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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b98c85f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63731 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63731) diff --git a/old/63731-0.txt b/old/63731-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 32fa07d..0000000 --- a/old/63731-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9705 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Syria, the Desert and the Sown, by -Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Syria, the Desert and the Sown - -Author: Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell - -Illustrator: John Singer Sargent - -Release Date: November 12, 2020 [EBook #63731] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYRIA, THE DESERT AND THE SOWN *** - - - - -Produced by Laura Natal Rodrigues at Free Literature (Images -generously made available by Hathi Trust.) - - - - - -THE DESERT AND -THE SOWN - -[Frontispiece: Bedouins of the Syrian Desert. -(JOHN SARGENT. R.A.)] - - -SYRIA -THE DESERT & THE SOWN - - -BY - -GERTRUDE LOWTHIAN BELL - - -_WITH FRONTISPIECE BY JOHN SARGENT, R. A. -ALSO MANY ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP_ - - -NEW YORK -E.P. DUTTON AND COMPANY -1907 - - - - -[Illustration: arabic] - - -He deems the Wild the sweetest of friends, and travels on -where travels above him the Mother of all the clustered stars - -TA'ABATA SHARRAN - - - - -To A. C. L. -WHO KNOWS THE HEART -OF THE EAST - - - - -PREFACE - - -Those who venture to add a new volume to the vast literature of travel, -unless they be men of learning or politicians, must be prepared with an -excuse. My excuse is ready, as specious and I hope as plausible as such -things should be. I desired to write not so much a book of travel as an -account of the people whom I met or who accompanied me on my way, and to -show what the world is like in which they live and how it appears to -them. And since it was better that they should, as far as possible, tell -their own tale, I have strung their words upon the thread of the road, -relating as I heard them the stories with which shepherd and man-at-arms -beguiled the hours of the march, the talk that passed from lip to lip -round the camp fire, in the black tent of the Arab and the guest-chamber -of the Druze, as well as the more cautious utterances of Turkish and -Syrian officials. Their statecraft consists of guesses, often shrewd -enough, at the results that may spring from the clash of unknown forces, -of which the strength and the aim are but dimly apprehended; their -wisdom is that of men whose channels of information and standards for -comparison are different from ours, and who bring a different set of -preconceptions to bear upon the problems laid before them. The Oriental -is like a very old child. He is unacquainted with many branches of -knowledge which we have come to regard as of elementary necessity; -frequently, but not always, his mind is little preoccupied with the need -of acquiring them, and he concerns himself scarcely at all with what we -call practical utility. He is not practical in our acceptation of the -word, any more than a child is practical, and his utility is not ours. -On the other hand, his action is guided by traditions of conduct and -morality that go back to the beginnings of civilisation, traditions -unmodified as yet by any important change in the manner of life to which -they apply and out of which they arose. These things apart, he is as we -are; human nature does not undergo a complete change east of Suez, nor -is it impossible to be on terms of friendship and sympathy with the -dwellers in those regions. In some respects it is even easier than in -Europe. You will find in the East habits of intercourse less fettered by -artificial chains, and a wider tolerance born of greater diversity. -Society is divided by caste and sect and tribe into an infinite number -of groups, each one of which is following a law of its own, and however -fantastic, to our thinking, that law may be, to the Oriental it is an -ample and a satisfactory explanation of all peculiarities. A man may go -about in public veiled up to the eyes, or clad if he please only in a -girdle: he will excite no remark. Why should he? Like every one else he -is merely obeying his own law. So too the European may pass up and down -the wildest places, encountering little curiosity and of criticism even -less. The news he brings will be heard with interest, his opinions will -be listened to with attention, but he will not be thought odd or mad, -nor even mistaken, because his practices and the ways of his thought are -at variance with those of the people among whom he finds himself. -"'Ādat-hu:" it is his custom. And for this reason he will be the wiser -if he does not seek to ingratiate himself with Orientals by trying to -ape their habits, unless he is so skilful that he can pass as one of -themselves. Let him treat the law of others respectfully, but he himself -will meet with a far greater respect if he adheres strictly to his own. -For a woman this rule is of the first importance, since a woman can -never disguise herself effectually. That she should be known to come of -a great and honoured stock, whose customs are inviolable, is her best -claim to consideration. - -None of the country through which I went is ground virgin to the -traveller, though parts of it have been visited but seldom, and -described only in works that are costly and often difficult to obtain. -Of such places I have given a brief account, and as many photographs as -seemed to be of value. I have also noted in the northern cities of Syria -those vestiges of antiquity that catch the eye of a casual observer. -There is still much exploration to be done in Syria and on the edge of -the desert, and there are many difficult problems yet to be solved. The -work has been well begun by de Vogüé, Wetzstein, Brünnow, Sachau, -Dussaud, Puchstein and his colleagues, the members of the Princeton -Expedition and others. To their books I refer those who would learn how -immeasurably rich is the land in architectural monuments and in the -epigraphic records of a far-reaching history. - -My journey did not end at Alexandretta as this account ends. In Asia -Minor I was, however, concerned mainly with archæology; the results of -what work I did there have been published in a series of papers in the -"Revue Archéologique," where, through the kindness of the editor, -Monsieur Salomon Reinach, they have found a more suitable place than the -pages of such a book as this could have offered them. - -I do not know either the people or the language of Asia Minor well -enough to come into anything like a close touch with the country, but I -am prepared, even on a meagre acquaintance, to lay tokens of esteem at -the feet of the Turkish peasant. He is gifted with many virtues, with -the virtue of hospitality beyond all others. - -I have been at some pains to relate the actual political conditions of -unimportant persons. They do not appear so unimportant to one who is in -their midst, and for my part I have always been grateful to those who -have provided me with a clue to their relations with one another. But I -am not concerned to justify or condemn the government of the Turk. I -have lived long enough in Syria to realise that his rule is far from -being the ideal of administration, and seen enough of the turbulent -elements which he keeps more or less in order to know that his post is a -difficult one. I do not believe that any government would give universal -satisfaction; indeed, there are few which attain that desired end even -in more united countries. Being English, I am persuaded that we are the -people who could best have taken Syria in hand with the prospect of a -success greater than that which might be attained by a moderately -reasonable Sultan. We have long recognised that the task will not fall -to us. We have unfortunately done more than this. Throughout the -dominions of Turkey we have allowed a very great reputation to weaken -and decline; reluctant to accept the responsibility of official -interference, we have yet permitted the irresponsible protests, -vehemently expressed, of a sentimentality that I make bold to qualify as -ignorant, and our dealings with the Turk have thus presented an air of -vacillation which he may be pardoned for considering perfidious and for -regarding with animosity. These feelings, combined with the deep-seated -dread of a great Asiatic Empire which is also mistress of Egypt and of -the sea, have, I think, led the Porte to seize the first opportunity for -open resistance to British demands, whether out of simple miscalculation -of the spirit that would be aroused, or with the hope of foreign -backing, it is immaterial to decide, The result is equally deplorable, -and if I have gauged the matter at all correctly, the root of it lies in -the disappearance of English influence at Constantinople. The position -of authority that we occupied has been taken by another, yet it is and -must be of far deeper importance to us than to any other that we should -be able to guide when necessary the tortuous politics of Yildiz Kiosk. -The greatest of all Mohammedan powers cannot afford to let her relations -with the Khalif of Islām be regulated with so little consistency or -firmness, and if the Sultan's obstinacy in the Tābah quarrel can prove -to us how far the reins have slipped from our hands, it will have served -its turn. Seated as we are upon the Mediterranean and having at our -command, as I believe, a considerable amount of goodwill within the -Turkish empire and the memories of an ancient friendship, it should not -be impossible to recapture the place we have lost. - -But these are matters outside the scope of the present book, and my -_apologia_ had best end where every Oriental writer would have begun: -"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!" - - -MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. - - - - -CONTENTS -PREFACE -CHAPTER I -CHAPTER II -CHAPTER III -CHAPTER IV -CHAPTER V -CHAPTER VI -CHAPTER VII -CHAPTER VIII -CHAPTER IX -CHAPTER X -CHAPTER XI -CHAPTER XII -CHAPTER XIII -CHAPTER XIV -INDEX - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - -Bedouin of the Syrian Desert Frontispiece -The Mosque of 'Umar, Jerusalem -The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem -A Street in Jerusalem -St. Stephen's Gate, Jerusalem -A Mahommedan Procession passing the Garden of Olives -Russian Pilgrims -Pilgrims receiving Baptism in Jordan -Monastery of Kuruntul above Jericho -Crossing the Ghōr -The Bridge over Jordan -The Monastery of Mar Saba, Wilderness of Judæ -The Wall of Lamentation, Jerusalem -Jews of Bokhara -Abyssinian Priests -An Arab of the 'Adwān Guarding Crops -An Encampment near the Dead Sea -The Theatre, 'Ammān -A Gateway, 'Ammān -The Temple, Khureibet es Sūḳ -Mausoleum, Khureibet es Sūḳ -Arabs of the Belḳa -A Ruined Church, Mādeba -The Ḳal'ah at Zīza -A Christian Encampment -Flocks of the Ṣukhūr -A Roman Milestone -Mshitta -Mshitta, the Façade -Mshitta, the Inner Halls -Arabs of the Belḳa -Fellāḥ ul 'Isa ad Da'ja -A Capital at Muwaġġar -A Capital at Muwaġġar -A Capital at Muwaġġar -Milking Sheep -G̣ablān ibn Ḥamūd ad Da'ja -On the Ḥājj Road -Arabs Riding Mardūf -A Travelling Encampment of the 'Ag̣ēl -A Desert Well -A Desert Water-course -Camels of the Ḥaseneh -Umm ej Jemāl -Watering Camels -Striking Camp -Muḥammad el Aṭrash -Desert Flora and Fauna -The Castle, Ṣalkhad -Nasīb el Aṭrash -A Group of Druzes -From Ṣalkhad Castle, looking South-East -Ḳreyeh -A Druze Ploughboy -Boṣrā Eski Shām -The Village Gateway, Ḥabrān -A Druze Maḳ'ad, Ḥabrān -Lintel, el Khurbeh -The Walls of Ḳanawāt -Ḳanawāt, The Basilica -Ḳanawāt, Doorway of the Basilica -Ḳanawāt A Temple -The Temple, Mashennef -Ḳal'at el Beiḍa -Ḳal'at el Beiḍa -Ḳal'at el Beiḍa, Door of Keep -Mouldings from Ḳal'at el Beiḍa and from Palmyra -A Gateway, Shakka -The Sheikh's House, Ḥayāt -In the Palmyrene Desert 135 -The Great Mosque and the Roofs of the Bazaar from the Fort -A Corn Market -The Ḳubbet el Khazneh -The Tekyah of Nakshibendi -Gate of the Tekyah -Mushḳin Kalam -Sweetmeat Sellers -Court of the Great Mosque -Threshing-floor of Karyatein -The Tekyali of Nakshibendi -Outside Damascus Gates -A Water seller -Suḳ Wādi Barada -Ba'albek -The Great Court, Ba'albek -Columns of the Temple of the Sun, Ba'albek -Temple of Jupiter, Ba'albek -Capitals in the Temple of Jupiter, Ba'albek -Fountain in the Great Court, Ba'albek -Fragment of Entablature, Ba'albek -Basilica of Constantine, Ba'albek -A Stone in the Quarry, Ba'albek -Rās ul 'Ain, Ba'albek -Cedars of Lebanon -The Ḳāmu'a Hurmul -An Eastern Holiday -A Street in Ḥomṣ -Coffee by the Road-side -Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn -Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, Interior of the Castle -Windows of the Banquet Hall -Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, Walls of the Inner Enceinte -Fellaḥīn Arabs -The Temple at Ḥuṣn es Suleimān -North Gate, Ḥuṣn es Suleimān -City Gate, Masyād -Capital at Masyād -Capital at Masyād -A Na'oura, Ḥamāh -The Ḳubbeh in the Mosque at Ḥamāh -The Tekyah Killāniyyeh, Ḥamāh -Capital in the Mosque, Ḥamāh -A Capital, Ḥamāh -Ḳal'at es Seijar -Ḳal'at es Seijar, The Cutting through the Ridge -A Capital, Ḥamāh -A House at el Bārah -Moulding at el Bārah and Lintel at Khirbet Hāss -Tomb, Serjilla -Sheikh Yūnis -House at Serjilla -Tomb of Bizzos -Church and Tomb, Ruweiḥā -Ḳaṣr el Ḃanāt -Tomb Dāna -A Beehive Village -The Castle, Aleppo -A Water-carrier -Ḳal'at Sim'ān -Ḳal'at Sim'ān -Ḳal'at West Door -Ḳal'at Circular Court -Ḳal'at Circular Court -Ḳal'at The Apse -Ḳal'at West Door -A Funeral Monument, Ḳāṭurā -Khirāb esh Shems -Khirāb esh Carving in a Tomb -Capital, Upper Church at Kalōteh -Barād, Canopy Tomb -Barād, Tower to the West of the Town -Mūsa and his Family -Bāsufān, a Kurdish Girl -Tomb at Dānā -The Bāb el Hawa -The Temple Gate, Bāḳirḥa -Ḳalb Lōzeh -The Apse, Ḳalb Lōzeh -Ḥārim -Salḳīn -Travellers -Antioch -Antioch -On the Bank of the Orontes, Antioch -The Corn Market, Antioch -Roman Lamp in Rifa't Agha's Collection -Head of a Sphinx, Antioch -Daphne -The Garīz -The Statue in the Mulberry-Garden -Lower Course of the Garīz -Sarcophagus in the Seraya, Antioch - - - - -[Illustration 01: THE MOSQUE OF 'UMAR, JERUSALEM] - - - - -CHAPTER I - - -To those bred under an elaborate social order few such moments of -exhilaration can come as that which stands at the threshold of wild -travel. The gates of the enclosed garden are thrown open, the chain at -the entrance of the sanctuary is lowered, with a wary glance to right -and left you step forth, and, behold! the immeasurable world. The world -of adventure and of enterprise, dark with hurrying storms, glittering in -raw sunlight, an unanswered question and an unanswerable doubt hidden in -the fold of every hill. Into it you must go alone, separated from the -troops of friends that walk the rose alleys, stripped of the purple and -fine linen that impede the fighting arm, roofless, defenceless, without -possessions. The voice of the wind shall be heard instead of the -persuasive voices of counsellors, the touch of the rain and the prick of -the frost shall be spurs sharper than praise or blame, and necessity -shall speak with an authority unknown to that borrowed wisdom which men -obey or discard at will. So you leave the sheltered close, and, like the -man in the fairy story, you feel the bands break that were riveted about -your heart as you enter the path that stretches across the rounded -shoulder of the earth. - -It was a stormy morning, the 5th of February. The west wind swept up -from the Mediterranean, hurried across the plain where the Canaanites -waged war with the stubborn hill dwellers of Judæa, and leapt the -barrier of mountains to which the kings of Assyria and of Egypt had laid -vain siege. It shouted the news of rain to Jerusalem and raced onwards -down the barren eastern slopes, cleared the deep bed of Jordan with a -bound, and vanished across the hills of Moab into the desert. And all -the hounds of the storm followed behind, a yelping pack, coursing -eastward and rejoicing as they went. - - -[Illustration 02: THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM] - - -No one with life in his body could stay in on such a day, but for me -there was little question of choice. In the grey winter dawn the mules -had gone forward carrying all my worldly goods--two tents, a canteen, -and a month's provision of such slender luxuries as the austerest -traveller can ill spare, two small mule trunks, filled mainly with -photographic materials, a few books and a goodly sheaf of maps. The -mules and the three muleteers I had brought with me from Beyrout, and -liked well enough to take on into the further journey. The men were all -from the Lebanon. A father and son, Christians both, came from a village -above Beyrout: the father an old and toothless individual who mumbled, -as he rode astride the mule trunks, blessings and pious ejaculations -mingled with protestations of devotion to his most clement employer, but -saw no need to make other contribution to the welfare of the -party--Ibrahīm was the name of this ancient; the son, Ḥabīb, a young -man of twenty-two or twenty-three, dark, upright and broad-shouldered, -with a profile that a Greek might have envied and a bold glance under -black brows. The third was a Druze, a big shambling man, incurably lazy, -a rogue in his modest way, though he could always disarm my just -indignation in the matter of stolen sugar or missing piastres with an -appealing, lustrous eye that looked forth unblinking like the eye of a -dog. He was greedy and rather stupid, defects that must be difficult to -avoid on a diet of dry bread, rice and rancid butter; but when I took -him into the midst of his blood enemies he slouched about his work and -tramped after his mule and his donkey with the same air of passive -detachment that he showed in the streets of Beyrout. His name was -Muḥammad. The last member of the caravan was the cook. Mikhāil, a -native of Jerusalem and a Christian whose religion did not sit heavy on -his soul. He had travelled with Mr. Mark Sykes, and received from him -the following character: "He doesn't know much about cooking, unless he -has learnt since he was with me, but he never seems to care twopence -whether he lives or whether he is killed." When I repeated these words -to Mikhāil he relapsed into fits of suppressed laughter, and I engaged -him on the spot. It was an insufficient reason, and as good as many -another. He served me well according to his lights; but he was a touchy, -fiery little man, always ready to meet a possible offence half way, with -an imagination to the limits of which I never attained during three -months' acquaintance, and unfortunately he had learned other things -besides cooking during the years that had elapsed since he and Mr. Sykes -had been shipwrecked together on Lake Van. It was typical of him that he -never troubled to tell me the story of that adventure, though once when -I alluded to it he nodded his head and remarked: "We were as near death -as a beggar to poverty, but your Excellency knows a man can die but -once," whereas he bombarded my ears with tales of tourists who had -declared they could not and would not travel in Syria unsustained by his -culinary arts. The 'arak bottle was his fatal drawback; and after trying -all prophylactic methods, from blandishment to the hunting-crop, I -parted with him abruptly on the Cilician coast, not without regrets -other than a natural longing for his tough ragôuts and cold pancakes. - -[Illustration 03: A STREET IN JERUSALEM] - -[Illustration 04: ST. STEPHEN'S GATE, JERUSALEM] - -I had a great desire to ride alone down the desolate road to Jericho, as -I had done before when my face was turned towards the desert, but -Mikhāil was of opinion that it would be inconsistent with my dignity, -and I knew that even his chattering companionship could not rob that -road of solitude. At nine we were in the saddle, riding soberly round -the walls of Jerusalem, down into the valley of Gethsemane, past the -garden of the Agony and up on to the Mount of Olives. Here I paused to -recapture the impression, which no familiarity can blunt, of the walled -city on the hill, grey in a grey and stony landscape under the heavy -sky, but illumined by the hope and the unquenchable longing of -generations of pilgrims. Human aspiration, the blind reaching out of the -fettered spirit towards a goal where all desire shall be satisfied and -the soul find peace, these things surround the city like a halo, half -glorious, half pitiful, shining with tears and blurred by many a -disillusion. The west wind turned my horse and set him galloping over -the brow of the hill and down the road that winds through the Wilderness -of Judæa. - -[Illustration 05: A MAHOMMADAN PROCESSION PASSING THE GARDEN OF OLIVES] - -[Illustration 06: RUSSIAN PILGRIMS] - -At the foot of the first descent there is a spring, 'Ain esh Shems, the -Arabs call it, the Fountain of the Sun, but the Christian pilgrims have -named it the Apostles' Well. In the winter you will seldom pass there -without seeing some Russian peasants resting on their laborious way up -from Jordan. Ten thousand of them pour yearly into the Holy Land, old -men and women, for the most part, who have pinched and saved all their -life long to lay together the £30 or so which will carry them to -Jerusalem. From the furthest ends of the Russian empire they come on -foot to the Black Sea, where they take ship as deck passengers on board -a dirty little Russian boat. I have travelled with 300 of them from -Smyrna to Jaffa, myself the only passenger lodged in a cabin. It was -mid-winter, stormy and cold for those who sleep on deck, even if they be -clothed in sheepskin coats and wadded top-boots. My shipmates had -brought their own provisions with them for economy's sake--a hunch of -bread, a few olives, a raw onion, of such was their daily meal. Morning -and evening they gathered in prayer before an icon hanging on the cook's -galley, and the sound of their litanies went to Heaven mingled with the -throb of the screw and the splash of the spray. The pilgrims reach -Jerusalem before Christmas and stay till after Easter that they may -light their tapers at the sacred fire that breaks out from the Sepulchre -on the morning of the Resurrection. They wander on foot through all the -holy places, lodging in big hostels built for them by the Russian -Government. Many die from exposure and fatigue and the unaccustomed -climate; but to die in Palestine is the best of favours that the Divine -hand can bestow, for their bones rest softly in the Promised Land and -their souls fly straight to Paradise. You will meet these most -unsophisticated travellers on every high road, trudging patiently under -the hot sun or through the winter rains, clothed always in the furs of -their own country, and bearing in their hands a staff cut from the reed -beds of Jordan. They add a sharp note of pathos to a landscape that -touches so many of the themes of mournful poetry. I heard in Jerusalem a -story which is a better illustration of their temper than pages of -description. It was of a man who had been a housebreaker and had been -caught in the act and sent to Siberia, where he did many years of penal -servitude. But when his time was up he came home to his old mother with -a changed heart, and they two set out together for the Holy Land that he -might make expiation for his sins. Now at the season when the pilgrims -are in Jerusalem, the riff-raff of Syria congregates there to cheat -their simplicity and pester them for alms, and one of these vagabonds -came and begged of the Russian penitent at a time when he had nothing to -give. The Syrian, enraged at his refusal, struck the other to the earth -and injured him so severely that he was in hospital for three months. - - -[Illustration 07: PILGRIMS RECEIVING BAPTISM IN JORDAN] - - -When he recovered his consul came to him and said, "We have got the man -who nearly killed you; before you leave you must give evidence against -him." But the pilgrim answered, "No, let him go. I too am a criminal." - -Beyond the fountain the road was empty, and though I knew it well I was -struck again by the incredible desolation of it. No life, no flowers, -the bare stalks of last year's thistles, the bare hills and the stony -road. And yet the Wilderness of Judæa has been nurse to the fiery -spirit of man. Out of it strode grim prophets, menacing with doom a -world of which they had neither part nor understanding; the valleys are -full of the caves that held them, nay, some are peopled to this day by a -race of starved and gaunt ascetics, clinging to a tradition of piety -that common sense has found it hard to discredit. Before noon we reached -the khān half way to Jericho, the place where legend has it that the -Good Samaritan met the man fallen by the roadside, and I went in to -lunch beyond reach of the boisterous wind. Three Germans of the -commercial traveller class were writing on picture-postcards in the room -of the inn, and bargaining with the khānji for imitation Bedouin -knives. I sat and listened to their vulgar futile talk--it was the last -I was to hear of European tongues for several weeks, but I found no -cause to regret the civilisation I was leaving. The road dips east of -the khān, and crosses a dry water-course which has been the scene of -many tragedies. Under the banks the Bedouin used to lie in wait to rob -and murder the pilgrims as they passed. Fifteen years ago the Jericho -road was as lawless a track as is the country now that lies beyond -Jordan: security has travelled a few miles eastward during the past -decade. At length we came to the top of the last hill and saw the Jordan -valley and the Dead Sea, backed by the misty steeps of Moab, the -frontier of the desert. Jericho lay at our feet, an unromantic village -of ramshackle hotels and huts wherein live the only Arabs the tourist -ever comes to know, a base-born stock, half bred with negro slaves. I -left my horse with the muleteers whom we had caught up on the -slope--"Please God you prosper!" "Praise be to God! If your Excellency -is well we are content"--and ran down the hill into the village. But -Jericho was not enough for that first splendid day of the road. I -desired eagerly to leave the tourists behind, and the hotels and the -picture-postcards. Two hours more and we should reach Jordan bank, and -at the head of the wooden bridge that leads from Occident to Orient we -might camp in a sheltered place under mud hillocks and among thickets of -reed and tamarisk. A halt to buy corn for the horses and the mules and -we were off again across the narrow belt of cultivated land that lies -round Jericho, and out on to the Ghōr, the Jordan valley. - -[Illustration 08: MONASTERY OF KURUNTUL ABOVE JERICHO] - -The Jericho road is bare enough, but the valley of Jordan has an aspect -of inhumanity that is almost evil. If the prophets of the Old Testament -had fulminated their anathemas against it as they did against Babylon or -Tyre, no better proof of their prescience would exist; but they were -silent, and the imagination must travel back to flaming visions of -Gomorrah and of Sodom, dim legends of iniquity that haunted our own -childhood as they haunted the childhood of the Semitic races. A heavy -stifling atmosphere weighed upon this lowest level of the earth's -surface; the wind was racing across the hill tops above us in the -regions where men breathed the natural air, but the valley was stagnant -and lifeless like a deep sea bottom. We brushed through low thickets of -prickly sidr trees, the Spina Christi of which the branches are said to -have been twisted into the Crown of Thorns. They are of two kinds these -sidr bushes, the Arabs call them zaḳūm and dōm. From the zaḳūm -they extract a medicinal oil, the dōm bears a small fruit like a crab -apple that ripens to a reddish brown not uninviting in appearance. It is -a very Dead Sea Fruit, pleasant to look upon and leaving on the lips a -taste of sandy bitterness. The sidrs dwindled and vanished, and before -us lay a sheet of hard mud on which no green thing grows. It is of a -yellow colour, blotched with a venomous grey white salt: almost -unconsciously the eye appreciates its enmity to life. As we rode here a -swirl of heavy rain swooped down upon us from the upper world. The -muleteers looked grave, and even Mikhāil's face began to lengthen, for -in front of us were the Slime Pits of Genesis, and no horse or mule can -pass over them except they be dry. The rain lasted a very few minutes, -but it was enough. The hard mud of the plain had assumed the consistency -of butter, the horses' feet were shod in it up to the fetlocks, and my -dog Kurt whined as he dragged his paws out of the yellow glue. So we -came to the Slime Pits, the strangest feature of all that uncanny land. -A quarter of a mile to the west of Jordan--the belt is much narrower to -the east of the stream--the smooth plain resolves itself suddenly into a -series of steep mud banks intersected by narrow gullies. The banks are -not high, thirty or forty feet at the most, but the crests of them are -so sharp and the sides so precipitous that the traveller must find his -way across and round them with the utmost care. The shower had made -these slopes as slippery as glass, even on foot it was almost impossible -to keep upright. My horse fell as I was leading him; fortunately it was -on a little ridge between mound and mound, and by the most astonishing -gymnastics he managed to recover himself. I breathed a short -thanksgiving when I saw my caravan emerge from the Slime Pits: we might, -if the rain had lasted, have been imprisoned there for several hours, -since if a horseman falls to the bottom of one of the sticky hollows he -must wait there till it dries. - -[Illustration 09: CROSSING THE GHŌR] - -Along the river bank there was life. The ground was carpeted with young -grass and yellow daisies, the rusty liveries of the tamarisk bushes -showed some faint signs of Spring. I cantered on to the great bridge -with its trellised sides and roof of beams--the most inspiring piece of -architecture in the world, since it is the Gate of the Desert. There was -the open place as I remembered it, covered with short turf, sheltered by -the high mud banks, and, Heaven be praised! empty. We had had cause for -anxiety on this head. The Turkish Government was at that time sending -all the troops that could be levied to quell the insurrection in Yemen. -The regiments of southern Syria were marched down to the bridge, and so -on to 'Ammān, where they were entrained and sent along the Mecca -railway to what was then the terminus, Ma'ān near Petra. From Mā'an -they had a horrible march across a sandy waste to the head of the Gulf -of 'Aḳabah. Many hundreds of men and many thousands of camels perished -before they reached the gulf, for the wells upon that road are three -only (so said the Arabs), and one lies about two miles off the track, -undiscoverable to those who are not familiar with the country. - -[Illustration 10: THE BRIDGE OVER JORDAN] - -We pitched tents, picketed the horses, and lighted a huge bonfire of -tamarisk and willow. The night was grey and still; there was rain on the -hills, but none with us--a few inches represents the annual fall in the -valley of Jordan. We were not quite alone. The Turkish Government levies -a small toll on all who pass backwards and forwards across the bridge, -and keeps an agent there for that purpose. He lives in a wattle hut by -the gate of the bridge, and one or two ragged Arabs of the Ghōr share -his solitude. Among these was a grey-haired negro, who gathered wood for -our fire, and on the strength of his services spent the night with us. -He was a cheery soul, was Mabūḳ. He danced with pleasure, round the -camp fire, untroubled by the consideration that he was one of the most -preposterously misshapen of human beings. He told us tales of the -soldiery, how they came down in rags, their boots dropping from their -feet though it was but the first day's march, half starved too, poor -wretches. A Ṭābūr (900 men) had passed through that morning, another -was expected to-morrow--we had just missed them. "Māsha-'llah!" said -Mikhāil, "your Excellency is fortunate. First you escape from the mud -hills and then from the Redīfs." "Praise be to God!" murmured Mabūḳ, -and from that day my star was recognised as a lucky one. From Mabūḳ -we heard the first gossip of the desert. His talk was for ever of Ibn er -Rashīd, the young chief of the Shammār, whose powerful uncle -Muḥammad left him so uneasy a legacy of dominion in central Arabia. -For two years I had heard no news of Nejd--what of Ibn Sā'oud, the -ruler of Riāḍ and Ibn er Rashīd's rival? How went the war between -them? Mabūḳ had heard many rumours; men did say that Ibn er Rashīd -was in great straits, perhaps the Redīfs were bound for Nejd and not -for Yemen, who knew? and had we heard that a sheikh of the Ṣukhūr had -been murdered by the 'Ajārmeh, and as soon as the tribe came back from -the eastern pasturages. . . . So the tale ran on through the familiar -stages of blood feud and camel lifting, the gossip of the desert--I -could have wept for joy at listening to it again. There was a Babel of -Arabic tongues round my camp fire that evening, for Mikhāil spoke the -vulgar cockney of Jerusalem, a language bereft of dignity, and Ḥabīb -a dialect of the Lebanon at immense speed, and Muḥammad had the -Beyrouti drawl with its slow expressionless swing, while from the -negro's lips fell something approaching to the virile and splendid -speech of the Bedouin. The men themselves were struck by the variations -of accent, and once they turned to me and asked which was right. I could -only reply, "God knows! for He is omniscient," and the answer received a -laughing acceptance, though I confess I proffered it with some -misgiving. - -[Illustration 11: THE MONASTERY OF MAR SABA, WILDERNESS OF JUDÆA] - -The dawn broke windless and grey. An hour and a half from the moment I -was awakened till the mules were ready to start was the appointed rule, -but sometimes we were off ten minutes earlier, and sometimes, alas! -later. I spent the time in conversing with the guardian of the bridge, a -native of Jerusalem. To my sympathetic ears did he confide his sorrows, -the mean tricks that the Ottoman government was accustomed to play on -him, and the hideous burden of existence during the summer heats. And -then the remuneration! a mere nothing! His gains were larger, however, -than he thought fit to name, for I subsequently discovered that he had -charged me three piastres instead of two for each of my seven animals. -It is easy to be on excellent terms with Orientals, and if their -friendship has a price it is usually a small one. We crossed the Rubicon -at three piastres a head and took the northern road which leads to Salt. -The middle road goes to Ḥeshbān, where lives the great Sheikh of all -the Arabs of the Belḳa, Sulṭān ibn 'Ali iḍ Ḍiāb ul 'Adwān, a -proper rogue, and the southern to Mādeba in Moab. The eastern side of -the Ghōr is much more fertile than the western. Enough water flows from -the beautiful hills of Ajlūn to turn the plain into a garden, but the -supply is not stored, and the Arabs of the 'Adwān tribes content -themselves with the sowing of a little corn. The time of flowers was not -yet. At the end of March the eastern Ghōr is a carpet of varied and -lovely bloom, which lasts but a month in the fierce heat of the valley, -indeed a month sees the plants through bud and bloom and ripened seed. A -ragged Arab showed us the path. He had gone down to join the Redīfs, -having been bought as a substitute at the price of fifty napoleons by a -well-to-do inhabitant of Salt. When he reached the bridge he found he -was too late, his regiment having passed through two days before. He was -sorry, he would have liked to march forth to the war (moreover, I -imagine the fifty liras would have to be refunded), but his daughter -would be glad, for she had wept to see him go. He stopped to extricate -one of his leather slippers from the mud. - - -[Illustration 12: THE WALL OF LAMENTATION, JERUSALEM] - - -"Next year," quoth he, catching me up again, "please God I shall -go to America." - -I stared in amazement at the half-naked figure, the shoes dropping from -the bare feet, the torn cloak slipping from the shoulders, the desert -head-dress of kerchief and camel's hair rope. - -"Can you speak any English?" I asked. - -"No," he replied calmly, "but I shall have saved the price of the -journey, and, by God! here there is no advancement." - -I inquired what he would do when he reached the States. - -"Buy and sell," he replied; "and when I have saved 200 liras I shall -return." - -[Illustration 13: JEWS OF BOKHARA] - -The same story can be heard all over Syria. Hundreds go out every year, -finding wherever they land some of their compatriots to give them a -helping hand. They hawk the streets with cheap wares, sleep under -bridges, live on fare that no freeborn citizen would look at, and when -they have saved 200 liras, more or less, they return, rich men in the -estimation of their village. East of Jordan the exodus is not so great, -yet once in the mountains of the Haurān I stopped to ask my way of a -Druze, and he answered me in the purest Yankee. I drew rein while he -told me his tale, and at the end of it I asked him if he were going -back. He looked round at the stone hovels of the village, knee deep in -mud and melting snow: "You bet!" he replied, and as I turned away he -threw a cheerful "So long!" after me. - -When we had ridden two hours we entered the hills by a winding valley -which my friend called Wād el Ḥassanīyyeh, after the tribe of that -name. It was full of anemones and white broom (rattam the Arabs call -it), cyclamen, starch hyacinths, and wild almond trees. For plants -without a use, however lovely they may be, there is no name in Arabic; -they are all hashīsh, grass; whereas the smallest vegetable that can be -of service is known and distinguished in their speech. The path--it was -a mere bridle track--rose gradually. Just before we entered the mist -that covered the top of the hill we saw the Dead Sea below us to the -south, lying under the grey sky like a great sheet of clouded glass. We -reached Salt at four o'clock in real mountain weather, a wet and driving -mist. Moreover, the ground near the village was a swamp, owing to the -rain that, passing over us the night before, had fallen here. I -hesitated to camp unless I could find no drier lodging. The first thing -was to seek out the house of Ḥabīb Effendi Fāris, whom I had come to -Salt to see, though I did not know him. My claim upon him (for I relied -entirely upon his help for the prosecution of my journey) was in this -wise: he was married to the daughter of a native preacher in Haifa, a -worthy old man and a close friend of mine. Urfa on the Euphrates was the -_Stammplatz_ of the family, but Abu Namrūd had lived long at Salt and -he knew the desert. The greater part of the hours during which he was -supposed to teach me grammar were spent in listening to tales of the -Arabs and of his son, Namrūd, who worked with Ḥabīb Fāris, and -whose name was known to every Arab of the Belḳa. - -"If ever you wish to enter there," said Abu Namrūd, "go to Namrūd." -And to Namrūd accordingly I had come. - -A very short inquiry revealed the dwelling of Ḥabīb Fāris. I was -received warmly, Ḥabīb was out, Namrūd away (was my luck forsaking -me?), but would I not come in and rest? The house was small and the -children many: while I debated whether the soaked ground outside would -not prove a better bed, there appeared a magnificent old man in full -Arab dress, who took my horse by the bridle, declared that he and no -other should lodge me, and so led me away. I left my horse at the khān, -climbed a long and muddy stair, and entered a stone paved courtyard. -Yūsef Effendi hurried forward and threw open the door of his -guest-chamber. The floor and the divan were covered with thick carpets, -the windows glazed (though many of the panes were broken), a European -cheffonier stood against the wall: this was more than good enough. In a -moment I was established, drinking Yūsef's coffee, and eating my own -cake. - -[Illustration 14: ABYSSINIAN PRIESTS] - -Yūsef Effendi Sukkar (upon him be peace!) is a Christian and one of the -richest of the inhabitants of Salt. He is a laconic man, but as a host -he has not his equal. He prepared me an excellent supper, and when I had -eaten, the remains were set before Mikhāil. Having satisfied my -physical needs he could not or would not do anything to allay my mental -anxieties as to the further course. Fortunately at this moment Ḥabīb -Fāris arrived, and his sister-in-law, Paulina, an old acquaintance, and -several other worthies, all hastening to "honour themselves" at the -prospect of an evening's talk. ("God forbid! the honour is mine!") We -settled down to coffee, the bitter black coffee of the Arabs, which is -better than any nectar. The cup is handed with a "Deign to accept," you -pass it back empty, murmuring "May you live!" As you sip some one -ejaculates, "A double health," and you reply, "Upon your heart!" When -the cups had gone round once or twice and all necessary phrases of -politeness had been exchanged I entered upon the business of the -evening. How was I to reach the Druze mountains? the Government would -probably refuse me permission, at 'Ammān there was a military post on -the entrance of the desert road; at Boṣrā they knew me, I had slipped -through their fingers five years before, a trick that would be difficult -to play a second time from the same place. Ḥabīb Fāris considered, -and finally we hammered out a plan between us. He would send me -to-morrow to Ṭneib, his corn land on the edge of the desert; there I -should find Namrūd who would despatch word to one of the big tribes, -and with an escort from them I could ride up in safety to the hills. -Yūsef's two small sons sat listening open-eyed, and at the end of the -talk one of them brought me a scrap of an advertisement with the map of -America upon it. Thereat I showed them my maps, and told them how big -the world was and how fine a place, till at ten the party broke up and -Yūsef began spreading quilts for my bed. Then and not till then did I -see my hostess. She was a woman of exceptional beauty, tall and pale, -her face a full oval, her great eyes like stars. She wore Arab dress, a -narrow dark blue robe that caught round her bare ankles as she walked, a -dark blue cotton veil bound about her forehead with a red handkerchief -and falling down her back almost to the ground. Her chin and neck were -tattooed in delicate patterns with indigo, after the manner of the -Bedouin women. She brought me water, which she poured over my hands, -moved about the room silently, a dark and stately figure, and having -finished her ministrations she disappeared as silently as she had come, -and I saw her no more. "She came in and saluted me," said the poet, he -who lay in durance at Mecca, "then she rose and took her leave, and when -she departed my soul went out after her." No one sees Yūsef's wife. -Christian though he be, he keeps her more strictly cloistered than any -Moslem woman; and perhaps after all he is right. - -The rain beat against the windows, and I lay down on the quilts with -Mikhāil's exclamation in my ears: "Māsha-'llah! your Excellency is -fortunate." - - - - -CHAPTER II - - -The village of Salt is a prosperous community of over 10,000 souls, the -half of them Christian. It lies in a rich country famous for grapes and -apricots, its gardens are mentioned with praise as far back as the -fourteenth century by the Arab geographer Abu'l Fīda. There is a ruined -castle, of what date I know not, on the hill above the clustered house -roofs. The tradition among the inhabitants is that the town is very -ancient; indeed, the Christians declare that in Salt was one of the -first of the congregations of their faith, and there is even a legend -that Christ was His own evangelist here. Although the apricot trees -showed nothing as yet but bare boughs the valley had an air of smiling -wealth as I rode through it with Ḥabīb Fāris, who had mounted his -mare to set me on my way. He had his share in the apricot orchards and -the vineyards, and smiled agreeably, honest man, as I commended them. -Who would not have smiled on such a morning? The sun shone, the earth -glittered with frost, and the air had a sparkling transparency which -comes only on a bright winter day after rain. But it was not merely a -general sense of goodwill that had inspired my words; the Christians of -Salt and of Mādeba are an intelligent and an industrious race, worthy -to be praised. During the five years since I had visited this district -they had pushed forward the limit of cultivation two hours' ride to the -east, and proved the value of the land so conclusively that when the -Ḥājj railway was opened through it the Sultan laid hands on a great -tract stretching as far south as Ma'ān, intending to convert it into a -chiflik, a royal farm. It will yield riches to him and to his tenants, -for if he be an indifferent ruler, he is a good landlord. - -[Illustration 15: AN ARAB OF THE 'ADWĀN -GUARDING CROPS] - -Half an hour from Salt, Ḥabīb left me, committing me to the care of -his hind, Yūsef, a stalwart man, who strode by my side with his wooden -club (G̣unwā, the Arabs call it) over his shoulder. We journeyed -through wide valleys, treeless, uninhabited, and almost uncultivated, -round the head of the Belḳa plain, and past the opening of the Wādy -Sīr, down which a man may ride through oak woods all the way to the -Ghōr. There would be trees on the hills too if the charcoal burners -would let them grow--we passed by many dwarf thickets of oak and -thorn--but I would have nothing changed in the delicious land east of -Jordan. A generation or two hence it will be deep in corn and scattered -over with villages, the waters of the Wādy Sīr will turn mill-wheels, -and perhaps there will even be roads: praise be to God! I shall not be -there to see. In my time the uplands will still continue to be that -delectable region of which Omar Khayyām sings: "The strip of herbage -strown that just divides the desert from the sown"; they will still be -empty save for a stray shepherd standing over his flock with a -long-barrelled rifle; and when I meet the rare horseman who rides over -those bills and ask him whence he comes, he will still answer: "May the -world be wide to you! from the Arabs." - -[Illustration 16: AN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE DEAD SEA] - -That was where we were going, to the Arabs. In the desert there are no -Bedouin, the tent dwellers are all '_Arab_ (with a fine roll of the -initial guttural), just as there are no tents but houses--"houses of -hair" they say sometimes if a qualification be needed, but usually just -"houses" with a supreme disregard for any other significance to the word -save that of a black goat's hair roof. You may be '_Arab_ after a -fashion even if you live between walls. The men of Salt are classed -among the tribes of the Belḳa, with the Abādeh and the Da'ja and the -Hassaniyyeh and several more that form the great troup of the 'Adwān. -Two powerful rulers dispute the mastership here of the Syrian desert, -the Beni Ṣakhr and the 'Anazeh. There is a traditional friendship, -barred by regrettable incidents, between the Ṣukhūr and the Belḳa, -perhaps that was why I heard in these parts that the 'Anazeh were the -more numerous but the less distinguished for courage of the two -factions. I have a bowing acquaintance with one of the sons of Talāl ul -Fāiz, the head of all the Beni Ṣakhr. I had met him five years before -in these very plains, a month later in the season, by which time his -tribe moves Jordan-wards out of the warm eastern pasturages. I was -riding, escorted by a Circassian zaptieh, from Mādeba to Mshitta--it -was before the Germans had sliced the carved façade from that wonderful -building. The plain was covered with the flocks and the black tents of -the Ṣukhūr, and as we rode through them three horsemen paced out to -intercept us, black-browed, armed to the teeth, menacing of aspect. They -threw us the salute from afar, but when they saw the soldier they turned -and rode slowly back. The Circassian laughed. "That was Sheikh Fāiz," -he said, "the son of Talāl. Like sheep, wāllah! like sheep are they -when they meet one of us." I do not know the 'Anazeh, for their usual -seat in winter is nearer the Euphrates, but with all deference to the -Ṣukhūr I fancy that their rivals are the true aristocracy of the -desert. Their ruling house, the Beni Sha'alān, bear the proudest name, -and their mares are the best in all Arabia, so that even the Shammār, -Ibn er Rashīd's people, seek after them to improve their own breed. - -[Illustration 17: THE THEATRE, 'AMMĀN] - -From the broken uplands that stand over the Ghōr, we entered ground -with a shallow roll in it and many small ruined sites dotted over it. -There was one at the head of the Wādy Sīr, and a quarter of an hour -before we reached it we had seen a considerable mass of foundations and -a big tank, which the Arabs call Birket Umm el 'Amūd (the tank of the -Mother of the Pillar). Yūsef said its name was due to a column which -used to stand in the middle of it, surrounded by the water; an Arab shot -at it and broke it, and its fragments lie at the bottom of the tank. The -mound or tell, to give it its native name, of Amēreh is covered with -ruins, and further on at Yadūdeh there are rock-hewn tombs and -sarcophagi lying at the edge of the tank. All the frontier of the desert -is strewn with similar vestiges of a populous past, villages of the -fifth and sixth centuries when Mādeba was a rich and flourishing -Christian city, though some are certainly earlier still, perhaps -pre-Roman. Yadūdeh of the tombs was inhabited by a Christian from Salt, -the greatest corn-grower in these parts, who lived in a roughly built -farm-house on the top of the tell; he too is one of the energetic -new comers who are engaged in spreading the skirts of cultivation. Here -we left the rolling country and passed out into the edges of a limitless -plain, green with scanty herbage, broken by a rounded tell or the back -of a low ridge--and then the plain once more, restful to the eye yet -never monotonous, steeped in the magic of the winter sunset, softly -curving hollows to hold the mist, softly swelling slopes to hold the -light, and over it all the dome of the sky which vaults the desert as it -vaults the sea. The first hillock was that of Ṭneib. We got in, after -a nine hours' march, at 5.30, just as the sun sank, and pitched tents on -the southern slope. The mound was thick with ruins, low walls of -rough-hewn stones laid without mortar, rock-cut cisterns, some no doubt -originally intended not for water but for corn, for which purpose they -are used at present, and an open tank filled up with earth. Namrūd had -ridden over to visit a neighbouring cultivator, but one of his men set -forth to tell him of my arrival and he returned at ten o'clock under the -frosty starlight, with many protestations of pleasure and assurances -that my wishes were easy of execution. So I went to sleep wrapped in the -cold silence of the desert, and woke next day to a glittering world of -sunshine and fair prospects. - -[Illustration 18: A GATEWAY, 'AMMĀN] - -The first thing to be done was to send out to the Arabs. After -consultation, the Da'ja, a tribe of the Belḳa, were decided to be the -nearest at hand and the most likely to prove of use, and a messenger was -despatched to their tents. We spent the morning examining the mound and -looking through a mass of copper coins that had turned up under -Namrūd's ploughshare--Roman all of them, one showing dimly the features -of Constantine, some earlier, but none of the later Byzantine period, -nor any of the time of the Crusaders; as far as the evidence of coinage -goes, Ṭneib has been deserted since the date of the Arab invasion. -Namrūd had discovered the necropolis, but there was nothing to be found -in the tombs, which had probably been rifled centuries before. They were -rock-cut and of a cistern-like character. A double arch of the solid -rock with space between for a narrow entrance on the surface of the -ground, a few jutting excrescences on the side walls, footholds to those -who must descend, loculi running like shelves round the chambers, one -row on top of another, such was their appearance. Towards the bottom of -the mound on the south side there were foundations of a building which -looked as though it might have been a church. But these were poor -results for a day's exploration, and in the golden afternoon we rode out -two hours to the north into a wide valley set between low banks. There -were ruins strewn at intervals round the edge of it, and to the east -some broken walls standing up in the middle of the valley--Namrūd -called the spot, Ḳuṣeir es Saḥl, the Little Castle of the Plain. -Our objective was a group of buildings at the western end, Khureibet es -Sūḳ. First we came to a small edifice (41 feet by 39 feet 8 inches, -the greatest length being from east to west) half buried in the ground. -Two sarcophagi outside pointed to its having been a mausoleum. The -western wall was pierced by an arched doorway, the arch being decorated -with a flat moulding. Above the level of the arch the walls narrowed by -the extent of a small set-back, and two courses higher a moulded cornice -ran round the building. A couple of hundred yards west of the Ḳaṣr -or castle (the Arabs christen most ruins either castle or convent) there -is a ruined temple. It had evidently been turned at some period to other -uses than those for which it was intended, for there were ruined walls -round the two rows of seven columns and inexplicable cross walls towards -the western end of the colonnades. There appeared to have been a double -court beyond, and still further west lay a complex of ruined -foundations. The gateway was to the east, the jambs of it decorated with -delicate carving, a fillet, a palmetto, another plain fillet, a torus -worked with a vine scroll, a bead and reel, an egg and dart and a second -palmetto on the cyma. The whole resembled very closely the work at -Palmyra--it could scarcely rival the stone lacework of Mshitta, and -besides it had a soberer feeling, more closely akin to classical models, -than is to be found there. To the north of the temple on top of a bit of -rising ground, there was another ruin which proved to be a second -mausoleum. It was an oblong rectangle of masonry, built of large stones -carefully laid without mortar. At the south-east corner a stair led into -a kind of ante-chamber, level with the surface of the ground at the east -side owing to the slope of the hill. There were column bases on the -outer side of this ante-chamber, the vestiges probably of a small -colonnade which had adorned the east façade. Six sarcophagi were placed -lengthways, two along each of the remaining walls, north, south and -west. Below the base of the columns on either side of the stair ran a -moulding, consisting of a bold torus between two fillets, and the same -appeared on the inner side of the sarcophagi. The face of the buttress -wall on the south side rose in two in-sets, otherwise the whole building -was quite plain, though some of the fragments scattered round upon the -grass were carved with a flowing vine pattern. This mausoleum recalls -the pyramid tomb which is common in northern Syria; I do not remember -any other example of it so far south. It may have resembled the -beautiful monument with a colonnaded front which is one of the glories -of the southern Dāna, and the fragments of vine scroll were perhaps -part of the entablature. - -[Illustration 19: THE TEMPLE, KHUREIBET ES SŪḲ] - -[Illustration 20: MAUSOLEUM, KHUREIBET ES SŪḲ] - -When I returned to my tents a little before sunset, I learnt that the -boy we had despatched in the morning had lingered by the way and, -alarmed by the lateness of the hour, had returned without fulfilling his -mission. This was sufficiently annoying, but it was nothing compared -with the behaviour of the weather next day. I woke to find the great -plain blotted out by mist and rain. All day the south wind drove against -us, and the storm beat upon our canvas walls. In the evening Namrūd -brought news that his cave had been invaded by guests. There were a few -tents of the Ṣukhūr a mile or two away from us (the main body of the -tribe was still far to the east, where the winter climate is less -rigorous), and the day's rain had been too much for the male -inhabitants. They had mounted their mares and ridden in to Ṭneib, -leaving their women and children to shift for themselves during the -night. An hour's society presented attractions after the long wet day, -and I joined the company. - -[Illustration 21: ARABS OF THE BELḲA] - -Namrūd's cave runs far into the ground, so far that it must penetrate -to the very centre of the hill of Ṭneib. The first large chamber is -obviously natural, except for the low sleeping places and mangers for -cattle that have been quarried out round the walls. A narrow passage -carved in the rock leads into a smaller room, and there are yet others -behind which I took on trust, the hot stuffy air and the innumerable -swarms of flies discouraging me from further exploration. That evening -the cave presented a scene primitive and wild enough to satisfy the most -adventurous spirit. The Arabs, some ten or a dozen men clothed in red -leather boots and striped cloaks soaked with rain, were sitting in the -centre round a fire of scrub, in the ashes of which stood the three -coffee-pots essential to desert sociability. Behind them a woman cooked -rice over a brighter fire that cast a flickering light into the recesses -of the cave, and showed Namrūd's cattle munching chopped straw from the -rock-hewn mangers. A place comparatively free from mud was cleared for -me in the circle, a cup of coffee prepared, and the talk went forward -while a man might smoke an Arab pipe five times. It was chiefly of the -iniquities of the government. The arm of the law, or rather the mailed -fist of misrule, is a constant menace upon the edges of the desert. This -year it had been quickened to baleful activity by the necessities of -war. Camels and mares had been commandeered wholesale along the borders -without hope of compensation in money or in kind. The Arabs had gathered -together such live stock as was left to them and sent them away five or -six days to the east, where the soldiery dared not penetrate, and -Namrūd had followed their example, keeping only such cattle as he -needed for the plough. One after another of my fellow guests took up the -tale: the guttural strong speech rumbled round the cave. By God and -Muḥammad the Prophet of God we called down such curses upon the -Circassian cavalry as should make those powerful horsemen reel in their -saddles. From time to time a draped head, with black elf locks matted -round the cheeks under the striped kerchief, bent forward towards the -glow of the ashes to pick up a hot ember for the pipe bowl, a hand was -stretched out to the coffee cups, or the cooking fire flashed up under a -pile of thorn, the sudden light making the flies buzz and the cows move -uneasily. Namrūd was not best pleased to see his hardly gathered store -of fire-wood melt away and his coffee beans disappear by handfuls into -the mortar. ("Wāllah! they eat little when they feed themselves, but -when they are guests much, they and their horses; and the corn is low at -this late season.") But the word "guest" is sacred from Jordan to -Euphrates and Namrūd knew well that he owed a great part of his -position and of his security to a hospitality which was extended to all -comers, no matter how inopportune. I added my quota to the conviviality -of the party by distributing a box of cigarettes, and before I left a -friendly feeling had been established between me and the men of the Beni -Ṣakhr. - -The following day was little more promising than that which had preceded -it. The muleteers were most unwilling to leave the shelter of the caves -and expose their animals to such rain in the open desert, and -reluctantly I agreed to postpone the journey, and sent them into -Mādeba, three hours away, to buy oats for the horses, cautioning them -not to mention from whom they came. It cleared a little in the -afternoon, and I rode across the plain southwards to Ḳasṭal, a -fortified Roman camp standing on a mound. - -This type of camp was not uncommon on the eastern frontiers of the -Empire, and was imitated by the Ghassānids when they established -themselves in the Syrian desert, if indeed Mshitta was, as has been -surmised, but a more exquisite example of the same kind of building. -Ḳasṭal has a strong enclosing wall broken by a single gate to the -east and by round bastions at the angles and along the sides. Within, -there is a series of parallel vaulted chambers leaving an open court in -the centre--the plan with slight variations of Ḳal'at el Beiḍa in -the Safa and of the modern caravanserai.[1] To the north there is a -separate building, probably the Prætorium, the house of the commander -of the fortress. It consists of an immense vaulted chamber, with a -walled court in front of it, and a round tower at the south-west corner. -The tower has a winding stair inside it and a band of decoration about -the exterior, rinceaux above and fluted triglyphs below, with narrow -blank metopes between them. The masonry is unusually good, the walls of -great thickness; with such defences stretching to his furthest borders, -the citizen of Rome might sleep secure o' nights. - -[Illustration 22: A RUINED CHURCH, MĀDEBA] - -When I passed by Ḳasṭal, five years before, it was uninhabited and -the land round it uncultivated, but a few families of fellaḥīn had -established themselves now under the broken vaults and the young corn -was springing in the levels below the walls, circumstances which should -no doubt warm the heart of the lover of humanity, but which will send a -cold chill through the breast of the archæologist. There is no -obliterator like the ploughshare, and no destroyer like the peasant who -seeks cut stones to build his hovel. I noted another sign of encroaching -civilisation in the shape of two half starved soldiers, the guard of the -nearest halting place on the Ḥājj railroad, which is called Zīza -after the ruins a few miles to the west of it. The object of their visit -was the lean hen which one of them held in his hand. He had reft it from -its leaner companions in the fortress court--on what terms it were -better not to inquire, for hungry men know no law. I was not -particularly eager to have my presence on these frontiers notified to -the authorities in 'Ammān, and I left rather hastily and rode eastward -to Zīza. - -[Illustration 23: THE ḲAL'AH AT ZĪZA] - -The rains had filled the desert watercourses, they do not often flow so -deep or so swiftly as the one we had to cross that afternoon. It had -filled, too, to the brim the great Roman tank of Zīza, so that the -Ṣukhūr would find water there all through the ensuing summer. The -ruins are far more extensive than those at Ḳasṭal; there must have -been a great city here, for the foundations of houses cover a wide area. -Probably Ḳasṭal was the fortified camp guarding this city, and the -two together shared the name of Zīza, which is mentioned in the -Notitia: "Equites Dalmatici Illyriciana Zīza." There is a Saracenic -Ḳal'ah, a fort, which was repaired by Sheikh Ṣoktan of the -Ṣukhūr, and had been furnished by him, said Namrūd, with a splendour -unknown to the desert; but it has now fallen to the Sultan, since it -stands in the territory selected by him for his chiflik, and fallen also -into ruin. The mounds behind are strewn with foundations, among them -those of a mosque, the mihrab of which was still visible to the south. -Zīza was occupied by a garrison of Egyptians in Ibrahīm Pasha's time, -and it was his soldiers who completed the destruction of the ancient -buildings. Before they came many edifices, including several Christian -churches, were still standing in an almost perfect state of -preservation, so the Arabs reported. We made our way homewards along the -edge of the railway embankment, and as we went we talked of the possible -advantages that the land might reap from that same line. Namrūd was -doubtful on this subject. He looked askance at the officials and the -soldiery, indeed he had more cause to fear official raiders, whose -rapacity could not be disarmed by hospitality, than the Arabs, who were -under too many obligations to him to do him much harm. He had sent up a -few truck-loads of corn to Damascus the year before; yes, it was an -easier form of transport than his camels, and quicker, if the goods -arrived at all; but generally the corn sacks were so much lighter when -they reached the city than when Namrūd packed them into the trucks that -the profit vanished. This would improve perhaps in time--at the time -when lamps and cushions and all the fittings of the desert railway -except the bare seats were allowed to remain in the place for which they -were made and bought. We spoke, too, of superstition and of fears that -clutch the heart at night. There are certain places, said he, where the -Arabs would never venture after dark--haunted wells to which thirsty men -dared not approach, ruins where the weary would not seek shelter, -hollows that were bad camping grounds for the solitary. What did they -fear? Jinn; who could tell what men feared? He himself had startled an -Arab almost out of his wits by jumping naked at him from a lonely pool -in the half light of the dawn. The man ran back to his tents, and swore -that he had seen a jinni, and that the flocks should not go down to -water where it abode, till Namrūd came in and laughed at him and told -his own tale. - -[Illustration 24: A CHRISTIAN ENCAMPMENT] - -We did not go straight back to my tents. I had been invited out to dine -that evening by Sheikh Nahār of the Beni Ṣakhr, he who had spent the -previous night in Namrūd's cave; and after consultation it had been -decided that the invitation was one which a person of my exalted dignity -would not be compromised by accepting. - -"But in general," added Namrūd, "you should go nowhere but to a great -sheikh's tent, or you will fall into the hands of those who invite you -only for the sake of the present you will give. Nahār--well, he is an -honest man, though he be Meskīn,"--a word that covers all forms of mild -contempt, from that which is extended to honest poverty, through -imbecility to the first stages of feeble vice. - -The Meskīn received me with the dignity of a prince, and motioned me to -the place of honour on the ragged carpet between the square hole in the -ground that serves as hearth and the partition that separates the -women's quarters from the men's. We had tethered our horses to the long -tent ropes that give such wonderful solidity to the frail dwelling, and -our eyes wandered out from where we sat over the eastward sweep of the -landscape--swell and fall, fall and swell, as though the desert breathed -quietly under the gathering night. The lee side of an Arab tent is -always open to the air; if the wind shifts the women take down the tent -wall and set it up against another quarter, and in a moment your house -has changed its outlook and faces gaily to the most favourable prospect. -It is so small and so light, and yet so strongly anchored that the -storms can do little to it; the coarse meshes of the goat's hair cloth -swell and close together in the wet so that it needs continuous rain -carried on a high wind before a cold stream leaks into the -dwelling-place. - -The coffee beans were roasted and crushed, the coffee-pots were -simmering in the ashes, when there came three out of the East and halted -at the open tent. They were thick-set, broad-shouldered men, with -features of marked irregularity and projecting teeth, and they were cold -and wet with rain. Room was made for them in the circle round the -hearth, and they stretched out their fingers to the blaze, while the -talk went on uninterrupted, for they were only three men of the -Sherarāt, come down to buy corn in Moab, and the Sherarāt, though they -are one of the largest and the most powerful of the tribes and the most -famous breeders of camels, are of bad blood, and no Arab of the Belḳa -would intermarry with them. They have no fixed haunts, not even in the -time of the summer drought, but roam the inner desert scarcely caring if -they go without water for days together. The conversation round Nahār's -fire was of my journey. A negro of the Ṣukhūr, a powerful man with an -intelligent face, was very anxious to come with me as guide to the Druze -mountains, but he admitted that as soon as he reached the territory of -those valiant hillmen he would have to turn and flee--there is always -feud between the Druzes and the Beni Ṣakhr. The negro slaves of the -Ṣukhūr are well used by their masters, who know their worth, and they -have a position of their own in the desert, a glory reflected from the -great tribe they serve. I was half inclined to accept the present offer -in spite of the possible drawback of having the negro dead upon my hands -at the first Druze village, when the current of my thoughts was -interrupted by the arrival of yet another guest. He was a tall young -man, with a handsome delicate face, a complexion that was almost fair, -and long curls that were almost brown. As he approached, Nahār and the -other sheikhs of the Ṣukhūr rose to meet him, and before he entered -the tent, each in turn kissed him upon both cheeks. Namrūd rose also, -and cried to him as he drew near: - -[Illustration 25: FLOCKS OF THE ṢUKHŪR] - -"Good? please God! Who is with you?" - -The young man raised his hand and replied: - -"God!" - -He was alone. - -Without seeming to notice the rest of the company, his eye embraced the -three sheikhs of the Sherarāt eating mutton and curds in the entrance, -and the strange woman by the fire, as with murmured salutations he -passed into the back of the tent, refusing Nahār's offer of food. He -was G̣ablān, of the ruling house of the Da'ja, cousin to the reigning -sheikh, and, as I subsequently found, he had heard that Namrūd needed -a guide for a foreigner--news travels apace in the desert--and had come -to take me to his uncle's tents. We had not sat for more than five -minutes after his arrival when Nahār whispered something to Namrūd, -who turned to me and suggested that since we had dined we might go and -take G̣ablān with us. I was surprised that the evening's gossip should -be cut so short, but I knew better than to make any objection, and as we -cantered home across Namrūd's ploughland and up the hill of Ṭneib, I -heard the reason. There was blood between the Da'ja and the Sherarāt. -At the first glance G̣ablān had recognised the lineage of his fellow -guests, and had therefore retired silently into the depths of the tent. -He would not dip his hand in the same mutton dish with them. Nahār -knew, as who did not? the difficulty of the situation, but he could not -tell how the men of the Sherarāt would take it, and, for fear of -accidents, he had hurried us away. But by next morning the atmosphere -had cleared (metaphorically, not literally), and a day of streaming rain -kept the blood enemies sitting amicably round Namrūd's coffee-pots in -the cave. - -The third day's rain was as much as human patience could endure. I had -forgotten by this time what it was like not to feel damp, to have warm -feet and dry bed clothes. G̣ablān spent an hour with me in the -morning, finding out what I wished of him. I explained that if he could -take me through the desert where I should see no military post and leave -me at the foot of the hills, I should desire no more. G̣ablān -considered a moment. - -"Oh lady," said he, "do you think you will be brought into conflict with -the soldiery? for if so, I will take my rifle." - -I replied that I did not contemplate declaring open war with all the -Sultan's chivalry, and that with a little care I fancied that such a -contingency might be avoided; but G̣ablān was of opinion that strategy -went further when winged with a bullet, and decided that he would take -his rifle with him all the same. - -In the afternoon, having nothing better to do, I watched the Sherarāt -buying corn from Namrūd. But for my incongruous presence and the lapse -of a few thousand years, they might have been the sons of Jacob come -down into Egypt to bicker over the weight of the sacks with their -brother Joseph. The corn was kept in a deep dry hole cut in the rock, -and was drawn out like so much water in golden bucketsful. It had been -stored with chaff for its better protection, and the first business was -to sift it at the well-head, a labour that could not be executed without -much and angry discussion. Not even the camels were silent, but joined -in the argument with groans and bubblings, as the Arabs loaded them with -the full sacks. The Sheikhs of the Ṣukhūr and the Sherarāt sat round -on stones in the drizzling mist, and sometimes they muttered, "God! -God!" and sometimes they exclaimed, "He is, merciful and compassionate!" -Not infrequently the sifted corn was poured back among the unsifted, and -a dialogue of this sort ensued: - -[Illustration 26: A ROMAN MILESTONE] - -_Namrūd_; "Upon thee! upon thee! oh boy! may thy dwelling be destroyed! -may thy days come to harm!" - -_Beni Ṣakhr_: "By the face of the Prophet of God! may He be exalted!" - -_Sherarāt_ (_in suppressed chorus_): "God! and Muḥammad the Prophet -of God, upon Him be peace!" - -_A party in bare legs and a sheepskin_: - -"Cold, cold! Wāllah! rain and cold!" - -_Namrūd_: "Silence, oh brother! descend into the well and draw corn. It -is warm there." - -_Beni Ṣakhr_: "Praise be to God the Almighty!" - -_Chorus of Camels_: "B-b-b-b-b-dd-G-r-r-o-o-a-a." - -_Camel Drivers_; "Be still, accursed ones! may you slip in the mud! may -the wrath of God fall on you!" - -_Ṣukhūr_ (_in unison_): "God! God! by the light of His Face!" - -At dusk I went into the servants' tent and found Namrūd whispering -tales of murder over the fire on which my dinner was a-cooking. - -"In the days when I was a boy," said he (and they were not far behind -us), "you could not cross the Ghōr in peace. But I had a mare who -walked--wāllah! how she walked! Between sunrise and sunset she walked -me from Mezerīb to Salt, and never broke her pace. And besides I was -well known to all the Ghawārny (natives of the Ghōr). And one night in -summer I had to go to Jerusalem--force upon me! I must ride. The waters -of Jordan were low, and I crossed at the ford, for there was no bridge -then. And as I reached the further bank I heard shouts and the snap of -bullets. And I hid in the tamarisk bushes more than an hour till the -moon was low, and then I rode forth softly. And at the entrance of the -mud hills the mare started from the path, and I looked down and saw the -body of a man, naked and covered with knife wounds. And he was quite -dead. And as I gazed they sprang out on me from the mud hills, ten -horsemen and I was but one. And I backed against the thicket and fired -twice with my pistol, but they surrounded me and threw me from the mare -and bound me, and setting me again upon the mare they led me away. And -when they came to the halting place they fell to discussing whether they -should kill me, and one said: 'Wāllah! let us make an end.' And he came -near and looked into my face, and it was dawn. And he said: 'It is -Namrūd!' for he knew me, and I had succoured him. And they unbound me -and let me go, and I rode up to Jerusalem." - -The muleteers and I listened with breathless interest as one story -succeeded another. - -"There are good customs and bad among the Arabs," said Namrūd, "but the -good are many. Now when they wish to bring a blood feud to an end, the -two enemies come together in the tent of him who was offended. And the -lord of the tent bares his sword and turns to the south and draws a -circle on the floor, calling upon God. Then he takes a shred of the -cloth of the tent and a handful of ashes from the hearth and throws them -in the circle, and seven times he strikes the line with his naked sword. -And the offender leaps into the circle, and one of the relatives of his -enemy cries aloud: 'I take the murder that he did upon me!' Then there -is peace. Oh lady! the women have much power in the tribe, and the -maidens are well looked on. For if a maiden says: 'I would have such an -one for my husband,' he must marry her lest she should be put to shame. -And if he has already four wives let him divorce one, and marry in her -place the maiden who has chosen him. Such is the custom among the -Arabs." - -He turned to my Druze muleteer and continued: - -"Oh Muḥammad! have a care. The tents of the Ṣukhūr are near, and -there is never any peace between the Beni Ṣakhr and the Druzes. And if -they knew you, they would certainly kill you--not only would they kill -you, but they would bum you alive, and the lady could not shield you, -nor could I." - -This was a grim light upon the character of my friend Nahār, who had -exchanged with me hospitality against a kerchief, and the little group -round the fire was somewhat taken back. But Mikhāil was equal to the -occasion. - -"Let not your Excellency think it," said he, deftly dishing up some -stewed vegetables; "he shall be a Christian till we reach the Jebel -Druze, and his name is not Muḥammad but Ṭarīf, for that is a name -the Christians use." - -So we converted and baptized the astonished Muḥammad before the -cutlets could be taken out of the frying-pan. - - -[Footnote 1: Admirable plans and photographs of the fort have been -published by Brünnow and Domaszewski in vol. II. of their great work, -"Die Provincia Arabia." This volume was not out at the time I visited -Ḳasṭal.] - - - - -CHAPTER III - - -The morning of Sunday, the 12th of February, was still stormy, but I -resolved to go. The days spent at Ṭneib had not been wasted. An -opportunity of watching hour by hour the life of one of these outlying -farms comes seldom, but my thoughts had travelled forward, and I longed -to follow the path they had taken. I caught them up, so it seemed to me, -when G̣ablān, Namrūd and I heard the hoofs of our mares ring on the -metals of the Ḥājj railway and set our faces towards the Open desert. -We rode east by north, leaving Mshitta a little to the south, and though -no one who knew it in its loveliness could have borne to revisit those -ravished walls, it must be not forgotten that there is something to be -said for the act of vandalism that stripped them. If there had been good -prospect that the ruin should stand as it had stood for over a thousand -years, uninjured save by the winter rains, it ought to have! been -allowed to remain intact in the rolling country to which it gave so -strange an impress of delicate and fantastic beauty; but the railway has -come near, the plains will fill up, and neither Syrian fellah nor -Turkish soldier can be induced to spare walls that can be turned to -practical uses. Therefore let those who saw it when it yet stood -unimpaired, cherish its memory with gratitude, and without too deep a -regret. - -[Illustration 27: MSHITTA] - -Namrūd and G̣ablān chatted without a pause. Late in the previous -night two soldiers had presented themselves at the door of the cave, and -having gained admittance they had told a strange tale. They had formed -part, so they affirmed, of the troops that the Sultan had despatched -from Baghdad to help Ibn er Rashīd against Ibn Sa'oud. They related how -the latter had driven them back step by step to the very gates of -Ḥāil, Ibn er Rashīd's capital, and how as the two armies lay facing -one another Ibn Sa'oud with a few followers had ridden up to his enemy's -tent and laid his hand upon the tent pole so that the prince of the -Shāmmaṝ had no choice but to let him enter. And then and there they -had come to an agreement, Ibn er Rashīd relinquishing all his territory -to within a mile or two of Ḥāil, but retaining that city and the -lands to the north of it, including Jōf, and recognising Ibn Sa'oud's -sovereignty over Riāḍ and its extended fief. The two soldiers had -made the best of their way westward across the desert, for they said -most of their companions in arms were slain and the rest had fled. This -was by far the most authentic news that I was to receive from Nejd, and -I have reason to believe that it was substantially correct.[2] I -questioned many of the Arabs as to Ibn er Rashīd's character: the -answer was almost invariably the same. "Shātir jiddan," they would say; -"he is very shrewd," but after a moment they would add, "majnūn" ("but -mad"). A reckless man and a hot-headed, so I read him, with a restless -intelligence and little judgment, not strong enough, and perhaps not -cruel enough, to enforce his authority over the unruly tribes whom his -uncle, Muḥammad, held in a leash of fear (the history of the war has -been one long series of betrayals on the part of his own allies), and -too proud, if the desert judges him rightly, to accept the terms of the -existing peace. He is persuaded that the English government armed Ibn -Sa'oud against him, his reason being that it was the Sheikh of Kweit, -believed to be our ally, who furnished that homeless exile with the -means of re-establishing himself in the country his ancestors had ruled, -hoping thereby to weaken the influence of the Sultan on the borders of -Kweit. The beginning of the trouble was possibly the friendship with the -Sultan into which Ibn er Rashīd saw fit to enter, a friendship blazoned -to the world by the appearance of Shammaṝi mares in Constantinople and -Circassian girls in Ḥāil; but as for the end, there is no end to war -in the desert, and any grievance will serve the turn of an impetuous -young sheikh. - -[Illustration 28: MSHITTA, THE FAÇADE] - -[Illustration 29: MSHITTA, THE INNER HALLS] - -Though we were riding through plains which were quite deserted and to -the casual observer almost featureless, we seldom travelled for more -than a mile without reaching a spot that had a name. In listening to -Arab talk you are struck by this abundant nomenclature. If you ask where -a certain sheikh has pitched his tents you will at once be given an -exact answer. The map is blank, and when you reach the encampment the -landscape is blank also. A rise in the ground, a big stone, a vestige of -ruin, not to speak of every possible hollow in which there may be water -either in winter or in summer, these are marks sufficiently -distinguishing to the nomad eye. Ride with an Arab and you shall realise -why the pre-Mohammadan poems are so full of names, and also how vain a -labour it would be to attempt to assign a definite spot to the greater -number of them, for the same name recurs hundreds of times. We presently -came to a little mound which G̣ablān called Thelelet el Ḥirsheh and -then to another rather smaller called Theleleh, and here G̣ablān drew -rein and pointed to a couple of fire-blackened stones upon the ground. - -[Illustration 30: ARABS OF THE BELḲA] - -"That," said he, "was my hearth. Here I camped five years ago. Yonder -was my father's tent, and the son of my uncle pitched his below the -slope." - -I might have been riding with Imr ul Ḳais, or with any of the great -singers of the Age of Ignorance, whose odes take swinging flight lifted -on just such a theme, the changeless theme of the evanescence of desert -existence. - -The clouds broke in rain upon us, and we left Theleleh and paced on -east--an Arab when he travels seldom goes quicker than a walk--while -Namrūd, according to his habit, beguiled the way with story telling. - -"Oh lady," said he,--"I will tell you a tale well known among the Arabs, -without doubt G̣ablān has heard it. There was a man--he is dead now, -but his sons still live--who had a blood feud, and in the night his -enemy fell upon him with many horsemen, and they drove away his flocks -and his camels and his mares and seized his tents and all that he had. -And he who had been a rich man and much honoured was reduced to the -extreme of necessity. So he wandered forth till he came to the tents of -a tribe that was neither the friend nor the foe of his people, and he -went to the sheikh's tent and laid his hand on the tent pole and said: -'Oh sheikh! I am your guest' "('Ana dakhīlak,' the phrase of one who -seeks for hospitality and protection)." And the sheikh rose and led him -in and seated him by the hearth, and treated him with kindness. And he -gave him sheep and a few camels and cloth for a tent, and the man went -away and prospered so that in ten years he was again as rich as before. -Now after ten years it happened that misfortune fell upon the sheikh who -had been his host, and he in turn lost all that he possessed. And the -sheikh said: 'I will go to the tents of so-and-so, who is now rich, and -he will treat me as I treated him.' Now when he reached the tents the -man was away, but his son was within. And the sheikh laid his hand on -the tent pole, and said, 'Ana dakhīlak,' and the man's son answered: 'I -do not know you, but since you claim our protection come in and my -mother will make you coffee.' So the sheikh came in, and the woman -called him to her hearth and made him coffee, and it is an indignity -among the Arabs that the coffee should be made by the women. And while -he was sitting by the women's hearth, the lord of the tent returned, and -his son went out and told him that the sheikh had come. And he said: 'We -will keep him for the night since he is bur guest, and at dawn we will -send him away lest we should draw his feud upon ourselves.' And they put -the sheikh in a corner of the tent and gave him only bread and coffee, -and next day they bade him go. And they sent an escort of two horsemen -with him for a day's journey, as is the usage among the Arabs with one -who has sought their protection and goes in fear of his life, and then -they left him to starve or to fall among his enemies. But such -ingratitude is rare, praise be to God! and therefore the tale is not -forgotten." - -[Illustration 31: FELLĀH UL 'ISA AD DA'JA] - -We were now nearing some slopes that might almost be dignified with the -name of hills. They formed a great semicircle that stretched away to the -south and in the hollow of their arm Fellāḥ ul 'Isa had pitched his -tents. The Da'ja, when I was with them, occupied all the plain below the -amphitheatre of the Jebel el 'Alya and also the country to the -north-west between the hills and the river Zerka Mujēmir, the young -sheikh, was camped to the north, his two uncles, Fellāḥ ul 'Isa and -Ḥamūd, the father of G̣ablān, together in the plain to the south. I -did not happen to see Ḥamūd; he had ridden away to visit some of his -herds. G̣ablān put his horse to a canter and went on ahead to announce -our arrival. As we rode up to the big sheikh's tent a white-haired man -came out to welcome us. This was my host, Fellāḥ ul 'Isa, a sheikh -renowned throughout the Belḳa for his wisdom and possessed of an -authority beyond that which an old man of a ruling house exercises over -his own tribe. Six months before he had been an honoured guest among the -Druzes, who are not used to receiving Arab sheikhs on terms of -friendship, and for this reason Namrūd had selected him as the best of -counsellors in the matter of my journey. We were obliged to sit in his -tent till coffee had been made, which ceremony occupied a full hour. It -was conducted in a dignified silence, broken only by the sound of the -pestle crushing the beans in the mortar, a music dear to desert ears and -not easy of accomplished execution. By the time coffee drinking was over -the sun had come out and with G̣ablān and Namrūd I rode up the hills -north of the camp to inspect some ruins reported by the Arabs. - -[Illustration 32: A CAPITAL AT MUWAG̣G̣AR] - -The Jebel el 'Alya proved to be a rolling upland that extended for many -miles, sloping gradually away to the north and north-east. The general -trend of the range is from west to south-east; it rises abruptly out of -the plains and carries upon its crest a series of ruins out of which I -saw two. They seem to have been a line of forts guarding a frontier -that, in the absence of inscriptions, may be conjectured to have been -Ghassānid. The first of the ruined sites lay immediately above -Fellāḥ ul 'Isa's camp--I surmise it to have been the Ḳaṣr el Ahla -(a name unknown to the Da'ja) marked on the Palestine Exploration map -close to the Ḥājj road. If this be so, it lies four or five miles -further east than the map makers have placed it, and its name should be -written Ḳaṣr el 'Alya. It was a small tell, ringed round with the -foundations of walls that enclosed an indistinguishable mass of ruins. -We rode forward some three or four miles to the east, and at the head of -a shallow valley on the northern side of the Jebel el 'Alya we found a -large tank, about 120 feet by 150 feet, carefully built of dressed -stones and half full of earth. Above it, nearer the top of the hill, -there was a group of ruins called by the Arabs El Muwag̣g̣ar.[3] It -must have been a military post, for there seemed to be few remains of -small dwellings such as would point to the existence of a town. To the -east lay a building that the Arabs maintain to have been a stable. It -was planned like a church, in three parallel chambers, the nave being -divided from the aisles by arcades of which six arches on either side -were standing, round arches resting on piers of masonry. On the inner -sides of these piers were holes through which to fasten tethering ropes, -and possibly horses may at some period have been stabled between the -arches. The three chambers were roofed with barrel vaults, and wall and -vault alike were built of small stones set in brittle, crumbling mortar. -A few hundred yards to the north-west there was a big open cistern, -empty of water, with plastered sides and a flight of steps at one -corner. The largest ruin was still further to the north-west, almost at -the summit of the hill; it is called by the Arabs the Ḳaṣr, and was -probably a fortress or barracks. The main entrance was to the east, and -since the ground sloped away here, the _façade_ was supported on a -substructure of eight vaults, above which were traces of three, or -perhaps four, doorways that could only have been approached by flights -of steps. Moulded piers had stood on either side of the doorways--a few -were still in their places--and the _façade_ had been enriched with -columns and a cornice, of which the fragments were strewn over the -ground below together with capitals of various designs, all of them -drawn from a Corinthian prototype, though many were widely dissimilar -from the parent pattern. Some of the mouldings showed very simple -_rinceaux_, a trefoil set in the alternate curves of a flowing stalk, -others were torus-shaped and covered with the scales of the palm trunk -pattern. The width of the _façade_ was forty paces; behind it was an -ante-chamber separated by a cross wall from a square enclosure. Whether -there had been rooms round the inside of this enclosure I could not -determine; it was heaped up with ruins and overgrown with turf. On -either side of the eight parallel vaults there was another vaulted -chamber forming ten in all; but the two supplementary vaults did not -appear to have supported a superstructure of any kind, the massive side -walls of the ante-chamber resting on the outer walls of the eight -central vaults. The masonry was of squared stones with rubble between, -set in mortar. - -[Illustration 33: A CAPITAL AT MUWAG̣G̣AR] - -We rode back straight down the hill and so along the plain at its foot, -passing another ruined site as we went, Najēreh was its name. Such -heaped up mounds of cut stones the Arabs call "rujm"; it would be -curious to know how far east they are to be found, how far the desert -was inhabited by a permanent population. A day's journey from 'Alya, -said G̣ablān, there is another fort called Kharaneh, and a third not -far from it, Umm er Resas, and more besides, some of them with pictures, -and all easy to visit in the winter when the western pasturages are -comparatively empty.[4] As we rode he taught me to read the desert, to -mark the hollow squares of big stones laid for the beds of Arab boys, -and the semi-circular nests in the earth that the mother camels scoop -out for their young. He taught me also the names of the plants that -dotted the ground, and I found that though the flora of the desert is -scanty in quantity, it is of many varieties, and that almost every kind -has been put to some useful end by the Arabs. With the leaf of the -utrufān they scent their butter, from the prickly kursa'aneh they make -an excellent salad, on the dry sticks of the billān the camels feed, -and the sheep on those of the shīḥ, the ashes of the g̣āli are used -in soap boiling. The _rôle_ of teacher amused G̣ablān, and as we -passed from one prickly blue-grey tuft to another equally blue-grey and -prickly, he would say: "Oh lady, what is this?" and smile cheerfully if -the answer came right. - -[Illustration 34: A CAPITAL AT MUWAG̣G̣AR] - -I was to dine that night in Fellāḥ ul 'Isa's tent, and when the last -bar of red light still lay across the west G̣ablān came to fetch me. -The little encampment was already alive with all the combination of -noises that animates the desert after dark, the grunting and groaning of -camels, the bleating of sheep and goats and the uninterrupted barking of -dogs. There was no light in the sheikh's tent save that of the fire; my -host sitting opposite me was sometimes hidden in a column of pungent -smoke and sometimes illumined by a leaping flame. When a person of -consideration comes as guest, a sheep must be killed in honour of the -occasion, and accordingly we eat with our fingers a bountiful meal of -mutton and curds and flaps of bread. But even on feast nights the Arab -eats astonishingly little, much less than a European woman with a good -appetite, and when there is no guest in camp, bread and a bowl of -camel's milk is all they need. It is true they spend most of the day -asleep or gossiping in the sun, yet I have seen the 'Ag̣ēl making a -four months' march on no more generous fare. Though they can go on such -short commons, the Bedouin must seldom be without the sensation of -hunger; they are always lean and thin, and any sickness that falls upon -the tribe carries off a large proportion of its numbers. My servants -feasted too, and since we had left Muḥammad, or rather Ṭarīf the -Christian, to guard the tents in our absence, a wooden bowl was piled -with food and sent out into the night "for the guest who has remained -behind." - -Fellāḥ ul 'Isa and Namrūd fell into an interesting discussion over -the coffee, one that threw much light on the position of the tribes of -the Belḳa. They are hard pressed by encroaching civilisation. Their -summer quarters are gradually being filled up with fellāḥin, and -still worse, their summer watering places are now occupied by Circassian -colonists settled by the Sultan in eastern Syria when the Russians -turned them out of house and home in the Caucasus. The Circassians are a -disagreeable people, morose and quarrelsome, but industrious and -enterprising beyond measure, and in their daily contests with the Arabs -they invariably come off victors. Recently they have made the drawing of -water from the Zerka, on which the Bedouin are dependent during the -summer, a _casus belli_, and it is becoming more and more impossible to -go down to 'Ammān, the Circassian headquarters, for the few necessities -of Arab life, such as coffee and sugar and tobacco. Namrūd was of -opinion that the Belḳa tribes should have asked the Government to -appoint a Ḳāimaḳām over their district to protect their interests; -but Fellāḥ ul Tsa hesitated to call in King Stork, fearing the -military service he might impose, the enforced registration of cattle -and other hateful practices. The truth is that the days of the Belḳa -Arabs are numbered. To judge by the ruins, it will be possible, as it -was possible in past centuries, to establish a fixed population all over -their territory, and they will have to choose between themselves -building villages and cultivating the ground or retreating to the east -where water is almost unobtainable in the summer, and the heat far -greater than they care to face. - -Namrūd turned from these vexed questions to extol the English rule in -Egypt. He had never been there, but he had heard tales from one of his -cousins who was a clerk in Alexandria; he knew that the fellahin had -grown rich and that the desert was as peaceful as were the cities. - -[Illustration 35: MILKING SHEEP] - -"Blood feud has ceased," said he, "and raiding; for when a man steals -another's camels, look you what happens. The owner of the camels comes -to the nearest konak and lays his complaint, and a zaptieh rides out -alone through the desert till he reaches the robber's tent. Then he -throws the salaam and enters. What does the lord of the tent do? he -makes coffee and tries to treat the zaptieh as a guest. But when the -soldier has drunk the coffee he places money by the hearth, saying, -'Take this piastre,' and so he pays for all he eats and drinks and -accepts nothing. And in the morning he departs, leaving orders that in -so many days the camels must be at the konak. Then the robber, being -afraid, gathers together the camels and sends them in, and one, may be, -is missing, so that the number is short. And the judge says to the lord -of the camels, 'Are all the beasts here?' and he replies, 'There is one -missing.' And he says, 'What is its value?' and he answers, 'Eight -liras.' Then the judge says to the other, 'Pay him eight liras.' -Wāllah! he pays." - -Fellāḥ ul 'Isa expressed no direct approval of the advantages of this -system, but he listened with interest while I explained the principles -of the Fellaḥīn Bank, as far as I understood them, and at the end he -asked whether Lord Cromer could not be induced to extend his rule to -Syria, an invitation that I would not undertake to accept in his name. -Five years before, in the Ḥaurān mountains, a similar question had -been put to me, and the answering of it had taxed my diplomacy. The -Druze sheikhs of Ḳanawāt had assembled in my tent under shadow of -night, and after much cautious beating about the bush and many -assurances from me that no one was listening, they had asked whether if -the Turks again broke their treaties with the Mountain, the Druzes might -take refuge with Lord Cromer in Egypt, and whether I would not charge -myself with a message to him. I replied with the air of one weighing the -proposition in all its aspects that the Druzes were people of the hill -country, and that Egypt was a plain, and would therefore scarcely suit -them. The Sheikh el Balad looked at the Sheikh ed Dīn, and the horrible -vision of a land without mountain fastnesses in which to take refuge, or -mountain paths easy to defend, must have opened before their eyes, for -they replied that the matter required much thought, and I heard no more -of it. Nevertheless the moral is obvious: all over Syria and even in the -desert; whenever a man is ground down by injustice or mastered by his -own incompetence, he wishes that he were under the rule that has given -wealth to Egypt, and our occupation of that country, which did so much -at first to alienate from us the sympathies of Mohammedans, has proved -the finest advertisement of English methods of government.[5] - -As I sat listening to the talk round me and looking out into the starlit -night, my mind went back to the train of thought that had been the -groundwork of the whole day, the theme that G̣ablān had started when -he stopped and pointed out the traces of his former encampment, and I -said: - -[Illustration 36: G̣ABLĀN IBN ḤAMŪD AD DA'JA] - -"In the ages before the Prophet your fathers spoke as you do and in the -same language, but we who do not know your ways have lost the meaning of -the words they used. Now tell me what is so-and-so, and so-and-so?" - -The men round the fire bent forward, and when a flame jumped up I saw -their dark faces as they listened, and answered: - -"By God! did they say _that_ before the Prophet?" - -"Māsha'llah! we use that word still. It is the mark on the ground where -the tent was pitched." - -Thus encouraged I quoted the couplet of Imr ul Ḳais which G̣ablān's -utterance had suggested. - -"Stay! let us weep the memory of the Beloved and her resting place in -the cleft of the shifting sands 'twixt ēd Dujēl and Haumal." - -G̣ablān, by the tent pole, lifted his head and exclaimed: -"Māsha'llah! that is 'Antara." - -All poetry is ascribed to 'Antara by the unlettered Arab; he knows no -other name in literature. - -I answered: "No; 'Antara spoke otherwise. He said: 'Have the poets -aforetime left ought to be added by me? or dost thou remember her house -when thou lookest on the place?' And Lebīd spoke best of all when he -said: 'And what is man but a tent and the folk thereof? one day they -depart and the place is left desolate.'" - -G̣ablān made a gesture of assent. - -"By God!" said he, "the plain is covered with places wherein I rested." - -He had struck the note. I looked out beyond him into the night and saw -the desert with his eyes, no longer empty but set thicker with human -associations than any city. Every line of it took on significance, every -stone was like the ghost of a hearth in which the warmth of Arab life -was hardly cold, though the fire might have been extinguished this -hundred years. It was a city of shadowy outlines visible one under the -other, fleeting and changing, combining into new shapes elements that -are as old as Time, the new indistinguishable from the old and the old -from the new. - -There is no name for it. The Arabs do not speak of desert or wilderness -as we do. Why should they? To them it is neither desert nor wilderness, -but a land of which they know every feature, a mother country whose -smallest product has a use sufficient for their needs. They know, or at -least they knew in the days when their thoughts shaped themselves in -deathless verse, how to rejoice in the great spaces and how to honour -the rush of the storm. In many a couplet they extolled the beauty of the -watered spots; they sang of the fly that hummed there, as a man made -glad with wine croons melodies for his sole ears to hear, and of the -pools of rain that shone like silver pieces, or gleamed dark as the -warrior's mail when the wind ruffled them. They had watched, as they -crossed the barren watercourses, the laggard wonders of the night, when -the stars seemed chained to the sky as though the dawn would never come. -Imr ul Ḳais had seen the Pleiades caught like jewels in the net of a -girdle, and with the wolf that howled in the dark he had claimed -fellowship: "Thou and I are of one kindred, and, lo, the furrow that -thou ploughest and that I plough shall yield one harvest." But by night -or by day there was no overmastering terror, no meaningless fear and no -enemy that could not be vanquished. They did not cry for help, those -poets of the Ignorance, either to man or God; but when danger fell upon -them they remembered the maker of their sword, the lineage of their -horse and the prowess of their tribe, and their own right hand was -enough to carry them through. And then they gloried as men should glory -whose blood flows hot in their veins, and gave no thanks where none were -due. - -[Illustration 37: ON THE ḤĀJJ ROAD] - -This is the temper of verse as splendid of its kind as any that has -fallen from the lips of men. Every string of Arab experience is touched -in turn, and the deepest chords of feeling are resonant. There are no -finer lines than those in which Lebīd sums up his appreciation of -existence, a poem where each one of the fourteen couplets is instinct -with a grave and tragic dignity beyond all praise. He looks sorrow in -the face, old age and death, and ends with a solemn admission of the -limitations of human wisdom: "By thy life! the casters of pebbles and -the watchers of the flight of birds, how know they what God is doing?" -The voice of warning is never the voice of dismay. It recurs often -enough, but it does not check the wild daring of the singer. "Death is -no chooser!" cries Tārafa, "the miser or the free-handed, Death has his -rope round the swift flying heel of him!" But he adds: "What dost thou -fear? To-day is thy life." And as fearlessly Zuhair sets forth his -experience: "To-day I know and yesterday and the days that were, but for -to-morrow mine eyes are sightless. For I have seen Doom let out in the -dark like a blind camel; those it struck died and those it missed lived -to grow old." The breath of inspiration touched all alike, old and -young, men and women, and among the most exquisite remnants of the -desert heritage is a dirge sung by a sister for her dead brother, which -is no less valuable as a historical document than it is admirable in -sentiment. An Naḍr Ibn el Hārith was taken prisoner by Muḥammad at -Uthail, after the battle of Bedr, and by his order put to death, and -through the verses of Ḳutaila you catch the revolt of feeling with -which the Prophet's pretensions were greeted by those of his -contemporaries who would not submit to them, coupled with the necessary -respect due to a man whose race was as good as their own. "Oh camel -rider!" she cries, - - -"Oh camel rider! Uthail, methinks, if thou speedest well, -shall lie before thee when breaks the fifth Dawn o'er thy road. -Take thou a word to a dead man there--and a greeting, sure, -but meet it is that the riders bring from friends afar-- -From me to him, yea and tears unstanched, in a flood they flow -when he plies the well rope, and others choke me that stay -behind. -Raise clear thy voice that an Naḍr may hear if thou call on him-- -can a dead man hear? Can he answer any that shouts his name? -Day long the swords of his father's sons on his body played-- -Ah God! the bonds of a brother's blood that were severed there! -Helpless, a-weary, to death they led him, with fight foredone; -short steps he takes with his fettered feet and his arms are bound. -Oh Muḥammad! sprung from a mother thou of a noble house, -and thy father too was of goodly stock when the kin is told. -Had it cost thee dear to have granted grace that day to him? -yea, a man may pardon though anger burn in his bosom sore. -And the nearest he in the ties of kinship of all to thee, -and the fittest he, if thou loosedst any to be set free. -Ah, hadst thou taken a ransom, sure with the best of all -that my hand possessed I had paid thee, spending my utmost -store." - - -And on yet stronger wing the wild free spirit of the desert rose in his -breast who lay in ward at Mecca, and he sang of love and death with a -voice that will not be silenced: - - -"My longing climbs up the steep with the riders of El Yemen, -by their side, while my body lies in Mecca a prisoner. -I marvelled as she came darkling to me and entered free, -while the prison door before me was bolted and surely barred. -She drew near and greeted me, then she rose and bade farewell, -and when she turned my life well-nigh went forth with her. -Nay, think not that I am bowed with fear away from you, -or that I tremble before death that stands so nigh. -Or that my soul quakes at all before your threatening, -or that my spirit is broken by walking in these chains. -But a longing has smitten my heart born of love for thee, -as it was in the days aforetime when that I was free."[6] - - -The agony of the captive, the imagined vision of the heart's desire -which no prison bars could exclude, then the fine protest lest his foes -should dream that his spirit faltered, and the strong man's fearless -memory of the passion that had shaken his life and left his soul still -ready to vanquish death--there are few such epitomes of noble emotion. -Born and bred on the soil of the desert, the singers of the Age of -Ignorance have left behind them a record of their race that richer and -wiser nations will find hard to equal. - - -[Footnote 2: Since the events above recorded, Ibn Sa'oud has, I believe, -come to terms with the Sultan after a vain appeal to a stronger ally, -and Ibn er Rashīd is reported to be struggling to turn out the Turkish -garrisons which were appointed nominally to aid him. Quite recently -there has been a rumour that Ibn er Rashīd is dead.] - -[Footnote 3: El Muwaḳḳar it is written, but the Bedouin change the -hard k into a hard g. The site has been described in "Die Provincia -Arabia," vol II.] - -[Footnote 4: Several of these ruins were visited by Musil, but his took -is not yet published.] - -[Footnote 5: The present unrest in Egypt may seem to throw a doubt upon -the truth of these observations, but I do not believe this to be the -case. The Egyptians have forgotten the miseries from which our -administration rescued them, the Syrians and the people of the desert -are still labouring under them, and in their eyes the position of their -neighbours is one of unalloyed and enviable ease. But when once the wolf -is driven from the door, the restraints imposed by an immutable law eat -into the temper of a restless, unstable population accustomed to reckon -with misrule and to profit by the frequent laxity and the occasional -opportunities of undeserved advancement which characterise it. Justice -is a capital thing when it guards your legal rights, but most damnable -when you wish to usurp the rights of others. Fellāḥ ul 'Isa and his -kind would not be slow to discover its defects.] - -[Footnote 6: I have borrowed Sir Charles Lyall's beautiful and most -scholarly translation of this and the preceding poem.] - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - -There is an Arabic proverb which says: "Ḥayyeh rubda wa la ḍaif -muḍḥa"--neither ash-grey snake nor midday guest. We were careful -not to make a breach in our manners by outstaying our welcome, and our -camp was up before the sun. To wake in that desert dawn was like waking -in the heart of an opal. The mists lifting their heads out of the -hollows, the dews floating in ghostly wreaths from the black tents, were -shot through first with the faint glories of the eastern sky and then -with the strong yellow rays of the risen sun. I sent a silver and purple -kerchief to Fellāḥ ul 'Isa, "for the little son" who had played -solemnly about the hearth, took grateful leave of Namrūd, drank a -parting cup of coffee, and, the old sheikh holding my stirrup, mounted -and rode away with G̣ablān. We climbed the Jebel el 'Alya and crossed -the wide summit of the range; the landscape was akin to that of our own -English border country but bigger, the sweeping curves more generous, -the distances further away. The glorious cold air intoxicated every -sense and set the blood throbbing--to my mind the saying about the Bay -of Naples should run differently. See the desert on a fine morning and -die--if you can. Even the stolid mules felt the breath of it and raced -across the spongy ground ("Mad! the accursed ones!") till their packs -swung round and brought them down, and twice we stopped to head them off -and reload. The Little Heart, the highest peak of the Jebel Druze, -surveyed us cheerfully the while, glittering in its snow mantle far away -to the north. - -[Illustration 38: ARABS RIDING MARDŪF] - -At the foot of the northern slopes of the 'Alya hills we entered a great -rolling plain like that which we had left to the south. We passed many -of those mysterious rujm which start the fancy speculating on the past -history of the land, and presently we caught sight of the scattered -encampments of the Ḥassaniyyeh, who are good friends to the Da'ja and -belong to the same group of tribes. And here we spied two riders coming -across the plain and G̣ablān went out to greet them and remained some -time in talk, and then returned with a grave face. The day before, the -very day before, while we had been journeying peacefully from Ṭneib, -four hundred horsemen of the Ṣukhūr and the Ḥoweiṭāṭ, leagued -in evil, had swept these plains, surprised an outlying group of the Beni -Ḥassan and carried off the tents, together with two thousand head of -cattle. It was almost a pity, I thought, that we had come a day too -late, but G̣ablān looked graver still at the suggestion, and said that -he would have been forced to join in the fray, yes, he would even have -left me, though I had been committed to his charge, for the Da'ja were -bound to help the Beni Ḥassan against the Ṣukhūr. And perhaps -yesterday's work would be enough to break the new-born truce between -that powerful tribe and the allies of the 'Anazeh and set the whole -desert at war again. There was sorrow in the tents of the Children of -Ḥassan. We saw a man weeping by the tent pole, with his head bowed in -his hands, everything he possessed having been swept from him. As we -rode we talked much of ghazu (raid) and the rules that govern it. The -fortunes of the Arab are as varied as those of a gambler on the Stock -Exchange. One day he is the richest man in the desert, and next morning -he may not have a single camel foal to his name. He lives in a state of -war, and even if the surest pledges have been exchanged with the -neighbouring tribes there is no certainty that a band of raiders from -hundreds of miles away will not descend on his camp in the night, as a -tribe unknown to Syria, the Beni Awājeh, fell, two years ago, on the -lands south-east of Aleppo, crossing three hundred miles of desert, -Mardūf (two on a camel) from their seat above Baghdad, carrying off all -the cattle and killing scores of people. How many thousand years this -state of things has lasted, those who shall read the earliest records of -the inner desert will tell us, for it goes back to the first of them, -but in all the centuries the Arab has bought no wisdom from experience. -He is never safe, and yet he behaves as though security were his daily -bread. He pitches his feeble little camps, ten or fifteen tents -together, over a wide stretch of undefended and indefensible country. He -is too far from his fellows to call in their aid, too far as a rule to -gather the horsemen together and follow after the raiders whose retreat -must be sufficiently slow, burdened with the captured flocks, to -guarantee success to a swift pursuit. Having lost all his worldly goods, -he goes about the desert and makes his plaint, and one man gives him a -strip or two of goats' hair cloth, and another a coffee-pot, a third -presents him with a camel, and a fourth with a few sheep, till he has a -roof to cover him and enough animals to keep his family from hunger. -There are good customs among the Arabs, as Namrūd said. So he bides his -time for months, perhaps for years, till at length opportunity ripens, -and the horsemen of his tribe with their allies ride forth and recapture -all the flocks that had been carried off and more besides, and the feud -enters on another phase. The truth is that the ghazu is the only -industry the desert knows and the only game. As an industry it seems to -the commercial mind to be based on a false conception of the laws of -supply and demand, but as a game there is much to be said for it. The -spirit of adventure finds full scope in it--you can picture the -excitement of the night ride across the plain, the rush of the mares in -the attack, the glorious (and comparatively innocuous) popping of rifles -and the exhilaration of knowing yourself a fine fellow as you turn -homewards with the spoil. It is the best sort of fantasia, as they say -in the desert, with a spice of danger behind it. Not that the danger is -alarmingly great: a considerable amount of amusement can be got without -much bloodshed, and the raiding Arab is seldom bent on killing. He never -lifts his hand against women and children, and if here and there a man -falls it is almost by accident, since who can be sure of the ultimate -destination of a rifle bullet once it is embarked on its lawless course? -This is the Arab view of the ghazu; the Druzes look at it otherwise. For -them it is red war. They do not play the game as it should be played, -they go out to slay, and they spare no one. While they have a grain of -powder in their flasks and strength to pull the trigger, they kill every -man, woman and child that they encounter. - -[Illustration 39: A TRAVELLING ENCAMPMENT OF THE 'AG̣ĒL] - -Knowing the independence of Arab women and the freedom with which -marriages are contracted between different tribes of equal birth, I saw -many romantic possibilities of mingled love and hatred between the -Montagues and the Capulets. "Lo, on a sudden I loved her," says Antara, -"though I had slain her kin." G̣ablān replied that these difficult -situations did indeed occur, and ended sometimes in a tragedy, but if -the lovers would be content to wait, some compromise could be arrived -at, or they might be able to marry during one of the brief but -oft-recurring intervals of truce. The real danger begins when blood feud -is started within the tribe itself and a man having murdered one of his -own people is cast out a homeless, kinless exile to shelter with -strangers or with foes. Such was Imr ul Ḳais, the lonely outlaw, -crying to the night: "Oh long night, wilt thou not bring the dawn? yet -the day is no better than thou." - -[Illustration 40: A DESERT WELL] - -A few miles further north the Ḥassaniyyeh encampments had not yet -heard of yesterday's misfortune, and we had the pleasure of spreading -the ill-news. G̣ablān rode up to every group we passed and delivered -his mind of its burden; the men in buckram multiplied as we went, and -perhaps I had been wrong in accepting the four hundred of the original -statement, for they had had plenty of time to breed during the -twenty-four hours that had elapsed between their departure and our -arrival. All the tents were occupied with preparations not for war but -for feasting. On the morrow fell the great festival of the Mohammedan -year, the Feast of Sacrifice, when the pilgrims in Mecca slaughter their -offerings and True Believers at home follow their example. By every tent -there was a huge pile of thorns wherewith to roast the camel or sheep -next day, and the shirts of the tribe were spread out to dry in the sun -after a washing which, I have reason to believe, takes place but once a -year. Towards sunset we reached a big encampment of the Beni Ḥassan, -where G̣ablān decided to spend the night. There was water in a muddy -pool near at hand and a good site for our tents above the hollow in -which the Arabs lay. None of the great sheikhs were camped there and, -mindful of Namrūd's warnings, I refused all invitations and spent the -evening at home, watching the sunset and the kindling of the cooking -fires and the blue smoke that floated away into the twilight. The -sacrificial camel, in gorgeous trappings, grazed among my mules, and -after dark the festival was heralded by a prolonged letting off of -rifles. G̣ablān sat silent by the camp fire, his thoughts busy with -the merrymakings that were on foot at home. It went sorely against the -grain that he should be absent on such a day. "How many horsemen," said -he, "will alight to-morrow at my father's tent! and I shall not be there -to welcome them or to wish a good feast day to my little son!" - -[Illustration 41: A DESERT WATER-COURSE] - -We were off before the rejoicings had begun. I had no desire to assist -at the last moments of the camel, and moreover we had a long day before -us through country that was not particularly safe. As far as my caravan -was concerned, the risk was small. I had a letter in my pocket from -Fellāḥ ul 'Isa to Nasīb el Aṭrash, the Sheikh of Ṣalkhad in the -Jebel Druze. "To the renowned and honoured sheikh, Nasīb el Aṭrash," -it ran (I had heard my host dictate it to Namrūd and seen him seal it -with his seal), "the venerated, may God prolong his existence! We send -you greetings, to you and to all the people of Ṣalkhad, and to your -brother Jada'llah, and to the son of your uncle Muḥammad el Aṭrash -in Umm er Rummān, and to our friends in Imtain. And further, there goes -to you from us a lady of the most noble among the English. And we greet -Muḥammada and our friends. . . . etc., (here followed another list of -names), and this is all that is needful, and peace be with you." And -beyond this letter I had the guarantee of my nationality, for the Druzes -have not yet forgotten our interference on their behalf in 1860; -moreover I was acquainted with several of the sheikhs of the Ṭurshān, -to which powerful family Nasīb belonged. But G̣ablān was in a -different case, and he was fully conscious of the ambiguity of his -position. In spite of his uncle's visit to the Mountain, he was not at -all certain how the Druzes would receive him; he was leaving the last -outposts of his allies, and entering a border land by tradition hostile -(he himself had no acquaintance with it but that which he had gathered -on raiding expeditions), and if he did not find enemies among the Druzes -he might well fall in with a scouring party of the bitter foes of the -Da'ja, the Ḥaseneh or their like, who camp east of the hills. - -[Illustration 42: CAMELS OF THE ḤASENEH] - -After an hour or two of travel, the character of the country changed -completely: the soft soil of the desert came to an end, and the volcanic -rocks of the Ḥaurān began. We rode for some time up a gulley of lava, -left the last of the Ḥassaniyyeh tents in a little open space between -some mounds, and found ourselves on the edge of a plain that, stretched -to the foot of the Jebel Druze in an unbroken expanse, completely -deserted, almost devoid of vegetation and strewn with black volcanic -stones. It has been said that the borders of the desert are like a rocky -shore on which the sailor who navigates deep waters with success may yet -be wrecked when he attempts to bring his ship to port. This was the -landing which we had to effect. Somewhere between us and the hills were -the ruins of Umm ej Jemāl, where I hoped to get into touch with the -Druzes, but for the life of us we could not tell where they lay, the -plain having just sufficient rise and fall to hide them. Now Umm ej -Jemāl has an evil name--I believe mine was the second European camp -that had ever been pitched in it, the first having been that of a party -of American archæologists who left a fortnight before I arrived--and -G̣ablān's evident anxiety enhanced its sinister reputation. Twice he -turned to me and asked whether it were necessary to camp there. I -answered that he had undertaken to guide me to Umm ej Jemāl, and that -there was no question but that I should go, and the second time I backed -my obstinacy by pointing out that we must have water that night for the -animals, and that there was little chance of finding it except in the -cisterns of the ruined village. Thereupon I had out my map, and after -trying to guess what point on the blank white paper we must have -reached, I turned my caravan a little to the west towards a low rise -from whence we should probably catch sight of our destination. G̣ablān -took the decision in good part and expressed regret that he could not be -of better service in directing us. He had been once in his life to Umm -ej Jemāl, but it was at dead of night when he was out raiding. He and -his party had stopped for half an hour to water their horses and had -passed on eastward, returning, by another route. Yes, it had been a -successful raid, praise be to God! and one of the first in which he had -engaged. Mikhāil listened with indifference to our deliberations, the -muleteers were not consulted, but as we set off again Ḥabīb tucked -his revolver more handily into his belt. - -[Illustration 43: UMM EJ JEMĀL] - -We rode on. I was engaged in looking for the rasīf, the paved Roman -road that runs from Ḳal'at ez Zerka straight to Boṣrā, and also in -wondering what I should do to protect if necessary the friend and guide -whose pleasant companionship had enlivened our hours of travel and who -should certainly come to no harm while he was with us. As we drew nearer -to the rising ground we observed that it was crowned with sheepfolds, -and presently we could see men gathering their flocks together and -driving them behind the black walls, their hurried movements betraying -their alarm. We noticed also some figures, whether mounted or on foot it -was impossible to determine, advancing on us from a hollow to the left, -and after a moment two puffs of smoke rose in front of them, and we -heard the crack of rifles. - -G̣ablān turned to me with a quick gesture. - -"Ḍarabūna!" he said. "They have fired on us." - -I said aloud: "They are afraid," but to myself, "We're in for it." - -G̣ablān rose in his stirrups, dragged his fur-lined cloak from his -shoulders, wound it round his left arm and waved it above his head, and -very slowly he and I paced forward together. Another couple of shots -were fired, and still we rode forward, G̣ablān waving his flag of -truce. The firing ceased; it was nothing after all but the accepted -greeting to strangers, conducted with the customary levity of the -barbarian. Our assailants turned out to be two Arabs, grinning from ear -to ear, quite ready to fraternise with us as soon as they had decided -that we were not bent on sheep stealing, and most willing to direct us -to Umm ej Jemāl. As soon as we had rounded the tell we saw it in front -of us, its black towers and walls standing so boldly out of the desert -that it was impossible to believe it had been ruined and deserted for -thirteen hundred years. It was not till we came close that the rents and -gashes in the tufa masonry and the breaches in the city wall were -visible. I pushed forward and would have ridden straight into the heart -of the town, but G̣ablān caught me up and laid his hand upon my -bridle. - -"I go first," he said. "Oh lady, you were committed to my charge." - -And since he was the only person who incurred any risk and was well -aware of the fact, his resolution did him credit. - -[Illustration 44: WATERING CAMELS] - -We clattered over the ruined wall, passed round the square monastery -tower which is the chief feature of the Mother of Camels (such is the -meaning of the Arabic name), and rode into an open place between empty -streets, and there was no one to fear and no sign of life save that -offered by two small black tents, the inhabitants of which greeted us -with enthusiasm, and proceeded to sell us milk and eggs in the most -amicable fashion. The Arabs who live at the foot of Ḥaurān mountains -are called the Jebeliyyeh, the Arabs of the Hills, and they are of no -consideration, being but servants and shepherds to the Druzes. In the -winter they herd the flocks that are sent down into the plain, and in -the summer they are allowed to occupy the uncultivated slopes with their -own cattle. - -I spent the hour of daylight that remained in examining the wonderful -Nabatæan necropolis outside the walls. Monsieur Dussaud began the work -on it five years ago; Mr. Butler and Dr. Littmann, whose visit -immediately preceded mine, will be found to have continued it when their -next volumes are given to the world. Having seen what tombs they had -uncovered and noted several mounds that must conceal others, I sent away -my companions and wandered in the dusk through the ruined streets of the -town, into great rooms and up broken stairs, till G̣ablān came and -called me in, saying that if a man saw something in a fur coat exploring -those uncanny places after dark, he might easily take the apparition for -a ghoul and shoot at it. Moreover, he wished to ask me whether he might -not return to Ṭneib. One of the Arabs would guide us next day to the -first Druze village, and G̣ablān would as soon come no nearer to the -Mountain. I agreed readily, indeed it was a relief not to have his -safety on my conscience. He received three napoleons for his trouble and -a warm letter of thanks to deliver to Fellāḥ ul 'Isa, and we parted -with many assurances that if God willed we would travel together again. - -[Illustration 45: STRIKING CAMP] - -The stony foot of the Jebel Ḥaurān is strewn with villages deserted -since the Mohammedan invasion in the seventh century. I visited two that -lay not far from my path, Shabḥa and Shabḥīyyeh, and found them to -be both of the same character as Umm ej Jemāl. From afar they look like -well-built towns with square towers rising above streets of -three-storied houses. Where the walls have fallen they lie as they fell, -and no hand has troubled to clear away the ruins. Monsieur de Vogüé -was the first to describe the architecture of the Ḥaurān; his -splendid volumes are still the principal source of information. The -dwelling-houses are built round a court in which there is usually an -outer stair leading to the upper story. There is no wood used in their -construction, even the doors are of solid stone, turning on stone -hinges, and the windows of stone slabs pierced with open-work patterns. -Sometimes there are traces of a colonnaded portico, or the walls are -broken by a double window, the arches of which are supported by a small -column and a rough plain capital; frequently the lintels of the doors -are adorned with a cross or a Christian monogram, but otherwise there is -little decoration. The chambers are roofed with stone slabs resting on -the back of transverse arches. So far as can be said with any certainty, -Nabatæan inscriptions and tombs are the oldest monuments that have been -discovered in the district; they are followed by many important remains -of pagan Rome, but the really flourishing period seems to have been the -Christian. After the Mohammadan invasion, which put an end to the -prosperity of the Ḥaurān uplands, few of the villages were -re-inhabited, and when the Druzes came about a hundred and fifty years -ago, they found no settled population. They made the Mountain their own, -rebuilt and thereby destroyed the ancient towns, and extended their -lordship over the plains to the south, though they have not established -themselves in the villages of that debatable land which remains a happy -hunting ground for the archæologist. The American expedition will make -good use of the immense amount of material that exists there, and -knowing that the work had been done by better hands than mine, I rolled -up the measuring tape and folded the foot-rule. But I could not so far -overcome a natural instinct as to cease from copying inscriptions, and -the one or two (they were extremely few) that had escaped Dr. Littmann's -vigilant eye and come by chance to me were made over to him when we met -in Damascus. - -To our new guide, Fendi, fell the congenial task of posting me up in the -gossip of the Mountain. Death had been busy among the great family of -the Turshān during the past five years. Fāiz el Aṭrash, Sheikh of -Kreyeh, was gone, poisoned said some, and a week or two before my -arrival the most renowned of all the leaders of the Druzes, Shibly Beg -el Aṭrash, had died of a mysterious and lingering illness--poison -again, it was whispered. There was this war and that on hand, a terrible -raid of the Arabs of the Wādy Sirḥān to be avenged, and a score with -the Ṣukhūr to be settled, but on the whole there was prosperity, and -as much peace as a Druze would wish to enjoy. The conversation was -interrupted by a little shooting at rabbits lying asleep in the sun, not -a gentlemanly sport perhaps, but one that helped to fill and to -diversify the pot. After a time I left the mules and Fendi to go their -own way, and taking Mikhāil with me, made a long circuit to visit the -ruined towns. We were just finishing lunch under a broken wall, well -separated from the rest of the party, when we saw two horsemen -approaching us across the plain. We swept up the remains of the lunch -and mounted hastily, feeling that any greeting they might accord us was -better met in the saddle. They stopped in front of us and gave us the -salute, following it with an abrupt question as to where we were going. -I answered: "To Ṣalkhād, to Nasīb el Aṭrash," and they let us pass -without further remark. They were not Druzes, for they did not wear the -Druze turban, but Christians from Ḳreyeh, where there is a large -Christian community, riding down to Umm ej Jemāl to visit the winter -quarters of their flocks, so said Fendi, whom they had passed a mile -ahead. Several hours before we reached the present limits of -cultivation, we saw the signs of ancient agriculture in the shape of -long parallel lines of stones heaped aside from earth that had once been -fruitful. They looked like the ridge and furrow of a gigantic meadow, -and like the ridge and furrow they are almost indelible, the mark of -labour that must have ceased with the Arab invasion. At the foot of the -first spur of the hills, Tell esh Shīḥ (it is called after the -grey white Shīḥ plant which is the best pasturage for sheep), we left -the unharvested desert and entered the region of ploughed fields--we -left, too, the long clean levels of the open wilderness and were caught -fetlock deep in the mud of a Syrian road. It led us up the hill to Umm -er Rummān, the Mother of Pomegranates, on the edge of the lowest -plateau of the Jebel Druze, as bleak a little muddy spot as you could -hope to see. I stopped at the entrance of the village, and asked a group -of Druzes where I should find a camping ground, and they directed me to -an extremely dirty place below the cemetery, saying there was no other -where I should not spoil the crops or the grass, though the crops. -Heaven save the mark! were as yet below ground, and the grass consisted -of a few brown spears half covered with melting snow. I could not -entertain the idea of pitching tents so near the graveyard, and demanded -to be directed to the house of Muḥammad el Aṭrash, Sheikh of Umm er -Rummān. This prince of the Ṭurshān was seated upon his roof, engaged -in directing certain agricultural operations that were being carried -forward in the slough below. Long years had made him shapeless of figure -and the effect was enhanced by the innumerable garments in which the -winter cold had forced him to wrap his fat old body. I came as near as -the mud would allow, and shouted: - -[Illustration 46: MUḤAMMAD EL AṬRASH] - -"Peace be upon you, oh Sheikh!" - -"And upon you peace!" he bawled in answer. - -"Where in your village is there a dry spot for a camp?" - -The sheikh conferred at the top of his voice with his henchmen in the -mud, and finally replied that he did not know, by God! While I was -wondering where to turn, a Druze stepped forward and announced that he -could show me a place outside the town, and the sheikh, much relieved by -the shifting of responsibility, gave me a loud injunction to go in -peace, and resumed his occupations. - -My guide was a young man with the clear cut features and the sharp -intelligent expression of his race. He was endowed, too, like all his -kin, with a lively curiosity, and as he hopped from side to side of the -road to avoid the pools of mud and slush, he had from me all my story, -whence I came and whither I was going, who were my friends in the Jebel -Druze and what my father's name--very different this from the custom of -the Arabs, with whom it is an essential point of good breeding never to -demand more than the stranger sees fit to impart. In Aṭ Ṭabari's -history there is a fine tale of a man who sought refuge with an Arab -sheikh. He stayed on, and the sheikh died, and his son who ruled in his -stead advanced in years, and at length the grandson of the original host -came to his father and said: "Who is the man who dwells with us" And the -father answered: "My son, in my father's time he came, and my father -grew old and died, and he stayed on under my protection, and I too have -grown old; but in all these years we have never asked him why he sought -us nor what is his name. Neither do thou ask." Yet I rejoiced to find -myself once more among the trenchant wits and the searching -koḥl-blackened eyes of the Mountain, where every question calls for a -quick retort or a brisk parry, and when my interlocutor grew too -inquisitive I had only to answer: - -"Listen, oh you! I am not 'thou,' but 'Your Excellency,'" and he -laughed and understood and took the rebuke to heart. - -There are many inscriptions in Umm er Rummān, a few Nabatæan and the -rest Cufic, proving that the town on the shelf of the hills was an early -settlement and that it was one of those the Arabs re-occupied for a time -after the invasion. A delighted crowd of little boys followed me from -house to house, tumbling over one another in their eagerness to point -out a written stone built into a wādi or laid in the flooring about the -hearth. In one house a woman caught me by the arm and implored me to -heal her husband. The man was lying in a dark corner of the windowless -room, with his face wrapped in filthy bandages, and when these had been -removed a horrible wound was revealed, the track of a bullet that had -passed through the cheek and shattered the jaw. I could do nothing but -give him an antiseptic, and adjure the woman to wash the wound and keep -the wrappings clean, and above all not to let him drink the medicine, -though I felt it would make small odds which way he used it, Death had -him so surely by the heel. This was the first of the long roll of -sufferers that must pass before the eyes and catch despairingly at the -sympathies of every traveller in wild places. Men and women afflicted -with ulcers and terrible sores, with fevers and rheumatisms, children -crippled from their birth, the blind and the old, there are none who do -not hope that the unmeasured wisdom of the West may find them a remedy. -You stand aghast at the depths of human misery and at your own -helplessness. - -The path of archæology led me at last to the sheikh's door, and I went -in to pay him an official visit. He was most hospitably inclined now -that the business of the day was over; we sat together in the maḳ'ad, -the audience room, a dark and dirty sort of out-house, with an iron -stove in the centre of it, and discussed the Japanese War and desert -ghazus and other topics of the day, while Selmān, the sheikh's son, a -charming boy of sixteen, made us coffee. Muḥammad is brother-in-law to -Shibly and to Yahya Beg el Aṭrāsh, who had been my first host five -years before when I had escaped to his village of 'Areh from the Turkish -Mudir at Boṣrā, and Selmān is the only son of his father's old age -and the only, descendant of the famous 'Areh house of the Ṭurshān, -for Shibly died and Yahya lives childless. The boy walked back with me -to my camp, stepping lightly through the mud, a gay and eager figure -touched with the air of distinction that befits one who comes of a noble -stock. He had had no schooling, though there was a big Druze maktab at -Kreyeh, fifteen miles away, kept by a Christian of some learning. - -"My father holds me so precious," he explained, "that he will not let me -leave his side." - -"Oh Selmān," I began---- - -"Oh God!" he returned, using the ejaculation customary to one addressed -by name. - -"The minds of the Druzes are like fine steel, but what is steel until it -is beaten into a sword blade?" - -Selmān answered: "My uncle Shibly could neither read nor write." - -I said: "The times are changed. The house of the Turshān will need -trained wits if it would lead the Mountain as it did before." - -But that headship is a thing of the past. Shibly is dead and Yahya -childless, Muḥammad is old and Selmān undeveloped, Fāiz has left -four sons but they are of no repute, Nasīb is cunning but very -ignorant, there is Muṣṭafa at Imtain, who passes for a worthy man of -little intelligence, and Ḥamūd at Sweida, who is distinguished mainly -for his wealth. The ablest man among the Druzes is without doubt Abu -Tellāl of Shaḥba, and the most enlightened Sheikh Muḥammad en -Naṣṣār. - -The night was bitterly cold. My thermometer had been broken, so that the -exact temperature could not be registered, but every morning until we -reached Damascus the water in the cup by my bedside was a solid piece of -ice, and one night a little tumbling stream outside the camp was frozen -hard and silent. The animals and the muleteers were usually housed in a -khān while the frost lasted. Muḥammad the Druze, who had returned to -his original name and faith, disappeared the moment camp was pitched, -and spent the night enjoying the hospitality of his relations. "For," -said Mikhāil sarcastically, "every man who can give him a meal he -reckons to be the son of his uncle." - -I was obliged to delay my start next morning in order to profit by the -sheikh's invitation to breakfast at a very elastic nine o'clock--two -hours after sunrise was what was said, and who knows exactly when it may -suit that luminary to appear? It was a pleasant party. We discussed the -war in Yemen in all its bearings--theoretically, for I was the only -person who had any news, and mine was derived from a _Weekly Times_ a -month old--and then Muḥammad questioned me as to why Europeans looked -for inscriptions. - -"But I think I know," he added. "It is that they may restore the land to -the lords of it." - -I assured him that the latest descendants of the former owners of the -Ḥaurān had been dead a thousand years, and he listened politely and -changed the subject with the baffled air of one who cannot get a true -answer. - -The young man who had shown us our camping ground rode with us to -Ṣalkhad, saying he had business there and might as well have company -by the way. His name was Ṣāleh; he was of a clerkly family, a reader -and a scribe. I was so tactless as to ask him whether he were 'ākil, -initiated--the Druzes are divided into the initiated and the -uninitiated, but the line of demarcation does not follow that of social -pre-eminence, since most of the Ṭurshān are uninitiated. He gave me a -sharp look, and replied: - -"What do you think?" and I saw my error and dropped the subject. - -[Illustration 47: DESERT FLORA AND FAUNA] - -But Ṣāleh was not one to let slip any opportunity of gaining -information. He questioned me acutely on our customs, down to the laws -of marriage and divorce. He was vastly entertained at the English rule -that the father should pay a man for marrying his daughter (so he -interpreted the habit of giving her a marriage portion), and we laughed -together over the absurdity of the arrangement. He was anxious to know -Western views as to the creation of the world and the origin of matter, -and I obliged him with certain heterodox opinions, on which he seized -with far greater lucidity than that with which they were offered. We -passed an agreeable morning, in spite of the mud and boulders of the -road. At the edge of the snow wreaths a little purple crocus had made -haste to bloom, and a starry white garlic--the Mountain is very rich in -Spring flowers. The views to the south over the great plain we had -crossed were enchanting; to the north the hills rose in unbroken slopes -of snow, Ḳuleib, the Little Heart, looking quite Alpine with its -frosty summit half veiled in mist. Two hours after noon we reached -Ṣalkhad, the first goal of our journey. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - -Salcah, the city of King Og in Bashan, must have been a fortified place -from the beginning of history. The modern village clusters round the -base of a small volcano, on the top of which, built in the very crater, -is the ruined fortress. This fortress and its predecessors in the crater -formed the outpost of the Ḥaurān Mountains against the desert, the -outpost of the earliest civilisation against the earliest marauders. The -ground drops suddenly to the south and east, and, broken only by one or -two volcanic mounds in the immediate neighbourhood, settles itself down -into the long levels that reach Euphrates stream; straight as an arrow -from a bow the Roman road runs out from Ṣalkhad into the desert in a -line that no modern traveller has followed beyond the first two or three -stages. The caravan track to Nejd begins here and passes by Kāf and -Ethreh along the Wādi Sirḥan to Jōf and Ḥāil, a perilous way, -though the Blunts pursued it successfully and Euting after them. -Euting's description of it, done with all the learning and the minute -observation of the German, is the best we have. Due south of Ṣalkhad -there is an interesting ruined fort, Ḳal'at el Azrak, in an oasis -where there are thickets full of wild boar: Dussaud visited it and has -given an excellent account of his journey. No doubt there is more to be -found still; the desert knows many a story that has not yet been told, -and at Ṣalkhad it is difficult to keep your feet from turning south, -so invitingly mysterious are those great plains. - -[Illustration 48: THE CASTLE, ṢALKHAD] - -I went at once to the house of Nasīb el Atrāsh and presented Fellāḥ -ul 'Isa's letter. Nasīb is a man of twenty-seven, though he looks ten -years older, short in stature and sleek, with shrewd features of a type -essentially Druze and an expression that is more cunning than pleasant. -He received me in his maḳ'ad, where he was sitting with his brother -Jada'llah, a tall young man with a handsome but rather stupid face, who -greeted me with "Bon jour," and then relapsed into silence, having come -to the end of all the French he knew. Just as he had borrowed one phrase -from a European tongue, so he had borrowed one article of dress from -European wardrobes: a high stick-up collar was what he had selected, and -it went strangely with his Arab clothes. There were a few Druzes -drinking coffee in the maḳ'ad, and one other whom I instantly -diagnosed as an alien. He turned out to be the Mudīr el Māl of the -Turkish government--I do not know what his exact functions are, but his -title implies him to be an agent of the Treasury. Ṣalkhad is one of -three villages in Jebel Druze (the others being Sweida and 'Areh) where -the Sultan has a Kāimaḳām and a telegraph station. Yūsef Effendi, -Kāimaḳām, and Milḥēm Iliān, Mudīr el Māl, were considerably -surprised when I turned up from the desert without warning or -permission; they despatched three telegrams daily to the Vāli of -Damascus, recounting all that I did and said, and though I was on the -best of terms with both of them, finding indeed Milḥēm to be by far -the most intelligent and agreeable man in the village, I fear I caused -them much perturbation of mind. And here let me say that my experience -of Turkish officials leads me to count them among the most polite and -obliging of men. If you come to them with the proper certificates there -is nothing they will not do to help you; when they stop you it is -because they are obliged to obey orders from higher authorities; and -even when you set aside, as from time to time you must, refusals that -are always couched in language conciliatory to a fault, they conceal -their just annoyance and bear you no ill will for the trouble you have -caused them. The government agents at Ṣalkhad occupy an uneasy -position. It is true that there has been peace in the Mountain for the -past five years, but the Druzes are a slippery race and one quick to -take offence. Milḥēm understood them well, and his appointment to the -new post of Ṣalkhad is a proof of the Vāli's genuine desire to avoid -trouble in the future. He had been at Sweida for many years before he -came to Ṣalkhad; he was a Christian, and therefore not divided from -the Druzes by the unbridged gulf of hatred that lies between them and -Islām, and he was fully aware that Turkish rule in the Jebel Ḥaurān -depends on how little demand is made on a people nominally subject and -practically independent. Yūsef Effendi was not far behind him in the -strength of his conviction on this head, and he had the best of reasons -for realising how shadowy his authority was. There are not more than two -hundred Turkish soldiers in all the Mountain; the rest of the Ottoman -forces are Druze zaptiehs, well pleased to wear a government uniform and -draw government pay, on the rare occasions when it reaches them, though -they can hardly be considered a trustworthy guard if serious differences -arise between their own people and the Sultan. To all outward appearance -Nasīb and his brother were linked by the closest bonds of friendship -with the Kāimaḳām; they were for ever sitting in his maḳ'ad and -drinking his coffee, but once when we happened to be alone together, -Yūsef Effendi said pathetically in his stilted Turkish Arabic: "I never -know what they are doing: they look on me as an enemy. And if they wish -to disobey orders from Damascus, they cut the telegraph wire and go -their own way. What power have I to prevent them?" - -[Illustration 49: NASĪB EL AṬRASH] - -[Illustration 50: A GROUP OF DRUZES] - -Nevertheless there are signs that the turbulent people of the Mountain -have turned their minds to other matters than war with the Osmanli, and -among the chief of these are the steam mills that grind the corn of -Ṣalkhad and a few villages besides. A man who owns a steam mill is -pledged to maintain the existing order. He has built it at considerable -expense, he does not wish to see it wrecked by an invading Turkish army -and his capital wasted; on the contrary, he hopes to make money from it, -and his restless energies find a new and profitable outlet in that -direction. My impression is that peace rests on a much firmer basis than -it did five years ago, and that the Ottoman government has not been slow -to learn the lessons of the last war--if only the Vāli of Damascus -could have known how favourable an opinion his recent measures would -force on the mind of the intriguing Englishwoman, he might have spared -his telegraph clerks several hours' work. - -There could scarcely have been a better example of the freedom with -which the Druzes control their own affairs than was offered by an -incident that took place on the very evening of my arrival. It has -already been intimated on the authority of Fendi that the relations -between the Mountain and the Desert were fraught with the usual -possibilities of martial incident, and we had not spent an afternoon in -Ṣalkhad without discovering that the great raid that had occurred some -months previously was the topic that chiefly interested Nasīb and his -brother. Not that they spoke of it in their conversations with me, but -they listened eagerly when we told of the raid on the Ḥassan yyeh and -the part the Ṣukhūr had played in it, and they drew from us all we -knew or conjectured as to the present camping grounds of the latter -tribe, how far the raiders had come, and in which direction retreated. -The muleteers overheard men whispering at the street corners, and their -whispers were of warlike preparations; the groups round Mikhāil's fire, -ever a centre of social activity, spoke of injuries that could not be -allowed to pass unnoticed, and one of the many sons of Muḥammad's -uncle had provided that famished Beyrouti with a lunch flavoured with -dark hints of a league between the Wādi Sirḥan and the Beni Ṣakhr -which must be nipped in the bud ere it had assumed alarming proportions. -The wave of the ghazu can hardly reach as far as Ṣalkhad itself, but -the harm is done long before it touches that point, especially in the -winter when every four-footed creature, except the mare necessary for -riding, is far away in the southern plain. - -My camp was pitched in a field outside the town at the eastern foot of -the castle hill. The slopes to the north were deep in snow up to the -ruined walls of the fortress, and even where we lay there were a few -detached snowdrifts glittering under the full moon. I had just finished -dinner, and was debating whether it were too cold to write my diary, -when a sound of savage singing broke upon the night, and from the -topmost walls of the castle a great flame leapt up into the sky. It was -a beacon kindled to tell the news of the coming raid to the many Druze -villages scattered over the plain below, and the song was a call to -arms. There was a Druze zaptieh sitting by my camp fire; he jumped up -and gazed first at me and then at the red blaze above us. I said: - -[Illustration 51: FROM ṢALKHAD CASTLE, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST] - -"Is there permission to my going up?" - -He answered: "There is no refusal. Honour us." - -We climbed together over the half frozen mud, and by the snowy northern -side of the volcano, edged our way in the darkness round the castle -walls where the lava ashes gave beneath our feet, and came out into the -full moonlight upon the wildest scene that eyes could see. A crowd of -Druzes, young men and boys, stood at the edge of the moat on a narrow -shoulder of the hill. They were all armed with swords and knives and -they were shouting phrase by phrase a terrible song. Each line of it was -repeated twenty times or more until it seemed to the listener that it -had been bitten, as an acid bites the brass, onto the intimate recesses -of the mind. - - -"Upon them, upon them! oh Lord our God! that the foe may fall -in swathes before our swords! -Upon them, upon them! that our spears may drink at their hearts! -Let the babe leave his mother's breast! -Let the young man arise and be gone! -Upon them, upon them! oh Lord our God! that our swords may -drink at their hearts. . . ." - - -So they sang, and it was as though the fury of their anger would never -end, as though the castle walls would never cease from echoing their -interminable rage and the night never again know silence, when suddenly -the chant stopped and the singers drew apart and formed themselves into -a circle, every man holding his neighbours by the hand. Into the circle -stepped three young Druzes with bare swords, and strode round the ring -of eager boys that enclosed them. Before each in turn they stopped and -shook their swords and cried: - -"Are you a good man? Are you a true man?" - -And each one answered with a shout: - -"Ha! ha!" - -The moonlight fell on the dark faces and glittered on the quivering -blades, the thrill of martial ardour passed from hand to clasped hand, -and earth cried to heaven: War! red war! - -And then one of the three saw me standing in the circle, and strode up -and raised his sword above his head, as though nation saluted nation. - -"Lady!" he said, "the English and the Druze are one." - -I said: "Thank God! we, too, are a fighting race." - -Indeed, at that moment there seemed no finer thing than to go out and -kill your enemy. - -And when this swearing in of warriors was over, we ran down the hill -under the moon, still holding hands, and I, seeing that some were only -children not yet full grown, said to the companion whose hand chance had -put in mine: - -"Do all these go out with you?" - -He answered: "By God! not all. The ungrown boys must stay at home and -pray to God that their day may soon come." - -When they reached the entrance of the town, the Druzes leapt on to a -flat house roof, and took up their devilish song. The fire had burnt out -on the castle walls, the night struck suddenly cold, and I began to -doubt whether if Milḥēm and the Vāli of Damascus could see me taking -part in a demonstration against the Ṣukhūr they would believe in the -innocence of my journey; so I turned away into the shadow and ran down -to my tents and became a European again, bent on peaceful pursuits and -unacquainted with the naked primitive passions of mankind. - -We had certain inquiries to make concerning our journey, and stores to -lay in before we set out for the eastern side of the Mountain, where -there are no big villages, and therefore we spent two days at Ṣalkhad. -The great difficulty of the commissariat is barley for the animals. -There had been enough for our needs at Umm er Rummān, but there was -none at Ṣalkhad; it is always to be got at Sweida, which is the chief -post of the Turkish government, but that was far away across the hills, -and we decided to send down to Imtein, the path thither being bare of -snow. It is worth recording that in the winter, when all the flocks are -several hours away in the plain, it is impossible to buy a sheep in the -Mountain, and the traveller has to make shift with such scraggy chickens -as he may find. The want of foresight which had left our larder so -ill-furnished affected Mikhāil considerably, for he prided himself on -the roasting of a leg of mutton, and he asked me how it was that all the -books I had with me had not hinted at the absence of the animal that -could supply that delicacy. I answered that the writers of these works -seemed to have been more concerned with Roman remains than with such -weighty matters as roasts and stews, whereat he said firmly: - -[Illustration 52: ḲREYEH] - -"When your Excellency writes a book, you will not say: 'Here there is a -beautiful church and a great castle.' The gentry can see that for -themselves. But you shall say: 'In this village there are no hens.' Then -they will know from the beginning what sort of country it is." - -The first day of my visit I spent with Nasīb, watching him give orders -for the grinding of the corn needed for the coming military expedition -(to which we sedulously avoided any allusion), photographing him and the -notables of his village, and lunching with him in his maḳ'ad on gritty -brown-paper-like bread and dibs, a kind of treacle made from boiled -grape juice, and a particularly nasty sort of soup of sour milk with -scraps of fat mixed in it--_kirk_ the Druzes call it and hold it in an -unwarrantable esteem. In the afternoon Nasīb was riding some ten miles -to the south, to settle a dispute that had arisen between two of his -villages, and he invited me to accompany him; but I thought that there -were probably other matters on hand, in which it might be awkward if a -stranger were to assist, and I compromised by agreeing to go with him -for an hour and turn aside to visit a shrine on top of a tell, the Weli -of El Khuḍr, who is no other than our St. George. Nasīb rode out in -style with twenty armed men by his side, himself arrayed in a long -mantle of dark blue cloth embroidered in black, with a pale blue -handkerchief tucked into the folds of the white turban that encircled -his tarbūsh. The cavalcade looked very gallant, each man wrapped in a -cloak and carrying his rifle across his knees. These rifles were handed -to me one by one that I might read the lettering on them. They were of -many different dates and origins, some antiquated pieces stolen from -Turkish soldiers, the most French and fairly modern, while a few came -from Egypt and were marked with V.R. and the broad arrow. Nasīb rode -with me for a time and catechised me on my social status, whether I -would ride at home with the King of England, and what was the extent of -my father's wealth. His curiosity was not entirely without a motive; the -Druzes are always hoping to find some very rich European whose -sympathies they could engage, and who would finance and arm them if -another war were to break out with the Sultan; but so contemptuous was -he of the modest competence which my replies revealed, that I was roused -to ask subsequently, by methods more tactful than those of Nasīb, what -was wealth in the Mountain. The answer was that the richest of the -Ṭurshān, Ḥamūd of Sweida, had an income of about 5000 napoleons. -Nasīb himself was not so well off. He had some 1000 napoleons yearly. -Probably it comes to him mainly in kind; all revenues are derived from -land, and vary considerably with the fortunes of the agricultural year. -The figures given me were, I should think, liberal, and depended on a -reckoning according with the best harvest rather than with the mean. - -[Illustration 53: A DRUZE PLOUGHBOY] - -Presently Nasīb fell behind and engaged in a whispered conversation -with an old man who was his chief adviser, while the others crowded -round me and told me tales of the desert and of great ruins to the -south, which they were prepared to show me if I would stay with them. At -the foot of the tell we met a group of horsemen waiting to impart to -Nasīb some important news about the Arabs. Mikhāil and I stood aside, -having seen our host look doubtfully at us out of the comers of his -eyes. That the tidings were not good was all we heard, and no one could -have learnt even that from Nasīb's crafty unmoved face and eyes -concealed beneath the lids as if he wished to make sure that they should -not reveal a single flash of his thoughts. Here we left him, to his -evident relief, and rode up the tell. Now there is never a prominent -hill in the Jebel Druze but it bears a sanctuary on its summit, and the -building is always one of those early monuments of the land that date -back to the times before Druze or Turk came into it. What is their -history? Were they erected to Nabatæan gods of rock and hill, to -Drusāra and Allāt and the pantheon of the Semitic inscriptions whom -the desert worshipped with sacrifice at the Ka'abah and on many a -solitary mound? If this be so the old divinities still bear sway under -changed names, still smell the blood of goats and sheep sprinkled on the -black doorposts of their dwellings, still hear the prayers of pilgrims -carrying green boughs and swathes of flowers. As at the Well of El -Khuḍr, there is always in the interior of the sanctuary an erection -like a sarcophagus, covered with shreds of coloured rags, and when you -lift the rags and peer beneath you find some queer block of tufa, worn -smooth with libations and own brother to the Black Stone at Mecca. Near -at hand there is a stone basin for water--the water was iced over that -day, and the snow had drifted in through the stone doors and was melting -through the roof, so that it lay in muddy pools on the floor. - -The next day was exceedingly cold, with a leaden sky and a bitter wind, -the forerunner of snow. Milḥēm Iliān came down to invite me to lodge -with him, but I refused, fearing that I should feel the temperature of -my tent too icy after his heated room. He stayed some time and I took -the opportunity of discussing with him my plan of riding out into the -Ṣafa, the volcanic waste east of the Jebel Druze. He was not at all -encouraging, indeed he thought the project impossible under existing -conditions, for it seemed that the Ghiāth, the tribe that inhabits the -Ṣāfa, were up in arms against the Government. They had waylaid and -robbed the desert post that goes between Damascus and Baghdad, and were -expecting retribution at the hands of the Vāli. I f therefore a small -escort of zaptiehs were to be sent in with me they would assuredly be -cut to pieces. Milḥēm agreed, however, that it might be possible to -go in alone with the Druzes though anything short of an army of soldiers -would be useless, and he promised to give me a letter to Muḥammad en -Naṣṣār, Sheikh of Ṣāleh, whom he described as a good friend of -his and a man of influence and judgment. The Ghiāth are in the same -position with regard to the Druzes as are the Jebeliyyeh; they cannot -afford not to be on good terms with the Mountain, since they are -dependent on the high pasturages during the summer. - -Towards sunset I returned Milḥēm's visit. His room was full of -people, including Nasīb newly returned from his expedition. They made -me tell them of my recent experiences in the desert, and I found that -all my friends were counted as foes by the Druzes and that they have no -allies save the Ghiāth and the Jebeliyyeh--the Sherarāt, the Da'ja, -the Beni Ḥassan, there was a score of blood against them all. In the -desert the word _gōm_, foe, is second to none save only that of _daif_, -guest, but in the Mountain it comes easily first. I said: - -[Illustration 54: BOṢRA ESKI SHĀM] - -"Oh Nasīb, the Druzes are like those of whom Kureyt ibn Uneif sang when -he said: 'A people who when evil bares its teeth against them, fly out -to meet it in companies or alone.'" - -The sheikh's subtle countenance relaxed for a second, but the talk was -drifting too near dangerous subjects, and he rose shortly afterwards and -took his leave. His place was filled by new comers (Milḥēm's -coffee-pots must be kept boiling from dawn till late at night), and -presently one entered whom they all rose to salute. He was a Kurdish -Agha, a fine old man with a white moustache and a clean-shaven chin, who -comes down from Damascus from time to time on some business of his own. -Milḥēm is a native of Damascus, and had much to ask and hear; the -talk left desert topics and swung round to town dwellers and their ways -and views. - -"Look you, your Excellencies," said a man who was making coffee over the -brazier, "there is no religion in the towns as there is in country -places." - -"Yes," pursued Milḥēm-- - -"May God make it Yes upon you!" ejaculated the Kurd. - -"May God requite you, oh Agha! You may find men in the Great Mosque at -Damascus at the Friday prayers and a few perhaps at Jerusalem, but in -Beyrout and in Smyrna the mosques are empty and the churches are empty. -There is no religion any more." - -"My friends," said the Agha, "I will tell you the reason. In the country -men are poor and they want much. Of whom should they ask it but of God? -There is none other that is compassionate to the poor save He alone. But -in the towns they are rich, they have got all they desire, and why -should they pray to God if they want nothing? The lady laughs--is it not -so among her own people?" - -I confessed that there was very little difference in this matter between -Europe and Asia and presently left the party to pursue their coffee -drinking and their conversation without me. - -Late at night some one came knocking at my tent and a woman's voice -cried to me: - -"Lady, lady! a mother's heart (are not the English merciful?) listen to -the sorrow of a mother's heart and take this letter to my son!" - -I asked the unseen suppliant where her son was to be found. - -"In Tripoli, in Tripoli of the West. He is a soldier and an exile, who -came not back with the others after the war. Take this letter, and send -it by a sure hand from Damascus, for there is no certainty in the posts -of Ṣalkhad." - -I unfastened the tent and took the letter, she crying the while: - -"The wife of Nasīb told me that you were generous. A mother's heart, -you understand, a mother's heart that mourns!" - -So she departed weeping, and I sent the mysterious letter by the English -post from Beyrout, but whether it ever reached Tripoli of the West and -the Druze exile we shall not know. - -The Ḳāimaḳām came out to see us off next morning and provided us -with a Druze zaptieh to show us the way to Ṣāleh. The wind was -searchingly cold, and the snow was reported to lie very deep on the -hills, for which reason we took the lower road by Ormān, a village -memorable as the scene of the outbreak of the last war. Milḥēm had -entrusted my guide, Yūsef, with the mail that had just come in to -Ṣalkhad; it consisted of one letter only, and that was for a -Christian, an inhabitant of Ormān, whom we met outside the village. It -was from Massachusetts, from one of his three sons who had emigrated to -America and were all doing well, praise be to God! They had sent him -thirty liras between them the year before: he bubbled over with joyful -pride as we handed him the letter containing fresh news of them. At -Ormān the road turned upwards--I continue to call it a road for want of -a name bad enough for it. It is part of the Druze system of defence that -there shall be no track in the Mountain wide enough for two to go -abreast or smooth enough to admit of any pace beyond a stumbling walk, -and it is the part that is the most successfully carried out. We were -soon in snow, half melted, half frozen, concealing the holes in the path -but not firm enough to prevent the animals from breaking through into -them. Occasionally there were deep drifts on which the mules embarked -with the utmost confidence only to fall midway and scatter their packs, -while the horses plunged and reared till they almost unseated us. -Mikhāil, who was no rider, bit the slush several times. The makers of -the Palestine Exploration map have allowed their fancy to play freely -over the eastern slopes of the Jebel Druze. Hills have hopped along for -miles, and villages have crossed ravines and settled themselves on the -opposite banks, as, for instance, Abu Zreik, which stands on the left -bank of the Wādi Rājil, though the map places it on the right. At the -time it all seemed to fit in with the general malevolence of that day's -journey, and our misery culminated when we entered on an interminable -snow field swept by a blizzard of cutting sleet. At the dim end of it, -quite unapproachably far away, we could just see through the sleet the -slopes on which Ṣāleh stands, but as we plodded on mile after mile -(it was useless to attempt to ride on our stumbling animals and far too -cold besides) we gradually came nearer, and having travelled seven hours -to accomplish a four hours' march, we splashed and waded late in the -afternoon though the mounds of slush and pools of water that did duty as -streets. There was not a dry place in all the village, and the snow was -falling heavily; clearly there was nothing to be done but to beat at the -door of Muḥammad en Naṣṣār, who has an honoured reputation for -hospitality, and I made the best of my way up steps sheeted with ice to -his maḳ'ad. - -[Illustration 55: THE VILLAGE GATEWAY, ḤABRĀN] - -If Providence owed us any compensation for the discomforts of the day, -it paid us, or at least it paid me, full measure and running over, by -the enchanting evening that I spent in the sheikh's house. Muḥammad en -Naṣṣār is a man full of years and wisdom who has lived to see a -large family of sons and nephews grow up round him, and to train their -quick wits by his own courteous and gracious example. All the Druzes are -essentially gentlefolk; but the house of the sheikhs of Ṣāleh could -not be outdone in good breeding, natural and acquired, by the noblest of -the aristocratic races, Persian or Rajputs, or any others distinguished -beyond their fellows. Milḥēm's letter was quite unnecessary to ensure -me a welcome; it was enough that I was cold and hungry and an -Englishwoman. The fire in the iron stove was kindled, my wet outer -garments taken from me, cushions and carpets spread on the divans under -the sheikh's directions, and all the band of his male relations, direct -and collateral, dropped in to enliven the evening. We began well. I knew -that Oppenheim had taken his escort from Ṣāleh when he went into the -Ṣafa, and I happened to have his book with me--how often had I -regretted that a wise instinct had not directed my choice towards -Dussaud's two admirable volumes, rather than to Oppenheim's ponderous -work, packed with information that was of little use on the present -journey! The great merit of the book lies in the illustrations, and -fortunately there was among them a portrait of Muḥammad en Naṣṣār -with his two youngest children. Having abstracted Kiepert's maps, I was -so generous as to present the tome to one of the family who had -accompanied the learned German upon his expedition. It has remained at -Ṣāleh to be a joy and a glory to the sheikhs, who will look at the -pictures and make no attempt to grapple with the text, and the hole in -my bookshelves is well filled by the memory of their pleasure. - -[Illustration 56: A DRUZE MAḲ'AD, ḤABRĀN] - -We talked without ceasing during the whole evening, with a brief -interval when an excellent dinner was brought in. The old sheikh, Yūsef -the zaptieh, and I partook of it together, and the eldest of the nephews -and cousins finished up the ample remains. The topic that interested -them most at Ṣāleh was the Japanese War--indeed it was in that -direction that conversation invariably turned in the Mountain, the -reason being that the Druzes believe the Japanese to belong to their own -race. The line of argument which has led them to this astonishing -conclusion is simple. The secret doctrines of their faith hold out hopes -that some day an army of Druzes will burst out of the furthest limits of -Asia and conquer the world. The Japanese had shown indomitable courage, -the Druzes also are brave; the Japanese had been victorious, the Druzes -of prophecy will be unconquerable: therefore the two are one and the -same. The sympathy of every one, whether in Syria or in Asia Minor, is -on the side of the Japanese, with the single exception of the members of -the Orthodox Church, who look on Russia as their protector. It seems -natural that the Ottoman government should rejoice to witness the -discomfiture of their secular foes, but it is more difficult to account -for the pleasure of Arab, Druze (apart from the secret hope of the -Druzes above mentioned), and Kurd, between whom and the Turk there is no -love lost. These races are not wont to be gratified by the overthrow of -the Sultan's enemies, a class to which they themselves generally belong. -At bottom there is no doubt a certain _Schadenfreude_, and the natural -impulse to favour the little man against the big bully, and behind all -there is that curious link which is so difficult to classify except by -the name of a continent, and the war appeals to the Asiatic because it -is against the European. However eagerly you may protest that the -Russians cannot be considered as a type of European civilisation, -however profoundly you may be convinced that the Japanese show as few -common characteristics with Turk or Druze as they show with South Sea -Islander or Esquimaux, East calls to East, and the voice wakes echoes -from the China Seas to the Mediterranean. - -We talked also of the Turk. Muḥammad had been one of the many sheikhs -who were sent into exile after the Druze war; he had visited -Constantinople, and his experiences embraced Asia Minor also, so that he -was competent to hold an opinion on Turkish characteristics. In a blind -fashion, the fashion in which the Turk conducts most of his affairs, the -wholesale carrying off of the Druze sheikhs and their enforced sojourn -for two or three years in distant cities of the Empire, has attained an -end for which far-sighted statesmanship might have laboured in vain. Men -who would otherwise never have travelled fifty miles from their own -village have been taught perforce some knowledge of the world; they have -returned to exercise a semi-independence almost as they did before, but -their minds have received, however reluctantly, the impression of the -wide extent of the Sultan's dominions, the infinite number of his -resources, and the comparative unimportance of Druze revolts in an -empire which yet survives though it is familiar with every form of civil -strife. Muḥammad had been so completely convinced that there was a -world beyond the limits of the Mountain that he had attempted to push -two of his six sons out into it by putting them into a Government office -in Damascus. He had failed because, even with his maxims in their ears, -the boys were too headstrong. Some youthful neglect of duty, followed by -a sharp rebuke from their superior, had sent them hurrying back to the -village where they could be independent sheikhs, idle and respected. -Muḥammad took in a weekly sheet published in Damascus, and the whole -family followed with the keenest interest such news of foreign politics, -of English politics in particular, as escaped the censor's pencil. -Important events sometimes eluded their notice--or that of the -editor--for my hosts asked after Lord Salisbury and were deeply grieved -to hear he had been dead some years. The other name they knew, besides -Lord Cromer's, which is known always and everywhere, was that of Mr. -Chamberlain, and thus there started in the maḳ'ad at Ṣāleh an -animated debate on the fiscal question, lavishly illustrated on my part -with examples drawn from the Turkish gumruk, the Custom House. It may be -that my arguments were less exposed to contradiction than those which -most free traders are in a position to use, for the whole of Ṣāleh -rejected the doctrines of protection and retaliation (there was no -half-way-house here) with unanimity. - -There was only one point which was not settled with perfect satisfaction -to all, and that was my journey to the Ṣafa. I have a shrewd suspicion -that Milḥēm's letter, which had been handed to me sealed, so that I -had not been able to read it, was of the nature of that given by Prætus -to Bellerophon when he sent him to the King of Lycia, and that if -Muḥammad was not commanded to execute the bearer on arrival, he was -strongly recommended to discourage her project. At any rate, he was of -opinion that the expedition could not be accomplished unless I would -take at least twenty Druzes as escort, which would have involved so much -preparation and expense that I was obliged to abandon the idea. - -At ten o'clock I was asked at what hour I wished to sleep, and, to the -evident chagrin of those members of the company who had not been riding -all day in the snow, I replied that the time had come. The sons and -nephews took their departure, wadded quilts were brought in and piled -into three beds, one on each of the three sides of the immense divan, -the sheikh, Yūsef and I tucked ourselves up, and I knew no more till I -woke in the sharp frost of the early dawn. I got up and went out into -the fresh air. Ṣāleh was fast asleep in the snow; even the little -stream that tumbled in and out of a Roman fountain in the middle of the -village was sleeping under a thick coat of ice. In the clear cold -silence I watched the eastern sky redden and fade and the sun send a -long shaft of light over the snow field through which we had toiled the -day before. I put up a short thanksgiving appropriate to fine weather, -roused the muleteers and the mules from their common resting place under -the dark vaults of the khān, ate the breakfast which Muḥammad en -Naṣṣār provided, and took a prolonged and most grateful farewell of -my host and his family. No better night's rest and no more agreeable -company can have fallen to the lot of any wanderer by plain and hill -than were accorded to me at Ṣāleh. - -[Illustration 57: LINTEL, EL KHURBEH] - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - -My objective that day was the village of Umm Ruweik on the eastern edge -of the Druze hills. Remembering the vagaries of the map, I took with me -one of Muḥammad en Naṣṣār's nephews as a guide, Fāiz was his -name, and he was brother to Ghishghāsh, the Sheikh of Umm Ruweik. I had -singled him out the night before as being the pleasantest member of the -pleasant circle in the maḳ'ad, and in a four days' acquaintance there -was never an incident that caused me to regret my choice. He was a man -with features all out of drawing, his nose was crooked, his mouth was -crooked, you would not have staked anything upon the straight setting of -his eyes; his manner was particularly gentle and obliging, his -conversation intelligent, and he was full of good counsel and resource. -We had not ridden very far along the lip of the hills, I gazing at the -eastern plain as at a Promised Land that my feet would never tread, -before Fāiz began to develop a plan for leaving the mules and tents -behind at Umm Ruweik and making a dash across the Ṣafa to the -Ruḥbeh, where lay the great ruin of which the accounts had fired my -imagination. In a moment the world changed colour, and Success shone -from the blue sky and hung in golden mists on that plain which had -suddenly become accessible. - -[Illustration 58: THE WALLS OF ḲANAWĀT] - -Our path fell rapidly from Ṣāleh, and in half an hour we were out of -the snow and ice that had plagued us for the last day and night; half an -hour later when we reached the Wādi Buṣān, where the swift waters -turned a mill wheel, we had left the winter country behind. Ṣāneh, -the village on the north side of the Wādi Buṣān, looked a -flourishing place and contained some good specimens of Ḥaurān -architecture--I remember in particular a fine architrave carved with a -double scroll of grapes and vine leaves that fell on either side of a -vase occupying the centre of the stone. It was at Ṣāneh that we came -onto the very edge of the plateau and saw the great plain of the Ṣafa -spread out like a sea beneath us. The strange feature of it was that its -surface was as black as a black tent roof, owing to the sheets of lava -and volcanic stone that were spread over it. At places there were -patches of yellow, which I afterwards discovered to be the earth on -which the lumps of tufa lay revealed by their occasional absence, and -these the Arabs call the Beiḍa, the White Land, in contradistinction -to the Ḥarra, the Burnt Land of lava and tufa. In the Ṣafa the White -Land is almost as arid as the Burnt, though generally the word Beiḍa -means arable, for I heard Fāiz shout to the muleteers: "Come off the -Beiḍa!" when the mules had strayed into a field of winter wheat. The -literary word for desert bears a puzzling resemblance to this other, as -for instance in Mutanabbi's verse. - - -"Al tail w'al khail w'al beida ta'rafuni: -Night and my steed and the desert know me-- -And the lance thrust and battle, and parchment and the pen." - - -[Illustration 59: ḲANAWĀT, THE BASILICA] - -The Ṣafa ran out to a dark mass of volcanoes, lying almost due north -and south, but we were so high above them that their elevation was not -perceptible. Beyond them again we could see a wide stretch of Beiḍa -which was the Ruḥbeh plain. To the east and south on the immensely -distant horizon a few little volcanic cones marked the end of the -Ḥaurān outcrop of lava and the beginning of the Ḥamād, the -waterless desert that reaches to Baghdad. To the north were the hills -round Dmer, and still further north the other range bounding the valley -ten miles wide that leads to Palmyra, and these ran back to the slopes -of Anti-Libanus, snowcapped, standing above the desert road to Ḥomṣ. -We turned east to Shibbekeh, a curious place built above a valley the -northern bank of which is honeycombed with caves, and north to Sheikhly -and Rāmeh on the southern brink of a very deep gully, the Wādi esh -Shām, down which are the most easterly of the inhabited villages, -Fedhāmeh and Ej Jeita. The settlements on this side of the Mountain -have an air of great antiquity. The cave villages may have existed long -before Nabatæan times; possibly they go back to the prehistoric -uncertainties of King Og, or the people whom his name covered, when -whole towns were quarried out underground, the most famous example being -Dera'a in the Ḥaurān plain south of Mezērib. We left Mushennef to -the west, not without regrets on my part that I had not time to revisit -it, for mirrored in its great tank is one of the most charming of all -the temples of the Jebel Druze, not excepting the magnificent monuments -of Ḳanawāt. El Ajlāt, north of the Wādi esh Shām, is perched on -top of a tell high enough to touch the February snow line, and another -valley leads down from it to the Ṣafa--I heard of a ruin and an -inscription in its lower course but did not visit them. We got to Umm -Ruweik about four o'clock, and pitched tents on the edge of the mountain -shelf, where I could see through my open tent door the whole extent of -the Ṣafa. - -Sheikh Ghishghāsh was all smiles. Certainly I could ride out to the -Ruḥbeh if I would take him and his son Aḥmed and Fāiz with me. He -scoffed at the idea of a larger escort. By the Face of the Truth, the -Ghiāth were his servants and his bondmen, they would entertain us as -the noble should be entertained and provide us with luxurious lodgings. -I dined with Ghishghāsh (he would take no refusal), and concluded that -he was an easy tempered, boastful, and foolish man, extremely talkative, -though all that he said was not worth one of Fāiz's sentences. Fāiz -fell into comparative silence in his company, and Aḥmed too said -little, but that little was sensible and worth hearing. Ghishghāsh told -great tales of the Ṣafa and of what it contained, the upshot of which -was that beyond the ruins already known there was nothing till you -travelled a day's journey east of the Ruḥbeh; but that there you came -to a quarry and a ruined castle like the famous White Ruin of the -Ruḥbeh which we were going to see, but smaller and less well -preserved. And beyond that stretched the Ḥamād, with no dwellings in -it and no rujm--even the bravest of the Arabs were forced to desert it -in the summer owing to the total lack of water. My heart went out to the -mysterious castle east of the Ruḥbeh, unvisited, I believe, by any -traveller; but it was too distant a journey to be accomplished on the -spur of the moment without preparation. "When you next return, oh -lady----." Yes, when I return. But I shall not on a future, occasion -rely on the luxurious entertainment of the Ghiāth. - -[Illustration 60: ḲANAWĀT, DOORWAY OF THE BASILICA] - -[Illustration 61: ḲANAWĀT, A TEMPLE] - -After consultation I decided that Mikhāil and Ḥabīb should accompany -us, the latter at his special request. He would ride his best mule, he -said, and she could keep pace with any mare and carry besides the rugs -and the five chickens which we took with us to supplement the -hospitality of the Ghiāth. I had a fur coat strapped behind my saddle -and, as usual, a camera and a note-book in my saddle-bags. We rode down -the steep slopes of the hills for an hour, three other Druze horsemen -joining us as we went. I presently discovered that the sheikhs had added -them to the stipulated escort, but I made no comment. One of the three -was a relative of Ghishghāsh, his name Khittāb; he had travelled with -Oppenheim and proved to be an agreeable companion. We passed through the -ploughland of Ghishghāsh's village and then down slopes almost barren, -though they yielded enough pasturage for his flocks of sheep shepherded -by Arabs, and at the foot of the hill we entered a shallow stony valley -wherein was a tiny encampment surrounded by more herds that quarried -their dinner among the boulders. After an hour of the valley, which -wound between volcanic rocks, we came out onto the wide desolation of -the Ṣafa. It is almost, but not quite, flat. The surface breaks into -low gentle billowings, just deep enough to shut out the landscape from -the horseman in the depression, so that he may journey for an hour or -more and see nothing but a sky-line of black stones a few feet above him -on either side. The billowings have an ordered plan; they form -continuous waterless valleys, each one of which the Arabs know by a -name. Valley and ridge alike are covered with blocks of tufa, varying -from six inches across to two feet or more, and where there is any space -between them you can perceive the hard yellow soil, the colour of sea -sand, on which they lie. An extremely scanty scrub pushes its way -between the stones, ḥamād and shīḥ and ḥajeineh, and here and -there a tiny geranium, the starry garlic and the leaves of the tulip, -but generally there is no room even for the slenderest plants, so -closely do the stones lie together. They are black, smooth and edgeless, -as though they had been waterworn; when the sun shines the air dazzles -above them as it dazzles above a sheet of molten metal, and in the -summer the comparison must hold good in other respects, for the pitiless -heat is said to be almost unendurable. It would be difficult to cross -the Ṣafa if it were not for the innumerable minute paths that -intersect it. At first the rider is not aware of them, so small and -faint they are, but presently as he begins to wonder why there is always -just enough space before him for his horse to step in, he realises that -he is following a road. Hundreds of generations of passing feet have -pushed aside the tufa blocks ever so little and made it possible to -travel through that wilderness of stones. - -[Illustration 62: THE TEMPLE, MASHENNEF] - -We rode by the depression called the Ghadir el Gharz, and at the end of -two hours we met one in rags, whose name was Heart of God. He was -extremely glad to see us, was Heart of God, having been a friend of the -family for years (at least eighty years I should judge), and extremely -surprised when he discovered me in the cavalcade. There his surprise -ceased, for when he heard I was English it conveyed nothing further to -him, his mind being unburdened with the names and genealogies of the -foreigner. He told us there was water close at hand and that Arab tents -were not more than two hours away, and bade Ghishghāsh go in peace, and -might there be peace also upon the stranger with him. In the matter of -the tents he lied, did Heart of God, or we misunderstood him; but we -found the water, a muddy pool, and lunched by it, sharing it with a herd -of camels. Water in the Ṣafa there is none fit to drink according to -European canons, and for that matter there is none in the Jebel Druze. -There are no springs in the hills; the water supply is contained in open -tanks, and the traveller may consider himself fortunate if he be not -asked to drink a liquid in which he has seen the mules and camels -wallowing. Under the most favourable conditions it is sure to be heavily -laden with foreign ingredients which boiling will not remove, though it -renders them comparatively innocuous. The tea made with this fluid has a -body and a flavour of its own; it is the colour of muddy coffee and -leaves a sediment at the bottom of the cup. Mikhāil carried an -earthenware jar of boiled water for me from camp to camp, and having -brought him to use this precaution by refusing to drink of the pools and -tanks we might meet by the way, I had no difficulty in continuing the -system in the Ṣafa. He and the Druzes and the muleteers drank what -they found, whether in the Mountain or in the Ṣafa, and they did not -appear to suffer from any ill effect. Probably the germs contained in -their careless draughts were so numerous and so active that they had -enough to do in destroying one another. - -We rode on and on over all the stones in the world, and even Ghishghāsh -fell silent or spoke only to wonder where the tents of the Ghiāth might -be. Khittāb opined that when we reached the Ḳantarah, the Arch, we -should catch sight of them, and I pricked up my ears at a name that -seemed to imply some sort of construction. But the Ḳantarah was -nothing more than a rise in the ground, a little higher than the rest -and no less stony. There are many such; leading up to the crest of most -of them is a track by which the Arabs creep on their stomachs to look -out for foes, hidden themselves behind the small black pile that has -been erected as a permanent bastion on the summit. In summer the Ṣafa -is swept with raiders. Big tribes like the 'Anazeh ride through to deal -a sudden blow at some enemy to the south or north, harrying the Ghiāth -as they pass, and since there are exceedingly few places where water is -to be found in the unparalleled heat of the stony waste, the raiders and -such men of the Ghiāth as are still in the plain have no choice but to -frequent at dusk the same muddy holes, and the days and nights of the -Ghiāth are dogged in consequence by constant terror till the great -tribes go east again to the Ḥamād. There was no sign of tents to be -seen from the Ḳantarah, and it began to seem probable that we should -spend a waterless night among the stones under the clear frosty sky, -when about an hour before sunset Khittāb exclaimed that he could see -the smoke of camp fires to the north-west. We rode a good way back, -making a semicircle of our course, and got to the tents at nightfall -after a journey of nine hours. With the goats and camels who were -returning home after a laborious day's feeding we stumbled in over the -stones, and very miserable the little encampment looked, though it had -been so eagerly desired. A couple of hundred pounds would be a handsome -price for all the worldly goods of all the Ghiāth; they have nothing -but the black tents and a few camels and the coffee-pots, and if they -had more it would be taken from them in a midsummer ghazu. They live by -bread alone--shirāk, the thin flaps that are like brown paper--and for -the whole length of their days they wander among the stones in fear of -their lives, save for the month or two when they come up to the Jebel -Druze for the pasturage. - -We scattered, being a large party, and Ghishghāsh, my servants and I -went to the house of the sheikh, whose name was Understanding. His two -sons, Muḥammad and Ḥamdān, lighted a fire of thorn and camel dung -that smoked abominably, and we sat round and watched the coffee making. -Muḥammad, being the eldest, officiated. He was skilful in the song of -the pestle, and beat out a cheerful tattoo upon the mortar. His face was -dark and thin and his white teeth shone when he smiled; he was dressed -airily in dirty white cotton garments, a cotton kerchief fell from the -camel's hair rope on his head down on to his bare breast, and he spoke -in a guttural speech which was hard to follow. Our dinner was of shirāk -and dibs; the Ghiāth are too poor to kill a sheep for their guest, even -when he is a personage so important as Ghishghāsh. He, foolish man, was -in his element. He preened himself and swelled with pride, combed out -his long moustache before the admiring gaze of his hosts and talked -without ceasing until far into the night, silly talk, thought I, who -longed to be allowed to sleep. I had a rug to cover me and my saddle for -a pillow, and I lay in a corner by the sāḥah, the division against -the women's quarter, and at times I listened to a conversation which was -not particularly edifying, and at times I cursed the acrid, pungent -smoke. Towards the middle of the night I was awakened by the moon that -shone with a frosty brilliance into the tent. The fire had burnt down -and the smoke had blown out; the Arabs and the Druzes were lying asleep -round the cold hearth; a couple of mares stood peacefully by the tent -pole and gazed with wise eyes upon their masters within, and beyond them -a camel lay chumping among the black stones. The strange and silent -beauty of a scene as old as the world caught at the heart and spurred -the fancy even after sleep had fallen upon it again. - -Before dawn Mikhāil had succeeded in making me a cup of tea over the -fitful blaze of the thorns, and as the sun rose we got into the saddle, -for we had far to go. "God's bright and intricate device" had clothed -the black plain in exquisite loveliness. The level sun towards which we -were riding cast a halo of gold round every stone, the eastern ranges of -volcanoes stood in clear cut outline against the cloudless sky, and to -the north-west the snows of Anti-Libanus and Hermon gleamed incredibly -bright above the glittering blackness of the foreground. One of the -Arabs was added to our party as a guide; 'Awād was his name. He rode a -camel, and from that point of vantage conversed with us in a raucous -shout, as though to bridge the immense distance between rākib and -fāris, a camel rider and one who rides a mare. We were all shivering as -we set out in the chill dawn, but 'Awād turned the matter into a jest -by calling out from his camel: "Lady, lady! do you know why I am cold? -It is because I have four wives in the house!" And the others laughed, -for he had the reputation of being a bit of a Don Juan, and such funds -as he possessed went to replenishing his harem rather than his wardrobe. - -I think we must speedily have re-entered the Ghadīr el Gharz. After two -hours' riding we crossed some rising ground to the south-west of the -Tulūl es Ṣafa, the line of volcanoes, and cantered across a -considerable stretch of stoneless yellow ground, Beiḍa, till we came -to the southern end of the lava bed. The lava lay on our left hand like -a horrible black nightmare sea, not so much frozen as curdled, as though -some hideous terror had arrested the flow of it and petrified the lines -of shrinking fear upon its surface. But it was long long ago that a -mighty hand had lifted the Gorgon's head before the waves of the Tulūl -es Ṣafa. Sun and frost and æons of time had splintered the original -forms of the volcanoes, rent the lava beds, shattered the precipices and -obliterated the features of the hills. One or two terebinths had found a -foothold in the crevices, but when I passed they were still bare and -grey and did nothing to destroy the general sense of lifelessness. - -As we rode round these frontiers of death I became aware that we were -following a track almost as old as the hills themselves, a little thread -of human history leading us straight through that forbidding land. -'Awāḍ kept talking of a stone which he called El 'Ablā, a word that -denotes a white rock visible from afar, but I was so much used to names -signifying nothing that I paid no attention until he stopped his camel -and shouted: - -"Oh lady! here it is. By the Face of God, this is El 'Ablā." - -It was no more nor less than a well stone. It bore the groove of the -rope worn a couple of inches deep into it, and must have served a -respectable time, since this black rock is extremely hard, but there was -no modern well within miles of it. Close at hand was a big heap of -stones and then another and another, two or three in every quarter of a -mile, and when I looked closely I perceived that they were built, not -thrown together. Some of them had been opened by Arabs seeking for -treasure, and where the topmost layers had been thus removed a square -shallow space lay revealed in the centre of the mound, carefully -constructed of half-dressed blocks. 'Awāḍ said that as far as he knew -nothing had ever been found in these places, whatever they might have -contained formerly. Clearly the mounds were made to mark the line of -that ancient road through the wilderness. 'Awāḍ stopped again a few -hundred yards further at some black rocks almost flush with the ground, -and they were like the open pages of a book in which all the races that -had passed that way had written their names, in the queer script that -the learned call Safaitic, in Greek, in Cufic, and in Arabic. Last of -all the unlettered Bedouin had scrawled their tribe marks there. - -"By Shuraik son of Naghafat son of Na'fis (?) son of Nu'mān," so ran -one of them; and another: "By Būkhālih son of Ṭhann son of An'am son -of Rawāḳ son of Būkhālih. He found the inscription of his uncle and -he longed after him and . . . ." And there was another in a label which -I did not copy sufficiently well to admit of its being deciphered with -certainty. Probably it contains two names connected by "ibn," "son of." -Above the names are seven straight lines which, according to Dussaud's -ingenious suggestion, may represent the seven planets.[7] The Greek -letters spelt the word Hanelos, which is John, a Semitic name written -possibly by its owner in the foreign script that he had learnt while he -served under the Roman eagles; the Cufic sentences were pious -ejaculations calling down a blessing on the traveller who had paused to -inscribe them. So each man according to his kind had left his record and -departed into the mists of time, and beyond these scratches on the black -rocks we know nothing of his race, nor of his history, nor of the errand -that brought him into the inhospitable Ghadīr el Gharz. As I copied the -phrases they seemed like the murmur of faint voices from out the limbo -of the forgotten past, and Orpheus with his lute could not have charmed -the rocks to speak more clearly of the generations of the dead. All the -Ṣafa is full of these whisperings; shadows that are nothing but a name -quiver in the quivering air above the stones, and call upon their God in -divers tongues. - -[Illustration 63: ḲAL'AT EL BEIḌA] - -I copied in haste, for there was no time to lose that day. The Druzes -stood round me impatiently, and 'Awāḍ shouted, "Yallah, yallah! ya -sitt," which being interpreted means, "Hurry up!" We rode on to the -eastern limit of the Ṣafa, turned the corner of the lava bed, and saw -the yellow plain of the Ruḥbeh before us. I know, because I have -observed it from the Jebel Druze, that it stretches for a great distance -to the east; but, when we reached it, it seemed no wider than half a -mile, and beyond it lay a wonderful lake of bluish misty water. The -little volcanoes far away to the east rose like islands out of the sea, -and were mirrored in the water at their feet; yet as we rode towards -that inland flood, its shores retreated before us, for it was but a -phantom sea whereat the phantom hosts of the Ṣafa may fitly assuage -their thirst. Then on the brink of the lava hills we caught sight of a -grey tower, and in the plain below it we saw a domed and whitewashed -shrine, and these were the Khirbet el Beiḍa and the Mazār of Sheikh -Serāk. Sheikh Serāk inherits his position as guardian of the Ruḥbeh -from Zeus Saphathenos, who is in turn the direct heir to the god El, the -earliest divinity of the Ṣafa. His business is to watch over the -crops, which in good years the Arabs sow round his soul's dwelling -place; he is respected by Moslem and by Druze alike, and he holds a -well-attended yearly festival which had fallen about a fortnight before -I came. The shrine itself is a building of the Ḥaurān type, with a -stone roof supported on transverse arches. Over the doors there is a -carved lintel taken from the ruins of the White Castle. - -[Illustration 64: ḲAL'AT EL BEIḌA] - -But I could scarcely stay while my men assembled here, so eager was I to -see the Ḳal'at el Beiḍa--Khirbeh or Ḳal'ah, ruin or castle, the -Arabs call it either indifferently. I left the Druzes to pay such -respects as were due to Zeus Saphathenos or whoever he might be, and -cantered off to the edge of the lava plateau. A deep ditch lay before -the lava, so full of water that I had to cross it by a little bridge of -planks; Ḥabīb was there watering his mule, that admirable mule which -walked as fast as the mares, and, entrusting my horse to him, I hastened -on over the broken lava and into the fortress court. There were one or -two Arabs sauntering through it, but they paid as little attention to me -as I did to them. This was it, the famous citadel that guards a dead -land from an unpeopled, the Ṣafa from the Ḥamād. Grey white on the -black platform rose the walls of smoothly dressed stones, the ghostly -stronghold of a world of ghosts. Whose hands reared it, whose art -fashioned the flowing scrolls on door-post and lintel, whose eyes kept -vigil from the tower, cannot yet be decided with any certainty. Hanelos -and Shuraik and Būkhālih may have looked for it as they rounded the -corner of the Wādi el Gharz, and perhaps the god El took it under his -protection, and perhaps the prayers of the watchman were turned to some -distant temple, and offered to the deities of Greece and Rome. A -thousand unanswered, unanswerable, questions spring to your mind as you -cross the threshold. - -De Vogüé and Oppenheim and Dussaud have described the Khirbet el -Beiḍa, and any one who cares to read their words may know that it is a -square enclosure with a round tower at each corner, a round bastion -between the towers and a rectangular keep against the south wall; that -its doorways are carved with wonderful flowing patterns, scrolls and -leaves and flowers, with animals striding through them; and that it is -probably an outlying fortress of Rome, built between the second and -fourth centuries. The fact remains that we are not certain of its -origin, any more than we are certain of the origin of the ruins near it -at Jebel Sēs, or of Mshitta, or of any of the buildings in the western -desert. There are resemblances between them all, and there are marked -differences, just as there are resemblances between Ḳal'at el Beiḍa -and the architecture of the Ḥaurān, and yet what stonecutter of the -Mountain would have let his imagination so outstrip the classic rule as -did the man who set the images of the animals of the desert about the -doors of the White Castle? There is a breath of something that is -strange to neighbouring art, a wilder, freer fancy, not so skilled as -that which created the tracery of Mshitta, cruder, and probably older. -It is all guess work; the desert may give up its secrets, the history of -the Ṣafa and the Ruḥbeh may be pieced together from the lettered -rocks, but much travel must be accomplished first and much excavation on -the Syrian frontiers, in Hira perhaps, or in Yemen. I would only remark -that the buildings at Ḳal'at el Beiḍa cannot as they stand belong to -one and the same period. The keep is certainly a later work than the -curtain walls of the fort. While these are built with mortar, like the -Roman camp at Ḳasṭal and the fortress at Muwaḳḳar, the keep is -of dry masonry resembling that which is universal in the Ḥaurān, and -in its walls are set carved stones which were assuredly not executed for -the positions they occupy. Even the decoration about the main door of -the keep is of borrowed stones; the two superimposed carved blocks of -the lintel do not fit each other, and neither fits the doorway. But the -only conclusion I venture to draw is, that the two suggestions of origin -that have been made by archaeologists, the one that the place was a -Roman camp, the other that it was the Ghassānid fortress, may both be -true. - -The edge of the lava plateau lies a few feet above the plain. Along this -natural redoubt are other buildings besides the White Castle, but none -of them are of the same architectural interest. Their walls are roughly -made of squared tufa blocks laid dry, whereas the castle is of a grey -stone, and part of it is constructed with mortar. The only building of -any importance that I visited lay a little to the north and had been -roofed after the Ḥaurān manner with stone slabs laid on transverse -arches. At intervals along the lava bed there were small towers like -sentry boxes guarding the approach to the castle, and these, too, were -of dry masonry. - -[Illustration 65: ḲAL'AT EL BEIḌA, DOOR OF KEEP] - -A couple of hours' halt was all that we could allow ourselves, for we -had to be in sight of our encampment before the dusk closed in at the -risk of passing the night in the open Ṣafa. So after devouring hastily -the remains of the five chickens we had brought from Umm Ruweik, -flavoured by stalks of wild onions that 'Awāḍ had found in the lava, -we set off homewards. We just accomplished the ride of 4 3/4 hours in -time, that is we saw the smoke of the camp fires before night fell, and -got our direction thereby. A series of spaces cleared of stones led us -to the camp. These open places are the marāḥ (tent marks) of the -'Anazeh, who used to camp in the Ṣafa before the Druzes established -themselves in the Mountain over a hundred years ago. The marāḥ, -therefore, have remained visible after at least a century, and will -remain, probably, for many centuries more. There was a strong cold wind -that evening, and the main wall of the tent had been shifted round to -shelter us the better; but for all that we passed a comfortless night, -and the cold woke me several times to an uneasy sense of having fallen -asleep on an ant hill. How the Arabs contrive to collect so many fleas -among so few possessions is an insoluble mystery. There was hardly a -suitable place for them to lodge in, except the tent walls themselves, -and when those walls are taken down they must show skill and agility -beyond the common wont of fleas in order to get themselves packed up and -carried off to the next camping ground, but that they are equal to the -task every one knows who has spent a night in a house of hair. After two -nights with the Ghiāth our own tents seemed a paradise of luxury when -we returned to them the next afternoon, and a bath the utmost height to -which a Sybaritic life could attain, even when taken in a temperature -some degrees below freezing point. - -During our ride homewards an incident occurred which is worth recording, -as it bears on Druze customs. The sect, as has been remarked before, is -divided into initiated and uninitiated. To the stranger the main -difference between the two is that the initiated abstain from the use of -tobacco, and I had noticed in the evening I spent at Ṣāleh that none -of Muḥammad en Naṣṣār's family smoked. I was therefore surprised -when Fāiz, finding himself alone with Mikhāil and me, begged the -former for a cigarette, and I apologised for having omitted to offer him -one before, saying that I had understood smoking to be forbidden to him. -Fāiz blinked his crooked eyes, and replied that it was as I had said, -and that he would not have accepted a cigarette if another Druze had -been in sight, but that since none of his co-religionists were present -he felt himself at liberty to do as he pleased. He begged me, however, -not to mention to his brother this lapse from virtue. That night in the -maḳ'ad of Umm Ruweik the three sheikhs and I laid many plans for a -further exploration of the Ṣafa, settled the number of camels I was to -take with me, and even the presents which were to reward the escort at -the end of the journey. Fāiz and Aḥmed and Khittāb shall certainly -be of the expedition if the selecting of it lies in my hands. - -[Illustration 66: MOULDINGS FROM ḲAL'AT EL BEIḌA AND FROM PALMYRA] - -Next morning at 8.30 we started on our three days' ride to Damascus. Of -Umm Ruweik I need only add that it took exactly four days to scrape -together sufficient money among the inhabitants for the changing of a -gold piece. We had brought a bag of silver and copper coins with us from -Jerusalem, but when it was exhausted we had the utmost difficulty in -paying our debts--this is also one of the Hints to Travellers that -Mikhāil urged me to embody in the book I was to write. We rode by -enchanting slopes, covered where the snow had melted with the sky-blue -Iris Histrio, and spent an hour or two at Shakka, which was one of the -principal scenes of de Vogüé's archæological work. The basilica which -figures as almost perfect in his book is now fallen completely into -ruin, only the façade remaining, but the Ḳaisarīeh still stands, and -the monastery which he believes to be one of the oldest monastic -buildings in existence. We rode by Ḥīt, an interesting village -containing a fine pre-Arabic house in which the sheikh lives, and camped -at Bathaniyyeh in a frost that sent me shivering to bed. It was here -that a running stream was completely frozen. Next day I made a circuit -to visit Ḥayāt, where there is a lovely Kalybeh, published by de -Vogüé, and a castle, that I might fill up some gaps in my former -journey and see what sort of buildings are to be found on the northern -slopes of the mountain, if I could do no more. The old villages are -rapidly filling up, and in a few years little trace of their monuments -will remain. So we came down into the plain, joined the Lejā road from -Shaḥbah to Damascus at Lahiteh, and pursued our mules to Brāk, the -furthest village of the Ḥaurān. There is a military post at Brāk -held by a score of soldiers; just before we reached it we met a little -Druze girl who cowered by the roadside and wept with fear at the sight -of us. "I am a maid!" she cried, "I am a maid!" Her words threw an -ominous shadow upon the Turkish regime under which we were now to find -ourselves again. Almost opposite the fort we passed two Druzes returning -from Damascus. They gave me a friendly greeting, and I said: - -[Illustration 67: A GATEWAY, SHAKKA] - -"Are you facing to the Mountain?" - -They said: "By God! may God keep you!" - -I said: "I come from thence--salute it for me," and they answered: - -"May God salute you! go in peace!" - -It is never without a pang that the traveller leaves the Druze country -behind, and never without registering a vow to return to it as soon as -may be. - -[Illustration 68: THE SHEIKH'S HOUSE, ḤAYĀT] - -Having passed under the protection of the Sultan, I found that my road -next day lay across a really dangerous bit of country. The Circassians -and Turks of Brāk (the Turks were charming people from the northern -parts of Asia Minor) dissuaded me strongly from taking the short cut -across the hills to Damascus, so strongly that I had almost abandoned -the idea. They said the hills were infested by robbers and probably -empty of Arab encampments at this time of year, so that the robbers had -it all their own way. Fortunately next morning we heard of a company of -soldiers who were said to be riding to Damascus across the hills, and -the report encouraged us to take the same path. We never saw them, and I -do not believe that they had any real existence; on the other hand, we -did see some black tents which gave us confidence at the worst bit of -the road, and the robbers must have been otherwise engaged for they did -not appear. But I noted with interest, firstly, that desert life comes -to within an hour or two of Damascus, a fact I had not been able to -observe before when I went by the high road, and secondly that the -Sultan's peace, if peace it can be called, ceases almost at the walls of -the chief city of Syria. We crossed the Nahr el 'Awāj, which is the -Pharpar, and reached soon after midday the Circassian village of Nejhā, -where I stopped to lunch under a few poplars, the first grove of trees I -had seen since we left Salt. Whether you ride to Damascus by a short cut -or by a high road, from the Ḥaurān or from Palmyra, it is always -further away than any known place. Perhaps it is because the traveller -is so eager to reach it, the great and splendid Arab city set in a -girdle of fruit trees and filled with the murmur of running water. But -if he have only patience there is no road that will not end at last; and -we, too, at the last came to the edge of the apricot gardens and then to -the Bawābet Ullaḥ, the Gates of God, and so passed into the Meidān, -the long quarter of shops and khāns stretching out like the handle to a -great spoon, in the bowl of which lie the minarets and domes of the rich -quarters. By four o'clock I was lodged in the Hotel Victoria, and had a -month's post of letters and papers in my hands. - - -[Footnote 7: Dussaud, "Mission Scientific," p. 64. The translation of -the inscriptions I owe to the kindness of Dr. Littmann, who will include -the original copies in his "Semitic Inscriptions."] - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - -When I had come to Damascus five years before, my chief counsellor and -friend--a friend whose death will be deplored by many a traveller in -Syria--was Lütticke, head of the banking house of that name and -honorary German consul. It was a chance remark of his that revealed to -me the place that the town had and still has in Arab history. "I am -persuaded," said he, "that in and about Damascus you may see the finest -Arab population that can be found anywhere. They are the descendants of -the original invaders who came up on the first great wave of the -conquest, and they have kept their stock almost pure." - -[Illustration 69: IN THE PALMYRENE DESERT] - -Above all other cities Damascus is the capital of the desert. The desert -stretches up to its walls, the breath of it is blown in by every wind, -the spirit of it comes through the eastern gates with every camel -driver. In Damascus the sheikhs of the richer tribes have their town -houses; you may meet Muḥammad of the Ḥaseneh or Bassān of the Beni -Rashīd peacocking down the bazaars on a fine Friday, in embroidered -cloaks and purple and silver kerchiefs fastened about their brows with -camels' hair ropes bound with gold. They hold their heads high, these -Lords of the Wilderness, striding through the holiday crowds, that part -to give them passage, as if Damascus were their own town. And so it is, -for it was the first capital of the Bedouin khalifs outside the -Ḥejāz, and it holds and remembers the greatest Arab traditions. It -was almost the first of world-renowned cities to fall before the -irresistible chivalry of the desert which Muḥammad had called to arms -and to which he had given purpose and a battle-cry, and it was the only -one which remained as important under the rule of Islām as it had been -under the empire of Rome. Mu'āwiyah made it his capital, and it -continued to be the chief city of Islām until the fall of the house of -Ummayah ninety years later. It was the last of Moslem capitals that -ruled in accordance with desert traditions. Persian generals placed the -Beni Abbās upon their throne in Mesopotamia, Persian and Turkish -influences were dominant in Baghdad, and with them crept in the fatal -habits of luxury which the desert had never known, nor the early khalifs -who milked their own goats and divided the spoils of their victories -among the Faithful. The very soil of Mesopotamia exhaled emanations -fatal to virility. The ancient ghosts of Babylonian and Assyrian palace -intrigue rose from their muddy graves, mighty in evil, to overthrow the -soldier khalif, to strip him of his armour and to tie him hand and foot -with silk and gold. Damascus had been innocent of them; Damascus, swept -by the clean desert winds, had ruled the empire of the Prophet with some -of the Spartan vigour of early days. She was not a parvenue like the -capitals on the Tigris; she had seen kings and emperors within her -walls, and learnt the difference between strength and weakness, and -which path leads to dominion and which to slavery. - -When I arrived I was greeted with the news that my journey in the -Ḥaurān had considerably agitated the mind of his Excellency Nāzim -Pasha, Vāli of Syria; indeed it was currently reported that this much -exercised and delicately placed gentleman had been vexed beyond reason -by my sudden appearance at Ṣalkhad and that he had retired to his bed -when I had departed beyond the reach of Yūsef Effendi's eye, though -some suggested that the real reason for his Excellency's sudden -indisposition was a desire to avoid taking part in the memorial service -to the Archduke Serge. Be that as it may, he sent me on the day of my -arrival a polite message expressing his hope that he might have the -pleasure of making my acquaintance. - -I confess my principal feeling was one of penitence when I was ushered -into the big new house that the Vāli has built for himself at the end -of Ṣalaḥiyyeh, the suburb of Damascus that stretches along the foot -of the bare hills to the north of the town. I had a great wish to -apologise, or at any rate to prove to him that I was not to be regarded -as a designing enemy. These sentiments were enhanced by the kindness -with which he received me, and the respect with which he inspires those -who come to know him. He is a man of a nervous temperament, always on -the alert against the difficulties with which his vilayet is not slow to -provide him, conscientious, and I should fancy honest, painfully anxious -to reconcile interests that are as easy to combine as oil with vinegar, -the corner of his eye fixed assiduously on his royal master who will -take good care that so distinguished a personality as Nāzim Pasha shall -be retained at a considerable distance from the shores of the Bosphorus. -The Vāli has been eight years in Damascus, the usual term of office -being five, and he has evidently made up his mind that in Damascus he -will remain, if no ill luck befall him, for he has built himself a large -house and planned a fine garden, the laying out of which distracts his -mind, let us hope, from preoccupations that can seldom be pleasant. One -of his safeguards is that he has been actively concerned with the -construction of the Ḥejāz railway, in which the Sultan takes the -deepest interest, and until it is completed or abandoned he is -sufficiently useful to be kept at his post.[8] The bazaar, that is -public opinion, does not think that it will be abandoned, in spite of -the opposition of the Sherlf of Mecca and all his clan, who will never -be convinced of the justice of the Sultan's claim to the khalifate of -Islām nor willing to bring him into closer touch with the religious -capitals. The bazaar backs the Sultan against the Sherīf and all other -adversaries, sacred or profane. The wheels of the Turk grind slowly and -often stop, but in the end they grind small, especially when the grist -is Arab tribes rendered peculiarly brittle by their private jealousies -and suspicions and pretensions. Turkish policy is like that of which Ibn -Kulthum sang when he said: - -[Illustration 70: THE GREAT MOSQUE AND THE ROOFS OF THE BAZAAR -FROM THE FORT] - - -When our mill is set down among a people they are as flour before -our coming. -Our meal cloth is spread eastwards of Nejd and the grain is the whole -tribe of Ḳuda'a. -Like guests you alighted at our door and we hastened our hospitality -lest you should turn on us. -We welcomed you and hastened the welcoming: yea, before the -dawn, and our mills grind small. - -[Illustrations 71: A CORN MARKET] - -Nāzim Pasha, though he has been eight years in Syria, talks no Arabic. -We in Europe, who speak of Turkey as though it were a homogeneous -empire, might as well when we speak of England intend the word to -include India, the Shan States, Hongkong and Uganda. In the sense of a -land inhabited mainly by Turks there is not such a country as Turkey. -The parts of his dominions where the Turk is in a majority are few; -generally his position is that of an alien governing, with a handful of -soldiers and an empty purse, a mixed collection of subjects hostile to -him and to each other. He is not acquainted with their language, it is -absurd to expect of him much sympathy for aspirations political and -religious which are generally made known to him amid a salvo of -musketry, and if the bullets happen to be directed, as they often are, -by one unruly and unreasonable section of the vilayet at another equally -unreasonable and unruly, he is hardly likely to feel much regret at the -loss of life that may result. He himself, when he is let alone, has a -strong sense of the comfort of law and order. Observe the internal -arrangements of a Turkish village, and you shall see that the Turkish -peasant knows how to lay down rules of conduct and how to obey them. I -believe that the best of our own native local officials in Egypt are -Turks who have brought to bear under the new regime the good sense and -the natural instinct for government for which they had not much scope -under the old. It is in the upper grades that the hierarchy of the -Ottoman Empire has proved so defective, and the upper grades are filled -with Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, and personages of various nationalities -generally esteemed in the East (and not without reason) untrustworthy. -The fact that such men as these should inevitably rise to the top, -points to the reason of the Turk's failure. He cannot govern on wide -lines, though he can organise a village community; above all he cannot -govern on foreign lines, and unfortunately he is brought more and more -into contact with foreign nations. Even his own subjects have caught the -infection of progress. The Greeks and Armenians have become merchants -and bankers, the Syrians merchants and landowners; they find themselves -hampered at every turn by a government which will not realise that a -wealthy nation is made up of wealthy subjects. And yet, for all his -failure, there is no one who would obviously be fitted to take his -place. For my immediate purpose I speak only of Syria, the province with -which I am the most familiar. Of what value are the pan-Arabic -associations and the inflammatory leaflets that they issue from foreign -printing presses? The answer is easy: they are worth nothing at all. -There is no nation of Arabs; the Syrian merchant is separated by a wider -gulf from the Bedouin than he is from the Osmanli, the Syrian country is -inhabited by Arabic speaking races all eager to be at each other's -throats, and only prevented from fulfilling their natural desires by the -ragged half fed soldier who draws at rare intervals the Sultan's pay. -And this soldier, whether he be Kurd or Circassian or Arab from -Damascus, is worth a good deal more than the hire he receives. Other -armies may mutiny, but the Turkish army will stand true to the khalif; -other armies may give way before suffering and privation and untended -sickness, but that of the Sultan will go forward as long as it can -stand, and fight as long as it has arms, and conquer as long as it has -leaders. There is no more wonderful and pitiful sight than a Turkish -regiment on the march: greybeards and half-fledged youths, ill-clad and -often barefoot, pinched and worn--and indomitable. Let such as watch -them salute them as they pass: in the days when war was an art rather -than a science, of that stuff the conquerors of the world were made. - -[Illustration 72: THE ḲUBBET EL KHAZNEH] - -But I have left the Governor of Syria waiting far too long. We talked, -then, in French, a language with which he was imperfectly acquainted, -and from time to time a Syrian gentleman helped him in Turkish over the -stiles and pitfalls of the foreign tongue. The Syrian was a rich -Maronite landowner of the Lebanon, who happened to be in good odour at -Government House though he had but recently spent a year in prison. He -had accompanied me upon my visit and was then and there appointed by the -Vāli to be my cicerone in Damascus; Selīm Beg was his name. The talk -was principally of archæology, I purposely insisting on my interest in -that subject as compared with the politics of the Mountain and the -Desert, to which we thus avoided any serious allusion. The Vāli was -affability itself. He presented me with certain photographs of the -priceless manuscripts of the Ḳubbet el Khazneh in the Great Mosque, -now closed for ever to the public eye, and promised me the rest of the -series. To that end a bowing personage took my English address and noted -it carefully in a pocket book, and I need scarcely say that was the -last any one heard of the matter. Presently the Vāli announced that -Madame Pasha and the children were waiting to see me, and I followed him -upstairs into a sunny room with windows opening on to a balcony from -which you could see all Damascus and its gardens and the hills beyond. -There is only one Madame Pasha, and she is a pretty, sharp-featured -Circassian, but there was another (gossip says the favourite) who died a -year ago. The children were engaging. They recited French poems to me, -their bright eyes quick to catch and to respond to every expression of -approbation or amusement; they played tinkling polkas, sitting very -upright on the music stool with their pig-tails hanging down their -velvet backs. The Pasha stood in the window and beamed upon them, the -Circassian wife smoked cigarettes and bowed whenever she caught my eye, -a black slave boy at the door grinned from ear to ear as his masters and -mistresses, who were also his school-mates and his play-fellows, -accomplished their tasks. I came away with a delightful impression of -pretty smiling manners and vivacious intelligence, and expressed my -pleasure to the Pasha as we went down stairs. - -"Ah!" said he politely, "if I could have them taught English! But what -will you? we cannot get an Englishwoman to agree with our customs, and I -have only the Greek lady whom you saw to teach them French." - -I had indeed noticed the Greek woman, an underbred little person, whose -bearing could not escape attention in the graceful company upstairs, but -I was not slow to expatiate on the excellence of the French she -spoke--may Heaven forgive me! The Pasha shook his head. - -"If I could get an Englishwoman!" said he. Unfortunately I had no one to -suggest for the post, nor would he have welcomed a suggestion. - -[Illustration 73: THE TEKYAH OF NAKSHIBENDI] - -Before I left, two distinguished personages arrived to have audience of -the Vāli. The first was a man by complexion almost a negro, but with an -unmistakable look of race and a sharp quick glance. He was the Amīr -'Abdullah Pasha, son of 'Abd ul Ḳādir, the great Algerian, by a negro -slave. The second was Sheikh Ḥassan Nakshbendi, hereditary -chief--pope, I had almost said--of an orthodox order of Islām famous in -Damascus, where its principal Tekyah is situated. (Now a Tekyah is a -religious institution for the housing of mendicant dervishes and other -holy persons, something like a monastery, only that there is no vow of -chastity imposed upon its members, who may have as many wives as they -choose outside the Tekyah; Sheikh Ḥassan himself had the full -complement of four.) All the wily ecclesiastic's astuteness shone from -the countenance of this worthy. I do not know that his wits were -especially remarkable, but his unscrupulousness must have supplemented -any deficiencies, or his smile belied him. The meeting with these two -accomplished my introduction to Damascus society. Both of them extended -to me a warm invitation to visit them in their houses, the Tekyah or -anywhere I would, and I accepted all, but I went to the Amīr 'Abdullah -first. - -[Illustration 74: GATE OF THE TEKYAH] - -Or rather, I went first to the house of his elder brother, the Amīr -'Ali Pasha, because it was there that 'Abd ul Ḳādir had lived, and -there that he had sheltered, during the black days of the massacres in -1860, a thousand Christians. About his name there lingers a romantic -association of courage and patriotism, crowned by a wise and honoured -age full of authority and the power lent by wealth, for the 'Abd ul -Ḳādir family own all the quarter in which they reside. The house, -like any great Damascus house, made no show from the outside. We entered -through a small door in a narrow winding street by a dark passage, -turned a couple of comers and found ourselves in a marble court with a -fountain in the centre and orange trees planted round. All the big rooms -opened into this court, the doors were thrown wide to me, and coffee and -sweetmeats were served by the groom of the chambers, while I admired the -decoration of the walls and the water that bubbled up into marble basins -and flowed away by marble conduits. In this and in most of the Damascene -palaces every window sill has a gurgling pool in it, so that the air -that blows into the room may bring with it a damp freshness. The Amīr -'Ali was away, but his major domo, who looked like a servant _de bonne -maison_ and had the respectful familiarity of manner that the Oriental -dependant knows so well how to assume, showed us his master's treasures, -the jewelled sabre presented to the old Amīr by Napoleon III, 'Abd ul -Ḳādir's rifles, and a pair of heavy, silver-mounted swords sent as a -gift last year by 'Abd ul 'Aziz ibn er Rashīd--there is a traditional -friendship, I learnt, between the Algerian family and the Lords of -Ḥāil. He showed us, too, pictures of 'Abd ul Ḳādir; the Amīr -leading his cavalry, the Amīr at Versailles coming down the steps of -the palace with Napoleon, bearing himself as one who wins and not as one -who loses, the Amīr as an old man in Damascus, always in the white -Algerian robes that he never abandoned, and always with the same grave -and splendid dignity of countenance. And last I was led over a little -bridge, that crossed a running stream behind the main court, into a -garden full of violets, through which we passed to stables as airy, as -light and as dry as the best European stables could have been. In the -stalls stood two lovely Arab mares from the famous studs of the Ruwalla -and a well-bred mule almost as valuable as they. There was a sad-looking -man who accompanied us upon our round, though he did not seem to belong -to the establishment; his face was so gloomy that it arrested my -attention, and I asked Selīm Beg who he was. A Christian, he answered, -of a rich family, who had been persecuted to change his religion and had -sought sanctuary with the Amīr 'Ai. I heard no more of his story, but -he fitted into the picture that 'Abd ul Ḳādir's dwelling-place left -upon the mind: the house of gentlefolk, well kept by well-trained -servants, provided with the amenities of life and offering protection to -the distressed. - -On the following morning I went to see the Amīr 'Abdullah, who lived -next door to his brother. I found there a nephew of 'Abdullah's, the -Amīr Ṭāhir, son of yet another brother, and my arrival was greeted -with satisfaction because there happened to be staying with them a -distinguished guest whom I should doubtless like to see. He was a -certain Sheikh Ṭāhir ul Jezāiri, a man much renowned for his -learning and for his tempestuous and revolutionary politics. Summoned -hastily into the divanned and carpeted upper room in which we were -sitting, he entered like a whirlwind, and establishing himself by my -side poured into my ear, and into all other ears in the vicinity, for he -spoke loud, his distress at not being permitted by the Vāli to -associate freely with gifted foreigners such as the American -archaeologists or even myself ("God forbid!" I murmured modestly), and a -great many other grievances besides. When this topic had run -comparatively dry, he sent the Amīr Ṭāhir to seek for some -publications of his own with which he presented me. They dealt with -Arabic and the allied languages, such as Nabatæan, Safaitic and -Phœnician, the alphabetical signs of which he had arranged very -carefully and well in comparative tables, though he had not an idea of -the signification of any one of the tongues except his own. A curious -and typical example of oriental scholarship was Sheikh Ṭāhir, but -from the samples I had of his conversation I am not sure that the -sympathies of those who respect peace and order would not be with the -Vāli. Presently another notable dropped in, Muṣṭafa Pasha el -Barāzi, a member of one of the four leading families of Ḥamāh, and -the whole company fell to talking of their own concerns, Syrian politics -and other matters, while I listened and looked out of window over the -Amīr's garden and the stream at its foot, and wondered what had made me -so fortunate as to be taking part in a Damascene morning call. At length -the Amīr 'Abdullah and his nephew took me aside and discussed long and -earnestly a great project which I had broached to them and which I will -not reveal here. And when the visit was over Selīm and Muṣṭafa and -I went out and lunched at an excellent native restaurant in the Greek -bazaar, sitting, cheek by jowl with a Bedouin from the desert and eating -the best of foods and the choicest of Damascus cream tarts for the sum -of eighteen pence between the three of us, which included the coffee and -a liberal tip. - -There was another morning no less pleasant when I went with the faithful -Selīm to pay my respects on a charming old man, the most famous scribe -in all the city, Muṣṭafa el Asbā'i was his name. He lived in a -house, decorated with the exquisite taste of two hundred years ago -inlaid with coloured marbles and overlaid with gesso duro worked in -patterns like the frontispiece of an illuminated Persian manuscript and -painted in soft rich colours in which gold and golden brown -predominated. We were, taken through the reception rooms into a little -chamber on an upper floor where Muṣṭafa was wont to sit and write -those texts that are the pictures of the Moslem East. It was hung round -with examples from celebrated hands ancient and modern, among which I -recognised that of my friend Muḥammad 'Ali, son of Beha Ullaḥ the -Persian prophet, to my mind the most skilful penman of our day, though -Oriental preference goes out to another Persian of the same religious -sect, Mushḳin Kalam, and him also I count among my friends. We sat on -cushions and drank coffee, turning over the while exquisite manuscripts -of all dates and countries, some written on gold and some on silver, -some on brocade and some on supple parchment (several of these last -being pages of Kufic texts abstracted from the Ḳubbet el Khazneh -before it was closed), and when we rose to go Muṣṭafa presented me -with three examples of his own art, and I carried them off rejoicing. - -[Illustration 75: MUSHḲIN KALAM] - -Later in the afternoon we drove out to the valley of the Barada, Selīm -and I, and called on a third soil of 'Abd ul Ḳādir: "Amīr Omar, -princ d'Abd ul Ḳādir" ran his visiting card, printed in the Latin -character. He is the country gentleman of the family. 'Ali has been -carried into spheres of greater influence by his marriage with a sister -of 'Izzet Pasha, the mighty Shadow behind the Throne in Constantinople; -'Abdullah has always a thousand schemes on hand that keep him to the -town, but 'Umar is content to hunt and shoot and tend his garden and -lead the simple life. So simple was it that we found him in a smoking -cap and a dressing gown and carpet slippers walking the garden alleys. -He took us into his house, which, like the other houses of his family, -was full of flowers, and up to a pavilion on the roof, whither his -pointer followed us with a friendly air of companionship. There amid -pots of hyacinths and tulips we watched the sun set over the snowy hills -and talked of desert game and sport. - -Nor let me, amid all this high company, forget my humbler friends: the -Afghan with black locks hanging about his cheeks, who gave me the salute -every time we met (the Amīr of Afghanistan has an agent in Damascus to -look after the welfare of his subjects on the pilgrimage); the sweetmeat -seller at the door of the Great Mosque, who helped me once or twice -through the mazes of the bazaars and called to me each time I passed -him: "Has your Excellency no need of your Dragoman to-day?"; or the -dervishes of Sheikh Ḥassan's Tekyah, who invited me to attend the -Friday prayers. Not least the red-bearded Persian who keeps a tea shop -in the Corn Market and who is a member of the Beha'i sect among which I -have many acquaintances. As I sat drinking glasses of delicious Persian -tea at his table, I greeted him in his own tongue and whispered: "I have -been much honoured by the Holy Family at Acre." He nodded his head and -smiled and answered: "Your Excellency is known to us," and when I rose -to go and asked his charge he replied: "For you there is never anything -to pay." I vow there is nothing that so warms the heart as to find -yourself admitted into the secret circle of Oriental beneficence--and -few things so rare. - -Upon a sunny afternoon I escaped from the many people who were always in -waiting to take me to one place or another and made my way alone through -the bazaars, ever the most fascinating of loitering grounds, till I -reached the doors of the Great Mosque. It was the hour of the afternoon -prayer. I left my shoes with a bed-ridden negro by the entrance and -wandered into the wide cloister that runs along the whole of the west -side of the Mosque. A fire some ten years ago, and the reparations that -followed it, have robbed the Mosque of much o its beauty, but it still -remains the centre of interest to the archæologist, who puzzles over -the traces of church and temple and Heaven knows what besides that are -to be seen embedded in its walls and gates. The court was half full of -afternoon shadow and half of sun, and in the golden light troops of -little boys with green willow switches in their hands were running to -and fro in noiseless play, while the Faithful made their first -prostrations before they entered the Mosque. I followed them in and -watched them fall into long lines down nave and aisle from east to west. -All sorts and grades of men stood side by side, from the learned doctor -in a fur-lined coat and silken robes to the raggedest camel driver from -the desert, for Islām is the only republic in the world and recognises -no distinctions of wealth or rank. When they had assembled to the number -of three or four hundred, the chant of the Imām began. "God!" he cried, -and the congregation fell with a single movement upon their faces and -remained a full minute in silent adoration till the high chant began -again. "The Creator of this world and the next, of the heavens and of -the earth, He who leads the righteous in the true path and the wicked to -destruct on God!" And as the almighty name echoed through the colonnades -where it had sounded for near two thousand years, the listeners -prostrated themselves again, and for a moment all the sanctuary was -silence. - -[Illustration 76: SWEETMEAT SELLERS] - -That night I went to an evening party at the invitation of Shekīb el -Arslān, a Druze of a well known family of the Lebanon and a poet -foreby--have I not been presented with a copy of his latest ode? The -party was held in the Maidān, at the house of some corn merchants, who -are agents to the Ḥaurān Druzes in the matter of corn selling and -know the politics of the Mountain well. There were twelve or fourteen -persons present, Shekīb and I and the corn merchants (dressed as befits -well-to-do folk in blue silk robes and embroidered yellow turbans) and a -few others, I know not who they were. The room was blessedly empty of -all but carpets and a divan and a brazier, and this was noteworthy, for -not even the 'Abd ul Ḳādir houses are free from blue and red glass -vases and fringed mats that break out like a hideous disease in the -marble embrazures and on the shelves of the gesso duro cupboards. -Shekīb was a man of education and had experience of the world; he had -even travelled once as far as London. He talked in French until one of -our hosts stopped him with: - -"Oh, Shekīb! you know Arabic, the lady also. Talk therefore that we can -understand." - -His views on Turkish politics were worth hearing. - -"My friends," said he, "the evils under which we suffer are due to the -foreign nations who refuse to allow the Turkish empire to move in any -direction. When she fights they take the fruits of her victory from her, -as they did after the war: with the Greeks. What good is it that we -should conquer the rebellious Albanians? the Bulgarians alone would -gain, advantage and the followers of our Prophet (_sic_, though he was a -Druze) could not live under the hand of the Bulgarians as they would not -live under the hand of the Greeks in Crete. For look you, the Moslems of -Crete are now dwelling at Ṣalaḥiyyeh as you know well, and Crete has -suffered by their departure." - -There was so much truth in this that I who listened wished that the -enemies of Turkey could hear and would deeply ponder the point of view -of intelligent and well-informed subjects of the Ottoman Empire. - -[Illustration 77: COURT OF THE GREAT MOSQUE] - -My last day in Damascus was a Friday. Now Damascus on a fine Friday is a -sight worth travelling far to see. All the male population dressed in -their best parade the streets, the sweetmeat sellers and the auctioneers -of second-hand clothes drive a roaring trade, the eating shops steam -with dressed meats of the most tempting kind, and splendidly caparisoned -mares are galloped along the road by the river Abana. Early in the -afternoon I had distinguished visitors. The first to wait on me was -Muḥammad Pasha, Sheikh of Jerūd, an oasis half way upon the road to -Palmyra. Jerūdi is the second greatest brigand in all the land, the -greatest (no one disputes him the title) being Fayyāḍ Agha of -Karyatein, another oasis on the Palmyra road. Fayyāḍ, I fancy, is an -evil rogue, though he had been polite enough to me when I had passed his -way, but Jerūdi's knavery is of a different brand. He is a big, -powerful man with a wall eye; he was a mighty rider and raider in his -day, for he has Arab blood in his veins, and his grandfather was of the -high stock of the 'Anazeh, but he has grown old and heavy and gouty, and -his desire is for peace, a desire difficult to attain, what with his -antecedents and the outlying position of Jerūd, which makes it the -natural resort of all the turbulent spirits of the desert. He must keep -on terms both with his Arab kin and with the government, each trying to -use his influence with the other, and he the while seeking to profit -from both, with his wall eye turned towards the demands of the aw, and -his good eye fixed on his own advantage, if I understand him. Justly -irate consuls have several times demanded of the Vāli his immediate -execution; but the Vāli, though he not infrequently signifies his -disapproval of some markedly outrageous deed by a term of imprisonment, -can never be brought to take the further step, saying that the -government has before now found Jerūdi a useful man, and no doubt the -Vāli is the best judge. To his great sorrow Muḥammad Pasha has no -sons to inherit his very considerable wealth, and the grasshopper, in -the shape of a tribe of expectant nephews, has come to be a burden on -his years. Recently he married a daughter of Fayyāḍ's house, a girl -of fifteen, but she has not brought him children. A famous tale about -him is current in Damascus, a tale to which men do not, however, allude -in his presence. At the outbreak of the last Druze war Jerūdi happened -to be enjoying one of his interludes of adhesion to the powers that be, -and because he knew the Mountain well he was sent with thirty or forty -men to scout and report, the army following upon his heels. It happened -that as he passed through a hamlet near Ormān, his old acquaintance, -the sheikh of the village, saw him, and invited him in to eat. And as he -sat in the maḳ'ad awaiting his dinner he heard the Druzes discussing -outside whether they had not better profit by this opportunity to kill -him as an officer of the Turkish army; and he desired earnestly to go -away from that place, but he could not, the rules of polite society -making it incumbent upon him to stay and eat the dinner that was -a-cooking. So when it came he despatched it with some speed, for the -discussion outside had reached a stage that inspired him with the -gravest anxiety, and having eaten he mounted his horse and rode away -before the Druzes had reached a conclusion. And as he went he found -himself suddenly between two fires; the Turkish army had come up and the -first battle of the war had begun. He and his men, discouraged and -perplexed, took refuge behind some rocks, and, as best they might, they -made their way back one by one to the extreme rear of the Turkish -troops. The Druzes have composed a song about this incident; it begins: - -[Illustration 78: THRESHING-FLOOR OF ḲARYATEIN] - - -Jerūdi's golden mares are famed, -And fair the riders in their stumbling flight! -Muḥammad Pasha, tell thy lord -Where are his soldiers, where his arms! - - -This piece is not often sung before him. - -[Illustration 79: THE TEKYAH OF NAKSHIBENDI] - -My next visitor was Sheikh Ḥassan Nakshibendi, he of the sleek and -cunning clerical face. He contrived to make good use even of the ten -minutes he spent in the inn parlour, for noticing a gaudy ring on Selīm -Beg's finger he asked to see it, and liked it so well that he put it in -his pocket saying that Selīm would certainly wish to give a present to -his khānum, the youngest of his wives, whom he had married a year or -two before. Selīm replied that in that case we must go at once to his -house in Ṣalaḥiyyeh that the present might be offered, and both -Sheikh Ḥassan and Muḥammad Pasha having their victorias at the door, -we four got into them and drove off to Ṣalaḥiyyeh through the bright -holiday streets. At the door of the house Selīm announced that I ought -first to take leave of the Vāli, who lived close at hand, and borrowed -Jerūdi's carriage that we might go in style. Then said Selīm to -Muḥammad Pasha: - -"Are you not coming with us?" But the question was put in sarcasm, for -he knew well that Jerūdi was going through a period of disgrace and -that he had but recently emerged from a well-merited imprisonment. - -Jerūdi shook his head and drawing near to us, seated in his victoria, -he whispered: - -"Say something in my favour to the Pasha." - -We laughed and promised to speak for him, though Selīm confided to me -as we drove away that when he had been in disgrace ("entirely owing to -the intrigues of my enemies"), not a man had come forward to help him, -while now that he was in favour every one begged for his intervention; -and he drew his frock coat round him and lent back against the cushions -of Jerūdi's carriage with the air of one who is proudly conscious that -he is in a position to fulfil scriptural injunctions to the letter. - -Nāzim Pasha was on his doorstep taking leave of the commander-in-chief. -When he saw us he came down the steps and called us in with the utmost -friendliness. The second visit to his house (he had been to see me in -between) was much less formal than the first. We talked of the Japanese -War, a topic never far from the lips of my interlocutors, great or -small, and I made bold to ask him his opinion. - -"Officially," said he, "I am neutral." - -"But between friends?" - -"Of course I am on the side of the Japanese," he answered. And then he -added: "It is you who have gained by their victory." - -I replied: "But will you not also gain?" - -He answered gloomily: "We have not gained as yet. Not at all in -Macedonia." - -Then he asked how I had enjoyed my visit to Damascus. Selīm replied -hastily: - -"To-day she has had a great disappointment." - -The Vāli looked concerned. - -"Yes," continued Selīm, "she had hoped to see a chief of brigands, and -she has found only a peaceful subject of your Excellency." - -"Who is he?" said Nāzim. - -"Muḥammad Pasha Jerūdi," answered Selīm. The good word had been -spoken very skilfully. - -[Illustration 80: OUTSIDE DAMASCUS GATES] - -When we returned to Sheikh Ḥassan's house we related this conversation -to the subject of it, and Jerūdi pulled a wry face, but expressed -himself satisfied. Sheikh Ḥassan then took me to see his wife--his -fifth wife, for he had divorced one of the legal four to marry her. He -has the discretion to keep a separate establishment for each, and I do -not question that he is repaid by the resulting peace of his hearths. -There were three women in the inner room, the wife and another who was -apparently not of the household, for she hid her face under the -bed clothes when Sheikh Ḥassan came in, and a Christian, useful in -looking after the male guests (there were others besides Jerūdi and -Selīm) and in doing commissions in the bazaars, where she can go more -freely than her sister Moslems. The harem was shockingly untidy. Except -when the women folk expect your visit and have prepared for it, nothing -is more forlornly unkempt than their appearance. The disorder of the -rooms in which they live may partly be accounted for by the fact that -there are neither cupboards nor drawers in them, and all possessions are -kept in large green and gold boxes, which must be unpacked when so much -as a pocket-handkerchief is needed, and frequently remain unpacked. -Sheikh Ḥassan's wife was a young and pretty woman, though her hair -dropped in wisps about her face and neck, and a dirty dressing gown -clothed a figure which had, alas! already fallen into ruin. - -But the view from Nakshibendi's balcony is immortal. The great and -splendid city of Damascus, with its gardens and its domes and its -minarets, lies spread out below, and beyond it the desert, the desert -reaching almost to its gates. And herein is the heart of the whole -matter. - -This is what I know of Damascus; as for the churches and the castles, -the gentry can see those for themselves. - - -[Footnote 8: Since I wrote these sentences, a turn of the political -wheel has brought him down, and he is now reduced to an unimportant post -in the island of Rhodes.] - - -[Illustration 81: A WATER SELLER] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - -The Vāli had inquired of me closely whither I was going from Damascus, -and when I told him that Ba'albek was my goal he had replied that he -must certainly send a small body of armed men to guard so distinguished -a traveller. Thereupon I had answered quickly, so as to avoid further -discussion, that I should go by train. But as I had in reality no -intention of adopting that means of progression it was necessary to make -an early start if I would journey alone. We left the city on a bright -and sunny morning; the roads were full of cheerful wayfarers, and our -horses tugged at the bits after the week's rest. We passed by the Amīr -'Umar's house in the Wādi Barada, and saw that nobleman enjoying the -morning sun upon his roof. He shouted down to me an invitation to enter, -but I replied that there was business on hand, and that he must let me -go. - -"Go in peace!" he answered. "Please God some day we may ride together." - -"Please God!" said I, and "God requite you!" - -A mile or two further we came to a parting of the ways and I altered my -route and struck straight into the Anti-Libanus the better to avoid the -attentions of all the official personages who had been warned to do me -honour. We rode up the beautiful valley of the Barada, which is full of -apricots (but they were not yet in flower), crossed the river above -Suḳ Wādi Barada, a splendid gorge, and journeyed over a plain between -snowy mountains to Zebdāny, famous for its apples. Here we pitched a -solitary camp in a green meadow by a spring, the snowy flanks of Hermon -closing the view to the south and the village scattered over the hill -slopes to the north, and no one in Zebdāny paid any attention to the -two small tents. Next day we crossed the Anti-Libanus in a howling wind; -a very lovely and enjoyable ride it was nevertheless, but a long stage -of eight and a quarter hours. There were Latin inscriptions cut at -intervals in the rocks all down the valley that falls into the -Yaḥfūfa at Jānta--I imagine we were on the Roman road from Damascus -to Ba'albek. The last long barren miles were done in driving rain and we -arrived wet through at Ba'albek. It was almost too windy to pitch a -camp, and yet my soul revolted against the thought of a hotel; -fortunately, Mikhāil suggested a resource. He knew, said he, a decent -Christian woman who lived at the entrance of the village and who would -doubtless give us a lodging. It happened as he had predicted. The -Christian woman was delighted to see us. Her house contained a clean -empty room which I was speedily made ready for my camp furniture, -Mikhāil established himself and his cooking gear in another, the wind -and the rain beat its worst against the shutters and could do us no -harm. - -The name of my hostess was Ḳurunfuleh, the Carnation Flower, and she -was wife to one Yūsef el 'Awais, who is at present seeking his fortune -in America, where she wishes to join him. I spent an hour or two with -her and her son and daughter and a few relations who had dropped in for -a little talk and a little music, bringing their lutes with them. They -told me that they were very anxious about their future. The greater part -of the population of Ba'albek and round about belongs to an unorthodox -sect of Islām, called the Metāwileh, which has a very special -reputation for fanaticism and ignorance. These people, when they heard -of the Japanese victories, would come and shake their fists at their -Christian neighbours, saying: "The Christians are suffering defeat! See -now, we too will shortly drive you out and seize your goods." Mikhāil -joined in, and declared that it was the same thing at Jerusalem. There, -said he (I know not with what truth), the Moslems had sent a deputation -to the Mufti, saying: "The time has come for us to turn the Christians -out." But the Mufti answered: "If you raise a disturbance the nations of -Europe will step in, for Jerusalem is the apple of their eye" (so the -Mufti affirmed), "and they will take the whole land and we shall be -worse off than before." I tried to comfort Ḳurunfuleh by saying that -it was improbable that the Christians of Syria should suffer -persecution, the country being so well known and so much frequented by -tourists, who would not fail to raise an outcry. The yearly stream of -tourists is, in fact, one of the best guarantees of order. Now -Ḳurunfuleh was a Lebanon woman, and I asked her why she did not return -to her own village, where she would be under the direct protection of -the Powers and exempt from danger. She said: - -[Illustration 82: SUḲ WĀDI BARADA] - -"Oh lady, the house here is taken in my husband's name, and I cannot -sell it unless he return, nor yet leave it empty, and moreover the life -in the Lebanon is not like the life in the plain, and I, being -accustomed to other things, could not endure it. There no one has any -business but to watch his neighbour, and if you put on a new skirt the -village will whisper together and mock at you saying, 'Hast seen the -lady?' Look you, I will show you what it is like to live in the Lebanon. -I eat meat in Ba'albek once a day, but they once a month. They take an -onion and divide it into three parts, using one part each evening to -flavour the burghul (cracked wheat), and I throw a handful of onions -into the dish every night. Life pinches in the Lebanon." - -Life pinches so straitly that all of the population that can scrape -together their passage money are leaving for the United States, and it -is next to impossible to find labour to cultivate the corn, the mulberry -and the vine. There is no advancement, to use the Syrian phrase. The -Lebanon province is a _cul de sac_, without a port of its own and -without commerce. True, you need not go in fear of death, but of what -advantage is an existence that offers no more than the third of an onion -at supper time? As usual, the Sublime Porte has been too many for the -Powers. It has accorded all they asked, oh yes, and gladly, but the -concessions that seemed to lay open the path of prosperity have in -reality closed the gates for ever upon those who should have profited by -them. - -Next day the rain had not abated. I received the Commissioner of Police, -who had run me to earth--he proved to be a charming man--and paid a -visit to a large family of Portuguese who were staying at the hotel hard -by my lodging. Monsieur Luiz de Sommar, with his wife and daughters and -nephews, had come up from Jerusalem to Damascus by the Jebel Druze. I -had heard of their arrival at Sweida while I was at Ṣalkhad, and had -wondered how they had gained admission. The story was curious and it -redounds to the credit of Monsieur de Sommar, while it shows how eager -the Government still is to keep the Mountain free from the prying eyes -of tourists. The Portuguese family had met Mr. Mark Sykes at 'Ammān, -and he had advised them to change their route so as to pass through -Ḳanawāt in the Jebel Druze, saying they would have no difficulty in -obtaining permission to do so. Monsieur de Sommar went guilelessly -forward, but when he reached Sweida, which is the chief post of the -Government, the Ḳāimaḳām stopped him and intimated politely but -firmly that he must return the way he had come. He replied as firmly -that he would not, and sent telegrams to his Consul in Damascus and his -Minister at Constantinople. Thereupon followed an excited exchange of -messages, the upshot of which was that he was to be allowed to proceed -to Ḳanawāt if he would take a hundred zaptiehs with him. The country, -said the Ḳāimaḳām, was extremely dangerous--that country through -which, as I know well, a woman can ride with no escort but a Druze boy, -and might ride alone, even if she had her saddle-bags full of gold. But -Monsieur de Sommar was a man of judgment. He replied that he was quite -willing to take the hundred zaptiehs, but not one piastre piece should -they receive from him. Thus countered, the Ḳāimaḳām changed his -note and diminished the escort till it numbered twenty, with which guard -the de Sommars reached Ḳanawāt in safety. I congratulated them on -their exploit, and myself on having sought my permit from Fellāḥ ul -Tsa, and not from the Vāli of Syria. - -[Illustration 83: BA'ALBEK] - -In spite of the rain, the day at Ba'albek was not mis-spent. Since my -last visit the Germans had excavated the Temple of the Sun and laid bare -altars, fountains, bits of decoration and foundations of churches, which -were all of the deepest interest. Moreover, the great group of temples -and enclosing walls set between the double range of mountains, Lebanon -and Anti-Libanus, produces an impression second to none save the Temple -group of the Athenian Acropolis, which is easily beyond a peer. The -details of Ba'albek are not so good as those at Athens; the matchless -dignity and restraint of that glory among the creations of architects -are not to be approached, nor is the splendid position on the hill top -overlooking the blue sea and the Gulf of Salamis to be rivalled. But in -general effect Ba'albek comes nearer to it than any other mass of -building, and it provides an endless source of speculation to such as -busy themselves with the combination of Greek and Asiatic genius that -produced it and covered its doorposts, its architraves and its capitals -with ornamental devices infinite in variety as they are lovely in -execution. For the archæologist there is neither clean nor unclean. All -the works of the human imagination fall into their appointed place in -the history of art, directing and illuminating his own understanding of -it. He is doubly blest, for when the outcome is beautiful to the eyes he -returns thanks; but, whatever the result, it is sure to furnish him with -some new and unexpected link between one art and another, and to provide -him with a further rung in the ladder of history. He is thus apt to be -well satisfied with what he sees, and above all, he does not say: "Alas, -alas! these dogs of Syrians! Phidias would have done so-and-so;" for he -is glad to mark a new attempt in the path of artistic endeavour, and a -fresh breath moving the acanthus leaves and the vine scrolls on capital -and frieze. - -[Illustration 84: THE GREAT COURT, BA'ALBEK] - -Our departure from Ba'albek was marked by a regrettable occurrence--my -dog Kurt was found to have disappeared in the night. Unlike most Syrian -pariah dogs, he was of a very friendly disposition, he was also (and in -this respect he did not differ from his half fed clan) insatiably -greedy; the probability was, therefore, that he had been lured away with -a bone and shut up till we were safely out of the road. Ḥabīb set off -in one direction through the village, Mikhāil in another, while the -Commissioner of Police, who had appeared on the agitated scene, tried to -pour balm upon my wounded feelings. After a few minutes Ḥabīb -reappeared with Kurt, all wag, behind him on a chain. He had found him, -he explained breathlessly, in the house of one who had thought to steal -him, fastened with this very chain: - -"And when Kurt heard my voice he barked, and I went into the yard and -saw him. And the lord of the chain demanded it of me, and by God! I -refused to give it him and struck him to the earth with it instead. God -curse him for a thievish Metāwileh! And so I left him." - -I have, therefore, the pleasure to record that the Metāwileh are as -dishonest a sect as rumour would have them to be, but that their -machinations can be brought to nought by vigilant Christians. - -[Illustration 85: COLUMNS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN, BA'ALBEK] - -We rode down the wide and most dreary valley between Lebanon and -Anti-Libanus. I might have gone by train to Ḥomṣ, and eke to -Ḥamāh, but I preferred to cross from side to side of the valley as -the fancy took me, and visit such places of interest as the country had -to show, and this could only be done on horseback. North of Ba'albek all -Syria was new to me; it marked an epoch, too, that we had reached the -frontier of the Palestine Exploration Map. I now had recourse to -Kiepert's small but excellent sheet, which I had abstracted from the -volume of Oppenheim that had been left at Ṣāleh. There is no other -satisfactory map until, at a line some thirty miles south of Aleppo, -Kiepert's big Kleinasien 1-400,000 begins; when the American Survey -publishes its geographical volume the deficiency will, I hope, be -rectified. After four and a half hours we came to Lebweh, where one of -the principal sources of the Orontes bursts out of the earth in a number -of springs, very beautiful to see; and here we were overtaken by two -soldiers who had been sent after us by the Ḳāimaḳām with a polite -inquiry as to whether I would not like an escort. I sent one back and -kept the other, fearing to hurt the Ḳāimaḳām's feelings; Derwīsh -was the man's name, helpful and pleasant he proved, as indeed were all -in the long series of his successors who accompanied us until I stepped -into the train at Konia. Some of them added greatly to the pleasure of -the journey, telling me many tales of their experiences and adventures -as we rode together hour by hour. They enjoyed the break in garrison -life that was thus afforded them, and they enjoyed also the daily fee of -a mejideh (4_s._ roughly) which was so much more certain than the -Sultan's pay. I gave them besides a little tip when they reached the -term of their services, and they fed themselves and their horses on -provisions and grain that I shrewdly suspect were taken from the -peasantry by force, a form of official exaction that the traveller is -powerless to prevent. - -At Lebweh are the ruins of a temple built in the massive masonry of -Ba'albek. A podium of four great courses of stones crowned by a simple -moulding, a mere splay face, is all that is left of it. The village -belongs to a man called Asad Beg, a rich Metāwileh and brother to a -certain Dr. Haida, who is a ubiquitous person well known in north Syria. -I never go to Damascus without meeting him and never meet him without -satisfaction, for he is well read in Arabic literature and exceptionally -intelligent. He has recently been engaged in some job on the Mecca -railway, and he is, so far as I know, the only example in his sect of a -man who has received a good education and risen to a certain -distinction. - -We pitched camp at Rās Ba'albek, where there is an excellent spring in -a gorge of the barren eastern hills an hour and a half from Lebweh. The -frost had ceased to pinch us of a morning, praise be to God! but it was -still cold. When we rose at dawn the sleet was beating against the tents -and we rode all day in the devil's own wind. This was March 8; Spring -travels slowly into Northern Syria. I sent my camp by the direct path -and rode with Derwīsh to a monument that stands on some rising ground -in the middle of the Orontes valley and which in that desolate expanse -is seen for a day's journey on either side. It is a tall tower of -massive stonework capped by a pyramid and decorated with pilasters and -a rough frieze carved in low relief with hunting scenes and trophies of -arms. The Syrians call it Ḳāmu'a Hurmul, the Tower of Hurmul after -the village close by, and the learned are of opinion that it -commemorates some great battle of the Roman conquest, but there is no -inscription to prove them right or wrong. It lies two hours to the west -of Rās Ba'albek. Buffeted by the furious wind we rode on another hour -and a half to a line of little mounds protecting the air-holes of an -underground water channel--a Ḳanāt it would be called in Persian, and -I believe is so called in Arabic. Another two and a half hours brought -us to Ḳṣeir, the mules came up a quarter of an hour later, and we -camped hard by the cemetery outside the ugly mud-built town. The wind -dropped after sunset, and peace, moral and physical, settled down upon -the camp. Even Mikhāil's good humour had been somewhat disturbed by the -elements, but Ḥabīb had come in as smiling as ever, and I am glad to -remember that I, feeling my temper slipping from me down the gale, had -preserved the silence of the philosopher. Muḥammad the Druze was no -longer with us, for he had been left behind in Damascus. Whether through -his own fault or by reason of a conspiracy against him among the others, -difficulties and quarrels were always arising, and it was better to -sacrifice one member of the staff and preserve the equanimity of the -caravan. My contract with him ceased at Damascus; we parted on the best -of terms, and his place was taken by a succession of hirelings, -indistinguishable, as far as I was concerned, the one from the other. - -[Illustration 86: TEMPLE OF JUPITER, BA'ALBEK] - -The valley of the Orontes was formerly an Arab camping ground and is -still frequented in dry seasons by a few skeikhs of the Ḥaseneh and of -the 'Anazeh, particularly by the Ruwalla branch of the latter tribe, but -the bulk of the Bedouin have been driven out by cultivation. The -Ḳāmu'a Hurmul bears the record of them in the shape of ancient tribe -marks. It was more curious to reflect that we were in the southern -headquarters of the Hittites, whoever they may have been; the famous -examples of their as yet undecyphered script which were found at -Ḥamāh are now lodged in the museum at Constantinople, where they have -baffled all the efforts of the learned. The present population of -Ḳṣeir is composed partly of Christians and partly of the members of -a sect called the Noṣairiyyeh. They are not recognised by Islām as -orthodox, though, like all the smaller sects, they do their best to -smooth, away the outward differences between themselves and the dominant -creed. They keep the tenets of their faith secret as far as possible, -but Dussaud has pried into the heart of them and found them full of the -traces of Phœnician tradition. Living apart in mountain fastnesses that -have remained almost inviolate, the Noṣairiyyeh have held on to the -practices of ancient Semitic cults, and they occupy an honourable -position in the eyes of Syriologists as the direct descendants of -paganism, while remaining themselves profoundly ignorant of their -ancestry. Native report speaks ill of their religion, following the -invariable custom by which people whisper scandal of what they are not -allowed to understand, and I was told that the visible signs of it as -expressed by the conduct of the sect left everything to be desired. -Dussaud has, however, washed away the stain that lay upon their faith, -and my experience of their dealings with strangers leads me to adopt an -attitude of benevolent neutrality. I spent five days in the mountains -west of Ḥomṣ and a week near Antioch, in which districts they are -chiefly to be found, and had no reason to raise a complaint. Kurt was -not so well pleased with the company in which he found himself at -Ḳṣeir. He kept up a continual barking all night; I could almost have -wished him back in the courtyard of the Metawīleh. - -Next day the weather was gloriously fine. With Mikhāil I made a long -circuit that I might visit Tell Nebi Mendu, which is the site of Kadesh -on the Orontes, the southern capital of the Hittites. Kadesh in its day -must have been a fair city. The mound on which it was built rises out of -a great corn-growing plain; to the south the wide valley of the Orontes -runs up between the twin chains of Lebanon, to the west the Jebel -Noṣairiyyeh protect it from the sea, and between the ranges of Lebanon -and the Noṣairiyyeh mountains there is a smiling lowland by which -merchants and merchandise might pass down to the coast. Northwards to -the horizon stretch the plains of Coelo Syria; the steppes of the -Palmyrene desert bound the view to the east. The foot of the tell is -washed by the young and eager Orontes (the Rebellious is the meaning of -its Arabic name), and in the immediate foreground lies the lake of -Ḥomṣ, six miles long. The mound of Kadesh is approached by grassy -swards, and among willow trees a mill wheel turns merrily in the rushing -stream. The site must have been inhabited almost continuously from -Hittite times, for history tells of a Seleucid city, Laodocia ad -Orontem, and there are traces of a Christian town. Each succeeding -generation has built upon the dust of those that went before, and the -mound has grown higher and higher, and doubtless richer and richer in -the traces of them that lived on it. But it cannot be excavated -thoroughly owing to the miserable mud hovels that have inherited the -glories of Laodocia and Kadesh, and to the little graveyard at the -northern end of the village which, according to the Moslem prejudice, -must remain undisturbed till Gabriel's trump rouses the sleepers in it. -I noticed fragments of columns and of very rough capitals lying about -among the houses, but my interest, while I stood upon the mound, was -chiefly engaged in picturing the battle fought at Kadesh by the Hittite -king against the Pharaoh of his time, which is recorded in a famous -series of hieroglyphs in Egypt. A quarter of an hour's ride to the north -of Tell Nebi Mendu there is a singular earthwork which is explained by -the Arabs as being the Sefinet Nuh (Noah's Ark) and by archæologists as -an Assyrian fortification, and the one account of its origin has as much -to support it as the other. It is a heap of earth, four-square, its -sides exactly oriented to the points of the compass, standing some forty -to fifty feet above the level of the plain and surrounded by a ditch, -the angles of which are still sharp. We rode to the top of it, and found -it to be an immense platform of solid earth, about an eighth of a mile -square, the four corners raised a little as if there had been towers -upon them, and tower and rampart and platform were alike covered with -springing corn. Whoever raised it, Patriarch or Assyrian, must have -found it mighty tiresome to construct, but until a few trenches have -been cut across it the object that directed his labours will rest -undetermined. We rode down to the lake and lunched by the lapping water -on a beach of clean shells. There are two mounds close to the shores, -another a mile or two out of Ḥomṣ, while the castle of Ḥomṣ -itself was built upon a fourth. They have all the appearance of being -artificial, and probably contain the relics of towns that were sisters -to Kadesh. The fertile plain east of the Orontes must always have been -able to support a large population, larger perhaps in Hittite days than -in our own. The day's ride had lasted from 9.30 to 2 o'clock, with -three-quarters of an hour at Tell Nebi Mendu and half an hour by the -lake. - -[Illustration 87: CAPITALS IN THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER, BA'ALBEK] - -We approached Ḥomṣ through the cemeteries. That it should be -preceded by a quarter of a mile of graves is not a peculiarity of -Ḥomṣ, but a constant feature of oriental towns. Every city is -guarded by battalions of the dead, and the life of the town moves in and -out through a regiment of turbaned tombstones. It happened to be a -Thursday when we came to Ḥomṣ, and Thursday is the weekly Day of All -Souls in the Mohammedan world. Groups of veiled women were laying -flowers upon the graves or sitting on the mounds engaged in animated -chat--the graveyard is the pleasure ground of Eastern women and the -playground of the children, nor do the gloomy associations of the spot -affect the cheerfulness of the visitors. My camp was pitched in the -outskirts of the city on a stretch of green grass below the ruins of -barracks built by Ibrahīm Pasha and destroyed immediately after his -death by the Syrians, who were desirous of obliterating every trace of -his hated occupation. All was ready for me, water boiling for tea and a -messenger from the Ḳāimaḳām in waiting to assure me that my every -wish should have immediate attention, in spite of which I do not like -the town of Ḥomṣ and never of free will shall I camp in it again. -This resolution is due to the behaviour of the inhabitants, which I will -now describe. - -[Illustration 88: FOUNTAIN IN THE GREAT COURT, BA'ALBEK] - -[Illustration 89: FRAGMENT OF ENTABLATURE, BA'ALBEK] - -The conduct of the Ḳāimaḳām was unexceptionable. I visited him -after tea, and found him to be an agreeable Turk, with a little of the -Arabic tongue and an affable address. There were various other people -present, turbaned muftis and grave senators--we had a pleasant talk over -our coffee. When I rose to go the Ḳāimaḳām offered me a soldier to -escort me about the town, but I refused, saying that I had nothing to -fear, since I spoke the language. I was wrong: no knowledge of Arabic -would be sufficient to enable the stranger to express his opinion of the -people of Ḥomṣ. Before I was well within the bazaar the persecution -began. I might have been the Pied Piper of Hamelin from the way the -little boys flocked upon my heels. I bore their curiosity for some time, -then I adjured them, then I turned for help to the shopkeepers in the -bazaars. This was effective for a while, but when I was so unwary as to -enter a mosque, not only the little boys but every male inhabitant of -Ḥomṣ (or so it seemed to my fevered imagination) crowded in after -me. They were not annoyed, they had no wish to stop me, on the contrary -they desired eagerly that I should go on for a long time, that they -might have a better opportunity of watching me; but it was more than I -could bear, and I fled back to my tents, pursued by some two hundred -pairs of inquisitive eyes, and sent at once for a zaptieh. Next morning -I was wiser and took the zaptieh with me from the first. We climbed to -the top of the castle mound to gain a general idea of the town. Though -it has no particular architectural beauty, Ḥomṣ has a character of -its own. It is built of tufa, the big houses standing round courtyards -adorned with simple but excellent patterns of white limestone let into -the black walls. Sometimes the limestone is laid in straight courses, -making with the tufa alternate bars of black and white like the facade -of Siena cathedral. The mind is carried back the more to Italy by the -minarets, which are tall square towers, for all the world like the -towers of San Gimignano, except that those of Ḥomṣ are capped by a -white cupola, very pretty and effective. All that remained of the castle -was Arabic in origin, and so were the fortifications round the town, -save at one place to the east, where the Arab work seemed to rest on -older foundations. I saw no mass of building of pre-Mohammedan date but -one, a brick ruin outside the Tripoli gate which was certainly Roman, -the sole relic of the Roman city of Emesa. The castle mound is also -outside the town, and when I had completed my general survey we entered -by the western gate and went sight-seeing. This is a process which takes -time, for it is constantly interrupted by pressing invitations to come -in and drink coffee. We passed by the Turkmān Jāmi'a, where there are -a couple of Greek inscriptions built into the minaret and a sarcophagus, -carved with bulls' heads and garlands, that serves as a fountain. The -zaptieh was of opinion that I could not do better than pay my respects -to the Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church, and to his palace I went, -but found that I was still too early to see his lordship. I was -entertained, however, on jam and water and coffee, and listened to the -lamentations of the Bishop's secretary over the Japanese victories. The -Greek Orthodox Church held penitential services each time that they -received the news of a Russian defeat, and at that moment they were kept -busy entreating the Almighty to spare the enemies of Christendom. The -secretary deputed a servant to show me the little church of Mār Eliās, -which contains, an interesting marble sarcophagus with Latin crosses -carved on the body of it and Greek crosses on the lid, a later addition, -I fancy, to a classical tomb. Outside the church I met one called 'Abd -ul Wahhāb Beg, whom I had seen at the Serāya when I was calling on the -Ḳāimaḳām, and he invited me into his house, a fine example of the -domestic architecture of Ḥomṣ, the harem court being charmingly -decorated with patterns in limestone and basalt. When I came out, the -zaptieh, who had grasped what sort of sight it was I wished to see, -announced that he would take me to the house of one Ḥassan Beg Nā'i, -which was the oldest in Ḥomṣ. Thither we went, and as we passed -through the narrow but remarkably clean streets I noticed that in almost -every house there was a loom, whereon a weaver was weaving the striped -silk for which Ḥomṣ is famous, while down most of the thoroughfares -were stretched the silken yarns. The zaptieh said that the workers were -paid by the piece, and earned from seven to twelve piastres a day (one -to two shillings), a handsome wage in the East. Living was cheap, he -added; a poor man could rent his house, that is a single room, for a -hundred piastres a year, and feed his family on thirty to forty piastres -a week or even less if he had not many children. - -[Illustration 90: BASILICA OF CONSTANTINE, BA'ALBEK] - -Ḥassan Beg Nā'i was a red-haired and red-bearded man, with a -hard-featured face of a Scotch lowland type. He was not at all pleased -to see me, but, at the instance of the zaptieh, he slouched out of his -bachelor quarters, where he was drinking a Friday morning cup of coffee -with his friends, took me across the street to his harem, and left me -with his womenkind, who were as friendly as he was surly. They were, -indeed, delighted to have a visitor, for Ḥassan Beg is a strict -master, and neither his wife nor his mother nor any woman that is his is -allowed to put her nose out of doors, not even to take a walk through -the graveyard or to drive down to the meadow by the Orontes on a fine -summer afternoon. The harem had been a very beautiful Arab house on the -model of the houses of Damascus. There were plaster cupolas over the -rooms and over the liwān (the audience hall at the bottom of the -court), but the plaster was chipping away and the floors and staircases -crumbled beneath the feet of those that trod them. A marble column with -an acanthus capital was built into one wall, and on the floor of the -liwān stood a big marble capital, simple in style but good of its kind. -It had been converted into a water basin, and may have done duty as a -font before the Arabs took Emesa and after the earlier buildings of the -Roman town had begun to fall into decay and their materials to be put to -other uses. I passed as I went home a fine square minaret, built of -alternate bands of black and white. The mosque or the Christian church -to which the tower belonged had fallen; it is reputed, said my zaptieh, -to be the oldest tower in the town. The mosque at the entrance of the -bazaar was certainly a church of no mean architectural merit. - -[Illustration 91: A STONE IN THE QUARRY, BA'ALBEK] - -There was nothing more to see in Ḥomṣ, and as the afternoon was fine -I rode down to the meadow by the Orontes, the fashionable resort of all -holiday makers in spring and summer. The course of the Orontes leaves -Ḥomṣ a good mile to the south-west, and the water supply is both bad -and insufficient, being derived from a canal that begins at the northern -end of the lake. The Marj ul 'Asi, the meadow of the Orontes, is a good -type of the kind of place in which the Oriental, be he Turk or Syrian or -Persian, delights to spend his leisure. "Three things there are," says -an Arabic proverb, "that ease the heart from sorrow: water, green grass -and the beauty of women." The swift Orontes stream flowed by swards -already starred with daisies, where Christian ladies, most perfunctorily -veiled, alighted from their mules under willow trees touched with the -first breath of spring. The river turned a great Na'oura, a Persian -wheel, which filled the air with its pleasant rumbling. A coffee maker -had set up his brazier by the edge of the road, a sweetmeat seller was -spreading out his wares by the waterside, and on a broader stretch of -grass a few gaily dressed youths galloped and wheeled Arab mares. The -East made holiday in her own simple and satisfactory manner, warmed by -her own delicious sun. - -[Illustration 92: RĀS UL 'AIN, BA'ALBEK] - -The rest of the afternoon was devoted to society and to fruitless -attempts to escape from the curiosity of the townsfolk. It was a Friday -afternoon, and no better way of spending it occurred to them than to -assemble to the number of many hundreds round my tents and observe every -movement of every member of the camp. The men were bad enough, but the -women were worse and the children were the worst of all. Nothing could -keep them off, and the excitement reached a climax when 'Abd ul Ḥamed -Pasha Druby, the richest man in Ḥomṣ, came to call, bringing with -him the Ḳāḍi Muḥammad Sāid ul Khāni. I could not pay as much -attention to their delightful and intelligent conversation as it -deserved, owing to the seething crowd that surrounded us, but an hour -later I returned their call at the Pasha's fine new house at the gate of -the town, accompanied thither by at least three hundred people. I must -have breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed upon my escort, for -as I established myself in the cool and quiet liwan, 'Abd ul Ḥamed -said: - -[Illustration 93: CEDARS OF LEBANON] - -"Please God the populace does not trouble your Excellency; for if so we -will order out a regiment of soldiers." - -I murmured a half-hearted refusal of his offer, though I would have been -glad to have seen those little boys shot down by volleys of musketry, -and the Pasha added reflectively: - -"The Emperor of the Germans when he was in Damascus gave orders that no -one was to be forbidden to come and gaze on him." - -With this august example before me I saw that I must bear the penalties -of greatness and foreignness without complaint. - -The talk turned on religious beliefs. I began by asking about the -Noṣairiyyeh, but the Ḳāḍi pursed his lips and answered: - -[Illustration 94: THE ḲĀMU'A HURMUL] - -"They are not pleasant people. Some of them pretend to worship 'Ali and -some worship the sun. They believe that when they die their souls pass -into the bodies of other men or even animals, as it is in the faiths of -India and of China." - -I said: "I have heard a story that they tell of a man who owned a -vineyard, and the man died and left it to his son. Now the young man -worked in the vineyard until the time of the harvest, and when the -grapes were ripe a wolf entered in, and every evening he ate the fruit. -And the young man tried to hunt him forth, and every evening he -returned. And one night the wolf cried aloud: 'Shall I not eat of the -grapes who planted the vines?' And the young man was astounded and he -said: 'Who art thou?' The wolf replied: 'I am thy father.' The young man -answered: 'If thou art indeed my father, where did'st hide the pruning -knife, for I have not found it since thy soul left thy body!' Then the -wolf took him to the place where the pruning knife lay concealed, and he -believed and knew it was his father." - -[Illustration 95: AN EASTERN HOLIDAY] - -The Ḳāḍi dismissed, the evidence. - -"Without doubt they are mighty liars," said he. - -I asked him next whether he had any acquaintance with the Behā'is. He -answered: - -[Illustration 96: A STREET IN ḤOMṢ] - -"As for the Behā'is and others like them, your Excellency knows that -the Prophet (may God give him peace!) said that there were seventy-two -false creeds and but one true, and I can tell you that of the -seventy-two there are certainly fifty in our country." - -I replied that it appertained to prophets alone to distinguish the true -from the false, and that we in Europe, where there were none to help us, -found it a difficult task. - -"In Europe," said the Ḳāḍi, "I have heard that the men of science -are your prophets." - -"And they make answer that they know nothing," I observed. "Their eyes -have explored the stars, yet they cannot tell us the meaning of the word -infinity." - -"If you speak of the infinite sky," remarked the Ḳāḍi, "we know -that it is occupied by seven heavens." - -"And what beyond the seventh heaven?" - -"Does not your Excellency know that the number one is the beginning of -all things?" said he. "When you have told me what comes before the -number one, I will tell you what lies beyond the seventh heaven." - -The Pasha laughed, and said that if the Ḳāḍi had finished his -argument he would like to ask me what was the current opinion in Europe -in the matter of thought-reading. "For," said he, "a month ago a ring of -price was stolen in my house, and I could not find the thief. Now a -certain Effendi among my friends, hearing of my case, came to me and -said: 'I know a man in the Lebanon skilful in these things.' I said: 'Do -me the kindness to send for him.' And the man came, and he sought in -Ḥomṣ, until he found a woman gifted with second sight, and he worked -spells on her until she spoke and said: 'The thief is so-and-so, and he -has taken the ring to his house.' And we sought in the house and found -the jewel. This is my experience, for the event happened under my eyes." - -I replied that thought-readers in the Lebanon made a better use of their -gifts than any I had heard of in London, and the Pasha said -meditatively: - -"It may be that the woman of the bazaar had a complaint against the man -in whose house we found the ring--God alone knows, may His name be -exalted!" - -And so we left it. - -When I returned to my tent I found a visiting card on my table, bearing -the name and title, "Hanna Khabbāz, the preacher of the Protestant -Church at Ḥomṣ." Beneath this inscription was written the following -message: "Madam,--My wife and I are ready to do any service you need in -the name of Christ and the humanity. We should like to visit you if you -kindly accept us. I am, your obedient servant." I sent word that I would -kindly accept them if they would come at once, and they appeared before -sundown, two friendly people, very eager to offer me hospitality, of -which I had no opportunity to take advantage. I regretted it the less -because the Pasha and the Ḳāḍi had been good enough company for one -afternoon, and when I look back on the tumultuous visit to Ḥomṣ, the -hour spent with those two courteous and well-bred Mohammadans stands out -like the memory of a sheltered spot in a gale of wind. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - -We left next day at an early hour, but the people of Ḥomṣ got up to -see us off. Nothing save the determination to afford them no more -amusement than I could help kept me outwardly calm. In a quarter of an -hour we had passed beyond the Tripoli Gate, and the Roman brickwork, and -beyond the range of vision of the furthest sighted of the little boys; -the peaceful beauty of the morning invaded our senses, and I turned to -make the acquaintance of the companions with whom the Ḳāimaḳām had -provided me. They were four in number, and two of them were free and two -were bound. The first two were Kurdish zaptiehs; one was charged to show -me the way to Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, and the other to guard over the -second pair of my fellow travellers, a couple of prisoners who had been -on the Ḳāimaḳām's hands for some days past, waiting until he could -find a suitable opportunity, such as that afforded by my journey, to -send them to the fortress in the Jebel Noṣairiyyeh, and so to the -great prison at Tripoli. They were clad, poor wretches, in ragged cotton -clothes and handcuffed together. As they trudged along bravely through -dust and mud, I proffered a word of sympathy, to which they replied that -they hoped God might prolong my life, but as for them it was the will of -their lord the Sultan that they should tramp in chains. One of the Kurds -interrupted with the explanation: - -"They are deserters from the Sultan's army: may God reward them -according to their deeds! Moreover, they are Ismailis from Selemiyyeh, -and they worship a strange god who lives in the land of Hind. And some -say she is a woman, and for that reason they worship her. And every year -she sends an embassy to this country to collect the money that is due to -her, and even the poorest of the Ismailis provide her with a few -piastres. And yet they declare that they are Muslims: who knows what -they believe? Speak, oh Khuḍr, and tell us what you believe." - -The prisoner thus addressed replied doggedly: - -"We are Muslims;" but the soldier's words had given me a clue which I -was able to follow up when the luckless pair crept close to my horse's -side and whispered: - -"Lady, lady! have you journeyed to the land of Hind?" - -"Yes," said I. - -"May God make it Yes upon you! Have you heard there of a great king -called the King Muḥammad?" - -Again I was able to reply in the affirmative, and even to add that I -myself knew him and had conversed with him, for their King Muḥammad -was no other than my fellow subject the Agha Khān, and the religion of -the prisoners boasted a respectable antiquity, having been founded by -him whom we call the Old Man of the Mountain. They were the humble -representatives of the dreaded (and probably maligned) sect of the -Assassins. - -Khuḍr caught my stirrup with his free hand and said eagerly: - -"Is he not a great king?" - -But I answered cautiously, for though the Agha Khān is something of a -great king in the modern sense, that is to say he is exceedingly -wealthy, it would have been difficult to explain to his disciples -exactly what the polished, well-bred man of the world was like whom I -had last met at a London dinner party, and who had given me the -Marlborough Club as his address. Not that these things, if they could -have understood them, would have shocked them; the Agha Khān is a law -unto himself, and if he chose to indulge in far greater excesses than -dinner parties his actions would be sanctified by the mere fact that -they were his. His father used to give letters of introduction to the -Angel Gabriel, in order to secure for his clients a good place in -Paradise; the son, with his English education and his familiarity with -European thought, has refrained from exercising this privilege, though -he has not ceased to hold, in the opinion of his followers, the keys of -heaven. They show their belief in him in a substantial manner by -subscribing, in various parts of Asia and Africa, a handsome income that -runs yearly into tens of thousands. - -[Illustration 97: COFFEE BY THE ROAD-SIDE] - -We rode for about an hour through gardens, meeting bands of low-caste -Arabs jogging into Ḥomṣ on their donkeys with milk and curds for the -market, and then we came to the plain beyond the Orontes, which is the -home of these Arabs. The plain had a familiar air; it was not dissimilar -from the country in the Druze hills, and like the Ḥaurān it was -covered with black volcanic stones. It is a vast quarry for the city of -Ḥomṣ. All the stones that are used for building are brought from -beyond the river packed on donkeys. They are worth a metalīk in the -town (now a metalīk is a coin too small to possess a European -counterpart), and a man with a good team can earn up to ten piastres a -day. In the Spring the only Arabs who camp in the Wa'r Ḥomṣ, the -Stony Plain of Ḥomṣ, are a despised race that caters for the needs -of the city, for, mark you, no Bedouin who respected himself would earn -a livelihood by selling curds or by any other means except battle; but -in the summer the big tribes such as the Ḥaseneh settle there for a -few months, and after the harvest certain of the 'Anazeh who feed their -camels upon the stubble. These great folk are much like salmon in a -trout stream coming in from the open sea and bullying the lesser fry. -When we passed in March there was a good deal of standing water in the -plain, and grass and flowers grew between the stones; and as we -journeyed westward, over ground that rose gradually towards the hills, -we came into country that was like an exquisite garden of flowers. Pale -blue hyacinths lifted their clustered bells above the tufa blocks, -irises and red anemones and a yellow hawksweed and a beautiful purple -hellebore dotted the grass--all the bounties of the Syrian Spring were -scattered on that day beneath our happy feet. For the first five hours -we followed the carriage road that leads to Tripoli, passing the khān -that marks the final stage before the town of Ḥomṣ, and the boundary -line between the vilayets of Damascus and of Beyrout; then we turned to -the right and entered a bridle-path that lay over a land of rolling -grass, partly cultivated and fuller of flowers than the edges of the -road had been. The anemones were of every shade of white and purple, -small blue irises clustered by the path and yellow crocuses by the banks -of the stream. In the eyes of one who had recently crossed southern -Syria the grass was even more admirable than the flowers. The highest -summits of the Jebel Noṣairiyyeh are clad with a verdure that no -fertile slope in Samaria or Judæa, can boast. The path mounted a little -ridge and dropped down to a Kurdish village, half Arab tent and half -mud-built wall. The inhabitants must have been long in Syria, for they -had forgotten their own tongue and spoke nothing but Arabic, though, -like the two zaptiehs, they spoke with the clipped accent of the Kurd. -Beyond the village a plain some three miles wide, the Bḳei'a, -stretched to the foot of the steep buttress of the Noṣairiyyeh hills, -and from the very top of the mountain frowned the great crusader -fortress towards which we were going. The sun shone on its turrets, but -a black storm was creeping up behind it; we could hear the thunder -rumbling in the hills, and jagged lightning shot through the clouds -behind the castle. The direct road across the Bḳei'a was impassable -for horsemen, owing to the flooded swamps, which were deep enough, said -the villagers, to engulf a mule and its load; we turned therefore -reluctantly to the right, and edged round the foot of the hills. Before -we had gone far we met two riders sent out to welcome us by the -Ḳāimaḳām of Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, and as they joined us the storm -broke and enveloped us in sheets of rain. Splashing through the mud and -drenched with rain we reached the foot of the hills at five o'clock, and -here I left my caravan to follow the road, and with one of the -Ḳāimaḳām's horsemen climbed by a steep and narrow bridle-path -straight up to the hill top. And so at sunset we came to the Dark Tower -and rode through a splendid Arab gateway into a vaulted corridor, built -over a winding stair. It was almost night within; a few loopholes let in -the grey dusk from outside and provided the veriest apology for -daylight. At intervals we passed doorways leading into cavernous -blackness. The stone steps were shallow and wide but much broken; the -horses stumbled and clanked over them as we rode up and up, turned corner -after corner, and passed under gateway after gateway until the last -brought us out into the courtyard in the centre of the keep. I felt as -though I were riding with some knight of the Fairy Queen, and half -expected to see written over the arches: "Be bold!" "Be bold!" "Be not -too bold!" But there was no magician in the heart of the castle--nothing -but a crowd of villagers craning their necks to see us, and the -Ḳāimaḳām, smiling and friendly, announcing that he could not think -of letting me pitch a camp on such a wet and stormy night, and had -prepared a lodging for me in the tower. - -[Illustration 98: ḲAL'AT EL ḤUṢN] - -The Ḳāimaḳām of Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn is a distinguished man of -letters. His name is 'Abd ul Ḥamid Beg Rāfi'a Zādeh, and his family -comes from Egypt, where many of his cousins are still to be found. He -lives in the topmost tower of the keep, where he had made ready a guest -chamber commodiously fitted with carpets and a divan, a four-post -bedstead and a mahogany wardrobe with looking-glass doors of which the -glass had been so splintered in the journey a camel back from Tripoli -that it was impossible to see the smallest corner of one's face in it. I -was wet through, but the obligations of good society had to be -fulfilled, and they demanded that we should sit down on the divan and -exchange polite phrases while I drank glasses of weak tea. My host was -preoccupied and evidently disinclined for animated conversation--for a -good reason, as I subsequently found--but on my replying to his first -greeting he heaved a sigh of relief, and exclaimed: - -"Praise be to God! your Excellency speaks Arabic. We had feared that we -should not be able to talk with you, and I had already invited a Syrian -lady who knows the English tongue to spend the evening for the purpose -of interpreting." - -[Illustration 99: ḲAL'AT EL ḤUṢN, INTERIOR OF THE CASTLE] - -We kept up a disjointed chat for an hour while the damp soaked more and -more completely through my coat and skirts and it was not until long -after the mules had arrived and their packs had been unloaded that the -Ḳāimaḳām rose and took his departure, saying that he would leave -me to rest. We had, in fact, made a long day's march; it had taken the -muleteers eleven hours to reach Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn. I had barely had -time to change my wet clothes before a discreet knocking at the inner -door announced the presence of the womenfolk. I opened at once and -admitted a maid servant, and the wife of the Ḳāimaḳām, and a -genteel lady who greeted me in English of the most florid kind. This -last was the Sitt Ferīdeh, the Christian wife of the Government land -surveyor, who is also a Christian. She had been educated at a missionary -school in Tripoli, and I was not long left in ignorance of the fact that -she was an authoress, and that her greatest work was the translation of -the "Last Days of Pompeii" into Arabic. The Ḳāimaḳām's wife was a -young woman with apple cheeks, who would have been pretty if she had not -been inordinately fat. She was his second wife; he had married her only -a month or two before, on the death of his first, the mother of his -children. She was so shy that it was some time before she ventured to -open her lips in my presence, but the Sitt Ferīdeh carried off the -situation with a gushing volubility, both in English and in Arabic, and -a cheerful air of emphasising by her correct demeanour the fervour of -her Christianity. She was a pleasant and intelligent woman, and I -enjoyed her company considerably more than that of my hostess. The first -word that the Khānum ventured to utter was, however, a welcome one, for -she asked when I would please to dine. I replied with enthusiasm, that -no hour could be too early for me, and we crossed a muddy courtyard and -entered a room in which a bountiful meal had been spread out. Here we -were joined by an ancient dame who was presented to me as "a friend who -has come to gaze upon your Excellency," and we all sat down to the best -of dinners eaten by one at least of the party with the best of sauces. -A thick soup and four enormous dishes of meat and vegetables, topped by -a rice pudding, composed the repast. When dinner was over we returned to -my room, a brazier full of charcoal was brought in, together with -hubble-bubbles for the ladies, and we settled ourselves to an evening's -talk. The old woman refused to sit on the divan, saying that she was -more accustomed to the floor, and disposed herself neatly as close as -possible to the brazier, holding out her wrinkled hands over the glowing -coals. She was clad in black, and her head was covered by a thick white -linen cloth, which was bound closely above her brow and enveloped her -chin, giving her the air of some aged prioress of a religious order. -Outside the turret room the wind howled; the rain beat against the -single window, and the talk turned naturally to deeds of horror and such -whispered tales of murder and death as must have startled the shadows in -that dim room for many and many a century. A terrible domestic tragedy -had fallen upon the Ḳāimaḳām ten days before: his son had been -shot by a schoolfellow at Tripoli in some childish quarrel--the women -seemed to think it not unusual that a boy's sudden anger should have -such consequences. The Ḳāimaḳām had been summoned by telegraph he -had ridden down the long mountain road with fear clutching at his heart, -only to find the boy dead, and his sorrow had been almost more than he -could bear. So said the Sitt Ferīdeh. - -The ancient crone rocked herself over the brazier and muttered: - -"Murder is like the drinking of milk here! God! there is no other but -Thou." - -A fresh gust of wind swept round the tower, and the Christian woman took -up the tale. - -"This Khānum," said she, nodding her head towards the figure by the -brazier, "knows also what it is to weep. Her son was but now murdered in -the mountains by a robber who slew him with his knife. They found his -body lying stripped by the path." - -The mother bent anew over the charcoal, and the glow flushed her worn -old face. - -"Murder is like the spilling of water!" she groaned. "Oh Merciful!" - -It was late when the women left me. One of them offered to pass the -night in my room, but I refused politely and firmly. - -[Illustration 100: WINDOWS OF THE BANQUET HALL] - -Next day I was wakened by thunder and by hailstones rattling against my -shutters. There was nothing for it but to spend another twenty-four -hours under the Ḳāimaḳām's roof and be thankful that we had a roof -to spend them under. I explored the castle from end to end, with immense -satisfaction to the eternal child that lives in the soul of all of us -and takes more delight in the dungeons and battlements of a fortress -than in any other relic of antiquity. Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn is so large -that half the population of the village is lodged in the vaulted -substructures of the keep, while the garrison occupies the upper towers. -The walls of the keep rise from a moat inside the first line of -fortifications, the line through which we had passed the night before by -the vaulted gallery. The butcher of the castle lodged by the gateway of -the inner wall; every morning he killed a sheep on the threshold, and -those who went out stepped across a pool of blood as though some -barbaric sacrifice were performed daily at the gate. The keep contained -a chapel, now converted into a mosque and a banquet hall with Gothic -windows, the tracery of which was blocked with stones to guard those who -dwelt within against the cold. The tower in which I was lodged farmed -part of the highest of the defences and rose above three stories of -vaults. A narrow passage from it along the top of the wall led into a -great and splendid chamber, beyond which was a round tower containing a -circular room roofed by a fourfold vault, and lighted by pointed windows -with rosettes and mouldings round the arches. The castle is the "Kerak -of the Knights" of Crusader chronicles. It belonged to the Hospitallers, -and the Grand Master of the Order made it his residence. The Egyptian -Sultan Malek ed Dāher took it from them, restored it, and set his -exultant inscription over the main gate. It is one of the most perfect -of the many fortresses which bear witness to the strange jumble of noble -ardour, fanaticism, ambition and crime that combined to make the history -of the Crusades--a page whereon the Christian nations cannot look -without a blush nor read without the unwilling pity exacted by vain -courage. For to die in a worthless cause is the last extremity of -defeat. Kerak is closely related to the military architecture of -southern France, yet it bears traces of an Oriental influence from which -the great Orders were not immune, though the Templars succumbed to it -more completely than the Hospitallers. Like the contemporary Arab -fortresses the walls increased in thickness towards the foot to form a -sloping bastion of solid masonry which protected them against the -attacks of sappers, but the rounded towers with their great projection -from the line of the wall were wholly French in character. The Crusaders -are said to have found a castle on the hill top and taken it from the -Moslims, but I saw no traces of earlier work than theirs. Parts of the -present structure are later than their time, as, for instance, a big -building by the inner moat, on the walls of which were carved lions not -unlike the Seljuk lion. - -[Illustration 101: ḲAL'AT EL ḤUṢN, WALLS OF THE -INNER ENCEINTE] - -After lunch I waded down the muddy hill to the village and called on the -Sitt Ferīdeh and her husband. There were another pair of Christians -present, the man being the Sāḥib es Sandūḳ, which I take to be a -kind of treasurer. The two men talked of the condition of the Syrian -poor. No one, said the land surveyor, died of hunger, and he proceeded -to draw up the yearly budget of the average peasant. The poorest of the -fellaḥīn may earn from 1000 to 1500 piastres a year (£7 to £11), -but he has no need of any money except to pay the capitation tax and to -buy himself a substitute for military service. Meat is an unknown -luxury; a cask of semen (rancid butter) costs 8_s._ or 10_s._ at most; -it helps to make the burghul and other grains palatable, and it lasts -several months. If the grain and the semen run low the peasant has only -to go out into the mountains or into the open country, which is no man's -land, and gather edible leaves or grub up roots. He builds his house -with his own hands, there are no fittings or furniture in it, and the -ground on which it stands costs nothing. As for clothing, what does he -need? a couple of linen shirts, a woollen cloak every two or three -years, and a cotton kerchief for the head. The old and the sick are -seldom left uncared for; their families look after them if they have -families, and if they are without relations they can always make a -livelihood by begging, for no one in the East refuses to give something -when he is asked, though the poor can seldom give money. Few of the -fellaḥīn own land of their own; they work for hire on the estates of -richer men. The chief landowners round Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn are the -family of the Dānadisheh, who come from Tripoli. Until quite recently -the government did not occupy the castle; it belongs to the family of -the Zā'bieh, who have owned it for two hundred years, and still live in -some rooms on the outer wall. The Treasurer broke in here and said that -even the Moslem population hated the Ottoman government, and would -infinitely rather be ruled by a foreigner, what though he were an -infidel--preferably by the English, because the prosperity of Egypt had -made so deep an impression on Syrian minds. - -That evening the Ḳāimaḳām sent me a message asking whether I would -choose to dine alone or whether I would honour him and his wife, and I -begged to be allowed to take the latter alternative. In spite of a -desire, touchingly evident, to be a good host, he was sad and silent -during the earlier stages of the dinner, until we hit upon a subject -that drew him from the memory of his sorrow. The mighty dead came out to -help us with words upon their lips that have lifted the failing hearts -of generations of mankind. The Ḳāimaḳām was well acquainted with -Arabic literature; he knew the poets of the Ignorance by heart, and when -he found that I had a scanty knowledge of them and a great love for them -he quoted couplet after couplet. But his own tastes lay with more modern -singers; the tenth-century Mutanabbi was evidently one of his favourite -authors. Some of the old fire still smoulders in Mutanabbi's verse; it -burnt again as the Ḳāimaḳām recited the famous ode in which the -poet puts from him the joys of youth: - - -"Oft have I longed for age to still the tumult in my brain. -And why should I repine when my prayer is fulfilled? -We have renounced desire save for the spear-points, -Neither do we dally, except with them. -The most exalted seat in the world is the saddle of a swift horse, -And the best companion for all time is a book." - - -"Your Excellency," concluded the Ḳāimaḳām, "must surely hold that -couplet in esteem." - -When we returned to the guest-chamber he asked whether he should not -read his latest poem, composed at the request of the students of the -American College at Beyrout (the most renowned institution of its kind -in Syria) to commemorate an anniversary they were about to celebrate. He -produced first the students' letter, which was couched in flattering -terms, and then his sheets of manuscript, and declaimed his verses with -the fine emphasis of the Oriental reciter, pausing from time to time to -explain the full meaning of a metaphor or to give an illustration to -some difficult couplet. His subject was the praise of learning, but he -ended inconsequently with a fulsome panegyric on the Sultan, a passage -of which he was immensely proud. As far as I could judge it was not very -great poetry, but what of that? There is no solace in misfortune like -authorship, and for a short hour the Ḳāimaḳām forgot his grief and -entered into regions where there is neither death nor lamentation. I -offered him sympathy and praise at suitable points and could have -laughed to find myself talking the same agreeable rubbish in Arabic that -we all talk so often in English. I might have been sitting in a London -drawing-room, instead of between the bare walls of a Crusader tower, and -the world is after all made of the one stuff throughout. - -[Illustration 102: FELLAḤĪN ARABS] - -It was still raining on the following morning and I had dressed and -breakfasted in the lowest spirits when of a sudden some one waved a -magic wand, the clouds were cleared away, and we set off at half-past -seven in exquisite sunshine. At the bottom of the steep hill on which -the castle stands there lies in an olive grove a Greek monastery. When I -reached it I got off my horse and went in, as was meet, to salute the -Abbot, and, behold! he was an old acquaintance whom I had met at the -monastery of Ma'alūla five years earlier on my return from Palmyra. -There were great rejoicings at this fortunate coincidence, and much jam -and water and coffee were consumed in the celebration of it. The -monastery has been rebuilt, except for a crypt-like chapel, which they -say is 1200 years old. The vault is supported by two pairs of marble -columns, broken off below the capital and returned into the wall, a -scheme more curious than attractive. The capitals are in the form of -lily heads of a Byzantine type. By the altar screen, a good piece of -modern wood carving, there are some very beautiful Persian tiles. In the -western wall of the monastery I was shown a door so narrow between the -jambs that it is scarcely possible to squeeze through them, impossible, -said the monks, for any one except he be pure of heart. I did not risk -my reputation by attempting to force the passage. - -We rode on through shallow wooded valleys full of flowers; the fruit -trees were coming into blossom and the honeysuckle into leaf, and by a -tiny graveyard under some budding oaks we stopped to lunch. Before us -lay the crucial point of our day's march. We could see the keep of -Ṣāfiṭa Castle on the opposite hill, but there was a swollen river -between, the bridge had been swept away, and report said that the ford -was impassable. When we reached the banks of the Abrash we saw the river -rushing down its wide channel, an unbroken body of swirling water -through which no loaded mule could pass. We rode near two hours down -stream, and were barely in time with the second bridge, the Jisr el -Wād, which was in the last stage of decrepitude, the middle arch just -holding together. The hills on the opposite bank were covered with a low -scrub, out of which the lovely iris stylosa lifted its blue petals, and -the scene was further enlivened by a continuous procession of -white-robed Noṣairis making their way down to the bridge. I had a -Kurdish zaptieh with me, 'Abd ul Mejīd, who knew the mountains well, -and all the inhabitants of them. Though he was a Mohammedan he had no -feeling against the Noṣairis, whom he had always found to be a -harmless folk, and every one greeted him with a friendly salutation as -we passed. He told me that the white-robed companies were going to the -funeral feast of a great sheikh much renowned for piety, who had died a -week ago. The feast on such occasions is held two days after the -funeral, and when the guests have eaten of the meats each man according -to his ability pays tribute to the family of the dead, the sums varying -from one lira upwards to five or six. To have a reputation for holiness -in the Jebel Noṣairiyyeh is as good as a life insurance with us. - -Owing to our long circuit we did not reach Ṣāfiṭa till four. I -refused the hospitality of the Commandant, and pitched my tents on a -ridge outside the village. The keep which we had seen from afar is all -that remains of the White Castle of the Knights Templars. It stands on -the top of the hill with the village clustered at its foot, and from its -summit are visible the Mediterranean and the northern parts of the -Phœnician coast. I saw a Phoenician coin among the antiquities offered -me for sale, and the small bronze figure of a Phœnician -god--Ṣāfiṭa was probably an inland stronghold of the merchant -nation. The keep was a skilful architectural surprise. It contained, not -the vaulted hall or refectory that might have been expected, but a great -church which had thus occupied the very heart of the fortress. A service -was being held when we entered and all the people were at their prayers -in a red glow of sunset that came through the western doors. The -inhabitants of Ṣāfiṭa are most of them Christians, and many speak -English with a strong American accent picked up while they were making -their small fortunes in the States. Besides the accent, they had -acquired a familiarity of address that did not please me, and lost some -of the good manners to which they had been born. 'Abd ul Mejīd, the -smart non-commissioned officer, accompanied me through the town, saved -me from the clutches of the Americanised Christians, twirled his fierce -military moustaches at the little boys who thought to ran after us, and -followed their retreat with extracts from the finest vocabulary of -objurgation that I have been privileged to hear. - -Late in the evening two visitors were announced, who turned out to be -the Ẓābit (Commandant) and another official sent by the -Ḳāimaḳām of Drekish to welcome me and bring me down to his -village. We three rode off together in the early morning with a couple -of soldiers behind us, by a winding path through the hills, and after -two hours we came to a valley full of olive groves, with the village of -Drekish on the slopes above them. At the first clump of olive-trees we -found three worthies in frock coats and tarbushes waiting to receive us; -they mounted their horses when we approached and fell into the -procession, which was further swelled as we ascended the village street -by other notables on horseback, till it reached the sum total of -thirteen. The Ḳāimaḳām met us at the door of his house, -frock-coated and ceremonious, and led me into his audience room where we -drank coffee. By this time the company consisted of some thirty persons -of importance. When the official reception was over my host took me into -his private house and introduced me to his wife, a charming Damascene -lady, and we had a short conversation, during which I made his better -acquaintance. Riẓa Beg el 'Ābid owes his present position to the fact -that he is cousin to 'Izzet Pasha, for there is not one of that great -man's family but he is at least Ḳāmaiḳam. Riẓa Beg might have -climbed the official ladder unaided; he is a man of exceptionally -pleasant manners, amply endowed with the acute intelligence of the -Syrian. The family to which he and 'Izzet belong is of Arab origin. The -members of it claim to be descended from the noble tribe of the Muwāli, -who were kin to Harūn er Rashīd, and when you meet 'Izzet Pasha it is -as well to congratulate him on his relationship with that Khalif, though -he knows, and he knows also that you know, that the Muwāli repudiate -his claims with scorn and count him among the descendants of their -slaves, as his name 'Ābid (slave), may show. Slaves or freemen, the -members of the 'Ābid house have climbed so cleverly that they have set -their feet upon the neck of Turkey, and will remain in that precarious -position until 'Izzet falls from favour. Riẓa Beg pulled a grave face -when I alluded to his high connection, and observed that power such as -that enjoyed by his family was a serious matter, and how gladly would he -retire into a less prominent position than that of Ḳāimaḳām! Who -knew but that the Pasha too would not wish to exchange the pleasures of -Constantinople for a humbler and a safer sphere--a supposition that I -can readily believe to be well grounded, since 'Izzet, if rumour speaks -the truth, has got all that a man can reasonably expect from the years -during which he has enjoyed the royal condescension. I assured the -Ḳāimaḳām that I should make a point of paying my respects to the -Pasha when I reached Constantinople, a project that I ultimately carried -out with such success that I may now reckon myself, on 'Izzet's own -authority, as one of those who will enjoy his life-long friendship. - -By this time lunch was ready, and the Khānum having retired, the other -guests were admitted to the number of four, the Ẓābit, the Ḳāḍi -and two others. It was a copious, an excellent and an entertaining meal. -The conversation flowed merrily round the table, prompted and encouraged -by the Ḳāimaḳām, who handled one subject after the other with the -polished ease of a man of the world. As he talked I had reason to -observe once more how fine and subtle a tongue is modern Syrian Arabic -when used by a man of education. The Ḳāḍi's speech was hampered by -his having a reputation for learning to uphold, which obliged him to -confine himself to the dead language of the Ḳur'ān. As I took my -leave the Ḳāimaḳām explained that for that night I was still to be -his guest. He had learnt, said he, that I wished to camp at the ruined -temple of Ḥuṣn es Suleimān, and had despatched my caravan thither -under the escort of a zaptieh, and sent up servants and provisions, -together with one of his cousins ta see to my entertainment. I was to -take the Ẓābit with me, and Rā'ib Effendi el Ḥelu, another of the -luncheon party, and he hoped that I should be satisfied. I thanked him -profusely for his kindness, and declared that I should have known his -Arab birth by his generous hospitality. - -Our path mounted to the top of the Noṣairiyyeh hills and followed -along the crests, a rocky and beautiful track. The hills were extremely -steep, and bare of all but grass and flowers except that here and there, -on the highest summits, there was a group of big oaks with a white-domed -Noṣairi mazār shining through their bare boughs. The Noṣairis have -neither mosque nor church, but on every mountain top they build a shrine -that marks a burial-ground. These high-throned dead, though they have -left the world of men, have not ceased from their good offices, for they -are the protectors of the trees rooted among their bones, trees which, -alone among their kind, are allowed to grow untouched. - -Ḥuṣn es Suleimān lies at the head of a valley high up in the -mountains. A clear spring breaks from under its walls and flows found a -natural platform of green turf, on which we pitched our tents. The hills -rise in an amphitheatre behind the temple, the valley drops below it, -and the gods to whom it was dedicated enjoy in solitude the ruined -loveliness of their shrine. The walls round the temenos are overgrown -with ivy, and violets bloom in the crevices. Four doorways lead into the -court, in the centre of which stand the ruins of the temple, while a -little to the south of the cella are the foundations of an altar, -bearing in fine Greek letters a dedication that recounts how a centurion -called Decimus of the Flavian (?) Legion, with his two sons and his -daughter, raised an altar of brass to the god of Baitocaicē and placed -it upon a platform of masonry in the year 444. The date is of the -Seleucid era and corresponds to A.D. 132. It is regrettable that Decimus -did not see fit to mention the name of the god, which remains -undetermined in all the inscriptions. The northern gateway is a triple -door, lying opposite to a second rectangular enclosure, which contains a -small temple in antis at the south-east corner, and the apse of a -sanctuary in the northern wall. This last sheltered perhaps the statue -of the unknown god, for there are steps leading up to it and the bases -of columns on either side. As at Ba'albek, the Christians sanctified the -spot by the building of a church, which lay across the second enclosure -at right angles to the northern sanctuary. The masonry of the outer -walls of both courts is very massive, the stones being sometimes six or -eight feet long. The decoration is much more austere than that of -Ba'albek, but certain details so intimately recall the latter that I am -tempted to conjecture that the same architect may have been employed at -both places, and that it was he who cut on the under side of the -architraves of Baitocaicē the eagles and cherubs that he had used to -adorn the architrave of the Temple of Jupiter. The peasants say that -there are deep vaults below both temple and court. The site must be well -worthy of careful excavation, though no additional knowledge will -enhance the beauty of the great shrine in the hills. - -[Illustration 103: THE TEMPLE AT ḤUṢN ES SULEIMĀN] - -The Ḳāimaḳām had not fallen short of his word. Holocausts of sheep -and hens had been offered up for us, and after my friends and I had -feasted, the soldiers and the muleteers made merry in their turn. The -camp fires blazed brightly in the clear sharp mountain air, the sky was -alive with stars, the brook gurgled over the stones; and the rest was -silence, for Kurt was lost. Somewhere among the hills he had strayed -away, and he was gone never to return. I mourned his loss, but slept the -more peacefully for it ever after. - -[Illustration 104: NORTH GATE, ḤUṢN ES SULEIMĀN] - -All my friends and all the soldiers rode with us next day to the -frontier of the district of Drekish and there left us after having -hounded a reluctant Noṣairi out of his house at 'Ain esh Shems and -bidden him help the zaptieh who accompanied us to find the -extraordinarily rocky path to Masyād. After they had gone I summoned -Mikhāil and asked him what he had thought of our day's entertainment. -He gave the Arabic equivalent for a sniff and said: - -"Doubtless your Excellency thinks that you were the guest of the -Ḳāimaḳām. I will tell you of whom you were the guest. You saw -those fellahin of the Noṣairiyyeh, the miserable ones, who sold you -antīcas at the ruins this morning? They were your hosts. Everything you -had was taken from them without return. They gathered the wood for the -fires, the hens were theirs, the eggs were theirs, the lambs were from -their flocks, and when you refused to take more saying, 'I have enough,' -the soldiers seized yet another lamb and carried it off with them. And -the only payment the fellahin received were the metalīks you gave them -for their old money. But if you will listen to me," added Mikhāil -inconsequently, "you shall travel through the land of Anatolia and never -take a quarter of a mejīdeh from your purse. From Ḳāimaḳām to -Ḳāimaḳām you shall go, and everywhere they shall offer you -hospitality--that sort does not look for payment, they wish your -Excellency to say a good word for them when you come to Constantinople. -You shall sleep in their houses, and eat at their tables, as it was when -I travelled with Sacks. . . ." - -[Illustration 105: THE CITY GATE, MASYĀD] - -But if I were to tell all that happened when Mikhāil travelled with -Mark Sykes I should never get to Masyād. - -The day was rendered memorable by the exceptional difficulty of the -paths and by the beauty of the flowers. On the hill tops grew the alpine -cyclamen, crocuses, yellow, white and purple, and whole slopes of white -primroses; lower down, irises, narcissus, black and green orchids, -purple orchis and the blue many-petalled anemone in a boscage of myrtle. -When we reached the foot of the steepest slopes I sent the unfortunate -Noṣairi home with a tip, which was a great deal more than he expected -to get out of an adventure that had begun with a command from the -soldiery. At three we reached Masyād and camped at the foot of the -castle. - -[Illustration 106: CAPITAL AT MASYĀD] - -Now Masyād was a disappointment. There is indeed a great castle, but, -as far as I could judge, it is of Arab workmanship, and the walls round -the town are Arab also. A Roman road from Ḥamāh passes through -Masyād, and there must be traces of Roman settlement in the town, but I -saw none. I heard of a castle at Abu Kbesh on the top of the hills, but -it was said to be like Masyād, only smaller, and I did not go up to it. -The castle of Masyād has an outer wall and an inner keep reached by a -vaulted passage like that of Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn. The old keep is -almost destroyed, and has been replaced by jerry-built halls and -chambers erected by the Ismailis some hundreds of years ago when they -held the place, so I was told by an old man called the Emir Muṣṭafa -Milḥēm, who belonged to the sect and served me as guide. He also said -that his family had inhabited the castle for seven or eight hundred -years, but possibly he lied, though it is true that the Ismailis have -held it as long. Built into the outer gateways are certain capitals and -columns that must have been taken from Byzantine structures. There are -some old Arabic inscriptions inside the second gate which record the -names of the builders of that part of the fortifications, but they are -much broken. I was told afterwards that I ought to have visited a place -called Deir es Sleb, where there are two churches and a small castle. It -is not marked in the map, and I heard nothing of it until I had left it -far behind. I saw bits of the rasīf, the Roman road, as I travelled -next day to Ḥamāh. At the bridge over the river Sarut, four and a -half hours from Masyād, there is a curious mound faced to the very top -with a rough wall of huge stones. Mikhāil found a Roman coin in the -furrows of the field at the foot of it. From the river we had two and a -half hours of tedious travel that were much lightened by the presence of -a charming old Turk, a telegraph official, who joined us at the bridge -and told me his story as we rode. - -"Effendim, the home of my family is near Sofia. Effendim, you know the -place? Māsha'llah, it is a pleasant land! Where I lived it was covered -with trees, fruit trees and pines in the mountains and rose gardens in -the plain. Effendim, many of us came here after the war with the -Muscovite for the reason that we would not dwell under any hand but that -of the Sultan, and many returned again after they had come. Effendim? -for what cause? They would not live in a country without trees; by God, -they could not endure it." Thus conversing we reached Ḥamāh. - - -[Illustration 107: CAPITAL AT MASYĀD] - -[Illustration 108: A NA'OURA, ḤAMĀH] - - - - -CHAPTER X - - -You do not see Ḥamāh until you are actually upon it--there is no -other preposition that describes the attitude of the new comer. The -Orontes at this point flows in a deep bed and the whole city lies hidden -between the banks. The monotonous plain of cornfields stretches before -you without a break until you reach a veritable entanglement of -graveyards--the weekly All Souls' Day had come round again when we -arrived, and the cemeteries were crowded with the living as well as with -the dead. Suddenly the plain ceased beneath our feet, and we stood on -the edge of an escarpment, with the whole town spread out before us, the -Orontes set with gigantic Persian wheels, and beyond it the conical -mound on which stood the fortresses of Hamath and Epiphaneia and who -knows what besides, for the site is one of the oldest in the world. Two -soldiers started from the earth and set about to direct me to a camping -ground, but I was tired and cross, a state of mind that does sometimes -occur on a journey, and the arid spots between houses to which they took -us seemed particularly distasteful. At length the excellent Turk, who -had not yet abandoned us, declared that he knew the very place that -would please me; he led us along the edge of the escarpment to the -extreme northern end of the city, and here showed us a grassy sward -which was as lovely a situation as could be desired. The Orontes issued -from the town below us amid gardens of flowering apricot trees, the -golden evening light lay behind the minarets, and a great Na'oura ground -out a delicious song of the river. - -Ḥamāh is the present terminus of the French railway,[9] and the seat -of a Muteserrif. The railway furnished me with a guide and companion in -the shape of a Syrian station-master, a consequential half-baked little -man, who had been educated in a missionary school and scorned to speak -Arabic when he could stutter in French. He announced that his name was -Monsieur Kbēs and his passion archæology, and, that he might the -better prove himself to be in the van of modern thought, he attributed -every antiquity in Ḥamāh to the Hittites, whether it were Byzantine -capital or Arab enlaced decoration. With the Muteserrif I came -immediately into collision by reason of his insisting on providing me -with eight soldiers to guard my camp at night, a preposterous force, -considering that two had been ample in every country district. So -numerous a guard would have been an intolerable nuisance, for they would -have talked all night and left the camp no peace, and I sent six of them -away, in spite of their protestations that they must obey superior -orders. They reconciled the Muteserrif's commands with mine by spending -the night in a ruined mosque a quarter of a mile away, where they were -able to enjoy excellent repose unbroken by a sense of responsibility. - -[Illustration 109: THE ḲUBBEH IN THE MOSQUE AT ḤAMĀH] - -For picturesqueness Ḥamāh is not to be outdone by any town in Syria. -The broad river with its water wheels is a constant element of beauty, -the black and white striped towers of the mosques an exquisite -architectural feature, the narrow, partly vaulted streets are traps to -hold unrivalled effects of sun and shadow, and the bazaars are not as -yet disfigured by the iron roofs that have done so much to destroy the -character of those at Damascus and at Ḥomṣ. The big mosque in the -centre of the town was once a Byzantine church. The doors and windows of -the earlier building are easily traceable in the walls of the mosque; -the lower part of the western minaret was probably the foundation of an -older tower; the court is full of Byzantine shafts and capitals, and the -beautiful little Ḳubbeh is supported by eight Corinthian columns. On -one of these I noticed the Byzantine motive of the blown acanthus. When -they grew weary of setting the leaves in a stereotyped uprightness, the -stone-cutters laid them lightly round the capital, as though the fronds -had drifted in a swirl of wind, and the effect is wonderfully graceful -and fanciful. Kbēs and I climbed the citadel hill, and found the area -on the top to be enormous, but all the cut stones of the fortifications -have been removed and built into the town below. My impression is that -the isolation of the mound is not natural, but has been effected by -cutting through the headland that juts out into the valley, and so -separating a part of it from the main ridge. If this be so, it must have -been a great work of antiquity, for the cutting is both wide and deep. - -The chief interest of the day at Ḥamāh was supplied by the -inhabitants. Four powerful Mohammadan families are reckoned as the -aristocracy of the town, that of 'Aẓam Zādeh, Teifūr, Killāni and -Barāzi, of which last I had seen a member in Damascus. The combined -income of each family is probably about £6000 a year, all derived from -land and villages, there being little trade in Ḥamāh. Before the -Ottoman government was established as firmly as it is now, these four -families were the lords of Ḥamāh and the surrounding districts; they -are still of considerable weight in the administration of the town, and -the officials of the Sultan let them go pretty much their own way, which -is often devious. An ancient evil tale of the 'Aẓam Zādeh is often -told, and not denied, so far as I could learn, by the family. There was -an 'Aẓam in past years who, like King Ahab, desired his neighbour's -vineyard, but the owner of it refused to sell. Thereupon the great man -laid a plot. He caused one of his slaves to be slaughtered and had him -cut into small pieces and buried, not too deep, in a corner of the -coveted property, and after waiting a suitable time he sent a message to -the landlord saying, "You have frequently invited me to drink coffee -with you in your garden; I will come. Make ready." The man was gratified -by this condescension and prepared a feast. The day came and with it the -'Aẓam prince. The meal was spread under an arbour, but when the guest -saw it he declared that the spot selected did not suit him, and led the -way to the exact place where his slave had been buried. The host -protested, saying that it was a mean corner dose to the refuse heaps, but -the 'Aẓam replied that he was satisfied, and the entertainment began. -Presently the guest raised his head and said, "I perceive a curious -smell." "My lord," said the host, "it is from the refuse heaps." "No," -said the other, "there is something more;" and summoning his servants he -bade them dig in the ground whereon they sat. The quartered body of the -slave was revealed and recognised, and on an accusation of murder the -lord of the garden was seized and bound, and his possessions taken from -him by way of compensation. - -[ILLUSTRATION 110: THE TEKYAH KILLĀNIYYEH, ḤAMĀH] - -Nor, said Kbēs, have such summary methods of injustice ceased. Quite -recently a quantity of onions were stolen from a shop belonging to 'Abd -ul Ḳādir el 'Aẓam in the quarter immediately below my camp. The -servants of 'Abd ul Ḳādir came to the house of the sheikh of the -quarter and demanded from him their master's property, and since he knew -nothing of the matter and could not indicate who the thief might have -been, they seized him and his son, wounding the son in the hand with a -bullet, dragged them to the river bank, stripped them, beat them almost -to death, and left them to get home as best they might. The incident was -known all over Hamāh, but the government took no steps to punish 'Abd -ul Ḳādir. I went to the house of Khālid Beg 'Aẓam, which is the -most beautiful in the city, as beautiful as the famous 'Aẓam house in -Damascus. Khālid took me into rooms every inch of which was covered -with an endless variety of Persian patterns in gesso duro and woodwork -and mosaic. They opened upon a courtyard set round with an arcade of the -best Arab workmanship, with a fountain in the centre and pots of -flowering ranunculus and narcissus in the corners. The women of the -house of 'Aẓam have even a greater reputation than the sumptuous walls -that hold them; they are said to be the loveliest women in all Ḥamāh. - -The Killāni I visited also in their charming house by the Orontes, the -Tekyah Killāniyyeh. It contains a mausoleum, where three of their -ancestors are buried, and rooms looking over the river, filled with the -pleasant grumbling of a Persian wheel. From thence I went to the -Muteserrif, who is an old man bent almost double, and acquainted with no -tongue but Turkish. I was considerably relieved to find that he bore no -malice for my unruly conduct in the matter of the guard. As we walked -home to lunch we met an aged Afghan clad in white. Dervish Effendi was -his name. He stopped the station-master to inquire who I was, and having -learnt that I was English he approached me with a grin and a salute and -said in Persian, "The English and the Afghans are close friends." He was -in fact as well-informed as the British public--possibly better -informed--of the interchange of visits and civilities between Kabul and -Calcutta; and the moral of the episode (which developed into a long and -tiresome, but most cordial, visit from Dervish Effendi) is that the -report of what happens in the remotest corner of Asia is known almost -immediately to the furthest end, and that it is scarcely an exaggeration -to say that if an English regiment is cut up on the borders of -Afghanistan the English tourist will be mocked at in the streets of -Damascus. Islām is the bond that unites the western and central parts -of the continent, as it is the electric current by which the -transmission of sentiment is effected, and its potency is increased by -the fact that there is little or no sense of territorial nationality to -counterbalance it. A Turk or a Persian does not think or speak of "my -country" in the way that an Englishman or a Frenchman thinks and speaks; -his patriotism is confined to the town of which he is a native, or at -most to the district in which that town lies. If you ask him to what -nationality he belongs he will reply: "I am a man of Isfahān," or "I am -a man of Konia," as the case may be, just as the Syrian will reply that -he is a native of Damascus or Aleppo--I have already indicated that -Syria is merely a geographical term corresponding to no national -sentiment in the breasts of the inhabitants. Thus to one listening to -the talk of the bazaars, to the shopkeepers whose trade is intimately -connected with local conditions in districts very far removed from their -own counters, to the muleteers who carry so much more than their loads -from city to city, all Asia seems to be linked together by fine chains -of relationship, and every detail of the foreign policies of Europe, -from China to where you please, to be weighed more or less accurately in -the balance of public opinion. It is not the part of wanderers and -hearers of gossip to draw conclusions. We can do no more than report, -for any that may care to listen, what falls from the lips of those who -sit round our camp fires, and who ride with us across deserts and -mountains, for their words are like straws on the flood of Asiatic -politics, showing which way the stream is running. Personal experience -has acquainted them with the stock in trade and the vocabulary of -statecraft. They are familiar with war and negotiation and compromise, -and with long nurtured and carefully concealed revenge. Whether they are -discussing the results of a blood feud or the consequences of an -international jealousy their appreciations are often just and their -guesses near the mark. - -[Illustration 111: CAPITAL IN THE MOSQUE, ḤAMĀH] - -For the moment, so far as my experience goes, the name of the English -carries more weight than it has done for some time past. I noticed a -very distinct difference between the general attitude towards us from -that which I had observed with pain five years before, during the worst -moments of the Boer War. The change of feeling is due, so far as I can -judge from the conversations to which I listened, not so much to our -victory in South Africa as to Lord Cromer's brilliant administration in -Egypt, Lord Curzon's policy on the Persian Gulf, and the alliance with -the conquering Japanese. - -When I had at last got rid of the Afghan and was sitting alone on the -fringe of grass that separated my tent from the city hundreds of feet -below, a person of importance drove up to pay his respects. He was the -Mufti, Muḥammad Effendi. He brought with him an intelligent man from -Boṣrā el Ḥarīr, in the Ḥaurān, who had travelled in Cyprus and -had much to say (and little good to say) of our administration there. -The Mufti was a man of the same type as the Ḳāḍi of Ḥomṣ and -the Sheikh Nakshibendi--the sharp-eyed and sharp-witted Asiatic, whose -distinguished features are somewhat marred by an astuteness that amounts -to cunning. He established himself upon the best of the camp chairs, and -remarked with satisfaction: - -"I asked: 'Can she speak Arabic?' and when they answered 'Yes,' verily I -ordered my carriage and came." - -His talk was of Yemen, whither he had been sent some years before to -restore peace after the last Arab revolt. He spoke of the three days' -journey over torrid desert from the coast, of the inland mountains -covered with trees where there is always rain summer and winter, of the -enormous grapes that hang in the vineyards, and the endless variety of -fruits in the orchards, of the cities as big as Damascus, walled with -great fortifications of mud a thousand years old. The Arabs, said he, -were town dwellers not nomads, and they hated the Ottoman government as -it is hated in few places. When the armies of the Sultan went out -against them they were accustomed to flee into the mountains, where they -could hold out, thought the Mufti, for an indefinite number of years. -But he was wrong; a few months were enough to give victory to the -Sultan's troops, what with daring generalship and the power to endure -desert marches, and the rebellion failed, like many another, because the -Arab tribes hate each other more vindictively than they hate the -Osmanli. But, after the fashion of repressed rebellions in Turkey, it -has already broken out again. The Mufti told me also that in Ḥamāh -wherever they dug they found ancient foundations, even below the river -level. - -He was followed by my friend the Turkish telegraph clerk, who rejoiced -to see me so well encamped, and then by the Muteserrif, pursuing an -anxious and tottering course from his carriage through my tent ropes. -The latter lent me his victoria that I might visit the parts of the town -that lie on the eastern banks of the Orontes, and Kbēs and I drove off -with two outriders quite exceptionally free from rags. The eastern -quarter, the Hāḍir it is called, is essentially the Bedouin quarter; -the city Arabic is replaced here by the rugged desert speech, and the -bazaars are filled with Arabs who come in to buy coffee and tobacco and -striped cloaks. It contains a beautiful little ruined mosque, said to be -Seljuk, called El Ḥayyāt, the mosque of Snakes, after the twisted -columns of its windows. At the northern end of the courtyard is a -chamber which holds the marble sarcophagus of Abu'l Fīda, Prince of -Ḥamāh, the famous geographer. He died in 1331; his tomb is carved -with a fine inscription recording the date according to the era of the -Hejra. - -[Illustration 112: A CAPITAL, ḤAMĀH] - -I gave a dinner party that night to the station-master, the Syrian -doctor, Sallūm, and the Greek priest. We talked till late, a congenial -if incongruous company. Sallūm had received his training in the -American College at Beyrout, from whence come all the medical -practitioners, great and small, who are scattered up and down Syria. He -was a Christian, though of a different brand from the priest, and Kbēs -represented yet another variety of doctrine. On the whole, said the -priest, there was little anti-Christian feeling in Ḥamāh, but there -was also little respect for his cloth; that very day as he walked -through the town some Moslem women had thrown pebbles at him from a -house-top, shouting, "Dog of a Christian priest!" Kbēs discussed the -benefits conferred by the railway (a remarkably ill-managed concern I -fancy) and said that without doubt Ḥamāh had profited by it. Prices -had gone up in the last two years, meat that would otherwise have found -no market was now sent down to Damascus and Beyrout, and he himself who, -when he first came, had been able to buy a sheep for a franc, was now -obliged to pay ten. - -The Muteserrif of Ḥamāh provided me with the best zaptieh that I was -to have on all my travels, Ḥājj Maḥmūd, a native of Ḥamāh. He -was a tall broad-shouldered man, who had been in the Sultan's own guard -at Constantinople, and had made the pilgrimage three times, once as a -pilgrim and twice as a soldier of the escort. He rode with me for ten -days, and during that time told me more tales than would fill a volume, -couched in a fine picturesque speech of which he was the master. He had -travelled with a German archaeologist, and knew the strange tastes of -the Europeans in the matter of ruins and inscriptions. - -"At Ḳal'at el Mudīk I said to him: 'If you would look upon a stone -with a horse written upon it and his rider, by the Light of God! I can -show it to you!' And he wondered much thereat, and rewarded me with -money. By God and Muḥammad the Prophet of God! you too, oh lady, shall -gaze on it." - -Now this exploit of Maḥmūd's was more remarkable than would appear at -first sight, for one of the great difficulties in searching for -antiquities is that the people in out-of-the-way places do not recognise -a sculpture when they see it. You are not surprised that they should -fail to tell the difference between an inscription and the natural -cracks and weather markings of the stone; but it takes you aback when -you ask whether there are stones with portraits of men and animals upon -them, and your interlocutor replies: "Wāllah! we do not know what the -picture of a man is like." Moreover, if you show him a bit of a relief -with figures well carved upon it, as often as not he will have no idea -what the carving represents. - -Maḥmūd's most memorable travelling companion had been a Japanese who -had been sent by his government, I afterwards learnt, to study and -report on the methods of building employed in the eastern parts of the -Roman empire--to such researches the Japanese had leisure to apply -themselves in the thick of the war. Maḥmūd's curiosity had evidently -been much excited by the little man, whose fellows were snatching -victory from the dreaded Russians. - -"All day he rode, and all night he wrote in his books. He eat nothing -but a piece of bread and he drank tea, and when there came a matter for -refusal he said (for he could talk neither Arabic nor Turkish), 'Noh! -noh!' And that is French," concluded Maḥmūd. - -I remarked that it was not French but English, which gave Maḥmūd food -for thought, for he added presently: - -"We had never heard their name before the war, but by the Face of the -Truth! the English knew of them." - -The Orontes makes a half circle between Ḥamāh and Ḳal'at es Seijar, -and we cut across the chord of the arc, riding over the same dull -cultivated plain that I had crossed on my way from Masyād. It was -strewn with villages of mud-built, beehive-shaped huts; they are to be -met with on the plains all the way to Aleppo, and are like no other -villages save those that appear in the illustrations to Central African -travel books. As a man grows rich he adds another beehive and yet -another to his mansion, till he may have a dozen or more standing round -a courtyard, some inhabited by himself and his family, some by his -cattle, one forming his kitchen, and one his granary. We saw in the -distance a village called Al Ḥerdeh, which Maḥmūd said was -Christian and used to belong entirely to the Greek communion. The -inhabitants lived happily together and prospered, until they had the -misfortune to be discovered by a missionary, who distributed tracts and -converted sortie sixty persons to the English Church, since when there -has not been a moment's rest from brawling in Al Ḥerdeh. As we rode, -Maḥmūd told tales of the Ismailis and the Noṣairis. Of the former -he said that the Agha Khān's photograph was to be found in every house, -but it is woman that they worship, said he. Every female child born on -the 27th of Rajab is set apart and held to be an incarnation of the -divinity. She is called the Rōẓah. She does not work, her hair and -nails are never cut, her family share in the respect that is accorded to -her, and every man in the village will wear a piece of her clothing or a -hair from her body folded in his turban. She is not permitted to marry. - -"But what," said I, "if she desire to marry?" - -"It would be impossible," replied Maḥmūd. "No one would marry her, -for is there any man that can marry God?" - -The sect is known to have sacred books, but none have yet fallen into -the hands of European scholars. Maḥmūd had seen and read one of -them--it was all in praise of the Rōẓah, describing every part of her -with eulogy. The Ismailis read the Ḳur'ān also, said he. Other -strange matters he related which, like Herodotus, I do not see fit to -repeat. The creed seems to spring from dim traditions of Astarte -worship, or from that oldest and most universal cult of all, the -veneration of the Mother Goddess; but the accusations of indecency that -have been brought against it are, I gather, unfounded.[10] - -Of the Noṣairis Maḥmūd had much to tell, for he was we acquainted -with the hills in which they live, having been for many years employed -in collecting the capitation tax among the sect. They are infidels, said -he, who do not read the Ḳur'ān nor know the name of God. He related a -curious tale which I will repeat for what it is worth: - -"Oh lady, it happened in the winter that I was collecting the tax. Now -in the month of Kānūn el Awwal (December) the Noṣairis hold a great -feast that occurs at the same time as the Christian feast (Christmas), -and the day before, when I was riding with two others in the hills, -there fell a quantity of snow so that we could go no further, and we -sought shelter at the first village in the house of the Sheikh of the -village. For there is always a Sheikh of the village, oh lady, and a -Sheikh of the Faith, and the people are divided into initiated and -uninitiated. But the women know nothing of the secrets of the religion, -for by God! a woman cannot keep a secret. The Sheikh greeted us with -hospitality and lodged us, but next morning when I woke there was no man -to be seen in the house, nothing but the women. And I cried: 'By God and -Muḥammad the Prophet of God! what hospitality is this? and are there -no men to make the coffee but only women?' And the women replied: 'We do -not know what the men are doing, for they have gone to the house of the -Sheikh of the Faith, and we are not allowed to enter.' Then I arose and -went softly to the house and looked through the window, and, by God! the -initiated were sitting in the room, and in the centre was the Sheikh of -the Faith, and before him a bowl filled with wine and an empty jug. And -the Sheikh put questions to the jug in a low tone, and by the Light of -the Truth I heard the jug make answer in a voice that said: 'Bl... bl...' -And without doubt, oh lady, this was magic. And while I looked, one -raised his head and saw me. And they came out of the house and seized -hold of me and would have beaten me, but I cried: 'Oh Sheikh! I am your -guest!' So the Sheikh of the Faith came forth and raised his hand, and -on the instant all those that had hold of me released me. And he fell at -my feet and kissed my hands and the hem of my coat and said: 'Oh -Ḥājji! if you will not tell what you have seen I will give you ten -mejides!' And by the Prophet of God (upon him be peace!) I have never -related it, oh lady, until this day." - -[Illustration 113: ḲAL'AT ES SEIJAR] - -After four hours' ride we came to Ḳal'at es Seijar. It stands on a -long hog's back broken in the middle by an artificial cutting and -dropping by steep bluffs to the Orontes, which runs here in a narrow bed -between walls of rock. The castle walls that crown the hill between the -cutting and the river make a very splendid appearance from below. There -is a small village of beehive huts at the bottom of the hill. The -Seleucid town of Larissa must have lain on the grassy slopes to the -north, judging from the number of dressed stones that are scattered -there. I pitched my camp at the further end of the bridge in a grove of -apricot trees, snowy with flower and a-hum with bees. The grass was set -thickly with anemones and scarlet ranunculus. The castle is the property -of Sheikh Aḥmed Seijari and has been held by his family for three -hundred years. He and his sons live in a number of little modern houses, -built out of old stones in the middle of the fortifications. He owns a -considerable amount of land and about one-third of the village, the rest -being unequally divided between the Killānis of Ḥamāh and the -Smātiyyeh Arabs, a semi-nomadic tribe that dwells in houses during the -winter. I had a letter of introduction to Sheikh Aḥmed from -Muṣṭafa Barāzi, and, though Maḥmūd was of opinion that I should -not find him in the castle owing to a long-drawn trouble between the -Seijari family and the Smātiyyeh, we climbed up to the gate and along a -road that showed remains of aulting, like the entrance to Ḳal'at el -Ḥuṣn, and so over masses of ruin till we came to the modern village -where the Seijari sheikhs live. I inquired which was the house of -Aḥmed, and was directed to a big wooden door, most forbiddingly shut. -I knocked and waited, and Maḥmūd knocked yet louder and we waited -again. At last a very beautiful woman opened a shutter in the wall above -and asked what we wanted. I said I had a letter from Muṣṭafa to -Aḥmed, and wished to see him. She replied: - -"He is away." - -I said: "I would salute his son." - -"You cannot see him," she returned. "He is in prison at Ḥamāh, -charged with murder." - -[Illustration 114: ḲAL'AT ES SEIJAR, THE CUTTING THROUGH -THE RIDGE] - -And so she closed the shutter, leaving me to wonder how good manners -would bid me act under these delicate conditions. At that moment a girl -came to the door and opened it a hand's breadth. I gave her the letter -and my card written in Arabic, murmured a few words of regret, and went -away. Maḥmūd now tried to explain the matter. It was one of those -long stories that you hear in the East, without beginning, without end, -and without any indication as to which of the protagonists is in the -right, but an inherent probability that all are in the wrong. The -Smātiyyeh had stolen some of the Seijari cattle, the sons of Aḥmed -had gone down into the village and killed two of the Arabs--in the -castle it was said that the Arabs had attacked them and that they had -killed them in self-defence--the Government, always jealous of the -semi-independence of ruling sheikhs, had seized the opportunity to -strike down the Seijari whether they were at fault or no; soldiers had -been sent from Ḥamāh, one of Aḥmed's sons had been put to death, -two more were in prison, and all the cattle had been carried off. The -rest of the Seijaris were ordered not to stir from the castle, nor -indeed could they do so, for the Smātiyyeh were at their gates ready -and anxious to kill them if they stepped beyond the walls. They appealed -to Ḥamāh for protection, and a guard of some ten soldiers was posted -by the river, whether to preserve the lives of the sheikhs or to keep -them the more closely imprisoned it was difficult to make out. These -events dated from two years back, and for that time the Seijaris had -remained prisoners at Ḥamāh and in their own castle, and had been -unable to superintend the cultivation of their fields, which were -running in consequence to rack and ruin. Moreover, there seemed to be no -prospect of improvement in the situation. Later in the afternoon a -messenger arrived saying that Aḥmed's brother, 'Abd ul Ḳādir, would -be pleased to receive me and would have come himself to welcome me if he -could have left the castle. I went up without Maḥmūd and heard the -whole story again from the point of view of the sheikhs, which helped me -to no conclusion, since it was in most essentials a different story from -that which I had heard from Maḥmūd. The only indisputable point (and -it was probably not so irrelevant as it seems) was that the Seijari -women were wonderfully beautiful. They wore dark blue Bedouin dress, but -the blue cloths hanging from their heads were fastened with heavy gold -ornaments, like the plaques of the Mycenæan treasure, one behind either -temple. Agreeable though their company proved to be I was obliged to cut -my visit short by reason of the number of fleas that shared the -captivity of the family. Two of the younger women walked down with me -through the ruins of the castle, but when we reached the great outer -gate they stopped and looked at me standing on the threshold. - -"Allah!" said one, "you go forth to travel through the whole world, and -we have never been to Ḥamāh!" - -I saw them in the gateway when I turned again to wave them a farewell. -Tall and straight they were, and full of supple grace, clothed in narrow -blue robes, their brows bound with gold, their eyes following the road -they might not tread. For whatever may happen to the sheikhs, nothing is -more certain than that women as lovely as those two will remain -imprisoned by their lords in Ḳal'at es Seijar. - -We rode next day by cultivated plains to Ḳal'at el Mudīk, a short -stage of under four hours. Although there were several traces of ruined -towns--one in particular I remember at a hamlet called Sheikh Ḥadīd, -where there was a mound that looked as if it might have been an -acropolis--the journey would have been uninteresting but for Maḥmūd's -stories. His talk ran through the characteristics of the many races that -make up the Turkish empire, with most of which he was familiar, and when -he came to the Circassians it appeared that he shared my aversion to -them. - -"Oh lady," said he, "they do not know what it is to make return for -kindness. The father sells his children, and the children would kill -their own father if he had gold in his belt. It happened once that I was -riding from Tripoli to Ḥomṣ, and near the khān--you know the -place--I met a Circassian walking alone. I said: 'Peace be upon you! Why -do you walk?' for the Circassians never go afoot. He said: 'My horse has -been stolen from me, and I walk in fear upon this road.' I said: 'Come -with me and you shall go in safety to Ḥomṣ.' But I made him walk -before my horse, for he was armed with a sword, and who knows what a -Circassian will do if you cannot watch him? And after a little we passed -an old man working in the fields, and the Circassian ran out to him and -spoke with him, and drew his sword as though to kill him. And I called -out: 'What has this old man done to you?' And he replied: 'By God! I am -hungry, and I asked him for food, and he said "I have none!" wherefore I -shall kill him.' Then I said: 'Let him be. I will give you food.' And I -gave him the half of all I had, bread and sweetmeats and oranges. So we -journeyed until we came to a stream, and I was thirsty, and I got off my -mare and holding her by the bridle I stooped to drink. And I looked up -suddenly and saw the Circassian with his foot in my stirrup on the other -side of the mare, for he designed to mount her and ride away. And, by -God! I had been a father and a mother to him, therefore I struck him -with my sword so that he fell to the ground. And I bound him and drove -him to Ḥomṣ and delivered him to the Government. This is the manner -of the Circassians, may God curse them!" - -I asked him of the road to Mecca and of the hardships that the pilgrims -endure upon the way. - -"By the Face of God! they suffer," said he. "Ten marches from Ma'ān to -Medā'in Ṣāleḥ, ten from there to Medīna, and ten from Medīna to -Mecca, and the last ten are the worst, for the Sherif of Mecca and the -Arab tribes plot together, and the Arabs rob the pilgrims and share the -booty with the Sherif. Nor are the marches like the marches of -gentlefolk when they travel, for sometimes there are fifteen hours -between water and water, and sometimes twenty, and the last march into -Mecca is thirty hours. Now the Government pays the tribes to let the -pilgrims through in peace, and when they know that the Ḥājj is -approaching they assemble upon the hills beside the road and cry out to -the Amīr ul Ḥājj: 'Give us our dues, 'Abd ur Raḥmān Pasha!' And -to each man he gives according to his rights, to one money, and to -another a pipe and tobacco, to a third a kerchief, and to a fourth a -cloak. Yet it is not the pilgrims that suffer most, but those who keep -the forts that guard the water tanks along the road, and every fort is -like a prison. It happened once that I was sent with the military -escort, and my horse fell sick and could not move, and they left me at -one of the forts between Medā'in Ṣāleḥ and Medina till they should -return. Six weeks or more I lived with the keeper of the fort, and we -saw no one, and we eat and slept in the sun, and eat again, and slept, -for we could not ride out for fear of the Ḥoweiṭāṭ and the Beni -'Atiyyeh who were at war together. And the man had lived there ten years -and never gone a quarter of an hour from that spot, for he watched over -the stores that feed the Ḥājj when it passes. By the Prophet of God!" -said Maḥmūd, with a sweeping gesture of the hand from earth to sky, -"for ten years he had seen nothing but the earth and God! Now he had a -little son, and the boy was deaf and dumb, but his eyes saw further than -any man's, and he watched all day from the top of the tower. And one day -he came running to his father and pointed with his hands, and the father -knew he had seen a raiding party far off, and we hastened within and -shut the doors. And the horsemen drew near, five hundred of the Beni -'Atiyyeh, and they watered their mares and demanded food, and we threw -down bread to them, for we dared not open the doors. And while they eat -there came across the plain the raiders of the Ḥoweiṭāṭ, and they -began to fight together by the castle wall, and they fought until the -evening prayer, and those who lived rode away, leaving their dead to the -number of thirty. And we remained all night with locked doors, and at -dawn we went down and buried the dead. But it is better to live in a -fortress by the Ḥājj road," he continued, "than to serve as a soldier -in Yemen, for there the soldiers receive no pay and of food not enough -on which to live, and the sun bums like a fire. In Yemen if a man stood -in the shade and saw a purse of gold lying in the sun, by God! he would -not go out to pick it up, for the heat is like the fire of hell. Oh -lady, is it true that in Egypt the soldiers get their pay week by week -and month by month?" - -I replied that I believed it to be the case, such being the custom in -the English army. - -"As for us," said Maḥmūd, "our pay is always due to us for half a -year, and often out of twelve months' pay we receive but six months'. -Wāllah! I have never touched more than eight months' pay for a complete -year. Once," he added, "I was in Alexandria--Māsha'llah, the fine city! -Houses it has as big as the palaces of kings, and all the roads have -paved edges whereon the people walk. And there I saw a cabman who sued a -lady for his fare, and the judge gave it to him. By the Truth! the ways -of judges are different with us," observed Maḥmūd thoughtfully; and -then, with an abrupt transition, he exclaimed: "Look, oh lady! there is -Abu Sa'ad." - -I looked, and saw Abu Sa'ad walking in the ploughed field, with his -white coat as spotless as though he had not just alighted from a journey -as long as one of Maḥmūd's, and his black sleeves folded neatly -against his sides, and I made haste to welcome the Father of Good Luck, -for in Syria the first stork is like the first swallow with us. He -cannot, however, any more than the swallow make summer, and we rode that -day into Ḳal'at el Mudīk, in drenching rain. - -[Illustration 115: A CAPITAL, ḤAMĀH] - -Ḳal'at el Mudīk is the Apamea of the Seleucids. It was founded by -Seleucus Nicator, that great town builder who had so many cities for his -god-daughters: Seleucia in Pieria, Seleucia on the Calycadnus, Seleucia -in Babylonia, and more besides. Though it has been utterly destroyed by -earthquakes, enough remains in ruin to prove its ancient splendour, the -wide circuit of its walls, the number of its temples and the -magnificence of its columned streets. You can trace the main -thoroughfares from gate to gate by the heaped masses of the colonnades, -and mark the stone bases of statues at the intersections of the ways. -Here and there a massive portal opens into vacuity, the palace which it -served having been razed to the ground, or an armed horseman decorates -the funeral stele on which the living merits of his prototype are -recorded. The Christians took up the story where the Seleucid kings had -left it, and the ruins of a great church with a courtyard set round with -columns lie on the edge of the main street. As I plunged in the soft -spring rain through deep grass and flowers and clumps of asphodel, to -the discomfiture of the grey owls that sat blinking on the heaps of -stones, the history and architecture of the town seemed an epitome of -the marvellous fusion between Greece and Asia that came of Alexander's -conquests. Here was a Greek king whose capital lay on the Tigris, -founding a city on the Orontes and calling it after his Persian -wife--what builders raised the colonnades that adorned this and all the -Greek-tinged towns of Syria with classic forms used in a spirit of -Oriental lavishness? what citizens walked between them, holding out -hands to Athens and to Babylon? - -The only inhabited part of Ḳal'at el Mudīk is the castle itself, -which stands on the site of the Seleucid acropolis, a hill overlooking -the Orontes valley and the Noṣairiyyeh mountains. It is mainly of Arab -workmanship, though many hands have taken part in its construction, and -Greek and Arabic inscriptions are built pellmell into the walls. To the -south of the castle there is a bit of classical building of which I have -seen no explanation. It looks as if it might be part of the proscenium -of the theatre, for the rising ground behind it is scooped away in the -shape of an auditorium. A very little digging would be enough to show -whether traces of seats lie under the grassy bank. In the valley there -is a ruined mosque and a fine khān, half ruined also. The Sheikh of the -castle gave me coffee, and told me yet another version of the Seijari -story, irreconcilable with either of the two first, whereat I -congratulated myself on having early determined not to attempt to -resolve that tangled problem. From the castle top the valley of the -Orontes seemed to be all under water: it was the great swamp of the -'Asī, said the Sheikh, which dries in summer when the island villages -(as I saw them now) resume their places as parts of the plain. Yes, -certainly they were very unhealthy, summer and winter they were -fever-stricken, and most of the inhabitants died young--lo, we belong to -God and unto Him do we return! In winter and spring these short-lived -folk follow the calling of fishermen, but when the swamp dried they turn -into husbandmen after a fashion of their own. They cut the reeds and -sowed maize upon them, and set them alight, and the maize rose out of -the ashes and grew--a phœnix-like method of agriculture. - -At Apamea the excellent cakes I had bought in Damascus came to an -end--it seemed a serious matter at the time when the bill of fare was -apt to be monotonous. Lunch was the least palatable of all our meals. -Hard-boiled eggs and chunks of cold meat cease to tempt the appetite -after they have been indulged in for a month or two. Gradually I taught -Mikhāil to vary our diet with all the resources the country offered, -olives and sheep's milk cheese, salted pistachios, sugared apricots and -half a dozen other delicacies, including the Damascus cakes. The native -servant, accustomed to feeding Cook's tourists on sardines and tinned -beef, thinks it beneath the dignity of a European to eat such food, and -you must go hunt the bazaars with him yourself and teach him what to -buy, or you may pass through the richest country and starve on cold -mutton. - - -[Footnote 9: It will be the terminus only for a month or two longer for -the line has at length been continued to Aleppo.] - -[Footnote 10: The plural of Ismaili in the vernacular is Samawīleh. I -do not know whether this is the literary form, but it is the one I have -always heard.] - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - -The next day's journey is branded on my mind by an incident which I can -scarcely dignify with the name of an adventure--a misadventure let me -call it. It was as tedious while it was happening as a real adventure -(and no one but he who has been through them knows how tiresome they -frequently are), and it has not left behind it that remembered spice of -possible danger that enlivens fireside recollections. We left Ḳal'at -el Mudīk at eight in pouring rain, and headed northwards to the Jebel -Zāwiyyeh, a cluster of low hills that lies between the Orontes valley -and the broad plain of Aleppo. This range contains a number of ruined -towns, dating mainly from the fifth and sixth centuries, partially -re-inhabited by Syrian fellaḥīn, and described in detail by de -Vogüé and Butler. The rain stopped as we rode up a low sweep of the -hills where the red earth was all under the plough and the villages set -in olive groves. The country had a wide bare beauty of its own, which -was heightened by the dead towns that were strewn thickly over it. At -first the ruins were little more than heaps of cut stones, but at Kefr -Anbīl there were some good houses, a church, a tower and a very large -necropolis of rock-cut tombs. Here the landscape changed, the cultivated -land shrank into tiny patches, the red earth disappeared and was -replaced by barren stretches of rock, from out of which rose the grey -ruins like so many colossal boulders. There must have been more -cultivation when the district supported the very large population -represented by the ruined towns, but the rains of many winters have -broken the artificial terracings and washed the earth down into the -valleys, so that by no possibility could the former inhabitants draw -from it now sufficient produce to sustain them. North-east of Kefr -Anbīl, across a labyrinth of rocks, appeared the walls of a wonderful -village, Khīrbet Ḥass, which I was particularly anxious to see. I -sent the mules straight to El Bārah, our halting place that night, -engaged a villager as a guide over the stony waste, and set off with -Mikhāil and Maḥmūd. The path wound in and out between the rocks, a -narrow band of grass plentifully scattered with stones; the afternoon -sun shone hot upon us, and I dismounted, took off my coat, bound it (as -I thought) fast to my saddle, and walked on ahead amid the grass and -flowers. That was the beginning of the misadventure. Khīrbet Ḥass was -quite deserted save for a couple of black tents. The streets of the -market were empty, the walls of the shops had fallen in, the church had -long been abandoned of worshippers, the splendid houses were as silent -as the tombs, the palisaded gardens were untended, and no one came down -to draw water from the deep cisterns. The charm and the mystery of it -kept me loitering till the sun was near the horizon and a cold wind had -risen to remind me of my coat, but, lo! when I returned to the horses it -was gone from my saddle. Tweed coats do not grow on every bush in north -Syria, and it was obvious that some effort must be made to recover mine. -Maḥmūd rode back almost to Kefr Anbīl, and returned after an hour -and a half empty handed. By this time it was growing dark; moreover a -black storm was blowing up from the east, and we had an hour to ride -through very rough country. We started at once, Mikhāil, Maḥmūd and -I, picking our way along an almost invisible path. As ill luck would -have it, just as the dusk closed in the storm broke upon us, the night -turned pitch dark, and with the driving rain in our faces we missed that -Medea-thread of a road. At this moment Mikhāil's ears were assailed by -the barking of imaginary dogs, and we turned our horses' heads towards -the point from which he supposed it to come. This was the second stage -of the misadventure, and I at least ought to have remembered that -Mikhāil was always the worst guide, even when he knew the direction of -the place towards which he was going. We stumbled on; a watery moon came -out to show us that our way led nowhere, and being assured of this we -stopped and fired off a couple of pistol shots, thinking that if the -village were close at hand the muleteers would hear us and make some -answering signal. None came, however, and we found our way back to the -point where the rain had blinded us, only to be deluded again by that -phantom barking and to set off again on our wild dog chase. This time we -went still further afield, and Heaven knows where we should ultimately -have arrived if I had not demonstrated by the misty moon that we were -riding steadily south, whereas El Bārah lay to the north. At this we -turned heavily in our tracks, and when we had ridden some way back we -dismounted and sat down upon a ruined wall to discuss the advisability -of lodging for the night in an empty tomb, and to eat a mouthful of -bread and cheese out of Mahmūd's saddle-bags. The hungry horses came -nosing up to us; mine had half my share of bread, for after all he was -doing more than half the share of work. The food gave us enterprise; we -rode on and found ourselves in the twinkling of an eye at the original -branching off place. From it we struck a third path, and in five minutes -came to the village of El Bārah, round which we had been circling for -three hours. The muleteers were fast asleep in the tents; we woke them -somewhat rudely, and asked whether they had not heard our signals. Oh -yes, they replied cheerfully, but concluding that it was a robber taking -advantage of the stormy night to kill some one, they had paid small -attention. This is the whole tale of the misadventure; it does credit to -none of the persons concerned, and I blush to relate it. It has, -however, taught me not to doubt the truth of similar occurrences in the -lives of other travellers whom I have now every reason to believe -entirely veracious. - -[Illustration 116: A HOUSE AT EL BĀRAH] - -[Illustration 117: MOULDING AT EL BĀRAH AND LINTEL AT KHIRBET HĀSS] - -Intolerable though El Bārah may be by night, by day it is most -marvellous and most beautiful. It is like the dream city which children -create for themselves to dwell in between bedtime and sleep-time, -building palace after palace down the shining ways of the imagination, -and no words can give the charm of it nor the magic of the Syrian -spring. The generations of the dead walk with you down the streets, you -see them flitting across their balconies, gazing out of windows wreathed -with white clematis, wandering in palisaded gardens that are still -planted with olive and with vine and carpeted with iris, hyacinth and -anemone. Yet you may search the chronicles for them in vain; they played -no part in history, but were content to live in peace and to build -themselves great houses in which to dwell and fine tombs to lie in after -they were dead. That they became Christian the hundreds of ruined -churches and the cross carved over the doors and windows of their -dwellings, would be enough to show; that they were artists their -decorations prove; that they were wealthy their spacious mansions their -summer houses and stables and out-houses testify. They borrowed from -Greece such measure of cultivation and of the arts as they required, -find fused with them the spirit of Oriental magnificence which never -breathed; without effect on the imagination of the West; they lived in -comfort and security such as few of their contemporaries can have known, -and the Mahommadan invasion swept them off the face of the earth. - -[Illustration 118: TOMB, SERJILLA] - -I spent two days at El Bārah and visited five or six of the villages -round about, the Sheikh of El Bārah and his son serving me as guides. -The Sheikh was a sprightly old man called Yūnis, who had guided all the -distinguished archæologists of his day, remembered them, and spoke of -them by name--or rather by names of his own, very far removed from the -originals. I contrived to make out those of de Vogüé and Waddington, -and another that was quite unintelligible was probably intended for -Sachau. At Serjilla, a town with a sober and solid air of respectability -that would be hard to match, though it is roofless and quite deserted, -he presented me with a palace and its adjacent tomb that I might live -and die in his neighbourhood, and when I left he rode with me as far as -Deir Sanbīl to put me on my way. He was much exercised that day by a -disturbance that had arisen in a village near at hand. A man had been -waylaid by two others of a neighbouring village who desired to rob him. -Fortunately a fellow townsman had come to his assistance and together -they had succeeded in beating off the attack, but in the contest the -friend had lost his life. His relations had raided the robbers' village -and carried off all the cattle. Maḥmūd was of opinion that they -should not have taken the law into their own hands. - -"By God!" said he, "they should have laid the case before the -Government." - -But Yūnis replied, with unanswerable logic: - -"Of what use was it to go to the Government? They wanted their rights." - -In the course of conversation I asked Yūnis whether he ever went to -Aleppo. - -"By God!" said he. "And then I sit in the bazaars and watch the consuls -walking, each with a man in front clothed in a coat worth two hundred -piastres, and the ladies with as it were flowers upon their heads." (The -fashionable European hat, I imagine.) "I always go to Aleppo when my -sons are in prison there," he explained. "Sometimes the gaoler is -softhearted and a little money will get them out." - -[Illustration 119: SHEIKH YŪNIS] - -I edged away from what seemed to be delicate ground by asking how many -sons he had. - -"Eight, praise be to God! Each of my wives bore me four sons and two -daughters." - -"Praise be to God!" said I. - -"May God prolong your life!" said Yūnis. "My second wife cost me a -great deal of money," he added. - -"Yes?" said I. - -"May God make it Yes upon you, oh lady! I took her from her husband, and -by God (may His name be praised and exalted!) I had to pay two thousand -piastres to the husband and three thousand to the judge." - -[Illustration 120: HOUSE AT SERJILLA] - -This was too much for Ḥājj Maḥmūd's sense of the proprieties. - -"You took her from her husband?" said he. "Wāllah! that was the deed of -a Noṣairi or an Ismaili. Does a Moslem take away a man's wife? It is -forbidden." - -"He was my enemy," explained Yūnis. "By God and the Prophet of God, -there was enmity between us even unto death." - -"Had she children?" inquired Maḥmūd. - -"Ey wāllah!" assented the Sheikh, a little put about by Maḥmūd's -disapproval. "But I paid two thousand piastres to the husband and three -thousand----" - -"By the Face of God!" exclaimed Maḥmūd, still more outraged, "it was -the deed of an infidel." - -And here I put an end to further discussion of the merits of the case by -asking whether the woman had liked being carried off. - -"Without doubt," said Yūnis. "It was her wish." - -We may conclude, therefore, that ethics did not have much to do with the -matter, though he indemnified so amply both the husband and the judge. - -This episode led us to discuss the usual price paid for a wife. - -[Illustration 121: TOMB OF BIZZOS] - -"For such as we," said Yūnis, with an indescribable air of social -pre-eminence, "the girl will not be less than four thousand piastres, -but a poor man who has no money will give the father a cow or a few -sheep, and he will be content." - -After he left us I rode round by Ruweiḥā that I might see the famous -church by which stands the domed tomb of Bizzos. This church is the most -beautiful in the Jebel Zāwiyyeh, with its splendid narthex and carved -doorways, its stilted arches and the wide-spanned arcades of its -nave--how just was the confidence in his own mastery over his material -which encouraged the builder to throw those great arches from pier to -pier is proved by the fact that one of them stands to this day. The -little tomb of Bizzos is almost as perfect as it was when it was first -built. By the doorway an inscription is cut in Greek: "Bizzos son of -Pardos. I lived well, I die well and well I rest. Pray for me." The -strangest features in all the architecture of North Syria are the -half-remembered classical motives that find their way into mouldings -that are almost Gothic in their freedom, and the themes of a classical -entablature that grace church window or architrave. The scheme of Syrian -decoration was primarily a row of circles or wreaths filled with whorls -or with the Christian monogram; but as the stone-cutters grew more -skilful they ran their circles together into a hundred exquisite and -fanciful shapes of acanthus and palm and laurel, making a flowing -pattern round church or tomb as varied as the imagination could -contrive. The grass beneath their feet, the leaves on the boughs above -their heads, inspired them with a wealth of decorative design much as -they inspired William Morris twelve hundred years later. - -There is another church at Ruweiḥā scarcely less perfect than the -Bizzos church, but not so splendid in design. It is remarkable for a -monument standing close to the south wall, which has been explained as a -bell tower, or a tomb, or a pulpit, or not explained at all. It is -constructed of two stories, the lower one consisting of six columns -supporting a platform, from the low wall of which rise four corner piers -to carry the dome or canopy. The resemblance to some of the North -Italian tombs, as, for instance, to the monument of Rolandino, in -Bologna, is so striking that the beholder instinctively assigns a -similar purpose to the graceful building at Ruweiḥā. - -We camped that night at Dāna, a village that boasts a pyramid tomb with -a porch of four Corinthian columns, as perfect in execution and in -balanced proportion as anything you could wish to see. On our way from -Ruweiḥā we passed a mansion which I would take as a type of the -domestic architecture of the sixth-century. It stood apart, separated by -a mile or two of rolling country from any village, with open balconies -facing towards the west and a delightful gabled porch to the north, such -a porch as might adorn any English country house of to-day. You could -fancy the sixth-century owner sitting on the stone bench within and -watching for his friends--he can have feared no enemies, or he would not -have built his dwelling far out in the country and guarded it only with -a garden palisade. At Ḳaṣr el Banāt, the Maidens' Fortress as the -Syrians call it, I was impressed more than at any other place with the -high level that social order had reached in the Jebel Zāwiyyeh, for -here were security and wealth openly displayed, and leisure wherein to -cultivate the arts; and as I rode away I fell to wondering whether -civilisation is indeed, as we think it in Europe, a resistless power -sweeping forward and carrying upon its crest those who are apt to profit -by its advance; or whether it is not rather a tide that ebbs and flows, -and in its ceaseless turn and return touches ever at the flood the -self-same place upon the shore. - -[Illustration 122: CHURCH AND TOMB, RUWEIḤĀ] - -Late at night one of Sheikh Yūnis's sons rode in to ask us whether his -father were still with us. On leaving us that enterprising old party had -not, it seemed, returned to the bosom of his anxious family, and I have -a suspicion that his friendly eagerness to set us on our way was but -part of a deep-laid plot by means of which he hoped to be able to take a -hand in those local disturbances that had preoccupied him during the -morning. At any rate he had made off as soon as we were out of sight, -and the presumption was that he had hastened to join in the fray. What -happened to him I never heard, but I am prepared to wager that whoever -bit the dust at the village of El Mughāra it was not Sheikh Yūnis. - -Three rather tedious days lay between us and Aleppo. We might have made -the journey in two, but I had determined to strike a little to the east -in order to avoid the carriage road, which was well known, and to -traverse country which, though it might not be more interesting, was at -least less familiar. Five hours' ride from Dāna across open rolling -uplands Brought us to Ṭarutīn. We passed several ancient sites, -re-occupied by half-settled Arabs of the Muwāli tribes, though the old -buildings were completely ruined. All along the western edges of the -desert the Bedouin are beginning to cultivate the soil, and are -therefore forced to establish themselves in some fixed spot near their -crops. "We are become fellaḥīn," said the Sheikh of Ṭarutīn. In -some distant age, when all the world is ploughed and harvested, there -will be no nomads left in Arabia. In the initial stages these new-made -farmers continue to live in tents, but the tents are stationary, the -accompanying dirt cumulative, and the settlement unpleasing to any of -the senses. The few families at Ṭarutīn had not yet forgotten their -desert manners, and we found them agreeable people, notwithstanding the -accuracy with which the above remarks applied to their village of hair. - -[Illustration 123: ḲAṢR EL ḂANĀT] - -I had not been in camp an hour before there was a great commotion among -my men, and Mikhāil came to my tent shouting, "The Americans! the -Americans!" It was not a raid, but the Princeton archæological -expedition, which, travelling from Damascus by other ways than ours, was -now making for the Jebel Zāwiyyeh; and a fortunate encounter my camp -thought it, for each one of us found acquaintances among the masters or -among the muleteers, and had time to talk, as people will talk who meet -by chance upon an empty road. Moreover, the day I spent at Ṭarutīn -provided me with an admirable object lesson in archæology. As the -members of the expedition planned the ruins and deciphered the -inscriptions, the whole fifth-century town rose from its ashes and stood -before us--churches, houses, forts, rock-hewn tombs with the names and -dates of death of the occupants carved over the door. Next day we had a -march of ten hours. We went north, passing a small mud village called -Ḥelbān, and another called Mughāra Merzeh, where there were the -remains of a church and rock-cut tombs of a very simple kind. (None of -these places are marked on Kiepert's map.) Then we turned to the east -and reached Tulūl, where we came upon an immense expanse of flood -water, stretching south at least twelve miles from the Maṭkh, the -swamp in which the River Kuweēk rises. At Tulūl some Arab women were -mourning over a new-made grave. For three days after the dead are buried -they weep thus at the grave side; only at Mecca and at Medina, said -Maḥmūd, there is no mourning for those who are gone. There when -breath leaves the body the women give three cries, to make known to the -world that the soul has fled; but beyond these cries there is no -lamentation, for it is forbidden that tears should fall upon the head of -the corpse. The Lord has given and He has taken away. So we went south -along the edge of the high ground to a little hill called Tell Selma, -where we turned east again and rounded the flood water and rode along -its margin to a big village, Moyemāt, half tents and half beehive huts -built of mud. There is no other material but mud in which to build; from -the moment we left the rocky ground on which Ṭarutīn stands we never -saw a stone--never a stone and never a tree, but an endless unbroken -cornfield, with the first scarlet tulips coming into bloom among the -young wheat. It was heavy going, though it was soft to the horses' feet. -If there were a little more earth upon the hills of Syria and a few more -stones upon the plain, travelling would be easier in that country; but -He, than whom there is none other, has ordered differently. From -Moyemāt we rode north-east until we came to a village called Hober, at -the foot of a spur of the Jebel el Ḥaṣṣ, and here we tried to -camp, but could get neither oats nor barley, nor even a handful of -chopped straw; and so we went on to Kefr 'Ābid, which is marked on the -map, and pitched tents at six o'clock. The villages unknown to Kiepert -are probably of recent construction, indeed many of them are still half -camp. They are exceedingly numerous; about Hober I counted five within a -radius of a mile or two. The Arabs who inhabit them retain their nomad -habits of feud. Each village has its allies and its blood enemies, and -political relations are as delicate as they are in the desert. My diary -contains the following note at the end of the day: "Periwinkles, white -irises of the kind that were blue at El Bārah, red and yellow -ranunculus, storks, larks." These were all that broke the monotony of -the long ride. - -[Illustration 124: TOMB, DĀNA] - -[Illustration 125: A BEEHIVE VILLAGE] - -About half an hour to the north of Kefr 'Ābid there is a little beehive -village which contains a very perfect mosaic of geometrical patterns. -The fragments of other mosaics are to be found scattered through the -village, some in the houses, and some in the courtyards, and the whole -district needs careful exploration while the new settlers are turning up -the ground and before they destroy what they may find. We reached Aleppo -at midday, approaching it by an open drain. Whether it were because of -the evil smell or because of the heavy sky and dust-laden wind I do not -know, but the first impression of Aleppo was disappointing. The name, in -its charming Europeanised form, should belong to a more attractive city, -and attractive Aleppo certainly is not, for it is set in a barren, -treeless, featureless world, the beginning of the great Mesopotamian -flats. The site of the town is like a cup and saucer, the houses lie in -the saucer and the castle stands on the upturned cup, its minaret -visible several hours away while no vestige of the city appears until -the last mile of the road. I stayed two days, during which time it -rained almost ceaselessly, therefore I do not know Aleppo--an Oriental -city will not admit you into the circle of its intimates unless you -spend months within its walls, and not even then if you will not take -pains to please--but I did not leave without having perceived dimly that -there was something to be known. It has been a splendid Arab city; as -you walk down the narrow streets you pass minarets and gateways of the -finest period of Arab architecture; some of the mosques and baths and -khāns (especially those half ruined and closed) are in the same style, -and the castle is the best example of twelfth-century Arab workmanship -in all Syria, with iron doors of the same period--they are dated,--and -beautiful bits of decoration. There must be some native vitality still -that corresponds to these signs of past greatness, but the town has -fallen on evil days. It has been caught between the jealousies of -European concession hunters, and it suffers more than most Syrian towns -from the strangling grasp of the Ottoman Government. It is slowly dying -for want of an outlet to the sea, and neither the French nor the German -railway will supply its need. Hitherto the two companies have been -busily engaged in thwarting one another. The original concession to the -Rayak-Ḥamāh railway extended to Aleppo and north to Birijik--I was -told that the tickets to Birijik were printed off when the first rails -were laid at Rayak. Then came Germany, with her great scheme of a -railway to Baghdad. She secured a concession for a branch line from -Killiz to Aleppo, and did what she could to prevent the French from -advancing beyond Ḥamāh, on the plea that the French railway would -detract from the value of the German concession--my information, it may -be well imagined, is not from the Imperial Chancery, but from native -sources in Aleppo itself. Since I left, the French have taken up their -interrupted work on the Rayak-Ḥamāh line, though it is to be carried -forward, I believe, not to Birijik, but only as far as Aleppo.[11] It -will be of no benefit to the town. Aleppo merchants do not wish to send -their goods a three days' journey to Bey rout; they want a handy seaport -of their own, which will enable them to pocket all the profits of the -trade, and that port should be Alexandretta. Neither does the Baghdad -railway, if it be continued, offer any prospect of advantage. By a -branch line already existing (it was built by English and French -capitalists, but has recently passed under German control) the railway -will touch the sea at Mersina, but Mersina is as far from Aleppo as is -Beyrout. That a line should be laid direct from Aleppo to Alexandretta -is extremely improbable, since the Sultan fears above all things to -connect the inland caravan routes with the coast, lest the troops of the -foreigner, and particularly of England, should find it perilously easy -to land from their warships and march up country. Aleppo should be -still, as it was in times past, the great distributing centre for the -merchandise of the interior, but traffic is throttled by the fatal -frequency with which the Government commandeers the baggage camels. Last -year, with the Yemen war on hand and the consequent necessity of -transporting men and military stores to the coast that they might be -shipped to the Red Sea, this grievance had become acute. For over a -month trade had been stagnant and goods bound for the coast had lain -piled in the bazaar--a little more and they would cease to come at all, -the camel owners from the East not daring to enter the zone of danger to -their beasts. Here, as in all other Turkish towns, I heard the cry of -official bankruptcy. The Government had no funds wherewith to undertake -the most necessary works, the treasuries were completely empty. - -[Illustration 126: THE CASTLE, ALEPPO] - -Though my stay was short I was not without acquaintances, among whom the -most important was the Vāli. Kiāzim Pasha is a man of very different -stamp from the Vāli of Damascus. To the extent that the latter is, -according to his lights, a real statesman, in so far is Kiāzim nothing -but a _farceur._ He received me in his harem, for which I was grateful -when I saw his wife, who is one of the most beautiful women that it is -possible to behold. She is tall and stately, with a small dark head, set -on magnificent shoulders, a small straight nose, a pointed chin and -brows arching over eyes that are like dark pools--I could not take mine -from her face while she sat with us. Both she and her husband are -Circassians, a fact that had put me on my guard before the Vāli opened -his lips. They both spoke French, and he spoke it very well. He received -me in an offhand manner, and his first remark was: - -"Je suis le jeune pasha qui a fait la paix entre les églises." - -I knew enough of his history to realise that he had been Muteserrif of -Jerusalem at a time when the rivalries between the Christian sects had -ended in more murders than are customary, and that some kind of uneasy -compromise had been reached, whether through his ingenuity or the -necessities of the case I had not heard. - -"How old do you think I am?" said the pasha. - -I replied tactfully that I should give him thirty-five years. - -"Thirty-six!" he said triumphantly. "But the consuls listened to me. Mon -Dieu! that was a better post than this, though I am Vāli now. Here I -have no occasion to hold conferences with the consuls, and a man like me -needs the society of educated Europeans." - -(Mistrust the second: an Oriental official, who declares that he prefers -the company of Europeans.) - -"I am very Anglophil," said he. - -I expressed the gratitude of my country in suitable terms. - -"But what are you doing in Yemen?" he added quickly. - -"Excellency," said I, "we English are a maritime people, and there are -but two places that concern us in all Arabia." - -"I know," he interpolated. "Mecca and Medina." - -"No," said I. "Aden and Kweit." - -"And you hold them both," he returned angrily--yes, I am bound to -confess that the tones of his voice were not those of an Anglo-maniac. - -Presently he began to tell me that he alone among pashas had grasped -modern necessities. He meant to build a fine metalled road to -Alexandretta--not that it will be of much use, thought I, if there are -no camels to walk in it--like the road he had built from Samaria to -Jerusalem. That was a road like none other in Turkey--did I know it? I -had but lately travelled over it, and seized the opportunity of -congratulating the maker of it; but I did not think it necessary to -mention that it breaks off at the bottom of the only serious ascent and -does not begin again till the summit of the Judæan plateau is reached. - -This is all that need be said of Kiāzim Pasha's methods. - -A far more sympathetic acquaintance was the Greek Catholic Archbishop, a -Damascene educated in Paris and for some time cure of the Greek Catholic -congregation in that city, though he is still comparatively young. I had -been given a letter to him, on the presentation of which he received me -with great affability in his own house. We sat in a room filled with -books, the windows opening on to the silent courtyard of his palace, and -talked of the paths into which thought had wandered in Europe; but I -found to my pleasure that for all his learning and his long sojourn in -the West, the Archbishop had remained an Oriental at heart. - -"I rejoiced," said he, "when I was ordered to return from Paris to my -own land. There is much knowledge, but little faith in France; while in -Syria, though there is much ignorance, religion rests upon a sure -foundation of belief." - -The conclusion that may be drawn from this statement is not flattering -to the Church, but I refrained from comment. - -He appeared in the afternoon to return my call--from the Vāli downwards -all must conform to this social obligation--wearing his gold cross and -carrying his archiepiscopal staff in his hand. From his tall brimless -hat a black veil fell down his back, his black robes were edged with -purple, and an obsequious chaplain walked behind him. He found another -visitor sitting with me in the inn parlour, Nicola Ḥomṣi, a rich -banker of his own congregation. Ḥomṣi belongs to an important -Christian family settled in Aleppo, and his banking house has -representatives in Marseilles and in London. He and the Archbishop -between them were fairly representative of the most enterprising and the -best educated classes in Syria. It is they who suffer at the hands of -the Turk,--the ecclesiastic, because of a blind and meaningless official -opposition that meets the Christian at every turn; the banker, because -his interests call aloud for progress, and progress is what the Turk -will never understand. I therefore asked them what they thought would be -the future of the country. They looked at one another, and the -Archbishop answered: - -"I do not know. I have thought deeply on the subject, and I can see no -future for Syria, whichever way I turn." - -That is the only credible answer I have heard to any part of the Turkish -question. - -The air of Aleppo is judged by the Sultan to be particularly suitable -for pashas who have fallen under his displeasure at Constantinople. The -town is so full of exiles that even the most casual visitor can scarcely -help making acquaintance with a few of them. One was lodged in my hotel, -a mild-mannered dyspeptic, whom no one would have suspected of -revolutionary sympathies. Probably he was indeed without them, and owed -his banishment merely to some chance word, reported and magnified by an -enemy or a spy. I was to see many of these exiles scattered up and down -Asia Minor, and none that I encountered could tell me for what cause -they had suffered banishment. Some, no doubt, must have had a suspicion, -and some were perfectly well aware of their offence, but most of them -were as innocently ignorant as they professed to be. Now this has a -wider bearing on the subject of Turkish patriotic feeling than may at -first appear; for the truth is that these exiled pashas are very rarely -patriots paying the price of devotion to a national ideal, but rather -men whom an unlucky turn of events has alienated from the existing -order. If there is any chance that they may be taken back into favour -you will find them nervously anxious, even in exile, to refrain from -action that would tend to increase official suspicion; and it is only -when they have determined that there is no hope for them as long as the -present Sultan lives, that they are willing to associate freely with -Europeans or to speak openly of their grievances. There is, so far as I -can see, no organised body of liberal opinion in Turkey, but merely -individual discontents, founded on personal misfortune. It seems -improbable that when the exiles return to Constantinople on the death of -the Sultan they will provide any scheme of reform or show any desire to -alter a system under which, by the natural revolution of affairs, they -will again find themselves persons of consideration. - -There is another form of exile to be met with in Turkey, the honourable -banishment of a distant appointment. To this class, I fancy, belongs -Nāzim Pasha himself, and so does my friend Muḥammad 'Ali Pasha of -Aleppo. The latter is an agreeable man of about thirty, married to an -English wife. He accompanied me to the Vāli's house, obtained -permission that I should see the citadel, and in many ways contrived to -make himself useful. His wife was a pleasant little lady from Brixton; -he had met her in Constantinople and there married her, which may, for -ought I know, have been partly the reason of his fall from favour, the -English nation not being a _gens grata_ at Yildiz Kiosk. Muḥammad 'Ali -Pasha is a gentleman in the full sense of the word, and he seems to have -made his wife happy; but it must be clearly understood that I could not -as a general rule recommend Turkish pashas as husbands to the maidens of -Brixton. Though she played tennis at the Tennis Club, and went to the -sewing parties of the European colony, she was obliged to conform to -some extent to the habits of Moslem women. She never went into the -streets without being veiled; "because people would talk if a pasha's -wife were to show her face," said she. - -We reached the citadel in the one hour of sunlight that shone on Aleppo -during my stay, and were taken round by polite officers, splendid in -uniforms and clanking swords and spurs, who were particularly anxious -that I should not miss the small mosque in the middle of the fortress, -erected on the very spot where Abraham milked his cow. The very name of -Aleppo, said they, is due to this historic occurrence, and there can be -no doubt that its Arabic form, Ḥaleb, is composed of the same root -letters as those that form the verb to milk. In spite of the deep -significance of the mosque, I was more interested in the view from the -top of the minaret. The Mesopotamian plain lay outspread before us, as -flat as a board--Euphrates stream is visible from that tower on a clear -day, and indeed you might see Baghdad but for the tiresome way in which -the round earth curves, for there is no barrier to the eye in all that -great level. Below us, were the clustered roofs of bazaar and khān, -with here and there a bird's-eye glimpse of marble courtyards, and here -and there the fine spire of a minaret. Trees and water were lacking in -the landscape, and water is the main difficulty in Aleppo itself. The -sluggish stream that flows out of the Maṭkh dries up in the summer, -and the wells are brackish all the year round. Good drinking water must -be brought from a great distance and costs every household at least a -piastre a day, a serious addition to the cost of living. But the climate -is good, sharply cold in winter and not over hot for more than a month -or two in the summer. Such is Aleppo, the great city with the -high-sounding name and the traces of a splendid past. - - -[Footnote 11: The line is now completed as far as Aleppo.] - - -[Illustration 127: A WATER-CARRIER] - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - -All my leisure moments during the two days in Aleppo were occupied in -changing muleteers. It seemed a necessary, if a regrettable measure. At -Antioch we should reach the limits of the Arabic speaking population. -Ḥabīb and his father had no word of Turkish, Mikhāil owned to a few -substantives such as egg, milk and piastre, while I was scarcely more -accomplished. I shrank from plunging with my small party into lands -where we should be unable to do more than proclaim our most pressing -needs or ask the way. The remarkable aptitude of north Syrian muleteers -had been much vaunted to me--the title of muleteer is really a misnomer, -for as a fact the beast of burden in these parts is a sorry nag, kadish, -as it is called in Arabic; from Alexandretta to Konia I doubt if we ever -saw a mule, certainly we never saw a caravan of mules. I had heard, -then, that I should not begin to know what it was to travel in comfort, -without worry or responsibility, and with punctuality and speed, until I -had reorganised my service, and that when I reached Konia I should be -able to break up my caravan if I pleased, and as I pleased, and the -Aleppo men would find their way home with another load. So I said -good-bye to my Beyroutīs--and to peace. - -The system on which the journey was henceforth conducted was the -sweating system. The sweater was a toothless old wretch, Fāris by name, -who shared with his brother one of the largest teams of baggage animals -in Aleppo. Owing to his lack of teeth he spoke Arabic and Turkish -equally incomprehensibly; he supplied me with four baggage-horses and -rode himself on a fifth, for his own convenience and at his own expense, -though he tried vainly to make me pay for his mount when we reached -Konia; he hired two boys, at a starvation wage, to do all the work of -the camp and the march, and fed them on starvation fare. This unhappy -couple went on foot (the independent men of the Lebanon had provided -themselves with donkeys), and it was a part of their contract with -Fāris that he should give them shoes, but he refused to do so until I -interfered and threatened to dock his wages of the price of the shoes -and buy them myself. I was obliged also to look into the commissariat -and see that the pair had at least enough food to keep them in working -condition; but in spite of all my efforts the hired boys deserted at -every stage, and I suffered continual annoyance from the delays caused -by the difficulty of finding others, and, still more, from the necessity -of teaching each new couple the details of their work--where the tent -pegs were to be placed, how the loads were to be divided, and a hundred -other small but important matters. I had also to goad Fāris, who was -furnished with a greater number of excuses for shirking labour than any -man in Aleppo, into doing some share of his duty, and to superintend -night and morning the feeding of my horses, which would otherwise have -escaped starvation as narrowly as the hired boys. Finally, when we came -to Konia, I found that Fāris had turned the last of his slaves on to -the street, and had refused categorically to take them back to their -home at Adana, saying that when he escaped from my eye he could get -cheaper men than they; and since I would not abandon two boys who had, -according to their stupid best, done what they could to serve me, I was -obliged to help them to return to their native place. To sum up the -evidence, I should say that those who recommend the muleteers of Aleppo -and their abominable system can never have directed a well-trained and -well-organised camp, where the work goes as regularly as Big Ben, and -the men have cheerful faces and willing hands, nor can they have -experience of real businesslike travel, for that is possible only with -servants who show courage in difficulties, enterprise and resource. I -admit that my experience is small, and I confidently assert that it will -never be larger, for I would bring muleteers from Baghdad rather than -engage Fāris or his like a second time. - -It was just when the difficulties of the journey multiplied that -Mikhāil's virtue collapsed. Two days spent in drinking the health of -his departing companions, with whom he was on excellent terms, as the -members of a good camp should be, were enough to shatter the effects of -two months' sobriety. From that time forward the 'arak bottle bulked -large in his saddle-bags, and though an 'arak bottle can be searched for -and found in saddle-bags and broken on a stone, no amount of vigilance -could keep Mikhāil out of the wine shop when we reached a town. -Adversity teaches many lessons; I look back with mingled feelings upon -the uneasy four weeks between our departure from Aleppo and the time -when Providence sent me another and a better man and I hardened my heart -to dismiss Mikhāil, but I do not regret the schooling that was forced -on me. - -Ḥājj Maḥmūd reached at Aleppo the term of his commission, and from -him also I took a most reluctant farewell. The Vāli provided me with a -zaptieh whose name was Ḥājj Najīb, a Kurd of unprepossessing -appearance, who proved on acquaintance a useful and obliging man, -familiar with the district through which we travelled together, and with -the people inhabiting it. We were late in starting, Mikhāil being -sodden with 'arak and the muleteers unhandy with the loads. The day (it -was March 30) was cloudless, and for the first time the sun was -unpleasantly hot. When we rode away at ten o'clock it was already -blazing fiercely upon us, and the whole day long there was not a scrap -of shade in all the barren track. We followed for a mile or so the -Alexandretta high road, passing a café with a few trees about it, soon -after which we struck away to the left and entered a path that led us -into the bare rocky hills, and speedily became as rocky as they. Our -course was east with a touch of north. At half-past twelve we stopped to -lunch, and waited a full hour for the baggage, during which, time I had -leisure to reflect upon the relative marching speed of the new servants -and the old, and on the burning heat of the sun that had not been so -noticeable when we were ridings Half an hour further we passed a hovel, -Yaḳit 'Ades, where Najīb suggested that we might camp. But I decided -that it was too early, and after we had given strict injunctions to -Fāris concerning the route he was to follow and the exact spot where we -should camp, the zaptieh and I bettered our pace, and without going -beyond a walk were soon out of sight of the others. We rode along the -bottom of a bare winding valley, past several places that were marked on -the map though they were no more than the smallest heaps of ruins, and -at four o'clock turned up the northern slope of the valley and reached a -hamlet, unknown to Kiepert, which Najīb informed me to be Kbeshīn. -Here amid a few old walls and many modern refuse heaps we found a -Kurdish camp, one of the spring-time camps in which half nomadic people -dwell with their flocks at the season of fresh grass. The walls of the -tents, if tents they may be called, were roughly built of stone to a -height of about five feet, but the roofs were of goats' hair cloth, -raised in the centre by tent poles. The Kurdish shepherds crowded round -us and conversed with Najīb in their own tongue, which sounded vaguely -familiar on account of its likeness to Persian. They spoke Arabic also, -a queer jargon full of Turkish words. We sat for some time on the -rubbish-heap watching for the baggage animals till I became convinced, -in spite of Najīb's assurances, that some hitch must have occurred and -that we might watch for ever in vain. At this point the Kurdish sheikh -announced that it was dinner time, and invited us to share the meal. One -of the advantages of out-door life on short commons being that there is -no moment of the day when you are not willing and ready to eat, we fell -in joyfully with the suggestion. - -[Illustration 128: ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN] - -The Kurd has not been given a good name in the annals of travel. Report -would have him both sulky and quarrelsome, but for my part I have found -him to be endowed with most of the qualities that make for agreeable -social intercourse. We were ushered into the largest of the houses; it -was light and cool, airy and clean, its peculiar construction giving it -the advantages of house and of tent. The food consisted of new bread and -sour curds and of an excellent pillaf, in which cracked wheat was -substituted for rice. It was spread upon a mat, and we sat round upon -rugs while the women served us. By the time we had finished it was six -o'clock but no caravan had appeared. Najīb was much perplexed, and our -hosts sympathised deeply with our case, while declaring that they were -more than willing to keep us for the night. Our hesitation was cut short -by a small boy who came running in with the news that a caravan had been -seen to pass by the village of Fāfertīn on the opposite side of the -valley, and that it was then heading for Ḳal'at Sim'ān, our ultimate -destination. There was no time to be lost, the sun had set, and I had a -vivid recollection of our wanderings in the night about El Bārah in a -country not dissimilar from that which lay in front of us, but before we -started I took Najīb aside and asked him whether I might give money in -return for my entertainment. He replied that on no account was it to be -thought of, Kurds do not expect to be paid by their guests. All that was -left me was to summon the children and distribute a handful of metalīks -among them, an inexpensive form of generosity, and one that could not -outrage the most susceptible feelings. We set off, Najīb leading the -way and riding so quickly along the stony path that I had the greatest -difficulty in keeping up with him. I knew that the great church of St. -Simon Stylites stood upon a hill and must be visible from afar, though -the famous column of the saint, round which the church was built, had -fallen centuries ago. After an hour's stumbling ride Najīb pointed -silently to the dim hills, and I could just make out a mass of something -that looked like a fortress breaking the line of the summit. We hurried -on for another half hour and reached the walls at 7.30 in complete -darkness. As we rode through the huge church we heard to our relief a -tinkle of caravan bells that assured us of the arrival of the tents--we -heard also the shouts and objurgations of Mikhāil, who, under the -influence of potations of 'arak, was raging like a wild beast and -refusing to give the new muleteers any hint as to the way in which to -deal with my English tent. Since I was the only sane person who knew how -the poles were to be fitted together, the pegs driven in and the -furniture opened out, I was obliged to do the greater part of the work -myself by the light of two candles, and when that was over to search the -canteen for bread and semen for the muleteers, an order to my rebellious -cook that he should prepare the customary evening meal of rice having -been greeted with derisive howls mingled with curses on all and sundry. -It is ill arguing with a drunken man, but with what feelings I kept -silence I hope that the recording angel may have omitted to note. - -[Illustration 129: ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN] - -At last, when all was ready, I wandered away into the sweet Spring -night, through the stately and peaceful church below the walls of which -we were lying, and presently found myself in a circular court, open to -the sky, from whence the four arms of the church reach out to the four -points of the compass. The court had been set round with a matchless -colonnade, of which many of the arches are still standing, and in the -centre rose in former days the column whereon St. Simon lived and died. -I scrambled over the heaps of ruin till I came to the rock-hewn base of -that very column, a broad block of splintered stone with a depression in -the middle, like a little bowl, filled with clear rain water in which I -washed my hands and face. There was no moon; the piers and arches stood -in ruined and shadowy splendour, the soft air lay still as an unruffled -pool, weariness and vexation dropped from the spirit, and left it bare -to Heaven and the Spring. I sat and thought how perverse a trick Fortune -had played that night on the grim saint. She had given for a night his -throne of bitter dreams to one whose dreams were rosy with a deep -content that he would have been the first to condemn. So musing I caught -the eye of a great star that had climbed up above the broken line of the -arcade, and we agreed together that it was better to journey over earth -and sky than to sit upon a column all your days. - -[Illustration 130: ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE WEST DOOR] - -The members of the American survey have mapped and thoroughly explored -the northern mountains as far as Ḳal'at Sim'ān, but neither they nor -any other travellers have published an account of the hilly region to -the north-east of the shrine.[12] I, who rode through it, and visited -almost all the ruined villages, found that it was generally known to the -inhabitants as the Jebel Sim'ān, by which title I shall speak of it. -The Mountains of Simon, with the Jebel Bārisha, to the south-west, and -the Jebel el 'Ala still further to the west, belong to the same -architectural system as the Jebel Zāwdyyeh, through which we had passed -on our way to Aleppo. It would be possible to draw distinctions of style -between the northern group and the southern; the American architect, Mr. -Butler, with his wide experience of the two districts, has been able to -do so, but to the hasty observer the differences appear to depend -chiefly on natural conditions and on the fact that the northern district -fell more directly under the influence of Antioch, the city which was -one of the main sources of artistic inspiration (not for Syria alone) in -the early centuries of the Christian era. The settlements in the Jebel -Sim'ān are smaller and the individual houses less spacious, possibly -because the northern mountains were much more rugged and unable to -support so large and wealthy a population; they would seem to have begun -earlier and to have reached the highest point of their prosperity a -little later, nor did they suffer the period of decline which is evident -in the South during the century preceding the Arab invasion.[13] The -finest sixth-century churches in the north show an almost florid -luxuriance of decoration unapproached in the latest of the Southern -churches, all of which are to be dated a century earlier, except the -Bizzos church at Ruweiḥā. It is interesting to observe that the -Ruweiḥā church, though it is a little later than Ḳal'at Sim'ān, is -far more severe in detail, and to this it may be added that even small -houses in the north present not infrequently a greater variety and -lavishness of decoration than is customary in the South.[14] When the -traveller reads the inscriptions on church and dwelling, and finds the -dates reckoned in the north always by the era of Antioch, he may be -pardoned for surmising that it was the magnificent hand of Antioch that -touched here architrave and capital, moulding and string-course. The -church of St. Simon was raised not by local effort only but as a tribute -to the famous saint from the whole Christian world, and probably it was -not executed by local workmen but by the builders and stone-cutters of -Antioch; if that be so it is difficult not to attribute the lovely -church of Ḳalb Lōzeh to the same creative forces, and a dozen smaller -examples, such as the east church at Bāḳirḥa, must be due to -similar influences. - -[Illustration 131: ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE CIRCULAR COURT] - -I spent the morning examining the church of St. Simon and -the village at the foot of the hill, which contains some very -perfect basilicas and the ruins of a great hostelry for pilgrims. At -lunch time there appeared upon the scene a Kurd, so engaging and -intelligent that I immediately selected him to be my guide during the -next few days, the district I proposed to visit being blank on the map, -stony and roadless. Mūsa was the name of my new friend, and as we rode -together in the afternoon he confided to my private ear that he was by -creed a Yezīdi, whom the Mohammedans call Devil Worshippers, though I -fancy they are a harmless and well-meaning people. The upper parts of -Mesopotamia are their home, and from thence Mūsa's family had -originally migrated. We talked of beliefs as we went, guardedly, since -our acquaintance was as yet young, and Mūsa admitted that the Yezīdis -worshipped the sun. "A very proper object of adoration," said I, and -thinking to please him went on to mention that the Ismailis worshipped -both sun and moon, but he could scarcely control his disgust at the -thought of such idolatry. This led me to consider within myself whether -the world had grown much wiser since the days when St. Simon sat on his -column, and the conclusion that I reached was not flattering. - -[Illustration 132: ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE CIRCULAR COURT] - -The rain interrupted our wanderings among the villages at the foot of -Jebel Sheikh Barakāt, the high peak to the south-east of Ḳal'at -Sim'ān, and drove us home, but the clouds lifted again towards evening, -and I, watching from the marvellous west door, saw the hills turn the -colour of red copper and the grey walls of the church to gold. Mikhāil, -depressed and repentant, served me with an excellent dinner, in spite of -which I should have dismissed him if St. Simon could have supplied me -with another cook. Indeed, I was half inclined to send back to Aleppo -for a new man, but the doubt whether I should secure a good servant by -proxy, combined with the clemency of indolence, led me to a course of -inaction which I attempted to justify by the hope that Mikhāil's -repentance would be of a lasting nature. Thus for a month we lived on a -volcano with occasional eruptions, and were blown up at the end. But -enough of this painful subject. - -[Illustration 133: ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE APSE] - -[Illustration 134: ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE WEST DOOR] - -Next day I set off with Mūsa to explore the villages in the Jebel -Sim'ān to the east and north-east of the church of St. Simon. We rode -almost due east for rather less than an hour to Burjkeh, which exhibited -all the characteristics of these villages of the extreme north. It had -the tall square tower, which is nearly universal. All the stone work was -massive, the blocks frequently laid not in courses, or if so laid, the -courses showed great variety of depth. The church had a square apse, -built out beyond the walls of the nave, and a running moulding hooded -each window, passed along the level of the sill from one window to -another, and ended beyond the last in a spiral, as though it had been a -bit of ribbon festooned over the openings with the surplus rolled up. -This moulding is peculiar to sixth-century decoration in North Syria. -The houses of Burjkeh were very simple square cottages, built of -polygonal masonry. Mūsa got wind of a newly opened tomb near the -church. I contrived with some difficulty to crawl down into it, and was -rewarded by finding on one of the loculi the date 292 of the era of -Antioch, which corresponds to 243 A.D. Below the date were three lines -of Greek inscription, much defaced. We rode on for half an hour to -Surkanyā, a deserted village, charmingly situated at the head of a -shallow rocky valley in which there were even a few trees. The houses -were exceptionally massive in construction, with heavy stone balconies -forming a porch over the door. One was dated, and the year was 406 A.D. -The church was almost exactly similar to that at Burjkeh. Another three -quarters of an hour to the north and we reached Fāfertīn, where, it -began to rain. We took shelter under an apse, which was all that -remained of a church larger than any we had yet seen, but rude in -workmanship.