmanlee dies, one of his dresses is cut up, and a small piece +of it is sent to each of his friends as a memorial of the departed - +a fatal present, according to the opinion of the Franks, for it too +often forces the living not merely to remember the dead man, but to +follow and bear him company.<br> +<br> +The Europeans during the prevalence of the plague, if they are forced +to venture into the streets, will carefully avoid the touch of every +human being whom they pass. Their conduct in this respect shows +them strongly in contrast with the “true believers”: the +Moslem stalks on serenely, as though he were under the eye of his God, +and were “equal to either fate”; the Franks go crouching +and slinking from death, and some (those chiefly of French extraction) +will fondly strive to fence out destiny with shining capes of oilskin!<br> +<br> +For some time you may manage by great care to thread your way through +the streets of Stamboul without incurring contact, for the Turks, though +scornful of the terrors felt by the Franks, are generally very courteous +in yielding to that which they hold to be a useless and impious precaution, +and will let you pass safe if they can. It is impossible, however, +that your immunity can last for any length of time if you move about +much through the narrow streets and lanes of a crowded city.<br> +<br> +As for me, I soon got “compromised.” After one day +of rest, the prayers of my hostess began to lose their power of keeping +me from the pestilent side of the Golden Horn. Faithfully promising +to shun the touch of all imaginable substances, however enticing, I +set off very cautiously, and held my way uncompromised till I reached +the water’s edge; but before my caïque was quite ready some +rueful-looking fellows came rapidly shambling down the steps with a +plague-stricken corpse, which they were going to bury amongst the faithful +on the other side of the water. I contrived to be so much in the +way of this brisk funeral, that I was not only touched by the men bearing +the body, but also, I believe, by the foot of the dead man, as it hung +lolling out of the bier. This accident gave me such a strong interest +in denying the soundness of the contagion theory, that I did in fact +deny and repudiate it altogether; and from that time, acting upon my +own convenient view of the matter, I went wherever I chose, without +taking any serious pains to avoid a touch. It seems to me now +very likely that the Europeans are right, and that the plague may be +really conveyed by contagion; but during the whole time of my remaining +in the East, my views on this subject more nearly approached to those +of the fatalists; and so, when afterwards the plague of Egypt came dealing +his blows around me, I was able to live amongst the dying without that +alarm and anxiety which would inevitably have pressed upon my mind if +I had allowed myself to believe that every passing touch was really +a probable death-stroke.<br> +<br> +And perhaps as you make your difficult way through a steep and narrow +alley, shut in between blank walls, and little frequented by passers, +you meet one of those coffin-shaped bundles of white linen that implies +an Ottoman lady. Painfully struggling against the obstacles to +progression interposed by the many folds of her clumsy drapery, by her +big mud-boots, and especially by her two pairs of slippers, she works +her way on full awkwardly enough, but yet there is something of womanly +consciousness in the very labour and effort with which she tugs and +lifts the burthen of her charms. She is closely followed by her +women slaves. Of her very self you see nothing except the dark, +luminous eyes that stare against your face, and the tips of the painted +fingers depending like rose-buds from out of the blank bastions of the +fortress. She turns, and turns again, and carefully glances around +her on all sides, to see that she is safe from the eyes of Mussulmans, +and then suddenly withdrawing the <i>yashmak</i>, <a name="citation6"></a><a href="#footnote6">{6}</a> +she shines upon your heart and soul with all the pomp and might of her +beauty. And this, it is not the light, changeful grace that leaves +you to doubt whether you have fallen in love with a body, or only a +soul; it is the beauty that dwells secure in the perfectness of hard, +downright outlines, and in the glow of generous colour. There +is fire, though, too - high courage and fire enough in the untamed mind, +or spirit, or whatever it is, which drives the breath of pride through +those scarcely parted lips.<br> +<br> +You smile at pretty women - you turn pale before the beauty that is +great enough to have dominion over you. She sees, and exults in +your giddiness; she sees and smiles; then presently, with a sudden movement, +she lays her blushing fingers upon your arm, and cries out, “Yumourdjak!” +(Plague! meaning, “there is a present of the plague for you!”) +This is her notion of a witticism. It is a very old piece of fun, +no doubt - quite an Oriental Joe Miller; but the Turks are fondly attached, +not only to the institutions, but also to the jokes of their ancestors; +so the lady’s silvery laugh rings joyously in your ears, and the +mirth of her women is boisterous and fresh, as though the bright idea +of giving the plague to a Christian had newly lit upon the earth.<br> +<br> +Methley began to rally very soon after we had reached Constantinople; +but there seemed at first to be no chance of his regaining strength +enough for travelling during the winter, and I determined to stay with +my comrade until he had quite recovered; so I bought me a horse, and +a “pipe of tranquillity,” <a name="citation7"></a><a href="#footnote7">{7}</a> +and took a Turkish phrase-master. I troubled myself a great deal +with the Turkish tongue, and gained at last some knowledge of its structure. +It is enriched, perhaps overladen, with Persian and Arabic words, imported +into the language chiefly for the purpose of representing sentiments +and religious dogmas, and terms of art and luxury, entirely unknown +to the Tartar ancestors of the present Osmanlees; but the body and the +spirit of the old tongue are yet alive, and the smooth words of the +shopkeeper at Constantinople can still carry understanding to the ears +of the untamed millions who rove over the plains of Northern Asia. +The structure of the language, especially in its more lengthy sentences, +is very like to the Latin: the subject matters are slowly and patiently +enumerated, without disclosing the purpose of the speaker until he reaches +the end of his sentence, and then at last there comes the clenching +word, which gives a meaning and connection to all that has gone before. +If you listen at all to speaking of this kind your attention, rather +than be suffered to flag, must grow more and more lively as the phrase +marches on.<br> +<br> +The Osmanlees speak well. In countries civilised according to +the European plan the work of trying to persuade tribunals is almost +all performed by a set of men, the great body of whom very seldom do +anything else; but in Turkey this division of labour has never taken +place, and every man is his own advocate. The importance of the +rhetorical art is immense, for a bad speech may endanger the property +of the speaker, as well as the soles of his feet and the free enjoyment +of his throat. So it results that most of the Turks whom one sees +have a lawyer-like habit of speaking connectedly, and at length. +Even the treaties continually going on at the bazaar for the buying +and selling of the merest trifles are carried on by speechifying rather +than by mere colloquies, and the eternal uncertainty as to the market +value of things in constant sale gives room enough for discussion. +The seller is for ever demanding a price immensely beyond that for which +he sells at last, and so occasions unspeakable disgust in many Englishmen, +who cannot see why an honest dealer should ask more for his goods than +he will really take! The truth is, however, that an ordinary tradesman +of Constantinople has no other way of finding out the fair market value +of his property. The difficulty under which he labours is easily +shown by comparing the mechanism of the commercial system in Turkey +with that of our own country. In England, or in any other great +mercantile country, the bulk of the things bought and sold goes through +the hands of a wholesale dealer, and it is he who higgles and bargains +with an entire nation of purchasers by entering into treaty with retail +sellers. The labour of making a few large contracts is sufficient +to give a clue for finding the fair market value of the goods sold throughout +the country; but in Turkey, from the primitive habits of the people, +and partly from the absence of great capital and great credit, the importing +merchant, the warehouseman, the wholesale dealer, the retail dealer, +and the shopman, are all one person. Old Moostapha, or Abdallah, +or Hadgi Mohamed waddles up from the water’s edge with a small +packet of merchandise, which he has bought out of a Greek brigantine, +and when at last he has reached his nook in the bazaar he puts his goods +<i>before</i> the counter, and himself <i>upon</i> it; then laying fire +to his <i>tchibouque</i> he “sits in permanence,” and patiently +waits to obtain “the best price that can be got in an open market.” +This is his fair right as a seller, but he has no means of finding out +what that best price is except by actual experiment. He cannot +know the intensity of the demand, or the abundance of the supply, otherwise +than by the offers which may be made for his little bundle of goods; +so he begins by asking a perfectly hopeless price, and then descends +the ladder until he meets a purchaser, for ever<br> +<br> +<br> +“Striving to attain<br> +By shadowing out the unattainable.”<br> +<br> +<br> +This is the struggle which creates the continual occasion for debate. +The vendor, perceiving that the unfolded merchandise has caught the +eye of a possible purchaser, commences his opening speech. He +covers his bristling broadcloths and his meagre silks with the golden +broidery of Oriental praises, and as he talks, along with the slow and +graceful waving of his arms, he lifts his undulating periods, upholds +and poises them well, till they have gathered their weight and their +strength, and then hurls them bodily forward with grave, momentous swing. +The possible purchaser listens to the whole speech with deep and serious +attention; but when it is over <i>his</i> turn arrives. He elaborately +endeavours to show why he ought not to buy the things at a price twenty +times larger than their value. Bystanders attracted to the debate +take a part in it as independent members; the vendor is heard in reply, +and coming down with his price, furnishes the materials for a new debate. +Sometimes, however, the dealer, if he is a very pious Mussulman, and +sufficiently rich to hold back his ware, will take a more dignified +part, maintaining a kind of judicial gravity, and receiving the applicants +who come to his stall as if they were rather suitors than customers. +He will quietly hear to the end some long speech that concludes with +an offer, and will answer it all with the one monosyllable “Yok,” +which means distinctly “No.”<br> +<br> +I caught one glimpse of the old heathen world. My habits for studying +military subjects had been hardening my heart against poetry; for ever +staring at the flames of battle, I had blinded myself to the lesser +and finer lights that are shed from the imaginations of men. In +my reading at this time I delighted to follow from out of Arabian sands +the feet of the armed believers, and to stand in the broad, manifest +storm-track of Tartar devastation; and thus, though surrounded at Constantinople +by scenes of much interest to the “classical scholar,” I +had cast aside their associations like an old Greek grammar, and turned +my face to the “shining Orient,” forgetful of old Greece +and all the pure wealth she left to this matter-of-fact-ridden world. +But it happened to me one day to mount the high grounds overhanging +the streets of Pera. I sated my eyes with the pomps of the city +and its crowded waters, and then I looked over where Scutari lay half +veiled in her mournful cypresses. I looked yet farther and higher, +and saw in the heavens a silvery cloud that stood fast and still against +the breeze: it was pure and dazzling white, as might be the veil of +Cytherea, yet touched with such fire, as though from beneath the loving +eyes of an immortal were shining through and through. I knew the +bearing, but had enormously misjudged its distance and underrated its +height, and so it was as a sign and a testimony, almost as a call from +the neglected gods, and now I saw and acknowledged the snowy crown of +the Mysian Olympus!<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER IV - THE TROAD<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Methley recovered almost suddenly, and we determined to go through the +Troad together.<br> +<br> +My comrade was a capital Grecian. It is true that his singular +mind so ordered and disposed his classic lore as to impress it with +something of an original and barbarous character - with an almost Gothic +quaintness, more properly belonging to a rich native ballad than to +the poetry of Hellas. There was a certain impropriety in his knowing +so much Greek - an unfitness in the idea of marble fauns, and satyrs, +and even Olympian gods, lugged in under the oaken roof and the painted +light of an odd, old Norman hall. But Methley, abounding in Homer, +really loved him (as I believe) in all truth, without whim or fancy; +moreover, he had a good deal of the practical sagacity<br> +<br> +<br> +“Of a Yorkshireman hippodamoio,”<br> +<br> +<br> +and this enabled him to apply his knowledge with much more tact than +is usually shown by people so learned as he.<br> +<br> +I, too, loved Homer, but not with a scholar’s love. The +most humble and pious among women was yet so proud a mother that she +could teach her firstborn son no Watts’ hymns, no collects for +the day; she could teach him in earliest childhood no less than this, +to find a home in his saddle, and to love old Homer, and all that old +Homer sung. True it is, that the Greek was ingeniously rendered +into English, the English of Pope even, but not even a mesh like that +can screen an earnest child from the fire of Homer’s battles.<br> +<br> +I pored over the <i>Odyssey</i> as over a story-book, hoping and fearing +for the hero whom yet I partly scorned. But the Iliad - line by +line I clasped it to my brain with reverence as well as with love. +As an old woman deeply trustful sits reading her Bible because of the +world to come, so, as though it would fit me for the coming strife of +this temporal world, I read and read the <i>Iliad</i>. Even outwardly, +it was not like other books; it was throned in towering folios. +There was a preface or dissertation printed in type still more majestic +than the rest of the book; this I read, but not till my enthusiasm for +the <i>Iliad</i> had already run high. The writer compiling the +opinions of many men, and chiefly of the ancients, set forth, I know +not how quaintly, that the <i>Iliad</i> was all in all to the human +race - that it was history, poetry, revelation; that the works of men’s +hands were folly and vanity, and would pass away like the dreams of +a child, but that the kingdom of Homer would endure for ever and ever.<br> +<br> +I assented with all my soul. I read, and still read; I came to +know Homer. A learned commentator knows something of the Greeks, +in the same sense as an oil-and-colour man may be said to know something +of painting; but take an untamed child, and leave him alone for twelve +months with any translation of Homer, and he will be nearer by twenty +centuries to the spirit of old Greece; <i>he</i> does not stop in the +ninth year of the siege to admire this or that group of words; <i>he</i> +has no books in his tent, but he shares in vital counsels with the “king +of men,” and knows the inmost souls of the impending gods; how +profanely he exults over the powers divine when they are taught to dread +the prowess of mortals! and most of all, how he rejoices when the God +of War flies howling from the spear of Diomed, and mounts into heaven +for safety! Then the beautiful episode of the Sixth Book: the +way to feel this is not to go casting about, and learning from pastors +and masters how best to admire it. The impatient child is not +grubbing for beauties, but pushing the siege; the women vex him with +their delays, and their talking; the mention of the nurse is personal, +and little sympathy has he for the child that is young enough to be +frightened at the nodding plume of a helmet; but all the while that +he thus chafes at the pausing of the action, the strong vertical light +of Homer’s poetry is blazing so full upon the people and things +of the <i>Iliad</i>, that soon to the eyes of the child they grow familiar +as his mother’s shawl; yet of this great gain he is unconscious, +and on he goes, vengefully thirsting for the best blood of Troy, and +never remitting his fierceness till almost suddenly it is changed for +sorrow - the new and generous sorrow that he learns to feel when the +noblest of all his foes lies sadly dying at the Scaean gate.<br> +<br> +Heroic days are these, but the dark ages of schoolboy life come closing +over them. I suppose it is all right in the end, yet, by Jove, +at first sight it does seem a sad intellectual fall from your mother’s +dressing-room to a buzzing school. You feel so keenly the delights +of early knowledge; you form strange mystic friendships with the mere +names of mountains, and seas, and continents, and mighty rivers; you +learn the ways of the planets, and transcend their narrow limits, and +ask for the end of space; you vex the electric cylinder till it yields +you, for your toy to play with, that subtle fire in which our earth +was forged; you know of the nations that have towered high in the world, +and the lives of the men who have saved whole empires from oblivion. +What more will you ever learn? Yet the dismal change is ordained, +and then, thin meagre Latin (the same for everybody), with small shreds +and patches of Greek, is thrown like a pauper’s pall over all +your early lore. Instead of sweet knowledge, vile, monkish, doggerel +grammars and graduses, dictionaries and lexicons, and horrible odds +and ends of dead languages, are given you for your portion, and down +you fall, from Roman story to a three-inch scrap of “Scriptores +Romani,” - from Greek poetry down, down to the cold rations of +“Poetae Graeci,” cut up by commentators, and served out +by schoolmasters!<br> +<br> +It was not the recollection of school nor college learning, but the +rapturous and earnest reading of my childhood, which made me bend forward +so longingly to the plains of Troy.<br> +<br> +Away from our people and our horses, Methley and I went loitering along +by the willow banks of a stream that crept in quietness through the +low, even plain. There was no stir of weather overhead, no sound +of rural labour, no sign of life in the land; but all the earth was +dead and still, as though it had lain for thrice a thousand years under +the leaden gloom of one unbroken Sabbath.<br> +<br> +Softly and sadly the poor, dumb, patient stream went winding and winding +along through its shifting pathway; in some places its waters were parted, +and then again, lower down, they would meet once more. I could +see that the stream from year to year was finding itself new channels, +and flowed no longer in its ancient track, but I knew that the springs +which fed it were high on Ida - the springs of Simois and Scamander!<br> +<br> +It was coldly and thanklessly, and with vacant, unsatisfied eyes that +I watched the slow coming and the gliding away of the waters. +I tell myself now, as a profane fact, that I did stand by that river +(Methley gathered some seeds from the bushes that grew there), but since +that I am away from his banks, “divine Scamander” has recovered +the proper mystery belonging to him as an unseen deity; a kind of indistinctness, +like that which belongs to far antiquity, has spread itself over my +memory, of the winding stream that I saw with these very eyes. +One’s mind regains in absence that dominion over earthly things +which has been shaken by their rude contact. You force yourself +hardily into the material presence of a mountain, or a river, whose +name belongs to poetry and ancient religion, rather than to the external +world; your feelings wound up and kept ready for some sort of half-expected +rapture are chilled, and borne down for the time under all this load +of real earth and water; but let these once pass out of sight, and then +again the old fanciful notions are restored, and the mere realities +which you have just been looking at are thrown back so far into distance, +that the very event of your intrusion upon such scenes begins to look +dim and uncertain, as though it belonged to mythology.<br> +<br> +It is not over the plain before Troy that the river now flows; its waters +have edged away far towards the north, since the day that “divine +Scamander” (whom the gods call Xanthus) went down to do battle +for Ilion, “with Mars, and Phoebus, and Latona, and Diana glorying +in her arrows, and Venus the lover of smiles.”<br> +<br> +And now, when I was vexed at the migration of Scamander, and the total +loss or absorption of poor dear Simois, how happily Methley reminded +me that Homer himself had warned us of some such changes! The +Greeks in beginning their wall had neglected the hecatombs due to the +gods, and so after the fall of Troy Apollo turned the paths of the rivers +that flow from Ida and sent them flooding over the wall, till all the +beach was smooth and free from the unhallowed works of the Greeks. +It is true I see now, on looking to the passage, that Neptune, when +the work of destruction was done, turned back the rivers to their ancient +ways:<br> +<br> +<br> +“ . . . ποταμους +δ’ ετρεφε νεεσθαι<br> +Καρ’ ροον ηπερ +προσθεν ιεν καλλιρροον +υδωρ,”<br> +<br> +<br> +but their old channels passing through that light pervious soil would +have been lost in the nine days’ flood, and perhaps the god, when +he willed to bring back the rivers to their ancient beds, may have done +his work but ill: it is easier, they say, to destroy than it is to restore.<br> +<br> +We took to our horses again, and went southward towards the very plain +between Troy and the tents of the Greeks, but we rode by a line at some +distance from the shore. Whether it was that the lay of the ground +hindered my view towards the sea, or that I was all intent upon Ida, +or whether my mind was in vacancy, or whether, as is most like, I had +strayed from the Dardan plains all back to gentle England, there is +now no knowing, nor caring, but it was not quite suddenly indeed, but +rather, as it were, in the swelling and falling of a single wave, that +the reality of that very sea-view, which had bounded the sight of the +Greeks, now visibly acceded to me, and rolled full in upon my brain. +Conceive how deeply that eternal coast-line, that fixed horizon, those +island rocks, must have graven their images upon the minds of the Grecian +warriors by the time that they had reached the ninth year of the siege! +conceive the strength, and the fanciful beauty, of the speeches with +which a whole army of imagining men must have told their weariness, +and how the sauntering chiefs must have whelmed that daily, daily scene +with their deep Ionian curses!<br> +<br> +And now it was that my eyes were greeted with a delightful surprise. +Whilst we were at Constantinople, Methley and I had pored over the map +together. We agreed that whatever may have been the exact site +of Troy, the Grecian camp must have been nearly opposite to the space +betwixt the islands of Imbros and Tenedos,<br> +<br> +<br> +“Μεσσηyυς Τενεδοιο +και Ιμβρου παιπαλοεσσης,”<br> +<br> +<br> +but Methley reminded me of a passage in the <i>Iliad</i> in which Neptune +is represented as looking at the scene of action before Ilion from above +the island of Samothrace. Now Samothrace, according to the map, +appeared to be not only out of all seeing distance from the Troad, but +to be entirely shut out from it by the intervening Imbros, which is +a larger island, stretching its length right athwart the line of sight +from Samothrace to Troy. Piously allowing that the dread Commoter +of our globe might have seen all mortal doings, even from the depth +of his own cerulean kingdom, I still felt that if a station were to +be chosen from which to see the fight, old Homer, so material in his +ways of thought, so averse from all haziness and overreaching, would +have <i>meant</i> to give the god for his station some spot within reach +of men’s eyes from the plains of Troy. I think that this +testing of the poet’s words by map and compass may have shaken +a little of my faith in the completeness of his knowledge. Well, +now I had come; there to the south was Tenedos, and here at my side +was Imbros, all right, and according to the map, but aloft over Imbros, +aloft in a far-away heaven, was Samothrace, the watch-tower of Neptune!<br> +<br> +So Homer had appointed it, and so it was; the map was correct enough, +but could not, like Homer, convey <i>the whole truth</i>. Thus +vain and false are the mere human surmises and doubts which clash with +Homeric writ!<br> +<br> +Nobody whose mind had not been reduced to the most deplorable logical +condition could look upon this beautiful congruity betwixt the <i>Iliad</i> +and the material world and yet bear to suppose that the poet may have +learned the features of the coast from mere hearsay; now then, I believed; +now I knew that Homer had <i>passed along here</i>, that this vision +of Samothrace over-towering the nearer island was common to him and +to me.<br> +<br> +After a journey of some few days by the route of Adramiti and Pergamo +we reached Smyrna. The letters which Methley here received obliged +him to return to England.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER V - INFIDEL SMYRNA<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Smyrna, or Giaour Izmir, “Infidel Smyrna,” as the Mussulmans +call it, is the main point of commercial contact betwixt Europe and +Asia. You are there surrounded by the people, and the confused +customs of many and various nations; you see the fussy European adopting +the East, and calming his restlessness with the long Turkish “pipe +of tranquillity”; you see Jews offering services, and receiving +blows; <a name="citation8"></a><a href="#footnote8">{8}</a> on one side +you have a fellow whose dress and beard would give you a good idea of +the true Oriental, if it were not for the <i>gobe-mouche</i> expression +of countenance with which he is swallowing an article in the <i>National</i>; +and there, just by, is a genuine Osmanlee, smoking away with all the +majesty of a sultan, but before you have time to admire sufficiently +his tranquil dignity, and his soft Asiatic repose, the poor old fellow +is ruthlessly “run down” by an English midshipman, who has +set sail on a Smyrna hack. Such are the incongruities of the “infidel +city” at ordinary times; but when I was there, our friend Carrigaholt +had imported himself and his oddities as an accession to the other and +inferior wonders of Smyrna.<br> +<br> +I was sitting alone in my room one day at Constantinople, when I heard +Methley approaching my door with shouts of laughter and welcome, and +presently I recognised that peculiar cry by which our friend Carrigaholt +expresses his emotions; he soon explained to us the final causes by +which the fates had worked out their wonderful purpose of bringing him +to Constantinople. He was always, you know, very fond of sailing, +but he had got into such sad scrapes (including, I think, a lawsuit) +on account of his last yacht, that he took it into his head to have +a cruise in a merchant vessel, so he went to Liverpool, and looked through +the craft lying ready to sail, till he found a smart schooner that perfectly +suited his taste. The destination of the vessel was the last thing +he thought of; and when he was told that she was bound for Constantinople, +he merely assented to that as a part of the arrangement to which he +had no objection. As soon as the vessel had sailed, the hapless +passenger discovered that his skipper carried on board an enormous wife, +with an inquiring mind and an irresistible tendency to impart her opinions. +She looked upon her guest as upon a piece of waste intellect that ought +to be carefully tilled. She tilled him accordingly. If the +dons at Oxford could have seen poor Carrigaholt thus absolutely “attending +lectures” in the Bay of Biscay, they would surely have thought +him sufficiently punished for all the wrongs he did them whilst he was +preparing himself under their care for the other and more boisterous +University. The voyage did not last more than six or eight weeks, +and the philosophy inflicted on Carrigaholt was not entirely fatal to +him; certainly he was somewhat emaciated, and for aught I know, he may +have subscribed somewhat too largely to the “Feminine-right-of-reason +Society”; but it did not appear that his health had been seriously +affected. There was a scheme on foot, it would seem, for taking +the passenger back to England in the same schooner - a scheme, in fact, +for keeping him perpetually afloat, and perpetually saturated with arguments; +but when Carrigaholt found himself ashore, and remembered that the skipperina +(who had imprudently remained on board) was not there to enforce her +suggestions, he was open to the hints of his servant (a very sharp fellow), +who arranged a plan for escaping, and finally brought off his master +to Giuseppini’s Hotel.<br> +<br> +Our friend afterwards went by sea to Smyrna, and there he now was in +his glory. He had a good, or at all events a gentleman-like, judgment +in matters of taste, and as his great object was to surround himself +with all that his fancy could dictate, he lived in a state of perpetual +negotiation. He was for ever on the point of purchasing, not only +the material productions of the place, but all sorts of such fine ware +as “intelligence,” “fidelity,” and so on. +He was most curious, however, as the purchaser of the “affections.” +Sometimes he would imagine that he had a marital aptitude, and his fancy +would sketch a graceful picture, in which he appeared reclining on a +divan, with a beautiful Greek woman fondly couched at his feet, and +soothing him with the witchery of her guitar. Having satisfied +himself with the ideal picture thus created, he would pass into action; +the guitar he would buy instantly, and would give such intimations of +his wish to be wedded to a Greek, as could not fail to produce great +excitement in the families, of the beautiful Smyrniotes. Then +again (and just in time perhaps to save him from the yoke) his dream +would pass away, and another would come in its stead; he would suddenly +feel the yearnings of a father’s love, and willing by force of +gold to transcend all natural preliminaries, he would issue instructions +for the purchase of some dutiful child that could be warranted to love +him as a parent. Then at another time he would be convinced that +the attachment of menials might satisfy the longings of his affectionate +heart, and thereupon he would give orders to his slave-merchant for +something in the way of eternal fidelity. You may well imagine +that this anxiety of Carrigaholt to purchase not only the scenery, but +the many <i>dramatis personae</i> belonging to his dreams, with all +their goodness and graces complete, necessarily gave an immense stimulus +to the trade and intrigue of Smyrna, and created a demand for human +virtues which the moral resources of the place were totally inadequate +to supply. Every day after breakfast this lover of the good and +the beautiful held a levee, which was often exceedingly amusing. +In his anteroom there would be not only the sellers of pipes and slippers +and shawls, and such like Oriental merchandise, not only embroiderers +and cunning workmen patiently striving to realise his visions of Albanian +dresses, not only the servants offering for places, and the slave-dealer +tendering his sable ware, but there would be the Greek master, waiting +to teach his pupil the grammar of the soft Ionian tongue, in which he +was to delight the wife of his imagination, and the music-master, who +was to teach him some sweet replies to the anticipated sounds of the +fancied guitar; and then, above all, and proudly eminent with undisputed +preference of <i>entrée</i>, and fraught with the mysterious +tidings on which the realisation of the whole dream might depend, was +the mysterious match-maker, <a name="citation9"></a><a href="#footnote9">{9}</a> +enticing and postponing the suitor, yet ever keeping alive in his soul +the love of that pictured virtue, whose beauty (unseen by eyes) was +half revealed to the imagination.<br> +<br> +You would have thought that this practical dreaming must have soon brought +Carrigaholt to a bad end, but he was in much less danger than you would +suppose; for besides that the new visions of happiness almost always +came in time to counteract the fatal completion of the preceding scheme, +his high breeding and his delicately sensitive taste almost always came +to his aid at times when he was left without any other protection; and +the efficacy of these qualities in keeping a man out of harm’s +way is really immense. In all baseness and imposture there is +a coarse, vulgar spirit, which, however artfully concealed for a time, +must sooner or later show itself in some little circumstance sufficiently +plain to occasion an instant jar upon the minds of those whose taste +is lively and true. To such men a shock of this kind, disclosing +the <i>ugliness</i> of a cheat, is more effectively convincing than +any mere proofs could be.<br> +<br> +Thus guarded from isle to isle, and through Greece, and through Albania, +this practical Plato with a purse in his hand, carried on his mad chase +after the good and the beautiful, and yet returned in safety to his +home. But now, poor fellow! the lowly grave, that is the end of +men’s romantic hopes, has closed over all his rich fancies, and +all his high aspirations; he is utterly married! No more hope, +no more change for him - no more relays - he must go on Vetturini-wise +to the appointed end of his journey!<br> +<br> +Smyrna, I think, may be called the chief town and capital of the Grecian +race, against which you will be cautioned so carefully as soon as you +touch the Levant. You will say that I ought not to confound as +one people the Greeks living under a constitutional government with +the unfortunate Rayahs who “groan under the Turkish yoke,” +but I can’t see that political events have hitherto produced any +strongly marked difference of character. If I could venture to +rely (which I feel that I cannot at all do) upon my own observation, +I should tell you that there was more heartiness and strength in the +Greeks of the Ottoman Empire than in those of the new kingdom. +The truth is, that there is a greater field for commercial enterprise, +and even for Greek ambition, under the Ottoman sceptre, than is to be +found in the dominions of Otho. Indeed the people, by their frequent +migrations from the limits of the constitutional kingdom to the territories +of the Porte, seem to show that, on the whole, they prefer “groaning +under the Turkish yoke” to the honour of “being the only +true source of legitimate power” in their own land.<br> +<br> +For myself, I love the race; in spite of all their vices, and even in +spite of all their meannesses, I remember the blood that is in them, +and still love the Greeks. The Osmanlees are, of course, by nature, +by religion, and by politics, the strong foes of the Hellenic people, +and as the Greeks, poor fellows! happen to be a little deficient in +some of the virtues which facilitate the transaction of commercial business +(such as veracity, fidelity, &c.), it naturally follows that they +are highly unpopular with the European merchants. Now these are +the persons through whom, either directly or indirectly, is derived +the greater part of the information which you gather in the Levant, +and therefore you must make up your mind to hear an almost universal +and unbroken testimony against the character of the people whose ancestors +invented virtue. And strange to say, the Greeks themselves do +not attempt to disturb this general unanimity of opinion by an dissent +on their part. Question a Greek on the subject, and he will tell +you at once that the people are <i>traditori</i>, and will then, perhaps, +endeavour to shake off his fair share of the imputation by asserting +that his father had been dragoman to some foreign embassy, and that +he (the son), therefore, by the law of nations, had ceased to be Greek.<br> +<br> +“E dunque no siete traditore?”<br> +<br> +“Possibile, signor, ma almeno Io no sono Greco.”<br> +<br> +Not even the diplomatic representatives of the Hellenic kingdom are +free from the habit of depreciating their brethren. I recollect +that at one of the ports in Syria a Greek vessel was rather unfairly +kept in quarantine by order of the Board of Health, which consisted +entirely of Europeans. A consular agent from the kingdom of Greece +had lately hoisted his flag in the town, and the captain of the vessel +drew up a remonstrance, which he requested his consul to present to +the Board.<br> +<br> +“Now, <i>is</i> this reasonable?” said the consul; “is +it reasonable that I should place myself in collision with all the principal +European gentlemen of the place for the sake of you, a Greek?” +The skipper was greatly vexed at the failure of his application, but +he scarcely even questioned the justice of the ground which his consul +had taken. Well, it happened some time afterwards that I found +myself at the same port, having gone thither with the view of embarking +for the port of Syra. I was anxious, of course, to elude as carefully +as possible the quarantine detentions which threatened me on my arrival, +and hearing that the Greek consul had a brother who was a man in authority +at Syra, I got myself presented to the former, and took the liberty +of asking him to give me such a letter of introduction to his relative +at Syra as might possibly have the effect of shortening the term of +my quarantine. He acceded to this request with the utmost kindness +and courtesy; but when he replied to my thanks by saying that “in +serving an Englishman he was doing no more than his strict duty commanded,” +not even my gratitude could prevent me from calling to mind his treatment +of the poor captain who had the misfortune of <i>not</i> being an alien +in blood to his consul and appointed protector.<br> +<br> +I think that the change which has taken place in the character of the +Greeks has been occasioned, in great measure, by the doctrines and practice +of their religion. The Greek Church has animated the Muscovite +peasant, and inspired him with hopes and ideas which, however humble, +are still better than none at all; but the faith, and the forms, and +the strange ecclesiastical literature which act so advantageously upon +the mere clay of the Russian serf, seem to hang like lead upon the ethereal +spirit of the Greek. Never in any part of the world have I seen +religious performances so painful to witness as those of the Greeks. +The horror, however, with which one shudders at their worship is attributable, +in some measure, to the mere effect of costume. In all the Ottoman +dominions, and very frequently too in the kingdom of Otho, the Greeks +wear turbans or other head-dresses, and shave their heads, leaving only +a rat’s-tail at the crown of the head; they of course keep themselves +covered within doors as well as abroad, and they never remove their +head-gear merely on account of being in a church; but when the Greek +stops to worship at his proper shrine, then, and then only, he always +uncovers; and as you see him thus with shaven skull and savage tail +depending from his crown, kissing a thing of wood and glass, and cringing +with base prostrations and apparent terror before a miserable picture, +you see superstition in a shape which, outwardly at least, is sadly +abject and repulsive.<br> +<br> +The fasts, too, of the Greek Church produce an ill effect upon the character +of the people, for they are not a mere farce, but are carried to such +an extent as to bring about a real mortification of the flesh; the febrile +irritation of the frame operating in conjunction with the depression +of the spirits occasioned by abstinence, will so far answer the objects +of the rite, as to engender some religious excitement, but this is of +a morbid and gloomy character, and it seems to be certain, that along +with the increase of sanctity, there comes a fiercer desire for the +perpetration of dark crimes. The number of murders committed during +Lent is greater, I am told, than at any other time of the year. +A man under the influence of a bean dietary (for this is the principal +food of the Greeks during their fasts) will be in an apt humour for +enriching the shrine of his saint, and passing a knife through his next-door +neighbour. The moneys deposited upon the shrines are appropriated +by priests; the priests are married men, and have families to provide +for; they “take the good with the bad,” and continue to +recommend fasts.<br> +<br> +Then, too, the Greek Church enjoins her followers to keep holy such +a vast number of saints’ days as practically to shorten the lives +of the people very materially. I believe that one-third out of +the number of days in the year are “kept holy,” or rather, +<i>kept stupid</i>, in honour of the saints; no great portion of the +time thus set apart is spent in religious exercises, and the people +don’t betake themselves to any such animating pastimes as might +serve to strengthen the frame, or invigorate the mind, or exalt the +taste. On the contrary, the saints’ days of the Greeks in +Smyrna are passed in the same manner as the Sabbaths of well-behaved +Protestant housemaids in London - that is to say, in a steady and serious +contemplation of street scenery. The men perform this duty <i>at +the doors</i> of their houses, the women <i>at the windows</i>, which +the custom of Greek towns has so decidedly appropriated to them as the +proper station of their sex, that a man would be looked upon as utterly +effeminate if he ventured to choose that situation for the keeping of +the saints’ days. I was present one day at a treaty for +the hire of some apartments at Smyrna, which was carried on between +Carrigaholt and the Greek woman to whom the rooms belonged. Carrigaholt +objected that the windows commanded no view of the street. Immediately +the brow of the majestic matron was clouded, and with all the scorn +of a Spartan mother she coolly asked Carrigaholt, and said, “Art +thou a tender damsel that thou wouldst sit and gaze from windows?” +The man whom she addressed, however, had not gone to Greece with any +intention of placing himself under the laws of Lycurgus, and was not +to be diverted from his views by a Spartan rebuke, so he took care to +find himself windows after his own heart, and there, I believe, for +many a month, he kept the saints’ days, and all the days intervening, +after the fashion of Grecian women.<br> +<br> +Oh! let me be charitable to all who write, and to all who lecture, and +to all who preach, since even I, a layman not forced to write at all, +can hardly avoid chiming in with some tuneful cant! I have had +the heart to talk about the pernicious effects of the Greek holidays, +to which I owe some of my most beautiful visions! I will let the +words stand, as a humbling proof that I am subject to that immutable +law which compels a man with a pen in his hand to be uttering every +now and then some sentiment not his own. It seems as though the +power of expressing regrets and desires by written symbols were coupled +with a condition that the writer should from time to time express the +regrets and desires of other people; as though, like a French peasant +under the old régime, one were bound to perform a certain amount +of work <i>upon the public highways</i>. I rebel as stoutly as +I can against this horrible, <i>corvée</i>. I try not to +deceive you - I try to set down the thoughts which are fresh within +me, and not to pretend any wishes, or griefs, which I do not really +feel; but no sooner do I cease from watchfulness in this regard, than +my right hand is, as it were, seized by some false angel, and even now, +you see, I have been forced to put down such words and sentences as +I ought to have written if really and truly I had wished to disturb +the saints’ days of the beautiful Smyrniotes!<br> +<br> +Which, Heaven forbid! for as you move through the narrow streets of +the city at these times of festival, the transom-shaped windows suspended +over your head on either side are filled with the beautiful descendants +of the old Ionian race; all (even yonder empress that sits throned at +the window of that humblest mud cottage) are attired with seeming magnificence; +their classic heads are crowned with scarlet, and loaded with jewels +or coins of gold, the whole wealth of the wearers; <a name="citation10"></a><a href="#footnote10">{10}</a> +their features are touched with a savage pencil, which hardens the outline +of eyes and eyebrows, and lends an unnatural fire to the stern, grave +looks with which they pierce your brain. Endure their fiery eyes +as best you may, and ride on slowly and reverently, for facing you from +the side of the transom, that looks long-wise through the street, you +see the one glorious shape transcendant in its beauty; you see the massive +braid of hair as it catches a touch of light on its jetty surface, and +the broad, calm, angry brow; the large black eyes, deep set, and self-relying +like the eyes of a conqueror, with their rich shadows of thought lying +darkly around them; you see the thin fiery nostril, and the bold line +of the chin and throat disclosing all the fierceness, and all the pride, +passion, and power that can live along with the rare womanly beauty +of those sweetly turned lips. But then there is a terrible stillness +in this breathing image; it seems like the stillness of a savage that +sits intent and brooding, day by day, upon some one fearful scheme of +vengeance, but yet more like it seems to the stillness of an Immortal, +whose will must be known, and obeyed without sign or speech. Bow +down! - Bow down and adore the young Persephonie, transcendent Queen +of Shades!<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER VI - GREEK MARINERS<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +I sailed from Smyrna in the <i>Amphitrite</i>, a Greek brigantine, which +was confidently said to be bound for the coast of Syria; but I knew +that this announcement was not to be relied upon with positive certainty, +for the Greek mariners are practically free from the stringency of ship’s +papers, and where they will, there they go. However, I had the +whole of the cabin for myself and my attendant, Mysseri, subject only +to the society of the captain at the hour of dinner. Being at +ease in this respect, being furnished too with plenty of books, and +finding an unfailing source of interest in the thorough Greekness of +my captain and my crew, I felt less anxious than most people would have +been about the probable length of the cruise. I knew enough of +Greek navigation to be sure that our vessel would cling to earth like +a child to its mother’s knee, and that I should touch at many +an isle before I set foot upon the Syrian coast; but I had no invidious +preference for Europe, Asia, or Africa, and I felt that I could defy +the winds to blow me upon a coast that was blank and void of interest. +My patience was extremely useful to me, for the cruise altogether endured +some forty days, and that in the midst of winter.<br> +<br> +According to me, the most interesting of all the Greeks (male Greeks) +are the mariners, because their pursuits and their social condition +are so nearly the same as those of their famous ancestors. You +will say, that the occupation of commerce must have smoothed down the +salience of their minds; and this would be so perhaps if their mercantile +affairs were conducted according to the fixed businesslike routine of +Europeans; but the ventures of the Greeks are surrounded by such a multitude +of imagined dangers (and from the absence of regular marts, in which +the true value of merchandise can be ascertained), are so entirely speculative, +and besides, are conducted in a manner so wholly determined upon by +the wayward fancies and wishes of the crew, that they belong to enterprise +rather than to industry, and are very far indeed from tending to deaden +any freshness of character.<br> +<br> +The vessels in which war and piracy were carried on during the years +of the Greek Revolution became merchantmen at the end of the war; but +the tactics of the Greeks, as naval warriors, were so exceedingly cautious, +and their habits as commercial mariners are so wild, that the change +has been more slight than you might imagine. The first care of +Greeks (Greek Rayahs) when they undertake a shipping enterprise is to +procure for their vessel the protection of some European power. +This is easily managed by a little intriguing with the dragoman of one +of the embassies at Constantinople, and the craft soon glories in the +ensign of Russia, or the dazzling Tricolor, or the Union Jack. +Thus, to the great delight of her crew, she enters upon the ocean world +with a flaring lie at her peak, but the appearance of the vessel does +no discredit to the borrowed flag; she is frail indeed, but is gracefully +built, and smartly rigged; she always carries guns, and in short, gives +good promise of mischief and speed.<br> +<br> +The privileges attached to the vessel and her crew by virtue of the +borrowed flag are so great, as to imply a liberty wider even than that +which is often enjoyed in our more strictly civilised countries, so +that there is no pretence for saying that the development of the true +character belonging to Greek mariners is prevented by the dominion of +the Ottoman. These men are free, too, from the power of the great +capitalist, whose sway is more withering than despotism itself to the +enterprises of humble venturers. The capital employed is supplied +by those whose labour is to render it productive. The crew receive +no wages, but have all a share in the venture, and in general, I believe, +they are the owners of the whole freight. They choose a captain, +to whom they entrust just power enough to keep the vessel on her course +in fine weather, but not quite enough for a gale of wind; they also +elect a cook and a mate. The cook whom we had on board was particularly +careful about the ship’s reckoning, and when under the influence +of the keen sea-breezes we grew fondly expectant of an instant dinner, +the great author of <i>pilafs</i> would be standing on deck with an +ancient quadrant in his hands, calmly affecting to take an observation. +But then to make up for this the captain would be exercising a controlling +influence over the soup, so that all in the end went well. Our +mate was a Hydriot, a native of that island rock which grows nothing +but mariners and mariners’ wives. His character seemed to +be exactly that which is generally attributed to the Hydriot race; he +was fierce, and gloomy, and lonely in his ways. One of his principal +duties seemed to be that of acting as counter-captain, or leader of +the opposition, denouncing the first symptoms of tyranny, and protecting +even the cabin-boy from oppression. Besides this, when things +went smoothly he would begin to prognosticate evil, in order that his +more light-hearted comrades might not be puffed up with the seeming +good fortune of the moment.<br> +<br> +It seemed to me that the personal freedom of these sailors, who own +no superiors except those of their own choice, is as like as may be +to that of their seafaring ancestors. And even in their mode of +navigation they have admitted no such an entire change as you would +suppose probable. It is true that they have so far availed themselves +of modern discoveries as to look to the compass instead of the stars, +and that they have superseded the immortal gods of their forefathers +by St. Nicholas in his glass case, <a name="citation11"></a><a href="#footnote11">{11}</a> +but they are not yet so confident either in their needle, or their saint, +as to love an open sea, and they still hug their shores as fondly as +the Argonauts of old. Indeed, they have a most unsailor-like love +for the land, and I really believe that in a gale of wind they would +rather have a rock-bound coast on their lee than no coast at all. +According to the notions of an English seaman, this kind of navigation +would soon bring the vessel on which it might be practised to an evil +end. The Greek, however, is unaccountably successful in escaping +the consequences of being “jammed in,” as it is called, +upon a lee-shore.<br> +<br> +These seamen, like their forefathers, rely upon no winds unless they +are right astern or on the quarter; they rarely go on a wind if it blows +at all fresh, and if the adverse breeze approaches to a gale, they at +once fumigate St. Nicholas, and put up the helm. The consequence +of course is that under the ever-varying winds of the Aegean they are +blown about in the most whimsical manner. I used to think that +Ulysses with his ten years’ voyage had taken his time in making +Ithaca, but my experience in Greek navigation soon made me understand +that he had had, in point of fact, a pretty good “average passage.”<br> +<br> +Such are now the mariners of the Aegean: free, equal amongst themselves, +navigating the seas of their forefathers with the same heroic, and yet +child-like, spirit of venture, the same half-trustful reliance upon +heavenly aid, they are the liveliest images of true old Greeks that +time and the new religions have spared to us.<br> +<br> +With one exception, our crew were “a solemn company,” <a name="citation12"></a><a href="#footnote12">{12}</a> +and yet, sometimes, when all things went well, they would relax their +austerity, and show a disposition to fun, or rather to quiet humour. +When this happened, they invariably had recourse to one of their number, +who went by the name of “Admiral Nicolou.” He +was an amusing fellow, the poorest, I believe, and the least thoughtful +of the crew, but full of rich humour. His oft-told story of the +events by which he had gained the sobriquet of “Admiral” +never failed to delight his hearers, and when he was desired to repeat +it for my benefit, the rest of the crew crowded round with as much interest +as if they were listening to the tale for the first time. A number +of Greek brigs and brigantines were at anchor in the bay of Beyrout. +A festival of some kind, particularly attractive to the sailors, was +going on in the town, and whether with or without leave I know not, +but the crews of all the craft, except that of Nicolou, had gone ashore. +On board his vessel, however, which carried dollars, there was, it would +seem, a more careful, or more influential captain, who was able to enforce +his determination that one man, at least, should be left on board. +Nicolou’s good nature was with him so powerful an impulse, that +he could not resist the delight of volunteering to stay with the vessel +whilst his comrades went ashore. His proposal was accepted, and +the crew and captain soon left him alone on the deck of his vessel. +The sailors, gathering together from their several ships, were amusing +themselves in the town, when suddenly there came down from betwixt the +mountains one of those sudden hurricanes which sometimes occur in southern +climes. Nicolou’s vessel, together with four of the craft +which had been left unmanned, broke from her moorings, and all five +of the vessels were carried out seaward. The town is on a salient +point at the southern side of the bay, so that “that Admiral” +was close under the eyes of the inhabitants and the shore-gone sailors +when he gallantly drifted out at the head of his little fleet. +If Nicolou could not entirely control the manoeuvres of the squadron, +there was at least no human power to divide his authority, and thus +it was that he took rank as “Admiral.” Nicolou cut +his cable, and thus for the time saved his vessel; for the rest of the +fleet under his command were quickly wrecked, whilst “the Admiral” +got away clear to the open sea. The violence of the squall soon +passed off, but Nicolou felt that his chance of one day resigning his +high duties as an admiral for the enjoyments of private life on the +steadfast shore mainly depended upon his success in working the brig +with his own hands, so after calling on his namesake, the saint (not +for the first time, I take it), he got up some canvas, and took the +helm: he became equal, he told us, to a score of Nicolous, and the vessel, +as he said, was “manned with his terrors.” For two +days, it seems, he cruised at large, but at last, either by his seamanship, +or by the natural instinct of the Greek mariners for finding land, he +brought his craft close to an unknown shore, that promised well for +his purpose of running in the vessel; and he was preparing to give her +a good berth on the beach, when he saw a gang of ferocious-looking fellows +coming down to the point for which he was making. Poor Nicolou +was a perfectly unlettered and untutored genius, and for that reason, +perhaps, a keen listener to tales of terror. His mind had been +impressed with some horrible legend of cannibalism, and he now did not +doubt for a moment that the men awaiting him on the beach were the monsters +at whom he had shuddered in the days of his childhood. The coast +on which Nicolou was running his vessel was somewhere, I fancy, at the +foot of the Anzairie Mountains, and the fellows who were preparing to +give him a reception were probably very rough specimens of humanity. +It is likely enough that they might have given themselves the trouble +of putting “the Admiral” to death, for the purpose of simplifying +their claim to the vessel and preventing litigation, but the notion +of their cannibalism was of course utterly unfounded. Nicolou’s +terror had, however, so graven the idea on his mind, that he could never +afterwards dismiss it. Having once determined the character of +his expectant hosts, the Admiral naturally thought that it would he +better to keep their dinner waiting any length of time than to attend +their feast in the character of a roasted Greek, so he put about his +vessel, and tempted the deep once more. After a further cruise +the lonely commander ran his vessel upon some rocks at another part +of the coast, where she was lost with all her treasures, and Nicolou +was but too glad to scramble ashore, though without one dollar in his +girdle. These adventures seem flat enough as I repeat them, but +the hero expressed his terrors by such odd terms of speech, and such +strangely humorous gestures, that the story came from his lips with +an unfailing zest, so that the crew, who had heard the tale so often, +could still enjoy to their hearts’ content the rich fright of +the Admiral, and still shuddered with unabated horror when he came to +the loss of the dollars.