[15] The village was inhabited by a few families of Yezīdi -Kurds. In the streaming rain we rode for an hour north-east to Khirāb -esh Shems, but could do nothing there owing to the weather, and so north -by Kalōteh to Burj el Kās, where I found my tents pitched on a damp -sward. Mūsa was much distressed by the heavy rain, and said that the -wet spring had been disastrous to his fields, washing down the soil from -the high ground into the valleys. The work of denudation, which has so -greatly diminished the fertility of North Syria, is still going forward. - -[Illustration 135: A FUNERAL MONUMENT, ḲĀṬURĀ] - -At Burj el Kās there was a square tower on the top of the hill and some -old houses that had been repaired and re-inhabited by the Kurds. On one -lintel I saw the date 406 A.D., on another an inscription difficult to -decipher. The end of this stone was hidden by the angle of a rebuilt -house, but peering along it I could just make out that there was a small -carving at the extreme point. The owner of the house announced that it -represented without doubt the Lady Mary. This would have been a curious -addition to the meagre collection of sculpture in North Syria, as well -as a theological innovation, and I expressed my regret that I could not -see it better. Thereupon my friend fetched a pickaxe and chipped off a -corner of his house, and the figure of the Virgin proved to be a Roman -eagle. - -[Illustration 136: KHIRĀB ESH SHEMS] - -[Illustration 137: KHIRĀB ESH SHEMS, CARVING IN A TOMB] - -With Najīb and Mūsa I returned to the villages that I had passed in -the rain the previous day. We left Najīb with the horses at Kalōteh, -and ourselves walked to Khirāb esh Shems, the path being so rocky that -I wished to spare my beasts a second journey over it. Khirāb esh Shems -contained a fine church, twenty-one paces long from the west door to the -chord of the apse. The outer walls to north and south had fallen, -leaving only the five arches on either side of the nave with a -clerestory pierced by ten small round-headed windows, a charming -fragment like a detached loggia. Further up the hill stood a massive -chapel, destitute of aisles, with an apse built out and roofed with a -semi-dome of square slabs, resembling the fifth-century baptistery at -Dār Kīta.[16] In the hill side we found a number of rock-hewn tombs, -in one of which I had the satisfaction to discover some curious reliefs. -On the loculus to the left of the door were four roughly carved figures, -their arms raised in the attitude of prayer, and on the rock wall in a -dark corner a single figure clothed in a shirt and a pointed cap, holding -a curious object, like a basket, in the right hand. Returning to -Kalōteh we visited an isolated church on some high ground to the west -of the village. On the wall by the south door there was a long -inscription in Greek. The nave was separated from the aisles by four -columns on either side, some of which (to judge by the fragments) had -been fluted and some plain. The arcade ended against the corner of the -apse with engaged fluted columns carrying beautiful Corinthian capitals. -The apse, prothesis and diaconicum were all contained within the outer -wall of the church. The west door showed a stilted relieving arch above -a broken lintel, the lintel decorated with a row of dentils. To the -south of the church there was a detached baptistery, some 9 ft. square -inside, the walls still carrying the first course of the stone vault. -The church must have been roofed with tiles, for I saw a number of -fragments lying in the nave. A massive enclosing wall surrounded both -church and baptistery. The village below contained two churches, that to -the west measuring 38 ft. by 68 ft., the other 48 ft. by 70 ft. The -mouldings round the doors in both churches indicate that they cannot -have been earlier than the sixth-century. There Were also some houses -with stone verandahs. - -[Illustration 138: CAPITAL, UPPER CHURCH AT KALŌTEH] - -[Illustration 139: BARĀD, CANOPY TOMB] - -An hour and a half to the north-west of Kalōteh lies Barād, the -largest and most interesting of the villages in the Jebel Sim'ān. It is -partly re-inhabited by Kurds. I found my camp pitched in an open space -opposite a very lovely funeral monument consisting of a canopy carried -by four piers set on a high podium. Near it stood a large rock-cut -sarcophagus and a number of other tombs, partly rock-cut and partly -built. I examined two churches in the centre of the town. In one the -nave, 68 ft. 6 in. long, was divided from the aisles by four great -piers, 6 ft. deep from east to west, with an intercolumniation of 18 ft. -The nave was 23 ft. wide and the apse 12 ft. deep. The wide -intercolumniation is a proof of a comparatively late date, sixth century -or thereabouts. The second church was still larger, 118 ft. 6 in. by 73 -ft. 6 in., but completely ruined except for the west wall and part of -the apse. To the north of it there was a small chapel, with an apse -perfectly preserved; near it lay a sarcophagus which suggested that the -chapel may have been a mausoleum. The eastern end of the town contained -a complex of buildings of polygonal masonry, including a square -enclosure with a square chamber ill the centre of it, resting on a vault -that was possibly a tomb. To the extreme west of the town stood a fine -tower with some large and well preserved houses near it. A small church -lay between it and the main body of the town. Near my camp was a curious -building with two apses irregularly placed in the east wall. I take it -to have been pre-Christian. The walls stood up to the vault, which was -perfectly preserved. While Mūsa and I measured and planned this -building we were watched by two persons in long white robes and turbans, -who exhibited the greatest interest in our movements. They were, said -Mūsa, Government officials, sent into the Jebel Sim'ān to take a -census of the population with a view to levying the capitation tax. - -The next day was one of the most disagreeable that I remember. A band of -thick cloud stretched across the sky immediately above the Jebel -Sim'ān, keeping us in a cold grey shadow, while to north and south we -saw the mountains and the plain bathed in sunshine. We rode north for -about an hour to Keifār, a large village near the extreme edge of the -Jebel Sim'ān. Beyond the valley of the Afrīn, which bounds the hills -to the north-west, rose the first great buttresses of the Giour Dāgh. -Mūsa observed that in the valley and the further hills there were no -more ruined villages; they end abruptly at the limits of the Jebel -Sim'ān, and Syrian civilisation seems to have penetrated no further to -the north, for what reason it is impossible to say. At Keifār there -were three churches much ruined, but showing traces of decoration -exquisitely treated, a few good houses, and a canopy tomb something like -the one at Barād. There was a large population of Kurds. We rode back -to Barād and so south-east to Kefr Nebu, about an hour and a half away -through bitter wind and rain. There was a Syriac inscription here on a -lintel, one or two Kufic tombstones, and a very splendid house partially -restored, but I was a great deal too cold to give them the attention -they deserved. Chilled to the bone and profoundly discouraged by -attempts at taking time exposures in a high wind, I made straight for my -tents at Bāsufān, an hour's ride from Kefr Nebu, leaving unexplored a -couple of ruined sites to the south. - -[Illustration 140: BARĀD, TOWER TO THE WEST OF THE TOWN] - -Mūsa's home is at Bāsufān; we met his father in the cornfields as we -came up, and: - -"God strengthen your body!" cried Mūsa, giving the salutation proper to -one working in the fields. - -"And your body!" he answered, lifting his dim eyes to us. - -"He is old," explained Mūsa as we rode on, "and trouble has fallen on -him, but once he was the finest man in the Jebel Sim'ān, and the best -shot." - -[Illustration 141: MŪSA AND HIS FAMILY] - -"What trouble?" said I. - -"My brother was slain by a blood enemy a few months ago," he answered. -"We do not know who it was that killed him, but perhaps it was one of -his bride's family, for he took her without their consent." - -"And what has happened to the bride?" I asked. - -"She has gone back to her own family," said he. "But she wept bitterly." - -Bāsufān is used as a _Sommerfrische_ by certain Jews and Christians of -Aleppo, who come out and live in the houses of the Kurds during the hot -months, the owners being at that season in tents. There are a few big -trees to the south of the village sheltering a large graveyard, which is -occupied mostly by Moslem dead, brought to this spot from many miles -round. The valley below boasts a famous spring, a spring that never runs -dry even in rainless years when all its sister fountains are exhausted. - -The Kurds used to grow tobacco on the neighbouring slopes, and the -quality of the leaf was much esteemed, so that the crop found a ready -sale, till the Government régie was established and paid the Kurds such -miserable prices that they were unable to make a profit. As there was no -other market, the industry ceased altogether, and the fields have passed -out of cultivation except for the raising of a little corn: "and now we -are all poor," said Mūsa in conclusion. - -I had not been an hour in camp before the rain stopped and the sun came -out, bringing back our energy with it. There was a large church at -Bāsufān, which had been converted at some period into a fort by the -addition of three towers. What remained of the original building was of -excellent work. The engaged columns by the apse were adorned with spiral -flutings--the first example I had seen--and the Corinthian capitals -were deep and careful in cutting. Mūsa showed me a Syriac inscription -in the south wall, which I copied with great labour and small success: -the devil take all Syriac inscriptions, or endow all travellers with -better wits! When this was done there still remained a couple of hours -of afternoon light, and I determined to walk over the hills to Burj -Ḥeida and Kefr Lāb, which I had omitted in the morning owing to the -rain and the cold. Mūsa accompanied me, and took with him his -"partner"--so he was introduced to me, but in what enterprise he shared -I do not know. Burj Ḥeida was well worth the visit. It contained a -square tower and three churches, one exceedingly well preserved, with an -interesting building annexed to it, perhaps a lodging for the clergy. -But the expedition was chiefly memorable on account of the conversation -of my two companions. With Mūsa I had contracted, during the three days -we had passed together, a firm friendship, based on my side on gratitude -for the services he had rendered me, coupled with a warm appreciation of -the beaming smile that accompanied them. We had reached a point of -familiarity where I thought I might fairly expect him to enlighten me on -the Yezīdi doctrines, for, whatever may be the custom in Europe, in -Asia it is not polite to ask a man what he believes unless he regards -you as an intimate. Nor is it expedient; it awakens suspicion without -evoking a satisfactory answer. I began delicately as we sat in the -doorway of the little church at Kefr Lāb by asking whether the Yezīdis -possessed mosque or church. - -"No," replied Mūsa. "We worship under the open sky. Every day at dawn -we worship the sun." - -"Have you," said I, "an imam who leads the prayer?" - -"On feast days," said he, "the sheikh leads the prayer, but on other -days every man worships for himself. We count some days lucky and some -unlucky. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are our lucky days, but Thursday -is unlucky." - -"Why is that?" said I. - -"I do not know," said Mūsa. "It is so." - -"Are you," I asked, "friends with the Mohammadans or are you foes?" - -He answered: "Here in the country round Aleppo, where we are few, they -do not fear us, and we live at peace with them; but every year there -comes to us from Mosul a very learned sheikh who collects tribute among -us, and he wonders to see us like brothers with the Muslimīn, for in -Mosul, where the Yezīdis are many, there is bitter feud. In Mosul our -people will not serve in the army, but here we serve like any other--I -myself have been a soldier." - -"Have you holy books?" said I. - -"Without doubt," said he, "and I will tell you what our books teach us. -When the end of the world is near Hadūdmadūd will appear on earth. And -before his time the race of men will have shrunk in stature so that they -are smaller than a blade of grass,--but Hadūdmadūd is a mighty giant. -And in seven days, or seven months, or seven years, he will drink all -the seas and all the rivers, and the earth will be drained dry." - -"And then," said the partner, who had followed Mūsa's explanation -eagerly, "out of the dust will spring a great worm, and he will devour -Hadūdmadūd." - -"And when he has eaten him," continued Mūsa, "there will be a flood -which will last seven days, or seven months, or seven years." - -"And the earth will be washed clean," chimed in the partner. - -"And then will come the Mahdi," said Mūsa, "and he will summon the four -sects, Yezīdis, Christians, Moslems and Jews, and he will appoint the -prophet of each sect to collect his followers together. And Yezīd will -assemble the Yezīdis, and Jesus the Christians, and Muḥammad the -Moslems, and Moses the Jews. But those that while they lived changed -from one faith to another, they shall be tried by fire, to see what -creed they profess in their hearts. So shall each prophet know his own. -This is the end of the world." - -"Do you," said I, "consider all the four faiths to be equal?" Mūsa -replied (diplomatically perhaps): "The Christians and the Jews we think -equal to us." - -"And the Moslems?" I inquired. - -"We think them to be swine," said Mūsa. - -These are the tenets of Mūsa's faith, and what they signify I will not -pretend to say, but Hadūdmadūd is probably Gogmagog, if that throws -any light on the matter. - -The sun was setting when we rose from the church step and began to -clamber homeward over the ruins of Kefr Lāb. There was some broken -ground beyond the village, and I noticed large cavities under the rocks -at the top of the hill. Before them Mūsa's partner paused, and said: - -"In this manner of place we look for treasure." - -"And do you find it?" said I. - -He replied: "I have never found any, but there are many tales. Once, -they say, there was a shepherd boy who lost his goat and searched for it -over the hills, and at last he came upon it in a cave full of gold -coins. Therefore he closed the mouth of the cave and hastened home to -fetch an ass whereon he might load the gold, and in his haste he left -the goat in the cave. But when he returned there was neither cave, nor -goat, nor gold, search as he would." - -"And another time," said Mūsa, "a boy was sleeping in the ruins of Kefr -Lāb and he dreamt that he had discovered a great treasure in the earth -and that he had dug for it with his hands, and when he woke his hands -were covered with the dust of gold, but no memory remained to him of the -place wherein he had dug." - -Neither of these stories offer sufficient data, however, to warrant the -despatch of a treasure-hunting expedition to the Jebel Sim'ān. - -[Illustration 142: BĀSUFĀN, A KURDISH GIRL] - -As we reached Bāsufān Mūsa asked whether his sister Wardeh (the Rose) -might honour herself by paying her respects to me. "And will you," he -added, "persuade her to marry?" - -"To marry?" said I. "Whom should she marry?" - -"Any one," said Mūsa imperturbably. "She has declared that marriage is -hateful to her, and that she will remain in our father's house, and we -cannot move her. Yet she is a young maid and fair." - -She looked very fair, and modest besides, as she stood at the door of my -tent in the pretty dress of the Kurdish women, with a bowl of kaimak in -her hands, a propitiatory gift to me; and I confess I did not insist -upon the marriage question, thinking that she could best manage her own -affairs. She brought me new bread for breakfast next morning, and begged -me to come and visit her father's house before I left. This I did, and -found the whole family, sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren, -assembled to welcome me; and though I had but recently breakfasted, the -old father insisted on setting bread and bowls of cream before me, "that -the bond of hospitality may be between us." Fine, well-built people were -they all, with beautiful faces, illumined by the smile that was Mūsa's -chief attraction. For their sake the Kurdish race shall hold hereafter a -large place in my esteem. - - -[Footnote 12: Since writing this chapter I have learnt that Mr. Butler -and his party extended their explorations to the north of Ḳal'at -Sim'ān after my departure, and I look forward to a full description of -the district in their future publications.] - -[Footnote 13: I would suggest that this decline was due in part to the -excessive burden of taxation laid by Justinian on the eastern provinces -of his empire during his efforts to recover the western. Readers of -Diehl's great work on Justinian will remember how the social and -political organisation of his dominions collapsed under the strain of -his wars in Italy and North Africa. The eastern parts of the empire were -the richest and suffered the most.] - -[Footnote 14: This was noticed by Mr. Butler, "Architecture and other -Arts."] - -[Footnote 15: Butler in his report states that this church is dated 372 -A.D., which gives it the distinction of being the earliest dated church -in Syria, if not the earliest dated church in the world.] - -[Footnote 16: Butler, "Architecture and other Arts," p. 139.] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - -We started from Bāsufān at eight o'clock on the morning of April 4, -and rode south by incredibly stony tracks, leaving Ḳal'at Sim'ān to -the west and skirting round the eastern flanks of the Jebel Sheikh -Barakāt. Mūsa declared that he must accompany us on the first part of -our way, and came with us to Deiret 'Azzeh, a large Mohammadan village -of from three hundred to four hundred houses. Here he left us, and we -went down into the fertile plain of Sermeda, ringed round with the -slopes of the Jebel Ḥalaḳah. At midday we reached the large village -of Dāna, and lunched by the famous third-century tomb that de Vogüé -published, to my mind the loveliest of the smaller monuments of North -Syria and worthy in its delicate simplicity to stand by the Choragic -Monument of Lysicrates at Athens. There was nothing else to detain us at -Dāna, and having waited for the baggage animals to come up I sent them -on with Mikhāil and a local guide, bidding them meet Najīb and me at -the ruins of Deḥes. After some consultation Najīb and the local man -decided on the spot, known to me only from the accounts of travellers, -and it was not till we had reached it that I discovered that we were at -Meḥes instead of Deḥes. It was all one, however, since we had met -and found the place to be a convenient camping ground. From Dāna, -Najīb took me north along the Roman road by a Roman triumphal arch, the -Bāb el Hawa, finely situated at the entrance of a rocky valley. We rode -along this valley for a mile or two, passing a ruined church, and struck -up the hills to the west by a gorge that brought us out on to a wide -plateau close to the deserted village of Ksejba.[17] We went on to the -village of Bābiska, through country which was scattered with flowers -and with groups of ruined houses and churches: the heart leapt at the -sight of such lonely and unravished beauty. On these hilltops it was -difficult to say where stood Bāḳirḥa, the town I wished to visit, -but near Bābiska we found a couple of shepherd tents, and from one of -the inhabitants inquired the way. The shepherd was a phlegmatic man; he -said there was no road to Bāḳirḥa, and that the afternoon had grown -too late for such an enterprise, moreover he himself was starting off in -another direction with a basket of eggs and could not help us. I, -however, had not ridden so many miles in order to be defeated at the -last, and with some bullying and a good deal of persuasion we induced -the shepherd to show us the way to the foot of the hill on which -Bāḳirḥa stands. He walked with us for an hour or so, then pointed -towards the summit of the Jebel Bārisha and saying, "There is -Bāḳirḥa," he left us abruptly and returned to his basket of eggs. - -[Illustration 143: TOMB AT DĀNA] - -High up on the mountain side we saw the ruins bathed in the afternoon -sun, and having looked in vain for a path we pushed our horses straight -in among the boulders and brakes of flowering thorn. But there is a -limit to the endurance even of Syrian horses, and ours had almost -reached it after a long day spent in clambering over stones. We had -still to get into camp, Heaven alone knew how far away; yet I could not -abandon the shining walls that were now so close to us upon the hill, -and I told the reluctant Najīb to wait below with the horses while I -climbed up alone. The day was closing in, and I climbed in haste; but -for all my haste the scramble over those steep rocks, half buried in -flowers and warm with the level sun, is a memory that will not easily -fade. In half an hour I stood at the entrance of the town, below a -splendid basilica rich in varied beauty of decoration and design. Beyond -it the ruined streets, empty of all inhabitants, lay along the mountain -side, houses with carved balconies and deep-porched doorways, columned -market-places, and the golden sunlight over all. But I was bent upon -another pilgrimage. A broad and winding road led up above the town until -it reached the boundary of the flowered slopes, and nothing except a -short rocky face of hill lay between the open ground where the path -ended and the summit of the range. The mountain was cleft this way and -that by precipitous gorges, enclosing between their escarpments -prospects of sunlit fertile plain, and at the head of the gorges on a -narrow shelf of ground stood a small and exquisite temple. I sat down by -the gate through which the worshippers had passed into the temple court. -Below me lay the northern slopes of the Jebel Bārisha and broad fair -valleys and the snow-clad ranks of the Giour Dāgh veiled in a warm -haze. Temple and town and hillside were alike deserted save that far -away upon a rocky spur a shepherd boy piped a wild sweet melody to his -scattered flocks. The breath of the reed is the very voice of solitude; -shrill and clear and passionless it rose to the temple gate, borne on -deep waves of mountain air that were perfumed with flowers and coloured -with the rays of the low sun. Men had come and gone, life had surged up -the flanks of the hills and retreated again, leaving the old gods to -resume their sway over rock and flowering thorn, in peace and loneliness -and beauty. - -[Illustration 144: THE BĀB EL HAWA] - -So at the gate of the sanctuary I offered praise, and having given -thanks went on my way rejoicing. - -Najīb welcomed me back with expressions of relief. - -"By God!" said he, "I have not smoked a single cigarette since I lost -sight of your Excellency, but all this hour I have said: 'Please God she -will not meet with a robber among the rocks.'" - -Therewith, to make up for lost opportunity, he lighted the cigarette -that his anxiety had not prevented him from rolling during my absence, -and though I will not undertake to affirm that it was indeed the only -one, the sentiment was gratifying. I thought at the time (but next day's -march proved me to be wrong) that we rode down to the plain of Sermeda -by the roughest track in the world. When we got to the foot of the hill -we turned up a valley to the south, a narrow ribbon of cultivation -winding between stony ranges. Presently it widened, and we passed a -large modern village, where we received the welcome news that our camp -had been seen ahead; at a quarter past six we struggled into Meḥes or -Deḥes, whichever it may have been, feeling that our horses would have -been put to it if they had been asked to walk another mile. An -enchanting camp was Meḥes. It was not often that I could pitch tents -far from all habitation. The muleteers pined for the sour curds and -other luxuries of civilisation, and indeed I missed the curds too, but -the charm of a solitary camp went far to console me. The night was still -and clear, we were lodged in the ruined nave of a church, and we slept -the sleep of the blessed after our long ride. - -[Illustration 145: THE TEMPLE GATE, BĀḲIRḤA] - -There was one more ruin that I was determined to visit before I left the -hills. It was the church of Ḳalb Lōzeh, which from descriptions -seemed to be (as indeed it is) the finest building after Ḳal'at -Sim'ān in all North Syria. I sent the baggage animals round by the -valleys, with strict, but useless, injunctions to Fāris that he was not -to dawdle, and set out with Mikhāil and Najīb to traverse on horseback -two mountain ranges, the Jebel Bārisha and the Jebel el 'Ala. It is -best to do rock climbing on foot; but if any one would know the full -extent of the gymnastic powers of a horse, he should ride up the Jebel -el 'Ala to Ḳalb Lōzeh. I had thought myself tolerably well versed in -the subject, but I found that the expedition widened my experience not a -little. We rode straight up an intolerably stony hill to the west of -Meḥes, and so reached the summit of the Jebel Bārisha. The ground -here was much broken by rocks, but between them were tiny olive groves -and vineyards and tiny, scattered cornfields. Every ledge and hollow was -a garden of wild flowers; tall blue irises unfurled their slender buds -under sweet-smelling thickets of bay, and the air was scented with the -purple daphne. This paradise was inhabited by a surly peasant, the least -obliging and the most taciturn of men. After much unsuccessful -bargaining (the price he set on any service he might render us was -preposterous, but we were in his hands and he obliged us to give way) he -agreed to guide us to Ḳalb Lōzeh, and conducted us forthwith down the -Jebel Bārisha by a precipitous path cut out of the living rock. It was -so steep and narrow that when we met a party of women coming up from the -lower slopes with bundles of brushwood--brushwood! it was flowering -daphne and bay--we had great difficulty in edging past them. At the -bottom of this breakneck descent there was a deep valley with a lake at -one end of it, and in front of us rose the Jebel el 'Ala, to the best of -my judgment a wall of rock, quite impossible for horses to climb. The -monosyllabic peasant who directed us--I am glad I do not remember his -name--indicated that our path lay up it, and Najīb seeming to -acquiesce, I followed with a sinking heart. It was indescribable. We -jumped and tumbled over the rock faces and our animals jumped and -tumbled after us, scrambling along the edge of little precipices, where, -if they had fallen they must have broken every bone. Providence watched -over us and we got up unhurt into a country as lovely as that which we -had left on top of the Jebel Bārisha. At the entrance of an olive grove -our guide turned back, and in a few moments we reached Ḳalb Lōzeh. - -Whether there was ever much of a settlement round the great church I do -not know; there are now but few remains of houses, and it stands almost -alone. It stands too very nearly unrivalled among the monuments of -Syrian art. The towered narthex, the wide bays of the nave, the apse -adorned with engaged columns, the matchless beauty of the decoration and -the justice of proportion preserved in every part, are the features that -first strike the beholder; but as he gazes he becomes aware that this is -not only the last word in the history of Syrian architecture, spoken at -the end of many centuries of endeavour, but that it is also the -beginning of a new chapter in the architecture of the world. The fine -and simple beauty of Romanesque was born in North Syria. It is curious -to consider to what developments the genius of these architects might -have led if they had not been checked by the Arab invasion. Certain it -is that we should have had an independent school of great builders, -strongly influenced perhaps by classical tradition and yet more strongly -by the East, but everywhere asserting an unmistakable personality as -bold as it was imaginative and delicate. There is little consolation in -the reflection that the creative vigour that is evident at Ḳalb Lōzeh -never had time to pass into decadence. - -I had heard or read that in the mountains near Ḳalb Lōzeh were to be -found a few Druze villages, inhabited by emigrants from the Lebanon, but -as I had not yet come upon them I had almost forgotten their existence. -Near the church stood half a dozen hovels, the inhabitants of which came -out to watch me as I photographed. Almost unconsciously I was struck by -some well known look in the koḥl-blackened eyes and certain -peculiarities of manner that are difficult to specify but that combine -to form an impression of easy and friendly familiarity with perhaps a -touch of patronage in it. When the women joined the little crowd my eye -was caught by the silver chains and buckles that they wore, which I -remembered vaguely to have remarked elsewhere. As we were about to -leave, an oldish man came forward and offered to walk with us for an -hour, saying that the way down to Ḥārim was difficult to find, and we -had not walked fifty yards together before I realised the meaning of my -subconscious recognition. - -"Māsha'llah!" said I, "you are Druzes." - -The man looked round anxiously at Najīb and Mikhāil, following close -on our heels, bent his head and walked on without speaking. - -"You need not fear," said I. "The soldier and my servant are discreet -men." - -He took heart at this and said: - -"There are few of us in the mountains, and we dread the Mohammadans and -hide from them that we are Druzes, lest they should drive us out. We are -not more than two hundred houses in all." - -[Illustration 146: ḲALB LŌZEH] - -"I have been hoping to find you," said I, "for I know the sheikhs in the -Ḥaurān, and they have shown me much kindness. Therefore I desire to -salute all Druzes wherever I may meet with them." - -"Allah!" said he. "Do you know the Turshān?" - -[Illustration 147: THE APSE, ḲALB LŌZEH] - -"By God!" said I. - -"Shibly and Yaḥya his brother?" - -"Yaḥya I know, but Shibly is dead." - -"Dead!" he exclaimed. "Oh Merciful! Shibly dead!" And with that he drew -from me all the news of the Mountain and listened with rapt attention to -tales for which I had not thought to find a willing ear so far from -Ṣalkhad. Suddenly his questions stopped and he swerved off the path -towards a vineyard in which a young man was pruning the vines. - -"Oh my son!" he cried. "Shibly el Aṭrash is dead! Lend me thy shoes, -that I may walk with the lady towards Ḥārim, for mine are worn." - -The young man approached, kicking off his red leather slippers as he -came. - -"We belong to God!" said he. "I saw Shibly but a year ago." And the news -had to be repeated to him in detail. - -We journeyed on along the stony mountain tops, brushing through purple -daphne that grew in wonderful profusion, and talking as we went as -though we had been old friends long parted. When we came to the lip of -the Jebel el 'Ala we saw Ḥārim below us, and I insisted that my -companion should spare himself the labour of walking further. He agreed, -with great reluctance, to turn back, and stood pouring out blessings on -me for full five minutes before he would bid me farewell, and then -returned to us again that he might be sure we had understood the wav. - -"And next time you come into the Jebel el 'Ala," said he, "you must -bring your camp to Ḳalb Lōzeh and stay at least a month, and we will -give you all you need and show you all the ruins. And now may you go in -peace and safety, please God; and in peace and in health return next -year." - -"May God prolong your life," said I, "and give you peace!" - -So we separated, and my heart was warm with an affection for his people -which it is never difficult to rekindle. Cruel in battle they may -be--the evidence against them is overwhelming; some have pronounced them -treacherous, others have found them grasping; but when I meet a Druze I -do not hesitate to greet a friend, nor shall I until my confidence has -been proved to have been misplaced. - -Ḥārim castle stands on a mound at the entrance of one of the few -gorges that give access to the Jebel el 'Ala. Beyond it lies the great -Orontes plain that was a granary in old days to the city of Antioch. -Much of the northern part of the plain was under water, the swampy lake -which the Syrians call El Baḥra having been extended by the recent -rains to its fullest limit. We turned south from Ḥārim and rode along -the foot of the slopes of the Jebel el 'Ala to Salḳīn, a memorable -ride by reason of the exceeding beauty of the land through which we -passed. I have seen no such abundant fertility in all Syria. Groves of -olive and almond shared the fat ground with barley and oats; tangled -thickets of gorse and broom, daphne and blackberry, edged the road, and -every sunny spot was blue with iris stylosa. Salḳīn itself lay in a -wooded valley amid countless numbers of olive-trees that stretched -almost to the Orontes, several miles away. We dismounted before we -reached the town in an open spot between olive-gardens. It was five -o'clock, but Fāris had not arrived, and we disposed ourselves -comfortably under the trees to wait for him. Our advent caused some -excitement among the people who were sitting on the grass enjoying the -evening calm; before long one, who was evidently a person of -consideration, strolled up to us, accompanied by a servant, and invited -me to come and rest in his house. He was a portly man, though he had -barely touched middle age, and his countenance was pleasant; I accepted -his invitation, thinking I might as well see what Salḳīn had to -offer. Opportunities of enlarging the circle of your acquaintance should -always be grasped, especially in foreign parts. - -[Illustration 148: ḤĀRIM] - -I soon found that I had fallen into the hands of the wealthiest -inhabitant of the town. Muḥammad 'Ali Agha is son to Rustum Agha, who -is by birth a Circassian and was servant in the great Circassian family -of Kakhya Zādeh of Ḥamādan--that is their Arabic name, the Persians -call them Kat Khuda Zādeh. The Kakhya Zādehs migrated to Aleppo two -centuries back; by such transactions as are familiar to Circassians, -they grew exceedingly rich and are now one of the most powerful families -in Aleppo. Their servants shared in their prosperity, and Rustum Agha, -being a careful man, laid by enough money to buy land at Salḳīn near -his master's large estate in the Orontes valley. Fortune favoured him so -well that the hand of a daughter of the Kakhya house was accorded to his -son. I did not learn all these details at once, and was astonished while -I sat in Muḥammad 'Ali's harem to observe the deference with which he -treated his wife, wondering why the sharp-featured, bright-eyed little -lady who had borne him no sons should be addressed by her husband with -such respect, for I did not then know that she was sister to Reshīd -Agha Kakhya Zādeh. Muḥammad 'Ali's only child, a girl of six years -old, what though she were of so useless a sex, was evidently the apple -of her father's eye. He talked to me long of her education and -prospects, while I ate the superlatively good olives and cherry jam that -his maid servants set before me. The Khānum was so gracious as to -prepare the coffee with her own hands, and to express admiration of the -battered felt hat that lay, partly concealed by its purple and silver -kerchief, on the divan beside me. - -"Oh, the beautiful European hat!" said she. "Why do you wear a mendīl -over it when it is so pretty?" - -And with that she stripped it of the silk scarf and camel's hair rope, -and placing it in all its naked disreputableness on her daughter's black -curls, she declared that it was the most becoming head-dress in the -world. - -At six o'clock news was brought that my baggage animals had arrived, but -before I could be allowed to return to my tents Rustum Agha had to be -visited. He was lying on a couch heaped with wadded silken coverlets in -an upper chamber overlooking the beautiful rushing stream and the two -great cypresses that add much to the picturesqueness of Salḳīn. These -trees stand like tall black sentinels before the gate of the house, -which is the first and the largest in the winding village street. Rustum -Agha was very old and very sick. His face lay like the face of a corpse -upon the pale primrose silk of the bedclothes. He seemed to be gratified -by my visit, though when he opened his lips to greet me he was seized -with such an intolerable fit of coughing that his soul was almost shaken -out of his body. As soon as he recovered he asked for the latest tidings -of Russia and Japan, and I marvelled that he, who seemed so near his -end, had the patience to ask anything of us, but whether we could see -the lagging garnerer with the scythe hobbling up between the cypresses -at the door. - -[Illustration 149: SALḲĪN] - -As I sat down to dinner in my tent two of Muḥammad 'Ali's servants -staggered into camp bearing a large jar of olives grown in the gardens -of Salḳīn and preserved in their own oil. They brought too a request -from their master that he might come and spend an hour with me, and I -sent back a message praying that he would honour me. He appeared later, -with one or two people in attendance to carry his hubble-bubble, and -settled himself for a comfortable chat to the gurgling accompaniment of -the water pipe, a soothing and an amicable sound conducive to -conversation. He told me that Salḳīn was one of the many Seleucias, -and that it had been founded by Seleucus I. himself as a summer resort -for the inhabitants of Antioch. The spot on which I was camped, said he, -and the graveyard beyond it, formed the site of the Seleucid town, "and -whenever we dig a grave we turn up carved stones and sometimes writing." -It seems not unnatural that the fertile foothills should have been -selected by the people of Antioch for their country houses, but I have -no further evidence to support the statement. He said also that his -brother-in-law, Reshīd Agha, was staying with him, and he expressed a -hope that I would call on him before I left next day. - -If Reshīd Agha Kakhya Zādeh is the chief magnate of the district he is -also the chief villain. I found him sitting in the early morning under -the cypresses by the foaming stream, and a more evil face in a sweeter -setting and lighted by a fairer sun it would have been hard to picture. -He was a tall man with an overbearing manner; his narrow forehead -sheltered a world of vicious thoughts, his eyes squinted horribly, his -thick sensuous lips spluttered as they enunciated the vain boastings and -the harsh commands that formed the staple of his conversation. He was -wrapped in a pale silk robe, and he smoked a hubble-bubble with a -jewelled mouthpiece. By his side lay a bunch of Spring flowers, which he -lifted and smelt at as he talked, finally offering the best of them to -me. It is one of the privileges of the irresponsible traveller that he -is not called upon to eschew the company of rogues, and when I found -that my friend Muḥammad 'Ali was about to accompany Reshīd Agha to -the latter's house at Alāni and that this lay upon my path, I agreed to -their suggestion that we should start together. The animals were brought -out, we mounted under the cypresses and trotted off through olive groves -towards the Orontes valley. Reshīd Agha rode a splendid Arab mare; her -black livery shone with the grooming she had received, she was lightly -bitted, her headstall was a silver chain, her bridle was studded with -silver ornaments, her every movement was a pleasure to behold. Her -master appealed repeatedly to Muḥammad 'Ali, who jogged along by his -side on a fine mule, for admiration of his mount, and when the latter -had replied obsequiously with the required praise, his words were taken -up and reinforced by an old fat man who rode with us upon a lean pony. -He was jester and flatterer in ordinary to the Kakhya Zādeh, and, if -his countenance spoke truly, panderer to his employer's vices and -conniver at his crimes--among such strange company I had fallen that -April morning. Ḥājj Najīb trotted along contentedly enough behind -us; but Mikhāil, whose sense of the proprieties was strong, could -barely conceal his disapproval, and answered in monosyllables when the -jester or Reshīd Agha addressed him, though he unbent to Muḥammad -'Ali, whom he judged (and rightly) to be of another clay. We rode for an -hour over soft springy ground, Reshīd pointing out the beauties of his -property as we went. - -"All these olive-gardens are mine," said he, "by God and the Prophet of -God! there are no such olives in the land. Every year I come out from -Aleppo and see to the olive harvest with my own eyes lest the knaves who -work for me should cheat me, God curse them! And therefore I have built -myself a house at Alāni--God knows a man should make himself -comfortable and live decently. But you shall see it, for you must eat -with me; my table is spread for all comers. And around the house I have -planted fields of mulberry-trees; ten thousand stripling trees I have -set in the last five years. I shall raise silkworks, please God! in -great number. Oh Yūsef! show her the boxes of eggs that came from the -land of France." - -[Illustration 150: TRAVELLERS] - -The jester drew out of his breast a little cardboard box marked with the -brand of a French firm; but before I could express my respect for the -Agha's industry his attention had been distracted by some peasants who -were pruning the olives not to his liking, and he spurred his mare up to -the trees and poured out volleys of oaths and execrations upon the -unfortunate men, after which he returned to my side and resumed the tale -of his own prowess. - -The house was large and new, and furnished throughout with plush and -gilt-framed mirrors. Nothing would satisfy the Agha but that I should -see and admire every corner, and the jester gave me the lead in praise -and congratulation. From him I gathered that I was chiefly called upon -to exalt the merits of the iron stoves that were prominent in each of -the rooms--no doubt they added to the comfort if not to the -picturesqueness of the establishment. This over we sat down on a divan -to wait till lunch was ready. The Agha employed the time in relating to -me with an over-emphasised indignation his struggles against the corrupt -and oppressive government under which he lived, but he omitted to -mention that what he suffered at the hands of those above him he passed -on with interest to those below. - -"By God!" he spluttered, "you have seen how I labour among my -olive-trees, how I plant mulberries and send for the silkworm eggs from -afar, that I may make a new trade at Alāni. Is the Vāli grateful? No, -by the Prophet! He sends his men and they say: 'Stop! till we see how -much more we can tax you!' And when I would have set up a mill by the -river for the grinding of my corn, they said: 'Stop! it is not lawful.' -Then they sent for me in the middle of the harvest, and I rode hastily -to Aleppo, and day by day and week by week they kept me waiting, and -forbade me to leave the city. And by God!" shouted the Agha, thumping on -a little inlaid table with his fist, "I baffled them! I went to the -Ḳāḍi, and said: 'From whom is the order?' He said: 'From the -Vāli.' Then I went to the Vāli and said: 'From whom is the order?' And -he answered: 'I know not; perchance from the Ḳāḍi.' And I bade them -put it in writing, but they dared not, and so they let me go." - -In the middle of these tales three visitors were announced. They took a -deferential seat on the opposite divan, and expended themselves in -salutations and compliments. The Agha received them as an emperor might -receive his subjects, and one of them presently seized the opportunity -of saying to me in a stage whisper audible to all: - -"You have seen what manner of man is the Agha? He is like a king in this -country." Whereat the Agha grew yet more regally gracious. - -We sat down at last to a board loaded with every variety of Syrian -delicacy, and few cuisines can beat the Syrian at its best. The Agha -talked and ate with equal eagerness, and pressed one dish after another -upon his guests. When the feast was in full swing a servant came to him -and said that there was a certain Fellāḥ who wished to speak with -him. - -"Let him come!" said the Agha indifferently. A ragged peasant figure -appeared in the doorway and gazed with eyes half sullen, half frightened -at the company, and the profusion of delicate meats. - -"Peace be upon you, oh Agha!" he began. - -But as soon as he saw the suppliant the Agha started to his feet in a -very fury of passion. His face became purple, his squinting eyes started -from his head, and he thumped the table with his clenched fist while he -cried: - -"Begone! and may God curse you and your offspring, and destroy your -father's house! Begone, I tell you, and bring the money, or I will send -you to prison with your wife and your family, and you shall starve there -till you die." - -"Oh Agha!" said the man, with a certain dignity that faced the other's -rage, "a little time. Grant me a little time." - -"Not a day! not an hour!" yelled the Agha. "Away! go! and to-night you -shall bring me the money." - -The peasant vanished from the doorway without another word, the Agha sat -down and continued his interrupted conversation and his interrupted -meal; the other guests ate on as if nothing had happened, but I felt a -little ashamed of my place at Reshīd's right hand, and I was not sorry -to bid him farewell. - -The Agha sent us down to the Orontes and caused us to be conveyed across -the stream in his own ferry-boat. When we reached the other side -Mikhāil ostentatiously took a crust from his pocket and began to eat -it. - -"Have you not eaten at Alāni?" said I. - -"I do not eat with such as he," replied Mikhāil stiffly. - -At this Najīb, whom no such scruple had withheld from enjoying the -unwonted luxury of an ample meal, nodded his head and said: - -"The Agha is an evil man, may God reward him according to his deeds! He -squeezes their last metalīk from the poor, he seizes their land, and -turns them out of their houses to starve." - -"And worse than that," said Mikhāil darkly. - -"By God!" said Najīb. "Every man who has a fair wife or a fair daughter -stands in fear of him, for he will never rest until the woman is in his -hands. By God and Muḥammad the Prophet of God! many a man has he -killed that he might take his wife into his own harem, and no one is -hated more than he." - -"Cannot the law prevent him?" said I. - -[Illustration 151: ANTIOCH] - -"Who shall prevent him?" said Najīb. "He is rich--may God destroy his -dwelling!" - -"Oh Mikhāil!" said I as we picked our way across the muddy fields. "I -have travelled much in your country and I have seen and known many -people, and seldom have I met a poor man whom I would not choose for a -friend nor a rich man whom I would not shun. Now how is this? Does -wealth change the very heart in Syria? For, look you, in my country not -all the powerful are virtuous, but neither are they all rogues. And you -and the Druze of Ḳalb Lōzeh and Mūsa the Kurd, would you too, if you -had means, become like Reshīd Agha?" - -"Oh lady," said Mikhāil, "the heart is the same, but in your country -the government is just and strong and every one of the English must obey -it, even the rich; whereas with us there is no justice, but the big man -eats the little, and the little man eats the less, and the government -eats all alike. And we all suffer after our kind and cry out to God to -help us since we cannot help ourselves. But at least I did not eat the -bread of Reshīd Agha," concluded Mikhāil rather sententiously; and at -this Najīb and I hung our heads. - -[Illustration 152: ANTIOCH] - -[Illustration 153: ON THE BANK OF THE ORONTES, ANTIOCH] - -Then followed five hours of the worst travelling. It may have been a -judgment upon Najīb and me for sitting at the table of the wicked, but, -like most of the judgments of Providence, it fell impartially on the -just and the unjust, for Mikhāil endured as much as we. All that we had -suffered the day before from the rocks we now suffered at the opposite -end of the scale from the mud. The torture was a thousand times more -acute. For five hours we crossed hills of earth on which there was never -a stone, but the sticky slime of the slopes alternated with deep -sloughs, where our horses sank up to their girths, and when at last we -emerged from this morass into the Orontes valley man and beast were -exhausted. The rising ground, which we had left, now rose into rocky -ridges and peaks, the broad valley lay on our right hand, half full of -flood water, and beyond it stood a splendid range of mountains. It was -not long before we caught sight of the Byzantine towers and walls -crowning the ridges to the left, and between hedges of flowering bay we -stumbled along the broken pavement of the Roman road that led to -Antioch. The road was further occupied by a tributary of the Orontes, -which flowed merrily over the pavement. It was with some excitement that -I gazed on the city of Antioch, which was for so many centuries a cradle -of the arts and the seat of one of the most gorgeous civilisations that -the world has known. Modern Antioch is like the pantaloon whose clothes -are far too wide for his lean shanks; the castle walls go climbing over -rock and hill, enclosing an area from which the town has shrunk away. -But it is still one of the loveliest of places, with its great ragged -hill behind it, crowned with walls, and its clustered red roofs -stretching down to the wide and fertile valley of the Orontes. -Earthquakes and the changing floods of the stream have overturned and -covered with silt the palaces of the Greek and of the Roman city, yet as -I stood at sunset on the sloping sward of the Noṣairiyyeh graveyard -below Mount Silpius, where my camp was pitched, and saw the red roofs -under a crescent moon, I recognised that beauty is the inalienable -heritage of Antioch. - - -[Footnote 17: The ancient towns in the Jebel Bārisha have been visited -and described by the American Expedition.] - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - -A further acquaintance with Antioch did not destroy the impressions of -the first evening. The more I wandered through the narrow paved streets -the more delightful did they appear. Except the main thoroughfare, which -is the bazaar, they were almost empty; my footsteps on the cobble-stones -broke through years of silence. The shallow gables covered with red -tiles gave a charming and very distinctive note to the whole city, and -shuttered balconies jutted out from house to house. Of the past there is -scarcely a vestige. Two fine sarcophagi, adorned with putti and garlands -and with the familiar and, I fancy, typically Asiatic motive of lions -devouring bulls, stand in the Serāya, and one similar to these, but -less elaborate, by the edge of the Daphne road. I saw, too, a fragment -of a classical entablature in the courtyard of a Turkish house, and a -scrap of wall in the main street that may certainly be dated earlier -than the Mohammadan invasion--its courses of alternate brick and stone -resembled the work on the Acropolis. For the rest the Antioch of -Seleucus Nicator is a city of the imagination only. The island on which -it was built has disappeared owing to the changing of the river bed, but -tradition places it above the modern town. The banks of the Orontes must -have been lined with splendid villas; I was told that the foundations of -them were brought to light whenever a man dug deep enough through the -silt, and that small objects of value, such as coins and bronzes, were -often unearthed. Many such were brought to me for sale, but I judged -them to be forgeries of an unskilful kind, and I was confirmed in my -opinion by a Turkish pasha, Rifa't Agha, who has occupied his leisure in -making a collection of antiquities. He possesses a fine series of -Seleucid coins, the earlier nearly as good as the best Sicilian, the -later nearly as bad as the worst Byzantine, and a few bronze lamps, one -of which, in the shape of a curly-haired Eros head, is a beautiful -example of Roman work. The Agha presented me with a small head, which I -take to have been a copy of the head of Antioch with the high crown, and -though it was but roughly worked, it possessed some distinction borrowed -from a great original. - -[Illustration 154: THE CORN MARKET, ANTIOCH] - -Forty years ago the walls and towers of the Acropolis were still almost -perfect; they are now almost destroyed. The inhabitants of Antioch -declare that the city is rocked to its foundations every half-century, -and they are in instant expectation of another upheaval, the last having -occurred in 1862; but it is prosperity not earthquake that has wrought -the havoc in the fortress. The town is admirably situated in its rich -valley, and connected with the port of Alexandretta by a fairly good -road; it might easily become a great commercial centre, and even under -Turkish rule it has grown considerably in the past fifty years, and -grown at the expense of the Acropolis. To spare himself the trouble of -quarrying, the Oriental will be deterred by no difficulty, and in spite -of the labour of transporting the dressed stones of the fortress to the -foot of the exceedingly steep hill on which it stands, all the modern -houses have been built out of materials taken from it. The work of -destruction continues; the stone facing is quickly disappearing from the -walls, leaving only a core of a rubble and mortar which succumbs in a -short time to the action of the weather. I made the whole circuit of the -fortress one morning, and it took me three hours. To the west of the -summit of Mount Silpius a rocky cleft seamed the hillside. It was full -of rock-cut tombs, and just above my camp an ancient aqueduct spanned -it. On the left hand of the cleft the line of wall dropped by -precipitous rocks to the valley. Where large fragments remained it was -evident that the stone facing had alternated with bands of brick, and -that sometimes the stone itself had been varied by courses of smaller -and larger blocks. The fortifications embraced a wide area, the upper -part leading by gentle slopes, covered with brushwood and ruined -foundations, to the top of the hill. In the west wall there was a narrow -massive stone door, with a lintel of jointed blocks and a relieving arch -above it. The south wall was broken by towers; the main citadel was at -the south-east corner. From here the walls dropped down again steeply to -the city and passed some distance to the east of it. They can be traced, -I believe, to the Orontes. I did not follow their course, but climbed -down from the citadel by a stony path into a deep gorge that cuts -through the eastern end of the hill. The entrance to this gorge is -guarded by a strong wall of brick and stone, which is called the Gate of -Iron, and beyond it the fortifications climb the opposite side of the -ravine and are continued along the hill top. I do not know how far they -extend; the ground was so rough and so much overgrown with bushes that I -lost heart and turned back. There was a profusion of flowers among the -rocks, marigold, asphodel, cyclamen and iris. - -[Illustration 155: ROMAN LAMP IN RIFA'T AGHA'S COLLECTION] - -Beyond the gorge of the Iron Gate, on the hill side facing the Orontes, -there is a cave which tradition calls the cave of St. Peter. The Greek -communion has erected a little chapel at its mouth. Yet further along -the hill is a still more curious relic of ancient Antioch, the head of a -Sphinx carved in relief upon a rock some 20 ft. high. Folded about her -brow she wears a drapery that falls on either side of her face and ends -where the throat touches the bare breast. Her featureless countenance is -turned slightly up the valley, as though she watched for one that shall -yet come out of the East. If she could speak she might tell us of great -kings and gorgeous pageants, of battle and of siege, for she has seen -them all from her rock on the hill side. She still remembers that the -Greeks she knew marched up from Babylonia, and since even the Romans did -not teach her that the living world lies westward, I could not hope to -enlighten her, and so left her watching for some new thing out of the -East. - -[Illustration 156: HEAD OF A SPHINX, ANTIOCH] - -There was another pilgrimage to be made from Antioch: it was to Daphne, -the famous shrine that marked the spot where the nymph baffled the -desire of the god, the House of the Waters it is called in Arabic. It -lies to the west of the town, about an hour's ride along the foot of the -hills, and in the Spring a more enchanting ride could not be found. The -path led through an exquisite boscage of budding green, set thickly with -flowering hawthorn and with the strange purple of the Judas tree; then -it crossed a low spur and descended into a steep valley through which a -stream tumbled towards the Orontes. - -No trace remains of the temples that adorned this fairest of all -sanctuaries. Earthquakes and the mountain torrents have swept them down -the ravine. But the beauty of the site has not diminished since the days -when the citizens of the most luxurious capital in the East dallied -there with the girls who served the god. The torrent does not burst -noisily from the mountain side; it is born in a deep still pool that -lies, swathed in a robe of maidenhair fern, in thickets "annihilating -all that's made to a green thought in a green shade." From the pool -issues a translucent river, unbroken of surface, narrow and profound; it -runs into swirls and eddies and then into foaming cataracts and -waterfalls that toss their white spray into the branches of mulberry and -plane. Under the trees stand eleven water-mills; the ragged millers are -the only inhabitants of Apollo's shrine. They brought us walnuts to eat -by the edge of the stream, and small antique gems that had dropped from -the ornaments of those who sought pleasures less innocent perhaps than -ours by the banks of that same torrent. - -[Illustration 157: DAPHNE] - -It is impossible to travel in North Syria without acquiring a keen -interest in the Seleucid kings, backed by a profound respect for their -achievements in politics and in the arts; I was determined therefore to -visit before I pushed north the site of Seleucia Pieria, the port of -Antioch and the burial-place of Seleucus Nicator. Inland capital and -seaport sprang into being at the same moment, and were both part of one -great conception that turned the lower reaches of the Orontes into a -rich and populous market--in those days kings could create world-famous -cities with a wave of the sceptre, and the Seleucids were not backward -in following the example Alexander had set them. Like Apamea, Seleucia -has shrunk to the size of a hamlet, or perhaps it would be truer to say -that it has split up into several hamlets covered by the name of -Sweidiyyeh. (The nomenclature is confusing, as each group of farms or -huts has a separate title.) The spacing of the population at the mouth -of the Orontes is due to the occupation in which the inhabitants of the -villages are engaged. They are raisers of silkworms, an industry that -requires during about a month in the Spring such continuous attention -that every man must live in the centre of his mulberry-groves, and is -consequently separated by the extent of them from his neighbours. After -three hours' ride through a delicious country of myrtle thickets and -mulberry gardens we reached Sweidiyyeh, a military post and the most -important of the scattered villages. Here for the first and only time on -my journey I was stopped by an officer, the worse for 'arak, who -demanded my passport. Now passport I had none; I had lost it in the -Jebel Zāwiyyeh when I lost my coat, and it is a proof of how little -bound by red tape the Turkish official can show himself to be that I -travelled half the length of the Ottoman Empire without a paper to my -name. On this occasion the zaptieh who was with me demonstrated with -some heat that he would not have been permitted to accompany me if I had -not been a respectable and accredited person, and after a short wrangle -we were allowed to pursue our way. The reason of this meticulous -exactitude was soon made clear: the villages on the coast contain large -colonies of Armenians; they are surrounded by military stations, to -prevent the inhabitants from escaping either inland to other parts of -the empire or by sea to Cyprus, and the comings and goings of strangers -are carefully watched. One of the objects that the traveller should ever -set before himself is to avoid being drawn into the meshes of the -Armenian question. It was the tacit conviction of the learned during the -Middle Ages that no such thing as an insoluble question existed. There -might be matters that presented serious difficulties, but if you could -lay them before the right man--some Arab in Spain, for instance, -omniscient by reason of studies into the details of which it was better -not to inquire--he would give you a conclusive answer. The real trouble -was only to find your man. We, however, have fallen from that faith. We -have proved by experience that there are, alas! many problems insoluble -to the human intelligence, and of that number the Turkish empire owns a -considerable proportion. The Armenian question is one of them, and the -Macedonian question is another. In those directions madness lies. - -It was with the determination not to waver in a decision that had -contributed, largely, I make no doubt, to happy and prosperous -journeyings, that I rode down to Chaulīk, the port of ancient Seleucia. -I found my resolve the less difficult to observe because the Armenians -talked little but Armenian and Turkish, at any rate the few words of -Arabic that some of them possessed were not sufficient to enable them to -enter into a detailed account of their wrongs. He who served me that -afternoon as a guide was a man of so cheerful a disposition that he -would certainly have selected by preference a different topic. His name -was Ibrahīm, he was bright-eyed and intelligent, and his cheerfulness -was deserving of praise, since his yearly income amounted to no more -than 400 piastres, under £2 of English money. From this he proposed to -save enough to bribe the Turkish officials at the port that they might -wink at his escape in an open boat to Cyprus: "for," said he, "there is -no industry here but the silkworms, and they give me work for two months -in the year, and for the other ten I have nothing to do and no way of -earning money." He also informed me that the Noṣairis who inhabited -the adjoining villages were unpleasant neighbours. - -"There is feud between you?" said I. - -"Ey wāllah!" said he with emphatic assent, and related in illustration -the long story of a recent conflict which, as far as it was -comprehensible, seemed to have been due entirely to the aggressions of -the Armenians. - -"But you began the stealing," said I when he had concluded. - -"Yes," said he. "The Noṣairis are dogs." And he added with a smile: "I -was imprisoned in Aleppo for two years afterwards." - -"By God! you deserved it," said I. - -"Yes," said he, as cheerfully as ever. - -And this, I rejoice to say, was all that Ibrahīm contributed to the -store of evidence on the Armenian question. - -The Bay of Seleucia is not unlike the Bay of Naples and scarcely less -beautiful. A precipitous ridge of the hills, honeycombed with rock-hewn -tombs and chambers, forms a background to the mulberry-gardens, and, -sweeping round, encloses the bay to the north. Below it lie the walls -and water-gates of the port, silted up with earth and separated from the -sea by a sandy beach. The Orontes flows through sand and silt farther to -the south, and the view is closed by a steep range of hills culminating -at the southern point in the lovely peak of Mount Cassius, which takes -the place of Vesuvius in the landscape. I pitched my camp near the -northern barrier in a little cove divided from the rest of the bay by a -low spur which ran out into a ruin-covered headland that commanded the -whole sweep of the coast, and I pleased myself with the fancy that it -was on this point that the temple and tomb of Seleucus Nicator had -stood, though I do not know whether its exact situation has ever been -determined. Below it on the beach lay an isolated rock in which a -columned hall had been excavated. This hall was fragrant of the sea and -fresh with the salt winds that blew through it: a very temple of nymphs -and tritons. Ibrahīm took me up and down the face of the precipitous -cliffs by little paths and by an old chariot-road that led to the city -on the summit of the plateau. He said that to walk round the enclosing -wall of the upper city took six hours, but it was too hot to put his -statement to the test. We climbed into an immense number of the -artificial caves, in many of which there were no loculi. They may have -been intended for dwellings or storehouses rather than for tombs. At -this time of the year they were all occupied by the silkworm breeders, -who were now at their busiest moment, the larvae having just issued from -the egg. The entrance of each cave was blocked by a screen of green -boughs to keep out the sun, and the afternoon light filtered pleasantly -through the budding leaves. At the southern end of the cliff there was a -large necropolis, consisting of small caves set round with loculi, and -of rock-hewn sarcophagi decorated, when they were decorated at all, with -the garland motive that adorns the sarcophagi at Antioch. The most -important group of tombs was at the northern end of the cliff. The -entrance to it was by a pillared portico that led into a double cave. -The larger chamber contained some thirty to forty loculi and a couple of -canopied tombs, the canopies cut out of the living rock; the smaller -held about half the number of loculi, the roof of it was supported by -pillars and pilasters, and I noticed above the tombs a roughly cut -design consisting of a scroll of ivy-shaped and of indented leaves. - -[Illustration 158: THE GARĪZ] - -The builders of Seleucia seem to have been much preoccupied with the -distribution of the water supply. Ibrahīm showed me along the face of -the cliff a channel some 2 ft. wide and 5 ft. high, which was cut 3 or 4 -ft. behind the surface of the rock, and carried water from one end of -the city to the other. We traced its course by occasional air-holes or -breaches in the outer wall of rock. The most difficult problem must have -been the management of the torrent that flowed down a gorge to the north -of the town. A great gallery had been hewn through the spur to the south -of my camp to conduct the water to the sea and prevent it from swamping -the houses at the foot of the cliff. The local name for this gallery is -the Garīz. It began at the mouth of a narrow ravine and was tunnelled -through a mass of rock for several hundred yards, after which it -continued as a deep cutting open to the air till it reached the end of -the spur. At the entrance of the tunnel there was an inscription in -clear cut letters, "Divus Vespasianus" it began, but the rest was buried -in the rocky ground. There were several others along the further course -of the Garīz, all of them in Latin: I imagine that the work was not -Seleucid, but Roman. - -To one more spectacle Ibrahīm tempted me. He declared that if I would -follow him through the mulberry-gardens below the cliff he would show me -"a person made of stone." My curiosity was somewhat jaded by the heat -and the long walk, but I toiled back wearily over stones and other -obstacles to find a god, bearded and robed, sitting under the mulberry -trees. He was not a very magnificent god; his attitude was stiff, his -robe roughly fashioned, and the top of his head was gone, but the low -sun gilded his marble shoulder and the mulberry boughs whispered his -ancient titles. We sat down beside him, and Ibrahīm remarked: - -"There is another buried in this field, a woman, but she is deep deep -under the earth." - -"Have you seen her?" said I. - -"Yes," said he. "The owner of the field buried her, for he thought she -might bring him ill luck. Perhaps if you gave him money he might dig her -up." - -I did not rise to the suggestion; she was probably better left to the -imagination. - -[Illustration 159: THE STATUE IN THE -MULBERRY-GARDEN] - -Close to the statue I saw a long moulded cornice which was apparently -_in situ_, though the wall it crowned was buried in a cornfield: so -thickly does the earth cover the ruins of Seleucia. Some day there will -be much to disclose here, but excavation will be exceedingly costly -owing to the deep silt and to the demands of the proprietors of mulberry -grove and cornfield. The site of the town is enormous, and will require -years of digging if it is to be properly explored. - -Near my tents a sluggish stream flowed through clumps of yellow iris and -formed a pool in the sand. It provided water for our animals and for the -flocks of goats that Armenian shepherd boys herded morning and evening -along the margin of the sea. The spot was so attractive and the weather -so delightful that I spent an idle day there, the first really idle day -since I had left Jerusalem, and as I could not hope to examine Seleucia -exhaustively, I resolved to see no more of it than was visible from my -tent door. This excellent decision gave me twenty-four hours, to which I -look back with the keenest satisfaction, though there is nothing to be -recorded of them except that I was not to escape so lightly from -Armenian difficulties as I had hoped. I received in the morning a long -visit from a woman who had walked down from Kabūseh, a village at the -top of the gorge above the Garīz. She spoke English, a tongue she had -acquired at the missionary schools of 'Aintāb, her home in the Kurdish -mountains. Her name was Kymet. She had left 'Aintāb upon her marriage, -a step she had never ceased to regret, for though her husband was a good -man and an honest he was so poor that she did not see how she was to -bring up her two children. Besides, said she, the people round Kabūseh, -Noṣairis and Armenians alike, were all robbers, and she begged me to -help her to escape to Cyprus. She told me a curious piece of family -history, which showed how painful the position of the sect must be in -the heart of a Mohammadan country, if it cannot be cited as an instance -of official oppression. Her father had turned Muslim when she was a -child, chiefly because he wished to take a second wife. Kymet's mother -had left him and supported her children as best she might, rather than -submit to the indignity that he had thrust upon her, and the bitter -quarrel had darkened, said Kymet, all her own youth. She sent her -husband down next morning with a hen and a copy of verses written by -herself in English. I paid for the hen, but the verses were beyond -price. They ran thus: - - -Welcome, welcome, my dearest dear, we are happy by your coming! -For your coming welcome! Your arrival welcome! -Let us sing joyfully, joyfully, -Joyfully, my boys, joyfully! -The sun shines now with moon clearly, sweet light so bright, my -dear boys, -For your reaching welcome! By her smiling welcome! -The trees send us, my dear boys, with happiness the birds rejoice; -Its nice smelling welcome! In their singing welcome! - -I remain. - -Yours truly, - -GEORGE ABRAHAM. - - -I hasten to add, lest the poem should be considered compromising, that -its author was not George Abraham, who as I found in the negotiations -over the hen had no word of English; Kymet had merely used her husband's -name as forming a more impressive signature than her own. Moreover the -boys she alludes to were a rhetorical figure. I can offer no suggestion -as to what it was that the trees sent us; the text appears to be corrupt -at this point. Perhaps "us" should be taken as the accusative. - -It was with real regret that I left Seleucia. Before dawn, when I went -down to the sea to bathe, delicate bands of cloud were lying along the -face of the hills, and as I swam out into the warm still water the first -ray of the sun struck the snowy peak of Mount Cassius that closed so -enchantingly the curve of the bay. We journeyed back to Antioch as we -had come, and pitched tents outside the city by the high road. Two days -later we set off at 6.30 for a long ride into Alexandretta. The road was -abominable for the first few miles, broken by deep gulfs of mud, with -here and there a scrap of pavement that afforded little better going -than the mud itself. After three hours we reached the village of -Kāramurt, and three-quarters of an hour further we left the road and -struck straight up the hills by a ruined khān that showed traces of -fine Arab work. The path led up and down steep banks of earth between -thickets of flowering shrubs, gorse and Judas trees, and an undergrowth -of cistus. We saw to the left the picturesque castle of Baghrās, the -ancient Pagræe, crowning a pointed hill: I do not believe that the -complex of mountains north of Antioch has ever been explored -systematically, and it may yet yield fragments of Seleucid or Roman -fortifications that guarded the approach to the city. Presently we hit -upon the old paved road that follows a steeper course than the present -carriage road; it led us at one o'clock (we had stopped for three -quarters of an hour to lunch under the shady bank of a stream) to the -summit of the Pass of Bailān, where we joined the main road from Aleppo -to Alexandretta. There was no trace of fortification, as far as I -observed, at the Syrian Gates where Alexander turned and marched back to -the Plain of Issus to meet Darius, but the pass is very narrow and must -have been easy to defend against northern invaders. It is the only pass -practicable for an army through the rugged Mount Amanus. The village of -Bailān lay an hour further in a beautiful situation on the northern -side of the mountains looking over the Bay of Alexandretta to the bold -Cilician coast and the white chain of Taurus. From Bailān it is about -four hours' ride to Alexandretta. - -As we jogged down towards the shining sea by green and flowery slopes -that were the last of Syria, Mikhāil and I fell into conversation. We -reviewed, as fellow travellers will, the incidents of the way, and -remembered the adventures that had befallen us by flood and field, and -at the end I said: - -"Oh Mikhāil, this is a pleasant world, though some have spoken ill of -it, and for the most part the children of Adam are good not evil." - -[Illustration 160: LOWER COURSE OF THE GARĪZ] - -"It is as God wills," said Mikhāil. - -"Without doubt," said I. "But consider, now, those whom we have met upon -our journey, and think how all were glad to help us, and how well they -used us. At the outset there was Najīb Fāris, who started us upon our -way, and Namrūd and G̣ablān--" - -[Illustration 161: SARCOPHAGUS IN THE SERAYA, ANTIOCH] - -"Māsha'llah!" interrupted Mikhāil. "G̣ablān was an excellent man. -Never have I seen an Arab so little grasping, for he would scarcely eat -of the food that I prepared for him." - -"And Sheikh Muḥammad en Naṣṣār," I pursued, "and his nephew -Fāiz, and the Ḳāimaḳām of Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, who lodged us for -two nights and fed us all, and the Ḳāimaḳām of Drekish, who made a -great reception for us, and the zaptieh Maḥmūd----" (Mikhāil gave a -grunt here, for he had been at daggers drawn with Maḥmūd.) "And -Sheikh Yūnis," I went on hastily, "and Mūsa the Kurd, who was the best -of all." - -"He was an honest man," observed Mikhāil, "and served your Excellency -well." - -"And even Reshīd Agha," I continued, "who was a rogue, treated us with -hospitality." - -"Listen, oh lady," said Mikhāil, "and I will make it clear to you. Men -are short of vision, and they see but that for which they look. Some -look for evil and they find evil; some look for good and it is good that -they find, and moreover some are fortunate and these find always what -they want. Praise be to God! to that number you belong. And, please God! -you shall journey in peace and return in safety to your own land, and -there you shall meet his Excellency your father, and your mother and all -your brothers and sisters in health and in happiness, and all your -relations and friends," added Mikhāil comprehensively, "and again many -times shall you travel in Syria with peace and safety and prosperity, -please God!" - -"Please God!" said I. - - - - -INDEX - -ABĀDEH tribe, the, 23 -Abana River, the, 152 -'Abdul 'Aziz ibn er Rashīd, 146 - Ḥamed Pasha Druby, 189, - 194 - Hamid Rafi 'a Zādeh, 201-219, - 339 - Ḳādir, the great Algerian, - 145-46 - Ḳādir el Aẓam, 224-27, - 237 - Mejīd, Kurdish zaptieh, 210-11 - Wahhāb Beg, 182 -'Abdullah Pasha, the Amīr, 145-49 -'Abd ur Raḥmān Pasha, 239 -Abraham, George, 335 -Abrash River, the, 210 -Abu Kbesh, castle of, 218 - Zreik, village of, 101 - 'l Fīda, sarcophagus of, 230 -Acropolis, Athens, 167; Antioch, - 322, 324-25 -Adana, 271 -Aden, 265 -'Adwān tribes, 16 -Afrīn, valley of the, 288 -Agha, Muḥammad 'Ali, 311-14 - Reshīd, 339 - Rifa't, collection of, 322-23, 325 - Rustum, 311-12 -Aḥmed, son of Ghishghāsh, 111-12, 128 -'Ain esh Shems, 7, 217 -'Aintāb, missionary schools at, 334 -Ajlūn hills of, 16 -'Akabah, Gulf of, 14 -Al Ḥerdeh, village of, 233 -'Ala, Jebel el, 276, 302, - 305, 309, 310 -Alāni, 314-16 -Aleppo, 66, 222_n._, 232, - 244, 250, 251, - 256, 270-72, - 311, 314; - description, 260-69 -Alexander the Great, 242, 336 -Alexandretta, 262, 265, - 270, 324, 336 -Alexandria, 240 -Ali id Diāb ul 'Adwān, Sultān ibn, 16 - Muḥammad, Pasha of Aleppo, - 148, 268 - Pasha, Amīr, 145-47, 149 -Allāt, 95 -'Alya, Jebel el, 51-52, 64 -Amanus, Mount, 336 -Amereh, mound of, 26 -American College, Beyrout, 208, 230 - Survey, the, 77, 171, - 276, 297 -'Ammān, 13, 20, 27, 56, 164 -'Anazeh tribe, the, 24, 25, 65, 127, 152, - 172, 197 -Anglo-Japanese alliance, 229 -'Antara, poetry of, 59-60 -Anti-Libanus, 111, 121, 159, 167 -Antioch, 175, 270, 277, 278, 281, 310; - description and relics, 318-27, 336 -Apamea, 242, 327 -Apostles' Well, the, _see_ 'Ain esh - Shems -Arabic inscriptions, 122, 242 -Arabs, 14, 16, 23 _et seq._, 56-58, 66-67; - hospitality, 32-33, 37, 55-57; - customs, etc., 36-37, 42, 49, 67; - poetry, 60-63; inter-tribal relations, 65-66 -'Areh, village of, 81, 85 -'Arjārmeh, the, 14 -Armenians, 140; the Armenian question, 328-29 -Asad Beg, 171 -Asbā 'i, Muṣṭafa el, 148 -'Asī, swamp of the, 242 -Assassins, sect of the, 196 -At Tabari, history of, 80 -Athens, 297; the Acropolis, 167 -Awād, the Arab, 121-23, 127 -'Awais, Yūsef el, 160 -Aẓam Zādeh family at Ḥamāh, 223-24 -Azrak, Kala 'at el, 84 - -BA'ALBEK, 159-160; Temple of The - Sun, 164-169; Temple of Jupiter, - 172, 176; Basilica of Constantine, - 183; Ras ul 'Ain, 187; Christian - church at, 214 -Bāb el Hawa, the, 297, 301 -Bābiska, village, 297-98 -Babylonia, 241 -Baghdad, 66, 111; the railway to, - 261-62 -Baghrās, castle of, 336 -Bailān, Pass of, 336 -Baitocaicē, 214 -Bāḳirḥa, ruins of, 278, 298-303 -Balad, Sheikh el, 58 -Barād, village of, 287-89 -Barada, the Wādi, 159 -Barāzi family, Ḥamāh, 224 -Barāzi, Muṣṭafa Pasha el, 147, 148, 236 -Bārisha, Jebel, 276, 298, 301, 302 -Bashan, 84 -Basilica of Constantine, Ba'albek, 183 -Bāsufān, church at, 288, 291 -Bathaniyyeh, 131 -Bawābet Ullaḥ, the, Damascus, 133 -Bedouins, 10, 23, 56, 122, 197, 256 -Bedr, battle of, 62 -Behā'is, religion of the, 150, 193 -Beiḍa, Ḳal'at el, 34, 123-28 - White Land, 108, 121 -Belḳa plain, 19, 23-24; tribes of the, - 23-26, 56-58 -Beni 'Atiyyeh, the, 239, 240 - Awājeh tribe, the, 66 - Ḥassan tribe, the, 65, 68, 96 - Ṣakhr, 24, 33, 38, 41, 43 - Sha 'alān, the, 25 -Beyrout, 99, 198, 208, 230, 231, 262 -Birijik, railway at, 261-62 -Birket Umm el 'Amūd, the, 25-26 -Bizzos, Tomb of, 253-54, 277-78 -Bḳei'a, the plain, 198 -Black Sea, 8 - Stone at Mecca, 96 -Blunts, the travellers, 84 -Boer War, the, 229 -Bologna, 254 -Boṣrā, 20, 74, 81 - el Harīr, 229 -Brāk, village of, 132 -Brünnow, "Die Provincia Arabia," -34_n._, 52_n._ -Būkhālih, 125 -Burj el Kās, 282 - Ḥeida, 292 -Burjkeh, village of, 280-81 -Busān, the Wādi, 107 -Butler, Mr., 75, 244, 276-78, 286 - -CALCUTTA, 227 -Calycadnus River, the, 241 -Cassius, Mount, 330 -Cave villages, in -Caves, Namrūd's, 31-37 -Chamberlain, Mr., 105 -Chaulīk, 329 -Circassians, 56, 132, 238-39 -Coffee, customs, 19-20 -Coins, Roman, 27; Seleucid, 322 -Constantine, coins of, 27 -Constantinople, 48, 104 -Crete, Moslems of, 152 -Cromer, Lord, 58, 105, 229 -Crown of Thorns, the, 11 -Crusaders, 205-6 -Cufic inscriptions, 80, 122-23 -Curzon, Lord, 229 -Cyprus, 229, 328, 335 - -DA'JA tribe, the, 24-27, 40, 51, 96 -Damascus, 77, 99, 128-33, 198, 231 - History, 134-58; houses of, - 136-51, 227; the Great - Mosque, 142, 150-51, 153 - Friday in, 152 -Dāna, 298; tomb at, 31, 254, 259, 299 -Danīdisheh family, 207 -Daphne Road, Antioch, 322; shrine, 326 -Dār Kīta, 286 -Dark Tower, Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, 201 -Dead Sea, 10; Dead Sea Fruit, 11-12 -Decimus of the Flavian Legion, 214 -Deḥes, 297, 302 -Deir es Sleb, 219 -Deiret 'Azzeh, village of, 297 -Dera'a, cave village, 111 -Derwīsh, soldier, 171, 172 -Dīn, Sheikh ed, 58 -Drekish, village of, 211-12 -Drusūra, 95 -Druze, the Jebel, 20, 43, 64, 70, 164 -Druzes, the, 38, 43, 51, 58, 67, 70 - Habits and customs, 79-80, 82, - 83, 86, 128; the fight against - the Ṣukhūr, 88-106; dread - of the Mohammadans, 306-309 -Dussaud, Monsieur, 75, 84, 102, 122-23, 125, 175 - -EFFENDI, Dervish, 227 - Yūsef, 85-87, 135 -Effendim, 219-220 -Egypt, English rule in, 57-58 -Ej Jeita, village of, in -El, the God, 124 - Ajlāt, 111 - Bahra, lake of, 310 - Bārah, village of, 245, 247, 249 - Ḥayyāt, mosque of, 230 - Khuḍr, Well of, 94, 96 - Mughāra, village of, 255 - Muwaggar, 52-54, 126 -Emesa, Roman city, 181, 186 -Epiphaneia, fortress of, 221 -Ethreh, 84 -Euphrates, the, 268 -Euting, M., 84 - -FĀFERTĪN, village of, 274, 282 -Fāiz, nephew of Muḥammad en - Nassār, 107, 111-12, 128, 339 - el Aṭrash, Sheikh of Kreyeh, 77, 81 - Talal ul, 24, 25 -Fāris, muleteer, 270 _et seq._, 302, 310 - Ḥabīb, 19-20, 22, 339 -Fayyād, Agha of Karyatein, 152 -Fedhāmeh, village of, 111 -Fellahīn, the, 56; social condition, - 206-7, 217-18 - Bank, the, 58 -Fendi, guide, 77, 78, 88 -Fīda, Abu 'l, 22 -France, Baghdad railway scheme, 261 - -G̣ABLĀN, the Arab, 39-40, 44, 49, 52, - 54, 55, 59-60, 65, 76, 339 -Garīz, the, Seleucia, 331, 333, 334, 337 -Gates of God, the, 133 -Germany, Baghdad railway scheme, 261 -Gethsemane, valley of, 4 -Gharz, the Ghadīr el, 116, 121-23 - the Wādi el, 125 -Ghassānid forts, 34, 52, 126 -Ghawārny, the, 41 -Ghazu, the sport, 66-67 -Ghiāth, the, 96, 119-28 -Ghishghāsh, Sheikh of Umm Ruweik, - 107, 111-12, 120 -Ghōr, the, 11, 16-19, 23 -Giour Dāgh, the, 288, 301 -Greek inscriptions, 122-23, 242, 253-54 -Greeks, 140 - -ḤABĪB, muleteer, 3, 16, 74, 112, 124, - 168, 172, 270 -Hadūdmadūd, 293 -Haida, Dr., 171 -Haifa, 19 -Ḥāil, town of, 44, 47, 48, 84 -Ḥājj Railway, the, 22, 34 - road, the, 239-40 -Ḥamād, the, 111, 112 -Ḥamāh, 168 - Roman road from, 218-220; - description, 221-23; the - Mosque, 223; people, 223-29 -Hamdān, son of Sheikh Understanding, 120 -Ḥamūd, 51 - of Sweida, 82, 94 -Hanelos, 125 -Ḥārim, 306, 309-310; the castle, - 310-311 -Hārith, Ibn el, 62 -Harra, the Burnt Land, 108 -Harūn er Rashīd, 212 -Ḥaseneh tribe, the, 172, 197 -Hāss, Jebel el, 260 -Ḥassan Beg Nā'i, 182-85 -Ḥassaniyyeh tribe, the, 24, 65-70, 88 -Ḥaurān, mountains of, 18, 58, 70, 75, 76 -Hayāt, Kalybeh at, 131 -Heart of God, 116 -Ḥejāz Railway, the, 136 -Ḥelbān, mud village of, 256 -Hermon Mountains, 121, 159 -Heshbān, 16 -Hind, the land of, 195, 196 -Hira, 126 -Hīt, village of, 131 -Hittites, the, 175 -Hober, village of, 260 -Holy Sepulchre, Church of the, 2 -Ḥomṣ, 111, 168, 175, 176, 193-94 - Castle of, 179, 181; people of, - 180-81, 186-90; houses of, - 182-86; the Marj ul' Asi, 186; - Stony Plain of, 197 -Homsi, Nicola, 266 -Ḥoweiṭāṭ, the, 65, 239, 240 -Hurmul, Tower of, 172, 175 -Ḥuṣn es Suleimān, 213-17 - Ḳal'at el, 195, 199, 201-209, - 339; Greek Monastery at, - 209-210 - -IBRAHĪM, the Armenian, 329-30, 333-34 - muleteer, 3 - Pasha, 36, 180 -Iliān, Milḥēm, 85, 86, 96-99, 102, 105 -Imtain, 70, 82, 92 -Iron Gate, Antioch, 325 -'Isa, Fellāḥ ul, 51, 55-57, 69-70, 164 -Islāmism, 227-29 -Ismailis, 195; religion, 233-35, 279 -'Izzet Pasha, 149, 212-13 - -JADA 'llah, 69, 85 -Jaffa, 8 -Japanese War, 103-4, 156, 160, 182 -Jebel Ḥalaḳah, the, 297 -Jebeliyyeh Arabs, the, 75, 96 -Jericho, the road to, 10, 11 -Jerūn, oasis of, 152-53 -Jerūdi, the brigand, _see_ Muḥammad - Pasha, Sheikh of Jerūd -Jerusalem, 4, 99, 160, 266 -Jisr el Wād, bridge of, 210 -Jōf, 47, 84 -Jordan valley, 10 _et seq._ -Judæa, 7-10 - -KABUL, 227 -Kabūseh, village of, 334, 335 -Kadesh, 176-79 -Kāf, 84 -Ḳais, Amr ul, 59, 60, 67 -Kalam, Mushḳin, 148, 149 -Ḳalb Lōzeh, church of, 278, 302-6 -Kalōteh, 282, 285; church of, 286-87 -Kāmu'a Hurmul, 172, 175 -Ḳanawāt, 164; the basilica, 111; - illustrations, 108, 112, 115 -Ḳantarah, the, 119 -Kāramurt, village of, 336 -Karyatein, oasis of, 152 -Ḳaṣr el Ahla, _see_ Ḳaṣr el 'Alya - 'Alya, 52 - Banāt, 255, 256 -Ḳasṭal, 34, 126 -Katurā, 282 -Kbēs, Monsieur, 222-24, 230, 231 -Kbeshīn, hamlet of, 273 -Kefr 'Abīd, 260 - Anbīl, 244, 246 - Lāb, 292-95 - Nebu, 288 -Keifār, village of, 288 -Kerak, 205-6 -Khabbāz, Hanna, 194 -Khālid Beg 'Aẓam, 227 -Kharāneh, ruins of, 54 -Khayyām, Omar, 23 -Khirāb esh Shems, 282, 283; church - at 285-86 -Khīrbet Hass, village of, 244-45 -Khittāb, 112, 119, 128 -Khuḍr, prisoner, 196 -Khureibet es Sūḳ, temple and mausoleum, 28-31 -Kiāzim Pasha, Vāli at Aleppo, 262-66 -Kiepert, maps, 168-71, 259, 260, 273 -Killāni family at Ḥamāh, 224, 227, 235 -Killāniyyeh Tekah, Ḥamāh, 224, 227 -Killiz, 261 -Knights Hospitallers, 205-6 -Knights Templars, 206, 211 -Konia, 171, 270 -Kreyeh, 78, 81 -Ḳṣeir, town of, 172-75 -Ksejba, village of, 297 -Ḳūbbeh in Mosque at Ḥamāh, 223 -Ḳubbet el Khazneh, the, 141, 147, 148 -Kuda'a, tribe of, 139 -Kuleib, 83 -Kulthūm, Ibn, song of, 139 -Ḳur'ān, reading of the, 233-34 -Kurds, 103, 273-74, 288, 291-96 -Kurumfuleh, the, 160-63 -Kuruntul, monastery of, 11 -Ḳuṣeir es Sahl, 28 -Kutaila, dirge of, 62 -Kuweēk River, the, 259 -Kweit, 48, 265 -Kymet, the Kurdish woman 4-35 - -LAHITEH, 132 -Laodocia ad Orontem, 176 -Larissa, town of, 235 -Lava, 121, 124, 126 -Lebanon, Mount, 163, 164, 176 -Lebīd, poetry of, 60, 61 -Lebweh, ruins at, 171 -Lejā road, the, 132 -Littinann, Dr., 75, 77, 123_n._ -Loculi, 329, 330 -Lütticke of Damascus, 134 -Lyall, Sir Charles, 63_n._ -Lysicrates, monument of, 297 - -MA'ALULA, monastery of, 209 -Ma'ān, 13, 14, 22, 239 -Mabūk, the Arab, 14 -Mādeba, 16, 22, 24, 26 -Maḥmūd, Ḥājj, the zaptieh, 231-46, - 250, 252, 259, 272, 339 -Malek ed Dāher, Sultan, 206 -Manuscripts, illuminated, 148 -Mār Eliās, church of, 182 -Mar Saba, monastery of, 15 -Marāh, teut marks, 127 -Marj ul 'Asi of the Orontes, 186 -Marlborough Club, the, 196 -Masyād, 217-19 -Maṭkh swamp, the, 259, 269 -Mazār of Sheikh Serāk, 123 -Mecca, 265 - Railway, 13, 171; pilgrims, 68; - 239; the Black Stone at, 96; - customs, 259 -Medā'in Ṣāleh, 239 -Medīna, 239, 259, 265 -Meḥes, 297, 302 -Meidan, the, Damascus, 133, 151 -Mersina, 262 -Mesopotamia, 135, 279 -Meskīn, 37 -Metawīleh sect, the, 160, 168, 171 -Mezērib, 111 -Mikhāil, the cook, 3, 4, 12, 14, 15, 19, - 21, 43, 73, 78, 82, 88, 92, 101, 112, - 116, 120, 128, 131, 160, 168, 172, - 175, 217-19, 243-46, 256, 270-72, - 297, 302, 306, 314, 317-19, 336-40 -Milḥēm, Emir Muṣṭafa, 219 -Moab, 10, 38 -Mohammadan invasion, seventh century, - 76, 77 -Morris, William, 254 -Mosaics, 260 -Mosul, 293 -Mounds, 26-28, 52, 54, 122, 219, 221, 223 -Moyemāt, village of, 259 -Mshitta, 24, 28, 34, 45, 47, 48, 126 -Mu'āwiyah, 134 -Mudīk, Ḳal'at el, 231, 238; ruins - of, 241-43 -Mughāra Merzeh, mud village, 256 -Muḥammad Effendi, Muftī, 229-30 - el Aṭrash, Sheikh, 69, 79 - muleteer, 3, 16, 43, 56, 82, 172 - Pasha, Sheikh of Jerūd, 152-57 - Sāid ul Khāni, Ḳāḍi, 189-94 - Bedouin, 120 - the Agha Khān, 196-97, 233 - uncle of Ibn er Rashīd, 14, 48 -Mujēmir, Sheikh, 51 -Mūsa, Kurdish guide, 279-82, 285, - 288, 291-97, 339 -Mushennef, Temple at, 111, 116 -Musil, 55_n._ -Mutanabbi, poetry of, 108, 208 -Muwaggar, _see_ El Muwaggar -Muwāli tribe, the, 212, 256 - -NABATŒAN necropolis, 75; inscriptions, 80 -Nahār, Sheikh, 37-39, 43 -Nahr el 'Awāj, the, 133 -Najēreh, ruins, 54 -Najīb, Ḥājj, zaptieh, 272-73, 285, - 297-98, 301, 302, 305, 306, 314, - 317-19 -Nakshibendi, Sheikh Ḥassan, 143, - 145, 155, 157 -Namrūd, Abu, guide, 19, 20, 26-41, - 44, 50-52, 56-57, 339 -Napoleon III., 146 -Nasīb el Aṭrash, Sheikh of Ṣalkhad, - 84-85, 93-99 -Naṣṣār, Muḥammad en, 81, 82, 96, - 102-106, 339 -Nāzim Pasha, Vāli of Syria, 135-39, - 141-45, 156-57, 268 -Nebi Mendu, Tell, 175-79 -Negroes, 38 -Nejd, 14, 47, 84, 139 -Nejha, village of, 133 -Noṣairis, the, 175, 190, 210-13, 233-35, 329 -Noṣairiyyeh, the Jebel, 176, 195, 198 - -OG, King, 84, 111 -Olives, Mount of, 7 -Omar, Amīr, 149, 159 -Omer, 111 -Oppenheim, book of, 102, 112, 125, 168 -Ormān, village of, 100, 154 -Orontes, the, 171, 172, 176, 186, 221, - 222, 232, 235, 242, 244, 310, 320, - 322, 326-28, 330 - -PALMYRA, 28, 111, 129, 176, 209 -Petra, 14 -Pieria, 241 -Poets of the Ignorance, 60-63, 208 -Princeton archaeological expedition, - 256 - -RĀ'IB Effendi el Ḥelu, 213 -Railways - Ḥājj, 22, 34; Ḥejāz, 136; Mecca, - 13, 171; Rayak-Ḥamāh, - 261; Baghdad, 261-62; the - French, 222 -Rājil, Wādi, 101 -Rāmeh, 111 -Rās Ba'albek, 171 -Ras ul 'Ain, Ba'albek, 185 -Rashīd, Ibn er, 14, 25, 44-48 -Rayak, 261-62 -Redīfs, the, 14, 16 -Rhodes, island of, 136 -Riāḍ, 14, 47 -Riza Beg el' Ābid, 211-13, 339 -Rolandino, monument in Bologna, 254 -Roman coins, 27, 219; camps, 34; - tanks, 35; roads, 74, 160, 218, - 219, 297; forts, 125 -Rōẓah, the, 233 -Ruḥbeh plain, the, 107-12, 123 -Russia, pilgrims, 7-9 -Ruwalla, the, 146, 175 -Ruweiḥā, the churches at, 253-55, - 277-78 - -SACHAU, M., 250 -Sacrifice, Feast of, 68-69 -Ṣafa, the, 96, 105, 107-128 -Safaitic inscriptions, 122 -Ṣāfiṭa Castle, 210, 211 -St. Peter, Cave of, 325 -St. Simon Stylites, church of, _see_ - Sim'ān, Kala 'at -St. Stephen's Gate, 4 -Ṣalaḥiyyeh, 136, 152, 155 -Salamis, Gulf of, 167 -Salcah, city of, _see_ Ṣalkhad -Ṣāleh, guide, 82-83 -Ṣāleh village, 101-6 -Salisbury, Lord, 105 -Saikhad, 60, 82-100 -Salkīn, town of, 310-14 -Sallūm, Syrian doctor, 230-31 -Salt, village of, 16, 18-19, 22-23 -Samaria, 266 -San Gimignano, 181 -Sanctuaries, 95-06 -Sandūk, the Sāhib es, at Ḳal'at el - Housn, 206 -Sāneh, village of, 107 -Sa'oud, Ibn, 14, 44-48 -Saphathenos, Zeus, 124 -Sarut, the River, 219 -Safīnet Nuh (Noah's Ark), 176 -Seijar, Kal' at es, 232, 235-38 -Seijari, Sheikh Aḥmed, 235-38 -Selemiyyeh, 195 -Seleucia, Bay of, 329-30 - Pieria, 327-36 - Nicator, temple and tomb of, - 241, 313, 322, 327, 330 -Selīm Beg, 141, 147, 148, 155-57 -Seljuk, 206, 230 -Selmān, 81 -Serāk, Sheikh, 123-24 -Serāya, the, Ḥomṣ, 182; Antioch, 322 -Serge, Archduke, 135 -Serjilla, town and ruins, 249, 250, 252 -Sermeda, plain of, 297, 302 -Sēs, Jebel, 126 -Shabha, village, 76 -Shabhīyyeh, village, 76 -Shahbah, 132 -Shakka, the Kaisarieh at, 131 -Shām, Wādi esh, 111 -Shāmmaṝ, the, 14, 25, 47, 48 -Sheikh Barakāt, Jebel, 280, 297 -Sheikhly, 111 -Shekīb el Arslān, 151-52 -Sherarāt tribe, the, 38-41, 96 -Shibbekeh, 111 -Shibly Beg el Aṭrash, 77, 309 -Shuraik, 125 -Sidr bushes, the, 11-12 -Siena Cathedral, 181 -Silk industry, 313-17, 330 -Silpius, Mount, 321, 324 -Sim'ān, Ḳal'at, 274-81; the villages, - 276-96 -Sīr, the Wādy, 23, 25 -Sirhān, the Wādy, 77, 84 -Sitt Ferīdeh, the, at Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, - 202, 206 -Slime Pits of Genesis, the, 12-13 -Smātiyyeh Arabs, the, 235-38 -Smyrna, 8, 99 -Soktan, Sheikh, 35 -Sommar, Mon. Luiz de, 164 -Spina Christi, legend, 11 -Stones, lettered, 122 -Suḳ Wādi Barada, 159, 161 -Ṣukhūr tribe, the, 14, 25, 31, 65, 88 -Sukkar, Yūsef Effendi, 19-21 -Surkanyā, village, 281-82 -Sweida, 82, 85, 92, 164 -Sweidiyyeh, the, 327, 328 -Sykes, Mr. Mark, 3, 4, 164, 218 -Syria, rule in, 140-41; condition of - the poor, 206-7; the term, 228 -Syriac inscriptions, 292 - -ṬĀHIR, the Amīr, 147 - ul Jezāiri, Sheikh, 147 -Tārafa, poetry of, 61 -Ṭarutīn, ruins at, 256 -Teifūr family at Ḥamāh, 224 -Tell esh Shīh, 78 -Tell Selma, 259 -Tellāl, Abu, of Shahba, 82 -Temples - Khureibet es Sūḳ, 28-31; Mushennef, - 111, 116; the Sun, - Ba'albek, 164, 168; the Lebweh, - 171; Jupiter, Ba'albek, - 172, 176, 214; Ḥuṣn el Suleimān, 213-17 -Theleleh, 49 -Thelelet el Hirsheh, 49 -Tigris, 242 -Ṭneib, mound of, 20, 26, 27, 32 -Tombs - Yadudeh, 26-28; Bizzos, 253-54; - Seleucia Nicator, 330 -Tripoli, 195, 197 - Gate, the, 195 -Tufa, 115-16, 181 -Tulūl, 259 - es Safa, the, 121 -Turkey, rule of, 14, 16, 22, 35, 44-48 - 85, 86, 139-41, 207, 267-68 -Turkmān Jāmi'a, the, Ḥomṣ, 182 -Turkshān, the, 81-83, 309 - -ULLAḤ Beha, Persian prophet, 148 -'Umar, Amīr, _see_ Omar - Mosque of, Jerusalem, 1 -Umm ej Jemēl, ruins, 70, 74 - er Resās, ruins, 54 - Rummān, village, 69-70, - 78-79 - Ruweik, village, 107, 111 -Ummayah, house of, 135 -Understanding, Sheikh of the Ghiāth, 120 -Uneif, Kureyt ibn, 99 -United States, emigration to the, 17-18, - 163, 211 -Urfa, on the Euphrates, 19 -Uthail, 62 - -VAN, lake, 4 -Victoria Hotel, Damascus, 133 -Vogüé, Monsieur de, 76, 125, 131, - 244, 250, 297 - -WAD el Ḥassan'yyeh, 18 -Waddington, M., 250 -Wall of Lamentation, Jerusalem, 17 -Wa'r Ḥomṣ, 197 -White Castle of the Knights Templars, 211 - -YADUDEH, tombs of, 26 -Yaḥfūfa, the, 160 -Yahya Beg el Atrāsh, 81, 309 -Yaḳit 'Ades, 272 -Yemen, 126, 229; the insurrection - in, 13, 82, 262; the soldier in, 240 -Yezīdis, beliefs of the, 279, 282, 293-94 -Yildiz, 268 -Yūnis, Sheikh of El Bārah, 250-53, - 255, 339 -Yūsef, zaptieh guide, 23, 26, 100, 103 - -ZA'BIEH, family of the, 207 -Ẓābit, the, at Safita Castle, 211-13 -Zādeh, Reshīd Agha Kakhya, 311-19 -Zāwiyyeh, Jebel, 244 _et seq._, 256, 276 -Zebdāny, 159 -Zerka River, the, 51, 56 - Kala'at ez, 74 -Ziza, Roman tank at, 35 -Zuhair, poetry of, 61 - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Syria, the Desert and the Sown, by -Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYRIA, THE DESERT AND THE SOWN *** - -***** This file should be named 63731-0.txt or 63731-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/7/3/63731/ - -Produced by Laura Natal Rodrigues at Free Literature (Images -generously made available by Hathi Trust.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Syria, the Desert and the Sown - -Author: Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell - -Illustrator: John Singer Sargent - -Release Date: November 12, 2020 [EBook #63731] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYRIA, THE DESERT AND THE SOWN *** - - - - -Produced by Laura Natal Rodrigues at Free Literature (Images -generously made available by Hathi Trust.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/syria_cover.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -</div> - -<h2>THE DESERT AND<br /> -THE SOWN</h2> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="frontispiece"></a> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">Bedouins of the Syrian Desert.<br /> -(JOHN SARGENT. R.A.)</p></div> - - -<h2>SYRIA<br /> -THE DESERT & THE SOWN</h2> - - -<h5>BY</h5> - - -<h3>GERTRUDE LOWTHIAN BELL</h3> - - -<h5><i>WITH FRONTISPIECE BY JOHN SARGENT, R. A.<br /> -ALSO MANY ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP</i></h5> - - -<h4>NEW YORK</h4> - -<h4>E.P. DUTTON AND COMPANY</h4> - -<h5>1907</h5> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="arabic"></a> -<img src="images/arabic.jpg" width="400" alt="400" /> -</div> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 10em;">He deems the Wild the sweetest of friends, and travels on</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 12em;">where travels above him the Mother of all the clustered stars</span></p> - -<p style="margin-left: 60%;">TA'ABATA SHARRAN</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<h4>To A. C. L.</h4> - -<h4>WHO KNOWS THE HEART<br /> -OF THE EAST</h4> - - -<p><br /></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<h4><a id="PREFACE">PREFACE</a></h4> - - -<p>Those who venture to add a new volume to the vast literature of travel, -unless they be men of learning or politicians, must be prepared with an -excuse. My excuse is ready, as specious and I hope as plausible as such -things should be. I desired to write not so much a book of travel as an -account of the people whom I met or who accompanied me on my way, and to -show what the world is like in which they live and how it appears to -them. And since it was better that they should, as far as possible, tell -their own tale, I have strung their words upon the thread of the road, -relating as I heard them the stories with which shepherd and man-at-arms -beguiled the hours of the march, the talk that passed from lip to lip -round the camp fire, in the black tent of the Arab and the guest-chamber -of the Druze, as well as the more cautious utterances of Turkish and -Syrian officials. Their statecraft consists of guesses, often shrewd -enough, at the results that may spring from the clash of unknown forces, -of which the strength and the aim are but dimly apprehended; their -wisdom is that of men whose channels of information and standards for -comparison are different from ours, and who bring a different set of -preconceptions to bear upon the problems laid before them. The Oriental -is like a very old child. He is unacquainted with many branches of -knowledge which we have come to regard as of elementary necessity; -frequently, but not always, his mind is little preoccupied with the need -of acquiring them, and he concerns himself scarcely at all with what we -call practical utility. He is not practical in our acceptation of the -word, any more than a child is practical, and his utility is not ours. -On the other hand, his action is guided by traditions of conduct and -morality that go back to the beginnings of civilisation, traditions -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span> -unmodified as yet by any important change in the manner of life to which -they apply and out of which they arose. These things apart, he is as we -are; human nature does not undergo a complete change east of Suez, nor -is it impossible to be on terms of friendship and sympathy with the -dwellers in those regions. In some respects it is even easier than in -Europe. You will find in the East habits of intercourse less fettered by -artificial chains, and a wider tolerance born of greater diversity. -Society is divided by caste and sect and tribe into an infinite number -of groups, each one of which is following a law of its own, and however -fantastic, to our thinking, that law may be, to the Oriental it is an -ample and a satisfactory explanation of all peculiarities. A man may go -about in public veiled up to the eyes, or clad if he please only in a -girdle: he will excite no remark. Why should he? Like every one else he -is merely obeying his own law. So too the European may pass up and down -the wildest places, encountering little curiosity and of criticism even -less. The news he brings will be heard with interest, his opinions will -be listened to with attention, but he will not be thought odd or mad, -nor even mistaken, because his practices and the ways of his thought are -at variance with those of the people among whom he finds himself. -"'Ādat-hu:" it is his custom. And for this reason he will be the wiser -if he does not seek to ingratiate himself with Orientals by trying to -ape their habits, unless he is so skilful that he can pass as one of -themselves. Let him treat the law of others respectfully, but he himself -will meet with a far greater respect if he adheres strictly to his own. -For a woman this rule is of the first importance, since a woman can -never disguise herself effectually. That she should be known to come of -a great and honoured stock, whose customs are inviolable, is her best -claim to consideration.</p> - -<p>None of the country through which I went is ground virgin to the -traveller, though parts of it have been visited but seldom, and -described only in works that are costly and often difficult to obtain. -Of such places I have given a brief account, and as many photographs as -seemed to be of value. I have also noted in the northern cities of Syria -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> -those vestiges of antiquity that catch the eye of a casual observer. -There is still much exploration to be done in Syria and on the edge of -the desert, and there are many difficult problems yet to be solved. The -work has been well begun by de Vogüé, Wetzstein, Brünnow, Sachau, -Dussaud, Puchstein and his colleagues, the members of the Princeton -Expedition and others. To their books I refer those who would learn how -immeasurably rich is the land in architectural monuments and in the -epigraphic records of a far-reaching history.</p> - -<p>My journey did not end at Alexandretta as this account ends. In Asia -Minor I was, however, concerned mainly with archæology; the results of -what work I did there have been published in a series of papers in the -"Revue Archéologique," where, through the kindness of the editor, -Monsieur Salomon Reinach, they have found a more suitable place than the -pages of such a book as this could have offered them.</p> - -<p>I do not know either the people or the language of Asia Minor well -enough to come into anything like a close touch with the country, but I -am prepared, even on a meagre acquaintance, to lay tokens of esteem at -the feet of the Turkish peasant. He is gifted with many virtues, with -the virtue of hospitality beyond all others.</p> - -<p>I have been at some pains to relate the actual political conditions of -unimportant persons. They do not appear so unimportant to one who is in -their midst, and for my part I have always been grateful to those who -have provided me with a clue to their relations with one another. But I -am not concerned to justify or condemn the government of the Turk. I -have lived long enough in Syria to realise that his rule is far from -being the ideal of administration, and seen enough of the turbulent -elements which he keeps more or less in order to know that his post is a -difficult one. I do not believe that any government would give universal -satisfaction; indeed, there are few which attain that desired end even -in more united countries. Being English, I am persuaded that we are the -people who could best have taken Syria in hand with the prospect of a -success greater than that which might be attained by a moderately -reasonable Sultan. We have long recognised that the task will not fall -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> -to us. We have unfortunately done more than this. Throughout the -dominions of Turkey we have allowed a very great reputation to weaken -and decline; reluctant to accept the responsibility of official -interference, we have yet permitted the irresponsible protests, -vehemently expressed, of a sentimentality that I make bold to qualify as -ignorant, and our dealings with the Turk have thus presented an air of -vacillation which he may be pardoned for considering perfidious and for -regarding with animosity. These feelings, combined with the deep-seated -dread of a great Asiatic Empire which is also mistress of Egypt and of -the sea, have, I think, led the Porte to seize the first opportunity for -open resistance to British demands, whether out of simple miscalculation -of the spirit that would be aroused, or with the hope of foreign -backing, it is immaterial to decide, The result is equally deplorable, -and if I have gauged the matter at all correctly, the root of it lies in -the disappearance of English influence at Constantinople. The position -of authority that we occupied has been taken by another, yet it is and -must be of far deeper importance to us than to any other that we should -be able to guide when necessary the tortuous politics of Yildiz Kiosk. -The greatest of all Mohammedan powers cannot afford to let her relations -with the Khalif of Islām be regulated with so little consistency or -firmness, and if the Sultan's obstinacy in the Tābah quarrel can prove -to us how far the reins have slipped from our hands, it will have served -its turn. Seated as we are upon the Mediterranean and having at our -command, as I believe, a considerable amount of goodwill within the -Turkish empire and the memories of an ancient friendship, it should not -be impossible to recapture the place we have lost.</p> - -<p>But these are matters outside the scope of the present book, and my -<i>apologia</i> had best end where every Oriental writer would have begun: -"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!"</p> - - -<p style="margin-left: 10%;">MOUNT GRACE PRIORY.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4>CONTENTS</h4> -<p><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a><br /> -<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a><br /> -<a href="#INDEX">INDEX</a><br /></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4>ILLUSTRATIONS</h4> - -<p><a href="#frontispiece">Bedouin of the Syrian Desert </a><br /> -<a href="#figure01">The Mosque of 'Umar, Jerusalem</a><br /> -<a href="#figure02">The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem</a><br /> -<a href="#figure03">A Street in Jerusalem</a><br /> -<a href="#figure04">St. Stephen's Gate, Jerusalem</a><br /> -<a href="#figure05">A Mahommedan Procession passing the Garden of Olives</a><br /> -<a href="#figure06">Russian Pilgrims</a><br /> -<a href="#figure07">Pilgrims receiving Baptism in Jordan</a><br /> -<a href="#figure08">Monastery of Kuruntul above Jericho</a><br /> -<a href="#figure09">Crossing the Ghōr</a><br /> -<a href="#figure10">The Bridge over Jordan</a><br /> -<a href="#figure11">The Monastery of Mar Saba, Wilderness of Judæ</a><br /> -<a href="#figure12">The Wall of Lamentation, Jerusalem</a><br /> -<a href="#figure13">Jews of Bokhara </a><br /> -<a href="#figure14">Abyssinian Priests</a><br /> -<a href="#figure15">An Arab of the 'Adwān Guarding Crops</a><br /> -<a href="#figure16">An Encampment near the Dead Sea</a><br /> -<a href="#figure17">The Theatre, 'Ammān</a><br /> -<a href="#figure18">A Gateway, 'Ammān</a><br /> -<a href="#figure19">The Temple, Khureibet es Sūḳ</a><br /> -<a href="#figure20">Mausoleum, Khureibet es Sūḳ</a><br /> -<a href="#figure21">Arabs of the Belḳa</a><br /> -<a href="#figure22">A Ruined Church, Mādeba</a><br /> -<a href="#figure23">The Ḳal'ah at Zīza</a><br /> -<a href="#figure24">A Christian Encampment</a><br /> -<a href="#figure25">Flocks of the Ṣukhūr</a><br /> -<a href="#figure26">A Roman Milestone</a><br /> -<a href="#figure27">Mshitta</a><br /> -<a href="#figure28">Mshitta, the Façade</a><br /> -<a href="#figure29">Mshitta, the Inner Halls</a><br /> -<a href="#figure30">Arabs of the Belḳa</a><br /> -<a href="#figure31">Fellāḥ ul 'Isa ad Da'ja</a><br /> -<a href="#figure32">A Capital at Muwaġġar</a><br /> -<a href="#figure33">A Capital at Muwaġġar</a><br /> -<a href="#figure34">A Capital at Muwaġġar</a><br /> -<a href="#figure35">Milking Sheep</a><br /> -<a href="#figure36">G̣ablān ibn Ḥamūd ad Da'ja</a><br /> -<a href="#figure37">On the Ḥājj Road</a><br /> -<a href="#figure38">Arabs Riding Mardūf</a><br /> -<a href="#figure39">A Travelling Encampment of the 'Ag̣ēl</a><br /> -<a href="#figure40">A Desert Well</a><br /> -<a href="#figure41">A Desert Water-course</a><br /> -<a href="#figure42">Camels of the Ḥaseneh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure43">Umm ej Jemāl</a><br /> -<a href="#figure44">Watering Camels</a><br /> -<a href="#figure45">Striking Camp</a><br /> -<a href="#figure46">Muḥammad el Aṭrash</a><br /> -<a href="#figure47">Desert Flora and Fauna</a><br /> -<a href="#figure48">The Castle, Ṣalkhad</a><br /> -<a href="#figure49">Nasīb el Aṭrash</a><br /> -<a href="#figure50">A Group of Druzes</a><br /> -<a href="#figure51">From Ṣalkhad Castle, looking South-East</a><br /> -<a href="#figure52">Ḳreyeh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure53">A Druze Ploughboy</a><br /> -<a href="#figure54">Boṣrā Eski Shām</a><br /> -<a href="#figure55">The Village Gateway, Ḥabrān</a><br /> -<a href="#figure56">A Druze Maḳ'ad, Ḥabrān</a><br /> -<a href="#figure57">Lintel, el Khurbeh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure58">The Walls of Ḳanawāt</a><br /> -<a href="#figure59">Ḳanawāt, The Basilica</a><br /> -<a href="#figure60">Ḳanawāt, Doorway of the Basilica</a><br /> -<a href="#figure61">Ḳanawāt A Temple</a><br /> -<a href="#figure62">The Temple, Mashennef</a><br /> -<a href="#figure63">Ḳal'at el Beiḍa</a><br /> -<a href="#figure64">Ḳal'at el Beiḍa</a><br /> -<a href="#figure65">Ḳal'at el Beiḍa, Door of Keep</a><br /> -<a href="#figure66">Mouldings from Ḳal'at el Beiḍa and from Palmyra</a><br /> -<a href="#figure67">A Gateway, Shakka</a><br /> -<a href="#figure68">The Sheikh's House, Ḥayāt</a><br /> -<a href="#figure69">In the Palmyrene Desert</a><br /> -<a href="#figure70">The Great Mosque and the Roofs of the Bazaar from the Fort</a><br /> -<a href="#figure71">A Corn Market </a><br /> -<a href="#figure72">The Ḳubbet el Khazneh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure73">The Tekyah of Nakshibendi </a><br /> -<a href="#figure74">Gate of the Tekyah</a><br /> -<a href="#figure75">Mushḳin Kalam</a><br /> -<a href="#figure76">Sweetmeat Sellers</a><br /> -<a href="#figure77">Court of the Great Mosque</a><br /> -<a href="#figure78">Threshing-floor of Karyatein</a><br /> -<a href="#figure79">The Tekyali of Nakshibendi</a><br /> -<a href="#figure80">Outside Damascus Gates</a><br /> -<a href="#figure81">A Water seller</a><br /> -<a href="#figure82">Suḳ Wādi Barada</a><br /> -<a href="#figure83">Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure84">The Great Court, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure85">Columns of the Temple of the Sun, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure86">Temple of Jupiter, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure87">Capitals in the Temple of Jupiter, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure88">Fountain in the Great Court, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure89">Fragment of Entablature, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure90">Basilica of Constantine, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure91">A Stone in the Quarry, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure92">Rās ul 'Ain, Ba'albek</a><br /> -<a href="#figure93">Cedars of Lebanon </a><br /> -<a href="#figure94">The Ḳāmu'a Hurmul</a><br /> -<a href="#figure95">An Eastern Holiday</a><br /> -<a href="#figure96">A Street in Ḥomṣ </a><br /> -<a href="#figure97">Coffee by the Road-side</a><br /> -<a href="#figure98">Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn</a><br /> -<a href="#figure99">Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, Interior of the Castle</a><br /> -<a href="#figure100">Windows of the Banquet Hall</a><br /> -<a href="#figure101">Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, Walls of the Inner Enceinte</a><br /> -<a href="#figure102">Fellaḥīn Arabs</a><br /> -<a href="#figure103">The Temple at Ḥuṣn es Suleimān</a><br /> -<a href="#figure104">North Gate, Ḥuṣn es Suleimān</a><br /> -<a href="#figure105">City Gate, Masyād</a><br /> -<a href="#figure106">Capital at Masyād</a><br /> -<a href="#figure107">Capital at Masyād</a><br /> -<a href="#figure108">A Na'oura, Ḥamāh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure109">The Ḳubbeh in the Mosque at Ḥamāh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure110">The Tekyah Killāniyyeh, Ḥamāh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure111">Capital in the Mosque, Ḥamāh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure112">A Capital, Ḥamāh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure113">Ḳal'at es Seijar</a><br /> -<a href="#figure114">Ḳal'at es Seijar, The Cutting through the Ridge</a><br /> -<a href="#figure115">A Capital, Ḥamāh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure116">A House at el Bārah</a><br /> -<a href="#figure117">Moulding at el Bārah and Lintel at Khirbet Hāss</a><br /> -<a href="#figure118">Tomb, Serjilla</a><br /> -<a href="#figure119">Sheikh Yūnis</a><br /> -<a href="#figure120">House at Serjilla</a><br /> -<a href="#figure121">Tomb of Bizzos</a><br /> -<a href="#figure122">Church and Tomb, Ruweiḥā</a><br /> -<a href="#figure123">Ḳaṣr el Ḃanāt</a><br /> -<a href="#figure124">Tomb Dāna</a><br /> -<a href="#figure125">A Beehive Village</a><br /> -<a href="#figure126">The Castle, Aleppo</a><br /> -<a href="#figure127">A Water-carrier</a><br /> -<a href="#figure128">Ḳal'at Sim'ān</a><br /> -<a href="#figure129">Ḳal'at Sim'ān</a><br /> -<a href="#figure130">Ḳal'at Sim'ān West Door</a><br /> -<a href="#figure131">Ḳal'at Sim'ān Circular Court</a><br /> -<a href="#figure132">Ḳal'at Sim'ān Circular Court</a><br /> -<a href="#figure133">Ḳal'at Sim'ān The Apse</a><br /> -<a href="#figure134">Ḳal'at Sim'ān West Door</a><br /> -<a href="#figure135">A Funeral Monument, Ḳāṭurā</a><br /> -<a href="#figure136">Khirāb esh Shems</a><br /> -<a href="#figure137">Khirāb esh Shems Carving in a Tomb</a><br /> -<a href="#figure138">Capital, Upper Church at Kalōteh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure139">Barād, Canopy Tomb</a><br /> -<a href="#figure140">Barād, Tower to the West of the Town</a><br /> -<a href="#figure141">Mūsa and his Family </a><br /> -<a href="#figure142">Bāsufān, a Kurdish Girl </a><br /> -<a href="#figure143">Tomb at Dānā</a><br /> -<a href="#figure144">The Bāb el Hawa</a><br /> -<a href="#figure145">The Temple Gate, Bāḳirḥa</a><br /> -<a href="#figure146">Ḳalb Lōzeh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure147">The Apse, Ḳalb Lōzeh</a><br /> -<a href="#figure148">Ḥārim</a><br /> -<a href="#figure149">Salḳīn</a><br /> -<a href="#figure150">Travellers</a><br /> -<a href="#figure151">Antioch</a><br /> -<a href="#figure152">Antioch</a><br /> -<a href="#figure153">On the Bank of the Orontes, Antioch</a><br /> -<a href="#figure154">The Corn Market, Antioch</a><br /> -<a href="#figure155">Roman Lamp in Rifa't Agha's Collection</a><br /> -<a href="#figure156">Head of a Sphinx, Antioch</a><br /> -<a href="#figure157">Daphne</a><br /> -<a href="#figure158">The Garīz</a><br /> -<a href="#figure159">The Statue in the Mulberry-Garden</a><br /> -<a href="#figure160">Lower Course of the Garīz</a><br /> -<a href="#figure161">Sarcophagus in the Seraya, Antioch</a></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure01"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure01.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE MOSQUE OF 'UMAR, JERUSALEM</p></div> - - - - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></h4> - - -<p>To those bred under an elaborate social order few such moments of -exhilaration can come as that which stands at the threshold of wild -travel. The gates of the enclosed garden are thrown open, the chain at -the entrance of the sanctuary is lowered, with a wary glance to right -and left you step forth, and, behold! the immeasurable world. The world -of adventure and of enterprise, dark with hurrying storms, glittering in -raw sunlight, an unanswered question and an unanswerable doubt hidden in -the fold of every hill. Into it you must go alone, separated from the -troops of friends that walk the rose alleys, stripped of the purple and -fine linen that impede the fighting arm, roofless, defenceless, without -possessions. The voice of the wind shall be heard instead of the -persuasive voices of counsellors, the touch of the rain and the prick of -the frost shall be spurs sharper than praise or blame, and necessity -shall speak with an authority unknown to that borrowed wisdom which men -obey or discard at will. So you leave the sheltered close, and, like the -man in the fairy story, you feel the bands break that were riveted about -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span> -your heart as you enter the path that stretches across the rounded -shoulder of the earth.</p> - -<p>It was a stormy morning, the 5th of February. The west wind swept up -from the Mediterranean, hurried across the plain where the Canaanites -waged war with the stubborn hill dwellers of Judæa, and leapt the -barrier of mountains to which the kings of Assyria and of Egypt had laid -vain siege. It shouted the news of rain to Jerusalem and raced onwards -down the barren eastern slopes, cleared the deep bed of Jordan with a -bound, and vanished across the hills of Moab into the desert. And all -the hounds of the storm followed behind, a yelping pack, coursing -eastward and rejoicing as they went.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure02"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure02.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM</p></div> - -<p>No one with life in his body could stay in on such a day, but for me -there was little question of choice. In the grey winter dawn the mules -had gone forward carrying all my worldly goods—two tents, a canteen, -and a month's provision of such slender luxuries as the austerest -traveller can ill spare, two small mule trunks, filled mainly with -photographic materials, a few books and a goodly sheaf of maps. The -mules and the three muleteers I had brought with me from Beyrout, and -liked well enough to take on into the further journey. The men were all -from the Lebanon. A father and son, Christians both, came from a village -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2 ]</a></span> -above Beyrout: the father an old and toothless individual who mumbled, -as he rode astride the mule trunks, blessings and pious ejaculations -mingled with protestations of devotion to his most clement employer, but -saw no need to make other contribution to the welfare of the -party— Ibrahīm was the name of this ancient; the son, Ḥabīb, a young -man of twenty-two or twenty-three, dark, upright and broad-shouldered, -with a profile that a Greek might have envied and a bold glance under -black brows. The third was a Druze, a big shambling man, incurably lazy, -a rogue in his modest way, though he could always disarm my just -indignation in the matter of stolen sugar or missing piastres with an -appealing, lustrous eye that looked forth unblinking like the eye of a -dog. He was greedy and rather stupid, defects that must be difficult to -avoid on a diet of dry bread, rice and rancid butter; but when I took -him into the midst of his blood enemies he slouched about his work and -tramped after his mule and his donkey with the same air of passive -detachment that he showed in the streets of Beyrout. His name was -Muḥammad. The last member of the caravan was the cook. Mikhāil, a -native of Jerusalem and a Christian whose religion did not sit heavy on -his soul. He had travelled with Mr. Mark Sykes, and received from him -the following character: "He doesn't know much about cooking, unless he -has learnt since he was with me, but he never seems to care twopence -whether he lives or whether he is killed." When I repeated these words -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> -to Mikhāil he relapsed into fits of suppressed laughter, and I engaged -him on the spot. It was an insufficient reason, and as good as many -another. He served me well according to his lights; but he was a touchy, -fiery little man, always ready to meet a possible offence half way, with -an imagination to the limits of which I never attained during three -months' acquaintance, and unfortunately he had learned other things -besides cooking during the years that had elapsed since he and Mr. Sykes -had been shipwrecked together on Lake Van. It was typical of him that he -never troubled to tell me the story of that adventure, though once when -I alluded to it he nodded his head and remarked: "We were as near death -as a beggar to poverty, but your Excellency knows a man can die but -once," whereas he bombarded my ears with tales of tourists who had -declared they could not and would not travel in Syria unsustained by his -culinary arts. The 'arak bottle was his fatal drawback; and after trying -all prophylactic methods, from blandishment to the hunting-crop, I -parted with him abruptly on the Cilician coast, not without regrets -other than a natural longing for his tough ragôuts and cold pancakes.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> -<a id="figure03"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure03.jpg" width="250" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A STREET IN JERUSALEM</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> -<a id="figure04"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure04.jpg" width="250" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ST. STEPHEN'S GATE, JERUSALEM</p></div> - -<p>I had a great desire to ride alone down the desolate road to Jericho, as -I had done before when my face was turned towards the desert, but -Mikhāil was of opinion that it would be inconsistent with my dignity, -and I knew that even his chattering companionship could not rob that -road of solitude. At nine we were in the saddle, riding soberly round -the walls of Jerusalem, down into the valley of Gethsemane, past the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> -garden of the Agony and up on to the Mount of Olives. Here I paused to -recapture the impression, which no familiarity can blunt, of the walled -city on the hill, grey in a grey and stony landscape under the heavy -sky, but illumined by the hope and the unquenchable longing of -generations of pilgrims. Human aspiration, the blind reaching out of the -fettered spirit towards a goal where all desire shall be satisfied and -the soul find peace, these things surround the city like a halo, half -glorious, half pitiful, shining with tears and blurred by many a -disillusion. The west wind turned my horse and set him galloping over -the brow of the hill and down the road that winds through the Wilderness -of Judæa.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure05"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure05.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A MAHOMMADAN PROCESSION PASSING THE GARDEN OF OLIVES</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure06"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure06.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">RUSSIAN PILGRIMS</p></div> - -<p>At the foot of the first descent there is a spring, 'Ain esh Shems, the -Arabs call it, the Fountain of the Sun, but the Christian pilgrims have -named it the Apostles' Well. In the winter you will seldom pass there -without seeing some Russian peasants resting on their laborious way up -from Jordan. Ten thousand of them pour yearly into the Holy Land, old -men and women, for the most part, who have pinched and saved all their -life long to lay together the £30 or so which will carry them to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -Jerusalem. From the furthest ends of the Russian empire they come on -foot to the Black Sea, where they take ship as deck passengers on board -a dirty little Russian boat. I have travelled with 300 of them from -Smyrna to Jaffa, myself the only passenger lodged in a cabin. It was -mid-winter, stormy and cold for those who sleep on deck, even if they be -clothed in sheepskin coats and wadded top-boots. My shipmates had -brought their own provisions with them for economy's sake—a hunch of -bread, a few olives, a raw onion, of such was their daily meal. Morning -and evening they gathered in prayer before an icon hanging on the cook's -galley, and the sound of their litanies went to Heaven mingled with the -throb of the screw and the splash of the spray. The pilgrims reach -Jerusalem before Christmas and stay till after Easter that they may -light their tapers at the sacred fire that breaks out from the Sepulchre -on the morning of the Resurrection. They wander on foot through all the -holy places, lodging in big hostels built for them by the Russian -Government. Many die from exposure and fatigue and the unaccustomed -climate; but to die in Palestine is the best of favours that the Divine -hand can bestow, for their bones rest softly in the Promised Land and -their souls fly straight to Paradise. You will meet these most -unsophisticated travellers on every high road, trudging patiently under -the hot sun or through the winter rains, clothed always in the furs of -their own country, and bearing in their hands a staff cut from the reed -beds of Jordan. They add a sharp note of pathos to a landscape that -touches so many of the themes of mournful poetry. I heard in Jerusalem a -story which is a better illustration of their temper than pages of -description. It was of a man who had been a housebreaker and had been -caught in the act and sent to Siberia, where he did many years of penal -servitude. But when his time was up he came home to his old mother with -a changed heart, and they two set out together for the Holy Land that he -might make expiation for his sins. Now at the season when the pilgrims -are in Jerusalem, the riff-raff of Syria congregates there to cheat -their simplicity and pester them for alms, and one of these vagabonds -came and begged of the Russian penitent at a time when he had nothing to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -give. The Syrian, enraged at his refusal, struck the other to the earth -and injured him so severely that he was in hospital for three months.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure07"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure07.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">PILGRIMS RECEIVING BAPTISM IN JORDAN</p></div> - -<p>When he recovered his consul came to him and said, "We have got the man -who nearly killed you; before you leave you must give evidence against -him." But the pilgrim answered, "No, let him go. I too am a criminal." -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> - -<p>Beyond the fountain the road was empty, and though I knew it well I was -struck again by the incredible desolation of it. No life, no flowers, -the bare stalks of last year's thistles, the bare hills and the stony -road. And yet the Wilderness of Judæa has been nurse to the fiery -spirit of man. Out of it strode grim prophets, menacing with doom a -world of which they had neither part nor understanding; the valleys are -full of the caves that held them, nay, some are peopled to this day by a -race of starved and gaunt ascetics, clinging to a tradition of piety -that common sense has found it hard to discredit. Before noon we reached -the khān half way to Jericho, the place where legend has it that the -Good Samaritan met the man fallen by the roadside, and I went in to -lunch beyond reach of the boisterous wind. Three Germans of the -commercial traveller class were writing on picture-postcards in the room -of the inn, and bargaining with the khānji for imitation Bedouin knives. -I sat and listened to their vulgar futile talk—it was the last -I was to hear of European tongues for several weeks, but I found no -cause to regret the civilisation I was leaving. The road dips east of -the khān, and crosses a dry water-course which has been the scene of -many tragedies. Under the banks the Bedouin used to lie in wait to rob -and murder the pilgrims as they passed. Fifteen years ago the Jericho -road was as lawless a track as is the country now that lies beyond -Jordan: security has travelled a few miles eastward during the past -decade. At length we came to the top of the last hill and saw the Jordan -valley and the Dead Sea, backed by the misty steeps of Moab, the -frontier of the desert. Jericho lay at our feet, an unromantic village -of ramshackle hotels and huts wherein live the only Arabs the tourist -ever comes to know, a base-born stock, half bred with negro slaves. I -left my horse with the muleteers whom we had caught up on the -slope—"Please God you prosper!" "Praise be to God! If your Excellency -is well we are content"—and ran down the hill into the village. But -Jericho was not enough for that first splendid day of the road. I -desired eagerly to leave the tourists behind, and the hotels and the -picture-postcards. Two hours more and we should reach Jordan bank, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -at the head of the wooden bridge that leads from Occident to Orient we -might camp in a sheltered place under mud hillocks and among thickets of -reed and tamarisk. A halt to buy corn for the horses and the mules and -we were off again across the narrow belt of cultivated land that lies -round Jericho, and out on to the Ghōr, the Jordan valley.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure08"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure08.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MONASTERY OF KURUNTUL ABOVE JERICHO</p></div> - -<p>The Jericho road is bare enough, but the valley of Jordan has an aspect -of inhumanity that is almost evil. If the prophets of the Old Testament -had fulminated their anathemas against it as they did against Babylon or -Tyre, no better proof of their prescience would exist; but they were -silent, and the imagination must travel back to flaming visions of -Gomorrah and of Sodom, dim legends of iniquity that haunted our own -childhood as they haunted the childhood of the Semitic races. A heavy -stifling atmosphere weighed upon this lowest level of the earth's -surface; the wind was racing across the hill tops above us in the -regions where men breathed the natural air, but the valley was stagnant -and lifeless like a deep sea bottom. We brushed through low thickets of -prickly sidr trees, the Spina Christi of which the branches are said to -have been twisted into the Crown of Thorns. They are of two kinds these -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> -sidr bushes, the Arabs call them zaḳūm and dōm. From the zaḳūm -they extract a medicinal oil, the dōm bears a small fruit like a crab -apple that ripens to a reddish brown not uninviting in appearance. It is -a very Dead Sea Fruit, pleasant to look upon and leaving on the lips a -taste of sandy bitterness. The sidrs dwindled and vanished, and before -us lay a sheet of hard mud on which no green thing grows. It is of a -yellow colour, blotched with a venomous grey white salt: almost -unconsciously the eye appreciates its enmity to life. As we rode here a -swirl of heavy rain swooped down upon us from the upper world. The -muleteers looked grave, and even Mikhāil's face began to lengthen, for -in front of us were the Slime Pits of Genesis, and no horse or mule can -pass over them except they be dry. The rain lasted a very few minutes, -but it was enough. The hard mud of the plain had assumed the consistency -of butter, the horses' feet were shod in it up to the fetlocks, and my -dog Kurt whined as he dragged his paws out of the yellow glue. So we -came to the Slime Pits, the strangest feature of all that uncanny land. A -quarter of a mile to the west of Jordan—the belt is much narrower to -the east of the stream—the smooth plain resolves itself suddenly into -a series of steep mud banks intersected by narrow gullies. The banks are -not high, thirty or forty feet at the most, but the crests of them are -so sharp and the sides so precipitous that the traveller must find his -way across and round them with the utmost care. The shower had made -these slopes as slippery as glass, even on foot it was almost impossible -to keep upright. My horse fell as I was leading him; fortunately it was -on a little ridge between mound and mound, and by the most astonishing -gymnastics he managed to recover himself. I breathed a short -thanksgiving when I saw my caravan emerge from the Slime Pits: we might, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> -if the rain had lasted, have been imprisoned there for several hours, -since if a horseman falls to the bottom of one of the sticky hollows he -must wait there till it dries.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a id="figure09"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure09.jpg" width="300" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CROSSING THE GHŌR</p></div> - -<p>Along the river bank there was life. The ground was carpeted with young -grass and yellow daisies, the rusty liveries of the tamarisk bushes -showed some faint signs of Spring. I cantered on to the great bridge -with its trellised sides and roof of beams—the most inspiring -piece of architecture in the world, since it is the Gate of the Desert. -There was the open place as I remembered it, covered with short turf, -sheltered by the high mud banks, and, Heaven be praised! empty. We had had -cause for anxiety on this head. The Turkish Government was at that time -sending all the troops that could be levied to quell the insurrection in -Yemen. The regiments of southern Syria were marched down to the bridge, and -so on to 'Ammān, where they were entrained and sent along the Mecca -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> -railway to what was then the terminus, Ma'ān near Petra. From Mā'an -they had a horrible march across a sandy waste to the head of the Gulf -of 'Aḳabah. Many hundreds of men and many thousands of camels perished -before they reached the gulf, for the wells upon that road are three -only (so said the Arabs), and one lies about two miles off the track, -undiscoverable to those who are not familiar with the country.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure10"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure10.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE BRIDGE OVER JORDAN</p></div> - -<p>We pitched tents, picketed the horses, and lighted a huge bonfire of -tamarisk and willow. The night was grey and still; there was rain on the -hills, but none with us—a few inches represents the annual fall in -the valley of Jordan. We were not quite alone. The Turkish Government -levies a small toll on all who pass backwards and forwards across the -bridge, and keeps an agent there for that purpose. He lives in a wattle hut -by the gate of the bridge, and one or two ragged Arabs of the Ghōr share -his solitude. Among these was a grey-haired negro, who gathered wood for -our fire, and on the strength of his services spent the night with us. -He was a cheery soul, was Mabūḳ. He danced with pleasure, round the -camp fire, untroubled by the consideration that he was one of the most -preposterously misshapen of human beings. He told us tales of the -soldiery, how they came down in rags, their boots dropping from their -feet though it was but the first day's march, half starved too, poor -wretches. A Ṭābūr (900 men) had passed through that morning, another -was expected to-morrow—we had just missed them. "Māsha-'llah!" said -Mikhāil, "your Excellency is fortunate. First you escape from the mud -hills and then from the Redīfs." "Praise be to God!" murmured Mabūḳ, -and from that day my star was recognised as a lucky one. From Mabūḳ -we heard the first gossip of the desert. His talk was for ever of Ibn er -Rashīd, the young chief of the Shammār, whose powerful uncle -Muḥammad left him so uneasy a legacy of dominion in central Arabia. -For two years I had heard no news of Nejd—what of Ibn Sā'oud, the -ruler of Riāḍ and Ibn er Rashīd's rival? How went the war between -them? Mabūḳ had heard many rumours; men did say that Ibn er Rashīd -was in great straits, perhaps the Redīfs were bound for Nejd and not -for Yemen, who knew? and had we heard that a sheikh of the Ṣukhūr had -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> -been murdered by the 'Ajārmeh, and as soon as the tribe came back from -the eastern pasturages. . . . So the tale ran on through the familiar -stages of blood feud and camel lifting, the gossip of the desert—I -could have wept for joy at listening to it again. There was a Babel of -Arabic tongues round my camp fire that evening, for Mikhāil spoke the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> -vulgar cockney of Jerusalem, a language bereft of dignity, and Ḥabīb -a dialect of the Lebanon at immense speed, and Muḥammad had the -Beyrouti drawl with its slow expressionless swing, while from the -negro's lips fell something approaching to the virile and splendid -speech of the Bedouin. The men themselves were struck by the variations -of accent, and once they turned to me and asked which was right. I could -only reply, "God knows! for He is omniscient," and the answer received a -laughing acceptance, though I confess I proffered it with some -misgiving.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure11"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure11.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE MONASTERY OF MAR SABA, WILDERNESS OF JUDÆA</p></div> - -<p>The dawn broke windless and grey. An hour and a half from the moment I -was awakened till the mules were ready to start was the appointed rule, -but sometimes we were off ten minutes earlier, and sometimes, alas! -later. I spent the time in conversing with the guardian of the bridge, a -native of Jerusalem. To my sympathetic ears did he confide his sorrows, -the mean tricks that the Ottoman government was accustomed to play on -him, and the hideous burden of existence during the summer heats. And -then the remuneration! a mere nothing! His gains were larger, however, -than he thought fit to name, for I subsequently discovered that he had -charged me three piastres instead of two for each of my seven animals. -It is easy to be on excellent terms with Orientals, and if their -friendship has a price it is usually a small one. We crossed the Rubicon -at three piastres a head and took the northern road which leads to Salt. -The middle road goes to Ḥeshbān, where lives the great Sheikh of all -the Arabs of the Belḳa, Sulṭān ibn 'Ali iḍ Ḍiāb ul 'Adwān, a -proper rogue, and the southern to Mādeba in Moab. The eastern side of -the Ghōr is much more fertile than the western. Enough water flows from -the beautiful hills of Ajlūn to turn the plain into a garden, but the -supply is not stored, and the Arabs of the 'Adwān tribes content -themselves with the sowing of a little corn. The time of flowers was not -yet. At the end of March the eastern Ghōr is a carpet of varied and -lovely bloom, which lasts but a month in the fierce heat of the valley, -indeed a month sees the plants through bud and bloom and ripened seed. A -ragged Arab showed us the path. He had gone down to join the Redīfs, -having been bought as a substitute at the price of fifty napoleons by a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -well-to-do inhabitant of Salt. When he reached the bridge he found he -was too late, his regiment having passed through two days before. He was -sorry, he would have liked to march forth to the war (moreover, I -imagine the fifty liras would have to be refunded), but his daughter -would be glad, for she had wept to see him go. He stopped to extricate -one of his leather slippers from the mud.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure12"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure12.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE WALL OF LAMENTATION, JERUSALEM</p></div> - - -<p>"Next year," quoth he, catching me up again, "please God I shall -go to America."</p> - -<p>I stared in amazement at the half-naked figure, the shoes dropping from -the bare feet, the torn cloak slipping from the shoulders, the desert -head-dress of kerchief and camel's hair rope.</p> - -<p>"Can you speak any English?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"No," he replied calmly, "but I shall have saved the price of the -journey, and, by God! here there is no advancement."</p> - -<p>I inquired what he would do when he reached the States.</p> - -<p>"Buy and sell," he replied; "and when I have saved 200 liras I shall -return."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure13"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure13.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">JEWS OF BOKHARA</p></div> - -<p>The same story can be heard all over Syria. Hundreds go out every year, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> -finding wherever they land some of their compatriots to give them a -helping hand. They hawk the streets with cheap wares, sleep under -bridges, live on fare that no freeborn citizen would look at, and when -they have saved 200 liras, more or less, they return, rich men in the -estimation of their village. East of Jordan the exodus is not so great, -yet once in the mountains of the Haurān I stopped to ask my way of a -Druze, and he answered me in the purest Yankee. I drew rein while he -told me his tale, and at the end of it I asked him if he were going -back. He looked round at the stone hovels of the village, knee deep in -mud and melting snow: "You bet!" he replied, and as I turned away he -threw a cheerful "So long!" after me.</p> - -<p>When we had ridden two hours we entered the hills by a winding valley -which my friend called Wād el Ḥassanīyyeh, after the tribe of that -name. It was full of anemones and white broom (rattam the Arabs call -it), cyclamen, starch hyacinths, and wild almond trees. For plants -without a use, however lovely they may be, there is no name in Arabic; -they are all hashīsh, grass; whereas the smallest vegetable that can be of -service is known and distinguished in their speech. The path—it was -a mere bridle track—rose gradually. Just before we entered the mist -that covered the top of the hill we saw the Dead Sea below us to the -south, lying under the grey sky like a great sheet of clouded glass. We -reached Salt at four o'clock in real mountain weather, a wet and driving -mist. Moreover, the ground near the village was a swamp, owing to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> -rain that, passing over us the night before, had fallen here. I -hesitated to camp unless I could find no drier lodging. The first thing -was to seek out the house of Ḥabīb Effendi Fāris, whom I had come to -Salt to see, though I did not know him. My claim upon him (for I relied -entirely upon his help for the prosecution of my journey) was in this -wise: he was married to the daughter of a native preacher in Haifa, a -worthy old man and a close friend of mine. Urfa on the Euphrates was the -<i>Stammplatz</i> of the family, but Abu Namrūd had lived long at Salt and -he knew the desert. The greater part of the hours during which he was -supposed to teach me grammar were spent in listening to tales of the -Arabs and of his son, Namrūd, who worked with Ḥabīb Fāris, and -whose name was known to every Arab of the Belḳa.</p> - -<p>"If ever you wish to enter there," said Abu Namrūd, "go to Namrūd." -And to Namrūd accordingly I had come.</p> - -<p>A very short inquiry revealed the dwelling of Ḥabīb Fāris. I was -received warmly, Ḥabīb was out, Namrūd away (was my luck forsaking -me?), but would I not come in and rest? The house was small and the -children many: while I debated whether the soaked ground outside would -not prove a better bed, there appeared a magnificent old man in full -Arab dress, who took my horse by the bridle, declared that he and no -other should lodge me, and so led me away. I left my horse at the khān, -climbed a long and muddy stair, and entered a stone paved courtyard. -Yūsef Effendi hurried forward and threw open the door of his -guest-chamber. The floor and the divan were covered with thick carpets, -the windows glazed (though many of the panes were broken), a European -cheffonier stood against the wall: this was more than good enough. In a -moment I was established, drinking Yūsef's coffee, and eating my own -cake.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure14"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure14.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ABYSSINIAN PRIESTS</p></div> - -<p>Yūsef Effendi Sukkar (upon him be peace!) is a Christian and one of the -richest of the inhabitants of Salt. He is a laconic man, but as a host -he has not his equal. He prepared me an excellent supper, and when I had -eaten, the remains were set before Mikhāil. Having satisfied my -physical needs he could not or would not do anything to allay my mental -anxieties as to the further course. Fortunately at this moment Ḥabīb -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> -Fāris arrived, and his sister-in-law, Paulina, an old acquaintance, and -several other worthies, all hastening to "honour themselves" at the -prospect of an evening's talk. ("God forbid! the honour is mine!") We -settled down to coffee, the bitter black coffee of the Arabs, which is -better than any nectar. The cup is handed with a "Deign to accept," you -pass it back empty, murmuring "May you live!" As you sip some one -ejaculates, "A double health," and you reply, "Upon your heart!" When -the cups had gone round once or twice and all necessary phrases of -politeness had been exchanged I entered upon the business of the -evening. How was I to reach the Druze mountains? the Government would -probably refuse me permission, at 'Ammān there was a military post on -the entrance of the desert road; at Boṣrā they knew me, I had slipped -through their fingers five years before, a trick that would be difficult -to play a second time from the same place. Ḥabīb Fāris considered, -and finally we hammered out a plan between us. He would send me -to-morrow to Ṭneib, his corn land on the edge of the desert; there I -should find Namrūd who would despatch word to one of the big tribes, -and with an escort from them I could ride up in safety to the hills. -Yūsef's two small sons sat listening open-eyed, and at the end of the -talk one of them brought me a scrap of an advertisement with the map of -America upon it. Thereat I showed them my maps, and told them how big -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> -the world was and how fine a place, till at ten the party broke up and -Yūsef began spreading quilts for my bed. Then and not till then did I -see my hostess. She was a woman of exceptional beauty, tall and pale, -her face a full oval, her great eyes like stars. She wore Arab dress, a -narrow dark blue robe that caught round her bare ankles as she walked, a -dark blue cotton veil bound about her forehead with a red handkerchief -and falling down her back almost to the ground. Her chin and neck were -tattooed in delicate patterns with indigo, after the manner of the -Bedouin women. She brought me water, which she poured over my hands, -moved about the room silently, a dark and stately figure, and having -finished her ministrations she disappeared as silently as she had come, -and I saw her no more. "She came in and saluted me," said the poet, he -who lay in durance at Mecca, "then she rose and took her leave, and when -she departed my soul went out after her." No one sees Yūsef's wife. -Christian though he be, he keeps her more strictly cloistered than any -Moslem woman; and perhaps after all he is right.</p> - -<p>The rain beat against the windows, and I lay down on the quilts with -Mikhāil's exclamation in my ears: "Māsha-'llah! your Excellency is -fortunate." -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></h4> - - -<p>The village of Salt is a prosperous community of over 10,000 souls, the -half of them Christian. It lies in a rich country famous for grapes and -apricots, its gardens are mentioned with praise as far back as the -fourteenth century by the Arab geographer Abu'l Fīda. There is a ruined -castle, of what date I know not, on the hill above the clustered house -roofs. The tradition among the inhabitants is that the town is very -ancient; indeed, the Christians declare that in Salt was one of the -first of the congregations of their faith, and there is even a legend -that Christ was His own evangelist here. Although the apricot trees -showed nothing as yet but bare boughs the valley had an air of smiling -wealth as I rode through it with Ḥabīb Fāris, who had mounted his -mare to set me on my way. He had his share in the apricot orchards and -the vineyards, and smiled agreeably, honest man, as I commended them. -Who would not have smiled on such a morning? The sun shone, the earth -glittered with frost, and the air had a sparkling transparency which -comes only on a bright winter day after rain. But it was not merely a -general sense of goodwill that had inspired my words; the Christians of -Salt and of Mādeba are an intelligent and an industrious race, worthy -to be praised. During the five years since I had visited this district -they had pushed forward the limit of cultivation two hours' ride to the -east, and proved the value of the land so conclusively that when the -Ḥājj railway was opened through it the Sultan laid hands on a great -tract stretching as far south as Ma'ān, intending to convert it into a -chiflik, a royal farm. It will yield riches to him and to his tenants, -for if he be an indifferent ruler, he is a good landlord. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure15"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure15.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">AN ARAB OF THE 'ADWĀN<br /> -GUARDING CROPS</p></div> - -<p>Half an hour from Salt, Ḥabīb left me, committing me to the care of -his hind, Yūsef, a stalwart man, who strode by my side with his wooden -club (G̣unwā, the Arabs call it) over his shoulder. We journeyed -through wide valleys, treeless, uninhabited, and almost uncultivated, -round the head of the Belḳa plain, and past the opening of the Wādy -Sīr, down which a man may ride through oak woods all the way to the -Ghōr. There would be trees on the hills too if the charcoal burners -would let them grow—we passed by many dwarf thickets of oak and -thorn—but I would have nothing changed in the delicious land east of -Jordan. A generation or two hence it will be deep in corn and scattered -over with villages, the waters of the Wādy Sīr will turn mill-wheels, -and perhaps there will even be roads: praise be to God! I shall not be -there to see. In my time the uplands will still continue to be that -delectable region of which Omar Khayyām sings: "The strip of herbage -strown that just divides the desert from the sown"; they will still be -empty save for a stray shepherd standing over his flock with a -long-barrelled rifle; and when I meet the rare horseman who rides over -those bills and ask him whence he comes, he will still answer: "May the -world be wide to you! from the Arabs."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure16"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure16.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">AN ENCAMPMENT NEAR THE DEAD SEA</p></div> - -<p>That was where we were going, to the Arabs. In the desert there are no -Bedouin, the tent dwellers are all '<i>Arab</i> (with a fine roll of the -initial guttural), just as there are no tents but houses—"houses of -hair" they say sometimes if a qualification be needed, but usually just -"houses" with a supreme disregard for any other significance to the word -save that of a black goat's hair roof. You may be '<i>Arab</i> after a -fashion even if you live between walls. The men of Salt are classed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -among the tribes of the Belḳa, with the Abādeh and the Da'ja and the -Hassaniyyeh and several more that form the great troup of the 'Adwān. -Two powerful rulers dispute the mastership here of the Syrian desert, -the Beni Ṣakhr and the 'Anazeh. There is a traditional friendship, -barred by regrettable incidents, between the Ṣukhūr and the Belḳa, -perhaps that was why I heard in these parts that the 'Anazeh were the -more numerous but the less distinguished for courage of the two -factions. I have a bowing acquaintance with one of the sons of Talāl ul -Fāiz, the head of all the Beni Ṣakhr. I had met him five years before -in these very plains, a month later in the season, by which time his -tribe moves Jordan-wards out of the warm eastern pasturages. I was -riding, escorted by a Circassian zaptieh, from Mādeba to Mshitta—it -was before the Germans had sliced the carved façade from that wonderful -building. The plain was covered with the flocks and the black tents of -the Ṣukhūr, and as we rode through them three horsemen paced out to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> -intercept us, black-browed, armed to the teeth, menacing of aspect. They -threw us the salute from afar, but when they saw the soldier they turned -and rode slowly back. The Circassian laughed. "That was Sheikh Fāiz," -he said, "the son of Talāl. Like sheep, wāllah! like sheep are they -when they meet one of us." I do not know the 'Anazeh, for their usual -seat in winter is nearer the Euphrates, but with all deference to the -Ṣukhūr I fancy that their rivals are the true aristocracy of the -desert. Their ruling house, the Beni Sha'alān, bear the proudest name, -and their mares are the best in all Arabia, so that even the Shammār, -Ibn er Rashīd's people, seek after them to improve their own breed.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure17"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure17.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE THEATRE, 'AMMĀN</p></div> - -<p>From the broken uplands that stand over the Ghōr, we entered ground -with a shallow roll in it and many small ruined sites dotted over it. -There was one at the head of the Wādy Sīr, and a quarter of an hour -before we reached it we had seen a considerable mass of foundations and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> -a big tank, which the Arabs call Birket Umm el 'Amūd (the tank of the -Mother of the Pillar). Yūsef said its name was due to a column which -used to stand in the middle of it, surrounded by the water; an Arab shot -at it and broke it, and its fragments lie at the bottom of the tank. The -mound or tell, to give it its native name, of Amēreh is covered with -ruins, and further on at Yadūdeh there are rock-hewn tombs and -sarcophagi lying at the edge of the tank. All the frontier of the desert -is strewn with similar vestiges of a populous past, villages of the -fifth and sixth centuries when Mādeba was a rich and flourishing -Christian city, though some are certainly earlier still, perhaps -pre-Roman. Yadūdeh of the tombs was inhabited by a Christian from Salt, -the greatest corn-grower in these parts, who lived in a roughly built -farm-house on the top of the tell; he too is one of the energetic -new comers who are engaged in spreading the skirts of cultivation. Here -we left the rolling country and passed out into the edges of a limitless -plain, green with scanty herbage, broken by a rounded tell or the back -of a low ridge—and then the plain once more, restful to the eye yet -never monotonous, steeped in the magic of the winter sunset, softly -curving hollows to hold the mist, softly swelling slopes to hold the -light, and over it all the dome of the sky which vaults the desert as it -vaults the sea. The first hillock was that of Ṭneib. We got in, after -a nine hours' march, at 5.30, just as the sun sank, and pitched tents on -the southern slope. The mound was thick with ruins, low walls of -rough-hewn stones laid without mortar, rock-cut cisterns, some no doubt -originally intended not for water but for corn, for which purpose they -are used at present, and an open tank filled up with earth. Namrūd had -ridden over to visit a neighbouring cultivator, but one of his men set -forth to tell him of my arrival and he returned at ten o'clock under the -frosty starlight, with many protestations of pleasure and assurances -that my wishes were easy of execution. So I went to sleep wrapped in the -cold silence of the desert, and woke next day to a glittering world of -sunshine and fair prospects.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure18"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure18.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A GATEWAY, 'AMMĀN</p></div> - -<p>The first thing to be done was to send out to the Arabs. After -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> -consultation, the Da'ja, a tribe of the Belḳa, were decided to be the -nearest at hand and the most likely to prove of use, and a messenger was -despatched to their tents. We spent the morning examining the mound and -looking through a mass of copper coins that had turned up under Namrūd's -ploughshare—Roman all of them, one showing dimly the features -of Constantine, some earlier, but none of the later Byzantine period, -nor any of the time of the Crusaders; as far as the evidence of coinage -goes, Ṭneib has been deserted since the date of the Arab invasion. -Namrūd had discovered the necropolis, but there was nothing to be found -in the tombs, which had probably been rifled centuries before. They were -rock-cut and of a cistern-like character. A double arch of the solid -rock with space between for a narrow entrance on the surface of the -ground, a few jutting excrescences on the side walls, footholds to those -who must descend, loculi running like shelves round the chambers, one -row on top of another, such was their appearance. Towards the bottom of -the mound on the south side there were foundations of a building which -looked as though it might have been a church. But these were poor -results for a day's exploration, and in the golden afternoon we rode out -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> -two hours to the north into a wide valley set between low banks. There -were ruins strewn at intervals round the edge of it, and to the east -some broken walls standing up in the middle of the valley—Namrūd -called the spot, Ḳuṣeir es Saḥl, the Little Castle of the Plain. -Our objective was a group of buildings at the western end, Khureibet es -Sūḳ. First we came to a small edifice (41 feet by 39 feet 8 inches, -the greatest length being from east to west) half buried in the ground. -Two sarcophagi outside pointed to its having been a mausoleum. The -western wall was pierced by an arched doorway, the arch being decorated -with a flat moulding. Above the level of the arch the walls narrowed by -the extent of a small set-back, and two courses higher a moulded cornice -ran round the building. A couple of hundred yards west of the Ḳaṣr -or castle (the Arabs christen most ruins either castle or convent) there -is a ruined temple. It had evidently been turned at some period to other -uses than those for which it was intended, for there were ruined walls -round the two rows of seven columns and inexplicable cross walls towards -the western end of the colonnades. There appeared to have been a double -court beyond, and still further west lay a complex of ruined -foundations. The gateway was to the east, the jambs of it decorated with -delicate carving, a fillet, a palmetto, another plain fillet, a torus -worked with a vine scroll, a bead and reel, an egg and dart and a second -palmetto on the cyma. The whole resembled very closely the work at -Palmyra—it could scarcely rival the stone lacework of Mshitta, and -besides it had a soberer feeling, more closely akin to classical models, -than is to be found there. To the north of the temple on top of a bit of -rising ground, there was another ruin which proved to be a second -mausoleum. It was an oblong rectangle of masonry, built of large stones -carefully laid without mortar. At the south-east corner a stair led into -a kind of ante-chamber, level with the surface of the ground at the east -side owing to the slope of the hill. There were column bases on the -outer side of this ante-chamber, the vestiges probably of a small -colonnade which had adorned the east façade. Six sarcophagi were placed -lengthways, two along each of the remaining walls, north, south and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -west. Below the base of the columns on either side of the stair ran a -moulding, consisting of a bold torus between two fillets, and the same -appeared on the inner side of the sarcophagi. The face of the buttress -wall on the south side rose in two in-sets, otherwise the whole building -was quite plain, though some of the fragments scattered round upon the -grass were carved with a flowing vine pattern. This mausoleum recalls -the pyramid tomb which is common in northern Syria; I do not remember -any other example of it so far south. It may have resembled the -beautiful monument with a colonnaded front which is one of the glories -of the southern Dāna, and the fragments of vine scroll were perhaps -part of the entablature.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure19"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure19.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE TEMPLE, KHUREIBET ES SŪḲ</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure20"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure20.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MAUSOLEUM, KHUREIBET ES SŪḲ</p></div> - -<p>When I returned to my tents a little before sunset, I learnt that the -boy we had despatched in the morning had lingered by the way and, -alarmed by the lateness of the hour, had returned without fulfilling his -mission. This was sufficiently annoying, but it was nothing compared -with the behaviour of the weather next day. I woke to find the great -plain blotted out by mist and rain. All day the south wind drove against -us, and the storm beat upon our canvas walls. In the evening Namrūd -brought news that his cave had been invaded by guests. There were a few -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> -tents of the Ṣukhūr a mile or two away from us (the main body of the -tribe was still far to the east, where the winter climate is less -rigorous), and the day's rain had been too much for the male -inhabitants. They had mounted their mares and ridden in to Ṭneib, -leaving their women and children to shift for themselves during the -night. An hour's society presented attractions after the long wet day, -and I joined the company.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure21"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure21.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ARABS OF THE BELḲA</p></div> - -<p>Namrūd's cave runs far into the ground, so far that it must penetrate -to the very centre of the hill of Ṭneib. The first large chamber is -obviously natural, except for the low sleeping places and mangers for -cattle that have been quarried out round the walls. A narrow passage -carved in the rock leads into a smaller room, and there are yet others -behind which I took on trust, the hot stuffy air and the innumerable -swarms of flies discouraging me from further exploration. That evening -the cave presented a scene primitive and wild enough to satisfy the most -adventurous spirit. The Arabs, some ten or a dozen men clothed in red -leather boots and striped cloaks soaked with rain, were sitting in the -centre round a fire of scrub, in the ashes of which stood the three -coffee-pots essential to desert sociability. Behind them a woman cooked -rice over a brighter fire that cast a flickering light into the recesses -of the cave, and showed Namrūd's cattle munching chopped straw from the -rock-hewn mangers. A place comparatively free from mud was cleared for -me in the circle, a cup of coffee prepared, and the talk went forward -while a man might smoke an Arab pipe five times. It was chiefly of the -iniquities of the government. The arm of the law, or rather the mailed -fist of misrule, is a constant menace upon the edges of the desert. This -year it had been quickened to baleful activity by the necessities of -war. Camels and mares had been commandeered wholesale along the borders -without hope of compensation in money or in kind. The Arabs had gathered -together such live stock as was left to them and sent them away five or -six days to the east, where the soldiery dared not penetrate, and -Namrūd had followed their example, keeping only such cattle as he -needed for the plough. One after another of my fellow guests took up the -tale: the guttural strong speech rumbled round the cave. By God and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> -Muḥammad the Prophet of God we called down such curses upon the -Circassian cavalry as should make those powerful horsemen reel in their -saddles. From time to time a draped head, with black elf locks matted -round the cheeks under the striped kerchief, bent forward towards the -glow of the ashes to pick up a hot ember for the pipe bowl, a hand was -stretched out to the coffee cups, or the cooking fire flashed up under a -pile of thorn, the sudden light making the flies buzz and the cows move -uneasily. Namrūd was not best pleased to see his hardly gathered store -of fire-wood melt away and his coffee beans disappear by handfuls into -the mortar. ("Wāllah! they eat little when they feed themselves, but -when they are guests much, they and their horses; and the corn is low at -this late season.") But the word "guest" is sacred from Jordan to -Euphrates and Namrūd knew well that he owed a great part of his -position and of his security to a hospitality which was extended to all -comers, no matter how inopportune. I added my quota to the conviviality -of the party by distributing a box of cigarettes, and before I left a -friendly feeling had been established between me and the men of the Beni -Ṣakhr.</p> - -<p>The following day was little more promising than that which had preceded -it. The muleteers were most unwilling to leave the shelter of the caves -and expose their animals to such rain in the open desert, and -reluctantly I agreed to postpone the journey, and sent them into -Mādeba, three hours away, to buy oats for the horses, cautioning them -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> -not to mention from whom they came. It cleared a little in the -afternoon, and I rode across the plain southwards to Ḳasṭal, a -fortified Roman camp standing on a mound.</p> - -<p>This type of camp was not uncommon on the eastern frontiers of the -Empire, and was imitated by the Ghassānids when they established -themselves in the Syrian desert, if indeed Mshitta was, as has been -surmised, but a more exquisite example of the same kind of building. -Ḳasṭal has a strong enclosing wall broken by a single gate to the -east and by round bastions at the angles and along the sides. Within, -there is a series of parallel vaulted chambers leaving an open court in -the centre—the plan with slight variations of Ḳal'at el Beiḍa in -the Safa and of the modern caravanserai.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> To the north there is a -separate building, probably the Prætorium, the house of the commander -of the fortress. It consists of an immense vaulted chamber, with a -walled court in front of it, and a round tower at the south-west corner. -The tower has a winding stair inside it and a band of decoration about -the exterior, rinceaux above and fluted triglyphs below, with narrow -blank metopes between them. The masonry is unusually good, the walls of -great thickness; with such defences stretching to his furthest borders, -the citizen of Rome might sleep secure o' nights.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure22"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure22.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A RUINED CHURCH, MĀDEBA</p></div> - -<p>When I passed by Ḳasṭal, five years before, it was uninhabited and -the land round it uncultivated, but a few families of fellaḥīn had -established themselves now under the broken vaults and the young corn -was springing in the levels below the walls, circumstances which should -no doubt warm the heart of the lover of humanity, but which will send a -cold chill through the breast of the archæologist. There is no -obliterator like the ploughshare, and no destroyer like the peasant who -seeks cut stones to build his hovel. I noted another sign of encroaching -civilisation in the shape of two half starved soldiers, the guard of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> -nearest halting place on the Ḥājj railroad, which is called Zīza -after the ruins a few miles to the west of it. The object of their visit -was the lean hen which one of them held in his hand. He had reft it from -its leaner companions in the fortress court—on what terms it were -better not to inquire, for hungry men know no law. I was not -particularly eager to have my presence on these frontiers notified to -the authorities in 'Ammān, and I left rather hastily and rode eastward -to Zīza.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure23"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure23.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE ḲAL'AH AT ZĪZA</p></div> - -<p>The rains had filled the desert watercourses, they do not often flow so -deep or so swiftly as the one we had to cross that afternoon. It had -filled, too, to the brim the great Roman tank of Zīza, so that the -Ṣukhūr would find water there all through the ensuing summer. The -ruins are far more extensive than those at Ḳasṭal; there must have -been a great city here, for the foundations of houses cover a wide area. -Probably Ḳasṭal was the fortified camp guarding this city, and the -two together shared the name of Zīza, which is mentioned in the -Notitia: "Equites Dalmatici Illyriciana Zīza." There is a Saracenic -Ḳal'ah, a fort, which was repaired by Sheikh Ṣoktan of the -Ṣukhūr, and had been furnished by him, said Namrūd, with a splendour -unknown to the desert; but it has now fallen to the Sultan, since it -stands in the territory selected by him for his chiflik, and fallen also -into ruin. The mounds behind are strewn with foundations, among them -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -those of a mosque, the mihrab of which was still visible to the south. -Zīza was occupied by a garrison of Egyptians in Ibrahīm Pasha's time, -and it was his soldiers who completed the destruction of the ancient -buildings. Before they came many edifices, including several Christian -churches, were still standing in an almost perfect state of -preservation, so the Arabs reported. We made our way homewards along the -edge of the railway embankment, and as we went we talked of the possible -advantages that the land might reap from that same line. Namrūd was -doubtful on this subject. He looked askance at the officials and the -soldiery, indeed he had more cause to fear official raiders, whose -rapacity could not be disarmed by hospitality, than the Arabs, who were -under too many obligations to him to do him much harm. He had sent up a -few truck-loads of corn to Damascus the year before; yes, it was an -easier form of transport than his camels, and quicker, if the goods -arrived at all; but generally the corn sacks were so much lighter when -they reached the city than when Namrūd packed them into the trucks that -the profit vanished. This would improve perhaps in time—at the time -when lamps and cushions and all the fittings of the desert railway -except the bare seats were allowed to remain in the place for which they -were made and bought. We spoke, too, of superstition and of fears that -clutch the heart at night. There are certain places, said he, where the -Arabs would never venture after dark—haunted wells to which thirsty -men dared not approach, ruins where the weary would not seek shelter, -hollows that were bad camping grounds for the solitary. What did they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> -fear? Jinn; who could tell what men feared? He himself had startled an -Arab almost out of his wits by jumping naked at him from a lonely pool -in the half light of the dawn. The man ran back to his tents, and swore -that he had seen a jinni, and that the flocks should not go down to -water where it abode, till Namrūd came in and laughed at him and told -his own tale.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure24"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure24.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A CHRISTIAN ENCAMPMENT</p></div> - -<p>We did not go straight back to my tents. I had been invited out to dine -that evening by Sheikh Nahār of the Beni Ṣakhr, he who had spent the -previous night in Namrūd's cave; and after consultation it had been -decided that the invitation was one which a person of my exalted dignity -would not be compromised by accepting.</p> - -<p>"But in general," added Namrūd, "you should go nowhere but to a great -sheikh's tent, or you will fall into the hands of those who invite you -only for the sake of the present you will give. Nahār—well, he is an -honest man, though he be Meskīn,"—a word that covers all forms of -mild contempt, from that which is extended to honest poverty, through -imbecility to the first stages of feeble vice.</p> - -<p>The Meskīn received me with the dignity of a prince, and motioned me to -the place of honour on the ragged carpet between the square hole in the -ground that serves as hearth and the partition that separates the -women's quarters from the men's. We had tethered our horses to the long -tent ropes that give such wonderful solidity to the frail dwelling, and -our eyes wandered out from where we sat over the eastward sweep of the -landscape—swell and fall, fall and swell, as though the desert -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> -breathed quietly under the gathering night. The lee side of an Arab tent is -always open to the air; if the wind shifts the women take down the tent -wall and set it up against another quarter, and in a moment your house -has changed its outlook and faces gaily to the most favourable prospect. -It is so small and so light, and yet so strongly anchored that the -storms can do little to it; the coarse meshes of the goat's hair cloth -swell and close together in the wet so that it needs continuous rain -carried on a high wind before a cold stream leaks into the -dwelling-place.</p> - -<p>The coffee beans were roasted and crushed, the coffee-pots were -simmering in the ashes, when there came three out of the East and halted -at the open tent. They were thick-set, broad-shouldered men, with -features of marked irregularity and projecting teeth, and they were cold -and wet with rain. Room was made for them in the circle round the -hearth, and they stretched out their fingers to the blaze, while the -talk went on uninterrupted, for they were only three men of the -Sherarāt, come down to buy corn in Moab, and the Sherarāt, though they -are one of the largest and the most powerful of the tribes and the most -famous breeders of camels, are of bad blood, and no Arab of the Belḳa -would intermarry with them. They have no fixed haunts, not even in the -time of the summer drought, but roam the inner desert scarcely caring if -they go without water for days together. The conversation round Nahār's -fire was of my journey. A negro of the Ṣukhūr, a powerful man with an -intelligent face, was very anxious to come with me as guide to the Druze -mountains, but he admitted that as soon as he reached the territory of -those valiant hillmen he would have to turn and flee—there is always -feud between the Druzes and the Beni Ṣakhr. The negro slaves of the -Ṣukhūr are well used by their masters, who know their worth, and they -have a position of their own in the desert, a glory reflected from the -great tribe they serve. I was half inclined to accept the present offer -in spite of the possible drawback of having the negro dead upon my hands -at the first Druze village, when the current of my thoughts was -interrupted by the arrival of yet another guest. He was a tall young -man, with a handsome delicate face, a complexion that was almost fair, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> -and long curls that were almost brown. As he approached, Nahār and the -other sheikhs of the Ṣukhūr rose to meet him, and before he entered -the tent, each in turn kissed him upon both cheeks. Namrūd rose also, -and cried to him as he drew near:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure25"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure25.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">FLOCKS OF THE ṢUKHŪR</p></div> - -<p>"Good? please God! Who is with you?"</p> - -<p>The young man raised his hand and replied:</p> - -<p>"God!"</p> - -<p>He was alone.</p> - -<p>Without seeming to notice the rest of the company, his eye embraced the -three sheikhs of the Sherarāt eating mutton and curds in the entrance, -and the strange woman by the fire, as with murmured salutations he -passed into the back of the tent, refusing Nahār's offer of food. He -was G̣ablān, of the ruling house of the Da'ja, cousin to the reigning -sheikh, and, as I subsequently found, he had heard that Namrūd needed a -guide for a foreigner—news travels apace in the desert—and had -come to take me to his uncle's tents. We had not sat for more than five -minutes after his arrival when Nahār whispered something to Namrūd, -who turned to me and suggested that since we had dined we might go and -take G̣ablān with us. I was surprised that the evening's gossip should -be cut so short, but I knew better than to make any objection, and as we -cantered home across Namrūd's ploughland and up the hill of Ṭneib, I -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> -heard the reason. There was blood between the Da'ja and the Sherarāt. -At the first glance G̣ablān had recognised the lineage of his fellow -guests, and had therefore retired silently into the depths of the tent. -He would not dip his hand in the same mutton dish with them. Nahār -knew, as who did not? the difficulty of the situation, but he could not -tell how the men of the Sherarāt would take it, and, for fear of -accidents, he had hurried us away. But by next morning the atmosphere -had cleared (metaphorically, not literally), and a day of streaming rain -kept the blood enemies sitting amicably round Namrūd's coffee-pots in -the cave.</p> - -<p>The third day's rain was as much as human patience could endure. I had -forgotten by this time what it was like not to feel damp, to have warm -feet and dry bed clothes. G̣ablān spent an hour with me in the -morning, finding out what I wished of him. I explained that if he could -take me through the desert where I should see no military post and leave -me at the foot of the hills, I should desire no more. G̣ablān -considered a moment.</p> - -<p>"Oh lady," said he, "do you think you will be brought into conflict with -the soldiery? for if so, I will take my rifle."</p> - -<p>I replied that I did not contemplate declaring open war with all the -Sultan's chivalry, and that with a little care I fancied that such a -contingency might be avoided; but G̣ablān was of opinion that strategy -went further when winged with a bullet, and decided that he would take -his rifle with him all the same.</p> - -<p>In the afternoon, having nothing better to do, I watched the Sherarāt -buying corn from Namrūd. But for my incongruous presence and the lapse -of a few thousand years, they might have been the sons of Jacob come -down into Egypt to bicker over the weight of the sacks with their -brother Joseph. The corn was kept in a deep dry hole cut in the rock, -and was drawn out like so much water in golden bucketsful. It had been -stored with chaff for its better protection, and the first business was -to sift it at the well-head, a labour that could not be executed without -much and angry discussion. Not even the camels were silent, but joined -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> -in the argument with groans and bubblings, as the Arabs loaded them with -the full sacks. The Sheikhs of the Ṣukhūr and the Sherarāt sat round -on stones in the drizzling mist, and sometimes they muttered, "God! -God!" and sometimes they exclaimed, "He is, merciful and compassionate!" -Not infrequently the sifted corn was poured back among the unsifted, and -a dialogue of this sort ensued:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure26"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure26.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A ROMAN MILESTONE</p></div> - -<p><i>Namrūd</i>; "Upon thee! upon thee! oh boy! may thy dwelling be -destroyed! may thy days come to harm!"</p> - -<p><i>Beni Ṣakhr</i>: "By the face of the Prophet of God! may He be -exalted!"</p> - -<p><i>Sherarāt</i> (<i>in suppressed chorus</i>): "God! and Muḥammad the -Prophet of God, upon Him be peace!"</p> - -<p><i>A party in bare legs and a sheepskin</i>:</p> - -<p>"Cold, cold! Wāllah! rain and cold!"</p> - -<p><i>Namrūd</i>: "Silence, oh brother! descend into the well and draw -corn. It is warm there."</p> - -<p><i>Beni Ṣakhr</i>: "Praise be to God the Almighty!"</p> - -<p><i>Chorus of Camels</i>: "B-b-b-b-b-dd-G-r-r-o-o-a-a."</p> - -<p><i>Camel Drivers</i>; "Be still, accursed ones! may you slip in the mud! -may the wrath of God fall on you!"</p> - -<p><i>Ṣukhūr</i> (<i>in unison</i>): "God! God! by the light of His -Face!"</p> - -<p>At dusk I went into the servants' tent and found Namrūd whispering -tales of murder over the fire on which my dinner was a-cooking.</p> - -<p>"In the days when I was a boy," said he (and they were not far behind -us), "you could not cross the Ghōr in peace. But I had a mare who -walked—wāllah! how she walked! Between sunrise and sunset she walked -me from Mezerīb to Salt, and never broke her pace. And besides I was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> -well known to all the Ghawārny (natives of the Ghōr). And one night in -summer I had to go to Jerusalem—force upon me! I must ride. The -waters of Jordan were low, and I crossed at the ford, for there was no -bridge then. And as I reached the further bank I heard shouts and the snap -of bullets. And I hid in the tamarisk bushes more than an hour till the -moon was low, and then I rode forth softly. And at the entrance of the -mud hills the mare started from the path, and I looked down and saw the -body of a man, naked and covered with knife wounds. And he was quite -dead. And as I gazed they sprang out on me from the mud hills, ten -horsemen and I was but one. And I backed against the thicket and fired -twice with my pistol, but they surrounded me and threw me from the mare -and bound me, and setting me again upon the mare they led me away. And -when they came to the halting place they fell to discussing whether they -should kill me, and one said: 'Wāllah! let us make an end.' And he came -near and looked into my face, and it was dawn. And he said: 'It is -Namrūd!' for he knew me, and I had succoured him. And they unbound me -and let me go, and I rode up to Jerusalem."</p> - -<p>The muleteers and I listened with breathless interest as one story -succeeded another.</p> - -<p>"There are good customs and bad among the Arabs," said Namrūd, "but the -good are many. Now when they wish to bring a blood feud to an end, the -two enemies come together in the tent of him who was offended. And the -lord of the tent bares his sword and turns to the south and draws a -circle on the floor, calling upon God. Then he takes a shred of the -cloth of the tent and a handful of ashes from the hearth and throws them -in the circle, and seven times he strikes the line with his naked sword. -And the offender leaps into the circle, and one of the relatives of his -enemy cries aloud: 'I take the murder that he did upon me!' Then there -is peace. Oh lady! the women have much power in the tribe, and the -maidens are well looked on. For if a maiden says: 'I would have such an -one for my husband,' he must marry her lest she should be put to shame. -And if he has already four wives let him divorce one, and marry in her -place the maiden who has chosen him. Such is the custom among the -Arabs." -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - -<p>He turned to my Druze muleteer and continued:</p> - -<p>"Oh Muḥammad! have a care. The tents of the Ṣukhūr are near, and -there is never any peace between the Beni Ṣakhr and the Druzes. And if -they knew you, they would certainly kill you—not only would they kill -you, but they would bum you alive, and the lady could not shield you, -nor could I."</p> - -<p>This was a grim light upon the character of my friend Nahār, who had -exchanged with me hospitality against a kerchief, and the little group -round the fire was somewhat taken back. But Mikhāil was equal to the -occasion.</p> - -<p>"Let not your Excellency think it," said he, deftly dishing up some -stewed vegetables; "he shall be a Christian till we reach the Jebel -Druze, and his name is not Muḥammad but Ṭarīf, for that is a name -the Christians use."</p> - -<p>So we converted and baptized the astonished Muḥammad before the -cutlets could be taken out of the frying-pan.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a>Admirable plans and photographs of the fort have been -published by Brünnow and Domaszewski in vol. II. of their great work, -"Die Provincia Arabia." This volume was not out at the time I visited -Ḳasṭal.</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></h4> - - -<p>The morning of Sunday, the 12th of February, was still stormy, but I -resolved to go. The days spent at Ṭneib had not been wasted. An -opportunity of watching hour by hour the life of one of these outlying -farms comes seldom, but my thoughts had travelled forward, and I longed -to follow the path they had taken. I caught them up, so it seemed to me, -when G̣ablān, Namrūd and I heard the hoofs of our mares ring on the -metals of the Ḥājj railway and set our faces towards the Open desert. -We rode east by north, leaving Mshitta a little to the south, and though -no one who knew it in its loveliness could have borne to revisit those -ravished walls, it must be not forgotten that there is something to be -said for the act of vandalism that stripped them. If there had been good -prospect that the ruin should stand as it had stood for over a thousand -years, uninjured save by the winter rains, it ought to have! been -allowed to remain intact in the rolling country to which it gave so -strange an impress of delicate and fantastic beauty; but the railway has -come near, the plains will fill up, and neither Syrian fellah nor -Turkish soldier can be induced to spare walls that can be turned to -practical uses. Therefore let those who saw it when it yet stood -unimpaired, cherish its memory with gratitude, and without too deep a -regret.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure27"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure27.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MSHITTA</p></div> - -<p>Namrūd and G̣ablān chatted without a pause. Late in the previous -night two soldiers had presented themselves at the door of the cave, and -having gained admittance they had told a strange tale. They had formed -part, so they affirmed, of the troops that the Sultan had despatched -from Baghdad to help Ibn er Rashīd against Ibn Sa'oud. They related how -the latter had driven them back step by step to the very gates of -Ḥāil, Ibn er Rashīd's capital, and how as the two armies lay facing -one another Ibn Sa'oud with a few followers had ridden up to his enemy's -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> -tent and laid his hand upon the tent pole so that the prince of the -Shāmmaṝ had no choice but to let him enter. And then and there they -had come to an agreement, Ibn er Rashīd relinquishing all his territory -to within a mile or two of Ḥāil, but retaining that city and the -lands to the north of it, including Jōf, and recognising Ibn Sa'oud's -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> -sovereignty over Riāḍ and its extended fief. The two soldiers had -made the best of their way westward across the desert, for they said -most of their companions in arms were slain and the rest had fled. This -was by far the most authentic news that I was to receive from Nejd, and -I have reason to believe that it was substantially correct.<a name="FNanchor_2_1" id="FNanchor_2_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_1" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> I -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> -questioned many of the Arabs as to Ibn er Rashīd's character: the -answer was almost invariably the same. "Shātir jiddan," they would say; -"he is very shrewd," but after a moment they would add, "majnūn" ("but -mad"). A reckless man and a hot-headed, so I read him, with a restless -intelligence and little judgment, not strong enough, and perhaps not -cruel enough, to enforce his authority over the unruly tribes whom his -uncle, Muḥammad, held in a leash of fear (the history of the war has -been one long series of betrayals on the part of his own allies), and -too proud, if the desert judges him rightly, to accept the terms of the -existing peace. He is persuaded that the English government armed Ibn -Sa'oud against him, his reason being that it was the Sheikh of Kweit, -believed to be our ally, who furnished that homeless exile with the -means of re-establishing himself in the country his ancestors had ruled, -hoping thereby to weaken the influence of the Sultan on the borders of -Kweit. The beginning of the trouble was possibly the friendship with the -Sultan into which Ibn er Rashīd saw fit to enter, a friendship blazoned -to the world by the appearance of Shammaṝi mares in Constantinople and -Circassian girls in Ḥāil; but as for the end, there is no end to war -in the desert, and any grievance will serve the turn of an impetuous -young sheikh.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure28"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure28.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MSHITTA, THE FAÇADE</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure29"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure29.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MSHITTA, THE INNER HALLS</p></div> - -<p>Though we were riding through plains which were quite deserted and to -the casual observer almost featureless, we seldom travelled for more -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> -than a mile without reaching a spot that had a name. In listening to -Arab talk you are struck by this abundant nomenclature. If you ask where -a certain sheikh has pitched his tents you will at once be given an -exact answer. The map is blank, and when you reach the encampment the -landscape is blank also. A rise in the ground, a big stone, a vestige of -ruin, not to speak of every possible hollow in which there may be water -either in winter or in summer, these are marks sufficiently -distinguishing to the nomad eye. Ride with an Arab and you shall realise -why the pre-Mohammadan poems are so full of names, and also how vain a -labour it would be to attempt to assign a definite spot to the greater -number of them, for the same name recurs hundreds of times. We presently -came to a little mound which G̣ablān called Thelelet el Ḥirsheh and -then to another rather smaller called Theleleh, and here G̣ablān drew -rein and pointed to a couple of fire-blackened stones upon the ground.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure30"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure30.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ARABS OF THE BELḲA</p></div> - -<p>"That," said he, "was my hearth. Here I camped five years ago. Yonder -was my father's tent, and the son of my uncle pitched his below the -slope."</p> - -<p>I might have been riding with Imr ul Ḳais, or with any of the great -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> -singers of the Age of Ignorance, whose odes take swinging flight lifted -on just such a theme, the changeless theme of the evanescence of desert -existence.</p> - -<p>The clouds broke in rain upon us, and we left Theleleh and -paced on east—an Arab when he travels seldom goes quicker than a -walk—while Namrūd, according to his habit, beguiled the way with -story telling.</p> - -<p>"Oh lady," said he,—"I will tell you a tale well known among the -Arabs, without doubt G̣ablān has heard it. There was a man—he is dead -now, but his sons still live—who had a blood feud, and in the night -his enemy fell upon him with many horsemen, and they drove away his flocks -and his camels and his mares and seized his tents and all that he had. -And he who had been a rich man and much honoured was reduced to the -extreme of necessity. So he wandered forth till he came to the tents of -a tribe that was neither the friend nor the foe of his people, and he -went to the sheikh's tent and laid his hand on the tent pole and said: -'Oh sheikh! I am your guest' "('Ana dakhīlak,' the phrase of one who -seeks for hospitality and protection)." And the sheikh rose and led him -in and seated him by the hearth, and treated him with kindness. And he -gave him sheep and a few camels and cloth for a tent, and the man went -away and prospered so that in ten years he was again as rich as before. -Now after ten years it happened that misfortune fell upon the sheikh who -had been his host, and he in turn lost all that he possessed. And the -sheikh said: 'I will go to the tents of so-and-so, who is now rich, and -he will treat me as I treated him.' Now when he reached the tents the -man was away, but his son was within. And the sheikh laid his hand on -the tent pole, and said, 'Ana dakhīlak,' and the man's son answered: 'I -do not know you, but since you claim our protection come in and my -mother will make you coffee.' So the sheikh came in, and the woman -called him to her hearth and made him coffee, and it is an indignity -among the Arabs that the coffee should be made by the women. And while -he was sitting by the women's hearth, the lord of the tent returned, and -his son went out and told him that the sheikh had come. And he said: 'We -will keep him for the night since he is bur guest, and at dawn we will -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> -send him away lest we should draw his feud upon ourselves.' And they put -the sheikh in a corner of the tent and gave him only bread and coffee, -and next day they bade him go. And they sent an escort of two horsemen -with him for a day's journey, as is the usage among the Arabs with one -who has sought their protection and goes in fear of his life, and then -they left him to starve or to fall among his enemies. But such -ingratitude is rare, praise be to God! and therefore the tale is not -forgotten."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure31"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure31.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">FELLĀH UL 'ISA AD DA'JA</p></div> - -<p>We were now nearing some slopes that might almost be dignified with the -name of hills. They formed a great semicircle that stretched away to the -south and in the hollow of their arm Fellāḥ ul 'Isa had pitched his -tents. The Da'ja, when I was with them, occupied all the plain below the -amphitheatre of the Jebel el 'Alya and also the country to the -north-west between the hills and the river Zerka Mujēmir, the young -sheikh, was camped to the north, his two uncles, Fellāḥ ul 'Isa and -Ḥamūd, the father of G̣ablān, together in the plain to the south. I -did not happen to see Ḥamūd; he had ridden away to visit some of his -herds. G̣ablān put his horse to a canter and went on ahead to announce -our arrival. As we rode up to the big sheikh's tent a white-haired man -came out to welcome us. This was my host, Fellāḥ ul 'Isa, a sheikh -renowned throughout the Belḳa for his wisdom and possessed of an -authority beyond that which an old man of a ruling house exercises over -his own tribe. Six months before he had been an honoured guest among the -Druzes, who are not used to receiving Arab sheikhs on terms of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> -friendship, and for this reason Namrūd had selected him as the best of -counsellors in the matter of my journey. We were obliged to sit in his -tent till coffee had been made, which ceremony occupied a full hour. It -was conducted in a dignified silence, broken only by the sound of the -pestle crushing the beans in the mortar, a music dear to desert ears and -not easy of accomplished execution. By the time coffee drinking was over -the sun had come out and with G̣ablān and Namrūd I rode up the hills -north of the camp to inspect some ruins reported by the Arabs.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure32"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure32.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A CAPITAL AT MUWAG̣G̣AR</p></div> - -<p>The Jebel el 'Alya proved to be a rolling upland that extended for many -miles, sloping gradually away to the north and north-east. The general -trend of the range is from west to south-east; it rises abruptly out of -the plains and carries upon its crest a series of ruins out of which I -saw two. They seem to have been a line of forts guarding a frontier -that, in the absence of inscriptions, may be conjectured to have been -Ghassānid. The first of the ruined sites lay immediately above -Fellāḥ ul 'Isa's camp—I surmise it to have been the Ḳaṣr el Ahla -(a name unknown to the Da'ja) marked on the Palestine Exploration map -close to the Ḥājj road. If this be so, it lies four or five miles -further east than the map makers have placed it, and its name should be -written Ḳaṣr el 'Alya. It was a small tell, ringed round with the -foundations of walls that enclosed an indistinguishable mass of ruins. -We rode forward some three or four miles to the east, and at the head of -a shallow valley on the northern side of the Jebel el 'Alya we found a -large tank, about 120 feet by 150 feet, carefully built of dressed -stones and half full of earth. Above it, nearer the top of the hill, -there was a group of ruins called by the Arabs El Muwag̣g̣ar.<a name="FNanchor_3_1" id="FNanchor_3_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_1" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> It -must have been a military post, for there seemed to be few remains of -small dwellings such as would point to the existence of a town. To the -east lay a building that the Arabs maintain to have been a stable. It -was planned like a church, in three parallel chambers, the nave being -divided from the aisles by arcades of which six arches on either side -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> -were standing, round arches resting on piers of masonry. On the inner -sides of these piers were holes through which to fasten tethering ropes, -and possibly horses may at some period have been stabled between the -arches. The three chambers were roofed with barrel vaults, and wall and -vault alike were built of small stones set in brittle, crumbling mortar. -A few hundred yards to the north-west there was a big open cistern, -empty of water, with plastered sides and a flight of steps at one -corner. The largest ruin was still further to the north-west, almost at -the summit of the hill; it is called by the Arabs the Ḳaṣr, and was -probably a fortress or barracks. The main entrance was to the east, and -since the ground sloped away here, the <i>façade</i> was supported on a -substructure of eight vaults, above which were traces of three, or perhaps -four, doorways that could only have been approached by flights of steps. -Moulded piers had stood on either side of the doorways—a few were -still in their places—and the <i>façade</i> had been enriched with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> -columns and a cornice, of which the fragments were strewn over the -ground below together with capitals of various designs, all of them -drawn from a Corinthian prototype, though many were widely dissimilar -from the parent pattern. Some of the mouldings showed very simple -<i>rinceaux</i>, a trefoil set in the alternate curves of a flowing stalk, -others were torus-shaped and covered with the scales of the palm trunk -pattern. The width of the <i>façade</i> was forty paces; behind it was an -ante-chamber separated by a cross wall from a square enclosure. -Whether there had been rooms round the inside of this enclosure I could -not determine; it was heaped up with ruins and overgrown with turf. On -either side of the eight parallel vaults there was another vaulted -chamber forming ten in all; but the two supplementary vaults did not -appear to have supported a superstructure of any kind, the massive side -walls of the ante-chamber resting on the outer walls of the eight -central vaults. The masonry was of squared stones with rubble between, -set in mortar.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure33"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure33.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A CAPITAL AT MUWAG̣G̣AR</p></div> - -<p>We rode back straight down the hill and so along the plain at its foot, -passing another ruined site as we went, Najēreh was its name. Such -heaped up mounds of cut stones the Arabs call "rujm"; it would be -curious to know how far east they are to be found, how far the desert -was inhabited by a permanent population. A day's journey from 'Alya, -said G̣ablān, there is another fort called Kharaneh, and a third not -far from it, Umm er Resas, and more besides, some of them with pictures, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> -and all easy to visit in the winter when the western pasturages are -comparatively empty.<a name="FNanchor_4_1" id="FNanchor_4_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_1" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> As we rode he taught me to read the desert, to -mark the hollow squares of big stones laid for the beds of Arab boys, -and the semi-circular nests in the earth that the mother camels scoop -out for their young. He taught me also the names of the plants that -dotted the ground, and I found that though the flora of the desert is -scanty in quantity, it is of many varieties, and that almost every kind -has been put to some useful end by the Arabs. With the leaf of the -utrufān they scent their butter, from the prickly kursa'aneh they make -an excellent salad, on the dry sticks of the billān the camels feed, -and the sheep on those of the shīḥ, the ashes of the g̣āli are used -in soap boiling. The <i>rôle</i> of teacher amused G̣ablān, and as we -passed from one prickly blue-grey tuft to another equally blue-grey and -prickly, he would say: "Oh lady, what is this?" and smile cheerfully if -the answer came right.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure34"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure34.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A CAPITAL AT MUWAG̣G̣AR</p></div> - -<p>I was to dine that night in Fellāḥ ul 'Isa's tent, and when the last -bar of red light still lay across the west G̣ablān came to fetch me. -The little encampment was already alive with all the combination of -noises that animates the desert after dark, the grunting and groaning of -camels, the bleating of sheep and goats and the uninterrupted barking of -dogs. There was no light in the sheikh's tent save that of the fire; my -host sitting opposite me was sometimes hidden in a column of pungent -smoke and sometimes illumined by a leaping flame. When a person of -consideration comes as guest, a sheep must be killed in honour of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> -occasion, and accordingly we eat with our fingers a bountiful meal of -mutton and curds and flaps of bread. But even on feast nights the Arab -eats astonishingly little, much less than a European woman with a good -appetite, and when there is no guest in camp, bread and a bowl of -camel's milk is all they need. It is true they spend most of the day -asleep or gossiping in the sun, yet I have seen the 'Ag̣ēl making a -four months' march on no more generous fare. Though they can go on such -short commons, the Bedouin must seldom be without the sensation of -hunger; they are always lean and thin, and any sickness that falls upon -the tribe carries off a large proportion of its numbers. My servants -feasted too, and since we had left Muḥammad, or rather Ṭarīf the -Christian, to guard the tents in our absence, a wooden bowl was piled -with food and sent out into the night "for the guest who has remained -behind."</p> - -<p>Fellāḥ ul 'Isa and Namrūd fell into an interesting discussion over -the coffee, one that threw much light on the position of the tribes of -the Belḳa. They are hard pressed by encroaching civilisation. Their -summer quarters are gradually being filled up with fellāḥin, and -still worse, their summer watering places are now occupied by Circassian -colonists settled by the Sultan in eastern Syria when the Russians -turned them out of house and home in the Caucasus. The Circassians are a -disagreeable people, morose and quarrelsome, but industrious and -enterprising beyond measure, and in their daily contests with the Arabs -they invariably come off victors. Recently they have made the drawing of -water from the Zerka, on which the Bedouin are dependent during the summer, -a <i>casus belli</i>, and it is becoming more and more impossible to -go down to 'Ammān, the Circassian headquarters, for the few necessities -of Arab life, such as coffee and sugar and tobacco. Namrūd was of -opinion that the Belḳa tribes should have asked the Government to -appoint a Ḳāimaḳām over their district to protect their interests; -but Fellāḥ ul Tsa hesitated to call in King Stork, fearing the -military service he might impose, the enforced registration of cattle -and other hateful practices. The truth is that the days of the Belḳa -Arabs are numbered. To judge by the ruins, it will be possible, as it -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> -was possible in past centuries, to establish a fixed population all over -their territory, and they will have to choose between themselves -building villages and cultivating the ground or retreating to the east -where water is almost unobtainable in the summer, and the heat far -greater than they care to face.</p> - -<p>Namrūd turned from these vexed questions to extol the English rule in -Egypt. He had never been there, but he had heard tales from one of his -cousins who was a clerk in Alexandria; he knew that the fellahin had -grown rich and that the desert was as peaceful as were the cities.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure35"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure35.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MILKING SHEEP</p></div> - -<p>"Blood feud has ceased," said he, "and raiding; for when a man steals -another's camels, look you what happens. The owner of the camels comes -to the nearest konak and lays his complaint, and a zaptieh rides out -alone through the desert till he reaches the robber's tent. Then he -throws the salaam and enters. What does the lord of the tent do? he -makes coffee and tries to treat the zaptieh as a guest. But when the -soldier has drunk the coffee he places money by the hearth, saying, -'Take this piastre,' and so he pays for all he eats and drinks and -accepts nothing. And in the morning he departs, leaving orders that in -so many days the camels must be at the konak. Then the robber, being -afraid, gathers together the camels and sends them in, and one, may be, -is missing, so that the number is short. And the judge says to the lord -of the camels, 'Are all the beasts here?' and he replies, 'There is one -missing.' And he says, 'What is its value?' and he answers, 'Eight -liras.' Then the judge says to the other, 'Pay him eight liras.' -Wāllah! he pays." -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> - -<p>Fellāḥ ul 'Isa expressed no direct approval of the advantages of this -system, but he listened with interest while I explained the principles -of the Fellaḥīn Bank, as far as I understood them, and at the end he -asked whether Lord Cromer could not be induced to extend his rule to -Syria, an invitation that I would not undertake to accept in his name. -Five years before, in the Ḥaurān mountains, a similar question had -been put to me, and the answering of it had taxed my diplomacy. The -Druze sheikhs of Ḳanawāt had assembled in my tent under shadow of -night, and after much cautious beating about the bush and many -assurances from me that no one was listening, they had asked whether if -the Turks again broke their treaties with the Mountain, the Druzes might -take refuge with Lord Cromer in Egypt, and whether I would not charge -myself with a message to him. I replied with the air of one weighing the -proposition in all its aspects that the Druzes were people of the hill -country, and that Egypt was a plain, and would therefore scarcely suit -them. The Sheikh el Balad looked at the Sheikh ed Dīn, and the horrible -vision of a land without mountain fastnesses in which to take refuge, or -mountain paths easy to defend, must have opened before their eyes, for -they replied that the matter required much thought, and I heard no more -of it. Nevertheless the moral is obvious: all over Syria and even in the -desert; whenever a man is ground down by injustice or mastered by his -own incompetence, he wishes that he were under the rule that has given -wealth to Egypt, and our occupation of that country, which did so much -at first to alienate from us the sympathies of Mohammedans, has proved -the finest advertisement of English methods of government.<a name="FNanchor_5_1" id="FNanchor_5_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_1" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> - -<p>As I sat listening to the talk round me and looking out into the starlit -night, my mind went back to the train of thought that had been the -groundwork of the whole day, the theme that G̣ablān had started when -he stopped and pointed out the traces of his former encampment, and I -said:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure36"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure36.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">G̣ABLĀN IBN ḤAMŪD AD DA'JA</p></div> - -<p>"In the ages before the Prophet your fathers spoke as you do and in the -same language, but we who do not know your ways have lost the meaning of -the words they used. Now tell me what is so-and-so, and so-and-so?"</p> - -<p>The men round the fire bent forward, and when a flame jumped up I saw -their dark faces as they listened, and answered:</p> - -<p>"By God! did they say <i>that</i> before the Prophet?"</p> - -<p>"Māsha'llah! we use that word still. It is the mark on the ground where -the tent was pitched."</p> - -<p>Thus encouraged I quoted the couplet of Imr ul Ḳais which G̣ablān's -utterance had suggested.</p> - -<p>"Stay! let us weep the memory of the Beloved and her resting place in -the cleft of the shifting sands 'twixt ēd Dujēl and Haumal."</p> - -<p>G̣ablān, by the tent pole, lifted his head and exclaimed: -"Māsha'llah! that is 'Antara."</p> - -<p>All poetry is ascribed to 'Antara by the unlettered Arab; he knows no -other name in literature.</p> - -<p>I answered: "No; 'Antara spoke otherwise. He said: 'Have the poets -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> -aforetime left ought to be added by me? or dost thou remember her house -when thou lookest on the place?' And Lebīd spoke best of all when he -said: 'And what is man but a tent and the folk thereof? one day they -depart and the place is left desolate.'"</p> - -<p>G̣ablān made a gesture of assent.</p> - -<p>"By God!" said he, "the plain is covered with places wherein I -rested."</p> - -<p>He had struck the note. I looked out beyond him into the night and saw -the desert with his eyes, no longer empty but set thicker with human -associations than any city. Every line of it took on significance, every -stone was like the ghost of a hearth in which the warmth of Arab life -was hardly cold, though the fire might have been extinguished this -hundred years. It was a city of shadowy outlines visible one under the -other, fleeting and changing, combining into new shapes elements that -are as old as Time, the new indistinguishable from the old and the old -from the new.</p> - -<p>There is no name for it. The Arabs do not speak of desert or wilderness -as we do. Why should they? To them it is neither desert nor wilderness, -but a land of which they know every feature, a mother country whose -smallest product has a use sufficient for their needs. They know, or at -least they knew in the days when their thoughts shaped themselves in -deathless verse, how to rejoice in the great spaces and how to honour -the rush of the storm. In many a couplet they extolled the beauty of the -watered spots; they sang of the fly that hummed there, as a man made -glad with wine croons melodies for his sole ears to hear, and of the -pools of rain that shone like silver pieces, or gleamed dark as the -warrior's mail when the wind ruffled them. They had watched, as they -crossed the barren watercourses, the laggard wonders of the night, when -the stars seemed chained to the sky as though the dawn would never come. -Imr ul Ḳais had seen the Pleiades caught like jewels in the net of a -girdle, and with the wolf that howled in the dark he had claimed -fellowship: "Thou and I are of one kindred, and, lo, the furrow that -thou ploughest and that I plough shall yield one harvest." But by night -or by day there was no overmastering terror, no meaningless fear and no -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> -enemy that could not be vanquished. They did not cry for help, those -poets of the Ignorance, either to man or God; but when danger fell upon -them they remembered the maker of their sword, the lineage of their -horse and the prowess of their tribe, and their own right hand was -enough to carry them through. And then they gloried as men should glory -whose blood flows hot in their veins, and gave no thanks where none were -due.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure37"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure37.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ON THE ḤĀJJ ROAD</p></div> - -<p>This is the temper of verse as splendid of its kind as any that has -fallen from the lips of men. Every string of Arab experience is touched -in turn, and the deepest chords of feeling are resonant. There are no -finer lines than those in which Lebīd sums up his appreciation of -existence, a poem where each one of the fourteen couplets is instinct -with a grave and tragic dignity beyond all praise. He looks sorrow in -the face, old age and death, and ends with a solemn admission of the -limitations of human wisdom: "By thy life! the casters of pebbles and -the watchers of the flight of birds, how know they what God is doing?" -The voice of warning is never the voice of dismay. It recurs often -enough, but it does not check the wild daring of the singer. "Death is -no chooser!" cries Tārafa, "the miser or the free-handed, Death has his -rope round the swift flying heel of him!" But he adds: "What dost thou -fear? To-day is thy life." And as fearlessly Zuhair sets forth his -experience: "To-day I know and yesterday and the days that were, but for -to-morrow mine eyes are sightless. For I have seen Doom let out in the -dark like a blind camel; those it struck died and those it missed lived -to grow old." The breath of inspiration touched all alike, old and -young, men and women, and among the most exquisite remnants of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> -desert heritage is a dirge sung by a sister for her dead brother, which -is no less valuable as a historical document than it is admirable in -sentiment. An Naḍr Ibn el Hārith was taken prisoner by Muḥammad at -Uthail, after the battle of Bedr, and by his order put to death, and -through the verses of Ḳutaila you catch the revolt of feeling with -which the Prophet's pretensions were greeted by those of his -contemporaries who would not submit to them, coupled with the necessary -respect due to a man whose race was as good as their own. "Oh camel -rider!" she cries,</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Oh camel rider! Uthail, methinks, if thou speedest well,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">shall lie before thee when breaks the fifth Dawn o'er thy road.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Take thou a word to a dead man there—and a greeting, sure,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">but meet it is that the riders bring from friends afar—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From me to him, yea and tears unstanched, in a flood they flow</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">when he plies the well rope, and others choke me that stay</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">behind.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Raise clear thy voice that an Naḍr may hear if thou call on him—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">can a dead man hear? Can he answer any that shouts his name?</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Day long the swords of his father's sons on his body played—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ah God! the bonds of a brother's blood that were severed there!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Helpless, a-weary, to death they led him, with fight foredone;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">short steps he takes with his fettered feet and his arms are bound.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh Muḥammad! sprung from a mother thou of a noble house,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">and thy father too was of goodly stock when the kin is told.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Had it cost thee dear to have granted grace that day to him?</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">yea, a man may pardon though anger burn in his bosom sore.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the nearest he in the ties of kinship of all to thee,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">and the fittest he, if thou loosedst any to be set free.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ah, hadst thou taken a ransom, sure with the best of all</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">that my hand possessed I had paid thee, spending my utmost</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">store."</span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>And on yet stronger wing the wild free spirit of the desert rose in his -breast who lay in ward at Mecca, and he sang of love and death with a -voice that will not be silenced:</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"My longing climbs up the steep with the riders of El Yemen,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">by their side, while my body lies in Mecca a prisoner.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I marvelled as she came darkling to me and entered free,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">while the prison door before me was bolted and surely barred.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">She drew near and greeted me, then she rose and bade farewell,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">and when she turned my life well-nigh went forth with her.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nay, think not that I am bowed with fear away from you,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">or that I tremble before death that stands so nigh.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or that my soul quakes at all before your threatening,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">or that my spirit is broken by walking in these chains.</span><br /> - <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But a longing has smitten my heart born of love for thee,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">as it was in the days aforetime when that I was free."<a name="FNanchor_6_1" id="FNanchor_6_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_1" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>The agony of the captive, the imagined vision of the heart's desire -which no prison bars could exclude, then the fine protest lest his foes -should dream that his spirit faltered, and the strong man's fearless -memory of the passion that had shaken his life and left his soul still -ready to vanquish death—there are few such epitomes of noble emotion. -Born and bred on the soil of the desert, the singers of the Age of -Ignorance have left behind them a record of their race that richer and -wiser nations will find hard to equal.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_1" id="Footnote_2_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_1"><span class="label">[2]</span></a>Since the events above recorded, Ibn Sa'oud has, I believe, -come to terms with the Sultan after a vain appeal to a stronger ally, -and Ibn er Rashīd is reported to be struggling to turn out the Turkish -garrisons which were appointed nominally to aid him. Quite recently -there has been a rumour that Ibn er Rashīd is dead.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_1" id="Footnote_3_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_1"><span class="label">[3]</span></a>El Muwaḳḳar it is written, but the Bedouin change the -hard k into a hard g. The site has been described in "Die Provincia -Arabia," vol II.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_1" id="Footnote_4_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_1"><span class="label">[4]</span></a>Several of these ruins were visited by Musil, but his took -is not yet published.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_1" id="Footnote_5_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_1"><span class="label">[5]</span></a>The present unrest in Egypt may seem to throw a doubt upon -the truth of these observations, but I do not believe this to be the -case. The Egyptians have forgotten the miseries from which our -administration rescued them, the Syrians and the people of the desert -are still labouring under them, and in their eyes the position of their -neighbours is one of unalloyed and enviable ease. But when once the wolf -is driven from the door, the restraints imposed by an immutable law eat -into the temper of a restless, unstable population accustomed to reckon -with misrule and to profit by the frequent laxity and the occasional -opportunities of undeserved advancement which characterise it. Justice -is a capital thing when it guards your legal rights, but most damnable -when you wish to usurp the rights of others. Fellāḥ ul 'Isa and his -kind would not be slow to discover its defects.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_1" id="Footnote_6_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_1"><span class="label">[6]</span></a>I have borrowed Sir Charles Lyall's beautiful and most -scholarly translation of this and the preceding poem.</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></h4> - - -<p>There is an Arabic proverb which says: "Ḥayyeh rubda wa la ḍaif -muḍḥa"—neither ash-grey snake nor midday guest. We were careful -not to make a breach in our manners by outstaying our welcome, and our -camp was up before the sun. To wake in that desert dawn was like waking -in the heart of an opal. The mists lifting their heads out of the -hollows, the dews floating in ghostly wreaths from the black tents, were -shot through first with the faint glories of the eastern sky and then -with the strong yellow rays of the risen sun. I sent a silver and purple -kerchief to Fellāḥ ul 'Isa, "for the little son" who had played -solemnly about the hearth, took grateful leave of Namrūd, drank a -parting cup of coffee, and, the old sheikh holding my stirrup, mounted -and rode away with G̣ablān. We climbed the Jebel el 'Alya and crossed -the wide summit of the range; the landscape was akin to that of our own -English border country but bigger, the sweeping curves more generous, -the distances further away. The glorious cold air intoxicated every -sense and set the blood throbbing—to my mind the saying about the Bay -of Naples should run differently. See the desert on a fine morning and -die—if you can. Even the stolid mules felt the breath of it and raced -across the spongy ground ("Mad! the accursed ones!") till their packs -swung round and brought them down, and twice we stopped to head them off -and reload. The Little Heart, the highest peak of the Jebel Druze, -surveyed us cheerfully the while, glittering in its snow mantle far away -to the north.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure38"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure38.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ARABS RIDING MARDŪF</p></div> - -<p>At the foot of the northern slopes of the 'Alya hills we entered a great -rolling plain like that which we had left to the south. We passed many -of those mysterious rujm which start the fancy speculating on the past -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> -history of the land, and presently we caught sight of the scattered -encampments of the Ḥassaniyyeh, who are good friends to the Da'ja and -belong to the same group of tribes. And here we spied two riders coming -across the plain and G̣ablān went out to greet them and remained some -time in talk, and then returned with a grave face. The day before, the -very day before, while we had been journeying peacefully from Ṭneib, -four hundred horsemen of the Ṣukhūr and the Ḥoweiṭāṭ, leagued -in evil, had swept these plains, surprised an outlying group of the Beni -Ḥassan and carried off the tents, together with two thousand head of -cattle. It was almost a pity, I thought, that we had come a day too -late, but G̣ablān looked graver still at the suggestion, and said that -he would have been forced to join in the fray, yes, he would even have -left me, though I had been committed to his charge, for the Da'ja were -bound to help the Beni Ḥassan against the Ṣukhūr. And perhaps -yesterday's work would be enough to break the new-born truce between -that powerful tribe and the allies of the 'Anazeh and set the whole -desert at war again. There was sorrow in the tents of the Children of -Ḥassan. We saw a man weeping by the tent pole, with his head bowed in -his hands, everything he possessed having been swept from him. As we -rode we talked much of ghazu (raid) and the rules that govern it. The -fortunes of the Arab are as varied as those of a gambler on the Stock -Exchange. One day he is the richest man in the desert, and next morning -he may not have a single camel foal to his name. He lives in a state of -war, and even if the surest pledges have been exchanged with the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> -neighbouring tribes there is no certainty that a band of raiders from -hundreds of miles away will not descend on his camp in the night, as a -tribe unknown to Syria, the Beni Awājeh, fell, two years ago, on the -lands south-east of Aleppo, crossing three hundred miles of desert, -Mardūf (two on a camel) from their seat above Baghdad, carrying off all -the cattle and killing scores of people. How many thousand years this -state of things has lasted, those who shall read the earliest records of -the inner desert will tell us, for it goes back to the first of them, -but in all the centuries the Arab has bought no wisdom from experience. -He is never safe, and yet he behaves as though security were his daily -bread. He pitches his feeble little camps, ten or fifteen tents -together, over a wide stretch of undefended and indefensible country. He -is too far from his fellows to call in their aid, too far as a rule to -gather the horsemen together and follow after the raiders whose retreat -must be sufficiently slow, burdened with the captured flocks, to -guarantee success to a swift pursuit. Having lost all his worldly goods, -he goes about the desert and makes his plaint, and one man gives him a -strip or two of goats' hair cloth, and another a coffee-pot, a third -presents him with a camel, and a fourth with a few sheep, till he has a -roof to cover him and enough animals to keep his family from hunger. -There are good customs among the Arabs, as Namrūd said. So he bides his -time for months, perhaps for years, till at length opportunity ripens, -and the horsemen of his tribe with their allies ride forth and recapture -all the flocks that had been carried off and more besides, and the feud -enters on another phase. The truth is that the ghazu is the only -industry the desert knows and the only game. As an industry it seems to -the commercial mind to be based on a false conception of the laws of -supply and demand, but as a game there is much to be said for it. The -spirit of adventure finds full scope in it—you can picture the -excitement of the night ride across the plain, the rush of the mares in -the attack, the glorious (and comparatively innocuous) popping of rifles -and the exhilaration of knowing yourself a fine fellow as you turn -homewards with the spoil. It is the best sort of fantasia, as they say -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> -in the desert, with a spice of danger behind it. Not that the danger is -alarmingly great: a considerable amount of amusement can be got without -much bloodshed, and the raiding Arab is seldom bent on killing. He never -lifts his hand against women and children, and if here and there a man -falls it is almost by accident, since who can be sure of the ultimate -destination of a rifle bullet once it is embarked on its lawless course? -This is the Arab view of the ghazu; the Druzes look at it otherwise. For -them it is red war. They do not play the game as it should be played, -they go out to slay, and they spare no one. While they have a grain of -powder in their flasks and strength to pull the trigger, they kill every -man, woman and child that they encounter.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure39"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure39.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A TRAVELLING ENCAMPMENT OF THE 'AG̣ĒL</p></div> - -<p>Knowing the independence of Arab women and the freedom with which -marriages are contracted between different tribes of equal birth, I saw -many romantic possibilities of mingled love and hatred between the -Montagues and the Capulets. "Lo, on a sudden I loved her," says Antara, -"though I had slain her kin." G̣ablān replied that these difficult -situations did indeed occur, and ended sometimes in a tragedy, but if -the lovers would be content to wait, some compromise could be arrived -at, or they might be able to marry during one of the brief but -oft-recurring intervals of truce. The real danger begins when blood feud -is started within the tribe itself and a man having murdered one of his -own people is cast out a homeless, kinless exile to shelter with -strangers or with foes. Such was Imr ul Ḳais, the lonely outlaw, -crying to the night: "Oh long night, wilt thou not bring the dawn? yet -the day is no better than thou."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure40"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure40.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A DESERT WELL</p></div> - -<p>A few miles further north the Ḥassaniyyeh encampments had not yet -heard of yesterday's misfortune, and we had the pleasure of spreading -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> -the ill-news. G̣ablān rode up to every group we passed and delivered -his mind of its burden; the men in buckram multiplied as we went, and -perhaps I had been wrong in accepting the four hundred of the original -statement, for they had had plenty of time to breed during the -twenty-four hours that had elapsed between their departure and our -arrival. All the tents were occupied with preparations not for war but -for feasting. On the morrow fell the great festival of the Mohammedan -year, the Feast of Sacrifice, when the pilgrims in Mecca slaughter their -offerings and True Believers at home follow their example. By every tent -there was a huge pile of thorns wherewith to roast the camel or sheep -next day, and the shirts of the tribe were spread out to dry in the sun -after a washing which, I have reason to believe, takes place but once a -year. Towards sunset we reached a big encampment of the Beni Ḥassan, -where G̣ablān decided to spend the night. There was water in a muddy -pool near at hand and a good site for our tents above the hollow in -which the Arabs lay. None of the great sheikhs were camped there and, -mindful of Namrūd's warnings, I refused all invitations and spent the -evening at home, watching the sunset and the kindling of the cooking -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> -fires and the blue smoke that floated away into the twilight. The -sacrificial camel, in gorgeous trappings, grazed among my mules, and -after dark the festival was heralded by a prolonged letting off of -rifles. G̣ablān sat silent by the camp fire, his thoughts busy with -the merrymakings that were on foot at home. It went sorely against the -grain that he should be absent on such a day. "How many horsemen," said -he, "will alight to-morrow at my father's tent! and I shall not be there -to welcome them or to wish a good feast day to my little son!"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure41"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure41.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A DESERT WATER-COURSE</p></div> - -<p>We were off before the rejoicings had begun. I had no desire to assist -at the last moments of the camel, and moreover we had a long day before -us through country that was not particularly safe. As far as my caravan -was concerned, the risk was small. I had a letter in my pocket from -Fellāḥ ul 'Isa to Nasīb el Aṭrash, the Sheikh of Ṣalkhad in the -Jebel Druze. "To the renowned and honoured sheikh, Nasīb el Aṭrash," -it ran (I had heard my host dictate it to Namrūd and seen him seal it -with his seal), "the venerated, may God prolong his existence! We send -you greetings, to you and to all the people of Ṣalkhad, and to your -brother Jada'llah, and to the son of your uncle Muḥammad el Aṭrash -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> -in Umm er Rummān, and to our friends in Imtain. And further, there goes -to you from us a lady of the most noble among the English. And we greet -Muḥammada and our friends. . . . etc., (here followed another list of -names), and this is all that is needful, and peace be with you." And -beyond this letter I had the guarantee of my nationality, for the Druzes -have not yet forgotten our interference on their behalf in 1860; -moreover I was acquainted with several of the sheikhs of the Ṭurshān, -to which powerful family Nasīb belonged. But G̣ablān was in a -different case, and he was fully conscious of the ambiguity of his -position. In spite of his uncle's visit to the Mountain, he was not at -all certain how the Druzes would receive him; he was leaving the last -outposts of his allies, and entering a border land by tradition hostile -(he himself had no acquaintance with it but that which he had gathered -on raiding expeditions), and if he did not find enemies among the Druzes -he might well fall in with a scouring party of the bitter foes of the -Da'ja, the Ḥaseneh or their like, who camp east of the hills.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure42"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure42.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CAMELS OF THE ḤASENEH</p></div> - -<p>After an hour or two of travel, the character of the country changed -completely: the soft soil of the desert came to an end, and the volcanic -rocks of the Ḥaurān began. We rode for some time up a gulley of lava, -left the last of the Ḥassaniyyeh tents in a little open space between -some mounds, and found ourselves on the edge of a plain that, stretched -to the foot of the Jebel Druze in an unbroken expanse, completely -deserted, almost devoid of vegetation and strewn with black volcanic -stones. It has been said that the borders of the desert are like a rocky -shore on which the sailor who navigates deep waters with success may yet -be wrecked when he attempts to bring his ship to port. This was the -landing which we had to effect. Somewhere between us and the hills were -the ruins of Umm ej Jemāl, where I hoped to get into touch with the -Druzes, but for the life of us we could not tell where they lay, the -plain having just sufficient rise and fall to hide them. Now Umm ej -Jemāl has an evil name—I believe mine was the second European camp -that had ever been pitched in it, the first having been that of a party -of American archæologists who left a fortnight before I arrived—and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> -G̣ablān's evident anxiety enhanced its sinister reputation. Twice he -turned to me and asked whether it were necessary to camp there. I -answered that he had undertaken to guide me to Umm ej Jemāl, and that -there was no question but that I should go, and the second time I backed -my obstinacy by pointing out that we must have water that night for the -animals, and that there was little chance of finding it except in the -cisterns of the ruined village. Thereupon I had out my map, and after -trying to guess what point on the blank white paper we must have -reached, I turned my caravan a little to the west towards a low rise -from whence we should probably catch sight of our destination. G̣ablān -took the decision in good part and expressed regret that he could not be -of better service in directing us. He had been once in his life to Umm -ej Jemāl, but it was at dead of night when he was out raiding. He and -his party had stopped for half an hour to water their horses and had -passed on eastward, returning, by another route. Yes, it had been a -successful raid, praise be to God! and one of the first in which he had -engaged. Mikhāil listened with indifference to our deliberations, the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> -muleteers were not consulted, but as we set off again Ḥabīb tucked -his revolver more handily into his belt.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure43"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure43.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">UMM EJ JEMĀL</p></div> - -<p>We rode on. I was engaged in looking for the rasīf, the paved Roman -road that runs from Ḳal'at ez Zerka straight to Boṣrā, and also in -wondering what I should do to protect if necessary the friend and guide -whose pleasant companionship had enlivened our hours of travel and who -should certainly come to no harm while he was with us. As we drew nearer -to the rising ground we observed that it was crowned with sheepfolds, -and presently we could see men gathering their flocks together and -driving them behind the black walls, their hurried movements betraying -their alarm. We noticed also some figures, whether mounted or on foot it -was impossible to determine, advancing on us from a hollow to the left, -and after a moment two puffs of smoke rose in front of them, and we -heard the crack of rifles.</p> - -<p>G̣ablān turned to me with a quick gesture.</p> - -<p>"Ḍarabūna!" he said. "They have fired on us."</p> - -<p>I said aloud: "They are afraid," but to myself, "We're in for it."</p> - -<p>G̣ablān rose in his stirrups, dragged his fur-lined cloak from his -shoulders, wound it round his left arm and waved it above his head, and -very slowly he and I paced forward together. Another couple of shots -were fired, and still we rode forward, G̣ablān waving his flag of -truce. The firing ceased; it was nothing after all but the accepted -greeting to strangers, conducted with the customary levity of the -barbarian. Our assailants turned out to be two Arabs, grinning from ear -to ear, quite ready to fraternise with us as soon as they had decided -that we were not bent on sheep stealing, and most willing to direct us -to Umm ej Jemāl. As soon as we had rounded the tell we saw it in front -of us, its black towers and walls standing so boldly out of the desert -that it was impossible to believe it had been ruined and deserted for -thirteen hundred years. It was not till we came close that the rents and -gashes in the tufa masonry and the breaches in the city wall were -visible. I pushed forward and would have ridden straight into the heart -of the town, but G̣ablān caught me up and laid his hand upon my -bridle. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I go first," he said. "Oh lady, you were committed to my charge."</p> - -<p>And since he was the only person who incurred any risk and was well -aware of the fact, his resolution did him credit.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure44"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure44.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">WATERING CAMELS</p></div> - -<p>We clattered over the ruined wall, passed round the square monastery -tower which is the chief feature of the Mother of Camels (such is the -meaning of the Arabic name), and rode into an open place between empty -streets, and there was no one to fear and no sign of life save that -offered by two small black tents, the inhabitants of which greeted us -with enthusiasm, and proceeded to sell us milk and eggs in the most -amicable fashion. The Arabs who live at the foot of Ḥaurān mountains -are called the Jebeliyyeh, the Arabs of the Hills, and they are of no -consideration, being but servants and shepherds to the Druzes. In the -winter they herd the flocks that are sent down into the plain, and in -the summer they are allowed to occupy the uncultivated slopes with their -own cattle.</p> - -<p>I spent the hour of daylight that remained in examining the wonderful -Nabatæan necropolis outside the walls. Monsieur Dussaud began the work -on it five years ago; Mr. Butler and Dr. Littmann, whose visit -immediately preceded mine, will be found to have continued it when their -next volumes are given to the world. Having seen what tombs they had -uncovered and noted several mounds that must conceal others, I sent away -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> -my companions and wandered in the dusk through the ruined streets of the -town, into great rooms and up broken stairs, till G̣ablān came and -called me in, saying that if a man saw something in a fur coat exploring -those uncanny places after dark, he might easily take the apparition for -a ghoul and shoot at it. Moreover, he wished to ask me whether he might -not return to Ṭneib. One of the Arabs would guide us next day to the -first Druze village, and G̣ablān would as soon come no nearer to the -Mountain. I agreed readily, indeed it was a relief not to have his -safety on my conscience. He received three napoleons for his trouble and -a warm letter of thanks to deliver to Fellāḥ ul 'Isa, and we parted -with many assurances that if God willed we would travel together again.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure45"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure45.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">STRIKING CAMP</p></div> - -<p>The stony foot of the Jebel Ḥaurān is strewn with villages deserted -since the Mohammedan invasion in the seventh century. I visited two that -lay not far from my path, Shabḥa and Shabḥīyyeh, and found them to -be both of the same character as Umm ej Jemāl. From afar they look like -well-built towns with square towers rising above streets of -three-storied houses. Where the walls have fallen they lie as they fell, -and no hand has troubled to clear away the ruins. Monsieur de Vogüé -was the first to describe the architecture of the Ḥaurān; his -splendid volumes are still the principal source of information. The -dwelling-houses are built round a court in which there is usually an -outer stair leading to the upper story. There is no wood used in their -construction, even the doors are of solid stone, turning on stone -hinges, and the windows of stone slabs pierced with open-work patterns. -Sometimes there are traces of a colonnaded portico, or the walls are -broken by a double window, the arches of which are supported by a small -column and a rough plain capital; frequently the lintels of the doors -are adorned with a cross or a Christian monogram, but otherwise there is -little decoration. The chambers are roofed with stone slabs resting on -the back of transverse arches. So far as can be said with any certainty, -Nabatæan inscriptions and tombs are the oldest monuments that have been -discovered in the district; they are followed by many important remains -of pagan Rome, but the really flourishing period seems to have been the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> -Christian. After the Mohammadan invasion, which put an end to the -prosperity of the Ḥaurān uplands, few of the villages were -re-inhabited, and when the Druzes came about a hundred and fifty years -ago, they found no settled population. They made the Mountain their own, -rebuilt and thereby destroyed the ancient towns, and extended their -lordship over the plains to the south, though they have not established -themselves in the villages of that debatable land which remains a happy -hunting ground for the archæologist. The American expedition will make -good use of the immense amount of material that exists there, and -knowing that the work had been done by better hands than mine, I rolled -up the measuring tape and folded the foot-rule. But I could not so far -overcome a natural instinct as to cease from copying inscriptions, and -the one or two (they were extremely few) that had escaped Dr. Littmann's -vigilant eye and come by chance to me were made over to him when we met -in Damascus.</p> - -<p>To our new guide, Fendi, fell the congenial task of posting me up in the -gossip of the Mountain. Death had been busy among the great family of -the Turshān during the past five years. Fāiz el Aṭrash, Sheikh of -Kreyeh, was gone, poisoned said some, and a week or two before my -arrival the most renowned of all the leaders of the Druzes, Shibly Beg -el Aṭrash, had died of a mysterious and lingering illness—poison -again, it was whispered. There was this war and that on hand, a terrible -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> -raid of the Arabs of the Wādy Sirḥān to be avenged, and a score with -the Ṣukhūr to be settled, but on the whole there was prosperity, and -as much peace as a Druze would wish to enjoy. The conversation was -interrupted by a little shooting at rabbits lying asleep in the sun, not -a gentlemanly sport perhaps, but one that helped to fill and to -diversify the pot. After a time I left the mules and Fendi to go their -own way, and taking Mikhāil with me, made a long circuit to visit the -ruined towns. We were just finishing lunch under a broken wall, well -separated from the rest of the party, when we saw two horsemen -approaching us across the plain. We swept up the remains of the lunch -and mounted hastily, feeling that any greeting they might accord us was -better met in the saddle. They stopped in front of us and gave us the -salute, following it with an abrupt question as to where we were going. -I answered: "To Ṣalkhād, to Nasīb el Aṭrash," and they let us pass -without further remark. They were not Druzes, for they did not wear the -Druze turban, but Christians from Ḳreyeh, where there is a large -Christian community, riding down to Umm ej Jemāl to visit the winter -quarters of their flocks, so said Fendi, whom they had passed a mile -ahead. Several hours before we reached the present limits of -cultivation, we saw the signs of ancient agriculture in the shape of -long parallel lines of stones heaped aside from earth that had once been -fruitful. They looked like the ridge and furrow of a gigantic meadow, -and like the ridge and furrow they are almost indelible, the mark of -labour that must have ceased with the Arab invasion. At the foot of the -first spur of the hills, Tell esh Shīḥ (it is called after the -grey white Shīḥ plant which is the best pasturage for sheep), we left -the unharvested desert and entered the region of ploughed fields—we -left, too, the long clean levels of the open wilderness and were caught -fetlock deep in the mud of a Syrian road. It led us up the hill to Umm -er Rummān, the Mother of Pomegranates, on the edge of the lowest -plateau of the Jebel Druze, as bleak a little muddy spot as you could -hope to see. I stopped at the entrance of the village, and asked a group -of Druzes where I should find a camping ground, and they directed me to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -an extremely dirty place below the cemetery, saying there was no other -where I should not spoil the crops or the grass, though the crops. -Heaven save the mark! were as yet below ground, and the grass consisted -of a few brown spears half covered with melting snow. I could not -entertain the idea of pitching tents so near the graveyard, and demanded -to be directed to the house of Muḥammad el Aṭrash, Sheikh of Umm er -Rummān. This prince of the Ṭurshān was seated upon his roof, engaged -in directing certain agricultural operations that were being carried -forward in the slough below. Long years had made him shapeless of figure -and the effect was enhanced by the innumerable garments in which the -winter cold had forced him to wrap his fat old body. I came as near as -the mud would allow, and shouted:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure46"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure46.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MUḤAMMAD EL AṬRASH</p></div> - -<p>"Peace be upon you, oh Sheikh!"</p> - -<p>"And upon you peace!" he bawled in answer.</p> - -<p>"Where in your village is there a dry spot for a camp?"</p> - -<p>The sheikh conferred at the top of his voice with his henchmen in the -mud, and finally replied that he did not know, by God! While I was -wondering where to turn, a Druze stepped forward and announced that he -could show me a place outside the town, and the sheikh, much relieved by -the shifting of responsibility, gave me a loud injunction to go in -peace, and resumed his occupations.</p> - -<p>My guide was a young man with the clear cut features and the sharp -intelligent expression of his race. He was endowed, too, like all his -kin, with a lively curiosity, and as he hopped from side to side of the -road to avoid the pools of mud and slush, he had from me all my story, -whence I came and whither I was going, who were my friends in the Jebel -Druze and what my father's name—very different this from the custom -of the Arabs, with whom it is an essential point of good breeding never to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> -demand more than the stranger sees fit to impart. In Aṭ Ṭabari's -history there is a fine tale of a man who sought refuge with an Arab -sheikh. He stayed on, and the sheikh died, and his son who ruled in his -stead advanced in years, and at length the grandson of the original host -came to his father and said: "Who is the man who dwells with us" And the -father answered: "My son, in my father's time he came, and my father -grew old and died, and he stayed on under my protection, and I too have -grown old; but in all these years we have never asked him why he sought -us nor what is his name. Neither do thou ask." Yet I rejoiced to find -myself once more among the trenchant wits and the searching -koḥl-blackened eyes of the Mountain, where every question calls for a -quick retort or a brisk parry, and when my interlocutor grew too -inquisitive I had only to answer:</p> - -<p>"Listen, oh you! I am not 'thou,' but 'Your Excellency,'" and he -laughed and understood and took the rebuke to heart.</p> - -<p>There are many inscriptions in Umm er Rummān, a few Nabatæan and the -rest Cufic, proving that the town on the shelf of the hills was an early -settlement and that it was one of those the Arabs re-occupied for a time -after the invasion. A delighted crowd of little boys followed me from -house to house, tumbling over one another in their eagerness to point -out a written stone built into a wādi or laid in the flooring about the -hearth. In one house a woman caught me by the arm and implored me to -heal her husband. The man was lying in a dark corner of the windowless -room, with his face wrapped in filthy bandages, and when these had been -removed a horrible wound was revealed, the track of a bullet that had -passed through the cheek and shattered the jaw. I could do nothing but -give him an antiseptic, and adjure the woman to wash the wound and keep -the wrappings clean, and above all not to let him drink the medicine, -though I felt it would make small odds which way he used it, Death had -him so surely by the heel. This was the first of the long roll of -sufferers that must pass before the eyes and catch despairingly at the -sympathies of every traveller in wild places. Men and women afflicted -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> -with ulcers and terrible sores, with fevers and rheumatisms, children -crippled from their birth, the blind and the old, there are none who do -not hope that the unmeasured wisdom of the West may find them a remedy. -You stand aghast at the depths of human misery and at your own -helplessness.</p> - -<p>The path of archæology led me at last to the sheikh's door, and I went -in to pay him an official visit. He was most hospitably inclined now -that the business of the day was over; we sat together in the maḳ'ad, -the audience room, a dark and dirty sort of out-house, with an iron -stove in the centre of it, and discussed the Japanese War and desert -ghazus and other topics of the day, while Selmān, the sheikh's son, a -charming boy of sixteen, made us coffee. Muḥammad is brother-in-law to -Shibly and to Yahya Beg el Aṭrāsh, who had been my first host five -years before when I had escaped to his village of 'Areh from the Turkish -Mudir at Boṣrā, and Selmān is the only son of his father's old age -and the only, descendant of the famous 'Areh house of the Ṭurshān, -for Shibly died and Yahya lives childless. The boy walked back with me -to my camp, stepping lightly through the mud, a gay and eager figure -touched with the air of distinction that befits one who comes of a noble -stock. He had had no schooling, though there was a big Druze maktab at -Kreyeh, fifteen miles away, kept by a Christian of some learning.</p> - -<p>"My father holds me so precious," he explained, "that he will not let me -leave his side."</p> - -<p>"Oh Selmān," I began——</p> - -<p>"Oh God!" he returned, using the ejaculation customary to one addressed -by name.</p> - -<p>"The minds of the Druzes are like fine steel, but what is steel until it -is beaten into a sword blade?"</p> - -<p>Selmān answered: "My uncle Shibly could neither read nor write."</p> - -<p>I said: "The times are changed. The house of the Turshān will need -trained wits if it would lead the Mountain as it did before."</p> - -<p>But that headship is a thing of the past. Shibly is dead and Yahya -childless, Muḥammad is old and Selmān undeveloped, Fāiz has left -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> -four sons but they are of no repute, Nasīb is cunning but very -ignorant, there is Muṣṭafa at Imtain, who passes for a worthy man of -little intelligence, and Ḥamūd at Sweida, who is distinguished mainly -for his wealth. The ablest man among the Druzes is without doubt Abu -Tellāl of Shaḥba, and the most enlightened Sheikh Muḥammad en -Naṣṣār.</p> - -<p>The night was bitterly cold. My thermometer had been broken, so that the -exact temperature could not be registered, but every morning until we -reached Damascus the water in the cup by my bedside was a solid piece of -ice, and one night a little tumbling stream outside the camp was frozen -hard and silent. The animals and the muleteers were usually housed in a -khān while the frost lasted. Muḥammad the Druze, who had returned to -his original name and faith, disappeared the moment camp was pitched, -and spent the night enjoying the hospitality of his relations. "For," -said Mikhāil sarcastically, "every man who can give him a meal he -reckons to be the son of his uncle."</p> - -<p>I was obliged to delay my start next morning in order to profit by the -sheikh's invitation to breakfast at a very elastic nine o'clock—two -hours after sunrise was what was said, and who knows exactly when it may -suit that luminary to appear? It was a pleasant party. We discussed the -war in Yemen in all its bearings—theoretically, for I was the only -person who had any news, and mine was derived from a <i>Weekly Times</i> a -month old—and then Muḥammad questioned me as to why Europeans looked -for inscriptions.</p> - -<p>"But I think I know," he added. "It is that they may restore the land to -the lords of it."</p> - -<p>I assured him that the latest descendants of the former owners of the -Ḥaurān had been dead a thousand years, and he listened politely and -changed the subject with the baffled air of one who cannot get a true -answer.</p> - -<p>The young man who had shown us our camping ground rode with us to -Ṣalkhad, saying he had business there and might as well have company -by the way. His name was Ṣāleh; he was of a clerkly family, a reader -and a scribe. I was so tactless as to ask him whether he were 'ākil, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> -initiated—the Druzes are divided into the initiated and the -uninitiated, but the line of demarcation does not follow that of social -pre-eminence, since most of the Ṭurshān are uninitiated. He gave me a -sharp look, and replied:</p> - -<p>"What do you think?" and I saw my error and dropped the subject.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure47"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure47.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">DESERT FLORA AND FAUNA</p></div> - -<p>But Ṣāleh was not one to let slip any opportunity of gaining -information. He questioned me acutely on our customs, down to the laws -of marriage and divorce. He was vastly entertained at the English rule -that the father should pay a man for marrying his daughter (so he -interpreted the habit of giving her a marriage portion), and we laughed -together over the absurdity of the arrangement. He was anxious to know -Western views as to the creation of the world and the origin of matter, -and I obliged him with certain heterodox opinions, on which he seized -with far greater lucidity than that with which they were offered. We -passed an agreeable morning, in spite of the mud and boulders of the -road. At the edge of the snow wreaths a little purple crocus had made -haste to bloom, and a starry white garlic—the Mountain is very rich -in Spring flowers. The views to the south over the great plain we had -crossed were enchanting; to the north the hills rose in unbroken slopes -of snow, Ḳuleib, the Little Heart, looking quite Alpine with its -frosty summit half veiled in mist. Two hours after noon we reached -Ṣalkhad, the first goal of our journey. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></h4> - - -<p>Salcah, the city of King Og in Bashan, must have been a fortified place -from the beginning of history. The modern village clusters round the -base of a small volcano, on the top of which, built in the very crater, -is the ruined fortress. This fortress and its predecessors in the crater -formed the outpost of the Ḥaurān Mountains against the desert, the -outpost of the earliest civilisation against the earliest marauders. The -ground drops suddenly to the south and east, and, broken only by one or -two volcanic mounds in the immediate neighbourhood, settles itself down -into the long levels that reach Euphrates stream; straight as an arrow -from a bow the Roman road runs out from Ṣalkhad into the desert in a -line that no modern traveller has followed beyond the first two or three -stages. The caravan track to Nejd begins here and passes by Kāf and -Ethreh along the Wādi Sirḥan to Jōf and Ḥāil, a perilous way, -though the Blunts pursued it successfully and Euting after them. -Euting's description of it, done with all the learning and the minute -observation of the German, is the best we have. Due south of Ṣalkhad -there is an interesting ruined fort, Ḳal'at el Azrak, in an oasis -where there are thickets full of wild boar: Dussaud visited it and has -given an excellent account of his journey. No doubt there is more to be -found still; the desert knows many a story that has not yet been told, -and at Ṣalkhad it is difficult to keep your feet from turning south, -so invitingly mysterious are those great plains.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure48"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure48.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE CASTLE, ṢALKHAD</p></div> - -<p>I went at once to the house of Nasīb el Atrāsh and presented Fellāḥ -ul 'Isa's letter. Nasīb is a man of twenty-seven, though he looks ten -years older, short in stature and sleek, with shrewd features of a type -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> -essentially Druze and an expression that is more cunning than pleasant. -He received me in his maḳ'ad, where he was sitting with his brother -Jada'llah, a tall young man with a handsome but rather stupid face, who -greeted me with "Bon jour," and then relapsed into silence, having come -to the end of all the French he knew. Just as he had borrowed one phrase -from a European tongue, so he had borrowed one article of dress from -European wardrobes: a high stick-up collar was what he had selected, and -it went strangely with his Arab clothes. There were a few Druzes -drinking coffee in the maḳ'ad, and one other whom I instantly -diagnosed as an alien. He turned out to be the Mudīr el Māl of the -Turkish government—I do not know what his exact functions are, but -his title implies him to be an agent of the Treasury. Ṣalkhad is one of -three villages in Jebel Druze (the others being Sweida and 'Areh) where -the Sultan has a Kāimaḳām and a telegraph station. Yūsef Effendi, -Kāimaḳām, and Milḥēm Iliān, Mudīr el Māl, were considerably -surprised when I turned up from the desert without warning or -permission; they despatched three telegrams daily to the Vāli of -Damascus, recounting all that I did and said, and though I was on the -best of terms with both of them, finding indeed Milḥēm to be by far -the most intelligent and agreeable man in the village, I fear I caused -them much perturbation of mind. And here let me say that my experience -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> -of Turkish officials leads me to count them among the most polite and -obliging of men. If you come to them with the proper certificates there -is nothing they will not do to help you; when they stop you it is -because they are obliged to obey orders from higher authorities; and -even when you set aside, as from time to time you must, refusals that -are always couched in language conciliatory to a fault, they conceal -their just annoyance and bear you no ill will for the trouble you have -caused them. The government agents at Ṣalkhad occupy an uneasy -position. It is true that there has been peace in the Mountain for the -past five years, but the Druzes are a slippery race and one quick to -take offence. Milḥēm understood them well, and his appointment to the -new post of Ṣalkhad is a proof of the Vāli's genuine desire to avoid -trouble in the future. He had been at Sweida for many years before he -came to Ṣalkhad; he was a Christian, and therefore not divided from -the Druzes by the unbridged gulf of hatred that lies between them and -Islām, and he was fully aware that Turkish rule in the Jebel Ḥaurān -depends on how little demand is made on a people nominally subject and -practically independent. Yūsef Effendi was not far behind him in the -strength of his conviction on this head, and he had the best of reasons -for realising how shadowy his authority was. There are not more than two -hundred Turkish soldiers in all the Mountain; the rest of the Ottoman -forces are Druze zaptiehs, well pleased to wear a government uniform and -draw government pay, on the rare occasions when it reaches them, though -they can hardly be considered a trustworthy guard if serious differences -arise between their own people and the Sultan. To all outward appearance -Nasīb and his brother were linked by the closest bonds of friendship -with the Kāimaḳām; they were for ever sitting in his maḳ'ad and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> -drinking his coffee, but once when we happened to be alone together, -Yūsef Effendi said pathetically in his stilted Turkish Arabic: "I never -know what they are doing: they look on me as an enemy. And if they wish -to disobey orders from Damascus, they cut the telegraph wire and go -their own way. What power have I to prevent them?"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure49"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure49.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">NASĪB EL AṬRASH</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure50"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure50.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A GROUP OF DRUZES</p></div> - -<p>Nevertheless there are signs that the turbulent people of the Mountain -have turned their minds to other matters than war with the Osmanli, and -among the chief of these are the steam mills that grind the corn of -Ṣalkhad and a few villages besides. A man who owns a steam mill is -pledged to maintain the existing order. He has built it at considerable -expense, he does not wish to see it wrecked by an invading Turkish army -and his capital wasted; on the contrary, he hopes to make money from it, -and his restless energies find a new and profitable outlet in that -direction. My impression is that peace rests on a much firmer basis than -it did five years ago, and that the Ottoman government has not been slow -to learn the lessons of the last war—if only the Vāli of Damascus -could have known how favourable an opinion his recent measures would -force on the mind of the intriguing Englishwoman, he might have spared -his telegraph clerks several hours' work.</p> - -<p>There could scarcely have been a better example of the freedom with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> -which the Druzes control their own affairs than was offered by an -incident that took place on the very evening of my arrival. It has -already been intimated on the authority of Fendi that the relations -between the Mountain and the Desert were fraught with the usual -possibilities of martial incident, and we had not spent an afternoon in -Ṣalkhad without discovering that the great raid that had occurred some -months previously was the topic that chiefly interested Nasīb and his -brother. Not that they spoke of it in their conversations with me, but -they listened eagerly when we told of the raid on the Ḥassan yyeh and -the part the Ṣukhūr had played in it, and they drew from us all we -knew or conjectured as to the present camping grounds of the latter -tribe, how far the raiders had come, and in which direction retreated. -The muleteers overheard men whispering at the street corners, and their -whispers were of warlike preparations; the groups round Mikhāil's fire, -ever a centre of social activity, spoke of injuries that could not be -allowed to pass unnoticed, and one of the many sons of Muḥammad's -uncle had provided that famished Beyrouti with a lunch flavoured with -dark hints of a league between the Wādi Sirḥan and the Beni Ṣakhr -which must be nipped in the bud ere it had assumed alarming proportions. -The wave of the ghazu can hardly reach as far as Ṣalkhad itself, but -the harm is done long before it touches that point, especially in the -winter when every four-footed creature, except the mare necessary for -riding, is far away in the southern plain.</p> - -<p>My camp was pitched in a field outside the town at the eastern foot of -the castle hill. The slopes to the north were deep in snow up to the -ruined walls of the fortress, and even where we lay there were a few -detached snowdrifts glittering under the full moon. I had just finished -dinner, and was debating whether it were too cold to write my diary, -when a sound of savage singing broke upon the night, and from the -topmost walls of the castle a great flame leapt up into the sky. It was -a beacon kindled to tell the news of the coming raid to the many Druze -villages scattered over the plain below, and the song was a call to -arms. There was a Druze zaptieh sitting by my camp fire; he jumped up -and gazed first at me and then at the red blaze above us. I said: -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure51"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure51.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">FROM ṢALKHAD CASTLE, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Is there permission to my going up?"</p> - -<p>He answered: "There is no refusal. Honour us."</p> - -<p>We climbed together over the half frozen mud, and by the snowy northern -side of the volcano, edged our way in the darkness round the castle -walls where the lava ashes gave beneath our feet, and came out into the -full moonlight upon the wildest scene that eyes could see. A crowd of -Druzes, young men and boys, stood at the edge of the moat on a narrow -shoulder of the hill. They were all armed with swords and knives and -they were shouting phrase by phrase a terrible song. Each line of it was -repeated twenty times or more until it seemed to the listener that it -had been bitten, as an acid bites the brass, onto the intimate recesses -of the mind.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Upon them, upon them! oh Lord our God! that the foe may fall</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">in swathes before our swords!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Upon them, upon them! that our spears may drink at their hearts!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Let the babe leave his mother's breast!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Let the young man arise and be gone!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Upon them, upon them! oh Lord our God! that our swords may</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">drink at their hearts. . . ."</span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>So they sang, and it was as though the fury of their anger would never -end, as though the castle walls would never cease from echoing their -interminable rage and the night never again know silence, when suddenly -the chant stopped and the singers drew apart and formed themselves into -a circle, every man holding his neighbours by the hand. Into the circle -stepped three young Druzes with bare swords, and strode round the ring -of eager boys that enclosed them. Before each in turn they stopped and -shook their swords and cried:</p> - -<p>"Are you a good man? Are you a true man?"</p> - -<p>And each one answered with a shout:</p> - -<p>"Ha! ha!"</p> - -<p>The moonlight fell on the dark faces and glittered on the quivering -blades, the thrill of martial ardour passed from hand to clasped hand, -and earth cried to heaven: War! red war!</p> - -<p>And then one of the three saw me standing in the circle, and strode up -and raised his sword above his head, as though nation saluted nation.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Lady!" he said, "the English and the Druze are one."</p> - -<p>I said: "Thank God! we, too, are a fighting race."</p> - -<p>Indeed, at that moment there seemed no finer thing than to go out and -kill your enemy.</p> - -<p>And when this swearing in of warriors was over, we ran down the hill -under the moon, still holding hands, and I, seeing that some were only -children not yet full grown, said to the companion whose hand chance had -put in mine:</p> - -<p>"Do all these go out with you?"</p> - -<p>He answered: "By God! not all. The ungrown boys must stay at home and -pray to God that their day may soon come."</p> - -<p>When they reached the entrance of the town, the Druzes leapt on to a -flat house roof, and took up their devilish song. The fire had burnt out -on the castle walls, the night struck suddenly cold, and I began to -doubt whether if Milḥēm and the Vāli of Damascus could see me taking -part in a demonstration against the Ṣukhūr they would believe in the -innocence of my journey; so I turned away into the shadow and ran down -to my tents and became a European again, bent on peaceful pursuits and -unacquainted with the naked primitive passions of mankind.</p> - -<p>We had certain inquiries to make concerning our journey, and stores to -lay in before we set out for the eastern side of the Mountain, where -there are no big villages, and therefore we spent two days at Ṣalkhad. -The great difficulty of the commissariat is barley for the animals. -There had been enough for our needs at Umm er Rummān, but there was -none at Ṣalkhad; it is always to be got at Sweida, which is the chief -post of the Turkish government, but that was far away across the hills, -and we decided to send down to Imtein, the path thither being bare of -snow. It is worth recording that in the winter, when all the flocks are -several hours away in the plain, it is impossible to buy a sheep in the -Mountain, and the traveller has to make shift with such scraggy chickens -as he may find. The want of foresight which had left our larder so -ill-furnished affected Mikhāil considerably, for he prided himself on -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> -the roasting of a leg of mutton, and he asked me how it was that all the -books I had with me had not hinted at the absence of the animal that -could supply that delicacy. I answered that the writers of these works -seemed to have been more concerned with Roman remains than with such -weighty matters as roasts and stews, whereat he said firmly:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure52"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure52.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲREYEH</p></div> - -<p>"When your Excellency writes a book, you will not say: 'Here there is a -beautiful church and a great castle.' The gentry can see that for -themselves. But you shall say: 'In this village there are no hens.' Then -they will know from the beginning what sort of country it is."</p> - -<p>The first day of my visit I spent with Nasīb, watching him give orders -for the grinding of the corn needed for the coming military expedition -(to which we sedulously avoided any allusion), photographing him and the -notables of his village, and lunching with him in his maḳ'ad on gritty -brown-paper-like bread and dibs, a kind of treacle made from boiled -grape juice, and a particularly nasty sort of soup of sour milk with scraps -of fat mixed in it—<i>kirk</i> the Druzes call it and hold it in an -unwarrantable esteem. In the afternoon Nasīb was riding some ten miles -to the south, to settle a dispute that had arisen between two of his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> -villages, and he invited me to accompany him; but I thought that there -were probably other matters on hand, in which it might be awkward if a -stranger were to assist, and I compromised by agreeing to go with him -for an hour and turn aside to visit a shrine on top of a tell, the Weli -of El Khuḍr, who is no other than our St. George. Nasīb rode out in -style with twenty armed men by his side, himself arrayed in a long -mantle of dark blue cloth embroidered in black, with a pale blue -handkerchief tucked into the folds of the white turban that encircled -his tarbūsh. The cavalcade looked very gallant, each man wrapped in a -cloak and carrying his rifle across his knees. These rifles were handed -to me one by one that I might read the lettering on them. They were of -many different dates and origins, some antiquated pieces stolen from -Turkish soldiers, the most French and fairly modern, while a few came -from Egypt and were marked with V.R. and the broad arrow. Nasīb rode -with me for a time and catechised me on my social status, whether I -would ride at home with the King of England, and what was the extent of -my father's wealth. His curiosity was not entirely without a motive; the -Druzes are always hoping to find some very rich European whose -sympathies they could engage, and who would finance and arm them if -another war were to break out with the Sultan; but so contemptuous was -he of the modest competence which my replies revealed, that I was roused -to ask subsequently, by methods more tactful than those of Nasīb, what -was wealth in the Mountain. The answer was that the richest of the -Ṭurshān, Ḥamūd of Sweida, had an income of about 5000 napoleons. -Nasīb himself was not so well off. He had some 1000 napoleons yearly. -Probably it comes to him mainly in kind; all revenues are derived from -land, and vary considerably with the fortunes of the agricultural year. -The figures given me were, I should think, liberal, and depended on a -reckoning according with the best harvest rather than with the mean.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure53"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure53.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A DRUZE PLOUGHBOY</p></div> - -<p>Presently Nasīb fell behind and engaged in a whispered conversation -with an old man who was his chief adviser, while the others crowded -round me and told me tales of the desert and of great ruins to the -south, which they were prepared to show me if I would stay with them. At -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> -the foot of the tell we met a group of horsemen waiting to impart to -Nasīb some important news about the Arabs. Mikhāil and I stood aside, -having seen our host look doubtfully at us out of the comers of his -eyes. That the tidings were not good was all we heard, and no one could -have learnt even that from Nasīb's crafty unmoved face and eyes -concealed beneath the lids as if he wished to make sure that they should -not reveal a single flash of his thoughts. Here we left him, to his -evident relief, and rode up the tell. Now there is never a prominent -hill in the Jebel Druze but it bears a sanctuary on its summit, and the -building is always one of those early monuments of the land that date -back to the times before Druze or Turk came into it. What is their -history? Were they erected to Nabatæan gods of rock and hill, to -Drusāra and Allāt and the pantheon of the Semitic inscriptions whom -the desert worshipped with sacrifice at the Ka'abah and on many a -solitary mound? If this be so the old divinities still bear sway under -changed names, still smell the blood of goats and sheep sprinkled on the -black doorposts of their dwellings, still hear the prayers of pilgrims -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> -carrying green boughs and swathes of flowers. As at the Well of El -Khuḍr, there is always in the interior of the sanctuary an erection -like a sarcophagus, covered with shreds of coloured rags, and when you -lift the rags and peer beneath you find some queer block of tufa, worn -smooth with libations and own brother to the Black Stone at Mecca. Near -at hand there is a stone basin for water—the water was iced over that -day, and the snow had drifted in through the stone doors and was melting -through the roof, so that it lay in muddy pools on the floor.</p> - -<p>The next day was exceedingly cold, with a leaden sky and a bitter wind, -the forerunner of snow. Milḥēm Iliān came down to invite me to lodge -with him, but I refused, fearing that I should feel the temperature of -my tent too icy after his heated room. He stayed some time and I took -the opportunity of discussing with him my plan of riding out into the -Ṣafa, the volcanic waste east of the Jebel Druze. He was not at all -encouraging, indeed he thought the project impossible under existing -conditions, for it seemed that the Ghiāth, the tribe that inhabits the -Ṣāfa, were up in arms against the Government. They had waylaid and -robbed the desert post that goes between Damascus and Baghdad, and were -expecting retribution at the hands of the Vāli. I f therefore a small -escort of zaptiehs were to be sent in with me they would assuredly be -cut to pieces. Milḥēm agreed, however, that it might be possible to -go in alone with the Druzes though anything short of an army of soldiers -would be useless, and he promised to give me a letter to Muḥammad en -Naṣṣār, Sheikh of Ṣāleh, whom he described as a good friend of -his and a man of influence and judgment. The Ghiāth are in the same -position with regard to the Druzes as are the Jebeliyyeh; they cannot -afford not to be on good terms with the Mountain, since they are -dependent on the high pasturages during the summer.