<br> +<br> +The power of listening to long stories (for which, by-the-bye, I am +giving you large credit) is common, I fancy, to most sailors, and the +Greeks have it to a high degree, for they can be perfectly patient under +a narrative of two or three hours’ duration. These long +stories are mostly founded upon Oriental topics, and in one of them +I recognised with some alteration an old friend of the “Arabian +Nights.” I inquired as to the source from which the story +had been derived, and the crew all agreed that it had been handed down +unwritten from Greek to Greek. Their account of the matter does +not, perhaps, go very far towards showing the real origin of the tale; +but when I afterwards took up the “Arabian Nights,” I became +strongly impressed with a notion that they must have sprung from the +brain of a Greek. It seems to me that these stories, whilst they +disclose a complete and habitual <i>knowledge</i> of things Asiatic, +have about them so much of freshness and life, so much of the stirring +and volatile European character, that they cannot have owed their conception +to a mere Oriental, who for creative purposes is a thing dead and dry +- a mental mummy, that may have been a live king just after the Flood, +but has since lain balmed in spice. At the time of the Caliphat +the Greek race was familiar enough to Baghdad: they were the merchants, +the pedlars, the barbers, and intriguers-general of south-western Asia, +and therefore the Oriental materials with which the Arabian tales were +wrought must have been completely at the command of the inventive people +to whom I would attribute their origin.<br> +<br> +We were nearing the isle of Cyprus when there arose half a gale of wind, +with a heavy chopping sea. My Greek seamen considered that the +weather amounted not to a half, but to an integral gale of wind at the +very least, so they put up the helm, and scudded for twenty hours. +When we neared the mainland of Anadoli the gale ceased, and a favourable +breeze sprung up, which brought us off Cyprus once more. Afterwards +the wind changed again, but we were still able to lay our course by +sailing close-hauled.<br> +<br> +We were at length in such a position, that by holding on our course +for about half-an-hour we should get under the lee of the island and +find ourselves in smooth water, but the wind had been gradually freshening; +it now blew hard, and there was a heavy sea running.<br> +<br> +As the grounds for alarm arose, the crew gathered together in one close +group; they stood pale and grim under their hooded capotes like monks +awaiting a massacre, anxiously looking by turns along the pathway of +the storm and then upon each other, and then upon the eye of the captain +who stood by the helmsman. Presently the Hydriot came aft, more +moody than ever, the bearer of fierce remonstrance against the continuing +of the struggle; he received a resolute answer, and still we held our +course. Soon there came a heavy sea, that caught the bow of the +brigantine as she lay jammed in betwixt the waves; she bowed her head +low under the waters, and shuddered through all her timbers, then gallantly +stood up again over the striving sea, with bowsprit entire. But +where were the crew? It was a crew no longer, but rather a gathering +of Greek citizens; the shout of the seamen was changed for the murmuring +of the people - the spirit of the old Demos was alive. The men +came aft in a body, and loudly asked that the vessel should be put about, +and that the storm be no longer tempted. Now, then, for speeches. +The captain, his eyes flashing fire, his frame all quivering with emotion +- wielding his every limb, like another and a louder voice, pours forth +the eloquent torrent of his threats and his reasons, his commands and +his prayers; he promises, he vows, he swears that there is safety in +holding on - safety, <i>if Greeks will be brave</i>! The men hear +and are moved; but the gale rouses itself once more, and again the raging +sea comes trampling over the timbers that are the life of all. +The fierce Hydriot advances one step nearer to the captain, and the +angry growl of the people goes floating down the wind, but they listen; +they waver once more, and once more resolve, then waver again, thus +doubtfully hanging between the terrors of the storm and the persuasion +of glorious speech, as though it were the Athenian that talked, and +Philip of Macedon that thundered on the weather-bow.<br> +<br> +Brave thoughts winged on Grecian words gained their natural mastery +over terror; the brigantine held on her course, and reached smooth water +at last. I landed at Limasol, the westernmost port of Cyprus, +leaving the vessel to sail for Larnaka, where she was to remain for +some days.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER VII - CYPRUS<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +There was a Greek at Limasol who hoisted his flag as an English vice-consul, +and he insisted upon my accepting his hospitality. With some difficulty, +and chiefly by assuring him that I could not delay my departure beyond +an early hour in the afternoon, I induced him to allow my dining with +his family instead of banqueting all alone with the representative of +my sovereign in consular state and dignity. The lady of the house, +it seemed, had never sat at table with an European. She was very +shy about the matter, and tried hard to get out of the scrape, but the +husband, I fancy, reminded her that she was theoretically an Englishwoman, +by virtue of the flag that waved over her roof, and that she was bound +to show her nationality by sitting at meat with me. Finding herself +inexorably condemned to bear with the dreaded gaze of European eyes, +she tried to save her innocent children from the hard fate awaiting +herself, but I obtained that all of them (and I think there were four +or five) should sit at the table. You will meet with abundance +of stately receptions and of generous hospitality, too, in the East, +but rarely, very rarely in those regions (or even, so far as I know, +in any part of southern Europe) does one gain an opportunity of seeing +the familiar and indoor life of the people.<br> +<br> +This family party of the good consul’s (or rather of mine, for +I originated the idea, though he furnished the materials) went off very +well. The mamma was shy at first, but she veiled the awkwardness +which she felt by affecting to scold her children, who had all of them, +I think, immortal names - names too which they owed to tradition, and +certainly not to any classical enthusiasm of their parents. Every +instant I was delighted by some such phrases as these, “Themistocles, +my love, don’t fight.” - “Alcibiades, can’t +you sit still?” - “Socrates, put down the cup.” - +“Oh, fie! Aspasia, don’t. Oh! don’t be +naughty!” It is true that the names were pronounced Socrahtie, +Aspahsie - that is, according to accent, and not according to quantity +- but I suppose it is scarcely now to be doubted that they were so sounded +in ancient times.<br> +<br> +To me it seems, that of all the lands I know (you will see in a minute +how I connect this piece of prose’ with the isle of Cyprus), there +is none in which mere wealth, mere unaided wealth, is held half so cheaply; +none in which a poor devil of a millionaire, without birth, or ability, +occupies so humble a place as in England. My Greek host and I +were sitting together, I think, upon the roof of the house (for that +is the lounging-place in Eastern climes), when the former assumed a +serious air, and intimated a wish to converse upon the subject of the +British Constitution, with which he assured me that he was thoroughly +acquainted. He presently, however, informed me that there was +one anomalous circumstance attended upon the practical working of our +political system which he had never been able to hear explained in a +manner satisfactory to himself. From the fact of his having found +a difficulty in his subject, I began to think that my host might really +know rather more of it than his announcement of a thorough knowledge +had led me to expect. I felt interested at being about to hear +from the lips of an intelligent Greek, quite remote from the influence +of European opinions, what might seem to him the most astonishing and +incomprehensible of all those results which have followed from the action +of our political institutions. The anomaly, the only anomaly which +had been detected by the vice-consular wisdom, consisted in the fact +that Rothschild (the late money-monger) had never been the Prime Minister +of England! I gravely tried to throw some light upon the mysterious +causes that had kept the worthy Israelite out of the Cabinet, but I +think I could see that my explanation was not satisfactory. Go +and argue with the flies of summer that there is a power divine, yet +greater than the sun in the heavens, but never dare hope to convince +the people of the south that there is any other God than Gold.<br> +<br> +My intended journey was to the site of the Paphian temple. I take +no antiquarian interest in ruins, and care little about them, unless +they are either striking in themselves, or else serve to mark some spot +on which my fancy loves to dwell. I knew that the ruins of Paphos +were scarcely, if at all, discernible, but there was a will and a longing +more imperious than mere curiosity that drove me thither.<br> +<br> +For this just then was my pagan soul’s desire - that (not forfeiting +my inheritance for the life to come) it had yet been given me to live +through this world - to live a favoured mortal under the old Olympian +dispensation - to speak out my resolves to the listening Jove, and hear +him answer with approving thunder - to be blessed with divine counsels +from the lips of Pallas Athenie - to believe - ay, only to believe - +to believe for one rapturous moment that in the gloomy depths of the +grove, by the mountain’s side, there were some leafy pathway that +crisped beneath the glowing sandal of Aphrodetie - Aphrodetie, not coldly +disdainful of even a mortal’s love! And this vain, heathenish +longing of mine was father to the thought of visiting the scene of the +ancient worship.<br> +<br> +The isle is beautiful. From the edge of the rich, flowery fields +on which I trod to the midway sides of the snowy Olympus, the ground +could only here and there show an abrupt crag, or a high straggling +ridge that up-shouldered itself from out of the wilderness of myrtles, +and of the thousand bright-leaved shrubs that twined their arms together +in lovesome tangles. The air that came to my lips was warm and +fragrant as the ambrosial breath of the goddess, infecting me, not (of +course) with a faith in the old religion of the isle, but with a sense +and apprehension of its mystic power - a power that was still to be +obeyed - obeyed by <i>me</i>, for why otherwise did I toil on with sorry +horses to “where, for HER, the hundred altars glowed with Arabian +incense, and breathed with the fragrance of garlands ever fresh”? +<a name="citation13"></a><a href="#footnote13">{13}</a><br> +<br> +I passed a sadly disenchanting night in the cabin of a Greek priest +- not a priest of the goddess, but of the Greek Church; there was but +one humble room, or rather shed, for man, and priest, and beast. +The next morning I reached Baffa (Paphos), a village not far distant +from the site of the temple. There was a Greek husbandman there +who (not for emolument, but for the sake of the protection and dignity +which it afforded) had got leave from the man at Limasol to hoist his +flag as a sort of deputy-provisionary-sub-vice-pro-acting-consul of +the British sovereign: the poor fellow instantly changed his Greek headgear +for the cap of consular dignity, and insisted upon accompanying me to +the ruins. I would not have stood this if I could have felt the +faintest gleam of my yesterday’s pagan piety, but I had ceased +to dream, and had nothing to dread from any new disenchanters.<br> +<br> +The ruins (the fragments of one or two prostrate pillars) lie upon a +promontory, bare and unmystified by the gloom of surrounding groves. +My Greek friend in his consular cap stood by, respectfully waiting to +see what turn my madness would take, now that I had come at last into +the presence of the old stones. If you have no taste for research, +and can’t affect to look for inscriptions, there is some awkwardness +in coming to the end of a merely sentimental pilgrimage; when the feeling +which impelled you has gone, you have nothing to do but to laugh the +thing off as well as you can, and, by-the-bye, it is not a bad plan +to turn the conversation (or rather, allow the natives to turn it) towards +the subject of hidden treasures. This is a topic on which they +will always speak with eagerness, and if they can fancy that you, too, +take an interest in such matters, they will not only think you perfectly +sane, but will begin to give you credit for some more than human powers +of forcing the obscure earth to show you its hoards of gold.<br> +<br> +When we returned to Baffa, the vice-consul seized a club with the quietly +determined air of a brave man resolved to do some deed of note. +He went into the yard adjoining his cottage, where there were some thin, +thoughtful, canting cocks, and serious, low-church-looking hens, respectfully +listening, and chickens of tender years so well brought up, as scarcely +to betray in their conduct the careless levity of youth. The vice-consul +stood for a moment quite calm, collecting his strength; then suddenly +he rushed into the midst of the congregation, and began to deal death +and destruction on all sides. He spared neither sex nor age; the +dead and dying were immediately removed from the field of slaughter, +and in less than an hour, I think, they were brought on the table, deeply +buried in mounds of snowy rice.<br> +<br> +My host was in all respects a fine, generous fellow. I could not +bear the idea of impoverishing him by my visit, and I consulted my faithful +Mysseri, who not only assured me that I might safely offer money to +the vice-consul, but recommended that I should give no more to him than +to “the others,” meaning any other peasant. I felt, +however, that there was something about the man, besides the flag and +the cap, which made me shrink from offering coin, and as I mounted my +horse on departing I gave him the only thing fit for a present that +I happened to have with me, a rather handsome clasp-dagger, brought +from Vienna. The poor fellow was ineffably grateful, and I had +some difficulty in tearing myself from out of the reach of his thanks. +At last I gave him what I supposed to be the last farewell, and rode +on, but I had not gained more than about a hundred yards when my host +came bounding and shouting after me, with a goat’s-milk cheese +in his hand, which he implored me to accept. In old times the +shepherd of Theocritus, or (to speak less dishonestly) the shepherd +of the “Poetae Graeci,” sung his best song; I in this latter +age presented my best dagger, and both of us received the same rustic +reward.<br> +<br> +It had been known that I should return to Limasol, and when I arrived +there I found that a noble old Greek had been hospitably plotting to +have me for his guest. I willingly accepted his offer. The +day of my arrival happened to be the birthday of my host, and in consequence +of this there was a constant influx of visitors, who came to offer their +congratulations. A few of these were men, but most of them were +young, graceful girls. Almost all of them went through the ceremony +with the utmost precision and formality; each in succession spoke her +blessing, in the tone of a person repeating a set formula, then deferentially +accepted the invitation to sit, partook of the proffered sweetmeats +and the cold, glittering water, remained for a few minutes either in +silence or engaged in very thin conversation, then arose, delivered +a second benediction, followed by an elaborate farewell, and departed.<br> +<br> +The bewitching power attributed at this day to the women of Cyprus is +curious in connection with the worship of the sweet goddess, who called +their isle her own. The Cypriote is not, I think, nearly so beautiful +in face as the Ionian queens of Izmir, but she is tall, and slightly +formed; there is a high-souled meaning and expression, a seeming consciousness +of gentle empire, that speaks in the wavy line of the shoulder, and +winds itself like Cytherea’s own cestus around the slender waist; +then the richly-abounding hair (not enviously gathered together under +the head-dress) descends the neck, and passes the waist in sumptuous +braids. Of all other women with Grecian blood in their veins the +costume is graciously beautiful, but these, the maidens of Limasol - +their robes are more gently, more sweetly imagined, and fall like Julia’s +cashmere in soft, luxurious folds. The common voice of the Levant +allows that in face the women of Cyprus are less beautiful than their +brilliant sisters of Smyrna; and yet, says the Greek, he may trust himself +to one and all the bright cities of the Aegean, and may yet weigh anchor +with a heart entire, but that so surely as he ventures upon the enchanted +isle of Cyprus, so surely will he know the rapture or the bitterness +of love. The charm, they say, owes its power to that which the +people call the astonishing “politics” (πολιτικη) +of the women, meaning, I fancy, their tact and their witching ways: +the word, however, plainly fails to express one-half of that which the +speakers would say. I have smiled to hear the Greek, with all +his plenteousness of fancy, and all the wealth of his generous language, +yet vainly struggling to describe the ineffable spell which the Parisians +dispose of in their own smart way by a summary “Je ne sçai +quoi.”<br> +<br> +I went to Larnaca, the chief city of the isle, and over the water at +last to Beyrout.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER VIII - LADY HESTER STANHOPE <a name="citation14"></a><a href="#footnote14">{14}</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Beyrout on its land side is hemmed in by the Druses, who occupy all +the neighbouring highlands.<br> +<br> +Often enough I saw the ghostly images of the women with their exalted +horns stalking through the streets, and I saw too in travelling the +affrighted groups of the mountaineers as they fled before me, under +the fear that my party might be a company of income-tax commissioners, +or a pressgang enforcing the conscription for Mehemet Ali; but nearly +all my knowledge of the people, except in regard of their mere costume +and outward appearance, is drawn from books and despatches, to which +I have the honour to refer you.<br> +<br> +I received hospitable welcome at Beyrout from the Europeans as well +as from the Syrian Christians, and I soon discovered that their standing +topic of interest was the Lady Hester Stanhope, who lived in an old +convent on the Lebanon range, at the distance of about a day’s +journey from the town. The lady’s habit of refusing to see +Europeans added the charm of mystery to a character which, even without +that aid, was sufficiently distinguished to command attention.<br> +<br> +Many years of Lady Hester’s early womanhood had been passed with +Lady Chatham at Burton Pynsent, and during that inglorious period of +the heroine’s life her commanding character, and (as they would +have called it in the language of those days) her “condescending +kindness” towards my mother’s family, had increased in them +those strong feelings of respect and attachment, which her rank and +station alone would have easily won from people of the middle class. +You may suppose how deeply the quiet women in Somersetshire must have +been interested, when they slowly learned by vague and uncertain tidings +that the intrepid girl who had been used to break their vicious horses +for them was reigning in sovereignty over the wandering tribes of Western +Asia! I know that her name was made almost as familiar to me in +my childhood as the name of Robinson Crusoe - both were associated with +the spirit of adventure; but whilst the imagined life of the cast-away +mariner never failed to seem glaringly real, the true story of the Englishwoman +ruling over Arabs always sounded to me like fable. I never had +heard, nor indeed, I believe, had the rest of the world ever heard, +anything like a certain account of the heroine’s adventures; all +I knew was, that in one of the drawers which were the delight of my +childhood, along with attar of roses and fragrant wonders from Hindustan, +there were letters carefully treasured, and trifling presents which +I was taught to think valuable because they had come from the queen +of the desert, who dwelt in tents, and reigned over wandering Arabs.<br> +<br> +This subject, however, died away, and from the ending of my childhood +up to the period of my arrival in the Levant, I had seldom even heard +a mentioning of the Lady Hester Stanhope, but now, wherever I went, +I was met by the name so familiar in sound, and yet so full of mystery +from the vague, fairy-tale sort of idea which it brought to my mind; +I heard it, too, connected with fresh wonders, for it was said that +the woman was now acknowledged as an inspired being by the people of +the mountains, and it was even hinted with horror that she claimed to +be <i>more than a</i> <i>prophet.<br> +<br> +</i>I felt at once that my mother would be sadly sorry to hear that +I had been within a day’s ride of her early friend without offering +to see her, and I therefore despatched a letter to the recluse, mentioning +the maiden name of my mother (whose marriage was subsequent to Lady +Hester’s departure), and saying that if there existed on the part +of her ladyship any wish to hear of her old Somersetshire acquaintance, +I should make a point of visiting her. My letter was sent by a +foot-messenger, who was to take an unlimited time for his journey, so +that it was not, I think, until either the third or the fourth day that +the answer arrived. A couple of horsemen covered with mud suddenly +dashed into the little court of the “locanda” in which I +was staying, bearing themselves as ostentatiously as though they were +carrying a cartel from the Devil to the Angel Michael: one of these +(the other being his attendant) was an Italian by birth (though now +completely orientalised), who lived in my lady’s establishment +as doctor nominally, but practically as an upper servant; he presented +me a very kind and appropriate letter of invitation.<br> +<br> +It happened that I was rather unwell at this time, so that I named a +more distant day for my visit than I should otherwise have done, and +after all, I did not start at the time fixed. Whilst still remaining +at Beyrout I received this letter, which certainly betrays no symptom +of the pretensions to divine power which were popularly attributed to +the writer:-<br> +<br> +<br> +“SIR, - I hope I shall be disappointed in seeing you on Wednesday, +for the late rains have rendered the river Damoor if not dangerous, +at least very unpleasant to pass for a person who has been lately indisposed, +for if the animal swims, you would be immerged in the waters. +The weather will probably change after the 21st of the moon, and after +a couple of days the roads and the river will be passable, therefore +I shall expect you either Saturday or Monday.<br> +<br> +“It will be a great satisfaction to me to have an opportunity +of inquiring after your mother, who was a sweet, lovely girl when I +knew her.<br> +“Believe me, sir,<br> +“Yours sincerely,<br> +“HESTER LUCY STANHOPE.”<br> +<br> +<br> +Early one morning I started from Beyrout. There are no regularly +established relays of horses in Syria, at least not in the line which +I took, and you therefore hire your cattle for the whole journey, or +at all events, for your journey to some large town. Under these +circumstances you have no occasion for a Tatar (whose principal utility +consists in his power to compel the supply of horses). In other +respects, the mode of travelling through Syria differs very little from +that which I have described as prevailing in Turkey. I hired my +horses and mules (for I had some of both) for the whole of the journey +from Beyrout to Jerusalem. The owner of the beasts (who had a +couple of fellows under him) was the most dignified member of my party; +he was, indeed, a magnificent old man, and was called Shereef, or “holy” +- a title of honour which, with the privilege of wearing the green turban, +he well deserved, not only from the blood of the Prophet that flowed +in his veins, but from the well-known sanctity of his life and the length +of his blessed beard.<br> +<br> +Mysseri, of course, still travelled with me, but the Arabic was not +one of the seven languages which he spoke so perfectly, and I was therefore +obliged to hire another interpreter. I had no difficulty in finding +a proper man for the purpose - one Demetrius, or, as he was always called, +Dthemetri, a native of Zante, who had been tossed about by fortune in +all directions. He spoke the Arabic very well, and communicated +with me in Italian. The man was a very zealous member of the Greek +Church. He had been a tailor. He was as ugly as the devil, +having a thoroughly Tatar countenance, which expressed the agony of +his body or mind, as the case might be, in the most ludicrous manner +imaginable. He embellished the natural caricature of his person +by suspending about his neck and shoulders and waist quantities of little +bundles and parcels, which he thought too valuable to be entrusted to +the jerking of pack-saddles. The mule that fell to his lot on +this journey every now and then, forgetting that his rider was a saint, +and remembering that he was a tailor, took a quiet roll upon the ground, +and stretched his limbs calmly and lazily, like a good man awaiting +a sermon. Dthemetri never got seriously hurt, but the subversion +and dislocation of his bundles made him for the moment a sad spectacle +of ruin, and when he regained his legs, his wrath with the mule became +very amusing. He always addressed the beast in language which +implied that he, as a Christian and saint, had been personally insulted +and oppressed by a Mahometan mule. Dthemetri, however, on the +whole, proved to be a most able and capital servant. I suspected +him of now and then leading me out of my way in order that he might +have the opportunity of visiting the shrine of a saint, and on one occasion, +as you will see by-and-by, he was induced by religious motives to commit +a gross breach of duty; but putting these pious faults out of the question +(and they were faults of the right side), he was always faithful and +true to me.<br> +<br> +I left Saide (the Sidon of ancient times) on my right, and about an +hour, I think, before sunset began to ascend one of the many low hills +of Lebanon. On the summit before me was a broad, grey mass of +irregular building, which from its position, as well as from the gloomy +blankness of its walls, gave the idea of a neglected fortress. +It had, in fact, been a convent of great size, and like most of the +religious houses in this part of the world, had been made strong enough +for opposing an inert resistance to any mere casual band of assailants +who might be unprovided with regular means of attack: this was the dwelling-place +of the Chatham’s fiery granddaughter.<br> +<br> +The aspect of the first court which I entered was such as to keep one +in the idea of having to do with a fortress rather than a mere peaceable +dwelling-place. A number of fierce-looking and ill-clad Albanian +soldiers were hanging about the place, and striving to bear the curse +of tranquillity as well as they could: two or three of them, I think, +were smoking their <i>tchibouques</i>, but the rest of them were lying +torpidly upon the flat stones, like the bodies of departed brigands. +I rode on to an inner part of the building, and at last, quitting my +horses, was conducted through a doorway that led me at once from an +open court into an apartment on the ground floor. As I entered, +an Oriental figure in male costume approached me from the farther end +of the room with many and profound bows, but the growing shades of evening +prevented me from distinguishing the features of the personage who was +receiving me with this solemn welcome. I had always, however, +understood that Lady Hester Stanhope wore the male attire, and I began +to utter in English the common civilities that seemed to be proper on +the commencement of a visit by an uninspired mortal to a renowned prophetess; +but the figure which I addressed only bowed so much the more, prostrating +itself almost to the ground, but speaking to me never a word. +I feebly strived not to be outdone in gestures of respect; but presently +my bowing opponent saw the error under which I was acting, and suddenly +convinced me that, at all events, I was not <i>yet</i> in the presence +of a superhuman being, by declaring that he was not “miladi,” +but was, in fact, nothing more or less god-like than the poor doctor, +who had brought his mistress’s letter to Beyrout.<br> +<br> +Her ladyship, in the right spirit of hospitality, now sent and commanded +me to repose for a while after the fatigues of my journey, and to dine.<br> +<br> +The cuisine was of the Oriental kind, which is highly artificial, and +I thought it very good. I rejoiced too in the wine of the Lebanon.<br> +<br> +Soon after the ending of the dinner the doctor arrived with miladi’s +compliments, and an intimation that she would he happy to receive me +if I were so disposed. It had now grown dark, and the rain was +falling heavily, so that I got rather wet in following my guide through +the open courts that I had to pass in order to reach the presence chamber. +At last I was ushered into a small apartment, which was protected from +the draughts of air passing through the doorway by a folding screen; +passing this, I came alongside of a common European sofa, where sat +the lady prophetess. She rose from her seat very formally, spoke +to me a few words of welcome, pointed to a chair which was placed exactly +opposite to her sofa at a couple of yards’ distance, and remained +standing up to the full of her majestic height, perfectly still and +motionless, until I had taken my appointed place; she then resumed her +seat, not packing herself up according to the mode of the Orientals, +but allowing her feet to rest on the floor or the footstool; at the +moment of seating herself she covered her lap with a mass of loose white +drapery which she held in her hand. It occurred to me at the time +that she did this in order to avoid the awkwardness of sitting in manifest +trousers under the eye of an European, but I can hardly fancy now that +with her wilful nature she would have brooked such a compromise as this.<br> +<br> +The woman before me had exactly the person of a prophetess - not, indeed, +of the divine sibyl imagined by Domenichino, so sweetly distracted betwixt +love and mystery, but of a good business-like, practical prophetess, +long used to the exercise of her sacred calling. I have been told +by those who knew Lady Hester Stanhope in her youth, that any notion +of a resemblance betwixt her and the great Chatham must have been fanciful; +but at the time of my seeing her, the large commanding features of the +gaunt woman, then sixty years old or more, certainly reminded me of +the statesman that lay dying <a name="citation15"></a><a href="#footnote15">{15}</a> +in the House of Lords, according to Copley’s picture. Her +face was of the most astonishing whiteness; <a name="citation16"></a><a href="#footnote16">{16}</a> +she wore a very large turban, which seemed to be of pale cashmere shawls, +so disposed as to conceal the hair; her dress, from the chin down to +the point at which it was concealed by the drapery which she held over +her lap, was a mass of white linen loosely folding - an ecclesiastical +sort of affair, more like a surplice than any of those blessed creations +which our souls love under the names of “dress” and “frock” +and “boddice” and “collar” and “habit-shirt” +and sweet “chemisette.”<br> +<br> +Such was the outward seeming of the personage that sat before me, and +indeed she was almost bound by the fame of her actual achievements, +as well as by her sublime pretensions, to look a little differently +from the rest of womankind. There had been something of grandeur +in her career. After the death of Lady Chatham, which happened +in 1803, she lived under the roof of her uncle, the second Pitt, and +when he resumed the Government in 1804, she became the dispenser of +much patronage, and sole secretary of state for the department of Treasury +banquets. Not having seen the lady until late in her life, when +she was fired with spiritual ambition, I can hardly fancy that she could +have performed her political duties in the saloons of the Minister with +much of feminine sweetness and patience. I am told, however, that +she managed matters very well indeed: perhaps it was better for the +lofty-minded leader of the House to have his reception-rooms guarded +by this stately creature, than by a merely clever and managing woman; +it was fitting that the wholesome awe with which he filled the minds +of the country gentlemen should be aggravated by the presence of his +majestic niece. But the end was approaching. The sun of +Austerlitz showed the Czar madly sliding his splendid army like a weaver’s +shuttle from his right hand to his left, under the very eyes - the deep, +grey, watchful eyes of Napoleon; before night came, the coalition was +a vain thing - meet for history, and the heart of its great author was +crushed with grief when the terrible tidings came to his ears. +In the bitterness of his despair he cried out to his niece, and bid +her, “ROLL UP THE MAP OF EUROPE”; there was a little more +of suffering, and at last, with his swollen tongue (so they say) still +muttering something for England, he died by the noblest of all sorrows.<br> +<br> +Lady Hester, meeting the calamity in her own fierce way, seems to have +scorned the poor island that had not enough of God’s grace to +keep the “heaven-sent” Minister alive. I can hardly +tell why it should be, but there is a longing for the East very commonly +felt by proud-hearted people when goaded by sorrow. Lady Hester +Stanhope obeyed this impulse. For some time, I believe, she was +at Constantinople, where her magnificence and near alliance to the late +Minister gained her great influence. Afterwards she passed into +Syria. The people of that country, excited by the achievements +of Sir Sidney Smith, had begun to imagine the possibility of their land +being occupied by the English, and many of them looked upon Lady Hester +as a princess who came to prepare the way for the expected conquest. +I don’t know it from her own lips, or indeed from any certain +authority, but I have been told that she began her connection with the +Bedouins by making a large present of money (£500 it was said +- immense in piastres) to the Sheik whose authority was recognised in +that part of the desert which lies between Damascus and Palmyra. +The prestige created by the rumours of her high and undefined rank, +as well as of her wealth and corresponding magnificence, was well sustained +by her imperious character and her dauntless bravery. Her influence +increased. I never heard anything satisfactory as to the real +extent or duration of her sway, but it seemed that for a time at least +she certainly exercised something like sovereignty amongst the wandering +tribes. <a name="citation17"></a><a href="#footnote17">{17}</a> +And now that her earthly kingdom had passed away she strove for spiritual +power, and impiously dared, as it was said, to boast some mystic union +with the very God of very God!<br> +<br> +A couple of black slave girls came at a signal, and supplied their mistress +as well as myself with lighted <i>tchibouques</i> and coffee.<br> +<br> +The custom of the East sanctions, and almost commands, some moments +of silence whilst you are inhaling the first few breaths of the fragrant +pipe. The pause was broken, I think, by my lady, who addressed +to me some inquiries respecting my mother, and particularly as to her +marriage; but before I had communicated any great amount of family facts, +the spirit of the prophetess kindled within her, and presently (though +with all the skill of a woman of the world) she shuffled away the subject +of poor, dear Somersetshire, and bounded onward into loftier spheres +of thought.<br> +<br> +My old acquaintance with some of “the twelve” enabled me +to bear my part (of course a very humble one) in a conversation relative +to occult science. Milnes once spread a report, that every gang +of gipsies was found upon inquiry to have come last from a place to +the westward, and to be about to make the next move in an eastern direction; +either therefore they where to be all gathered together towards the +rising of the sun by the mysterious finger of Providence, or else they +were to revolve round the globe for ever and ever: both of these suppositions +were highly gratifying, because they were both marvellous; and though +the story on which they were founded plainly sprang from the inventive +brain of a poet, no one had ever been so odiously statistical as to +attempt a contradiction of it. I now mentioned the story as a +report to Lady Hester Stanhope, and asked her if it were true. +I could not have touched upon any imaginable subject more deeply interesting +to my hearer, more closely akin to her habitual train of thinking. +She immediately threw off all the restraint belonging to an interview +with a stranger; and when she had received a few more similar proofs +of my aptness for the marvellous, she went so far as to say that she +would adopt me as her <i>élève</i> in occult science.<br> +<br> +For hours and hours this wondrous white woman poured forth her speech, +for the most part concerning sacred and profane mysteries; but every +now and then she would stay her lofty flight and swoop down upon the +world again. Whenever this happened I was interested in her conversation.<br> +<br> +She adverted more than once to the period of her lost sway amongst the +Arabs, and mentioned some of the circumstances that aided her in obtaining +influence with the wandering tribes. The Bedouin, so often engaged +in irregular warfare, strains his eyes to the horizon in search of a +coming enemy just as habitually as the sailor keeps his “bright +lookout” for a strange sail. In the absence of telescopes +a far-reaching sight is highly valued, and Lady Hester possessed this +quality to an extraordinary degree. She told me that on one occasion, +when there was good reason to expect a hostile attack, great excitement +was felt in the camp by the report of a far-seeing Arab, who declared +that he could just distinguish some moving objects upon the very farthest +point within the reach of his eyes. Lady Hester was consulted, +and she instantly assured her comrades in arms that there were indeed +a number of horses within sight, but that they were without riders. +The assertion proved to be correct, and from that time forth her superiority +over all others in respect of far sight remained undisputed.<br> +<br> +Lady Hester related to me this other anecdote of her Arab life. +It was when the heroic qualities of the Englishwoman were just beginning +to be felt amongst the people of the desert, that she was marching one +day, along with the forces of the tribe to which she had allied herself. +She perceived that preparations for an engagement were going on, and +upon her making inquiry as to the cause, the Sheik at first affected +mystery and concealment, but at last confessed that war had been declared +against his tribe on account of its alliance with the English princess, +and that they were now unfortunately about to be attacked by a very +superior force. He made it appear that Lady Hester was the sole +cause of hostility betwixt his tribe and the impending enemy, and that +his sacred duty of protecting the Englishwoman whom he had admitted +as his guest was the only obstacle which prevented an amicable arrangement +of the dispute. The Sheik hinted that his tribe was likely to +sustain an almost overwhelming blow, but at the same time declared, +that no fear of the consequences, however terrible to him and his whole +people, should induce him to dream of abandoning his illustrious guest. +The heroine instantly took her part: it was not for her to be a source +of danger to her friends, but rather to her enemies, so she resolved +to turn away from the people, and trust for help to none save only her +haughty self. The Sheiks affected to dissuade her from so rash +a course, and fairly told her that although they (having been freed +from her presence) would be able to make good terms for themselves, +yet that there were no means of allaying the hostility felt towards +her, and that the whole face of the desert would be swept by the horsemen +of her enemies so carefully, as to make her escape into other districts +almost impossible. The brave woman was not to be moved by terrors +of this kind, and bidding farewell to the tribe which had honoured and +protected her, she turned her horse’s head and rode straight away +from them, without friend or follower. Hours had elapsed, and +for some time she had been alone in the centre of the round horizon, +when her quick eye perceived some horsemen in the distance. The +party came nearer and nearer; soon it was plain that they were making +towards her, and presently some hundreds of Bedouins, fully armed, galloped +up to her, ferociously shouting, and apparently intending to take her +life at the instant with their pointed spears. Her face at the +time was covered with the <i>yashmak</i>, according to Eastern usage, +but at the moment when the foremost of the horsemen had all but reached +her with their spears, she stood up in her stirrups, withdrew the <i>yashmak</i> +that veiled the terrors of her countenance, waved her arm slowly and +disdainfully, and cried out with a loud voice “Avaunt!” +<a name="citation18"></a><a href="#footnote18">{18}</a> The horsemen +recoiled from her glance, but not in terror. The threatening yells +of the assailants were suddenly changed for loud shouts of joy and admiration +at the bravery of the stately Englishwoman, and festive gunshots were +fired on all sides around her honoured head. The truth was, that +the party belonged to the tribe with which she had allied herself, and +that the threatened attack as well as the pretended apprehension of +an engagement had been contrived for the mere purpose of testing her +courage. The day ended in a great feast prepared to do honour +to the heroine, and from that time her power over the minds of the people +grew rapidly. Lady Hester related this story with great spirit, +and I recollect that she put up her <i>yashmak</i> for a moment in order +to give me a better idea of the effect which she produced by suddenly +revealing the awfulness of her countenance.<br> +<br> +With respect to her then present mode of life, Lady Hester informed +me, that for her sin she had subjected herself during many years to +severe penance, and that her self-denial had not been without its reward. +“Vain and false,” said she, “is all the pretended +knowledge of the Europeans - their doctors will tell you that the drinking +of milk gives yellowness to the complexion; milk is my only food, and +you see if my face be not white.” Her abstinence from food +intellectual was carried as far as her physical fasting. She never, +she said, looked upon a book or a newspaper, but trusted alone to the +stars for her sublime knowledge; she usually passed the nights in communing +with these heavenly teachers, and lay at rest during the daytime. +She spoke with great contempt of the frivolity and benighted ignorance +of the modern Europeans, and mentioned in proof of this, that they were +not only untaught in astrology, but were unacquainted with the common +and every-day phenomena produced by magic art. She spoke as if +she would make me understand that all sorcerous spells were completely +at her command, but that the exercise of such powers would be derogatory +to her high rank in the heavenly kingdom. She said that the spell +by which the face of an absent person is thrown upon a mirror was within +the reach of the humblest and most contemptible magicians, but that +the practice of such-like arts was unholy as well as vulgar.<br> +<br> +We spoke of the bending twig by which, it is said, precious metals may +be discovered. In relation to this, the prophetess told me a story +rather against herself, and inconsistent with the notion of her being +perfect in her science; but I think that she mentioned the facts as +having happened before the time at which she attained to the great spiritual +authority which she now arrogated. She told me that vast treasures +were known to exist in a situation which she mentioned, if I rightly +remember, as being near Suez; that Napoleon, profanely brave, thrust +his arm into the cave containing the coveted gold, and that instantly +his flesh became palsied, but the youthful hero (for she said he was +great in his generation) was not to be thus daunted; he fell back characteristically +upon his brazen resources, and ordered up his artillery; but man could +not strive with demons, and Napoleon was foiled. In after years +came Ibrahim Pasha, with heavy guns, and wicked spells to boot, but +the infernal guardians of the treasure were too strong for him. +It was after this that Lady Hester passed by the spot, and she described +with animated gesture the force and energy with which the divining twig +had suddenly leaped in her hands. She ordered excavations, and +no demons opposed her enterprise; the vast chest in which the treasure +had been deposited was at length discovered, but lo and behold, it was +full of pebbles! She said, however, that the times were approaching +in which the hidden treasures of the earth would become available to +those who had true knowledge.<br> +<br> +Speaking of Ibrahim Pasha, Lady Hester said that he was a bold, bad +man, and was possessed of some of those common and wicked magical arts +upon which she looked down with so much contempt. She said, for +instance, that Ibrahim’s life was charmed against balls and steel, +and that after a battle he loosened the folds of his shawl and shook +out the bullets like dust.<br> +<br> +It seems that the St. Simonians once made overtures to Lady Hester. +She told me that the Père Enfantin (the chief of the sect) had +sent her a service of plate, but that she had declined to receive it. +She delivered a prediction as to the probability of the St. Simonians +finding the “mystic mother,” and this she did in a way which +would amuse you. Unfortunately I am not at liberty to mention +this part of the woman’s prophecies; why, I cannot tell, but so +it is, that she bound me to eternal secrecy.<br> +<br> +Lady Hester told me that since her residence at Djoun she had been attacked +by a terrible illness, which rendered her for a long time perfectly +helpless; all her attendants fled, and left her to perish. Whilst +she lay thus alone, and quite unable to rise, robbers came and carried +away her property. <a name="citation19"></a><a href="#footnote19">{19}</a> +She told me that they actually unroofed a great part of the building, +and employed engines with pulleys, for the purpose of hoisting out such +of her valuables as were too bulky to pass through doors. It would +seem that before this catastrophe Lady Hester had been rich in the possession +of Eastern luxuries; for she told me, that when the chiefs of the Ottoman +force took refuge with her after the fall of Acre, they brought their +wives also in great numbers. To all of these Lady Hester, as she +said, presented magnificent dresses; but her generosity occasioned strife +only instead of gratitude, for every woman who fancied her present less +splendid than that of another with equal or less pretension, became +absolutely furious: all these audacious guests had now been got rid +of, but the Albanian soldiers, who had taken refuge with Lady Hester +at the same time, still remained under her protection.<br> +<br> +In truth, this half-ruined convent, guarded by the proud heart of an +English gentlewoman, was the only spot throughout all Syria and Palestine +in which the will of Mehemet Ali and his fierce lieutenant was not the +law. More than once had the Pasha of Egypt commanded that Ibrahim +should have the Albanians delivered up to him, but this white woman +of the mountain (grown classical not by books, but by very pride) answered +only with a disdainful invitation to “come and take them.” +Whether it was that Ibrahim was acted upon by any superstitious dread +of interfering with the prophetess (a notion not at all incompatible +with his character as an able Oriental commander), or that he feared +the ridicule of putting himself in collision with a gentlewoman, he +certainly never ventured to attack the sanctuary, and so long as the +Chatham’s granddaughter breathed a breath of life there was always +this one hillock, and that too in the midst of a most populous district, +which stood out, and kept its freedom. Mehemet Ali used to say, +I am told, that the Englishwoman had given him more trouble than all +the insurgent people of Syria and Palestine.<br> +<br> +The prophetess announced to me that we were upon the eve of a stupendous +convulsion, which would destroy the then recognised value of all property +upon earth; and declaring that those only who should be in the East +at the time of the great change could hope for greatness in the new +life that was now close at hand, she advised me, whilst there was yet +time, to dispose of my property in poor frail England, and gain a station +in Asia. She told me that, after leaving her, I should go into +Egypt, but that in a little while I should return into Syria. +I secretly smiled at this last prophecy as a “bad shot,” +for I had fully determined after visiting the Pyramids to take ship +from Alexandria for Greece. But men struggle vainly in the meshes +of their destiny. The unbelieved Cassandra was right after all; +the plague came, and the necessity of avoiding the quarantine, to which +I should have been subjected if I had sailed from Alexandria, forced +me to alter my route. I went down into Egypt, and stayed there +for a time, and then crossed the desert once more, and came back to +the mountains of the Lebanon, exactly as the prophetess had foretold.<br> +<br> +Lady Hester talked to me long and earnestly on the subject of religion, +announcing that the Messiah was yet to come. She strived to impress +me with the vanity and the falseness of all European creeds, as well +as with a sense of her own spiritual greatness: throughout her conversation +upon these high topics she carefully insinuated, without actually asserting, +her heavenly rank.<br> +<br> +Amongst other much more marvellous powers, the lady claimed to have +one which most women, I fancy, possess namely, that of reading men’s +characters in their faces. She examined the line of my features +very attentively, and told me the result, which, however, I mean to +keep hidden.<br> +<br> +One favoured subject of discourse was that of “race,” +upon which she was very diffuse, and yet rather mysterious. She +set great value upon the ancient French <a name="citation20"></a><a href="#footnote20">{20}</a> +(not Norman blood, for that she vilified), but did not at all appreciate +that which we call in this country “an old family.” +She had a vast idea of the Cornish miners on account of their race, +and said, if she chose, she could give me the means of rousing them +to the most tremendous enthusiasm.<br> +<br> +Such are the topics on which the lady mainly conversed, but very often +she would descend to more worldly chat, and then she was no longer the +prophetess, but the sort of woman that you sometimes see, I am told, +in London drawing-rooms - cool, decisive in manner, unsparing of enemies, +full of audacious fun, and saying the downright things that the sheepish +society around her is afraid to utter. I am told that Lady Hester +was in her youth a capital mimic, and she showed me that not all the +queenly dulness to which she had condemned herself, not all her fasting +and solitude, had destroyed this terrible power. The first whom +she crucified in my presence was poor Lord Byron. She had seen +him, it appeared, I know not where, soon after his arrival in the East, +and was vastly amused at his little affectations. He had picked +up a few sentences of the Romantic, with which he affected to give orders +to his Greek servant. I can’t tell whether Lady Hester’s +mimicry of the bard was at all close, but it was amusing; she attributed +to him a curiously coxcombical lisp.<br> +<br> +Another person whose style of speaking the lady took off very amusingly +was one who would scarcely object to suffer by the side of Lord Byron +- I mean Lamartine, who had visited her in the course of his travels. +The peculiarity which attracted her ridicule was an over-refinement +of manner: according to my lady’s imitation of Lamartine (I have +never seen him myself), he had none of the violent grimace of his countrymen, +and not even their usual way of talking, but rather bore himself mincingly, +like the humbler sort of English dandy. <a name="citation21"></a><a href="#footnote21">{21}</a><br> +<br> +Lady Hester seems to have heartily despised everything approaching to +exquisiteness. She told me, by-the-bye (and her opinion upon that +subject is worth having), that a downright manner, amounting even to +brusqueness, is more effective than any other with the Oriental; and +that amongst the English of all ranks and all classes there is no man +so attractive to the Orientals, no man who can negotiate with them half +so effectively, as a good, honest, open-hearted, and positive naval +officer of the old school.<br> +<br> +I have told you, I think, that Lady Hester could deal fiercely with +those she hated. One man above all others (he is now uprooted +from society, and cast away for ever) she blasted with her wrath. +You would have thought that in the scornfulness of her nature she must +have sprung upon her foe with more of fierceness than of skill; but +this was not so, for with all the force and vehemence of her invective +she displayed a sober, patient, and minute attention to the details +of vituperation, which contributed to its success a thousand times more +than mere violence.<br> +<br> +During the hours that this sort of conversation, or rather discourse, +was going on our <i>tchibouques</i> were from time to time replenished, +and the lady as well as I continued to smoke with little or no intermission +till the interview ended. I think that the fragrant fumes of the +latakiah must have helped to keep me on my good behaviour as a patient +disciple of the prophetess.<br> +<br> +It was not till after midnight that my visit for the evening came to +an end. When I quitted my seat the lady rose and stood up in the +same formal attitude (almost that of a soldier in a state of “attention”) +which she had assumed at my entrance; at the same time she let go the +drapery which she had held over her lap whilst sitting and allowed it +to fall to the ground.<br> +<br> +The next morning after breakfast I was visited by my lady’s secretary +- the only European, except the doctor, whom she retained in her household. +This secretary, like the doctor, was Italian, but he preserved more +signs of European dress and European pretensions than his medical fellow-slave. +He spoke little or no English, though he wrote it pretty well, having +been formerly employed in a mercantile house connected with England. +The poor fellow was in an unhappy state of mind. In order to make +you understand the extent of his spiritual anxieties, I ought to have +told you that the doctor <a name="citation22"></a><a href="#footnote22">{22}</a> +(who had sunk into the complete Asiatic, and had condescended accordingly +to the performance of even menial services) had adopted the common faith +of all the neighbouring people, and had become a firm and happy believer +in the divine power of his mistress. Not so the secretary. +When I had strolled with him to a distance from the building, which +rendered him safe from being overheard by human ears, he told me in +a hollow voice, trembling with emotion, that there were times at which +he doubted the divinity of “milèdi.” +I said nothing to encourage the poor fellow in that frightful state +of scepticism which, if indulged, might end in positive infidelity. +I found that her ladyship had rather arbitrarily abridged the amusements +of her secretary, forbidding him from shooting small birds on the mountain-side. +This oppression had arouses in him a spirit of inquiry that might end +fatally, perhaps for himself, perhaps for the “religion of the +place.”<br> +<br> +The secretary told me that his mistress was greatly disliked by the +surrounding people, whom she oppressed by her exactions, and the truth +of this statement was borne out by the way in which my lady spoke to +me of her neighbours. But in Eastern countries hate and veneration +are very commonly felt for the same object, and the general belief in +the superhuman power of this wonderful white lady, her resolute and +imperious character, and above all, perhaps, her fierce Albanians (not +backward to obey an order for the sacking of a village), inspired sincere +respect amongst the surrounding inhabitants. Now the being “respected” +amongst Orientals is not an empty or merely honorary distinction, but +carries with it a clear right to take your neighbour’s corn, his +cattle, his eggs, and his honey, and almost anything that is his, except +his wives. This law was acted upon by the princess of Djoun, and +her establishment was supplied by contributions apportioned amongst +the nearest of the villages.<br> +<br> +I understood that the Albanians (restrained, I suppose, by the dread +of being delivered up to Ibrahim) had not given any very troublesome +proofs of their unruly natures. The secretary told me that their +rations, including a small allowance of coffee and tobacco, were served +out to them with tolerable regularity.<br> +<br> +I asked the secretary how Lady Hester was off for horses, and said that +I would take a look at the stable. The man did not raise any opposition +to my proposal, and affected no mystery about the matter, but said that +the only two steeds which then belonged to her ladyship were of a very +humble sort. This answer, and a storm of rain then beginning to +descend, prevented me at the time from undertaking my journey to the +stable, which was at some distance from the part of the building in +which I was quartered, and I don’t know that I ever thought of +the matter afterwards until my return to England, when I saw Lamartine’s +eye-witnessing account of the horse saddled by the hands of his Maker!<br> +<br> +When I returned to my apartment (which, as my hostess told me, was the +only one in the whole building that kept out the rain) her ladyship +sent to say that she would be glad to receive me again. I was +rather surprised at this, for I had understood that she reposed during +the day, and it was now little later than noon. “Really,” +said she, when I had taken my seat and my pipe, “we were together +for hours last night, and still I have heard nothing at all of my old +friends; now <i>do</i> tell me something of your dear mother and her +sister; I never knew your father - it was after I left Burton Pynsent +that your mother married.” I began to make slow answer, +but my questioner soon went off again to topics more sublime, so that +this second interview, which lasted two or three hours, was occupied +by the same sort of varied discourse as that which I have been describing.<br> +<br> +In the course of the afternoon the captain of an English man-of-war +arrived at Djoun, and her ladyship determined to receive him for the +same reason as that which had induced her to allow my visit, namely, +an early intimacy with his family. I and the new visitor, who +was a pleasant, amusing person, dined together, and we were afterwards +invited to the presence of my lady, with whom we sat smoking and talking +till midnight. The conversation turned chiefly, I think, upon +magical science. I had determined to be off at an early hour the +next morning, and so at the end of this interview I bade my lady farewell. +With her parting words she once more advised me to abandon Europe and +seek my reward in the East, and she urged me too to give the like counsels +to my father, and tell him that “<i>She had said it</i>.”<br> +<br> +Lady Hester’s unholy claim to supremacy in the spiritual kingdom +was, no doubt, the suggestion of fierce and inordinate pride most perilously +akin to madness, but I am quite sure that the mind of the woman was +too strong to be thoroughly overcome by even this potent feeling. +I plainly saw that she was not an unhesitating follower of her own system, +and I even fancied that I could distinguish the brief moments during +which she contrived to believe in herself, from those long and less +happy intervals in which her own reason was too strong for her.<br> +<br> +As for the lady’s faith in astrology and magic science, you are +not for a moment to suppose that this implied any aberration of intellect. +She believed these things in common with those around her, for she seldom +spoke to anybody except crazy old dervishes, who received her alms, +and fostered her extravagancies, and even when (as on the occasion of +my visit) she was brought into contact with a person entertaining different +notions, she still remained uncontradicted. This <i>entourage</i> +and the habit of fasting from books and newspapers were quite enough +to make her a facile recipient of any marvellous story.<br> +<br> +I think that in England we are scarcely sufficiently conscious of the +great debt we owe to the wise and watchful press which presides over +the formation of our opinions, and which brings about this splendid +result, namely, that in matters of belief the humblest of us are lifted +up to the level of the most sagacious, so that really a simple cornet +in the Blues is no more likely to entertain a foolish belief about ghosts +or witchcraft, or any other supernatural topic, than the Lord High Chancellor +or the Leader of the House of Commons. How different is the intellectual +regime of Eastern countries! In Syria and Palestine and Egypt +you might as well dispute the efficacy of grass or grain as of magic. +There is no controversy about the matter. The effect of this, +the unanimous belief of an ignorant people upon the mind of a stranger, +is extremely curious, and well worth noticing. A man coming freshly +from Europe is at first proof against the nonsense with which he is +assailed, but often it happens that after a little while the social +atmosphere in which he lives will begin to infect him, and if he has +been unaccustomed to the cunning of fence by which Reason prepares the +means of guarding herself against fallacy, he will yield himself at +last to the faith of those around him, and this he will do by sympathy, +it would seem, rather than from conviction. I have been much interested +in observing that the mere “practical man,” however skilful +and shrewd in his own way, has not the kind of power that will enable +him to resist the gradual impression made upon his mind by the common +opinion of those whom he sees and hears from day to day. Even +amongst the English (whose good sense and sound religious knowledge +would be likely to guard them from error) I have known the calculating +merchant, the inquisitive traveller, and the post-captain, with his +bright, wakeful eye of command - I have known all these surrender themselves +to the <i>really</i> magic-like influence of other people’s minds. +Their language at first is that they are “staggered,” leading +you by that expression to suppose that they had been witnesses to some +phenomenon, which it was very difficult to account for otherwise than +by supernatural causes; but when I have questioned further, I have always +found that these “staggering” wonders were not even specious +enough to be looked upon as good “tricks.” A man in +England who gained his whole livelihood as a conjurer would soon be +starved to death if he could perform no better miracles than those which +are wrought with so much effect in Syria and Egypt; <i>sometimes</i>, +no doubt, a magician will make a good hit (Sir John once said a “good +thing”), but all such successes range, of course, under the head +of mere “tentative miracles,” as distinguished by the strong-brained +Paley.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER IX - THE SANCTUARY<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +I crossed the plain of Esdraelon and entered amongst the hills of beautiful +Galilee. It was at sunset that my path brought me sharply round +into the gorge of a little valley, and close upon a grey mass of dwellings +that lay happily nestled in the lap of the mountain. There was +one only shining point still touched with the light of the sun, who +had set for all besides; a brave sign this to “holy” Shereef +and the rest of my Moslem men, for the one glittering summit was the +head of a minaret, and the rest of the seeming village that had veiled +itself so meekly under the shades of evening was Christian Nazareth!<br> +<br> +Within the precincts of the Latin convent in which I was quartered there +stands the great Catholic church which encloses the sanctuary, the dwelling +of the blessed Virgin. <a name="citation23"></a><a href="#footnote23">{23}</a> +This is a grotto of about ten feet either way, forming a little chapel +or recess, to which you descend by steps. It is decorated with +splendour. On the left hand a column of granite hangs from the +top of the grotto to within a few feet of the ground; immediately beneath +it is another column of the same size, which rises from the ground as +if to meet the one above; but between this and the suspended pillar +there is an interval of more than a foot; these fragments once formed +a single column, against which the angel leant when he spoke and told +to Mary the mystery of her awful blessedness. Hard by, near the +altar, the holy Virgin was kneeling.<br> +<br> +I had been journeying (cheerily indeed, for the voices of my followers +were ever within my hearing, but yet), as it were, in solitude, for +I had no comrade to whet the edge of my reason, or wake me from my noonday +dreams. I was left all alone to be taught and swayed by the beautiful +circumstances of Palestine travelling - by the clime, and the land, +and the name of the land, with all its mighty import; by the glittering +freshness of the sward, and the abounding masses of flowers that furnished +my sumptuous pathway; by the bracing and fragrant air that seemed to +poise me in my saddle, and to lift me along as a planet appointed to +glide through space.<br> +<br> +And the end of my journey was Nazareth, the home of the blessed Virgin! +In the first dawn of my manhood the old painters of Italy had taught +me their dangerous worship of the beauty that is more than mortal, but +those images all seemed shadowy now, and floated before me so dimly, +the one overcasting the other, that they left me no one sweet idol on +which I could look and look again and say, “Maria mia!” +Yet they left me more than an idol; they left me (for to them I am wont +to trace it) a faint apprehension of beauty not compassed with lines +and shadows; they touched me (forgive, proud Marie of Anjou!) - they +touched me with a faith in loveliness transcending mortal shapes.<br> +<br> +I came to Nazareth, and was led from the convent to the sanctuary. +Long fasting will sometimes heat my brain and draw me away out of the +world - will disturb my judgment, confuse my notions of right and wrong, +and weaken my power of choosing the right: I had fasted perhaps too +long, for I was fevered with the zeal of an insane devotion to the heavenly +queen of Christendom. But I knew the feebleness of this gentle +malady, and knew how easily my watchful reason, if ever so slightly +provoked, would drag me back to life. Let there but come one chilling +breath of the outer world, and all this loving piety would cower and +fly before the sound of my own bitter laugh. And so as I went +I trod tenderly, not looking to the right nor to the left, but bending +my eyes to the ground.<br> +<br> +The attending friar served me well; he led me down quietly and all but +silently to the Virgin’s home. The mystic air was so burnt +with the consuming flames of the altar, and so laden with incense, that +my chest laboured strongly, and heaved with luscious pain. There +- there with beating heart the Virgin knelt and listened. I strived +to grasp and hold with my riveted eyes some one of the feigned Madonnas, +but of all the heaven-lit faces imagined by men there was none that +would abide with me in this the very sanctuary. Impatient of vacancy, +I grew madly strong against Nature, and if by some awful spell, some +impious rite, I could - Oh most sweet Religion, that bid me fear God, +and be pious, and yet not cease from loving! Religion and gracious +custom commanded me that I fall down loyally and kiss the rock that +blessed Mary pressed. With a half consciousness, with the semblance +of a thrilling hope that I was plunging deep, deep into my first knowledge +of some most holy mystery, or of some new rapturous and daring sin, +I knelt, and bowed down my face till I met the smooth rock with my lips. +One moment - one moment my heart, or some old pagan demon within me, +woke up, and fiercely bounded; my bosom was lifted, and swung, as though +I had touched her warm robe. One moment, one more, and then the +fever had left me. I rose from my knees. I felt hopelessly +sane. The mere world reappeared. My good old monk was there, +dangling his key with listless patience, and as he guided me from the +church, and talked of the refectory and the coming repast, I listened +to his words with some attention and pleasure.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER X - THE MONKS OF PALESTINE<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Whenever you come back to me from Palestine we will find some “golden +wine” <a name="citation24"></a><a href="#footnote24">{24}</a> +of Lebanon, that we may celebrate with apt libations the monks of the +Holy Land, and though the poor fellows be theoretically “dead +to the world,” we will drink to every man of them a good long +life, and a merry one! Graceless is the traveller who forgets +his obligations to these saints upon earth; little love has he for merry +Christendom if he has not rejoiced with great joy to find in the very +midst of water-drinking infidels those lowly monasteries, in which the +blessed juice of the grape is quaffed in peace. Ay! ay! we will +fill our glasses till they look like cups of amber, and drink profoundly +to our gracious hosts in Palestine.<br> +<br> +Christianity permits, and sanctions, the drinking of wine, and of all +the holy brethren in Palestine there are none who hold fast to this +gladsome rite so strenuously as the monks of Damascus; not that they +are more zealous Christians than the rest of their fellows in the Holy +Land, but that they have better wine. Whilst I was at Damascus +I had my quarters at the Franciscan convent there, and very soon after +my arrival I asked one of the monks to let me know something of the +spots that deserved to be seen. I made my inquiry in reference +to the associations with which the city had been hallowed by the sojourn +and adventures of St. Paul. “There is nothing in all Damascus,” +said the good man, “half so well worth seeing as our cellars”; +and forthwith he invited me to go, see, and admire the long range of +liquid treasure that he and his brethren had laid up for themselves +on earth. And these I soon found were not as the treasures of +the miser, that lie in unprofitable disuse, for day by day, and hour +by hour, the golden juice ascended from the dark recesses of the cellar +to the uppermost brains of the friars. Dear old fellows! in the +midst of that solemn land their Christian laughter rang loudly and merrily, +their eyes kept flashing with joyous bonfires, and their heavy woollen +petticoats could no more weigh down the springiness of their paces, +than the filmy gauze of a <i>danseuse</i> can clog her bounding step.<br> +<br> +You would be likely enough to fancy that these monastics are men who +have retired to the sacred sites of Palestine from an enthusiastic longing +to devote themselves to the exercise of religion in the midst of the +very land on which its first seeds were cast; and this is partially, +at least, the case with the monks of the Greek Church, but it is not +with enthusiasts that the Catholic establishments are filled. +The monks of the Latin convents are chiefly persons of the peasant class +from Italy and Spain, who have been handed over to these remote asylums +by order of their ecclesiastical superiors, and can no more account +for their being in the Holy Land, than men of marching regiments can +explain why they are in “stupid quarters.” I believe +that these monks are for the most part well conducted men, punctual +in their ceremonial duties, and altogether humble-minded Christians. +Their humility is not at all misplaced, for you see at a glance (poor +fellows!) that they belong to the <i>lag remove</i> of the human race. +If the taking of the cowl does not imply a complete renouncement of +the world, it is at least (in these days) a thorough farewell to every +kind of useful and entertaining knowledge, and accordingly the low bestial +brow and the animal caste of those almost Bourbon features show plainly +enough that all the intellectual vanities of life have been really and +truly abandoned. But it is hard to quench altogether the spirit +of inquiry that stirs in the human breast, and accordingly these monks +inquire - they are <i>always</i> inquiring inquiring for “news”! +Poor fellows! they could scarcely have yielded themselves to the sway +of any passion more difficult of gratification, for they have no means +of communicating with the busy world except through European travellers; +and these, in consequence I suppose of that restlessness and irritability +that generally haunt their wanderings, seem to have always avoided the +bore of giving any information to their hosts. As for me, I am +more patient and good-natured, and when I found that the kind monks +who gathered round me at Nazareth were longing to know the real truth +about the General Bonaparte who had recoiled from the siege of Acre, +I softened my heart down to the good humour of Herodotus, and calmly +began to “sing history,” telling my eager hearers of the +French Empire and the greatness of its glory, and of Waterloo and the +fall of Napoleon! Now my story of this marvellous ignorance on +the part of the poor monks is one upon which (though depending on my +own testimony) I look “with considerable suspicion.” +It is quite true (how silly it would be to <i>invent</i> anything so +witless!), and yet I think I could satisfy the mind of a “reasonable +man” that it is false. Many of the older monks must have +been in Europe at the time when the Italy and the Spain from which they +came were in act of taking their French lessons, or had parted so lately +with their teachers, that not to know of “the Emperor” was +impossible, and these men could scarcely, therefore, have failed to +bring with them some tidings of Napoleon’s career. Yet I +say that that which I have written is true - the one who believes because +I have said it will be right (she always is), whilst poor Mr. “reasonable +man,” who is convinced by the weight of my argument, will be completely +deceived.<br> +<br> +In Spanish politics, however, the monks are better instructed. +The revenues of the monasteries, which had been principally supplied +by the bounty of their most Catholic majesties, have been withheld since +Ferdinand’s death, and the interests of these establishments being +thus closely involved in the destinies of Spain, it is not wonderful +that the brethren should be a little more knowing in Spanish affairs +than in other branches of history. Besides, a large proportion +of the monks were natives of the Peninsula. To these, I remember, +Mysseri’s familiarity with the Spanish language and character +was a source of immense delight; they were always gathering around him, +and it seemed to me that they treasured like gold the few Castilian +words which he deigned to spare them.<br> +<br> +The monks do a world of good in their way; and there can be no doubting +that previously to the arrival of Bishop Alexander, with his numerous +young family and his pretty English nursemaids, they were the chief +propagandists of Christianity in Palestine. My old friends of +the Franciscan convent at Jerusalem some time since gave proof of their +goodness by delivering themselves up to the peril of death for the sake +of duty. When I was their guest they were forty I believe in number, +and I don’t recollect that there was one of them whom I should +have looked upon as a desirable life-holder of any property to which +I might be entitled in expectancy. Yet these forty were reduced +in a few days to nineteen. The plague was the messenger that summoned +them to a taste of real death; but the circumstances under which they +perished are rather curious; and though I have no authority for the +story except an Italian newspaper, I harbour no doubt of its truth, +for the facts were detailed with minuteness, and strictly corresponded +with all that I knew of the poor fellows to whom they related.<br> +<br> +It was about three months after the time of my leaving Jerusalem that +the plague set his spotted foot on the Holy City. The monks felt +great alarm; they did not shrink from their duty, but for its performance +they chose a plan most sadly well fitted for bringing down upon them +the very death which they were striving to ward off. They imagined +themselves almost safe so long as they remained within their walls; +but then it was quite needful that the Catholic Christians of the place, +who had always looked to the convent for the supply of their spiritual +wants, should receive the aids of religion in the hour of death. +A single monk therefore was chosen, either by lot or by some other fair +appeal to destiny. Being thus singled out, he was to go forth +into the plague-stricken city, and to perform with exactness his priestly +duties; then he was to return, not to the interior of the convent, for +fear of infecting his brethren, but to a detached building (which I +remember) belonging to the establishment, but at some little distance +from the inhabited rooms. He was provided with a bell, and at +a certain hour in the morning he was ordered to ring it, <i>if he</i> +<i>could</i>; but if no sound was heard at the appointed time, then +knew his brethren that he was either delirious or dead, and another +martyr was sent forth to take his place. In this way twenty-one +of the monks were carried off. One cannot well fail to admire +the steadiness with which the dismal scheme was carried through; but +if there be any truth in the notion that disease may be invited by a +frightening imagination, it is difficult to conceive a more dangerous +plan than that which was chosen by these poor fellows. The anxiety +with which they must have expected each day the sound of the bell, the +silence that reigned instead of it, and then the drawing of the lots +(the odds against death being one point lower than yesterday), and the +going forth of the newly doomed man - all this must have widened the +gulf that opens to the shades below. When his victim had already +suffered so much of mental torture, it was but easy work for big bullying +pestilence to follow a forlorn monk from the beds of the dying, and +wrench away his life from him as he lay all alone in an outhouse.<br> +<br> +In most, I believe in all, of the Holy Land convents there are two personages +so strangely raised above their brethren in all that dignifies humanity, +that their bearing the same habit, their dwelling under the same roof, +their worshipping the same God (consistent as all this is with the spirit +of their religion), yet strikes the mind with a sense of wondrous incongruity; +the men I speak of are the “Padre Superiore,” and the “Padre +Missionario.” The former is the supreme and absolute governor +of the establishment over which he is appointed to rule, the latter +is entrusted with the more active of the spiritual duties attaching +to the Pilgrim Church. He is the shepherd of the good Catholic +flock, whose pasture is prepared in the midst of Mussulmans and schismatics; +he keeps the light of the true faith ever vividly before their eyes, +reproves their vices, supports them in their good resolves, consoles +them in their afflictions, and teaches them to hate the Greek Church. +Such are his labours, and you may conceive that great tact must be needed +for conducting with success the spiritual interests of the church under +circumstances so odd as those which surround it in Palestine.<br> +<br> +But the position of the Padre Superiore is still more delicate; he is +almost unceasingly in treaty with the powers that be, and the worldly +prosperity of the establishment over which he presides is in great measure +dependent upon the extent of diplomatic skill which he can employ in +its favour. I know not from what class of churchmen these personages +are chosen, for there is a mystery attending their origin and the circumstance +of their being stationed in these convents, which Rome does not suffer +to be penetrated. I have heard it said that they are men of great +note, and, perhaps, of too high ambition in the Catholic Hierarchy, +who having fallen under the grave censure of the Church, are banished +for fixed periods to these distant monasteries. I believe that +the term during which they are condemned to remain in the Holy Land +is from eight to twelve years. By the natives of the country, +as well as by the rest of the brethren, they are looked upon as superior +beings; and rightly too, for Nature seems to have crowned them in her +own true way.<br> +<br> +The chief of the Jerusalem convent was a noble creature; his worldly +and spiritual authority seemed to have surrounded him, as it were, with +a kind of “court,” and the manly gracefulness of his bearing +did honour to the throne which he filled. There were no lords +of the bedchamber, and no gold sticks and stones in waiting, yet everybody +who approached him looked as though he were being “presented”; +every interview which he granted wore the air of an “audience”; +the brethren as often as they came near bowed low and kissed his hand; +and if he went out, the Catholics of the place that hovered about the +convent would crowd around him with devout affection, and almost scramble +for the blessing which his touch could give. He bore his honours +all serenely, as though calmly conscious of his power to “bind +and to loose.”<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XI - GALILEE<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Neither old “sacred” <a name="citation25"></a><a href="#footnote25">{25}</a> +himself, nor any of his helpers, knew the road which I meant to take +from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee and from thence to Jerusalem, so +I was forced to add another to my party by hiring a guide. The +associations of Nazareth, as well as my kind feeling towards the hospitable +monks, whose guest I had been, inclined me to set at naught the advice +which I had received against employing Christians. I accordingly +engaged a lithe, active young Nazarene, who was recommended to me by +the monks, and who affected to be familiar with the line of country +through which I intended to pass. My disregard of the popular +prejudices against Christians was not justified in this particular instance +by the result of my choice. This you will see by-and-by.<br> +<br> +I passed by Cana and the house in which the water had been turned into +wine; I came to the field in which our Saviour had rebuked the Scotch +Sabbath-keepers of that period, by suffering His disciples to pluck +corn on the Lord’s day; I rode over the ground on which the fainting +multitude had been fed, and they showed me some massive fragments - +the relics, they said, of that wondrous banquet, now turned into stone. +The petrifaction was most complete.<br> +<br> +I ascended the height on which our Lord was standing when He wrought +the miracle. The hill was lofty enough to show me the fairness +of the land on all sides, but I have an ancient love for the mere features +of a lake, and so forgetting all else when I reached the summit, I looked +away eagerly to the eastward. There she lay, the Sea of Galilee. +Less stern than Wast Water, less fair than gentle Windermere, she had +still the winning ways of an English lake; she caught from the smiling +heavens unceasing light and changeful phases of beauty, and with all +this brightness on her face, she yet clung so fondly to the dull he-looking +mountain at her side, as though she would<br> +<br> +<br> +“Soothe him with her finer fancies,<br> +Touch him with her lighter thought.” <a name="citation26"></a><a href="#footnote26">{26}</a><br> +<br> +<br> +If one might judge of men’s real thoughts by their writings, it +would seem that there are people who can visit an interesting locality +and follow up continuously the exact train of thought that ought to +be suggested by the historical associations of the place. A person +of this sort can go to Athens and think of nothing later than the age +of Pericles; can live with the Scipios as long as he stays in Rome; +can go up in a balloon, and think how resplendently in former times +the now vacant and desolate air was peopled with angels, how prettily +it was crossed at intervals by the rounds of Jacob’s ladder! +I don’t possess this power at all; it is only by snatches, and +for few moments together, that I can really associate a place with its +proper history.<br> +<br> +“There at Tiberias, and along this western shore towards the north, +and upon the bosom too of the lake, our Saviour and His disciples - +” away flew those recollections, and my mind strained eastward, +because that that farthest shore was the end of the world that belongs +to man the dweller, the beginning of the other and veiled world that +is held by the strange race, whose life (like the pastime of Satan) +is a “going to and fro upon the face of the earth.” +From those grey hills right away to the gates of Bagdad stretched forth +the mysterious “desert” - not a pale, void, sandy tract, +but a land abounding in rich pastures, a land without cities or towns, +without any “respectable” people or any “respectable” +things, yet yielding its eighty thousand cavalry to the beck of a few +old men. But once more - “Tiberias - the plain of Gennesareth +- the very earth on which I stood - that the deep low tones of the Saviour’s +voice should have gone forth into eternity from out of the midst of +these hills and these valleys!” - Ay, ay, but yet again the calm +face of the lake was uplifted, and smiled upon my eyes with such familiar +gaze, that the “deep low tones” were hushed, the listening +multitudes all passed away, and instead there came to me a dear old +memory from over the seas in England, a memory sweeter than Gospel to +that poor wilful mortal, me.<br> +<br> +I went to Tiberias, and soon got afloat upon the water. In the +evening I took up my quarters in the Catholic church, and the building +being large enough, the whole of my party were admitted to the benefit +of the same shelter. With portmanteaus and carpet bags, and books +and maps, and fragrant tea, Mysseri soon made me a home on the southern +side of the church. One of old Shereef’s helpers was an +enthusiastic Catholic, and was greatly delighted at having so sacred +a lodging. He lit up the altar with a number of tapers, and when +his preparations were complete, he began to perform his orisons in the +strangest manner imaginable. His lips muttered the prayers of +the Latin Church, but he bowed himself down and laid his forehead to +the stones beneath him after the manner of a Mussulman. The universal +aptness of a religious system for all stages of civilisation, and for +all sorts and conditions of men, well befits its claim of divine origin. +She is of all nations, and of all times, that wonderful Church of Rome!<br> +<br> +Tiberias is one of the four holy cities, <a name="citation27"></a><a href="#footnote27">{27}</a> +according to the Talmud, and it is from this place, or the immediate +neighbourhood of it, that the Messiah is to arise.<br> +<br> +Except at Jerusalem, never think of attempting to sleep in a “holy +city.” Old Jews from all parts of the world go to lay their +bones upon the sacred soil, and as these people never return to their +homes, it follows that any domestic vermin which they may bring with +them are likely to become permanently resident, so that the population +is continually increasing. No recent census had been taken when +I was at Tiberias, but I know that the congregation of fleas which attended +at my church alone must have been something enormous. It was a +carnal, self-seeking congregation, wholly inattentive to the service +which was going on, and devoted to the one object of having my blood. +The fleas of all nations were there. The smug, steady, importunate +flea from Holywell Street; the pert, jumping <i>puce</i> from hungry +France, the wary, watchful <i>pulce</i> with his poisoned stiletto; +the vengeful <i>pulga</i> of Castile with his ugly knife; the German +<i>floh</i> with his knife and fork, insatiate, not rising from table; +whole swarms from all the Russias, and Asiatic hordes unnumbered - all +these were there, and all rejoiced in one great international feast. +I could no more defend myself against my enemies than if I had been +<i>pain à discretion</i> in the hands of a French patriot, or +English gold in the claws of a Pennsylvanian Quaker. After passing +a night like this you are glad to pick up the wretched remains of your +body long, long before morning dawns. Your skin is scorched, your +temples throb, your lips feel withered and dried, your burning eyeballs +are screwed inwards against the brain. You have no hope but only +in the saddle and the freshness of the morning air.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XII - MY FIRST BIVOUAC<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +The course of the Jordan is from the north to the south, and in that +direction, with very little of devious winding, it carries the shining +waters of Galilee straight down into the solitudes of the Dead Sea. +Speaking roughly, the river in that meridian is a boundary between the +people living under roofs and the tented tribes that wander on the farther +side. And so, as I went down in my way from Tiberias towards Jerusalem, +along the western bank of the stream, my thinking all propended to the +ancient world of herdsmen and warriors that lay so close over my bridle +arm.<br> +<br> +If a man, and an Englishman, be not born of his mother with a natural +Chiffney-bit in his mouth, there comes to him a time for loathing the +wearisome ways of society; a time for not liking tamed people; a time +for not dancing quadrilles, not sitting in pews; a time for pretending +that Milton and Shelley, and all sorts of mere dead people, were greater +in death than the first living Lord of the Treasury; a time, in short, +for scoffing and railing, for speaking lightly of the very opera, and +all our most cherished institutions. It is from nineteen to two +or three and twenty perhaps that this war of the man against men is +like to be waged most sullenly. You are yet in this smiling England, +but you find yourself wending away to the dark sides of her mountains, +climbing the dizzy crags, exulting in the fellowship of mists and clouds, +and watching the storms how they gather, or proving the mettle of your +mare upon the broad and dreary downs, because that you feel congenially +with the yet unparcelled earth. A little while you are free and +unlabelled, like the ground that you compass; but civilisation is coming +and coming; you and your much-loved waste lands will be surely enclosed, +and sooner or later brought down to a state of mere usefulness; the +ground will be curiously sliced into acres and roods and perches, and +you, for all you sit so smartly in your saddle, you will be caught, +you will be taken up from travel as a colt from grass, to be trained +and tried, and matched and run. All this in time, but first came +Continental tours and the moody longing for Eastern travel. The +downs and the moors of England can hold you no longer; with large strides +you burst away from these slips and patches of free land; you thread +your path through the crowds of Europe, and at last, on the banks of +Jordan, you joyfully know that you are upon the very frontier of all +accustomed respectabilities. There, on the other side of the river +(you can swim it with one arm), there reigns the people that will be +like to put you to death for <i>not</i> being a vagrant, for <i>not</i> +being a robber, for <i>not</i> being armed and houseless. There +is comfort in that - health, comfort, and strength to one who is dying +from very weariness of that poor, dear, middle-aged, deserving, accomplished, +pedantic, and painstaking governess, Europe.<br> +<br> +I had ridden for some hours along the right bank of Jordan when I came +to the Djesr el Medjamé (an old Roman bridge, I believe), which +crossed the river. My Nazarene guide was riding ahead of the party, +and now, to my surprise and delight, he turned leftwards, and led on +over the bridge. I knew that the true road to Jerusalem must be +mainly by the right bank of Jordan, but I supposed that my guide was +crossing the bridge at this spot in order to avoid some bend in the +river, and that he knew of a ford lower down by which we should regain +the western bank. I made no question about the road, for I was +but too glad to set my horse’s hoofs upon the land of the wandering +tribes. None of my party except the Nazarene knew the country. +On we went through rich pastures upon the eastern side of the water. +I looked for the expected bend of the river, but far as I could see +it kept a straight southerly course; I still left my guide unquestioned.<br> +<br> +The Jordan is not a perfectly accurate boundary betwixt roofs and tents, +for soon after passing the bridge I came upon a cluster of huts. +Some time afterwards the guide, upon being closely questioned by my +servants, confessed that the village which we had left behind was the +last that we should see, but he declared that he knew a spot at which +we should find an encampment of friendly Bedouins, who would receive +me with all hospitality. I had long determined not to leave the +East without seeing something of the wandering tribes, but I had looked +forward to this as a pleasure to be found in the desert between El Arish +and Egypt; I had no idea that the Bedouins on the east of Jordan were +accessible. My delight was so great at the near prospect of bread +and salt in the tent of an Arab warrior, that I wilfully allowed my +guide to go on and mislead me. I saw that he was taking me out +of the straight route towards Jerusalem, and was drawing me into the +midst of the Bedouins; but the idea of his betraying me seemed (I know +not why) so utterly absurd, that I could not entertain it for a moment. +I fancied it possible that the fellow had taken me out of my route in +order to attempt some little mercantile enterprise with the tribe for +which he was seeking, and I was glad of the opportunity which I might +thus gain of coming in contact with the wanderers.<br> +<br> +Not long after passing the village a horseman met us. It appeared +that some of the cavalry of Ibrahim Pasha had crossed the river for +the sake of the rich pastures on the eastern bank, and that this man +was one of the troopers. He stopped and saluted; he was obviously +surprised at meeting an unarmed, or half-armed, cavalcade, and at last +fairly told us that we were on the wrong side of the river, and that +if we proceeded we must lay our account with falling amongst robbers. +All this while, and throughout the day, my Nazarene kept well ahead +of the party, and was constantly up in his stirrups, straining forward +and searching the distance for some objects which still remained unseen.<br> +<br> +For the rest of the day we saw no human being; we pushed on eagerly +in the hope of coming up with the Bedouins before nightfall. Night +came, and we still went on in our way till about ten o’clock. +Then the thorough darkness of the night, and the weariness of our beasts +(which had already done two good days’ journey in one), forced +us to determine upon coming to a standstill. Upon the heights +to the eastward we saw lights; these shone from caves on the mountain-side, +inhabited, as the Nazarene told us, by rascals of a low sort - not real +Bedouins, men whom we might frighten into harmlessness, but from whom +there was no willing hospitality to be expected.<br> +<br> +We heard at a little distance the brawling of a rivulet, and on the +banks of this it was determined to establish our bivouac. We soon +found the stream, and following its course for a few yards, came to +a spot which was thought to be fit for our purpose. It was a sharply +cold night in February, and when I dismounted I found myself standing +upon some wet rank herbage that promised ill for the comfort of our +resting-place. I had bad hopes of a fire, for the pitchy darkness +of the night was a great obstacle to any successful search for fuel, +and besides, the boughs of trees or bushes would be so full of sap in +this early spring, that they would not be easily persuaded to burn. +However, we were not likely to submit to a dark and cold bivouac without +an effort, and my fellows groped forward through the darkness, till +after advancing a few paces they were happily stopped by a complete +barrier of dead prickly bushes. Before our swords could be drawn +to reap this welcome harvest it was found to our surprise that the fuel +was already hewn and strewed along the ground in a thick mass. +A spot for the fire was found with some difficulty, for the earth was +moist and the grass high and rank. At last there was a clicking +of flint and steel, and presently there stood out from darkness one +of the tawny faces of my muleteers, bent down to near the ground, and +suddenly lit up by the glowing of the spark which he courted with careful +breath. Before long there was a particle of dry fibre or leaf +that kindled to a tiny flame; then another was lit from that, and then +another. Then small crisp twigs, little bigger than bodkins, were +laid athwart the glowing fire. The swelling cheeks of the muleteer, +laid level with the earth, blew tenderly at first and then more boldly +upon the young flame, which was daintily nursed and fed, and fed more +plentifully when it gained good strength. At last a whole armful +of dry bushes was piled up over the fire, and presently, with a loud +cheery crackling and crackling, a royal tall blaze shot up from the +earth and showed me once more the shapes and faces of my men, and the +dim outlines of the horses and mules that stood grazing hard by.<br> +<br> +My servants busied themselves in unpacking the baggage as though we +had arrived at an hotel - Shereef and his helpers unsaddled their cattle. +We had left Tiberias without the slightest idea that we were to make +our way to Jerusalem along the desolate side of the Jordan, and my servants +(generally provident in those matters) had brought with them only, I +think, some unleavened bread and a rocky fragment of goat’s milk +cheese. These treasures were produced. Tea and the contrivances +for making it were always a standing part of my baggage. My men +gathered in circle round the fire. The Nazarene was in a false +position from having misled us so strangely, and he would have shrunk +back, poor devil, into the cold and outer darkness, but I made him draw +near and share the luxuries of the night. My quilt and my pelisse +were spread, and the rest of my party had all their capotes or pelisses, +or robes of some sort, which furnished their couches. The men +gathered in circle, some kneeling, some sitting, some lying reclined +around our common hearth. Sometimes on one, sometimes on another, +the flickering light would glare more fiercely. Sometimes it was +the good Shereef that seemed the foremost, as he sat with venerable +beard the image of manly piety - unknowing of all geography, unknowing +where he was or whither he might go, but trusting in the goodness of +God and the clinching power of fate and the good star of the Englishman. +Sometimes, like marble, the classic face of the Greek Mysseri would +catch the sudden light, and then again by turns the ever-perturbed Dthemetri, +with his old Chinaman’s eye and bristling, terrier-like moustache, +shone forth illustrious.<br> +<br> +I always liked the men who attended me on these Eastern travels, for +they were all of them brave, cheery-hearted fellows; and although their +following my career brought upon them a pretty large share of those +toils and hardships which are so much more amusing to gentlemen than +to servants, yet not one of them ever uttered or hinted a syllable of +complaint, or even affected to put on an air of resignation. I +always liked them, but never perhaps so much as when they were thus +grouped together under the light of the bivouac fire. I felt towards +them as my comrades rather than as my servants, and took delight in +breaking bread with them, and merrily passing the cup.<br> +<br> +The love of tea is a glad source of fellow-feeling between the Englishman +and the Asiatic. In Persia it is drunk by all, and although it +is a luxury that is rarely within the reach of the Osmanlees, there +are few of them who do not know and love the blessed <i>tchäi</i>. +Our camp-kettle, filled from the brook, hummed doubtfully for a while, +then busily bubbled under the sidelong glare of the flames; cups clinked +and rattled; the fragrant steam ascended, and soon this little circlet +in the wilderness grew warm and genial as my lady’s drawing-room.<br> +<br> +And after this there came the <i>tchibouque</i> - great comforter of +those that are hungry and wayworn. And it has this virtue - it +helps to destroy the <i>gêne</i> and awkwardness which one sometimes +feels at being in company with one’s dependents; for whilst the +amber is at your lips, there is nothing ungracious in your remaining +silent, or speaking pithily in short inter-whiff sentences. And +for us that night there was pleasant and plentiful matter of talk; for +the where we should be on the morrow, and the wherewithal we should +be fed, whether by some ford we should regain the western bank of Jordan, +or find bread and salt under the tents of a wandering tribe, or whether +we should fall into the hands of the Philistines, and so come to see +death - the last and greatest of all “the fine sights” that +there be - these were questionings not dull nor wearisome to us, for +we were all concerned in the answers. And it was not an all-imagined +morrow that we probed with our sharp guesses, for the lights of those +low Philistines, the men of the caves, still hung over our heads, and +we knew by their yells that the fire of our bivouac had shown us.<br> +<br> +At length we thought it well to seek for sleep. Our plans were +laid for keeping up a good watch through the night. My quilt and +my pelisse and my cloak were spread out so that I might lie spokewise, +with my feet towards the central fire. I wrapped my limbs daintily +round, and gave myself positive orders to sleep like a veteran soldier. +But I found that my attempt to sleep upon the earth that God gave me +was more new and strange than I had fancied it. I had grown used +to the scene which was before me whilst I was sitting or reclining by +the side of the fire, but now that I laid myself down at length it was +the deep black mystery of the heavens that hung over my eyes - not an +earthly thing in the way from my own very forehead right up to the end +of all space. I grew proud of my boundless bedchamber. I +might have “found sermons” in all this greatness (if I had +I should surely have slept), but such was not then my way. If +this cherished self of mine had built the universe, I should have dwelt +with delight on “the wonders of creation.” As it was, +I felt rather the vainglory of my promotion from out of mere rooms and +houses into the midst of that grand, dark, infinite palace.<br> +<br> +And then, too, my head, far from the fire, was in cold latitudes, and +it seemed to me strange that I should be lying so still and passive, +whilst the sharp night breeze walked free over my cheek, and the cold +damp clung to my hair, as though my face grew in the earth and must +bear with the footsteps of the wind and the falling of the dew as meekly +as the grass of the field. Besides, I got puzzled and distracted +by having to endure heat and cold at the same time, for I was always +considering whether my feet were not over-devilled and whether my face +was not too well iced. And so when from time to time the watch +quietly and gently kept up the languishing fire, he seldom, I think, +was unseen to my restless eyes. Yet at last, when they called +me and said that the morn would soon be dawning, I rose from a state +of half-oblivion not much unlike to sleep, though sharply qualified +by a sort of vegetable’s consciousness of having been growing +still colder and colder for many and many an hour.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XIII - THE DEAD SEA<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +The grey light of the morning showed us for the first time the ground +which we had chosen for our resting-place. We found that we had +bivouacked upon a little patch of barley plainly belonging to the men +of the caves. The dead bushes which we found so happily placed +in readiness for our fire had been strewn as a fence for the protection +of the little crop. This was the only cultivated spot of ground +which we had seen for many a league, and I was rather sorry to find +that our night fire and our cattle had spread so much ruin upon this +poor solitary slip of corn-land.<br> +<br> +The saddling and loading of our beasts was a work which generally took +nearly an hour, and before this was half over daylight came. We +could now see the men of the caves. They collected in a body, +amounting, I should think, to nearly fifty, and rushed down towards +our quarters with fierce shouts and yells. But the nearer they +got the slower they went; their shouts grew less resolute in tone, and +soon ceased altogether. The fellows, however, advanced to a thicket +within thirty yards of us, and behind this “took up their position.” +My men without premeditation did exactly that which was best; they kept +steadily to their work of loading the beasts without fuss or hurry; +and whether it was that they instinctively felt the wisdom of keeping +quiet, or that they merely obeyed the natural inclination to silence +which one feels in the early morning, I cannot tell, but I know that, +except when they exchanged a syllable or two relative to the work they +were about, not a word was said. I now believe that this quietness +of our party created an undefined terror in the minds of the cave-holders +and scared them from coming on; it gave them a notion that we were relying +on some resources which they knew not of. Several times the fellows +tried to lash themselves into a state of excitement which might do instead +of pluck. They would raise a great shout and sway forward in a +dense body from behind the thicket; but when they saw that their bravery +thus gathered to a head did not even suspend the strapping of a portmanteau +or the tying of a hatbox, their shout lost its spirit, and the whole +mass was irresistibly drawn back like a wave receding from the shore.<br> +<br> +These attempts at an onset were repeated several times, but always with +the same result. I remained under the apprehension of an attack +for more than half-an-hour, and it seemed to me that the work of packing +and loading had never been done so slowly. I felt inclined to +tell my fellows to make their best speed, but just as I was going to +speak I observed that every one was doing his duty already; I therefore +held my peace and said not a word, till at last Mysseri led up my horse +and asked me if I were ready to mount.<br> +<br> +We all marched off without hindrance.<br> +<br> +After some time we came across a party of Ibrahim’s cavalry, which +had bivouacked at no great distance from us. The knowledge that such +a force was in the neighbourhood may have conduced to the forbearance +of the cave-holders.<br> +<br> +We saw a scraggy-looking fellow nearly black, and wearing nothing but +a cloth round the loins; he was tending flocks. Afterwards I came +up with another of these goatherds, whose helpmate was with him. +They gave us some goat’s milk, a welcome present. I pitied +the poor devil of a goatherd for having such a very plain wife. +I spend an enormous quantity of pity upon that particular form of human +misery.<br> +<br> +About midday I began to examine my map and to question my guide, who +at last fell on his knees and confessed that he knew nothing of the +country in which we were. I was thus thrown upon my own resources, +and calculating that on the preceding day we had nearly performed a +two days’ journey, I concluded that the Dead Sea must be near. +In this I was right, for at about three or four o’clock in the +afternoon I caught a first sight of its dismal face.<br> +<br> +I went on and came near to those waters of death. They stretched +deeply into the southern desert, and before me, and all around, as far +away as the eye could follow, blank hills piled high over hills, pale, +yellow, and naked, walled up in her tomb for ever the dead and damned +Gomorrah. There was no fly that hummed in the forbidden air, but +instead a deep stillness; no grass grew from the earth, no weed peered +through the void sand; but in mockery of all life there were trees borne +down by Jordan in some ancient flood, and these, grotesquely planted +upon the forlorn shore, spread out their grim skeleton arms, all scorched +and charred to blackness by the heats of the long silent years.<br> +<br> +I now struck off towards the débouchure of the river; but I found +that the country, though seemingly quite flat, was intersected by deep +ravines, which did not show themselves until nearly approached. +For some time my progress was much obstructed; but at last I came across +a track which led towards the river, and which might, as I hoped, bring +me to a ford. I found, in fact, when I came to the river’s +side that the track reappeared upon the opposite bank, plainly showing +that the stream had been fordable at this place. Now, however, +in consequence of the late rains the river was quite impracticable for +baggage-horses. A body of waters about equal to the Thames at +Eton, but confined to a narrower channel, poured down in a current so +swift and heavy, that the idea of passing with laden baggage-horses +was utterly forbidden. I could have swum across myself, and I +might, perhaps, have succeeded in swimming a horse over; but this would +have been useless, because in such case I must have abandoned not only +my baggage, but all my attendants, for none of them were able to swim, +and without that resource it would have been madness for them to rely +upon the swimming of their beasts across such a powerful stream. +I still hoped, however, that there might be a chance of passing the +river at the point of its actual junction with the Dead Sea, and I therefore +went on in that direction.<br> +<br> +Night came upon us whilst labouring across gullies and sandy mounds, +and we were obliged to come to a stand-still quite suddenly upon the +very edge of a precipitous descent. Every step towards the Dead +Sea had brought us into a country more and more dreary; and this sand-hill, +which we were forced to choose for our resting-place, was dismal enough. +A few slender blades of grass, which here and there singly pierced the +sand, mocked bitterly the hunger of our jaded beasts, and with our small +remaining fragment of goat’s-milk rock by way of supper, we were +not much better off than our horses. We wanted, too, the great +requisite of a cheery bivouac - fire. Moreover, the spot on which +we had been so suddenly brought to a standstill was relatively high +and unsheltered, and the night wind blew swiftly and cold.<br> +<br> +The next morning I reached the débouchure of the Jordan, where +I had hoped to find a bar of sand that might render its passage possible. +The river, however, rolled its eddying waters fast down to the “sea” +in a strong, deep stream that shut out all hope of crossing.<br> +<br> +It now seemed necessary either to construct a raft of some kind, or +else to retrace my steps and remount the banks of the Jordan. +I had once happened to give some attention to the subject of military +bridges - a branch of military science which includes the construction +of rafts and contrivances of the like sort - and I should have been +very proud indeed if I could have carried my party and my baggage across +by dint of any idea gathered from Sir Howard Douglas or Robinson Crusoe. +But we were all faint and languid from want of food, and besides, there +were no materials. Higher up the river there were bushes and river +plants, but nothing like timber; and the cord with which my baggage +was tied to the pack-saddles amounted altogether to a very small quantity, +not nearly enough to haul any sort of craft across the stream.