</p> - -<p>Towards sunset I returned Milḥēm's visit. His room was full of -people, including Nasīb newly returned from his expedition. They made -me tell them of my recent experiences in the desert, and I found that -all my friends were counted as foes by the Druzes and that they have no -allies save the Ghiāth and the Jebeliyyeh—the Sherarāt, the Da'ja, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> -the Beni Ḥassan, there was a score of blood against them all. In the -desert the word <i>gōm</i>, foe, is second to none save only that of -<i>daif</i>, guest, but in the Mountain it comes easily first. I said:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure54"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure54.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">BOṢRA ESKI SHĀM</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh Nasīb, the Druzes are like those of whom Kureyt ibn Uneif sang when -he said: 'A people who when evil bares its teeth against them, fly out -to meet it in companies or alone.'"</p> - -<p>The sheikh's subtle countenance relaxed for a second, but the talk was -drifting too near dangerous subjects, and he rose shortly afterwards and -took his leave. His place was filled by new comers (Milḥēm's -coffee-pots must be kept boiling from dawn till late at night), and -presently one entered whom they all rose to salute. He was a Kurdish -Agha, a fine old man with a white moustache and a clean-shaven chin, who -comes down from Damascus from time to time on some business of his own. -Milḥēm is a native of Damascus, and had much to ask and hear; the -talk left desert topics and swung round to town dwellers and their ways -and views.</p> - -<p>"Look you, your Excellencies," said a man who was making coffee over the -brazier, "there is no religion in the towns as there is in country -places."</p> - -<p>"Yes," pursued Milḥēm—</p> - -<p>"May God make it Yes upon you!" ejaculated the Kurd.</p> - -<p>"May God requite you, oh Agha! You may find men in the Great Mosque at -Damascus at the Friday prayers and a few perhaps at Jerusalem, but in -Beyrout and in Smyrna the mosques are empty and the churches are empty. -There is no religion any more."</p> - -<p>"My friends," said the Agha, "I will tell you the reason. In the country -men are poor and they want much. Of whom should they ask it but of God? -There is none other that is compassionate to the poor save He alone. But -in the towns they are rich, they have got all they desire, and why -should they pray to God if they want nothing? The lady laughs—is it -not so among her own people?"</p> - -<p>I confessed that there was very little difference in this matter between -Europe and Asia and presently left the party to pursue their coffee -drinking and their conversation without me.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> - -<p>Late at night some one came knocking at my tent and a woman's voice -cried to me:</p> - -<p>"Lady, lady! a mother's heart (are not the English merciful?) listen to -the sorrow of a mother's heart and take this letter to my son!"</p> - -<p>I asked the unseen suppliant where her son was to be found.</p> - -<p>"In Tripoli, in Tripoli of the West. He is a soldier and an exile, who -came not back with the others after the war. Take this letter, and send -it by a sure hand from Damascus, for there is no certainty in the posts -of Ṣalkhad."</p> - -<p>I unfastened the tent and took the letter, she crying the while:</p> - -<p>"The wife of Nasīb told me that you were generous. A mother's heart, -you understand, a mother's heart that mourns!"</p> - -<p>So she departed weeping, and I sent the mysterious letter by the English -post from Beyrout, but whether it ever reached Tripoli of the West and -the Druze exile we shall not know.</p> - -<p>The Ḳāimaḳām came out to see us off next morning and provided us -with a Druze zaptieh to show us the way to Ṣāleh. The wind was -searchingly cold, and the snow was reported to lie very deep on the -hills, for which reason we took the lower road by Ormān, a village -memorable as the scene of the outbreak of the last war. Milḥēm had -entrusted my guide, Yūsef, with the mail that had just come in to -Ṣalkhad; it consisted of one letter only, and that was for a -Christian, an inhabitant of Ormān, whom we met outside the village. It -was from Massachusetts, from one of his three sons who had emigrated to -America and were all doing well, praise be to God! They had sent him -thirty liras between them the year before: he bubbled over with joyful -pride as we handed him the letter containing fresh news of them. At Ormān -the road turned upwards—I continue to call it a road for want of -a name bad enough for it. It is part of the Druze system of defence that -there shall be no track in the Mountain wide enough for two to go -abreast or smooth enough to admit of any pace beyond a stumbling walk, -and it is the part that is the most successfully carried out. We were -soon in snow, half melted, half frozen, concealing the holes in the path -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> -but not firm enough to prevent the animals from breaking through into -them. Occasionally there were deep drifts on which the mules embarked -with the utmost confidence only to fall midway and scatter their packs, -while the horses plunged and reared till they almost unseated us. -Mikhāil, who was no rider, bit the slush several times. The makers of -the Palestine Exploration map have allowed their fancy to play freely -over the eastern slopes of the Jebel Druze. Hills have hopped along for -miles, and villages have crossed ravines and settled themselves on the -opposite banks, as, for instance, Abu Zreik, which stands on the left -bank of the Wādi Rājil, though the map places it on the right. At the -time it all seemed to fit in with the general malevolence of that day's -journey, and our misery culminated when we entered on an interminable -snow field swept by a blizzard of cutting sleet. At the dim end of it, -quite unapproachably far away, we could just see through the sleet the -slopes on which Ṣāleh stands, but as we plodded on mile after mile -(it was useless to attempt to ride on our stumbling animals and far too -cold besides) we gradually came nearer, and having travelled seven hours -to accomplish a four hours' march, we splashed and waded late in the -afternoon though the mounds of slush and pools of water that did duty as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> -streets. There was not a dry place in all the village, and the snow was -falling heavily; clearly there was nothing to be done but to beat at the -door of Muḥammad en Naṣṣār, who has an honoured reputation for -hospitality, and I made the best of my way up steps sheeted with ice to -his maḳ'ad.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure55"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure55.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE VILLAGE GATEWAY, ḤABRĀN</p></div> - -<p>If Providence owed us any compensation for the discomforts of the day, -it paid us, or at least it paid me, full measure and running over, by -the enchanting evening that I spent in the sheikh's house. Muḥammad en -Naṣṣār is a man full of years and wisdom who has lived to see a -large family of sons and nephews grow up round him, and to train their -quick wits by his own courteous and gracious example. All the Druzes are -essentially gentlefolk; but the house of the sheikhs of Ṣāleh could -not be outdone in good breeding, natural and acquired, by the noblest of -the aristocratic races, Persian or Rajputs, or any others distinguished -beyond their fellows. Milḥēm's letter was quite unnecessary to ensure -me a welcome; it was enough that I was cold and hungry and an -Englishwoman. The fire in the iron stove was kindled, my wet outer -garments taken from me, cushions and carpets spread on the divans under -the sheikh's directions, and all the band of his male relations, direct -and collateral, dropped in to enliven the evening. We began well. I knew -that Oppenheim had taken his escort from Ṣāleh when he went into the -Ṣafa, and I happened to have his book with me—how often had I -regretted that a wise instinct had not directed my choice towards -Dussaud's two admirable volumes, rather than to Oppenheim's ponderous -work, packed with information that was of little use on the present -journey! The great merit of the book lies in the illustrations, and -fortunately there was among them a portrait of Muḥammad en Naṣṣār -with his two youngest children. Having abstracted Kiepert's maps, I was -so generous as to present the tome to one of the family who had -accompanied the learned German upon his expedition. It has remained at -Ṣāleh to be a joy and a glory to the sheikhs, who will look at the -pictures and make no attempt to grapple with the text, and the hole in -my bookshelves is well filled by the memory of their pleasure.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure56"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure56.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A DRUZE MAḲ'AD, ḤABRĀN</p></div> - -<p>We talked without ceasing during the whole evening, with a brief -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> -interval when an excellent dinner was brought in. The old sheikh, Yūsef -the zaptieh, and I partook of it together, and the eldest of the nephews -and cousins finished up the ample remains. The topic that interested -them most at Ṣāleh was the Japanese War—indeed it was in that -direction that conversation invariably turned in the Mountain, the -reason being that the Druzes believe the Japanese to belong to their own -race. The line of argument which has led them to this astonishing -conclusion is simple. The secret doctrines of their faith hold out hopes -that some day an army of Druzes will burst out of the furthest limits of -Asia and conquer the world. The Japanese had shown indomitable courage, -the Druzes also are brave; the Japanese had been victorious, the Druzes -of prophecy will be unconquerable: therefore the two are one and the -same. The sympathy of every one, whether in Syria or in Asia Minor, is -on the side of the Japanese, with the single exception of the members of -the Orthodox Church, who look on Russia as their protector. It seems -natural that the Ottoman government should rejoice to witness the -discomfiture of their secular foes, but it is more difficult to account -for the pleasure of Arab, Druze (apart from the secret hope of the -Druzes above mentioned), and Kurd, between whom and the Turk there is no -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> -love lost. These races are not wont to be gratified by the overthrow of -the Sultan's enemies, a class to which they themselves generally belong. -At bottom there is no doubt a certain <i>Schadenfreude</i>, and the natural -impulse to favour the little man against the big bully, and behind all -there is that curious link which is so difficult to classify except by -the name of a continent, and the war appeals to the Asiatic because it -is against the European. However eagerly you may protest that the -Russians cannot be considered as a type of European civilisation, -however profoundly you may be convinced that the Japanese show as few -common characteristics with Turk or Druze as they show with South Sea -Islander or Esquimaux, East calls to East, and the voice wakes echoes -from the China Seas to the Mediterranean.</p> - -<p>We talked also of the Turk. Muḥammad had been one of the many sheikhs -who were sent into exile after the Druze war; he had visited -Constantinople, and his experiences embraced Asia Minor also, so that he -was competent to hold an opinion on Turkish characteristics. In a blind -fashion, the fashion in which the Turk conducts most of his affairs, the -wholesale carrying off of the Druze sheikhs and their enforced sojourn -for two or three years in distant cities of the Empire, has attained an -end for which far-sighted statesmanship might have laboured in vain. Men -who would otherwise never have travelled fifty miles from their own -village have been taught perforce some knowledge of the world; they have -returned to exercise a semi-independence almost as they did before, but -their minds have received, however reluctantly, the impression of the -wide extent of the Sultan's dominions, the infinite number of his -resources, and the comparative unimportance of Druze revolts in an -empire which yet survives though it is familiar with every form of civil -strife. Muḥammad had been so completely convinced that there was a -world beyond the limits of the Mountain that he had attempted to push -two of his six sons out into it by putting them into a Government office -in Damascus. He had failed because, even with his maxims in their ears, -the boys were too headstrong. Some youthful neglect of duty, followed by -a sharp rebuke from their superior, had sent them hurrying back to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> -village where they could be independent sheikhs, idle and respected. -Muḥammad took in a weekly sheet published in Damascus, and the whole -family followed with the keenest interest such news of foreign politics, -of English politics in particular, as escaped the censor's pencil. -Important events sometimes eluded their notice—or that of the -editor—for my hosts asked after Lord Salisbury and were deeply -grieved to hear he had been dead some years. The other name they knew, -besides Lord Cromer's, which is known always and everywhere, was that of -Mr. Chamberlain, and thus there started in the maḳ'ad at Ṣāleh an -animated debate on the fiscal question, lavishly illustrated on my part -with examples drawn from the Turkish gumruk, the Custom House. It may be -that my arguments were less exposed to contradiction than those which -most free traders are in a position to use, for the whole of Ṣāleh -rejected the doctrines of protection and retaliation (there was no -half-way-house here) with unanimity.</p> - -<p>There was only one point which was not settled with perfect satisfaction -to all, and that was my journey to the Ṣafa. I have a shrewd suspicion -that Milḥēm's letter, which had been handed to me sealed, so that I -had not been able to read it, was of the nature of that given by Prætus -to Bellerophon when he sent him to the King of Lycia, and that if -Muḥammad was not commanded to execute the bearer on arrival, he was -strongly recommended to discourage her project. At any rate, he was of -opinion that the expedition could not be accomplished unless I would -take at least twenty Druzes as escort, which would have involved so much -preparation and expense that I was obliged to abandon the idea.</p> - -<p>At ten o'clock I was asked at what hour I wished to sleep, and, to the -evident chagrin of those members of the company who had not been riding -all day in the snow, I replied that the time had come. The sons and -nephews took their departure, wadded quilts were brought in and piled -into three beds, one on each of the three sides of the immense divan, -the sheikh, Yūsef and I tucked ourselves up, and I knew no more till I -woke in the sharp frost of the early dawn. I got up and went out into -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> -the fresh air. Ṣāleh was fast asleep in the snow; even the little -stream that tumbled in and out of a Roman fountain in the middle of the -village was sleeping under a thick coat of ice. In the clear cold -silence I watched the eastern sky redden and fade and the sun send a -long shaft of light over the snow field through which we had toiled the -day before. I put up a short thanksgiving appropriate to fine weather, -roused the muleteers and the mules from their common resting place under -the dark vaults of the khān, ate the breakfast which Muḥammad en -Naṣṣār provided, and took a prolonged and most grateful farewell of -my host and his family. No better night's rest and no more agreeable -company can have fallen to the lot of any wanderer by plain and hill -than were accorded to me at Ṣāleh.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure57"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure57.jpg" width="400" alt="100" /> -<p class="center">LINTEL, EL KHURBEH</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></h4> - - -<p>My objective that day was the village of Umm Ruweik on the eastern edge -of the Druze hills. Remembering the vagaries of the map, I took with me -one of Muḥammad en Naṣṣār's nephews as a guide, Fāiz was his -name, and he was brother to Ghishghāsh, the Sheikh of Umm Ruweik. I had -singled him out the night before as being the pleasantest member of the -pleasant circle in the maḳ'ad, and in a four days' acquaintance there -was never an incident that caused me to regret my choice. He was a man -with features all out of drawing, his nose was crooked, his mouth was -crooked, you would not have staked anything upon the straight setting of -his eyes; his manner was particularly gentle and obliging, his -conversation intelligent, and he was full of good counsel and resource. -We had not ridden very far along the lip of the hills, I gazing at the -eastern plain as at a Promised Land that my feet would never tread, -before Fāiz began to develop a plan for leaving the mules and tents -behind at Umm Ruweik and making a dash across the Ṣafa to the -Ruḥbeh, where lay the great ruin of which the accounts had fired my -imagination. In a moment the world changed colour, and Success shone -from the blue sky and hung in golden mists on that plain which had -suddenly become accessible.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure58"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure58.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE WALLS OF ḲANAWĀT</p></div> - -<p>Our path fell rapidly from Ṣāleh, and in half an hour we were out of -the snow and ice that had plagued us for the last day and night; half an -hour later when we reached the Wādi Buṣān, where the swift waters -turned a mill wheel, we had left the winter country behind. Ṣāneh, -the village on the north side of the Wādi Buṣān, looked a -flourishing place and contained some good specimens of Ḥaurān -architecture—I remember in particular a fine architrave carved with a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> -double scroll of grapes and vine leaves that fell on either side of a -vase occupying the centre of the stone. It was at Ṣāneh that we came -onto the very edge of the plateau and saw the great plain of the Ṣafa -spread out like a sea beneath us. The strange feature of it was that its -surface was as black as a black tent roof, owing to the sheets of lava -and volcanic stone that were spread over it. At places there were -patches of yellow, which I afterwards discovered to be the earth on -which the lumps of tufa lay revealed by their occasional absence, and -these the Arabs call the Beiḍa, the White Land, in contradistinction -to the Ḥarra, the Burnt Land of lava and tufa. In the Ṣafa the White -Land is almost as arid as the Burnt, though generally the word Beiḍa -means arable, for I heard Fāiz shout to the muleteers: "Come off the -Beiḍa!" when the mules had strayed into a field of winter wheat. The -literary word for desert bears a puzzling resemblance to this other, as -for instance in Mutanabbi's verse.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Al tail w'al khail w'al beida ta'rafuni:</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Night and my steed and the desert know me—</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the lance thrust and battle, and parchment and the pen."</span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure59"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure59.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲANAWĀT, THE BASILICA</p></div> - -<p>The Ṣafa ran out to a dark mass of volcanoes, lying almost due north -and south, but we were so high above them that their elevation was not -perceptible. Beyond them again we could see a wide stretch of Beiḍa -which was the Ruḥbeh plain. To the east and south on the immensely -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> -distant horizon a few little volcanic cones marked the end of the -Ḥaurān outcrop of lava and the beginning of the Ḥamād, the -waterless desert that reaches to Baghdad. To the north were the hills -round Dmer, and still further north the other range bounding the valley -ten miles wide that leads to Palmyra, and these ran back to the slopes -of Anti-Libanus, snowcapped, standing above the desert road to Ḥomṣ. -We turned east to Shibbekeh, a curious place built above a valley the -northern bank of which is honeycombed with caves, and north to Sheikhly -and Rāmeh on the southern brink of a very deep gully, the Wādi esh -Shām, down which are the most easterly of the inhabited villages, -Fedhāmeh and Ej Jeita. The settlements on this side of the Mountain -have an air of great antiquity. The cave villages may have existed long -before Nabatæan times; possibly they go back to the prehistoric -uncertainties of King Og, or the people whom his name covered, when -whole towns were quarried out underground, the most famous example being -Dera'a in the Ḥaurān plain south of Mezērib. We left Mushennef to -the west, not without regrets on my part that I had not time to revisit -it, for mirrored in its great tank is one of the most charming of all -the temples of the Jebel Druze, not excepting the magnificent monuments -of Ḳanawāt. El Ajlāt, north of the Wādi esh Shām, is perched on -top of a tell high enough to touch the February snow line, and another -valley leads down from it to the Ṣafa—I heard of a ruin and an -inscription in its lower course but did not visit them. We got to Umm -Ruweik about four o'clock, and pitched tents on the edge of the mountain -shelf, where I could see through my open tent door the whole extent of -the Ṣafa.</p> - -<p>Sheikh Ghishghāsh was all smiles. Certainly I could ride out to the -Ruḥbeh if I would take him and his son Aḥmed and Fāiz with me. He -scoffed at the idea of a larger escort. By the Face of the Truth, the -Ghiāth were his servants and his bondmen, they would entertain us as -the noble should be entertained and provide us with luxurious lodgings. -I dined with Ghishghāsh (he would take no refusal), and concluded that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -he was an easy tempered, boastful, and foolish man, extremely talkative, -though all that he said was not worth one of Fāiz's sentences. Fāiz -fell into comparative silence in his company, and Aḥmed too said -little, but that little was sensible and worth hearing. Ghishghāsh told -great tales of the Ṣafa and of what it contained, the upshot of which -was that beyond the ruins already known there was nothing till you -travelled a day's journey east of the Ruḥbeh; but that there you came -to a quarry and a ruined castle like the famous White Ruin of the -Ruḥbeh which we were going to see, but smaller and less well -preserved. And beyond that stretched the Ḥamād, with no dwellings in -it and no rujm—even the bravest of the Arabs were forced to desert it -in the summer owing to the total lack of water. My heart went out to the -mysterious castle east of the Ruḥbeh, unvisited, I believe, by any -traveller; but it was too distant a journey to be accomplished on the -spur of the moment without preparation. "When you next return, oh -lady——." Yes, when I return. But I shall not on a future, -occasion rely on the luxurious entertainment of the Ghiāth.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure60"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure60.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲANAWĀT, DOORWAY OF THE BASILICA</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure61"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure61.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲANAWĀT, A TEMPLE</p></div> - -<p>After consultation I decided that Mikhāil and Ḥabīb should accompany -us, the latter at his special request. He would ride his best mule, he -said, and she could keep pace with any mare and carry besides the rugs -and the five chickens which we took with us to supplement the -hospitality of the Ghiāth. I had a fur coat strapped behind my saddle -and, as usual, a camera and a note-book in my saddle-bags. We rode down -the steep slopes of the hills for an hour, three other Druze horsemen -joining us as we went. I presently discovered that the sheikhs had added -them to the stipulated escort, but I made no comment. One of the three -was a relative of Ghishghāsh, his name Khittāb; he had travelled with -Oppenheim and proved to be an agreeable companion. We passed through the -ploughland of Ghishghāsh's village and then down slopes almost barren, -though they yielded enough pasturage for his flocks of sheep shepherded -by Arabs, and at the foot of the hill we entered a shallow stony valley -wherein was a tiny encampment surrounded by more herds that quarried -their dinner among the boulders. After an hour of the valley, which -wound between volcanic rocks, we came out onto the wide desolation of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> -the Ṣafa. It is almost, but not quite, flat. The surface breaks into -low gentle billowings, just deep enough to shut out the landscape from -the horseman in the depression, so that he may journey for an hour or -more and see nothing but a sky-line of black stones a few feet above him -on either side. The billowings have an ordered plan; they form -continuous waterless valleys, each one of which the Arabs know by a -name. Valley and ridge alike are covered with blocks of tufa, varying -from six inches across to two feet or more, and where there is any space -between them you can perceive the hard yellow soil, the colour of sea -sand, on which they lie. An extremely scanty scrub pushes its way -between the stones, ḥamād and shīḥ and ḥajeineh, and here and -there a tiny geranium, the starry garlic and the leaves of the tulip, -but generally there is no room even for the slenderest plants, so -closely do the stones lie together. They are black, smooth and edgeless, -as though they had been waterworn; when the sun shines the air dazzles -above them as it dazzles above a sheet of molten metal, and in the -summer the comparison must hold good in other respects, for the pitiless -heat is said to be almost unendurable. It would be difficult to cross -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> -the Ṣafa if it were not for the innumerable minute paths that -intersect it. At first the rider is not aware of them, so small and -faint they are, but presently as he begins to wonder why there is always -just enough space before him for his horse to step in, he realises that -he is following a road. Hundreds of generations of passing feet have -pushed aside the tufa blocks ever so little and made it possible to -travel through that wilderness of stones.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure62"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure62.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE TEMPLE, MASHENNEF</p></div> - -<p>We rode by the depression called the Ghadir el Gharz, and at the end of -two hours we met one in rags, whose name was Heart of God. He was -extremely glad to see us, was Heart of God, having been a friend of the -family for years (at least eighty years I should judge), and extremely -surprised when he discovered me in the cavalcade. There his surprise -ceased, for when he heard I was English it conveyed nothing further to -him, his mind being unburdened with the names and genealogies of the -foreigner. He told us there was water close at hand and that Arab tents -were not more than two hours away, and bade Ghishghāsh go in peace, and -might there be peace also upon the stranger with him. In the matter of -the tents he lied, did Heart of God, or we misunderstood him; but we -found the water, a muddy pool, and lunched by it, sharing it with a herd -of camels. Water in the Ṣafa there is none fit to drink according to -European canons, and for that matter there is none in the Jebel Druze. -There are no springs in the hills; the water supply is contained in open -tanks, and the traveller may consider himself fortunate if he be not -asked to drink a liquid in which he has seen the mules and camels -wallowing. Under the most favourable conditions it is sure to be heavily -laden with foreign ingredients which boiling will not remove, though it -renders them comparatively innocuous. The tea made with this fluid has a -body and a flavour of its own; it is the colour of muddy coffee and -leaves a sediment at the bottom of the cup. Mikhāil carried an -earthenware jar of boiled water for me from camp to camp, and having -brought him to use this precaution by refusing to drink of the pools and -tanks we might meet by the way, I had no difficulty in continuing the -system in the Ṣafa. He and the Druzes and the muleteers drank what -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> -they found, whether in the Mountain or in the Ṣafa, and they did not -appear to suffer from any ill effect. Probably the germs contained in -their careless draughts were so numerous and so active that they had -enough to do in destroying one another.</p> - -<p>We rode on and on over all the stones in the world, and even Ghishghāsh -fell silent or spoke only to wonder where the tents of the Ghiāth might -be. Khittāb opined that when we reached the Ḳantarah, the Arch, we -should catch sight of them, and I pricked up my ears at a name that -seemed to imply some sort of construction. But the Ḳantarah was -nothing more than a rise in the ground, a little higher than the rest -and no less stony. There are many such; leading up to the crest of most -of them is a track by which the Arabs creep on their stomachs to look -out for foes, hidden themselves behind the small black pile that has -been erected as a permanent bastion on the summit. In summer the Ṣafa -is swept with raiders. Big tribes like the 'Anazeh ride through to deal -a sudden blow at some enemy to the south or north, harrying the Ghiāth -as they pass, and since there are exceedingly few places where water is -to be found in the unparalleled heat of the stony waste, the raiders and -such men of the Ghiāth as are still in the plain have no choice but to -frequent at dusk the same muddy holes, and the days and nights of the -Ghiāth are dogged in consequence by constant terror till the great -tribes go east again to the Ḥamād. There was no sign of tents to be -seen from the Ḳantarah, and it began to seem probable that we should -spend a waterless night among the stones under the clear frosty sky, -when about an hour before sunset Khittāb exclaimed that he could see -the smoke of camp fires to the north-west. We rode a good way back, -making a semicircle of our course, and got to the tents at nightfall -after a journey of nine hours. With the goats and camels who were -returning home after a laborious day's feeding we stumbled in over the -stones, and very miserable the little encampment looked, though it had -been so eagerly desired. A couple of hundred pounds would be a handsome -price for all the worldly goods of all the Ghiāth; they have nothing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> -but the black tents and a few camels and the coffee-pots, and if they -had more it would be taken from them in a midsummer ghazu. They live by -bread alone—shirāk, the thin flaps that are like brown -paper—and for the whole length of their days they wander among the -stones in fear of their lives, save for the month or two when they come up -to the Jebel Druze for the pasturage.</p> - -<p>We scattered, being a large party, and Ghishghāsh, my servants and I -went to the house of the sheikh, whose name was Understanding. His two -sons, Muḥammad and Ḥamdān, lighted a fire of thorn and camel dung -that smoked abominably, and we sat round and watched the coffee making. -Muḥammad, being the eldest, officiated. He was skilful in the song of -the pestle, and beat out a cheerful tattoo upon the mortar. His face was -dark and thin and his white teeth shone when he smiled; he was dressed -airily in dirty white cotton garments, a cotton kerchief fell from the -camel's hair rope on his head down on to his bare breast, and he spoke -in a guttural speech which was hard to follow. Our dinner was of shirāk -and dibs; the Ghiāth are too poor to kill a sheep for their guest, even -when he is a personage so important as Ghishghāsh. He, foolish man, was -in his element. He preened himself and swelled with pride, combed out -his long moustache before the admiring gaze of his hosts and talked -without ceasing until far into the night, silly talk, thought I, who -longed to be allowed to sleep. I had a rug to cover me and my saddle for -a pillow, and I lay in a corner by the sāḥah, the division against -the women's quarter, and at times I listened to a conversation which was -not particularly edifying, and at times I cursed the acrid, pungent -smoke. Towards the middle of the night I was awakened by the moon that -shone with a frosty brilliance into the tent. The fire had burnt down -and the smoke had blown out; the Arabs and the Druzes were lying asleep -round the cold hearth; a couple of mares stood peacefully by the tent -pole and gazed with wise eyes upon their masters within, and beyond them -a camel lay chumping among the black stones. The strange and silent -beauty of a scene as old as the world caught at the heart and spurred -the fancy even after sleep had fallen upon it again.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> - -<p>Before dawn Mikhāil had succeeded in making me a cup of tea over the -fitful blaze of the thorns, and as the sun rose we got into the saddle, -for we had far to go. "God's bright and intricate device" had clothed -the black plain in exquisite loveliness. The level sun towards which we -were riding cast a halo of gold round every stone, the eastern ranges of -volcanoes stood in clear cut outline against the cloudless sky, and to -the north-west the snows of Anti-Libanus and Hermon gleamed incredibly -bright above the glittering blackness of the foreground. One of the -Arabs was added to our party as a guide; 'Awād was his name. He rode a -camel, and from that point of vantage conversed with us in a raucous -shout, as though to bridge the immense distance between rākib and -fāris, a camel rider and one who rides a mare. We were all shivering as -we set out in the chill dawn, but 'Awād turned the matter into a jest -by calling out from his camel: "Lady, lady! do you know why I am cold? -It is because I have four wives in the house!" And the others laughed, -for he had the reputation of being a bit of a Don Juan, and such funds -as he possessed went to replenishing his harem rather than his wardrobe.</p> - -<p>I think we must speedily have re-entered the Ghadīr el Gharz. After two -hours' riding we crossed some rising ground to the south-west of the -Tulūl es Ṣafa, the line of volcanoes, and cantered across a -considerable stretch of stoneless yellow ground, Beiḍa, till we came -to the southern end of the lava bed. The lava lay on our left hand like -a horrible black nightmare sea, not so much frozen as curdled, as though -some hideous terror had arrested the flow of it and petrified the lines -of shrinking fear upon its surface. But it was long long ago that a -mighty hand had lifted the Gorgon's head before the waves of the Tulūl -es Ṣafa. Sun and frost and æons of time had splintered the original -forms of the volcanoes, rent the lava beds, shattered the precipices and -obliterated the features of the hills. One or two terebinths had found a -foothold in the crevices, but when I passed they were still bare and -grey and did nothing to destroy the general sense of lifelessness.</p> - -<p>As we rode round these frontiers of death I became aware that we were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> -following a track almost as old as the hills themselves, a little thread -of human history leading us straight through that forbidding land. -'Awāḍ kept talking of a stone which he called El 'Ablā, a word that -denotes a white rock visible from afar, but I was so much used to names -signifying nothing that I paid no attention until he stopped his camel -and shouted:</p> - -<p>"Oh lady! here it is. By the Face of God, this is El 'Ablā."</p> - -<p>It was no more nor less than a well stone. It bore the groove of the -rope worn a couple of inches deep into it, and must have served a -respectable time, since this black rock is extremely hard, but there was -no modern well within miles of it. Close at hand was a big heap of -stones and then another and another, two or three in every quarter of a -mile, and when I looked closely I perceived that they were built, not -thrown together. Some of them had been opened by Arabs seeking for -treasure, and where the topmost layers had been thus removed a square -shallow space lay revealed in the centre of the mound, carefully -constructed of half-dressed blocks. 'Awāḍ said that as far as he knew -nothing had ever been found in these places, whatever they might have -contained formerly. Clearly the mounds were made to mark the line of -that ancient road through the wilderness. 'Awāḍ stopped again a few -hundred yards further at some black rocks almost flush with the ground, -and they were like the open pages of a book in which all the races that -had passed that way had written their names, in the queer script that -the learned call Safaitic, in Greek, in Cufic, and in Arabic. Last of -all the unlettered Bedouin had scrawled their tribe marks there.</p> - -<p>"By Shuraik son of Naghafat son of Na'fis (?) son of Nu'mān," so ran -one of them; and another: "By Būkhālih son of Ṭhann son of An'am son -of Rawāḳ son of Būkhālih. He found the inscription of his uncle and -he longed after him and . . . ." And there was another in a label which -I did not copy sufficiently well to admit of its being deciphered with -certainty. Probably it contains two names connected by "ibn," "son of." -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> -Above the names are seven straight lines which, according to Dussaud's -ingenious suggestion, may represent the seven planets.<a name="FNanchor_7_1" id="FNanchor_7_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_1" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> The Greek -letters spelt the word Hanelos, which is John, a Semitic name written -possibly by its owner in the foreign script that he had learnt while he -served under the Roman eagles; the Cufic sentences were pious -ejaculations calling down a blessing on the traveller who had paused to -inscribe them. So each man according to his kind had left his record and -departed into the mists of time, and beyond these scratches on the black -rocks we know nothing of his race, nor of his history, nor of the errand -that brought him into the inhospitable Ghadīr el Gharz. As I copied the -phrases they seemed like the murmur of faint voices from out the limbo -of the forgotten past, and Orpheus with his lute could not have charmed -the rocks to speak more clearly of the generations of the dead. All the -Ṣafa is full of these whisperings; shadows that are nothing but a name -quiver in the quivering air above the stones, and call upon their God in -divers tongues.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure63"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure63.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT EL BEIḌA</p></div> - -<p>I copied in haste, for there was no time to lose that day. The Druzes -stood round me impatiently, and 'Awāḍ shouted, "Yallah, yallah! ya -sitt," which being interpreted means, "Hurry up!" We rode on to the -eastern limit of the Ṣafa, turned the corner of the lava bed, and saw -the yellow plain of the Ruḥbeh before us. I know, because I have -observed it from the Jebel Druze, that it stretches for a great distance -to the east; but, when we reached it, it seemed no wider than half a -mile, and beyond it lay a wonderful lake of bluish misty water. The -little volcanoes far away to the east rose like islands out of the sea, -and were mirrored in the water at their feet; yet as we rode towards -that inland flood, its shores retreated before us, for it was but a -phantom sea whereat the phantom hosts of the Ṣafa may fitly assuage -their thirst. Then on the brink of the lava hills we caught sight of a -grey tower, and in the plain below it we saw a domed and whitewashed -shrine, and these were the Khirbet el Beiḍa and the Mazār of Sheikh -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> -Serāk. Sheikh Serāk inherits his position as guardian of the Ruḥbeh -from Zeus Saphathenos, who is in turn the direct heir to the god El, the -earliest divinity of the Ṣafa. His business is to watch over the -crops, which in good years the Arabs sow round his soul's dwelling -place; he is respected by Moslem and by Druze alike, and he holds a -well-attended yearly festival which had fallen about a fortnight before -I came. The shrine itself is a building of the Ḥaurān type, with a -stone roof supported on transverse arches. Over the doors there is a -carved lintel taken from the ruins of the White Castle.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure64"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure64.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT EL BEIḌA</p></div> - -<p>But I could scarcely stay while my men assembled here, so eager was I to -see the Ḳal'at el Beiḍa—Khirbeh or Ḳal'ah, ruin or castle, the -Arabs call it either indifferently. I left the Druzes to pay such -respects as were due to Zeus Saphathenos or whoever he might be, and -cantered off to the edge of the lava plateau. A deep ditch lay before -the lava, so full of water that I had to cross it by a little bridge of -planks; Ḥabīb was there watering his mule, that admirable mule which -walked as fast as the mares, and, entrusting my horse to him, I hastened -on over the broken lava and into the fortress court. There were one or -two Arabs sauntering through it, but they paid as little attention to me -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> -as I did to them. This was it, the famous citadel that guards a dead -land from an unpeopled, the Ṣafa from the Ḥamād. Grey white on the -black platform rose the walls of smoothly dressed stones, the ghostly -stronghold of a world of ghosts. Whose hands reared it, whose art -fashioned the flowing scrolls on door-post and lintel, whose eyes kept -vigil from the tower, cannot yet be decided with any certainty. Hanelos -and Shuraik and Būkhālih may have looked for it as they rounded the -corner of the Wādi el Gharz, and perhaps the god El took it under his -protection, and perhaps the prayers of the watchman were turned to some -distant temple, and offered to the deities of Greece and Rome. A -thousand unanswered, unanswerable, questions spring to your mind as you -cross the threshold.</p> - -<p>De Vogüé and Oppenheim and Dussaud have described the Khirbet el -Beiḍa, and any one who cares to read their words may know that it is a -square enclosure with a round tower at each corner, a round bastion -between the towers and a rectangular keep against the south wall; that -its doorways are carved with wonderful flowing patterns, scrolls and -leaves and flowers, with animals striding through them; and that it is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> -probably an outlying fortress of Rome, built between the second and -fourth centuries. The fact remains that we are not certain of its -origin, any more than we are certain of the origin of the ruins near it -at Jebel Sēs, or of Mshitta, or of any of the buildings in the western -desert. There are resemblances between them all, and there are marked -differences, just as there are resemblances between Ḳal'at el Beiḍa -and the architecture of the Ḥaurān, and yet what stonecutter of the -Mountain would have let his imagination so outstrip the classic rule as -did the man who set the images of the animals of the desert about the -doors of the White Castle? There is a breath of something that is -strange to neighbouring art, a wilder, freer fancy, not so skilled as -that which created the tracery of Mshitta, cruder, and probably older. -It is all guess work; the desert may give up its secrets, the history of -the Ṣafa and the Ruḥbeh may be pieced together from the lettered -rocks, but much travel must be accomplished first and much excavation on -the Syrian frontiers, in Hira perhaps, or in Yemen. I would only remark -that the buildings at Ḳal'at el Beiḍa cannot as they stand belong to -one and the same period. The keep is certainly a later work than the -curtain walls of the fort. While these are built with mortar, like the -Roman camp at Ḳasṭal and the fortress at Muwaḳḳar, the keep is -of dry masonry resembling that which is universal in the Ḥaurān, and -in its walls are set carved stones which were assuredly not executed for -the positions they occupy. Even the decoration about the main door of -the keep is of borrowed stones; the two superimposed carved blocks of -the lintel do not fit each other, and neither fits the doorway. But the -only conclusion I venture to draw is, that the two suggestions of origin -that have been made by archaeologists, the one that the place was a -Roman camp, the other that it was the Ghassānid fortress, may both be -true.</p> - -<p>The edge of the lava plateau lies a few feet above the plain. Along this -natural redoubt are other buildings besides the White Castle, but none -of them are of the same architectural interest. Their walls are roughly -made of squared tufa blocks laid dry, whereas the castle is of a grey -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> -stone, and part of it is constructed with mortar. The only building of -any importance that I visited lay a little to the north and had been -roofed after the Ḥaurān manner with stone slabs laid on transverse -arches. At intervals along the lava bed there were small towers like -sentry boxes guarding the approach to the castle, and these, too, were -of dry masonry.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure65"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure65.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT EL BEIḌA, DOOR OF KEEP</p></div> - -<p>A couple of hours' halt was all that we could allow ourselves, for we -had to be in sight of our encampment before the dusk closed in at the -risk of passing the night in the open Ṣafa. So after devouring hastily -the remains of the five chickens we had brought from Umm Ruweik, -flavoured by stalks of wild onions that 'Awāḍ had found in the lava, -we set off homewards. We just accomplished the ride of 4 3/4 hours in -time, that is we saw the smoke of the camp fires before night fell, and -got our direction thereby. A series of spaces cleared of stones led us -to the camp. These open places are the marāḥ (tent marks) of the -'Anazeh, who used to camp in the Ṣafa before the Druzes established -themselves in the Mountain over a hundred years ago. The marāḥ, -therefore, have remained visible after at least a century, and will -remain, probably, for many centuries more. There was a strong cold wind -that evening, and the main wall of the tent had been shifted round to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> -shelter us the better; but for all that we passed a comfortless night, -and the cold woke me several times to an uneasy sense of having fallen -asleep on an ant hill. How the Arabs contrive to collect so many fleas -among so few possessions is an insoluble mystery. There was hardly a -suitable place for them to lodge in, except the tent walls themselves, -and when those walls are taken down they must show skill and agility -beyond the common wont of fleas in order to get themselves packed up and -carried off to the next camping ground, but that they are equal to the -task every one knows who has spent a night in a house of hair. After two -nights with the Ghiāth our own tents seemed a paradise of luxury when -we returned to them the next afternoon, and a bath the utmost height to -which a Sybaritic life could attain, even when taken in a temperature -some degrees below freezing point.</p> - -<p>During our ride homewards an incident occurred which is worth recording, -as it bears on Druze customs. The sect, as has been remarked before, is -divided into initiated and uninitiated. To the stranger the main -difference between the two is that the initiated abstain from the use of -tobacco, and I had noticed in the evening I spent at Ṣāleh that none -of Muḥammad en Naṣṣār's family smoked. I was therefore surprised -when Fāiz, finding himself alone with Mikhāil and me, begged the -former for a cigarette, and I apologised for having omitted to offer him -one before, saying that I had understood smoking to be forbidden to him. -Fāiz blinked his crooked eyes, and replied that it was as I had said, -and that he would not have accepted a cigarette if another Druze had -been in sight, but that since none of his co-religionists were present -he felt himself at liberty to do as he pleased. He begged me, however, -not to mention to his brother this lapse from virtue. That night in the -maḳ'ad of Umm Ruweik the three sheikhs and I laid many plans for a -further exploration of the Ṣafa, settled the number of camels I was to -take with me, and even the presents which were to reward the escort at -the end of the journey. Fāiz and Aḥmed and Khittāb shall certainly -be of the expedition if the selecting of it lies in my hands. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure66"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure66.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MOULDINGS FROM ḲAL'AT EL BEIḌA AND FROM PALMYRA</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> - -<p>Next morning at 8.30 we started on our three days' ride to Damascus. Of -Umm Ruweik I need only add that it took exactly four days to scrape -together sufficient money among the inhabitants for the changing of a -gold piece. We had brought a bag of silver and copper coins with us from -Jerusalem, but when it was exhausted we had the utmost difficulty in -paying our debts—this is also one of the Hints to Travellers that -Mikhāil urged me to embody in the book I was to write. We rode by -enchanting slopes, covered where the snow had melted with the sky-blue -Iris Histrio, and spent an hour or two at Shakka, which was one of the -principal scenes of de Vogüé's archæological work. The basilica which -figures as almost perfect in his book is now fallen completely into -ruin, only the façade remaining, but the Ḳaisarīeh still stands, and -the monastery which he believes to be one of the oldest monastic -buildings in existence. We rode by Ḥīt, an interesting village -containing a fine pre-Arabic house in which the sheikh lives, and camped -at Bathaniyyeh in a frost that sent me shivering to bed. It was here -that a running stream was completely frozen. Next day I made a circuit -to visit Ḥayāt, where there is a lovely Kalybeh, published by de -Vogüé, and a castle, that I might fill up some gaps in my former -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> -journey and see what sort of buildings are to be found on the northern -slopes of the mountain, if I could do no more. The old villages are -rapidly filling up, and in a few years little trace of their monuments -will remain. So we came down into the plain, joined the Lejā road from -Shaḥbah to Damascus at Lahiteh, and pursued our mules to Brāk, the -furthest village of the Ḥaurān. There is a military post at Brāk -held by a score of soldiers; just before we reached it we met a little -Druze girl who cowered by the roadside and wept with fear at the sight -of us. "I am a maid!" she cried, "I am a maid!" Her words threw an -ominous shadow upon the Turkish regime under which we were now to find -ourselves again. Almost opposite the fort we passed two Druzes returning -from Damascus. They gave me a friendly greeting, and I said:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure67"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure67.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A GATEWAY, SHAKKA</p></div> - -<p>"Are you facing to the Mountain?"</p> - -<p>They said: "By God! may God keep you!"</p> - -<p>I said: "I come from thence—salute it for me," and they -answered:</p> - -<p>"May God salute you! go in peace!"</p> - -<p>It is never without a pang that the traveller leaves the Druze country -behind, and never without registering a vow to return to it as soon as -may be.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure68"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure68.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE SHEIKH'S HOUSE, ḤAYĀT</p></div> - -<p>Having passed under the protection of the Sultan, I found that my road -next day lay across a really dangerous bit of country. The Circassians -and Turks of Brāk (the Turks were charming people from the northern -parts of Asia Minor) dissuaded me strongly from taking the short cut -across the hills to Damascus, so strongly that I had almost abandoned -the idea. They said the hills were infested by robbers and probably -empty of Arab encampments at this time of year, so that the robbers had -it all their own way. Fortunately next morning we heard of a company of -soldiers who were said to be riding to Damascus across the hills, and -the report encouraged us to take the same path. We never saw them, and I -do not believe that they had any real existence; on the other hand, we -did see some black tents which gave us confidence at the worst bit of -the road, and the robbers must have been otherwise engaged for they did -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> -not appear. But I noted with interest, firstly, that desert life comes -to within an hour or two of Damascus, a fact I had not been able to -observe before when I went by the high road, and secondly that the -Sultan's peace, if peace it can be called, ceases almost at the walls of -the chief city of Syria. We crossed the Nahr el 'Awāj, which is the -Pharpar, and reached soon after midday the Circassian village of Nejhā, -where I stopped to lunch under a few poplars, the first grove of trees I -had seen since we left Salt. Whether you ride to Damascus by a short cut -or by a high road, from the Ḥaurān or from Palmyra, it is always -further away than any known place. Perhaps it is because the traveller -is so eager to reach it, the great and splendid Arab city set in a -girdle of fruit trees and filled with the murmur of running water. But -if he have only patience there is no road that will not end at last; and -we, too, at the last came to the edge of the apricot gardens and then to -the Bawābet Ullaḥ, the Gates of God, and so passed into the Meidān, -the long quarter of shops and khāns stretching out like the handle to a -great spoon, in the bowl of which lie the minarets and domes of the rich -quarters. By four o'clock I was lodged in the Hotel Victoria, and had a -month's post of letters and papers in my hands.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_1" id="Footnote_7_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_1"><span class="label">[7]</span></a>Dussaud, "Mission Scientific," p. 64. The translation of -the inscriptions I owe to the kindness of Dr. Littmann, who will include -the original copies in his "Semitic Inscriptions."</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></h4> - - -<p>When I had come to Damascus five years before, my chief counsellor and -friend—a friend whose death will be deplored by many a traveller in -Syria—was Lütticke, head of the banking house of that name and -honorary German consul. It was a chance remark of his that revealed to -me the place that the town had and still has in Arab history. "I am -persuaded," said he, "that in and about Damascus you may see the finest -Arab population that can be found anywhere. They are the descendants of -the original invaders who came up on the first great wave of the -conquest, and they have kept their stock almost pure."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure69"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure69.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">IN THE PALMYRENE DESERT</p></div> - -<p>Above all other cities Damascus is the capital of the desert. The desert -stretches up to its walls, the breath of it is blown in by every wind, -the spirit of it comes through the eastern gates with every camel -driver. In Damascus the sheikhs of the richer tribes have their town -houses; you may meet Muḥammad of the Ḥaseneh or Bassān of the Beni -Rashīd peacocking down the bazaars on a fine Friday, in embroidered -cloaks and purple and silver kerchiefs fastened about their brows with -camels' hair ropes bound with gold. They hold their heads high, these -Lords of the Wilderness, striding through the holiday crowds, that part -to give them passage, as if Damascus were their own town. And so it is, -for it was the first capital of the Bedouin khalifs outside the -Ḥejāz, and it holds and remembers the greatest Arab traditions. It -was almost the first of world-renowned cities to fall before the -irresistible chivalry of the desert which Muḥammad had called to arms -and to which he had given purpose and a battle-cry, and it was the only -one which remained as important under the rule of Islām as it had been -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> -under the empire of Rome. Mu'āwiyah made it his capital, and it -continued to be the chief city of Islām until the fall of the house of -Ummayah ninety years later. It was the last of Moslem capitals that -ruled in accordance with desert traditions. Persian generals placed the -Beni Abbās upon their throne in Mesopotamia, Persian and Turkish -influences were dominant in Baghdad, and with them crept in the fatal -habits of luxury which the desert had never known, nor the early khalifs -who milked their own goats and divided the spoils of their victories -among the Faithful. The very soil of Mesopotamia exhaled emanations -fatal to virility. The ancient ghosts of Babylonian and Assyrian palace -intrigue rose from their muddy graves, mighty in evil, to overthrow the -soldier khalif, to strip him of his armour and to tie him hand and foot -with silk and gold. Damascus had been innocent of them; Damascus, swept -by the clean desert winds, had ruled the empire of the Prophet with some -of the Spartan vigour of early days. She was not a parvenue like the -capitals on the Tigris; she had seen kings and emperors within her -walls, and learnt the difference between strength and weakness, and -which path leads to dominion and which to slavery.</p> - -<p>When I arrived I was greeted with the news that my journey in the -Ḥaurān had considerably agitated the mind of his Excellency Nāzim -Pasha, Vāli of Syria; indeed it was currently reported that this much -exercised and delicately placed gentleman had been vexed beyond reason -by my sudden appearance at Ṣalkhad and that he had retired to his bed -when I had departed beyond the reach of Yūsef Effendi's eye, though -some suggested that the real reason for his Excellency's sudden -indisposition was a desire to avoid taking part in the memorial service -to the Archduke Serge. Be that as it may, he sent me on the day of my -arrival a polite message expressing his hope that he might have the -pleasure of making my acquaintance.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> - -<p>I confess my principal feeling was one of penitence when I was ushered -into the big new house that the Vāli has built for himself at the end -of Ṣalaḥiyyeh, the suburb of Damascus that stretches along the foot -of the bare hills to the north of the town. I had a great wish to -apologise, or at any rate to prove to him that I was not to be regarded -as a designing enemy. These sentiments were enhanced by the kindness -with which he received me, and the respect with which he inspires those -who come to know him. He is a man of a nervous temperament, always on -the alert against the difficulties with which his vilayet is not slow to -provide him, conscientious, and I should fancy honest, painfully anxious -to reconcile interests that are as easy to combine as oil with vinegar, -the corner of his eye fixed assiduously on his royal master who will -take good care that so distinguished a personality as Nāzim Pasha shall -be retained at a considerable distance from the shores of the Bosphorus. -The Vāli has been eight years in Damascus, the usual term of office -being five, and he has evidently made up his mind that in Damascus he -will remain, if no ill luck befall him, for he has built himself a large -house and planned a fine garden, the laying out of which distracts his -mind, let us hope, from preoccupations that can seldom be pleasant. One -of his safeguards is that he has been actively concerned with the -construction of the Ḥejāz railway, in which the Sultan takes the -deepest interest, and until it is completed or abandoned he is -sufficiently useful to be kept at his post.<a name="FNanchor_8_1" id="FNanchor_8_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_1" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> The bazaar, that is -public opinion, does not think that it will be abandoned, in spite of -the opposition of the Sherlf of Mecca and all his clan, who will never -be convinced of the justice of the Sultan's claim to the khalifate of -Islām nor willing to bring him into closer touch with the religious -capitals. The bazaar backs the Sultan against the Sherīf and all other -adversaries, sacred or profane. The wheels of the Turk grind slowly and -often stop, but in the end they grind small, especially when the grist -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> -is Arab tribes rendered peculiarly brittle by their private jealousies -and suspicions and pretensions. Turkish policy is like that of which Ibn -Kulthum sang when he said:</p> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure70"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure70.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE GREAT MOSQUE AND THE ROOFS OF THE BAZAAR FROM THE FORT</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">When our mill is set down among a people they are as flour before</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">our coming.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Our meal cloth is spread eastwards of Nejd and the grain is the whole</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">tribe of Ḳuda'a.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Like guests you alighted at our door and we hastened our hospitality</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">lest you should turn on us.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We welcomed you and hastened the welcoming: yea, before the</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">dawn, and our mills grind small.</span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure71"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure71.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A CORN MARKET</p></div> - - -<p>Nāzim Pasha, though he has been eight years in Syria, talks no Arabic. -We in Europe, who speak of Turkey as though it were a homogeneous -empire, might as well when we speak of England intend the word to -include India, the Shan States, Hongkong and Uganda. In the sense of a -land inhabited mainly by Turks there is not such a country as Turkey. -The parts of his dominions where the Turk is in a majority are few; -generally his position is that of an alien governing, with a handful of -soldiers and an empty purse, a mixed collection of subjects hostile to -him and to each other. He is not acquainted with their language, it is -absurd to expect of him much sympathy for aspirations political and -religious which are generally made known to him amid a salvo of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> -musketry, and if the bullets happen to be directed, as they often are, -by one unruly and unreasonable section of the vilayet at another equally -unreasonable and unruly, he is hardly likely to feel much regret at the -loss of life that may result. He himself, when he is let alone, has a -strong sense of the comfort of law and order. Observe the internal -arrangements of a Turkish village, and you shall see that the Turkish -peasant knows how to lay down rules of conduct and how to obey them. I -believe that the best of our own native local officials in Egypt are -Turks who have brought to bear under the new regime the good sense and -the natural instinct for government for which they had not much scope -under the old. It is in the upper grades that the hierarchy of the -Ottoman Empire has proved so defective, and the upper grades are filled -with Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, and personages of various nationalities -generally esteemed in the East (and not without reason) untrustworthy. -The fact that such men as these should inevitably rise to the top, -points to the reason of the Turk's failure. He cannot govern on wide -lines, though he can organise a village community; above all he cannot -govern on foreign lines, and unfortunately he is brought more and more -into contact with foreign nations. Even his own subjects have caught the -infection of progress. The Greeks and Armenians have become merchants -and bankers, the Syrians merchants and landowners; they find themselves -hampered at every turn by a government which will not realise that a -wealthy nation is made up of wealthy subjects. And yet, for all his -failure, there is no one who would obviously be fitted to take his -place. For my immediate purpose I speak only of Syria, the province with -which I am the most familiar. Of what value are the pan-Arabic -associations and the inflammatory leaflets that they issue from foreign -printing presses? The answer is easy: they are worth nothing at all. -There is no nation of Arabs; the Syrian merchant is separated by a wider -gulf from the Bedouin than he is from the Osmanli, the Syrian country is -inhabited by Arabic speaking races all eager to be at each other's -throats, and only prevented from fulfilling their natural desires by the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> -ragged half fed soldier who draws at rare intervals the Sultan's pay. -And this soldier, whether he be Kurd or Circassian or Arab from -Damascus, is worth a good deal more than the hire he receives. Other -armies may mutiny, but the Turkish army will stand true to the khalif; -other armies may give way before suffering and privation and untended -sickness, but that of the Sultan will go forward as long as it can -stand, and fight as long as it has arms, and conquer as long as it has -leaders. There is no more wonderful and pitiful sight than a Turkish -regiment on the march: greybeards and half-fledged youths, ill-clad and -often barefoot, pinched and worn—and indomitable. Let such as watch -them salute them as they pass: in the days when war was an art rather -than a science, of that stuff the conquerors of the world were made.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure72"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure72.jpg" width="200" alt=" " /> -<p class="center">THE ḲUBBET EL KHAZNEH</p></div> - -<p>But I have left the Governor of Syria waiting far too long. We talked, -then, in French, a language with which he was imperfectly acquainted, -and from time to time a Syrian gentleman helped him in Turkish over the -stiles and pitfalls of the foreign tongue. The Syrian was a rich -Maronite landowner of the Lebanon, who happened to be in good odour at -Government House though he had but recently spent a year in prison. He -had accompanied me upon my visit and was then and there appointed by the -Vāli to be my cicerone in Damascus; Selīm Beg was his name. The talk -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -was principally of archæology, I purposely insisting on my interest in -that subject as compared with the politics of the Mountain and the -Desert, to which we thus avoided any serious allusion. The Vāli was -affability itself. He presented me with certain photographs of the -priceless manuscripts of the Ḳubbet el Khazneh in the Great Mosque, -now closed for ever to the public eye, and promised me the rest of the -series. To that end a bowing personage took my English address and noted -it carefully in a pocket book, and I need scarcely say that was the -last any one heard of the matter. Presently the Vāli announced that -Madame Pasha and the children were waiting to see me, and I followed him -upstairs into a sunny room with windows opening on to a balcony from -which you could see all Damascus and its gardens and the hills beyond. -There is only one Madame Pasha, and she is a pretty, sharp-featured -Circassian, but there was another (gossip says the favourite) who died a -year ago. The children were engaging. They recited French poems to me, -their bright eyes quick to catch and to respond to every expression of -approbation or amusement; they played tinkling polkas, sitting very -upright on the music stool with their pig-tails hanging down their -velvet backs. The Pasha stood in the window and beamed upon them, the -Circassian wife smoked cigarettes and bowed whenever she caught my eye, -a black slave boy at the door grinned from ear to ear as his masters and -mistresses, who were also his school-mates and his play-fellows, -accomplished their tasks. I came away with a delightful impression of -pretty smiling manners and vivacious intelligence, and expressed my -pleasure to the Pasha as we went down stairs.</p> - -<p>"Ah!" said he politely, "if I could have them taught English! But what -will you? we cannot get an Englishwoman to agree with our customs, and I -have only the Greek lady whom you saw to teach them French."</p> - -<p>I had indeed noticed the Greek woman, an underbred little person, whose -bearing could not escape attention in the graceful company upstairs, but -I was not slow to expatiate on the excellence of the French she -spoke—may Heaven forgive me! The Pasha shook his head.</p> - -<p>"If I could get an Englishwoman!" said he. Unfortunately I had no one to -suggest for the post, nor would he have welcomed a suggestion.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure73"></a> -<img src="images/figure73.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE TEKYAH OF NAKSHIBENDI</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> - -<p>Before I left, two distinguished personages arrived to have audience of -the Vāli. The first was a man by complexion almost a negro, but with an -unmistakable look of race and a sharp quick glance. He was the Amīr -'Abdullah Pasha, son of 'Abd ul Ḳādir, the great Algerian, by a negro -slave. The second was Sheikh Ḥassan Nakshbendi, hereditary -chief—pope, I had almost said—of an orthodox order of Islām -famous in Damascus, where its principal Tekyah is situated. (Now a Tekyah -is a religious institution for the housing of mendicant dervishes and other -holy persons, something like a monastery, only that there is no vow of -chastity imposed upon its members, who may have as many wives as they -choose outside the Tekyah; Sheikh Ḥassan himself had the full -complement of four.) All the wily ecclesiastic's astuteness shone from -the countenance of this worthy. I do not know that his wits were -especially remarkable, but his unscrupulousness must have supplemented -any deficiencies, or his smile belied him. The meeting with these two -accomplished my introduction to Damascus society. Both of them extended -to me a warm invitation to visit them in their houses, the Tekyah or -anywhere I would, and I accepted all, but I went to the Amīr 'Abdullah -first.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure74"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure74.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">GATE OF THE TEKYAH</p></div> - -<p>Or rather, I went first to the house of his elder brother, the Amīr -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> -'Ali Pasha, because it was there that 'Abd ul Ḳādir had lived, and -there that he had sheltered, during the black days of the massacres in -1860, a thousand Christians. About his name there lingers a romantic -association of courage and patriotism, crowned by a wise and honoured -age full of authority and the power lent by wealth, for the 'Abd ul -Ḳādir family own all the quarter in which they reside. The house, -like any great Damascus house, made no show from the outside. We entered -through a small door in a narrow winding street by a dark passage, -turned a couple of comers and found ourselves in a marble court with a -fountain in the centre and orange trees planted round. All the big rooms -opened into this court, the doors were thrown wide to me, and coffee and -sweetmeats were served by the groom of the chambers, while I admired the -decoration of the walls and the water that bubbled up into marble basins -and flowed away by marble conduits. In this and in most of the Damascene -palaces every window sill has a gurgling pool in it, so that the air -that blows into the room may bring with it a damp freshness. The Amīr -'Ali was away, but his major domo, who looked like a servant <i>de bonne -maison</i> and had the respectful familiarity of manner that the Oriental -dependant knows so well how to assume, showed us his master's treasures, -the jewelled sabre presented to the old Amīr by Napoleon III, 'Abd ul -Ḳādir's rifles, and a pair of heavy, silver-mounted swords sent as a -gift last year by 'Abd ul 'Aziz ibn er Rashīd—there is a traditional -friendship, I learnt, between the Algerian family and the Lords of -Ḥāil. He showed us, too, pictures of 'Abd ul Ḳādir; the Amīr -leading his cavalry, the Amīr at Versailles coming down the steps of -the palace with Napoleon, bearing himself as one who wins and not as one -who loses, the Amīr as an old man in Damascus, always in the white -Algerian robes that he never abandoned, and always with the same grave -and splendid dignity of countenance. And last I was led over a little -bridge, that crossed a running stream behind the main court, into a -garden full of violets, through which we passed to stables as airy, as -light and as dry as the best European stables could have been. In the -stalls stood two lovely Arab mares from the famous studs of the Ruwalla -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> -and a well-bred mule almost as valuable as they. There was a sad-looking -man who accompanied us upon our round, though he did not seem to belong -to the establishment; his face was so gloomy that it arrested my -attention, and I asked Selīm Beg who he was. A Christian, he answered, -of a rich family, who had been persecuted to change his religion and had -sought sanctuary with the Amīr 'Ai. I heard no more of his story, but -he fitted into the picture that 'Abd ul Ḳādir's dwelling-place left -upon the mind: the house of gentlefolk, well kept by well-trained -servants, provided with the amenities of life and offering protection to -the distressed.</p> - -<p>On the following morning I went to see the Amīr 'Abdullah, who lived -next door to his brother. I found there a nephew of 'Abdullah's, the -Amīr Ṭāhir, son of yet another brother, and my arrival was greeted -with satisfaction because there happened to be staying with them a -distinguished guest whom I should doubtless like to see. He was a -certain Sheikh Ṭāhir ul Jezāiri, a man much renowned for his -learning and for his tempestuous and revolutionary politics. Summoned -hastily into the divanned and carpeted upper room in which we were -sitting, he entered like a whirlwind, and establishing himself by my -side poured into my ear, and into all other ears in the vicinity, for he -spoke loud, his distress at not being permitted by the Vāli to -associate freely with gifted foreigners such as the American -archaeologists or even myself ("God forbid!" I murmured modestly), and a -great many other grievances besides. When this topic had run -comparatively dry, he sent the Amīr Ṭāhir to seek for some -publications of his own with which he presented me. They dealt with -Arabic and the allied languages, such as Nabatæan, Safaitic and -Phœnician, the alphabetical signs of which he had arranged very -carefully and well in comparative tables, though he had not an idea of -the signification of any one of the tongues except his own. A curious -and typical example of oriental scholarship was Sheikh Ṭāhir, but -from the samples I had of his conversation I am not sure that the -sympathies of those who respect peace and order would not be with the -Vāli. Presently another notable dropped in, Muṣṭafa Pasha el -Barāzi, a member of one of the four leading families of Ḥamāh, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> -the whole company fell to talking of their own concerns, Syrian politics -and other matters, while I listened and looked out of window over the -Amīr's garden and the stream at its foot, and wondered what had made me -so fortunate as to be taking part in a Damascene morning call. At length -the Amīr 'Abdullah and his nephew took me aside and discussed long and -earnestly a great project which I had broached to them and which I will -not reveal here. And when the visit was over Selīm and Muṣṭafa and -I went out and lunched at an excellent native restaurant in the Greek -bazaar, sitting, cheek by jowl with a Bedouin from the desert and eating -the best of foods and the choicest of Damascus cream tarts for the sum -of eighteen pence between the three of us, which included the coffee and -a liberal tip.</p> - -<p>There was another morning no less pleasant when I went with the faithful -Selīm to pay my respects on a charming old man, the most famous scribe -in all the city, Muṣṭafa el Asbā'i was his name. He lived in a -house, decorated with the exquisite taste of two hundred years ago -inlaid with coloured marbles and overlaid with gesso duro worked in -patterns like the frontispiece of an illuminated Persian manuscript and -painted in soft rich colours in which gold and golden brown -predominated. We were, taken through the reception rooms into a little -chamber on an upper floor where Muṣṭafa was wont to sit and write -those texts that are the pictures of the Moslem East. It was hung round -with examples from celebrated hands ancient and modern, among which I -recognised that of my friend Muḥammad 'Ali, son of Beha Ullaḥ the -Persian prophet, to my mind the most skilful penman of our day, though -Oriental preference goes out to another Persian of the same religious -sect, Mushḳin Kalam, and him also I count among my friends. We sat on -cushions and drank coffee, turning over the while exquisite manuscripts -of all dates and countries, some written on gold and some on silver, -some on brocade and some on supple parchment (several of these last -being pages of Kufic texts abstracted from the Ḳubbet el Khazneh -before it was closed), and when we rose to go Muṣṭafa presented me -with three examples of his own art, and I carried them off rejoicing.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure75"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure75.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MUSHḲIN KALAM</p></div> - -<p>Later in the afternoon we drove out to the valley of the Barada, Selīm -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> -and I, and called on a third soil of 'Abd ul Ḳādir: "Amīr Omar, -princ d'Abd ul Ḳādir" ran his visiting card, printed in the Latin -character. He is the country gentleman of the family. 'Ali has been -carried into spheres of greater influence by his marriage with a sister -of 'Izzet Pasha, the mighty Shadow behind the Throne in Constantinople; -'Abdullah has always a thousand schemes on hand that keep him to the -town, but 'Umar is content to hunt and shoot and tend his garden and -lead the simple life. So simple was it that we found him in a smoking -cap and a dressing gown and carpet slippers walking the garden alleys. -He took us into his house, which, like the other houses of his family, -was full of flowers, and up to a pavilion on the roof, whither his -pointer followed us with a friendly air of companionship. There amid -pots of hyacinths and tulips we watched the sun set over the snowy hills -and talked of desert game and sport.</p> - -<p>Nor let me, amid all this high company, forget my humbler friends: the -Afghan with black locks hanging about his cheeks, who gave me the salute -every time we met (the Amīr of Afghanistan has an agent in Damascus to -look after the welfare of his subjects on the pilgrimage); the sweetmeat -seller at the door of the Great Mosque, who helped me once or twice -through the mazes of the bazaars and called to me each time I passed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> -him: "Has your Excellency no need of your Dragoman to-day?"; or the -dervishes of Sheikh Ḥassan's Tekyah, who invited me to attend the -Friday prayers. Not least the red-bearded Persian who keeps a tea shop -in the Corn Market and who is a member of the Beha'i sect among which I -have many acquaintances. As I sat drinking glasses of delicious Persian -tea at his table, I greeted him in his own tongue and whispered: "I have -been much honoured by the Holy Family at Acre." He nodded his head and -smiled and answered: "Your Excellency is known to us," and when I rose -to go and asked his charge he replied: "For you there is never anything -to pay." I vow there is nothing that so warms the heart as to find -yourself admitted into the secret circle of Oriental beneficence—and -few things so rare.</p> - -<p>Upon a sunny afternoon I escaped from the many people who were always in -waiting to take me to one place or another and made my way alone through -the bazaars, ever the most fascinating of loitering grounds, till I -reached the doors of the Great Mosque. It was the hour of the afternoon -prayer. I left my shoes with a bed-ridden negro by the entrance and -wandered into the wide cloister that runs along the whole of the west -side of the Mosque. A fire some ten years ago, and the reparations that -followed it, have robbed the Mosque of much o its beauty, but it still -remains the centre of interest to the archæologist, who puzzles over -the traces of church and temple and Heaven knows what besides that are -to be seen embedded in its walls and gates. The court was half full of -afternoon shadow and half of sun, and in the golden light troops of -little boys with green willow switches in their hands were running to -and fro in noiseless play, while the Faithful made their first -prostrations before they entered the Mosque. I followed them in and -watched them fall into long lines down nave and aisle from east to west. -All sorts and grades of men stood side by side, from the learned doctor -in a fur-lined coat and silken robes to the raggedest camel driver from -the desert, for Islām is the only republic in the world and recognises -no distinctions of wealth or rank. When they had assembled to the number -of three or four hundred, the chant of the Imām began. "God!" he cried, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> -and the congregation fell with a single movement upon their faces and -remained a full minute in silent adoration till the high chant began -again. "The Creator of this world and the next, of the heavens and of -the earth, He who leads the righteous in the true path and the wicked to -destruct on God!" And as the almighty name echoed through the colonnades -where it had sounded for near two thousand years, the listeners -prostrated themselves again, and for a moment all the sanctuary was -silence.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure76"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure76.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">SWEETMEAT SELLERS</p></div> - -<p>That night I went to an evening party at the invitation of Shekīb el -Arslān, a Druze of a well known family of the Lebanon and a poet -foreby—have I not been presented with a copy of his latest ode? The -party was held in the Maidān, at the house of some corn merchants, who -are agents to the Ḥaurān Druzes in the matter of corn selling and -know the politics of the Mountain well. There were twelve or fourteen -persons present, Shekīb and I and the corn merchants (dressed as befits -well-to-do folk in blue silk robes and embroidered yellow turbans) and a -few others, I know not who they were. The room was blessedly empty of -all but carpets and a divan and a brazier, and this was noteworthy, for -not even the 'Abd ul Ḳādir houses are free from blue and red glass -vases and fringed mats that break out like a hideous disease in the -marble embrazures and on the shelves of the gesso duro cupboards. -Shekīb was a man of education and had experience of the world; he had -even travelled once as far as London. He talked in French until one of -our hosts stopped him with:</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, Shekīb! you know Arabic, the lady also. Talk therefore that we can -understand."</p> - -<p>His views on Turkish politics were worth hearing.</p> - -<p>"My friends," said he, "the evils under which we suffer are due to the -foreign nations who refuse to allow the Turkish empire to move in any -direction. When she fights they take the fruits of her victory from her, -as they did after the war: with the Greeks. What good is it that we -should conquer the rebellious Albanians? the Bulgarians alone would gain, -advantage and the followers of our Prophet (<i>sic</i>, though he was a -Druze) could not live under the hand of the Bulgarians as they would not -live under the hand of the Greeks in Crete. For look you, the Moslems of -Crete are now dwelling at Ṣalaḥiyyeh as you know well, and Crete has -suffered by their departure."</p> - -<p>There was so much truth in this that I who listened wished that the -enemies of Turkey could hear and would deeply ponder the point of view -of intelligent and well-informed subjects of the Ottoman Empire.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure77"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure77.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">COURT OF THE GREAT MOSQUE</p></div> - -<p>My last day in Damascus was a Friday. Now Damascus on a fine Friday is a -sight worth travelling far to see. All the male population dressed in -their best parade the streets, the sweetmeat sellers and the auctioneers -of second-hand clothes drive a roaring trade, the eating shops steam -with dressed meats of the most tempting kind, and splendidly caparisoned -mares are galloped along the road by the river Abana. Early in the -afternoon I had distinguished visitors. The first to wait on me was -Muḥammad Pasha, Sheikh of Jerūd, an oasis half way upon the road to -Palmyra. Jerūdi is the second greatest brigand in all the land, the -greatest (no one disputes him the title) being Fayyāḍ Agha of -Karyatein, another oasis on the Palmyra road. Fayyāḍ, I fancy, is an -evil rogue, though he had been polite enough to me when I had passed his -way, but Jerūdi's knavery is of a different brand. He is a big, -powerful man with a wall eye; he was a mighty rider and raider in his -day, for he has Arab blood in his veins, and his grandfather was of the -high stock of the 'Anazeh, but he has grown old and heavy and gouty, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> -his desire is for peace, a desire difficult to attain, what with his -antecedents and the outlying position of Jerūd, which makes it the -natural resort of all the turbulent spirits of the desert. He must keep -on terms both with his Arab kin and with the government, each trying to -use his influence with the other, and he the while seeking to profit -from both, with his wall eye turned towards the demands of the aw, and -his good eye fixed on his own advantage, if I understand him. Justly -irate consuls have several times demanded of the Vāli his immediate -execution; but the Vāli, though he not infrequently signifies his -disapproval of some markedly outrageous deed by a term of imprisonment, -can never be brought to take the further step, saying that the -government has before now found Jerūdi a useful man, and no doubt the -Vāli is the best judge. To his great sorrow Muḥammad Pasha has no -sons to inherit his very considerable wealth, and the grasshopper, in -the shape of a tribe of expectant nephews, has come to be a burden on -his years. Recently he married a daughter of Fayyāḍ's house, a girl -of fifteen, but she has not brought him children. A famous tale about -him is current in Damascus, a tale to which men do not, however, allude -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> -in his presence. At the outbreak of the last Druze war Jerūdi happened -to be enjoying one of his interludes of adhesion to the powers that be, -and because he knew the Mountain well he was sent with thirty or forty -men to scout and report, the army following upon his heels. It happened -that as he passed through a hamlet near Ormān, his old acquaintance, -the sheikh of the village, saw him, and invited him in to eat. And as he -sat in the maḳ'ad awaiting his dinner he heard the Druzes discussing -outside whether they had not better profit by this opportunity to kill -him as an officer of the Turkish army; and he desired earnestly to go -away from that place, but he could not, the rules of polite society -making it incumbent upon him to stay and eat the dinner that was -a-cooking. So when it came he despatched it with some speed, for the -discussion outside had reached a stage that inspired him with the -gravest anxiety, and having eaten he mounted his horse and rode away -before the Druzes had reached a conclusion. And as he went he found -himself suddenly between two fires; the Turkish army had come up and the -first battle of the war had begun. He and his men, discouraged and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> -perplexed, took refuge behind some rocks, and, as best they might, they -made their way back one by one to the extreme rear of the Turkish -troops. The Druzes have composed a song about this incident; it begins:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure78"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure78.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THRESHING-FLOOR OF ḲARYATEIN</p></div> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 3em;">Jerūdi's golden mares are famed,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And fair the riders in their stumbling flight!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Muḥammad Pasha, tell thy lord</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Where are his soldiers, where his arms!</span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>This piece is not often sung before him.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure79"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure79.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE TEKYAH OF NAKSHIBENDI</p></div> - -<p>My next visitor was Sheikh Ḥassan Nakshibendi, he of the sleek and -cunning clerical face. He contrived to make good use even of the ten -minutes he spent in the inn parlour, for noticing a gaudy ring on Selīm -Beg's finger he asked to see it, and liked it so well that he put it in -his pocket saying that Selīm would certainly wish to give a present to -his khānum, the youngest of his wives, whom he had married a year or -two before. Selīm replied that in that case we must go at once to his -house in Ṣalaḥiyyeh that the present might be offered, and both -Sheikh Ḥassan and Muḥammad Pasha having their victorias at the door, -we four got into them and drove off to Ṣalaḥiyyeh through the bright -holiday streets. At the door of the house Selīm announced that I ought -first to take leave of the Vāli, who lived close at hand, and borrowed -Jerūdi's carriage that we might go in style. Then said Selīm to -Muḥammad Pasha:</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Are you not coming with us?" But the question was put in sarcasm, for -he knew well that Jerūdi was going through a period of disgrace and -that he had but recently emerged from a well-merited imprisonment.</p> - -<p>Jerūdi shook his head and drawing near to us, seated in his victoria, -he whispered:</p> - -<p>"Say something in my favour to the Pasha."</p> - -<p>We laughed and promised to speak for him, though Selīm confided to me -as we drove away that when he had been in disgrace ("entirely owing to -the intrigues of my enemies"), not a man had come forward to help him, -while now that he was in favour every one begged for his intervention; -and he drew his frock coat round him and lent back against the cushions -of Jerūdi's carriage with the air of one who is proudly conscious that -he is in a position to fulfil scriptural injunctions to the letter.</p> - -<p>Nāzim Pasha was on his doorstep taking leave of the commander-in-chief. -When he saw us he came down the steps and called us in with the utmost -friendliness. The second visit to his house (he had been to see me in -between) was much less formal than the first. We talked of the Japanese -War, a topic never far from the lips of my interlocutors, great or -small, and I made bold to ask him his opinion.</p> - -<p>"Officially," said he, "I am neutral."</p> - -<p>"But between friends?"</p> - -<p>"Of course I am on the side of the Japanese," he answered. And then he -added: "It is you who have gained by their victory."</p> - -<p>I replied: "But will you not also gain?"</p> - -<p>He answered gloomily: "We have not gained as yet. Not at all in -Macedonia."</p> - -<p>Then he asked how I had enjoyed my visit to Damascus. Selīm replied -hastily:</p> - -<p>"To-day she has had a great disappointment."</p> - -<p>The Vāli looked concerned.</p> - -<p>"Yes," continued Selīm, "she had hoped to see a chief of brigands, and -she has found only a peaceful subject of your Excellency."</p> - -<p>"Who is he?" said Nāzim.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Muḥammad Pasha Jerūdi," answered Selīm. The good word had been -spoken very skilfully.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure80"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure80.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">OUTSIDE DAMASCUS GATES</p></div> - -<p>When we returned to Sheikh Ḥassan's house we related this conversation -to the subject of it, and Jerūdi pulled a wry face, but expressed -himself satisfied. Sheikh Ḥassan then took me to see his wife—his -fifth wife, for he had divorced one of the legal four to marry her. He -has the discretion to keep a separate establishment for each, and I do -not question that he is repaid by the resulting peace of his hearths. -There were three women in the inner room, the wife and another who was -apparently not of the household, for she hid her face under the -bed clothes when Sheikh Ḥassan came in, and a Christian, useful in -looking after the male guests (there were others besides Jerūdi and -Selīm) and in doing commissions in the bazaars, where she can go more -freely than her sister Moslems. The harem was shockingly untidy. Except -when the women folk expect your visit and have prepared for it, nothing -is more forlornly unkempt than their appearance. The disorder of the -rooms in which they live may partly be accounted for by the fact that -there are neither cupboards nor drawers in them, and all possessions are -kept in large green and gold boxes, which must be unpacked when so much -as a pocket-handkerchief is needed, and frequently remain unpacked. -Sheikh Ḥassan's wife was a young and pretty woman, though her hair -dropped in wisps about her face and neck, and a dirty dressing gown -clothed a figure which had, alas! already fallen into ruin.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> - -<p>But the view from Nakshibendi's balcony is immortal. The great and -splendid city of Damascus, with its gardens and its domes and its -minarets, lies spread out below, and beyond it the desert, the desert -reaching almost to its gates. And herein is the heart of the whole -matter.</p> - -<p>This is what I know of Damascus; as for the churches and the castles, -the gentry can see those for themselves.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_1" id="Footnote_8_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_1"><span class="label">[8]</span></a>Since I wrote these sentences, a turn of the political -wheel has brought him down, and he is now reduced to an unimportant post -in the island of Rhodes.</p></div> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure81"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure81.jpg" width="200" alt="400" /> -<p class="center">A WATER SELLER</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></h4> - - -<p>The Vāli had inquired of me closely whither I was going from Damascus, -and when I told him that Ba'albek was my goal he had replied that he -must certainly send a small body of armed men to guard so distinguished -a traveller. Thereupon I had answered quickly, so as to avoid further -discussion, that I should go by train. But as I had in reality no -intention of adopting that means of progression it was necessary to make -an early start if I would journey alone. We left the city on a bright -and sunny morning; the roads were full of cheerful wayfarers, and our -horses tugged at the bits after the week's rest. We passed by the Amīr -'Umar's house in the Wādi Barada, and saw that nobleman enjoying the -morning sun upon his roof. He shouted down to me an invitation to enter, -but I replied that there was business on hand, and that he must let me -go.</p> - -<p>"Go in peace!" he answered. "Please God some day we may ride -together."</p> - -<p>"Please God!" said I, and "God requite you!"</p> - -<p>A mile or two further we came to a parting of the ways and I altered my -route and struck straight into the Anti-Libanus the better to avoid the -attentions of all the official personages who had been warned to do me -honour. We rode up the beautiful valley of the Barada, which is full of -apricots (but they were not yet in flower), crossed the river above -Suḳ Wādi Barada, a splendid gorge, and journeyed over a plain between -snowy mountains to Zebdāny, famous for its apples. Here we pitched a -solitary camp in a green meadow by a spring, the snowy flanks of Hermon -closing the view to the south and the village scattered over the hill -slopes to the north, and no one in Zebdāny paid any attention to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> -two small tents. Next day we crossed the Anti-Libanus in a howling wind; -a very lovely and enjoyable ride it was nevertheless, but a long stage -of eight and a quarter hours. There were Latin inscriptions cut at -intervals in the rocks all down the valley that falls into the -Yaḥfūfa at Jānta—I imagine we were on the Roman road from Damascus -to Ba'albek. The last long barren miles were done in driving rain and we -arrived wet through at Ba'albek. It was almost too windy to pitch a -camp, and yet my soul revolted against the thought of a hotel; -fortunately, Mikhāil suggested a resource. He knew, said he, a decent -Christian woman who lived at the entrance of the village and who would -doubtless give us a lodging. It happened as he had predicted. The -Christian woman was delighted to see us. Her house contained a clean -empty room which I was speedily made ready for my camp furniture, -Mikhāil established himself and his cooking gear in another, the wind -and the rain beat its worst against the shutters and could do us no -harm.</p> - -<p>The name of my hostess was Ḳurunfuleh, the Carnation Flower, and she -was wife to one Yūsef el 'Awais, who is at present seeking his fortune -in America, where she wishes to join him. I spent an hour or two with -her and her son and daughter and a few relations who had dropped in for -a little talk and a little music, bringing their lutes with them. They -told me that they were very anxious about their future. The greater part -of the population of Ba'albek and round about belongs to an unorthodox -sect of Islām, called the Metāwileh, which has a very special -reputation for fanaticism and ignorance. These people, when they heard -of the Japanese victories, would come and shake their fists at their -Christian neighbours, saying: "The Christians are suffering defeat! See -now, we too will shortly drive you out and seize your goods." Mikhāil -joined in, and declared that it was the same thing at Jerusalem. There, -said he (I know not with what truth), the Moslems had sent a deputation -to the Mufti, saying: "The time has come for us to turn the Christians -out." But the Mufti answered: "If you raise a disturbance the nations of -Europe will step in, for Jerusalem is the apple of their eye" (so the -Mufti affirmed), "and they will take the whole land and we shall be -worse off than before." I tried to comfort Ḳurunfuleh by saying that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> -it was improbable that the Christians of Syria should suffer -persecution, the country being so well known and so much frequented by -tourists, who would not fail to raise an outcry. The yearly stream of -tourists is, in fact, one of the best guarantees of order. Now -Ḳurunfuleh was a Lebanon woman, and I asked her why she did not return -to her own village, where she would be under the direct protection of -the Powers and exempt from danger. She said:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure82"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure82.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">SUḲ WĀDI BARADA</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh lady, the house here is taken in my husband's name, and I cannot -sell it unless he return, nor yet leave it empty, and moreover the life -in the Lebanon is not like the life in the plain, and I, being -accustomed to other things, could not endure it. There no one has any -business but to watch his neighbour, and if you put on a new skirt the -village will whisper together and mock at you saying, 'Hast seen the -lady?' Look you, I will show you what it is like to live in the Lebanon. -I eat meat in Ba'albek once a day, but they once a month. They take an -onion and divide it into three parts, using one part each evening to -flavour the burghul (cracked wheat), and I throw a handful of onions -into the dish every night. Life pinches in the Lebanon."</p> - -<p>Life pinches so straitly that all of the population that can scrape -together their passage money are leaving for the United States, and it -is next to impossible to find labour to cultivate the corn, the mulberry -and the vine. There is no advancement, to use the Syrian phrase. The -Lebanon province is a <i>cul de sac</i>, without a port of its own and -without commerce. True, you need not go in fear of death, but of what -advantage is an existence that offers no more than the third of an onion -at supper time? As usual, the Sublime Porte has been too many for the -Powers. It has accorded all they asked, oh yes, and gladly, but the -concessions that seemed to lay open the path of prosperity have in -reality closed the gates for ever upon those who should have profited by -them.</p> - -<p>Next day the rain had not abated. I received the Commissioner of Police, -who had run me to earth—he proved to be a charming man—and paid -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> -a visit to a large family of Portuguese who were staying at the hotel hard -by my lodging. Monsieur Luiz de Sommar, with his wife and daughters and -nephews, had come up from Jerusalem to Damascus by the Jebel Druze. I -had heard of their arrival at Sweida while I was at Ṣalkhad, and had -wondered how they had gained admission. The story was curious and it -redounds to the credit of Monsieur de Sommar, while it shows how eager -the Government still is to keep the Mountain free from the prying eyes -of tourists. The Portuguese family had met Mr. Mark Sykes at 'Ammān, -and he had advised them to change their route so as to pass through -Ḳanawāt in the Jebel Druze, saying they would have no difficulty in -obtaining permission to do so. Monsieur de Sommar went guilelessly -forward, but when he reached Sweida, which is the chief post of the -Government, the Ḳāimaḳām stopped him and intimated politely but -firmly that he must return the way he had come. He replied as firmly -that he would not, and sent telegrams to his Consul in Damascus and his -Minister at Constantinople. Thereupon followed an excited exchange of -messages, the upshot of which was that he was to be allowed to proceed -to Ḳanawāt if he would take a hundred zaptiehs with him. The country, -said the Ḳāimaḳām, was extremely dangerous—that country through -which, as I know well, a woman can ride with no escort but a Druze boy, -and might ride alone, even if she had her saddle-bags full of gold. But -Monsieur de Sommar was a man of judgment. He replied that he was quite -willing to take the hundred zaptiehs, but not one piastre piece should -they receive from him. Thus countered, the Ḳāimaḳām changed his -note and diminished the escort till it numbered twenty, with which guard -the de Sommars reached Ḳanawāt in safety. I congratulated them on -their exploit, and myself on having sought my permit from Fellāḥ ul -Tsa, and not from the Vāli of Syria.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure83"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure83.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<p>In spite of the rain, the day at Ba'albek was not mis-spent. Since my -last visit the Germans had excavated the Temple of the Sun and laid bare -altars, fountains, bits of decoration and foundations of churches, which -were all of the deepest interest. Moreover, the great group of temples -and enclosing walls set between the double range of mountains, Lebanon -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> -and Anti-Libanus, produces an impression second to none save the Temple -group of the Athenian Acropolis, which is easily beyond a peer. The -details of Ba'albek are not so good as those at Athens; the matchless -dignity and restraint of that glory among the creations of architects -are not to be approached, nor is the splendid position on the hill top -overlooking the blue sea and the Gulf of Salamis to be rivalled. But in -general effect Ba'albek comes nearer to it than any other mass of -building, and it provides an endless source of speculation to such as -busy themselves with the combination of Greek and Asiatic genius that -produced it and covered its doorposts, its architraves and its capitals -with ornamental devices infinite in variety as they are lovely in -execution. For the archæologist there is neither clean nor unclean. All -the works of the human imagination fall into their appointed place in -the history of art, directing and illuminating his own understanding of -it. He is doubly blest, for when the outcome is beautiful to the eyes he -returns thanks; but, whatever the result, it is sure to furnish him with -some new and unexpected link between one art and another, and to provide -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> -him with a further rung in the ladder of history. He is thus apt to be -well satisfied with what he sees, and above all, he does not say: "Alas, -alas! these dogs of Syrians! Phidias would have done so-and-so;" for he -is glad to mark a new attempt in the path of artistic endeavour, and a -fresh breath moving the acanthus leaves and the vine scrolls on capital -and frieze.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure84"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure84.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE GREAT COURT, BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<p>Our departure from Ba'albek was marked by a regrettable -occurrence—my dog Kurt was found to have disappeared in the night. -Unlike most Syrian pariah dogs, he was of a very friendly disposition, -he was also (and in this respect he did not differ from his half fed -clan) insatiably greedy; the probability was, therefore, that he had -been lured away with a bone and shut up till we were safely out of the -road. Ḥabīb set off in one direction through the village, Mikhāil in -another, while the Commissioner of Police, who had appeared on the -agitated scene, tried to pour balm upon my wounded feelings. After a few -minutes Ḥabīb reappeared with Kurt, all wag, behind him on a chain. -He had found him, he explained breathlessly, in the house of one who had -thought to steal him, fastened with this very chain:</p> - -<p>"And when Kurt heard my voice he barked, and I went into the yard and -saw him. And the lord of the chain demanded it of me, and by God! I -refused to give it him and struck him to the earth with it instead. God -curse him for a thievish Metāwileh! And so I left him."</p> - -<p>I have, therefore, the pleasure to record that the Metāwileh are as -dishonest a sect as rumour would have them to be, but that their -machinations can be brought to nought by vigilant Christians.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure85"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure85.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">COLUMNS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN, BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<p>We rode down the wide and most dreary valley between Lebanon and -Anti-Libanus. I might have gone by train to Ḥomṣ, and eke to -Ḥamāh, but I preferred to cross from side to side of the valley as -the fancy took me, and visit such places of interest as the country had -to show, and this could only be done on horseback. North of Ba'albek all -Syria was new to me; it marked an epoch, too, that we had reached the -frontier of the Palestine Exploration Map. I now had recourse to -Kiepert's small but excellent sheet, which I had abstracted from the -volume of Oppenheim that had been left at Ṣāleh. There is no other -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> -satisfactory map until, at a line some thirty miles south of Aleppo, -Kiepert's big Kleinasien 1-400,000 begins; when the American Survey -publishes its geographical volume the deficiency will, I hope, be -rectified. After four and a half hours we came to Lebweh, where one of -the principal sources of the Orontes bursts out of the earth in a number -of springs, very beautiful to see; and here we were overtaken by two -soldiers who had been sent after us by the Ḳāimaḳām with a polite -inquiry as to whether I would not like an escort. I sent one back and -kept the other, fearing to hurt the Ḳāimaḳām's feelings; Derwīsh -was the man's name, helpful and pleasant he proved, as indeed were all -in the long series of his successors who accompanied us until I stepped -into the train at Konia. Some of them added greatly to the pleasure of -the journey, telling me many tales of their experiences and adventures -as we rode together hour by hour. They enjoyed the break in garrison -life that was thus afforded them, and they enjoyed also the daily fee of -a mejideh (4<i>s.</i> roughly) which was so much more certain than the -Sultan's pay. I gave them besides a little tip when they reached the -term of their services, and they fed themselves and their horses on -provisions and grain that I shrewdly suspect were taken from the -peasantry by force, a form of official exaction that the traveller is -powerless to prevent.</p> - -<p>At Lebweh are the ruins of a temple built in the massive masonry of -Ba'albek. A podium of four great courses of stones crowned by a simple -moulding, a mere splay face, is all that is left of it. The village -belongs to a man called Asad Beg, a rich Metāwileh and brother to a -certain Dr. Haida, who is a ubiquitous person well known in north Syria. -I never go to Damascus without meeting him and never meet him without -satisfaction, for he is well read in Arabic literature and exceptionally -intelligent. He has recently been engaged in some job on the Mecca -railway, and he is, so far as I know, the only example in his sect of a -man who has received a good education and risen to a certain -distinction.</p> - -<p>We pitched camp at Rās Ba'albek, where there is an excellent spring in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -a gorge of the barren eastern hills an hour and a half from Lebweh. The -frost had ceased to pinch us of a morning, praise be to God! but it was -still cold. When we rose at dawn the sleet was beating against the tents -and we rode all day in the devil's own wind. This was March 8; Spring -travels slowly into Northern Syria. I sent my camp by the direct path -and rode with Derwīsh to a monument that stands on some rising ground -in the middle of the Orontes valley and which in that desolate expanse -is seen for a day's journey on either side. It is a tall tower of -massive stonework capped by a pyramid and decorated with pilasters and -a rough frieze carved in low relief with hunting scenes and trophies of -arms. The Syrians call it Ḳāmu'a Hurmul, the Tower of Hurmul after -the village close by, and the learned are of opinion that it -commemorates some great battle of the Roman conquest, but there is no -inscription to prove them right or wrong. It lies two hours to the west -of Rās Ba'albek. Buffeted by the furious wind we rode on another hour -and a half to a line of little mounds protecting the air-holes of an -underground water channel—a Ḳanāt it would be called in Persian, and -I believe is so called in Arabic. Another two and a half hours brought -us to Ḳṣeir, the mules came up a quarter of an hour later, and we -camped hard by the cemetery outside the ugly mud-built town. The wind -dropped after sunset, and peace, moral and physical, settled down upon -the camp. Even Mikhāil's good humour had been somewhat disturbed by the -elements, but Ḥabīb had come in as smiling as ever, and I am glad to -remember that I, feeling my temper slipping from me down the gale, had -preserved the silence of the philosopher. Muḥammad the Druze was no -longer with us, for he had been left behind in Damascus. Whether through -his own fault or by reason of a conspiracy against him among the others, -difficulties and quarrels were always arising, and it was better to -sacrifice one member of the staff and preserve the equanimity of the -caravan. My contract with him ceased at Damascus; we parted on the best -of terms, and his place was taken by a succession of hirelings, -indistinguishable, as far as I was concerned, the one from the other.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure86"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure86.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">TEMPLE OF JUPITER, BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<p>The valley of the Orontes was formerly an Arab camping ground and is -still frequented in dry seasons by a few skeikhs of the Ḥaseneh and of -the 'Anazeh, particularly by the Ruwalla branch of the latter tribe, but -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> -the bulk of the Bedouin have been driven out by cultivation. The -Ḳāmu'a Hurmul bears the record of them in the shape of ancient tribe -marks. It was more curious to reflect that we were in the southern -headquarters of the Hittites, whoever they may have been; the famous -examples of their as yet undecyphered script which were found at -Ḥamāh are now lodged in the museum at Constantinople, where they have -baffled all the efforts of the learned. The present population of -Ḳṣeir is composed partly of Christians and partly of the members of -a sect called the Noṣairiyyeh. They are not recognised by Islām as -orthodox, though, like all the smaller sects, they do their best to -smooth, away the outward differences between themselves and the dominant -creed. They keep the tenets of their faith secret as far as possible, -but Dussaud has pried into the heart of them and found them full of the -traces of Phœnician tradition. Living apart in mountain fastnesses that -have remained almost inviolate, the Noṣairiyyeh have held on to the -practices of ancient Semitic cults, and they occupy an honourable -position in the eyes of Syriologists as the direct descendants of -paganism, while remaining themselves profoundly ignorant of their -ancestry. Native report speaks ill of their religion, following the -invariable custom by which people whisper scandal of what they are not -allowed to understand, and I was told that the visible signs of it as -expressed by the conduct of the sect left everything to be desired. -Dussaud has, however, washed away the stain that lay upon their faith, -and my experience of their dealings with strangers leads me to adopt an -attitude of benevolent neutrality. I spent five days in the mountains -west of Ḥomṣ and a week near Antioch, in which districts they are -chiefly to be found, and had no reason to raise a complaint. Kurt was -not so well pleased with the company in which he found himself at -Ḳṣeir. He kept up a continual barking all night; I could almost have -wished him back in the courtyard of the Metawīleh.</p> - -<p>Next day the weather was gloriously fine. With Mikhāil I made a long -circuit that I might visit Tell Nebi Mendu, which is the site of Kadesh -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> -on the Orontes, the southern capital of the Hittites. Kadesh in its day -must have been a fair city. The mound on which it was built rises out of -a great corn-growing plain; to the south the wide valley of the Orontes -runs up between the twin chains of Lebanon, to the west the Jebel -Noṣairiyyeh protect it from the sea, and between the ranges of Lebanon -and the Noṣairiyyeh mountains there is a smiling lowland by which -merchants and merchandise might pass down to the coast. Northwards to -the horizon stretch the plains of Coelo Syria; the steppes of the -Palmyrene desert bound the view to the east. The foot of the tell is -washed by the young and eager Orontes (the Rebellious is the meaning of -its Arabic name), and in the immediate foreground lies the lake of -Ḥomṣ, six miles long. The mound of Kadesh is approached by grassy -swards, and among willow trees a mill wheel turns merrily in the rushing -stream. The site must have been inhabited almost continuously from -Hittite times, for history tells of a Seleucid city, Laodocia ad -Orontem, and there are traces of a Christian town. Each succeeding -generation has built upon the dust of those that went before, and the -mound has grown higher and higher, and doubtless richer and richer in -the traces of them that lived on it. But it cannot be excavated -thoroughly owing to the miserable mud hovels that have inherited the -glories of Laodocia and Kadesh, and to the little graveyard at the -northern end of the village which, according to the Moslem prejudice, -must remain undisturbed till Gabriel's trump rouses the sleepers in it. -I noticed fragments of columns and of very rough capitals lying about -among the houses, but my interest, while I stood upon the mound, was -chiefly engaged in picturing the battle fought at Kadesh by the Hittite -king against the Pharaoh of his time, which is recorded in a famous -series of hieroglyphs in Egypt. A quarter of an hour's ride to the north -of Tell Nebi Mendu there is a singular earthwork which is explained by -the Arabs as being the Sefinet Nuh (Noah's Ark) and by archæologists as -an Assyrian fortification, and the one account of its origin has as much -to support it as the other. It is a heap of earth, four-square, its -sides exactly oriented to the points of the compass, standing some forty -to fifty feet above the level of the plain and surrounded by a ditch, -the angles of which are still sharp. We rode to the top of it, and found -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> -it to be an immense platform of solid earth, about an eighth of a mile -square, the four corners raised a little as if there had been towers -upon them, and tower and rampart and platform were alike covered with -springing corn. Whoever raised it, Patriarch or Assyrian, must have -found it mighty tiresome to construct, but until a few trenches have -been cut across it the object that directed his labours will rest -undetermined. We rode down to the lake and lunched by the lapping water -on a beach of clean shells. There are two mounds close to the shores, -another a mile or two out of Ḥomṣ, while the castle of Ḥomṣ -itself was built upon a fourth. They have all the appearance of being -artificial, and probably contain the relics of towns that were sisters -to Kadesh. The fertile plain east of the Orontes must always have been -able to support a large population, larger perhaps in Hittite days than -in our own. The day's ride had lasted from 9.30 to 2 o'clock, with -three-quarters of an hour at Tell Nebi Mendu and half an hour by the -lake.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure87"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure87.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CAPITALS IN THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER, BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<p>We approached Ḥomṣ through the cemeteries. That it should be -preceded by a quarter of a mile of graves is not a peculiarity of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> -Ḥomṣ, but a constant feature of oriental towns. Every city is -guarded by battalions of the dead, and the life of the town moves in and -out through a regiment of turbaned tombstones. It happened to be a -Thursday when we came to Ḥomṣ, and Thursday is the weekly Day of All -Souls in the Mohammedan world. Groups of veiled women were laying -flowers upon the graves or sitting on the mounds engaged in animated -chat—the graveyard is the pleasure ground of Eastern women and the -playground of the children, nor do the gloomy associations of the spot -affect the cheerfulness of the visitors. My camp was pitched in the -outskirts of the city on a stretch of green grass below the ruins of -barracks built by Ibrahīm Pasha and destroyed immediately after his -death by the Syrians, who were desirous of obliterating every trace of -his hated occupation. All was ready for me, water boiling for tea and a -messenger from the Ḳāimaḳām in waiting to assure me that my every -wish should have immediate attention, in spite of which I do not like -the town of Ḥomṣ and never of free will shall I camp in it again. -This resolution is due to the behaviour of the inhabitants, which I will -now describe.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure88"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure88.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">FOUNTAIN IN THE GREAT COURT, BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure89"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure89.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">FRAGMENT OF ENTABLATURE, BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<p>The conduct of the Ḳāimaḳām was unexceptionable. I visited him -after tea, and found him to be an agreeable Turk, with a little of the -Arabic tongue and an affable address. There were various other people -present, turbaned muftis and grave senators—we had a pleasant talk -over our coffee. When I rose to go the Ḳāimaḳām offered me a soldier to -escort me about the town, but I refused, saying that I had nothing to -fear, since I spoke the language. I was wrong: no knowledge of Arabic -would be sufficient to enable the stranger to express his opinion of the -people of Ḥomṣ. Before I was well within the bazaar the persecution -began. I might have been the Pied Piper of Hamelin from the way the -little boys flocked upon my heels. I bore their curiosity for some time, -then I adjured them, then I turned for help to the shopkeepers in the -bazaars. This was effective for a while, but when I was so unwary as to -enter a mosque, not only the little boys but every male inhabitant of -Ḥomṣ (or so it seemed to my fevered imagination) crowded in after -me. They were not annoyed, they had no wish to stop me, on the contrary -they desired eagerly that I should go on for a long time, that they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> -might have a better opportunity of watching me; but it was more than I -could bear, and I fled back to my tents, pursued by some two hundred -pairs of inquisitive eyes, and sent at once for a zaptieh. Next morning -I was wiser and took the zaptieh with me from the first. We climbed to -the top of the castle mound to gain a general idea of the town. Though -it has no particular architectural beauty, Ḥomṣ has a character of -its own. It is built of tufa, the big houses standing round courtyards -adorned with simple but excellent patterns of white limestone let into -the black walls. Sometimes the limestone is laid in straight courses, -making with the tufa alternate bars of black and white like the facade -of Siena cathedral. The mind is carried back the more to Italy by the -minarets, which are tall square towers, for all the world like the -towers of San Gimignano, except that those of Ḥomṣ are capped by a -white cupola, very pretty and effective. All that remained of the castle -was Arabic in origin, and so were the fortifications round the town, -save at one place to the east, where the Arab work seemed to rest on -older foundations. I saw no mass of building of pre-Mohammedan date but -one, a brick ruin outside the Tripoli gate which was certainly Roman, -the sole relic of the Roman city of Emesa. The castle mound is also -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> -outside the town, and when I had completed my general survey we entered -by the western gate and went sight-seeing. This is a process which takes -time, for it is constantly interrupted by pressing invitations to come -in and drink coffee. We passed by the Turkmān Jāmi'a, where there are -a couple of Greek inscriptions built into the minaret and a sarcophagus, -carved with bulls' heads and garlands, that serves as a fountain. The -zaptieh was of opinion that I could not do better than pay my respects -to the Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church, and to his palace I went, -but found that I was still too early to see his lordship. I was -entertained, however, on jam and water and coffee, and listened to the -lamentations of the Bishop's secretary over the Japanese victories. The -Greek Orthodox Church held penitential services each time that they -received the news of a Russian defeat, and at that moment they were kept -busy entreating the Almighty to spare the enemies of Christendom. The -secretary deputed a servant to show me the little church of Mār Eliās, -which contains, an interesting marble sarcophagus with Latin crosses -carved on the body of it and Greek crosses on the lid, a later addition, -I fancy, to a classical tomb. Outside the church I met one called 'Abd -ul Wahhāb Beg, whom I had seen at the Serāya when I was calling on the -Ḳāimaḳām, and he invited me into his house, a fine example of the -domestic architecture of Ḥomṣ, the harem court being charmingly -decorated with patterns in limestone and basalt. When I came out, the -zaptieh, who had grasped what sort of sight it was I wished to see, -announced that he would take me to the house of one Ḥassan Beg Nā'i, -which was the oldest in Ḥomṣ. Thither we went, and as we passed -through the narrow but remarkably clean streets I noticed that in almost -every house there was a loom, whereon a weaver was weaving the striped -silk for which Ḥomṣ is famous, while down most of the thoroughfares -were stretched the silken yarns. The zaptieh said that the workers were -paid by the piece, and earned from seven to twelve piastres a day (one -to two shillings), a handsome wage in the East. Living was cheap, he -added; a poor man could rent his house, that is a single room, for a -hundred piastres a year, and feed his family on thirty to forty piastres -a week or even less if he had not many children.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure90"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure90.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">BASILICA OF CONSTANTINE, BA'ALBEK</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> - -<p>Ḥassan Beg Nā'i was a red-haired and red-bearded man, with a -hard-featured face of a Scotch lowland type. He was not at all pleased -to see me, but, at the instance of the zaptieh, he slouched out of his -bachelor quarters, where he was drinking a Friday morning cup of coffee -with his friends, took me across the street to his harem, and left me -with his womenkind, who were as friendly as he was surly. They were, -indeed, delighted to have a visitor, for Ḥassan Beg is a strict -master, and neither his wife nor his mother nor any woman that is his is -allowed to put her nose out of doors, not even to take a walk through -the graveyard or to drive down to the meadow by the Orontes on a fine -summer afternoon. The harem had been a very beautiful Arab house on the -model of the houses of Damascus. There were plaster cupolas over the -rooms and over the liwān (the audience hall at the bottom of the -court), but the plaster was chipping away and the floors and staircases -crumbled beneath the feet of those that trod them. A marble column with -an acanthus capital was built into one wall, and on the floor of the -liwān stood a big marble capital, simple in style but good of its kind. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> -It had been converted into a water basin, and may have done duty as a -font before the Arabs took Emesa and after the earlier buildings of the -Roman town had begun to fall into decay and their materials to be put to -other uses. I passed as I went home a fine square minaret, built of -alternate bands of black and white. The mosque or the Christian church -to which the tower belonged had fallen; it is reputed, said my zaptieh, -to be the oldest tower in the town. The mosque at the entrance of the -bazaar was certainly a church of no mean architectural merit.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure91"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure91.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A STONE IN THE QUARRY, BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<p>There was nothing more to see in Ḥomṣ, and as the afternoon was fine -I rode down to the meadow by the Orontes, the fashionable resort of all -holiday makers in spring and summer. The course of the Orontes leaves -Ḥomṣ a good mile to the south-west, and the water supply is both bad -and insufficient, being derived from a canal that begins at the northern -end of the lake. The Marj ul 'Asi, the meadow of the Orontes, is a good -type of the kind of place in which the Oriental, be he Turk or Syrian or -Persian, delights to spend his leisure. "Three things there are," says -an Arabic proverb, "that ease the heart from sorrow: water, green grass -and the beauty of women." The swift Orontes stream flowed by swards -already starred with daisies, where Christian ladies, most perfunctorily -veiled, alighted from their mules under willow trees touched with the -first breath of spring. The river turned a great Na'oura, a Persian -wheel, which filled the air with its pleasant rumbling. A coffee maker -had set up his brazier by the edge of the road, a sweetmeat seller was -spreading out his wares by the waterside, and on a broader stretch of -grass a few gaily dressed youths galloped and wheeled Arab mares. The -East made holiday in her own simple and satisfactory manner, warmed by -her own delicious sun.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure92"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure92.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">RĀS UL 'AIN, BA'ALBEK</p></div> - -<p>The rest of the afternoon was devoted to society and to fruitless -attempts to escape from the curiosity of the townsfolk. It was a Friday -afternoon, and no better way of spending it occurred to them than to -assemble to the number of many hundreds round my tents and observe every -movement of every member of the camp. The men were bad enough, but the -women were worse and the children were the worst of all. Nothing could -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> -keep them off, and the excitement reached a climax when 'Abd ul Ḥamed -Pasha Druby, the richest man in Ḥomṣ, came to call, bringing with -him the Ḳāḍi Muḥammad Sāid ul Khāni. I could not pay as much -attention to their delightful and intelligent conversation as it -deserved, owing to the seething crowd that surrounded us, but an hour -later I returned their call at the Pasha's fine new house at the gate of -the town, accompanied thither by at least three hundred people. I must -have breathed a sigh of relief when the door closed upon my escort, for -as I established myself in the cool and quiet liwan, 'Abd ul Ḥamed -said:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure93"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure93.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CEDARS OF LEBANON</p></div> - -<p>"Please God the populace does not trouble your Excellency; for if so we -will order out a regiment of soldiers."</p> - -<p>I murmured a half-hearted refusal of his offer, though I would have been -glad to have seen those little boys shot down by volleys of musketry, -and the Pasha added reflectively:</p> - -<p>"The Emperor of the Germans when he was in Damascus gave orders that no -one was to be forbidden to come and gaze on him."</p> - -<p>With this august example before me I saw that I must bear the penalties -of greatness and foreignness without complaint.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> - -<p>The talk turned on religious beliefs. I began by asking about the -Noṣairiyyeh, but the Ḳāḍi pursed his lips and answered:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure94"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure94.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE ḲĀMU'A HURMUL</p></div> - -<p>"They are not pleasant people. Some of them pretend to worship 'Ali -and some worship the sun. They believe that when they die their souls pass -into the bodies of other men or even animals, as it is in the faiths of -India and of China."</p> - -<p>I said: "I have heard a story that they tell of a man who owned a -vineyard, and the man died and left it to his son. Now the young man -worked in the vineyard until the time of the harvest, and when the -grapes were ripe a wolf entered in, and every evening he ate the fruit. -And the young man tried to hunt him forth, and every evening he -returned. And one night the wolf cried aloud: 'Shall I not eat of the -grapes who planted the vines?' And the young man was astounded and he -said: 'Who art thou?' The wolf replied: 'I am thy father.' The young man -answered: 'If thou art indeed my father, where did'st hide the pruning -knife, for I have not found it since thy soul left thy body!' Then the -wolf took him to the place where the pruning knife lay concealed, and he -believed and knew it was his father."</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure95"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure95.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">AN EASTERN HOLIDAY</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Ḳāḍi dismissed, the evidence.</p> - -<p>"Without doubt they are mighty liars," said he.</p> - -<p>I asked him next whether he had any acquaintance with the Behā'is. He -answered:</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure96"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure96.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A STREET IN ḤOMṢ</p></div> - -<p>"As for the Behā'is and others like them, your Excellency knows that -the Prophet (may God give him peace!) said that there were seventy-two -false creeds and but one true, and I can tell you that of the -seventy-two there are certainly fifty in our country."</p> - -<p>I replied that it appertained to prophets alone to distinguish the true -from the false, and that we in Europe, where there were none to help us, -found it a difficult task.</p> - -<p>"In Europe," said the Ḳāḍi, "I have heard that the men of science -are your prophets."</p> - -<p>"And they make answer that they know nothing," I observed. "Their eyes -have explored the stars, yet they cannot tell us the meaning of the word -infinity."</p> - -<p>"If you speak of the infinite sky," remarked the Ḳāḍi, "we know -that it is occupied by seven heavens."</p> - -<p>"And what beyond the seventh heaven?"</p> - -<p>"Does not your Excellency know that the number one is the beginning of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> -all things?" said he. "When you have told me what comes before the -number one, I will tell you what lies beyond the seventh heaven."</p> - -<p>The Pasha laughed, and said that if the Ḳāḍi had finished his -argument he would like to ask me what was the current opinion in Europe -in the matter of thought-reading. "For," said he, "a month ago a ring of -price was stolen in my house, and I could not find the thief. Now a -certain Effendi among my friends, hearing of my case, came to me and -said: 'I know a man in the Lebanon skilful in these things.' I said: 'Do -me the kindness to send for him.' And the man came, and he sought in -Ḥomṣ, until he found a woman gifted with second sight, and he worked -spells on her until she spoke and said: 'The thief is so-and-so, and he -has taken the ring to his house.' And we sought in the house and found -the jewel. This is my experience, for the event happened under my eyes."</p> - -<p>I replied that thought-readers in the Lebanon made a better use of their -gifts than any I had heard of in London, and the Pasha said -meditatively:</p> - -<p>"It may be that the woman of the bazaar had a complaint against the man -in whose house we found the ring—God alone knows, may His name be -exalted!"</p> - -<p>And so we left it.</p> - -<p>When I returned to my tent I found a visiting card on my table, bearing -the name and title, "Hanna Khabbāz, the preacher of the Protestant -Church at Ḥomṣ." Beneath this inscription was written the following -message: "Madam,—My wife and I are ready to do any service you need -in the name of Christ and the humanity. We should like to visit you if you -kindly accept us. I am, your obedient servant." I sent word that I would -kindly accept them if they would come at once, and they appeared before -sundown, two friendly people, very eager to offer me hospitality, of -which I had no opportunity to take advantage. I regretted it the less -because the Pasha and the Ḳāḍi had been good enough company for one -afternoon, and when I look back on the tumultuous visit to Ḥomṣ, the -hour spent with those two courteous and well-bred Mohammadans stands out -like the memory of a sheltered spot in a gale of wind.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></h4> - - -<p>We left next day at an early hour, but the people of Ḥomṣ got up to -see us off. Nothing save the determination to afford them no more -amusement than I could help kept me outwardly calm. In a quarter of an -hour we had passed beyond the Tripoli Gate, and the Roman brickwork, and -beyond the range of vision of the furthest sighted of the little boys; -the peaceful beauty of the morning invaded our senses, and I turned to -make the acquaintance of the companions with whom the Ḳāimaḳām had -provided me. They were four in number, and two of them were free and two -were bound. The first two were Kurdish zaptiehs; one was charged to show -me the way to Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, and the other to guard over the -second pair of my fellow travellers, a couple of prisoners who had been -on the Ḳāimaḳām's hands for some days past, waiting until he could -find a suitable opportunity, such as that afforded by my journey, to -send them to the fortress in the Jebel Noṣairiyyeh, and so to the -great prison at Tripoli. They were clad, poor wretches, in ragged cotton -clothes and handcuffed together. As they trudged along bravely through -dust and mud, I proffered a word of sympathy, to which they replied that -they hoped God might prolong my life, but as for them it was the will of -their lord the Sultan that they should tramp in chains. One of the Kurds -interrupted with the explanation:</p> - -<p>"They are deserters from the Sultan's army: may God reward them -according to their deeds! Moreover, they are Ismailis from Selemiyyeh, -and they worship a strange god who lives in the land of Hind. And some -say she is a woman, and for that reason they worship her. And every year -she sends an embassy to this country to collect the money that is due to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> -her, and even the poorest of the Ismailis provide her with a few -piastres. And yet they declare that they are Muslims: who knows what -they believe? Speak, oh Khuḍr, and tell us what you believe."</p> - -<p>The prisoner thus addressed replied doggedly:</p> - -<p>"We are Muslims;" but the soldier's words had given me a clue which I -was able to follow up when the luckless pair crept close to my horse's -side and whispered:</p> - -<p>"Lady, lady! have you journeyed to the land of Hind?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said I.</p> - -<p>"May God make it Yes upon you! Have you heard there of a great king -called the King Muḥammad?"