<br> +<br> +And now it was, if I remember rightly, that Dthemetri submitted to me +a plan for putting to death the Nazarene, whose misguidance had been +the cause of our difficulties. There was something fascinating +in this suggestion, for the slaying of the guide was of course easy +enough, and would look like an act of what politicians call “vigour.” +If it were only to become known to my friends in England that I had +calmly killed a fellow-creature for taking me out of my way, I might +remain perfectly quiet and tranquil for all the rest of my days, quite +free from the danger of being considered “slow”; I might +ever after live on upon my reputation, like “single-speech Hamilton” +in the last century, or “single sin - ” in this, without +being obliged to take the trouble of doing any more harm in the world. +This was a great temptation to an indolent person, but the motive was +not strengthened by any sincere feeling of anger with the Nazarene. +Whilst the question of his life and death was debated he was riding +in front of our party, and there was something in the anxious writhing +of his supple limbs that seemed to express a sense of his false position, +and struck me as highly comic. I had no crotchet at that time +against the punishment of death, but I was unused to blood, and the +proposed victim looked so thoroughly capable of enjoying life (if he +could only get to the other side of the river), that I thought it would +be hard for him to die merely in order to give me a character for energy. +Acting on the result of these considerations, and reserving to myself +a free and unfettered discretion to have the poor villain shot at any +future moment, I magnanimously decided that for the present he should +live, and not die.<br> +<br> +I bathed in the Dead Sea. The ground covered by the water sloped +so gradually, that I was not only forced to “sneak in,” +but to walk through the water nearly a quarter of a mile before I could +get out of my depth. When at last I was able to attempt to dive, +the salts held in solution made my eyes smart so sharply, that the pain +which I thus suffered, together with the weakness occasioned by want +of food, made me giddy and faint for some moments, but I soon grew better. +I knew beforehand the impossibility of sinking in this buoyant water, +but I was surprised to find that I could not swim at my accustomed pace; +my legs and feet were lifted so high and dry out of the lake, that my +stroke was baffled, and I found myself kicking against the thin air +instead of the dense fluid upon which I was swimming. The water +is perfectly bright and clear; its taste detestable. After finishing +my attempts at swimming and diving, I took some time in regaining the +shore, and before I began to dress I found that the sun had already +evaporated the water which clung to me, and that my skin was thickly +encrusted with salts.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XIV - THE BLACK TENTS<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +My steps were reluctantly turned towards the north. I had ridden +some way, and still it seemed that all life was fenced and barred out +from the desolate ground over which I was journeying. On the west +there flowed the impassable Jordan, on the east stood an endless range +of barren mountains, and on the south lay that desert sea that knew +not the plashing of an oar; greatly therefore was I surprised when suddenly +there broke upon my ear the long, ludicrous, persevering bray of a donkey. +I was riding at this time some few hundred yards ahead of all my party +except the Nazarene (who by a wise instinct kept closer to me than to +Dthemetri), and I instantly went forward in the direction of the sound, +for I fancied that where there were donkeys, there too most surely would +be men. The ground on all sides of me seemed thoroughly void and +lifeless, but at last I got down into a hollow, and presently a sudden +turn brought me within thirty yards of an Arab encampment. The +low black tents which I had so long lusted to see were right before +me, and they were all teeming with live Arabs - men, women, and children.<br> +<br> +I wished to have let my party behind know where I was, but I recollected +that they would be able to trace me by the prints of my horse’s +hoofs in the sand, and having to do with Asiatics, I felt the danger +of the slightest movement which might be looked upon as a sign of irresolution. +Therefore, without looking behind me, without looking to the right or +to the left, I rode straight up towards the foremost tent. Before +this was strewed a semicircular fence of dead boughs, through which +there was an opening opposite to the front of the tent. As I advanced, +some twenty or thirty of the most uncouth-looking fellows imaginable +came forward to meet me. In their appearance they showed nothing +of the Bedouin blood; they were of many colours, from dingy brown to +jet black, and some of these last had much of the negro look about them. +They were tall, powerful fellows, but awfully ugly. They wore +nothing but the Arab shirts, confined at the waist by leathern belts.<br> +<br> +I advanced to the gap left in the fence, and at once alighted from my +horse. The chief greeted me after his fashion by alternately touching +first my hand and then his own forehead, as if he were conveying the +virtue of the touch like a spark of electricity. Presently I found +myself seated upon a sheepskin, which was spread for me under the sacred +shade of Arabian canvas. The tent was of a long, narrow, oblong +form, and contained a quantity of men, women, and children so closely +huddled together, that there was scarcely one of them who was not in +actual contact with his neighbour. The moment I had taken my seat +the chief repeated his salutations in the most enthusiastic manner, +and then the people having gathered densely about me, got hold of my +unresisting hand and passed it round like a claret jug for the benefit +of every body. The women soon brought me a wooden bowl full of +buttermilk, and welcome indeed came the gift to my hungry and thirsty +soul.<br> +<br> +After some time my party, as I had expected, came up, and when poor +Dthemetri saw me on my sheepskin, “the life and soul” of +this ragamuffin party, he was so astounded, that he even failed to check +his cry of horror; he plainly thought that now, at last, the Lord had +delivered me (interpreter and all) into the hands of the lowest Philistines.<br> +<br> +Mysseri carried a tobacco-pouch slung at his belt, and as soon as its +contents were known the whole population of the tent began begging like +spaniels for bits of the beloved weed. I concluded from the abject +manner of these people that they could not possibly be thoroughbred +Bedouins, and I saw, too, that they must be in the very last stage of +misery, for poor indeed is the man in these climes who cannot command +a pipeful of tobacco. I began to think that I had fallen amongst +thorough savages, and it seemed likely enough that they would gain their +very first knowledge of civilisation by ravishing and studying the contents +of my dearest portmanteaus, but still my impression was that they would +hardly venture upon such an attempt. I observed, indeed, that +they did not offer me the bread and salt which I had understood to be +the pledges of peace amongst wandering tribes, but I fancied that they +refrained from this act of hospitality, not in consequence of any hostile +determination, but in order that the notion of robbing me might remain +for the present an “open question.” I afterwards found +that the poor fellows had no bread to offer. They were literally +“out at grass.” It is true that they had a scanty +supply of milk from goats, but they were living almost entirely upon +certain grass stems, which were just in season at that time of the year. +These, if not highly nourishing, are pleasant enough to the taste, and +their acid juices come gratefully to thirsty lips.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XV - PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +And now Dthemetri began to enter into a negotiation with my hosts for +a passage over the river. I never interfered with my worthy dragoman +upon these occasions, because from my entire ignorance of the Arabic +I should have been quite unable to exercise any real control over his +words, and it would have been silly to break the stream of his eloquence +to no purpose. I have reason to fear, however, that he lied transcendently, +and especially in representing me as the bosom friend of Ibrahim Pasha. +The mention of that name produced immense agitation and excitement, +and the Sheik explained to Dthemetri the grounds of the infinite respect +which he and his tribe entertained for the Pasha. A few weeks +before Ibrahim had craftily sent a body of troops across the Jordan. +The force went warily round to the foot of the mountains on the east, +so as to cut off the retreat of this tribe, and then surrounded them +as they lay encamped in the vale; their camels, and indeed all their +possessions worth taking, were carried off by the soldiery, and moreover +the then Sheik, together with every tenth man of the tribe, was brought +out and shot. You would think that this conduct on the part of +the Pasha might not procure for his “friend” a very gracious +reception amongst the people whom he had thus despoiled and decimated; +but the Asiatic seems to be animated with a feeling of profound respect, +almost bordering upon affection, for all who have done him any bold +and violent wrong, and there is always, too, so much of vague and undefined +apprehension mixed up with his really well-founded alarms, that I can +see no limit to the yielding and bending of his mind when it is wrought +upon by the idea of power.<br> +<br> +After some discussion the Arabs agreed, as I thought, to conduct me +to a ford, and we moved on towards the river, followed by seventeen +of the most able-bodied of the tribe, under the guidance of several +grey-bearded elders, and Sheik Ali Djoubran at the head of the whole +detachment. Upon leaving the encampment a sort of ceremony was +performed, for the purpose, it seemed, of ensuring, if possible, a happy +result for the undertaking. There was an uplifting of arms, and +a repeating of words that sounded like formulae, but there were no prostrations, +and I did not understand that the ceremony was of a religious character. +The tented Arabs are looked upon as very bad Mahometans.<br> +<br> +We arrived upon the banks of the river - not at a ford, but at a deep +and rapid part of the stream, and I now understood that it was the plan +of these men, if they helped me at all, to transport me across the river +by some species of raft. But a reaction had taken place in the +opinions of many, and a violent dispute arose upon a motion which seemed +to have been made by some honourable member with a view to robbery. +The fellows all gathered together in circle, at a little distance from +my party, and there disputed with great vehemence and fury for nearly +two hours. I can’t give a correct report of the debate, +for it was held in a barbarous dialect of the Arabic unknown to my dragoman. +I recollect I sincerely felt at the time that the arguments in favour +of robbing me must have been almost unanswerable, and I gave great credit +to the speakers on my side for the ingenuity and sophistry which they +must have shown in maintaining the fight so well.<br> +<br> +During the discussion I remained lying in front of my baggage, which +had all been taken from the pack-saddles and placed upon the ground. +I was so languid from want of food, that I had scarcely animation enough +to feel as deeply interested as you would suppose in the result of the +discussion. I thought, however, that the pleasantest toys to play +with during this interval were my pistols, and now and then, when I +listlessly visited my loaded barrels with the swivel ramrods, or drew +a sweet, musical click from my English firelocks, it seemed to me that +I exercised a slight and gentle influence on the debate. Thanks +to Ibrahim Pasha’s terrible visitation the men of the tribe were +wholly unarmed, and my advantage in this respect might have counterbalanced +in some measure the superiority of numbers.<br> +<br> +Mysseri (not interpreting in Arabic) had no duty to perform, and he +seemed to be faint and listless as myself. Shereef looked perfectly +resigned to any fate. But Dthemetri (faithful terrier!) was bristling +with zeal and watchfulness. He could not understand the debate, +which indeed was carried on at a distance too great to be easily heard, +even if the language had been familiar; but he was always on the alert, +and now and then conferring with men who had straggled out of the assembly. +At last he found an opportunity of making a proposal, which at once +produced immense sensation; he offered, on my behalf, that if the tribe +should bear themselves loyally towards me, and take my party and my +baggage in safety to the other bank of the river, I should give them +a <i>teskeri</i>, or written certificate of their good conduct, which +might avail them hereafter in the hour of their direst need. This +proposal was received and instantly accepted by all the men of the tribe +there present with the utmost enthusiasm. I was to give the men, +too, a <i>baksheish</i>, that is, a present of money, which is usually +made upon the conclusion of any sort of treaty; but although the people +of the tribe were so miserably poor, they seemed to look upon the pecuniary +part of the arrangement as a matter quite trivial in comparison with +the <i>teskeri</i>. Indeed the sum which Dthemetri promised them +was extremely small, and not the slightest attempt was made to extort +any further reward.<br> +<br> +The council now broke up, and most of the men rushed madly towards me, +and overwhelmed me with vehement gratulations; they caressed my boots +with much affection, and my hands were severely kissed.<br> +<br> +The Arabs now went to work in right earnest to effect the passage of +the river. They had brought with them a great number of the skins +which they use for carrying water in the desert; these they filled with +air, and fastened several of them to small boughs which they cut from +the banks of the river. In this way they constructed a raft not +more than about four or five feet square, but rendered buoyant by the +inflated skins which supported it. On this a portion of my baggage +was placed, and was firmly tied to it by the cords used on my pack-saddles. +The little raft with its weighty cargo was then gently lifted into the +water, and I had the satisfaction to see that it floated well.<br> +<br> +Twelve of the Arabs now stripped, and tied inflated skins to their loins; +six of the men went down into the river, got in front of the little +raft, and pulled it off a few feet from the bank. The other six +then dashed into the stream with loud shouts and swam along after the +raft, pushing it from behind. Off went the craft in capital style +at first, for the stream was easy on the eastern side; but I saw that +the tug was to come, for the main torrent swept round in a bend near +the western bank of the river.<br> +<br> +The old men, with their long grey grisly beards, stood shouting and +cheering, praying and commanding. At length the raft entered upon +the difficult part of its course; the whirling stream seized and twisted +it about, and then bore it rapidly downwards; the swimmers, flagged +and seemed to be beaten in the struggle. But now the old men on +the bank, with their rigid arms uplifted straight, sent forth a cry +and a shout that tore the wide air into tatters, and then to make their +urging yet more strong they shrieked out the dreadful syllables, “’brahim +Pasha!” The swimmers, one moment before so blown and so +weary, found lungs to answer the cry, and shouting back the name of +their great destroyer, they dashed on through the torrent, and bore +the raft in safety to the western bank.<br> +<br> +Afterwards the swimmers returned with the raft, and attached to it the +rest of my baggage. I took my seat upon the top of the cargo, +and the raft thus laden passed the river in the same way, and with the +same struggle as before. The skins, however, not being perfectly +air-tight, had lost a great part of their buoyancy, so that I, as well +as the luggage that passed on this last voyage, got wet in the waters +of Jordan. The raft could not be trusted for another trip, and +the rest of my party passed the river in a different and (for them) +much safer way. Inflated skins were fastened to their loins, and +thus supported, they were tugged across by Arabs swimming on either +side of them. The horses and mules were thrown into the water +and forced to swim over. The poor beasts had a hard struggle for +their lives in that swift stream; and I thought that one of the horses +would have been drowned, for he was too weak to gain a footing on the +western bank, and the stream bore him down. At last, however, +he swam back to the side from which he had come. Before dark all +had passed the river except this one horse and old Shereef. He, +poor fellow, was shivering on the eastern bank, for his dread of the +passage was so great, that he delayed it as long as he could, and at +last it became so dark that he was obliged to wait till the morning.<br> +<br> +I lay that night on the banks of the river, and at a little distance +from me the Arabs kindled a fire, round which they sat in a circle. +They were made most savagely happy by the tobacco with which I supplied +them, and they soon determined that the whole night should be one smoking +festival. The poor fellows had only a cracked bowl, without any +tube at all, but this morsel of a pipe they handed round from one to +the other, allowing to each a fixed number of whiffs. In that +way they passed the whole night.<br> +<br> +The next morning old Shereef was brought across. It was a strange +sight to see this solemn old Mussulman, with his shaven head and his +sacred beard, sprawling and puffing upon the surface of the water. +When at last he reached the bank the people told him that by his baptism +in Jordan he had surely become a mere Christian. Poor Shereef! +- the holy man! the descendant of the Prophet! - he was sadly hurt by +the taunt, and the more so as he seemed to feel that there was some +foundation for it, and that he really might have absorbed some Christian +errors.<br> +<br> +When all was ready for departure I wrote the <i>teskeri</i> in French +and delivered it to Sheik Ali Djoubran, together with the promised <i>baksheish</i>; +he was exceedingly grateful, and I parted in a very friendly way from +this ragged tribe.<br> +<br> +In two or three hours I gained Rihah, a village said to occupy the site +of ancient Jericho. There was one building there which I observed +with some emotion, for although it may not have been actually standing +in the days of Jericho, it contained at this day a most interesting +collection of - modern loaves.<br> +<br> +Some hours after sunset I reached the convent of Santa Saba, and there +remained for the night.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XVI - TERRA SANTA<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +The enthusiasm that had glowed, or seemed to glow, within me for one +blessed moment when I knelt by the shrine of the Virgin at Nazareth, +was not rekindled at Jerusalem. In the stead of the solemn gloom +and the deep stillness that of right belonged to the Holy City, there +was the hum and the bustle of active life. It was the “height +of the season.” The Easter ceremonies drew near. The +pilgrims were flocking in from all quarters; and although their objects +were partly at least of a religious character, yet their “arrivals” +brought as much stir and liveliness to the city as if they had come +up to marry their daughters.<br> +<br> +The votaries who every year crowd to the Holy Sepulchre are chiefly +of the Greek and Armenian Churches. They are not drawn into Palestine +by a mere sentimental longing to stand upon the ground trodden by our +Saviour, but rather they perform the pilgrimage as a plain duty strongly +inculcated by their religion. A very great proportion of those +who belong to the Greek Church contrive at some time or other in the +course of their lives to achieve the enterprise. Many in their +infancy and childhood are brought to the holy sites by their parents, +but those who have not had this advantage will often make it the main +object of their lives to save money enough for this holy undertaking.<br> +<br> +The pilgrims begin to arrive in Palestine some weeks before the Easter +festival of the Greek Church. They come from Egypt, from all parts +of Syria, from Armenia and Asia Minor, from Stamboul, from Roumelia, +from the provinces of the Danube, and from all the Russias. Most +of these people bring with them some articles of merchandise, but I +myself believe (notwithstanding the common taunt against pilgrims) that +they do this rather as a mode of paying the expenses of their journey, +than from a spirit of mercenary speculation. They generally travel +in families, for the women are of course more ardent than their husbands +in undertaking these pious enterprises, and they take care to bring +with them all their children, however young; for the efficacy of the +rites does not depend upon the age of the votary, so that people whose +careful mothers have obtained for them the benefit of the pilgrimage +in early life, are saved from the expense and trouble of undertaking +the journey at a later age. The superior veneration so often excited +by objects that are distant and unknown shows not perhaps the wrongheadedness +of a man, but rather the transcendent power of his imagination. +However this may be, and whether it is by mere obstinacy that they poke +their way through intervening distance, or whether they come by the +winged strength of fancy, quite certainly the pilgrims who flock to +Palestine from the most remote homes are the people most eager in the +enterprise, and in number too they bear a very high proportion to the +whole mass.<br> +<br> +The great bulk of the pilgrims make their way by sea to the port of +Jaffa. A number of families will charter a vessel amongst them, +all bringing their own provisions, which are of the simplest and cheapest +kind. On board every vessel thus freighted there is, I believe, +a priest, who helps the people in their religious exercises, and tries +(and fails) to maintain something like order and harmony. The +vessels employed in this service are usually Greek brigs or brigantines +and schooners, and the number of passengers stowed in them is almost +always horribly excessive. The voyages are sadly protracted, not +only by the land-seeking, storm-flying habits of the Greek seamen, but +also by their endless schemes and speculations, which are for ever tempting +them to touch at the nearest port. The voyage too must be made +in winter, in order that Jerusalem may be reached some weeks before +the Greek Easter, and thus by the time they attain to the holy shrines +the pilgrims have really and truly undergone a very respectable quantity +of suffering. I once saw one of these pious cargoes put ashore +on the coast of Cyprus, where they had touched for the purpose of visiting +(not Paphos, but) some Christian sanctuary. I never saw (no, never +even in the most horridly stuffy ballroom) such a discomfortable collection +of human beings. Long huddled together in a pitching and rolling +prison, fed on beans, exposed to some real danger and to terrors without +end, they had been tumbled about for many wintry weeks in the chopping +seas of the Mediterranean. As soon as they landed they stood upon +the beach and chanted a hymn of thanks; the chant was morne and doleful, +but really the poor people were looking so miserable, that one could +not fairly expect from them any lively outpouring of gratitude.<br> +<br> +When the pilgrims have landed at Jaffa they hire camels, horses, mules, +or donkeys, and make their way as well as they can to the Holy City. +The space fronting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre soon becomes a kind +of bazaar, or rather, perhaps, reminds you of an English fair. +On this spot the pilgrims display their merchandise, and there too the +trading residents of the place offer their goods for sale. I have +never, I think, seen elsewhere in Asia so much commercial animation +as upon this square of ground by the church door; the “money-changers” +seemed to be almost as brisk and lively as if they had been <i>within</i> +the temple.<br> +<br> +When I entered the church I found a babel of worshippers. Greek, +Roman, and Armenian priests were performing their different rites in +various nooks and corners, and crowds of disciples were rushing about +in all directions, some laughing and talking, some begging, but most +of them going round in a regular and methodical way to kiss the sanctified +spots, and speak the appointed syllables, and lay down the accustomed +coin. If this kissing of the shrines had seemed as though it were +done at the bidding of enthusiasm, or of any poor sentiment even feebly +approaching to it, the sight would have been less odd to English eyes; +but as it was, I stared to see grown men thus steadily and carefully +embracing the sticks and the stones, not from love or from zeal (else +God forbid that I should have stared!), but from a calm sense of duty; +they seemed to be not “working out,” but <i>transacting</i> +the great business of salvation.<br> +<br> +Dthemetri, however, who generally came with me when I went out, in order +to do duty as interpreter, really had in him some enthusiasm. +He was a zealous and almost fanatical member of the Greek Church, and +had long since performed the pilgrimage, so now great indeed was the +pride and delight with which he guided me from one holy spot to another. +Every now and then, when he came to an unoccupied shrine, he fell down +on his knees and performed devotion; he was almost distracted by the +temptations that surrounded him; there were so many stones absolutely +requiring to be kissed, that he rushed about happily puzzled and sweetly +teased, like “Jack among the maidens.”<br> +<br> +A Protestant, familiar with the Holy Scriptures, but ignorant of tradition +and the geography of modern Jerusalem, finds himself a good deal “mazed” +when he first looks for the sacred sites. The Holy Sepulchre is +not in a field without the walls, but in the midst, and in the best +part of the town, under the roof of the great church which I have been +talking about. It is a handsome tomb of oblong form, partly subterranean +and partly above ground, and closed in on all sides except the one by +which it is entered. You descend into the interior by a few steps, +and there find an altar with burning tapers. This is the spot +which is held in greater sanctity than any other at Jerusalem. +When you have seen enough of it you feel perhaps weary of the busy crowd, +and inclined for a gallop; you ask your dragoman whether there will +be time before sunset to procure horses and take a ride to Mount Calvary. +Mount Calvary, signor? - eccolo! it is <i>upstairs - on the first floor</i>. +In effect you ascend, if I remember rightly, just thirteen steps, and +then you are shown the now golden sockets in which the crosses of our +Lord and the two thieves were fixed. All this is startling, but +the truth is, that the city having gathered round the Sepulchre, which +is the main point of interest, has crept northward, and thus in great +measure are occasioned the many geographical surprises that puzzle the +“Bible Christian.”<br> +<br> +The Church of the Holy Sepulchre comprises very compendiously almost +all the spots associated with the closing career of our Lord. +Just there, on your right, He stood and wept; by the pillar, on your +left, He was scourged; on the spot, just before you, He was crowned +with the crown of thorns; up there He was crucified, and down here He +was buried. A locality is assigned to every, the minutest, event +connected with the recorded history of our Saviour; even the spot where +the cock crew when Peter denied his Master is ascertained, and surrounded +by the walls of an Armenian convent. Many Protestants are wont +to treat these traditions contemptuously, and those who distinguish +themselves from their brethren by the appellation of “Bible Christians” +are almost fierce in their denunciation of these supposed errors.<br> +<br> +It is admitted, I believe, by everybody that the formal sanctification +of these spots was the act of the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine, +but I think it is fair to suppose that she was guided by a careful regard +to the then prevailing traditions. Now the nature of the ground +upon which Jerusalem stands is such, that the localities belonging to +the events there enacted might have been more easily, and permanently, +ascertained by tradition than those of any city that I know of. +Jerusalem, whether ancient or modern, was built upon and surrounded +by sharp, salient rocks intersected by deep ravines. Up to the +time of the siege Mount Calvary of course must have been well enough +known to the people of Jerusalem; the destruction of the mere buildings +could not have obliterated from any man’s memory the names of +those steep rocks and narrow ravines in the midst of which the city +had stood. It seems to me, therefore, highly probable that in +fixing the site of Calvary the Empress was rightly guided. Recollect, +too, that the voice of tradition at Jerusalem is quite unanimous, and +that Romans, Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, all hating each other sincerely, +concur in assigning the same localities to the events told in the Gospel. +I concede, however, that the attempt of the Empress to ascertain the +sites of the minor events cannot be safely relied upon. With respect, +for instance, to the certainty of the spot where the cock crew, I am +far from being convinced.<br> +<br> +Supposing that the Empress acted arbitrarily in fixing the holy sites, +it would seem that she followed the Gospel of St. John, and that the +geography sanctioned by her can be more easily reconciled with that +history than with the accounts of the other Evangelists.<br> +<br> +The authority exercised by the Mussulman Government in relation to the +holy sites is in one view somewhat humbling to the Christians, for it +is almost as an arbitrator between the contending sects (this always, +of course, for the sake of pecuniary advantage) that the Mussulman lends +his contemptuous aid; he not only grants, but enforces toleration. +All persons, of whatever religion, are allowed to go as they will into +every part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but in order to prevent +indecent contests, and also from motives arising out of money payments, +the Turkish Government assigns the peculiar care of each sacred spot +to one of the ecclesiastic bodies. Since this guardianship carries +with it the receipt of the coins which the pilgrims leave upon the shrines, +it is strenuously fought for by all the rival Churches, and the artifices +of intrigue are busily exerted at Stamboul in order to procure the issue +or revocation of the firmans by which the coveted privilege is granted. +In this strife the Greek Church has of late years signally triumphed, +and the most famous of the shrines are committed to the care of their +priesthood. They possess the golden socket in which stood the +cross of our Lord whilst the Latins are obliged to content themselves +with the apertures in which were inserted the crosses of the two thieves. +They are naturally discontented with that poor privilege, and sorrowfully +look back to the days of their former glory - the days when Napoleon +was Emperor, and Sebastiani ambassador at the Porte. It seems +that the “citizen” sultan, old Louis Philippe, has done +very little indeed for Holy Church in Palestine.<br> +<br> +Although the pilgrims perform their devotions at the several shrines +with so little apparent enthusiasm, they are driven to the verge of +madness by the miracle displayed before them on Easter Saturday. +Then it is that the Heaven-sent fire issues from the Holy Sepulchre. +The pilgrims all assemble in the great church, and already, long before +the wonder is worked, they are wrought by anticipation of God’s +sign, as well as by their struggles for room and breathing space, to +a most frightful state of excitement. At length the chief priest +of the Greeks, accompanied (of all people in the world) by the Turkish +Governor, enters the tomb. After this, there is a long pause, +and then suddenly from out of the small apertures on either side of +the sepulchre there issue long, shining flames. The pilgrims now +rush forward, madly struggling to light their tapers at the holy fire. +This is the dangerous moment, and many lives are often lost.<br> +<br> +The year before that of my going to Jerusalem, Ibrahim Pasha, from some +whim, or motive of policy, chose to witness the miracle. The vast +church was of course thronged, as it always is on that awful day. +It seems that the appearance of the fire was delayed for a very long +time, and that the growing frenzy of the people was heightened by suspense. +Many, too, had already sunk under the effect of the heat and the stifling +atmosphere, when at last the fire flashed from the sepulchre. +Then a terrible struggle ensued; many sunk and were crushed. Ibrahim +had taken his station in one of the galleries, but now, feeling perhaps +his brave blood warmed by the sight and sound of such strife, he took +upon himself to quiet the people by his personal presence, and descended +into the body of the church with only a few guards. He had forced +his way into the midst of the dense crowd, when unhappily he fainted +away; his guards shrieked out, and the event instantly became known. +A body of soldiers recklessly forced their way through the crowd, trampling +over every obstacle that they might save the life of their general. +Nearly two hundred people were killed in the struggle.<br> +<br> +The following year, however, the Government took better measures for +the prevention of these calamities. I was not present at the ceremony, +having gone away from Jerusalem some time before, but I afterwards returned +into Palestine, and I then learned that the day had passed off without +any disturbance of a fatal kind. It is, however, almost too much +to expect that so many ministers of peace can assemble without finding +some occasion for strife, and in that year a tribe of wild Bedouins +became the subject of discord. These men, it seems, led an Arab +life in some of the desert tracts bordering on the neighbourhood of +Jerusalem, but were not connected with any of the great ruling tribes. +Some whim or notion of policy had induced them to embrace Christianity; +but they were grossly ignorant of the rudiments of their adopted faith, +and having no priest with them in their desert, they had as little knowledge +of religious ceremonies as of religion itself. They were not even +capable of conducting themselves in a place of worship with ordinary +decorum, but would interrupt the service with scandalous cries and warlike +shouts. Such is the account the Latins give of them, but I have +never heard the other side of the question. These wild fellows, +notwithstanding their entire ignorance of all religion, are yet claimed +by the Greeks, not only as proselytes who have embraced Christianity +generally, but as converts to the particular doctrines and practice +of their Church. The people thus alleged to have concurred in +the great schism of the Eastern Empire are never, I believe, within +the walls of a church, or even of any building at all, except upon this +occasion of Easter; and as they then never fail to find a row of some +kind going on by the side of the sepulchre, they fancy, it seems, that +the ceremonies there enacted are funeral games of a martial character, +held in honour of a deceased chieftain, and that a Christian festival +is a peculiar kind of battle, fought between walls, and without cavalry. +It does not appear, however, that these men are guilty of any ferocious +acts, or that they attempt to commit depredations. The charge +against them is merely that by their way of applauding the performance, +by their horrible cries and frightful gestures, they destroy the solemnity +of divine service, and upon this ground the Franciscans obtained a firman +for the exclusion of such tumultuous worshippers. The Greeks, +however, did not choose to lose the aid of their wild converts merely +because they were a little backward in their religious education, and +they therefore persuaded them to defy the firman by entering the city +<i>en masse</i> and overawing their enemies. The Franciscans, +as well as the Government authorities, were obliged to give way, and +the Arabs triumphantly marched into the church. The festival, +however, must have seemed to them rather flat, for although there may +have been some “casualties” in the way of eyes black and +noses bloody, and women “missing,” there was no return of +“killed.”<br> +<br> +Formerly the Latin Catholics concurred in acknowledging (but not, I +hope, in working) the annual miracle of the heavenly fire, but they +have for many years withdrawn their countenance from this exhibition, +and they now repudiate it as a trick of the Greek Church. Thus +of course the violence of feeling with which the rival Churches meet +at the Holy Sepulchre on Easter Saturday is greatly increased, and a +disturbance of some kind is certain. In the year I speak of, though +no lives were lost, there was, as it seems, a tough struggle in the +church. I was amused at hearing of a taunt that was thrown that +day upon an English traveller. He had taken his station in a convenient +part of the church, and was no doubt displaying that peculiar air of +serenity and gratification with which an English gentleman usually looks +on at a row, when one of the Franciscans came by, all reeking from the +fight, and was so disgusted at the coolness and placid contentment of +the Englishman (who was a guest at the convent), that he forgot his +monkish humility as well as the duties of hospitality, and plainly said, +“You sleep under our roof, you eat our bread, you drink our wine, +and then when Easter Saturday comes you don’t fight for us!”<br> +<br> +Yet these rival Churches go on quietly enough till their blood is up. +The terms on which they live remind one of the peculiar relation subsisting +at Cambridge between “town and gown.”<br> +<br> +These contests and disturbances certainly do not originate with the +lay-pilgrims, the great body of whom are, as I believe, quiet and inoffensive +people. It is true, however, that their pious enterprise is believed +by them to operate as a counterpoise for a multitude of sins, whether +past or future, and perhaps they exert themselves in after life to restore +the balance of good and evil. The Turks have a maxim which, like +most cynical apophthegms, carries with it the buzzing trumpet of falsehood +as well as the small, fine “sting of truth.” “If +your friend has made the pilgrimage once, distrust him; if he has made +the pilgrimage twice, cut him dead!” The caution is said +to be as applicable to the visitants of Jerusalem as to those of Mecca, +but I cannot help believing that the frailties of all the hadjis, <a name="citation28"></a><a href="#footnote28">{28}</a> +whether Christian or Mahometan, are greatly exaggerated. I certainly +regarded the pilgrims to Palestine as a well-disposed orderly body of +people, not strongly enthusiastic, but desirous to comply with the ordinances +of their religion, and to attain the great end of salvation as quietly +and economically as possible.<br> +<br> +When the solemnities of Easter are concluded the pilgrims move off in +a body to complete their good work by visiting the sacred scenes in +the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, including the wilderness of John the +Baptist, Bethlehem, and above all, the Jordan, for to bathe in those +sacred waters is one of the chief objects of the expedition. All +the pilgrims - men, women, and children - are submerged <i>en chemise</i>, +and the saturated linen is carefully wrapped up and preserved as a burial-dress +that shall enure for salvation in the realms of death.<br> +<br> +I saw the burial of a pilgrim. He was a Greek, miserably poor, +and very old; he had just crawled into the Holy City, and had reached +at once the goal of his pious journey and the end of his sufferings +upon earth. There was no coffin nor wrapper, and as I looked full +upon the face of the dead I saw how deeply it was rutted with the ruts +of age and misery. The priest, strong and portly, fresh, fat, +and alive with the life of the animal kingdom, unpaid, or ill paid for +his work, would scarcely deign to mutter out his forms, but hurried +over the words with shocking haste. Presently he called out impatiently, +“Yalla! Goor!” (Come! look sharp!), and then the dead +Greek was seized. His limbs yielded inertly to the rude men that +handled them, and down he went into his grave, so roughly bundled in +that his neck was twisted by the fall, so twisted, that if the sharp +malady of life were still upon him the old man would have shrieked and +groaned, and the lines of his face would have quivered with pain. +The lines of his face were not moved, and the old man lay still and +heedless, so well cured of that tedious life-ache, that nothing could +hurt him now. His clay was <i>itself again</i> - cool, firm, and +tough. The pilgrim had found great rest. I threw the accustomed +handful of the holy soil upon his patient face, and then, and in less +than a minute, the earth closed coldly round him.<br> +<br> +I did not say “alas!” (nobody ever does that I know of, +though the word is so frequently written). I thought the old man +had got rather well out of the scrape of being alive, and poor.<br> +<br> +The destruction of the mere buildings in such a place as Jerusalem would +not involve the permanent dispersion of the inhabitants, for the rocky +neighbourhood in which the town is situate abounds in caves, which would +give an easy refuge to the people until they gained an opportunity of +rebuilding their dwellings; therefore I could not help looking upon +the Jews of Jerusalem as being in some sort the representatives, if +not the actual descendants, of the rascals who crucified our Saviour. +Supposing this to be the case, I felt that there would be some interest +in knowing how the events of the Gospel history were regarded by the +Israelites of modern Jerusalem. The result of my inquiry upon this subject +was, so far as it went, entirely favourable to the truth of Christianity. +I understood that <i>the performance of the miracles was not doubted +by any of the Jews in the place</i>. All of them concurred in +attributing the works of our Lord to the influence of magic, but they +were divided as to the species of enchantment from which the power proceeded. +The great mass of the Jewish people believe, I fancy, that the miracles +had been wrought by aid of the powers of darkness, but many, and those +the more enlightened, would call Jesus “the good Magician.” +To Europeans repudiating the notion of all magic, good or bad, the opinion +of the Jews as to the agency by which the miracles were worked is a +matter of no importance; but the circumstance of their admitting that +those miracles <i>were in fact</i> <i>performed</i>, is certainly curious, +and perhaps not quite immaterial.<br> +<br> +If you stay in the Holy City long enough to fall into anything like +regular habits of amusement and occupation, and to become, in short, +for the time “a man about town” at Jerusalem, you will necessarily +lose the enthusiasm which you may have felt when you trod the sacred +soil for the first time, and it will then seem almost strange to you +to find yourself so entirely surrounded in all your daily pursuits by +the designs and sounds of religion. Your hotel is a monastery, +your rooms are cells, the landlord is a stately abbot, and the waiters +are hooded monks. If you walk out of the town you find yourself +on the Mount of Olives, or in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, or on the Hill +of Evil Counsel. If you mount your horse and extend your rambles +you will be guided to the wilderness of St. John, or the birthplace +of our Saviour. Your club is the great Church of the Holy Sepulchre, +where everybody meets everybody every day. If you lounge through +the town, your Bond Street is the Via Dolorosa, and the object of your +hopeless affections is some maid or matron all forlorn, and sadly shrouded +in her pilgrim’s robe. If you would hear music, it must +be the chanting of friars; if you look at pictures, you see virgins +with mis-fore-shortened arms, or devils out of drawing, or angels tumbling +up the skies in impious perspective. If you would make any purchases, +you must go again to the church doors, and when you inquire for the +manufactures of the place, you find that they consist of double-blessed +beads and sanctified shells. These last are the favourite tokens +which the pilgrims carry off with them. The shell is graven, or +rather scratched, on the white side with a rude drawing of the Blessed +Virgin or of the Crucifixion or some other scriptural subject. +Having passed this stage it goes into the hands of a priest. By +him it is subjected to some process for rendering it efficacious against +the schemes of our ghostly enemy. The manufacture is then complete, +and is deemed to be fit for use.<br> +<br> +The village of Bethlehem lies prettily couched on the slope of a hill. +The sanctuary is a subterranean grotto, and is committed to the joint-guardianship +of the Romans, Greeks, and Armenians, who vie with each other in adorning +it. Beneath an altar gorgeously decorated, and lit with everlasting +fires, there stands the low slab of stone which marks the holy site +of the Nativity; and near to this is a hollow scooped out of the living +rock. Here the infant Jesus was laid. Near the spot of the +Nativity is the rock against which the Blessed Virgin was leaning when +she presented her babe to the adoring shepherds.<br> +<br> +Many of those Protestants who are accustomed to despise tradition consider +that this sanctuary is altogether unscriptural, that a grotto is not +a stable, and that mangers are made of wood. It is perfectly true, +however, that the many grottos and caves which are found among the rocks +of Judea were formerly used for the reception of cattle. They +are so used at this day. I have myself seen grottos appropriated +to this purpose.<br> +<br> +You know what a sad and sombre decorum it is that outwardly reigns through +the lands oppressed by Moslem sway. The Mahometans make beauty +their prisoner, and enforce such a stern and gloomy morality, or at +all events, such a frightfully close semblance of it, that far and long +the wearied traveller may go without catching one glimpse of outward +happiness. By a strange chance in these latter days it happened +that, alone of all the places in the land, this Bethlehem, the native +village of our Lord, escaped the moral yoke of the Mussulmans, and heard +again, after ages of dull oppression, the cheering clatter of social +freedom, and the voices of laughing girls. It was after an insurrection, +which had been raised against the authority of Mehemet Ali, that Bethlehem +was freed from the hateful laws of Asiatic decorum. The Mussulmans +of the village had taken an active part in the movement, and when Ibrahim +had quelled it, his wrath was still so hot, that he put to death every +one of the few Mahometans of Bethlehem who had not already fled. +The effect produced upon the Christian inhabitants by the sudden removal +of this restraint was immense. The village smiled once more. +It is true that such sweet freedom could not long endure. Even +if the population of the place should continue to be entirely Christian, +the sad decorum of the Mussulmans, or rather of the Asiatics, would +sooner or later be restored by the force of opinion and custom. +But for a while the sunshine would last, and when I was at Bethlehem, +though long after the flight of the Mussulmans, the cloud of Moslem +propriety had not yet come back to cast its cold shadow upon life. +When you reach that gladsome village, pray Heaven there still may be +heard there the voice of free, innocent girls. It will sound so +dearly welcome!<br> +<br> +To a Christian, and thoroughbred Englishman, not even the licentiousness +which generally accompanies it can compensate for the oppressiveness +of that horrible outward decorum, which turns the cities and the palaces +of Asia into deserts and gaols. So, I say, when you see and hear +them, those romping girls of Bethlehem will gladden your very soul. +Distant at first, and then nearer and nearer the timid flock will gather +around you, with their large burning eyes gravely fixed against yours, +so that they see into your brain; and if you imagine evil against them, +they will know of your ill thought before it is yet well born, and will +fly and be gone in the moment. But presently, if you will only +look virtuous enough to prevent alarm, and vicious enough to avoid looking +silly, the blithe maidens will draw nearer and nearer to you, and soon +there will be one, the bravest of the sisters, who will venture right +up to your side and touch the hem of your coat, in playful defiance +of the danger, and then the rest will follow the daring of their youthful +leader, and gather close round you, and hold a shrill controversy on +the wondrous formation that you call a hat, and the cunning of the hands +that clothed you with cloth so fine; and then growing more profound +in their researches, they will pass from the study of your mere dress +to a serious contemplation of your stately height, and your nut-brown +hair, and the ruddy glow of your English cheeks. And if they catch +a glimpse of your ungloved fingers, then again will they make the air +ring with their sweet screams of wonder and amazement, as they compare +the fairness of your hand with their warmer tints, and even with the +hues of your own sunburnt face. Instantly the ringleader of the +gentle rioters imagines a new sin; with tremulous boldness she touches, +then grasps your hand, and smoothes it gently betwixt her own, and pries +curiously into its make and colour, as though it were silk of Damascus, +or shawl of Cashmere. And when they see you even then still sage +and gentle, the joyous girls will suddenly and screamingly, and all +at once, explain to each other that you are surely quite harmless and +innocent, a lion that makes no spring, a bear that never hugs, and upon +this faith, one after the other, they will take your passive hand, and +strive to explain it, and make it a theme and a controversy. But +the one, the fairest and the sweetest of all, is yet the most timid; +she shrinks from the daring deeds of her play-mates, and seeks shelter +behind their sleeves, and strives to screen her glowing consciousness +from the eyes that look upon her. But her laughing sisters will +have none of this cowardice; they vow that the fair one <i>shall</i> +be their ’complice, <i>shall</i> share their dangers, <i>shall</i> +touch the hand of the stranger; they seize her small wrist, and drag +her forward by force, and at last, whilst yet she strives to turn away, +and to cover up her whole soul under the folds of downcast eyelids, +they vanquish her utmost strength, they vanquish your utmost modesty, +and marry her hand to yours. The quick pulse springs from her +fingers, and throbs like a whisper upon your listening palm. For +an instant her large timid eyes are upon you; in an instant they are +shrouded again, and there comes a blush so burning, that the frightened +girls stay their shrill laughter, as though they had played too perilously, +and harmed their gentle sister. A moment, and all with a sudden +intelligence turn away and fly like deer, yet soon again like deer they +wheel round and return, and stand, and gaze upon the danger, until they +grow brave once more.<br> +<br> +“I regret to observe, that the removal of the moral restraint +imposed by the presence of the Mahometan inhabitants has led to a certain +degree of boisterous, though innocent, levity in the bearing of the +Christians, and more especially in the demeanour of those who belong +to the younger portion of the female population; but I feel assured +that a more thorough knowledge of the principles of their own pure religion +will speedily restore these young people to habits of propriety, even +more strict than those which were imposed upon them by the authority +of their Mahometan brethren.” Bah! thus you might chant, +if you chose; but loving the truth, you will not so disown sweet Bethlehem; +you will not disown or dissemble your right good hearty delight when +you find, as though in a desert, this gushing spring of fresh and joyous +girlhood.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XVII - THE DESERT<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Gaza is upon the verge of the Desert, to which it stands in the same +relation as a seaport to the sea. It is there that you <i>charter</i> +your camels (“the ships of the Desert”), and lay in your +stores for the voyage.<br> +<br> +These preparations kept me in the town for some days. Disliking +restraint, I declined making myself the guest of the Governor (as it +is usual and proper to do), but took up my quarters at the caravanserai, +or “khan,” as they call it in that part of Asia.<br> +<br> +Dthemetri had to make the arrangements for my journey, and in order +to arm himself with sufficient authority for doing all that was required, +he found it necessary to put himself in communication with the Governor. +The result of this diplomatic intercourse was that the Governor, with +his train of attendants, came to me one day at my caravanserai, and +formally complained that Dthemetri had grossly insulted him. I +was shocked at this, for the man was always attentive and civil to me, +and I was disgusted at the idea of his having been rewarded with insult. +Dthemetri was present when the complaint was made, and I angrily asked +him whether it was true that he had really insulted the Governor, and +what the deuce he meant by it. This I asked with the full certainty +that Dthemetri, as a matter of course, would deny the charge, would +swear that a “wrong construction had been put upon his words, +and that nothing was further from his thoughts,” &c. &c., +after the manner of the parliamentary people, but to my surprise he +very plainly answered that he certainly <i>had</i> insulted the Governor, +and that rather grossly, but, he said, it was quite necessary to do +this in order to “strike terror and inspire respect.” +“Terror and respect! What on earth do you mean by that nonsense?” +- “Yes, but without striking terror and inspiring respect, he +(Dthemetri) would never be able to force on the arrangements for my +journey, and vossignoria would be kept at Gaza for a month!” +This would have been awkward, and certainly I could not deny that poor +Dthemetri had succeeded in his odd plan of inspiring respect, for at +the very time that this explanation was going on in Italian the Governor +seemed more than ever, and more anxiously, disposed to overwhelm me +with assurances of goodwill, and proffers of his best services. +All this kindness, or promise of kindness, I naturally received with +courtesy - a courtesy that greatly perturbed Dthemetri, for he evidently +feared that my civility would undo all the good that his insults had +achieved.<br> +<br> +You will find, I think, that one of the greatest draw-backs to the pleasure +of travelling in Asia is the being obliged, more or less, to make your +way by bullying. It is true that your own lips are not soiled +by the utterance of all the mean words that are spoken for you, and +that you don’t even know of the sham threats, and the false promises, +and the vainglorious boasts, put forth by your dragoman; but now and +then there happens some incident of the sort which I have just been +mentioning, which forces you to believe, or suspect, that your dragoman +is habitually fighting your battles for you in a way that you can hardly +bear to think of.<br> +<br> +A caravanserai is not ill adapted to the purposes for which it is meant. +It forms the four sides of a large quadrangular court. The ground +floor is used for warehouses, the first floor for guests, and the open +court for the temporary reception of the camels, as well as for the +loading and unloading of their burthens, and the transaction of mercantile +business generally. The apartments used for the guests are small +cells opening into a corridor, which runs round the four sides of the +court.<br> +<br> +Whilst I lay near the opening of my cell looking down into the court +below, there arrived from the Desert a caravan, that is, a large assemblage +of travellers. It consisted chiefly of Moldavian pilgrims, who +to make their good work even more than complete had begun by visiting +the shrine of the Virgin in Egypt, and were now going on to Jerusalem. +They had been overtaken in the Desert by a gale of wind, which so drove +the sand and raised up such mountains before them, that their journey +had been terribly perplexed and obstructed, and their provisions (including +water, the most precious of all) had been exhausted long before they +reached the end of their toilsome march. They were sadly wayworn. +The arrival of the caravan drew many and various groups into the court. +There was the Moldavian pilgrim with his sable dress and cap of fur +and heavy masses of bushy hair; the Turk, with his various and brilliant +garments; the Arab, superbly stalking under his striped blanket, that +hung like royalty upon his stately form; the jetty Ethiopian in his +slavish frock; the sleek, smooth-faced scribe with his comely pelisse, +and his silver ink-box stuck in like a dagger at his girdle. And +mingled with these were the camels, some standing, some kneeling and +being unladen, some twisting round their long necks, and gently stealing +the straw from out of their own pack-saddles.<br> +<br> +In a couple of days I was ready to start. The way of providing +for the passage of the Desert is this: there is an agent in the town +who keeps himself in communication with some of the desert Arabs that +are hovering within a day’s journey of the place. A party +of these upon being guaranteed against seizure or other ill-treatment +at the hands of the Governor come into the town, bringing with them +the number of camels which you require, and then they stipulate for +a certain sum to take you to the place of your destination in a given +time. The agreement which they thus enter into includes a safe +conduct through their country as well as the hire of the camels. +According to the contract made with me I was to reach Cairo within ten +days from the commencement of the journey. I had four camels, +one for my baggage, one for each of my servants, and one for myself. +Four Arabs, the owners of the camels, came with me on foot. My +stores were a small soldier’s tent, two bags of dried bread brought +from the convent at Jerusalem, and a couple of bottles of wine from +the same source, two goat-skins filled with water, tea, sugar, a cold +tongue, and (of all things in the world) a jar of Irish butter which +Mysseri had purchased from some merchant. There was also a small +sack of charcoal, for the greater part of the Desert through which we +were to pass is destitute of fuel.<br> +<br> +The camel kneels to receive her load, and for a while she will allow +the packing to go on with silent resignation; but when she begins to +suspect that her master is putting more than a just burthen upon her +poor hump she turns round her supple neck and looks sadly upon the increasing +load, and then gently remonstrates against the wrong with the sigh of +a patient wife. If sighs will not move you, she can weep. +You soon learn to pity, and soon to love, her for the sake of her gentle +and womanish ways.<br> +<br> +You cannot, of course, put an English or any other riding saddle upon +the back of the camel, but your quilt or carpet, or whatever you carry +for the purpose of lying on at night, is folded and fastened on to the +pack-saddle upon the top of the hump, and on this you ride, or rather +sit. You sit as a man sits on a chair when he sits astride and +faces the back of it. I made an improvement on this plan. +I had my English stirrups strapped on to the cross-bars of the pack-saddle, +and thus by gaining rest for my dangling legs, and gaining too the power +of varying my position more easily than I could otherwise have done, +I added very much to my comfort. Don’t forget to do as I +did.<br> +<br> +The camel, like the elephant, is one of the old-fashioned sort of animals +that still walk along upon the (now nearly exploded) plan of the ancient +beasts that lived before the Flood. She moves forward both her +near legs at the same time, and then awkwardly swings round her off +shoulder and haunch so as to repeat the manoeuvre on that side. +Her pace, therefore, is an odd, disjointed and disjoining, sort of movement +that is rather disagreeable at first, but you soon grow reconciled to +it. The height to which you are raised is of great advantage to +you in passing the burning sands of the Desert, for the air at such +a distance from the ground is much cooler and more lively than that +which circulates beneath.<br> +<br> +For several miles beyond Gaza the land, which had been plentifully watered +by the rains of the last week, was covered with rich verdure, and thickly +jewelled with meadow flowers so fresh and fragrant, that I began to +grow almost uneasy, to fancy that the very Desert was receding before +me, and that the long-desired adventure of passing its “burning +sands” was to end in a mere ride across a field. But as +I advanced the true character of the country began to display itself +with sufficient clearness to dispel my apprehensions, and before the +close of my first day’s journey I had the gratification of finding +that I was surrounded on all sides by a tract of real sand, and had +nothing at all to complain of except that there peeped forth at intervals +a few isolated blades of grass, and many of those stunted shrubs which +are the accustomed food of the camel.<br> +<br> +Before sunset I came up with an encampment of Arabs (the encampment +from which my camels had been brought), and my tent was pitched amongst +theirs. I was now amongst the true Bedouins. Almost every +man of this race closely resembles his brethren. Almost every +man has large and finely-formed features; but his face is so thoroughly +stripped of flesh, and the white folds from his headgear fall down by +his haggard cheeks so much in the burial fashion, that he looks quite +sad and ghastly. His large dark orbs roll slowly and solemnly +over the white of his deep-set eyes; his countenance shows painful thought +and long-suffering, the suffering of one fallen from a high estate. +His gait is strangely majestic, and he marches along with his simple +blanket as though he were wearing the purple. His common talk +is a series of piercing screams and cries, <a name="citation29"></a><a href="#footnote29">{29}</a> +more painful to the ear than the most excruciating fine music that I +ever endured.<br> +<br> +The Bedouin women are not treasured up like the wives and daughters +of other Orientals, and indeed they seemed almost entirely free from +the restraints imposed by jealousy. The feint which they made +of concealing their faces from me was always slight. They never, +I think, wore the <i>yashmak</i> properly fixed. When they first +saw me they used to hold up a part of their drapery with one hand across +their faces, but they seldom persevered very steadily in subjecting +me to this privation. Unhappy beings! they were sadly plain. +The awful haggardness that gave something of character to the faces +of the men was sheer ugliness in the poor women. It is a great +shame, but the truth is that, except when we refer to the beautiful +devotion of the mother to her child, all the fine things we say and +think about woman apply only to those who are tolerably good-looking +or graceful. These Arab women were so plain and clumsy, that they +seemed to me to be fit for nothing but another and a better world. +They may have been good women enough so far as relates to the exercise +of the minor virtues, but they had so grossly neglected the prime duty +of looking pretty in this transitory life, that I could not at all forgive +them. They seemed to feel the weight of their guilt, and to be +truly and humbly penitent. I had the complete command of their +affections, for at any moment I could make their young hearts bound +and their old hearts jump by offering a handful of tobacco, and yet, +believe me, it was not in the first <i>soirée</i> that my store +of Latakia was exhausted.<br> +<br> +The Bedouin women have no religion. This is partly the cause of +their clumsiness. Perhaps if from Christian girls they would learn +how to pray, their souls might become more gentle, and their limbs be +clothed with grace. You who are going into their country have +a direct personal interest in knowing something about “Arab hospitality”; +but the deuce of it is, that the poor fellows with whom I have happened +to pitch my tent were scarcely ever in a condition to exercise that +magnanimous virtue with much <i>éclat</i>. Indeed, Mysseri’s +canteen generally enabled me to outdo my hosts in the matter of entertainment. +They were always courteous, however, and were never backward in offering +me the <i>youart</i>, a kind of whey, which is the principal delicacy +to be found amongst the wandering tribes.<br> +<br> +Practically, I think, Childe Harold would have found it a dreadful bore +to make “the Desert his dwelling-place,” for at all events, +if he adopted the life of the Arabs he would have tasted no solitude. +The tents are partitioned, not so as to divide the Childe and the “fair +spirit” who is his “minister” from the rest of the +world, but so as to separate the twenty or thirty brown men that sit +screaming in the one compartment from the fifty or sixty brown women +and children that scream and squeak in the other. If you adopt +the Arab life for the sake of seclusion you will be horribly disappointed, +for you will find yourself in perpetual contact with a mass of hot fellow-creatures. +It is true that all who are inmates of the same tent are related to +each other, but I am not quite sure that that circumstance adds much +to the charm of such a life. At all events, before you finally +determine to become an Arab try a gentle experiment. Take one +of those small, shabby houses in May Fair, and shut yourself up in it +with forty or fifty shrill cousins for a couple of weeks in July.<br> +<br> +In passing the Desert you will find your Arabs wanting to start and +to rest at all sorts of odd times. They like, for instance, to +be off at one in the morning, and to rest during the whole of the afternoon. +You must not give way to their wishes in this respect. I tried +their plan once, and found it very harassing and unwholesome. +An ordinary tent can give you very little protection against heat, for +the fire strikes fiercely through single canvas, and you soon find that +whilst you lie crouching and striving to hide yourself from the blazing +face of the sun, his power is harder to bear than it is where you boldly +defy him from the airy heights of your camel.<br> +<br> +It had been arranged with my Arabs that they were to bring with them +all the food which they would want for themselves during the passage +of the Desert, but as we rested at the end of the first day’s +journey by the side of an Arab encampment, my camel men found all that +they required for that night in the tents of their own brethren. +On the evening of the second day, however, just before we encamped for +the night, my four Arabs came to Dthemetri, and formally announced that +they had not brought with them one atom of food, and that they looked +entirely to my supplies for their daily bread. This was awkward +intelligence. We were now just two days deep in the Desert, and +I had brought with me no more bread than might be reasonably required +for myself and my European attendants. I believed at the moment +(for it seemed likely enough) that the men had really mistaken the terms +of the arrangement, and feeling that the bore of being put upon half-rations +would be a less evil (and even to myself a less inconvenience) than +the starvation of my Arabs, I at once told Dthemetri to assure them +that my bread should be equally shared with all. Dthemetri, however, +did not approve of this concession; he assured me quite positively that +the Arabs thoroughly understood the agreement, and that if they were +now without food they had wilfully brought themselves into this strait +for the wretched purpose of bettering their bargain by the value of +a few paras’ worth of bread. This suggestion made me look +at the affair in a new light. I should have been glad enough to +put up with the slight privation to which my concession would subject +me, and could have borne to witness the semi-starvation of poor Dthemetri +with a fine, philosophical calm, but it seemed to me that the scheme, +if scheme it were, had something of audacity in it, and was well enough +calculated to try the extent of my softness. I well knew the danger +of allowing such a trial to result in a conclusion that I was one who +might be easily managed; and therefore, after thoroughly satisfying +myself from Dthemetri’s clear and repeated assertions that the +Arabs had really understood the arrangement, I determined that they +should not now violate it by taking advantage of my position in the +midst of their big Desert, so I desired Dthemetri to tell them that +they should touch no bread of mine. We stopped, and the tent was +pitched. The Arabs came to me, and prayed loudly for bread. +I refused them.<br> +<br> +“Then we die!”<br> +<br> +“God’s will be done!”<br> +<br> +I gave the Arabs to understand that I regretted their perishing by hunger, +but that I should bear this calmly, like any other misfortune not my +own, that, in short, I was happily resigned to <i>their</i> fate. +The men would have talked a great deal, but they were under the disadvantage +of addressing me through a hostile interpreter; they looked hard upon +my face, but they found no hope there; so at last they retired as they +pretended, to lay them down and die.<br> +<br> +In about ten minutes from this time I found that the Arabs were busily +cooking their bread! Their pretence of having brought no food +was false, and was only invented for the purpose of saving it. +They had a good bag of meal, which they had contrived to stow away under +the baggage upon one of the camels in such a way as to escape notice. +In Europe the detection of a scheme like this would have occasioned +a disagreeable feeling between the master and the delinquent, but you +would no more recoil from an Oriental on account of a matter of this +sort, than in England you would reject a horse that had tried, and failed, +to throw you. Indeed, I felt quite good-humouredly towards my +Arabs, because they had so woefully failed in their wretched attempt, +and because, as it turned out, I had done what was right. They +too, poor fellows, evidently began to like me immensely, on account +of the hard-heartedness which had enabled me to baffle their scheme.<br> +<br> +The Arabs adhere to those ancestral principles of bread-baking which +have been sanctioned by the experience of ages. The very first +baker of bread that ever lived must have done his work exactly as the +Arab does at this day. He takes some meal and holds it out in +the hollow of his hands, whilst his comrade pours over it a few drops +of water; he then mashes up the moistened flour into a paste, which +he pulls into small pieces, and thrusts into the embers. His way +of baking exactly resembles the craft or mystery of roasting chestnuts +as practised by children; there is the same prudence and circumspection +in choosing a good berth for the morsel, the same enterprise and self-sacrificing +valour in pulling it out with the fingers.<br> +<br> +The manner of my daily march was this. At about an hour before +dawn I rose and made the most of about a pint of water, which I allowed +myself for washing. Then I breakfasted upon tea and bread. +As soon as the beasts were loaded I mounted my camel and pressed forward. +My poor Arabs, being on foot, would sometimes moan with fatigue and +pray for rest; but I was anxious to enable them to perform their contract +for bringing me to Cairo within the stipulated time, and I did not therefore +allow a halt until the evening came. About midday, or soon after, +Mysseri used to bring up his camel alongside of mine, and supply me +with a piece of bread softened in water (for it was dried hard like +board), and also (as long as it lasted) with a piece of the tongue; +after this there came into my hand (how well I remember it) the little +tin cup half-filled with wine and water.<br> +<br> +As long as you are journeying in the interior of the Desert you have +no particular point to make for as your resting-place. The endless +sands yield nothing but small stunted shrubs; even these fail after +the first two or three days, and from that time you pass over broad +plains, you pass over newly-reared hills, you pass through valleys that +the storm of the last week has dug, and the hills and the valleys are +sand, sand, sand, still sand, and only sand, and sand and sand again. +The earth is so samely that your eyes turn towards heaven - towards +heaven, I mean, in the sense of sky. You look to the sun, for +he is your task-master, and by him you know the measure of the work +that you have done, and the measure of the work that remains for you +to do. He comes when you strike your tent in the early morning, +and then, for the first hour of the day as you move forward on your +camel, he stands at your near side and makes you know that the whole +day’s toil is before you; then for a while, and a long while, +you see him no more, for you are veiled and shrouded, and dare not look +upon the greatness of his glory, but you know where he strides overhead +by the touch of his flaming sword. No words are spoken, but your +Arabs moan, your camels sigh, your skin glows, your shoulders ache, +and for sights you see the pattern and the web of the silk that veils +your eyes and the glare of the outer light. Time labours on; your +skin glows and your shoulders ache, your Arabs moan, your camels sigh, +and you see the same pattern in the silk, and the same glare of light +beyond, but conquering Time marches on, and by-and-by the descending +sun has compassed the heaven, and now softly touches your right arm, +and throws your lank shadow over the sand right along on the way to +Persia. Then again you look upon his face, for his power is all +veiled in his beauty, and the redness of flames has become the redness +of roses; the fair, wavy cloud that fled in the morning now comes to +his sight once more, comes blushing, yet still comes on, comes burning +with blushes, yet hastens and clings to his side.<br> +<br> +Then arrives your time for resting. The world about you is all +your own, and there, where you will, you pitch your solitary tent; there +is no living thing to dispute your choice. When at last the spot +had been fixed upon and we came to a halt, one of the Arabs would touch +the chest of my camel and utter at the same time a peculiar gurgling +sound. The beast instantly understood and obeyed the sign, and +slowly sunk under me till she brought her body to a level with the ground, +then gladly enough I alighted. The rest of the camels were unloaded +and turned loose to browse upon the shrubs of the desert, where shrubs +there were, or where these failed, to wait for the small quantity of +food that was allowed them out of our stores.<br> +<br> +My servants, helped by the Arabs, busied themselves in pitching the +tent and kindling the fire. Whilst this was doing I used to walk +away towards the east, confiding in the print of my foot as a guide +for my return. Apart from the cheering voices of my attendants +I could better know and feel the loneliness of the Desert. The +influence of such scenes, however, was not of a softening kind, but +filled me rather with a sort of childish exultation in the self-sufficiency +which enabled me to stand thus alone in the wideness of Asia - a short-lived +pride, for wherever man wanders he still remains tethered by the chain +that links him to his kind; and so when the night closed around me I +began to return, to return, as it were, to my own gate. Reaching +at last some high ground I could see, and see with delight, the fire +of our small encampment, and when at last I regained the spot it seemed +to me a very home that had sprung up for me in the midst of these solitudes. +My Arabs were busy with their bread; Mysseri rattling tea-cups; the +little kettle, with her odd old-maidish looks, sat humming away old +songs about England; and two or three yards from the fire my tent stood +prim and tight, with open portal, and with welcoming look, like “the +old arm-chair” of our lyrist’s “sweet Lady Anne.”<br> +<br> +At the beginning of my journey the night breeze blew coldly; when that +happened, the dry sand was heaped up outside round the skirts of the +tent, and so the wind, that everywhere else could sweep as he listed +along those dreary plains, was forced to turn aside in his course and +make way, as he ought, for the Englishman. Then within my tent +there were heaps of luxuries - dining-rooms, dressing-rooms, libraries, +bedrooms, drawing-rooms, oratories, all crowded into the space of a +hearthrug. The first night, I remember, with my books and maps +about me, I wanted light; they brought me a taper, and immediately from +out of the silent Desert there rushed in a flood of life unseen before. +Monsters of moths, of all shapes and hues, that never before perhaps +had looked upon the shining of a flame, now madly thronged into my tent, +and dashed through the fire of the candle till they fairly extinguished +it with their burning limbs. Those who had failed in attaining +this martyrdom suddenly became serious, and clung despondingly to the +canvas.<br> +<br> +By-and-by there was brought to me the fragrant tea and big masses of +scorched and scorching toast, and the butter that had come all the way +to me in this Desert of Asia from out of that poor, dear, starving Ireland. +I feasted like a king, like four kings, like a boy in the fourth form.<br> +<br> +When the cold, sullen morning dawned, and my people began to load the +camels, I always felt loth to give back to the waste this little spot +of ground that had glowed for a while with the cheerfulness of a human +dwelling. One by one the cloaks, the saddles, the baggage, the +hundred things that strewed the ground and made it look so familiar +- all these were taken away and laid upon the camels. A speck +in the broad tracts of Asia remained still impressed with the mark of +patent portmanteaus and the heels of London boots; the embers of the +fire lay black and cold upon the sand, and these were the signs we left.<br> +<br> +My tent was spared to the last, but when all else was ready for the +start then came its fall; the pegs were drawn, the canvas shivered, +and in less than a minute there was nothing that remained of my genial +home but only a pole and a bundle. The encroaching Englishman +was off, and instant upon the fall of the canvas, like an owner who +had waited and watched, the genius of the Desert stalked in.<br> +<br> +To servants, as I suppose of any other Europeans not much accustomed +to amuse themselves by fancy or memory, it often happens that after +a few days journeying the loneliness of the Desert will become frightfully +oppressive. Upon my poor fellows the access of melancholy came +heavy, and all at once, as a blow from above; they bent their necks, +and bore it as best they could, but their joy was great on the fifth +day when we came to an oasis called Gatieh, for here we found encamped +a caravan (that is, an assemblage of travellers) from Cairo. The +Orientals living in cities never pass the Desert except in this way; +many will wait for weeks, and even for months, until a sufficient number +of persons can be found ready to undertake the journey at the same time +- until the flock of sheep is big enough to fancy itself a match for +wolves. They could not, I think, really secure themselves against +any serious danger by this contrivance, for though they have arms, they +are so little accustomed to use them, and so utterly unorganised, that +they never could make good their resistance to robbers of the slightest +respectability. It is not of the Bedouins that such travellers +are afraid, for the safe conduct granted by the chief of the ruling +tribe is never, I believe, violated, but it is said that there are deserters +and scamps of various sorts who hover about the skirts of the Desert, +particularly on the Cairo side, and are anxious to succeed to the property +of any poor devils whom they may find more weak and defenceless than +themselves.<br> +<br> +These people from Cairo professed to be amazed at the ludicrous disproportion +between their numerical forces and mine. They could not understand, +and they wanted to know, by what strange privilege it is that an Englishman +with a brace of pistols and a couple of servants rides safely across +the Desert, whilst they, the natives of the neighbouring cities, are +forced to travel in troops, or rather in herds. One of them got +a few minutes of private conversation with Dthemetri, and ventured to +ask him anxiously whether the English did not travel under the protection +of evil demons. I had previously known (from Methley, I think, +who had travelled in Persia) that this notion, so conducive to the safety +of our countrymen, is generally prevalent amongst Orientals. It +owes its origin, partly to the strong wilfulness of the English gentleman +(which not being backed by any visible authority, either civil or military, +seems perfectly superhuman to the soft Asiatic), but partly too to the +magic of the banking system, by force of which the wealthy traveller +will make all his journeys without carrying a handful of coin, and yet +when he arrives at a city will rain down showers of gold. The +theory is, that the English traveller has committed some sin against +God and his conscience, and that for this the evil spirit has hold of +him, and drives him from his home like a victim of the old Grecian furies, +and forces him to travel over countries far and strange, and most chiefly +over deserts and desolate places, and to stand upon the sites of cities +that once were and are now no more, and to grope among the tombs of +dead men. Often enough there is something of truth in this notion; +often enough the wandering Englishman is guilty (if guilt it be) of +some pride or ambition, big or small, imperial or parochial, which being +offended has made the lone place more tolerable than ballrooms to him, +a sinner.<br> +<br> +I can understand the sort of amazement of the Orientals at the scantiness +of the retinue with which an Englishman passes the Desert, for I was +somewhat struck myself when I saw one of my countrymen making his way +across the wilderness in this simple style. At first there was +a mere moving speck on the horizon. My party of course became +all alive with excitement, and there were many surmises. Soon +it appeared that three laden camels were approaching, and that two of +them carried riders. In a little while we saw that one of the +riders wore the European dress, and at last the travellers were pronounced +to be an English gentleman and his servant. By their side there +were a couple, I think, of Arabs on foot, and this was the whole party.<br> +<br> +You, you love sailing; in returning from a cruise to the English coast +you see often enough a fisherman’s humble boat far away from all +shores, with an ugly black sky above and an angry sea beneath. +You watch the grizzly old man at the helm carrying his craft with strange +skill through the turmoil of waters, and the boy, supple-limbed, yet +weather-worn already, and with steady eyes that look through the blast, +you see him understanding commandments from the jerk of his father’s +white eyebrow, now belaying and now letting go, now scrunching himself +down into mere ballast, or baling out death with a pipkin. Stale +enough is the sight, and yet when I see it I always stare anew, and +with a kind of Titanic exultation, because that a poor boat with the +brain of a man and the hands of a boy on board can match herself so +bravely against black heaven and ocean. Well, so when you have +travelled for days and days over an Eastern desert without meeting the +likeness of a human being, and then at last see an English shooting-jacket +and his servant come listlessly slouching along from out of the forward +horizon, you stare at the wide unproportion between this slender company +and the boundless plains of sand through which they are keeping their +way.<br> +<br> +This Englishman, as I afterwards found, was a military man returning +to his country from India, and crossing the Desert at this part in order +to go through Palestine. As for me, I had come pretty straight +from England, and so here we met in the wilderness at about half-way +from our respective starting-points. As we approached each other +it became with me a question whether we should speak. I thought +it likely that the stranger would accost me, and in the event of his +doing so I was quite ready to be as sociable and chatty as I could be +according to my nature; but still I could not think of anything particular +that I had to say to him. Of course, among civilised people the +not having anything to say is no excuse at all for not speaking, but +I was shy and indolent, and I felt no great wish to stop and talk like +a morning visitor in the midst of those broad solitudes. The traveller +perhaps felt as I did, for except that we lifted our hands to our caps +and waved our arms in courtesy, we passed each other as if we had passed +in Bond Street. Our attendants, however, were not to be cheated +of the delight that they felt in speaking to new listeners and hearing +fresh voices once more. The masters, therefore, had no sooner +passed each other than their respective servants quietly stopped and +entered into conversation. As soon as my camel found that her +companions were not following her she caught the social feeling and +refused to go on. I felt the absurdity of the situation, and determined +to accost the stranger if only to avoid the awkwardness of remaining +stuck fast in the Desert whilst our servants were amusing themselves. +When with this intent I turned round my camel I found that the gallant +officer who had passed me by about thirty or forty yards was exactly +in the same predicament as myself. I put my now willing camel +in motion and rode up towards the stranger, who seeing this followed +my example and came forward to meet me. He was the first to speak. +He was much too courteous to address me as if he admitted the possibility +of my wishing to accost him from any feeling of mere sociability or +civilian-like love of vain talk. On the contrary, he at once attributed +my advances to a laudable wish of acquiring statistical information, +and accordingly, when we got within speaking distance, he said, “I +dare say you wish to know how the plague is going on at Cairo?” +And then he went on to say, he regretted that his information did not +enable him to give me in numbers a perfectly accurate statement of the +daily deaths. He afterwards talked pleasantly enough upon other +and less ghastly subjects. I thought him manly and intelligent, +a worthy one of the few thousand strong Englishmen to whom the empire +of India is committed.<br> +<br> +The night after the meeting with the people of the caravan, Dthemetri, +alarmed by their warnings, took upon himself to keep watch all night +in the tent. No robbers came except a jackal, that poked his nose +into my tent from some motive of rational curiosity. Dthemetri +did not shoot him for fear of waking me. These brutes swarm in +every part of Syria, and there were many of them even in the midst of +the void sands, that would seem to give such poor promise of food. +I can hardly tell what prey they could be hoping for, unless it were +that they might find now and then the carcass of some camel that had +died on the journey. They do not marshal themselves into great +packs like the wild dogs of Eastern cities, but follow their prey in +families, like the place-hunters of Europe. Their voices are frightfully +like to the shouts and cries of human beings. If you lie awake +in your tent at night you are almost continually hearing some hungry +family as it sweeps along in full cry. You hear the exulting scream +with which the sagacious dam first winds the carrion, and the shrill +response of the unanimous cubs as they sniff the tainted air, “Wha! +wha! wha! wha! wha! wha! Whose gift is it in, mamma?”<br> +<br> +Once during this passage my Arabs lost their way among the hills of +loose sand that surrounded us, but after a while we were lucky enough +to recover our right line of march. The same day we fell in with +a Sheik, the head of a family, that actually dwells at no great distance +from this part of the Desert during nine months of the year. The +man carried a matchlock, of which he was very proud. We stopped +and sat down and rested awhile for the sake of a little talk. +There was much that I should have liked to ask this man, but he could +not understand Dthemetri’s language, and the process of getting +at his knowledge by double interpretation through my Arabs was unsatisfactory. +I discovered, however (and my Arabs knew of that fact), that this man +and his family lived habitually for nine months of the year without +touching or seeing either bread or water. The stunted shrub growing +at intervals through the sand in this part of the Desert enables the +camel mares to yield a little milk, which furnishes the sole food and +drink of their owner and his people. During the other three months +(the hottest of the months, I suppose) even this resource fails, and +then the Sheik and his people are forced to pass into another district. +You would ask me why the man should not remain always in that district +which supplies him with water during three months of the year, but I +don’t know enough of Arab politics to answer the question. +The Sheik was not a good specimen of the effect produced by the diet +to which he is subjected. He was very small, very spare, and sadly +shrivelled, a poor, over-roasted snipe, a mere cinder of a man. +I made him sit down by my side, and gave him a piece of bread and a +cup of water from out of my goat-skins. This was not very tempting +drink to look at, for it had become turbid, and was deeply reddened +by some colouring matter contained in the skins, but it kept its sweetness, +and tasted like a strong decoction of russia leather. The Sheik +sipped this, drop by drop, with ineffable relish, and rolled his eyes +solemnly round between every draught, as though the drink were the drink +of the Prophet, and had come from the seventh heaven.<br> +<br> +An inquiry about distances led to the discovery that this Sheik had +never heard of the division of time into hours; my Arabs themselves, +I think, were rather surprised at this.<br> +<br> +About this part of my journey I saw the likeness of a fresh-water lake. +I saw, as it seemed, a broad sheet of calm water, that stretched far +and fair towards the south, stretching deep into winding creeks, and +hemmed in by jutting promontories, and shelving smooth off towards the +shallow side. On its bosom the reflected fire of the sun lay playing, +and seeming to float upon waters deep and still.<br> +<br> +Though I knew of the cheat, it was not till the spongy foot of my camel +had almost trodden in the seeming waters that I could undeceive my eyes, +for the shore-line was quite true and natural. I soon saw the +cause of the phantasm. A sheet of water heavily impregnated with +salts had filled this great hollow, and when dried up by evaporation +had left a white saline deposit, that exactly marked the space which +the waters had covered, and thus sketched a good shore-line. The +minute crystals of the salt sparkled in the sun, and so looked like +the face of a lake that is calm and smooth.<br> +<br> +The pace of the camel is irksome, and makes your shoulders and loins +ache from the peculiar way in which you are obliged to suit yourself +to the movements of the beast, but you soon of course become inured +to this, and after the first two days this way of travelling became +so familiar to me, that (poor sleeper as I am) I now and then slumbered +for some moments together on the back of my camel. On the fifth +day of my journey the air above lay dead, and all the whole earth that +I could reach with my utmost sight and keenest listening was still and +lifeless as some dispeopled and forgotten world that rolls round and +round in the heavens through wasted floods of light. The sun growing +fiercer and fiercer shone down more mightily now than ever on me he +shone before, and as I dropped my head under his fire, and closed my +eyes against the glare that surrounded me, I slowly fell asleep, for +how many minutes or moments I cannot tell, but after a while I was gently +awakened by a peal of church bells, my native bells, the innocent bells +of Marlen, that never before sent forth their music beyond the Blaygon +hills! My first idea naturally was, that I still remained fast +under the power of a dream. I roused myself and drew aside the +silk that covered my eyes, and plunged my bare face into the light. +Then at least I was well enough wakened, but still those old Marlen +bells rung on, not ringing for joy, but properly, prosily, steadily, +merrily ringing “for church.” After a while the sound +died away slowly. It happened that neither I nor any of my party +had a watch by which to measure the exact time of its lasting, but it +seemed to me that about ten minutes had passed before the bells ceased. +I attributed the effect to the great heat of the sun, the perfect dryness +of the clear air through which I moved, and the deep stillness of all +around me. It seemed to me that these causes, by occasioning a +great tension, and consequent susceptibility, of the hearing organs +had rendered them liable to tingle under the passing touch of some mere +memory that must have swept across my brain in a moment of sleep. +Since my return to England it has been told me that like sounds have +been heard at sea, and that the sailor becalmed under a vertical sun +in the midst of the wide ocean has listened in trembling wonder to the +chime of his own village bells.<br> +<br> +At this time I kept a poor shabby pretence of a journal, which just +enabled me to know the day of the month and the week according to the +European calendar, and when in my tent at night I got out my pocket-book +I found that the day was Sunday, and roughly allowing for the difference +of time in this longitude, I concluded that at the moment of my hearing +that strange peal the church-going bells of Marlen must have been actually +calling the prim congregation of the parish to morning prayer. +The coincidence amused me faintly, but I could not pluck up the least +hope that the effect which I had experienced was anything other than +an illusion, an illusion liable to be explained (as every illusion is +in these days) by some of the philosophers who guess at Nature’s +riddles. It would have been sweeter to believe that my kneeling +mother by some pious enchantment had asked, and found, this spell to +rouse me from my scandalous forgetfulness of God’s holy day, but +my fancy was too weak to carry a faith like that. Indeed, the +vale through which the bells of Marlen send their song is a highly respectable +vale, and its people (save one, two, or three) are wholly unaddicted +to the practice of magical arts.<br> +<br> +After the fifth day of my journey I no longer travelled over shifting +hills, but came upon a dead level, a dead level bed of sand, quite hard, +and studded with small shining pebbles.<br> +<br> +The heat grew fierce; there was no valley nor hollow, no hill, no mound, +no shadow of hill nor of mound, by which I could mark the way I was +making. Hour by hour I advanced, and saw no change - I was still +the very centre of a round horizon; hour by hour I advanced, and still +there was the same, and the same, and the same - the same circle of +flaming sky - the same circle of sand still glaring with light and fire. +Over all the heaven above, over all the earth beneath, there was no +visible power that could balk the fierce will of the sun: “he +rejoiced as a strong man to run a race; his going forth was from the +end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there was +nothing hid from the heat thereof.” From pole to pole, and +from the east to the west, he brandished his fiery sceptre as though +he had usurped all heaven and earth. As he bid the soft Persian +in ancient times, so now, and fiercely too, he bid me bow down and worship +him; so now in his pride he seemed to command me, and say, “Thou +shalt have none other gods but me.” I was all alone before +him. There were these two pitted together, and face to face - +the mighty sun for one, and for the other this poor, pale, solitary +self of mine, that I always carry about with me.<br> +<br> +But on the eighth day, and before I had yet turned away from Jehovah +for the glittering god of the Persians, there appeared a dark line upon +the edge of the forward horizon, and soon the line deepened into a delicate +fringe, that sparkled here and there as though it were sewn with diamonds. +There, then, before me were the gardens and the minarets of Egypt and +the mighty works of the Nile, and I (the eternal Ego that I am!) - I +had lived to see, and I saw them.<br> +<br> +When evening came I was still within the confines of the Desert, and +my tent was pitched as usual; but one of my Arabs stalked away rapidly +towards the west, without telling me of the errand on which he was bent. +After a while he returned; he had toiled on a graceful service; he had +travelled all the way on to the border of the living world, and brought +me back for token an ear of rice, full, fresh, and green.<br> +<br> +The next day I entered upon Egypt, and floated along (for the delight +was as the delight of bathing) through green wavy fields of rice, and +pastures fresh and plentiful, and dived into the cold verdure of groves +and gardens, and quenched my hot eyes in shade, as though in deep, rushing +waters.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XVIII - CAIRO AND THE PLAGUE <a name="citation30"></a><a href="#footnote30">{30}</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Cairo and plague! During the whole time of my stay the plague +was so master of the city, and showed itself so staringly in every street +and every alley, that I can’t now affect to dissociate the two +ideas.<br> +<br> +When coming from the Desert I rode through a village which lies near +to the city on the eastern side, there approached me with busy face +and earnest gestures a personage in the Turkish dress. His long +flowing beard gave him rather a majestic look, but his briskness of +manner, and his visible anxiety to accost me, seemed strange in an Oriental. +The man in fact was French, or of French origin, and his object was +to warn me of the plague, and prevent me from entering the city.<br> +<br> +“Arrêtez-vous, monsieur, je vous en prie - arrêtez-vous; +il ne faut pas entrer dans la ville; la peste y règne partout.”<br> +<br> +“Oui, je sais,<a name="citation31"></a><a href="#footnote31">{31}</a> +mais - ”<br> +<br> +“Mais monsieur, je dis la peste - la peste; c’est de LA +PESTE, qu’il est question.”<br> +<br> +“Oui, je sais, mais - ”<br> +<br> +“Mais monsieur, je dis encore LA PESTE - LA PESTE. Je vous +conjure de ne pas entrer dans la ville - vous seriez dans une ville +empestée.”<br> +<br> +“Oui, je sais, mais - ”<br> +<br> +“Mais monsieur, je dois donc vous avertir tout bonnement que si +vous entrez dans la ville, vous serez - enfin vous serez COMPROMIS!” +<a name="citation32"></a><a href="#footnote32">{32}</a><br> +<br> +“Oui, je sais, mais - ”<br> +<br> + The Frenchman was at last convinced that it was vain to reason +with a mere Englishman, who could not understand what it was to be “compromised.” +I thanked him most sincerely for his kindly meant warning; in hot countries +it is very unusual indeed for a man to go out in the glare of the sun +and give free advice to a stranger.<br> +<br> +When I arrived at Cairo I summoned Osman Effendi, who was, as I knew, +the owner of several houses, and would be able to provide me with apartments. +He had no difficulty in doing this, for there was not one European traveller +in Cairo besides myself. Poor Osman! he met me with a sorrowful +countenance, for the fear of the plague sat heavily on his soul. +He seemed as if he felt that he was doing wrong in lending me a resting-place, +and he betrayed such a listlessness about temporal matters, as one might +look for in a man who believed that his days were numbered. He +caught me too soon after my arrival coming out from the public baths, +<a name="citation33"></a><a href="#footnote33">{33}</a> and from that +time forward he was sadly afraid of me, for he shared the opinions of +Europeans with respect to the effect of contagion.<br> +<br> +Osman’s history is a curious one. He was a Scotchman born, +and when very young, being then a drummer-boy, he landed in Egypt with +Fraser’s force. He was taken prisoner, and according to +Mahometan custom, the alternative of death or the Koran was offered +to him; he did not choose death, and therefore went through the ceremonies +which were necessary for turning him into a good Mahometan. But +what amused me most in his history was this, that very soon after having +embraced Islam he was obliged in practice to become curious and discriminating +in his new faith, to make war upon Mahometan dissenters, and follow +the orthodox standard of the Prophet in fierce campaigns against the +Wahabees, who are the Unitarians of the Mussulman world. The Wahabees +were crushed, and Osman returning home in triumph from his holy wars, +began to flourish in the world. He acquired property, and became +<i>effendi</i>, or gentleman. At the time of my visit to Cairo +he seemed to be much respected by his brother Mahometans, and gave pledge +of his sincere alienation from Christianity by keeping a couple of wives. +He affected the same sort of reserve in mentioning them as is generally +shown by Orientals. He invited me, indeed, to see his harem, but +he made both his wives bundle out before I was admitted. He felt, +as it seemed to me, that neither of them would bear criticism, and I +think that this idea, rather than any motive of sincere jealousy, induced +him to keep them out of sight. The rooms of the harem reminded +me of an English nursery rather than of a Mahometan paradise. +One is apt to judge of a woman before one sees her by the air of elegance +or coarseness with which she surrounds her home; I judged Osman’s +wives by this test, and condemned them both. But the strangest +feature in Osman’s character was his inextinguishable nationality. +In vain they had brought him over the seas in early boyhood; in vain +had he suffered captivity, conversion, circumcision; in vain they had +passed him through fire in their Arabian campaigns, they could not cut +away or burn out poor Osman’s inborn love of all that was Scotch; +in vain men called him Effendi; in vain he swept along in eastern robes; +in vain the rival wives adorned his harem: the joy of his heart still +plainly lay in this, that he had three shelves of books, and that the +books were thoroughbred Scotch - the Edinburgh this, the Edinburgh that, +and above all, I recollect, he prided himself upon the “Edinburgh +Cabinet Library.”<br> +<br> +The fear of the plague is its forerunner. It is likely enough +that at the time of my seeing poor Osman the deadly taint was beginning +to creep through his veins, but it was not till after I had left Cairo +that he was visibly stricken. He died.<br> +<br> +As soon as I had seen all that I wanted to see in Cairo and in the neighbourhood +I wished to make my escape from a city that lay under the terrible curse +of the plague, but Mysseri fell ill, in consequence, I believe, of the +hardships which he had been suffering in my service. After a while +he recovered sufficiently to undertake a journey, but then there was +some difficulty in procuring beasts of burthen, and it was not till +the nineteenth day of my sojourn that I quitted the city.<br> +<br> +During all this time the power of the plague was rapidly increasing. +When I first arrived, it was said that the daily number of “accidents” +by plague, out of a population of about two hundred thousand, did not +exceed four or five hundred, but before I went away the deaths were +reckoned at twelve hundred a day. I had no means of knowing whether +the numbers (given out, as I believe they were, by officials) were at +all correct, but I could not help knowing that from day to day the number +of the dead was increasing. My quarters were in a street which +was one of the chief thoroughfares of the city. The funerals in +Cairo take place between daybreak and noon, and as I was generally in +my rooms during this part of the day, I could form some opinion as to +the briskness of the plague. I don’t mean this for a sly +insinuation that I got up every morning with the sun. It was not +so; but the funerals of most people in decent circumstances at Cairo +are attended by singers and howlers, and the performances of these people +woke me in the early morning, and prevented me from remaining in ignorance +of what was going on in the street below.<br> +<br> +These funerals were very simply conducted. The bier was a shallow +wooden tray, carried upon a light and weak wooden frame. The tray +had, in general, no lid, but the body was more or less hidden from view +by a shawl or scarf. The whole was borne upon the shoulders of +men, who contrived to cut along with their burthen at a great pace. +Two or three singers generally preceded the bier; the howlers (who are +paid for their vocal labours) followed after, and last of all came such +of the dead man’s friends and relations as could keep up with +such a rapid procession; these, especially the women, would get terribly +blown, and would straggle back into the rear; many were fairly “beaten +off.” I never observed any appearance of mourning in the +mourners: the pace was too severe for any solemn affectation of grief.<br> +<br> +When first I arrived at Cairo the funerals that daily passed under my +windows were many, but still there were frequent and long intervals +without a single howl. Every day, however (except one, when I +fancied that I observed a diminution of funerals), these intervals became +less frequent and shorter, and at last, the passing of the howlers from +morn till noon was almost incessant. I believe that about one-half +of the whole people was carried off by this visitation. The Orientals, +however, have more quiet fortitude than Europeans under afflictions +of this sort, and they never allow the plague to interfere with their +religious usages. I rode one day round the great burial-ground. +The tombs are strewed over a great expanse, among the vast mountains +of rubbish (the accumulations of many centuries) which surround the +city. The ground, unlike the Turkish “cities of the dead,” +which are made so beautiful by their dark cypresses, has nothing to +sweeten melancholy, nothing to mitigate the odiousness of death. +Carnivorous beasts and birds possess the place by night, and now in +the fair morning it was all alive with fresh comers - alive with dead. +Yet at this very time, when the plague was raging so furiously, and +on this very ground, which resounded so mournfully with the howls of +arriving funerals, preparations were going on for the religious festival +called the Kourban Bairam. Tents were pitched, and <i>swings hung +for the amusement of children</i> - a ghastly holiday; but the Mahometans +take a pride, and a just pride, in following their ancient customs undisturbed +by the shadow of death.<br> +<br> +I did not hear, whilst I was at Cairo, that any prayer for a remission +of the plague had been offered up in the mosques. I believe that +however frightful the ravages of the disease may be, the Mahometans +refrain from approaching Heaven with their complaints until the plague +has endured for a long space, and then at last they pray God, not that +the plague may cease, but that it may go to another city!<br> +<br> +A good Mussulman seems to take pride in repudiating the European notion +that the will of God can be eluded by eluding the touch of a sleeve. +When I went to see the pyramids of Sakkara I was the guest of a noble +old fellow, an Osmanlee, whose soft rolling language it was a luxury +to hear after suffering, as I had suffered of late, from the shrieking +tongue of the Arabs. This man was aware of the European ideas +about contagion, and his first care therefore was to assure me that +not a single instance of plague had occurred in his village. He +then inquired as to the progress of the plague at Cairo. I had +but a bad account to give. Up to this time my host had carefully +refrained from touching me out of respect to the European theory of +contagion, but as soon as it was made plain that he, and not I, would +be the person endangered by contact, he gently laid his hand upon my +arm, in order to make me feel sure that the circumstance of my coming +from an infected city did not occasion him the least uneasiness. +In that touch there was true hospitality.<br> +<br> +Very different is the faith and the practice of the Europeans, or rather, +I mean of the Europeans settled in the East, and commonly called Levantines. +When I came to the end of my journey over the Desert I had been so long +alone, that the prospect of speaking to somebody at Cairo seemed almost +a new excitement. I felt a sort of consciousness that I had a +little of the wild beast about me, but I was quite in the humour to +be charmingly tame, and to be quite engaging in my manners, if I should +have an opportunity of holding communion with any of the human race +whilst at Cairo. I knew no one in the place, and had no letters +of introduction, but I carried letters of credit, and it often happens +in places remote from England that those “advices” operate +as a sort of introduction, and obtain for the bearer (if disposed to +receive them) such ordinary civilities as it may be in the power of +the banker to offer.<br> +<br> +Very soon after my arrival I went to the house of the Levantine to whom +my credentials were addressed. At his door several persons (all +Arabs) were hanging about and keeping guard. It was not till after +some delay, and the passing of some communications with those in the +interior of the citadel, that I was admitted. At length, however, +I was conducted through the court, and up a flight of stairs, and finally +into the apartment where business was transacted. The room was +divided by an excellent, substantial fence of iron bars, and behind +this grille the banker had his station. The truth was, that from +fear of the plague he had adopted the course usually taken by European +residents, and had shut himself up “in strict quarantine” +- that is to say, that he had, as he hoped, cut himself off from all +communication with infecting substances. The Europeans long resident +in the East, without any, or with scarcely any, exception are firmly +convinced that the plague is propagated by contact, and by contact only; +that if they can but avoid the touch of an infecting substance they +are safe, and that if they cannot, they die. This belief induces +them to adopt the contrivance of putting themselves in that state of +siege which they call “quarantine.” It is a part of +their faith that metals, and hempen rope, and also, I fancy, one or +two other substances, will not carry the infection; and they likewise +believe that the germ of pestilence, which lies in an infected substance, +may be destroyed by submersion in water, or by the action of smoke. +They therefore guard the doors of their houses with the utmost care +against intrusion, and condemn themselves, with all the members of their +family, including any European servants, to a strict imprisonment within +the walls of their dwelling. Their native attendants are not allowed +to enter at all, but they make the necessary purchases of provisions, +which are hauled up through one of the windows by means of a rope, and +are then soaked in water.<br> +<br> +I knew nothing of these mysteries, and was not therefore prepared for +the sort of reception which I met with. I advanced to the iron +fence, and putting my letter between the bars, politely proffered it +to Mr. Banker. Mr. Banker received me with a sad and dejected +look, and not “with open arms,” or with any arms at all, +but with - a pair of tongs! I placed my letter between the iron +fingers, which picked it up as if it were a viper, and conveyed it away +to be scorched and purified by fire and smoke. I was disgusted +at this reception, and at the idea that anything of mine could carry +infection to the poor wretch who stood on the other side of the grille, +pale and trembling, and already meet for death. I looked with +something of the Mahometan’s feeling upon these little contrivances +for eluding fate; and in this instance, at least, they were vain. +A few more days, and the poor money-changer, who had striven to guard +the days of his life (as though they were coins) with bolts and bars +of iron - he was seized by the plague, and he died.