</p> - -<p>Again I was able to reply in the affirmative, and even to add that I -myself knew him and had conversed with him, for their King Muḥammad -was no other than my fellow subject the Agha Khān, and the religion of -the prisoners boasted a respectable antiquity, having been founded by -him whom we call the Old Man of the Mountain. They were the humble -representatives of the dreaded (and probably maligned) sect of the -Assassins.</p> - -<p>Khuḍr caught my stirrup with his free hand and said eagerly:</p> - -<p>"Is he not a great king?"</p> - -<p>But I answered cautiously, for though the Agha Khān is something of a -great king in the modern sense, that is to say he is exceedingly -wealthy, it would have been difficult to explain to his disciples -exactly what the polished, well-bred man of the world was like whom I -had last met at a London dinner party, and who had given me the -Marlborough Club as his address. Not that these things, if they could -have understood them, would have shocked them; the Agha Khān is a law -unto himself, and if he chose to indulge in far greater excesses than -dinner parties his actions would be sanctified by the mere fact that -they were his. His father used to give letters of introduction to the -Angel Gabriel, in order to secure for his clients a good place in -Paradise; the son, with his English education and his familiarity with -European thought, has refrained from exercising this privilege, though -he has not ceased to hold, in the opinion of his followers, the keys of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> -heaven. They show their belief in him in a substantial manner by -subscribing, in various parts of Asia and Africa, a handsome income that -runs yearly into tens of thousands.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure97"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure97.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">COFFEE BY THE ROAD-SIDE</p></div> - -<p>We rode for about an hour through gardens, meeting bands of low-caste -Arabs jogging into Ḥomṣ on their donkeys with milk and curds for the -market, and then we came to the plain beyond the Orontes, which is the -home of these Arabs. The plain had a familiar air; it was not dissimilar -from the country in the Druze hills, and like the Ḥaurān it was -covered with black volcanic stones. It is a vast quarry for the city of -Ḥomṣ. All the stones that are used for building are brought from -beyond the river packed on donkeys. They are worth a metalīk in the -town (now a metalīk is a coin too small to possess a European -counterpart), and a man with a good team can earn up to ten piastres a -day. In the Spring the only Arabs who camp in the Wa'r Ḥomṣ, the -Stony Plain of Ḥomṣ, are a despised race that caters for the needs -of the city, for, mark you, no Bedouin who respected himself would earn -a livelihood by selling curds or by any other means except battle; but -in the summer the big tribes such as the Ḥaseneh settle there for a -few months, and after the harvest certain of the 'Anazeh who feed their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> -camels upon the stubble. These great folk are much like salmon in a -trout stream coming in from the open sea and bullying the lesser fry. -When we passed in March there was a good deal of standing water in the -plain, and grass and flowers grew between the stones; and as we -journeyed westward, over ground that rose gradually towards the hills, -we came into country that was like an exquisite garden of flowers. Pale -blue hyacinths lifted their clustered bells above the tufa blocks, -irises and red anemones and a yellow hawksweed and a beautiful purple -hellebore dotted the grass—all the bounties of the Syrian Spring were -scattered on that day beneath our happy feet. For the first five hours -we followed the carriage road that leads to Tripoli, passing the khān -that marks the final stage before the town of Ḥomṣ, and the boundary -line between the vilayets of Damascus and of Beyrout; then we turned to -the right and entered a bridle-path that lay over a land of rolling -grass, partly cultivated and fuller of flowers than the edges of the -road had been. The anemones were of every shade of white and purple, -small blue irises clustered by the path and yellow crocuses by the banks -of the stream. In the eyes of one who had recently crossed southern -Syria the grass was even more admirable than the flowers. The highest -summits of the Jebel Noṣairiyyeh are clad with a verdure that no -fertile slope in Samaria or Judæa, can boast. The path mounted a little -ridge and dropped down to a Kurdish village, half Arab tent and half -mud-built wall. The inhabitants must have been long in Syria, for they -had forgotten their own tongue and spoke nothing but Arabic, though, -like the two zaptiehs, they spoke with the clipped accent of the Kurd. -Beyond the village a plain some three miles wide, the Bḳei'a, -stretched to the foot of the steep buttress of the Noṣairiyyeh hills, -and from the very top of the mountain frowned the great crusader -fortress towards which we were going. The sun shone on its turrets, but -a black storm was creeping up behind it; we could hear the thunder -rumbling in the hills, and jagged lightning shot through the clouds -behind the castle. The direct road across the Bḳei'a was impassable -for horsemen, owing to the flooded swamps, which were deep enough, said -the villagers, to engulf a mule and its load; we turned therefore -reluctantly to the right, and edged round the foot of the hills. Before -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> -we had gone far we met two riders sent out to welcome us by the -Ḳāimaḳām of Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, and as they joined us the storm -broke and enveloped us in sheets of rain. Splashing through the mud and -drenched with rain we reached the foot of the hills at five o'clock, and -here I left my caravan to follow the road, and with one of the -Ḳāimaḳām's horsemen climbed by a steep and narrow bridle-path -straight up to the hill top. And so at sunset we came to the Dark Tower -and rode through a splendid Arab gateway into a vaulted corridor, built -over a winding stair. It was almost night within; a few loopholes let in -the grey dusk from outside and provided the veriest apology for -daylight. At intervals we passed doorways leading into cavernous -blackness. The stone steps were shallow and wide but much broken; the -horses stumbled and clanked over them as we rode up and up, turned corner -after corner, and passed under gateway after gateway until the last -brought us out into the courtyard in the centre of the keep. I felt as -though I were riding with some knight of the Fairy Queen, and half -expected to see written over the arches: "Be bold!" "Be bold!" "Be not too -bold!" But there was no magician in the heart of the castle—nothing -but a crowd of villagers craning their necks to see us, and the -Ḳāimaḳām, smiling and friendly, announcing that he could not think -of letting me pitch a camp on such a wet and stormy night, and had -prepared a lodging for me in the tower.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure98"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure98.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT EL ḤUṢN</p></div> - -<p>The Ḳāimaḳām of Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn is a distinguished man of -letters. His name is 'Abd ul Ḥamid Beg Rāfi'a Zādeh, and his family -comes from Egypt, where many of his cousins are still to be found. He -lives in the topmost tower of the keep, where he had made ready a guest -chamber commodiously fitted with carpets and a divan, a four-post -bedstead and a mahogany wardrobe with looking-glass doors of which the -glass had been so splintered in the journey a camel back from Tripoli -that it was impossible to see the smallest corner of one's face in it. I -was wet through, but the obligations of good society had to be -fulfilled, and they demanded that we should sit down on the divan and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> -exchange polite phrases while I drank glasses of weak tea. My host was -preoccupied and evidently disinclined for animated conversation—for a -good reason, as I subsequently found—but on my replying to his first -greeting he heaved a sigh of relief, and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>"Praise be to God! your Excellency speaks Arabic. We had feared that we -should not be able to talk with you, and I had already invited a Syrian -lady who knows the English tongue to spend the evening for the purpose -of interpreting."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure99"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure99.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT EL ḤUṢN, INTERIOR OF THE CASTLE</p></div> - -<p>We kept up a disjointed chat for an hour while the damp soaked more and -more completely through my coat and skirts and it was not until long -after the mules had arrived and their packs had been unloaded that the -Ḳāimaḳām rose and took his departure, saying that he would leave -me to rest. We had, in fact, made a long day's march; it had taken the -muleteers eleven hours to reach Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn. I had barely had -time to change my wet clothes before a discreet knocking at the inner -door announced the presence of the womenfolk. I opened at once and -admitted a maid servant, and the wife of the Ḳāimaḳām, and a -genteel lady who greeted me in English of the most florid kind. This -last was the Sitt Ferīdeh, the Christian wife of the Government land -surveyor, who is also a Christian. She had been educated at a missionary -school in Tripoli, and I was not long left in ignorance of the fact that -she was an authoress, and that her greatest work was the translation of -the "Last Days of Pompeii" into Arabic. The Ḳāimaḳām's wife was a -young woman with apple cheeks, who would have been pretty if she had not -been inordinately fat. She was his second wife; he had married her only -a month or two before, on the death of his first, the mother of his -children. She was so shy that it was some time before she ventured to -open her lips in my presence, but the Sitt Ferīdeh carried off the -situation with a gushing volubility, both in English and in Arabic, and -a cheerful air of emphasising by her correct demeanour the fervour of -her Christianity. She was a pleasant and intelligent woman, and I -enjoyed her company considerably more than that of my hostess. The first -word that the Khānum ventured to utter was, however, a welcome one, for -she asked when I would please to dine. I replied with enthusiasm, that -no hour could be too early for me, and we crossed a muddy courtyard and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> -entered a room in which a bountiful meal had been spread out. Here we -were joined by an ancient dame who was presented to me as "a friend who -has come to gaze upon your Excellency," and we all sat down to the best -of dinners eaten by one at least of the party with the best of sauces. -A thick soup and four enormous dishes of meat and vegetables, topped by -a rice pudding, composed the repast. When dinner was over we returned to -my room, a brazier full of charcoal was brought in, together with -hubble-bubbles for the ladies, and we settled ourselves to an evening's -talk. The old woman refused to sit on the divan, saying that she was -more accustomed to the floor, and disposed herself neatly as close as -possible to the brazier, holding out her wrinkled hands over the glowing -coals. She was clad in black, and her head was covered by a thick white -linen cloth, which was bound closely above her brow and enveloped her -chin, giving her the air of some aged prioress of a religious order. -Outside the turret room the wind howled; the rain beat against the -single window, and the talk turned naturally to deeds of horror and such -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> -whispered tales of murder and death as must have startled the shadows in -that dim room for many and many a century. A terrible domestic tragedy -had fallen upon the Ḳāimaḳām ten days before: his son had been -shot by a schoolfellow at Tripoli in some childish quarrel—the women -seemed to think it not unusual that a boy's sudden anger should have -such consequences. The Ḳāimaḳām had been summoned by telegraph he -had ridden down the long mountain road with fear clutching at his heart, -only to find the boy dead, and his sorrow had been almost more than he -could bear. So said the Sitt Ferīdeh.</p> - -<p>The ancient crone rocked herself over the brazier and muttered:</p> - -<p>"Murder is like the drinking of milk here! God! there is no other but -Thou."</p> - -<p>A fresh gust of wind swept round the tower, and the Christian woman took -up the tale.</p> - -<p>"This Khānum," said she, nodding her head towards the figure by the -brazier, "knows also what it is to weep. Her son was but now murdered in -the mountains by a robber who slew him with his knife. They found his -body lying stripped by the path."</p> - -<p>The mother bent anew over the charcoal, and the glow flushed her worn -old face.</p> - -<p>"Murder is like the spilling of water!" she groaned. "Oh Merciful!"</p> - -<p>It was late when the women left me. One of them offered to pass the -night in my room, but I refused politely and firmly.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure100"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure100.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">WINDOWS OF THE BANQUET HALL</p></div> - -<p>Next day I was wakened by thunder and by hailstones rattling against my -shutters. There was nothing for it but to spend another twenty-four -hours under the Ḳāimaḳām's roof and be thankful that we had a roof -to spend them under. I explored the castle from end to end, with immense -satisfaction to the eternal child that lives in the soul of all of us -and takes more delight in the dungeons and battlements of a fortress -than in any other relic of antiquity. Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn is so large -that half the population of the village is lodged in the vaulted -substructures of the keep, while the garrison occupies the upper towers. -The walls of the keep rise from a moat inside the first line of -fortifications, the line through which we had passed the night before by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> -the vaulted gallery. The butcher of the castle lodged by the gateway of -the inner wall; every morning he killed a sheep on the threshold, and -those who went out stepped across a pool of blood as though some -barbaric sacrifice were performed daily at the gate. The keep contained -a chapel, now converted into a mosque and a banquet hall with Gothic -windows, the tracery of which was blocked with stones to guard those who -dwelt within against the cold. The tower in which I was lodged farmed -part of the highest of the defences and rose above three stories of -vaults. A narrow passage from it along the top of the wall led into a -great and splendid chamber, beyond which was a round tower containing a -circular room roofed by a fourfold vault, and lighted by pointed windows -with rosettes and mouldings round the arches. The castle is the "Kerak -of the Knights" of Crusader chronicles. It belonged to the Hospitallers, -and the Grand Master of the Order made it his residence. The Egyptian -Sultan Malek ed Dāher took it from them, restored it, and set his -exultant inscription over the main gate. It is one of the most perfect -of the many fortresses which bear witness to the strange jumble of noble -ardour, fanaticism, ambition and crime that combined to make the history -of the Crusades—a page whereon the Christian nations cannot look -without a blush nor read without the unwilling pity exacted by vain -courage. For to die in a worthless cause is the last extremity of -defeat. Kerak is closely related to the military architecture of -southern France, yet it bears traces of an Oriental influence from which -the great Orders were not immune, though the Templars succumbed to it -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> -more completely than the Hospitallers. Like the contemporary Arab -fortresses the walls increased in thickness towards the foot to form a -sloping bastion of solid masonry which protected them against the -attacks of sappers, but the rounded towers with their great projection -from the line of the wall were wholly French in character. The Crusaders -are said to have found a castle on the hill top and taken it from the -Moslims, but I saw no traces of earlier work than theirs. Parts of the -present structure are later than their time, as, for instance, a big -building by the inner moat, on the walls of which were carved lions not -unlike the Seljuk lion.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure101"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure101.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT EL ḤUṢN, WALLS OF THE<br /> -INNER ENCEINTE</p></div> - -<p>After lunch I waded down the muddy hill to the village and called on the -Sitt Ferīdeh and her husband. There were another pair of Christians -present, the man being the Sāḥib es Sandūḳ, which I take to be a -kind of treasurer. The two men talked of the condition of the Syrian -poor. No one, said the land surveyor, died of hunger, and he proceeded -to draw up the yearly budget of the average peasant. The poorest of the -fellaḥīn may earn from 1000 to 1500 piastres a year (£7 to £11), -but he has no need of any money except to pay the capitation tax and to -buy himself a substitute for military service. Meat is an unknown luxury; -a cask of semen (rancid butter) costs 8<i>s.</i> or 10<i>s.</i> at most; -it helps to make the burghul and other grains palatable, and it lasts -several months. If the grain and the semen run low the peasant has only -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> -to go out into the mountains or into the open country, which is no man's -land, and gather edible leaves or grub up roots. He builds his house -with his own hands, there are no fittings or furniture in it, and the -ground on which it stands costs nothing. As for clothing, what does he -need? a couple of linen shirts, a woollen cloak every two or three -years, and a cotton kerchief for the head. The old and the sick are -seldom left uncared for; their families look after them if they have -families, and if they are without relations they can always make a -livelihood by begging, for no one in the East refuses to give something -when he is asked, though the poor can seldom give money. Few of the -fellaḥīn own land of their own; they work for hire on the estates of -richer men. The chief landowners round Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn are the -family of the Dānadisheh, who come from Tripoli. Until quite recently -the government did not occupy the castle; it belongs to the family of -the Zā'bieh, who have owned it for two hundred years, and still live in -some rooms on the outer wall. The Treasurer broke in here and said that -even the Moslem population hated the Ottoman government, and would -infinitely rather be ruled by a foreigner, what though he were an -infidel—preferably by the English, because the prosperity of Egypt -had made so deep an impression on Syrian minds.</p> - -<p>That evening the Ḳāimaḳām sent me a message asking whether I would -choose to dine alone or whether I would honour him and his wife, and I -begged to be allowed to take the latter alternative. In spite of a -desire, touchingly evident, to be a good host, he was sad and silent -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> -during the earlier stages of the dinner, until we hit upon a subject -that drew him from the memory of his sorrow. The mighty dead came out to -help us with words upon their lips that have lifted the failing hearts -of generations of mankind. The Ḳāimaḳām was well acquainted with -Arabic literature; he knew the poets of the Ignorance by heart, and when -he found that I had a scanty knowledge of them and a great love for them -he quoted couplet after couplet. But his own tastes lay with more modern -singers; the tenth-century Mutanabbi was evidently one of his favourite -authors. Some of the old fire still smoulders in Mutanabbi's verse; it -burnt again as the Ḳāimaḳām recited the famous ode in which the -poet puts from him the joys of youth:</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Oft have I longed for age to still the tumult in my brain.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And why should I repine when my prayer is fulfilled?</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We have renounced desire save for the spear-points,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Neither do we dally, except with them.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The most exalted seat in the world is the saddle of a swift horse,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the best companion for all time is a book."</span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>"Your Excellency," concluded the Ḳāimaḳām, "must surely hold that -couplet in esteem."</p> - -<p>When we returned to the guest-chamber he asked whether he should not -read his latest poem, composed at the request of the students of the -American College at Beyrout (the most renowned institution of its kind -in Syria) to commemorate an anniversary they were about to celebrate. He -produced first the students' letter, which was couched in flattering -terms, and then his sheets of manuscript, and declaimed his verses with -the fine emphasis of the Oriental reciter, pausing from time to time to -explain the full meaning of a metaphor or to give an illustration to -some difficult couplet. His subject was the praise of learning, but he -ended inconsequently with a fulsome panegyric on the Sultan, a passage -of which he was immensely proud. As far as I could judge it was not very -great poetry, but what of that? There is no solace in misfortune like -authorship, and for a short hour the Ḳāimaḳām forgot his grief and -entered into regions where there is neither death nor lamentation. I -offered him sympathy and praise at suitable points and could have -laughed to find myself talking the same agreeable rubbish in Arabic that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> -we all talk so often in English. I might have been sitting in a London -drawing-room, instead of between the bare walls of a Crusader tower, and -the world is after all made of the one stuff throughout.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure102"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure102.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">FELLAḤĪN ARABS</p></div> - -<p>It was still raining on the following morning and I had dressed and -breakfasted in the lowest spirits when of a sudden some one waved a -magic wand, the clouds were cleared away, and we set off at half-past -seven in exquisite sunshine. At the bottom of the steep hill on which -the castle stands there lies in an olive grove a Greek monastery. When I -reached it I got off my horse and went in, as was meet, to salute the -Abbot, and, behold! he was an old acquaintance whom I had met at the -monastery of Ma'alūla five years earlier on my return from Palmyra. -There were great rejoicings at this fortunate coincidence, and much jam -and water and coffee were consumed in the celebration of it. The -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> -monastery has been rebuilt, except for a crypt-like chapel, which they -say is 1200 years old. The vault is supported by two pairs of marble -columns, broken off below the capital and returned into the wall, a -scheme more curious than attractive. The capitals are in the form of -lily heads of a Byzantine type. By the altar screen, a good piece of -modern wood carving, there are some very beautiful Persian tiles. In the -western wall of the monastery I was shown a door so narrow between the -jambs that it is scarcely possible to squeeze through them, impossible, -said the monks, for any one except he be pure of heart. I did not risk -my reputation by attempting to force the passage.</p> - -<p>We rode on through shallow wooded valleys full of flowers; the fruit -trees were coming into blossom and the honeysuckle into leaf, and by a -tiny graveyard under some budding oaks we stopped to lunch. Before us -lay the crucial point of our day's march. We could see the keep of -Ṣāfiṭa Castle on the opposite hill, but there was a swollen river -between, the bridge had been swept away, and report said that the ford -was impassable. When we reached the banks of the Abrash we saw the river -rushing down its wide channel, an unbroken body of swirling water -through which no loaded mule could pass. We rode near two hours down -stream, and were barely in time with the second bridge, the Jisr el -Wād, which was in the last stage of decrepitude, the middle arch just -holding together. The hills on the opposite bank were covered with a low -scrub, out of which the lovely iris stylosa lifted its blue petals, and -the scene was further enlivened by a continuous procession of -white-robed Noṣairis making their way down to the bridge. I had a -Kurdish zaptieh with me, 'Abd ul Mejīd, who knew the mountains well, -and all the inhabitants of them. Though he was a Mohammedan he had no -feeling against the Noṣairis, whom he had always found to be a -harmless folk, and every one greeted him with a friendly salutation as -we passed. He told me that the white-robed companies were going to the -funeral feast of a great sheikh much renowned for piety, who had died a -week ago. The feast on such occasions is held two days after the -funeral, and when the guests have eaten of the meats each man according -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> -to his ability pays tribute to the family of the dead, the sums varying -from one lira upwards to five or six. To have a reputation for holiness -in the Jebel Noṣairiyyeh is as good as a life insurance with us.</p> - -<p>Owing to our long circuit we did not reach Ṣāfiṭa till four. I -refused the hospitality of the Commandant, and pitched my tents on a -ridge outside the village. The keep which we had seen from afar is all -that remains of the White Castle of the Knights Templars. It stands on -the top of the hill with the village clustered at its foot, and from its -summit are visible the Mediterranean and the northern parts of the -Phœnician coast. I saw a Phoenician coin among the antiquities offered -me for sale, and the small bronze figure of a Phœnician -god—Ṣāfiṭa was probably an inland stronghold of the merchant -nation. The keep was a skilful architectural surprise. It contained, not -the vaulted hall or refectory that might have been expected, but a great -church which had thus occupied the very heart of the fortress. A service -was being held when we entered and all the people were at their prayers -in a red glow of sunset that came through the western doors. The -inhabitants of Ṣāfiṭa are most of them Christians, and many speak -English with a strong American accent picked up while they were making -their small fortunes in the States. Besides the accent, they had -acquired a familiarity of address that did not please me, and lost some -of the good manners to which they had been born. 'Abd ul Mejīd, the -smart non-commissioned officer, accompanied me through the town, saved -me from the clutches of the Americanised Christians, twirled his fierce -military moustaches at the little boys who thought to ran after us, and -followed their retreat with extracts from the finest vocabulary of -objurgation that I have been privileged to hear.</p> - -<p>Late in the evening two visitors were announced, who turned out to be -the Ẓābit (Commandant) and another official sent by the -Ḳāimaḳām of Drekish to welcome me and bring me down to his -village. We three rode off together in the early morning with a couple -of soldiers behind us, by a winding path through the hills, and after -two hours we came to a valley full of olive groves, with the village of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> -Drekish on the slopes above them. At the first clump of olive-trees we -found three worthies in frock coats and tarbushes waiting to receive us; -they mounted their horses when we approached and fell into the -procession, which was further swelled as we ascended the village street -by other notables on horseback, till it reached the sum total of -thirteen. The Ḳāimaḳām met us at the door of his house, -frock-coated and ceremonious, and led me into his audience room where we -drank coffee. By this time the company consisted of some thirty persons -of importance. When the official reception was over my host took me into -his private house and introduced me to his wife, a charming Damascene -lady, and we had a short conversation, during which I made his better -acquaintance. Riẓa Beg el 'Ābid owes his present position to the fact -that he is cousin to 'Izzet Pasha, for there is not one of that great -man's family but he is at least Ḳāmaiḳam. Riẓa Beg might have -climbed the official ladder unaided; he is a man of exceptionally -pleasant manners, amply endowed with the acute intelligence of the -Syrian. The family to which he and 'Izzet belong is of Arab origin. The -members of it claim to be descended from the noble tribe of the Muwāli, -who were kin to Harūn er Rashīd, and when you meet 'Izzet Pasha it is -as well to congratulate him on his relationship with that Khalif, though -he knows, and he knows also that you know, that the Muwāli repudiate -his claims with scorn and count him among the descendants of their -slaves, as his name 'Ābid (slave), may show. Slaves or freemen, the -members of the 'Ābid house have climbed so cleverly that they have set -their feet upon the neck of Turkey, and will remain in that precarious -position until 'Izzet falls from favour. Riẓa Beg pulled a grave face -when I alluded to his high connection, and observed that power such as -that enjoyed by his family was a serious matter, and how gladly would he -retire into a less prominent position than that of Ḳāimaḳām! Who -knew but that the Pasha too would not wish to exchange the pleasures of -Constantinople for a humbler and a safer sphere—a supposition that I -can readily believe to be well grounded, since 'Izzet, if rumour speaks -the truth, has got all that a man can reasonably expect from the years -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> -during which he has enjoyed the royal condescension. I assured the -Ḳāimaḳām that I should make a point of paying my respects to the -Pasha when I reached Constantinople, a project that I ultimately carried -out with such success that I may now reckon myself, on 'Izzet's own -authority, as one of those who will enjoy his life-long friendship.</p> - -<p>By this time lunch was ready, and the Khānum having retired, the other -guests were admitted to the number of four, the Ẓābit, the Ḳāḍi -and two others. It was a copious, an excellent and an entertaining meal. -The conversation flowed merrily round the table, prompted and encouraged -by the Ḳāimaḳām, who handled one subject after the other with the -polished ease of a man of the world. As he talked I had reason to -observe once more how fine and subtle a tongue is modern Syrian Arabic -when used by a man of education. The Ḳāḍi's speech was hampered by -his having a reputation for learning to uphold, which obliged him to -confine himself to the dead language of the Ḳur'ān. As I took my -leave the Ḳāimaḳām explained that for that night I was still to be -his guest. He had learnt, said he, that I wished to camp at the ruined -temple of Ḥuṣn es Suleimān, and had despatched my caravan thither -under the escort of a zaptieh, and sent up servants and provisions, -together with one of his cousins ta see to my entertainment. I was to -take the Ẓābit with me, and Rā'ib Effendi el Ḥelu, another of the -luncheon party, and he hoped that I should be satisfied. I thanked him -profusely for his kindness, and declared that I should have known his -Arab birth by his generous hospitality.</p> - -<p>Our path mounted to the top of the Noṣairiyyeh hills and followed -along the crests, a rocky and beautiful track. The hills were extremely -steep, and bare of all but grass and flowers except that here and there, -on the highest summits, there was a group of big oaks with a white-domed -Noṣairi mazār shining through their bare boughs. The Noṣairis have -neither mosque nor church, but on every mountain top they build a shrine -that marks a burial-ground. These high-throned dead, though they have -left the world of men, have not ceased from their good offices, for they -are the protectors of the trees rooted among their bones, trees which, -alone among their kind, are allowed to grow untouched.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> - -<p>Ḥuṣn es Suleimān lies at the head of a valley high up in the -mountains. A clear spring breaks from under its walls and flows found a -natural platform of green turf, on which we pitched our tents. The hills -rise in an amphitheatre behind the temple, the valley drops below it, -and the gods to whom it was dedicated enjoy in solitude the ruined -loveliness of their shrine. The walls round the temenos are overgrown -with ivy, and violets bloom in the crevices. Four doorways lead into the -court, in the centre of which stand the ruins of the temple, while a -little to the south of the cella are the foundations of an altar, -bearing in fine Greek letters a dedication that recounts how a centurion -called Decimus of the Flavian (?) Legion, with his two sons and his -daughter, raised an altar of brass to the god of Baitocaicē and placed -it upon a platform of masonry in the year 444. The date is of the -Seleucid era and corresponds to A.D. 132. It is regrettable that Decimus -did not see fit to mention the name of the god, which remains -undetermined in all the inscriptions. The northern gateway is a triple -door, lying opposite to a second rectangular enclosure, which contains a -small temple in antis at the south-east corner, and the apse of a -sanctuary in the northern wall. This last sheltered perhaps the statue -of the unknown god, for there are steps leading up to it and the bases -of columns on either side. As at Ba'albek, the Christians sanctified the -spot by the building of a church, which lay across the second enclosure -at right angles to the northern sanctuary. The masonry of the outer -walls of both courts is very massive, the stones being sometimes six or -eight feet long. The decoration is much more austere than that of -Ba'albek, but certain details so intimately recall the latter that I am -tempted to conjecture that the same architect may have been employed at -both places, and that it was he who cut on the under side of the -architraves of Baitocaicē the eagles and cherubs that he had used to -adorn the architrave of the Temple of Jupiter. The peasants say that -there are deep vaults below both temple and court. The site must be well -worthy of careful excavation, though no additional knowledge will -enhance the beauty of the great shrine in the hills.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure103"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure103.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE TEMPLE AT ḤUṢN ES SULEIMĀN</p></div> - -<p>The Ḳāimaḳām had not fallen short of his word. Holocausts of sheep -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> -and hens had been offered up for us, and after my friends and I had -feasted, the soldiers and the muleteers made merry in their turn. The -camp fires blazed brightly in the clear sharp mountain air, the sky was -alive with stars, the brook gurgled over the stones; and the rest was -silence, for Kurt was lost. Somewhere among the hills he had strayed -away, and he was gone never to return. I mourned his loss, but slept the -more peacefully for it ever after.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure104"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure104.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">NORTH GATE, ḤUṢN ES SULEIMĀN</p></div> - -<p>All my friends and all the soldiers rode with us next day to the -frontier of the district of Drekish and there left us after having -hounded a reluctant Noṣairi out of his house at 'Ain esh Shems and -bidden him help the zaptieh who accompanied us to find the -extraordinarily rocky path to Masyād. After they had gone I summoned -Mikhāil and asked him what he had thought of our day's entertainment. -He gave the Arabic equivalent for a sniff and said:</p> - -<p>"Doubtless your Excellency thinks that you were the guest of the -Ḳāimaḳām. I will tell you of whom you were the guest. You saw -those fellahin of the Noṣairiyyeh, the miserable ones, who sold you -antīcas at the ruins this morning? They were your hosts. Everything you -had was taken from them without return. They gathered the wood for the -fires, the hens were theirs, the eggs were theirs, the lambs were from -their flocks, and when you refused to take more saying, 'I have enough,' -the soldiers seized yet another lamb and carried it off with them. And -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> -the only payment the fellahin received were the metalīks you gave them -for their old money. But if you will listen to me," added Mikhāil -inconsequently, "you shall travel through the land of Anatolia and never -take a quarter of a mejīdeh from your purse. From Ḳāimaḳām to -Ḳāimaḳām you shall go, and everywhere they shall offer you -hospitality—that sort does not look for payment, they wish your -Excellency to say a good word for them when you come to Constantinople. -You shall sleep in their houses, and eat at their tables, as it was when -I travelled with Sacks. . . ."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure105"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure105.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE CITY GATE, MASYĀD</p></div> - -<p>But if I were to tell all that happened when Mikhāil travelled with -Mark Sykes I should never get to Masyād.</p> - -<p>The day was rendered memorable by the exceptional difficulty of the -paths and by the beauty of the flowers. On the hill tops grew the alpine -cyclamen, crocuses, yellow, white and purple, and whole slopes of white -primroses; lower down, irises, narcissus, black and green orchids, -purple orchis and the blue many-petalled anemone in a boscage of myrtle. -When we reached the foot of the steepest slopes I sent the unfortunate -Noṣairi home with a tip, which was a great deal more than he expected -to get out of an adventure that had begun with a command from the -soldiery. At three we reached Masyād and camped at the foot of the -castle.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure106"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure106.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CAPITAL AT MASYĀD</p></div> - -<p>Now Masyād was a disappointment. There is indeed a great castle, but, -as far as I could judge, it is of Arab workmanship, and the walls round -the town are Arab also. A Roman road from Ḥamāh passes through -Masyād, and there must be traces of Roman settlement in the town, but I -saw none. I heard of a castle at Abu Kbesh on the top of the hills, but -it was said to be like Masyād, only smaller, and I did not go up to it. -The castle of Masyād has an outer wall and an inner keep reached by a -vaulted passage like that of Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn. The old keep is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> -almost destroyed, and has been replaced by jerry-built halls and -chambers erected by the Ismailis some hundreds of years ago when they -held the place, so I was told by an old man called the Emir Muṣṭafa -Milḥēm, who belonged to the sect and served me as guide. He also said -that his family had inhabited the castle for seven or eight hundred -years, but possibly he lied, though it is true that the Ismailis have -held it as long. Built into the outer gateways are certain capitals and -columns that must have been taken from Byzantine structures. There are -some old Arabic inscriptions inside the second gate which record the -names of the builders of that part of the fortifications, but they are -much broken. I was told afterwards that I ought to have visited a place -called Deir es Sleb, where there are two churches and a small castle. It -is not marked in the map, and I heard nothing of it until I had left it -far behind. I saw bits of the rasīf, the Roman road, as I travelled -next day to Ḥamāh. At the bridge over the river Sarut, four and a -half hours from Masyād, there is a curious mound faced to the very top -with a rough wall of huge stones. Mikhāil found a Roman coin in the -furrows of the field at the foot of it. From the river we had two and a -half hours of tedious travel that were much lightened by the presence of -a charming old Turk, a telegraph official, who joined us at the bridge -and told me his story as we rode.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Effendim, the home of my family is near Sofia. Effendim, you know the -place? Māsha'llah, it is a pleasant land! Where I lived it was covered -with trees, fruit trees and pines in the mountains and rose gardens in -the plain. Effendim, many of us came here after the war with the -Muscovite for the reason that we would not dwell under any hand but that -of the Sultan, and many returned again after they had come. Effendim? -for what cause? They would not live in a country without trees; by God, -they could not endure it." Thus conversing we reached Ḥamāh.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure107"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure107.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CAPITAL AT MASYĀD</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure108"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure108.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A NA'OURA, ḤAMĀH</p></div> - - - - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></h4> - - -<p>You do not see Ḥamāh until you are actually upon it—there is no -other preposition that describes the attitude of the new comer. The -Orontes at this point flows in a deep bed and the whole city lies hidden -between the banks. The monotonous plain of cornfields stretches before -you without a break until you reach a veritable entanglement of -graveyards—the weekly All Souls' Day had come round again when we -arrived, and the cemeteries were crowded with the living as well as with -the dead. Suddenly the plain ceased beneath our feet, and we stood on -the edge of an escarpment, with the whole town spread out before us, the -Orontes set with gigantic Persian wheels, and beyond it the conical -mound on which stood the fortresses of Hamath and Epiphaneia and who -knows what besides, for the site is one of the oldest in the world. Two -soldiers started from the earth and set about to direct me to a camping -ground, but I was tired and cross, a state of mind that does sometimes -occur on a journey, and the arid spots between houses to which they took -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> -us seemed particularly distasteful. At length the excellent Turk, who -had not yet abandoned us, declared that he knew the very place that -would please me; he led us along the edge of the escarpment to the -extreme northern end of the city, and here showed us a grassy sward -which was as lovely a situation as could be desired. The Orontes issued -from the town below us amid gardens of flowering apricot trees, the -golden evening light lay behind the minarets, and a great Na'oura ground -out a delicious song of the river.</p> - -<p>Ḥamāh is the present terminus of the French railway,<a name="FNanchor_9_1" id="FNanchor_9_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_1" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and the seat -of a Muteserrif. The railway furnished me with a guide and companion in -the shape of a Syrian station-master, a consequential half-baked little -man, who had been educated in a missionary school and scorned to speak -Arabic when he could stutter in French. He announced that his name was -Monsieur Kbēs and his passion archæology, and, that he might the -better prove himself to be in the van of modern thought, he attributed -every antiquity in Ḥamāh to the Hittites, whether it were Byzantine -capital or Arab enlaced decoration. With the Muteserrif I came -immediately into collision by reason of his insisting on providing me -with eight soldiers to guard my camp at night, a preposterous force, -considering that two had been ample in every country district. So -numerous a guard would have been an intolerable nuisance, for they would -have talked all night and left the camp no peace, and I sent six of them -away, in spite of their protestations that they must obey superior -orders. They reconciled the Muteserrif's commands with mine by spending -the night in a ruined mosque a quarter of a mile away, where they were -able to enjoy excellent repose unbroken by a sense of responsibility.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure109"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure109.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE ḲUBBEH IN THE MOSQUE AT ḤAMĀH</p></div> - -<p>For picturesqueness Ḥamāh is not to be outdone by any town in Syria. -The broad river with its water wheels is a constant element of beauty, -the black and white striped towers of the mosques an exquisite -architectural feature, the narrow, partly vaulted streets are traps to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> -hold unrivalled effects of sun and shadow, and the bazaars are not as -yet disfigured by the iron roofs that have done so much to destroy the -character of those at Damascus and at Ḥomṣ. The big mosque in the -centre of the town was once a Byzantine church. The doors and windows of -the earlier building are easily traceable in the walls of the mosque; -the lower part of the western minaret was probably the foundation of an -older tower; the court is full of Byzantine shafts and capitals, and the -beautiful little Ḳubbeh is supported by eight Corinthian columns. On -one of these I noticed the Byzantine motive of the blown acanthus. When -they grew weary of setting the leaves in a stereotyped uprightness, the -stone-cutters laid them lightly round the capital, as though the fronds -had drifted in a swirl of wind, and the effect is wonderfully graceful -and fanciful. Kbēs and I climbed the citadel hill, and found the area -on the top to be enormous, but all the cut stones of the fortifications -have been removed and built into the town below. My impression is that -the isolation of the mound is not natural, but has been effected by -cutting through the headland that juts out into the valley, and so -separating a part of it from the main ridge. If this be so, it must have -been a great work of antiquity, for the cutting is both wide and deep.</p> - -<p>The chief interest of the day at Ḥamāh was supplied by the -inhabitants. Four powerful Mohammadan families are reckoned as the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> -aristocracy of the town, that of 'Aẓam Zādeh, Teifūr, Killāni and -Barāzi, of which last I had seen a member in Damascus. The combined -income of each family is probably about £6000 a year, all derived from -land and villages, there being little trade in Ḥamāh. Before the -Ottoman government was established as firmly as it is now, these four -families were the lords of Ḥamāh and the surrounding districts; they -are still of considerable weight in the administration of the town, and -the officials of the Sultan let them go pretty much their own way, which -is often devious. An ancient evil tale of the 'Aẓam Zādeh is often -told, and not denied, so far as I could learn, by the family. There was -an 'Aẓam in past years who, like King Ahab, desired his neighbour's -vineyard, but the owner of it refused to sell. Thereupon the great man -laid a plot. He caused one of his slaves to be slaughtered and had him -cut into small pieces and buried, not too deep, in a corner of the -coveted property, and after waiting a suitable time he sent a message to -the landlord saying, "You have frequently invited me to drink coffee -with you in your garden; I will come. Make ready." The man was gratified -by this condescension and prepared a feast. The day came and with it the -'Aẓam prince. The meal was spread under an arbour, but when the guest -saw it he declared that the spot selected did not suit him, and led the -way to the exact place where his slave had been buried. The host -protested, saying that it was a mean corner dose to the refuse heaps, but -the 'Aẓam replied that he was satisfied, and the entertainment began. -Presently the guest raised his head and said, "I perceive a curious -smell." "My lord," said the host, "it is from the refuse heaps." "No," -said the other, "there is something more;" and summoning his servants he -bade them dig in the ground whereon they sat. The quartered body of the -slave was revealed and recognised, and on an accusation of murder the -lord of the garden was seized and bound, and his possessions taken from -him by way of compensation.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure110"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure110.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE TEKYAH KILLĀNIYYEH, ḤAMĀH</p></div> - -<p>Nor, said Kbēs, have such summary methods of injustice ceased. Quite -recently a quantity of onions were stolen from a shop belonging to 'Abd -ul Ḳādir el 'Aẓam in the quarter immediately below my camp. The -servants of 'Abd ul Ḳādir came to the house of the sheikh of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> -quarter and demanded from him their master's property, and since he knew -nothing of the matter and could not indicate who the thief might have -been, they seized him and his son, wounding the son in the hand with a -bullet, dragged them to the river bank, stripped them, beat them almost -to death, and left them to get home as best they might. The incident was -known all over Hamāh, but the government took no steps to punish 'Abd -ul Ḳādir. I went to the house of Khālid Beg 'Aẓam, which is the -most beautiful in the city, as beautiful as the famous 'Aẓam house in -Damascus. Khālid took me into rooms every inch of which was covered -with an endless variety of Persian patterns in gesso duro and woodwork -and mosaic. They opened upon a courtyard set round with an arcade of the -best Arab workmanship, with a fountain in the centre and pots of -flowering ranunculus and narcissus in the corners. The women of the -house of 'Aẓam have even a greater reputation than the sumptuous walls -that hold them; they are said to be the loveliest women in all Ḥamāh.</p> - -<p>The Killāni I visited also in their charming house by the Orontes, the -Tekyah Killāniyyeh. It contains a mausoleum, where three of their -ancestors are buried, and rooms looking over the river, filled with the -pleasant grumbling of a Persian wheel. From thence I went to the -Muteserrif, who is an old man bent almost double, and acquainted with no -tongue but Turkish. I was considerably relieved to find that he bore no -malice for my unruly conduct in the matter of the guard. As we walked -home to lunch we met an aged Afghan clad in white. Dervish Effendi was -his name. He stopped the station-master to inquire who I was, and having -learnt that I was English he approached me with a grin and a salute and -said in Persian, "The English and the Afghans are close friends." He was -in fact as well-informed as the British public—possibly better -informed—of the interchange of visits and civilities between Kabul -and Calcutta; and the moral of the episode (which developed into a long and -tiresome, but most cordial, visit from Dervish Effendi) is that the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> -report of what happens in the remotest corner of Asia is known almost -immediately to the furthest end, and that it is scarcely an exaggeration -to say that if an English regiment is cut up on the borders of -Afghanistan the English tourist will be mocked at in the streets of -Damascus. Islām is the bond that unites the western and central parts -of the continent, as it is the electric current by which the -transmission of sentiment is effected, and its potency is increased by -the fact that there is little or no sense of territorial nationality to -counterbalance it. A Turk or a Persian does not think or speak of "my -country" in the way that an Englishman or a Frenchman thinks and speaks; -his patriotism is confined to the town of which he is a native, or at -most to the district in which that town lies. If you ask him to what -nationality he belongs he will reply: "I am a man of Isfahān," or "I am -a man of Konia," as the case may be, just as the Syrian will reply that -he is a native of Damascus or Aleppo—I have already indicated that -Syria is merely a geographical term corresponding to no national -sentiment in the breasts of the inhabitants. Thus to one listening to -the talk of the bazaars, to the shopkeepers whose trade is intimately -connected with local conditions in districts very far removed from their -own counters, to the muleteers who carry so much more than their loads -from city to city, all Asia seems to be linked together by fine chains -of relationship, and every detail of the foreign policies of Europe, -from China to where you please, to be weighed more or less accurately in -the balance of public opinion. It is not the part of wanderers and -hearers of gossip to draw conclusions. We can do no more than report, -for any that may care to listen, what falls from the lips of those who -sit round our camp fires, and who ride with us across deserts and -mountains, for their words are like straws on the flood of Asiatic -politics, showing which way the stream is running. Personal experience -has acquainted them with the stock in trade and the vocabulary of -statecraft. They are familiar with war and negotiation and compromise, -and with long nurtured and carefully concealed revenge. Whether they are -discussing the results of a blood feud or the consequences of an -international jealousy their appreciations are often just and their -guesses near the mark.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure111"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure111.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CAPITAL IN THE MOSQUE, ḤAMĀH</p></div> - -<p>For the moment, so far as my experience goes, the name of the English -carries more weight than it has done for some time past. I noticed a -very distinct difference between the general attitude towards us from -that which I had observed with pain five years before, during the worst -moments of the Boer War. The change of feeling is due, so far as I can -judge from the conversations to which I listened, not so much to our -victory in South Africa as to Lord Cromer's brilliant administration in -Egypt, Lord Curzon's policy on the Persian Gulf, and the alliance with -the conquering Japanese.</p> - -<p>When I had at last got rid of the Afghan and was sitting alone on the -fringe of grass that separated my tent from the city hundreds of feet -below, a person of importance drove up to pay his respects. He was the -Mufti, Muḥammad Effendi. He brought with him an intelligent man from -Boṣrā el Ḥarīr, in the Ḥaurān, who had travelled in Cyprus and -had much to say (and little good to say) of our administration there. -The Mufti was a man of the same type as the Ḳāḍi of Ḥomṣ and -the Sheikh Nakshibendi—the sharp-eyed and sharp-witted Asiatic, whose -distinguished features are somewhat marred by an astuteness that amounts -to cunning. He established himself upon the best of the camp chairs, and -remarked with satisfaction:</p> - -<p>"I asked: 'Can she speak Arabic?' and when they answered 'Yes,' verily I -ordered my carriage and came."</p> - -<p>His talk was of Yemen, whither he had been sent some years before to -restore peace after the last Arab revolt. He spoke of the three days' -journey over torrid desert from the coast, of the inland mountains -covered with trees where there is always rain summer and winter, of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> -enormous grapes that hang in the vineyards, and the endless variety of -fruits in the orchards, of the cities as big as Damascus, walled with -great fortifications of mud a thousand years old. The Arabs, said he, -were town dwellers not nomads, and they hated the Ottoman government as -it is hated in few places. When the armies of the Sultan went out -against them they were accustomed to flee into the mountains, where they -could hold out, thought the Mufti, for an indefinite number of years. -But he was wrong; a few months were enough to give victory to the -Sultan's troops, what with daring generalship and the power to endure -desert marches, and the rebellion failed, like many another, because the -Arab tribes hate each other more vindictively than they hate the -Osmanli. But, after the fashion of repressed rebellions in Turkey, it -has already broken out again. The Mufti told me also that in Ḥamāh -wherever they dug they found ancient foundations, even below the river -level.</p> - -<p>He was followed by my friend the Turkish telegraph clerk, who rejoiced -to see me so well encamped, and then by the Muteserrif, pursuing an -anxious and tottering course from his carriage through my tent ropes. -The latter lent me his victoria that I might visit the parts of the town -that lie on the eastern banks of the Orontes, and Kbēs and I drove off -with two outriders quite exceptionally free from rags. The eastern -quarter, the Hāḍir it is called, is essentially the Bedouin quarter; -the city Arabic is replaced here by the rugged desert speech, and the -bazaars are filled with Arabs who come in to buy coffee and tobacco and -striped cloaks. It contains a beautiful little ruined mosque, said to be -Seljuk, called El Ḥayyāt, the mosque of Snakes, after the twisted -columns of its windows. At the northern end of the courtyard is a -chamber which holds the marble sarcophagus of Abu'l Fīda, Prince of -Ḥamāh, the famous geographer. He died in 1331; his tomb is carved -with a fine inscription recording the date according to the era of the -Hejra.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure112"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure112.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A CAPITAL, ḤAMĀH</p></div> - -<p>I gave a dinner party that night to the station-master, the Syrian -doctor, Sallūm, and the Greek priest. We talked till late, a congenial -if incongruous company. Sallūm had received his training in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> -American College at Beyrout, from whence come all the medical -practitioners, great and small, who are scattered up and down Syria. He -was a Christian, though of a different brand from the priest, and Kbēs -represented yet another variety of doctrine. On the whole, said the -priest, there was little anti-Christian feeling in Ḥamāh, but there -was also little respect for his cloth; that very day as he walked -through the town some Moslem women had thrown pebbles at him from a -house-top, shouting, "Dog of a Christian priest!" Kbēs discussed the -benefits conferred by the railway (a remarkably ill-managed concern I -fancy) and said that without doubt Ḥamāh had profited by it. Prices -had gone up in the last two years, meat that would otherwise have found -no market was now sent down to Damascus and Beyrout, and he himself who, -when he first came, had been able to buy a sheep for a franc, was now -obliged to pay ten.</p> - -<p>The Muteserrif of Ḥamāh provided me with the best zaptieh that I was -to have on all my travels, Ḥājj Maḥmūd, a native of Ḥamāh. He -was a tall broad-shouldered man, who had been in the Sultan's own guard -at Constantinople, and had made the pilgrimage three times, once as a -pilgrim and twice as a soldier of the escort. He rode with me for ten -days, and during that time told me more tales than would fill a volume, -couched in a fine picturesque speech of which he was the master. He had -travelled with a German archaeologist, and knew the strange tastes of -the Europeans in the matter of ruins and inscriptions.</p> - -<p>"At Ḳal'at el Mudīk I said to him: 'If you would look upon a stone -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> -with a horse written upon it and his rider, by the Light of God! I can -show it to you!' And he wondered much thereat, and rewarded me with -money. By God and Muḥammad the Prophet of God! you too, oh lady, shall -gaze on it."</p> - -<p>Now this exploit of Maḥmūd's was more remarkable than would appear at -first sight, for one of the great difficulties in searching for -antiquities is that the people in out-of-the-way places do not recognise -a sculpture when they see it. You are not surprised that they should -fail to tell the difference between an inscription and the natural -cracks and weather markings of the stone; but it takes you aback when -you ask whether there are stones with portraits of men and animals upon -them, and your interlocutor replies: "Wāllah! we do not know what the -picture of a man is like." Moreover, if you show him a bit of a relief -with figures well carved upon it, as often as not he will have no idea -what the carving represents.</p> - -<p>Maḥmūd's most memorable travelling companion had been a Japanese who -had been sent by his government, I afterwards learnt, to study and -report on the methods of building employed in the eastern parts of the -Roman empire—to such researches the Japanese had leisure to apply -themselves in the thick of the war. Maḥmūd's curiosity had evidently -been much excited by the little man, whose fellows were snatching -victory from the dreaded Russians.</p> - -<p>"All day he rode, and all night he wrote in his books. He eat nothing -but a piece of bread and he drank tea, and when there came a matter for -refusal he said (for he could talk neither Arabic nor Turkish), 'Noh! -noh!' And that is French," concluded Maḥmūd.</p> - -<p>I remarked that it was not French but English, which gave Maḥmūd food -for thought, for he added presently:</p> - -<p>"We had never heard their name before the war, but by the Face of the -Truth! the English knew of them."</p> - -<p>The Orontes makes a half circle between Ḥamāh and Ḳal'at es Seijar, -and we cut across the chord of the arc, riding over the same dull -cultivated plain that I had crossed on my way from Masyād. It was -strewn with villages of mud-built, beehive-shaped huts; they are to be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> -met with on the plains all the way to Aleppo, and are like no other -villages save those that appear in the illustrations to Central African -travel books. As a man grows rich he adds another beehive and yet -another to his mansion, till he may have a dozen or more standing round -a courtyard, some inhabited by himself and his family, some by his -cattle, one forming his kitchen, and one his granary. We saw in the -distance a village called Al Ḥerdeh, which Maḥmūd said was -Christian and used to belong entirely to the Greek communion. The -inhabitants lived happily together and prospered, until they had the -misfortune to be discovered by a missionary, who distributed tracts and -converted sortie sixty persons to the English Church, since when there -has not been a moment's rest from brawling in Al Ḥerdeh. As we rode, -Maḥmūd told tales of the Ismailis and the Noṣairis. Of the former -he said that the Agha Khān's photograph was to be found in every house, -but it is woman that they worship, said he. Every female child born on -the 27th of Rajab is set apart and held to be an incarnation of the -divinity. She is called the Rōẓah. She does not work, her hair and -nails are never cut, her family share in the respect that is accorded to -her, and every man in the village will wear a piece of her clothing or a -hair from her body folded in his turban. She is not permitted to marry.</p> - -<p>"But what," said I, "if she desire to marry?"</p> - -<p>"It would be impossible," replied Maḥmūd. "No one would marry her, -for is there any man that can marry God?"</p> - -<p>The sect is known to have sacred books, but none have yet fallen into -the hands of European scholars. Maḥmūd had seen and read one of -them—it was all in praise of the Rōẓah, describing every part of her -with eulogy. The Ismailis read the Ḳur'ān also, said he. Other -strange matters he related which, like Herodotus, I do not see fit to -repeat. The creed seems to spring from dim traditions of Astarte -worship, or from that oldest and most universal cult of all, the -veneration of the Mother Goddess; but the accusations of indecency that -have been brought against it are, I gather, unfounded.<a name="FNanchor_10_1" id="FNanchor_10_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_1" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<p>Of the Noṣairis Maḥmūd had much to tell, for he was we acquainted -with the hills in which they live, having been for many years employed -in collecting the capitation tax among the sect. They are infidels, said -he, who do not read the Ḳur'ān nor know the name of God. He related a -curious tale which I will repeat for what it is worth:</p> - -<p>"Oh lady, it happened in the winter that I was collecting the tax. Now -in the month of Kānūn el Awwal (December) the Noṣairis hold a great -feast that occurs at the same time as the Christian feast (Christmas), -and the day before, when I was riding with two others in the hills, -there fell a quantity of snow so that we could go no further, and we -sought shelter at the first village in the house of the Sheikh of the -village. For there is always a Sheikh of the village, oh lady, and a -Sheikh of the Faith, and the people are divided into initiated and -uninitiated. But the women know nothing of the secrets of the religion, -for by God! a woman cannot keep a secret. The Sheikh greeted us with -hospitality and lodged us, but next morning when I woke there was no man -to be seen in the house, nothing but the women. And I cried: 'By God and -Muḥammad the Prophet of God! what hospitality is this? and are there -no men to make the coffee but only women?' And the women replied: 'We do -not know what the men are doing, for they have gone to the house of the -Sheikh of the Faith, and we are not allowed to enter.' Then I arose and -went softly to the house and looked through the window, and, by God! the -initiated were sitting in the room, and in the centre was the Sheikh of -the Faith, and before him a bowl filled with wine and an empty jug. And -the Sheikh put questions to the jug in a low tone, and by the Light of -the Truth I heard the jug make answer in a voice that said: 'Bl... bl...' -And without doubt, oh lady, this was magic. And while I looked, one -raised his head and saw me. And they came out of the house and seized -hold of me and would have beaten me, but I cried: 'Oh Sheikh! I am your -guest!' So the Sheikh of the Faith came forth and raised his hand, and -on the instant all those that had hold of me released me. And he fell at -my feet and kissed my hands and the hem of my coat and said: 'Oh -Ḥājji! if you will not tell what you have seen I will give you ten -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> -mejides!' And by the Prophet of God (upon him be peace!) I have never -related it, oh lady, until this day."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure113"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure113.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT ES SEIJAR</p></div> - -<p>After four hours' ride we came to Ḳal'at es Seijar. It stands on a -long hog's back broken in the middle by an artificial cutting and -dropping by steep bluffs to the Orontes, which runs here in a narrow bed -between walls of rock. The castle walls that crown the hill between the -cutting and the river make a very splendid appearance from below. There -is a small village of beehive huts at the bottom of the hill. The -Seleucid town of Larissa must have lain on the grassy slopes to the -north, judging from the number of dressed stones that are scattered -there. I pitched my camp at the further end of the bridge in a grove of -apricot trees, snowy with flower and a-hum with bees. The grass was set -thickly with anemones and scarlet ranunculus. The castle is the property -of Sheikh Aḥmed Seijari and has been held by his family for three -hundred years. He and his sons live in a number of little modern houses, -built out of old stones in the middle of the fortifications. He owns a -considerable amount of land and about one-third of the village, the rest -being unequally divided between the Killānis of Ḥamāh and the -Smātiyyeh Arabs, a semi-nomadic tribe that dwells in houses during the -winter. I had a letter of introduction to Sheikh Aḥmed from -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> -Muṣṭafa Barāzi, and, though Maḥmūd was of opinion that I should -not find him in the castle owing to a long-drawn trouble between the -Seijari family and the Smātiyyeh, we climbed up to the gate and along a -road that showed remains of aulting, like the entrance to Ḳal'at el -Ḥuṣn, and so over masses of ruin till we came to the modern village -where the Seijari sheikhs live. I inquired which was the house of -Aḥmed, and was directed to a big wooden door, most forbiddingly shut. -I knocked and waited, and Maḥmūd knocked yet louder and we waited -again. At last a very beautiful woman opened a shutter in the wall above -and asked what we wanted. I said I had a letter from Muṣṭafa to -Aḥmed, and wished to see him. She replied:</p> - -<p>"He is away."</p> - -<p>I said: "I would salute his son."</p> - -<p>"You cannot see him," she returned. "He is in prison at Ḥamāh, -charged with murder."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure114"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure114.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT ES SEIJAR, THE CUTTING THROUGH<br /> -THE RIDGE</p></div> - -<p>And so she closed the shutter, leaving me to wonder how good manners -would bid me act under these delicate conditions. At that moment a girl -came to the door and opened it a hand's breadth. I gave her the letter -and my card written in Arabic, murmured a few words of regret, and went -away. Maḥmūd now tried to explain the matter. It was one of those -long stories that you hear in the East, without beginning, without end, -and without any indication as to which of the protagonists is in the -right, but an inherent probability that all are in the wrong. The -Smātiyyeh had stolen some of the Seijari cattle, the sons of Aḥmed -had gone down into the village and killed two of the Arabs—in the -castle it was said that the Arabs had attacked them and that they had -killed them in self-defence—the Government, always jealous of the -semi-independence of ruling sheikhs, had seized the opportunity to -strike down the Seijari whether they were at fault or no; soldiers had -been sent from Ḥamāh, one of Aḥmed's sons had been put to death, -two more were in prison, and all the cattle had been carried off. The -rest of the Seijaris were ordered not to stir from the castle, nor -indeed could they do so, for the Smātiyyeh were at their gates ready -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> -and anxious to kill them if they stepped beyond the walls. They appealed -to Ḥamāh for protection, and a guard of some ten soldiers was posted -by the river, whether to preserve the lives of the sheikhs or to keep -them the more closely imprisoned it was difficult to make out. These -events dated from two years back, and for that time the Seijaris had -remained prisoners at Ḥamāh and in their own castle, and had been -unable to superintend the cultivation of their fields, which were -running in consequence to rack and ruin. Moreover, there seemed to be no -prospect of improvement in the situation. Later in the afternoon a -messenger arrived saying that Aḥmed's brother, 'Abd ul Ḳādir, would -be pleased to receive me and would have come himself to welcome me if he -could have left the castle. I went up without Maḥmūd and heard the -whole story again from the point of view of the sheikhs, which helped me -to no conclusion, since it was in most essentials a different story from -that which I had heard from Maḥmūd. The only indisputable point (and -it was probably not so irrelevant as it seems) was that the Seijari -women were wonderfully beautiful. They wore dark blue Bedouin dress, but -the blue cloths hanging from their heads were fastened with heavy gold -ornaments, like the plaques of the Mycenæan treasure, one behind either -temple. Agreeable though their company proved to be I was obliged to cut -my visit short by reason of the number of fleas that shared the -captivity of the family. Two of the younger women walked down with me -through the ruins of the castle, but when we reached the great outer -gate they stopped and looked at me standing on the threshold.</p> - -<p>"Allah!" said one, "you go forth to travel through the whole world, and -we have never been to Ḥamāh!"</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> - -<p>I saw them in the gateway when I turned again to wave them a farewell. -Tall and straight they were, and full of supple grace, clothed in narrow -blue robes, their brows bound with gold, their eyes following the road -they might not tread. For whatever may happen to the sheikhs, nothing is -more certain than that women as lovely as those two will remain -imprisoned by their lords in Ḳal'at es Seijar.</p> - -<p>We rode next day by cultivated plains to Ḳal'at el Mudīk, a short -stage of under four hours. Although there were several traces of ruined -towns—one in particular I remember at a hamlet called Sheikh Ḥadīd, -where there was a mound that looked as if it might have been an -acropolis—the journey would have been uninteresting but for Maḥmūd's -stories. His talk ran through the characteristics of the many races that -make up the Turkish empire, with most of which he was familiar, and when -he came to the Circassians it appeared that he shared my aversion to -them.</p> - -<p>"Oh lady," said he, "they do not know what it is to make return for -kindness. The father sells his children, and the children would kill -their own father if he had gold in his belt. It happened once that I was -riding from Tripoli to Ḥomṣ, and near the khān—you know the -place—I met a Circassian walking alone. I said: 'Peace be upon you! -Why do you walk?' for the Circassians never go afoot. He said: 'My horse -has been stolen from me, and I walk in fear upon this road.' I said: 'Come -with me and you shall go in safety to Ḥomṣ.' But I made him walk -before my horse, for he was armed with a sword, and who knows what a -Circassian will do if you cannot watch him? And after a little we passed -an old man working in the fields, and the Circassian ran out to him and -spoke with him, and drew his sword as though to kill him. And I called -out: 'What has this old man done to you?' And he replied: 'By God! I am -hungry, and I asked him for food, and he said "I have none!" wherefore I -shall kill him.' Then I said: 'Let him be. I will give you food.' And I -gave him the half of all I had, bread and sweetmeats and oranges. So we -journeyed until we came to a stream, and I was thirsty, and I got off my -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> -mare and holding her by the bridle I stooped to drink. And I looked up -suddenly and saw the Circassian with his foot in my stirrup on the other -side of the mare, for he designed to mount her and ride away. And, by -God! I had been a father and a mother to him, therefore I struck him -with my sword so that he fell to the ground. And I bound him and drove -him to Ḥomṣ and delivered him to the Government. This is the manner -of the Circassians, may God curse them!"</p> - -<p>I asked him of the road to Mecca and of the hardships that the pilgrims -endure upon the way.</p> - -<p>"By the Face of God! they suffer," said he. "Ten marches from Ma'ān to -Medā'in Ṣāleḥ, ten from there to Medīna, and ten from Medīna to -Mecca, and the last ten are the worst, for the Sherif of Mecca and the -Arab tribes plot together, and the Arabs rob the pilgrims and share the -booty with the Sherif. Nor are the marches like the marches of -gentlefolk when they travel, for sometimes there are fifteen hours -between water and water, and sometimes twenty, and the last march into -Mecca is thirty hours. Now the Government pays the tribes to let the -pilgrims through in peace, and when they know that the Ḥājj is -approaching they assemble upon the hills beside the road and cry out to -the Amīr ul Ḥājj: 'Give us our dues, 'Abd ur Raḥmān Pasha!' And -to each man he gives according to his rights, to one money, and to -another a pipe and tobacco, to a third a kerchief, and to a fourth a -cloak. Yet it is not the pilgrims that suffer most, but those who keep -the forts that guard the water tanks along the road, and every fort is -like a prison. It happened once that I was sent with the military -escort, and my horse fell sick and could not move, and they left me at -one of the forts between Medā'in Ṣāleḥ and Medina till they should -return. Six weeks or more I lived with the keeper of the fort, and we -saw no one, and we eat and slept in the sun, and eat again, and slept, -for we could not ride out for fear of the Ḥoweiṭāṭ and the Beni -'Atiyyeh who were at war together. And the man had lived there ten years -and never gone a quarter of an hour from that spot, for he watched over -the stores that feed the Ḥājj when it passes. By the Prophet of God!" -said Maḥmūd, with a sweeping gesture of the hand from earth to sky, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> -"for ten years he had seen nothing but the earth and God! Now he had a -little son, and the boy was deaf and dumb, but his eyes saw further than -any man's, and he watched all day from the top of the tower. And one day -he came running to his father and pointed with his hands, and the father -knew he had seen a raiding party far off, and we hastened within and -shut the doors. And the horsemen drew near, five hundred of the Beni -'Atiyyeh, and they watered their mares and demanded food, and we threw -down bread to them, for we dared not open the doors. And while they eat -there came across the plain the raiders of the Ḥoweiṭāṭ, and they -began to fight together by the castle wall, and they fought until the -evening prayer, and those who lived rode away, leaving their dead to the -number of thirty. And we remained all night with locked doors, and at -dawn we went down and buried the dead. But it is better to live in a -fortress by the Ḥājj road," he continued, "than to serve as a soldier -in Yemen, for there the soldiers receive no pay and of food not enough -on which to live, and the sun bums like a fire. In Yemen if a man stood -in the shade and saw a purse of gold lying in the sun, by God! he would -not go out to pick it up, for the heat is like the fire of hell. Oh -lady, is it true that in Egypt the soldiers get their pay week by week -and month by month?"</p> - -<p>I replied that I believed it to be the case, such being the custom in -the English army.</p> - -<p>"As for us," said Maḥmūd, "our pay is always due to us for half a -year, and often out of twelve months' pay we receive but six months'. -Wāllah! I have never touched more than eight months' pay for a complete -year. Once," he added, "I was in Alexandria—Māsha'llah, the fine -city! Houses it has as big as the palaces of kings, and all the roads have -paved edges whereon the people walk. And there I saw a cabman who sued a -lady for his fare, and the judge gave it to him. By the Truth! the ways -of judges are different with us," observed Maḥmūd thoughtfully; and -then, with an abrupt transition, he exclaimed: "Look, oh lady! there is -Abu Sa'ad."</p> - -<p>I looked, and saw Abu Sa'ad walking in the ploughed field, with his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> -white coat as spotless as though he had not just alighted from a journey -as long as one of Maḥmūd's, and his black sleeves folded neatly -against his sides, and I made haste to welcome the Father of Good Luck, -for in Syria the first stork is like the first swallow with us. He -cannot, however, any more than the swallow make summer, and we rode that -day into Ḳal'at el Mudīk, in drenching rain.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure115"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure115.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A CAPITAL, ḤAMĀH</p></div> - -<p>Ḳal'at el Mudīk is the Apamea of the Seleucids. It was founded by -Seleucus Nicator, that great town builder who had so many cities for his -god-daughters: Seleucia in Pieria, Seleucia on the Calycadnus, Seleucia -in Babylonia, and more besides. Though it has been utterly destroyed by -earthquakes, enough remains in ruin to prove its ancient splendour, the -wide circuit of its walls, the number of its temples and the -magnificence of its columned streets. You can trace the main -thoroughfares from gate to gate by the heaped masses of the colonnades, -and mark the stone bases of statues at the intersections of the ways. -Here and there a massive portal opens into vacuity, the palace which it -served having been razed to the ground, or an armed horseman decorates -the funeral stele on which the living merits of his prototype are -recorded. The Christians took up the story where the Seleucid kings had -left it, and the ruins of a great church with a courtyard set round with -columns lie on the edge of the main street. As I plunged in the soft -spring rain through deep grass and flowers and clumps of asphodel, to -the discomfiture of the grey owls that sat blinking on the heaps of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> -stones, the history and architecture of the town seemed an epitome of -the marvellous fusion between Greece and Asia that came of Alexander's -conquests. Here was a Greek king whose capital lay on the Tigris, -founding a city on the Orontes and calling it after his Persian -wife—what builders raised the colonnades that adorned this and all -the Greek-tinged towns of Syria with classic forms used in a spirit of -Oriental lavishness? what citizens walked between them, holding out -hands to Athens and to Babylon?</p> - -<p>The only inhabited part of Ḳal'at el Mudīk is the castle itself, -which stands on the site of the Seleucid acropolis, a hill overlooking -the Orontes valley and the Noṣairiyyeh mountains. It is mainly of Arab -workmanship, though many hands have taken part in its construction, and -Greek and Arabic inscriptions are built pellmell into the walls. To the -south of the castle there is a bit of classical building of which I have -seen no explanation. It looks as if it might be part of the proscenium -of the theatre, for the rising ground behind it is scooped away in the -shape of an auditorium. A very little digging would be enough to show -whether traces of seats lie under the grassy bank. In the valley there -is a ruined mosque and a fine khān, half ruined also. The Sheikh of the -castle gave me coffee, and told me yet another version of the Seijari -story, irreconcilable with either of the two first, whereat I -congratulated myself on having early determined not to attempt to -resolve that tangled problem. From the castle top the valley of the -Orontes seemed to be all under water: it was the great swamp of the -'Asī, said the Sheikh, which dries in summer when the island villages -(as I saw them now) resume their places as parts of the plain. Yes, -certainly they were very unhealthy, summer and winter they were -fever-stricken, and most of the inhabitants died young—lo, we belong -to God and unto Him do we return! In winter and spring these short-lived -folk follow the calling of fishermen, but when the swamp dried they turn -into husbandmen after a fashion of their own. They cut the reeds and -sowed maize upon them, and set them alight, and the maize rose out of -the ashes and grew—a phœnix-like method of agriculture.</p> - -<p>At Apamea the excellent cakes I had bought in Damascus came to an -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> -end—it seemed a serious matter at the time when the bill of fare was -apt to be monotonous. Lunch was the least palatable of all our meals. -Hard-boiled eggs and chunks of cold meat cease to tempt the appetite -after they have been indulged in for a month or two. Gradually I taught -Mikhāil to vary our diet with all the resources the country offered, -olives and sheep's milk cheese, salted pistachios, sugared apricots and -half a dozen other delicacies, including the Damascus cakes. The native -servant, accustomed to feeding Cook's tourists on sardines and tinned -beef, thinks it beneath the dignity of a European to eat such food, and -you must go hunt the bazaars with him yourself and teach him what to -buy, or you may pass through the richest country and starve on cold -mutton.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_1" id="Footnote_9_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_1"><span class="label">[9]</span></a>It will be the terminus only for a month or two longer for -the line has at length been continued to Aleppo.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_1" id="Footnote_10_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_1"><span class="label">[10]</span></a>The plural of Ismaili in the vernacular is Samawīleh. I -do not know whether this is the literary form, but it is the one I have -always heard.</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></h4> - - -<p>The next day's journey is branded on my mind by an incident which I can -scarcely dignify with the name of an adventure—a misadventure let me -call it. It was as tedious while it was happening as a real adventure -(and no one but he who has been through them knows how tiresome they -frequently are), and it has not left behind it that remembered spice of -possible danger that enlivens fireside recollections. We left Ḳal'at -el Mudīk at eight in pouring rain, and headed northwards to the Jebel -Zāwiyyeh, a cluster of low hills that lies between the Orontes valley -and the broad plain of Aleppo. This range contains a number of ruined -towns, dating mainly from the fifth and sixth centuries, partially -re-inhabited by Syrian fellaḥīn, and described in detail by de -Vogüé and Butler. The rain stopped as we rode up a low sweep of the -hills where the red earth was all under the plough and the villages set -in olive groves. The country had a wide bare beauty of its own, which -was heightened by the dead towns that were strewn thickly over it. At -first the ruins were little more than heaps of cut stones, but at Kefr -Anbīl there were some good houses, a church, a tower and a very large -necropolis of rock-cut tombs. Here the landscape changed, the cultivated -land shrank into tiny patches, the red earth disappeared and was -replaced by barren stretches of rock, from out of which rose the grey -ruins like so many colossal boulders. There must have been more -cultivation when the district supported the very large population -represented by the ruined towns, but the rains of many winters have -broken the artificial terracings and washed the earth down into the -valleys, so that by no possibility could the former inhabitants draw -from it now sufficient produce to sustain them. North-east of Kefr -Anbīl, across a labyrinth of rocks, appeared the walls of a wonderful -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> -village, Khīrbet Ḥass, which I was particularly anxious to see. I -sent the mules straight to El Bārah, our halting place that night, -engaged a villager as a guide over the stony waste, and set off with -Mikhāil and Maḥmūd. The path wound in and out between the rocks, a -narrow band of grass plentifully scattered with stones; the afternoon -sun shone hot upon us, and I dismounted, took off my coat, bound it (as -I thought) fast to my saddle, and walked on ahead amid the grass and -flowers. That was the beginning of the misadventure. Khīrbet Ḥass was -quite deserted save for a couple of black tents. The streets of the -market were empty, the walls of the shops had fallen in, the church had -long been abandoned of worshippers, the splendid houses were as silent -as the tombs, the palisaded gardens were untended, and no one came down -to draw water from the deep cisterns. The charm and the mystery of it -kept me loitering till the sun was near the horizon and a cold wind had -risen to remind me of my coat, but, lo! when I returned to the horses it -was gone from my saddle. Tweed coats do not grow on every bush in north -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> -Syria, and it was obvious that some effort must be made to recover mine. -Maḥmūd rode back almost to Kefr Anbīl, and returned after an hour -and a half empty handed. By this time it was growing dark; moreover a -black storm was blowing up from the east, and we had an hour to ride -through very rough country. We started at once, Mikhāil, Maḥmūd and -I, picking our way along an almost invisible path. As ill luck would -have it, just as the dusk closed in the storm broke upon us, the night -turned pitch dark, and with the driving rain in our faces we missed that -Medea-thread of a road. At this moment Mikhāil's ears were assailed by -the barking of imaginary dogs, and we turned our horses' heads towards -the point from which he supposed it to come. This was the second stage -of the misadventure, and I at least ought to have remembered that -Mikhāil was always the worst guide, even when he knew the direction of -the place towards which he was going. We stumbled on; a watery moon came -out to show us that our way led nowhere, and being assured of this we -stopped and fired off a couple of pistol shots, thinking that if the -village were close at hand the muleteers would hear us and make some -answering signal. None came, however, and we found our way back to the -point where the rain had blinded us, only to be deluded again by that -phantom barking and to set off again on our wild dog chase. This time we -went still further afield, and Heaven knows where we should ultimately -have arrived if I had not demonstrated by the misty moon that we were -riding steadily south, whereas El Bārah lay to the north. At this we -turned heavily in our tracks, and when we had ridden some way back we -dismounted and sat down upon a ruined wall to discuss the advisability -of lodging for the night in an empty tomb, and to eat a mouthful of -bread and cheese out of Mahmūd's saddle-bags. The hungry horses came -nosing up to us; mine had half my share of bread, for after all he was -doing more than half the share of work. The food gave us enterprise; we -rode on and found ourselves in the twinkling of an eye at the original -branching off place. From it we struck a third path, and in five minutes -came to the village of El Bārah, round which we had been circling for -three hours. The muleteers were fast asleep in the tents; we woke them -somewhat rudely, and asked whether they had not heard our signals. Oh -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> -yes, they replied cheerfully, but concluding that it was a robber taking -advantage of the stormy night to kill some one, they had paid small -attention. This is the whole tale of the misadventure; it does credit to -none of the persons concerned, and I blush to relate it. It has, -however, taught me not to doubt the truth of similar occurrences in the -lives of other travellers whom I have now every reason to believe -entirely veracious.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure116"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure116.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A HOUSE AT EL BĀRAH</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure117"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure117.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MOULDING AT EL BĀRAH AND LINTEL AT KHIRBET HĀSS</p></div> - -<p>Intolerable though El Bārah may be by night, by day it is most -marvellous and most beautiful. It is like the dream city which children -create for themselves to dwell in between bedtime and sleep-time, -building palace after palace down the shining ways of the imagination, -and no words can give the charm of it nor the magic of the Syrian -spring. The generations of the dead walk with you down the streets, you -see them flitting across their balconies, gazing out of windows wreathed -with white clematis, wandering in palisaded gardens that are still -planted with olive and with vine and carpeted with iris, hyacinth and -anemone. Yet you may search the chronicles for them in vain; they played -no part in history, but were content to live in peace and to build -themselves great houses in which to dwell and fine tombs to lie in after -they were dead. That they became Christian the hundreds of ruined -churches and the cross carved over the doors and windows of their -dwellings, would be enough to show; that they were artists their -decorations prove; that they were wealthy their spacious mansions their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> -summer houses and stables and out-houses testify. They borrowed from -Greece such measure of cultivation and of the arts as they required, -find fused with them the spirit of Oriental magnificence which never -breathed; without effect on the imagination of the West; they lived in -comfort and security such as few of their contemporaries can have known, -and the Mahommadan invasion swept them off the face of the earth.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure118"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure118.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">TOMB, SERJILLA</p></div> - -<p>I spent two days at El Bārah and visited five or six of the villages -round about, the Sheikh of El Bārah and his son serving me as guides. -The Sheikh was a sprightly old man called Yūnis, who had guided all the -distinguished archæologists of his day, remembered them, and spoke of -them by name—or rather by names of his own, very far removed from the -originals. I contrived to make out those of de Vogüé and Waddington, -and another that was quite unintelligible was probably intended for -Sachau. At Serjilla, a town with a sober and solid air of respectability -that would be hard to match, though it is roofless and quite deserted, -he presented me with a palace and its adjacent tomb that I might live -and die in his neighbourhood, and when I left he rode with me as far as -Deir Sanbīl to put me on my way. He was much exercised that day by a -disturbance that had arisen in a village near at hand. A man had been -waylaid by two others of a neighbouring village who desired to rob him. -Fortunately a fellow townsman had come to his assistance and together -they had succeeded in beating off the attack, but in the contest the -friend had lost his life. His relations had raided the robbers' village -and carried off all the cattle. Maḥmūd was of opinion that they -should not have taken the law into their own hands.</p> - -<p>"By God!" said he, "they should have laid the case before the -Government."</p> - -<p>But Yūnis replied, with unanswerable logic:</p> - -<p>"Of what use was it to go to the Government? They wanted their rights."</p> - -<p>In the course of conversation I asked Yūnis whether he ever went to -Aleppo.</p> - -<p>"By God!" said he. "And then I sit in the bazaars and watch the consuls -walking, each with a man in front clothed in a coat worth two hundred -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> -piastres, and the ladies with as it were flowers upon their heads." (The -fashionable European hat, I imagine.) "I always go to Aleppo when my -sons are in prison there," he explained. "Sometimes the gaoler is -softhearted and a little money will get them out."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure119"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure119.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">SHEIKH YŪNIS</p></div> - -<p>I edged away from what seemed to be delicate ground by asking how many -sons he had.</p> - -<p>"Eight, praise be to God! Each of my wives bore me four sons and two -daughters."</p> - -<p>"Praise be to God!" said I.</p> - -<p>"May God prolong your life!" said Yūnis. "My second wife cost me a -great deal of money," he added.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes?" said I.</p> - -<p>"May God make it Yes upon you, oh lady! I took her from her husband, and -by God (may His name be praised and exalted!) I had to pay two thousand -piastres to the husband and three thousand to the judge."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure120"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure120.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">HOUSE AT SERJILLA</p></div> - -<p>This was too much for Ḥājj Maḥmūd's sense of the proprieties.</p> - -<p>"You took her from her husband?" said he. "Wāllah! that was the deed of -a Noṣairi or an Ismaili. Does a Moslem take away a man's wife? It is -forbidden."</p> - -<p>"He was my enemy," explained Yūnis. "By God and the Prophet of God, -there was enmity between us even unto death."</p> - -<p>"Had she children?" inquired Maḥmūd.</p> - -<p>"Ey wāllah!" assented the Sheikh, a little put about by Maḥmūd's -disapproval. "But I paid two thousand piastres to the husband and three -thousand——"</p> - -<p>"By the Face of God!" exclaimed Maḥmūd, still more outraged, "it was -the deed of an infidel."</p> - -<p>And here I put an end to further discussion of the merits of the case by -asking whether the woman had liked being carried off.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Without doubt," said Yūnis. "It was her wish."</p> - -<p>We may conclude, therefore, that ethics did not have much to do with the -matter, though he indemnified so amply both the husband and the judge.</p> - -<p>This episode led us to discuss the usual price paid for a wife.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure121"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure121.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">TOMB OF BIZZOS</p></div> - -<p>"For such as we," said Yūnis, with an indescribable air of social -pre-eminence, "the girl will not be less than four thousand piastres, -but a poor man who has no money will give the father a cow or a few -sheep, and he will be content."</p> - -<p>After he left us I rode round by Ruweiḥā that I might see the famous -church by which stands the domed tomb of Bizzos. This church is the most -beautiful in the Jebel Zāwiyyeh, with its splendid narthex and carved -doorways, its stilted arches and the wide-spanned arcades of its -nave—how just was the confidence in his own mastery over his material -which encouraged the builder to throw those great arches from pier to -pier is proved by the fact that one of them stands to this day. The -little tomb of Bizzos is almost as perfect as it was when it was first -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> -built. By the doorway an inscription is cut in Greek: "Bizzos son of -Pardos. I lived well, I die well and well I rest. Pray for me." The -strangest features in all the architecture of North Syria are the -half-remembered classical motives that find their way into mouldings -that are almost Gothic in their freedom, and the themes of a classical -entablature that grace church window or architrave. The scheme of Syrian -decoration was primarily a row of circles or wreaths filled with whorls -or with the Christian monogram; but as the stone-cutters grew more -skilful they ran their circles together into a hundred exquisite and -fanciful shapes of acanthus and palm and laurel, making a flowing -pattern round church or tomb as varied as the imagination could -contrive. The grass beneath their feet, the leaves on the boughs above -their heads, inspired them with a wealth of decorative design much as -they inspired William Morris twelve hundred years later.</p> - -<p>There is another church at Ruweiḥā scarcely less perfect than the -Bizzos church, but not so splendid in design. It is remarkable for a -monument standing close to the south wall, which has been explained as a -bell tower, or a tomb, or a pulpit, or not explained at all. It is -constructed of two stories, the lower one consisting of six columns -supporting a platform, from the low wall of which rise four corner piers -to carry the dome or canopy. The resemblance to some of the North -Italian tombs, as, for instance, to the monument of Rolandino, in -Bologna, is so striking that the beholder instinctively assigns a -similar purpose to the graceful building at Ruweiḥā.</p> - -<p>We camped that night at Dāna, a village that boasts a pyramid tomb with -a porch of four Corinthian columns, as perfect in execution and in -balanced proportion as anything you could wish to see. On our way from -Ruweiḥā we passed a mansion which I would take as a type of the -domestic architecture of the sixth-century. It stood apart, separated by -a mile or two of rolling country from any village, with open balconies -facing towards the west and a delightful gabled porch to the north, such -a porch as might adorn any English country house of to-day. You could -fancy the sixth-century owner sitting on the stone bench within and -watching for his friends—he can have feared no enemies, or he would -not have built his dwelling far out in the country and guarded it only with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> -a garden palisade. At Ḳaṣr el Banāt, the Maidens' Fortress as the -Syrians call it, I was impressed more than at any other place with the -high level that social order had reached in the Jebel Zāwiyyeh, for -here were security and wealth openly displayed, and leisure wherein to -cultivate the arts; and as I rode away I fell to wondering whether -civilisation is indeed, as we think it in Europe, a resistless power -sweeping forward and carrying upon its crest those who are apt to profit -by its advance; or whether it is not rather a tide that ebbs and flows, -and in its ceaseless turn and return touches ever at the flood the -self-same place upon the shore.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure122"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure122.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CHURCH AND TOMB, RUWEIḤĀ</p></div> - -<p>Late at night one of Sheikh Yūnis's sons rode in to ask us whether his -father were still with us. On leaving us that enterprising old party had -not, it seemed, returned to the bosom of his anxious family, and I have -a suspicion that his friendly eagerness to set us on our way was but -part of a deep-laid plot by means of which he hoped to be able to take a -hand in those local disturbances that had preoccupied him during the -morning. At any rate he had made off as soon as we were out of sight, -and the presumption was that he had hastened to join in the fray. What -happened to him I never heard, but I am prepared to wager that whoever -bit the dust at the village of El Mughāra it was not Sheikh Yūnis.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> - -<p>Three rather tedious days lay between us and Aleppo. We might have made -the journey in two, but I had determined to strike a little to the east -in order to avoid the carriage road, which was well known, and to -traverse country which, though it might not be more interesting, was at -least less familiar. Five hours' ride from Dāna across open rolling -uplands Brought us to Ṭarutīn. We passed several ancient sites, -re-occupied by half-settled Arabs of the Muwāli tribes, though the old -buildings were completely ruined. All along the western edges of the -desert the Bedouin are beginning to cultivate the soil, and are -therefore forced to establish themselves in some fixed spot near their -crops. "We are become fellaḥīn," said the Sheikh of Ṭarutīn. In -some distant age, when all the world is ploughed and harvested, there -will be no nomads left in Arabia. In the initial stages these new-made -farmers continue to live in tents, but the tents are stationary, the -accompanying dirt cumulative, and the settlement unpleasing to any of -the senses. The few families at Ṭarutīn had not yet forgotten their -desert manners, and we found them agreeable people, notwithstanding the -accuracy with which the above remarks applied to their village of hair.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure123"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure123.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAṢR EL ḂANĀT</p></div> - -<p>I had not been in camp an hour before there was a great commotion among -my men, and Mikhāil came to my tent shouting, "The Americans! the -Americans!" It was not a raid, but the Princeton archæological -expedition, which, travelling from Damascus by other ways than ours, was -now making for the Jebel Zāwiyyeh; and a fortunate encounter my camp -thought it, for each one of us found acquaintances among the masters or -among the muleteers, and had time to talk, as people will talk who meet -by chance upon an empty road. Moreover, the day I spent at Ṭarutīn -provided me with an admirable object lesson in archæology. As the -members of the expedition planned the ruins and deciphered the -inscriptions, the whole fifth-century town rose from its ashes and stood -before us—churches, houses, forts, rock-hewn tombs with the names and -dates of death of the occupants carved over the door. Next day we had a -march of ten hours. We went north, passing a small mud village called -Ḥelbān, and another called Mughāra Merzeh, where there were the -remains of a church and rock-cut tombs of a very simple kind. (None of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> -these places are marked on Kiepert's map.) Then we turned to the east -and reached Tulūl, where we came upon an immense expanse of flood -water, stretching south at least twelve miles from the Maṭkh, the -swamp in which the River Kuweēk rises. At Tulūl some Arab women were -mourning over a new-made grave. For three days after the dead are buried -they weep thus at the grave side; only at Mecca and at Medina, said -Maḥmūd, there is no mourning for those who are gone. There when -breath leaves the body the women give three cries, to make known to the -world that the soul has fled; but beyond these cries there is no -lamentation, for it is forbidden that tears should fall upon the head of -the corpse. The Lord has given and He has taken away. So we went south -along the edge of the high ground to a little hill called Tell Selma, -where we turned east again and rounded the flood water and rode along -its margin to a big village, Moyemāt, half tents and half beehive huts -built of mud. There is no other material but mud in which to build; from -the moment we left the rocky ground on which Ṭarutīn stands we never -saw a stone—never a stone and never a tree, but an endless unbroken -cornfield, with the first scarlet tulips coming into bloom among the -young wheat. It was heavy going, though it was soft to the horses' feet. -If there were a little more earth upon the hills of Syria and a few more -stones upon the plain, travelling would be easier in that country; but -He, than whom there is none other, has ordered differently. From -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> -Moyemāt we rode north-east until we came to a village called Hober, at -the foot of a spur of the Jebel el Ḥaṣṣ, and here we tried to -camp, but could get neither oats nor barley, nor even a handful of -chopped straw; and so we went on to Kefr 'Ābid, which is marked on the -map, and pitched tents at six o'clock. The villages unknown to Kiepert -are probably of recent construction, indeed many of them are still half -camp. They are exceedingly numerous; about Hober I counted five within a -radius of a mile or two. The Arabs who inhabit them retain their nomad -habits of feud. Each village has its allies and its blood enemies, and -political relations are as delicate as they are in the desert. My diary -contains the following note at the end of the day: "Periwinkles, white -irises of the kind that were blue at El Bārah, red and yellow -ranunculus, storks, larks." These were all that broke the monotony of -the long ride.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure124"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure124.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">TOMB, DĀNA</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure125"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure125.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A BEEHIVE VILLAGE</p></div> - -<p>About half an hour to the north of Kefr 'Ābid there is a little beehive -village which contains a very perfect mosaic of geometrical patterns. -The fragments of other mosaics are to be found scattered through the -village, some in the houses, and some in the courtyards, and the whole -district needs careful exploration while the new settlers are turning up -the ground and before they destroy what they may find. We reached Aleppo -at midday, approaching it by an open drain. Whether it were because of -the evil smell or because of the heavy sky and dust-laden wind I do not -know, but the first impression of Aleppo was disappointing. The name, in -its charming Europeanised form, should belong to a more attractive city, -and attractive Aleppo certainly is not, for it is set in a barren, -treeless, featureless world, the beginning of the great Mesopotamian -flats. The site of the town is like a cup and saucer, the houses lie in -the saucer and the castle stands on the upturned cup, its minaret -visible several hours away while no vestige of the city appears until -the last mile of the road. I stayed two days, during which time it -rained almost ceaselessly, therefore I do not know Aleppo—an Oriental -city will not admit you into the circle of its intimates unless you -spend months within its walls, and not even then if you will not take pains -to please—but I did not leave without having perceived dimly that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> -there was something to be known. It has been a splendid Arab city; as -you walk down the narrow streets you pass minarets and gateways of the -finest period of Arab architecture; some of the mosques and baths and -khāns (especially those half ruined and closed) are in the same style, -and the castle is the best example of twelfth-century Arab workmanship -in all Syria, with iron doors of the same period—they are -dated,—and beautiful bits of decoration. There must be some native -vitality still that corresponds to these signs of past greatness, but the -town has fallen on evil days. It has been caught between the jealousies of -European concession hunters, and it suffers more than most Syrian towns -from the strangling grasp of the Ottoman Government. It is slowly dying -for want of an outlet to the sea, and neither the French nor the German -railway will supply its need. Hitherto the two companies have been -busily engaged in thwarting one another. The original concession to the -Rayak-Ḥamāh railway extended to Aleppo and north to Birijik—I was -told that the tickets to Birijik were printed off when the first rails -were laid at Rayak. Then came Germany, with her great scheme of a -railway to Baghdad. She secured a concession for a branch line from -Killiz to Aleppo, and did what she could to prevent the French from -advancing beyond Ḥamāh, on the plea that the French railway would -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> -detract from the value of the German concession—my information, it -may be well imagined, is not from the Imperial Chancery, but from native -sources in Aleppo itself. Since I left, the French have taken up their -interrupted work on the Rayak-Ḥamāh line, though it is to be carried -forward, I believe, not to Birijik, but only as far as Aleppo.<a name="FNanchor_11_1" id="FNanchor_11_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_1" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> It -will be of no benefit to the town. Aleppo merchants do not wish to send -their goods a three days' journey to Bey rout; they want a handy seaport -of their own, which will enable them to pocket all the profits of the -trade, and that port should be Alexandretta. Neither does the Baghdad -railway, if it be continued, offer any prospect of advantage. By a -branch line already existing (it was built by English and French -capitalists, but has recently passed under German control) the railway -will touch the sea at Mersina, but Mersina is as far from Aleppo as is -Beyrout. That a line should be laid direct from Aleppo to Alexandretta -is extremely improbable, since the Sultan fears above all things to -connect the inland caravan routes with the coast, lest the troops of the -foreigner, and particularly of England, should find it perilously easy -to land from their warships and march up country. Aleppo should be -still, as it was in times past, the great distributing centre for the -merchandise of the interior, but traffic is throttled by the fatal -frequency with which the Government commandeers the baggage camels. Last -year, with the Yemen war on hand and the consequent necessity of -transporting men and military stores to the coast that they might be -shipped to the Red Sea, this grievance had become acute. For over a -month trade had been stagnant and goods bound for the coast had lain piled -in the bazaar—a little more and they would cease to come at all, -the camel owners from the East not daring to enter the zone of danger to -their beasts. Here, as in all other Turkish towns, I heard the cry of -official bankruptcy. The Government had no funds wherewith to undertake -the most necessary works, the treasuries were completely empty.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure126"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure126.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE CASTLE, ALEPPO</p></div> - -<p>Though my stay was short I was not without acquaintances, among whom the -most important was the Vāli. Kiāzim Pasha is a man of very different -stamp from the Vāli of Damascus. To the extent that the latter is, -according to his lights, a real statesman, in so far is Kiāzim nothing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> -but a <i>farceur.</i> He received me in his harem, for which I was -grateful when I saw his wife, who is one of the most beautiful women that -it is possible to behold. She is tall and stately, with a small dark head, -set on magnificent shoulders, a small straight nose, a pointed chin and -brows arching over eyes that are like dark pools—I could not take -mine from her face while she sat with us. Both she and her husband are -Circassians, a fact that had put me on my guard before the Vāli opened -his lips. They both spoke French, and he spoke it very well. He received -me in an offhand manner, and his first remark was:</p> - -<p>"Je suis le jeune pasha qui a fait la paix entre les églises."</p> - -<p>I knew enough of his history to realise that he had been Muteserrif of -Jerusalem at a time when the rivalries between the Christian sects had -ended in more murders than are customary, and that some kind of uneasy -compromise had been reached, whether through his ingenuity or the -necessities of the case I had not heard.</p> - -<p>"How old do you think I am?" said the pasha.</p> - -<p>I replied tactfully that I should give him thirty-five years.</p> - -<p>"Thirty-six!" he said triumphantly. "But the consuls listened to me. Mon -Dieu! that was a better post than this, though I am Vāli now. Here I -have no occasion to hold conferences with the consuls, and a man like me -needs the society of educated Europeans."</p> - -<p>(Mistrust the second: an Oriental official, who declares that he prefers -the company of Europeans.)</p> - -<p>"I am very Anglophil," said he.</p> - -<p>I expressed the gratitude of my country in suitable terms.</p> - -<p>"But what are you doing in Yemen?" he added quickly.</p> - -<p>"Excellency," said I, "we English are a maritime people, and there are -but two places that concern us in all Arabia."</p> - -<p>"I know," he interpolated. "Mecca and Medina."</p> - -<p>"No," said I. "Aden and Kweit."</p> - -<p>"And you hold them both," he returned angrily—yes, I am bound to -confess that the tones of his voice were not those of an Anglo-maniac.</p> - -<p>Presently he began to tell me that he alone among pashas had grasped -modern necessities. He meant to build a fine metalled road to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> -Alexandretta—not that it will be of much use, thought I, if there are -no camels to walk in it—like the road he had built from Samaria to -Jerusalem. That was a road like none other in Turkey—did I know it? I -had but lately travelled over it, and seized the opportunity of -congratulating the maker of it; but I did not think it necessary to -mention that it breaks off at the bottom of the only serious ascent and -does not begin again till the summit of the Judæan plateau is reached.</p> - -<p>This is all that need be said of Kiāzim Pasha's methods.</p> - -<p>A far more sympathetic acquaintance was the Greek Catholic Archbishop, a -Damascene educated in Paris and for some time cure of the Greek Catholic -congregation in that city, though he is still comparatively young. I had -been given a letter to him, on the presentation of which he received me -with great affability in his own house. We sat in a room filled with -books, the windows opening on to the silent courtyard of his palace, and -talked of the paths into which thought had wandered in Europe; but I -found to my pleasure that for all his learning and his long sojourn in -the West, the Archbishop had remained an Oriental at heart.</p> - -<p>"I rejoiced," said he, "when I was ordered to return from Paris to my -own land. There is much knowledge, but little faith in France; while in -Syria, though there is much ignorance, religion rests upon a sure -foundation of belief."</p> - -<p>The conclusion that may be drawn from this statement is not flattering -to the Church, but I refrained from comment.</p> - -<p>He appeared in the afternoon to return my call—from the Vāli -downwards all must conform to this social obligation—wearing his gold -cross and carrying his archiepiscopal staff in his hand. From his tall -brimless hat a black veil fell down his back, his black robes were edged -with purple, and an obsequious chaplain walked behind him. He found another -visitor sitting with me in the inn parlour, Nicola Ḥomṣi, a rich -banker of his own congregation. Ḥomṣi belongs to an important -Christian family settled in Aleppo, and his banking house has -representatives in Marseilles and in London. He and the Archbishop -between them were fairly representative of the most enterprising and the -best educated classes in Syria. It is they who suffer at the hands of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> -the Turk,—the ecclesiastic, because of a blind and meaningless -official opposition that meets the Christian at every turn; the banker, -because his interests call aloud for progress, and progress is what the -Turk will never understand. I therefore asked them what they thought would -be the future of the country. They looked at one another, and the -Archbishop answered:</p> - -<p>"I do not know. I have thought deeply on the subject, and I can see no -future for Syria, whichever way I turn."</p> - -<p>That is the only credible answer I have heard to any part of the Turkish -question.</p> - -<p>The air of Aleppo is judged by the Sultan to be particularly suitable -for pashas who have fallen under his displeasure at Constantinople. The -town is so full of exiles that even the most casual visitor can scarcely -help making acquaintance with a few of them. One was lodged in my hotel, -a mild-mannered dyspeptic, whom no one would have suspected of -revolutionary sympathies. Probably he was indeed without them, and owed -his banishment merely to some chance word, reported and magnified by an -enemy or a spy. I was to see many of these exiles scattered up and down -Asia Minor, and none that I encountered could tell me for what cause -they had suffered banishment. Some, no doubt, must have had a suspicion, -and some were perfectly well aware of their offence, but most of them -were as innocently ignorant as they professed to be. Now this has a -wider bearing on the subject of Turkish patriotic feeling than may at -first appear; for the truth is that these exiled pashas are very rarely -patriots paying the price of devotion to a national ideal, but rather -men whom an unlucky turn of events has alienated from the existing -order. If there is any chance that they may be taken back into favour -you will find them nervously anxious, even in exile, to refrain from -action that would tend to increase official suspicion; and it is only -when they have determined that there is no hope for them as long as the -present Sultan lives, that they are willing to associate freely with -Europeans or to speak openly of their grievances. There is, so far as I -can see, no organised body of liberal opinion in Turkey, but merely -individual discontents, founded on personal misfortune. It seems -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> -improbable that when the exiles return to Constantinople on the death of -the Sultan they will provide any scheme of reform or show any desire to -alter a system under which, by the natural revolution of affairs, they -will again find themselves persons of consideration.</p> - -<p>There is another form of exile to be met with in Turkey, the honourable -banishment of a distant appointment. To this class, I fancy, belongs -Nāzim Pasha himself, and so does my friend Muḥammad 'Ali Pasha of -Aleppo. The latter is an agreeable man of about thirty, married to an -English wife. He accompanied me to the Vāli's house, obtained -permission that I should see the citadel, and in many ways contrived to -make himself useful. His wife was a pleasant little lady from Brixton; -he had met her in Constantinople and there married her, which may, for -ought I know, have been partly the reason of his fall from favour, the -English nation not being a <i>gens grata</i> at Yildiz Kiosk. Muḥammad 'Ali -Pasha is a gentleman in the full sense of the word, and he seems to have -made his wife happy; but it must be clearly understood that I could not -as a general rule recommend Turkish pashas as husbands to the maidens of -Brixton. Though she played tennis at the Tennis Club, and went to the -sewing parties of the European colony, she was obliged to conform to -some extent to the habits of Moslem women. She never went into the -streets without being veiled; "because people would talk if a pasha's -wife were to show her face," said she.</p> - -<p>We reached the citadel in the one hour of sunlight that shone on Aleppo -during my stay, and were taken round by polite officers, splendid in -uniforms and clanking swords and spurs, who were particularly anxious -that I should not miss the small mosque in the middle of the fortress, -erected on the very spot where Abraham milked his cow. The very name of -Aleppo, said they, is due to this historic occurrence, and there can be -no doubt that its Arabic form, Ḥaleb, is composed of the same root -letters as those that form the verb to milk. In spite of the deep -significance of the mosque, I was more interested in the view from the -top of the minaret. The Mesopotamian plain lay outspread before us, as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> -flat as a board—Euphrates stream is visible from that tower on a -clear day, and indeed you might see Baghdad but for the tiresome way in -which the round earth curves, for there is no barrier to the eye in all -that great level. Below us, were the clustered roofs of bazaar and khān, -with here and there a bird's-eye glimpse of marble courtyards, and here -and there the fine spire of a minaret. Trees and water were lacking in -the landscape, and water is the main difficulty in Aleppo itself. The -sluggish stream that flows out of the Maṭkh dries up in the summer, -and the wells are brackish all the year round. Good drinking water must -be brought from a great distance and costs every household at least a -piastre a day, a serious addition to the cost of living. But the climate -is good, sharply cold in winter and not over hot for more than a month -or two in the summer. Such is Aleppo, the great city with the -high-sounding name and the traces of a splendid past.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_1" id="Footnote_11_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_1"><span class="label">[11]</span></a>The line is now completed as far as Aleppo.</p></div> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure127"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure127.jpg" width="200" alt="400" /> -<p class="center">A WATER-CARRIER</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></h4> - - -<p>All my leisure moments during the two days in Aleppo were occupied in -changing muleteers. It seemed a necessary, if a regrettable measure. At -Antioch we should reach the limits of the Arabic speaking population. -Ḥabīb and his father had no word of Turkish, Mikhāil owned to a few -substantives such as egg, milk and piastre, while I was scarcely more -accomplished. I shrank from plunging with my small party into lands -where we should be unable to do more than proclaim our most pressing -needs or ask the way. The remarkable aptitude of north Syrian muleteers had -been much vaunted to me—the title of muleteer is really a misnomer, -for as a fact the beast of burden in these parts is a sorry nag, kadish, -as it is called in Arabic; from Alexandretta to Konia I doubt if we ever -saw a mule, certainly we never saw a caravan of mules. I had heard, -then, that I should not begin to know what it was to travel in comfort, -without worry or responsibility, and with punctuality and speed, until I -had reorganised my service, and that when I reached Konia I should be -able to break up my caravan if I pleased, and as I pleased, and the -Aleppo men would find their way home with another load. So I said -good-bye to my Beyroutīs—and to peace.</p> - -<p>The system on which the journey was henceforth conducted was the -sweating system. The sweater was a toothless old wretch, Fāris by name, -who shared with his brother one of the largest teams of baggage animals -in Aleppo. Owing to his lack of teeth he spoke Arabic and Turkish -equally incomprehensibly; he supplied me with four baggage-horses and -rode himself on a fifth, for his own convenience and at his own expense, -though he tried vainly to make me pay for his mount when we reached -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> -Konia; he hired two boys, at a starvation wage, to do all the work of -the camp and the march, and fed them on starvation fare. This unhappy -couple went on foot (the independent men of the Lebanon had provided -themselves with donkeys), and it was a part of their contract with -Fāris that he should give them shoes, but he refused to do so until I -interfered and threatened to dock his wages of the price of the shoes -and buy them myself. I was obliged also to look into the commissariat -and see that the pair had at least enough food to keep them in working -condition; but in spite of all my efforts the hired boys deserted at -every stage, and I suffered continual annoyance from the delays caused -by the difficulty of finding others, and, still more, from the necessity -of teaching each new couple the details of their work—where the tent -pegs were to be placed, how the loads were to be divided, and a hundred -other small but important matters. I had also to goad Fāris, who was -furnished with a greater number of excuses for shirking labour than any -man in Aleppo, into doing some share of his duty, and to superintend -night and morning the feeding of my horses, which would otherwise have -escaped starvation as narrowly as the hired boys. Finally, when we came -to Konia, I found that Fāris had turned the last of his slaves on to -the street, and had refused categorically to take them back to their -home at Adana, saying that when he escaped from my eye he could get -cheaper men than they; and since I would not abandon two boys who had, -according to their stupid best, done what they could to serve me, I was -obliged to help them to return to their native place. To sum up the -evidence, I should say that those who recommend the muleteers of Aleppo -and their abominable system can never have directed a well-trained and -well-organised camp, where the work goes as regularly as Big Ben, and -the men have cheerful faces and willing hands, nor can they have -experience of real businesslike travel, for that is possible only with -servants who show courage in difficulties, enterprise and resource. I -admit that my experience is small, and I confidently assert that it will -never be larger, for I would bring muleteers from Baghdad rather than -engage Fāris or his like a second time.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was just when the difficulties of the journey multiplied that -Mikhāil's virtue collapsed. Two days spent in drinking the health of -his departing companions, with whom he was on excellent terms, as the -members of a good camp should be, were enough to shatter the effects of -two months' sobriety. From that time forward the 'arak bottle bulked -large in his saddle-bags, and though an 'arak bottle can be searched for -and found in saddle-bags and broken on a stone, no amount of vigilance -could keep Mikhāil out of the wine shop when we reached a town. -Adversity teaches many lessons; I look back with mingled feelings upon -the uneasy four weeks between our departure from Aleppo and the time -when Providence sent me another and a better man and I hardened my heart -to dismiss Mikhāil, but I do not regret the schooling that was forced -on me.</p> - -<p>Ḥājj Maḥmūd reached at Aleppo the term of his commission, and from -him also I took a most reluctant farewell. The Vāli provided me with a -zaptieh whose name was Ḥājj Najīb, a Kurd of unprepossessing -appearance, who proved on acquaintance a useful and obliging man, -familiar with the district through which we travelled together, and with -the people inhabiting it. We were late in starting, Mikhāil being -sodden with 'arak and the muleteers unhandy with the loads. The day (it -was March 30) was cloudless, and for the first time the sun was -unpleasantly hot. When we rode away at ten o'clock it was already -blazing fiercely upon us, and the whole day long there was not a scrap -of shade in all the barren track. We followed for a mile or so the -Alexandretta high road, passing a café with a few trees about it, soon -after which we struck away to the left and entered a path that led us -into the bare rocky hills, and speedily became as rocky as they. Our -course was east with a touch of north. At half-past twelve we stopped to -lunch, and waited a full hour for the baggage, during which, time I had -leisure to reflect upon the relative marching speed of the new servants -and the old, and on the burning heat of the sun that had not been so -noticeable when we were ridings Half an hour further we passed a hovel, -Yaḳit 'Ades, where Najīb suggested that we might camp. But I decided -that it was too early, and after we had given strict injunctions to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> -Fāris concerning the route he was to follow and the exact spot where we -should camp, the zaptieh and I bettered our pace, and without going -beyond a walk were soon out of sight of the others. We rode along the -bottom of a bare winding valley, past several places that were marked on -the map though they were no more than the smallest heaps of ruins, and -at four o'clock turned up the northern slope of the valley and reached a -hamlet, unknown to Kiepert, which Najīb informed me to be Kbeshīn. -Here amid a few old walls and many modern refuse heaps we found a -Kurdish camp, one of the spring-time camps in which half nomadic people -dwell with their flocks at the season of fresh grass. The walls of the -tents, if tents they may be called, were roughly built of stone to a -height of about five feet, but the roofs were of goats' hair cloth, -raised in the centre by tent poles. The Kurdish shepherds crowded round -us and conversed with Najīb in their own tongue, which sounded vaguely -familiar on account of its likeness to Persian. They spoke Arabic also, -a queer jargon full of Turkish words. We sat for some time on the -rubbish-heap watching for the baggage animals till I became convinced, -in spite of Najīb's assurances, that some hitch must have occurred and -that we might watch for ever in vain. At this point the Kurdish sheikh -announced that it was dinner time, and invited us to share the meal. One -of the advantages of out-door life on short commons being that there is -no moment of the day when you are not willing and ready to eat, we fell -in joyfully with the suggestion.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure128"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure128.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN</p></div> - -<p>The Kurd has not been given a good name in the annals of travel. Report -would have him both sulky and quarrelsome, but for my part I have found -him to be endowed with most of the qualities that make for agreeable -social intercourse. We were ushered into the largest of the houses; it -was light and cool, airy and clean, its peculiar construction giving it -the advantages of house and of tent. The food consisted of new bread and -sour curds and of an excellent pillaf, in which cracked wheat was -substituted for rice. It was spread upon a mat, and we sat round upon -rugs while the women served us. By the time we had finished it was six -o'clock but no caravan had appeared. Najīb was much perplexed, and our -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> -hosts sympathised deeply with our case, while declaring that they were -more than willing to keep us for the night. Our hesitation was cut short -by a small boy who came running in with the news that a caravan had been -seen to pass by the village of Fāfertīn on the opposite side of the -valley, and that it was then heading for Ḳal'at Sim'ān, our ultimate -destination. There was no time to be lost, the sun had set, and I had a -vivid recollection of our wanderings in the night about El Bārah in a -country not dissimilar from that which lay in front of us, but before we -started I took Najīb aside and asked him whether I might give money in -return for my entertainment. He replied that on no account was it to be -thought of, Kurds do not expect to be paid by their guests. All that was -left me was to summon the children and distribute a handful of metalīks -among them, an inexpensive form of generosity, and one that could not -outrage the most susceptible feelings. We set off, Najīb leading the -way and riding so quickly along the stony path that I had the greatest -difficulty in keeping up with him. I knew that the great church of St. -Simon Stylites stood upon a hill and must be visible from afar, though -the famous column of the saint, round which the church was built, had -fallen centuries ago. After an hour's stumbling ride Najīb pointed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> -silently to the dim hills, and I could just make out a mass of something -that looked like a fortress breaking the line of the summit. We hurried -on for another half hour and reached the walls at 7.30 in complete -darkness. As we rode through the huge church we heard to our relief a -tinkle of caravan bells that assured us of the arrival of the -tents—we heard also the shouts and objurgations of Mikhāil, who, -under the influence of potations of 'arak, was raging like a wild beast -and refusing to give the new muleteers any hint as to the way in which to -deal with my English tent. Since I was the only sane person who knew how -the poles were to be fitted together, the pegs driven in and the -furniture opened out, I was obliged to do the greater part of the work -myself by the light of two candles, and when that was over to search the -canteen for bread and semen for the muleteers, an order to my rebellious -cook that he should prepare the customary evening meal of rice having -been greeted with derisive howls mingled with curses on all and sundry. -It is ill arguing with a drunken man, but with what feelings I kept -silence I hope that the recording angel may have omitted to note.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure129"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure129.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN</p></div> - -<p>At last, when all was ready, I wandered away into the sweet Spring -night, through the stately and peaceful church below the walls of which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> -we were lying, and presently found myself in a circular court, open to -the sky, from whence the four arms of the church reach out to the four -points of the compass. The court had been set round with a matchless -colonnade, of which many of the arches are still standing, and in the -centre rose in former days the column whereon St. Simon lived and died. -I scrambled over the heaps of ruin till I came to the rock-hewn base of -that very column, a broad block of splintered stone with a depression in -the middle, like a little bowl, filled with clear rain water in which I -washed my hands and face. There was no moon; the piers and arches stood -in ruined and shadowy splendour, the soft air lay still as an unruffled -pool, weariness and vexation dropped from the spirit, and left it bare -to Heaven and the Spring. I sat and thought how perverse a trick Fortune -had played that night on the grim saint. She had given for a night his -throne of bitter dreams to one whose dreams were rosy with a deep -content that he would have been the first to condemn. So musing I caught -the eye of a great star that had climbed up above the broken line of the -arcade, and we agreed together that it was better to journey over earth -and sky than to sit upon a column all your days.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure130"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure130.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE WEST DOOR</p></div> - -<p>The members of the American survey have mapped and thoroughly explored -the northern mountains as far as Ḳal'at Sim'ān, but neither they nor -any other travellers have published an account of the hilly region to -the north-east of the shrine.<a name="FNanchor_12_1" id="FNanchor_12_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_1" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> I, who rode through it, and visited -almost all the ruined villages, found that it was generally known to the -inhabitants as the Jebel Sim'ān, by which title I shall speak of it. -The Mountains of Simon, with the Jebel Bārisha, to the south-west, and -the Jebel el 'Ala still further to the west, belong to the same -architectural system as the Jebel Zāwdyyeh, through which we had passed -on our way to Aleppo. It would be possible to draw distinctions of style -between the northern group and the southern; the American architect, Mr. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> -Butler, with his wide experience of the two districts, has been able to -do so, but to the hasty observer the differences appear to depend -chiefly on natural conditions and on the fact that the northern district -fell more directly under the influence of Antioch, the city which was -one of the main sources of artistic inspiration (not for Syria alone) in -the early centuries of the Christian era. The settlements in the Jebel -Sim'ān are smaller and the individual houses less spacious, possibly -because the northern mountains were much more rugged and unable to -support so large and wealthy a population; they would seem to have begun -earlier and to have reached the highest point of their prosperity a -little later, nor did they suffer the period of decline which is evident -in the South during the century preceding the Arab invasion.<a name="FNanchor_13_1" id="FNanchor_13_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_1" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> The -finest sixth-century churches in the north show an almost florid -luxuriance of decoration unapproached in the latest of the Southern -churches, all of which are to be dated a century earlier, except the -Bizzos church at Ruweiḥā. It is interesting to observe that the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> -Ruweiḥā church, though it is a little later than Ḳal'at Sim'ān, is -far more severe in detail, and to this it may be added that even small -houses in the north present not infrequently a greater variety and -lavishness of decoration than is customary in the South.