<br> +<br> +To people entertaining such opinions as these respecting the fatal effect +of contact, the narrow and crowded streets of Cairo were terrible as +the easy slope that leads to Avernus. The roaring ocean and the +beetling crags owe something of their sublimity to this - that if they +be tempted, they can take the warm life of a man. To the contagionist, +filled as he is with the dread of final causes, having no faith in destiny +nor in the fixed will of God, and with none of the devil-may-care indifference +which might stand him instead of creeds - to such one, every rag that +shivers in the breeze of a plague-stricken city has this sort of sublimity. +If by any terrible ordinance he be forced to venture forth, he sees +death dangling from every sleeve, and as he creeps forward, he poises +his shuddering limbs between the imminent jacket that is stabbing at +his right elbow and the murderous pelisse that threatens to mow him +clean down as it sweeps along on his left. But most of all, he +dreads that which most of all he should love - the touch of a woman’s +dress; for mothers and wives, hurrying forth on kindly errands from +the bedsides of the dying, go slouching along through the streets more +wilfully and less courteously than the men. For a while it may +be that the caution of the poor Levantine may enable him to avoid contact, +but sooner or later perhaps the dreaded chance arrives; that bundle +of linen, with the dark tearful eyes at the top of it, that labours +along with the voluptuous clumsiness of Grisi - she has touched the +poor Levantine with the hem of her sleeve! From that dread moment +his peace is gone; his mind, for ever hanging upon the fatal touch, +invites the blow which he fears. He watches for the symptoms of +plague so carefully, that sooner or later they come in truth. +The parched mouth is a sign - his mouth is parched; the throbbing brain +- his brain <i>does</i> throb; the rapid pulse - he touches his own +wrist (for he dares not ask counsel of any man lest he be deserted), +he touches his wrist, and feels how his frighted blood goes galloping +out of his heart; there is nothing but the fatal swelling that is wanting +to make his sad conviction complete; immediately he has an odd feel +under the arm - no pain, but a little straining of the skin; he would +to God it were his fancy that were strong enough to give him that sensation. +This is the worst of all; it now seems to him that he could be happy +and contented with his parched mouth and his throbbing brain and his +rapid pulse, if only he could know that there were no swelling under +the left arm; but dare he try? - In a moment of calmness and deliberation +he dares not, but when for a while he has writhed under the torture +of suspense, a sudden strength of will drives him to seek and know his +fate. He touches the gland, and finds the skin sane and sound, +but under the cuticle there lies a small lump like a pistol-bullet, +that moves as he pushes it. Oh! but is this for all certainty, +is this the sentence of death? Feel the gland of the other arm; +there is not the same lump exactly, yet something a little like it: +have not some people glands naturally enlarged? - would to Heaven he +were one! So he does for himself the work of the plague, and when +the Angel of Death, thus courted, does indeed and in truth come, he +has only to finish that which has been so well begun; he passes his +fiery hand over the brain of the victim, and lets him rave for a season, +but all chance-wise, of people and things once dear, or of people and +things indifferent. Once more the poor fellow is back at his home +in fair Provence, and sees the sun-dial that stood in his childhood’s +garden; sees part of his mother, and the long-since-forgotten face of +that little dead sister (he sees her, he says, on a Sunday morning, +for all the church bells are ringing); he looks up and down through +the universe, and owns it well piled with bales upon bales of cotton, +and cotton eternal - so much so that he feels, he knows, he swears he +could make that winning hazard, if the billiard table would not slant +upwards, and if the cue were a cue worth playing with; but it is not +- it’s a cue that won’t move - his own arm won’t move +- in short, there’s the devil to pay in the brain of the poor +Levantine, and perhaps the next night but one he becomes the “life +and the soul” of some squalling jackal family who fish him out +by the foot from his shallow and sandy grave.<br> +<br> +Better fate was mine. By some happy perverseness (occasioned perhaps +by my disgust at the notion of being received with a pair of tongs) +I took it into my pleasant head that all the European notions about +contagion were thoroughly unfounded; that the plague might be providential +or “epidemic” (as they phrase it), but was not contagious; +and that I could not be killed by the touch of a woman’s sleeve, +nor yet by her blessed breath. I therefore determined that the +plague should not alter my habits and amusements in any one respect. +Though I came to this resolve from impulse, I think that I took the +course which was in effect the most prudent, for the cheerfulness of +spirits which I was thus enabled to retain discouraged the yellow-winged +angel, and prevented him from taking a shot at me. I, however, +so far respected the opinion of the Europeans, that I avoided touching +when I could do so without privation or inconvenience. This endeavour +furnished me with a sort of amusement as I passed through the streets. +The usual mode of moving from place to place in the city of Cairo is +upon donkeys, of which great numbers are always in readiness, with donkey-boys +attached. I had two who constantly (until one of them died of +the plague) waited at my door upon the chance of being wanted. +I found this way of moving about exceedingly pleasant, and never attempted +any other. I had only to mount my beast, and tell my donkey-boy +the point for which I was bound, and instantly I began to glide on at +a capital pace. The streets of Cairo are not paved in any way, +but strewed with a dry sandy soil, so deadening to sound, that the footfall +of my donkey could scarcely be heard. There is no <i>trottoir</i>, +and as you ride through the streets you mingle with the people on foot. +Those who are in your way, upon being warned by the shouts of the donkey-boy, +move very slightly aside, so as to leave you a narrow lane, through +which you pass at a gallop. In this way you glide on delightfully +in the very midst of crowds, without being inconvenienced or stopped +for a moment. It seems to you that it is not the donkey but the +donkey-boy who wafts you on with his shouts through pleasant groups, +and air that feels thick with the fragrance of burial spice. “Eh! +Sheik, Eh! Bint, - reggalek, - “shumalek, &c. &c. +- O old man, O virgin, get out of the way on the right - O virgin, O +old man, get out of the way on the left - this Englishman comes, he +comes, he comes!” The narrow alley which these shouts cleared +for my passage made it possible, though difficult, to go on for a long +way without touching a single person, and my endeavours to avoid such +contact were a sort of game for me in my loneliness, which was not without +interest. If I got through a street without being touched, I won; +if I was touched, I lost - lost a deuce of stake, according to the theory +of the Europeans; but that I deemed to be all nonsense - I only lost +that game, and would certainly win the next.<br> +<br> +There is not much in the way of public buildings to admire at Cairo, +but I saw one handsome mosque, to which an instructive history is attached. +A Hindustanee merchant having amassed an immense fortune settled in +Cairo, and soon found that his riches in the then state of the political +world gave him vast power in the city - power, however, the exercise +of which was much restrained by the counteracting influence of other +wealthy men. With a view to extinguish every attempt at rivalry +the Hindustanee merchant built this magnificent mosque at his own expense. +When the work was complete, he invited all the leading men of the city +to join him in prayer within the walls of the newly built temple, and +he then caused to be massacred all those who were sufficiently influential +to cause him any jealousy or uneasiness - in short, all “the respectable +men” of the place; after this he possessed undisputed power in +the city and was greatly revered - he is revered to this day. +It seemed to me that there was a touching simplicity in the mode which +this man so successfully adopted for gaining the confidence and goodwill +of his fellow-citizens. There seems to be some improbability in +the story (though not nearly so gross as it might appear to an European +ignorant of the East, for witness Mehemet Ali’s destruction of +the Mamelukes, a closely similar act, and attended with the like brilliant +success <a name="citation34"></a><a href="#footnote34">{34}</a>), but +even if the story be false as a mere fact, it is perfectly true as an +illustration - it is a true exposition of the means by which the respect +and affection of Orientals may be conciliated.<br> +<br> +I ascended one day to the citadel, which commands a superb view of the +town. The fanciful and elaborate gilt-work of the many minarets +gives a light and florid grace to the city as seen from this height, +but before you can look for many seconds at such things your eyes are +drawn westward - drawn westward and over the Nile, till they rest upon +the massive enormities of the Ghizeh Pyramids.<br> +<br> +I saw within the fortress many yoke of men all haggard and woebegone, +and a kennel of very fine lions well fed and flourishing: I say <i>yoke</i> +of men, for the poor fellows were working together in bonds; I say a +<i>kennel</i> of lions, for the beasts were not enclosed in cages, but +simply chained up like dogs.<br> +<br> +I went round the bazaars: it seemed to me that pipes and arms were cheaper +here than at Constantinople, and I should advise you therefore if you +go to both places to prefer the market of Cairo. I had previously +bought several of such things at Constantinople, and did not choose +to encumber myself, or to speak more honestly, I did not choose to disencumber +my purse by making any more purchases. In the open slave-market +I saw about fifty girls exposed for sale, but all of them black, or +“invisible” brown. A slave agent took me to some rooms +in the upper storey of the building, and also into several obscure houses +in the neighbourhood, with a view to show me some white women. +The owners raised various objections to the display of their ware, and +well they might, for I had not the least notion of purchasing; some +refused on account of the illegality of the proceeding, <a name="citation35"></a><a href="#footnote35">{35}</a> +and others declared that all transactions of this sort were completely +out of the question as long as the plague was raging. I only succeeded +in seeing one white slave who was for sale but on this one the owner +affected to set an immense value, and raised my expectations to a high +pitch by saying that the girl was Circassian, and was “fair as +the full moon.” After a good deal of delay I was at last +led into a room, at the farther end of which was that mass of white +linen which indicates an Eastern woman. She was bid to uncover +her face, and I presently saw that, though very far from being good +looking, according to my notion of beauty, she had not been inaptly +described by the man who compared her to the full moon, for her large +face was perfectly round and perfectly white. Though very young, +she was nevertheless extremely fat. She gave me the idea of having +been got up for sale, of having been fattened and whitened by medicines +or by some peculiar diet. I was firmly determined not to see any +more of her than the face. She was perhaps disgusted at this my +virtuous resolve, as well as with my personal appearance; perhaps she +saw my distaste and disappointment; perhaps she wished to gain favour +with her owner by showing her attachment to his faith: at all events, +she holloaed out very lustily and very decidedly that “she would +not be bought by the infidel.”<br> +<br> +Whilst I remained at Cairo I thought it worth while to see something +of the magicians, because I considered that these men were in some sort +the descendants of those who contended so stoutly against the superior +power of Aaron. I therefore sent for an old man who was held to +be the chief of the magicians, and desired him to show me the wonders +of his art. The old man looked and dressed his character exceedingly +well; the vast turban, the flowing beard, and the ample robes were all +that one could wish in the way of appearance. The first experiment +(a very stale one) which he attempted to perform for me was that of +showing the forms and faces of my absent friends, not to me, but to +a boy brought in from the streets for the purpose, and said to be chosen +at random. A <i>mangale</i> (pan of burning charcoal) was brought +into my room, and the magician bending over it, sprinkled upon the fire +some substances which must have consisted partly of spices or sweetly +burning woods, for immediately a fragrant smoke arose that curled around +the bending form of the wizard, the while that he pronounced his first +incantations. When these were over the boy was made to sit down, +and a common green shade was bound over his brow; then the wizard took +ink, and still continuing his incantations, wrote certain mysterious +figures upon the boy’s palm, and directed him to rivet his attention +to these marks without looking aside for an instant. Again the +incantations proceeded, and after a while the boy, being seemingly a +little agitated, was asked whether he saw anything on the palm of his +hand. He declared that he saw a kind of military procession, with +flags and banners, which he described rather minutely. I was then +called upon to name the absent person whose form was to be made visible. +I named Keate. You were not at Eton, and I must tell you, therefore, +what manner of man it was that I named, though I think you must have +some idea of him already, for wherever from utmost Canada to Bundelcund +- wherever there was the whitewashed wall of an officer’s room, +or of any other apartment in which English gentlemen are forced to kick +their heels, there likely enough (in the days of his reign) the head +of Keate would be seen scratched or drawn with those various degrees +of skill which one observes in the representations of saints. +Anybody without the least notion of drawing could still draw a speaking, +nay scolding, likeness of Keate. If you had no pencil, you could +draw him well enough with a poker, or the leg of a chair, or the smoke +of a candle. He was little more (if more at all) than five feet +in height, and was not very great in girth, but in this space was concentrated +the pluck of ten battalions. He had a really noble voice, which +he could modulate with great skill, but he had also the power of quacking +like an angry duck, and he almost always adopted this mode of communication +in order to inspire respect. He was a capital scholar, but his +ingenuous learning had <i>not</i> “softened his manners” +and <i>had</i> “permitted them to be fierce” - tremendously +fierce; he had the most complete command over his temper - I mean over +his <i>good</i> temper, which he scarcely ever allowed to appear: you +could not put him out of humour - that is, out of the <i>ill</i>-humour +which he thought to be fitting for a head-master. His red shaggy +eyebrows were so prominent, that he habitually used them as arms and +hands for the purpose of pointing out any object towards which he wished +to direct attention; the rest of his features were equally striking +in their way, and were all and all his own; he wore a fancy dress partly +resembling the costume of Napoleon, and partly that of a widow-woman. +I could not by any possibility have named anybody more decidedly differing +in appearance from the rest of the human race.<br> +<br> +“Whom do you name?” - “I name John Keate.” - +“Now, what do you see?” said the wizard to the boy. - “I +see,” answered the boy, “I see a fair girl with golden hair, +blue eyes, pallid face, rosy lips.” <i>There</i> was a shot! +I shouted out my laughter to the horror of the wizard, who perceiving +the grossness of his failure, declared that the boy must have known +sin (for none but the innocent can see truth), and accordingly kicked +him downstairs.<br> +<br> +One or two other boys were tried, but none could “see truth”; +they all made sadly “bad shots.”<br> +<br> +Notwithstanding the failure of these experiments, I wished to see what +sort of mummery my magician would practise if I called upon him to show +me some performances of a higher order than those which had been attempted. +I therefore entered into a treaty with him, in virtue of which he was +to descend with me into the tombs near the Pyramids, and there evoke +the devil. The negotiation lasted some time, for Dthemetri, as +in duty bound, tried to beat down the wizard as much as he could, and +the wizard, on his part, manfully stuck up for his price, declaring +that to raise the devil was really no joke, and insinuating that to +do so was an awesome crime. I let Dthemetri have his way in the +negotiation, but I felt in reality very indifferent about the sum to +be paid, and for this reason, namely, that the payment (except a very +small present which I might make or not, as I chose) was to be <i>contingent +on success</i>. At length the bargain was made, and it was arranged +that after a few days, to be allowed for preparation, the wizard should +raise the devil for two pounds ten, play or pay - no devil, no piastres.<br> +<br> +The wizard failed to keep his appointment. I sent to know why +the deuce he had not come to raise the devil. The truth was, that +my Mahomet had gone to the mountain. The plague had seized him, +and he died.<br> +<br> +Although the plague had now spread terrible havoc around me, I did not +see very plainly any corresponding change in the looks of the streets +until the seventh day after my arrival. I then first observed +that the city was <i>silenced</i>. There were no outward signs +of despair nor of violent terror, but many of the voices that had swelled +the busy hum of men were already hushed in death, and the survivors, +so used to scream and screech in their earnestness whenever they bought +or sold, now showed an unwonted indifference about the affairs of this +world: it was less worth while for men to haggle and haggle, and crack +the sky with noisy bargains, when the great commander was there, who +could “pay all their debts with the roll of his drum.”<br> +<br> +At this time I was informed that of twenty-five thousand people at Alexandria, +twelve thousand had died already; the destroyer had come rather later +to Cairo, but there was nothing of weariness in his strides. The +deaths came faster than ever they befell in the plague of London; but +the calmness of Orientals under such visitations, and the habit of using +biers for interment, instead of burying coffins along with the bodies, +rendered it practicable to dispose of the dead in the usual way, without +shocking the people by any unaccustomed spectacle of horror. There +was no tumbling of bodies into carts, as in the plague of Florence and +the plague of London. Every man, according to his station, was +properly buried, and that in the usual way, except that he went to his +grave in a more hurried pace than might have been adopted under ordinary +circumstances.<br> +<br> +The funerals which poured through the streets were not the only public +evidence of deaths. In Cairo this custom prevails: At the instant +of a man’s death (if his property is sufficient to justify the +expense) professional howlers are employed. I believe that these +persons are brought near to the dying man when his end appears to be +approaching, and the moment that life is gone they lift up their voices +and send forth a loud wail from the chamber of death. Thus I knew +when my near neighbours died; sometimes the howls were near, sometimes +more distant. Once I was awakened in the night by the wail of +death in the next house, and another time by a like howl from the house +opposite; and there were two or three minutes, I recollect, during which +the howl seemed to be actually running along the street.<br> +<br> +I happened to be rather teased at this time by a sore throat, and I +thought it would be well to get it cured if I could before I again started +on my travels. I therefore inquired for a Frank doctor, and was +informed that the only one then at Cairo was a young Bolognese refugee, +who was so poor that he had not been able to take flight, as the other +medical men had done. At such a time as this it was out of the +question to send for an European physician; a person thus summoned would +be sure to suppose that the patient was ill of the plague, and would +decline to come. I therefore rode to the young doctor’s +residence. After experiencing some little difficulty in finding +where to look for him, I ascended a flight or two of stairs and knocked +at his door. No one came immediately, but after some little delay +the medico himself opened the door, and admitted me. I of course +made him understand that I had come to consult him, but before entering +upon my throat grievance I accepted a chair, and exchanged a sentence +or two of commonplace conversation. Now the natural commonplace +of the city at this season was of a gloomy sort, “Come va la peste?” +(how goes the plague?) and this was precisely the question I put. +A deep sigh, and the words, “Sette cento per giorno, signor” +(seven hundred a day), pronounced in a tone of the deepest sadness and +dejection, were the answer I received. The day was not oppressively +hot, yet I saw that the doctor was perspiring profusely, and even the +outside surface of the thick shawl dressing-gown, in which he had wrapped +himself, appeared to be moist. He was a handsome, pleasant-looking +young fellow, but the deep melancholy of his tone did not tempt me to +prolong the conversation, and without further delay I requested that +my throat might be looked at. The medico held my chin in the usual +way, and examined my throat. He then wrote me a prescription, +and almost immediately afterwards I bade him farewell, but as he conducted +me towards the door I observed an expression of strange and unhappy +watchfulness in his rolling eyes. It was not the next day, but +the next day but one, if I rightly remember, that I sent to request +another interview with my doctor. In due time Dthemetri, who was +my messenger, returned, looking sadly aghast - he had “<i>met</i> +the medico,” for so he phrased it, “coming out from his +house - in a bier!”<br> +<br> +It was of course plain that when the poor Bolognese was looking at my +throat, and almost mingling his breath with mine, he was stricken of +the plague. I suppose that the violent sweat in which I found +him had been produced by some medicine, which he must have taken in +the hope of curing himself. The peculiar rolling of the eyes which +I had remarked is, I believe, to experienced observers, a pretty sure +test of the plague. A Russian acquaintance, of mine, speaking +from the information of men who had made the Turkish campaigns of 1828 +and 1829, told me that by this sign the officers of Sabalkansky’s +force were able to make out the plague-stricken soldiers with a good +deal of certainty.<br> +<br> +It so happened that most of the people with whom I had anything to do +during my stay at Cairo were seized with plague, and all these died. +Since I had been for a long time <i>en route</i> before I reached Egypt, +and was about to start again for another long journey over the Desert, +there were of course many little matters touching my wardrobe and my +travelling equipments which required to be attended to whilst I remained +in the city. It happened so many times that Dthemetri’s +orders in respect to these matters were frustrated by the deaths of +the tradespeople and others whom he employed, that at last I became +quite accustomed to the peculiar manner which he assumed when he prepared +to announce a new death to me. The poor fellow naturally supposed +that I should feel some uneasiness at hearing of the “accidents” +which happened to persons employed by me, and he therefore communicated +their deaths as though they were the deaths of friends. He would +cast down his eyes and look like a man abashed, and then gently, and +with a mournful gesture, allow the words, “Morto, signor,” +to come through his lips. I don’t know how many of such +instances occurred, but they were several, and besides these (as I told +you before), my banker, my doctor, my landlord, and my magician all +died of the plague. A lad who acted as a helper in the house which +I occupied lost a brother and a sister within a few hours. Out +of my two established donkey-boys, one died. I did not hear of +any instance in which a plague-stricken patient had recovered.<br> +<br> +Going out one morning I met unexpectedly the scorching breath of the +kamsin wind, and fearing that I should faint under the horrible sensations +which it caused, I returned to my rooms. Reflecting, however, +that I might have to encounter this wind in the Desert, where there +would be no possibility of avoiding it, I thought it would be better +to brave it once more in the city, and to try whether I could really +bear it or not. I therefore mounted my ass and rode to old Cairo, +and along the gardens by the banks of the Nile. The wind was hot +to the touch, as though it came from a furnace. It blew strongly, +but yet with such perfect steadiness, that the trees bending under its +force remained fixed in the same curves without perceptibly waving. +The whole sky was obscured by a veil of yellowish grey, that shut out +the face of the sun. The streets were utterly silent, being indeed +almost entirely deserted; and not without cause, for the scorching blast, +whilst it fevers the blood, closes up the pores of the skin, and is +terribly distressing, therefore, to every animal that encounters it. +I returned to my rooms dreadfully ill. My head ached with a burning +pain, and my pulse bounded quick and fitfully, but perhaps (as in the +instance of the poor Levantine, whose death I was mentioning), the fear +and excitement which I felt in trying my own wrist may have made my +blood flutter the faster.<br> +<br> +It is a thoroughly well believed theory, that during the continuance +of the plague you can’t be ill of any other febrile malady - an +unpleasant privilege that! for ill I was, and ill of fever, and I anxiously +wished that the ailment might turn out to be anything rather than plague. +I had some right to surmise that my illness may have been merely the +effect of the hot wind; and this notion was encouraged by the elasticity +of my spirits, and by a strong forefeeling that much of my destined +life in this world was yet to come, and yet to be fulfilled. That +was my instinctive belief, but when I carefully weighed the probabilities +on the one side and on the other, I could not help seeing that the strength +of argument was all against me. There was a strong antecedent +likelihood in <i>favour</i> of my being struck by the same blow as the +rest of the people who had been dying around me. Besides, it occurred +to me that, after all, the universal opinion of the Europeans upon a +medical question, such as that of contagion, might probably be correct, +and <i>if it were</i>, I was so thoroughly “compromised,” +and especially by the touch and breath of the dying medico, that I had +no right to expect any other fate than that which now seemed to have +overtaken me. Balancing as well as I could all the considerations +which hope and fear suggested, I slowly and reluctantly came to the +conclusion that, according to all merely reasonable probability, the +plague had come upon me.<br> +<br> +You would suppose that this conviction would have induced me to write +a few farewell lines to those who were dearest, and that having done +that, I should have turned my thoughts towards the world to come. +Such, however, was not the case. I believe that the prospect of +death often brings with it strong anxieties about matters of comparatively +trivial import, and certainly with me the whole energy of the mind was +directed towards the one petty object of concealing my illness until +the latest possible moment - until the delirious stage. I did +not believe that either Mysseri or Dthemetri, who had served me so faithfully +in all trials, would have deserted me (as most Europeans are wont to +do) when they knew that I was stricken by plague, but I shrank from +the idea of putting them to this test, and I dreaded the consternation +which the knowledge of my illness would be sure to occasion.<br> +<br> +I was very ill indeed at the moment when my dinner was served, and my +soul sickened at the sight of the food; but I had luckily the habit +of dispensing with the attendance of servants during my meal, and as +soon as I was left alone I made a melancholy calculation of the quantity +of food which I should have eaten if I had been in my usual health, +and filled my plates accordingly, and gave myself salt, and so on, as +though I were going to dine. I then transferred the viands to +a piece of the omnipresent Times newspaper, and hid them away in a cupboard, +for it was not yet night, and I dared not throw the food into the street +until darkness came. I did not at all relish this process of fictitious +dining, but at length the cloth was removed, and I gladly reclined on +my divan (I would not lie down) with the “Arabian Nights” +in my hand.<br> +<br> +I had a feeling that tea would be a capital thing for me, but I would +not order it until the usual hour. When at last the time came, +I drank deep draughts from the fragrant cup. The effect was almost +instantaneous. A plenteous sweat burst through my skin, and watered +my clothes through and through. I kept myself thickly covered. +The hot tormenting weight which had been loading my brain was slowly +heaved away. The fever was extinguished. I felt a new buoyancy +of spirits, and an unusual activity of mind. I went into my bed +under a load of thick covering, and when the morning came, and I asked +myself how I was, I found that I was thoroughly well.<br> +<br> +I was very anxious to procure, if possible, some medical advice for +Mysseri, whose illness prevented my departure. Every one of the +European practising doctors, of whom there had been many, had either +died or fled. It was said, however, that there was an Englishman +in the medical service of the Pasha who quietly remained at his post, +but that he never engaged in private practice. I determined to +try if I could obtain assistance in this quarter. I did not venture +at first, and at such a time as this, to ask him to visit a servant +who was prostrate on the bed of sickness, but thinking that I might +thus gain an opportunity of persuading him to attend Mysseri, I wrote +a note mentioning my own affair of the sore throat, and asking for the +benefit of his medical advice. He instantly followed back my messenger, +and was at once shown up into my room. I entreated him to stand +off, telling him fairly how deeply I was “compromised,” +and especially by my contact with a person actually ill and since dead +of plague. The generous fellow, with a good-humoured laugh at +the terrors of the contagionists, marched straight up to me, and forcibly +seized my hand, and shook it with manly violence. I felt grateful +indeed, and swelled with fresh pride of race because that my countryman +could carry himself so nobly. He soon cured Mysseri as well as +me, and all this he did from no other motives than the pleasure of doing +a kindness and the delight of braving a danger.<br> +<br> +At length the great difficulty <a name="citation36"></a><a href="#footnote36">{36}</a> +which I had had in procuring beasts for my departure was overcome, and +now, too, I was to have the new excitement of travelling on dromedaries. +With two of these beasts and three camels I gladly wound my way from +out of the pest-stricken city. As I passed through the streets +I observed a fanatical-looking elder, who stretched forth his arms, +and lifted up his voice in a speech which seemed to have some reference +to me. Requiring an interpretation, I found that the man had said, +“The Pasha seeks camels, and he finds them not; the Englishman +says, ‘Let camels be brought,’ and behold, there they are!”<br> +<br> +I no sooner breathed the free, wholesome air of the Desert than I felt +that a great burden which I had been scarcely conscious of bearing was +lifted away from my mind. For nearly three weeks I had lived under +peril of death; the peril ceased, and not till then did I know how much +alarm and anxiety I had really been suffering.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XIX - THE PYRAMIDS<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +I went to see and to explore the Pyramids.<br> +<br> +Familiar to one from the days of early childhood are the forms of the +Egyptian Pyramids, and now, as I approached them from the banks of the +Nile, I had no print, no picture before me, and yet the old shapes were +there; there was no change; they were just as I had always known them. +I straightened myself in my stirrups, and strived to persuade my understanding +that this was real Egypt, and that those angles which stood up between +me and the West were of harder stuff, and more ancient than the paper +pyramids of the green portfolio. Yet it was not till I came to +the base of the great Pyramid that reality began to weigh upon my mind. +Strange to say, the bigness of the distinct blocks of stones was the +first sign by which I attained to feel the immensity of the whole pile. +When I came, and trod, and touched with my hands, and climbed, in order +that by climbing I might come to the top of one single stone, then, +and almost suddenly, a cold sense and understanding of the Pyramid’s +enormity came down, overcasting my brain.<br> +<br> +Now try to endure this homely, sick-nursish illustration of the effect +produced upon one’s mind by the mere vastness of the great Pyramid. +When I was very young (between the ages, I believe, of three and five +years old), being then of delicate health, I was often in time of night +the victim of a strange kind of mental oppression. I lay in my +bed perfectly conscious, and with open eyes, but without power to speak +or to move, and all the while my brain was oppressed to distraction +by the presence of a single and abstract idea, the idea of solid immensity. +It seemed to me in my agonies that the horror of this visitation arose +from its coming upon me without form or shape, that the close presence +of the direst monster ever bred in hell would have been a thousand times +more tolerable than that simple idea of solid size. My aching +mind was fixed and riveted down upon the mere quality of vastness, vastness, +vastness, and was not permitted to invest with it any particular object. +If I could have done so, the torment would have ceased. When at +last I was roused from this state of suffering, I could not of course +in those days (knowing no verbal metaphysics, and no metaphysics at +all, except by the dreadful experience of an abstract idea) - I could +not of course find words to describe the nature of my sensations, and +even now I cannot explain why it is that the forced contemplation of +a mere quality, distinct from matter, should be so terrible. Well, +now my eyes saw and knew, and my hands and my feet informed my understanding +that there was nothing at all abstract about the great Pyramid - it +was a big triangle, sufficiently concrete, easy to see, and rough to +the touch; it could not, of course, affect me with the peculiar sensation +which I have been talking of, but yet there was something akin to that +old nightmare agony in the terrible completeness with which a mere mass +of masonry could fill and load my mind.<br> +<br> +And Time too; the remoteness of its origin, no less than the enormity +of its proportions, screens an Egyptian Pyramid from the easy and familiar +contact of our modern minds; at its base the common earth ends, and +all above is a world - one not created of God, not seeming to be made +by men’s hands, but rather the sheer giant-work of some old dismal +age weighing down this younger planet.<br> +<br> +Fine sayings! but the truth seems to be after all, that the Pyramids +are quite of this world; that they were piled up into the air for the +realisation of some kingly crotchets about immortality, some priestly +longing for burial fees; and that as for the building, they were built +like coral rocks by swarms of insects - by swarms of poor Egyptians, +who were not only the abject tools and slaves of power, but who also +ate onions for the reward of their immortal labours! <a name="citation37"></a><a href="#footnote37">{37}</a> +The Pyramids are quite of this world.<br> +<br> +I of course ascended to the summit of the great Pyramid, and also explored +its chambers, but these I need not describe. The first time that +I went to the Pyramids of Ghizeh there were a number of Arabs hanging +about in its neighbourhood, and wanting to receive presents on various +pretences; their Sheik was with them. There was also present an +ill-looking fellow in soldier’s uniform. This man on my +departure claimed a reward, on the ground that he had maintained order +and decorum amongst the Arabs. His claim was not considered valid +by my dragoman, and was rejected accordingly. My donkey-boys afterwards +said they had overhead this fellow propose to the Sheik to put me to +death whilst I was in the interior of the great Pyramid, and to share +with him the booty. Fancy a struggle for life in one of those +burial chambers, with acres and acres of solid masonry between one’s +self and the daylight! I felt exceedingly glad that I had not +made the rascal a present.<br> +<br> +I visited the very ancient Pyramids of Aboukir and Sakkara. There +are many of these, and of various shapes and sizes, and it struck me +that, taken together, they might be considered as showing the progress +and perfection (such as it is) of pyramidical architecture. One +of the Pyramids at Sakkara is almost a rival for the full-grown monster +at Ghizeh; others are scarcely more than vast heaps of brick and stone: +these last suggested to me the idea that after all the Pyramid is nothing +more nor less than a variety of the sepulchral mound so common in most +countries (including, I believe, Hindustan, from whence the Egyptians +are supposed to have come). Men accustomed to raise these structures +for their dead kings or conquerors would carry the usage with them in +their migrations, but arriving in Egypt, and seeing the impossibility +of finding earth sufficiently tenacious for a mound, they would approximate +as nearly as might be to their ancient custom by raising up a round +heap of stones - in short, conical pyramids. Of these there are +several at Sakkara, and the materials of some are thrown together without +any order or regularity. The transition from this simple form +to that of the square angular pyramid was easy and natural, and it seemed +to me that the gradations through which the style passed from infancy +up to its mature enormity could plainly be traced at Sakkara.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XX - THE SPHINX<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +And near the Pyramids more wondrous and more awful than all else in +the land of Egypt, there sits the lonely Sphinx. Comely the creature +is, but the comeliness is not of this world. The once worshipped +beast is a deformity and a monster to this generation; and yet you can +see that those lips, so thick and heavy, were fashioned according to +some ancient mould of beauty - some mould of beauty now forgotten - +forgotten because that Greece drew forth Cytherea from the flashing +foam of the Aegean, and in her image created new forms of beauty, and +made it a law among men that the short and proudly wreathed lip should +stand for the sign and the main condition of loveliness through all +generations to come. Yet still there lives on the race of those +who were beautiful in the fashion of the elder world, and Christian +girls of Coptic blood will look on you with the sad, serious gaze, and +kiss you your charitable hand with the big pouting lips of the very +Sphinx.<br> +<br> +Laugh and mock if you will at the worship of stone idols, but mark ye +this, ye breakers of images, that in one regard the stone idol bears +awful semblance of Deity - unchangefulness in the midst of change; the +same seeming will, and intent for ever, and ever inexorable! Upon +ancient dynasties of Ethiopian and Egyptian kings; upon Greek, and Roman; +upon Arab and Ottoman conquerors; upon Napoleon dreaming of an Eastern +Empire; upon battle and pestilence; upon the ceaseless misery of the +Egyptian race; upon keen-eyed travellers - Herodotus yesterday, and +Warburton to-day: upon all and more, this unworldly Sphinx has watched, +and watched like a Providence with the same earnest eyes, and the same +sad, tranquil mien. And we, we shall die, and Islam will wither +away, and the Englishman, leaning far over to hold his loved India, +will plant a firm foot on the banks of the Nile, and sit in the seats +of the Faithful, and still that sleepless rock will lie watching, and +watching the works of the new, busy race with those same sad, earnest +eyes, and the same tranquil mien everlasting. You dare not mock +at the Sphinx.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXI - CAIRO TO SUEZ<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +The “dromedary” of Egypt and Syria is not the two-humped +animal described by that name in books of natural history, but is, in +fact, of the same family as the camel, to which it stands in about the +same relation as a racer to a cart-horse. The fleetness and endurance +of this creature are extraordinary. It is not usual to force him +into a gallop, and I fancy from his make that it would be quite impossible +for him to maintain that pace for any length of time; but the animal +is on so large a scale, that the jog-trot at which he is generally ridden +implies a progress of perhaps ten or twelve miles an hour, and this +pace, it is said, he can keep up incessantly, without food, or water, +or rest, for three whole days and nights.<br> +<br> +Of the two dromedaries which I had obtained for this journey, I mounted +one myself, and put Dthemetri on the other. My plan was to ride +on with Dthemetri to Suez as rapidly as the fleetness of the beasts +would allow, and to let Myserri (who was still weak from the effects +of his late illness) come quietly on with the camels and baggage.<br> +<br> +The trot of the dromedary is a pace terribly disagreeable to the rider, +until he becomes a little accustomed to it; but after the first half-hour +I so far schooled myself to this new exercise, that I felt capable of +keeping it up (though not without aching limbs) for several hours together. +Now, therefore, I was anxious to dart forward, and annihilate at once +the whole space that divided me from the Red Sea. Dthemetri, however, +could not get on at all. Every attempt which he made to trot seemed +to threaten the utter dislocation of his whole frame, and indeed I doubt +whether any one of Dthemetri’s age (nearly forty, I think), and +unaccustomed to such exercise, could have borne it at all easily; besides, +the dromedary which fell to his lot was evidently a very bad one; he +every now and then came to a dead stop, and coolly knelt down, as though +suggesting that the rider had better get off at once and abandon the +attempt as one that was utterly hopeless.<br> +<br> +When for the third or fourth time I saw Dthemetri thus planted, I lost +my patience, and went on without him. For about two hours, I think, +I advanced without once looking behind me. I then paused, and +cast my eyes back to the western horizon. There was no sign of +Dthemetri, nor of any other living creature. This I expected, +for I knew that I must have far out-distanced all my followers. +I had ridden away from my party merely by way of gratifying my impatience, +and with the intention of stopping as soon as I felt tired, until I +was overtaken. I now observed, however (this I had not been able +to do whilst advancing so rapidly), that the track which I had been +following was seemingly the track of only one or two camels. I +did not fear that I had diverged very largely from the true route, but +still I could not feel any reasonable certainty that my party would +follow any line of march within sight of me.<br> +<br> +I had to consider, therefore, whether I should remain where I was, upon +the chance of seeing my people come up, or whether I would push on alone, +and find my way to Suez. I had now learned that I could not rely +upon the continued guidance of any track, but I knew that (if maps were +right) the point for which I was bound bore just due east of Cairo, +and I thought that, although I might miss the line leading most directly +to Suez, I could not well fail to find my way sooner or later to the +Red Sea. The worst of it was that I had no provision of food or +water with me, and already I was beginning to feel thirst. I deliberated +for a minute, and then determined that I would abandon all hope of seeing +my party again, in the Desert, and would push forward as rapidly as +possible towards Suez.<br> +<br> +It was not, I confess, without a sensation of awe that I swept with +my sight the vacant round of the horizon, and remembered that I was +all alone, and unprovisioned in the midst of the arid waste; but this +very awe gave tone and zest to the exultation with which I felt myself +launched. Hitherto, in all my wandering, I had been under the +care of other people - sailors, Tatars, guides, and dragomen had watched +over my welfare, but now at last I was here in this African desert, +and I <i>myself, and no other, had charge of my life</i>. I liked +the office well. I had the greasiest part of the day before me, +a very fair dromedary, a fur pelisse, and a brace of pistols, but no +bread and no water; for that I must ride - and ride I did.<br> +<br> +For several hours I urged forward my beast at a rapid though steady +pace, but now the pangs of thirst began to torment me. I did not +relax my pace, however, and I had not suffered long when a moving object +appeared in the distance before me. The intervening space was +soon traversed, and I found myself approaching a Bedouin Arab mounted +on a camel, attended by another Bedouin on foot. They stopped. +I saw that, as usual, there hung from the pack-saddle of the camel a +large skin water-flask, which seemed to be well filled. I steered +my dromedary close up alongside of the mounted Bedouin, caused my beast +to kneel down, then alighted, and keeping the end of the halter in my +hand, went up to the mounted Bedouin without speaking, took hold of +his water-flask, opened it, and drank long and deep from its leathern +lips. Both of the Bedouins stood fast in amazement and mute horror; +and really, if they had never happened to see an European before, the +apparition was enough to startle them. To see for the first time +a coat and a waistcoat, with the semblance of a white human head at +the top, and for this ghastly figure to come swiftly out of the horizon +upon a fleet dromedary, approach them silently and with a demoniacal +smile, and drink a deep draught from their water-flask - this was enough +to make the Bedouins stare a little; they, in fact, stared a great deal +- not as Europeans stare, with a restless and puzzled expression of +countenance, but with features all fixed and rigid, and with still, +glassy eyes. Before they had time to get decomposed from their +state of petrifaction I had remounted my dromedary, and was darting +away towards the east.<br> +<br> +Without pause or remission of pace I continued to press forward, but +after a while I found to my confusion that the slight track which had +hitherto guided me now failed altogether. I began to fear that +I must have been all along following the course of some wandering Bedouins, +and I felt that if this were the case, my fate was a little uncertain.<br> +<br> +I had no compass with me, but I determined upon the eastern point of +the horizon as accurately as I could by reference to the sun, and so +laid down for myself a way over the pathless sands.<br> +<br> +But now my poor dromedary, by whose life and strength I held my own, +began to show signs of distress: a thick, clammy, and glutinous kind +of foam gathered about her lips, and piteous sobs burst from her bosom +in the tones of human misery. I doubted for a moment whether I +would give her a little rest, a relaxation of pace, but I decided that +I would not, and continued to push forward as steadily as before.<br> +<br> +The character of the country became changed. I had ridden away +from the level tracts, and before me now, and on either side, there +were vast hills of sand and calcined rocks, that interrupted my progress +and baffled my doubtful road, but I did my best. With rapid steps +I swept round the base of the hills, threaded the winding hollows, and +at last, as I rose in my swift course to the crest of a lofty ridge, +Thalatta! Thalatta! by Jove! I saw the sea!<br> +<br> +My tongue can tell where to find a clue to many an old pagan creed, +because that (distinctly from all mere admiration of the beauty belonging +to nature’s works) I acknowledge a sense of mystical reverence +when first I look, to see some illustrious feature of the globe - some +coast-line of ocean, some mighty river or dreary mountain range, the +ancient barrier of kingdoms. But the Red Sea! It might well +claim my earnest gaze by force of the great Jewish migration which connects +it with the history of our own religion. From this very ridge, +it is likely enough, the panting Israelites first saw that shining inlet +of the sea. Ay! ay! but moreover, and best of all, that beckoning +sea assured my eyes, and proved how well I had marked out the east for +my path, and gave me good promise that sooner or later the time would +come for me to rest and drink. It was distant, the sea, but I +felt my own strength, and I had <i>heard</i> of the strength of dromedaries. +I pushed forward as eagerly as though I had spoiled the Egyptians and +were flying from Pharaoh’s police.<br> +<br> +I had not yet been able to discover any symptoms of Suez, but after +a while I descried in the distance a large, blank, isolated building. +I made towards this, and in time got down to it. The building +was a fort, and had been built there for the protection of a well which +it contained within its precincts. A cluster of small huts adhered +to the fort, and in a short time I was receiving the hospitality of +the inhabitants, who were grouped upon the sands near their hamlet. +To quench the fires of my throat with about a gallon of muddy water, +and to swallow a little of the food placed before me, was the work of +few minutes, and before the astonishment of my hosts had even begun +to subside, I was pursuing my onward journey. Suez, I found, was +still three hours distant, and the sun going down in the west warned +me that I must find some other guide to keep me in the right direction. +This guide I found in the most fickle and uncertain of the elements. +For some hours the wind had been freshening, and it now blew a violent +gale; it blew not fitfully and in squalls, but with such remarkable +steadiness, that I felt convinced it would blow from the same quarter +for several hours. When the sun set, therefore, I carefully looked +for the point from which the wind was blowing, and found that it came +from the very west, and was blowing exactly in the direction of my route. +I had nothing to do therefore but to go straight to leeward; and this +was not difficult, for the gale blew with such immense force, that if +I diverged at all from its line I instantly felt the pressure of the +blast on the side towards which I was deviating. Very soon after +sunset there came on complete darkness, but the strong wind guided me +well, and sped me, too, on my way.<br> +<br> +I had pushed on for about, I think, a couple of hours after nightfall +when I saw the glimmer of a light in the distance, and this I ventured +to hope must be Suez. Upon approaching it, however, I found that +it was only a solitary fort, and I passed on without stopping.<br> +<br> +On I went, still riding down the wind, when an unlucky accident occurred, +for which, if you like, you can have your laugh against me. I +have told you already what sort of lodging it is that you have upon +the back of a camel. You ride the dromedary in the same fashion; +you are perched rather than seated on a bunch of carpets or quilts upon +the summit of the hump. It happened that my dromedary veered rather +suddenly from her onward course. Meeting the movement, I mechanically +turned my left wrist as though I were holding a bridle rein, for the +complete darkness prevented my eyes from reminding me that I had nothing +but a halter in my hand. The expected resistance failed, for the +halter was hanging upon that side of the dromedary’s neck towards +which I was slightly leaning. I toppled over, head foremost, and +then went falling and falling through air, till my crown came whang +against the ground. And the ground too was perfectly hard (compacted +sand), but the thickly wadded headgear which I wore for protection against +the sun saved my life. The notion of my being able to get up again +after falling head-foremost from such an immense height seemed to me +at first too paradoxical to be acted upon, but I soon found that I was +not a bit hurt. My dromedary utterly vanished. I looked +round me, and saw the glimmer of a light in the fort which I had lately +passed, and I began to work my way back in that direction. The +violence of the gale made it hard for me to force my way towards the +west, but I succeeded at last in regaining the fort. To this, +as to the other fort which I had passed, there was attached a cluster +of huts, and I soon found myself surrounded by a group of villainous, +gloomy-looking fellows. It was a horrid bore for me to have to +swagger and look big at a time when I felt so particularly small on +account of my tumble and my lost dromedary; but there was no help for +it; I had no Dthemetri now to “strike terror” for me. +I knew hardly one word of Arabic, but somehow or other I contrived to +announce it as my absolute will and pleasure that these fellows should +find me the means of gaining Suez. They acceded, and having a +donkey, they saddled it for me, and appointed one of their number to +attend me on foot.<br> +<br> +I afterwards found that these fellows were not Arabs, but Algerine refugees, +and that they bore the character of being sad scoundrels. They +justified this imputation to some extent on the following day. +They allowed Mysseri with my baggage and the camels to pass unmolested, +but an Arab lad belonging to the party happened to lag a little way +in the rear, and him (if they were not maligned) these rascals stripped +and robbed. Low indeed is the state of bandit morality when men +will allow the sleek traveller with well-laden camels to pass in quiet, +reserving their spirit of enterprise for the tattered turban of a miserable +boy.<br> +<br> +I reached Suez at last. The British agent, though roused from +his midnight sleep, received me in his home with the utmost kindness +and hospitality. Oh! by Jove, how delightful it was to lie on +fair sheets, and to dally with sleep, and to wake, and to sleep, and +to wake once more, for the sake of sleeping again!<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXII - SUEZ<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +I was hospitably entertained by the British consul, or agent, as he +is there styled. He is the <i>employé</i> of the East India +Company, and not of the Home Government. Napoleon during his stay +of five days at Suez had been the guest of the consul’s father, +and I was told that the divan in my apartment had been the bed of the +great commander.<br> +<br> +There are two opinions as to the point at which the Israelites passed +the Red Sea. One is, that they traversed only the very small creek +at the northern extremity of the inlet, and that they entered the bed +of the water at the spot on which Suez now stands; the other, that they +crossed the sea from a point eighteen miles down the coast. The +Oxford theologians, who, with Milman their professor, <a name="citation38"></a><a href="#footnote38">{38}</a> +believe that Jehovah conducted His chosen people without disturbing +the order of nature, adopt the first view, and suppose that the Israelites +passed during an ebb-tide, aided by a violent wind. One among +many objections to this supposition is, that the time of a single ebb +would not have been sufficient for the passage of that vast multitude +of men and beasts, or even for a small fraction of it. Moreover, +the creek to the north of this point can be compassed in an hour, and +in two hours you can make the circuit of the salt marsh over which the +sea may have extended in former times. If, therefore, the Israelites +crossed so high up as Suez, the Egyptians, unless infatuated by Divine +interference, might easily have recovered their stolen goods from the +encumbered fugitives by making a slight detour. The opinion which +fixes the point of passage at eighteen miles’ distance, and from +thence right across the ocean depths to the eastern side of the sea, +is supported by the unanimous tradition of the people, whether Christians +or Mussulmans, and is consistent with Holy Writ: “the waters were +a wall unto them on their right hand, <i>and on their left</i>.” +The Cambridge mathematicians seem to think that the Israelites were +enabled to pass over dry land by adopting a route not usually subjected +to the influx of the sea. This notion is plausible in a merely +hydrostatical point of view, and is supposed to have been adopted by +most of the Fellows of Trinity, but certainly not by Thorp, who is one +of the most amiable of their number. It is difficult to reconcile +this theory with the account given in Exodus, unless we can suppose +that the words “sea” and “waters” are there +used in a sense implying dry land.<br> +<br> +Napoleon when at Suez made an attempt to follow the supposed steps of +Moses by passing the creek at this point, but it seems, according to +the testimony of the people at Suez, that he and his horsemen managed +the matter in a way more resembling the failure of the Egyptians than +the success of the Israelites. According to the French account, +Napoleon got out of the difficulty by that warrior-like presence of +mind which served him so well when the fate of nations depended on the +decision of a moment - he ordered his horsemen to disperse in all directions, +in order to multiply the chances of finding shallow water, and was thus +enabled to discover a line by which he and his people were extricated. +The story told by the people of Suez is very different: they declare +that Napoleon parted from his horse, got thoroughly submerged, and was +only fished out by the assistance of the people on shore.<br> +<br> +I bathed twice at the point assigned to the passage of the Israelites, +and the second time that I did so I chose the time of low water and +tried to walk across, but I soon found myself out of my depth, or at +least in water so deep, that I could only advance by swimming.<br> +<br> +The dromedary, which had bolted in the Desert, was brought into Suez +the day after my arrival, but my pelisse and my pistols, which had been +attached to the saddle, had disappeared. These articles were treasures +of great importance to me at that time, and I moved the Governor of +the town to make all possible exertions for their recovery. He +acceded to my wishes as well as he could, and very obligingly imprisoned +the first seven poor fellows he could lay his hands on.<br> +<br> +At first the Governor acted in the matter from no other motive than +that of courtesy to an English traveller, but afterwards, and when he +saw the value which I set upon the lost property, he pushed his measures +with a degree of alacrity and heat, which seemed to show that he felt +a personal interest in the matter. It was supposed either that +he expected a large present in the event of succeeding, or that he was +striving by all means to trace the property, in order that he might +lay his hands on it after my departure.<br> +<br> +I went out sailing for some hours, and when I returned I was horrified +to find that two men had been bastinadoed by order of the Governor, +with a view to force them to a confession of their theft. It appeared, +however, that there really was good ground for supposing them guilty, +since one of the holsters was actually found in their possession. +It was said too (but I could hardly believe it), that whilst one of +the men was undergoing the bastinado, his comrade was overheard encouraging +him to bear the torment without peaching. Both men, if they had +the secret, were resolute in keeping it, and were sent back to their +dungeon. I of course took care that there should be no repetition +of the torture, at least so long as I remained at Suez.<br> +<br> +The Governor was a thorough Oriental, and until a comparatively recent +period had shared in the old Mahometan feeling of contempt for Europeans. +It happened however, one day that an English gun-brig had appeared off +Suez, and sent her boats ashore to take in fresh water. Now fresh +water at Suez is a somewhat scarce and precious commodity: it is kept +in tanks, the chief of which is at some distance from the place. +Under these circumstances the request for fresh water was refused, or +at all events, was not complied with. The captain of the brig +was a simple-minded man with a strongish will, and he at once declared +that if his casks were not filled in three hours, he would destroy the +whole place. “A great people indeed!” said the Governor; +“a wonderful people, the English!” He instantly caused +every cask to be filled to the brim from his own tank, and ever afterwards +entertained for the English a degree of affection and respect, for which +I felt infinitely indebted to the gallant captain.<br> +<br> +The day after the abortive attempt to extract a confession from the +prisoners, the Governor, the consul, and I sat in council, I know not +how long, with a view of prosecuting the search for the stolen goods. +The sitting, considered in the light of a criminal investigation, was +characteristic of the East. The proceedings began as a matter +of course by the prosecutor’s smoking a pipe and drinking coffee +with the Governor, who was judge, jury, and sheriff. I got on +very well with him (this was not my first interview), and he gave me +the pipe from his lips in testimony of his friendship. I recollect, +however, that my prime adviser, thinking me, I suppose, a great deal +too shy and retiring in my manner, entreated me to put up my boots and +to soil the Governor’s divan, in order to inspire respect and +strike terror. I thought it would be as well for me to retain +the right of respecting myself, and that it was not quite necessary +for a well-received guest to strike any terror at all.<br> +<br> +Our deliberations were assisted by the numerous attendants who lined +the three sides of the room not occupied by the divan. Any one +of these who took it into his head to offer a suggestion would stand +forward and humble himself before the Governor, and then state his views; +every man thus giving counsel was listened to with some attention.<br> +<br> +After a great deal of fruitless planning the Governor directed that +the prisoners should be brought in. I was shocked when they entered, +for I was not prepared to see them come <i>carried</i> into the room +upon the shoulders of others. It had not occurred to me that their +battered feet would be too sore to bear the contact of the floor. +They persisted in asserting their innocence. The Governor wanted +to recur to the torture, but that I prevented, and the men were carried +back to their dungeon.<br> +<br> +A scheme was now suggested by one of the attendants which seemed to +me childishly absurd, but it was nevertheless tried. The plan +was to send a man to the prisoners, who was to make them believe that +he had obtained entrance into their dungeon upon some other pretence, +but that he had in reality come to treat with them for the purchase +of the stolen goods. This shallow expedient of course failed.<br> +<br> +The Governor himself had not nominally the power of life and death over +the people in his district, but he could if he chose send them to Cairo, +and have them hanged there. I proposed, therefore, that the prisoners +should be threatened with this fate. The answer of the Governor +made me feel rather ashamed of my effeminate suggestion. He said +that if I wished it he would willingly threaten them with death, but +he also said that if he threatened, <i>he should execute the threat</i>.<br> +<br> +Thinking at last that nothing was to be gained by keeping the prisoners +any longer in confinement, I requested that they might be set free. +To this the Governor acceded, though only, as he said, out of favour +to me, for he had a strong impression that the men were guilty. +I went down to see the prisoners let out with my own eyes. They +were very grateful, and fell down to the earth, kissing my boots. +I gave them a present to console them for their wounds, and they seemed +to be highly delighted.<br> +<br> +Although the matter terminated in a manner so satisfactory to the principal +sufferers, there were symptoms of some angry excitement in the place: +it was said that public opinion was much shocked at the fact that Mahometans +had been beaten on account of a loss sustained by a Christian. +My journey was to recommence the next day, and it was hinted that if +I preservered in my intention of proceeding, the people would have an +easy and profitable opportunity of wreaking their vengeance on me. +If ever they formed any scheme of the kind, they at all events refrained +from any attempt to carry it into effect.<br> +<br> +One of the evenings during my stay at Suez was enlivened by a triple +wedding. There was a long and slow procession. Some carried +torches, and others were thumping drums and firing pistols. The +bridegrooms came last, all walking abreast. My only reason for +mentioning the ceremony (which was otherwise uninteresting) is, that +I scarcely ever in all my life saw any phenomena so ridiculous as the +meekness and gravity of those three young men whilst being “led +to the altar.”<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXIII - SUEZ TO GAZA<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +The route over the Desert from Suez to Gaza is not frequented by merchants, +and is seldom passed by a traveller. This part of the country +is less uniformly barren than the tracts of shifting sand that lie on +the El Arish route. The shrubs on which the camel feeds are more +frequent, and in many spots the sand is mingled with so much of productive +soil, as to admit the growth of corn. The Bedouins are driven +out of this district during the summer by the total want of water, but +before the time for their forced departure arrives they succeed in raising +little crops of barley from these comparatively fertile patches of ground. +They bury the fruit of their labours, leaving marks by which, upon their +return, they may be able to recognise the spot. The warm, dry +sand stands them for a safe granary. The country at the time I +passed it (in the month of April) was pretty thickly sprinkled with +Bedouins expecting their harvest. Several times my tent was pitched +alongside of their encampments. I have told you already what the +impressions were which these people produced upon my mind.<br> +<br> +I saw several creatures of the antelope kind in this part of the Desert, +and one day my Arabs surprised in her sleep a young gazelle (for so +I called her), and took the darling prisoner. I carried her before +me on my camel for the rest of the day, and kept her in my tent all +night. I did all I could to coax her, but the trembling beauty +refused to touch food, and would not be comforted. Whenever she +had a seeming opportunity of escaping she struggled with a violence +so painfully disproportioned to her fine, delicate limbs, that I could +not continue the cruel attempt to make her my own. In the morning, +therefore, I set her free, anticipating some pleasure from seeing the +joyous bound with which, as I thought, she would return to her native +freedom. She had been so stupefied, however, by the exciting events +of the preceding day and night, and was so puzzled as to the road she +should take, that she went off very deliberately, and with an uncertain +step. She went away quite sound in limb, but her intellect may +have been upset. Never in all likelihood had she seen the form +of a human being until the dreadful moment when she woke from her sleep +and found herself in the grip of an Arab. Then her pitching and +tossing journey on the back of a camel, and lastly, a <i>soireé</i> +with me by candlelight! I should have been glad to know, if I +could, that her heart was not utterly broken.<br> +<br> +My Arabs were somewhat excited one day by discovering the fresh print +of a foot - the foot, as they said, of a lion. I had no conception +that the lord of the forest (better known as a crest) ever stalked away +from his jungles to make inglorious war in these smooth plains against +antelopes and gazelles. I supposed that there must have been some +error of interpretation, and that the Arabs meant to speak of a tiger. +It appeared, however, that this was not the case. Either the Arabs +were mistaken, or the noble brute, uncooped and unchained, had but lately +crossed my path.<br> +<br> +The camels with which I traversed this part of the Desert were very +different in their ways and habits from those that you get on a frequented +route. They were never led. There was not the slightest +sign of a track in this part of the Desert, but the camels never failed +to choose the right line. By the direction taken at starting they +knew, I suppose, the point (some encampment) for which they were to +make. There is always a leading camel (generally, I believe, the +eldest), who marches foremost, and determines the path for the whole +party. If it happens that no one of the camels has been accustomed +to lead the others, there is very great difficulty in making a start. +If you force your beast forward for a moment, he will contrive to wheel +and draw back, at the same time looking at one of the other camels with +an expression and gesture exactly equivalent to <i>après vous</i>. +The responsibility of finding the way is evidently assumed very unwillingly. +After some time, however, it becomes understood that one of the beasts +has reluctantly consented to take the lead, and he accordingly advances +for that purpose. For a minute or two he goes on with much indecision, +taking first one line and then another, but soon by the aid of some +mysterious sense he discovers the true direction, and follows it steadily +from morning to night. When once the leadership is established, +you cannot by any persuasion, and can scarcely by any force, induce +a junior camel to walk one single step in advance of the chosen guide.<br> +<br> +On the fifth day I came to an oasis, called the Wady el Arish, a ravine, +or rather a gully, through which during a part of the year there runs +a stream of water. On the sides of the gully there were a number +of those graceful trees which the Arabs call <i>tarfa</i>. The +channel of the stream was quite dry in the part at which we arrived, +but at about half a mile off some water was found, which, though very +muddy, was tolerably sweet. This was a happy discovery, for all +the water that we had brought from the neighbourhood of Suez was rapidly +putrefying.<br> +<br> +The want of foresight is an anomalous part of the Bedouin’s character, +for it does not result either from recklessness or stupidity. +I know of no human being whose body is so thoroughly the slave of mind +as that of the Arab. His mental anxieties seem to be for ever +torturing every nerve and fibre of his body, and yet with all this exquisite +sensitiveness to the suggestions of the mind, he is grossly improvident. +I recollect, for instance, that when setting out upon this passage of +the Desert my Arabs, in order to lighten the burthen of their camels, +were most anxious that we should take with us only two days’ supply +of water. They said that by the time that supply was exhausted +we should arrive at a spring which would furnish us for the rest of +the journey. My servants very wisely, and with much pertinacity, +resisted the adoption of this plan, and took care to have both the large +skins well filled. We proceeded and found no water at all, either +at the expected spring or for many days afterwards, so that nothing +but the precaution of my own people saved us from the very severe suffering +which we should have endured if we had entered upon the Desert with +only a two days’ supply. The Arabs themselves being on foot +would have suffered much more than I from the consequences of their +improvidence.<br> +<br> +This unaccountable want of foresight prevents the Bedouin from appreciating +at a distance of eight or ten days the amount of the misery which he +entails upon himself at the end of that period. His dread of a +city is one of the most painful mental affections that I have ever observed, +and yet when the whole breadth of the Desert lies between him and the +town to which you are going, he will freely enter into an agreement +to <i>land</i> you in the city for which you are bound. When, +however, after many a day of toil the distant minarets at length appear, +the poor Bedouin relaxes the vigour of his pace, his steps become faltering +and undecided, every moment his uneasiness increases, and at length +he fairly sobs aloud, and embracing your knees, implores with the most +piteous cries and gestures that you will dispense with him and his camels, +and find some other means of entering the city. This, of course, +one can’t agree to, and the consequence is that one is obliged +to witness and resist the most moving expressions of grief and fond +entreaty. I had to go through a most painful scene of this kind +when I entered Cairo, and now the horror which these wilder Arabs felt +at the notion of entering Gaza led to consequences still more distressing. +The dread of cities results partly from a kind of wild instinct which +has always characterised the descendants of Ishmael, but partly too +from a well-founded apprehension of ill-treatment. So often it +happens that the poor Bedouin, when once jammed in between walls, is +seized by the Government authorities for the sake of his camels, that +his innate horror of cities becomes really justified by results.<br> +<br> +The Bedouins with whom I performed this journey were wild fellows of +the Desert, quite unaccustomed to let out themselves or their beasts +for hire, and when they found that by the natural ascendency of Europeans +they were gradually brought down to a state of subserviency to me, or +rather to my attendants, they bitterly repented, I believe, of having +placed themselves under our control. They were rather difficult +fellows to manage, and gave Dthemetri a good deal of trouble, but I +liked them all the better for that.<br> +<br> +Selim, the chief of the party, and the man to whom all our camels belonged, +was a fine, savage, stately fellow. There were, I think, five +other Arabs of the party, but when we approached the end of the journey +they one by one began to make off towards the neighbouring encampments, +and by the time that the minarets of Gaza were in sight, Selim, the +owner of the camels, was the only one who remained. He, poor fellow, +as we neared the town began to discover the same terrors that my Arabs +had shown when I entered Cairo. I could not possibly accede to +his entreaties and consent to let my baggage be laid down on the bare +sands, without any means of having it brought on into the city. +So at length, when poor Selim had exhausted all his rhetoric of voice +and action and tears, he fixed his despairing eyes for a minute upon +the cherished beasts that were his only wealth, and then suddenly and +madly dashed away into the farther Desert. I continued my course +and reached the city at last, but it was not without immense difficulty +that we could constrain the poor camels to pass under the hated shadow +of its walls. They were the genuine beasts of the Desert, and +it was sad and painful to witness the agony they suffered when thus +they were forced to encounter the fixed habitations of men. They +shrank from the beginning of every high narrow street as though from +the entrance of some horrible cave or bottomless pit; they sighed and +wept like women. When at last we got them within the courtyard +of the khan they seemed to be quite broken-hearted, and looked round +piteously for their loving master; but no Selim came. I had imagined +that he would enter the town secretly by night in order to carry off +those five fine camels, his only wealth in this world, and seemingly +the main objects of his affection. But no; his dread of civilisation +was too strong. During the whole of the three days that I remained +at Gaza he failed to show himself, and thus sacrificed in all probability +not only his camels, but the money which I had stipulated to pay him +for the passage of the Desert. In order, however, to do all I +could towards saving him from this last misfortune I resorted to a contrivance +frequently adopted by the Asiatics: I assembled a group of grave and +worthy Mussulmans in the courtyard of the khan, and in their presence +paid over the gold to a Sheik who was accustomed to communicate with +the Arabs of the Desert. All present solemnly promised that if +ever Selim should come to claim his rights, they would bear true witness +in his favour.<br> +<br> +I saw a great deal of my old friend the Governor of Gaza. He had +received orders to send back all persons coming from Egypt, and force +them to perform quarantine at El Arish. He knew so little of quarantine +regulations, however, that his dress was actually in contact with mine +whilst he insisted upon the stringency of the orders which he had received. +He was induced to make an exception in my favour, and I rewarded him +with a musical snuffbox which I had bought at Smyrna for the purpose +of presenting it to any man in authority who might happen to do me an +important service. The Governor was delighted with his toy, and +took it off to his harem with great exultation. He soon, however, +returned with an altered countenance; his wives, he said, had got hold +of the box and put it out of order. So short-lived is human happiness +in this frail world!<br> +<br> +The Governor fancied that he should incur less risk if remained at Gaza +for two or three days more, and he wanted me to become his guest. +I persuaded him, however, that it would be better for him to let me +depart at once. He wanted to add to my baggage a roast lamb and +a quantity of other cumbrous viands, but I escaped with half a horse-load +of leaven bread, which was very good of its kind, and proved a most +useful present. The air with which the Governor’s slaves +affected to be almost breaking down under the weight of the gifts which +they bore on their shoulders, reminded me of the figures one sees in +some of the old pictures.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXIV - GAZA TO NABLUS<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Passing now once again through Palestine and Syria I retained the tent +which I had used in the Desert, and found that it added very much to +my comfort in travelling. Instead of turning out a family from +some wretched dwelling, and depriving them of a repose which I was sure +not to find for myself, I now, when evening came, pitched my tent upon +some smiling spot within a few hundred yards of the village to which +I looked for my supplies, that is, for milk and bread if I had it not +with me, and sometimes also for eggs. The worst of it is, that +the needful viands are not to be obtained by coin, but only by intimidation. +I at first tried the usual agent, money. Dthemetri, with one or +two of my Arabs, went into the village near which I was encamped and +tried to buy the required provisions, offering liberal payment, but +he came back empty-handed. I sent him again, but this time he +held different language. He required to see the elders of the +place, and threatening dreadful vengeance, directed them upon their +responsibility to take care that my tent should be immediately and abundantly +supplied. He was obeyed at once, and the provisions refused to +me as a purchaser soon arrived, trebled or quadrupled, when demanded +by way of a forced contribution. I quickly found (I think it required +two experiments to convince me) that this peremptory method was the +only one which could be adopted with success. It never failed. +Of course, however, when the provisions have been actually obtained +you can, if you choose, give money exceeding the value of the provisions +to <i>somebody</i>. An English, a thoroughbred English, traveller +will always do this (though it is contrary to the custom of the country) +for the quiet (false quiet though it be) of his own conscience, but +so to order the matter that the poor fellows who have been forced to +contribute should be the persons to receive the value of their supplies, +is not possible. For a traveller to attempt anything so grossly +just as that would be too outrageous. The truth is, that the usage +of the East, in old times, required the people of the village, at their +own cost, to supply the wants of travellers, and the ancient custom +is now adhered to, not in favour of travellers generally, but in favour +of those who are deemed sufficiently powerful to enforce its observance. +If the villagers therefore find a man waiving this right to oppress +them, and offering coin for that which he is entitled to take without +payment, they suppose at once that he is actuated by fear (fear of <i>them</i>, +poor fellows!), and it is so delightful to them to act upon this flattering +assumption, that they will forego the advantage of a good price for +their provisions rather than the rare luxury of refusing for once in +their lives to part with their own possessions.<br> +<br> +The practice of intimidation thus rendered necessary is utterly hateful +to an Englishman. He finds himself forced to conquer his daily +bread by the pompous threats of the dragoman, his very subsistence, +as well as his dignity and personal safety, being made to depend upon +his servant’s assuming a tone of authority which does not at all +belong to him. Besides, he can scarcely fail to see that as he +passes through the country he becomes the innocent cause of much extra +injustice, many supernumerary wrongs. This he feels to be especially +the case when he travels with relays. To be the owner of a horse +or a mule within reach of an Asiatic potentate, is to lead the life +of the hare and the rabbit, hunted down and ferreted out. Too +often it happens that the works of the field are stopped in the daytime, +that the inmates of the cottage are roused from their midnight sleep, +by the sudden coming of a Government officer, and the poor husbandman, +driven by threats and rewarded by curses, if he would not lose sight +for ever of his captured beasts, must quit all and follow them. +This is done that the Englishman may travel. He would make his +way more harmless if he could, but horses or mules he <i>must</i> have, +and these are his ways and means.<br> +<br> +The town of Nablus is beautiful; it lies in a valley hemmed in with +olive groves, and its buildings are interspersed with frequent palm-trees. +It is said to occupy the site of the ancient Sychem. I know not +whether it was there indeed that the father of the Jews was accustomed +to feed his flocks, but the valley is green and smiling, and is held +at this day by a race more brave and beautiful than Jacob’s unhappy +descendants.<br> +<br> +Nablus is the very furnace of Mahometan bigotry; and I believe that +only a few months before the time of my going there it would have been +quite unsafe for a man, unless strongly guarded, to show himself to +the people of the town in a Frank costume; but since their last insurrection +the Mahometans of the place had been so far subdued by the severity +of Ibrahim Pasha, that they dared not now offer the slightest insult +to an European. It was quite plain, however, that the effort with +which the men of the old school refrained from expressing their opinion +of a hat and a coat was horribly painful to them. As I walked +through the streets and bazaars a dead silence prevailed; every man +suspended his employment, and gazed on me with a fixed, glassy look, +which seemed to say, “God is good, but how marvellous and inscrutable +are His ways that thus He permits this white-faced dog of a Christian +to hunt through the paths of the faithful.”<br> +<br> +The insurrection of these people had been more formidable than any other +that Ibrahim Pasha had to contend with. He was only able to crush +them at last by the assistance of a fellow renowned for his resources +in the way of stratagem and cunning, as well as for his knowledge of +the country. This personage was no other than Aboo Goosh (“the +father of lies” <a name="citation39"></a><a href="#footnote39">{39}</a>), +who was taken out of prison for the purpose. The “father +of lies” enabled Ibrahim to hem in the insurrection and extinguish +it. He was rewarded with the Governorship of Jerusalem, which +he held when I was there. I recollect, by-the-bye, that he tried +one of his stratagems upon me. I did not go to see him, as I ought +in courtesy to have done, during my stay at Jerusalem; but I happened +to be the owner of a rather handsome amber <i>tchibouque</i> piece, +which the Governor heard of, and by some means contrived to see. +He sent to me, and dressed up a statement that he would give me a price +immensely exceeding the sum which I had given for it. He did not +add my <i>tchibouque</i> to the rest of his trophies.<br> +<br> +There was a small number of Greek Christians resident in Nablus, and +over these the Mussulmans held a high hand, not even permitting them +to speak to each other in the open streets; but if the Moslems thus +set themselves above the poor Christians of the place, I, or rather +my servants, soon took the ascendant over <i>them</i>. I recollect +that just as we were starting from the place, and at a time when a number +of people had gathered together in the main street to see our preparations, +Mysseri, being provoked at some piece of perverseness on the part of +a true believer, coolly thrashed him with his horsewhip before the assembled +crowd of fanatics. I was much annoyed at the time, for I thought +that the people would probably rise against us. They turned rather +pale, but stood still.<br> +<br> +The day of my arrival at Nablus was a fête - the new-year’s +day of the Mussulmans. <a name="citation40"></a><a href="#footnote40">{40}</a> +Most of the people were amusing themselves in the beautiful lawns and +shady groves without the city. The men (except myself) were all +remotely apart from the other sex. The women in groups were diverting +themselves and their children with swings. They were so handsome, +that they could not keep up their yashmaks. I believe that they +had never before looked upon a man in the European dress, and when they +now saw in me that strange phenomenon, and saw, too, how they could +please the creature by showing him a glimpse of beauty, they seemed +to think it was better fun to do this than to go on playing with swings. +It was always, however, with a sort of zoological expression of countenance +that they looked on the horrible monster from Europe, and whenever one +of them gave me to see for one sweet instant the blushing of her unveiled +face, it was with the same kind of air as that with which a young, timid +girl will edge her way up to an elephant and tremblingly give him a +nut from the tips of her rosy fingers.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXV - MARIAM<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +There is no spirit of propagandism in the Mussulmans of the Ottoman +dominions. True it is that a prisoner of war, or a Christian condemned +to death, may on some occasions save his life by adopting the religion +of Mahomet, but instances of this kind are now exceedingly rare, and +are quite at variance with the general system. Many Europeans, +I think, would be surprised to learn that which is nevertheless quite +true, namely, that an attempt to disturb the religious repose of the +empire by the conversion of a Christian to the Mahometan faith is positively +illegal. The event which now I am going to mention shows plainly +enough that the unlawfulness of such interference is distinctly recognised +even in the most bigoted stronghold of Islam.<br> +<br> +During my stay at Nablus I took up my quarters at the house of the Greek +“papa” as he is called, that is, the Greek priest. +The priest himself had gone to Jerusalem upon the business I am going +to tell you of, but his wife remained at Nablus, and did the honours +of her home.<br> +<br> +Soon after my arrival a deputation from the Greek Christians of the +place came to request my interference in a matter which had occasioned +vast excitement.<br> +<br> +And now I must tell you how it came to happen, as it did continually, +that people thought it worth while to claim the assistance of a mere +traveller, who was totally devoid of all just pretensions to authority +or influence of even the humblest description, and especially I must +explain to you how it was that the power thus attributed did really +belong to me, or rather to my dragoman. Successive political convulsions +had at length fairly loosed the people of Syria from their former rules +of conduct, and from all their old habits of reliance. The violence +and success with which Mehemet Ali crushed the insurrection of the Mahometan +population had utterly beaten down the head of Islam, and extinguished, +for the time at least, those virtues and vices which had sprung from +the Mahometan faith. Success so complete as Mehemet Ali’s, +if it had been attained by an ordinary Asiatic potentate, would have +induced a notion of stability. The readily bowing mind of the +Oriental would have bowed low and long under the feet of a conqueror +whom God had thus strengthened. But Syria was no field for contests +strictly Asiatic. Europe was involved, and though the heavy masses +of Egyptian troops, clinging with strong grip to the land, might seem +to hold it fast, yet every peasant practically felt, and knew, that +in Vienna or Petersburg or London there were four or five pale-looking +men who could pull down the star of the Pasha with shreds of paper and +ink. The people of the country knew, too, that Mehemet Ali was +strong with the strength of the Europeans - strong by his French general, +his French tactics, and his English engines. Moreover, they saw +that the person, the property, and even the dignity of the humblest +European was guarded with the most careful solicitude. The consequence +of all this was, that the people of Syria looked vaguely, but confidently, +to Europe for fresh changes. Many would fix upon some nation, +France or England, and steadfastly regard it as the arriving sovereign +of Syria. Those whose minds remained in doubt equally contributed +to this new state of public opinion, which no longer depended upon religion +and ancient habits, but upon bare hopes and fears. Every man wanted +to know, not who was his neighbour, but who was to be his ruler; whose +feet he was to kiss, and by whom <i>his</i> feet were to be ultimately +beaten. Treat your friend, says the proverb, as though he were +one day to become your enemy, and your enemy as though he were one day +to become your friend. The Syrians went further, and seemed inclined +to treat every stranger as though he might one day become their Pasha. +Such was the state of circumstances and of feeling which now for the +first time had thoroughly opened the mind of Western Asia for the reception +of Europeans and European ideas. The credit of the English especially +was so great, that a good Mussulman flying from the conscription, or +any other persecution, would come to seek from the formerly despised +hat that protection which the turban could no longer afford; and a man +high in authority (as, for instance, the Governor in command of Gaza) +would think that he had won a prize, or at all events, a valuable lottery +ticket, if he obtained a written approval of his conduct from a simple +traveller.<br> +<br> +Still, in order that any immediate result should follow from all this +unwonted readiness in the Asiatic to succumb to the European, it was +necessary that some one should be at hand who could see and would push +the advantage. I myself had neither the inclination nor the power +to do so, but it happened that Dthemetri, who as my dragoman represented +me on all occasions, was the very person of all others best fitted to +avail himself with success of this yielding tendency in the Oriental +mind. If the chance of birth and fortune had made poor Dthemetri +a tailor during some part of his life, yet religion and the literature +of the Church which he served had made him a man, and a brave man too. +The lives of saints with which he was familiar were full of heroic actions +provoking imitation, and since faith in a creed involves a faith in +its ultimate triumph, Dthemetri was bold from a sense of true strength. +His education too, though not very general in its character, had been +carried quite far enough to justify him in pluming himself upon a very +decided advantage over the great bulk of the Mahometan population, including +the men in authority. With all this consciousness of religious +and intellectual superiority Dthemetri had lived for the most part in +countries lying under Mussulman governments, and had witnessed (perhaps +too had suffered from) their revolting cruelties: the result was that +he abhorred and despised the Mahometan faith and all who clung to it. +And this hate was not of the dry, dull, and inactive sort. Dthemetri +was in his sphere a true Crusader, and whenever there appeared a fair +opening in the defences of Islam, he was ready and eager to make the +assault. These sentiments, backed by a consciousness of understanding +the people with whom he had to do, made Dthemetri not only firm and +resolute in his constant interviews with men in authority, but sometimes +also (as you may know already) very violent and even insulting. +This tone, which I always disliked, though I was fain to profit by it, +invariably succeeded. It swept away all resistance; there was +nothing in the then depressed and succumbing mind of the Mussulman that +could oppose a zeal so warm and fierce.<br> +<br> +As for me, I of course stood aloof from Dthemetri’s crusades, +and did not even render him any active assistance when he was striving +(as he almost always was, poor fellow) on my behalf; I was only the +death’s head and white sheet with which he scared the enemy. +I think, however, that I played this spectral part exceedingly well, +for I seldom appeared at all in any discussion, and whenever I did, +I was sure to be white and calm.<br> +<br> +The event which induced the Christians of Nablus to seek for my assistance +was this. A beautiful young Christian, between fifteen and sixteen +years old, had lately been married to a man of her own creed. +About the same time (probably on the occasion of her wedding) she was +accidentally seen by a Mussulman Sheik of great wealth and local influence, +who instantly became madly enamoured of her. The strict morality +which so generally prevails where the Mussulmans have complete ascendency +prevented the Sheik from entertaining any such sinful hopes as an European +might have ventured to cherish under the like circumstances, and he +saw no chance of gratifying his love except by inducing the girl to +embrace his own creed. If he could induce her to take this step, +her marriage with the Christian would be dissolved, and then there would +be nothing to prevent him from making her the last and brightest of +his wives. The Sheik was a practical man, and quickly began his +attack upon the theological opinions of the bride. He did not +assail her with the eloquence of any imaums or Mussulman saints; he +did not press upon her the eternal truths of the “Cow,” +<a name="citation41"></a><a href="#footnote41">{41}</a> or the beautiful +morality of “the Table”; <a name="citation42"></a><a href="#footnote42">{42}</a> +he sent her no tracts, not even a copy of the holy Koran. An old +woman acted as missionary. She brought with her a whole basketful +of arguments - jewels and shawls and scarfs and all kinds of persuasive +finery. Poor Mariam! she put on the jewels and took a calm view +of the Mahometan religion in a little hand-mirror; she could not be +deaf to such eloquent earrings, and the great truths of Islam came home +to her young bosom in the delicate folds of the cashmere; she was ready +to abandon her faith.<br> +<br> +The Sheik knew very well that his attempt to convert an infidel was +illegal, and that his proceedings would not bear investigation, so he +took care to pay a large sum to the Governor of Nablus in order to obtain +his connivance.<br> +<br> +At length Mariam quitted her home and placed herself under the protection +of the Mahometan authorities, who, however, refrained from delivering +her into the arms of her lover, and detained her in a mosque until the +fact of her real conversion (which had been indignantly denied by her +relatives) should be established. For two or three days the mother +of the young convert was prevented from communicating with her child +by various evasive contrivances, but not, it would seem, by a flat refusal. +At length it was announced that the young lady’s profession of +faith might be heard from her own lips. At an hour appointed the +friends of the Sheik and the relatives of the damsel met in the mosque. +The young convert addressed her mother in a loud voice, and said, “God +is God, and Mahomet is the Prophet of God, and thou, oh my mother, art +an infidel, feminine dog!”<br> +<br> +You would suppose that this declaration, so clearly enounced, and that, +too, in a place where Mahometanism is perhaps more supreme than in any +other part of the empire, would have sufficed to have confirmed the +pretensions of the lover. This, however, was not the case. +The Greek priest of the place was despatched on a mission to the Governor +of Jerusalem (Aboo Goosh), in order to complain against the proceedings +of the Sheik and obtain a restitution of the bride. Meanwhile +the Mahometan authorities at Nablus were so conscious of having acted +unlawfully in conspiring to disturb the faith of the beautiful infidel, +that they hesitated to take any further steps, and the girl was still +detained in the mosque.<br> +<br> +Thus matters stood when the Christians of the place came and sought +to obtain my assistance.<br> +<br> +I felt (with regret) that I had no personal interest in the matter, +and I also thought that there was no pretence for my interfering with +the conflicting claims of the Christian husband and the Mahometan lover, +and I therefore declined to take any step.<br> +<br> +My speaking of the husband, by-the-bye, reminds me that he was extremely +backward about the great work of recovering his youthful bride. +The relations of the girl, who felt themselves disgraced by her conduct, +were vehement and excited to a high pitch, but the Menelaus of Nablus +was exceedingly calm and composed.<br> +<br> +The fact that it was not technically my duty to interfere in a matter +of this kind was a very sufficient, and yet a very unsatisfactory, reason +for my refusal of all assistance. Until you are placed in situations +of this kind you can hardly tell how painful it is to refrain from intermeddling +in other people’s affairs - to refrain from intermeddling when +you feel that you can do so with happy effect, and can remove a load +of distress by the use of a few small phrases. Upon this occasion, +however, an expression fell from one of the girl’s kinsmen which +not only determined me against the idea of interfering, but made me +hope that all attempts to recover the proselyte would fail. This +person, speaking with the most savage bitterness, and with the cordial +approval of all the other relatives, said that the girl ought to be +beaten to death. I could not fail to see that if the poor child +were ever restored to her family she would be treated with the most +frightful barbarity. I heartily wished, therefore, that the Mussulmans +might be firm, and preserve their young prize from any fate so dreadful +as that of a return to her own relations.<br> +<br> +The next day the Greek priest returned from his mission to Aboo Goosh, +but the “father of lies,” it would seem, had been well plied +with the gold of the enamoured Sheik, and contrived to put off the prayers +of the Christians by cunning feints. Now, therefore, a second +and more numerous deputation than the first waited upon me, and implored +my intervention with the Governor. I informed the assembled Christians +that since their last application I had carefully considered the matter. +The religious question I thought might be put aside at once, for the +excessive levity which the girl had displayed proved clearly that in +adopting Mahometanism she was not quitting any other faith. Her +mind must have been thoroughly blank upon religious questions, and she +was not, therefore, to be treated as a Christian that had strayed from +the flock, but rather as a child without any religion at all, who was +willing to conform to the usages of those who would deck her with jewels, +and clothe her with cashmere shawls.<br> +<br> +So much for the religious part of the question. Well, then, in +a merely temporal sense, it appeared to me that (looking merely to the +interests of the damsel, for I rather unjustly put poor Menelaus quite +out of the question) the advantages were all on the side of the Mahometan +match. The Sheik was in a much higher station of life than the +superseded husband, and had given the best possible proof of his ardent +affection by the sacrifices he had made, and the risks he had incurred, +for the sake of the beloved object. I, therefore, stated fairly, +to the horror and amazement of all my hearers, that the Sheik, in my +view, was likely to make a most capital husband, and that I entirely +“approved of the match.”<br> +<br> +I left Nablus under the impression that Mariam would soon be delivered +to her Mussulman lover. I afterwards found, however, that the +result was very different. Dthemetri’s religious zeal and +hate had been so much excited by the account of these events, and by +the grief and mortification of his co-religionists, that when he found +me firmly determined to decline all interference in the matter, he secretly +appealed to the Governor in my name, and (using, I suppose, many violent +threats, and telling no doubt many lies about my station and influence) +extorted a promise that the proselyte should be restored to her relatives. +I did not understand that the girl had been actually given up whilst +I remained at Nablus, but Dthemetri certainly did not desist from his +instances until he had satisfied himself by some means or other (for +mere words amounted to nothing) that the promise would be actually performed. +It was not till I had quitted Syria, and when Dthemetri was no longer +in my service, that this villainous, though well-motived trick, of his +came to my knowledge. Mysseri, who had informed me of the step +which had been taken, did not know it himself until some time after +we had quitted Nablus, when Dthemetri exultingly confessed his successful +enterprise. I know not whether the engagement which my zealous +dragoman extorted from the Governor was ever complied with. I +shudder to think of the fate which must have befallen poor Mariam if +she fell into the hands of the Christians.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXVI - THE PROPHET DAMOOR<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +For some hours I passed along the shores of the fair lake of Galilee; +then turning a little to the westward, I struck into a mountainous tract, +and as I advanced thenceforward, the lie of the country kept growing +more and more bold. At length I drew near to the city of Safed. +It sits as proud as a fortress upon the summit of a craggy height; yet +because of its minarets and stately trees, the place looks happy and +beautiful. It is one of the holy cities of the Talmud, and according +to this authority, the Messiah will reign there for forty years before +He takes possession of Sion. The sanctity and historical importance +thus attributed to the city by anticipation render it a favourite place +of retirement for Israelites, of whom it contains, they say, about four +thousand, a number nearly balancing that of the Mahometan inhabitants. +I knew by my experience of Tabarieh that a “holy city” was +sure to have a population of vermin somewhat proportionate to the number +of its Israelites, and I therefore caused my tent to be pitched upon +a green spot of ground at a respectful distance from the walls of the +town.<br> +<br> +When it had become quite dark (for there was no moon that night) I was +informed that several Jews had secretly come from the city in the hope +of obtaining some assistance from me in circumstances of imminent danger; +I was also informed that they claimed my aid upon the ground that some +of their number were British subjects. It was arranged that the +two principal men of the party should speak for the rest, and these +were accordingly admitted into my tent. One of the two called +himself the British vice-consul, and he had with him his consular cap, +but he frankly said that he could not have dared to assume this emblem +of his dignity in the daytime, and that nothing but the extreme darkness +of the night rendered it safe for him to put it on upon this occasion. +The other of the spokesmen was a Jew of Gibraltar, a tolerably well-bred +person, who spoke English very fluently.<br> +<br> +These men informed me that the Jews of the place, who were exceedingly +wealthy, had lived peaceably in their retirement until the insurrection +which took place in 1834, but about the beginning of that year a highly +religious Mussulman called Mohammed Damoor went forth into the market-place, +crying with a loud voice, and prophesying that on the fifteenth of the +following June the true Believers would rise up in just wrath against +the Jews, and despoil them of their gold and their silver and their +jewels. The earnestness of the prophet produced some impression +at the time, but all went on as usual, until at last the fifteenth of +June arrived. When that day dawned the whole Mussulman population +of the place assembled in the streets that they might see the result +of the prophecy. Suddenly Mohammed Damoor rushed furious into +the crowd, and the fierce shout of the prophet soon ensured the fulfilment +of his prophecy. Some of the Jews fled and some remained, but +they who fled and they who remained, alike, and unresistingly, left +their property to the hands of the spoilers. The most odious of +all outrages, that of searching the women for the base purpose of discovering +such things as gold and silver concealed about their persons, was perpetrated +without shame. The poor Jews were so stricken with terror, that +they submitted to their fate even where resistance would have been easy. +In several instances a young Mussulman boy, not more than ten or twelve +years of age, walked straight into the house of a Jew and stripped him +of his property before his face, and in the presence of his whole family. +<a name="citation43"></a><a href="#footnote43">{43}</a> When the +insurrection was put down some of the Mussulmans (most probably those +who had got no spoil wherewith they might buy immunity) were punished, +but the greater part of them escaped. None of the booty was restored, +and the pecuniary redress which the Pasha had undertaken to enforce +for them had been hitherto so carefully delayed, that the hope of ever +obtaining it had grown very faint. A new Governor had been appointed +to the command of the place, with stringent orders to ascertain the +real extent of the losses, and to discover the spoilers, with a view +of compelling them to make restitution. It was found that, notwithstanding +the urgency of the instructions which the Governor had received, he +did not push on the affair with the vigour that had been expected. +The Jews complained, and either by the protection of the British consul +at Damascus, or by some other means, had influence enough to induce +the appointment of a special commissioner - they called him “the +Modeer” - whose duty it was to watch for and prevent anything +like connivance on the part of the Governor, and to push on the investigation +with vigour and impartiality.<br> +<br> +Such were the instructions with which some few weeks since the Modeer +came charged. The result was that the investigation had made no +practical advance, and that the Modeer as well as the Governor was living +upon terms of affectionate friendship with Mohammed Damoor and the rest +of the principal spoilers.<br> +<br> +Thus stood the chance of redress for the past, but the cause of the +agonising excitement under which the Jews of the place now laboured +was recent and justly alarming. Mohammed Damoor had again gone +forth into the market-place, and lifted up his voice and prophesied +a second spoliation of the Israelites. This was grave matter; +the words of such a practical man as Mohammed Damoor were not to be +despised. I fear I must have smiled visibly, for I was greatly +amused and even, I think, gratified at the account of this second prophecy. +Nevertheless, my heart warmed towards the poor oppressed Israelites, +and I was flattered, too, in the point of my national vanity at the +notion of the far-reaching link by which a Jew in Syria, who had been +born on the rock of Gibraltar, was able to claim me as his fellow-countryman. +If I hesitated at all between the “impropriety” of interfering +in a matter which was no business of mine and the “infernal shame” +of refusing my aid at such a conjecture, I soon came to a very ungentlemanly +decision, namely, that I would be guilty of the “impropriety,” +and not of the “infernal shame.” It seemed to me that +the immediate arrest of Mohammed Damoor was the one thing needful to +the safety of the Jews, and I felt confident (for reasons which I have +already mentioned in speaking of the Nablus affair) that I should be +able to obtain this result by making a formal application to the Governor. +I told my applicants that I would take this step on the following morning. +They were very grateful, and were, for a moment, much pleased at the +prospect of safety which might thus be opened to them, but the deliberation +of a minute entirely altered their views, and filled them with new terror. +They declared that any attempt, or pretended attempt, on the part of +the Governor to arrest Mohammed Damoor would certainly produce an immediate +movement of the whole Mussulman population, and a consequent massacre +and robbery of the Israelites. My visitors went out, and remained +I know not how long consulting with their brethren, but all at last +agreed that their present perilous and painful position was better than +a certain and immediate attack, and that if Mohammed Damoor was seized, +their second estate would be worse than their first. I myself +did not think that this would be the case, but I could not of course +force my aid upon the people against their will; and, moreover, the +day fixed for the fulfilment of this second prophecy was not very close +at hand. A little delay, therefore, in providing against the impending +danger would not necessarily be fatal. The men now confessed that +although they had come with so much mystery and, as they thought, at +so great a risk to ask my assistance, they were unable to suggest any +mode in which I could aid them, except indeed by mentioning their grievances +to the consul-general at Damascus. This I promised to do, and +this I did.<br> +<br> +My visitors were very thankful to me for the readiness which I had shown +to intermeddle in their affairs, and the grateful wives of the principal +Jews sent to me many compliments, with choice wines and elaborate sweetmeats.<br> +<br> +The course of my travels soon drew me so far from Safed, that I never +heard how the dreadful day passed off which had been fixed for the accomplishment +of the second prophecy. If the predicted spoliation was prevented, +poor Mohammed Damoor must have been forced, I suppose, to say that he +had prophesied in a metaphorical sense. This would be a sad falling +off from the brilliant and substantial success of the first experiment.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXVII - DAMASCUS<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +For a part of two days I wound under the base of the snow-crowned Djibel +el Sheik, and then entered upon a vast and desolate plain, rarely pierced +at intervals by some sort of withered stem. The earth in its length +and its breadth and all the deep universe of sky was steeped in light +and heat. On I rode through the fire, but long before evening +came there were straining eyes that saw, and joyful voices that announced, +the sight of Shaum Shereef - the “holy,” the “blessed” +Damascus.<br> +<br> +But that which at last I reached with my longing eyes was not a speck +in the horizon, gradually expanding to a group of roofs and walls, but +a long, low line of blackest green, that ran right across in the distance +from east to west. And this, as I approached, grew deeper, grew +wavy in its outline. Soon forest trees shot up before my eyes, +and robed their broad shoulders so freshly, that all the throngs of +olives as they rose into view looked sad in their proper dimness. +There were even now no houses to see, but only the minarets peered out +from the midst of shade into the glowing sky, and bravely touched the +sun. There seemed to be here no mere city, but rather a province +wide and rich, that bounded the torrid waste.<br> +<br> +Until about a year, or two years, before the time of my going there +Damascus had kept up so much of the old bigot zeal against Christians, +or rather, against Europeans, that no one dressed as a Frank could have +dared to show himself in the streets; but the firmness and temper of +Mr. Farren, who hoisted his flag in the city as consul-general for the +district, had soon put an end to all intolerance of Englishmen. +Damascus was safer than Oxford. <a name="citation44"></a><a href="#footnote44">{44}</a> +When I entered the city in my usual dress there was but one poor fellow +that wagged his tongue, and him, in the open streets, Dthemetri horsewhipped. +During my stay I went wherever I chose, and attended the public baths +without molestation. Indeed, my relations with the pleasanter +portion of the Mahometan population were upon a much better footing +here than at most other places.<br> +<br> +In the principal streets of Damascus there is a path for foot-passengers, +which is raised, I think, a foot or two above the bridle-road. +Until the arrival of the British consul-general none but a Mussulman +had been permitted to walk upon the upper way. Mr. Farren would +not, of course, suffer that the humiliation of any such exclusion should +be submitted to by an Englishman, and I always walked upon the raised +path as free and unmolested as if I had been in Pall Mall. The +old usage was, however, maintained with as much strictness as ever against +the Christian Rayahs and Jews: not one of them could have set his foot +upon the privileged path without endangering his life.