<a name="FNanchor_14_1" id="FNanchor_14_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_1" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> When the -traveller reads the inscriptions on church and dwelling, and finds the -dates reckoned in the north always by the era of Antioch, he may be -pardoned for surmising that it was the magnificent hand of Antioch that -touched here architrave and capital, moulding and string-course. The -church of St. Simon was raised not by local effort only but as a tribute -to the famous saint from the whole Christian world, and probably it was -not executed by local workmen but by the builders and stone-cutters of -Antioch; if that be so it is difficult not to attribute the lovely -church of Ḳalb Lōzeh to the same creative forces, and a dozen smaller -examples, such as the east church at Bāḳirḥa, must be due to -similar influences.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure131"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure131.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE CIRCULAR COURT</p></div> - -<p>I spent the morning examining the church of St. Simon and -the village at the foot of the hill, which contains some very -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> -perfect basilicas and the ruins of a great hostelry for pilgrims. At -lunch time there appeared upon the scene a Kurd, so engaging and -intelligent that I immediately selected him to be my guide during the -next few days, the district I proposed to visit being blank on the map, -stony and roadless. Mūsa was the name of my new friend, and as we rode -together in the afternoon he confided to my private ear that he was by -creed a Yezīdi, whom the Mohammedans call Devil Worshippers, though I -fancy they are a harmless and well-meaning people. The upper parts of -Mesopotamia are their home, and from thence Mūsa's family had -originally migrated. We talked of beliefs as we went, guardedly, since -our acquaintance was as yet young, and Mūsa admitted that the Yezīdis -worshipped the sun. "A very proper object of adoration," said I, and -thinking to please him went on to mention that the Ismailis worshipped -both sun and moon, but he could scarcely control his disgust at the -thought of such idolatry. This led me to consider within myself whether -the world had grown much wiser since the days when St. Simon sat on his -column, and the conclusion that I reached was not flattering.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure132"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure132.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE CIRCULAR COURT</p></div> - -<p>The rain interrupted our wanderings among the villages at the foot of -Jebel Sheikh Barakāt, the high peak to the south-east of Ḳal'at -Sim'ān, and drove us home, but the clouds lifted again towards evening, -and I, watching from the marvellous west door, saw the hills turn the -colour of red copper and the grey walls of the church to gold. Mikhāil, -depressed and repentant, served me with an excellent dinner, in spite of -which I should have dismissed him if St. Simon could have supplied me -with another cook. Indeed, I was half inclined to send back to Aleppo -for a new man, but the doubt whether I should secure a good servant by -proxy, combined with the clemency of indolence, led me to a course of -inaction which I attempted to justify by the hope that Mikhāil's -repentance would be of a lasting nature. Thus for a month we lived on a -volcano with occasional eruptions, and were blown up at the end. But -enough of this painful subject.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure133"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure133.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE APSE</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure134"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure134.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲAL'AT SIM'ĀN, THE WEST DOOR</p></div> - -<p>Next day I set off with Mūsa to explore the villages in the Jebel -Sim'ān to the east and north-east of the church of St. Simon. We rode -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> -almost due east for rather less than an hour to Burjkeh, which exhibited -all the characteristics of these villages of the extreme north. It had -the tall square tower, which is nearly universal. All the stone work was -massive, the blocks frequently laid not in courses, or if so laid, the -courses showed great variety of depth. The church had a square apse, -built out beyond the walls of the nave, and a running moulding hooded -each window, passed along the level of the sill from one window to -another, and ended beyond the last in a spiral, as though it had been a -bit of ribbon festooned over the openings with the surplus rolled up. -This moulding is peculiar to sixth-century decoration in North Syria. -The houses of Burjkeh were very simple square cottages, built of -polygonal masonry. Mūsa got wind of a newly opened tomb near the -church. I contrived with some difficulty to crawl down into it, and was -rewarded by finding on one of the loculi the date 292 of the era of -Antioch, which corresponds to 243 A.D. Below the date were three lines -of Greek inscription, much defaced. We rode on for half an hour to -Surkanyā, a deserted village, charmingly situated at the head of a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> -shallow rocky valley in which there were even a few trees. The houses -were exceptionally massive in construction, with heavy stone balconies -forming a porch over the door. One was dated, and the year was 406 A.D. -The church was almost exactly similar to that at Burjkeh. Another three -quarters of an hour to the north and we reached Fāfertīn, where, it -began to rain. We took shelter under an apse, which was all that -remained of a church larger than any we had yet seen, but rude in -workmanship.<a name="FNanchor_15_1" id="FNanchor_15_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_1" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> The village was inhabited by a few families of Yezīdi -Kurds. In the streaming rain we rode for an hour north-east to Khirāb -esh Shems, but could do nothing there owing to the weather, and so north -by Kalōteh to Burj el Kās, where I found my tents pitched on a damp -sward. Mūsa was much distressed by the heavy rain, and said that the -wet spring had been disastrous to his fields, washing down the soil from -the high ground into the valleys. The work of denudation, which has so -greatly diminished the fertility of North Syria, is still going forward.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure135"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure135.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">A FUNERAL MONUMENT, ḲĀṬURĀ</p></div> - -<p>At Burj el Kās there was a square tower on the top of the hill and some -old houses that had been repaired and re-inhabited by the Kurds. On one -lintel I saw the date 406 A.D., on another an inscription difficult to -decipher. The end of this stone was hidden by the angle of a rebuilt -house, but peering along it I could just make out that there was a small -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> -carving at the extreme point. The owner of the house announced that it -represented without doubt the Lady Mary. This would have been a curious -addition to the meagre collection of sculpture in North Syria, as well -as a theological innovation, and I expressed my regret that I could not -see it better. Thereupon my friend fetched a pickaxe and chipped off a -corner of his house, and the figure of the Virgin proved to be a Roman -eagle.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure136"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure136.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">KHIRĀB ESH SHEMS</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure137"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure137.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">KHIRĀB ESH SHEMS, CARVING IN A TOMB</p></div> - -<p>With Najīb and Mūsa I returned to the villages that I had passed in -the rain the previous day. We left Najīb with the horses at Kalōteh, -and ourselves walked to Khirāb esh Shems, the path being so rocky that -I wished to spare my beasts a second journey over it. Khirāb esh Shems -contained a fine church, twenty-one paces long from the west door to the -chord of the apse. The outer walls to north and south had fallen, -leaving only the five arches on either side of the nave with a -clerestory pierced by ten small round-headed windows, a charming -fragment like a detached loggia. Further up the hill stood a massive -chapel, destitute of aisles, with an apse built out and roofed with a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> -semi-dome of square slabs, resembling the fifth-century baptistery at -Dār Kīta.<a name="FNanchor_16_1" id="FNanchor_16_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_1" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> In the hill side we found a number of rock-hewn tombs, -in one of which I had the satisfaction to discover some curious reliefs. -On the loculus to the left of the door were four roughly carved figures, -their arms raised in the attitude of prayer, and on the rock wall in a -dark corner a single figure clothed in a shirt and a pointed cap, holding -a curious object, like a basket, in the right hand. Returning to -Kalōteh we visited an isolated church on some high ground to the west -of the village. On the wall by the south door there was a long -inscription in Greek. The nave was separated from the aisles by four -columns on either side, some of which (to judge by the fragments) had -been fluted and some plain. The arcade ended against the corner of the -apse with engaged fluted columns carrying beautiful Corinthian capitals. -The apse, prothesis and diaconicum were all contained within the outer -wall of the church. The west door showed a stilted relieving arch above -a broken lintel, the lintel decorated with a row of dentils. To the -south of the church there was a detached baptistery, some 9 ft. square -inside, the walls still carrying the first course of the stone vault. -The church must have been roofed with tiles, for I saw a number of -fragments lying in the nave. A massive enclosing wall surrounded both -church and baptistery. The village below contained two churches, that to -the west measuring 38 ft. by 68 ft., the other 48 ft. by 70 ft. The -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> -mouldings round the doors in both churches indicate that they cannot -have been earlier than the sixth-century. There Were also some houses -with stone verandahs.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure138"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure138.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">CAPITAL, UPPER CHURCH AT KALŌTEH</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure139"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure139.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">BARĀD, CANOPY TOMB</p></div> - -<p>An hour and a half to the north-west of Kalōteh lies Barād, the -largest and most interesting of the villages in the Jebel Sim'ān. It is -partly re-inhabited by Kurds. I found my camp pitched in an open space -opposite a very lovely funeral monument consisting of a canopy carried -by four piers set on a high podium. Near it stood a large rock-cut -sarcophagus and a number of other tombs, partly rock-cut and partly -built. I examined two churches in the centre of the town. In one the -nave, 68 ft. 6 in. long, was divided from the aisles by four great -piers, 6 ft. deep from east to west, with an intercolumniation of 18 ft. -The nave was 23 ft. wide and the apse 12 ft. deep. The wide -intercolumniation is a proof of a comparatively late date, sixth century -or thereabouts. The second church was still larger, 118 ft. 6 in. by 73 -ft. 6 in., but completely ruined except for the west wall and part of -the apse. To the north of it there was a small chapel, with an apse -perfectly preserved; near it lay a sarcophagus which suggested that the -chapel may have been a mausoleum. The eastern end of the town contained -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> -a complex of buildings of polygonal masonry, including a square -enclosure with a square chamber ill the centre of it, resting on a vault -that was possibly a tomb. To the extreme west of the town stood a fine -tower with some large and well preserved houses near it. A small church -lay between it and the main body of the town. Near my camp was a curious -building with two apses irregularly placed in the east wall. I take it -to have been pre-Christian. The walls stood up to the vault, which was -perfectly preserved. While Mūsa and I measured and planned this -building we were watched by two persons in long white robes and turbans, -who exhibited the greatest interest in our movements. They were, said -Mūsa, Government officials, sent into the Jebel Sim'ān to take a -census of the population with a view to levying the capitation tax.</p> - -<p>The next day was one of the most disagreeable that I remember. A band of -thick cloud stretched across the sky immediately above the Jebel -Sim'ān, keeping us in a cold grey shadow, while to north and south we -saw the mountains and the plain bathed in sunshine. We rode north for -about an hour to Keifār, a large village near the extreme edge of the -Jebel Sim'ān. Beyond the valley of the Afrīn, which bounds the hills -to the north-west, rose the first great buttresses of the Giour Dāgh. -Mūsa observed that in the valley and the further hills there were no -more ruined villages; they end abruptly at the limits of the Jebel -Sim'ān, and Syrian civilisation seems to have penetrated no further to -the north, for what reason it is impossible to say. At Keifār there -were three churches much ruined, but showing traces of decoration -exquisitely treated, a few good houses, and a canopy tomb something like -the one at Barād. There was a large population of Kurds. We rode back -to Barād and so south-east to Kefr Nebu, about an hour and a half away -through bitter wind and rain. There was a Syriac inscription here on a -lintel, one or two Kufic tombstones, and a very splendid house partially -restored, but I was a great deal too cold to give them the attention -they deserved. Chilled to the bone and profoundly discouraged by -attempts at taking time exposures in a high wind, I made straight for my -tents at Bāsufān, an hour's ride from Kefr Nebu, leaving unexplored a -couple of ruined sites to the south.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure140"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure140.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">BARĀD, TOWER TO THE WEST OF THE TOWN</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mūsa's home is at Bāsufān; we met his father in the cornfields as we -came up, and:</p> - -<p>"God strengthen your body!" cried Mūsa, giving the salutation proper to -one working in the fields.</p> - -<p>"And your body!" he answered, lifting his dim eyes to us.</p> - -<p>"He is old," explained Mūsa as we rode on, "and trouble has fallen on -him, but once he was the finest man in the Jebel Sim'ān, and the best -shot."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure141"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure141.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">MŪSA AND HIS FAMILY</p></div> - -<p>"What trouble?" said I.</p> - -<p>"My brother was slain by a blood enemy a few months ago," he answered. -"We do not know who it was that killed him, but perhaps it was one of -his bride's family, for he took her without their consent."</p> - -<p>"And what has happened to the bride?" I asked.</p> - -<p>"She has gone back to her own family," said he. "But she wept -bitterly."</p> - -<p>Bāsufān is used as a <i>Sommerfrische</i> by certain Jews and Christians -of Aleppo, who come out and live in the houses of the Kurds during the hot -months, the owners being at that season in tents. There are a few big -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> -trees to the south of the village sheltering a large graveyard, which is -occupied mostly by Moslem dead, brought to this spot from many miles -round. The valley below boasts a famous spring, a spring that never runs -dry even in rainless years when all its sister fountains are exhausted.</p> - -<p>The Kurds used to grow tobacco on the neighbouring slopes, and the -quality of the leaf was much esteemed, so that the crop found a ready -sale, till the Government régie was established and paid the Kurds such -miserable prices that they were unable to make a profit. As there was no -other market, the industry ceased altogether, and the fields have passed -out of cultivation except for the raising of a little corn: "and now we -are all poor," said Mūsa in conclusion.</p> - -<p>I had not been an hour in camp before the rain stopped and the sun came -out, bringing back our energy with it. There was a large church at -Bāsufān, which had been converted at some period into a fort by the -addition of three towers. What remained of the original building was of -excellent work. The engaged columns by the apse were adorned with spiral -flutings—the first example I had seen—and the Corinthian -capitals were deep and careful in cutting. Mūsa showed me a Syriac -inscription in the south wall, which I copied with great labour and small -success: the devil take all Syriac inscriptions, or endow all travellers -with better wits! When this was done there still remained a couple of hours -of afternoon light, and I determined to walk over the hills to Burj -Ḥeida and Kefr Lāb, which I had omitted in the morning owing to the -rain and the cold. Mūsa accompanied me, and took with him his -"partner"—so he was introduced to me, but in what enterprise he -shared I do not know. Burj Ḥeida was well worth the visit. It contained a -square tower and three churches, one exceedingly well preserved, with an -interesting building annexed to it, perhaps a lodging for the clergy. -But the expedition was chiefly memorable on account of the conversation -of my two companions. With Mūsa I had contracted, during the three days -we had passed together, a firm friendship, based on my side on gratitude -for the services he had rendered me, coupled with a warm appreciation of -the beaming smile that accompanied them. We had reached a point of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> -familiarity where I thought I might fairly expect him to enlighten me on -the Yezīdi doctrines, for, whatever may be the custom in Europe, in -Asia it is not polite to ask a man what he believes unless he regards -you as an intimate. Nor is it expedient; it awakens suspicion without -evoking a satisfactory answer. I began delicately as we sat in the -doorway of the little church at Kefr Lāb by asking whether the Yezīdis -possessed mosque or church.</p> - -<p>"No," replied Mūsa. "We worship under the open sky. Every day at dawn -we worship the sun."</p> - -<p>"Have you," said I, "an imam who leads the prayer?"</p> - -<p>"On feast days," said he, "the sheikh leads the prayer, but on other -days every man worships for himself. We count some days lucky and some -unlucky. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are our lucky days, but Thursday -is unlucky."</p> - -<p>"Why is that?" said I.</p> - -<p>"I do not know," said Mūsa. "It is so."</p> - -<p>"Are you," I asked, "friends with the Mohammadans or are you foes?"</p> - -<p>He answered: "Here in the country round Aleppo, where we are few, they -do not fear us, and we live at peace with them; but every year there -comes to us from Mosul a very learned sheikh who collects tribute among -us, and he wonders to see us like brothers with the Muslimīn, for in -Mosul, where the Yezīdis are many, there is bitter feud. In Mosul our -people will not serve in the army, but here we serve like any other—I -myself have been a soldier."</p> - -<p>"Have you holy books?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Without doubt," said he, "and I will tell you what our books teach us. -When the end of the world is near Hadūdmadūd will appear on earth. And -before his time the race of men will have shrunk in stature so that they -are smaller than a blade of grass,—but Hadūdmadūd is a mighty giant. -And in seven days, or seven months, or seven years, he will drink all -the seas and all the rivers, and the earth will be drained dry."</p> - -<p>"And then," said the partner, who had followed Mūsa's explanation -eagerly, "out of the dust will spring a great worm, and he will devour -Hadūdmadūd."</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And when he has eaten him," continued Mūsa, "there will be a flood -which will last seven days, or seven months, or seven years."</p> - -<p>"And the earth will be washed clean," chimed in the partner.</p> - -<p>"And then will come the Mahdi," said Mūsa, "and he will summon the four -sects, Yezīdis, Christians, Moslems and Jews, and he will appoint the -prophet of each sect to collect his followers together. And Yezīd will -assemble the Yezīdis, and Jesus the Christians, and Muḥammad the -Moslems, and Moses the Jews. But those that while they lived changed -from one faith to another, they shall be tried by fire, to see what -creed they profess in their hearts. So shall each prophet know his own. -This is the end of the world."</p> - -<p>"Do you," said I, "consider all the four faiths to be equal?" Mūsa -replied (diplomatically perhaps): "The Christians and the Jews we think -equal to us."</p> - -<p>"And the Moslems?" I inquired.</p> - -<p>"We think them to be swine," said Mūsa.</p> - -<p>These are the tenets of Mūsa's faith, and what they signify I will not -pretend to say, but Hadūdmadūd is probably Gogmagog, if that throws -any light on the matter.</p> - -<p>The sun was setting when we rose from the church step and began to -clamber homeward over the ruins of Kefr Lāb. There was some broken -ground beyond the village, and I noticed large cavities under the rocks -at the top of the hill. Before them Mūsa's partner paused, and said:</p> - -<p>"In this manner of place we look for treasure."</p> - -<p>"And do you find it?" said I.</p> - -<p>He replied: "I have never found any, but there are many tales. Once, -they say, there was a shepherd boy who lost his goat and searched for it -over the hills, and at last he came upon it in a cave full of gold -coins. Therefore he closed the mouth of the cave and hastened home to -fetch an ass whereon he might load the gold, and in his haste he left -the goat in the cave. But when he returned there was neither cave, nor -goat, nor gold, search as he would."</p> - -<p>"And another time," said Mūsa, "a boy was sleeping in the ruins of Kefr -Lāb and he dreamt that he had discovered a great treasure in the earth -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> -and that he had dug for it with his hands, and when he woke his hands -were covered with the dust of gold, but no memory remained to him of the -place wherein he had dug."</p> - -<p>Neither of these stories offer sufficient data, however, to warrant the -despatch of a treasure-hunting expedition to the Jebel Sim'ān.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure142"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure142.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">BĀSUFĀN, A KURDISH GIRL</p></div> - -<p>As we reached Bāsufān Mūsa asked whether his sister Wardeh (the Rose) -might honour herself by paying her respects to me. "And will you," he -added, "persuade her to marry?"</p> - -<p>"To marry?" said I. "Whom should she marry?"</p> - -<p>"Any one," said Mūsa imperturbably. "She has declared that marriage is -hateful to her, and that she will remain in our father's house, and we -cannot move her. Yet she is a young maid and fair."</p> - -<p>She looked very fair, and modest besides, as she stood at the door of my -tent in the pretty dress of the Kurdish women, with a bowl of kaimak in -her hands, a propitiatory gift to me; and I confess I did not insist -upon the marriage question, thinking that she could best manage her own -affairs. She brought me new bread for breakfast next morning, and begged -me to come and visit her father's house before I left. This I did, and -found the whole family, sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren, -assembled to welcome me; and though I had but recently breakfasted, the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> -old father insisted on setting bread and bowls of cream before me, "that -the bond of hospitality may be between us." Fine, well-built people were -they all, with beautiful faces, illumined by the smile that was Mūsa's -chief attraction. For their sake the Kurdish race shall hold hereafter a -large place in my esteem.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_1" id="Footnote_12_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_1"><span class="label">[12]</span></a>Since writing this chapter I have learnt that Mr. Butler -and his party extended their explorations to the north of Ḳal'at -Sim'ān after my departure, and I look forward to a full description of -the district in their future publications.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_1" id="Footnote_13_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_1"><span class="label">[13]</span></a>I would suggest that this decline was due in part to the -excessive burden of taxation laid by Justinian on the eastern provinces -of his empire during his efforts to recover the western. Readers of -Diehl's great work on Justinian will remember how the social and -political organisation of his dominions collapsed under the strain of -his wars in Italy and North Africa. The eastern parts of the empire were -the richest and suffered the most.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_1" id="Footnote_14_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_1"><span class="label">[14]</span></a>This was noticed by Mr. Butler, "Architecture and other -Arts."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_1" id="Footnote_15_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_1"><span class="label">[15]</span></a>Butler in his report states that this church is dated 372 -A.D., which gives it the distinction of being the earliest dated church -in Syria, if not the earliest dated church in the world.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_1" id="Footnote_16_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_1"><span class="label">[16]</span></a>Butler, "Architecture and other Arts," p. 139.</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></h4> - - -<p>We started from Bāsufān at eight o'clock on the morning of April 4, -and rode south by incredibly stony tracks, leaving Ḳal'at Sim'ān to -the west and skirting round the eastern flanks of the Jebel Sheikh -Barakāt. Mūsa declared that he must accompany us on the first part of -our way, and came with us to Deiret 'Azzeh, a large Mohammadan village -of from three hundred to four hundred houses. Here he left us, and we -went down into the fertile plain of Sermeda, ringed round with the -slopes of the Jebel Ḥalaḳah. At midday we reached the large village -of Dāna, and lunched by the famous third-century tomb that de Vogüé -published, to my mind the loveliest of the smaller monuments of North -Syria and worthy in its delicate simplicity to stand by the Choragic -Monument of Lysicrates at Athens. There was nothing else to detain us at -Dāna, and having waited for the baggage animals to come up I sent them -on with Mikhāil and a local guide, bidding them meet Najīb and me at -the ruins of Deḥes. After some consultation Najīb and the local man -decided on the spot, known to me only from the accounts of travellers, -and it was not till we had reached it that I discovered that we were at -Meḥes instead of Deḥes. It was all one, however, since we had met -and found the place to be a convenient camping ground. From Dāna, -Najīb took me north along the Roman road by a Roman triumphal arch, the -Bāb el Hawa, finely situated at the entrance of a rocky valley. We rode -along this valley for a mile or two, passing a ruined church, and struck -up the hills to the west by a gorge that brought us out on to a wide -plateau close to the deserted village of Ksejba.<a name="FNanchor_17_1" id="FNanchor_17_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_1" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> We went on to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> -village of Bābiska, through country which was scattered with flowers -and with groups of ruined houses and churches: the heart leapt at the -sight of such lonely and unravished beauty. On these hilltops it was -difficult to say where stood Bāḳirḥa, the town I wished to visit, -but near Bābiska we found a couple of shepherd tents, and from one of -the inhabitants inquired the way. The shepherd was a phlegmatic man; he -said there was no road to Bāḳirḥa, and that the afternoon had grown -too late for such an enterprise, moreover he himself was starting off in -another direction with a basket of eggs and could not help us. I, -however, had not ridden so many miles in order to be defeated at the -last, and with some bullying and a good deal of persuasion we induced -the shepherd to show us the way to the foot of the hill on which -Bāḳirḥa stands. He walked with us for an hour or so, then pointed -towards the summit of the Jebel Bārisha and saying, "There is -Bāḳirḥa," he left us abruptly and returned to his basket of eggs.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure143"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure143.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">TOMB AT DĀNA</p></div> - -<p>High up on the mountain side we saw the ruins bathed in the afternoon -sun, and having looked in vain for a path we pushed our horses straight -in among the boulders and brakes of flowering thorn. But there is a -limit to the endurance even of Syrian horses, and ours had almost -reached it after a long day spent in clambering over stones. We had -still to get into camp, Heaven alone knew how far away; yet I could not -abandon the shining walls that were now so close to us upon the hill, -and I told the reluctant Najīb to wait below with the horses while I -climbed up alone. The day was closing in, and I climbed in haste; but -for all my haste the scramble over those steep rocks, half buried in -flowers and warm with the level sun, is a memory that will not easily -fade. In half an hour I stood at the entrance of the town, below a -splendid basilica rich in varied beauty of decoration and design. Beyond -it the ruined streets, empty of all inhabitants, lay along the mountain -side, houses with carved balconies and deep-porched doorways, columned -market-places, and the golden sunlight over all. But I was bent upon -another pilgrimage. A broad and winding road led up above the town until -it reached the boundary of the flowered slopes, and nothing except a -short rocky face of hill lay between the open ground where the path -ended and the summit of the range. The mountain was cleft this way and -that by precipitous gorges, enclosing between their escarpments -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> -prospects of sunlit fertile plain, and at the head of the gorges on a -narrow shelf of ground stood a small and exquisite temple. I sat down by -the gate through which the worshippers had passed into the temple court. -Below me lay the northern slopes of the Jebel Bārisha and broad fair -valleys and the snow-clad ranks of the Giour Dāgh veiled in a warm -haze. Temple and town and hillside were alike deserted save that far -away upon a rocky spur a shepherd boy piped a wild sweet melody to his -scattered flocks. The breath of the reed is the very voice of solitude; -shrill and clear and passionless it rose to the temple gate, borne on -deep waves of mountain air that were perfumed with flowers and coloured -with the rays of the low sun. Men had come and gone, life had surged up -the flanks of the hills and retreated again, leaving the old gods to -resume their sway over rock and flowering thorn, in peace and loneliness -and beauty.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure144"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure144.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE BĀB EL HAWA</p></div> - -<p>So at the gate of the sanctuary I offered praise, and having given -thanks went on my way rejoicing.</p> - -<p>Najīb welcomed me back with expressions of relief.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p> - -<p>"By God!" said he, "I have not smoked a single cigarette since I lost -sight of your Excellency, but all this hour I have said: 'Please God she -will not meet with a robber among the rocks.'"</p> - -<p>Therewith, to make up for lost opportunity, he lighted the cigarette -that his anxiety had not prevented him from rolling during my absence, -and though I will not undertake to affirm that it was indeed the only -one, the sentiment was gratifying. I thought at the time (but next day's -march proved me to be wrong) that we rode down to the plain of Sermeda -by the roughest track in the world. When we got to the foot of the hill -we turned up a valley to the south, a narrow ribbon of cultivation -winding between stony ranges. Presently it widened, and we passed a -large modern village, where we received the welcome news that our camp -had been seen ahead; at a quarter past six we struggled into Meḥes or -Deḥes, whichever it may have been, feeling that our horses would have -been put to it if they had been asked to walk another mile. An -enchanting camp was Meḥes. It was not often that I could pitch tents -far from all habitation. The muleteers pined for the sour curds and -other luxuries of civilisation, and indeed I missed the curds too, but -the charm of a solitary camp went far to console me. The night was still -and clear, we were lodged in the ruined nave of a church, and we slept -the sleep of the blessed after our long ride.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure145"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure145.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE TEMPLE GATE, BĀḲIRḤA</p></div> - -<p>There was one more ruin that I was determined to visit before I left the -hills. It was the church of Ḳalb Lōzeh, which from descriptions -seemed to be (as indeed it is) the finest building after Ḳal'at -Sim'ān in all North Syria. I sent the baggage animals round by the -valleys, with strict, but useless, injunctions to Fāris that he was not -to dawdle, and set out with Mikhāil and Najīb to traverse on horseback -two mountain ranges, the Jebel Bārisha and the Jebel el 'Ala. It is -best to do rock climbing on foot; but if any one would know the full -extent of the gymnastic powers of a horse, he should ride up the Jebel -el 'Ala to Ḳalb Lōzeh. I had thought myself tolerably well versed in -the subject, but I found that the expedition widened my experience not a -little. We rode straight up an intolerably stony hill to the west of -Meḥes, and so reached the summit of the Jebel Bārisha. The ground -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> -here was much broken by rocks, but between them were tiny olive groves -and vineyards and tiny, scattered cornfields. Every ledge and hollow was -a garden of wild flowers; tall blue irises unfurled their slender buds -under sweet-smelling thickets of bay, and the air was scented with the -purple daphne. This paradise was inhabited by a surly peasant, the least -obliging and the most taciturn of men. After much unsuccessful -bargaining (the price he set on any service he might render us was -preposterous, but we were in his hands and he obliged us to give way) he -agreed to guide us to Ḳalb Lōzeh, and conducted us forthwith down the -Jebel Bārisha by a precipitous path cut out of the living rock. It was -so steep and narrow that when we met a party of women coming up from the -lower slopes with bundles of brushwood—brushwood! it was flowering -daphne and bay—we had great difficulty in edging past them. At the -bottom of this breakneck descent there was a deep valley with a lake at -one end of it, and in front of us rose the Jebel el 'Ala, to the best of -my judgment a wall of rock, quite impossible for horses to climb. The -monosyllabic peasant who directed us—I am glad I do not remember his -name—indicated that our path lay up it, and Najīb seeming to -acquiesce, I followed with a sinking heart. It was indescribable. We -jumped and tumbled over the rock faces and our animals jumped and -tumbled after us, scrambling along the edge of little precipices, where, -if they had fallen they must have broken every bone. Providence watched -over us and we got up unhurt into a country as lovely as that which we -had left on top of the Jebel Bārisha. At the entrance of an olive grove -our guide turned back, and in a few moments we reached Ḳalb Lōzeh.</p> - -<p>Whether there was ever much of a settlement round the great church I do -not know; there are now but few remains of houses, and it stands almost -alone. It stands too very nearly unrivalled among the monuments of -Syrian art. The towered narthex, the wide bays of the nave, the apse -adorned with engaged columns, the matchless beauty of the decoration and -the justice of proportion preserved in every part, are the features that -first strike the beholder; but as he gazes he becomes aware that this is -not only the last word in the history of Syrian architecture, spoken at -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> -the end of many centuries of endeavour, but that it is also the -beginning of a new chapter in the architecture of the world. The fine -and simple beauty of Romanesque was born in North Syria. It is curious -to consider to what developments the genius of these architects might -have led if they had not been checked by the Arab invasion. Certain it -is that we should have had an independent school of great builders, -strongly influenced perhaps by classical tradition and yet more strongly -by the East, but everywhere asserting an unmistakable personality as -bold as it was imaginative and delicate. There is little consolation in -the reflection that the creative vigour that is evident at Ḳalb Lōzeh -never had time to pass into decadence.</p> - -<p>I had heard or read that in the mountains near Ḳalb Lōzeh were to be -found a few Druze villages, inhabited by emigrants from the Lebanon, but -as I had not yet come upon them I had almost forgotten their existence. -Near the church stood half a dozen hovels, the inhabitants of which came -out to watch me as I photographed. Almost unconsciously I was struck by -some well known look in the koḥl-blackened eyes and certain -peculiarities of manner that are difficult to specify but that combine -to form an impression of easy and friendly familiarity with perhaps a -touch of patronage in it. When the women joined the little crowd my eye -was caught by the silver chains and buckles that they wore, which I -remembered vaguely to have remarked elsewhere. As we were about to -leave, an oldish man came forward and offered to walk with us for an -hour, saying that the way down to Ḥārim was difficult to find, and we -had not walked fifty yards together before I realised the meaning of my -subconscious recognition.</p> - -<p>"Māsha'llah!" said I, "you are Druzes."</p> - -<p>The man looked round anxiously at Najīb and Mikhāil, following close -on our heels, bent his head and walked on without speaking.</p> - -<p>"You need not fear," said I. "The soldier and my servant are discreet -men."</p> - -<p>He took heart at this and said:</p> - -<p>"There are few of us in the mountains, and we dread the Mohammadans and -hide from them that we are Druzes, lest they should drive us out. We are -not more than two hundred houses in all."</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure146"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure146.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḲALB LŌZEH</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I have been hoping to find you," said I, "for I know the sheikhs in the -Ḥaurān, and they have shown me much kindness. Therefore I desire to -salute all Druzes wherever I may meet with them."</p> - -<p>"Allah!" said he. "Do you know the Turshān?"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a id="figure147"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure147.jpg" width="300" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE APSE, ḲALB LŌZEH</p></div> - -<p>"By God!" said I.</p> - -<p>"Shibly and Yaḥya his brother?"</p> - -<p>"Yaḥya I know, but Shibly is dead."</p> - -<p>"Dead!" he exclaimed. "Oh Merciful! Shibly dead!" And with that he drew -from me all the news of the Mountain and listened with rapt attention to -tales for which I had not thought to find a willing ear so far from -Ṣalkhad. Suddenly his questions stopped and he swerved off the path -towards a vineyard in which a young man was pruning the vines.</p> - -<p>"Oh my son!" he cried. "Shibly el Aṭrash is dead! Lend me thy shoes, -that I may walk with the lady towards Ḥārim, for mine are worn."</p> - -<p>The young man approached, kicking off his red leather slippers as he -came.</p> - -<p>"We belong to God!" said he. "I saw Shibly but a year ago." And the news -had to be repeated to him in detail.</p> - -<p>We journeyed on along the stony mountain tops, brushing through purple -daphne that grew in wonderful profusion, and talking as we went as -though we had been old friends long parted. When we came to the lip of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> -the Jebel el 'Ala we saw Ḥārim below us, and I insisted that my -companion should spare himself the labour of walking further. He agreed, -with great reluctance, to turn back, and stood pouring out blessings on -me for full five minutes before he would bid me farewell, and then -returned to us again that he might be sure we had understood the wav.</p> - -<p>"And next time you come into the Jebel el 'Ala," said he, "you must -bring your camp to Ḳalb Lōzeh and stay at least a month, and we will -give you all you need and show you all the ruins. And now may you go in -peace and safety, please God; and in peace and in health return next -year."</p> - -<p>"May God prolong your life," said I, "and give you peace!"</p> - -<p>So we separated, and my heart was warm with an affection for his people -which it is never difficult to rekindle. Cruel in battle they may -be—the evidence against them is overwhelming; some have pronounced -them treacherous, others have found them grasping; but when I meet a Druze -I do not hesitate to greet a friend, nor shall I until my confidence has -been proved to have been misplaced.</p> - -<p>Ḥārim castle stands on a mound at the entrance of one of the few -gorges that give access to the Jebel el 'Ala. Beyond it lies the great -Orontes plain that was a granary in old days to the city of Antioch. -Much of the northern part of the plain was under water, the swampy lake -which the Syrians call El Baḥra having been extended by the recent -rains to its fullest limit. We turned south from Ḥārim and rode along -the foot of the slopes of the Jebel el 'Ala to Salḳīn, a memorable -ride by reason of the exceeding beauty of the land through which we -passed. I have seen no such abundant fertility in all Syria. Groves of -olive and almond shared the fat ground with barley and oats; tangled -thickets of gorse and broom, daphne and blackberry, edged the road, and -every sunny spot was blue with iris stylosa. Salḳīn itself lay in a -wooded valley amid countless numbers of olive-trees that stretched -almost to the Orontes, several miles away. We dismounted before we -reached the town in an open spot between olive-gardens. It was five -o'clock, but Fāris had not arrived, and we disposed ourselves -comfortably under the trees to wait for him. Our advent caused some -excitement among the people who were sitting on the grass enjoying the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> -evening calm; before long one, who was evidently a person of -consideration, strolled up to us, accompanied by a servant, and invited -me to come and rest in his house. He was a portly man, though he had -barely touched middle age, and his countenance was pleasant; I accepted -his invitation, thinking I might as well see what Salḳīn had to -offer. Opportunities of enlarging the circle of your acquaintance should -always be grasped, especially in foreign parts.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure148"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure148.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ḤĀRIM</p></div> - -<p>I soon found that I had fallen into the hands of the wealthiest -inhabitant of the town. Muḥammad 'Ali Agha is son to Rustum Agha, who -is by birth a Circassian and was servant in the great Circassian family -of Kakhya Zādeh of Ḥamādan—that is their Arabic name, the Persians -call them Kat Khuda Zādeh. The Kakhya Zādehs migrated to Aleppo two -centuries back; by such transactions as are familiar to Circassians, -they grew exceedingly rich and are now one of the most powerful families -in Aleppo. Their servants shared in their prosperity, and Rustum Agha, -being a careful man, laid by enough money to buy land at Salḳīn near -his master's large estate in the Orontes valley. Fortune favoured him so -well that the hand of a daughter of the Kakhya house was accorded to his -son. I did not learn all these details at once, and was astonished while -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> -I sat in Muḥammad 'Ali's harem to observe the deference with which he -treated his wife, wondering why the sharp-featured, bright-eyed little -lady who had borne him no sons should be addressed by her husband with -such respect, for I did not then know that she was sister to Reshīd -Agha Kakhya Zādeh. Muḥammad 'Ali's only child, a girl of six years -old, what though she were of so useless a sex, was evidently the apple -of her father's eye. He talked to me long of her education and -prospects, while I ate the superlatively good olives and cherry jam that -his maid servants set before me. The Khānum was so gracious as to -prepare the coffee with her own hands, and to express admiration of the -battered felt hat that lay, partly concealed by its purple and silver -kerchief, on the divan beside me.</p> - -<p>"Oh, the beautiful European hat!" said she. "Why do you wear a mendīl -over it when it is so pretty?"</p> - -<p>And with that she stripped it of the silk scarf and camel's hair rope, -and placing it in all its naked disreputableness on her daughter's black -curls, she declared that it was the most becoming head-dress in the -world.</p> - -<p>At six o'clock news was brought that my baggage animals had arrived, but -before I could be allowed to return to my tents Rustum Agha had to be -visited. He was lying on a couch heaped with wadded silken coverlets in -an upper chamber overlooking the beautiful rushing stream and the two -great cypresses that add much to the picturesqueness of Salḳīn. These -trees stand like tall black sentinels before the gate of the house, -which is the first and the largest in the winding village street. Rustum -Agha was very old and very sick. His face lay like the face of a corpse -upon the pale primrose silk of the bedclothes. He seemed to be gratified -by my visit, though when he opened his lips to greet me he was seized -with such an intolerable fit of coughing that his soul was almost shaken -out of his body. As soon as he recovered he asked for the latest tidings -of Russia and Japan, and I marvelled that he, who seemed so near his -end, had the patience to ask anything of us, but whether we could see -the lagging garnerer with the scythe hobbling up between the cypresses -at the door.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure149"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure149.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">SALḲĪN</p></div> - -<p>As I sat down to dinner in my tent two of Muḥammad 'Ali's servants -staggered into camp bearing a large jar of olives grown in the gardens -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> -of Salḳīn and preserved in their own oil. They brought too a request -from their master that he might come and spend an hour with me, and I -sent back a message praying that he would honour me. He appeared later, -with one or two people in attendance to carry his hubble-bubble, and -settled himself for a comfortable chat to the gurgling accompaniment of -the water pipe, a soothing and an amicable sound conducive to -conversation. He told me that Salḳīn was one of the many Seleucias, -and that it had been founded by Seleucus I. himself as a summer resort -for the inhabitants of Antioch. The spot on which I was camped, said he, -and the graveyard beyond it, formed the site of the Seleucid town, "and -whenever we dig a grave we turn up carved stones and sometimes writing." -It seems not unnatural that the fertile foothills should have been -selected by the people of Antioch for their country houses, but I have -no further evidence to support the statement. He said also that his -brother-in-law, Reshīd Agha, was staying with him, and he expressed a -hope that I would call on him before I left next day.</p> - -<p>If Reshīd Agha Kakhya Zādeh is the chief magnate of the district he is -also the chief villain. I found him sitting in the early morning under -the cypresses by the foaming stream, and a more evil face in a sweeter -setting and lighted by a fairer sun it would have been hard to picture. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> -He was a tall man with an overbearing manner; his narrow forehead -sheltered a world of vicious thoughts, his eyes squinted horribly, his -thick sensuous lips spluttered as they enunciated the vain boastings and -the harsh commands that formed the staple of his conversation. He was -wrapped in a pale silk robe, and he smoked a hubble-bubble with a -jewelled mouthpiece. By his side lay a bunch of Spring flowers, which he -lifted and smelt at as he talked, finally offering the best of them to -me. It is one of the privileges of the irresponsible traveller that he -is not called upon to eschew the company of rogues, and when I found -that my friend Muḥammad 'Ali was about to accompany Reshīd Agha to -the latter's house at Alāni and that this lay upon my path, I agreed to -their suggestion that we should start together. The animals were brought -out, we mounted under the cypresses and trotted off through olive groves -towards the Orontes valley. Reshīd Agha rode a splendid Arab mare; her -black livery shone with the grooming she had received, she was lightly -bitted, her headstall was a silver chain, her bridle was studded with -silver ornaments, her every movement was a pleasure to behold. Her -master appealed repeatedly to Muḥammad 'Ali, who jogged along by his -side on a fine mule, for admiration of his mount, and when the latter -had replied obsequiously with the required praise, his words were taken -up and reinforced by an old fat man who rode with us upon a lean pony. -He was jester and flatterer in ordinary to the Kakhya Zādeh, and, if -his countenance spoke truly, panderer to his employer's vices and -conniver at his crimes—among such strange company I had fallen that -April morning. Ḥājj Najīb trotted along contentedly enough behind -us; but Mikhāil, whose sense of the proprieties was strong, could -barely conceal his disapproval, and answered in monosyllables when the -jester or Reshīd Agha addressed him, though he unbent to Muḥammad -'Ali, whom he judged (and rightly) to be of another clay. We rode for an -hour over soft springy ground, Reshīd pointing out the beauties of his -property as we went.</p> - -<p>"All these olive-gardens are mine," said he, "by God and the Prophet of -God! there are no such olives in the land. Every year I come out from -Aleppo and see to the olive harvest with my own eyes lest the knaves who -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> -work for me should cheat me, God curse them! And therefore I have built -myself a house at Alāni—God knows a man should make himself -comfortable and live decently. But you shall see it, for you must eat -with me; my table is spread for all comers. And around the house I have -planted fields of mulberry-trees; ten thousand stripling trees I have -set in the last five years. I shall raise silkworks, please God! in -great number. Oh Yūsef! show her the boxes of eggs that came from the -land of France."</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure150"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure150.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">TRAVELLERS</p></div> - -<p>The jester drew out of his breast a little cardboard box marked with the -brand of a French firm; but before I could express my respect for the -Agha's industry his attention had been distracted by some peasants who -were pruning the olives not to his liking, and he spurred his mare up to -the trees and poured out volleys of oaths and execrations upon the -unfortunate men, after which he returned to my side and resumed the tale -of his own prowess.</p> - -<p>The house was large and new, and furnished throughout with plush and -gilt-framed mirrors. Nothing would satisfy the Agha but that I should -see and admire every corner, and the jester gave me the lead in praise -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> -and congratulation. From him I gathered that I was chiefly called upon -to exalt the merits of the iron stoves that were prominent in each of -the rooms—no doubt they added to the comfort if not to the -picturesqueness of the establishment. This over we sat down on a divan -to wait till lunch was ready. The Agha employed the time in relating to -me with an over-emphasised indignation his struggles against the corrupt -and oppressive government under which he lived, but he omitted to -mention that what he suffered at the hands of those above him he passed -on with interest to those below.</p> - -<p>"By God!" he spluttered, "you have seen how I labour among my -olive-trees, how I plant mulberries and send for the silkworm eggs from -afar, that I may make a new trade at Alāni. Is the Vāli grateful? No, -by the Prophet! He sends his men and they say: 'Stop! till we see how -much more we can tax you!' And when I would have set up a mill by the -river for the grinding of my corn, they said: 'Stop! it is not lawful.' -Then they sent for me in the middle of the harvest, and I rode hastily -to Aleppo, and day by day and week by week they kept me waiting, and -forbade me to leave the city. And by God!" shouted the Agha, thumping on -a little inlaid table with his fist, "I baffled them! I went to the -Ḳāḍi, and said: 'From whom is the order?' He said: 'From the -Vāli.' Then I went to the Vāli and said: 'From whom is the order?' And -he answered: 'I know not; perchance from the Ḳāḍi.' And I bade them -put it in writing, but they dared not, and so they let me go."</p> - -<p>In the middle of these tales three visitors were announced. They took a -deferential seat on the opposite divan, and expended themselves in -salutations and compliments. The Agha received them as an emperor might -receive his subjects, and one of them presently seized the opportunity -of saying to me in a stage whisper audible to all:</p> - -<p>"You have seen what manner of man is the Agha? He is like a king in this -country." Whereat the Agha grew yet more regally gracious.</p> - -<p>We sat down at last to a board loaded with every variety of Syrian -delicacy, and few cuisines can beat the Syrian at its best. The Agha -talked and ate with equal eagerness, and pressed one dish after another -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> -upon his guests. When the feast was in full swing a servant came to him -and said that there was a certain Fellāḥ who wished to speak with -him.</p> - -<p>"Let him come!" said the Agha indifferently. A ragged peasant figure -appeared in the doorway and gazed with eyes half sullen, half frightened -at the company, and the profusion of delicate meats.</p> - -<p>"Peace be upon you, oh Agha!" he began.</p> - -<p>But as soon as he saw the suppliant the Agha started to his feet in a -very fury of passion. His face became purple, his squinting eyes started -from his head, and he thumped the table with his clenched fist while he -cried:</p> - -<p>"Begone! and may God curse you and your offspring, and destroy your -father's house! Begone, I tell you, and bring the money, or I will send -you to prison with your wife and your family, and you shall starve there -till you die."</p> - -<p>"Oh Agha!" said the man, with a certain dignity that faced the other's -rage, "a little time. Grant me a little time."</p> - -<p>"Not a day! not an hour!" yelled the Agha. "Away! go! and to-night you -shall bring me the money."</p> - -<p>The peasant vanished from the doorway without another word, the Agha sat -down and continued his interrupted conversation and his interrupted -meal; the other guests ate on as if nothing had happened, but I felt a -little ashamed of my place at Reshīd's right hand, and I was not sorry -to bid him farewell.</p> - -<p>The Agha sent us down to the Orontes and caused us to be conveyed across -the stream in his own ferry-boat. When we reached the other side -Mikhāil ostentatiously took a crust from his pocket and began to eat -it.</p> - -<p>"Have you not eaten at Alāni?" said I.</p> - -<p>"I do not eat with such as he," replied Mikhāil stiffly.</p> - -<p>At this Najīb, whom no such scruple had withheld from enjoying the -unwonted luxury of an ample meal, nodded his head and said:</p> - -<p>"The Agha is an evil man, may God reward him according to his deeds! He -squeezes their last metalīk from the poor, he seizes their land, and -turns them out of their houses to starve."</p> - -<p>"And worse than that," said Mikhāil darkly.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p> - -<p>"By God!" said Najīb. "Every man who has a fair wife or a fair daughter -stands in fear of him, for he will never rest until the woman is in his -hands. By God and Muḥammad the Prophet of God! many a man has he -killed that he might take his wife into his own harem, and no one is -hated more than he."</p> - -<p>"Cannot the law prevent him?" said I.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure151"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure151.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ANTIOCH</p></div> - -<p>"Who shall prevent him?" said Najīb. "He is rich—may God destroy -his dwelling!"</p> - -<p>"Oh Mikhāil!" said I as we picked our way across the muddy fields. "I -have travelled much in your country and I have seen and known many -people, and seldom have I met a poor man whom I would not choose for a -friend nor a rich man whom I would not shun. Now how is this? Does -wealth change the very heart in Syria? For, look you, in my country not -all the powerful are virtuous, but neither are they all rogues. And you -and the Druze of Ḳalb Lōzeh and Mūsa the Kurd, would you too, if you -had means, become like Reshīd Agha?"</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh lady," said Mikhāil, "the heart is the same, but in your country -the government is just and strong and every one of the English must obey -it, even the rich; whereas with us there is no justice, but the big man -eats the little, and the little man eats the less, and the government -eats all alike. And we all suffer after our kind and cry out to God to -help us since we cannot help ourselves. But at least I did not eat the -bread of Reshīd Agha," concluded Mikhāil rather sententiously; and at -this Najīb and I hung our heads.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure152"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure152.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ANTIOCH</p></div> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure153"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure153.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ON THE BANK OF THE ORONTES, ANTIOCH</p></div> - -<p>Then followed five hours of the worst travelling. It may have been a -judgment upon Najīb and me for sitting at the table of the wicked, but, -like most of the judgments of Providence, it fell impartially on the -just and the unjust, for Mikhāil endured as much as we. All that we had -suffered the day before from the rocks we now suffered at the opposite -end of the scale from the mud. The torture was a thousand times more -acute. For five hours we crossed hills of earth on which there was never -a stone, but the sticky slime of the slopes alternated with deep -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> -sloughs, where our horses sank up to their girths, and when at last we -emerged from this morass into the Orontes valley man and beast were -exhausted. The rising ground, which we had left, now rose into rocky -ridges and peaks, the broad valley lay on our right hand, half full of -flood water, and beyond it stood a splendid range of mountains. It was -not long before we caught sight of the Byzantine towers and walls -crowning the ridges to the left, and between hedges of flowering bay we -stumbled along the broken pavement of the Roman road that led to -Antioch. The road was further occupied by a tributary of the Orontes, -which flowed merrily over the pavement. It was with some excitement that -I gazed on the city of Antioch, which was for so many centuries a cradle -of the arts and the seat of one of the most gorgeous civilisations that -the world has known. Modern Antioch is like the pantaloon whose clothes -are far too wide for his lean shanks; the castle walls go climbing over -rock and hill, enclosing an area from which the town has shrunk away. -But it is still one of the loveliest of places, with its great ragged -hill behind it, crowned with walls, and its clustered red roofs -stretching down to the wide and fertile valley of the Orontes. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> -Earthquakes and the changing floods of the stream have overturned and -covered with silt the palaces of the Greek and of the Roman city, yet as -I stood at sunset on the sloping sward of the Noṣairiyyeh graveyard -below Mount Silpius, where my camp was pitched, and saw the red roofs -under a crescent moon, I recognised that beauty is the inalienable -heritage of Antioch.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_1" id="Footnote_17_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_1"><span class="label">[17]</span></a>The ancient towns in the Jebel Bārisha have been visited -and described by the American Expedition.</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></h4> - - -<p>A further acquaintance with Antioch did not destroy the impressions of -the first evening. The more I wandered through the narrow paved streets -the more delightful did they appear. Except the main thoroughfare, which -is the bazaar, they were almost empty; my footsteps on the cobble-stones -broke through years of silence. The shallow gables covered with red -tiles gave a charming and very distinctive note to the whole city, and -shuttered balconies jutted out from house to house. Of the past there is -scarcely a vestige. Two fine sarcophagi, adorned with putti and garlands -and with the familiar and, I fancy, typically Asiatic motive of lions -devouring bulls, stand in the Serāya, and one similar to these, but -less elaborate, by the edge of the Daphne road. I saw, too, a fragment -of a classical entablature in the courtyard of a Turkish house, and a -scrap of wall in the main street that may certainly be dated earlier -than the Mohammadan invasion—its courses of alternate brick and stone -resembled the work on the Acropolis. For the rest the Antioch of -Seleucus Nicator is a city of the imagination only. The island on which -it was built has disappeared owing to the changing of the river bed, but -tradition places it above the modern town. The banks of the Orontes must -have been lined with splendid villas; I was told that the foundations of -them were brought to light whenever a man dug deep enough through the -silt, and that small objects of value, such as coins and bronzes, were -often unearthed. Many such were brought to me for sale, but I judged -them to be forgeries of an unskilful kind, and I was confirmed in my -opinion by a Turkish pasha, Rifa't Agha, who has occupied his leisure in -making a collection of antiquities. He possesses a fine series of -Seleucid coins, the earlier nearly as good as the best Sicilian, the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> -later nearly as bad as the worst Byzantine, and a few bronze lamps, one -of which, in the shape of a curly-haired Eros head, is a beautiful -example of Roman work. The Agha presented me with a small head, which I -take to have been a copy of the head of Antioch with the high crown, and -though it was but roughly worked, it possessed some distinction borrowed -from a great original.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure154"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure154.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE CORN MARKET, ANTIOCH</p></div> - -<p>Forty years ago the walls and towers of the Acropolis were still almost -perfect; they are now almost destroyed. The inhabitants of Antioch -declare that the city is rocked to its foundations every half-century, -and they are in instant expectation of another upheaval, the last having -occurred in 1862; but it is prosperity not earthquake that has wrought -the havoc in the fortress. The town is admirably situated in its rich -valley, and connected with the port of Alexandretta by a fairly good -road; it might easily become a great commercial centre, and even under -Turkish rule it has grown considerably in the past fifty years, and -grown at the expense of the Acropolis. To spare himself the trouble of -quarrying, the Oriental will be deterred by no difficulty, and in spite -of the labour of transporting the dressed stones of the fortress to the -foot of the exceedingly steep hill on which it stands, all the modern -houses have been built out of materials taken from it. The work of -destruction continues; the stone facing is quickly disappearing from the -walls, leaving only a core of a rubble and mortar which succumbs in a -short time to the action of the weather. I made the whole circuit of the -fortress one morning, and it took me three hours. To the west of the -summit of Mount Silpius a rocky cleft seamed the hillside. It was full -of rock-cut tombs, and just above my camp an ancient aqueduct spanned -it. On the left hand of the cleft the line of wall dropped by -precipitous rocks to the valley. Where large fragments remained it was -evident that the stone facing had alternated with bands of brick, and -that sometimes the stone itself had been varied by courses of smaller -and larger blocks. The fortifications embraced a wide area, the upper -part leading by gentle slopes, covered with brushwood and ruined -foundations, to the top of the hill. In the west wall there was a narrow -massive stone door, with a lintel of jointed blocks and a relieving arch -above it. The south wall was broken by towers; the main citadel was at -the south-east corner. From here the walls dropped down again steeply to -the city and passed some distance to the east of it. They can be traced, -I believe, to the Orontes. I did not follow their course, but climbed -down from the citadel by a stony path into a deep gorge that cuts -through the eastern end of the hill. The entrance to this gorge is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> -guarded by a strong wall of brick and stone, which is called the Gate of -Iron, and beyond it the fortifications climb the opposite side of the -ravine and are continued along the hill top. I do not know how far they -extend; the ground was so rough and so much overgrown with bushes that I -lost heart and turned back. There was a profusion of flowers among the -rocks, marigold, asphodel, cyclamen and iris.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure155"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure155.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">ROMAN LAMP IN RIFA'T AGHA'S COLLECTION</p></div> - -<p>Beyond the gorge of the Iron Gate, on the hill side facing the Orontes, -there is a cave which tradition calls the cave of St. Peter. The Greek -communion has erected a little chapel at its mouth. Yet further along -the hill is a still more curious relic of ancient Antioch, the head of a -Sphinx carved in relief upon a rock some 20 ft. high. Folded about her -brow she wears a drapery that falls on either side of her face and ends -where the throat touches the bare breast. Her featureless countenance is -turned slightly up the valley, as though she watched for one that shall -yet come out of the East. If she could speak she might tell us of great -kings and gorgeous pageants, of battle and of siege, for she has seen -them all from her rock on the hill side. She still remembers that the -Greeks she knew marched up from Babylonia, and since even the Romans did -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> -not teach her that the living world lies westward, I could not hope to -enlighten her, and so left her watching for some new thing out of the -East.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure156"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure156.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">HEAD OF A SPHINX, ANTIOCH</p></div> - -<p>There was another pilgrimage to be made from Antioch: it was to Daphne, -the famous shrine that marked the spot where the nymph baffled the -desire of the god, the House of the Waters it is called in Arabic. It -lies to the west of the town, about an hour's ride along the foot of the -hills, and in the Spring a more enchanting ride could not be found. The -path led through an exquisite boscage of budding green, set thickly with -flowering hawthorn and with the strange purple of the Judas tree; then -it crossed a low spur and descended into a steep valley through which a -stream tumbled towards the Orontes.</p> - -<p>No trace remains of the temples that adorned this fairest of all -sanctuaries. Earthquakes and the mountain torrents have swept them down -the ravine. But the beauty of the site has not diminished since the days -when the citizens of the most luxurious capital in the East dallied -there with the girls who served the god. The torrent does not burst -noisily from the mountain side; it is born in a deep still pool that -lies, swathed in a robe of maidenhair fern, in thickets "annihilating -all that's made to a green thought in a green shade." From the pool -issues a translucent river, unbroken of surface, narrow and profound; it -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> -runs into swirls and eddies and then into foaming cataracts and -waterfalls that toss their white spray into the branches of mulberry and -plane. Under the trees stand eleven water-mills; the ragged millers are -the only inhabitants of Apollo's shrine. They brought us walnuts to eat -by the edge of the stream, and small antique gems that had dropped from -the ornaments of those who sought pleasures less innocent perhaps than -ours by the banks of that same torrent.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure157"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure157.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">DAPHNE</p></div> - -<p>It is impossible to travel in North Syria without acquiring a keen -interest in the Seleucid kings, backed by a profound respect for their -achievements in politics and in the arts; I was determined therefore to -visit before I pushed north the site of Seleucia Pieria, the port of -Antioch and the burial-place of Seleucus Nicator. Inland capital and -seaport sprang into being at the same moment, and were both part of one -great conception that turned the lower reaches of the Orontes into a rich -and populous market—in those days kings could create world-famous -cities with a wave of the sceptre, and the Seleucids were not backward -in following the example Alexander had set them. Like Apamea, Seleucia -has shrunk to the size of a hamlet, or perhaps it would be truer to say -that it has split up into several hamlets covered by the name of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> -Sweidiyyeh. (The nomenclature is confusing, as each group of farms or -huts has a separate title.) The spacing of the population at the mouth -of the Orontes is due to the occupation in which the inhabitants of the -villages are engaged. They are raisers of silkworms, an industry that -requires during about a month in the Spring such continuous attention -that every man must live in the centre of his mulberry-groves, and is -consequently separated by the extent of them from his neighbours. After -three hours' ride through a delicious country of myrtle thickets and -mulberry gardens we reached Sweidiyyeh, a military post and the most -important of the scattered villages. Here for the first and only time on -my journey I was stopped by an officer, the worse for 'arak, who -demanded my passport. Now passport I had none; I had lost it in the -Jebel Zāwiyyeh when I lost my coat, and it is a proof of how little -bound by red tape the Turkish official can show himself to be that I -travelled half the length of the Ottoman Empire without a paper to my -name. On this occasion the zaptieh who was with me demonstrated with -some heat that he would not have been permitted to accompany me if I had -not been a respectable and accredited person, and after a short wrangle -we were allowed to pursue our way. The reason of this meticulous -exactitude was soon made clear: the villages on the coast contain large -colonies of Armenians; they are surrounded by military stations, to -prevent the inhabitants from escaping either inland to other parts of -the empire or by sea to Cyprus, and the comings and goings of strangers -are carefully watched. One of the objects that the traveller should ever -set before himself is to avoid being drawn into the meshes of the -Armenian question. It was the tacit conviction of the learned during the -Middle Ages that no such thing as an insoluble question existed. There -might be matters that presented serious difficulties, but if you could -lay them before the right man—some Arab in Spain, for instance, -omniscient by reason of studies into the details of which it was better not -to inquire—he would give you a conclusive answer. The real trouble -was only to find your man. We, however, have fallen from that faith. We -have proved by experience that there are, alas! many problems insoluble -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> -to the human intelligence, and of that number the Turkish empire owns a -considerable proportion. The Armenian question is one of them, and the -Macedonian question is another. In those directions madness lies.</p> - -<p>It was with the determination not to waver in a decision that had -contributed, largely, I make no doubt, to happy and prosperous -journeyings, that I rode down to Chaulīk, the port of ancient Seleucia. -I found my resolve the less difficult to observe because the Armenians -talked little but Armenian and Turkish, at any rate the few words of -Arabic that some of them possessed were not sufficient to enable them to -enter into a detailed account of their wrongs. He who served me that -afternoon as a guide was a man of so cheerful a disposition that he -would certainly have selected by preference a different topic. His name -was Ibrahīm, he was bright-eyed and intelligent, and his cheerfulness -was deserving of praise, since his yearly income amounted to no more -than 400 piastres, under £2 of English money. From this he proposed to -save enough to bribe the Turkish officials at the port that they might -wink at his escape in an open boat to Cyprus: "for," said he, "there is -no industry here but the silkworms, and they give me work for two months -in the year, and for the other ten I have nothing to do and no way of -earning money." He also informed me that the Noṣairis who inhabited -the adjoining villages were unpleasant neighbours.</p> - -<p>"There is feud between you?" said I.</p> - -<p>"Ey wāllah!" said he with emphatic assent, and related in illustration -the long story of a recent conflict which, as far as it was -comprehensible, seemed to have been due entirely to the aggressions of -the Armenians.</p> - -<p>"But you began the stealing," said I when he had concluded.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said he. "The Noṣairis are dogs." And he added with a smile: "I -was imprisoned in Aleppo for two years afterwards."</p> - -<p>"By God! you deserved it," said I.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said he, as cheerfully as ever.</p> - -<p>And this, I rejoice to say, was all that Ibrahīm contributed to the -store of evidence on the Armenian question.</p> - -<p>The Bay of Seleucia is not unlike the Bay of Naples and scarcely less -beautiful. A precipitous ridge of the hills, honeycombed with rock-hewn -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> -tombs and chambers, forms a background to the mulberry-gardens, and, -sweeping round, encloses the bay to the north. Below it lie the walls -and water-gates of the port, silted up with earth and separated from the -sea by a sandy beach. The Orontes flows through sand and silt farther to -the south, and the view is closed by a steep range of hills culminating -at the southern point in the lovely peak of Mount Cassius, which takes -the place of Vesuvius in the landscape. I pitched my camp near the -northern barrier in a little cove divided from the rest of the bay by a -low spur which ran out into a ruin-covered headland that commanded the -whole sweep of the coast, and I pleased myself with the fancy that it -was on this point that the temple and tomb of Seleucus Nicator had -stood, though I do not know whether its exact situation has ever been -determined. Below it on the beach lay an isolated rock in which a -columned hall had been excavated. This hall was fragrant of the sea and -fresh with the salt winds that blew through it: a very temple of nymphs -and tritons. Ibrahīm took me up and down the face of the precipitous -cliffs by little paths and by an old chariot-road that led to the city -on the summit of the plateau. He said that to walk round the enclosing -wall of the upper city took six hours, but it was too hot to put his -statement to the test. We climbed into an immense number of the -artificial caves, in many of which there were no loculi. They may have -been intended for dwellings or storehouses rather than for tombs. At -this time of the year they were all occupied by the silkworm breeders, -who were now at their busiest moment, the larvae having just issued from -the egg. The entrance of each cave was blocked by a screen of green -boughs to keep out the sun, and the afternoon light filtered pleasantly -through the budding leaves. At the southern end of the cliff there was a -large necropolis, consisting of small caves set round with loculi, and -of rock-hewn sarcophagi decorated, when they were decorated at all, with -the garland motive that adorns the sarcophagi at Antioch. The most -important group of tombs was at the northern end of the cliff. The -entrance to it was by a pillared portico that led into a double cave. -The larger chamber contained some thirty to forty loculi and a couple of -canopied tombs, the canopies cut out of the living rock; the smaller -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> -held about half the number of loculi, the roof of it was supported by -pillars and pilasters, and I noticed above the tombs a roughly cut -design consisting of a scroll of ivy-shaped and of indented leaves.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure158"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure158.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE GARĪZ</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span></p> - -<p>The builders of Seleucia seem to have been much preoccupied with the -distribution of the water supply. Ibrahīm showed me along the face of -the cliff a channel some 2 ft. wide and 5 ft. high, which was cut 3 or 4 -ft. behind the surface of the rock, and carried water from one end of -the city to the other. We traced its course by occasional air-holes or -breaches in the outer wall of rock. The most difficult problem must have -been the management of the torrent that flowed down a gorge to the north -of the town. A great gallery had been hewn through the spur to the south -of my camp to conduct the water to the sea and prevent it from swamping -the houses at the foot of the cliff. The local name for this gallery is -the Garīz. It began at the mouth of a narrow ravine and was tunnelled -through a mass of rock for several hundred yards, after which it -continued as a deep cutting open to the air till it reached the end of -the spur. At the entrance of the tunnel there was an inscription in -clear cut letters, "Divus Vespasianus" it began, but the rest was buried -in the rocky ground. There were several others along the further course -of the Garīz, all of them in Latin: I imagine that the work was not -Seleucid, but Roman.</p> - -<p>To one more spectacle Ibrahīm tempted me. He declared that if I would -follow him through the mulberry-gardens below the cliff he would show me -"a person made of stone." My curiosity was somewhat jaded by the heat -and the long walk, but I toiled back wearily over stones and other -obstacles to find a god, bearded and robed, sitting under the mulberry -trees. He was not a very magnificent god; his attitude was stiff, his -robe roughly fashioned, and the top of his head was gone, but the low -sun gilded his marble shoulder and the mulberry boughs whispered his -ancient titles. We sat down beside him, and Ibrahīm remarked:</p> - -<p>"There is another buried in this field, a woman, but she is deep deep -under the earth."</p> - -<p>"Have you seen her?" said I.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes," said he. "The owner of the field buried her, for he thought she -might bring him ill luck. Perhaps if you gave him money he might dig her -up."</p> - -<p>I did not rise to the suggestion; she was probably better left to the -imagination.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<a id="figure159"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure159.jpg" width="200" alt="" /> -<p class="center">THE STATUE IN THE<br /> -MULBERRY-GARDEN</p></div> - -<p>Close to the statue I saw a long moulded cornice which was apparently -<i>in situ</i>, though the wall it crowned was buried in a cornfield: so -thickly does the earth cover the ruins of Seleucia. Some day there will -be much to disclose here, but excavation will be exceedingly costly -owing to the deep silt and to the demands of the proprietors of mulberry -grove and cornfield. The site of the town is enormous, and will require -years of digging if it is to be properly explored.</p> - -<p>Near my tents a sluggish stream flowed through clumps of yellow iris and -formed a pool in the sand. It provided water for our animals and for the -flocks of goats that Armenian shepherd boys herded morning and evening -along the margin of the sea. The spot was so attractive and the weather -so delightful that I spent an idle day there, the first really idle day -since I had left Jerusalem, and as I could not hope to examine Seleucia -exhaustively, I resolved to see no more of it than was visible from my -tent door. This excellent decision gave me twenty-four hours, to which I -look back with the keenest satisfaction, though there is nothing to be -recorded of them except that I was not to escape so lightly from -Armenian difficulties as I had hoped. I received in the morning a long -visit from a woman who had walked down from Kabūseh, a village at the -top of the gorge above the Garīz. She spoke English, a tongue she had -acquired at the missionary schools of 'Aintāb, her home in the Kurdish -mountains. Her name was Kymet. She had left 'Aintāb upon her marriage, -a step she had never ceased to regret, for though her husband was a good -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> -man and an honest he was so poor that she did not see how she was to -bring up her two children. Besides, said she, the people round Kabūseh, -Noṣairis and Armenians alike, were all robbers, and she begged me to -help her to escape to Cyprus. She told me a curious piece of family -history, which showed how painful the position of the sect must be in -the heart of a Mohammadan country, if it cannot be cited as an instance -of official oppression. Her father had turned Muslim when she was a -child, chiefly because he wished to take a second wife. Kymet's mother -had left him and supported her children as best she might, rather than -submit to the indignity that he had thrust upon her, and the bitter -quarrel had darkened, said Kymet, all her own youth. She sent her -husband down next morning with a hen and a copy of verses written by -herself in English. I paid for the hen, but the verses were beyond -price. They ran thus:</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Welcome, welcome, my dearest dear, we are happy by your coming!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For your coming welcome! Your arrival welcome!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Let us sing joyfully, joyfully,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Joyfully, my boys, joyfully!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The sun shines now with moon clearly, sweet light so bright, my</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 3em;">dear boys,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For your reaching welcome! By her smiling welcome!</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The trees send us, my dear boys, with happiness the birds rejoice;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Its nice smelling welcome! In their singing welcome!</span></p> - -<p style="margin-left: 30%;">I remain.</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 38%;">Yours truly,</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 43%;">GEORGE ABRAHAM.</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>I hasten to add, lest the poem should be considered compromising, that -its author was not George Abraham, who as I found in the negotiations -over the hen had no word of English; Kymet had merely used her husband's -name as forming a more impressive signature than her own. Moreover the -boys she alludes to were a rhetorical figure. I can offer no suggestion -as to what it was that the trees sent us; the text appears to be corrupt -at this point. Perhaps "us" should be taken as the accusative.</p> - -<p>It was with real regret that I left Seleucia. Before dawn, when I went -down to the sea to bathe, delicate bands of cloud were lying along the -face of the hills, and as I swam out into the warm still water the first -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> -ray of the sun struck the snowy peak of Mount Cassius that closed so -enchantingly the curve of the bay. We journeyed back to Antioch as we -had come, and pitched tents outside the city by the high road. Two days -later we set off at 6.30 for a long ride into Alexandretta. The road was -abominable for the first few miles, broken by deep gulfs of mud, with -here and there a scrap of pavement that afforded little better going -than the mud itself. After three hours we reached the village of -Kāramurt, and three-quarters of an hour further we left the road and -struck straight up the hills by a ruined khān that showed traces of -fine Arab work. The path led up and down steep banks of earth between -thickets of flowering shrubs, gorse and Judas trees, and an undergrowth -of cistus. We saw to the left the picturesque castle of Baghrās, the -ancient Pagræe, crowning a pointed hill: I do not believe that the -complex of mountains north of Antioch has ever been explored -systematically, and it may yet yield fragments of Seleucid or Roman -fortifications that guarded the approach to the city. Presently we hit -upon the old paved road that follows a steeper course than the present -carriage road; it led us at one o'clock (we had stopped for three -quarters of an hour to lunch under the shady bank of a stream) to the -summit of the Pass of Bailān, where we joined the main road from Aleppo -to Alexandretta. There was no trace of fortification, as far as I -observed, at the Syrian Gates where Alexander turned and marched back to -the Plain of Issus to meet Darius, but the pass is very narrow and must -have been easy to defend against northern invaders. It is the only pass -practicable for an army through the rugged Mount Amanus. The village of -Bailān lay an hour further in a beautiful situation on the northern -side of the mountains looking over the Bay of Alexandretta to the bold -Cilician coast and the white chain of Taurus. From Bailān it is about -four hours' ride to Alexandretta.</p> - -<p>As we jogged down towards the shining sea by green and flowery slopes -that were the last of Syria, Mikhāil and I fell into conversation. We -reviewed, as fellow travellers will, the incidents of the way, and -remembered the adventures that had befallen us by flood and field, and -at the end I said:</p> - -<p>"Oh Mikhāil, this is a pleasant world, though some have spoken ill of -it, and for the most part the children of Adam are good not evil."</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<a id="figure160"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure160.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -<p class="center">LOWER COURSE OF THE GARĪZ</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It is as God wills," said Mikhāil.</p> - -<p>"Without doubt," said I. "But consider, now, those whom we have met upon -our journey, and think how all were glad to help us, and how well they -used us. At the outset there was Najīb Fāris, who started us upon our -way, and Namrūd and G̣ablān—"</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="figure161"></a> -<br /> -<img src="images/figure161.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p class="center">SARCOPHAGUS IN THE SERAYA, ANTIOCH</p></div> - -<p>"Māsha'llah!" interrupted Mikhāil. "G̣ablān was an excellent man. -Never have I seen an Arab so little grasping, for he would scarcely eat -of the food that I prepared for him."</p> - -<p>"And Sheikh Muḥammad en Naṣṣār," I pursued, "and his nephew -Fāiz, and the Ḳāimaḳām of Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, who lodged us for -two nights and fed us all, and the Ḳāimaḳām of Drekish, who made a great -reception for us, and the zaptieh Maḥmūd——" (Mikhāil gave a -grunt here, for he had been at daggers drawn with Maḥmūd.) "And -Sheikh Yūnis," I went on hastily, "and Mūsa the Kurd, who was the best -of all."</p> - -<p>"He was an honest man," observed Mikhāil, "and served your Excellency -well."</p> - -<p>"And even Reshīd Agha," I continued, "who was a rogue, treated us with -hospitality."</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Listen, oh lady," said Mikhāil, "and I will make it clear to you. Men -are short of vision, and they see but that for which they look. Some -look for evil and they find evil; some look for good and it is good that -they find, and moreover some are fortunate and these find always what -they want. Praise be to God! to that number you belong. And, please God! -you shall journey in peace and return in safety to your own land, and -there you shall meet his Excellency your father, and your mother and all -your brothers and sisters in health and in happiness, and all your -relations and friends," added Mikhāil comprehensively, "and again many -times shall you travel in Syria with peace and safety and prosperity, -please God!"</p> - -<p>"Please God!" said I.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<h4><a id="INDEX">INDEX</a></h4> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>ABĀDEH tribe, the, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> -Abana River, the, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> -'Abdul 'Aziz ibn er Rashīd, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḥamed Pasha Druby, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hamid Rafi 'a Zādeh, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḳādir, the great Algerian,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_145">145</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḳādir el Aẓam, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>,</span><br /> - <span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mejīd, Kurdish zaptieh, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Wahhāb Beg, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></span><br /> -'Abdullah Pasha, the Amīr, <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> -'Abd ur Raḥmān Pasha, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br /> -Abraham, George, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br /> -Abrash River, the, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /> -Abu Kbesh, castle of, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Zreik, village of, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'l Fīda, sarcophagus of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></span><br /> -Acropolis, Athens, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>; Antioch,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></span><br /> -Adana, <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br /> -Aden, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br /> -'Adwān tribes, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> -Afrīn, valley of the, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br /> -Agha, Muḥammad 'Ali, <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Reshīd, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rifa't, collection of, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rustum, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></span><br /> -Aḥmed, son of Ghishghāsh, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> -'Ain esh Shems, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br /> -'Aintāb, missionary schools at, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br /> -Ajlūn hills of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> -'Akabah, Gulf of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br /> -Al Ḥerdeh, village of, <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br /> -'Ala, Jebel el, <a href="#Page_167">276</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></span><br /> -Alāni, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br /> -Aleppo, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><i>n.</i>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></span><br /> -Alexander the Great, <a href="#Page_241">242</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -Alexandretta, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></span><br /> -Alexandria, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br /> -Ali id Diāb ul 'Adwān, Sultān ibn, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Muḥammad, Pasha of Aleppo,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pasha, Amīr, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></span><br /> -Allāt, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br /> -'Alya, Jebel el, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br /> -Amanus, Mount, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -Amereh, mound of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> -American College, Beyrout, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Survey, the, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></span><br /> -'Ammān, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, -<a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> -'Anazeh tribe, the, <a href="#Page_22">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, -<a href="#Page_152">152</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> -Anglo-Japanese alliance, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br /> -'Antara, poetry of, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br /> -Anti-Libanus, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> -Antioch, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_22">270</a>, <a href="#Page_22">277</a>, <a href="#Page_22">278</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_22">281</a>, <a href="#Page_22">310</a>;<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description and relics, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></span><br /> -Apamea, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a><br /> -Apostles' Well, the, <i>see</i> 'Ain esh<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shems</span><br /> -Arabic inscriptions, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br /> -Arabs, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hospitality, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">customs, etc., <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">poetry, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>; inter-tribal relations, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></span><br /> -'Areh, village of, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> -'Arjārmeh, the, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br /> -Armenians, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; the Armenian question, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br /> -Asad Beg, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> -Asbā 'i, Muṣṭafa el, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> -'Asī, swamp of the, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br /> -Assassins, sect of the, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br /> -At Tabari, history of, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /> -Athens, 297; the Acropolis, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> -Awād, the Arab, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br /> -'Awais, Yūsef el, <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br /> -Aẓam Zādeh family at Ḥamāh, <a href="#Page_223">223</a><br /> -Azrak, Kala 'at el, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>BA'ALBEK, 159-160; Temple of The<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sun, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>; Temple of Jupiter,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, Basilica of Constantine,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_183">183</a>; Ras ul 'Ain, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>; Christian</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">church at, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></span><br /> -Bāb el Hawa, the, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br /> -Bābiska, village, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /> -Babylonia, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> -Baghdad, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; the railway to,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_261">261</a></span><br /> -Baghrās, castle of, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -Bailān, Pass of, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -Baitocaicē, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br /> -Bāḳirḥa, ruins of, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a><br /> -Balad, Sheikh el, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br /> -Barād, village of, <a href="#Page_287">287</a><br /> -Barada, the Wādi, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br /> -Barāzi family, Ḥamāh, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /> -Barāzi, Muṣṭafa Pasha el, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> -Bārisha, Jebel, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br /> -Bashan, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> -Basilica of Constantine, Ba'albek, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br /> -Bāsufān, church at, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br /> -Bathaniyyeh, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br /> -Bawābet Ullaḥ, the, Damascus, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> -Bedouins, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a><br /> -Bedr, battle of, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br /> -Behā'is, religion of the, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br /> -Beiḍa, Ḳal'at el, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">White Land, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></span><br /> -Belḳa plain, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>; tribes of the,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></span><br /> -Beni 'Atiyyeh, the, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Awājeh tribe, the, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḥassan tribe, the, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ṣakhr, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sha 'alān, the, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></span><br /> -Beyrout, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br /> -Birijik, railway at, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> -Birket Umm el 'Amūd, the, <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br /> -Bizzos, Tomb of, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br /> -Bḳei'a, the plain, <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br /> -Black Sea, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Stone at Mecca, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></span><br /> -Blunts, the travellers, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> -Boer War, the, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br /> -Bologna, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br /> -Boṣrā, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">el Harīr, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></span><br /> -Brāk, village of, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> -Brünnow, "Die Provincia Arabia,"<br /> -<a href="#Page_34">34</a><i>n.</i>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><i>n.</i><br /> -Būkhālih, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> -Burj el Kās, <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḥeida, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></span><br /> -Burjkeh, village of, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br /> -Busān, the Wādi, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br /> -Butler, Mr., <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>CALCUTTA, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> -Calycadnus River, the, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> -Cassius, Mount, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br /> -Cave villages, in<br /> -Caves, Namrūd's, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br /> -Chamberlain, Mr., <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br /> -Chaulīk, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br /> -Circassians, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br /> -Coffee, customs, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> -Coins, Roman, 27; Seleucid, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br /> -Constantine, coins of, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br /> -Constantinople, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> -Crete, Moslems of, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> -Cromer, Lord, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br /> -Crown of Thorns, the, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> -Crusaders, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br /> -Cufic inscriptions, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br /> -Curzon, Lord, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br /> -Cyprus, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>DA'JA tribe, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> -Damascus, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_231">231</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">History, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; houses of,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>; the Great</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mosque, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Friday in, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br /> -Dāna, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>; tomb at, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_298">298</a><br /> -Danīdisheh family, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br /> -Daphne Road, Antioch, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>; shrine, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br /> -Dār Kīta, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br /> -Dark Tower, Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br /> -Dead Sea, 10; Dead Sea Fruit, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> -Decimus of the Flavian Legion, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br /> -Deḥes, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br /> -Deir es Sleb, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br /> -Deiret 'Azzeh, village of, <a href="#Page_97">97</a><br /> -Dera'a, cave village, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Derwīsh, soldier, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a><br /> -Dīn, Sheikh ed, <a href="#Page_58">58</a><br /> -Drekish, village of, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br /> -Drusūra, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br /> -Druze, the Jebel, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> -Druzes, the, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Habits and customs, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</span><br /> -the fight against<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Ṣukhūr, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>; dread</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the Mohammadans, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></span><br /> -Dussaud, Monsieur, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>EFFENDI, Dervish, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yūsef, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></span><br /> -Effendim, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br /> -Egypt, English rule in, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br /> -Ej Jeita, village of, in<br /> -El, the God, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ajlāt, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bahra, lake of, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bārah, village of, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>,</span><br /> -<a href="#Page_249">249</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḥayyāt, mosque of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Khuḍr, Well of, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mughāra, village of, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Muwaggar, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></span><br /> -Emesa, Roman city, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> -Epiphaneia, fortress of, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> -Ethreh, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> -Euphrates, the, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br /> -Euting, M., <a href="#Page_84">84</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>FĀFERTĪN, village of, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br /> -Fāiz, nephew of Muḥammad en<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nassār, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>,</span><br /> -<a href="#Page_339">339</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">el Aṭrash, Sheikh of Kreyeh, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Talal ul, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></span><br /> -Fāris, muleteer, <a href="#Page_270">270</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḥabīb, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -Fayyād, Agha of Karyatein, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> -Fedhāmeh, village of, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Fellahīn, the, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; social condition,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bank, the, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></span><br /> -Fendi, guide, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> -Fīda, Abu 'l, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br /> -France, Baghdad railway scheme, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>G̣ABLĀN, the Arab, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -Garīz, the, Seleucia, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /> -Gates of God, the, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> -Germany, Baghdad railway scheme, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> -Gethsemane, valley of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> -Gharz, the Ghadīr el, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Wādi el, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></span><br /> -Ghassānid forts, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> -Ghawārny, the, <a href="#Page_41">41</a><br /> -Ghazu, the sport, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br /> -Ghiāth, the, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> -Ghishghāsh, Sheikh of Umm Ruweik,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></span><br /> -Ghōr, the, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> -Giour Dāgh, the, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a><br /> -Greek inscriptions, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> -Greeks, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>ḤABĪB, muleteer, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></span><br /> -Hadūdmadūd, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br /> -Haida, Dr., <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> -Haifa, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> -Ḥāil, town of, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> -Ḥājj Railway, the, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">road, the, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></span><br /> -Ḥamād, the, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a><br /> -Ḥamāh, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Roman road from, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>; the</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mosque, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>; people, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></span><br /> -Hamdān, son of Sheikh Understanding, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /> -Ḥamūd, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of Sweida, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></span><br /> -Hanelos, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> -Ḥārim, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>; the castle,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_310">310</a></span><br /> -Hārith, Ibn el, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br /> -Harra, the Burnt Land, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br /> -Harūn er Rashīd, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br /> -Ḥaseneh tribe, the, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> -Hāss, Jebel el, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br /> -Ḥassan Beg Nā'i, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br /> -Ḥassaniyyeh tribe, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> -Ḥaurān, mountains of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br /> -Hayāt, Kalybeh at, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br /> -Heart of God, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br /> -Ḥejāz Railway, the, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> -Ḥelbān, mud village of, <a href="#Page_256">256</a><br /> -Hermon Mountains, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br /> -Heshbān, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> -Hind, the land of, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br /> -Hira, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> -Hīt, village of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br /> -Hittites, the, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> -Hober, village of, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br /> -Holy Sepulchre, Church of the, <a href="#Page_2">2</a><br /> -Ḥomṣ, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_193">193</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Castle of, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_84">181</a>; people of,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>; houses of,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_182">182</a>; the Marj ul' Asi, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Stony Plain of, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> -Homsi, Nicola, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br /> -Ḥoweiṭāṭ, the, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a><br /> -Hurmul, Tower of, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> -Ḥuṣn es Suleimān, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḳal'at el, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_339">339</a>; Greek Monastery at,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>IBRAHĪM, the Armenian, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">muleteer, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pasha, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></span><br /> -Imtain, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br /> -Iron Gate, Antioch, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br /> -'Isa, Fellāḥ ul, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> -Islāmism, <a href="#Page_227"> 227</a><br /> -Ismailis, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; religion, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /> -'Izzet Pasha, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>JADA 'llah, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> -Jaffa, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> -Japanese War, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br /> -Jebel Ḥalaḳah, the, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /> -Jebeliyyeh Arabs, the, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> -Jericho, the road to, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> -Jerūn, oasis of, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> -Jerūdi, the brigand, <i>see</i> Muḥammad<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pasha, Sheikh of Jerūd</span><br /> -Jerusalem, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br /> -Jisr el Wād, bridge of, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /> -Jōf, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> -Jordan valley, <a href="#Page_10">10</a> <i>et seq.</i><br /> -Judæa, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>KABUL, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> -Kabūseh, village of, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br /> -Kadesh, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> -Kāf, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> -Ḳais, Amr ul, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br /> -Kalam, Mushḳin, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a><br /> -Ḳalb Lōzeh, church of, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br /> -Kalōteh, 282, 285; church of, <a href="#Page_286">286</a><br /> -Kāmu'a Hurmul, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> -Ḳanawāt, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>; the basilica, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">illustrations, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></span><br /> -Ḳantarah, the, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><br /> -Kāramurt, village of, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> -Karyatein, oasis of, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> -Ḳaṣr el Ahla, <i>see</i> Ḳaṣr el 'Alya<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Alya, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Banāt, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></span><br /> -Ḳasṭal, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> -Katurā, <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br /> -Kbēs, Monsieur, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br /> -Kbeshīn, hamlet of, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br /> -Kefr 'Abīd, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Anbīl, <a href="#Page_224">244</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lāb, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nebu, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></span><br /> -Keifār, village of, <a href="#Page_288">288</a><br /> -Kerak, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br /> -Khabbāz, Hanna, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> -Khālid Beg 'Aẓam, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> -Kharāneh, ruins of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> -Khayyām, Omar, <a href="#Page_23">23</a><br /> -Khirāb esh Shems, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>; church<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at <a href="#Page_285">285</a></span><br /> -Khīrbet Hass, village of, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br /> -Khittāb, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br /> -Khuḍr, prisoner, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br /> -Khureibet es Sūḳ, temple and mausoleum, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br /> -Kiāzim Pasha, Vāli at Aleppo, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br /> -Kiepert, maps, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><br /> -Killāni family at Ḥamāh, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> -Killāniyyeh Tekah, Ḥamāh, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> -Killiz, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> -Knights Hospitallers, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br /> -Knights Templars, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br /> -Konia, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a><br /> -Kreyeh, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br /> -Ḳṣeir, town of, <a href="#Page_172">172</a><br /> -Ksejba, village of, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /> -Ḳūbbeh in Mosque at Ḥamāh, <a href="#Page_223">223</a><br /> -Ḳubbet el Khazneh, the, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> -Kuda'a, tribe of, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> -Kuleib, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br /> -Kulthūm, Ibn, song of, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> -Ḳur'ān, reading of the, <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br /> -Kurds, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br /> -Kurumfuleh, the, <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br /> -Kuruntul, monastery of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> -Ḳuṣeir es Sahl, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br /> -Kutaila, dirge of,<a href="#Page_62"> 62</a><br /> -Kuweēk River, the, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /> -Kweit, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br /> -Kymet, the Kurdish woman <a href="#Page_4">4</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>LAHITEH, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> -Laodocia ad Orontem, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> -Larissa, town of, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> -Lava, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> -Lebanon, Mount, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> -Lebīd, poetry of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br /> -Lebweh, ruins at, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> -Lejā road, the, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> -Littinann, Dr., <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_84">123</a><i>n.</i><br /> -Loculi, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br /> -Lütticke of Damascus, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> -Lyall, Sir Charles, <a href="#Page_63"> 63</a><i>n.</i><br /> -Lysicrates, monument of, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>MA'ALULA, monastery of, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br /> -Ma'ān, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br /> -Mabūk, the Arab, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br /> -Mādeba, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> -Maḥmūd, Ḥājj, the zaptieh, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -Malek ed Dāher, Sultan, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br /> -Manuscripts, illuminated, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> -Mār Eliās, church of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br /> -Mar Saba, monastery of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> -Marāh, teut marks, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br /> -Marj ul 'Asi of the Orontes, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> -Marlborough Club, the, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br /> -Masyād, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br /> -Maṭkh swamp, the, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br /> -Mazār of Sheikh Serāk, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> -Mecca, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Railway, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pilgrims, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_239">239</a>; the Black Stone at, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">customs, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></span><br /> -Medā'in Ṣāleh, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br /> -Medīna, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a><br /> -Meḥes, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br /> -Meidan, the, Damascus, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br /> -Mersina, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br /> -Mesopotamia, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a><br /> -Meskīn, <a href="#Page_37">37</a><br /> -Metawīleh sect, the, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> -Mezērib, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Mikhāil, the cook, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, </span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_92">92</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_172">172</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></span><br /> -Milḥēm, Emir Muṣṭafa, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br /> -Moab, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> -Mohammadan invasion, seventh century,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></span><br /> -Morris, William, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br /> -Mosaics, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br /> -Mosul, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br /> -Mounds, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a><br /> -Moyemāt, village of, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /> -Mshitta, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_47">47 </a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> -Mu'āwiyah, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> -Mudīk, Ḳal'at el, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; ruins<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></span><br /> -Mughāra Merzeh, mud village, <a href="#Page_256">256</a><br /> -Muḥammad Effendi, Muftī, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">el Aṭrash, Sheikh, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">muleteer, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pasha, Sheikh of Jerūd, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sāid ul Khāni, Ḳāḍi, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bedouin, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Agha Khān, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">uncle of Ibn er Rashīd, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></span><br /> -Mujēmir, Sheikh, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> -Mūsa, Kurdish guide, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -Mushennef, Temple at, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br /> -Musil, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><i>n.</i><br /> -Mutanabbi, poetry of, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> -Muwaggar, <i>see</i> El Muwaggar<br /> -Muwāli tribe, the, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>NABATŒAN necropolis, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; inscriptions, <a href="#Page_80">80</a><br /> -Nahār, Sheikh, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br /> -Nahr el 'Awāj, the, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> -Najēreh, ruins, <a href="#Page_54">54</a><br /> -Najīb, Ḥājj, zaptieh, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_317">317</a></span><br /> -Nakshibendi, Sheikh Ḥassan, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></span><br /> -Namrūd, Abu, guide, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -Napoleon III., <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br /> -Nasīb el Aṭrash, Sheikh of Ṣalkhad,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></span><br /> -Naṣṣār, Muḥammad en, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -Nāzim Pasha, Vāli of Syria, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></span><br /> -Nebi Mendu, Tell, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> -Negroes, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br /> -Nejd, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> -Nejha, village of, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> -Noṣairis, the, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br /> -Noṣairiyyeh, the Jebel, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>OG, King, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Olives, Mount of, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br /> -Omar, Amīr, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br /> -Omer, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Oppenheim, book of, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> -Ormān, village of, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a><br /> -Orontes, the, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_320">320</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>PALMYRA, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a><br /> -Petra, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br /> -Pieria, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> -Poets of the Ignorance, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> -Princeton archaeological expedition,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>RĀ'IB Effendi el Ḥelu, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br /> -Railways<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḥājj, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; Ḥejāz, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mecca,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>; Rayak-Ḥamāh,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_261">261</a>; Baghdad, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>; the</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">French, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></span><br /> -Rājil, Wādi, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br /> -Rāmeh, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Rās Ba'albek, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> -Ras ul 'Ain, Ba'albek, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br /> -Rashīd, Ibn er, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> -Rayak, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br /> -Redīfs, the, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br /> -Rhodes, island of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> -Riāḍ, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> -Riza Beg el' Ābid, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a><br /> -Rolandino, monument in Bologna, <a href="#Page_254">254</a><br /> -Roman coins, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>; camps, <a href="#Page_34">4</a>;<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">tanks, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>; roads, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>; forts, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></span><br /> -Rōẓah, the, <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br /> -Ruḥbeh plain, the, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> -Russia, pilgrims, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br /> -Ruwalla, the, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> -Ruweiḥā, the churches at, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>SACHAU, M., <a href="#Page_250">250</a><br /> -Sacrifice, Feast of, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br /> -Ṣafa, the, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br /> -Safaitic inscriptions, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br /> -Ṣāfiṭa Castle, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br /> -St. Peter, Cave of, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br /> -St. Simon Stylites, church of, <i>see</i><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sim'ān, Kala 'at</span><br /> -St. Stephen's Gate, <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> -Ṣalaḥiyyeh, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> -Salamis, Gulf of, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> -Salcah, city of, <i>see</i> Ṣalkhad<br /> -Ṣāleh, guide, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /> -Ṣāleh village, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br /> -Salisbury, Lord, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br /> -Saikhad, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /> -Salkīn, town of, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br /> -Sallūm, Syrian doctor, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> -Salt, village of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br /> -Samaria, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br /> -San Gimignano, <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br /> -Sanctuaries, <a href="#Page_95">95</a><br /> -Sandūk, the Sāhib es, at Ḳal'at el<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Housn, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></span><br /> -Sāneh, village of, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br /> -Sa'oud, Ibn, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> -Saphathenos, Zeus, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> -Sarut, the River, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br /> -Safīnet Nuh (Noah's Ark), <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> -Seijar, Kal' at es, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> -Seijari, Sheikh Aḥmed, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> -Selemiyyeh, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> -Seleucia, Bay of, <a href="#Page_329">329</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pieria, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nicator, temple and tomb of,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></span><br /> -Selīm Beg, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> -Seljuk, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a><br /> -Selmān, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br /> -Serāk, Sheikh, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> -Serāya, the, Ḥomṣ, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>; Antioch, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br /> -Serge, Archduke, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> -Serjilla, town and ruins, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br /> -Sermeda, plain of, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a><br /> -Sēs, Jebel, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> -Shabha, village, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br /> -Shabhīyyeh, village, <a href="#Page_76">76</a><br /> -Shahbah, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> -Shakka, the Kaisarieh at, <a href="#Page_131">131</a><br /> -Shām, Wādi esh, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Shāmmaṝ, the, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> -Sheikh Barakāt, Jebel, <a href="#Page_280">280</a> <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /> -Sheikhly, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Shekīb el Arslān, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br /> -Sherarāt tribe, the, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> -Shibbekeh, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br /> -Shibly Beg el Aṭrash, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br /> -Shuraik, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> -Sidr bushes, the, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> -Siena Cathedral, <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br /> -Silk industry, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a><br /> -Silpius, Mount, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br /> -Sim'ān, Ḳal'at, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>; the villages,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_276">276</a></span><br /> -Sīr, the Wādy, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a><br /> -Sirhān, the Wādy, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> -Sitt Ferīdeh, the, at Ḳal'at el Ḥuṣn,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></span><br /> -Slime Pits of Genesis, the, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> -Smātiyyeh Arabs, the, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> -Smyrna, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /> -Soktan, Sheikh, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br /> -Sommar, Mon. Luiz de, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> -Spina Christi, legend, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br /> -Stones, lettered, <a href="#Page_122">122</a><br /> -Suḳ Wādi Barada, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> -Ṣukhūr tribe, the, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> -Sukkar, Yūsef Effendi, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> -Surkanyā, village, <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br /> -Sweida, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> -Sweidiyyeh, the, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br /> -Sykes, Mr. Mark, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br /> -Syria, rule in, <a href="#Page_149">140</a>; condition of<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the poor, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>; the term, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></span><br /> -Syriac inscriptions, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>ṬĀHIR, the Amīr, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ul Jezāiri, Sheikh, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></span><br /> -Tārafa, poetry of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br /> -Ṭarutīn, ruins at, <a href="#Page_256">256</a><br /> -Teifūr family at Ḥamāh, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /> -Tell esh Shīh, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br /> -Tell Selma, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /> -Tellāl, Abu, of Shahba, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br /> -Temples<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Khureibet es Sūḳ, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>; Mushennef,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>; the Sun,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ba'albek, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>; the Lebweh,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_171">171</a>; Jupiter, Ba'albek,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ḥuṣn el Suleimān, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></span><br /> -Theleleh, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br /> -Thelelet el Hirsheh, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br /> -Tigris, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br /> -Ṭneib, mound of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br /> -Tombs<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yadudeh, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; Bizzos, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Seleucia Nicator, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></span><br /> -Tripoli, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gate, the, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> -Tufa, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a><br /> -Tulūl, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">es Safa, the, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></span><br /> -Turkey, rule of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>,<br /> -<a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></span><br /> -Turkmān Jāmi'a, the, Ḥomṣ, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br /> -Turkshān, the, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>ULLAḤ Beha, Persian prophet, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> -'Umar, Amīr, <i>see</i> Omar<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mosque of, Jerusalem, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></span><br /> -Umm ej Jemēl, ruins, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">er Resās, ruins, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rummān, village, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ruweik, village, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></span><br /> -Ummayah, house of, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> -Understanding, Sheikh of the Ghiāth, <a href="#Page_120">120</a><br /> -Uneif, Kureyt ibn, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /> -United States, emigration to the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></span><br /> -Urfa, on the Euphrates, <a href="#Page_19">19</a><br /> -Uthail, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>VAN, lake, <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br /> -Victoria Hotel, Damascus, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> -Vogüé, Monsieur de, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></span></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>WAD el Ḥassan'yyeh, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> -Waddington, M., <a href="#Page_250">250</a><br /> -Wall of Lamentation, Jerusalem, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> -Wa'r Ḥomṣ, <a href="#Page_197">197</a><br /> -White Castle of the Knights Templars, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>YADUDEH, tombs of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br /> -Yaḥfūfa, the, <a href="#Page_160">160</a><br /> -Yahya Beg el Atrāsh, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br /> -Yaḳit 'Ades, <a href="#Page_272">272</a><br /> -Yemen, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>; the insurrection<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the soldier in, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></span><br /> -Yezīdis, beliefs of the, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br /> -Yildiz, <a href="#Page_268">268</a><br /> -Yūnis, Sheikh of El Bārah, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br /> -Yūsef, zaptieh guide, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a> <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p>ZA'BIEH, family of the, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br /> -Ẓābit, the, at Safita Castle, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br /> -Zādeh, Reshīd Agha Kakhya, <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br /> -Zāwiyyeh, Jebel, <a href="#Page_244">244</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /> -Zebdāny, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br /> -Zerka River, the, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Kala'at ez, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></span><br /> -Ziza, Roman tank at, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br /> -Zuhair, poetry of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Syria, the Desert and the Sown, by -Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYRIA, THE DESERT AND THE SOWN *** - -***** This file should be named 63731-h.htm or 63731-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/7/3/63731/ - -Produced by Laura Natal Rodrigues at Free Literature (Images -generously made available by Hathi Trust.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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