<br> +<br> +I was lounging one day, I remember, along “the paths of the faithful,” +when a Christian Rayah from the bridle-road below saluted me with such +earnestness, and craved so anxiously to speak and be spoken to, that +he soon brought me to a halt. He had nothing to tell, except only +the glory and exultation with which he saw a fellow-Christian stand +level with the imperious Mussulmans. Perhaps he had been absent +from the place for some time, for otherwise I hardly know how it could +have happened that my exaltation was the first instance he had seen. +His joy was great. So strong and strenuous was England (Lord Palmerston +reigned in those days), that it was a pride and delight for a Syrian +Christian to look up and say that the Englishman’s faith was his +too. If I was vexed at all that I could not give the man a lift +and shake hands with him on level ground, there was no alloy to his +pleasure. He followed me on, not looking to his own path, but +keeping his eyes on me. He saw, as he thought, and said (for he +came with me on to my quarters), the period of the Mahometan’s +absolute ascendency, the beginning of the Christian’s. He +had so closely associated the insulting privilege of the path with actual +dominion, that seeing it now in one instance abandoned, he looked for +the quick coming of European troops. His lips only whispered, +and that tremulously, but his fiery eyes spoke out their triumph in +long and loud hurrahs: “I, too, am a Christian. My foes +are the foes of the English. We are all one people, and Christ +is our King.”<br> +<br> +If I poorly deserved, yet I liked this claim of brotherhood. Not +all the warnings which I heard against their rascality could hinder +me from feeling kindly towards my fellow-Christians in the East. +English travellers, from a habit perhaps of depreciating sectarians +in their own country, are apt to look down upon the Oriental Christians +as being “dissenters” from the established religion of a +Mahometan empire. I never did thus. By a natural perversity +of disposition, which my nursemaids called contrariness, I felt the +more strongly for my creed when I saw it despised among men. I +quite tolerated the Christianity of Mahometan countries, notwithstanding +its humble aspect and the damaged character of its followers. +I went further and extended some sympathy towards those who, with all +the claims of superior intellect, learning, and industry, were kept +down under the heel of the Mussulmans by reason of their having <i>our</i> +faith. I heard, as I fancied, the faint echo of an old crusader’s +conscience, that whispered and said, “Common cause!” +The impulse was, as you may suppose, much too feeble to bring me into +trouble; it merely influenced my actions in a way thoroughly characteristic +of this poor sluggish century, that is, by making me speak almost as +civilly to the followers of Christ as I did to their Mahometan foes.<br> +<br> +This “holy” Damascus, this “earthly paradise” +of the Prophet, so fair to the eyes that he dared not trust himself +to tarry in her blissful shades, she is a city of hidden palaces, of +copses and gardens, and fountains and bubbling streams. The juice +of her life is the gushing and ice-cold torrent that tumbles from the +snowy sides of Anti-Lebanon. Close along on the river’s +edge, through seven sweet miles of rustling boughs and deepest shade, +the city spreads out her whole length. As a man falls flat, face +forward on the brook, that he may drink and drink again, so Damascus, +thirsting for ever, lies down with her lips to the stream and clings +to its rushing waters.<br> +<br> +The chief places of public amusement, or rather, of public relaxation, +are the baths and the great café; this last, which is frequented +at night by most of the wealthy men, and by many of the humbler sort, +consists of a number of sheds, very simply framed and built in a labyrinth +of running streams, which foam and roar on every side. The place +is lit up in the simplest manner by numbers of small pale lamps strung +upon loose cords, and so suspended from branch to branch, that the light, +though it looks so quiet amongst the darkening foliage, yet leaps and +brightly flashes as it falls upon the troubled waters. All around, +and chiefly upon the very edge of the torrents, groups of people are +tranquilly seated. They all drink coffee, and inhale the cold +fumes of the <i>narghile</i>; they talk rather gently the one to the +other, or else are silent. A father will sometimes have two or +three of his boys around him; but the joyousness of an Oriental child +is all of the sober sort, and never disturbs the reigning calm of the +land.<br> +<br> +It has been generally understood, I believe, that the houses of Damascus +are more sumptuous than those of any other city in the East. Some +of these, said to be the most magnificent in the place, I had an opportunity +of seeing.<br> +<br> +Every rich man’s house stands detached from its neighbours at +the side of a garden, and it is from this cause no doubt that the city +(severely menaced by prophecy) has hitherto escaped destruction. +You know some parts of Spain, but you have never, I think, been in Andalusia: +if you had, I could easily show you the interior of a Damascene house +by referring you to the Alhambra or Alcanzar of Seville. The lofty +rooms are adorned with a rich inlaying of many colours and illuminated +writing on the walls. The floors are of marble. One side +of any room intended for noonday retirement is generally laid open to +a quadrangle, in the centre of which there dances the jet of a fountain. +There is no furniture that can interfere with the cool, palace-like +emptiness of the apartments. A divan (which is a low and doubly +broad sofa) runs round the three walled sides of the room. A few +Persian carpets (which ought to be called Persian rugs, for that is +the word which indicates their shape and dimensions) are sometimes thrown +about near the divan; they are placed without order, the one partly +lapping over the other, and thus disposed, they give to the room an +appearance of uncaring luxury; except these (of which I saw few, for +the time was summer, and fiercely hot), there is nothing to obstruct +the welcome air, and the whole of the marble floor from one divan to +the other, and from the head of the chamber across to the murmuring +fountain, is thoroughly open and free.<br> +<br> +So simple as this is Asiatic luxury! The Oriental is not a contriving +animal; there is nothing intricate in his magnificence. The impossibility +of handing down property from father to son for any long period consecutively +seems to prevent the existence of those traditions by which, with us, +the refined modes of applying wealth are made known to its inheritors. +We know that in England a newly-made rich man cannot, by taking thought +and spending money, obtain even the same-looking furniture as a gentleman. +The complicated character of an English establishment allows room for +subtle distinctions between that which is <i>comme il faut</i>, and +that which is not. All such refinements are unknown in the East; +the Pasha and the peasant have the same tastes. The broad cold +marble floor, the simple couch, the air freshly waving through a shady +chamber, a verse of the Koran emblazoned on the wall, the sight and +the sound of falling water, the cold fragrant smoke of the <i>narghile</i>, +and a small collection of wives and children in the inner apartments +- these, the utmost enjoyments of the grandee, are yet such as to be +appreciable by the humblest Mussulman in the empire.<br> +<br> +But its gardens are the delight, the delight and the pride of Damascus. +They are not the formal parterres which you might expect from the Oriental +taste; they rather bring back to your mind the memory of some dark old +shrubbery in our northern isle, that has been charmingly <i>un</i> - +“kept up” for many and many a day. When you see a +rich wilderness of wood in decent England, it is like enough that you +see it with some soft regrets. The puzzled old woman at the lodge +can give small account of “the family.” She thinks +it is “Italy” that has made the whole circle of her world +so gloomy and sad. You avoid the house in lively dread of a lone +housekeeper, but you make your way on by the stables; you remember that +gable with all its neatly nailed trophies of fitchets and hawks and +owls, now slowly falling to pieces; you remember that stable, and that +- but the doors are all fastened that used to be standing ajar, the +paint of things painted is blistered and cracked, grass grows in the +yard; just there, in October mornings, the keeper would wait with the +dogs and the guns - no keeper now; you hurry away, and gain the small +wicket that used to open to the touch of a lightsome hand - it is fastened +with a padlock (the only new looking thing), and is stained with thick, +green damp; you climb it, and bury yourself in the deep shade, and strive +but lazily with the tangling briars, and stop for long minutes to judge +and determine whether you will creep beneath the long boughs and make +them your archway, or whether perhaps you will lift your heel and tread +them down under foot. Long doubt, and scarcely to be ended till +you wake from the memory of those days when the path was clear, and +chase that phantom of a muslin sleeve that once weighed warm upon your +arm.<br> +<br> +Wild as that, the nighest woodland of a deserted home in England, but +without its sweet sadness, is the sumptuous garden of Damascus. +Forest trees, tall and stately enough if you could see their lofty crests, +yet lead a tussling life of it below, with their branches struggling +against strong numbers of bushes and wilful shrubs. The shade +upon the earth is black as night. High, high above your head, +and on every side all down to the ground, the thicket is hemmed in and +choked up by the interlacing boughs that droop with the weight of roses, +and load the slow air with their damask breath. <a name="citation45"></a><a href="#footnote45">{45}</a> +There are no other flowers. Here and there, there are patches +of ground made clear from the cover, and these are either carelessly +planted with some common and useful vegetable, or else are left free +to the wayward ways of Nature, and bear rank weeds, moist-looking and +cool to the eyes, and freshening the sense with their earthy and bitter +fragrance. There is a lane opened through the thicket, so broad +in some places that you can pass along side by side; in some so narrow +(the shrubs are for ever encroaching) that you ought, if you can, to +go on the first and hold back the bough of the rose-tree. And +through this wilderness there tumbles a loud rushing stream, which is +halted at last in the lowest corner of the garden, and there tossed +up in a fountain by the side of the simple alcove. This is all.<br> +<br> +Never for an instant will the people of Damascus attempt to separate +the idea of bliss from these wild gardens and rushing waters. +Even where your best affections are concerned, and you, prudent preachers, +“hold hard” and turn aside when they come near the mysteries +of the happy state, and we (prudent preachers too), we will hush our +voices, and never reveal to finite beings the joys of the “earthly +paradise.”<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXVIII - PASS OF THE LEBANON<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +“The ruins of Baalbec!” Shall I scatter the vague, +solemn thoughts and all the airy phantasies which gather together when +once those words are spoken, that I may give you instead tall columns +and measurements true, and phrases built with ink? No, no; the +glorious sounds shall still float on as of yore, and still hold fast +upon your brain with their own dim and infinite meaning.<br> +<br> +Come! Baalbec is over; I got “rather well” out of +that.<br> +<br> +The path by which I crossed the Lebanon is like, I think, in its features +to one which you must know, namely, that of the Foorca in the Bernese +Oberland. For a great part of the way I toiled rather painfully +through the dazzling snow, but the labour of ascending added to the +excitement with which I looked for the summit of the pass. The +time came. There was a minute in the which I saw nothing but the +steep, white shoulder of the mountain, and there was another minute, +and that the next, which showed me a nether heaven of fleecy clouds +that floated along far down in the air beneath me, and showed me beyond +the breadth of all Syria west of the Lebanon. But chiefly I clung +with my eyes to the dim, steadfast line of the sea which closed my utmost +view. I had grown well used of late to the people and the scenes +of forlorn Asia - well used to tombs and ruins, to silent cities and +deserted plains, to tranquil men and women sadly veiled; and now that +I saw the even plain of the sea, I leapt with an easy leap to its yonder +shores, and saw all the kingdoms of the West in that fair path that +could lead me from out of this silent land straight on into shrill Marseilles, +or round by the pillars of Hercules to the crash and roar of London. +My place upon this dividing barrier was as a man’s puzzling station +in eternity, between the birthless past and the future that has no end. +Behind me I left an old, decrepit world; religions dead and dying; calm +tyrannies expiring in silence; women hushed and swathed, and turned +into waxen dolls; love flown, and in its stead mere royal and “paradise” +pleasures. Before me there waited glad bustle and strife; love +itself, an emulous game; religion, a cause and a controversy, well smitten +and well defended; men governed by reasons and suasion of speech; wheels +going, steam buzzing - a mortal race, and a slashing pace, and the devil +taking the hindmost - taking <i>me</i>, by Jove (for that was my inner +care), if I lingered too long upon the difficult pass that leads from +thought to action.<br> +<br> +I descended and went towards the west.<br> +<br> +The group of cedars remaining on this part of the Lebanon is held sacred +by the Greek Church on account of a prevailing notion that the trees +were standing at a time when the temple of Jerusalem was built. +They occupy three or four acres on the mountain’s side, and many +of them are gnarled in a way that implies great age, but except these +signs I saw nothing in their appearance or conduct that tended to prove +them contemporaries of the cedars employed in Solomon’s Temple. +The final cause to which these aged survivors owed their preservation +was explained to me in the evening by a glorious old fellow (a Christian +chief), who made me welcome in the valley of Eden. In ancient +times the whole range of the Lebanon had been covered with cedars, and +as the fertile plains beneath became more and more infested by government +officers and tyrants of high and low degree, the people by degrees abandoned +them and flocked to the rugged mountains, which were less accessible +to their indolent oppressors. The cedar forests gradually shrank +under the axe of the encroaching multitudes, and seemed at last to be +on the point of disappearing entirely, when an aged chief who ruled +in this district, and who had witnessed the great change effected even +in his own lifetime, chose to say that some sign or memorial should +be left of the vast woods with which the mountains had formerly been +clad, and commanded accordingly that this group of trees (which was +probably situated at the highest point to which the forest had reached) +should remain untouched. The chief, it seems, was not moved by +the notion I have mentioned as prevailing in the Greek Church, but rather +by some sentiment of veneration for a great natural feature - sentiment +akin, perhaps, to that old and earthborn religion, which made men bow +down to creation before they had yet learnt how to know and worship +the Creator.<br> +<br> +The chief of the valley in which I passed the night was a man of large +possessions, and he entertained me very sumptuously. He was highly +intelligent, and had had the sagacity to foresee that Europe would intervene +authoritatively in the affairs of Syria. Bearing this idea in +mind, and with a view to give his son an advantageous start in the ambitious +career for which he was destined, he had hired for him a teacher of +the Italian language, the only accessible European tongue. The +tutor, however, who was a native of Syria, either did not know or did +not choose to teach the European forms of address, but contented himself +with instructing his pupil in the mere language of Italy. This +circumstance gave me an opportunity (the only one I ever had, or was +likely to have <a name="citation46"></a><a href="#footnote46">{46}</a>) +of hearing the phrases of Oriental courtesy in an European tongue. +The boy was about twelve or thirteen years old, and having the advantage +of being able to speak to me without the aid of an interpreter, he took +a prominent part in doing the honours of his father’s house. +He went through his duties with untiring assiduity, and with a kind +of gracefulness, which by mere description can scarcely be made intelligible +to those who are unacquainted with the manners of the Asiatics. +The boy’s address resembled a little that of a highly polished +and insinuating Roman Catholic priest, but had more of girlish gentleness. +It was strange to hear him gravely and slowly enunciating the common +and extravagant compliments of the East in good Italian, and in soft, +persuasive tones. I recollect that I was particularly amused at +the gracious obstinacy with which he maintained that the house in which +I was so hospitably entertained belonged not to his father, but to me. +To say this once was only to use the common form of speech, signifying +no more than our sweet word “welcome,” but the amusing part +of the matter was that, whenever in the course of conversation I happened +to speak of his father’s house or the surrounding domain, the +boy invariably interfered to correct my pretended mistake, and to assure +me once again with a gentle decisiveness of manner that the whole property +was really and exclusively mine, and that his father had not the most +distant pretensions to its ownership.<br> +<br> +I received from my host much, and (as I now know) most true, information +respecting the people of the mountains, and their power of resisting +Mehemet Ali. The chief gave me very plainly to understand that +the mountaineers, being dependent upon others for bread and gunpowder +(the two great necessaries of martial life), could not long hold out +against a power which occupied the plains and commanded the sea; but +he also assured me, and that very significantly, that if this source +of weakness were provided against, <i>the mountaineers were to be depended +upon</i>; he told me that in ten or fifteen days the chiefs could bring +together some fifty thousand fighting men.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +CHAPTER XXIX - SURPRISE OF SATALIEH<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +Whilst I was remaining upon the coast of Syria I had the good fortune +to become acquainted with the Russian Sataliefsky, <a name="citation47"></a><a href="#footnote47">{47}</a> +a general officer, who in his youth had fought and bled at Borodino, +but was now better known among diplomats by the important trust committed +to him at a period highly critical for the affairs of Eastern Europe. +I must not tell you his family name; my mention of his title can do +him no harm, for it is I, and I only, who have conferred it, in consideration +of the military and diplomatic services performed under my own eyes.<br> +<br> +The General as well as I was bound for Smyrna, and we agreed to sail +together in an Ionian brigantine. We did not charter the vessel, +but we made our arrangement with the captain upon such terms that we +could be put ashore upon any part of the coast that we might choose. +We sailed, and day after day the vessel lay dawdling on the sea with +calms and feeble breezes for her portion. I myself was well repaid +for the painful restlessness which such weather occasions, because I +gained from my companion a little of that vast fund of interesting knowledge +with which he was stored, knowledge a thousand times the more highly +to be prized since it was not of the sort that is to be gathered from +books, but only from the lips of those who have acted a part in the +world.<br> +<br> +When after nine days of sailing, or trying to sail, we found ourselves +still hanging by the mainland to the north of the isle of Cyprus, we +determined to disembark at Satalieh, and to go on thence by land. +A light breeze favoured our purpose, and it was with great delight that +we neared the fragrant land, and saw our anchor go down in the bay of +Satalieh, within two or three hundred yards of the shore.<br> +<br> +The town of Satalieh <a name="citation48"></a><a href="#footnote48">{48}</a> +is the chief place of the Pashalic in which it is situate, and its citadel +is the residence of the Pasha. We had scarcely dropped our anchor +when a boat from the shore came alongside with officers on board, who +announced that the strictest orders had been received for maintaining +a quarantine of three weeks against all vessels coming from Syria, and +directed accordingly that no one from the vessel should disembark. +In reply we sent a message to the Pasha, setting forth the rank and +titles of the General, and requiring permission to go ashore. +After a while the boat came again alongside, and the officers declaring +that the orders received from Constantinople were imperative and unexceptional, +formally enjoined us in the name of the Pasha to abstain from any attempt +to land.<br> +<br> +I had been hitherto much less impatient of our slow voyage than my gallant +friend, but this opposition made the smooth sea seem to me like a prison, +from which I must and would break out. I had an unbounded faith +in the feebleness of Asiatic potentates, and I proposed that we should +set the Pasha at defiance. The General had been worked up to a +state of most painful agitation by the idea of being driven from the +shore which smiled so pleasantly before his eyes, and he adopted my +suggestion with rapture.<br> +<br> +We determined to land.<br> +<br> +To approach the sweet shore after a tedious voyage, and then to be suddenly +and unexpectedly prohibited from landing - this is so maddening to the +temper, that no one who had ever experienced the trial would say that +even the most violent impatience of such restraint is wholly inexcusable. +I am not going to pretend, however, that the course which we chose to +adopt on the occasion can be perfectly justified. The impropriety +of a traveller’s setting at naught the regulations of a foreign +State is clear enough, and the bad taste of compassing such a purpose +by mere gasconading is still more glaringly plain. I knew perfectly +well that if the Pasha understood his duty, and had energy enough to +perform it, he would order out a file of soldiers the moment we landed, +and cause us both to be shot upon the beach, without allowing more contact +than might be absolutely necessary for the purpose of making us stand +fire; but I also firmly believed that the Pasha would not see the befitting +line of conduct nearly so well as I did, and that even if he did know +his duty, he would hardly succeed in finding resolution enough to perform +it.<br> +<br> +We ordered the boat to be got in readiness, and the officers on shore +seeing these preparations, gathered together a number of guards, who +assembled upon the sands. We saw that great excitement prevailed, +and that messengers were continually going to and fro between the shore +and the citadel. Our captain, out of compliment to his Excellency, +had provided the vessel with a Russian war-flag, which he had hoisted +alternately with the Union Jack, and we agreed that we would attempt +our disembarkation under this, the Russian standard! I was glad +when we came to that resolution, for I should have been sorry to engage +the honoured flag of England in such an affair as that which we were +undertaking. The Russian ensign was therefore committed to one +of the sailors, who took his station at the stern of the boat. +We gave particular instructions to the captain of the brigantine, and +when all was ready, the General and I, with our respective servants, +got into the boat, and were slowly rowed towards the shore. The +guards gathered together at the point for which we were making, but +when they saw that our boat went on without altering her course, <i>they +ceased to stand very still</i>; none of them ran away, or even shrank +back, but they looked as if <i>the pack were being shuffled</i>, every +man seeming desirous to change places with his neighbour. They +were still at their post, however, when our oars went in, and the bow +of our boat ran up - well up upon the beach.<br> +<br> +The General was lame by an honourable wound received at Borodino, and +could not without some assistance get out of the boat; I, therefore, +landed the first. My instructions to the captain were attended +to with the most perfect accuracy, for scarcely had my foot indented +the sand when the four six-pounders of the brigantine quite gravely +rolled out their brute thunder. Precisely as I had expected, the +guards and all the people who had gathered about them gave way under +the shock produced by the mere sound of guns, and we were all allowed +to disembark with the least molestation.<br> +<br> +We immediately formed a little column, or rather, as I should have called +it, a procession, for we had no fighting aptitude in us, and were only +trying, as it were, how far we could go in frightening full-grown children. +First marched the sailor with the Russian flag of war bravely flying +in the breeze, then came the general and I, then our servants, and lastly, +if I rightly recollect, two more of the brigantine’s crew. +Our flag-bearer so exulted in his honourable office, and bore the colours +aloft with so much of pomp and dignity, that I found it exceedingly +hard to keep a grave countenance. We advanced towards the castle, +but the people had now had time to recover from the effect of the six-pounders +(only of course loaded with powder), and they could not help seeing +not only the numerical weakness of our party, but the very slight amount +of wealth and resource which it seemed to imply. They began to +hang round us more closely, and just as this reaction was beginning +the General, who was perfectly unacquainted with the Asiatic character, +thoughtlessly turned round in order to speak to one of the servants. +The effect of this slight move was magical. The people thought +we were going to give way, and instantly closed round us. In two +words, and with one touch, I showed my comrade the danger he was running, +and in the next instant we were both advancing more pompously than ever. +Some minutes afterwards there was a second appearance of reaction, followed +again by wavering and indecision on the part of the Pasha’s people, +but at length it seemed to be understood that we should go unmolested +into the audience hall.<br> +<br> +Constant communication had been going on between the receding crowd +and the Pasha, and so when we reached the gates of the citadel we saw +that preparations were made for giving us an awe-striking reception. +Parting at once from the sailors and our servants, the General and I +were conducted into the audience hall; and there at least I suppose +the Pasha hoped that he would confound us by his greatness. The +hall was nothing more than a large whitewashed room. Oriental +potentates have a pride in that sort of simplicity, when they can contrast +it with the exhibition of power, and this the Pasha was able to do, +for the lower end of the hall was filled with his officers. These +men, of whom I thought there were about fifty or sixty, were all handsomely, +though plainly, dressed in the military frockcoats of Europe; they stood +in mass and so as to present a hollow semicircular front towards the +upper end of the hall at which the Pasha sat; they opened a narrow lane +for us when we entered, and as soon as we had passed they again closed +up their ranks. An attempt was made to induce us to remain at +a respectful distance from his mightiness. To have yielded in +this point would have have been fatal to our success, perhaps to our +lives; but the General and I had already determined upon the place which +we should take, and we rudely pushed on towards the upper end of the +hall.<br> +<br> +Upon the divan, and close up against the right hand corner of the room, +there sat the Pasha, his limbs gathered in, the whole creature coiled +up like an adder. His cheeks were deadly pale, and his lips perhaps +had turned white, for without moving a muscle the man impressed me with +an immense idea of the wrath within him. He kept his eyes inexorably +fixed as if upon vacancy, and with the look of a man accustomed to refuse +the prayers of those who sue for life. We soon discomposed him, +however, from this studied fixity of feature, for we marched straight +up to the divan and sat down, the Russian close to the Pasha, and I +by the side of the Russian. This act astonished the attendants, +and plainly disconcerted the Pasha. He could no longer maintain +the glassy stillness of the eyes which he had affected, and evidently +became much agitated. At the feet of the satrap there stood a +trembling Italian.<br> +<br> +This man was a sort of medico in the potentate’s service, and +now in the absence of our attendants he was to act as interpreter. +The Pasha caused him to tell us that we had openly defied his authority, +and had forced our way on shore in the teeth of his own officers.<br> +<br> +Up to this time I had been the planner of the enterprise, but now that +the moment had come when all would depend upon able and earnest speechifying, +I felt at once the immense superiority of my gallant friend, and gladly +left to him the whole conduct of this discussion. Indeed he had +vast advantages over me, not only by his superior command of language +and his far more spirited style of address, but also in his consciousness +of a good cause; for whilst I felt myself completely in the wrong, his +Excellency had really worked himself up to believe that the Pasha’s +refusal to permit our landing was a gross outrage and insult. +Therefore, without deigning to defend our conduct he at once commenced +a spirited attack upon the Pasha. The poor Italian doctor translated +one or two sentences to the Pasha, but he evidently mitigated their +import. The Russian, growing warm, insisted upon his attack with +redoubled energy and spirit; but the medico, instead of translating, +began to shake violently with terror, and at last he came out with his +<i>non ardisco</i>, and fairly confessed that he dared not interpret +fierce words to his master.<br> +<br> +Now then, at a time when everything seemed to depend upon the effect +of speech, we were left without an interpreter.<br> +<br> +But this very circumstance, which at first appeared so unfavourable, +turned out to be advantageous. The General, finding that he could +not have his words translated, ceased to speak in Italian, and recurred +to his accustomed French; he became eloquent. No one present except +myself understood one syllable of what he was saying, but he had drawn +forth his passport, and the energy and violence with which, as he spoke, +he pointed to the graven Eagle of all the Russias, began to make an +impression. The Pasha saw at his side a man not only free from +every the least pang of fear, but raging, as it seemed, with just indignation, +and thenceforward he plainly began to think that, in some way or other +(he could not tell how) he must certainly have been in the wrong. +In a little time he was so much shaken that the Italian ventured to +resume his interpretation, and my comrade had again the opportunity +of pressing his attack upon the Pasha. His argument, if I rightly +recollect its import, was to this effect: “If the vilest Jews +were to come into the harbour, you would but forbid them to land, and +force them to perform quarantine; yet this is the very course, O Pasha, +which your rash officers dared to think of adopting with <i>us</i>! +- those mad and reckless men would have actually dealt towards a Russian +general officer and an English gentleman as if they had been wretched +Israelites! Never - never will we submit to such an indignity. +His Imperial Majesty knows how to protect his nobles from insult, and +would never endure that a General of his army should be treated in matter +of quarantine as though he were a mere Eastern Jew!” This +argument told with great effect. The Pasha fairly admitted that +he felt its weight, and he now only struggled to obtain such a compromise +as might partly save his dignity. He wanted us to perform a quarantine +of one day for form’s sake, and in order to show his people that +he was not utterly defied; but finding that we were inexorable, he not +only abandoned his attempt, but promised to supply us with horses.<br> +<br> +When the discussion had arrived at this happy conclusion<i> tchibouques</i> +and coffee were brought, and we passed, I think, nearly an hour in friendly +conversation. The Pasha, it now appeared, had once been a prisoner +of war in Russia, and a conviction of the Emperor’s vast power, +necessarily acquired during this captivity, made him perhaps more alive +than an untravelled Turk would have been to the force of my comrade’s +eloquence.<br> +<br> +The Pasha now gave us a generous feast. Our promised horses were +brought without much delay. I gained my loved saddle once more, +and when the moon got up and touched the heights of Taurus, we were +joyfully winding our way through the first of his rugged defiles.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +APPENDIX - THE HOME OF LADY HESTER STANHOPE<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +It was late when we came in sight of two high conical hills, on one +of which stands the village of Djouni, on the other a circular wall, +over which dark trees were waving; and this was the place in which Lady +Hester Stanhope had finished her strange and eventful career. +It had formerly been a convent, but the Pasha of Sidon had given it +to the “prophet-lady,” who converted its naked walls into +a palace, and its wilderness into gardens.<br> +<br> +The sun was setting as we entered the enclosure, and we were soon scattered +about the outer court, picketing our horses, rubbing down their foaming +flanks, and washing out their wounds. The buildings that constituted +the palace were of a very scattered and complicated description, covering +a wide space, but only one storey in height: courts and gardens, stables +and sleeping-rooms, halls of audience and ladies’ bowers, were +strangely intermingled. Heavy weeds were growing everywhere among +the open portals, and we forced our way with difficulty through a tangle +of roses and jasmine to the inner court; here choice flowers once bloomed, +and fountains played in marble basins, but now was presented a scene +of the most melancholy desolation. As the watchfire blazed up, +its gleam fell upon masses of honeysuckle and woodbine, on white, mouldering +walls beneath, and dark, waving trees above; while the group of mountaineers +who gathered round its light, with their long beards and vivid dresses, +completed the strange picture.<br> +<br> +The clang of sword and spear resounded through the long galleries; horses +neighed among bowers and boudoirs; strange figures hurried to and fro +among the colonnades, shouting in Arabic, English, and Italian; the +fire crackled, the startled bats flapped their heavy wings, and the +growl of distant thunder filled up the pauses in the rough symphony.<br> +<br> +Our dinner was spread on the floor in Lady Hester’s favourite +apartment; her deathbed was our sideboard, her furniture our fuel, her +name our conversation. Almost before the meal was ended two of +our party had dropped asleep over their trenchers from fatigue; the +Druses had retired from the haunted precincts to their village; and +W-, L-, and I went out into the garden to smoke our pipes by Lady Hester’s +lonely tomb. About midnight we fell asleep upon the ground, wrapped +in our capotes, and dreamed of ladies and tombs and prophets till the +neighing of our horses announced the dawn.<br> +<br> +After a hurried breakfast on fragments of the last night’s repast +we strolled out over the extensive gardens. Here many a broken +arbour and trellis, bending under masses of jasmine and honeysuckle, +show the care and taste that were once lavished on this wild but beautiful +hermitage: a garden-house, surrounded by an enclosure of roses run wild, +lies in the midst of a grove of myrtle and bay trees. This was +Lady Hester’s favourite resort during her lifetime; and now, within +its silent enclosure,<br> +<br> +<br> +“After life’s fitful fever she sleeps well.”<br> +<br> +<br> +The hand of ruin has dealt very sparingly with all these interesting +relics; the Pasha’s power by day, and the fear of spirits by night, +keep off marauders; and though we made free with broken benches and +fallen doorposts for fuel, we reverently abstained from displacing anything +in the establishment except a few roses, which there was no living thing +but bees and nightingales to regret. It was one of the most striking +and interesting spots I ever witnessed: its silence and beauty, its +richness and desolation, lent to it a touching and mysterious character, +that suited well the memory of that strange hermit-lady who has made +it a place of pilgrimage, even in Palestine. <a name="citation49"></a><a href="#footnote49">{49}</a><br> +<br> +The Pasha of Sidon presented Lady Hester with the deserted convent of +Mar Elias on her arrival in his country, and this she soon converted +into a fortress, garrisoned by a band of Albanians: her only attendants +besides were her doctor, her secretary, and some female slaves. +Public rumour soon busied itself with such a personage, and exaggerated +her influence and power. It is even said that she was crowned +Queen of the East at Palmyra by fifty thousand Arabs. She certainly +exercised almost despotic power in her neighbourhood on the mountain; +and what was perhaps the most remarkable proof of her talents, she prevailed +on some Jews to advance large sums of money to her on her note of hand. +She lived for many years, beset with difficulties and anxieties, but +to the last she held on gallantly: even when confined to her bed and +dying she sought for no companionship or comfort but such as she could +find in her own powerful, though unmanageable, mind.<br> +<br> +Mr. Moore, our consul at Beyrout, hearing she was ill, rode over the +mountains to visit her, accompanied by Mr. Thomson, the American missionary. +It was evening when they arrived, and a profound silence was over all +the palace. No one met them; they lighted their own lamps in the +outer court, and passed unquestioned through court and gallery until +they came to where <i>she</i> lay. A corpse was the only inhabitant +of the palace, and the isolation from her kind which she had sought +so long was indeed complete. That morning thirty-seven servants +had watched every motion of her eye: its spell once darkened by death, +every one fled with such plunder as they could secure. A little +girl, adopted by her and maintained for years, took her watch and some +papers on which she had set peculiar value. Neither the child +nor the property were ever seen again. Not a single thing was +left in the room where she lay dead, except the ornaments upon her person. +No one had ventured to touch these; even in death she seemed able to +protect herself. At midnight her countryman and the missionary +carried her out by torchlight to a spot in the garden that had been +formerly her favourite resort, and here they buried the self-exiled +lady. - <i>From</i> “THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS,” <i>by +Eliot Warburton.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +</i>Footnotes:<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote1"></a><a href="#citation1">{1}</a> A “compromised” +person is one who has been in contact with people or things supposed +to be capable of conveying infection. As a general rule the whole +Ottoman Empire lies constantly under this terrible ban. The “yellow +flag” is the ensign of the quarantine establishment.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote2"></a><a href="#citation2">{2}</a> The narghile +is a water-pipe upon the plan of the hookah, but more gracefully fashioned; +the smoke is drawn by a very long flexible tube, that winds its snake-like +way from the vase to the lips of the beatified smoker.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote3"></a><a href="#citation3">{3}</a> That is, +if he stands up at all. Oriental etiquette would not warrant his +rising, unless his visitor were supposed to be at least his equal in +point of rank and station.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote4"></a><a href="#citation4">{4}</a> The continual +marriages of these people with the chosen beauties of Georgia and Circassia +have overpowered the original ugliness of their Tatar ancestors.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote5"></a><a href="#citation5">{5}</a> There is +almost always a breeze either from the Marmora or from the Black Sea, +that passes along the course of the Bosphorus.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6">{6}</a> The yashmak, +you know, is not a mere semi-transparent veil, but rather a good substantial +petticoat applied to the face; it thoroughly conceals all the features, +except the eyes; the way of withdrawing it is by pulling it down.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote7"></a><a href="#citation7">{7}</a> The “pipe +of tranquillity” is a <i>tchibouque</i> too long to be conveniently +carried on a journey; the possession of it therefore implies that its +owner is stationary, or at all events, that he is enjoying a long repose +from travel.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote8"></a><a href="#citation8">{8}</a> The Jews +of Smyrna are poor, and having little merchandise of their own to dispose +of, they are sadly importunate in offering their services as intermediaries: +their troublesome conduct has led to the custom of beating them in the +open streets. It is usual for Europeans to carry long sticks with +them, for the express purpose of keeping off the chosen people. +I always felt ashamed to strike the poor fellows myself, but I confess +to the amusement with which I witnessed the observance of this custom +by other people. The Jew seldom got hurt much, for he was always +expecting the blow, and was ready to recede from it the moment it came: +one could not help being rather gratified at seeing him bound away so +nimbly, with his long robes floating out in the air, and then again +wheel round, and return with fresh importunities.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote9"></a><a href="#citation9">{9}</a> Marriages +in the East are arranged by professed match-makers; many of these, I +believe, are Jewesses.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote10"></a><a href="#citation10">{10}</a> A Greek +woman wears her whole fortune upon her person in the shape of jewels +or gold coins; I believe that this mode of investment is adopted in +great measure for safety’s sake. It has the advantage of +enabling a suitor to <i>reckon</i> as well as to admire the objects +of his affection.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote11"></a><a href="#citation11">{11}</a> St. Nicholas +is the great patron of Greek sailors. A small picture of him enclosed +in a glass case is hung up like a barometer at one end of the cabin.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote12"></a><a href="#citation12">{12}</a> Hanmer.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote13"></a><a href="#citation13">{13}</a> “. +. . ubi templum illi, centumque Sabaeo<br> +Thure calent arae, sertisque recentibus halant.”<br> +- Aeneid, i, 415.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote14"></a><a href="#citation14">{14}</a> The writer +advises that none should attempt to read the following account of the +late Lady Hester Stanhope except those who may already chance to feel +an interest in the personage to whom it relates. The chapter (which +has been written and printed for the reasons mentioned in the preface) +is chiefly filled with the detailed conversation, or rather discourse, +of a highly eccentric gentlewoman.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote15"></a><a href="#citation15">{15}</a> Historically +“<i>fainting</i>”; the death did not occur until long afterwards.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote16"></a><a href="#citation16">{16}</a> I am told +that in youth she was exceedingly sallow.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote17"></a><a href="#citation17">{17}</a> This was +my impression at the time of writing the above passage, an impression +created by the popular and uncontradicted accounts of the matter, as +well as by the tenor of Lady Hester’s conversation. I have +now some reason to think that I was deceived, and that her sway in the +desert was much more limited than I had supposed. She seems to +have had from the Bedouins a fair five hundred pounds’ worth of +respect, and not much more.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote18"></a><a href="#citation18">{18}</a> She spoke +it, I dare say, in English; the words would not be the less effective +for being spoken in an unknown tongue. Lady Hester, I believe, +never learnt to speak the Arabic with a perfect accent.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote19"></a><a href="#citation19">{19}</a> The proceedings +thus described to me by Lady Hester as having taken place during her +illness, were afterwards re-enacted at the time of her death. +Since I wrote the words to which this note is appended, I received from +Warburton an interesting account of the heroine’s death, or rather +the circumstances attending the discovery of the event; and I caused +it to be printed in the former editions of this work. I must now +give up the borrowed ornament, and omit my extract from my friend’s +letter, for the rightful owner has reprinted it in “The Crescent +and the Cross.” I know what a sacrifice I am making, for +in noticing the first edition of this book reviewers turned aside from +the text to the note, and remarked upon the interesting information +which Warburton’s letter contained. [This narrative is reproduced +in an Appendix to the present edition.]<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote20"></a><a href="#citation20">{20}</a> In a letter +which I afterwards received from Lady Hester, she mentioned incidentally +Lord Hardwicke, and said that he was “the kindest-hearted man +existing - a most manly, firm character. He comes from a good +breed - all the Yorkes excellent, with <i>ancient</i> French blood in +their veins.” The under scoring of the word “ancient” +is by the writer of the letter, who had certainly no great love or veneration +for the French of the present day: she did not consider them as descended +from her favourite stock.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote21"></a><a href="#citation21">{21}</a> It is +said that deaf people can hear what is said concerning themselves, and +it would seem that those who live without books or newspapers know all +that is written about them. Lady Hester Stanhope, though not admitting +a book or newspaper into her fortress, seems to have known the way in +which M. Lamartine mentioned her in his book, for in a letter which +she wrote to me after my return to England she says, “Although +neglected, as Monsieur le M.” (referring, as I believe, to M. +Lamartine) “describes, and without books, yet my head is organised +to supply the want of them as well as acquired knowledge.”<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote22"></a><a href="#citation22">{22}</a> I have +been recently told that this Italian’s pretensions to the healing +art were thoroughly unfounded. My informant is a gentleman who +enjoyed during many years the esteem and confidence of Lady Hester Stanhope: +his adventures in the Levant were most curious and interesting.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote23"></a><a href="#citation23">{23}</a> The Greek +Church does not recognise this as the true sanctuary, and many Protestants +look upon all the traditions by which it is attempted to ascertain the +holy places of Palestine as utterly fabulous. For myself, I do +not mean either to affirm or deny the correctness of the opinion which +has fixed upon this as the true site, but merely to mention it as a +belief entertained without question by my brethren of the Latin Church, +whose guest I was at the time. It would be a great aggravation +of the trouble of writing about these matters if I were to stop in the +midst of every sentence for the purpose of saying “so called” +or “so it is said,” and would besides sound very ungraciously: +yet I am anxious to be literally true in all I write. Now, thus +it is that I mean to get over my difficulty. Whenever in this +great bundle of papers or book (if book it is to be) you see any words +about matters of religion which would seem to involve the assertion +of my own opinion, you are to understand me just as if one or other +of the qualifying phrases above mentioned had been actually inserted +in every sentence. My general direction for you to construe me +thus will render all that I write as strictly and actually true as if +I had every time lugged in a formal declaration of the fact that I was +merely expressing the notions of other people.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote24"></a><a href="#citation24">{24}</a> “Vino +d’oro.”<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote25"></a><a href="#citation25">{25}</a> Shereef.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26">{26}</a> Tennyson.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote27"></a><a href="#citation27">{27}</a> The other +three cities held holy by Jews are Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safet.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote28"></a><a href="#citation28">{28}</a> Hadj a +pilgrim.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote29"></a><a href="#citation29">{29}</a> Milnes +cleverly goes to the French for the exact word which conveys the impression +produced by the voice of the Arabs, and calls them “un peuple<i> +criard</i>.”<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote30"></a><a href="#citation30">{30}</a> There +is some semblance of bravado in my manner of talking about the plague. +I have been more careful to describe the terrors of other people than +my own. The truth is, that during the whole period of my stay +at Cairo I remained thoroughly impressed with a sense of my danger. +I may almost say, that I lived in perpetual apprehension, for even in +sleep, as I fancy, there remained with me some faint notion of the peril +with which I was encompassed. But fear does not necessarily damp +the spirits; on the contrary, it will often operate as an excitement, +giving rise to unusual animation, and thus it affected me. If +I had not been surrounded at this time by new faces, new scenes, and +new sounds, the effect produced upon my mind by one unceasing cause +of alarm might have been very different. As it was, the eagerness +with which I pursued my rambles among the wonders of Egypt was sharpened +and increased by the sting of the fear of death. Thus my account +of the matter plainly conveys an impression that I remained at Cairo +without losing my cheerfulness and buoyancy of spirits. And this +is the truth, but it is also true, as I have freely confessed, that +my sense of danger during the whole period was lively and continuous.<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote31"></a><a href="#citation31">{31}</a> Anglicé +for “je le sais.” These answers of mine, as given +above, are not meant as specimens of mere French, but of that fine, +terse, nervous, <i>Continental English</i> with which I and my compatriots +make our way through Europe. This language, by-the-bye, is one +possessing great force and energy, and is not without its literature, +a literature of the very highest order. Where will you find more +sturdy specimens of downright, honest, and noble English than in the +Duke of Wellington’s “French” despatches?<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote32"></a><a href="#citation32">{32}</a> The import +of the word “compromised,” when used in reference to contagion, +is explained on page 18.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote33"></a><a href="#citation33">{33}</a> It is +said, that when a Mussulman finds himself attacked by the plague he +goes and takes a bath. The couches on which the bathers recline +would carry infection, according to the notions of the Europeans. +Whenever, therefore, I took the bath at Cairo (except the first time +of my doing so) I avoided that part of the luxury which consists in +being “put up to dry” upon a kind of bed.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote34"></a><a href="#citation34">{34}</a> Mehemet +Ali invited the Mamelukes to a feast, and murdered them whilst preparing +to enter the banquet hall.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote35"></a><a href="#citation35">{35}</a> It is +not strictly lawful to sell <i>white</i> slaves to a Christian.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote36"></a><a href="#citation36">{36}</a> The difficulty +was occasioned by the immense exertions which the Pasha was making to +collect camels for military purposes.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote37"></a><a href="#citation37">{37}</a> Herodotus, +in an after age, stood by with his note-book, and got, as he thought, +the exact returns of all the rations served out.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote38"></a><a href="#citation38">{38}</a> See Milman’s +“History of the Jews,” first edition.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote39"></a><a href="#citation39">{39}</a> This is +an appellation not implying blame, but merit; the “lies” +which it purports to affiliate are feints and cunning stratagems, rather +than the baser kind of falsehoods. The expression, in short, has +nearly the same meaning as the English word “Yorkshireman.”<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote40"></a><a href="#citation40">{40}</a> The 29th +of April.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote41"></a><a href="#citation41">{41}</a> These +are the names given by the Prophet to certain chapters of the Koran.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote43"></a><a href="#citation43">{43}</a> It was +after the interview which I am talking of, and not from the Jews themselves, +that I learnt this fact.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote44"></a><a href="#citation44">{44}</a> An enterprising +American traveller, Mr. Everett, lately conceived the bold project of +penetrating to the University of Oxford, and this notwithstanding that +he had been in his infancy (they begin very young those Americans) an +Unitarian preacher. Having a notion, it seems, that the ambassadorial +character would protect him from insult, he adopted the stratagem of +procuring credentials from his Government as Minister Plenipotentiary +at the Court of her Britannic Majesty; he also wore the exact costume +of a Trinitarian. But all his contrivances were vain; Oxford disdained, +and rejected, and insulted him (not because he represented a swindling +community, but) because that his infantine sermons were strictly remembered +against him; the enterprise failed.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote45"></a><a href="#citation45">{45}</a> The rose-trees +which I saw were all of the kind we call “damask”; they +grow to an immense height and size.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote46"></a><a href="#citation46">{46}</a> A dragoman +never interprets in terms the courteous language of the East.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote47"></a><a href="#citation47">{47}</a> A title +signifying transcender or conqueror of Satalieh.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote48"></a><a href="#citation48">{48}</a> Spelt +“Attalia” and sometimes “Adalia” in English +books and maps.<br> +<br> +<a name="footnote49"></a><a href="#citation49">{49}</a> While +Lady Hester Stanhope lived, although numbers visited the convent, she +almost invariably refused admittance to strangers. She assigned +as a reason the use which M. de Lamartine had made of his interview. +Mrs. T., who passed some weeks at Djouni, told me, that when Lady Hester +read his account of this interview, she exclaimed, “It is all +false; we did not converse together for more than five minutes; but +no matter, no traveller hereafter shall betray or forge my conversation.” +The author of “Eothen,” however, was her guest, and has +given us an interesting account of his visit in his brilliant volume.<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, EOTHEN ***<br> +<pre> + +******This file should be named eothn10h.htm or eothn10h.zip****** +Corrected EDITIONS of our EBooks get a new NUMBER, eothn11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, eothn10ah.htm + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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